Chapter 325: Arrival of Everyone in the Underground City
“I really didn’t expect there to be such a large area beneath Ninglan New City.”
At this moment, in a relatively remote settlement area of the Underground City, several girls were huddled together in an extremely small room.
“I didn’t expect that either. What was that huge glowing object? It illuminated such a large area.”
“Sister Tan Han, how is it? Did those annoying City Guards leave?”
At this moment, Minian approached Tan Han and asked.
“Hmm… Hmm?” Only after dispersing the summoning spell did Tan Han realize, turning to look at the concerned crowd nearby.
“They’ve already left. It seems this place is indeed as Ninglan Qiuyue said, the methods of the Lord of Ninglan New City are not enough to control this place.” After Tan Han finished speaking, everyone let out a sigh of relief together.
“So… what should we do next?” Minian, who had a good relationship with Tan Han, asked. Faced with the current situation, the girls didn’t have a good solution.
Earlier, they thought they could gather some intel inside Ninglan New City, expecting things to gradually improve, but no one could have predicted that things would develop this way. The Lord directly changed his previous attitude toward outsiders and even opened his arms to their enemy, the Dream Demon. For them, this was undoubtedly a betrayal.
If it weren’t for Ninglan Qiuyue’s help in getting them here, they might have been expelled from Ninglan New City. Yet even in their current state, it felt no different from being driven out of the city.
“Yeah, what now? Those City Guards are gone, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re welcome here, and this place we’re in… it’s too crowded, isn’t it? Night is coming, are we really going to squeeze in here for the night?”
Although it was the girls’ first time here, their impression of this place was terrible. They couldn’t imagine having to spend the night here.
“That guy… seems to be the captain of the Ground Patrol Team and has some connections with Ninglan Qiuyue. Didn’t he say he would come find us after dealing with those City Guards? We’ve been waiting here for quite a while now.”
“I’m not sure. Maybe he was just stalling. Didn’t Sister Tan Han say he’s already left? He should be back soon.”
“That guy probably won’t come back, at least not in the short term.” At this moment, Tan Han joined the conversation, speaking with a certain tone of assurance.
“Eh? No way! Are they lying to us?” Heddy, who was squatting in the corner, asked.
“No, he just went to meet someone more important,” Tan Han shook her head and said, “We are inconsequential to him, and even without him, we already know the City Guards have left. However, we need to be cautious here. We don’t know how the people here feel about outsiders.”
“So, we can leave now?”
“Yes, we can leave. I also need to go out for a bit,” Tan Han nodded and said. She had said what she needed to say, and the people present were not the type to treat their lives lightly.
“Eh? Sister Tan Han, are you going to act alone?”
“Yes, I need to see someone.”
“See someone? Is it… Sister Xiao Han? Are you going to see Sister Xiao Han?” Minian asked, quickly realizing that there weren’t many people here that Tan Han would deliberately go to see.
Ninglan Qiuyue could be one, Ninglan Qiuyu could be another, but neither of them was here right now, and the captain of the Ground Patrol Team didn’t count, so it seemed like it could only be Sister Xiao Han. After all, the last time Tan Han mentioned going to see someone, it was indeed Sister Xiao Han.
“Yes, I didn’t expect you to guess that.” Tan Han seemed slightly surprised.
“Really? Earlier, you said Sister Xiao Han was missing, but it turns out she was here all along? Can I go with you? Sister Xiao Han has been around here for so long; I want to go to her!”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. If you go along, or if others go with us, it would be too many people, and I want to ask about some things.”
“Alright, I was just joking. I know that following you would be a burden. We will wait for good news from you… wait, Sister Tan Han, how do you know Sister Xiao Han is here? Did you see her?”
“I really did see her. The captain of the Ground Patrol Team I mentioned earlier was welcoming Xiao Han… it seems Xiao Han holds a relatively high position here, allowing her to be protected directly from those City Guards by the locals and the Ground Patrol Team.”
As she spoke, Tan Han recalled the scene she had seen through visual sharing earlier, making her slightly incredulous. But then she thought of Xiao Han, and it seemed more reasonable.
“What? Sister Xiao Han has such a high status here? How did she manage that? If we…”
“Alright, stop thinking about relying on others. Having so many of us go over will only cause trouble for Xiao Han. Don’t you understand?”
