Volume 5
260 The One Without a Soul Splitter
There were many other individuals in the hall apart from Du Yue, who was lazing on that throne behind the silk gauze curtain.
Two rows of people were standing beside the huge pillars on either side of the great hall. All of them looked the same.
It was the pair of sisters.
One row had people who looked exactly like the older sister, while the other row had people who looked exactly like the younger sister.
None of them had any masks on, and their faces looked exactly like the two women who were killed by Gaoqin Jiuye in that underground room at that time. All of them were looking at me without a hint of friendliness.
I knew why they weren't friendly. It was because Song Lu had left. Song Lu didn't have to take any responsibility for this, but it was their mistake not to have realized I was here.
They seem to be some sort of experimental subject, since they all looked like that pair of sisters. The only difference was that the sisters were in brown robes while the rest of them were dressed in black.
This might be a representation of their higher positions among the rest, or the rest of them might just be clones of the sisters.
Clones like these seemed to only be possible in sci-fi movies. Looking at all of them made my hairs stand. It was eerie that time and space could go haywire in the Split Zone and there were weird experiments going on here that could create clones of humans.
Jiao S was in the hall too, standing on a high platform somewhere at the end of it.
Du Yue's eyes narrowed as she saw Si Luo and I approach. The ice phoenix flew out of the silk gauze curtain to perch on a lamp at the end of the hall as Du Yue got up from the throne. It was looking at me with trembling eyes, as if it was calling out for help.
I could not do anything but console Bing'er in my heart. It wasn't the right time to say anything. I might just end up hurting it if I tried to say something right now.
"Seems like you've come to an agreement." Du Yue sounded suspicious. She probably found our actions dubious since we came back to work with her like this. But of course she'd be suspicious. She had to be suspicious.
I said, "That's right, we've decided. I don't think there's a need for me to gain your trust by saying anything now. You'd still be suspicious of whatever you're supposed to be suspicious of. Since you've decided to work with us, I'm sure that you'd also be prepared for the risk and possibility that we might betray you. There's no need for us to keep guessing. Let's just go straight to the point, shall we?"
Du Yue laughed. "I've finally found some merit in you."
You've finally found it? You'll find more of it in future, and you'll realize that you can't do anything to me because of these merits of mine.
"Since you're so frank, I'll let you in on some of the secrets that you didn't know. You can treat this as a welcome present." Du Yue then walked down the platform towards Si Luo and I.
I raised a hand to stop her in her tracks. "We'll go over."
I turned to Si Luo. He nodded in response.
We then walked towards her with large strides. Du Yue backed up onto the platform as Si Luo and I walked up. It was about seven or eight steps to the top, and it wasn't very tall.
I met Jiao S's eyes as I reached her. I didn't smile or nod, but I knew for sure that she'd know what I was thinking.
Du Yue glanced at the three of us, as if sensing the telepathy between us.
She spoke slowly. "I'm working with you guys because I want to go against Huai Du. That's not the goal though. The goal is Huai Du."
I shot her a frigid look. "Stop beating around the bush. Be direct about it. There's no need to waste everyone's time."
Du Yue was not happy with this attitude of mine, probably because I did not accord her with much respect.
Why should I be treating you with respect?
Du Yue did not say anything this time. She merely stared at me as she continued, "Huai Du's goal is to cultivate demons. On this, since you've entered the demon cave before and you've also seen Nie Zun, I'm sure you've seen it for yourselves too.
"That demon cave is a place Huai Du had prepared for years through pouring MF into it to create a specialized cave for demon cultivation. The layout of the cave is extremely peculiar, and it makes use of spatial transference techniques to connect many spaces to one another. All these spaces come together to form some sort of a maze in the demon cave."
Demon cultivating cave? I knew that cave was no ordinary demon cave. So this was why the inside was always so peculiar and the spaces could change at a moment's notice. Because of that spatial transference, spaces could overlap and connect with one another.
But what benefits can spatial transference do for demon cultivation? Was it simply to make people lose their way in the cave? I had a feeling that a weirdo like Huai Du would not do something like this just for the mere fun of it.
