"Bing?"
Hearing Ye Feng's somewhat familiar address and seeing his anxious eyes, Shen Yunyao looked at him suspiciously, "Ye Feng, you're not going to tell me you know Bing Princess too, are you?"
"I do know someone called Bing. She seems to be from the Arcane City as well, and she's very powerful... She likes to wear a floral mask..."
"There's someone named Jiang Shishan, who appears to be her subordinate!"
Ye Feng recalled and quickly said to Shen Yunyao.
"Uh... There's only one Bing Princess in the entire Arcane City. Based on your description, it's indeed her!"
Shen Yunyao was speechless. "Ye Feng, what kind of path have you been walking... How do you know Bing Princess... She's always been reclusive, rarely appearing in public..."
"So it really is her~"
Ye Feng frowned. "Yun Yao, you said Bing was in trouble just now. Did something happen to her?"
"Bing Princess holds a revered position in the Arcane City... She's always been considered the future successor of the Arcane City..."
"Even when her strength was far from that of the Five Greats of Arcane City, the Five Greats treated her with great respect..."
"But... Bing Princess has now been placed under house arrest..."
"Originally, Bing Princess was supposed to come to the ancient ruins, but because of this, I was sent instead!"
Shen Yunyao quickly explained to Ye Feng.
"House arrest? How could Bing be placed under house arrest?"
Ye Feng looked at Shen Yunyao with great confusion.
"I'm not very clear about the specifics. It seems to be related to the Divine Stone... It's said that Bing Princess went to the Savage Lands... but couldn't retrieve the Divine Stone... and was then placed under house arrest!"
Shen Yunyao frowned and replied.
"Divine Stone?"
Ye Feng was quite surprised.
"Yes!"
Shen Yunyao nodded. "It's said that was the only time it was confirmed that the Divine Stone existed, and it was the only expedition by someone from the Arcane City among the seven major powers. Yet, despite Bing Princess's extraordinary strength, she couldn't bring back the Divine Stone..."
"And Bing Princess wouldn't say what the Divine Stone was or who took it... so she was placed under house arrest!"
By the end, Shen Yunyao sighed with some helplessness. "Bing Princess seems to be protecting someone..."
"Oh, and Ye Feng, the Jiang Shishan you mentioned should be from the Jiang family of the Arcane City!"
After a pause, Shen Yunyao added.
"Divine Stone... Savage Lands... Could it be that incident at the City of Despair?"
Ye Feng recalled and his brows furrowed tightly.
"Hey, Ye Feng, you're not thinking of going to rescue Bing Princess or something, are you?"
"She's just under house arrest, there's no danger to her life..."
Seeing Ye Feng's knitted brows, Shen Yunyao couldn't help but speak.
"Oh, no~"
Ye Feng let out a sigh of relief and shook his head.
"Of course, if you could unleash the strength you had back in Mech City... bringing Bing Princess out shouldn't be a problem!"
After speaking, Shen Yunyao looked at Ye Feng with some anticipation.
The corners of Ye Feng's mouth twitched, and he didn't reply.
...
On the other side,
In the skyscraper where Ye Feng had fought earlier,
On the rooftop and top floor, which had completely turned into ruins,
A fat middle-aged man with a smiling face, resembling a Maitreya Buddha, stood beside Hei Gui's corpse. He was Tu Po, one of the Five Greats of Arcane City.
"What a waste, even with the Divine Stone, he's like this!"
Tu Po's voice was full of disdain. He squatted down and plunged his plump hand into Hei Gui's chest.
"Squelch!~"
The next second, Hei Gui's heart was pulled out by Tu Po.
Strangely, Hei Gui's heart was not the normal red color of a human's, but was dark and shiny, looking extremely eerie.
"Hmph!"
Tu Po's eyes turned cold. A flash of light flickered in his hand, and the heart instantly exploded, leaving behind a thumb-sized black stone in his hand.
"Whoosh! Hiss~!"
A gust of wind blew, and Tu Po's figure instantly disappeared as if he had never appeared.
...
Inside the ancient ruins, near a water tower,
"Ajin, what's wrong?"
Hai Chuzi, who was gnawing on a braised duck leg, looked at Ajin curiously, as the latter had suddenly opened his eyes.
"Hei Gui, Jin Jing, and Pi Ku Nan from the Arcane City... they're all dead..."
...
On Ye Feng's side,
Inside a building,
Xiao Xiao had woken up. She was wolfing down bread, braised eggs, and other food, looking ravenous.
Beside her, Ye Feng and Shen Yunyao were also eating to replenish their energy. After all, they had both experienced battles and had been walking for quite some time...
"Um, Ye Feng... how did you identify the two fake Xiao Xiaos on that rooftop back then?"
Shen Yunyao, who was enthusiastically eating duck wings, asked Ye Feng curiously.
"Xiao Xiao, did the hairpin I gave you fall off?"
Ye Feng took a big bite of beef jerky and then asked Xiao Xiao.
"Huh?"
Xiao Xiao touched the silver hairpin on her head. "It didn't fall off... Big Brother, aren't you mistaken? This hairpin was given to me by Sister Ling Xi?"
"Xiao Xiao, what did we eat this morning?"
Ye Feng asked again.
"Before entering this strange place, breakfast was oatmeal, milk, and whole wheat bread!"
Although Xiao Xiao didn't quite understand why Ye Feng was asking, she still answered.
"Oh, alright~"
Hearing Xiao Xiao's words, Shen Yunyao also understood how Ye Feng had managed it.
"Big Brother, where are we going after we finish eating?"
After a full meal, Xiao Xiao, whose energy and spirit had largely recovered, asked a crucial question.
Shen Yunyao also looked towards Ye Feng. This morning, or rather, this morning in the ancient ruins, she had followed Ye Feng for a long time and had this question in her heart, but she hadn't dared to ask, fearing it would be awkward for both of them.
"There!"
This time, Ye Feng clearly had a target. He pointed to a towering skyscraper in the distance.
"Are we going to the rooftop of that tall building to observe the situation of others around us?"
Having experienced what they had, Xiao Xiao immediately asked.
"We can observe the surrounding situation, but that's not the main purpose!"
Ye Feng took out a chicken leg from its packaging and said as he ate, "I saw what looked like buildings in the sky earlier... it seemed to be an island... but the clouds here are too thick, so I couldn't see clearly. We need to go higher to see!"
"Oh, okay!~"
...
After a satisfying meal, Ye Feng and the two others did not rest but headed straight for the tall building Ye Feng had pointed to.
...
About an hour later,
"Big Brother, this building is the tallest one around here!"
Xiao Xiao looked down at the clouds and mist drifting by in the wind, observing her surroundings with great novelty.
"Yes!"
Ye Feng nodded and put away his telescope.
"Ye Feng, I've just thoroughly investigated. We should be the first people to arrive at this skyscraper!"
"I've installed hidden alarm devices on the stairs leading to the rooftop!"
At this moment, Shen Yunyao's voice came from the rooftop entrance.
"I've just checked with the telescope. There are no signs of other explorers active near the skyscraper!"
Ye Feng finished speaking, and the three of them simultaneously looked up at the sky.
Because, just as Ye Feng had said earlier, there was a suspended island in the sky...