Chapter 307: Ninglan New City History Museum
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 307: Ninglan New City History Museum
"Hmm? It’s nothing. Xiao Han, since when did I need you to worry about me?" Bai Yu forced a smile, speaking as if she had only just snapped back to reality.
"What? Is Sister Bai not allowed to let me worry a little?"
"Of course you are."
"Then that’s that," I said, keeping my tone light. Despite my efforts, a heavy atmosphere still lingered between us.
As we stepped out of the cordoned-off area, the streets grew more crowded, slightly easing the tension. There were plenty of City Guards maintaining order, along with the inevitable crowd of onlookers hoping for some excitement.
"Sister Bai, are you really that bothered by what happened just now?" I asked, breaking the silence again.
Her shift in mood had been entirely caused by that Dream Demon’s words. If I didn't address it, I honestly didn't know what else we could talk about.
"What happened just now? What do you mean? I’m fine."
"Refusing to admit it... and saying you're fine when you clearly aren't. Are you really trying to lie to me?" I ruthlessly called her out on her playing dumb.
"Haha... Give... give Sister Bai a little privacy, okay? Some things just take time to accept. But... Xiao Han, you don't seem surprised at all," Bai Yu said, glancing sideways at me as I held her arm.
"I suppose not... because even before that wretched Dream Demon mentioned it, I already had my suspicions. Her words just confirmed what I was thinking."
"So you already guessed..."
"It’s a simple, obvious truth, isn't it? Surely you thought of it too, Sister Bai? You just didn't want to face it."
"Now that you put it that way... I suppose so. Looking back, it explains a lot of things. Sorry, Xiao Han. I made you worry over this." Bai Yu blinked in surprise, then seemed to reach a realization.
"Since you’ve admitted to making me worry, have you figured it out yet? If you haven't, then my worrying will have been for nothing."
Still holding her arm, I sat down on a nearby bench and pulled her down with me. Perhaps this was something we really needed to sit down and discuss properly.
"What were you worried about in that moment, Sister Bai?"
"Worried... I wouldn't call it worry, exactly... It just felt like something I’d been holding onto suddenly snapped." Bai Yu struggled to find the right words to describe her inner state.
But if everything in this world could be clearly described with language, there wouldn't be so much misunderstanding and grievance.
"I see. That just shows... you have a very strong sense of belonging to our world, Sister Bai."
"A sense of belonging?"
"Yes. It’s a... concept that’s hard to put into words. Have you ever wondered why? When you dig deep into many things, doubts start to sprout. Do you have any lingering attachments to our world?"
"Attachments... I don't know. It feels like there’s nothing left in this world... No, wait. There’s still you, Xiao Han."
"Aww~" I intentionally drew out the sound and leaned closer to her. "Am I really that important to you, Sister Bai?"
"Silly girl, of course you are," Bai Yu said with a smile, reaching out to pinch my cheek.
"So, you still can't figure out why you feel such a sense of belonging to our original world?"
"Silly Xiao Han. If a person didn't feel a sense of belonging to the world they lived in, wouldn't life be incredibly exhausting?"
"Exhausting?"
"Isn't it for you? Xiao Han, I can tell you don't quite agree with me."
"Of course... Just because it’s always been this way doesn't mean it should be. Sister Bai, tell me... could this 'sense of belonging' be a scam forced upon us by the world? Or is it just a trap of self-perception caused by the limitations of our own cognition?"
"Xiao Han, why are you talking like this? I know that 'always being this way' doesn't make it right, but calling it a 'scam' is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Is it? Sister Bai, remember what I told you about the Ley Line Shackles... and the World Will? When you add those variables into the mix, do you still think a scam is impossible?"
"That..."
"Actually, we don't need to worry so much about all that. Sense of belonging, alien invaders—none of it matters as much as living in the moment. Sister Bai, now that you know these things, will you hate the Witch Academy? Will you stop attending? Do you still want to become a Transcendent Witch?"
"I... I won't hate it. I don't have those kinds of thoughts." Bai Yu shook her head.
"Exactly. We promised to become Transcendent Witches together, to explore the Void, and to pick a world we like and live there until we're bored of it..."
"Alright, alright~ Xiao Han, don't say things like that in public."
