Look at Me

"More often than not, shared interests were far more reliable than feelings."

Red Eye was being deliberately vague. "Girl, it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's that people in different positions see things differently..."

Jiang You neither agreed nor disagreed with Red Eye.

Sometimes, there was no right or wrong—only different positions.

Because she understood this, whether it was Red Eye or the High Priest, she regarded them merely as partners.

Partners gathered together because of shared interests, and naturally, they could also turn against each other because of those same interests.

She did not resent the High Priest for scheming against her time and again. After all, if she had been in his position, she might not have been any gentler.

Red Eye was about to say something else when, all of a sudden, his head jerked uncontrollably.

His furious expression froze halfway through.

The red in his eyes rapidly faded, replaced by a pair of clear and foolish eyes.

"Madam Jiang Jiang, Manager Zhang has recently locked the cabinet where the sugar jars are kept. You have to discipline her properly! Am I the kind of person who sneaks into the kitchen at night?"

"Also, what were you asking me just now?"

Jiang You smiled, then turned and walked away.

She quickly left the noisy bald man behind.

After returning to the study, Jiang You immediately dug out every record concerning the Chen Family Village sacrifices.

Wenyu had said that opening the entrance required a key.

But he had not known what the key was. After thinking it over, the only person she could go to was the High Priest.

After all, besides her, the people most eager to open the Abyss entrance were Hope Base and the High Priest.

Hope Base, that enormous organization, still had other uses for Jiang You.

The High Priest was an old acquaintance, after all. Though that sinister man had plenty of tricks up his sleeve, she had to admit that his ability to see fragments of the future was unique.

Red Eye clearly had no intention of telling her.

If she wanted to know what the key to opening the Abyss was, she could only investigate it herself.

When she saw the High Priest again, Jiang You would never have believed that this man was the High Priest of Dawn Tower if not for the distinctive silver mask.

His long, slender hands slowly placed the chess piece in his hand on the board.

As he moved, magma slowly seeped from the densely packed black cracks covering his hands.

Nearly all the skin exposed beyond his robes was covered in those black cracks.

He looked almost exactly like a withered old tree.

"High Priest, it hasn't been that long since we last met. How did you manage to turn yourself into this hideous state?!"

"Cough, cough... Yes... It hasn't been that long..."

A figure wearing a Vermilion Bird mask emerged from the darkness and helped the High Priest rise from the mat.

He looked like an old man in his twilight years. Even standing up required the Vermilion Bird's support.

He even trembled as he walked.

Jiang You asked, "You used your ability to see the future again?"

The High Priest laboriously coughed several times, avoiding the question. He slowly said, "Since you came at this time, it seems your progress has been good. Did you meet Wenyu? Is he all right?"

Jiang You was somewhat surprised to hear Wenyu from his mouth.

Only a few people knew about Wenyu. She was confident the news could not have reached Dawn Tower.

How had the High Priest found out?

"How did you know I met Wenyu?"

The High Priest chuckled several times. His hoarse voice sounded as though it had been squeezed from a broken bellows. "When I first entered A Yue's illusion, I was the first person to gain an ability.

"At that time, I saw Wenyu. I saw his future. I saw myself leaving him in the Abyss illusion..."

"But if you hadn't left him in the Abyss, he wouldn't have had that kind of future."

"Yes."

The High Priest tremulously sat down in a chair. "At first, I didn't understand why Wenyu would become like that.

"Only after he and Jiuyue awakened their abilities did I realize it. My first reaction was that I absolutely could not let the siblings leave at the same time. That was when I finally understood why I had seen that future..."

Jiang You said, "Their abilities formed a perfect closed loop. You were afraid that after Wenyu came out, his ability would surpass yours and he would become uncontrollable."

"Wenyu was a clever person," the High Priest said. "A lot of the time, he had strange yet astonishing ideas in his head, but he was too kind.

"Having someone who was too kind in a team was a disaster.

"If that person gained powerful abilities and made everyone willing to follow him, it would be an even greater catastrophe.

"If his ability was merely average and I could control him, then we could continue moving forward.

"But if he surpassed me, then to maintain the team's unity, I could only cut off that uncontrollable branch..."

The High Priest was filled with emotion as he told Jiang You about the past.

Like them, Wenyu had grown up in an orphanage, but he was truly kind.

The director had once said that Wenyu was the kindest child among them all.

He would help the weaker children and give his own food to his younger sister...

But such a shining personality was not a good thing in the apocalypse.

Some people became slick and worldly after seeing the dark side of society. Some became cynical and resentful. Others maintained their original intentions all along.

Wenyu belonged to the last group.

He had saved us like that countless times, and he had saved others like that countless times as well.

He said that in the story of the farmer and the snake, the snake could not be blamed, because biting people was its nature...

Jiang You said, "If someone like that appeared in the enemy camp, I'd be delighted! But if he appeared in my own camp, I'd probably be the first to kill him.

"But there's one thing you got wrong."

The High Priest looked at her. "What?"

"You said Wenyu had never changed his original intentions. I don't agree." Jiang You smiled. "That guy now talks about killing people every other sentence. He doesn't resemble the saint you described at all."

Jiang You pulled over a chair and leaned back in it, lightly tapping the armrest with her fingers. "I came to ask for your help this time. Of course, I'm not asking you to help me for free.

"After all, you also want to open the Abyss entrance as soon as possible. We're helping each other."

The High Priest smiled. "What do you want me to do?"

Jiang You dragged the chair in front of him and bent down to meet his gaze.

"We need two things right now.

"First, the exact location of the Abyss entrance.

"Second, the key to opening the Abyss!

"We don't need to worry too much about locating the Abyss entrance. I've already had my people spread the word that I've been overwhelmed by the backlash from the kindling and can barely look after myself.

"Who knows how many eyes are watching Tingfeng City? Once this news gets out, someone will eventually be unable to hold back.

"I estimate Hope Base will be the first. After all, they have devoted the efforts of countless generations to this. There's no way they'll give up easily.

"Even if they know the news might be false, they won't be able to resist testing it.

"Once we let those people in, we should be able to determine the location of the Abyss entrance very soon.

"That's why I came to find you regarding the second matter."

The High Priest said, "The key to opening the entrance?"

"Exactly." Jiang You nodded.

The High Priest smiled. "Jiang You, if I knew how to open the entrance, do you think I would have waited until now?"

"Perhaps you didn't know before, but whether you know now is another matter." Jiang You sat upright in the chair, her pitch-black eyes fixed directly on the High Priest.

"So I came today to have you... look at me! Take a good look at my future."