Chapter 6: Divergence and Probing
When talking about the big shot behind the mirrored underground palace, Gu Xi noticed that including Jack, their eyes were all gleaming with excitement.
Although that big shot was deceived, he was genuinely skilled.
James I was the first person to go from being the King of Edinburgh to the Emperor of Britain.
At the beginning, he demanded so much, yet all he sacrificed was a city as a tribute.
If they had asked for less, wouldn't the price to pay be lower as well?
It could be said that the people of Victoria City, upon hearing that they had a chance to find the mirrored underground palace, had expressions akin to Arabs hearing that they had a chance to obtain a genie lamp.
It could be said that no one could control their ambition.
These people before him were no different.
For such an elusive dream, they gave up the chance to escape.
They joined Jack in the search for the mirrored underground palace.
But Gu Xi wasn't sure how many of them would survive in the end.
Jack didn't know Gu Xi's thoughts. After introducing the mirrored underground palace, he continued with the initial topic.
"Master Mage, I got accurate information from that architect. In the mirrored underground palace opposite Victoria Tower, there are a total of six doors. Legend has it that if the six doors are opened simultaneously, the banished city will return.
To open these doors, blood sacrifices are needed.
According to the situation of each door, the blood sacrifice requires the heads of a British Emperor and Empress, the blood of a British Princess and Heir Apparent, and the lives of a British Prince and Consort.
For each door, the blood sacrifice needs the lives and blood of one thousand to five thousand ordinary people.
These ordinary people also have certain requirements.
We are just part of the group meant to die."
Gu Xi's eyelids twitched, now understanding why he was brought here.
"They're thinking of using me as a sacrificial offering, how thoughtful of them. This infuriates me."
Hearing Gu Xi's words, a few people nearby nodded in agreement; they were all brought here this way, and no one wanted to be a sacrificial lamb waiting to die.
It's not just Gu Xi who was infuriated; anyone would be.
Thinking of this, Gu Xi said harshly, "This isn't over. Want to open the doors? I'll make sure they can't. Give me the map, I'll figure out how to destroy those doors."
"No!"
As soon as Gu Xi finished speaking, everyone, including Jack, shouted out.
Gu Xi looked at them in confusion, noticing their awkward expressions.
At this moment, Jack explained to Gu Xi, "Master Mage, it's not that I don't want you to destroy the doors, but... but, these doors weren't built by the mirrored underground palace, but were released by the big shot on the other side of Victoria False City.
Even if you destroy them, new ones will appear, and the cultists can perform blood sacrifices again, resulting in more innocent deaths.
Master Mage, you wouldn't want innocent people to die because of you, right?"
"Innocent people? I'm the innocent one here! You're concerned about them, but I have to think about myself. If I don't destroy one door, I can't calm down."
At this point, a woman sitting in the corner stood up. As she rose, she pushed her hair behind her ear.
Walking to Gu Xi, she whispered, "Master Mage, we understand your feelings. We also want to retaliate against those cultists, but we need to target the right people, don't we?
Shouldn't we focus on those cultists?"
Gu Xi glanced at everyone present and then sneered, understanding their thoughts from their approving expressions.
These people seemed to be here to avenge the cultists, but in fact, they also wanted to gain benefits from the banished big shot.
Greed was written all over their faces.
Such people weren't worth becoming partners.
Their minds weren't as clear as those civilians who fled immediately upon being released.
Gu Xi shook his head, "Do whatever you want. I have my own plans and actions. Just don't interfere with me, and by the way, I need to rest now, so you'd better be quiet."
"Master Mage, you can't say that. We're all in the same boat..."
Before the woman could finish her sentence, Luna appeared in front of her, her hollow eyes staring into hers, rendering her speechless.
"When you speak, think more about whether you have the ability to smooth things over. If not, then keep your mouth shut."
Gu Xi's words made everyone present tremble with fear.
However, Gu Xi didn't make things difficult for them, after all, they did bring some useful information.
And they were still considered comrades for now.
So after scaring them a bit, Gu Xi found a place to sit down, closed his eyes, and began to recover his spent magic.
As soon as Gu Xi closed his eyes, Luna retreated to his side. She didn't even look at the others, but just her presence made everyone too afraid to breathe.
However, as time passed, these people started scheming again.
Seeing Gu Xi obviously asleep, two thin middle-aged men exchanged glances. One stood up and slowly approached Gu Xi, while the other moved on the ground.
They planned for one to attract Luna's attention and the other to sneak up on Gu Xi.
In their minds, mages were poor in close combat. As long as they captured Gu Xi, they could control the situation. After all, he was just a rookie mage, not something they hadn't encountered before.
Their idea wasn't entirely wrong. Being imprisoned for so long, those without ruthless hearts couldn't survive.
But they didn't expect that as a ghost, Luna had a natural vigilance skill.
Her body had no physical form. When the enemy was behind her, it was actually facing her.
She could never be ambushed from behind.
At the moment when the middle-aged man trying to sneak up on Gu Xi stood up to pounce, a cold tentacle struck him.
The man's body quickly froze and fell heavily to the ground.
[Luna (Contracted Ghost) killed Civilian (Level 0), you gained 2 experience points, Contracted Ghost gained 4 experience points.]
Gu Xi opened his eyes, glanced at the message in front of him, and sighed helplessly.
"Why do you even bother? Is living peacefully not good enough?"
Seeing Gu Xi stand up, Jack quickly said, "Master Mage, please don't be angry. They didn't mean any harm."
"Yes, Master Mage, we really didn't know anything."
"Right, I was asleep just now too."
The others quickly chimed in, trying to clear themselves of any blame.
Gu Xi glanced at them, reached out towards the dead middle-aged man, and some light particles fell into his hand.
Then Gu Xi turned his hand, and the light particles formed a larger light cluster that fell back into the man's corpse.
With a crackling sound, the middle-aged man turned into a skeleton with nothing in its hands.
Pointing to the skeleton standing beside him, Gu Xi calmly said, "Don't think I need you. It's you who need my help now. So if you don't want to die, behave. Otherwise, I'll turn you all into skeleton soldiers."