Chapter 174
Mei Liangyu played with the copper coin in his hand, and after Yu Sui came over, he placed it in her hand, sneering: "Don't listen to his nonsense. What's the use of being skilled at divination if you can't take a beating yourself."
Yu Sui burst out laughing, gripping the copper coin and looking up at Mei Liangyu: "Senior Brother Nian is still very impressive. Just his divination skills alone are already remarkable. Our divination is naturally half-baked compared to his."
Mei Liangyu said: "You are, I'm not."
Yu Sui: "......"
This sudden competitive spirit.
Mei Liangyu asked again: "What did you divine for him?"
Yu Sui walked outside with him, not directly answering: "I hadn't even thought of what to divine when Senior Brother Nian rejected me. He probably thought my divination skills were too poor. What about you, Senior Brother? Have you divined for Senior Brother Nian before?"
Nian Qiuyan heard the conversation between the two outside, took a deep breath, supporting his forehead with one hand and the desk with the other, recalling the scene just now in his mind, completely unable to figure out when Yu Sui had made her move or how she had done it.
He even briefly suspected whether that potentially fatal School of Names water arrow had been executed by Nangong Sui or Mei Liangyu.
On second thought, he felt it couldn't possibly be Mei Liangyu.
Nian Qiuyan's expression was strange, his eyes grave. Although he had felt through previous divinations that Nangong Sui might not be as simple as she appeared on the surface, and her attitude toward Zhang Xiangyun also showed that this girl wasn't as innocent and harmless as she seemed.
Or rather, she had some cunning.
But Nian Qiuyan never expected that besides having some cunning, she could also kill people invisibly without anyone knowing, and even knew Nine Schools Arts beyond Ghost Way School.
Nian Qiuyan vividly remembered the scene of seeing Yu Sui through the copper coin's hole, the ice-cold sensation of the water arrow aimed at his heart, something he would probably never forget in this lifetime.
Seeing her calm and composed manner, Nian Qiuyan thought that Nangong Sui definitely wasn't doing this for the first time.
From intervening in the match between Mei Liangyu and Wei Kun in the outer city, to the surprise attack on Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu underwater, who knew how many other incidents he hadn't noticed.
Zhang Xiangyun always thought Nangong Sui was foolish, weak, and vulnerable. He and Luo Fu were accustomed to comparing Nangong Sui with Qing Kui.
So was Nian Qiuyan.
Because they all knew the relationship between Qing Kui and Nangong Sui, they were sisters born of the same parents.
Qing Kui was Nangong Ming's daughter, something Nangong Ming had never hidden.
Apart from the Xuan Kui organization, everyone around Nangong Ming who knew this treated Qing Kui as a royal princess.
The father and daughter had always had a good relationship.
Before Qing Kui was taken to Luo Mountain Peak by Lady Su, she was already old enough to remember and knew who her father was.
During her days at Luo Mountain Peak, she would often ask Lady Su where Father had gone and when he would come to take her back.
Being the first child with Lady Su, she also received Nangong Ming's favoritism.
In Nian Qiuyan's memory, Qing Kui had been proud and confident since childhood, imposing and majestic, different from him, Zhang Xiangyun, and others.
Even though they were in the same world of Lan Corpse, Qing Kui was freer than them because she was a superior, possessing many privileges.
Qing Kui had clear goals and worked hard toward them. With powerful talent, she learned everything quickly and well. After growing up, she smiled while hiding daggers, becoming increasingly like her father.
When Nian Qiuyan first saw Yu Sui at Taiyi Academy, he only observed secretly without deliberately approaching.
Nangong Sui, who grew up in Qingyang Royal Manor, had contact with a completely different world from theirs. It was normal for her to grow up innocent, naive, and harmless.
Moreover, Nangong Sui was an ordinary practitioner. It would be too harsh to judge her by Nine Schools Arts practitioners' standards.
Nian Qiuyan had been the first to notice Mei Liangyu's changing attitude toward Nangong Sui. He hadn't intervened, just watched quietly, even feeling somewhat emotional that Mei Mei would actually like someone as innocent, obedient, and cute as Nangong Sui.
Now thinking about it, Nian Qiuyan felt he had also misjudged.
Mei Liangyu was so smart and often in contact with Nangong Sui. He couldn't possibly not know what Nangong Sui's true nature was really like.
He wondered if this kid had ever been threatened with a blade to his throat by Nangong Sui.
As Nian Qiuyan pondered deeply, his brow unconsciously furrowed tightly. When he subconsciously compared Yu Sui with Qing Kui, he suddenly wondered: did the Prince know Nangong Sui's true nature?
If she had deceived even the Prince... Nian Qiuyan's heart jumped, thinking it seemed unlikely.
Although Nian Qiuyan grew up in Yan Kingdom, he wasn't from Yan Kingdom.
