Chapter 277: Bluewave city 9.

The three women disappeared into the shadows.

Two men entered.

Both wore the robes of the city lord’s guards.

"Did you find the last piece?" one asked.

"No. The auction house master said the missing piece was sold yesterday."

"To whom?"

"Two women. Foreign cultivators."

The other man cursed.

"The city lord said the key must not leave the harbor."

"They probably do not know what they have."

"They do now."

The men looked around nervously.

"Once the seventh bell rings, the underground seal will be useless anyway."

"Then we have to make sure the two women are captured before the city lord completes the ritual."

The guards left.

Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing emerged.

Han Qing looked furious.

"They knew about the ritual."

"Of course."

Su Yubing looked at the map.

"The city lord did not start this alone."

Mo Yuxin nodded.

"There are other factions involved."

They searched another room and found a stack of ledgers.

The ledgers listed ships, captains, sea routes, and payments.

Several entries were written in code.

One name appeared repeatedly.

Black Reef Trading House.

Another appeared beneath it.

Bluewave City Lord’s Mansion.

A third had no name at all.

It was only a symbol.

A black moon above a white wave.

Su Yubing traced the symbol with her finger.

"This is the same symbol from the ship."

Mo Yuxin nodded.

"And the token."

She was silent for a moment.

Then she looked at Su Yubing.

"Are you tired?"

Su Yubing blinked.

"What?"

"We have been walking for hours."

"I am fine."

"You are lying."

"A little."

Mo Yuxin smiled.

Even in the middle of a dangerous mystery, she could not help caring about whether Su Yubing had eaten enough and rested enough.

She took out a spirit fruit from her storage ring.

Su Yubing looked at it and laughed.

"You brought snacks?"

"Always."

"You were prepared for this?"

"Not for the city. For you."

Su Yubing took the fruit.

She bit into it and held the other half toward Mo Yuxin.

Mo Yuxin took a bite from the same side.

Han Qing stood nearby, stared at them for two breaths, then quietly turned away.

"I feel like I am intruding."

Su Yubing smiled.

"You are."

Han Qing shook her head.

"Unbelievable."

Mo Yuxin laughed softly.

For a few moments, the danger around them felt distant.

Su Yubing leaned against her shoulder.

"When this is over, let us come back."

"To Bluewave City?"

"Yes."

"After everything we just found?"

"The food is good."

Mo Yuxin nodded.

"Then we will come back."

Su Yubing smiled.

"And we will stay in that restaurant by the harbor."

"The one with the roasted sea serpent?"

"Yes."

"Agreed."

Their fingers intertwined.

The quiet moment lasted only a breath.

Then the entire auction house shook.

The ceiling cracked.

A massive wave of spiritual energy swept across the city.

The ledger flew from Han Qing’s hand.

Mo Yuxin caught it before it hit the floor.

Outside, a thousand voices screamed at once.

The sixth bell had already rung.

The seventh was coming.

There was no more time to investigate every detail.

Mo Yuxin put the ledgers into her storage ring.

"We go to the mansion."

Su Yubing nodded.

"Together."

"Always."

They left the auction house.

The city was changing around them.

Cracks were opening in the streets.

Water rose from the ground.

Some buildings had already sunk several feet.

People were running toward the central square.

Others were trying to escape through the gates.

Nobody could leave.

Blue light covered every road leading out.

The harbor ships had stopped moving.

Even the sea was silent.

Above the city, the sky looked like a huge dark mirror.

Mo Yuxin looked at it once.

Then she turned away.

She had seen enough.

The only thing that mattered now was protecting Su Yubing and preventing the final bell from opening whatever was beneath the city.

They reached the road leading toward the city lord’s mansion.

As they neared the mansion, Mo Yuxin noticed something else.

The streets had become strangely empty.

Not because everyone had fled.

Because the people were being pulled toward the central square.

A hidden formation beneath the roads was guiding them without them realizing it.

Those who tried to turn away found themselves circling back.

Children cried.

Parents shouted.

Low-level cultivators exhausted their spiritual energy trying to break through the invisible barrier.

None succeeded.

Mo Yuxin stopped in the middle of the road.

She looked toward the square.

"The city lord needs witnesses."

Su Yubing frowned.

"Witnesses?"

"Or sacrifices."

Han Qing’s face became pale.

Mo Yuxin continued walking.

"The formation is using the city’s living population as a final spiritual anchor. The more people inside, the stronger the seal becomes while the ritual is incomplete. Once the seventh bell rings, the formation can redirect that energy downward."

Su Yubing understood immediately.

"So the people are trapped because the city lord needs all of them here."

"Yes."

"Then if we break the formation..."

"The energy will collapse."

Han Qing looked at the thousands of people gathering in the square.

"And they will be injured."

Mo Yuxin nodded.

"We need to cut it carefully."

Su Yubing looked at her.

"Can you?"

Mo Yuxin smiled.

"Of course."

The answer was so calm that Han Qing almost forgot what level of power the woman was pretending to possess.

Mo Yuxin raised her hand.

A tiny thread of spiritual power left her fingertips.

It slipped into the stone road without making a sound.

Several hundred meters away, a formation node cracked.

Nothing dramatic happened.

No explosion.

No flash.

The pressure controlling the people simply vanished from one street.

A group of frightened civilians immediately began moving away.

Mo Yuxin repeated the process.

One node.

Two.

Three.

The invisible net over the city slowly loosened.

Su Yubing watched her with admiration.

"You always make complicated things look easy."

Mo Yuxin glanced at her.

"You are the only person whose praise I care about."

Su Yubing smiled.

"Then I will praise you more."

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TO BE CONTINUED.