Chapter 168

"oh?"

The Celestial Venerable moved forward slightly and turned to look at Gu Chongtai, who looked no different from a kind elder.

"Save you? What happened to you?"

"I've been poisoned and need your Xuanbing to help me, old men."

Gu Zhongtai, as if no one else was around, pulled Fan Xiaoxiao to a place to sit down. He wasn't surprised at all that Fan Xiaoxiao would make a request for him. However, her ambiguous statement made him find it somewhat intriguing.

Xiahou raised his eyes in surprise, seemingly not expecting Gu Chongtai and the Heavenly Venerable to be so familiar with each other.

Fan Xiaoxiao sat down in a daze, still a little confused. She had wanted to ask him this on the way here, since it seemed like they and the Celestial Venerable had known each other for a long time.

Moreover, they seem to know each other even better than Xiahou. It's not just him, but also the Ghost Doctor; they all seem to have had dealings with each other before.

"Borrow the Xuanbing..."

The Celestial Venerable stroked his white beard, turned to Xiahou, and said, "Disciple, you heard it too. Take them there in a moment..."

"And there are thousand-year-old snow lotuses."

Gu Zhongtai poured himself and Fan Xiaoxiao two cups of tea, and then added a sentence.

The Celestial Venerable paused slightly, a hint of pain appearing on his face: "Is a hundred-year-old one not enough?"

The Ghost Doctor immediately became displeased when he saw his stingy appearance.

"No way! Old man! I want the thousand-year-old one! You even stole one of my Snow Lingzhi before, what's wrong with using one of yours!?"

The Celestial Venerable waved his hand, picked up the tea beside him, and blew away the floating leaves on top.

"Snow Lingzhi is Snow Lingzhi, and the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus has held its name for a thousand years. Besides, what happened last time wasn't stealing. It was clearly because you couldn't beat me, so you gave up on it."

Touched on a sore spot, the Ghost Doctor's beard nearly stood on end in anger. He took a few steps forward, grabbed the Celestial Venerable by the collar, and fumed, "Damn it, I even healed your granddaughter's leg! Don't give me any more excuses, are you going to give it to me or not!"

His sudden action startled Fan Xiaoxiao so much that she almost dropped her teacup, spilling some hot tea. She quickly put the teacup aside.

Gu Zhongtai noticed her movement, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and handed it to her.

"Clumsy and clumsy".

Ignoring the big shot's disdain, Fan Xiaoxiao casually wiped her hands with a handkerchief and then focused intently on the commotion before her.

The Ghost Doctor usually seems very cunning, and it's rare to see him so assertive. Xiahou had already stood firmly next to the Celestial Venerable. At first, he didn't see the Ghost Doctor leading Gu Zhongtai back, and originally thought it was the senior who came with Fan Xiaoxiao.

However, his movement to grab the Celestial Venerable's collar was so fast that even Xiahou couldn't react. Only then did Xiahou realize that the person in front of him was probably far superior to anyone else here in terms of lightness skill!

"Senior, our entire sect only has two Thousand-Year Snow Lotuses." Your request...

The Celestial Venerable patted him on the shoulder, and Xiahou stopped talking, turning back to look at his master with some confusion.

"Little monkey, get out of the way, this guy can't beat me. It's okay, he's just jumping around aimlessly."

Fan Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow. Wow, this is blatant disregard for the Ghost Doctor!

Sure enough, when the Ghost Doctor heard this, he was furious. His back teeth were grinding together so hard that Fan Xiaoxiao suspected he was going to bite the Celestial Venerable to death at any moment.

Helpless, she stood up and interrupted their conversation: "Heavenly Venerable, you just agreed to my request. Since saving Gu Chongtai requires this, you won't go back on your word, will you?"

Her move was a strategic retreat, a reminder of the promise the Celestial Venerable had made earlier.

"Cough, how could that be? Since I've already said it, I can definitely do it. It's just..."

The Celestial Venerable drawled, a hint of shrewdness, like that of a businessman, appearing on his seemingly unremarkable face: "However, the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus is indeed precious to our sect. How about this, you trade me something else, and I'll be able to persuade those old fogies in the Elders' Council. As for the conditions, I'll add something else for you. What do you think?"

