When Ye Zhiqiu walked out of the fog, he felt his vision gradually clearing. He slowly got up from the ground and watched what was happening before him.
Song Yan was still fighting against the black - clothed men. Ye Zhiqiu had no idea how long he had been trapped in the fog. It felt like a long time, yet also like just a moment.
"Come out."
Ye Zhiqiu didn't have time to dwell on this matter. From behind came Le Ning's voice. She looked in Ye Zhiqiu's direction and said with a smile.
"Your purpose is to ask me the reason for my resurrection, right? I can tell you." Ye Zhiqiu calmed his mind and looked down into Le Ning's eyes.
Although it was hard to believe, this child in front of him was actually forty years old at this moment, and she was the seventh princess of Li City.
Ye Zhiqiu had seen it clearly in her illusion.
Although her past was not very pleasant.
Le Ning just smiled when she heard this. She straightened her sleeves, looked out of the window beyond Ye Zhiqiu, and spoke in a low voice, as if talking to Ye Zhiqiu and also as if talking to herself.
"I don't need to know the reason. I'm deeply involved in this and can never escape. I don't even know how to solve it, let alone you..."
Ye Zhiqiu listened to her words but had no idea what she was thinking. He took a step forward. "What on earth is your purpose?"
Le Ning turned to look at Ye Zhiqiu, a smile curving her lips, her almond - shaped eyes narrowing. "I don't want to know the reason, and my purpose is very simple."
She waved her hand, and those who had just been fighting with Song Yan stopped their actions.
Although they stopped fighting, they still pointed their scimitars at Song Yan warily.
Le Ning walked a few steps towards Song Yan. Looking at his gasping figure, she said with a smile, "Fighting with Director Song just now was not my intention. I had no choice but to do this to prevent the director from disturbing my plan."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Song Yan looked at the person not far from him. He didn't believe a word she said.
This person had been full of mysteries from the very beginning. Every time she got close, she had a purpose, and every word she said was never a waste.
"Director, you don't need to be so on guard against me. I'm actually the same as Master Ye. We're both victims." Le Ning's voice was very soft, and it was especially clear in the quiet room.
She paused for a moment, as if thinking of something, and her eyes drooped. She spoke word by word.
"Victims of Emperor Yu Ling."
"What exactly do you mean?" Song Yan frowned even tighter as he listened to Le Ning's bewildering words.
Le Ning tucked her hands into her sleeves, tilted her head to glance at Ye Zhiqiu not far away, and said indifferently, "Some words might as well be explained to you by Master Ye himself. The memories he found in the illusion."
"What memories? What on earth are you talking about?" Song Yan looked in Ye Zhiqiu's direction. Ye Zhiqiu had regained his consciousness by now, but there was a strange look in his eyes.
He looked at Song Yan, took a few steps forward but didn't get closer. Instead, he stood beside Le Ning.
Ye Zhiqiu had found his lost memories in the previous illusion and also knew why he had this ability.
Ye Shang was originally a trusted subordinate of Emperor Qing Jing. Emperor Qing Jing wanted to find a secret recipe for immortality. He wanted to obtain what Emperor Shao had failed to get back then.
The ancient books in Li City recorded how to develop this elixir, so Emperor Qing Jing had someone build a villa in the mountains specifically for research.
The elixir of immortality was actually a kind of Gu worm, and only by using children for experiments could it have the greatest chance of success.
This matter was entrusted to Ye Shang to manage, and he himself was one of the children in that experiment back then.
Although he didn't know why, perhaps in his body was the only successfully developed Gu worm, which was why he couldn't die and had the ability to be resurrected infinitely.
He and Le Ning had a common enemy.
That was Emperor Yu Ling, the high - ranking emperor in the imperial city.
But Song Yan was the director of the Investigation Department of Yu Ling. Their stances were different. Ye Zhiqiu didn't know if the other person would stand by his side.
"Isn't Master Ye going to say anything?" Le Ning saw that Ye Zhiqiu was hesitant to speak and let out a soft laugh.
Ye Zhiqiu had no intention of speaking in response to Le Ning's words. Le Ning didn't force him either. After all, this matter was really hard to talk about.
"In that case, I'll explain it for you." Le Ning walked a few steps forward and stood in front of Song Yan. Song Yan pointed his long sword directly at her neck.
There was no expression on Le Ning's face. She just stood in front of the tip of his sword, still wearing that innocent smile.
"His Majesty of Yu Ling wants to seek the elixir of immortality. Something that Emperor Xian couldn't get even after massacring the imperial city of Li, yet he is still infatuated with the idea of obtaining it, trying to live forever and be as long - lived as the heavens.
Emperor Qing accidentally obtained an ancient book and found a secret recipe for immortality in it. The secret recipe uses Gu worms as bait, but this kind of Gu is extremely difficult to cultivate. So, guess what Emperor Qing did about it?"
Le Ning looked at Song Yan's face. At this point, she instead threw him a question. Song Yan didn't stop holding the hilt of his sword and didn't say a single word in reply.
Le Ning didn't care. She tucked a strand of her black hair behind her ear and continued with a smile. There was no trace of emotion in her eyes, and her voice lowered a bit.
