Chapter 329 "He's Dead"

Gu Gan followed the trail of blood for a while, then sensed something was wrong. He instinctively turned back and said to the person behind him, "Sui Sui, it's dangerous for you up ahead, you..."

He was used to telling Yu Sui to wait behind him, but when he turned around, he saw Yu Sui quietly looking at him, as if waiting for him to finish speaking.

Gu Gan instantly snapped out of his daze, and the words that were about to come out of his mouth became: "Stay close to me."

Yu Sui said, "Brother Gu, if you're not confident you can protect me, I'll stay away from you."

She was somewhat skeptical. Gu Gan kept saying it was dangerous, telling her not to go, afraid something might happen to her—it seemed like he lacked confidence. A true hero, even knowing the danger, would confidently send someone along and do everything in his power to protect those around him.

Did I mistake Long Aotian for someone else?

Given the number of his female confidantes, he shouldn't be mistaken.

Yu Sui glanced at Gu Gan, then turned her gaze away indifferently.

“It’s not that I’m not confident, I just don’t want you to get hurt in the slightest.” Gu Gan walked forward. “We don’t know exactly how many groups of people have come to the Lake of the Dead.”

Yu Sui asked him, "Can you find where Third Brother is? They want to use Third Brother to fish for Yin-Yang fish. If they fail once, they will definitely continue. Then Third Brother will be in grave danger."

Gu Gan said, "Let me think of a way."

Yu Sui said, "If all else fails, we should split up; that way we can search faster."

"No way." Gu Gan refused without even thinking. "I absolutely cannot let you leave my side and act alone. Sui Sui, if something happens to you, how am I supposed to explain it to the Prince?"

Before Yu Sui could speak, Gu Gan continued to explain, "Now that Yan Manfeng is dead, the people in Taiyi will also be restless. You absolutely cannot act alone."

"We need to find Third Brother first. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can leave this place." Yu Sui frowned, her delicate brows furrowing, a hint of impatience in her voice. "You won't let us split up to search, and you won't give us any suggestions. Are we really going to waste time searching over mountains and valleys like this? Brother Gu, aren't you just getting revenge on Third Brother?"

Gu Gan almost burst out laughing at her words. Faced with Yu Sui's suspicious gaze, Gu Gan even felt a little wronged. He really had no other intentions in coming here but to rescue Sheng Fei from this dire situation, and at most, to ask him about the ancient inscription and fragments.

He didn't want Yu Sui to go to Mei Liangyu, so he used the excuse of having Yu Sui come with him to rescue Sheng Fei.

But he didn't intend to kill Sheng Fei! Nor did he intend to use this incident to get revenge on Sheng Fei!

"Sui Sui, is this what you think of me?" Gu Gan asked with difficulty.

Yu Sui also knew how to give a slap and then a treat. She sighed softly, raised her hand to rub her slightly cold cheeks and said, "Brother Gu, I shouldn't have thought of you like that. I just got anxious and said things without thinking. You know, I'm not in a good mood right now."

Gu Gan was completely speechless. He told Yu Sui to wait, turned around, formed hand seals, and countless golden characters and runes flew from his fingertips, flowing to the ground and spreading outwards.

A smooth, round pebble fell from the void and rolled down the ground.

The famous figures are testing the waters.

When the pebbles rolled onto the two characters "Sheng Fei" on the ground, Gu Gan stopped forming a hand seal: "Go this way."

Yu Sui followed. Gu Gan was heading in the opposite direction from Wei Ren and the others.

She forced Gu Gan to find Sheng Fei first, because Ji Meng was with Wei Ren. Judging from the bloodstains on the ground, Wei Ren and Wan Qi had fought with the Qingyun Society when they arrived, and the situation was not good.

Let them run further away first, and give them more time to recover.

Apart from Wei Ren, the other three were injured. Shen Liu's Void Moon Wheel, combined with the Yin Poison, caused the Yin and Yang energies in the two who were stabbed to become imbalanced, making them feel cold and trembling all over, unable to exert any strength, and unable to resist with their Qi, which would lead to the rapid loss of the five elements.