"Something else?"

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned and looked around at the people on her side. They had been either running for their lives or rushing the whole way, and their clothes looked messy. What could they possibly have to exchange for the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus for the Celestial Venerable?

The only thing that might be there...

Fan Xiaoxiao looked at the bamboo basket that the Ghost Doctor always carried with him. Could it be that the Heavenly Venerable was after him?

The Ghost Doctor seemed to have thought of this as well, and immediately released the Celestial Venerable, switching the basket on his back to the front to protect him tightly.

"You old geezer, let me tell you! Don't even think about taking my medicinal herbs!"

"Who wants your bamboo basket? This thousand-year-old snow lotus is meant to save the Gu family boy, right? So if I want something, I'll naturally have to ask him for it!"

The conversation finally turned back to Gu Zhongtai, who calmly took a sip of tea. Even though his clothes were a little disheveled, it did not diminish the elegance of his movements.

He gently set down his teacup, not even glancing at the Celestial Venerable. His thin lips parted slightly, casually uttering two curt words.

"No."

The Celestial Venerable narrowed his eyes, his tone becoming slightly more somber.

"Hiss! You have something to hide from this old man."

Gu Chongtai took another sip of tea, chuckled, and then remained silent.

"Have you thought this through? That's a thousand-year-old snow lotus! Don't you want to live?"

Gu Chongtai raised his eyes and glanced at the Heavenly Venerable, but still did not speak.

Fan Xiaoxiao, puzzled by the cryptic conversation between the two, leaned closer to Gu Zhongtai and asked, "What does the Celestial Venerable want? What are you two talking about?"

Gu Zhongtai glanced at her. The two were close, and he could see Fan Xiaoxiao's eyelashes trembling slightly as they spoke.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and after looking away, he took another sip of tea.

"He wants to live a life of fleeting dreams."

"A fleeting dream?"

Fan Xiaoxiao tilted her head slightly. She had seen this name in a book before, and she remembered that it seemed to be... wine?

"Master!?"

Xiahou Mingxian also knew what "A Dream of Yellow Millet" was, and when he heard Gu Zhongtai say it, he looked at the Heavenly Venerable in disbelief.

"A jar of wine in exchange for a thousand-year-old snow lotus?!"

"cough."

The Celestial Venerable clenched his fist, placed it to his lips, coughed lightly, and resumed his unremarkable and ordinary appearance.

"Oh dear, how much longer does the old man have to live? There are two thousand-year-old snow lotuses. What's wrong with giving one away in exchange for something I like? Besides, aren't there plenty of snow lotuses in the forbidden area behind the mountain?"

Xiahou was speechless after being tricked by the Celestial Venerable. He sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation, "That can't be exchanged for a jar of wine!"

"Who said one jar! I want two jars!"

The Celestial Venerable held up two fingers, and Gu Chongtai sneered, "I won't trade even a single jar for you!"

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned, somewhat puzzled as to why Gu Chongtai was so persistent. Besides, the Dream of Yellow Millet wasn't unavailable; why was the Celestial Venerable so fixated on Gu Chongtai?

She voiced her question, and the Ghost Doctor, who was standing nearby, slung his basket over his shoulder again and walked over, sneering, "That wine isn't your average Dream of Yellow Millet. It was brewed by this kid's own father. There were ten jars in total, and this old bastard stole two of them before, and he's been eyeing his wine ever since!"

"Hey! I just happened to dig it up! There was no name on it! How was I supposed to know it was owned? I only found out because this kid and I fought tooth and nail for it!"

Fan Xiaoxiao never expected things to be like this; Gu Zhongtai's father...

She pursed her lips slightly and took two or three steps to stand before the Celestial Venerable. The Celestial Venerable paused, looking at her with a somewhat bewildered expression.

"Little girl?"

Fan Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and said, "I'll provide you with wine, and you give us the snow lotus! The condition from before remains unchanged. As long as I provide you with wine for one day, you must ensure his safety for one day!"

"Do you agree!?"

(End of this chapter)