Chapter 192 - Not a Joking Matter

They were all wet, and their clothes were sticking to their skin.

They fell into the river after they fell. They then climbed up to the river bank.

Lu Mingshu found a secluded area and changed her clothes.

She then walked back to the river bank. Xie Lianzhen was sitting by the river, watching the water flowing in deep thought. He had changed as well.

Lu Mingshu didn’t take notice of him. She walked around and noted down the topography of the place in her heart.

Taking out a paper and a pen, she sketched out the shape of the area.

Before she knew it, Xie Lianzhen was beside her.

He looked at the map and bit his tongue.

“Is something wrong?”

Xie Lianzhen thought for a while before starting, “I once saw this layout in the library’s collection of the greatest Morning Mountain past dynasties atlas. Looking at your drawing, it’s from about five hundred years ago.”

“Five hundred years ago?” Ly Mingshu’s eyes widened in shock.

“Yes.” He then pointed under his feet. “For example, there should be a Shezhou building here, which was built a hundred years ago. The Qilin Festival has been ongoing for five hundred years or more, but look at the cliff – this period should be the period where there isn’t such a thing as the Sky Ranking. What a pity that the surroundings are blocked and I can’t see the entrance of the Seventh Truth Platform. Otherwise, I would be able to tell the era immediately.”

Lu Mingshu held her pen tight and started to contemplate. “Whoever did this should be from the Seventh Truth Platform, right?”

Xie Lianzhen furrowed his eyebrows. “How do you know?”

“It is?” Lu Mingshu nodded. “Of course, who else would be so familiar with the Seventh Truth Platform’s territory to be able to plan such a precise scheme? He should know all of your sites well, that’s why he dared to use this timing. And only people from the Seventh Truth Platform would be able to recreate a space from five hundred years ago.”

Seeing that his expression had changed, Lu Mingshu asked, “You have a suspect already?”

Xie Lianzhen let out a sigh. “Miss Lu, has anyone told you that you’re too smart?”

“Yeah.” She kept her ink. “My master.”

“Liu Jizhen?”

“Yes.”

“Such a pity.”

“What’s a pity?”

Xie Lianzhen glanced over at her. “I imagine you’re aware that your master is crippled due to someone plotting against him, right?”

Lu Mingshu furrowed her eyebrows. Liu Jizhen hated to talk about this, so she never once mentioned it in front of him. She knew that his meridians were crippled, but she wasn’t aware there was a story behind it.

“Who was it?”

“The one who crippled him, or the one who plotted against him?”

“They’re two different people?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Mingshu’s face dimmed. From what Xie Lianzhen said, she realized there might be something rather extraordinary behind the matter.

Xie Lianzhen found it interesting. “If I told you that I could take revenge for your master, would you agree to my request?”

Lu Mingshu stared at him coldly. “Xie Lianzhen, there’s a saying that suits you really well.”

“What saying?”

“A dog will never stop eating shit.”

“…” Xie Lianzhen chuckled. “It’s not very nice… to describe yourself in such a way.”

Lu Mingshu could obviously tell that he understood. After that day that she exposed his true self, it was as if Xie Lianzhen was freed, and his skin was now extremely thick.

Recalling back, Lu Mingshu regretted that she hadn’t thought about it clearly beforehand.

She calmed herself down. “Is the person who plotted against my master in Nine Jade Palace?”

“If I answer that question, you’ll immediately have people whom you suspect.” Xie Lianzhen smiled and shook his head. “Miss Lu, you’re incredibly smart, so I can’t just give you hints as I like.”

“What will it take for you to answer then?”

“I’ve already stated the price.” Xie Lianzhen hummed, “It depends on how important Liu Jizhen is to you. I heard that you have an extremely good relationship with him, eh? One party is crippled, while the other one is someone the Zhou Family refuses to take in. Fellow sufferers empathize with each other and assist each other. Now, how much are you willing to sacrifice for him?”

Lu Mingshu said nothing. She kept the map and walked toward the river.

But Xie Lianzhen continued, and followed behind her closely. “Actually, crippled meridians can be healed as well. If you agree, I’ll give you a buy-one-get-one-free and help you research a method for his recovery, how ‘bout that?”

Lu Mingshu stopped in her tracks.

Xie Lianzhen stopped too and smiled at her.

“Xie Lianzhen, my master is not a joking matter.”

He could tell that she was trying to control her anger. Xie Lianzhen intended to play with her emotions, but when she was really angry, instead of feeling happy, he was unhappy about it.

“I see, that Liu Jizhen is extremely important to you.” He continued to provoke her. “Since that’s the case, why don’t you just agree?”

Before he could finish, a ray of sword-light shot toward Xie Lianzhen.

Xie Lianzhen flicked his fingers. Ding Ding Ding! The light was like a star as it hit back at the sword.

Just one attack.

Lu Mingshu put the sword back and stared at him coldly. “Let me repeat myself one more time. My master is not a joking matter.”

“You’re really angry, huh…?”

“If someone jokes around with your master, what would you feel?” Lu Mingshu said coldly. “You have your limits, and so do others.”

After that, she went off to do her own stuff and turned a blind eye to him.

When she came up from the river, Xie Lianzhen looked like nothing just happened.

“Is there something wrong?”

Lu Mingshu clapped her hands. “There’s a barrier.”

“Huh?”

“Not only did we enter a duplicate world, there’s a barrier about five or six hundred meters wide. We can’t really do anything to move through it.”

“A closed boundary?” Xie Lianzhen stroked his chin. “That means that the others are also like us, in this space. We’re just separated by the barrier.”

Lu Mingshu nodded. That was the most reasonable explanation.

“Are you able to break through?”

“Hardly. With my ability, it wouldn’t even cause a ripple.”

“Hmm….”

Lu Mingshu threw him a glance. “You don’t seem to be very worried about the queen.”

Xie Lianzhen chuckled. “Why should I be? She’s more powerful than me, both in terms of ability and mind games.”

“Worrying is an emotion that comes despite how powerful or invincible someone is. It’s about how much affection you have.” She then smiled. “Xie Lianzhen, it’s indeed true that you have nothing you value.”

“What about you? Don’t you feel that you have too many things you value? Everyone you talk to, you keep them your heart? How tiring.”

Lu Mingshu shook her head. “It’s only a burden if you think it is. To you it’s tiring, but how do you know I’m not just a glutton for punishment?”

They were really total opposites. When there was too much to bear in life, he chose to give up everything, but she chose to carry it all.

Xie Lianzhen wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. He wanted to defeat her, but he was the one being brainwashed.

He used to despise it, but seeing that she was so tenacious, he surprisingly felt that it wasn’t a bad idea after all.

“If there’s really no other choice, what will you do?” he asked softly.

“What can I do?” Lu Mingshu answered. “Live and find a better way out.”