Chapter 188 A Century-Old Conspiracy (1/2)

Ruan Tang's gaze lingered on the spot where Yan Yu's finger had landed.

The fragmented and chaotic knowledge of formations in her mind was now being thrown into a furnace, burning and reorganizing wildly.

The direction of mountains and rivers.

Energy transfer losses.

The angle at which the formation deflects.

Countless data streams converge into an incredibly precise coordinate.

Finally, her gaze met Yan Yu's fingers perfectly.

She nodded emphatically.

Her throat was terribly dry. She swallowed hard and managed to squeeze out a few words with difficulty: "Where is this place?"

Yan Yu parted his thin lips slightly and uttered three words.

The sound wasn't loud, yet it sent a chill through the warm, cozy room.

"The Land of Cherry Blossoms".

The land of cherry blossoms.

These two words, like an invisible ice spike, pierced Ruan Tang's heart, instantly stirring up memories of Jia Ximei.

The woman who died in the cave and was carelessly discarded like trash by the organization behind her.

A wave of nausea, a mixture of anger and disgust, suddenly surged up from my stomach.

"Jia Ximei's organization... let me double-check!"

She immediately closed her eyes.

Mental energy surged into the memory cores of the two puppets like a tidal wave.

Countless silent images flashed rapidly through her mind: the fine lines of rocks eroded by wind and rain over hundreds of years, the color differences of soil layers from different eras, and the energy remnants left by the annual cycle of growth and decay of plants...

All the details that had been overlooked were forcibly captured, magnified, and analyzed at this moment.

Just a few seconds later, she suddenly opened her eyes.

Her small, palm-sized face was completely drained of color, but two terrifying flames burned in her clear, almond-shaped eyes.

"Brother, this formation isn't something we just created recently."

Her voice was soft, but trembled slightly with barely suppressed anger.

"The deep traces the puppet detected, the degree of weathering, the cycle of energy decay... everything is pointing to one thing—"

"This scheme has been in the works for at least a hundred years."

"This cherry blossom country... their treacherous intentions have existed since the last century, or even earlier!"

This conclusion completely shattered the warm feeling in the room.

Ruan Tang stared intently at the dotted line on the map extending from Mao'er Mountain, her delicate brows furrowed into a tight knot.

Her fingertips traced the line and lightly tapped twice on the map of Yan.

"Here, and here too."

One is the Tumen River, which forms the border between the Yan Kingdom and its neighboring countries.

The other is the sea area outside the border, known as the Cherry Blossom Sea.

"For stability, the transfer station for this type of long-distance energy transfer formation would only be located in water."

Ruan Tang's voice regained its composure, carrying a sharp edge as if dissecting a disease.

“The Earth’s crust is always in motion, and over time, energy channels will deviate or even become unusable. But it’s much more stable underwater, and water can provide the best concealment and buffering. So, these two places are the most likely.”

She raised her head, met Yan Yu's unfathomable black eyes, and said frankly, "However, my knowledge of array formations is all pieced together from various sources, and the person who set up the array is so eccentric, I can't be 100% sure."

"But we must go to these two places."

"Wait until after the New Year."

Yan Yu didn't ask any questions, but simply stretched out his large hand and wrapped her icy little hand completely in his burning palm.

His palms were dry and rough, with thin calluses, as he gently stroked the back of her hand. The undeniable heat seemed to brand her heart directly, smoothing away all her fear and unease.

"Let's go take a look."

He didn't ask why, nor did he ask if it was worth it.

She said she wanted to go, so he went with her.

He would accompany her through thick and thin.

Ruan Tang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, immediately settled back into her stomach. She obediently leaned back into his firm embrace and softly hummed in agreement.