What he had told Mei Liangyu earlier was half-true, half-false.
His description of Yan Kingdom's current situation was true.
His claim to be from Yan Kingdom was false.
Nangong Ming often went to Yan Kingdom.
Working under Nangong Ming, doing all the dirty and exhausting work, Nian Qiuyan could more genuinely feel Nangong Ming's power and terror.
In front of Nangong Ming, Nian Qiuyan found it difficult to hide his thoughts. Whenever Nangong Ming smiled and looked at him, he had to be completely alert, unable to relax even slightly.
Qing Kui had never given Nian Qiuyan any sense of oppression because he felt that compared to Nangong Ming, Qing Kui's threat was negligible.
But tonight, Nian Qiuyan experienced a pressure similar to Nangong Ming's from Yu Sui, making him afraid to let his guard down.
Nian Qiuyan frowned tightly. If the Prince knew Nangong Sui's true nature and therefore let her take over Xuan Kui's business in Taiyi Academy, that would make sense.
But if it weren't for Taiyi Academy discovering Lan Corpse and the Saints taking action to sweep them out, causing Xuan Kui to lose many people and suffer heavy casualties, it wouldn't have been Nangong Sui's turn to help.
When Nangong Sui met Uncle Cao in the outer city that day, she had looked completely clueless.
Did she really know nothing?
Because he knew Qing Kui, Nian Qiuyan, like Zhang Xiangyun and others, assumed by default that Nangong Sui couldn't compare to Qing Kui, and the position of royal princess would inevitably return to Qing Kui in the future.
But now it seemed that might not be the case.
Half an hour passed, and Nian Qiuyan's mind was still full of thoughts about Nangong Sui.
The smarter someone was, the more they thought, but the more Nian Qiuyan thought about Nangong Sui, the more horrified he became.
Nian Qiuyan reopened the window, letting the night wind blow freely. The cool night wind helped him calm his mind.
The night wind rustled the drawing paper on the desk. Nian Qiuyan looked down to see the divination array he had drawn earlier for divining love affairs. He calmly destroyed it and picked up the ink brush to prepare for a new divination.
This time, he didn't care whether the relationship between Nangong Sui and Mei Liangyu was rocky or fruitful.
He was divining Nangong Sui herself.
Nian Qiuyan hadn't forgotten that the last time he divined only for Mei Liangyu, when it involved Nangong Sui, the Divine Wood Signs had cracked, with a very domineering and powerful force interfering with him.
That divination's subject had been Mei Liangyu, so he couldn't directly confirm that the anomaly came from Nangong Sui.
Nian Qiuyan hadn't been this serious about divination for a long time.
The last time was when he was 17.
Because his Xuan Kui Lan Corpse identity was discovered, he had drawn swords against friends.
He laid out a new divination array on paper. With each stroke, he infused Five Elements Energy, making the ink flow and float on the paper's surface, transforming into mountains, rivers, sun, and moon.
Nian Qiuyan reached for the Divine Wood Signs, about to begin the divination, when he suddenly saw a blue lightning bolt appear and strike his hand, then explode into countless tiny snake-like electrical currents, making his heart contract and immediately withdraw his hand.
The ink-colored mountains, rivers, sun, and moon floating on the paper were devoured and struck down by the lightning snakes, turning into ink that fell onto the paper, staining the white paper into a chaotic black mess.
Nian Qiuyan's pupils reflected the divination array destroyed by lightning snakes. His eyelid twitched violently, his back grew cold, and his neck felt the clammy chill of moisture.
He gripped the Divine Wood Signs tightly with one hand, scanning the surroundings with apparent composure.
Nangong Sui was still watching him.
The Eight Trigrams Living Arts just now was a warning to him.
Nian Qiuyan looked down at the lightning snake burn marks on his hand, his Adam's apple rolling. The cold night wind couldn't move the hair at his temples that was damp with sweat and stuck to his skin.
Nangong Sui.
How exactly had she done it?
Nian Qiuyan's expression was grave, his nerves taut. Facing this elusive, undetectable method of attack, he slowly released the Divine Wood Signs, placing them aside in silent compromise.
Nangong Sui was not Mei Liangyu.
She wouldn't show him mercy.
Nian Qiuyan now realized that in the Abyss Sea, the reason the water arrows hadn't attacked him was that Nangong Sui had spared him for Mei Liangyu's sake.
Tonight, her meaning was not to let him expose his identity now and break ties with Mei Mei and the others?
Nian Qiuyan couldn't quite grasp Yu Sui's intentions.
……
Mei Liangyu accompanied Yu Sui back to her guest quarters, examining the magnolias and trumpet vines in her courtyard as they walked, telling her about his divination for Nian Qiuyan.
He said the divination array had been destroyed by Nian Qiuyan's interference, so no result was obtained.
Yu Sui asked: "Why did Senior Brother Nian destroy the divination array?"
