Chapter 131: Aid or Harm After All?

"By the way, why haven't you been attending the meetings at the main city lately?"

"This..." Clara felt a sudden wave of panic.

Isabel did not dwell on the matter. He set his teacup back on the table, turned, and said, "It looks like you've been handling things quite well. I have other business to attend to, so I'll be heading back."

Clara nodded, but Isabel paid no attention to his reaction. He tore through the fabric of space and departed from the Eighth Survival Zone.

Although he knew Isabel possessed immense power, it was still shocking to witness him rip through the void with his bare hands every time. Clara asked himself if even ten years of effort would ever bring him to Isabel’s level.

Recalling Isabel’s question, he felt a lingering chill. Isabel surely knew about his plan to kill the City Lord, yet he had done nothing. Isabel had always been an enigma—even the City Lord could not fathom him.

"Isabel certainly didn't come here just for nothing. He must have come to warn me."

Thinking of this, Clara felt a deep sense of dread. If he failed to execute his task, what would Isabel do to him? He turned and walked back into his room, determined to push the thought aside.

***

After arriving at his own quarters, Xi Yan threw himself onto his bed. It was vast, soft, and incredibly comfortable.

He hadn't slept in such a place for a long time. Ever since the apocalypse began, it had been nothing but adventuring or being hunted; simply getting a peaceful night's sleep was a luxury, let alone resting in such comfort.

However, his mood was not uplifted by the luxury. Thoughts of having just reunited with his sister only to be separated again filled him with melancholy and sorrow. Watching the night sky outside his window, he worried for Xi Lin, wondering what she might encounter after arriving at the main city. Lost in these thoughts, exhaustion eventually took hold, and he drifted into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, before Xi Yan had fully woken up, a series of frantic knocks on his door roused him. He opened his eyes, groggy and rubbing them, and went to open the door. The moment he did, Qing Yan rushed in, knocking the disoriented Xi Yan to the floor.

Qing Yan scanned the room and found it empty. Only then did she hear Xi Yan’s pained groan from the floor.

"Qing Yan... what are you doing? Rushing in like this so early in the morning..."

Seeing Xi Yan sprawled on the ground, Qing Yan realized what she had done. She gave an awkward laugh, helped him up, and guided him to the sofa. As Xi Yan rubbed his backside and sat down, he asked, "Has something happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"There are many survivors outside. They’ve come to catch you."

"Catch me? Why?" Xi Yan was instantly wide awake.

Qing Yan curled her lip, looking at him as if he were a fool. "Have you forgotten who you are? Killing you grants someone the position of the Ninth Lord."

Only then did it hit him. Although he remembered being the master of the Ninth Survival Zone, he had forgotten that killing him would allow others to usurp his title.

"But how did they know I was here?"

There were countless survival zones, and finding a single person within them was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"You’re quite famous now. Did you think you were still just an ordinary survivor?" Qing Yan rolled her eyes.

Xi Yan’s eyes darted around as he began to weigh his options.

"Do the people outside know exactly where I'm staying?" he asked, harboring a sliver of hope. If they didn't know his exact location, he could still slip away, but if they did, the situation would not be easily resolved.

Qing Yan gave a deliberate, knowing smile, her tone laced with a sense of watching a show. "Of course they know where you are. Why else would I have rushed over here so early?"

"Oh, and by the way, it was Clara who told them," she added.

Hearing this, Xi Yan’s head began to throb. Why would Clara do this? What benefit could there possibly be for him?

Just as they were discussing him, Clara arrived, uninvited. Finding the door left ajar, he simply walked right in.

Xi Yan and Qing Yan looked toward the entrance to see Clara standing there. Xi Yan stared at him, his face darkening.

Clara, acting as if he were oblivious, sat down opposite Xi Yan with great enthusiasm and poured himself a glass of water.

"Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"You were the one who told those people outside where Xi Yan is, weren't you?" Qing Yan cut straight to the point without hesitation.

Hearing her accusation, Clara set his glass down, crossed his legs, and looked at them, not a hint of fear on his face.

"I did tell them. Is there a problem with that?" Clara looked at them with an expression of "I don't know what I did wrong." For a moment, the two of them were at a loss for words.

"I came here to tell you that as long as you stay in this room, you will be safe." Clara smiled like a fox.

This only left Xi Yan and Qing Yan more bewildered. If Clara’s intention was to protect Xi Yan, why would he reveal his whereabouts to the mob outside?

"I don't understand why you would do this," Qing Yan said, looking at him with utter disdain.

"I did it to give Xi Yan an opportunity to improve his abilities. Think about it: he is safe staying here, but if he goes out, he will encounter various enemies. Isn't facing life-and-death situations the most effective and fastest way to grow stronger?"

His logic left them with no room to argue, yet Xi Yan felt that this was not Clara's true motive.

"Then I’ll thank you for that," Xi Yan replied flatly.

Anyone could hear the heavy sarcasm in his voice, but Clara acted as if he didn't notice, accepting the "praise" with a polite, superficial response.

"No need for thanks. After all, we are partners."

Xi Yan decided that it was no longer possible to communicate with Clara using human logic. Qing Yan, who had never liked him to begin with, seized the opportunity to give him a piece of her mind.