Chapter 239: Chapter 239
The woman's expression turned exceptionally solemn as she spread out a blank sheet of white paper on the table between them. Suddenly, she bit her own finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the paper. Moments later, the blood soaked into the paper, and the entire sheet burst into flames.
The burning fire gradually formed three characters: "Zhou Yuling." Then, Zhou Yuling abruptly opened her side window. A wisp of mist outside seemed guided, slowly seeping into the cramped train compartment. Zhou Yuling's face paled slightly as she quickly shut the window again.
The invading mist drifted toward the burning flames. Soon, the flickering fire on the paper extinguished, leaving only a pile of black ashes on the table—still maintaining the original paper's dimensions. The ashes then solidified, transforming into what appeared to be a completely blackened sheet of paper. Thıs text ıs hosted at novel-fire.net
Zhou Yuling exhaled and began chanting an incantation over the black paper. Her voice was low, murmuring incomprehensible syllables that sounded more like imitated bird or beast calls than human speech. As the chant concluded, irregularly scattered dots of light abruptly illuminated across the black paper's surface—one area particularly dense with clustered points while others remained sparse.
Zhou Yuling focused on one isolated light point. Producing a blood-red vial with a rubber dropper cap, she extracted a drop of its contents—something resembling blood—and let it fall onto the targeted light point. The dot rapidly darkened from red to black before vanishing completely into the paper.
After another round of strange chanting, the black paper gradually reverted to its original white state—except for a single conspicuous black dot marking where the blood had fallen. Extending her hand, Zhou Yuling's fingernail elongated into a blade-like shape, precisely excising the black dot from the paper. The paper's tiny hole immediately healed, restoring its flawless surface, while the extracted dot transformed into a suspended drop of black blood balancing on her blade-like fingertip.
"Give me your hand," she instructed the dazed Jiang Ye. Still somewhat disoriented, Jiang Ye obediently extended his palm as Zhou Yuling transferred the black drop onto it. The substance no longer behaved like ordinary liquid—leaving no residue during transfer and maintaining solid cohesion in Jiang Ye's grasp.
After storing the white paper, Zhou Yuling finally explained: "This will let you track Huang Bo's location in real time. Though if that boy's observant enough, he'll sense it too. So we must move quickly." Her tone was casual, but Jiang Ye—now snapping out of his trance—understood perfectly.
Indeed! During that exact moment when the dropper's blood touched the light point, his light-element clone "Lu Renjia" exploring a distant secret realm had distinctly felt his blood momentarily heat up! The mirror-filled realm trapping Lu Renjia resembled the previous Void Mirror Palace, except all six surrounding mirror surfaces remained impassable—their icy coldness suggesting frozen barriers. While his Light and Shadow Escape could theoretically penetrate them, the presence of Chen Cang and his promise to He Xingyue to avoid revealing light-based abilities (to protect Huang Bo's counterfeit identity) left him confined.
"Damn it!" Jiang Ye's mind raced to conclusions: "Was the light-concealing potion tampered with?! Or is there something inherently wrong with that HIV blood?!" Yet Zhou Yuling merely glanced at him without explanation.
Producing another puppet wrapped in dark talismans, she peeled off the paper seals, making the doll rapidly expand to human height—though its face lacked any features beyond hollow eye sockets. Inserting two black glass marbles into those voids, Zhou Yuling worked swiftly—but not fast enough to prevent Jiang Ye from noticing the floating silhouettes inside those marbles... silhouettes he recognized instantly!
They depicted his Administrator 4444 clone's memories from the Reincarnation Graveyard! Before his shock could settle, the eyeless puppet began growing facial features, its body morphing until it perfectly replicated Jiang Ye's first converted clone—the originally cold-faced middle-aged man Administrator 1010 named Luo Qi, now reborn as Administrator 4444.
And Jiang Ye could clearly sense... holy shit, another clone connection! This seemingly lifeless puppet had become his newest extension—a fact unknown to Zhou Yuling. Surveying the counterfeit "Administrator 4444" with satisfaction and Jiang Ye's stunned expression with amusement, she calmly declared:
"This Blood Corpse is yours. Not only can it lure Huang Bo out—more importantly, it's light-resistant and combat-capable. Combined with the light-suppressing tools, Huang Bo's tracking blood, and your own abilities... claiming that bounty should be effortless now, yes?"
Jiang Ye remained silent. Zhou Yuling's treatment had indeed improved since Lin Ling's intervention. Interpreting his quietude, she finally laid cards on the table:
"You must realize by now—whether securing the bounty rewards or accessing these resources—joining the Defenders' Alliance is inevitable." Remembering Lin Ling's advice about diplomacy, she clarified: "'Inevitable' isn't coercion. You understand nobody gifts 90,000 Survival Points freely—let alone bounty prizes exceeding that value. Moreover, no factionless newcomer could retain such rewards intact—except through us. Our leader values you extraordinarily—frankly, to degrees that make me envious."
She added as an afterthought: "Oh, that [Puppet Clones] skillbook you acquired? If killed within twelve hours, it'll automatically drop for reacquisition." This marked extraordinary transparency from Zhou Yuling.
Jiang Ye glanced at the mist-shrouded windows before voicing the obvious: "And if I refuse, I can't leave this Mist Train anyway?" Zhou Yuling didn't confirm directly, genuinely avoiding overt pressure.
While pretending to deliberate, Jiang Ye's true focus was elsewhere—inside Zhou Yuling's White Tower prison, where Wu Ying and 9,999 follower players had been speculating anxiously about their leader's sudden silence. Just moments ago, their massive group chat lit up with a message from the admin:
[Apologies everyone. My delayed appearance at the Court of Disorder and communication blackout resulted from unforeseen complications @everyone]
This triggered mixed reactions—some grew more nervous about the implications of her "complications," while others relaxed at her reappearance. Regardless, her sudden activity stabilized the panicked followers. Many immediately inquired about the situation, but Zhou Yuling responded tersely:
[No time for details. Require immediate assistance—releasing some members first...]
Following this announcement, selected players began exiting the White Tower without subsequent group updates—though their survival was confirmed via member lists. The remaining prisoners fluctuated between apprehension and hope regarding Zhou Yuling's crisis management...
Except for Wu Ying's clone, who—backed by Jiang Ye's clone network—knew exactly what befell those "released" players. Through Zhang Minghan's clone perspective, he witnessed the truth: those exiting the White Tower weren't freed by the Zhou Yuling impersonator aboard the Mist Train—but by the purple-veiled impostor in the Black Ice Domain!