Feeling slightly relieved, Nelly heard the wind behind her again. Without turning back, she nimbly somersaulted twice, using the momentum to reach the top of the middle courtyard building connected to the low wall. The masked men couldn’t immediately pursue, and could only call for archer reinforcements. Nelly was not originally familiar with the Red Castle’s terrain but having just received Rosalia’s topographic map, a small map appeared in her top right field of view, guiding her to flee through the complex court interior. Now that she had broken with Clovi, all Nelly could do was quickly find Pippin, someone even the king dared not directly move against.
The court official lived in the Official’s Tower on the south side, and she needed to find a way to get there as soon as possible. The pursuit of the assassins gave Nelly a headache. Avoiding the incoming arrow rain, Nelly hid in the cellar entrance at the edge of the courtyard, concealing herself in the cave’s shadows. But as her pursuers were about to search nearby, with an iron door behind her locked with three locks, she suddenly had nowhere to hide and could only prepare to fight head-on.
“Search near this wall quickly!”
As the enemies drew closer, Nelly tightly gripped her dagger, gathering strength and waiting for the target to approach.
Twenty steps, ten steps, five steps…
Just in time, three light sounds came from behind, and a cool breeze blew from behind. Nelly took a few steps back without thinking and entered the pitch-black cellar.
Who opened this door?
She was on guard, paying attention to the surroundings. A hand stretched out from the darkness, silently closing and locking the door. Nelly cautiously retreated, and waited until the masked person walked away before noticing: it was the eunuch sent by Pi Ping earlier!
He made a “follow me” gesture to Nelly, silently turning around.
Naily followed two steps behind, following the eunuch through the dim cellar, turning into a stone-lined secret passage that led upward. The map did not indicate the route, but she did not ask where they were going.
Silently traversing the underground maze of the Red Fortress for an unknown duration, the eunuch finally stopped and opened another small door, making a gesture of invitation. Naily walked past him, softly saying, “Thank you for saving me.”
The other party smiled gently: “What are you talking about. This is all on the orders of the Palace Minister.”
Naily said no more, passing through the low stone door first and ascending the stairs. She suddenly found herself in the light, blinking to adjust. The map showed this was the Palace Minister’s Tower, and she was in the center of a simple circular hall, surrounded by countless sheepskin scrolls and books. They were not dusty, obviously frequently read by the room’s owner.
Naily quickly located the other person in the room.
A slightly shorter middle-aged man wore an elegant blue-indigo long robe, with a small cap. His fingers were interlaced in front of his chest, his eyes as deep as his hair. Standing before a map of Verdea, he silently observed Naily for a moment, revealing a smooth yet weary smile: “We finally meet again.”
“Palace Minister,” Naily slightly bowed, instinctively using her black dagger to probe the surroundings – except for Pi Ping and herself, the tower was empty.
Naily almost immediately thought she might be able to kill Pi Ping in the current situation, but she rejected the idea. Even Klovi was wary of this short Palace Minister, so rashly attacking someone who had the ability to save her would not be wise.
As she made her decision, Pi Ping was quietly observing her. Neither of them spoke, and a solemn tension gradually thickened in the room. Their gazes occasionally met, but only for a moment before separating again. In these fleeting glances, they exchanged much information, trying to probe each other’s true stance and intentions while carefully concealing their own attitude and cards.
This confrontation did not last long.
Pi Ping suddenly relaxed his shoulders, leaning back against the map, spreading his hands: “So, let’s get straight to the point. Are you here to take my life?”
“I want to hear your explanation,” Naily did not conceal her purpose.
For some reason, compared to Iza, Lukes, and Klovi, she felt more natural interacting with Pi Ping.
Now, it had completely erupted. Although Naily still had to be wary of traps and implications in his words, some inexplicable force made her look at Pi Ping differently.
Pi Ping smiled slightly, turning his back to Naily, seemingly believing her words: “Then let’s start from the beginning.”
Pi Ping looked at her appreciatively. He interlaced his fingers, forming a triangle resting on his chest, and continued leisurely: “Every guide who is summoned comes with their own wish. Because sending someone back to their original world also consumes magical power, we cannot include this in the mission completion reward. Not everyone wants to go home like you, but more people… they have other requests. Such as achieving merit, wealth, family, or love.”
“My number is 1028, so did all the previous guides complete their missions and fulfill their wishes?” Nai Li had just asked this when she immediately negated her own speculation, “That’s impossible. Your retrospective times are far fewer than this calculated number. So… where did they go?
Pi Ping turned around again, silently looking at the map before suddenly stretching out his arms: “Here.”
Nai Li raised her eyebrows in surprise.
The palace advisor’s fingers pointed at several places on the map: “Saxony, Nafale, Norman… eleven countries. All have them.” He met Nai Li’s gaze again, speaking calmly: “Many people proposed abandoning their missions and remaining as residents in Verdya. In return, we try to fulfill their wishes.”
He continued: “The Viscount Rossi you previously met at the Misty Coast was once a guide.”
The image of the trembling viscount struggling to make a living flashed in her mind. Nai Li closed her eyes and softly inferred: “But the world he decided to stay in must have been destroyed, and the countless subsequent Viscount Rossis…”
“They don’t remember coming from another world, nor anything about guides and us. They have become true residents of Verdya,” Pi Ping continued as Nai Li fell silent.
“They have no past, and their future is only destruction… are all heroes like this?” Pi Ping’s silence was apparently an affirmative. Anger welled up in her heart, but when Nai Li looked into Pi Ping’s calm yet cold eyes, it was like being doused with cold water.
Her shoulders shrank, and she lowered her voice, “Heroes witness the worlds they saved being destroyed, guides abandon their wishes to stay, but in the new world, they know nothing. This is ridiculous.”
Pi Ping nodded: “Calling them true wandering spirits is not an exaggeration,” a gentle mockery flashed in his eyes, “In the end, everyone in this world has already become living dead with no past and no future.”
Nai Li carefully chewed on the deeper meaning of his words: “What are you suggesting?”
Pi Ping smiled kindly, rubbing the ring on his finger: “Do you remember the innkeeper at the Oak Tree Inn and the cheese she gave you?”
“This… she wrote ‘Save us’ on it. What does this mean?”
Pi Ping walked closer to Nai Li, lowering his eyes for a moment before showing a resolute expression: “Even when jumping to a new world, everything there is not truly starting from scratch. I’ve seen worlds overlapping and parallel… Any destroyed world has an impact on every new world.”
He emphasized: “And this impact is more powerful… and more terrifying than imagined.”
