bookandnovel Chapter 271 271: 271
Chapter 271 271: 271
Chen Meili didn't enter immediately but stood at the entrance for a while, quietly looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure of the middle-aged woman in front of her. Previously, she didn't pay much attention, but now that she was standing right in front of her, she noticed a lot of inconsistencies that she had previously failed to notice.
The first one was obviously the expression on Sun Qiao's face.
Whenever the two of them met, she would always have that visible disgust and a constant frown, along with the expression of hate. But now… other than some confusion, there was nothing else.
Just a single glance was enough to answer the many doubts in her heart. By now, Chen Meili was ninety per cent sure that the person in front of her was an imposter.
But just in case…
With a simple nod, she entered the room, and the first thing that came to her sight was the almost empty room. Other than a bed and a few pieces of furniture, there was almost nothing in the entire room.
'A basement?' She wasn't surprised. Most people would have an extra basement where they worked or stored their most precious work.
After sitting on a table comfortably, she looked around for a while before speaking in a soft voice.
"It's been a long time since I came here last time. Things didn't seem to have changed much."
With a brief pause, she focused her gaze on the middle-aged woman in front of her before speaking further.
"I liked the previous style of room better when the room was filled with paintings and carpets."
"Why would you even remove them?" By the time she reached the end of her sentence, she was almost whispering.
Yang Ze, on the other hand, was confused as to why this woman was here. It was clear from her actions as well as the information that he gathered from Sun Qiao that these two women hated each other to the bone. For her to appear at this time of hour, especially after what he did to her… Yang Ze already had an answer in his heart. But he still decided to play along. He wanted to see what she was trying to accomplish.
After shutting the door, he grabbed the small table opposite Chen Meili and gave her a simple reply.
"Those things were taking up too much space."
As soon as Yang Ze spoke this sentence, Chen Meili's eyes narrowed into slits, and her breathing almost came to a halt.
She was now absolutely sure that the person in front of her was an imposter.
From the moment she stepped into the imperial city, she and Sun Qiao had been bitter enemies. She wouldn't come to her room even if she were beaten to death, much less appreciate the interior designs.
"So, what are you doing?" Now that she was sure that the person sitting in front of her was an imposter, she just wanted to know if she was the one who had just come to her house, stripped her naked and played with her body.
"Nothing much." Yang Ze just shrugged in response. "I was thinking about trying a new method of talisman making, but to no avail."
"What about you? What are you doing here at this time of night?"
Just like Chen Meili, Yang Ze had similar doubts. He had a feeling that the enchanting woman in front of him was suspicious of him. Perhaps she was starting to have doubts about his identity as well.
"Nothing." Chen Meili let out a soft sigh. "I was just worried."
"Worried about what?" Yang Ze couldn't help but ask.
"Didn't you hear?" This time, Chen Meili's voice was raised a pitch as she spoke further. "They found the body of sister Lu."
"Sister Lu?" Yang Ze, of course, knew whom she was talking about, but he still asked with some confusion, as if trying to remember.
"The one who creates those damned potions." Chen Meili answered softly before adding further. "I saw it with my own eyes."
"She was boiled alive in her own cauldron."
"My god… the nauseating smell of boiled rotten flesh."
"Blegh!"
Just thinking about it, Chen Meili felt like she was standing in that room again. The vile smell was clinging to her nose like a loach. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to get rid of it, and every time she thought about that hellish scene, she felt like the cauldron was placed right under her nose.
"Oh!" Yang Ze couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in response.
"I was so busy here that I never got the chance to take a look."
"By the way, do you know who did it?"
"....." Chen Meili didn't give an immediate reply but looked at it with an innocent expression for a while before shaking her head in response.
Initially, she wanted to pull out the illustration of the young girl, but in the end, she decided against it.
Her mind right now was in a mess, unsure if the person in the portrait, the person in front of her and the one who violated her were all the same or not.
"Nothing much."
"The only thing I knew was that the body as well as the cauldron were encased in a giant metal box that disappeared into thin air."
"Eh!?" Yang Ze raised his voice a pitch as if he heard something incredible.
"How is it possible?"
Looking at his exaggerated expressions, Chen Meili was once again filled with doubts, but it didn't stop her from answering.
"I don't know."
"I just heard rumours that it was fine before, but disappeared after being transported away."
"Hmph!" With a cold snort, she spoke in disdain. "Those corrupt bitches must have sold it and swallowed the money."
"I see." Yang Ze, of course, knew what was going on. He was the one who dissipated the metal in the first place. It was a creation of his Mystic Nether Art, and even if he were to leave it, it would have dissipated upon melting.
