Chapter 426: Dinner Time
*Clatter!*
Continue your journey with empire
Sitting at the dining table, Yuan Ming and Tian Heng stared blankly at the empty plates and bowls before them. Their minds still could not get over what they had heard earlier.
—A Few Moments Ago—
"What's going on? Why can't we remember anything?" Tian Heng started to panic. Yuan Ming was no different; he clutched the sheets of the bed he was sitting on.
Wuhan glanced at Noah and asked, "Does it have something to do with that?"
"Yeah, it looks like the first thing that curse targeted was their memories." After some thinking, Noah nodded, looking at the two of them.
"Curse?" Yuan Ming thought out loud. He started to recall that the sword spirit had told him something like that as well. But it did not say anything about memory loss, and this was not the first time that they were missing some memories. During the time they were crossing the borders of Tian Heng's empire, they faced a similar incident.
"The people who kidnapped you placed a curse on you two. We believe that the curse was the reason you two lost some of your memories as well." Wuhan sighed and explained everything to them.
"Master, are we still cursed?" Tian Heng asked as Yuan Ming's eyes shook. Since his curse was broken by the sword, he did not feel any discomfort and forgot about the curse.
"Don't worry about that. The curse was removed after you were rescued, and there should be no problems anymore." Wuhan replied with a wide smile, avoiding bringing Noah's name into it so that they didn't ask any questions regarding that.
Yuan Ming was rendered speechless when he heard his master's words. The sword told him that removing the curse for one person was very difficult, and now Wuhan was telling him that the curse had been removed. He did not know which one to believe.
"What about the other people who were in that cave?" Noah was surprised by Yuan Ming's question as he was asking him, not Wuhan.
"They are safe as well. You don't have to worry about them. They are in a different room." Hearing Noah's reply, the black-haired boy heaved a sigh of relief.
"Can you tell us what happened to Junior Sister now?" Tian Heng asked impatiently, looking at his master. "Even Elder Shisan is here, but she is not... Why is that?"
Wuhan and Noah exchanged glances. Yuan Ming, who saw their expression, felt something was wrong.
"Does it have something to do with the curse you were talking about, Master?" He had a feeling that everything was related to this 'curse' they were talking about.
"Sigh~ En! As you think, this has something to do with her curse." Wuhan nodded in acceptance and waved his hand. A transparent screen appeared in the middle of the air, showing the scene of the cell in which Song Liu was locked.
"How could it be…" Tian Heng muttered in disbelief as he saw the young woman chained to the wall, unconsciously lying on the ground. Seeing her current state, both of her senior brothers gasped in shock.
"What happened to her, Master?" Yuan Ming could not help but ask in disbelief. "Why is she chained up?"
"The curse we just told you about." Noah decided to take over the explanation. "It does not just affect the memories; it alters the very core of the soul itself."
"You mean, she's under their control?" Tian Heng clenched his hands into fists and asked through gritted teeth.
"Right now, your junior sister is extremely loyal to the enemy." Noah nodded and replied, "She has been enslaved by them, and if we free her from the shackles, she will run away from the sect to join them."
The look on the two young men turned dark as they understood the severity of the situation. They did not want to lose their junior sister.
"Is there a way to save her?" Tian Heng looked at Noah with a pleading expression.
"The curse is awfully close to infecting her soul core, but it hasn't done that yet. None of us are powerful enough to save her without killing her in the process." Wuhan lowered his head in helplessness, unable to look at the pitiful state of his disciple.
His other two disciples felt their hearts shattering. During their journey, they got close to Song Liu; she was almost like their family.
"So, are we going to give up on her?" Tian Heng asked with an empty voice and his head lowered.
"No one is giving up on her!" Wuhan spoke up sharply. He raised his head looked at the screen and added, "No matter how long it takes, I will make sure to find a cure for her problem! As long as the curse does not touch her soul core, there is still hope."
"I believe in her. She will definitely pull through this." Noah commented while giving his friend a small pat on the back. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the last person lying in the room and saw the eyelids trembling a little before returning to normal.
*Clang!*
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the two of them snapped out of their thoughts and raised their heads, looking away from the empty bowls and plates.
Seeing the person who entered the room, their eyes widened in shock. Wuhan, who was sitting in the main seat, smiled upon seeing the person.
"Where should I sit?" Shisan asked coldly, ignoring Wuhan's eyes.
"Take a seat anywhere you like." Noah nodded at her slightly before looking around the empty seats at the twelve-seat table. Since Noah was sitting beside Wuhan, Shisan walked towards the other end of the table and sat far away from them.
Soon, the aroma of warm, delicious food reached their noses, attracting everyone's attention. They all turned their attention towards the door and watched Xin Yan walking inside the room with Wu Ping following behind her, carrying a large tray filled with different dishes.
Wuhan gulped his saliva nervously, wondering which one of those dishes was made for him.