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Chapter 235 - 234: Liuli

The voice wasn’t loud, yet to the three, it was like thunder in their ears!

Chen Xuan looked toward the source of the sound in surprise and discovered that a person had appeared atop a glass pillar without him noticing.

"Who are you?"

He couldn’t help but ask.

This was by no means an unnecessary question because the figure was far too bizarre to resemble a guard of the Holy Temple Treasure Vault!

What does a guard look like? They should at least be dressed in a security uniform, sporting a bulletproof vest and helmet, holding a long gun nervously pointed at them, right?

But this person’s attire seemed totally outlandish. She donned a large conical hat with white gauze hanging around it, concealing her true appearance. Such a retro look seemed improbable outside of a costume exhibition. Yet if she intended to hide herself, her clothing—a form-fitting vest with a short skirt—revealed her impressive figure unreservedly. Her long legs swayed carelessly on the edge of the glass pillar, adorned with provocative single-leg stockings and thigh-high socks in mismatched colors, one entirely white, one deep purple.

Chen Xuan thought about it; if he wore such an outfit, not only would he fail as security, he wouldn’t even have the courage to stand before strangers.

Yet she dared to look down upon them boldly!

"Me?" The woman pointed to herself, "Well... of course, I’m the guardian here."

Wait, she hesitated earlier!

While she was speaking, Chen Xuan scanned her once again using Celestial Mist Skill, but even at this distance, he still couldn’t detect any Spiritual Qi from her!

How is that possible? Liu Shuyue had mentioned that masters could disguise themselves, forcibly suppressing their Spiritual Qi activity to appear more like regular people, but ordinary doesn’t equate to complete disappearance!

According to the cultivator’s belief, all things possess spirits, and with high enough cultivation in the Heart Method, one can sense even flowers, grass, insects, and birds.

They just don’t know about bacteria and viruses yet.

If they did, it would definitely be included in their perception range.

But here was a living person, yet no spiritual aura could be sensed, which was truly baffling.

Even if she displayed Demon Fiend Spiritual Qi, it would be something!

"You’re the guardian? What about the workers?"

Unexpectedly, Lin Qing’s retort was equally sharp.

"Uh..." The question stumped her; she pressed the brim of her hat with some displeasure, "I say I am, if you don’t believe me, go outside and ask those certified guards if they know me."

Clearly, they couldn’t go to ask.

Wouldn’t that be walking right into a trap?

"So, are you going to apprehend us?" Elorie lowered her tone, and Wings of Light unfolded behind her, ready for battle, "If you pretend you didn’t see anything now and turn away, there’s still time."

"Wait... don’t rush." Chen Xuan hastily interrupted, sensing that her attitude towards them was somewhat peculiar.

"Of course, I’ll stay; you won’t get any treasure from my hands." The woman’s tone was still calm and even contained a hint of cheerfulness, "But you haven’t touched the treasures yet, so it’s not considered an offense."

"What if we did touch them?" Lin Qing maintained a reaching posture.

"Hmm... even if you touch them by accident, let’s say you don’t take them, I won’t make a move." She leaned back slightly, revealing a long blade at her waist, "Otherwise... you might die~"

Cold weapon?

She was either foolish or had incredible confidence in her abilities.

Lin Qing pondered for a moment, withdrawing her hand, "I’m not particularly interested in stealing treasures, just wanted to test this circuit board."

"That’s what I thought, risking life for an external item isn’t a worthwhile deal," The woman nodded understandingly.

Through the fluttering gauze, Chen Xuan saw her red lips curved like a crescent moon, seemingly smiling.

"We can stroll around here, and you won’t mind, right?"

"Correct." She replied naturally, "Don’t you think it resembles a museum here? These treasures shouldn’t be hidden away in such a place away from daylight. These poor things always complain about their plight, but no one hears their grievances."

"You can?"

"No." She coughed twice, "That’s just a figure of speech."

Chen Xuan summoned the two to his side, "Let’s ignore her for now and locate the mother flesh’s storage, then figure out how to proceed."

"But... will she just watch us?" Elorie couldn’t help but glance back. The woman had already crossed her legs, rested her chin on her hand, and was watching them with great interest. "I don’t quite feel comfortable."

"Do you believe what she says?" Lin Qing queried.

"I think I have an idea of who she is... or rather, what she is," Chen Xuan said.

"Who?"

"Didn’t the Angel Alliance rumor that the Holy Temple Treasure Vault is protected by a powerful artifact? Maybe it’s not just idle talk."

"Huh?" The two exclaimed in unison.

"You mean the artifact is a living person?" Elorie asked in disbelief.

"She may not be a living person, just looks like one." Chen Xuan disagreed, if she were human, how could she go unnoticed by Celestial Mist Skill? And her strange attire, the anachronistic weapon, her arbitrary rules—all pointed to an abnormal mental state.

If she isn’t truly human, then these issues don’t matter at all.

"Although unsure of her abilities, the vault was historically infiltrated by a demon, since demons dealt with her, maybe we can too." Chen Xuan continued, "You go find Lucy, I’ll handle her to uncover her weaknesses."

At least on the surface, the woman didn’t refuse communication.

"Alright, following your lead." Lin Qing pulled Elorie along to seek the target artifact.

Chen Xuan slowly approached the glass pillar she was sitting on, "What’s your name?"

"Liuli." The woman immediately replied.

"Regular people don’t name themselves like that."

"But that’s just my name." She sighed, "Names... depend on what others call you, what you think doesn’t matter."

Chen Xuan leaped up, landing on a neighboring glass pillar, sitting cross-legged so their eyes were level.

"You don’t seem like an ordinary thief," Liuli remarked.

"And you don’t seem like a typical guard," Chen Xuan responded indifferently, "How much does the Angel Alliance pay you to guard this place?"

"They never paid me."

"Working for free?" He couldn’t believe his ears—this was more incredible than a living person being an artifact.

"You don’t understand, it wasn’t the angels who left me here," Liuli shook her head, "In total, my mission ends after another three hundred years."

Three hundred years... This further confirmed Chen Xuan’s suspicion, a regular person can’t live that long?

"If I offer you money, can I hire you to work for me?"

"Hahaha... Boy, that’s impossible, I, Liuli, won’t be bought by mere money." She laughed aloud.

"Keep your voice down, what if a guard hears you?"

"Oh, right." Liuli immediately lowered her voice, "It’s been ages since I conversed with someone."

Clearly, Chen Xuan noted. He finally realized what the strange feeling she had been giving off since her appearance was.

Expressive urge.

From her stance, to her expressions, and manner of speaking, all seemed to convey to him to engage her more.

Though not human, she had desires akin to humans—conversation.

But here, she lacked anyone to converse with.

Her presence within the vault, rather than the guard’s external post, indicated the Angel Alliance was wary of her or employed some means to confine her internally.

"How long have you been here?" Chen Xuan asked.

"About eighty years, before that, because the Holy Temple Treasure Vault wasn’t completed." Liuli replied airily.

An obscure vault hidden within the snowy mountain, how many visitors does it receive annually? Year after year, guarding it in this silent and desolate place for eighty years, ordinary people would have gone mad!

No wonder she showed such an attitude toward the vault intruders—no matter who they were, as long as they had a mouth, she wouldn’t miss an opportunity for a chat.