"Hehe, as long as you remember, Sister Bai." Seeing that my words were working, I dropped the subject. I didn't really know how to offer comfort regarding these matters; it was better to just distract her.
* * *
Somewhere in the ruins outside the city.
"This... where is this?" Tan Han gazed at the surrounding ruins, her eyes flashing with a moment of confusion before she quickly scanned the area for danger.
"As I thought... the Slumber Curse... my consciousness really is trapped in... is this another world?"
Tan Han looked around and realized that the people who had come with her were nowhere to be found.
"It seems we weren't sent to the same place." With that thought, Tan Han didn't hesitate and immediately started moving. Staying put would yield no results; only by moving could she find a way out.
She had come here to break the so-called Slumber Curse. She had to find the source and eliminate it! Once that was done, the curse should be lifted.
Of course, there was an even more important task: finding the others who had fallen into this slumber. She couldn't just stand by and watch them die here.
Everything she faced now was unknown, and she would have to figure it out as she went.
"Who? Who's there!"
"Eh? Is that... Sister Tan Han? It's me! Minian."
"Minian? You're nearby?"
"It really is Sister Tan Han! Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to do this all alone." Seeing Tan Han, Minian excitedly rushed over to regroup. In a strange place, having a companion was more important than anything.
"Minian... that's good. Since you're nearby, the others might be too. Let's look for them first."
"Right... should we split up? What if we lose each other?"
"Let's do this..." Tan Han checked her internal Mana Source and her spellbook; everything seemed normal. "I'll place a spell mark on you. I'll be able to find you then. Also, be careful, Minian. We're completely unfamiliar with this place. If there's danger, prioritize your own safety. Don't try to be a hero."
"I know, Sister Tan Han."
Minian looked at the mark Tan Han had placed on her and didn't hesitate to start searching. However, they were sensible enough not to stray too far from each other, as no one knew what kind of dangers lurked here.
* * *
Inside Ninglan New City.
"Are you Miss Yang Yuehan and Miss Bai Yu?"
"Hmm? Yes. And you are?"
Sister Bai and I looked at the elderly man who had suddenly appeared before us. The fact that he knew our names meant he must have heard about us through some channel—most likely related to the City Lord.
"Oh, I've finally found you. I... suppose you could call me a staff member of the Ninglanxiang Hotel. The City Lord specifically instructed me to prepare accommodations for you. Would you like to come with me to the hotel now, or should I just give you the information...?"
"Just give us the information. We don't plan on heading back just yet," I said. It was still early, after all.
After giving us our room numbers, the old man stopped bothering us and quietly took his leave.
Wait, hadn't the Ninglanxiang Hotel been attacked earlier? Was it fixed already? Well, the Dream Demon probably hadn't actually destroyed the building itself.
"Now... where were we? I've forgotten after that interruption."
"If you've forgotten, then the topic wasn't that important, was it?"
"I guess so!" I nodded. My goal in chatting with Sister Bai was simply to keep her from getting lost in thought over that damn Dream Demon's words.
After talking for so long, I had a rough idea of why she was feeling this way. The answer was probably simple, but I had overcomplicated it.
"So, what should we do next? We can't just sit here all day." I stood up, brushed the wrinkles from my clothes, and turned to Sister Bai.
"Hmm? You're asking me what to do next, Xiao Han? Shouldn't you be asking yourself? I'm just here to keep you company."
"Hmm... in that case, let's go find that Ninglan New City History Museum. The City Lord mentioned he’d put in a word with the curator. It’s a good chance to see if we can find anything useful. After all... according to that Dream Demon, this place is also part of our Main World. Maybe we'll see something significant, perhaps even history from a thousand years ago."
"Go look at history?"
"Yeah. Don't you want to go, Sister Bai? Just come with me as a favor. Please~ please~?"
"Alright, alright, Xiao Han! Don't make that cute voice!"
"What? You can't handle it?" I asked with a playful smirk.
"It’s... it’s not that. It’s just when you act spoiled like that... it feels a bit..."
"Out of character?"
"It’s cute." Bai Yu stood up with a smile. She was completely defenseless against my acting spoiled; she just loved it, plain and simple.
