Chapter 53: Fifty-three spirits, Her brother beat her up. (2/2)

Yin Que dealt with them easily, and always cleaned up after, leaving no trace for pursuers.

Ting Rui navigated smoothly from the back seat.

In the seventh hour after entering the 192 Zone, they arrived at an abandoned building where Qi Sihui had once been seen.

Five years had passed.

The building was now a dangerous ruin, most of the outer walls stripped away, graffiti scrawled everywhere.

It was hard to make out what was written, but the desolation was palpable to all.

The four entered and split into two teams:

Ning Li and Yin Que, Ting Rui and Pei Yujiu.

They began checking every corner.

But as Ting Rui had said, the building was very clean—no traces that shouldn’t be there.

After regrouping, Ting Rui lay on the ground, panting, “Commander, when Yujiu and I checked this place before, we didn’t find anything. Now it’s been even longer, and he’s definitely sent people to cover his tracks again. If you want to know what happened back then, I’m afraid it’s impossible.”

Qi Sihui’s men wouldn’t mess up something as simple as covering their tracks.

Finding clues here was almost impossible.

But…was it really impossible?

Not necessarily.

Ning Li said, “There’s always a witness.”

Ting Rui shrugged, “Maybe. But having witnesses isn’t always a good thing.”

Because if they were found, there was only one end for witnesses.

But for Ning Li, this wasn’t a problem.

Because this was her domain.

The only inconvenience was having outsiders present; she couldn’t use her full abilities.

“I want to be alone for a while, is that okay?”

Yin Que didn’t ask why.

He was always so accepting.

“You stay in this room, we’ll go next door. Call if you need me, okay?”

“Okay.”

Once Yin Que, Ting Rui, and Pei Yujiu left, Ning Li activated her skill:

[Death God’s Decree].

It was a summoning skill.

Each summoned spirit was random.

Sometimes a powerful one would come, sometimes just a nearby soul.

Ning Li still hadn’t figured out a pattern.

The first she summoned was a female spirit.

Since her spiritual sea had expanded, the female’s face was clear.

Her features were deep and striking, with a cold, fierce beauty, and she spoke haughtily with the scent of battle clinging to her.

“Why have you summoned me?”

Ning Li:

“Do you know what Qi Sihui did here?”

“Qi Sihui? Never heard of him.”

After speaking, the cool-headed female sentinel glanced at her, full of impatience.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

The female sentinel crossed her arms and, without another word, faded away.

After she left, Ning Li stood, deep in thought.

Such a waste of a chance.

Every summon was random.

Perhaps in her whole life, she could only summon this spirit once.

Couldn’t they be put to better use?

Like providing more useful information.

Or exchanging combat techniques.

Or even sparring with Yin Que, to help him recover to his peak sooner?

That female sentinel seemed very strong.

She was covered in the aura of blood and battle.

Maybe, a moment before, she’d been slaying deformed creatures on the battlefield—then, in the next, fallen there.

She shouldn’t just appear for a few seconds.

Too wasteful.

Ning Li stood for a while, then decided to call Yin Que in.

He’d already met Ran Fu, so seeing another was nothing.

Given the current size of her spiritual sea, she could use [Death God’s Decree] four times before she’d need to recover her energy.

The second summon brought back the same irritable and cool-headed female sentinel.

“Told you I don’t know him, don’t you get it? Who the hell is Qi Sihui anyway, why should I know him?”

Ning Li pointed, “Brother, fight her.”

Female sentinel:

???

Yin Que did indeed need real combat experience.

The Storm appeared behind him, enveloping the whole space in a swirl of wind.

The female sentinel didn’t feel offended at all.

Her spirit changed instantly from cool apathy to burning battle intent.

Why hadn’t they just said they wanted to fight from the start?

Why all the pointless chatter?

She had zero interest in Qi Sihui!

“The spiritual body is the Lord of Storms? Interesting.”

“Barely qualified to fight me.”

“Young man, your spiritual sea is still so small? Not much to look at.”

“Oh? But you’re growing fast.”

“Wait, the Lord of Storms isn’t your spiritual body?”

“Then what is?”

Unfortunately, Yin Que didn’t plan to reveal his Cosmic Rose this time.

He wanted to master the Lord of Storms’ abilities first, using wind again and again to sweep through the space.

“Good, good, youth is to be feared, youth is to be feared!”

“Hahaha, this is exhilarating!”

Yin Que and the female sentinel fought fiercely for seven minutes.

Since neither wanted to make too much noise, they both had to control their strength.

If they’d gone all out, the crumbling building would’ve collapsed.

Seven minutes was the longest a summoned spirit could last.

As it was ending, the female spirit wiped sweat from her face, laughing, “Remember, my name is… never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Today’s fight was satisfying. Young man, you’re excellent. Goodbye.”

Yin Que nodded politely, “Farewell, Senior Lu.”

The female sentinel looked shocked, “You actually… you…?”

She lifted her head, and a gleam sparkled at her eye’s corner.

After all these years, someone still remembered her.

Her life had been worth it!

Ning Li looked at Yin Que.

In front of a senior, he was obedient, polite, and respectful.

She felt a little regret for not knowing Yin Que when he was younger.

Maybe he’d been even more well-behaved then.

Not long ago, his hair had grown out, and Ting Rui had helped cut it shorter.