"The demon cultivating cave is exactly like its name - its main purpose is to cultivate demons. In all these years that he had created the demon cave, I haven't seen him really successfully cultivate a demon. This is why I suspect that he hasn't been able to find the suitable materials for it. You need a sword if you want to practice using one, and you'll need a demon for demon cultivation. That demon that he had finally set his eyes on was none other than Nie Zun."
I had always known that Nie Zun had some demonic prowess, and even when everyone else said he was a demon, even when he said he was a demon himself, to me, that demonic side of him was different from what the others were referring to.
"Why did he pick Nie Zun? Even though his MF is high, he's still a mere heir. There're so many soul splitters in the three gates with extraordinary abilities. Why did he have to pick Nie Zun?" I asked.
Du Yue smirked. "This is the root of the problem. I've finally found the reason why Li Qing seemed to favor you two newcomers when the both of you first arrived here in the Split Zone. You aren't the only unique one here. Nie Zun has a rare constitution too. It was a coincidence that the both of you arrived in the Split Zone at the same time and both your consciousness restricted each other in some way. I can only describe this as nothing short of a miracle, just that this miracle was a dangerous bomb.
"Your uniqueness lies in your second personality, and I haven't really gotten to the bottom of this either. Of course, one of my main goals is to find out what's the deal with your second personality. Though I'm working with you now, you should know that I won't show mercy towards you in future."
I returned her smirk. "No need for this pretense. It's not as if you show mercy to anyone else."
Du Yue stared at me. "I'm guessing that you aren't aware of Nie Zun's uniqueness, are you?"
I raised a brow. "If you're talking about his hands, his left hand especially, then I'm sorry to say that I knew that already."
It's just a pair of hands. Just because his hands were powerful, did it have to be looked at like some sort of research material here even after they were treated like poison when he was alive?
Du Yue stopped my thoughts from running wild immediately.
"No, I'm not talking about his hands. I'm referring to him as a person. Do you know that Nie Zun doesn't have a soul splitter?"
I was stunned. What did she just say?
I shook my head subconsciously. "What did you say?"
Du Yue looked smug as she regarded me. "According to my investigations, Nie Zun doesn't have a soul splitter. This means that he wasn't captured here by a soul splitter. But without soul splitters as middlemen, people from your world aren't able to come over to this world. These spaces are separate to begin with, and there shouldn't be any paths that can bring you to and fro. This is why we borrow your power and establish split symbol contracts after capturing you.
"But Nie Zun is different. We have to pay a huge price to even bring you over, and for you to come over here on your own is basically something that's impossible. Before Nie Zun, there was only one such case of a body of consciousness coming over on its own without being captured.
"That body of consciousness had a unique constitution, just like how Gaoqin Jiuye is. She came over here because she could see whatever was happening in the Split Zone through her dreams. But only a part of her consciousness came over.
"Just like how Gaoqin Jiuye looked for you, she came over to this world through her dreams to look for a certain person." Though Du Yue didn't explicitly reveal who this individual was, I already knew who she was referring to.
I looked towards Jiao S.
Jiao S was looking at me as well. She gave me an apologetic gaze as our eyes met.
She must be beating herself up for not telling me this sooner, and that somebody else had to reveal this to me instead. She thought I'd blame her for this.
There was definitely some part of me that blamed her, but I understood her reasons for doing so.
This was her secret. Everyone had secrets, and it had nothing to do with whether you were close to each other or not, or whether you trusted each other. One had to keep a secret if you had one.
Du Yue's gaze alternated between Jiao S and I. "Seeing the two of you, I guess there's no need for me to explain any further. That's right. That individual is none other than Jiao S. Jiao S was able to dream of the Split Zone when she was younger. Because her mental abilities were so strong, she was able to forcefully pull her consciousness over to the Split Zone many times during her dreams. She then met Si Luo and Gaoqin Jiuye, and Si Luo treated her just like a little sister here.
"Just like what I said earlier, this is already a miracle. Just like how Gaoqin Jiuye could pass through the two worlds through dreams, this was a feat that was almost impossible to achieve. One would need great mental ability to do so, and one had to have the ability to construct a dream that could be used as a pathway between the two worlds.
"Not many individuals can do something like this, much less an heir. Apart from Jiao S, there aren't any other heirs who can do this."