And so, we wandered through the city, asking for directions to the history museum as we made our way there.
"You two... must be the outsiders. The Lord City Lord mentioned you to me..." The elderly man standing before us was the curator of the massive history museum behind him. Although this was a fairly prosperous area, there were fewer people inside the museum than there were in the open plaza outside.
When we arrived, the old man had been lounging in a chair by the entrance, soaking up the sun.
"The City Lord is certainly efficient."
"Naturally. That is simply how the City Lord operates. Besides, it was only a phone call. I didn't expect anyone to still be interested in the history of Ninglan New City. Would you like this old man to show you around?"
"Wait, does this museum only record the history of Ninglan New City?" I asked.
"Yes, only Ninglan New City. Inside, there are photographs and records of the achievements of every City Lord. My personal favorite would have to be the legacy left by the First Generation Ninglan City Lord..."
The old man introduced the museum as he led us inside. We entered a massive foyer. The curator knew every item in the collection like the back of his hand. Even though we didn't say a word, he talked non-stop for half an hour. Perhaps this was his version of romance, or maybe he just hadn't had anyone to share these precious things with for a long time.
Seeing how few visitors there were, I should have realized that the people of Ninglan New City didn't care much for history. After all, it was just the history of a single city. A thousand years of history condensed into one museum—it even felt a bit empty. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing that sparked much interest.
And just as the curator said, it only recorded the history of Ninglan New City. There were no records of the time before that—no written history, only artifacts. But those artifacts were meaningless; you could find plenty of them in the ruins outside the city. Without historical context, it was impossible to know what the world was like before.
But according to the Dream Demon, the outsiders had taken the Main World by force. That must have been a truly horrific war.
"Thank you... it feels like it's been a long time since I've told these stories to anyone. Though I suppose you weren't really listening, were you?"
"Um... sorry. I was hoping to find history about the war a thousand years ago that turned the area outside Ninglan New City into ruins."
"There's no need to apologize. It's just nice to have someone to talk to. But you're curious about the great war from a thousand years ago? I'm afraid that part of history... has been lost. I only know what's been passed down by word of mouth—that it was a war that engulfed the entire world. I don't know anything else. Who the enemy was, who won, how it ended... none of it can be verified anymore..." The elderly curator shook his head.
But we knew. We knew that the Transcendent Races had won and established a new order in this world.
The people of the Main World had lost, becoming a ranch for those Transcendent Academies to harvest talent... That might sound harsh, but there was no point in sugarcoating it. Thinking back on how they removed birth restrictions and encouraged large families—wasn't that just to produce as many talented individuals as possible?
I vaguely remembered that my "cheap parents" were expecting a third child—no, wait, a second. I’d heard I wasn't actually their biological child, but I didn't care to verify that right now.
I didn't know if it would be a brother or a sister. None of it had anything to do with me anymore.
However, as I reached the deeper parts of the history museum, I saw something that piqued my interest. It looked like a... fragment?
And I saw runes on it.
"This was once a common piece of debris from the ruins outside, but someone gave it special value. The First Generation Ninglan City Lord—he comprehended the original Beyonder Arts from this very piece. By using those techniques to wield Beyonder Power, we built Ninglan New City upon the ruins. Of course, the completion of the city was also thanks to the Ninglan Protection Stele."
"He comprehended... Beyonder Arts just from this?" I was slightly shocked by the curator's explanation.
The runes on the fragment were just a few of the most basic ones. To spend a thousand years developing their Beyonder Arts to this level based on such a small revelation... No wonder they hadn't climbed the technology tree. They’d picked the wrong development path, hadn't they?
They’d been banging their heads against the field of runes all this time?
Still, I had to admire them. It made me think of the Type III Beyonder Killing Weapon that had severely wounded the Dream Demon. That was definitely a weapon powered by Transcendent energy. Its power was even more terrifying than an anti-materiel rifle. According to Ninglan Qiuyu, a single shot could blow a Variant Beast apart, yet it had only left a hole in the Dream Demon... I could only say that the Dream Demon's physical constitution was truly monstrous.
And if there was a Type III, there might be a Type IV or even a Type V. After all, if they wanted to defend a city in the middle of these ruins, how could they survive without overwhelming firepower?