“I understand, I understand… I was just saying it, just saying it… don’t take it seriously. I was just lamenting how useless I am… just thinking about the bad things I said earlier about Sister Xiao Han makes me feel… like I’m the useless one.”
“Well, don’t belittle yourself too much. Just be aware of yourself,” Tan Han said before opening the door to leave alone.
Watching Tan Han’s departing figure, the group of girls looked at each other. They had descended too hastily, and many of their companions hadn’t even had the chance to come down, let alone other extraordinary academies.
“What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know. Let’s wait for Sister Tan Han to come back and see.”
“I need to take care of Lan Baihui; she’s not feeling well.”
“Su Ningmu, you’re not in great condition either; don’t push yourself like this.”
“I was just hurt by that thing in my soul material. Lan Baihui was directly drained of her soul material by that Dream Demon. I know I can’t do anything right now, so I’m trying to do some things within my capabilities. You all have to do the same. We can’t just rely on Sister Tan Han, or Sister Xiao Han like before. It was the same during the competition, and now we’re in a similar situation.”
“Alright, Su Ningmu, now is not the time for complaints.”
“I’m not complaining…”
“Alright now, with Sister Xiao Han not here and Sister Tan Han not here, this is truly our moment. Let’s think about what we can do in our current situation and with our abilities.”
“We can’t do anything.” A statement from someone left everyone in silence.
After all, they were very clear about their own situation. They were merely new students who had just enrolled for a short while. Due to the opportunities in the competitions, they obtained several magic sources and spellbooks, learned half-hearted theoretical courses in class, studied elemental theory, extraordinary knowledge, and the Witch Meditation Method, along with practical training.
But what use were these? At least here, they were entirely ineffective and had already been driven to this place by those City Guards; they were already terrified in front of death.
“I won’t cause trouble for everyone. I’ll meditate first.”
“I’ll meditate to pass the time too.”
“I have Summoning Spells, but I don’t have the kind of visualization sharing that Sister Tan Han has to understand the situation in real-time, but I can set something out to learn about the outside conditions and come back to communicate with me.”
“I’m confident in my strength; self-defense should be fine. I’ll go outside and see if there’s anything happening around.”
Gradually, everyone began to speak up, each saying something, even those without abilities felt they should ensure they wouldn’t cause trouble for others.
In the Underground City, Extraordinary Research Base.
When I arrived here, several scholars immediately surrounded me. Upon seeing the problems they faced, I couldn’t help but exclaim; it was still too much to entrust these issues to scholars who had only recently been exposed to Rune Literature. Even if each of them had a strong foundation in inscriptions, they could still falter in their thought processes.
After resolving their issues, I intended to leave. After all, I just went out for some air and planned to head back, yet here I was being invited in.
“Scholar Xiao Han, are you leaving?”
“Yes, I’m used to going to sleep early. You shouldn’t stay up too late; I can’t comprehend your behavior.”
After a simple farewell to the scholars, I chose to leave directly. I should be coming back tomorrow, just not with the same enthusiasm as before, since my main objective was essentially accomplished. What I needed to finish now was a weapon against the Nightmare, which was somewhat optional for me.
However, as I stepped out of the base, I caught sight of a familiar figure.
“Mm~ Mm~ Eh? Sister Xiao Han, you’re out!”
“Mm.” I gave a simple response, then shifted my gaze from the cute catgirl Huh Dream to another person beside her, “Tan Han, you’re later than I expected.”
“Really?” At this moment, Tan Han put down her right hand that had been scratching Huh Dream’s ears, looking at me, “So do you have time now?”
“I have time. Ninglan Qiuyue told me that you wanted to ask me something related to this, right?” I gently stroked Huh Dream, who ran towards me, patted her head, and sent her back, since it was nearing night and it wasn’t suitable to linger outside anymore.
At this moment, Sister Bai also walked over from behind me.
“Hello, Senior.” Tan Han politely greeted Sister Bai while she simply responded casually.
Then Tan Han turned her gaze back to me, “Xiao Han, may I… talk to you alone?”
“Mm… Sure.” I turned my head to glance at Sister Bai and then said, “Let’s head back first; this place isn’t suitable for discussing matters.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank me for what? I’m a bit curious about how you all are doing now. This place is quite a distance from where I live, would you mind telling me about it?”