Mei Liangyu wanted to say he had a guilty conscience, but the words that came out were: "Who knows what he was thinking. Are you comfortable living here alone?"
Yu Sui walked to the eaves and turned back to look at Mei Liangyu, saying helplessly: "Even if I'm not comfortable, I can't have you stay with me, Senior Brother."
Mei Liangyu's eyes narrowed upon hearing this, his expression inscrutable, giving off the feeling of a great eagle spreading its wings about to snatch away the prey ahead.
Yu Sui added: "Because I would go find Jin Shuang to stay with me."
Mei Liangyu glanced at her: "What would you find Li Jin Shuang for? Just live alone and practice your courage."
Yu Sui: "Alright."
She obediently nodded in agreement, making Mei Liangyu feel like punching cotton, both amused and exasperated.
The night wind outside was bitingly cold. Yu Sui invited Mei Liangyu inside and asked what he had discussed with Grandmother Situ.
Mei Liangyu entered and looked around, his expression unchanged, picking out what he could tell her.
Grandmother Situ had asked whether he was injured, what the situation in Northern Kun City was like, how Situ Jin was doing, and other casual conversation topics.
He didn't tell Yu Sui about the conversation related to sea whirlpools.
Yu Sui listened patiently before asking: "The Mechanism School has no solution for those sea whirlpools either?"
Mei Liangyu had been waiting for Yu Sui to ask.
"No solution." He said flatly. "Grandmother said these are artificial sea whirlpools created by Water Vessel, and they need Water Vessel's Saints to resolve them."
Yu Sui asked curiously: "How will they resolve it?"
Mei Liangyu: "Grandmother didn't give specifics either. Maybe she doesn't know. She only said the Saints would drive those sea whirlpools away from Mechanism Island and not let them threaten Mechanism Island and the academy."
Drive them away?
Drive the Abyss Sea's sea whirlpools to Water Vessel?
That didn't seem impossible either.
Yu Sui listened thoughtfully, saying aloud: "Even sea whirlpools can be artificially created. The Water Vessel Saints are truly impressive."
Mei Liangyu's mind recalled the situation in the Abyss Sea as he explained casually: "Sea whirlpool formation mainly involves chaotic Five Elements Energy. They fight and tear at each other, able to gather terrifyingly powerful forces. The Abyss Sea environment is most suitable for nurturing sea whirlpools. As long as Water Vessel is willing to spend time guiding and waiting, the chances of successful creation are quite high."
Yu Sui rested her crossed hands on the table, tilting her head to look at Mei Liangyu sitting beside her: "I heard them say that Water Vessel artificially creates sea whirlpools to find the Returning Void Eye, because the Returning Void Eye might eliminate Strange Fire."
"Saying eliminate seems wrong. It should be stopping Strange Fire's spread, or maybe devouring Strange Fire?" Yu Sui murmured softly. "We don't know exactly what it's like yet."
Mei Liangyu looked down at Yu Sui sprawled on the table. Though his eyes were full of her, listening to her voice made him think of the scene where the white-robed man had thrown the glowing object into the sea whirlpool.
Returning Void Eye.
The past voice of the white-robed man and Yu Sui's current voice overlapped and intertwined in Mei Liangyu's mind. Fragmentary memories outlined dangerous yet warm scenes.
Mei Liangyu's gaze instantly lost focus, but killing intent exploded around him.
Yu Sui, sprawled on the table like a cat sensing danger, felt her hair stand on end and instinctively became alert.
In this moment, she seemed to return to that rainy night in the mountain cave at Dragon Slaying Cave with Mei Liangyu.
Yu Sui straightened up, staring at Mei Liangyu and saying softly: "Senior Brother?"
"Mm?" Mei Liangyu looked up at her voice, his dark, cold eyes reflecting the frowning Yu Sui.
The sight of the young lady's slightly furrowed brow refocused Mei Liangyu's attention, making him slowly furrow his own brow and restrain and suppress the terrifying aura.
Yu Sui still frowned, saying to Mei Liangyu: "Senior Brother, you scared me."
She said it very seriously.
No longer remaining silent like last time, keeping everything bottled up inside.
The killing intent that had just exploded targeted everything centered around Mei Liangyu indiscriminately. Yu Sui had almost taken action.
Mei Liangyu was unusually silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly hoarse: "Hold out your hand."
"Senior Brother, did you remember something?" Yu Sui observed Mei Liangyu while extending her hand toward him.
Mei Liangyu stared at her palm for a while, then took something from his mechanism box.
When he went to see Grandmother Situ, he remembered that the Situ family had a treasure, and also remembered that Yu Sui didn't sleep well at night and was more afraid of heat than ordinary people.
In Ghost Way Saint Hall, no matter how cold the nights were, Junior Sister would never close doors and windows to hide from the cold.