Wan Qi was poisoned by Tianma Powder, causing him to become paralyzed, unable to speak or move. He was only able to leave by Wei Ren using spider silk to bind the three of them.

Wei Ren glanced back at Ling Jian, who was howling, and Wan Qi, who was speechless and could only stare blankly. Unable to bear it any longer, he flicked two Gu worms into their mouths.

Ling Jian was caught off guard and swallowed a Gu worm. He instinctively gagged, then grabbed his neck and rolled over to vomit.

Wan Qi closed his eyes to catch his breath. Wei Ren's move was practically fighting poison with poison. If the Yin poison wasn't neutralized by the time it was ready, their five elements would be in disarray, and the situation would be even worse.

"I'm better? I'm not cold anymore? The Yin poison is gone?" Ling Jian was still unaware of the situation and looked at her hands, which were gradually regaining warmth, in surprise.

"It's just fighting poison with poison," Wei Ren explained with a stern face. "If the Yin poison isn't neutralized within twelve hours, your five elements will be reversed, and the poison will invade your body."

After hearing this, Ling Jian took a deep breath and was about to pinch Wei Ren: "Then I'd rather be suppressed by the Yin Poison!"

Wan Qi stepped between the two and laughed it off, saying, "We just need to find Shen Liu and cure the Yin poison within the time limit. If the Yin poison lingers for too long, it will cause the Five Elements to become disordered. It's the same whether you die sooner or later. Let's hurry up and find him!"

Seeing Ji Meng lying motionless on the ground, Wei Ren went over and kicked him: "Get up, stop pretending to be dead."

Ji Meng, his hands tightly clasped to his chest, was curled up, his mind unclear, due to the cold, yin poison in his body.

He seemed to be transported back to the moment when he fell into the water as a child and almost drowned. He struggled and cried for help in the water, but saw his mother and brothers walking away in the distance, chatting and laughing. No one looked back at him.

How did you get back to shore?

Ji Meng couldn't quite remember.

The memories flashed back quickly; the sharp sounds of the argument assaulted his eardrums, causing him earache, headache, and heartache.

He was trembling all over, and his memories were fragmented, pieced together in a strange and disjointed way.

All I remember is someone kicking me repeatedly, kicking my chest, ribs, calves, and face. The pain was intense, suffocating, and I cried out in agony.

While Ji Meng was in a dazed state, Wei Ren kicked him twice. The taut strings in his mind suddenly snapped, and the deepest part of his heart was torn open, as if a ferocious beast roared and poked its head out.

Just as Wei Ren raised his foot to kick, the person curled up on the ground suddenly rolled backward nimbly, and when his hands on the ground contracted, they left deep and long finger marks.

Before Wei Ren could retract his foot, Ji Meng suddenly slapped the ground and sprang to his feet, like a tiger baring its fangs and pouncing forward.

Because Wei Ren's kick missed and was too sudden, he had to dodge in time to avoid being tackled by Ji Meng, and ended up falling to the ground sideways.

Ji Meng was like an angry beast eager to tear its prey apart, his limbs bursting with superhuman strength, his five fingers transforming into sharp claws, and dark blue scales growing beneath his skin trembling and humming. He brushed past the fallen Wei Ren, but instead pounced on Ling Jian, whose body had not yet fully recovered and who was completely unaware of what was happening.

"Pfft"

A sharp claw, gleaming with a bluish-black light, pierced through Ling Jian's chest and impaled him on Ji Meng's arm. His body, slightly arched by the force, looked as if a spear had pierced his chest and lifted him high.

Ji Meng's face was ferocious, crazed, and filled with a murderous aura.

Wan Qi was a beat too slow, and when he turned around and saw what was happening, he was stunned.

Wei Ren hadn't expected Ji Meng to suddenly go mad. How could this seemingly ordinary kid have such a hidden trick up his sleeve?

He immediately got up and charged at Ji Meng, but Ji Meng reacted even faster, throwing Ling Jian away so that he fell into the nearest river with a loud splash.

"Ling Jian!" Wan Qi rushed over and, dragging his still somewhat numb body, jumped into the water to save him.