I guided Tan Han and Sister Bai as we prepared to return to the residence.
Along the way, I learned quite a bit from Tan Han, such as the current circumstances in Ninglan New City before they came down, how many students among them were involved in this incident, how many had arrived in the Underground City, and what challenges the others might face, etc.
Naturally, Tan Han also learned a lot of information from me, including the current state of the Underground City, the attitude of the locals toward outsiders, etc.
Of course, I was even more concerned about the methods that could harm the soul material that they had experienced firsthand.
According to Tan Han, the City Guards wielding such methods weren’t many; the style of their equipment was essentially the same as their usual weapons, namely cold weapons like long spears and halberds.
Once struck, according to descriptions from the injured, it was a penetrating pain, and the visceral feeling of vitality fading would instinctively evoke the deepest fear of death within one’s heart.
When a person’s soul material is damaged, their consciousness body in the dream realm would appear unusually transparent. The more serious the injury, the higher the body’s transparency—this feeling of watching oneself step into death incessantly was particularly distressing, even leading to a mental breakdown.
“We’re here; it’s right here.” I led Tan Han into a hotel. While it couldn’t compare to the Ninglan Xiang Hotel in Ninglan New City, it still had to be compared. Compared to other places in the Underground City, this was significantly better.
“Mm, let’s go in first.” I said to Tan Han, then turned my gaze to Sister Bai, “Sister Bai, I’ll just chat with her for a bit.”
“Okay, got it. Hurry up.”
Once I received Sister Bai’s reply, I immediately returned to my room and locked the door. As the door was locked, I turned my attention to Tan Han.
“Please sit. Just choose any place to sit comfortably. Ninglan Qiuyue mentioned that you have questions to ask me, so go ahead.” I said, not caring if Tan Han would be polite to me, sitting directly on the bed and settling into the most comfortable position while looking at Tan Han.
“Xiao Han… I want to ask you a question.” At this moment, Tan Han’s demeanor changed, and her tone became much different than before. What was more critical was that Tan Han cast a soundproof spell.
“Go ahead and ask.” I also straightened up at this moment.
“Have you ever felt at some moment like you were being played by fate?”
“Played by fate?” Upon hearing Tan Han bring up this topic, I was momentarily taken aback, but then I felt at ease, “Why do you ask this? I thought you were the least concerned about such things. After all… your talent is called ‘Spirit Eye,’ right?”
“Yes, Spirit Eye, a power that helps me see through fate. Many of the choices I’ve made are related to it.”
“What? Are you thinking about rebelling now?” I asked with a smile. Though what Tan Han saw was not fate but fortune, she was close enough; the script is, after all, her fate, right?
“Rebelling… no, I have always been rebelling. The power conferred by Spirit Eye is something I cannot refuse. I must grasp every bit of power to resist so-called fate, but I find out I’ve made a mistake… the more I resist, the more fate mocks my incompetence.”
“And then? What drives your rebellion? Seeking… freedom, or not wanting to be manipulated inexplicably?” I continued to inquire.
Fate is, well… something that never seems right, but I didn’t expect Tan Han to discuss this matter with me at this moment.
“I don’t know. I just know I don’t want this kind of life. Everything has changed since entering the Witch Academy. Xiao Han, you must know something, right? Previously… the awakening of Spirit Eye is related to you, and then you distanced yourself from me. You must have sensed something! You know something, so please tell me!”
“I don’t know anything. Also, I maintained distance from you before because of Sister Bai. Perhaps she was jealous. Later… I just clarified things…” I directly began to engage in telling a white lie since I couldn’t go into too much detail on this matter; after all, the contract I signed wasn’t just for show.
“You’re lying… Xiao Han, hasn’t anyone told you that you have no talent for lying?”
“So, what kind of answers do you want to gain from me?” I saw that my words were ruthlessly dismantled by Tan Han, but I did not show any expression, trying to maintain a poker face.
“I want to know what… your teachers, and even… the Academy Head… what are you hiding from me? Stop pretending to be clueless! Yang Yuelan! Even if you refuse, please just give me a clear rejection. I can pretend that I never asked these questions of you…”
“Alright… I refuse.”