"Emperor Qing built a villa in the mountains. He specifically captured abandoned or street - wandering children and brought them to this villa for experiments, all for this Gu. But the Gu worm that can make people immortal is so hard to cultivate. How could it succeed overnight?
So, new children were brought to the villa every day, and every day, the children whose experiments failed would die. On the back mountain of the villa, the corpses piled up like a mountain. At night, the unclosed eyes of the corpses were filled with grievances. They cried day and night on the mountain, lamenting their innocence. So many lives were lost just for the delusional dream of an emperor."
Le Ning took a few steps forward. In the quiet room, only the sound of the fabric rubbing against the floor echoed. Song Yan's hand tightly gripping the sword was also trembling slightly when he heard these words.
Everything she said was something he didn't know. Song Yan had no idea that His Majesty had actually done such a thing in secret. Although he was indeed obsessed with immortality, but...
He never expected that His Majesty would go to such a crazy extent.
"Master Ye was also one of the children captured for the experiment back then. He was lucky enough to survive from that hell - like place, but he was also unlucky because he still couldn't escape Emperor Qing's eyes."
Le Ning walked in front of Song Yan. Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, she reached out and pressed down on his sword, getting a bit closer to him.
"Why did the imperial concubine capture Zhiqiu and keep asking him the reason for his resurrection?" Song Yan calmed his mind, not allowing himself to easily believe the one - sided words of the person in front of him.
After all, if, as she said, their real enemy was His Majesty, then how could one explain everything that had happened in the palace?
They shouldn't have deliberately let Ye Zhiqiu enter the palace as a master, nor should they have killed him again and again just to find out the truth about his resurrection.
Le Ning shifted her gaze and looked at a certain floor tile under her feet, answering Song Yan's doubts. "After all, the imperial concubine is still a person beside Emperor Qing. So what if I gave her the ability to be resurrected? The glory and wealth of her family all depend on Emperor Qing's whim."
At this point, she paused, and her tone also lowered a bit. On closer listening, there was a touch of sadness in it. "She is actually a poor woman. After Emperor Qing knew that she couldn't die, he treated her just like he treated Master Ye. After countless deaths, he just wanted to know the reason for her resurrection..."
Song Yan finally put down his sword. Indeed, based on what he knew about Emperor Qing, he was exactly the kind of person who would do such a thing.
Now he was at a crossroads, making a choice in his heart.
Should he make the right choice, or...
He didn't know...
Ye Zhiqiu could also see the other person's inner struggle at this moment. He took a step forward and whispered, "I know you're hesitating now. This matter has nothing to do with you in the first place. Just leave this room and act as if you've never heard anything."
"But we..." Song Yan looked at Ye Zhiqiu. He didn't finish his sentence, but just by looking into his eyes, one could tell.
Ye Zhiqiu was serious. He would stand on the opposite side of himself. It made sense. He had experienced so many things in his childhood, and now that he knew who the real culprit was, how could he easily let it go?
After a period of silence, Song Yan finally chose to leave.
When he walked out of the villa, his heart was in a complex state. He didn't know what he should do to be right.
He was the director of the Investigation Department appointed by Emperor Qing of Yu Ling. He was already a person beside Emperor Qing.
Song Yan never expected that when he and Ye Zhiqiu came to this villa, he thought that once this matter was over, they could get along well and he could hear Ye Zhiqiu's answer.
But unexpectedly, things ended up like this.
The two sides actually became opponents because of this.
Song Yan didn't know what to do. In this situation, he couldn't make a hasty response, and he also couldn't betray Emperor Qing.
Everything seemed to have pushed him into this situation with no turning back.
Le Ning watched Song Yan's departing back, tilted her head to glance in Ye Zhiqiu's direction, and whispered, "He just made the choice he should make. There's no right or wrong in this choice. You don't need to take it too much to heart. This is just... the path he should take..."
Ye Zhiqiu didn't say much about this. He just tucked his hands into his sleeves and withdrew his gaze.
Seeing this, Le Ning curved her lips into a smile. She had already anticipated this situation, and everything... was going in the direction she had planned.
"Okay, I've trained some secret guards. Everything is prepared for revenge. If you've made up your mind, I'll take you to meet them." Le Ning walked a few steps forward. The guards behind her put away their scimitars and stood respectfully beside Le Ning.
Ye Zhiqiu lowered his eyes. Le Ning's words might be very tempting, but he had his own considerations. Mainly, he had an inexplicable feeling that if he got involved with Le Ning, everything would become very troublesome.
So he replied, "No need. I'll figure out a way to solve this matter myself."
Le Ning watched Ye Zhiqiu's steps as he was about to leave and sneered, "I advise Master Ye to think clearly. Now is not the time for you to negotiate terms with me."
"What do you mean?" Ye Zhiqiu turned back to look at Le Ning and saw her snap her fingers.
As soon as the sound rang out, two guards beside her stepped forward and grabbed Ye Zhiqiu. He tried to struggle, but was hit on the back of his neck.
Before losing consciousness, all he could see was the sneer on Le Ning's lips and... the indifferent look in her eyes.