Chapter 138: Leisure
Song’s lips twitched, revealing the faintest ghost of a smile. "If that’s what it takes to keep you safe, I’ll accept the title."
Her chest ached in a way she didn’t want to name. So she laughed instead, brushing past him lightly. "Careful, Song. If you start playing the role too well, I might get used to it."
As she made her way toward the stairs, she felt his gaze follow her, steady and unyielding, like a silent promise. He didn’t ask about the mark again, didn’t demand explanations. He simply... was there.
And for tonight, that was enough.
[System Notification.]
[Bond Strengthened: "Song – Silent Shield"]
[Loyalty: 97% → 99%
Hidden Trait Unlocked: "Guardian’s Restraint" – Song will never force answers from you, but his actions will shift subtly to shield you from harm.]
However, Ling Yu was too restless and a bit drunk to look at the notifications, silencing them all.
Ling Yu collapsed onto her bed later, staring at the ceiling. The city outside buzzed faintly, the divine anchor’s pulse humming like a drumbeat. Xu Mochen’s shadow lingered in her mind, but so too did Song’s steady eyes.
Her lips curved faintly.
’Enemies always cross paths. But allies... allies stay when you least expect them to.’
Ling Yu never relied on surface appearances. In her past life, she had been betrayed often enough to know that what people showed you was only the thinnest slice of the truth. And here, in this fortress wrapped around a shining "anchor," the surface glittered too brightly. Too neatly.
She had already confirmed that the Divine Anchor was a parasite, a living artifact that fed on souls. But the anchor alone could not explain the fortress’s structure, the oddly efficient hierarchy, the way even the most ruthless scavengers kept silent when certain patrols walked by.
Something else lingered here.
Her suspicion was first sharpened during an evening conversation with Xie Lingzhou.
Xu Mochen had invited her again to dine in the fortress’s upper quarters. The room was warm, scented with spices and heavy wine, but Ling Yu’s attention was elsewhere. As usual, Xu Mochen spent half the evening throwing out honeyed words and compliments that dripped with false charm, but Ling Yu tuned most of it out.
Instead, her focus rested on the man who sat quietly near the edge of the gathering: Xie Lingzhou.
He wasn’t like Xu Mochen. Where the fortress lord basked in attention, Lingzhou was reserved, his expression calm and composed, his posture upright but unassuming. He only spoke when spoken to, and even then, his words were measured and never wasted meaninglessly.
Yet his eyes seemed to have seen everything.
Ling Yu had learned long ago that the quiet ones were often the most dangerous.
When Xu Mochen left the table to drunkenly boast to his officers about his latest hunt, Ling Yu leaned back in her chair, turning lazily toward Lingzhou. "This fortress... It’s impressive. Well-organized. Almost too perfect."
Lingzhou’s lips curved faintly, though not in amusement. "Perfection is often a mask. You know that more than any other people do, don’t you?"
The words were casual, but the weight beneath them was not.
Ling Yu raised her cup, letting the wine brush her lips without drinking. "So what lies beneath this mask?"
His gaze flickered toward her briefly before drifting away again, as though such a question were too dangerous to answer openly. "Ask fewer questions. Stay alive longer."
A lesser person might have let the warning close the conversation. But Ling Yu leaned in slightly, her voice low, teasing. "That sounds almost like advice, General. Almost like you care."
For the briefest second, his composure cracked, a glimmer of surprise, or perhaps something softer. Then his mask settled back in place. "I am loyal to the fortress. That is all."
It was a lie. Ling Yu could taste lies the way others tasted bitterness. That was the first breadcrumb.
Over the next days, Ling Yu observed. Whenever Xu Mochen dragged her around under the excuse of "showing off" the fortress, she paid close attention to who avoided whose gaze, which patrols passed which corridors, which officers tightened their jaws when the anchor’s glow pulsed too brightly.
And every so often, she found herself in casual conversation with Lingzhou. Always brief. Always layered.
It was in one of those moments, when the fortress lord was distracted, flirting with another unfortunate woman, that Lingzhou murmured: "This place was not built for defense."
Ling Yu’s eyes sharpened. She tilted her head innocently. "Oh? And what was it built for?"
He gave her a thin smile, but his silence was louder than words. That night, Ling Yu sat cross-legged on her narrow bed, her mind racing.
The divine beings stirred restlessly in her stream chat.
[Bone-Crowned Lich King sneers in displeasure.]
[Hah! She sees the strings now. Yes, girl, follow them. Tug, and you’ll unravel the whole rotten tapestry.]
[Celestial War God nods his head in recognition.]
[Beware, mortal. You are walking toward a battlefield not of men, but of gods and traitors. Do not underestimate the cunning of mortals who ally themselves with divine corruption.]
’Divine Corruption? What would it be?’ Those words seemed to have ignited her interest a bit.
[Scorched Sun Empress bewls in amusement.]
[You are indeed amusing, walking through a nest of vipers with a smile. I wonder which will strike first—the snake in silk robes, or the wolf hiding in armor.
[Silent Cosmic Deity – ???]
[... ... ...]
Ling Yu tapped her chin thoughtfully. Not built for defense. Then what? Containment? Worship?
The anchor fed on souls. Perhaps the fortress itself was designed to funnel those souls efficiently. A perfect machine of harvest.
Her lips curved into a cold smile. "Then let’s see what else you’re hiding, Xu Mochen."
The following days stretched her suspicions into conviction.
She noticed how certain districts of the fortress were too quiet. Streets where people rarely lingered, homes with windows shuttered tight even during daylight. When she pressed Xu Mochen to show her these places, he always deflected, steering her toward the bustling markets or training grounds instead.