“That's it. That's how it went on my end.”
Having recounted her entire ordeal, Ou Li let out a long breath and slumped back into her chair.
Before getting her hands on some offensive or escape items, she swore she would never run around blindly again, especially in instances where the boss dragged out their kills forever.
Getting killed in a single strike was clean and quick. The pain lasted only a moment—one blink of an eye, and she would be right back in the Anomalous Infection space.
But being slowly sliced with a dull knife, unable to die quickly, was agonizing. Who would want to suffer like that for no reason?
If that NPC hadn't happened to pass by and save her this time, she couldn't even imagine what kind of torture the final boss would have put her through.
The sheer amount of information in Ou Li's recount was staggering, leaving the others utterly dazed.
The Foetal Feeder, the malevolent spirit, and Li Yunqi, who had died just yesterday evening, only to start roaming around today disguised as a living person.
His corpse lay peacefully inside the Zhao family's coffin, yet another identical Li Yunqi was running amok in the real world.
Just as Ou Li was finishing up her explanation to the group, Ming Yi finally released his embrace and began to offer his own account.
However, his explanation was meant for Bai Ci alone.
Perhaps he found it too troublesome to converse with the others, or perhaps he knew Bai Ci could act as a bridge of communication between them. Thus, he spoke to her through soul-to-soul transmission.
The others, even Ou Li with her Yin-Yang Eyes, couldn't hear a single sound.
After all, Yin-Yang Eyes only allowed one to see things invisible to ordinary people. Eyes, after all, didn't possess the ability to hear.
Ou Li could only watch as Ming Yi's lips moved, saying something she couldn't grasp.
And as luck would have it, she didn't know how to read lips either.
So at this moment, she was no different from any other ordinary player—standing right before a secret, yet empty-handed and unable to grasp any clues.
“At the time, I had just finished catching up with my old friend and was thinking it was about time to return when I received your message that you were in danger.”
Ming Yi's voice was deep, carrying a lingering trace of stiffness, as he straightforwardly explained the reason behind his sudden loss of contact to Bai Ci.
“I intended to use your divine soul as an anchor, channeling my power to descend and return to your side immediately.”
“But the moment the spell was activated, the heavenly secrets surrounding your location were forcibly obscured. I lost my guidance and became lost, causing the spell to fail.”
“It was not a simple barrier. It was a targeted deception, forcefully severing the sensory link between us.”
Bai Ci's heart sank slightly. She pondered for a moment, piecing together the cause and effect.
No wonder her connection with him hadn't felt completely severed earlier, but rather lagged, like it was constantly buffering.
Some bastard had precisely targeted their most vulnerable window. With Ming Yi out visiting a friend, they had suffered an absolute lack of combat strength.
It was clear that they were in the light while the enemy was in the dark, causing much of their information to be continuously leaked.
This leak wasn't intentional, but it was the tragic consequence of losing the upper hand.
Bai Ci digested the information and summarized, “So, the mastermind who ambushed us this time is the same person who controls the Zhao family's thousand-year curse and stirred up the blood feud between the Zhao and Li families, right?”
She didn't purposely lower her voice. Though she spoke softly, it happened to cut through the quiet contemplation of the group, ringing clearly in everyone's ears.
The others, who had been lost in their own thoughts and debriefing, instantly snapped out of it and exchanged glances.
They tacitly ended their private discussions. They didn't choose to focus all their gazes on Bai Ci and Ming Yi at once, as that would be too conspicuous and easily cause offense.
Since it was inappropriate to stare directly, everyone lowered their heads in unison but perked up their ears, unwilling to miss a single shred of information.
Holding their breath, they were filled with an eager yearning to uncover the truth.
Ming Yi didn't care about this at all, even tacitly allowing them to eavesdrop.
In the past, with his cold and aloof temperament, he had viewed mortals as nothing more than ants. He would never have allowed outsiders to pry into his secrets and grudges.
But now, with Bai Ci's benevolent soul by his side, his piercing malevolence had been strangely softened and smoothed over, granting him a touch more tolerance.
Moreover, this group of people indeed possessed qualities that commanded respect.
Zheng Gang's ability to trace origins, research history, and dig up clues far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Although this man didn't know a single supernatural technique, his performance in gathering information was far more useful than any clumsy, half-baked spells.
Wu Suowei was meticulous, possessed strong real-time decision-making skills, and was excellent at crowd control. He had stepped forward to defuse conflicts on numerous occasions.
Not to mention Mi Ke, who had sharp perception, provided thorough support, and was incredibly detail-oriented.
Even the reckless and impulsive Ou Li—though her impulsiveness sometimes caused trouble—possessed a precise intuition and an inexplicable, bizarre luck that ultimately drove their investigation deeper.
This group of people had both courage and wisdom, each with their own strengths, and were by no means comparable to ordinary folks.
Allowing them to know the truth and break the deadlock together would bring more benefits than harm.
His mind made up, Ming Yi nodded slightly, his tone firm and without a shred of hesitation. “It is him.”
“My old friend has always loved deducing heavenly secrets and understanding karma. However, his words are always shrouded in fog, making it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood, and he refuses to speak the full truth plainly.”
At this point, a faint, barely noticeable smile actually appeared on Ming Yi's face.
Clearly, seeing a riddle-monger trip up was something that would bring a smile to anyone's face, regardless of their personality.
“But they found enough clues. Thus, when my old friend tried to play dumb, I exposed his lies one by one, and the information pointed in a very clear direction.”
When he mentioned “them,” Ming Yi's gaze fell upon the players and Wu Daoqing, who were pretending to drink tea while eagerly eavesdropping.
Who exactly was “them”?
The answer was obvious.
In his heart, Ming Yi had already recognized the value of the players.
“Now that the clues have come full circle, we can be certain that the root of all this evil comes from the same hand.”
He paused, a long-buried chill and hatred flashing in his eyes, causing the surrounding temperature to drop.
“Furthermore, he is not only the culprit behind the generational curse of the Zhao family, but also our enemy.”
Bai Ci caught the key piece of information and quickly connected it to a past event. “Are you saying that the group of mountain bandits back then was also related to him?”
Ming Yi nodded slowly.
The group of mountain bandits who had wiped out the Ming family and caused the massacre back then was actually connected to the root of the Zhao family's curse. No wonder Ming Yi was so unwilling to let this matter go.
It was not just his duty as a Ghost Immortal, but also a blood feud.
Professionally or personally, Ming Yi would never let that fellow off.
“The mountain bandits who slaughtered our clan can be traced back to the dispute between the Zhao and Li families. It was highly likely the work of the Li family remnants, done to gather the strength to destroy the Zhao family.”
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