bookbashuk Chapter 1014: Alice of the Strategist
Chapter 1014: Alice of the Strategist
Just as the group was chatting and laughing around the child, Shao Yun had just finished discussing building materials with Kavi. He learned from Catherine of the Adventurer's Association that Ying and her group were still in the Grand Bazaar, so he came over.
After searching for a while, he saw the familiar figures in front of the stage of Zubair Theater.
"I thought you were going to wait at the Lambad's Tavern, but you came to the Grand Bazaar. Are you waiting for me to have dinner together?"
Nilu caught a glimpse of Shao Yun approaching from the corner of her eye. She, who was originally enthusiastic and cheerful, suddenly became uneasy.
The fingers pinching the hem of her skirt curled slightly, and her voice was half a tone lower than before, with a barely perceptible tremor, as she greeted, "Hello, Mr. Shao Yun..."
The smile on Shao Yun's face froze. He could naturally see that Ni Lu was obviously embarrassed, so he only responded vaguely: "Hi..."
Ni Lu's fear of Shao Yun can be traced back to the celebration banquet held by the group to celebrate the rescue of the Grass God after the sulfur fire from the sky ended.
At that time, because Elhaisen and Senor had cold faces and didn't want to say a word, Shao Yun got angry and turned the table over.
The crisp sound of the wooden plate breaking, the traces of spilled wine, and the anger that surged in Shao Yun's eyes at that time, all seemed to be engraved in Nilu's memory, and she still felt a lingering fear.
After that, it was the issue of Shao Yun’s honor value. Before Shao Yun blew up the West Wind Cathedral, his honor value in Xumi had always been the lowest among all regions, "-6". The aura he exuded was chilling.
Even now, his honor value in Xumi is "-6". No wonder Ni Lu felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable after seeing Shao Yun.
Seeing that the atmosphere had become cold, Paimeng shut up tactfully and just floated around Ying with the uneaten skewers in his arms.
Ying and Kong exchanged glances and were about to speak to smooth things over when they saw a middle-aged man walking towards them quickly. It was Sheikh Zubair, the manager of the Zubair Theater.
With a warm smile on his face and a performance record book in his hand, he walked straight to Nilu and exclaimed:
"Ms. Nilu, today's performance was still so great! The final solo dance was still of such a high standard!"
Sheikh Zubair's voice broke the dull atmosphere.
Shao Yun looked at the "Sheikh Zubair" who suddenly appeared, and in order to avoid further embarrassment to Ni Lu, he said: "Well, it seems that your manager seems to have something important to discuss with you."
"How about this, when you have some time to rest, we can find a time to get together and have a good chat."
Nilu pursed her lips nervously, then nodded slightly and replied, "Okay, let's talk again when we have time!"
After saying that, she turned and left in a hurry.
Ying looked at Ni Lu's fleeing back and did not blame Shao Yun for ruining the atmosphere.
After all, the things that happened in Xumi were too complicated...
"It seems that Nilu still hasn't fully gotten over what happened almost two years ago." Paimon said weakly.
Of course, she didn't mean to blame Shao Yun, she was just simply... expressing her feelings.
Shao Yun shook his head, not wanting to delve into those old accounts. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
"It's getting dark now. We can't really camp here. We'd better find a place to stay quickly."
……
At the same time, the moonlight fell on the vermilion torii of Narujin Taisha Shrine like broken silver, and the branches of the sacred cherry tree swayed gently in the night breeze.
Newly opened cherry blossom petals swirled and fell in the evening breeze.
Although the fluctuations in the earth veins about two weeks ago caused the sacred cherry tree to lose a lot of cherry petals, after a period of rest, the sacred cherry tree has regained its vitality.
Yae Miko leaned on the steps of the shrine, enjoying the tranquility of the night.
She was holding a piece of shiny fried tofu with chopsticks and slowly putting it into her mouth, her other hand supporting her chin, her fox eyes with slightly upturned corners half-closed, with a lazy smile.
Then she poured herself a dish of Inazuma wine from the wine jug.
With wine and food, it's such a pleasant evening!
Just as Yaejinko's cheeks were slightly flushed due to the effect of alcohol, her eyes were suddenly attracted by a figure walking in from outside the shrine.
Is that Ms. Alice?
Yaejinko put down the wine dish in her hand, a comfortable smile appeared on her face, and she greeted warmly:
"Oh my, isn't this the famous adventurer Ms. Alice? How come you're free to visit my Narukami Taisha Shrine tonight?"
Alice looked at the relaxed Yaejinko and said with some regret, "You little fox, you've been having a really pleasant time lately!"
Upon hearing this, Yae Shinko slowly raised his left hand. His fair arm shone with a delicate luster like fine mutton-fat jade in the moonlight, and he gently placed it on his slightly hot forehead.
As her eyes moved, a lazy yet charming smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. Her voice was slightly drunk as she said nonchalantly:
"Anyway, Inazuma's affairs are all handed over to those people from the Kaiji Island in Xinhai, so I can just sit back and relax and be a hands-off boss."
Alice looked at her, completely devoid of her usual calculating shrewdness, as if she were looking at a piece of tofu softened by warm water, and asked unwillingly:
"Is this the life you want to live?"
Yae Shinko lowered her arms, her fingertips unconsciously drawing circles on her thighs.
Those fox eyes that always held a hint of cunning were now filled with confusion. She tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean?"
Alice narrowed her eyes slightly and asked a soul-searching question.
"Are you really content with Inazuma's current situation? The culprit who killed Baalzebul is now going to live a good life!"
