Chapter 559

The Old Celestial Master also came to his senses and nodded seriously.

She continued pointing at the map, and the group moved slowly in the direction of her finger.

"According to information dating back to the beginning of the Zhuijiu period, a conflict occurred in the border area. A group of Ursus soldiers, who appeared to be infected, crossed the border and fought with the border guards, resulting in some Ursus people fleeing into the territory of Great Yan."

Although most of them have been captured, some did manage to escape... If our previous guesses were correct, then all the chaos that has occurred within the Great Yan territory so far may be related to this group of people... Most importantly, it was only after that period of time that we created this map."

Old Celestial Master spoke, he looked at the marked location in front of him.

At this moment, Nian and the others realized why the Old Celestial Master had suddenly returned to Hundred Stoves without any news.

Clearly, some people on the Great Yan side have already noticed that something is amiss.

"If it was just a group of people who came to Hundred Stoves by causing destruction along the way, then it can only mean that they are a group of terrorists."

Maria tapped her fingers lightly on the table.

She could sense that the other person hadn't finished telling her what was going on.

And the Old Celestial Master did indeed nod.

She lifted her clothes and took out several photographs that she always carried with her from inside, and respectfully handed them to Maria.

Maria accepted it without hesitation.

But after only a few glances, she frowned.

The Old Celestial Master calmly explained from the side.

"If this group were simply causing destruction, we would at most conduct internal accountability. How could we allow the enemy to enter so easily? But after the Candleholders investigated the scene, we discovered that this group seems to be more than just simple thugs... They are an organized and planned group."

Maria flipped through the photos in her hand; most of them showed battlefields ravaged by the enemy, things Maria was already quite used to seeing.

What really caught her attention were the strange-looking things in the photos from the scene.

A person who has been dismembered.

Stripped naked, the body is stitched together with other people in a bizarre human magic circle in a strange posture.

Man-made, resembling a group of wax figures that had melted halfway and solidified into fleshy monsters.

And various other...

These scenes are almost identical to the ones when Gordan attacked Kazdel!

Are these people remnants of the original group of Gordan followers?

But...

Haven't those people already been completely eliminated themselves?!

Did anyone survive?

Maria frowned in thought.

The Old Celestial Master, looking at the current situation, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"But these aren't the most troublesome things... From an operational standpoint, their next step is to enter the Hundred Stoves to continue the ritual, but we've already made arrangements here. Under normal circumstances, we can detect and react to any abnormalities."

"But..."

The Old Celestial Master stopped speaking at this point, while Maria continued to speak.

"But you've realized that the reason they can so brazenly intrude into the core area of Great Yan and haven't been caught yet is because someone inside is with them, right?"

Maria tilted her head slightly, looking at the Old Celestial Master in front of her.

The Old Celestial Master nodded in agreement.

"Yes... we noticed this group as they approached the central area and deployed personnel to apprehend them, but they still managed to break in."

The Old Celestial Master rubbed his temples.

"We've investigated everything we can, but we can't find a single clue... In other words, there are only two possibilities for what happened."

"The first possibility is that the other party possesses some kind of strange power, which has led to our frequent failures in capturing them. The second possibility is... that they began preparing this plan a long time ago."

The Old Celestial Master's words also revealed a hint of helplessness.

Clearly, she appears somewhat passive in the face of this situation.

Especially after observing the stars and movements recently, she sensed a crisis approaching and became increasingly nervous.

But fortunately, Maria is still here at this moment.

It must be said that Maria's past actions have now borne fruit.

At this moment, she was like a golden signboard; wherever she went, people who knew her had a strong sense of trust in her.

This greatly facilitated her actions.

"My original plan was to have the Celestial Masters operate in secret, have the Sui Family members operate in the shadows of the Celestial Masters, and then I would hide among them to investigate."

"But... if you come back..."

As the Old Celestial Master spoke, he looked at Maria with an expectant gaze, as if seeking her answer.

After all, at this moment, there was no one more suitable than Maria to conduct a covert investigation.

They have little background or history, are very powerful, and are absolutely trustworthy.

