Chapter 207 Life and Death Without Blame (Part 4)

Inside the room, Wei Feng stood silently in the corner, staring intently at Jiang Gu's every move.

Jiang Gu was selecting magical artifacts. He chose two that suited him, and finally picked up the Crimson Snow Sword. The silver-blue shark scales on the scabbard emitted a faint light, and the gloom in Wei Feng's eyes eased slightly.

"Take the black jade bracelet with you," Jiang Gu said.

"I don't want to," Wei Feng said curtly.

Jiang Gu looked up at him.

"If your primordial spirit continues to dissipate, you won't die, but you'll become mentally impaired," Jiang Gu said calmly.

"Anyway, I'm just a fool in your eyes," Wei Feng said in a muffled voice.

Jiang Gu's eyebrows twitched slightly, somewhat surprised that he could assess himself so accurately. Wei Feng, annoyed and embarrassed by his gaze, turned and jumped out of the window, shouting, "I'm leaving!"

"Stop." Jiang Gu coldly stopped him.

Wei Feng stopped in his tracks, lacking any backbone. After a moment of silence, he turned around and stared at him with a deep gaze.

Jiang Gu walked up to him, looked down at the tattered belt, tied it for him, and then removed the restriction on the space of the Jade Bracelet, replacing it with a magic array that Wei Feng knew. "If you encounter danger, don't worry about others, just hide inside first. The Jade Bracelet can be used alternately with your Black Void Token, which can save your life in critical moments."

Wei Feng felt a lump in his throat, but he didn't respond as he looked at his indifferent face.

Jiang Gu frowned slightly and added another layer of magic array to the Netherworld Bone. "The Netherworld Bone can accelerate the repair speed of your primordial spirit. After the divided spirit returns to the main body, you can use it to repair the wounds of the primordial spirit's healing."

Given Wei Feng's worrisome comprehension, Jiang Gu tried to explain in as much detail as possible: "Don't use the Shadow Array casually. Your primordial spirit can't withstand it. Keeping this puppet body is of little use, so it's fine to destroy it."

The Fire Rope was tied to Wei Feng's wrist, and Jiang Gu formed a hand seal and touched the golden pendant between his eyebrows. "If you run into Xiao Dan, activate this seal and run as far away as possible. Do you understand?"

Two storage bags filled with magical artifacts were hung on his waist. Wei Feng responded sullenly, "I've got it."

"Let's go." Jiang Gu ruthlessly shooed them away.

Wei Feng tentatively grabbed his hand, and only after it wasn't shaken off by the spiritual power did he dare to hug him.

A very brief hug.

Wei Feng hugged him tightly, then turned into mist. Before disappearing, he didn't forget to hide his bright red ears. As a result, he almost bumped into the window frame when he turned around, and hurriedly squeezed out through the gap after taking half a step back.

Jiang Gu looked at the open doorway and chuckled.

He seemed to understand why those old men always liked to keep a group of stupid and foolish apprentices.

——

Wei Feng rubbed his burning cheeks vigorously. His master's waist was slender and his clothes were soft and thin. Once he picked him up, he didn't want to let go. It seemed that Jiang Gu's faint yet familiar cold fragrance still lingered around him... He really wanted to kiss Jiang Gu, but he had failed to seduce his master last time, and he was afraid that if he used too much force again, he would anger him.

Getting beaten up is a minor matter; the real problem would be if Master got angry and wouldn't let him get close.

He sighed, yet couldn't help feeling smug.

At least his master didn't push him away. Ever since his master agreed to become his Daoist partner, he rarely refused to let him get close. After turning into mist, he could stick to her at will. If his primordial spirit wasn't so badly injured, his master would definitely be willing to have a spiritual communion with him.

"Wei Feng, come and tell everyone about the structure of the Tower of Life and Death." Jiang Xiangyun's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Wei Feng nodded expressionlessly. "The Tower of Life and Death is located in Jishun City. The Jishun Ancient Temple is the largest temple in the southeast direction of Wangyue. Centered on the temple, the Tower of Life and Death is associated with life to the south and death to the north, and life to the east and death to the west. The tower has eighteen layers of secret dungeons, each layer intricately connected, like a maze. There are eighteen doors to life and one hundred and eighteen doors to death. That is to say, there is only one door to life on each floor. Once you miss it, you will be trapped on that floor forever..."

Wei Feng explained in great detail, and even Xiao Qingyan knew very little about the Life and Death Tower. He couldn't help but take another look at Wei Feng.

Unexpectedly, Wei Feng didn't glare back with hostility, but just glanced at him casually. For a moment, Xiao Qingyan thought he saw Jiang Gu.

