Ark Heroine Development Plan

"Sister, didn't you say we could wait? Why did you bring it up again suddenly?"

Pffniu~

With a light poke of his index finger on Xingxiong's cheek, the soft touch and rising temperature of his fingertips made Guan Yueli burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha, Xiaoxing, you're blushing! That won't do. Do you want me to teach you some ways to remain calm no matter how you're teased?"

The warm atmosphere that was created with great difficulty was destroyed in an instant.

"Ah—sister—!"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong... Don't have such a stern face, Xiaoxing. Come on, smile for me, okay?"

Guan Yueli saw that Xingxiong was unhappy, so she immediately reached out to pull the corner of Xingxiong's mouth. Before she could pull it up, Xingxiong couldn't help laughing and couldn't even hold on for two seconds.

The bad woman withdrew her hand and nodded with satisfaction: "You're so good—so when are you going to have a proper confession of love to me?"

Xingxiong: “…”

The roots of her ears were slightly red under her emerald hair. The woman, who had grown up and was independent, but in some ways had not grown up at all, held her lover's arm, bit her lips lightly, and said nothing.

Anyway, if I speak, Guan Yueli will tease me so much that I can't refute her, so it's better not to say anything.

Although he was trying hard to look unhappy, the corners of his mouth were always turned up.

It’s like the words “I love you” that you don’t have the courage to say out loud, but it’s written all over your face.

Chapter 90 - Dangerous Chen Wei

When Xingxiong and Guanyueli walked back to the yard, Guiminglou had already woken up.

Sitting on the porch wiping the blade, she looked up at Xingxiong, then lowered her head expressionlessly and continued with the work at hand.

Xingxiong's expression was a little subtle. After coming to her senses, she felt that her senior sister didn't really hate her that much. Although this might be her illusion, as the second-longest companion in the world, Xingxiong was more inclined to believe that this was indeed the case.

Guan Yueli walked briskly to Gui Minglou and held her in his arms skillfully. Gui Minglou immediately stopped what he was doing when his head was wrapped in the soft touch.

The corner of Xingxiong's eye twitched, but he didn't say anything.

She knew why Guan Yueli did this. Guiminglou used forbidden techniques when fighting with her, and needed Guan Yueli to replenish his burned vitality, just like what Guan Yueli had done to her before.

But looking at it like this...it's still very uncomfortable.

Xingxiong sat to Guanyueli's left, took her left hand and placed it on his lap, covering it with his hands one above and one below.

Gui Minglou, who had even forgotten to wipe his knife, immediately cast a cold, murderous look at Xingxiong. The latter looked at the cherry tree in the courtyard leisurely, unmoved.

"It seems like you haven't suffered enough, Junior Sister." Gui Minglou narrowed his eyes and gently stroked the long sword across his leg.

Xingxiong responded fearlessly: "Judging from the results, Senior Sister suffered more than I did."

"That's because you don't know what I got."

Gui Minglou curled the corners of his mouth, and the morbid fanaticism that flashed in his eyes made Xingxiong a little confused and uneasy.

"Why, has your ability to peek into other people's memories become even stronger?" she asked tentatively.

"Idiot." Gui Minglou glared at Xing Xiong. "The Wuxiang Sword is just a tool. I've already achieved my goal. This sword has no meaning to me anymore."

"……tool?"

It's incomprehensible that the powerful power that can cover other people's consciousness and peek into their hearts is regarded as a discarded tool by the Ghost Tower. Wait -

Overriding other people's consciousness...

Because of a series of shocks and the tangled and chaotic thoughts in his mind, Xingxiong did not immediately notice the key abnormality in Guiminglou's words. But now that he has calmed down, the conversation in the previous battle came flooding back.

Guiminglou said that it was she who caused Xingxiong's sudden psychological problems. She triggered his self-transformation from thousands of miles away through the seeds she had planted more than 20 years ago, which was finally cut off by Xingxiong's Mingwang.

That is to say...

"That person is you?!"

Gui Minglou frowned and looked at Xingxiong: "What are you talking about?"

"That mercenary." Xingxiong's tone immediately became more serious. "A mercenary who can manipulate people's hearts, isn't it you?"

"Do you think I'll become a mercenary?" Gui Minglou sneered, "Didn't Qingdeng heal your brain?"

