Calamity Messenger

Chapter 378 - 309: Rogue Secret Technique: Vanishing into the Void

"Are you using this bracelet to control the demons?"

Murong Hui suddenly leaned over and asked him from behind.

Yan Qing responded with an affirmative hum. Since he could see the bracelet, others certainly could too.

However, from the beginning, he didn’t intend to hide his ability to control demons.

Not to mention Murong Hui, as they went deeper into the Demon Gathering Land, they would definitely encounter other envoys. Unless he killed all the witnesses, his secret would certainly get out.

But what if it did get out?

The Demon Gathering Land has four large gates. When the time came, he could just choose any gate to leave, and the moment he stepped out, he would immediately return to the Thief’s House. Forget about the Foundation Establishment Zhenren, even if a Golden Core True Monarch wanted to challenge him, an ordinary person, what could they do?

As his strength and perspective grew, Yan Qing realized that the Thief’s House was far more important than he had imagined. Even without mentioning rewards, the sense of security it provided him couldn’t be matched by the Return Order.

After all, the Return Order just transported him to another place in the real world. As long as he was in reality, there was always the risk of someone tracking him down. He had to sleep with one eye open. But the Thief’s House was an impregnable safehouse. Once the door was closed, what did it matter if the outside world turned upside down? Not even the three Thief Women could assault him at night.

With the Thief’s House as a retreat, Yan Qing felt at ease doing anything. But he didn’t reveal everything. Just as the most important part of streaking in the street is to cover one’s face, he only needed to disguise his appearance. As long as his face stayed hidden, other secrets being exposed didn’t matter.

The one with secrets was the Thief Yellow Dog. What did that have to do with Yan Qing?

"I won’t tell anyone," Murong Hui said earnestly. "Not even my Grandpa."

Yan Qing neither agreed nor disagreed. He suddenly remembered something: "Ying Rushi asked me to pass a message to you."

"Who?" Murong Hui looked puzzled. "Are you talking about the Prince of Lanling? But I’m not very familiar with her. Are you sure you got it right?"

If Yan Qing hadn’t first gone to Yanzi Military Town, he might have been fooled by Murong Hui’s acting. He said flatly, "Green Mountain sees me."

"How coincidental, you know her too!" Murong Hui became excited instantly. "This means the three of us are meant to be the closest of friends!"

This close friend you speak of doesn’t sound very serious.

"What did she ask you to say to me?"

"She sends her regards and says she can’t repay what she owes you."

Murong Hui paused, her expression turning serious, "Did something happen to her?"

"Rumor has it she killed the Commander of the Baibao Guards and has now betrayed the Qi Kingdom," Yan Qing replied.

Murong Hui exhaled slowly, then suddenly let out a light laugh and sighed, "She finally took that step."

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you know her well?"

Yan Qing shook his head, "I don’t know more than you do."

"I left Yanzi Military Town half a month ago and haven’t received any information since. I can’t determine Little Fox’s current situation. Do you think she’s safe now?"

Yan Qing thought of the sorrowful girl who seemed to dissolve in the rainy gloom. After a moment’s reflection, he shook his head, "She might have the ability to escape to safety, but she doesn’t seem to be fleeing to survive; rather, she seeks rebirth."

"Yes," Murong Hui said softly. "She has always been a fool eager to die... always worrying about things that don’t concern her... so naive..."

"Thank you," she said, looking at Yan Qing. "This information is very important to me, just as important as when you saved me. Thanks to your reminder, I’ll rush back to meet Little Fox immediately after leaving the Demon Gathering Land... I owe you three favors."

"Three? Wasn’t it two?"

"Being willing to share the secrets of the Demon Gathering Land is surely a favor too."

"That’s unnecessary."

"Of course, it’s necessary. Grandpa told me that the more favors I owe, the more willing others will be to help me. That’s how I won over Little Fox in the beginning. Anyway, since I owe you so many favors, I don’t mind owing a few more."

Yan Qing chuckled but couldn’t stand Murong Hui’s arrogance. He snorted, "You little sly cat."

"Just wait, I’ll stink you to death!" Murong Hui instantly puffed up, transformed into a black cat, and pounced on Yan Qing, attempting to smother him. In the chase, they soon arrived in front of a giant glass cabinet.

"Look, that’s the Puppet Cage," Murong Hui said, pointing at the glass cabinet. "It’s filled with motionless puppets. I tried attacking it with all my might, but I couldn’t even scratch it. Do you have a way to get the puppets out?"

Yan Qing looked at the lifelike puppets piled inside the glass cabinet and the claw and joystick outside, speechless.

Even though it was much larger, wasn’t this a claw machine?

When Yan Qing reached for the joystick, a prompt suddenly appeared in the glass cabinet:

"Puppet Cage"

"Every character can use the Puppet Cage for free once per day; each subsequent use requires spending Puppet Tokens."

"The strength of the Puppet Tokens is related to the clamping force. First Transition has a 20% clamping force, Second Transition has a 50% clamping force, Third Transition has an 80% clamping force, Fourth Transition has a 100% clamping force and only ends when capturing a puppet."

It’s really called the Puppet Cage!

Moreover, it clearly tells players that unless they invest in high-grade Puppet Tokens, it’s just like a claw machine outside; even if you catch a puppet, it will fall off due to insufficient clamping force!

Truly learning the best from physical stores, this is their quintessential essence.