The spirit boat flew rapidly in the sky.

Xiao Qingyan found Wei Feng on the deck at the stern of the ship.

To be fair, Wei Feng was considered good-looking among the people Xiao Qingyan had met. Although he was far from being as stunning as Jiang Gu, he was still quite handsome. However, his irritable and nasty temper always made people want to keep their distance.

Wei Feng was much taller than him, and the way he looked down at him always made him feel like he deserved a beating.

“This body of mine is a ghost body that you cultivated a thousand years ago,” Xiao Qingyan said. “It also contains your memory seal. I went to Jiang Gu to return it to you, but he refused.”

"It's just a ghost body. My master doesn't like ghost cultivators." Wei Feng said coldly, "This body is useless to me, and besides, can you guarantee that Xiao Dan didn't tamper with this body?"

Xiao Qingyan was slightly surprised, as if she hadn't expected him to be so thorough. "Jiang Gu told you this?"

"I can figure it out without him saying it." Wei Feng said with a forced smile, "With you being so eager, it's hard not to suspect your motives. Could it be that Xiao Dan sent you to infiltrate us?"

He sized up Xiao Qingyan, as if he wanted to devour him alive at any moment.

Xiao Qingyan took a half step back warily, pursed her lips and said, "I don't have that much ability. If I were an undercover agent, Jiang Gu wouldn't have placed me by your side."

Wei Feng scoffed coldly.

"Your friend who's imprisoned in the Tower of Life and Death..." Xiao Qingyan hesitated, then paused for a long time before asking, "What kind of person is he?"

Wei Feng glared at him unfriendly. "What's it to you?"

Xiao Qingyan was taken aback by his words. After all, he had once been a pampered and respected young master, and he couldn't help but show some of his anger. He suppressed his rising anger and said gently, "Through the magical artifact, I also showed you the memory illusion of the red-robed youth from the Floating Spring Temple. Your friendship with that Ah Zhuo deeply moved me. Although I am not him, I have some of his remnant soul. If he were still—"

"Whether he lives or dies is none of your business." Wei Feng interrupted him rudely and sneered, "Stop pretending to be a good person. I know all about the people from Wangyue. Azhuo has long since been annihilated. Even if he isn't, it's not your place to covet him. You're just a non-human being fabricated by Xiao Dan. Don't be delusional."

Xiao Qingyan's face turned pale at his words. He gritted his teeth and stared at Wei Feng, almost unable to resist striking him, but in the end, reason prevailed, and he said in a deep voice, "You misunderstood, I had no other intentions."

With a flick of his wrist, a delicate and translucent ball of spiritual energy appeared in his palm. "These are the memories that were sealed away before you came down from the upper realm. I'm returning them to you."

After he finished speaking, he stopped looking at Wei Feng and turned to leave.

Wei Feng looked down at the ball of spiritual energy and scoffed casually.

Wu Tuo quietly peeked out from behind him, "What is this guy saying? I don't understand. Is Zhiyan related to him?"

"It's alright," Wei Feng said coldly. "They have absolutely no connection whatsoever."

Even if Xuan Zhiyan is truly the reincarnation of A Zhuo, Xiao Qingyan, who was created using A Zhuo's remnant soul, has no right to be associated with Xuan Zhiyan.

Moreover, he and Xuan Zhiyan are no longer even friends.

Wutuo couldn't shake off its feline nature. It stared curiously at the glittering ball of spiritual energy, reaching out its furry little paws to grab it, only to have it snatched away by Wei Feng before it could.

"This thing is very important, you can't play with it." Wei Feng pinched its pink little paw pads.

Utuo couldn't resist rolling over in his arms so he could rub its belly. Wei Feng smiled and stroked it from head to tail. "Hasn't Master ever held you like this before?"

Utuo instantly bristled, turned over, and glared at him warily.

"You regained your memories before the master-servant contract was broken, have you forgotten?" Wei Feng didn't seem to care and continued to stroke its little head.

Wu Tuo was skeptical, but instinctively moved closer, asking in confusion, "How can you remain so calm?"

"What's the big deal?" Wei Feng sat down, holding the dog, and leaned against the railing, watching the clouds rushing past on both sides. "What kind of person was Master before? Tell me."

Wu Tuo frowned in distress. "He's incredibly good at fighting. Whether we're in a secret realm or battling in magic, he rarely loses, no matter who's stronger or weaker than him."

Wei Feng asked in surprise, "He can lose?"

“Naturally, his aptitude wasn’t good either. No matter how hard he studied or how smart he was, he couldn’t reach that level.” Wu Tuo said, “He had a friend before, that red-haired fox, you remember?”

