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墨書 Inktalez
My senior sister asked me why I was grinning foolishly. I replied, “The Moon Meteorite can affect a person's mind, but it's actually quite simple to eliminate this influence.” I glanced at the locator device in her hand.
She immediately reacted, “You mean, by using the power of Bronze, you can block the meteorite's magnetic effects on the human body?”
I nodded. “If it weren’t for that, this Moon Meteorite would have been discovered long ago. Dui must have realized this and decided to keep things murky, which is why he didn’t hand over the locator.”
My senior sister inquired, “Since Dui knows how to counteract the Moon Meteorite, why didn’t he bring it up at that time?”
I was about to speak when I suddenly remembered that my senior sister was also from the Old School. If I carelessly mentioned my junior brother’s intentions, it would seem like he wanted to use this opportunity to restrain Third Granduncle Master and his group, preventing them from acting recklessly as they had before. This could ruin the harmonious atmosphere we had just established. My mind raced, and almost in the next moment, I said, “Because if he brought it up, others would definitely become suspicious and ask how my junior brother knew about it. If they dug deeper, it would jeopardize the safety of this meteorite. Naturally, my junior brother wouldn’t want that.”
My senior sister couldn’t help but laugh, a charming light dancing on her face. “What a sly one!” Then she looked at me and said, “Like brother, like brother.”
For some reason, I felt my face heat up and hurriedly lowered my head, mumbling almost to myself, “I’m not.”
Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds as my heart raced wildly. A feeling I had never experienced before made me feel hot all over. Although I was afraid to meet my senior sister’s gaze, I couldn’t help but want to look at her.
She was focused on studying the Micro Locator, her skin very fair and delicate. Her long black eyelashes hung down, obscuring her enchanting eyes. It gave me the courage to steal a few more glances. As I watched her, I suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, what is Yao Tai?”
“...What?” My senior sister seemed absorbed in the locator device and didn’t appear to catch my words.
I recalled that Cold Bench ’s backpack should still be in their tent; if I didn’t check now, when would I? My mind heated up as I jumped up and rushed outside.
But when I squeezed into Old Qiao’s tent and looked around, Cold Bench ’s backpack was nowhere to be found! Damn it! This guy had time to pack while escaping?!
The Senior Sister followed me in and asked what was going on. I replied, "Zhao Qian's backpack is missing, and Yao Tai is in it."
She scoffed and plopped down on the ground. "Is that even a question?"
I sat down as well, feeling uneasy until this matter was clarified. "Senior Sister, what exactly is Yao Tai used for?"
She paused for a moment, looking at me in surprise. "You... don't know what Yao Tai is? Didn't Si Shi Bo tell you?"
I shook my head seriously. "My master has always been free-spirited, wandering the world. After my junior brother and I grew up, we hardly ever saw him. He rarely mentioned matters concerning Shimen, as if he had some past grievances with Third Granduncle Master that he didn't want to recall. My junior brother and I didn't understand back then, so we didn't ask. Later, when we encountered Third Granduncle Master and learned about their relationship, we felt even less inclined to ask our master. Senior Sister, what exactly does Yao Tai do? What mission must all eight of us complete together?"
I had never imagined discussing this issue with anyone; it was the deepest secret buried in my heart. I trusted no one and felt compelled to investigate on my own.
However, for some reason, after learning that the Senior Sister was also an Errand Runner, I felt a stronger connection to her. It was as if our growth processes after the age of five were intertwined, never separated since childhood. This feeling intensified to the point where I instinctively revealed my secret without thinking—completely out of a primal trust.
The Senior Sister stared blankly for a few seconds before regaining her composure. Her eyes sparkled as if with tears but quickly blinked them away. At that moment, my mind was solely focused on the secret I was desperately pursuing; I didn't notice these details or realize that just moments ago, she had made an important decision regarding my life.
In her usual tone, she explained, "Yao Tai is one of our identity proofs as Errand Runners. There are a total of eight of them, each engraved with one of the eight ancient spirit beasts: Bo Ma, Xie Zhi, Longtail Chicken, Azure Dragon, Chongming Bird, Giant Boar, Tao Tie, and Kui Niu. They correspond to the eight trigrams: Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun Ba—representing us eight individuals. Additionally, each person has a key to unlock Yao Tai; this serves as the second form of identification. The key resembles an arched bronze artifact with each person's name engraved on the front and the corresponding spirit beast's image on the back. Like this."
She reached into her inner pocket and pulled out a palm-sized object. I took it from her and saw that it resembled an arched bridge, about four centimeters wide and as thick as a one-yuan coin. Made of bronze, one side bore an embossed character for "Zhen," while the back displayed a vivid image of an Azure Dragon—just a few strokes brought its majestic form to life.
Suddenly, I recalled the arched groove atop the Bronze Square Box; this must be the key to unlock it.
I also remembered when we were outside Spider Cave; Liu Zi had taken out a key engraved with my junior brother's single character in an attempt to trick me. At that time, I had no idea it was proof of our identities and had rambled on foolishly—no wonder Third Granduncle Master and the others looked at me with such expressions back then.
My thoughts surged like a fountain, recalling the moment in the underground armory of Emerald Villa when Cold Bench had squeezed a curved object from the belly of a Gan Shi. The lighting had been poor, and I was extremely nervous, thinking it was some kind of silver product like a silver lock. Looking back now, it seemed very likely that Cold Bench's appearance at Emerald Villa was all for this key. My goodness, he must have been plotting this since then!
I struggled to suppress the turmoil within me and returned the key to my senior sister. "What’s inside the Yao Tai?"
She shook her head. "I don’t know either. Master said that until the last moment, we must not open it. So I’ve only seen it once, and it has always been kept in Master’s hands."
I asked, "The last moment? What do you mean by that?"
Her gaze flickered quickly. "I think it might be related to your earlier Final Mission. To complete the task, we need the help of the Yao Tai."
I understood what she meant and felt a bit deflated. "So you don’t know what the Final Mission is either?"
She nodded gently.
For some reason, I suddenly recalled Old Ge's words from his letter: "Don’t ask anyone else about this, especially don’t trust what your Third Granduncle Master and Shishu say... They are all Old School, your master’s sworn enemies, and will be yours as well... Don’t believe anything they say."
I fixed my gaze on my senior sister and asked, "You’re really not lying to me?" (To be continued.)
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