"It actually reacted?" Murong Hui was shocked: "I touched it for a long time before, and it never had any movement... Is it because of your bracelet? I remember now, isn’t this bracelet the branch of the Tongue-Entwining Tree at the entrance?"

"Don’t think about it," Yan Qing shattered her illusion directly: "Even if you get a bracelet from the Tongue-Entwining Tree, it won’t work."

"I also think so, many people have investigated the Tongue-Entwining Tree, if there really was a secret, it should have been discovered long ago." Murong Hui approached Yan Qing, rubbed his hands together like a fly, his face full of flattery: "Uh..."

"Get lost."

"Alright then..."

...

...

In the curtain of rain, a beautiful silhouette jumped off a cliff, sliding down countless broken rocks to the bottom, finally stabilizing her posture with a roll. Her hands soaked in blood, her expression weary, eyes bloodshot, hair stuck to her face because of rain and sweat—if it’s not Ying Rushi, who could it be?

Snorts of horses came from behind as eight Baibao Guards galloped down the cliff, heavy hooves crushing stones, the red glowing eyes under the Evil Ghost Masks were cold and merciless, full of murderous intent!

Ying Rushi gazed at the unguarded field ahead, knowing she couldn’t continue to flee. She couldn’t escape in the mountains, and escaping from the Baibao Guards in the field would be even more impossible.

However...

When Ying Rushi tried to mobilize the Red Dust Eye, she only felt a stabbing pain like needles, tears of blood slipping down her eyes, overwhelming fatigue made her wish she could collapse and faint.

Red Dust Eye is ultimately a Half-Divine Technique of Fake Foundation Establishment Power. For a mortal to touch divine techniques is to exchange life for power; she used it too frequently these past two days without proper rest... her body and soul are on the brink of collapse, she can’t use Red Dust Eye anymore!

The reason Ying Rushi could resist the Baibao Guards relied entirely on the ’illusion control’ of the Red Dust Eye. Without it, she was just an ordinary Third Transition, and a terribly weakened one at that.

Facing eight Baibao Guards, she couldn’t withstand a single move; even simple weapon clashes would completely overwhelm her.

Yet Ying Rushi turned around, drawing the Heaven-Swaying Sword, calmly greeting the iron rush of the Baibao Guards.

No compassion, no heart, no tears, the Baibao Guards had no unnecessary emotion due to Ying Rushi’s action. They were invincible war machines, crushing everything on their path!

At the moment of imminent collision, Ying Rushi suddenly disappeared.

But after one breath, she reappeared in the original place, by now the Baibao Guards had already rushed behind her. She slashed, cutting off horse legs!

After repetitively using the same trick, all the Baibao Guards had dead horses and turned to foot combat. Every time they were about to hit her, Ying Rushi vanished from the air, evading every attack like a phantom, from start to finish she attacked the enemy, the enemy couldn’t touch her at all!

Midway through, the Baibao Guards finally noticed something. After Ying Rushi disappeared, they immediately attacked the spot where she disappeared. However, this time they were doomed to fail, because Ying Rushi did not appear at all. After roughly a tea’s time, Ying Rushi suddenly jumped out, pulling them back into battle again.

Even though the Baibao Guards realized Ying Rushi’s secret, knowing did not equate to resolving it. As long as Ying Rushi didn’t show a flaw, they couldn’t do anything to her! Normally, anyone should be fleeing now, but they were Ying Le’s blades, blades cannot flee, a blade’s end can only be cut until it breaks!

As the last Baibao Guard fell, Ying Rushi couldn’t hold it anymore and knelt on the ground, vomiting messily, but it was nothing significant, only jaundiced water. She had only eaten dark chocolate to stave off hunger in the last two days, her energy consumption was high. Her hands kept bleeding, the bandages were saturated like bloody rags, occasionally bits of meat even seeped out, as if wrapping a mess of minced flesh inside the bandages.

Her head hurt like thousands of needles stabbing, everything in front appeared as double images, her world spinning crazily. All of this was due to her technique, a skill that only members of the Thief’s House could use.

Not Authority, not Divine Techniques, yet stronger than any Authority Divine Techniques, Ying Rushi named it ——

[Retreat to the Empty Gate]!

In the instant of being attacked, returning to the Thief’s House, then immediately coming back, results in standing still yet evading attacks. As long as enemies cannot lock space, this move is almost invincible! Plus, it has no consumption, can be activated infinitely!

But though the technique is invincible, the person is not.

Ying Rushi practiced for a long time, but applying it in real combat was her first time, because [Retreat to the Empty Gate] has extremely high demands on reaction, constantly switching sight, making her dizzy even with Third Transition Cultivation, disorienting her completely.

She’d rather use Red Dust Eye than [Retreat to the Empty Gate], because it’s truly unbearable, towards the end she was fighting purely on memory and instinct. Luckily these Baibao Guards were rigid with little adaptability, otherwise, she would’ve been caught for sure.

Biting down hard on dark chocolate, Ying Rushi realized she had reached her limit, decisively returning to the Thief’s House. The room was covered with blood-stained bandages, as filthy as a slaughterhouse.

Grabbing a dagger between her teeth, Ying Rushi took swift, shallow breaths, gritted her teeth tightly, ripping off the bandages on her hands.

"Mmm... Mmm... Mmmmmm..."

As Ying Rushi released the dagger bearing deep teeth marks, the ground on which she sat cross-legged saturated with blood and sweat. She pulled out Blood Replenishing Pills like candy, stuffing them into her mouth, emitting heavy breaths with closed eyes, after a long while finally calming down.