Xingxiong immediately calmed down. When she was affected by Guiminglou, she was still outside Longmen. When she and Chen found clues about the mercenary, Guiminglou still hadn't reached Longmen. In other words... the culprit was someone else!

Xingxiong was silent for a while, and finally breathed a sigh of relief with some relief.

When discussing the case with Chen, Chen raised the question of whether the case was progressing too smoothly, so smoothly that it seemed as if someone was fanning the flames. The most crucial point that led Chen to this conclusion was that when Chen took on the case, he happened to meet Xingxiong, whose consciousness was also disturbed.

But now one thing can be proved - Xingxiong's problem was not caused by the mysterious mercenary. In other words, her appearance and joining Chen's work were really just a coincidence.

This way, a burden can be lifted from Chen's heart, but...

Glancing at his senior sister, who continued polishing her beloved sword, Xingxiong felt a surge of anxiety. Chen was undoubtedly aware of Guiminglou's crimes, but given her special status, she was sure they would be suppressed until nothing was known. As intelligent as Chen was, he could certainly guess what was allowing this perverted killer to remain at large. Perhaps, perhaps, Guan Yueli's protection was the reason Guiminglou was so arrogant, and Chen's opinion of her was about to plummet.

And she couldn't be sure whether Guiminglou would continue to stay in Longmen.

"I'm leaving today."

As if knowing what Xingxiong was thinking, Guiminglou said this in a cold tone.

"Are you in such a hurry to leave?" Guan Yueli looked at his disciple in surprise. "Stay a little longer."

"I must immediately apply my insights to the blade, you know, Master."

Gui Minglou, leaning in Guan Yueli's arms, had a relieved look on her face, but the aura she exuded made Xingxiong's skin sting.

It was a thirst for blood that was condensed and materialized.

It was clear that the Guiming Tower, which had fought with her not long ago, was looking forward to the next life-and-death battle, where all efforts would be made. It was even more terrifying than the Guiming Tower that Xingxiong had seen and felt before.

What on earth made her become like this?

"Oh, I know, I know. You can't keep a child once he grows up. I knew it a long time ago."

Guan Yueli rubbed Gui Minglou's head resentfully: "If you want to go all the way to the end, don't die casually. Although I hope you will regret it, but if you really don't regret it at all——"

"Just go and see...the scenery at the end of that road for me."

Gui Minglou, who was given such a long-cherished wish, trembled all over. She held Guan Yueli's other hand tightly, turned her head and kissed him deeply in return.

"I will."

Her voice was filled with amazing determination and strength, so much so that Xingxiong beside her couldn't even get angry at her previous actions.

That road... Xingxiong already knew what it was.

Although Guan Yueli has always emphasized that the Killing Flow is a "skill" rather than a "Tao", it means that as a technique, the learner is free to decide how to use it and why to wield the sword. No one stipulates that those who practice the Killing Flow must enjoy killing.

That being said, the school founded by Guan Yueli has been completely branded with her traces. Almost all those who practice the killing school follow the path that Guan Yueli once took. However, some people fail to achieve their goals and go astray, eventually becoming evil spirits who only know how to kill. In the end, they are either killed by others or die at the hands of Guan Yueli.

Only Guiminglou truly understood Guanyueli's will and did not go wrong at all. That is why Guanyueli's former followers felt that Guiminglou was so similar to the past Guanyueli and was the most perfect successor of the Shashengliu.

The "killing" in the Killing Style does not mean a desire to slaughter lives, but only by fighting for life and death can every inch of strength be pushed to the peak, and can the maximum extent of nutrients be absorbed from the enemy who is also doing his best.

The fundamental concept of the Killing Style has never been to harvest lives to improve one's killing skills. Instead, it is to swing the sword against the stronger, and in the life-and-death battle, forge a unique path to heaven.

However, Guan Yueli gave up for unknown reasons, or perhaps transcended this path and reached a higher realm, while Guiminglou planned to take this path... to the end.

"Senior Sister, you——"

Xingxiong originally wanted to say something persuasive, because this endless road would obviously not have a good ending.

But Xingxiong still swallowed those pale and powerless words.

When fighting with me, Gui Minglou had already said that she would never stop, let alone turn back. And now, with a high probability of receiving something important from Guan Yueli, how could she change her mind just because of a few words from me?

"...You must survive until the next time you fight me."