"Jiang Lin?" Wei Feng asked.

“Yes. This red-haired fox was naturally a womanizer and caused trouble every day for a while, but Jiang Gu always protected him and fought many battles for him. However, the two of them had a great understanding and were sworn brothers who could entrust their backs to each other.” Wu Tuo recalled, “Once, this fox angered a demonic cultivator, and Jiang Gu single-handedly took on all thirty-three halls of the Northern Forest Demon Cave to save him. He was covered in wounds, but he still managed to drag him out of the cave. The two of them were chased by the Northern Forest Demonic Sect for three months, and they only managed to escape by jumping into Mount Yan. You know Mount Yan, right? If you go in and come out, you're lucky if you're left with just a skeleton… But speaking of which, that fox was quite righteous. Several times he almost lost his life to save Jiang Gu…”

“But Jiang Lin betrayed him in the end,” Wei Feng said, frowning.

“How can you explain things between people?” Wu Tuo sighed. “Even if you were once willing to risk your life for each other, you might drift apart over time. It’s already a miracle that Jiang Lin survived under his thumb.”

Wei Feng suddenly sat up straight. "Jiang Lin isn't dead!?"

"Huh?" Wu Tuo was startled and stammered, "You...you didn't know?"

"Wasn't he thrown into the weapon-refining array by Jiang Gu and refined?" Wei Feng asked, puzzled.

“Yes, it was refined, but Jiang Gu’s weapon refining array only refines cultivation and core essence, never the primordial spirit.” Wu Tuo said, “Jiang Lin lost his cultivation and core essence, and his memories were sealed. In the end, he turned back into a little fox and was thrown into the deep mountains and forests by Jiang Gu. You… didn’t know?”

Wei Feng's face darkened as he said, "Then why does my primordial spirit ache terribly every time I'm thrown into the weapon-refining array? Jiang Gu keeps saying he'll refine my primordial spirit—"

“He’s good at scaring people.” Wu Tuo said with a stern little cat face, “He probably thinks it’s funny to see you scared. He often scares me and Black Panther and the other spirit beasts that fight often like this. He won’t easily kill anything that has recognized him as its master, unless it’s a situation like in the Chaolong Secret Realm where there’s no point in living… You’re his disciple, so you definitely won’t do that.”

Wei Feng's face was a picture of utter disbelief. "Weren't your memories sealed back then?"

“I encountered Jiang Lin when I was undergoing my transformation training, how could it be fake? I’m very familiar with Jiang Gu’s methods, I can understand them with just a little thought.” Wu Tuo sighed.

“Don’t be fooled by his serious appearance. I still remember when he was first assigned to the Spirit Beast Garden, he took those two little stone lions at the gate to steal spirit beast eggs.” Wu Tuo casually recounted Jiang Gu’s old stories. “When he was young, he also liked to dig in the family’s Heavenly Pool with Jiang Lin. However, neither of them could swim at the time, and they almost drowned. Chi Xue and I each carried one of them up.”

Wei Feng's expression froze and then cracked. He looked at Wu Tuo with suspicion, "You mean Jiang Gu?"

Utuo licked his little paws. "Of course it's him. He's extremely biased. He only likes Chixue. He holds Chixue in his arms and rubs her fur, but he doesn't even look at me."

"..." Wei Feng was at a loss for words, but he still subconsciously tried to make amends for Jiang Gu, "It must be because you are not as obedient as Chi Xue."

“He just thinks Chi Xue is pretty and is biased.” Wu Tuo rolled his eyes and said indignantly, “Thinking about it this way, it’s good that I’m breaking off the master-servant contract with him. I don’t care for a master like him who can’t treat everyone equally.”

Wei Feng felt a little sour. Whether it was Jiang Lin, the red fox, or Chi Xue, the white fox, he poked Wu Tuo's head in annoyance, "Don't talk bad about him."

"Anyway, none of you are my masters anymore." Wu Tuo snorted twice, touching the spirit energy ball floating in mid-air. "Do you want to take a look or not?"

"Master said I don't need to look." Wei Feng stared at the spiritual energy ball for a long time without moving.

Utuo tucked its two little front paws under its body, tilted its head, and looked on with amusement. "Take a look, I'm quite curious."

"Then... let's take a look."

Wei Feng slowly extended his finger and touched the surface of the spirit energy ball. A sharp pain instantly shot through his brow, and a chaotic cacophony of sounds flooded his ears. After a moment of darkness, a fiery red figure appeared before him, and the young man's icy voice rang out:

"Such filthy creatures deserve to die."