As soon as he heard the word "Baalzebul", the lazy disguise on Yae Shenzi's face disappeared immediately.
The smile on her face froze, and her eyes, which had been drunken just now, instantly became more sober...
But, what's the point of being unwilling? Thinking of this, a layer of helplessness covered the brows of Yajō Shenzi again.
She picked up the wine jug and refilled herself with wine, then tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp. The wine slid down the corners of her mouth and dripped onto her scarlet witch's costume, leaving dark marks.
She said somewhat self-deprecatingly, "Are you talking about Shao Yun? Haha, he's a troublesome man... But what can I do? I can't beat him!"
Alice stomped her foot so hard that the air buzzed.
Her eyes lit up with fighting spirit, and she spoke excitedly, "I'm uniting all available forces to fight against Shao Yun. I believe he's not invincible!"
When Yae Shen Zi heard this, not only did he not show any interest, but his fox eyes were filled with a deep grayness.
She grabbed the wine flask and took a big gulp. The wine flowed down her neck into her collar, soaking a large area of her clothes. With the help of the alcohol, she advised:
"I'll give you a piece of advice. Shao Yun is terrifying. More than two years ago, he killed my god!"
Yaejinko lowered his eyes and recalled his efforts to avenge Baalzebul.
"I once used the Heart of God to make a deal with San Bing in order to kill Shao Yun."
"And what happened in the end? The truth was revealed. I begged him to spare my life like a dog, and in the end, I only survived because my tail was broken."
When she mentioned the "broken tail", her hand subconsciously touched her lower back, and the wound was still aching slightly.
"Now, I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore, that's it!"
Alice looked at her as she was about to "curl up", as if she saw a fox wilting in the rain. She clenched her fists and leaned forward unwillingly.
"That's why we should unite! Fighting alone, we'll be too weak and defeated one by one!"
Yae Shinko seemed not to hear, and slowly picked up the wine jug and poured the remaining wine into the wine dish.
The wine hitting the plate made a crisp sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet night.
She stood up, her skirt sweeping over a few fallen cherry petals on the steps, walked up to Alice, and handed her the plate of clear Inazuma wine.
"Stop talking. Finish this glass of wine and leave."
Alice looked at the wine dish handed to her by Yae Shinko, and suddenly raised her hand to slap it away.
There was a crisp "bang" sound, and the wine dish fell heavily on the bluestone slab, breaking into several pieces in an instant. The Inazuma wine in the dish spilled out, leaving a small dark mark on the ground.
"The God of Wind is dead. He was killed by Shao Yun!" Alice roared in shock.
The calmness on Yae Shinko's face was instantly broken, and the remaining drunkenness was completely wiped out by the roar.
Her fox eyes widened, her mouth slightly open, her face full of disbelief, and she said in surprise: "What?"
The God of Wind, the free and romantic god, was also killed by Shao Yun?
Could it be that Shao Yun is going to start fighting against the Seven Gods?
Alice narrowed her eyes and repeated word by word: "The Wind God is dead!"
"Now the Rock God has formed an alliance with me! I am now uniting all the major forces in Teyvat and preparing to take action against Shao Yun!"
When Yae Shenzi heard that Alice was going to attack Shao Yun, he thought it was simply a fantasy.
She had personally experienced Shao Yun's terror. It was a despair that penetrated deep into her bones, making her not dare to even think of resisting.
"My suggestion is that you should go home and take care of your daughter 'Klee'!" In Yae Shinko's opinion, it is better to live a peaceful life than to provoke that terrible existence.
When Alice heard this, she immediately became furious and rolled her eyes and complained:
"Why are you the same as Yan Shen..."
When I first tried to persuade Yan Shen, he was also hesitant, but in the end he was persuaded by me.
Alice then used her words to persuade Zhongli, earnestly admonishing him, "This isn't something you can just endure. Do you know that devil in the tall hat?"
When Yae Shinko heard this, his body stiffened suddenly and he nodded immediately.
Of course she had seen the devil standing behind Shao Yun. The gloomy aura and the eyes that could see through people's hearts were still fresh in her memory.
The fox's eyes can indeed see things that ordinary people cannot perceive, but it is precisely because of this that she can feel the horror of the devil even more.
When the devil really appeared before her, extreme fear instantly swept over her whole body, causing her SAN value to drop to zero. Her mind went blank, and only instinctive trembling remained.
"I know, what's wrong?"
There was a barely perceptible tremor in Yae Shinko's voice, as she clearly recalled the horrific scene at that time, and admitted it with lingering fear.
When Alice heard that Yaejinko knew about the devil, she saved her breath and continued:
"If you knew, everything would be much simpler. The reason Teyvat is now like this is because of the devil's calculations."
"So, we need to kill that devil's follower, Shao Yun!"
After hearing her plan, Yae Shinko's face was full of confusion.
She really didn't understand Alice's logic and couldn't help asking, "Then you should find a way to deal with that devil? Why do you want to deal with Shao Yun?"
If the root of all tragedies is the devil in the dunce cap, then why not just capture the leader first?
Alice sighed helplessly, spread her hands, and said in an almost didactic tone: "Eat one bite at a time, and do things one step at a time."
"Killing Shao Yun can weaken the power of that devil and slowly eat him away instead of eating him all at once."
"On the other hand, we can save Teyvat immediately."
"For you, you can get revenge, killing three birds with one stone. Why not do it?"
She paused, her eyes sharpened, and she stared directly at Yae Shinko.
"I believe that you, the Eightfold Son of God, have this sense of the overall situation!"