Mingdu welcomed the night once again as it did every day. The illumination soul tools along the streets remained as bright as ever, but the atmosphere seemed to lack the usual liveliness of past days.
Although the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was doing its best to cover up the attack on the Mingde Hall, an incident of such magnitude could not be concealed from ordinary people, let alone from soul engineers and soul masters with cultivation.
Added to that was the commotion caused earlier by people from Shrek Academy at the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold.
Ordinary citizens did not know that the place belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult, nor did everyone know it was an underground trading venue in Mingdu. They only knew that people from the other empires had attacked the capital of the Sun Moon Empire.
An inexplicable atmosphere silently spread throughout the entire city of Mingdu. In some shops that stayed open late into the night, familiar customers coming and going discussed the events of the past two days. When emotions ran high, they wished they could grab soul tools right then and charge over to the three empires to strike back.
"What on earth is His Majesty thinking? How has there been no news from the imperial family even now?"
At a small stall nearby, several figures sat gathered under an illumination soul tool, grumbling complaints fueled by alcohol.
"Yeah, this is just too frustrating!" On the other side, a young man slammed an empty bottle onto the table with a "bang." "I've already decided, I'm enlisting in the army tomorrow. They've bullied us right in our own capital; how are we supposed to swallow this insult?"
"Hey—" The person beside him tugged at the young man's arm. "His Majesty must have his own reasons. People like us shouldn't worry too much."
"I think you're just scared. Why don't you sneak across the border early and defect to the three empires?"
"How could that possibly be what I meant?" The man who had just tried to劝 him instantly flushed red, stood up, and raised his voice a few notches. "I'm only saying we should obey His Majesty's orders. As soon as His Majesty gives the command, I'll naturally charge into battle!"
"Alright, alright—"
Seeing that the raised voices had attracted the attention of many people around them, a drinking companion quickly stood up and pulled him back down.
After all, they were discussing matters concerning the imperial family; it was best not to let too many people overhear.
At another table not far from these few people, several figures were similarly gathered. One of them suddenly gripped the wine cup in her hand tightly, but her wrist was quickly grasped by another.
"Ming'er, what are you trying to do?"
"Ruoruo-jie, I can't listen to this anymore. The academy was clearly helping them eliminate evil soul masters. How did it end up with us being the ones bullying them?"
"Sigh." Hearing Wu Ming's words, Han Ruoruo slightly raised her head and glanced around. Seeing that no one else was paying attention to them, she spoke in a low voice. "This matter wasn't something we were in the right about to begin with."
"Although the academy's goal was indeed to eliminate evil soul masters, causing such a huge disturbance in Mingdu still makes the Sun Moon Empire lose face to some extent."
"Think about it, if someone inexplicably destroyed a large area of buildings in Shrek City, how would you feel?"
"I would of course—" Wu Ming paused mid-sentence. She had already understood the meaning behind Han Ruoruo's words.
"Alright, don't be angry. Our identities wouldn't hold up under scrutiny anyway, so we shouldn't linger too long. If we can't find Dean Yan and the others, let's find a place to rest first."
Hearing Han Ruoruo's words, Wu Ming's momentum instantly weakened. "These days, everyone's been talking about something happening in the Jingyang Mountain Range. Could Dean Yan and the others have gone there?"
"Dean Yan and the others didn't leave any markings, so I'm not very sure either." Han Ruoruo shook her head. "Let's do this: we'll search one more day tomorrow. If we still find nothing, we'll leave first. This is, after all, the Sun Moon Empire's territory."
"That's all we can do." Wu Ming said as she looked up toward the outside. With just this one glance, she froze in place.
"Ma—" She had only uttered the first syllable before immediately falling silent, reaching out to nudge Han Ruoruo beside her.
Han Ruoruo's eyes similarly lit up upon seeing this. She gave the others a signal with her eyes, and the group stood up unobtrusively and left.
"Eldest Sister, where have you all been these past few days?" As soon as they reached a place with no one around, Wu Ming couldn't wait to ask.
Zhang Lexuan also breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the inner courtyard disciples. "It's a long story. This isn't the place to talk. I'll take you out of here first, then we'll hurry back to the academy as quickly as possible."
"What about Dean Yan and the others?" Han Ruoruo asked with some concern.
"They'll be leaving soon as well. Mingdu is far more dangerous than the academy anticipated. This matter isn't something we can resolve at our current level."
"Huh?"
Hearing Zhang Lexuan's words, Wu Ming and the others instantly paled.
Something that even the academy's elders couldn't resolve was indeed beyond their expectations.
"As long as you understand the danger, that's good. Let's go—I'll take you out."
Zhang Lexuan looked left and right. The nights in Mingdu were not quiet; with illumination soul tools, the streets never lacked pedestrians even late at night. She briefly divided the group, and they left in twos and threes, heading out of the city.
"Eldest Sister, just now while we were resting…" On the way, Wu Ming moved closer to Zhang Lexuan and recounted what they had just heard.
"I heard it too." Zhang Lexuan nodded and let out a quiet sigh.
From the moment she entered the city until she found Wu Ming's group, she had heard similar remarks more than once. Sometimes she wondered whether this operation by the academy had been too reckless.
Clearly, someone had already reminded her that the matter of evil soul masters was far from as simple as they had seen.
Mingdu had no city walls, and there was far more than one road leading out. Coupled with the illumination soul tools that never ceased through the night, there was naturally no curfew. Zhang Lexuan's group encountered no obstacles and smoothly left Mingdu.
Outside the city was pitch black. Zhang Lexuan suddenly stopped, turned back to look at the expanse of light behind her, and momentarily lost herself in thought.
"What is it, Eldest Sister?" Seeing this, Wu Ming also stopped.
"You all go on ahead. There's something I still need to take care of."
"What is it? Do you need our help?" Han Ruoruo noticed the movement behind her and turned around as well.
"Yeah, Eldest Sister. If it's not important, let's leave first." Wu Ming also tried to persuade her.
Zhang Lexuan did not speak; she merely shook her head. "It's fine. I'll be back soon."
With that, without waiting for their response, she turned and re-entered the city.
"Eldest Sister—"
Wu Ming wanted to say more, but Han Ruoruo stopped her. "Ming'er, trust Eldest Sister. Let's head back first."
"Alright."
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Lexuan had already passed through several streets within Mingdu. Soon, a large gate appeared far ahead of her. Though it bore no particularly conspicuous markings, anyone from the Sun Moon Empire would recognize it—this was none other than the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are 40 early chapters available on Patreon
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)