When it rained, she would roll up her sleeves, lift her skirt, take off her shoes and socks, and play in the storm barefoot in the deep of night.
At those times, Mei Liangyu would hear the storm outside and lazily open his eyes in the reclining chair, glancing outside to see the figure entertaining herself in the rain.
He would watch quietly from inside the hall for a while, then withdraw his gaze and close his eyes to continue sleeping.
Mei Liangyu had seen it but never mentioned it to Yu Sui.
After finishing his conversation with Grandmother Situ, Mei Liangyu had actively discussed another matter with her. He paid money to buy something from Grandmother Situ, a treasure from the Situ family's collection.
When Grandmother Situ heard him asking for a treasure, she said generously: "You want it? Just take it."
Mei Liangyu said: "I'm giving it to someone. I can't just take it for free."
Grandmother Situ asked again: "To whom?"
He said: "To my Junior Sister."
Grandmother Situ said slowly: "Your Junior Sister, that child surnamed Nangong?"
Mei Liangyu nodded: "Yes."
"Since you've recovered those memories, you should know that you and Nangong Ming's daughter..." Grandmother Situ's words were cut off by Mei Liangyu, who remained respectful in expression but spoke with unrefusable firmness: "I can distinguish between Nangong Ming and Nangong Sui."
Grandmother Situ stared at him for a long time, finally naming a sky-high price even more expensive than Spirit Puppets.
Mei Liangyu agreed without even blinking.
Yu Sui saw Mei Liangyu take something from the mechanism box. Before she could clearly see what it looked like, she felt the surrounding temperature suddenly change, as if she had arrived in the depths of winter. Cold rushed toward her face, penetrating her heart and lungs.
"Naturally formed sea whirlpools gather massive amounts of Five Elements Energy and form in the deep sea. During the process, they pass through unknown places in the deep sea. Things swept into the sea whirlpools are affected by the Five Elements Energy within, generating even more strange and wonderful treasures."
Mei Liangyu took a thin, long golden thread from the mechanism box. His gaze paused for a moment on Yu Sui's palm before ultimately skipping over it. He leaned forward close to her, lifting the long hair behind her shoulder with one hand, his expression focused. His breath briefly scattered lightly on Yu Sui's ear tip, and the low male voice so close to her ear made her eyelashes tremble slightly.
"The Situ family once accidentally obtained an object from a sea whirlpool. It seems like Polar Sea ice, but with even more intense cold than Polar Sea ice. The Mechanism School has yet to encounter any fire that can refine it."
He thought, perhaps Strange Fire was an exception.
Even though Yu Sui had never said so, Mei Liangyu could now guess that her poor sleep at night was related to Strange Fire.
Mei Liangyu tied the golden thread around Yu Sui's neck. The thread held a fingernail-sized red jade snowflake pendant with crystalline transparency. Looking closely, one could see continuously growing cracks and floating microscopic snow within the six-pointed snowflake.
"The Situ family was too lazy to name it, so they just called it Polar Sea Cold Jade." After tying the golden thread, Mei Liangyu stepped back from Yu Sui, saying lazily: "But it's yours now. Whatever you want to call it, that's what it will be called."
Yu Sui reached out to grasp the Polar Sea Cold Jade hanging on the golden thread. Before she could speak, she heard Mei Liangyu ask: "Is it too cold?"
"No." Yu Sui shook her head. She said: "It's very warm."
From the burning pain of fire all over her body, it had changed to the warmth of being in a winter hearthroom.
Yu Sui's fingers gently rubbed the snowflake's edges, feeling a strange sensation in her heart that she couldn't describe, light and pleasant, yet also leaving something heavy behind.
"How did the Situ family give such a treasure to Senior Brother?" She looked up at Mei Liangyu and asked.
Mei Liangyu had come to find Yu Sui tonight specifically to give her the Polar Sea Cold Jade, but he hadn't expected some unpleasantness to occur before he gave it to her.
"I traded something for it. The Situ family didn't lose out either." Mei Liangyu said.
Such a large sum of money, not only did they not lose out, they made a fortune.
Anyway, the Situ family had no use for this thing, just keeping it in their mechanism vault as a collectible.
Mei Liangyu saw through Yu Sui's gaze that wanted to continue questioning and spoke before she could: "If it's useless to you, just throw it away."
Yu Sui hurriedly said: "It's useful."
Mei Liangyu looked at her as if he didn't believe it.
Yu Sui added: "Really useful!"
The burning pain of Strange Fire on her skin had indeed lessened.
Only then did a hint of smile flash in Mei Liangyu's eyes. His gaze swept over the Polar Sea Cold Jade that Yu Sui was holding, finally stopping on that obediently expressing face, his tone seemingly casual, only his eyes and brows gentle for a moment: "Junior Sister, sleep well."
Yu Sui thought to herself, that day would come.