The Three Realms Thief Chapter 23

Xu Yuan and Zhao Afei were chattering away.

The walkie-talkie suddenly blared.

The voice, however, was not Liu Shanxing’s, but a younger one:

“Xu Yuan of Jiangbei City No. 5 High School, are you listening?”

“I am,” Xu Yuan replied.

“Hello, you have now received an invitation to take shelter in a shelter in the city center.”

“Why? Where are my teammates?”

“Don’t worry about them, you go to the shelter alone. It’s a shelter set up by Yuheng University in Border Town.”

—The speaker deliberately emphasized the words “Yuheng University.”

A glimmer of understanding flashed across Xu Yuan’s face.

Here it comes!

The original host was tricked into abandoning his teammates, and as a result, he was beaten up by a group of Qi Refining students and thrown out of the shelter.

—A textbook case of public humiliation!

Now that I’m redoing it, do you think I’d fall for your trick again?

“I’m not interested in Yuheng.”

Xu Yuan finished speaking and turned off the walkie-talkie.

“Wow, I can’t believe Yuheng University is involved in this incident too,” Zhao Afei exclaimed, smacking his lips.

Xu Yuan said nothing.

Yang Xiaobing and Jiang Xueyao, on the other hand, both looked over, a thoughtful expression on their faces.

Unlike Zhao Afei.

They had both undergone Independent Admissions for universities.

They naturally understood the ins and outs of this much better.

Jiang Xueyao’s voice drifted over from a distance:

“That should have been an olive branch extended to you by Yuheng University. In fact, if you had gone, you might have participated in their special test.”

“That’s right, Xu Yuan, you might as well go,” Yang Xiaobing echoed.

“I’m not going,” Xu Yuan said with a smile, “That broken school probably doesn’t have much power anyway, and in the end, this city will still be destroyed by demons.”

“Yuheng is a key university, second only to Nine Luminaries and Luofu.”

Jiang Xueyao said in an objective tone.

“There are high peaks to climb; there’s no need to climb ordinary mountains,” Xu Yuan said.

The two women said nothing more.

—This statement represented his ambition.

He wanted to attend top universities like Nine Luminaries and Luofu!

The two women had long aimed for the top universities themselves, and hearing him say this, they felt a sense of camaraderie.

At this moment, there was nothing to do.

The Flood Dragon also seemed to have stopped attacking.

Xu Yuan ate a Spirit Replenishment Pill, found a spot, and sat down to slowly regulate his breathing.

—Just now, activating the divine power “Chuixue” of the Qiongxia Sword had completely depleted his spiritual power.

He had to seize the time to recover!

After refining the ammunition, Zhao Afei also put away his alchemy furnace and sat beside him, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.

For a moment.

The subway station fell into a rare silence.

Time slowly passed.

When his spiritual power recovered to a certain stage, Xu Yuan suddenly sensed something.

He opened his eyes and looked up at the stairs at the entrance of the subway station.

The Great Ape’s corpse.

Strange—

The corpse showed no changes.

However, he “saw” something.

Some invisible thing emanated from the Great Ape’s corpse.

It was black and massive.

It detached from the corpse and crawled quickly on the wall, letting out a roar as it passed by him.

But just as he tensed up, the thing shook its head, seemingly helpless, and quickly crawled past him like a strong wind, heading into the depths of the subway tunnel.

Xu Yuan wanted to move.

But he seemed to be in an extremely tense state, his muscles all taut, completely unresponsive to his command.

—He couldn’t move!

Calm down.

He forced himself to calm down, and then—

Hoo—

Inhale—

Exhale—

Inhale—

Xu Yuan suddenly stood up, but found that he hadn’t stood up at all; instead, he had opened his eyes.

“…Damn it.”

He muttered in a low voice, breathing heavily and uncontrollably, as if he had just been in a fight.

Looking around—

Inside the fortifications, men, women, and children were all resting.

Everything was normal.

Zhao Afei closed his eyes and cultivated.

Yang Xiaobing lowered her head, meticulously inspecting talismans one by one.

No one noticed what had just happened.

Jiang Xueyao—

She, however, immediately sensed something and looked over at him.

This girl had spread a blanket in the corner, sitting cross-legged on it, propping her chin with her hand, and was looking back at him.

The crimson sword rested against her shoulder.

“What’s wrong with you?”

She mouthed the words silently, asking him.

“Did anything happen here just now? I think I fell asleep.” Xu Yuan walked over, squatted beside her, and whispered.

“Nothing happened at all—you’re covered in sweat, did you have a nightmare?” Jiang Xueyao observed him carefully.

“Maybe a nightmare…”

Xu Yuan stood up and slowly walked to the edge of the subway, looking into the depths of the tunnel.

The tunnel was deep and dark.

At the end of the darkness, it seemed as if chilling mists were silently churning.

Xu Yuan stood there motionless.

Spirit Communication Technique.

—He hadn’t had time to explore the secrets of this technique.

But the ritual it produced, and the world it led to, had left a deep impression on him.

So when this feeling surged up again, he immediately caught it.

That huge, black thing had gone into the depths of the tunnel.

What was it?

Why did it make him feel something?

To know all this, he had to follow and see.

But—

This was an exam!

Everything he felt—

Was it a question already set by the exam itself?

Or a secret no one knew?

This secret had been reproduced by the exam, so he felt it?

He had no idea of the answer.

“What are you looking at?” Jiang Xueyao said.

She had already walked over and stood beside Xu Yuan, looking into the seemingly endless tunnel.

