Chapter 273: Bluewave city 5.

Dong.

Dong.

Dong.

Blue lights appeared along the ancient seawall.

One by one.

Like eyes opening.

Mo Yuxin’s expression became serious.

"This city is not ordinary."

Su Yubing nodded.

"No."

The black ship entered the harbor.

And the moment its bow crossed the boundary of the city formation, every spirit lamp in Bluewave City went out.

Darkness swallowed the city.

Then a woman’s voice came from somewhere beneath the harbor.

"The gate has opened."

Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing looked at each other.

The next instant, the bronze token inside Mo Yuxin’s storage ring shattered by itself.

And beneath their feet, the entire city formation began to move.

The ground moved.

It was not an earthquake.

Mo Yuxin knew the difference immediately. An earthquake was the movement of physical land, while what was happening beneath them was the shifting of spiritual veins. The entire city was built over a formation so large that even her suppressed divine sense could feel the change spreading through the streets.

Stone trembled beneath their feet.

The lamps remained dark.

People screamed from the market district.

A few cultivators immediately rose into the air on their swords, but the moment they climbed higher than the roofs, a transparent layer of blue light appeared over the city and slammed them back down. One man crashed into a roof, breaking several tiles.

Someone shouted, "The city formation has sealed the sky!"

Another voice cried, "Do not use teleportation!"

A third person yelled, "Get to the south gate!"

Then the south gate exploded.

The entire promenade fell silent.

Mo Yuxin looked toward the distant flash.

"That was not an attack."

Su Yubing nodded.

"The formation closed the gate from the inside."

"Exactly."

The black ship continued moving through the harbor.

Its hull passed under the moonlight, and Mo Yuxin finally saw the symbol painted on its side.

A white wave beneath a black moon.

It was the same symbol that had appeared on the bronze token.

Su Yubing’s fingers tightened around hers.

"It is looking for us."

Mo Yuxin shook her head.

"Not us. The token."

"The token is gone."

"Gone from our storage ring. Not necessarily destroyed."

She could still feel its spiritual imprint.

Somewhere beneath the city.

The shattered pieces had not disappeared. They had been pulled down through the formation.

Mo Yuxin closed her eyes for a moment.

A faint pressure touched her spiritual sense.

It came from beneath the north pier.

"The token went there."

Su Yubing looked toward the old district.

"Then we go there too."

They started walking.

They did not fly.

They did not reveal their strength.

They simply walked through the streets while the entire city descended into confusion.

The funny thing about panic in a cultivation city was that it was usually much more dramatic than necessary. Some cultivators immediately began shouting that a demon beast had invaded. Someone else claimed the city was under attack from a neighboring sect. A young man with a sword declared that he had been chosen by destiny and ran toward the harbor carrying nothing but courage and a kitchen knife.

Mo Yuxin saw him pass.

She stared.

Su Yubing said, "Do not laugh."

"I am not."

"Your shoulders moved."

"The wind moved them."

"There is no wind."

"Exactly. That is why it is strange."

They turned down an alley.

A patrol of city guards rushed past them.

The captain looked back and shouted, "Stay inside! Nobody goes to the north pier!"

Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing walked toward the north pier.

Five steps later, Mo Yuxin said, "That was almost suspicious."

Su Yubing nodded. "Extremely."

By the time they reached the old district, the streets were nearly empty.

The buildings here were older than the rest of the city. Some were half buried in the stone, their lower floors hidden below ground level. The sea wall on this side was made from dark stone and had clearly been repaired many times.

At the end of the road stood a sealed archway.

A plaque above it read: North Harbor Restricted Zone.

There were two guards standing outside.

Mo Yuxin stopped.

One guard raised a hand.

"Stop. Nobody enters."

Mo Yuxin nodded politely.

"We were only passing through."

"Then pass somewhere else."

Su Yubing looked at the harbor behind him.

"What happened?"

The guard frowned.

"No idea. We were ordered here."

The other guard remained silent.

Mo Yuxin noticed his hands.

There was blood beneath his fingernails.

Not his own.

She also noticed that the guard’s spiritual energy was slightly unstable.

He had been exposed to a formation backlash.

Mo Yuxin did not say anything.

She simply turned around.

"Come, Yubing."

Su Yubing followed her.

They walked around the corner.

Once they were out of sight, Su Yubing whispered, "He was lying."

"Yes."

"Do you think he knows what is happening?"

"Probably less than the person who gave him orders."

They entered an old tea shop that looked abandoned.

Inside, the tables were covered in dust.

Mo Yuxin pushed one chair aside and looked at the floor.

There was a faint mark.

A fresh one.

Someone had recently dragged a heavy object across the stone.

Su Yubing crouched beside it.

"This goes under the wall."

Mo Yuxin tapped the floor.

A hollow sound answered.

They looked at each other.

Su Yubing smiled.

"A secret tunnel."

"Naturally."

"You sound disappointed."

"It would have been more interesting if it were a secret staircase behind a painting."

"We can look for one later."

Mo Yuxin pressed two fingers to the floor.

The stone opened silently.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Neither woman was surprised.

They stepped down.

The passage was narrow at first, but after several dozen steps it widened. Old lanterns lined the walls, though none had been lit for a very long time. Water dripped from the ceiling.

The farther they went, the colder it became.

The sound of the sea disappeared.

Then, strangely, the smell of the sea became stronger.

Su Yubing whispered, "This is below the harbor."

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TO BE CONTINUED.