This is indeed a good question.
The few people looked at each other and remained silent. From a purely color-based perspective, it seemed that no soul present was entirely pure.
However, based on their understanding of Liu Buli, his soul was certainly not expected to be crystal clear.
Their minds raced, and then You Siqi and Shen Muzhi exchanged glances, their gazes simultaneously falling upon the blood-red sphere.
What they didn't anticipate was that Lu Wuming was a step faster. Before they could even utter a word, Lu Wuming had already extended his hand towards the blood-red sphere.
Seeing his action, You Siqi and Shen Muzhi breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as they had thought, even without his memories, Lu Wuming could still distinguish his master's soul.
But this sense of relief lasted less than three seconds. The two watched with their own eyes as Lu Wuming's fingers transformed into鬼爪 (gui zhua - ghost claws) as they neared the sphere. Without giving them any chance to intervene, the ghost claws made contact with the sphere's surface. In an instant, they tore the sphere to shreds.
His action was so swift that Shen Muzhi and the others had no opportunity to stop him. Perhaps because the light sphere was already a soul, it offered little protection. Thus, after Lu Wuming's action, the light sphere instantly turned into fine powder and vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
Looking at the scene before them, You Siqi and Shen Muzhi were at a loss for words.
Lu Wuming, however, remembered the contents of the note left by Liu Buli. He reached out and took another light sphere that Liu Buli was holding in his palm, and without hesitation, placed it into Liu Buli's mouth.
Then he waited quietly for a moment. The man, who had been silent with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. Perhaps it was due to being refined in the furnace for too long, but not only Lu Wuming, even You Siqi and Shen Muzhi felt they could see a faint flicker of fire in Liu Buli's eyes.
The few of them remained in silent contemplation for a while. Liu Buli looked at everything before him, feeling as if he hadn't fully woken from a dream.
Why else would he see Lu Wuming?
Logically, shouldn't the other person still be under the Ghost King's control and unable to leave the Ghost City?
All the questions jumbled together in Liu Buli's mind. He opened his mouth, but before he could voice his questions, Lu Wuming in front of him acted first, reaching out and pulling Liu Buli into his embrace.
He used a great deal of force.
So much so that Liu Buli felt he could be crushed to death.
Fortunately, his reason hadn't completely vanished. After the initial moment of excitement, Lu Wuming seemed to realize his actions were indeed a bit impulsive.
He slightly loosened his grip, sniffed, and his voice carried an obvious tremor of tears. He said, "Master... you... I... I'm sorry, I..."
Lu Wuming stammered for a long time, but ultimately couldn't properly express what he wanted to say.
He wanted to tell Liu Buli that he was sorry, that he had forgotten Liu Buli's existence, that he was so detestable he hated himself.
But he also knew that Liu Buli least wanted to hear such words. So he could only honestly keep his thoughts bottled up, letting tears slide down pitifully, as if he had committed some grave sin.
After all, he was the disciple he had raised. No one understood what Lu Wuming was thinking better than Liu Buli.
So, patting his back gently, Liu Buli spoke words of comfort in a warm voice. Only when Lu Wuming's emotions had stabilized somewhat did Liu Buli smile and say, "Wuming, there's nothing you need to apologize for. Even if there were, Master would forgive you. So don't worry, and don't be nervous. Master still has other matters to attend to. As for your situation, tell me about it later, and I'll listen carefully, alright?"
Liu Buli's voice was incredibly gentle.
Coupled with the fact that Lu Wuming had always been unable to refuse any of his requests, even though he was still deeply upset, Lu Wuming obediently released his hands and nodded obediently. He said, "Master, you... you attend to your matters first. There's no need to rush to talk to Wuming."
Looking at his obedient and pitiful "big dog," Liu Buli felt a pang of sadness. But as he had said, he did have important matters to handle. At this moment, he couldn't prioritize Lu Wuming.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his emotions, Liu Buli turned to You Siqi and Shen Muzhi beside him. He pursed his lips and finally spoke directly, "I can feel that my current physical condition is quite good, so there's no need to worry about my health. Just tell me the truth. What happened to Yunxiang and Ao Lie? I already felt something was wrong when I was in the furnace. Don't hide it from me, just tell me the truth. Is it what I'm thinking?"
Hearing his question, without any further probing, everyone could confirm that the Liu Buli they were facing was indeed the one they knew, not someone else.
Although somewhat surprised by the accuracy of Lu Wuming's judgment, it was not the time to discuss such things. In response to Liu Buli's question, Shen Muzhi remained silent for a moment before finally shaking his head. He said, "This matter cannot be confirmed for now, as we haven't ventured too far from here during this period. However, given Ao Lie's condition, I believe it will be easy to get answers once we go out and ask around."
What he said was true.
Liu Buli nodded with a cold expression.
You Siqi, on the other hand, suddenly thought of something. He pointed to the light sphere that had been floating around the furnace for over ten days. He said, "By the way, this thing has been here since some time ago. We don't know what it is specifically. Liu Buli, would you like to take a look?"