Maria is the best person to conduct an internal review!

Maria did not hesitate.

Rather, Maria herself wanted to get involved after realizing that what was about to happen in Hundred Stoves was exactly what she wanted to investigate.

After a moment's thought, he nodded.

"I'm in."

Once the decision to join was made, no one hesitated any longer.

They began to walk towards their respective positions.

Meanwhile, amidst the heavy protective embrace of the Celestial Master, the Sui Family, and the Old Celestial Master, Maria quietly began her own operation.

Her personality makes her unwilling to simply wait for the other party to make a move and then reveal her true colors.

Upon realizing that this group was using the same method as before, Maria knew that they had not given up on bringing Gordan down.

The reason for choosing Hundred Stoves is clearly because of the body of Sui hidden underground.

This was something Maria could not tolerate.

After all, whether Sui is dead or alive, Sui is still Maria's friend, and to desecrate her body is tantamount to a provocation against Maria!

So she took the initiative to find Kal'tsit and the others, asking them to decipher the location of the next ritual at the Hundred Stoves.

Preparing to trap them like turtles in a jar.

While Kal'tsit and the others were calculating the steps, Maria was not idle either.

She stood quietly on the roof of Hundred Stoves under the night sky, feeling the cold wind blowing her trench coat, letting the moonlight shine on her profile, her gray eyes silently watching the entire Hundred Stoves.

After confirming that there were no immediate problems, she breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to sit down and rest for a while.

It was also at this time...

"You're here..."

A slender, thin woman emerged.

She carried two gourds of wine in her hands, and with her hair a striking blend of yellow and blue, she walked gently onto the roof.

Her yellow tail swayed slightly behind her, revealing her tension and unease.

Her already gentle face appeared even more subtle and graceful under the moonlight in the darkness.

It's millet.

She came looking for Maria...

Why are you here?

"Let me buy you a drink."

Shu smiled and tossed the gourd of wine into Maria's hands.

For an ordinary person, drinking alcohol while carrying out such an important mission is blatant dereliction of duty.

Unfortunately, none of them were ordinary people.

After Maria did not drink the wine, but instead looked at the millet.

She knew that the other person's sudden appearance here was definitely not a coincidence.

She came looking for herself.

After seeing Maria's somewhat ruthless gaze, Shu hesitated for a while before shaking his head helplessly.

Instead of explaining directly, she moved closer to Maria and then sat down next to her.

A cold wind ruffled her hair, causing it to flutter slightly in the air.

"I've always wanted to do this at least once."

As she spoke, her tone gradually relaxed.

"Always?"

Maria tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

But Shu just smiled.

"I want to find someone to have a drink with tonight and look at the moon..."

"..."

Maria listened, her expression somewhat puzzled.

But Shu just kept talking to himself.

"I've been dreaming a lot since the day I was born..."

"In my dream, I was with a woman, eating together, chatting together, drinking together, watching the moon together... we did so many things together..."

"At that time, I didn't know who the person in my dream was. I could only vaguely sense that she was very important, so I started searching for her all over the Great Yan territory..."

"From Shangshu to Lungmen, from Yumen to Langya... I've traveled to many places, trying to find that person."

The millet murmured, as if it were talking in its sleep.

But these sleep-talking words slowly stirred up some memories in Maria.

She stood silently to the side.

But as he spoke, Shu suddenly paused, turned his head, looked at Maria's profile, and chuckled softly.

Do you think I'll find her?

"..."

Maria paused for a few moments.

What she really wanted to say was, "You've already found it..." Both of them knew where Shu's memory came from.

Those were some lingering obsessions that remained with Maria, a feeling that was called "years old."

The millet was being pushed along by things that didn't belong to it.

But...

The words reached his throat, but then got stuck.

Maria remained silent, gazing at the woman before her whose eyes sparkled with a childlike brightness.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps..."

Shu smiled and didn't pursue the matter further.

She turned her head and continued looking at the moon.

"Actually, on the day we met at the restaurant, Xi-mei asked me a question... 'Don't I want to say anything after I see you?'"