After waiting in the bedroom for a while, Jiang Sui saw the Black Pig leap in through the window.
“You said you have a solution. What do you mean by that? Don’t tell me it’s just empty talk again.”
“I’m not someone who talks big for nothing,” Jiang Sui’s lips curled up slightly. “Senior, do you remember when you said you couldn’t read these characters?”
“What, you can read them?”
Facing Black Cat’s skeptical gaze, Jiang Sui leaned forward and directly took out the Ancient Book.
“Senior, you can’t recognize the words on this, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
Black Cat initially thought she was trying to tease him, but halfway through his sentence, he suddenly froze.
Jiang Sui opened the Ancient Book, displaying its contents for him to see.
“The words you can’t read show up as understandable text for me. So I have no idea what they looked like originally.”
Placing the opened Ancient Book beside the documents, Jiang Sui stepped back, letting Black Cat carefully examine the two.
Black Cat raised his head, his tone full of disbelief.
“They’re actually the same script.”
Why hadn’t he noticed earlier?
At first, Black Cat was interested in the Ancient Book she had, but after failing to understand the writing, he set it aside, thinking it wouldn’t affect their plans as long as Jiang Sui could read it.
Now, with a direct comparison, she realized both used the same language!
“So here’s the question: if it’s the same script, why can’t you read it either?” Black Pig interjected.
“I don’t think the problem lies with me.”
Jiang Sui picked up the Ancient Book again.
“The reason I can read what’s in the book isn’t because I’m special, but because the book itself is having an effect.”
Because she was the Ancient Book’s owner, Jiang Sui could see the contents clearly.
But the writing on the documents had no special power, so what Jiang Sui saw was just bizarre scribbles.
“If that’s really the case, do you have a way?” Black Cat asked. “You don’t think just copying the words from the book will make them readable, do you?”
“Of course not.”
Jiang Sui smiled meaningfully.
“Don’t forget, we’re Secret Arts Practitioners. To solve a problem, naturally we have to use a Secret Arts Practitioner’s methods.”
Primitive people would use such clumsy means; Jiang Sui planned to borrow the power of the Ancient Book to directly decipher the contents of the documents.
For that, while waiting for Black Cat to arrive, Jiang Sui had made full preparations, setting up a Magic Array ahead of time, ready to start the Ritual.
Just relying on herself wouldn’t do—Jiang Sui was still a rookie. For something like this, she needed the help of an old hand like Black Cat.
“If something goes wrong, you’ll be risking your own life, you know that, right?”
Seeing her start preparing for the Ritual, Black Cat couldn’t help but ask.
“If something happens, so be it. My life isn’t so easy to take.” Jiang Sui slapped the sharp blade, running her fingers across the cool edge.
Rather than losing her life in the future, she’d rather gamble for that sliver of hope now.
Since she’d already made up her mind, Black Cat said nothing more, stepping behind her.
Jiang Sui stood at the very center of the Magic Array. Using a dagger, she cut her finger, letting a stream of blood drip onto the Ancient Book.
In that instant, the Ancient Book emitted a blinding red glow. If she hadn’t drawn the curtains in advance, people outside would have surely noticed that flash.
After absorbing Jiang Sui’s blood, the Ancient Book slowly floated up.
Jiang Sui had always wondered: the Ancient Book could absorb others’ blood to grant their abilities, but what would happen if she fed it her own blood?
Now she had the answer.
For a moment, Jiang Sui and Black Cat both looked up, gazing at the ceiling.
An invisible pressure, like strings dropping from the heavens, pressed heavily onto Jiang Sui, making her feel an unbearable wave of nausea.
That gaze seemed to pin her in place. If she stopped the Ritual now, that gaze would vanish, and everything would return to normal.
But Jiang Sui took a deep breath, endured the urge to vomit, clapped her hands, and turned the Ancient Book to the next page.
The red glow became even more intense. All the documents set around the Magic Array began to stir, rising into the air as if in panic.
Deep within Jiang Sui’s violet eyes, a sudden flush of crimson appeared. As if adapting to that overwhelming pressure, she reached out and grabbed the swirling documents.
Black Cat stood behind her, constantly stabilizing the Magic Array—everything was going smoothly.
Jiang Sui stood amidst the storm, her clothes whipped by the wind, her ash-brown hair fluttering wildly.
She examined the documents, then looked up and nodded at Black Cat.
“I can read them now.”
“That’s good.”
Black Cat noticed the change in Jiang Sui’s eyes—they were almost scarlet, demonic and uncanny.
“Read as much as you can, burn the memory in your mind.”
“Don’t worry, the one thing I’m good at is reading,” Jiang Sui said with a wry smile. She didn’t particularly enjoy reading, but as long as it wasn’t textbooks, she could scan through once and remember almost everything, even achieving decent results.
Just as she was about to memorize the contents of the documents, a sudden exclamation rang out.
“The Magic Array, something’s wrong!”
Cracks appeared on the Magic Array without warning. No matter how Black Cat tried to fix them, the fractures only grew.
When the cracks spread to the edge of the entire Magic Array, the erupting brilliance completely engulfed Jiang Sui’s vision—and her consciousness.
She didn’t even have time to react!