Finally, Xingxiong just said this.

Gui Minglou glanced at her and said, "I have no interest in swinging my sword against the weak. Using the Killing Style on trash is an insult to my master."

Guan Yueli coughed twice, indicating that he never meant that.

"So since you said so, then get stronger. The next time, let's set it for another twenty years."

"That's a deal?"

"...Hmph." Gui Minglou tapped Xingxiong's forehead with a snap of his fingers. "The second seed has been planted. I'll come to inspect it in twenty years. Are your feelings towards your master still as disgusting as they are now?"

"As for now."

She jumped off Guan Yueli's body, stood still, and bowed ninety degrees.

"I'm going to take my leave of you, Master."

"what?"

Guan Yueli was a little disappointed when she left with such tenderness and warmth. She looked at Guiminglou eagerly and asked, "Aren't you going to make up for the rest?"

"I also lost about five years of my life... This is the price I have to pay." Gui Minglou clenched his fists. "I don't want to rely on the power of burning life."

"OK then……"

Guan Yueli sighed: "Let's go, let's go. I lost fifteen years of my life just to get a kiss. I'm really at a loss."

Gui Minglou twitched the corner of his mouth and shifted his gaze to Xingxiong: "The part I owe to my master, I will let my junior sister do it for me."

"……what?"

"What?" The woman frowned. "Do you want me to break your arms and legs and send you to the master's bed?"

Xingxiong: “…”

She no longer paid attention to her junior sister, but muttered to herself: "But before that, I have to meet someone."

"Are you going to fight Xiaosha?" Guan Yueli's eyes lit up, "I want to watch!"

"I was beaten before the master left." Gui Minglou's face was expressionless, and there was no scar on her body, so one thing was certain -

She was killed instantly by Rakshasa and would die if she moved again.

After all, she wasn't the only one who had made progress in the past twenty years.

"It's not Xiaosha?" Guan Yueli looked at Guiminglou in surprise, "It can't be Acha, wait... Xiaoxiao He is so cute, you can't bully her!"

"Not a follower of the master." Having said that, Gui Minglou glanced at Xing Xiong.

"She is the lucky one who was chosen by you after my junior sister."

Chapter 91——Guan Yueli: This wave is mine

Sitting at his desk, Chen rubbed his temples and continued reading the documents.

After Xingxiong temporarily left the team, Chen's pressure suddenly increased. The complexity of this case was far beyond her imagination. The clue pointed out by Xingxiong... seemed to lead the whole thing into a very strange and dangerous vortex.

The first thing I want to make clear is that after Xingxiong reported the case and linked his attack to the mysterious mercenary, the Imperial Guard Bureau immediately set up a special task force and raised the severity of the case to a very high level.

Chen's team is only a small part of the entire task force, but because she was the first to come into contact with the case of "suspected crime of manipulating other people's will", coupled with her special identity and Xingxiong being in the team, although Chen's words cannot be said to be able to completely influence the actions of the task force, they also carry considerable weight.

However, this task force composed of elite members of the Imperial Guard Bureau invested a lot of manpower but gained nothing. All their efforts seemed to have sunk into an endless deep ocean and were annihilated in the deep darkness.

This emptiness and darkness made Chen feel a little creepy. Since she studied in Victoria and now worked in the Guard Bureau, she had never encountered such a case - no matter how hard she tried, it would all be in vain.

Even if the city's most outstanding violent agency allocated some resources and worked hard, it would not be able to get a glimpse of it.

Chen Yuefa believed that there was something even more dangerous and terrifying behind this case. Even the fact that there was a "mysterious mercenary" was a deliberate rumor spread by the case's leader. The Guard Bureau could only know what they wanted them to know.

"Maybe we should change our thinking..."

Chen tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, supporting his face with one hand, looking thoughtful.

The enemy was not at a disadvantage when fighting against the Guards Bureau, which means that the mastermind behind the scenes had the ability to fight against the Guards Bureau on a large scale.

Maybe they bribed the middlemen in the gray area, or maybe they also planted spies in this area... They have the means and ability to fight against the Guards, but Chen doesn't know how they did it yet.

Well, since the two sides are deadlocked in terms of large scale, why not try... to break the surface with a point?

To break the current deadlock with the power of an individual, the prerequisite is that the individual is good enough.

Of course, this premise is not a premise for Chen.