“We don’t!”
The men answered in unison without changing expression: “We are at young miss’s command!”
“Very good.” Yu Lingxi showed a satisfied expression and boarded the carriage.
She lifted the carriage curtain and asked Qing Xiao who was walking alongside: “The matter I entrusted to you, how did your investigation go?”
Qing Xiao bowed slightly: “In response to Young Miss, the fighting slaves in the Beast Arena have no names or surnames. I only found out that the black-clothed youth with the blue mask is code-named ‘Twenty-seven.’ He was severely injured in a match a few days ago and has been recovering in the den…”
“Den?”
“Because fighting slaves are considered lowly, people treat them as dogs and beasts, so their living quarters… are called dens.”
“…”
Yu Lingxi suppressed her discomfort and lowered the carriage curtain without further questions.
In stories, villains often die because they talk too much.
Since she had decided to be a villain for once, it was better to ask fewer questions.
The carriage sped along, entering the Immortal City of Desire with an imposing air.
After passing through several streets and alleys, the fragrant scent of rouge and powder gradually disappeared, replaced by an indescribable, eerie decay.
The carriage finally stopped, and Qing Xiao outside said: “Young miss, the den is just ahead. For safety’s sake, the carriage cannot go further.”
Hearing this, Yu Lingxi lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and surveyed the scene from behind the light veil of her hat, immediately frowning.
What kind of ghostly place was this?
By the ward wall, dirty stone steps extended deep underground, revealing a cold dungeon. Everywhere were broken walls and ruins, trickling sewage, rats, and insects scurrying about. In prison-like low houses were confined many ragged men, all numb and fierce—these were the fighting slaves used for nobles’ entertainment in deadly matches…
Yu Lingxi’s breath caught.
Even the most decrepit refugee streets in western Luoyang were not as dark and rotten as this place.
Qing Xiao had already scouted ahead, and they didn’t wait long before a thin black silhouette walked over from the direction of the black market.
The shadows receded inch by inch from his body, revealing the familiar blue-black mask and black military attire.
He had arrived.
Yu Lingxi peered from behind the carriage curtain, unconsciously gripping the small horsewhip in her hand. She was just waiting for him to come closer so the guards could throw a sack over him and bring him over…
Ning Yin, however, paused his steps and looked up in the direction of Yu Lingxi’s carriage.
Then, as if sensing something, he turned and ran.
“We’ve been discovered?”
Yu Lingxi bit her lip, not hesitating further, and jumped down from the carriage, shouting: “After him!”
“Young miss!”
Qing Xiao stopped Yu Lingxi, alertly saying, “He’s not running from us.”
As if to confirm Qing Xiao’s words, three masked figures leaped down from the rooftops like ghosts, pursuing in the direction Ning Yin had fled.
They moved extremely quickly and nimbly, not like fighting slaves, but more like well-trained assassins.
This sudden turn of events left Yu Lingxi stunned.
What was happening? Someone else wanted to kill Ning Yin?
Before Yu Lingxi could figure it out, there was a dull thud as Ning Yin took a punch to the chest, his body flying through the air before hitting the ground and rolling several times, his mask falling aside.
“There’s danger, young miss must not go near!”
With the situation now chaotic, the guards, fearing harm might come to her, protected Yu Lingxi and retreated behind the ward wall.
Yu Lingxi hid behind the corner of the wall, watching the struggling youth in the distance with complicated feelings.
Ning Yin must have not fully recovered from his serious injuries, as his reactions were slightly sluggish.
He clutched his chest, trembling as he tried to stand, but was kicked squarely in the chest by one of the three thugs, sending his body flying thirty feet away, crashing into a pile of miscellaneous objects like a broken sandbag.
Baskets and bamboo poles collapsed with a clatter. The black-clad youth curled up in pain, suddenly coughing up a mouthful of clotted blood, the crimson making his face appear even more deathly pale.
That bright red pained Yu Lingxi’s eyes.
Even at her most resentful, she had never thought of torturing Ning Yin in such a way…
“Hold him down, don’t rush to kill him yet.”
The lead man, with dark skin and muscles knotted like mountains, pinned Ning Yin under his foot.
Fresh blood seeped from the old wound on his chest, tinting the puddles a pale rouge color.
He was forcibly pressed to the ground, his face distorted by the dirty surface, mud and blood trickling down, reddening his angry, vengeful eyes.
The dark-skinned man said: “The master said, since you’re so good at escaping, we’ll break your legs first. On the road to the Yellow Springs, we’ll make you crawl all the way.”
With that, he stared at Ning Yin’s struggling legs and raised a heavy wolf-toothed iron hammer high.
The iron hammer reflected a cold, chilling light, dazzling Yu Lingxi’s eyes.
Her vision distorted, memories rapidly retreating, and she recalled her previous life.