Jiang Sui was completely stunned, her vision a blank white, and even her cultivation couldn’t function.
Am I going to die?
That would really suck!
Jiang Sui forced her eyes open, but everything she saw was blurry, as if covered by a layer of dreamlike mist.
“If we do as planned, will it really allow our Jin Family to prosper?”
Who was speaking?
Jiang Sui saw two indistinct figures.
“I know you’re doing this for my sake, but if something goes wrong, the entire family will have to pay the price.”
Jin Huancheng? What is he saying?
Jiang Sui remembered this place—it was the Jin Family’s underground secret site. Unlike what she had seen before, this secret site seemed to be under construction.
“You’re right, we have no way back. Might as well gamble everything.”
Jiang Sui saw more and more blurred faces. Many people were being thrown into the deep pit of the underground secret site, dissolving into pools of blood in the process.
The deep pit gradually filled with blood, the liquid crawling along the ground’s lines, illuminating a gem, and eventually converging above the Altar in the two Black Boxes.
Jin Huancheng watched the whole thing coldly, and only after all the sacrifices ended did he walk up to the Altar.
“It’s almost done, right? This will be the Gift to the King in Black Robes.”
“Be patient.”
“Indeed, it’s not quite finished yet.”
There was another person by Jin Huancheng’s side, but Jiang Sui couldn’t see his face—she only saw the two exchange a glance, and in their eyes glimmered the cold light of conspiracy.
The scene shifted again. This time, Jiang Sui couldn’t control where her gaze moved. It was as if she had become Jin Huancheng, sitting in the study.
The old master of the Jin Family picked up the teacup and took a sip, only to feel a searing pain in his chest. The pain quickly spread inward. He tried to get up and call for help, but his body was locked in place, and soon he stopped breathing.
All the faces faded into shadow. The only thing Jiang Sui saw was a pair of red pupils slowly opening in the darkness.
As she met their gaze, her consciousness sank again into the depths, and she lost awareness.
“Jiang Sui? Jiang Sui! Jiang Sui!”
When Jiang Sui finally opened her eyes again, she felt warm all over.
“You finally woke up. I thought you really were going to lose your life,” Black Pig said as soon as she saw her stir, quickly stopping Jiang Sui from getting up. “At least before you die, tell me what you found out!”
Jiang Sui was lying on the bedroom floor, soaked with sweat, her expression still a little dazed.
After a long while, she finally sat up, looking at the scattered documents on the ground.
Picking one up, Jiang Sui glanced at it and let out a breath.
“How much do you remember?” Black Pig asked. “I don’t want to go through this again.”
“I remembered enough.”
A smile tugged at Jiang Sui’s lips.
“I can already read this stuff now.”
“Really?”
Jiang Sui didn’t explain. She could now fully understand the contents.
These documents were all about the Ritual.
Build a massive Magic Array, collect as many Sacrificial Offerings as possible, and use them to create Gifts to please the King in Black Robes. Everything was written in clear detail.
King in Black Robes, Sacrificial Offering, Gift…
Black Cat quickly connected this to earlier events.
“So it was the Black Star Cult after all? This is the truth behind the disappearances?”
Jiang Sui nodded.
Those poor souls who were taken didn’t end up in various places as the news claimed. Instead…
“They became this.”
Jiang Sui pulled out the Black Box from her sleeve, its icy touch utterly uncanny.
So, I’d been carrying all those lost lives with me all this time?
Understanding the truth, Jiang Sui couldn’t help but hold her breath.
Good thing this thing ended up in my hands, otherwise, who knows how many more people would have died.
The Black Star Cult really does feel even more deranged than the Luo Family.
“Wait, you said there were two Black Boxes?” Black Pig suddenly asked.
From Jin Huancheng’s memories, Jiang Sui clearly understood why there were two Black Boxes.
The partnership between the Jin Family and the Black Star Cult had split apart, and each side had taken a Black Box. The Black Star Cult, for the sake of the box held by Jin Huancheng, had even approached Jin Huancheng, enticing him to work for them.
But the Black Star Cult’s plans never went smoothly. Jiang Sui and Lu Yunze always got in their way. Not only did they fail to snatch the Black Box from Jin Huancheng, but their leader even died, and everything fell apart.
“So one is here, and one is in the capital?”
“Probably in the hands of someone who knows Jin Huancheng.”
That person was the true culprit who forced Jin Huancheng and the Black Star Cult to work together—and who murdered Jin Huancheng to seize his Black Box.
Now, that person must still be hiding somewhere with a Black Box.
Jiang Sui stood up, mulling over everything.
“After the Ankang incident, the enemy probably thinks the Black Box is with Lu Yunze or Xu Yao. That means we’re being watched by someone lurking in the shadows.”
The exposure of the underground secret site would definitely affect that person’s next moves and push him to act.
The real question now is—who is he?
Jiang Sui walked out of the bedroom, planning to go wash her face and clear her mind.
But as soon as she stepped out, she nearly bumped into a servant, almost scaring the other person out of their wits.
“Is there a guest?” Jiang Sui asked.
“Yes, that’s right. I heard it’s the new head of the family.”
“What?”
Jiang Sui was startled, and then instantly realized something.
Bu Hao!