Chapter 304 : Chapter 304

Chapter 304: A Conversation with the Lord of Ninglan New City

When we stepped into Ninglan Township Fortress, the first thing that greeted our eyes was a massive wooden door made of some unknown wood, carved with intricate patterns and decorations.

This pattern seemed to represent a special heritage, perhaps the symbol of the Ninglan family?

On it, I saw the simplest runes, the most primitive compound runes.

They had used these patterns as decorations, applying them to the ornamentation.

Someone who didn't know the craft might think it was very impressive, but I could tell that these rune combinations had no meaning.

The door was pushed open, revealing a huge space inside.

But it wasn't the splendid, castle-like interior I had imagined.

There were only the most simple and unadorned portraits of figures and a carpet that was so worn it had faded and lost its pile.

On the ceiling was a lavishly styled chandelier, powered by transcendent energy.

After just a glance, I could roughly recognize that its structure was similar to the Lesser Spellbook's Illumination Spell.

The light provided ample illumination for the poorly lit interior.

The entire space of Ninglan Township Fortress seemed to be divided into many areas, but the most conspicuous place, which I had thought was the living room, had become the largest office area.

A huge desk occupied most of the view, with countless official documents stacked to the side.

Beside it, several assistants seemed to be bustling about.

And the one sitting behind the desk must be the City Lord of Ninglan New City.

With his rough and sturdy figure, I felt he was better suited to be a coach in a gym rather than sitting here holding a pen and handling official business.

After we walked forward, the assistants and other people with unknown positions on the side only glanced at me briefly before continuing their work.

Even the City Lord himself seemed to have just noticed our arrival and looked up with a surprised expression.

“Hmm? Welcome, you two. Mo Le, are these two ladies the guests who have come to our Ninglan New City?”

“Yes, City Lord.”

Mo Le saluted and replied at this moment.

“Ladies, let me introduce myself. I am Ninglan Qiuyun, the City Lord of Ninglan New City. I took the liberty of inviting you here because I wanted to learn more about you. Of course, if you have anything you want to know from me, I will also answer for you.”

“Hello, my name is Yang Yuehan, and this is Bai Yu next to me. My arrival in Ninglan New City was an accident. I hope we haven't disturbed you?”

“Not at all. The work at hand has just come to a close. Why don't we move to the reception room and have a chat?”

Ninglan Qiuyun also stood up and spoke at this moment.

The words he spoke were indeed very polite, forming a great contrast with his physique.

And the reception room he mentioned was a room that was also decorated rather simply, but it was simple without losing its exquisiteness.

After all, it was used to receive foreign guests.

After tea and other things were served, Ninglan Qiuyun sat on one side and began his meeting with us.

“May I ask where the two ladies are from?”

Ninglan Qiuyun began by asking me first.

“I'm not too sure either. I've heard that you, City Lord, have also received other outsiders. You must have gotten some useful information from them, right?”

“I didn't expect you to know. But it's not really any useful information. Since you put it that way, does it mean you come from the same place as those people?”

“Theoretically, it is indeed the same place, but we don't necessarily know each other. I wonder how the City Lord has settled those people? I hope they haven't caused you any trouble? I hope this doesn't affect the normal communication between us.”

“Those who were willing to stay, I have basically arranged accommodation for them in a hotel. But speaking of trouble, there were indeed some lawless people who did a lot of dirty deeds.”

“I'm truly sorry. There are always insurmountable differences between people. But… Lord City Lord, your Ninglan New City should have encountered some trouble recently, right?”

I continued to ask.

I didn't want to take the blame for others on this issue at this moment.

It was better to clear the air with them early to avoid any communication barriers between me and this City Lord.

“Oh?”

Hearing me shift the topic to this, Ninglan Qiuyun's expression also became a little grave.

It seemed there was indeed no small trouble.

Indeed, since our consciousness was pulled in by the Nightmares, Ninglan New City couldn't have just encountered us.

There should naturally be Nightmares, and even… Nightmare demons!

Nightmare demons were not like us, who had no connection to them.

That ability to travel between reality and the dream state was simply too unfair.

So if Ninglan Qiuyun wanted to get information from us, he definitely couldn't avoid the topic of Nightmares.