“I was thinking,” Xu Yuan organized his words, “if this place also couldn’t hold on, could we follow the subway tunnel and escape out of the city?”

“That’s an idea. After all, there’s a Flood Dragon above ground, so going underground would be safer,” Jiang Xueyao mused.

Xu Yuan’s mouth moved.

To say or not to say?

To go.

Or not to go?

He looked back at Yang Xiaobing and Zhao Afei, then looked at the civilians sheltering in the subway station.

“If you want to go, then go.”

Jiang Xueyao said.

“But—” Xu Yuan hesitated.

“I’ll take care of everything here,” Jiang Xueyao interrupted him, “but you must thoroughly investigate if there are any collapses in the tunnel and the general route out of the city.”

She was truly intelligent and instantly understood what he intended to do.

“…Okay,” Xu Yuan said.

Go scout the situation!

Even if there were examiners watching outside, his reason for temporarily leaving the squad was completely justifiable.

He handed the walkie-talkie to Jiang Xueyao.

—This was the only means of contact.

Later, Officer Liu would use this walkie-talkie to contact them when delivering identification, supplies, and equipment.

“Can you manage here alone?” Xu Yuan asked worriedly.

“If you can, why can’t I?” Jiang Xueyao said flatly.

This girl was getting feisty.

Xu Yuan was tempted to retort, but then remembered she was the patroness.

…Well, it’s normal for a girl to have some temper.

Just deal with it.

“Go quickly,” Jiang Xueyao said.

Xu Yuan nodded, jumped into the tunnel, and walked towards the long, dark depths.

His figure gradually disappeared from sight.

Jiang Xueyao walked back and said to Yang Xiaobing and Zhao Afei, who were looking at her:

“He went to scout for a way to escape the city.”

Both of them nodded in understanding.

The walkie-talkie suddenly blared.

“…Xinzhou Road Subway Station, is this it?”

A voice asked.

“Yes, we are Special Action Team Five, and we are in the subway station,” Jiang Xueyao said.

“Is Xu Yuan there?” the voice asked.

Jiang Xueyao was startled for a moment, then replied, “Are you here to deliver our identification and supplies? He and I are on the same team.”

“What identification? Don’t misunderstand, this is the Yuheng Search and Rescue Team. We’ll be at Xinzhou Subway Station shortly. Over.” The other side replied.

Jiang Xueyao turned and exchanged glances with Yang Xiaobing.

“Could it be…”

Yang Xiaobing hesitated to speak.

“It’s possible,” Jiang Xueyao said calmly, “There’s cover here, and I’ve set up the array. You two stay here and defend, I’ll go outside and take a look.”

With that, she stepped onto the stairs and walked out, quickly disappearing from their sight.

Zhao Afei was utterly bewildered, having no idea what had happened.

“Xiaobing, what were you two talking about?”

He bravely asked.

“Some unsavory things,” Yang Xiaobing didn’t hide it, “You probably haven’t been involved in things like university independent admissions, so you wouldn’t know.”

“Is it a bad thing?” Zhao Afei asked cautiously.

“If a mentor takes a liking to you and wants to recruit you, but you refuse, it might happen—”

Yang Xiaobing continued in a low voice:

“If you offend certain mentors, other students might come after you. One reason is to prove they’re stronger than you, and the other is to curry favor with the school’s mentors.”

“They’re going after Xu Yuan?” Zhao Afei asked in surprise.

“It’s just a possibility…修行 (cultivation), to some people, is about stepping on others to climb up.”

Yang Xiaobing sighed.

Zhao Afei reacted, immediately popping another Spirit Replenishment Pill into his mouth and chewing it vigorously.

—If there’s a fight later, he needs to be ready!

Looking back at Yang Xiaobing.

She also began quickly organizing her talismans, placing them within reach, preparing for battle.

On the other side.

Jiang Xueyao stood at the subway entrance, waiting quietly.

The streets were desolate.

A few abandoned cars lay across the road, burned down to their steel frames.

Smoke and dust slowly rose in the steel jungle.

Everything was quiet.

If not for the city full of blood and corpses, there would truly be a sense of peace and tranquility.

Jiang Xueyao looked up at the sky, seemingly observing something.

Soon.

Two trucks sped from a distance and stopped at the subway entrance.

More than a dozen teenagers jumped out of the cars and approached Jiang Xueyao, scrutinizing her.

“Are you Jiang Xueyao of Jiangbei City No. 5 High School?”

A young man and woman, who seemed to be in charge, stepped forward and asked tentatively.

“That’s me,” Jiang Xueyao replied casually, her gaze fixed on the night sky.

In the sky.

Soft clouds gathered in patches, lingering in the gray gaps, appearing serene and mysterious.

Where was that Flood Dragon?

Had you hidden, or had you already departed?

“Where’s Xu Yuan? We need to talk to him,” the boy said.

“He’s not here,” Jiang Xueyao said, her gaze shifting as she continued to observe the sky.

“We received news earlier that he was ordered to guard this place. How could he not be here?” the girl in charge said, disbelieving.

“He’s indeed not here,” Jiang Xueyao said, “Are you his friends?”

No one spoke.

Jiang Xueyao’s gaze lowered slightly, and she gently traced her finger along Chixiao Sword, her aura gradually changing.

“Let me tell you first, he’s my teammate. If anything happens to him, I won’t get a high score on this exam.”

“So—”

“If you’re so determined to find him, then first ask if my sword agrees.”