The blood feud between the Zhao and Li families had lasted for generations. They slaughtered each other in a vicious cycle yet always left a spark of survival for the other side, an entanglement of grievances that had persisted like a reincarnation cycle for nearly a thousand years.
This was not what a normal family feud should look like. Every aspect of it felt deliberately orchestrated by human hands.
After Wu Daoqing pointed this out, everyone fell into silence as they faced the nearly thousand-year-old entanglement of the Zhao and Li families laid out before them.
In the prolonged, dead silence, the oppressive atmosphere in the air built up layer by layer, making it hard to breathe.
Ou Li really couldn't bear the suffocating quiet any longer. She spoke up, offering the most direct, straightforward, no-nonsense, blunt, and practical conclusion.
“I get it. There's a fisherman, right?”
“When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman reaps the benefits.”
“The Zhao and Li families are the snipe and the clam locked in a death match. Fighting and exhausting each other for a thousand years, while some bastard has been sitting back and reaping the rewards from behind the scenes the entire time.”
Bai Ci looked down at the overlapping genealogies and historical records on the table, slowly adding, “And a very troublesome fisherman at that.”
“The entanglement between the Zhao and Li families has lasted for nearly a thousand years. The lifespan of this mastermind must be even longer than that.”
“To be able to manipulate the fates of two clans and lock them in a thousand-year feud without ever failing or exposing themselves shows that this is an incredibly patient and meticulous person.”
“With the accumulation of time, forbearance in their methods, and a meticulously planned layout, the combination of these three factors means their background, experience, and hidden trump cards far exceed the upper limits of what we can currently estimate.”
Ou Li's heart tightened. She instinctively looked at the gentle Bai Ci, asking with a trace of unbelievable anxiety, “Lady Ming Ci, do even you find it troublesome?”
In her mind, Bai Ci was a Ghost Immortal, an important NPC assigned by the instance to balance their combat power, essentially making her their ultimate backer in this instance.
Bai Ci nodded slightly. Without trying to act tough, she candidly revealed her own shortcomings. “I have only recently stepped onto the path of a Ghost Immortal. My cultivation is still brief, and my foundation is shallow.”
In truth, let alone entering the path, she hadn't even found where the door was.
“Moreover, I am a benevolent soul. I am naturally not the type suited for combat.”
Bai Ci was managing expectations in advance to avoid future complications.
If she told them beforehand that she was weak, then if it came down to a fight and they discovered she wasn't actually that weak, it would be a pleasant surprise.
On the other hand, if she really was as weak as she claimed, they would already be mentally prepared for it and could accept the outcome.
At this point, Bai Ci looked up at everyone and earnestly warned them, “Right now, Ming Yi has gone out to seek answers from an old friend and is temporarily not by our side. Everyone must be patient.”
“Keep all the clues we found today buried in your hearts for now, and pretend to know nothing. We will plan our next moves once he returns. Do not act rashly and alert the mastermind.”
As soon as Bai Ci said this, the hearts of all the players present sank.
Only now did they belatedly realize that their gravest crisis had arrived.
What did it mean for half of their greatest backer to disappear? And the combat-heavy half at that.
Now that they could narrow down the existence of the hidden boss, the instance had likely progressed to the mid-to-late stage, a phase fraught with hidden dangers and lethal traps.
Yet, their strongest combatant happened to be absent.
For a moment, an uneasy feeling of the sky falling down on them washed over everyone.
After a brief moment of panic, Wu Suowei was the first to steady his mind, regaining his usual calm composure.
He glanced at the time on his phone and spoke up to break the frozen atmosphere, deliberately slowing down the pace to soothe everyone's tense nerves.
“There's no use overthinking. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“It's already past noon. Everyone has been pushing through the morning on an empty stomach. Our brains are tired, and our energy is depleted. If we keep searching, we'll easily make mistakes, which would do more harm than good.”
“How about we go out and eat first? Once we've had our fill and recharged our energy, we'll be in a better state to handle whatever comes next.”
Thanks to Wu Suowei's words, the nerves that everyone had kept taut all morning relaxed slightly. And once people relaxed, fatigue and hunger came rushing in.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Working together, they quickly tidied up the ancient books and reference materials on the table, arranging them neatly.
They also stuck a sticky note on the desk indicating their temporary departure to prevent the library staff from clearing away the books.
Then, they walked out of the ancient books reading area together and left the municipal library.
The bright, dazzling midday sun dispelled the cool shade of the library. The streets were bustling with heavy traffic and pedestrians, presenting a picture of ordinary, worldly prosperity.
“I looked up the highest-rated local restaurant nearby. It's only a few minutes' walk from here, and it has great reviews,” Wu Suowei said, scrolling through his phone to pick a place.
“How about we go here? It serves popular home-style dishes that everyone can enjoy.”
No one had any objections. They walked along the sidewalk, with Wu Suowei leading the way toward the restaurant.
Before long, the group arrived at a crossroads.
Just then, the light turned green. With plenty of time left, they stepped onto the crosswalk without having to wait.
During the day, traffic flowed continuously, and pedestrians streamed past in a lively, mundane scene that seemed completely ordinary.
But Bai Ci still remembered.
She remembered that just yesterday, right here, someone had lost their life. She remembered the Foetal Feeder hanging from the traffic light post.
She instinctively looked up. Hanging from the cold horizontal bar of the traffic light, that shriveled, slender, and bizarre figure resembling wind-dried cured meat still dangled in the air, swaying gently in the breeze.
Yet in less than a day, another life had been lost here.
Its clothes had now turned almost entirely pale white, with only a tiny speck of light red remaining, barely clinging to the collar.
Was the killing frequency of this Foetal Feeder a bit too high?
Bai Ci recalled the Foetal Feeder's method of killing.
It bewitched those with low sanity, tricking them into mistaking the red light for a green light, leading them to run into the traffic and meet their deaths.
Or perhaps everyone's stress levels had been exceptionally high lately? And they just happened to be unlucky enough to trigger its specific killing rule.
Bai Ci stopped dwelling on it. As she turned her head, she suddenly noticed Ou Li instinctively looking up beside her.
To put it one way, the scene of their first meeting, where Ou Li pointed at her—or rather, at Ming Yi—and screamed about a red-clothed malevolent spirit, was still vivid in her memory.
This girl was easily startled, yet her class had bestowed upon her the Yin-Yang Eyes, which allowed her to see all kinds of unexpected things.
The person most prone to losing their cool had been paired with the skill most likely to make someone lose their cool. The destructive synergy was definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
Expecting Ou Li to remain completely unfazed even if Mt. Tai collapsed in front of her was truly asking too much.
Seeing Ou Li's eyes widen and her pupils contract as she was about to open her mouth and scream, the already prepared Bai Ci reacted with lightning speed. Before the girl could make a sound, she precisely raised her hand and covered Ou Li's mouth, her grip gentle but unyielding.
“Let's go. Cross the street, and don't look around.”
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