“It seems you know something, right?”

“I do know something, but not much. But… before we talk about that, can I understand how much you currently know about us?”

The words I spoke at this moment were completely unconventional, without any set phrases in my speech patterns.

The high-end way to obtain information was to ask directly.

Hearing my question, Ninglan Qiuyun couldn't help but chuckle.

But this also meant that the topic was laid bare.

If he told me this information, he could also get information from the other party in return.

If the other party didn't play by the rules, then it was not certain.

“As far as I know, you should also be victims of an accident, right? I think there is a certain basis for cooperation between us. The two of you are slightly different from the outsiders I have contacted before. Allow me to make a bold guess. You… should be the type who handles this incident and solves the trouble, right?”

“Your guess is truly bold. But what should I say? I'm not the type who handles trouble, but I am the type who actively participates. As for cooperation… that will have to wait until I've figured out the situation and what is needed before there is a basis for cooperation. But solving the trouble is not what I should be worried about.”

“Alright, I was being presumptuous. But I wonder if you are willing to share the information you know with us? We will provide you with help.”

Ninglan Qiuyun shook his head, some of his small plans having fallen through, and began to ask questions normally.

“I can, but… you also understand the peculiarity of our existence. What help can you provide us?”

I asked with a smile.

“Although we indeed do not exist in the same world and cannot have any relationship, if you provide us with valuable information, then we will naturally cooperate with your various actions in all aspects. After all, this is our territory in Ninglan New City. With our cooperation, I believe it will be much more convenient for you to do things, won't it?”

“That seems to be true.”

I nodded, wanting to sigh at the other party's method of getting something for nothing.

In a word, they wanted information in exchange for the "legality" of our free investigation and outrageous behavior.

Logically, I didn't need to do this at all, because they couldn't stop us from doing what we wanted.

But doing so would be tantamount to making an enemy, and there would be no basis for cooperation.

As the natives here, they knew too much that we didn't.

It could be said that as newcomers, we really needed these things, and I had also developed a great interest in this Ninglan New City.

I wanted to know the predecessor of this Ninglan New City, that piece of ruin, the former civilization, whether it had any relationship with my world, and why the Academy Head arranged it here.

Was there any purpose, or was this… a development beyond the Academy Head's arrangement?

“Then what is your decision?”

“Naturally, happy cooperation.”

I said with a smile.

After all, between making friends and making enemies, I naturally chose the former.

I didn't have too many conflicts of interest with this world.

Stubbornly holding on to this information was meaningless.

The goodwill shown by Ninglan New City so far had exceeded my expectations.

The fact that they didn't treat all of us outsiders as enemies already showed their magnanimity.

“Happy cooperation, well said.”

After hearing my words, Ninglan Qiuyun no longer concealed his joy.

After all, the troubles he had encountered these days were more troublesome than the war reports of the mutated beast tide during the past energy tides.

He hadn't even figured out what was going on yet.

His order to contact those more gentle and approachable outsiders was a risky move in itself.

The original intention was to obtain information from the trouble itself, but the information obtained was not ideal.

Now that there was progress, he was naturally overjoyed.

But information was information, and the means of handling things were also very important.

He didn't want to cause extra trouble.

He just wanted to safely carry out the mission of the Ninglan family to watch over Ninglan New City and let this city continue.

If the other party was just an untouchable ghost-like existence, he wouldn't be so anxious.

But those existences that were obviously harmful and would cause residents to have nightmares on a large scale were really troublesome.

This would greatly destroy the stability in Ninglan New City.

And there was that other unknown monster.

The other party could even cause them harm, but when they attacked that monster, it passed right through.

This was a very serious problem.

This meant that that beautiful-looking monster could kill them with ease!

It could be said that Ninglan Qiuyun had not slept well these past few days.

Ninglan New City, which had stood on this ruin for a thousand years, and those fortifications were useless against such an enemy.

How could he sleep peacefully?

“Then can we talk about the exchange of information now?”

“Of course, but you can't just expect me to talk dryly, right? We don't know each other, and we don't know each other's background. Instead of me telling you valuable information, it would be better for you to ask, to avoid the situation where I omit information that you urgently need.”

