Chapter 1260: "Plum Blossom Q"

After briefing Xiaotao and Xiaobai, Chen Ling returned to the Pu family estate under the cover of night.

He had largely completed his arrangements concerning Pu Jianyue. Now, all that remained was to wait for Pu Jianyue to come to him. Chen Ling wasn't worried about Pu Jianyue escaping his control; on the contrary, he feared Pu Jianyue might be too foolish and leave loopholes in his plan.

Fang Liangye of the Boundless Domain was very intelligent. This was partly because he was inherently clever, and partly because the King of Silver had transferred most of Chen Ling's memories to him at the time. Anyone who experienced what Chen Ling had experienced would undergo a transformative growth.

However, the memory fragments Chen Ling exchanged with Pu Jianyue this time were chosen intentionally. These memories only contained essential identity information, while the memories that truly shaped "Chen Ling" remained in Chen Ling's mind. This resulted in Pu Jianyue now being an empty shell, with memory fragments inserted by Chen Ling, his mind as empty as a hollowed-out coconut.

Furthermore, Pu Jianyue was already a spoiled young master whose mind wasn't very sharp. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed so many people to clean up after him during his trials in other domains.

Chen Ling walked through one courtyard after another. The Pu family estate was incredibly quiet under the night sky.

The Pu family had strict rules, and most members would have already gone to bed by this hour. Looking around, in the profound darkness, only one side room window still emitted the faint glow of candlelight.

That was Han Meng's residence.

Chen Ling looked in that direction and stopped among the stone pavilions.

He frowned slightly, as if hesitating whether to go directly and knock on Han Meng's door, but after a moment's thought, he abandoned the idea.

This was, after all, the Pu family's territory, and Han Meng was an imprisoned captive. Although no one might appear to be watching, if the Pu family's old ancestor or the patriarch's experts were secretly observing the area, his meeting with Han Meng late at night would be equivalent to revealing his identity and might even implicate Han Meng.

Furthermore, Han Meng's current predicament was entirely due to him.

Han Meng was different from him; he was a human, an enforcer, destined to live in the human domain. The deeper Chen Ling became involved with him, the worse Han Meng's situation would become, eventually leading him to completely lose the trust of the human domain and be marginalized.

No contact, no communication—it was better for both of them.

Chen Ling took one last long look at the side room where candlelight flickered, then turned and walked into the darkness.

Almost simultaneously with his turning away,

Han Meng, inside the dimly lit room, gently pulled back a corner of the curtain.

He was wearing a black enforcer's trench coat, standing in the shadows cast by the candlelight. His gaze fixed on the figure gradually disappearing into the darkness, and a hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes.

Han Meng was now a seventh-tier Judgment Overseer and was extremely sensitive to gazes, especially those containing "fear" or "hesitation." When Chen Ling gazed in that direction, Han Meng had already noticed.

He cautiously looked through the window towards the direction Chen Ling had left, but in the end, he only saw a blurry silhouette.

Han Meng's eyes narrowed slightly.

Late at night.

A mysterious hooded figure slowly stopped at the entrance of a hotel.

"The address in my memory is right here..." Pu Jianyue looked around, and after confirming no one was paying attention, he quickly walked inside.

Pu Jianyue's only clue now was this hotel, or more precisely, a certain room inside it. He had an image of the room number in his memory, so finding it wasn't difficult for him. But the problem was, he didn't know if a companion or an enemy awaited him there.

Pu Jianyue was very nervous; his palms even started sweating. He didn't know why he felt so poor today; he had never been this nervous even when facing the King of Silver before. As he moved through the narrow corridor, looking at the room numbers passing by, his heart was pounding in his throat.

Underneath his sleeve, several strands of dark ink were already poised for action.

Finally,

He stopped at the door of a room.

He didn't knock. Instead, he lightly wrote the character "open" with his fingertip on the doorknob, and the lock automatically sprang open, allowing the door to swing inward slightly.

The room seemed unlit and was very dark. Through the gap in the door, Pu Jianyue could see ghostly white sheer curtains fluttering in front of an open window. Just as he prepared himself to enter, a calm voice emerged from inside the room.

"What's wrong? Did you switch professions to a thief recently?"

The moment this voice sounded, Pu Jianyue's body tensed. He instinctively wanted to fling out the ink in his hand, but then he immediately calmed down.

No... If it were an enemy, they would have attacked the moment they realized he was forcing his way in. Judging by the other person's tone, they must be an old acquaintance and harbored no ill will.

Pu Jianyue's heart soon relaxed a little. He thought he was quite smart; since he had been found out, he might as well enter openly.

Pu Jianyue walked into the room and closed the door. Only then did he clearly see the speaker's appearance.

It was a young girl wearing a small yellow hat, sitting on a chair with her legs crossed, a lit cigarette held between her fingertips. The hazy moonlight from outside the window dragged her shadow across the floor, but the shadow was not seated; instead, it was like a tall, rigid demon, staring fixedly at Pu Jianyue from another dimension.

Moonlight, a girl, a ghostly shadow, and a cigarette...

Pu Jianyue's heart trembled.

Who exactly was this strange girl?

As the cigarette tip turned to ash in the orange glow, Xiaotao lightly exhaled a puff of smoke. In the dissipating white smoke, her gaze seemed to deepen.

"Human civilization..." Pu Jianyue began tentatively.

"Shall never be extinguished."

Xiaotao casually flicked the ash. "Heart 6, you went out for a trip and don't even recognize me anymore?"

Pu Jianyue's heart completely relaxed at this moment. He knew the girl in front of him was a companion from the Twilight Society and immediately replied truthfully: "The King of Silver stole my memories; I can't remember anything now..."

"The King of Silver?" Xiaotao frowned slightly. "You actually escaped alive after facing him?"

"Although I can't remember the process, I suppose so."

"As expected of Heart 6... As expected of you."

Hearing Xiaotao's praise, Pu Jianyue's lips curved slightly upward. He seemed to genuinely enjoy the feeling of being acknowledged.

"I am Club Q of the Twilight Society, and also the person in charge of this operation in the South Sea Domain," Xiaotao said. She gently raised her hand, and a playing card flew out from the dark shadow, landing in Pu Jianyue's hand.

Pu Jianyue was somewhat shocked. He didn't know what kind of power this girl possessed to be able to manipulate shadows like this; it was as if the shadows had a will of their own.

"This mission is indeed more difficult than we imagined; even the King of Silver has appeared..."

Seeing the girl in such solemn contemplation, Pu Jianyue couldn't help but ask:

"Senior Club Q, what exactly is our mission this time?"