Ting Rui’s barber skills were so-so, but Yin Que’s good looks made up for it—his tousled hair looked better than the crafted styles from any salon.

“If only I’d met you sooner, brother.”

“Now isn’t too late.”

After the female sentinel faded, Yin Que finally spoke, “That senior was the captain of the Jifeng Squad forty years ago.”

He’d seen her file before and knew her name.

She was a sentinel with real character.

That proved to be true.

Ning Li nodded.

So that was it.

Yin Que always had the ability to move people easily—in just a few words, he nearly brought tears to the eyes of such a unique sentinel.

So the fierce female sentinel was an experienced captain.

Luckily, she’d brought Yin Que to spar with her.

Three seconds later, Ning Li used [Death God’s Decree] again.

This time, she summoned an elderly man in a white coat.

He looked really old—almost a hundred, leaning on a cane, wearing glasses, so shaky he seemed about to fall.

Yet he had the scholarly air unique to a researcher.

Very refined.

Very elegant.

“Director Lu? Didn’t you pass away long ago…”

Lu Guang was the former Director of the Top Research Institute, said to have died ten years ago.

Yin Que had even attended his funeral.

But how could someone long dead, when appearing as a spirit, seem even older?

He wasn’t so old ten years ago—he’d been vigorous, didn’t need a cane.

Did that mean he didn’t actually die ten years ago?

Then when did he die?

Now that he thought about it, Yin Que hadn’t seen Lu Guang’s body back then, only his memorial photo.

Had he faked his death and worked for Qi Sihui after?

Hearing “Director Lu,” Lu Guang looked at Yin Que for a long, long time—almost a full minute—before exclaiming, “Ah, Yin Que, it’s you.”

“I heard you died five years ago. So… revived from death?”

For the first time, Yin Que lost his composure in front of a senior and didn’t answer.

Lu Guang chuckled.

It was obvious, so he didn’t press further.

“What did you call me for?”

“We need something.”

Ning Li stared at Lu Guang’s bark-like wrinkled face and asked, “About five years ago, Qi Sihui appeared here. What was he doing?”

Lu Guang frowned in annoyance, “So careless? He slipped up that badly in front of you?”

Ning Li said, “Cut the crap.”

Yin Que respected this elder, but Ning Li felt nothing. Here, she was the summoner, Lu Guang the summoned.

It was because of her he could appear again.

Time was short; every second was precious.

She didn’t want to waste time—summoning the same person twice was rare luck, not something that happened often.

Lu Guang hadn’t spoken to people in ages.

Maybe he had much to share.

Hearing Ning Li’s bluntness, he wasn’t offended, but grew excited and began to talk.

“There are many ordinary people in the Sentinel-Guide world, who can never awaken spiritual bodies their whole lives. How unfair is that!”

Yin Que spoke gently, “Senior Lu, I remember your spiritual body was Lulan Orchid.”

Lu Guang was a researcher and a mid-level guide.

Because of his talent, he became Director as a mid-level guide.

Lu Guang laughed, “But my youngest daughter and eldest grandson are both ordinary people.”

“The proportion of awakened spiritual bodies among your descendants is already high.”

Lu Guang sneered, “So what? It can’t erase the pain of my favorites! I don’t care about the others; I only care about these two!”

The ones he loved most were both ordinary.

It was hard for ordinary people to survive in this world.

Even with his protection, they were only better off than most.

And now he was gone.

This world belonged to sentinels and guides.

More precisely, to top sentinels and top guides.

“Why are some people born with top-ranked spiritual bodies, while others can only awaken ordinary ones?”

Lu Guang, though so old he was falling apart, was fired with energy as a spirit—his words flowed without a pause.

Anyone could hear the frustration and resentment in his words.

Yin Que said quietly, “So you were always doing human experiments? Trying to help ordinary people awaken spiritual bodies?”

Was Qi Sihui here for those experiments, too?

His spiritual body, the ancient beast, was already powerful enough…

Was he still unsatisfied?

Or did he come because of someone else—a close ordinary person?

According to previous investigations, there was no such person.

Of course, something might have been missed.

If someone like that existed, Qi Sihui would have protected them well.

Lu Guang exhaled softly, “Yin Que, you’re always so smart.”

Ning Li asked, “How did you experiment?”

Forcing ordinary people to awaken spiritual bodies was almost impossible—even Ran Fu couldn’t do it for Ran Wu, only relying on Divine Gifts.

Such experiments must be against human nature, possibly horrific.

Lu Guang’s cloudy gaze fixed on Ning Li, raving like a mad believer, “Revive me. Revive me just like you revived Yin Que. Then I’ll tell you the answer.”

Ning Li smiled.

Because it was ridiculous.

“How wishful you are.”

There wasn’t much time left.

Seven minutes in all—not enough for a proper conversation.

Lu Guang became agitated.

Who’d have thought that this wretched old man had once been Director of the Top Research Institute?

Now, he was just an ordinary person longing to live again.

All those manners, morals, were thrown away.

“You revived Yin Que, why not me?”

“I’m more valuable than him!”

“All the experiment data is in my head! I have a memory palace in here!”

“Revive me! Revive me! I’m buried in the Legendary Mausoleum on Sky Island!”

“Remember to come find me!”

“I know Qi Sihui’s secret! Revive me!!!”

Time was up.

No matter how unwilling Lu Guang was, he disappeared again, leaving behind only his last frantic posture.