“Good, so straightforward. Then I won't be polite. I want to know, in your world, was this incident caused by you?”

“Asking like this shows a lack of sincerity. We are also ordinary people who have been affected. Perhaps, but all the people who have been affected do not have the ability to do this.”

“My apologies, I was being abrupt. I want to ask, what is this incident called in your world? I have asked this question before, but many outsiders said they didn't know. I think you should know.”

“I see… I do know. After all, we are not the first batch of victims to be affected. This incident is called the Sleeping Curse. The people who are affected will fall into a deep sleep and cannot be woken up. Now it seems that the consciousness of the sleeping people has come here.”

“The Sleeping Curse…”

After getting this answer, Ninglan Qiuyun also pondered for a while.

“Then have you found a way to break this curse?”

“Not at the moment,” I shook my head and said.

“Then do you know the cause or the source of this so-called Sleeping Curse…”

“The source is the Nightmares, the kind of things that emit black gas and have no fixed form.”

“Nightmares? Are those things called Nightmares? The things that invade people's dreams and create demons when they sleep?”

“Yes, it seems you have been visited by them.”

I looked at Ninglan Qiuyun and said with a smile.

“Indeed, I've been a bit neurotic lately because of this thing. Do you have a way to deal with this thing?”

Ninglan Qiuyun shook his head with a bitter smile and looked at me with anticipation.

“I guess so… Before we encountered Ninglan New City, we had encountered this so-called Nightmare. Our attacks have the possibility of killing them.”

“Just a possibility?”

“Yes, I haven't actually killed it yet. I let it run away.”

“That's a pity,” Ninglan Qiuyun shook his head and sighed.

“Then since you can kill that so-called Nightmare, may I ask if I can entrust you to help exterminate them when that so-called Nightmare appears again in our Ninglan New City? After all, they are also your enemies. Helping us is also helping yourselves, isn't it?”

“Actually, you don't necessarily have to entrust us. Other outsiders should also be able to do it. We have reasons why we have to have a relationship with Nightmares for the time being.”

“Is that so? What a pity. But thank you for telling me this news. But… you said there are reasons, is it convenient to talk about it?”

“It's probably like the principle of getting your hands dirty when dealing with garbage. Can you understand it if I put it this way?”

I explained.

After all, if we dealt with the Nightmares, we would be tainted with destiny.

But destiny was dispensable for others.

After all, ignorance is bliss.

“Mm, I understand. By the way, we have recently encountered an existence similar to you. They are also like you, untouchable by us, but they can kill our people. Such an existence is too dangerous. Are they also people from your world?”

“That's not a person, nor is it from our world. It can be said that it is also our enemy. That existence is called a Nightmare demon. How should I describe it to you…”

“It’s fine, I’m not in a hurry. You can take your time,” Ninglan Qiuyun said from the side.

After all, this was very important information, and he was willing to spend the time to obtain it.

“You know that our existence is caused by the Sleeping Curse, which means we are currently appearing in the dream state in an ideological form. The following is my guess. I guess that the dream state we are in has bordered on your reality, which is why we are in a situation where we cannot touch each other. And the most crucial evidence is that we understand the form of existence of the Nightmare demon. It is a monster that can travel between the dream state and reality. So as long as she reacts quickly, neither you in reality nor we in the dream state can kill her.”

“This… according to your meaning, if we attack together in reality and the dream state, we can make that kind of monster unable to hide?”

“Theoretically, that's right. Lord City Lord is really clear-headed. You thought of a countermeasure so quickly. Actually, as long as she doesn't react in time, even a sneak attack can succeed.”

“You praise me too much… it's just a very simple truth. But since you mentioned the existence of the Nightmare demon, then there should be many other enemies like that, right? I have seen that the forms of many outsiders are not purely human.”

“Mm, theoretically, our enemies are only the Nightmares and the Nightmare demons. The others you see are also our people, but it's just the price they paid for mastering some transcendent power. Of course, there may also be some contradictions between them, such as a chain of contempt or hostility. I hope you won't be misled by what I just said.”

“Is that so? Then this matter is even more complicated… let's talk about something else first.”

“Mm.”