"What even is going on in this imperial city?" This time it was Chen Meili who spoke. "First, they forced a purge, eliminating almost all our members. Then they forced new members on us."
"And now that someone has been murdered."
"I just can't…" The more Chen Meili spoke, the hoarser her voice got. "And now they have even made changes in the recruitment process."
"Huh!?" This was the first time Yang Ze had heard about it.
"What changes?" He just knew that a new batch of people were going to join them. Who and how… he didn't know.
"Oh, you don't know?" Chen Meili couldn't help but raise her voice, but soon realised something and shook her head.
"This time they are changing the recruitment process."
"Earlier, the new recruits were supposed to be working with us, but now they have decided to send them to the imperial palace."
"....." Chen Meili's words almost made Yang Ze jump from his chair. For a moment, he couldn't believe his ears.
"Are you sure about that?" He couldn't help but ask again, trying his best to control his ragged breathing.
"Hmm…" Chen Meili nodded in response.
"It is all over the city."
"This time, they are looking for extremely talented individuals who are under the age of twenty to enter the Imperial city."
"Other than the age, which should be between ten years and twenty years old, there is just one more requirement."
"The person should be talented in any one field, it doesn't matter what."
The more Yang Ze listened, the more he felt this was a heaven-sent opportunity just for him. Wasn't he seeking a way to get into the imperial palace without raising suspicion? Even though he could try to go there with his current identity, he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be simple.
He could even try to sneak his way in, but the heart palpitations he felt earlier were clearly a warning from his instincts, telling him to stay away from that place as far as possible.
And just when he was wondering if he should give up the mission, such an opportunity was presented right in front of him.
How could he stay calm?
"I wonder what kind of life they are going to have in the imperial palace." This statement was a test. He wanted to see if Chen Meili knew any information about the imperial palace or not.
Till now, he had absolutely no idea about what kind of place the imperial palace was. Even after torturing Sun Qiao, he didn't get a single word out of her.
Now there was someone else in front of him, and he wanted to see if he could find out more.
"Enviable." Chen Meili uttered a single word as her face was filled with longing.
"With our speed of progress, I don't know just how long it is going to take us to come up with a new discovery and finally be invited to the palace."
"Sigh… Do you ever wonder if we will be able to go there or not?"
Her words were more than enough to answer most of Yang Ze's questions. It seemed like there were strict requirements to enter the Imperial Palace, so much so that even the members of the Resource Hall were unable to go there without making a significant contribution.
"When are they going to recruit new members? I was thinking about going there to take a look."
After thinking about it, Yang Ze decided to take this path. Even though he knew there was some kind of danger there, with his strength at the peak of the Vein Expansion realm, he was more than confident in escaping if things took a turn for the worse.
"Umm… After three days, I think." Chen Meili thought for a moment before giving an answer. Then, she hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice. "Do you want to come with me?"
"Sure." Yang Ze didn't even hesitate to reply.
"Then… see you later." Standing up, Chen Meili simply walked towards the door, pausing slightly near Yang Ze before taking a deep sniff and continuing on her way.
Yang Ze was so engrossed in his train of thought that he didn't even notice this small action of hers.
"Should I use a clone to go in or the main body?" He was still thinking about which course of action to take.
On the other hand, Chen Meili kept on walking and didn't stop till she reached her house.
It was only then that her previously calm face changed drastically as she clenched her chest tightly.
"The same smell." By now, she was certain that it was indeed 'Sun Qiao' who violated her. As for whether she was the one who killed Sister Lu or not, she was smart enough not to think or ask.
"What do I do?" With such a discovery, she didn't know her next course of action. Should she report it? Should she keep it in her heart? Or should she use this information to her advantage?
The more she thought about it, the more frantic her thinking got.
In the end, she just threw her tired body onto the bed, her heart in a constant struggle.
—------------------
"You are going to die a miserable death."
After entering the basement, Yang Ze saw that the tied-up woman wanted to say something, and when he removed the cloth from her mouth, these were the words that greeted him.
"Really, now?" He couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
"If you have nothing else to say, just keep quiet." He was about to put the cloth back in her mouth when Sun Qiao spoke again.
"You are so proud of this damned shapeshifting, aren't you?" Sun Qiao's voice was filled with hate as she spoke further. "But it's not going to do much."
"No matter if it's shapeshifting or illusion or any other kind of ability… nothing will work in the vicinity of the palace."
"Hah… HAAAAH… HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA."