The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician-Chapter 549 - 288: Master of the Forbidden Zone_2

"Hmm," Jiang Shu nodded slightly and followed the lanky servant’s pace, asking, "How may I address you?"

"I have no name; you may call me ’butler,’ my guest," the lanky servant replied without looking back, just chuckling, "Let us hurry, Miss Du Yuyi has been waiting for you for quite some time."

"Alright," Jiang Shu answered simply and ascended the staircase alongside the lanky servant.

If it was Du Yuyi, her knowing of his arrival would be no surprise.

As he climbed the stairs, everything around him seemed covered by a layer of black, unclear and only the four or five steps in front of him were visible.

With each step he took, the stairs ahead of him seemed to extend upward, as if the images of the future appearing before Jiang Shu’s eyes were also constantly exploring forward.

At this moment, Jiang Shu was constantly maintaining the Foreknowledge Technique, and this technique was continuously returning the visions of the future to him.

No danger for now.

"Please follow me," the lanky servant said, standing in front of the wide-open door of the Tarot Club, slightly turning his face toward Jiang Shu with what seemed to be an attempt at a soft, accommodating smile. However, no matter how gentle the smile, once stretched vertically, it inevitably appeared sinister, like a demon’s sneer.

Upon entering the Tarot Club, Jiang Shu noticed that the interior arrangement was nearly identical to his last visit, but almost everything was covered in a thin layer of dust.

Which meant that, for such a long period of time, Du Yuyi was indeed not in the Tarot Club.

The entire interior of the Tarot Club was pitch black, and Jiang Shu could hardly see anything beyond a meter away, except at the very end of his field of view, where he could see a long table with a white candle lit on it, its flame burning faintly.

Du Yuyi was sitting opposite at the long table.

"Come, take a seat," she beckoned to Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu walked forward, about to pull out the chair tucked under the table when Du Yuyi waved her hand lightly and the chair moved out a step on its own.

He looked at Du Yuyi in surprise, then took his seat.

The reason for his surprise was that he had not seen such a scene in the Foreknowledge Technique; in other words, this was unexpected.

Jiang Shu did not hide his bewilderment and directly asked, "What kind of mechanism is this?"

"Just a small ability," Du Yuyi replied listlessly, different from her usual self that Jiang Shu had seen before.

At this moment, Du Yuyi appeared worn out, as if her body had been hollowed out.

Her complexion was pale, her eyes deeply sunken. Those heterochromatic eyes that had once surprised Jiang Shu lost their past brilliance, turning into a superficial shade of blue and green, void of any luster.

Although he had seen her condition in the Foreknowledge Technique, seeing her in person now, Jiang Shu still felt it was a pity.

"What happened to you? Why do you look like this?" Jiang Shu asked her casually.

He hadn’t asked this in the Foreknowledge Technique because he needed to save time to glimpse more information.

And now, there was no need to save time.

Therefore, the ensuing conversation triggered by this question was something he had not anticipated.

"You might want to look at yourself," Du Yuyi gave him a glance and casually took out a mirror, placing it in front of Jiang Shu.

And Jiang Shu, with the dim light of the candle, looked at his reflection in the mirror, and was instantly shocked, because his own image appeared haggard, looking severely depleted of spirit.

His immediate suspicion was that there was something wrong with the mirror, so he grabbed his phone and looked at himself from a selfie angle.

The person on the screen was just as listless.

And when he discovered this, he suddenly felt slightly dizzy.

He had kept the Foreknowledge Technique activated, and his spiritual power was running low.

Jiang Shu immediately thought of this.

"Even if your little wife is quite pretty, there’s no need to push yourself to this extent, right? Would you like me to prepare some medicine for you?" Du Yuyi asked with a smirk.

"It’s just a bit of spiritual power overuse," Jiang Shu shrugged, not particularly concerned. He’d experienced this before and knew a night’s rest would suffice.

He glanced again at Du Yuyi, "What about you, how did you end up like this?"

"It’s all because you stood me up," sighed Du Yuyi. "I had no choice but to head to the Forbidden Region by myself. I lost a few years of life, but some rest should do the trick."

"Miss Du, please allow me to extinguish the candle. You know even such faint light can affect your body," said the lean servant who had been standing in the corner as if blending into the darkness, finally stepping forward as if he couldn’t bear it any longer.

"What happened to you? Why can’t you be exposed to light?" Jiang Shu asked with a sudden frown.

"It’s just the influence of the Forbidden Region. It’s fine, I’ve never liked working during the day anyway," Du Yuyi seemed unwilling to elaborate, looking toward the butler, "Let the candle burn. I can withstand this level of light."

Jiang Shu’s gaze fell on the candle. The white candle was inscribed with some runes and didn’t look like the kind typically used.

Sensing Jiang Shu’s attention, Du Yuyi explained, "This is a spirit candle I use to fool my guests. It’s just an ordinary candle. You must have noticed there are no other light sources I can use here, so I have to make do with this one."

Jiang Shu nodded; he wasn’t concerned about that.

It appeared many things had happened to Du Yuyi in these past months.

"I didn’t wait for you that night, so I entered the Forbidden Region myself. Just as I expected, it was on the verge of collapse," Du Yuyi quickly explained. "All humans within the Deformed Area had died out, and the remaining Derivative Creatures started attacking the ’Barrier’ unconsciously."

"And then?" Jiang Shu pressed, "A collapse would be a good thing for you, wouldn’t it?"

"No, maintaining it as a Forbidden Region is actually better for Lonely City. I always felt it was Lonely City’s own immune system," Du Yuyi shook her head, "Once the Forbidden Region collapses, the Derivative Creatures will emerge with the ’Atmosphere,’ affecting the people of Lonely City. I suspect this is a necessary path for the Deformed Area to advance further."

Meanwhile, Jiang Shu carefully savored the meaning in her words, a simple statement revealing much of Lonely City’s secrets.

"’Atmosphere’?" he continued, "What’s that?"

"It’s similar to negative emotions, able to influence a person’s spirit," Du Yuyi said, chuckling, "Thankfully, I dealt with all the Derivative Creatures, they’ve stopped ’Breaking through’, and the Forbidden Region has temporarily stabilized."

"Hmm," Jiang Shu sighed in relief.

Thanks to Miss Du, such a massive incident had occurred and he had not even been a part of it, yet she managed to resolve the issue.

"However, I’m not sure when new Derivative Creatures will arise in this Forbidden Region." Du Yuyi still looked troubled, "Next time we might not be as lucky."

Jiang Shu clapped his hands, realizing something, "Ah, so that’s it. You wanted to take me into the Forbidden Region last time, clearly you were planning to trap me!"

"You’re more capable than I am, who else should I trap but you?" Du Yuyi candidly admitted, "Besides, you’ve seen that I can handle those Derivative Creatures myself, albeit barely. With your help, I wouldn’t have had to end up like this."

At that, Du Yuyi glanced at him with a hint of reproach.

"So, why are you looking for me this late? What’s the matter?" Jiang Shu chose to selectively ignore that it was he himself who’d had the sudden urge to come over.

"Weren’t you the one who came to me? I just had the foreknowledge of this meeting," Du Yuyi gave him a more animated glare than before, not as lifeless as earlier.

She continued, "Actually, it’s nothing much, I need a large amount of Black Silver to repair the barriers of the Forbidden Region. Didn’t we agree last time to let you revise the term? There won’t be any danger this time."

Du Yuyi suddenly smiled, her smile carrying a seductive charm, "Now, saying I’m the master of this Forbidden Region wouldn’t be an exaggeration."