Journey to the End of the Night Chapter 1591 - 968: Fox Demon Volunteers

In the lamplight, their gazes met; the dim yellow flame drifted faintly between their faces.

Jiushijiu slowly narrowed her eyes; it was impossible to tell what emotion lay in their depths. In that pitch-black gaze, it was as if a cloud of mist had caught fire.

After a long time, she finally gave a faint smile and said, "You’re saying that Fang Geyu went to Xianling City not to fight her two elder brothers for the position of City Lord of the Immortal City, but for the Emperor’s secret treasure, the ’Samsara Fragment’?"

"Yes."

Though a faint smile touched Jiushijiu’s face, there was no fluctuation of emotion in her voice.

"That truly does suit her lawless nature. She dares to steal even the Emperor’s secret treasure—she really doesn’t know how to write the word ’death.’"

Baili An said, "But the secret treasure she stole was a fake. The true Samsara Fragment is on you.

Speaking of being audacious beyond measure, of not knowing how ’death’ is written, she is not your equal."

Jiushijiu lowered her head and took a sip of tea, saying calmly, "Puppets cannot empathize with humans. I do not know what fear is, what pain is, and even less do I understand the true meaning of death.

So I do not fear this so‑called Water God of legend, and I do not fear offending Taboos.

It is only because I needed this thing that I took it. The reasoning is that simple."

Baili An asked, "Then was the counterfeit Samsara Fragment in Xianling City prepared by you?"

"Yes."

Anger flickered faintly in Baili An’s eyes. "Do you know that Fang Geyu nearly lost her life because of it?"

On Jiushijiu’s indifferent and tranquil face, there was a trace of coldness. She tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "Is that something I ought to concern myself with?"

She fixed her gaze on Baili An. "If you insist on using human thoughts and feelings to speculate about me, then you are gravely mistaken.

Forgive me, but I cannot comprehend the blood ties and kinship you humans value so much.

Though Fang Geyu is my master’s daughter, and by your way of dealing with things I ought to shield her somewhat,

in my eyes she is merely an individual, no different from an ordinary person, or even from the stones and wild grass on the ground."

Jiushijiu set down the cup in her hand. As the hot mist from the clear tea was blown away by the wind and snow outside the window, that seemingly illusory warmth in her eyes vanished along with it.

"I have no surplus of compassion, and as a Puppet I naturally will not be bound by human morals and emotions.

So if you wish to use this matter to stir guilt in me, I advise you not to waste the effort.

There is cooperation between you and me. Since I have promised you that I will not take Fang Geyu’s life, I will keep my word, so you need not do anything superfluous."

To discuss such a question with a Puppet without a heart was, from the start, an exceedingly foolish thing.

Baili An himself did not know why, in that instant when he saw the Samsara Fragment appear on Jiushijiu’s body, an uncontrollable anger had surged up in his heart.

Now that he was gradually calming down, he also realized that his emotion had arisen somewhat out of nowhere.

But some words still had to be spoken, or they would choke him.

Baili An lowered his eyes, his gaze returning to calm. "The Samsara Fragment, though an Emperor’s secret treasure, is not a medicine. It cannot raise the dead, much less heal dead flesh and rotten bone.

So back then, when she went to such lengths to obtain this Samsara Fragment, claiming she wanted to save two people, I truly could not understand.

He lifted his eyes to look at Jiushijiu, whose emotions had not stirred in the slightest and who was as calm and rigid as a true Puppet Doll, and continued:

"Only today, when I saw this fragment within your body, did I realize that what she wanted to save... was not a human."

Jiushijiu dropped her gaze and was silent for a moment, then said, "Between humans and Puppets there is only the relationship of user and used, nothing more.

If it were you, and the trusty old sword in your hand were broken, you would also be tempted to think of repairing it.

Back then, Little Five and I damaged our cores amid the chaotic tides, and even this broken Puppet body of mine was enough to set countless powers within Shifang City secretly scrambling for it.

She gave a low, cold laugh, raised a hand, and said slowly:

"Can you imagine it? A furnace core no bigger than a palm was forcibly dismantled into nineteen parts in those greedy people’s hands, each fighting over it, killing for it.

By the time I had completely recovered my furnace core, all that I could sense was the taste of blood.

That in itself proves, from another angle, that the value of ’Yinghuo’ cannot be measured by common sense."

Baili An leaned his back against the carriage window. "Is that so?"

Jiushijiu said, "Indeed it is."

The conversation ended there, in displeasure. Jiushijiu pushed open the carriage door once more, her gaze even colder and more detached than when she had come.

"After witnessing Fang Geyu’s extraordinary power, Mu Yunye will not be so easy to put off.

He is a man of calculation. Even though tonight’s banquet is over, you must find a way to remain by Fang Geyu’s side as much as possible.

You must not be the least bit careless. The Shifang bloodline must be cut off in her person."

With that final instruction, the howling wind and snow swept in through the wide‑open carriage door, and Jiushijiu vanished.

The carriage, which had halted, now continued along the city road as if nothing had happened.

Qin Lou, the Steward, whip in hand, sat at the front of the carriage, driving it forward.

She turned her head in surprise to look at Baili An, who had just pushed open the carriage door, and said, "Young Master Ji? Do you have any orders?"

Everything from moments ago seemed like a dream.

Nothing unusual could be seen on Baili An’s face; he only inclined his head slightly in a polite nod.

"It’s nothing. Steward Qin, you’ve had a hard night."

By the time he returned to the inn, it was already deep into the night. Shu Ci and Afu Tu had long since gone to sleep. Baili An put out their lamps for them, then left the inn again.

A stick of incense later, Baili An appeared in that same cold, quiet tavern where he had first met Jiushijiu.