Spider silk wrapped around Ji Meng's hands and feet from different directions, pulling and tugging. Wei Ren bent his elbow and strangled Ji Meng's neck, listening to the sharp howl coming from his mouth. He inadvertently glanced at the thin, bluish-black scales growing on Ji Meng's swollen neck and couldn't help but curse, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Ji Meng simply stretched his neck and howled, filled with rage. He clenched his fist and pulled hard on the spider silk. The thin scales that grew on his arms opened and trembled, making a sound like the flapping of butterfly wings, while breaking the long, transparent spider silk threads.

Wei Ren was thrown back a long way by the strong wind. Just as he regained his footing, he saw the crazed Ji Meng clutching his head and kneeling on the ground in agony, howling and whispering helplessly, "No, no! Don't do this..."

He put his hand in his mouth and bit it, tearing off scales and flesh, getting his face covered in blood.

Wei Ren stood warily not far away, watching Ji Meng go mad. He secretly formed a hand seal behind his back, preparing to tie Ji Meng up when he wasn't paying attention.

He glanced into the swiftly flowing Blackwater River but couldn't see Wan Qi or Ling Jian. However, given Ling Jian's condition, he feared that he was in grave danger.

Wei Ren let out a low gasp; he never expected Ji Meng to be a hidden mad dog.

Besides his mental state being off, Ji Meng's physical changes were also baffling. His skin veins turned bluish-black, scales grew from his flesh resembling fish and snakes, and his ten fingers became sharp, like eagle claws.

He was a disciple of a medical family and his physical skills were not outstanding, but the speed and ruthlessness of his attack on Ling Jian just now were agile and vicious.

At this moment, Ji Meng was like a bloodthirsty monster.

Wei Ren had just thought of the words "Qingyang Ji Family" and hadn't even had time to think about it deeply when he realized that Ji Meng was about to bite off his right hand. His sharp teeth looked just like those of a ferocious beast that could chew human bones to pieces.

But Ji Meng bit her hand tightly, and her eyes were full of pleading for help as she looked at Wei Ren.

The boy's face was covered in blood and he looked incredibly ferocious. His whole body was filled with bestiality and killing intent, but his eyes were still clear and bright.

Wei Ren glanced back at the still water once more, his eye twitching violently. He took a deep breath and glared at Ji Meng, saying menacingly, "I knew you were a mad dog..."

Before he could finish speaking, he finished making a hand seal behind his back, and the ground suddenly collapsed, with countless withered tree branches emerging from the deep pit and binding Ji Meng.

Wei Ren activated the Gu poison within Ji Meng's body, depleting his Five Elements Qi in an attempt to weaken him.

Ji Meng began to go mad, tearing at the withered vines and spider silk binding him in the pit. Wei Ren concentrated on exhausting his five elements energy, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

After a long time, Ji Meng finally became weak due to the reversal of the five elements, and collapsed to the ground bleeding profusely, his scales still opening and closing.

Wei Ren stood cautiously at the edge of the pit, not daring to go down, as the spider silk he had released still bound Ji Meng's hands and feet.

After confirming that Ji Meng had completely passed out, Wei Ren breathed a sigh of relief. But as soon as he relaxed, he heard the sound of splashing water behind him, which made his hair stand on end. He immediately turned around on guard.

Wan Qi, soaking wet, dragged Ling Jian back to the shore, his face deathly pale, and said to Wei Ren in a trembling voice, "He's dead."

Wei Ren's gaze fell on Ling Jian, who was completely lifeless.

Ji Meng's sharp five fingers pierced through Ling Jian's entire chest, shattering his Five Elements Light Core and piercing his heart. He was doomed.

“I don’t know his situation.” Wei Ren said in a deep voice. After Wan Qi put Ling Jian on the ground, he walked towards Ji Meng in the pit. He walked hurriedly, but was stopped by Wei Ren when he reached the edge of the pit. “The situation is unclear now. If you go down rashly, you may end up like him.”

"Didn't you bring him?!" Wan Qi asked breathlessly. "Don't you know what's wrong with him?!"

He was breathing rapidly, and the veins on his forehead bulged as he asked questions. Over the years, he had become accustomed to compromising and admitting defeat, and even his anger at this moment was subconsciously suppressed.

"I..." Wei Ren felt aggrieved. He wanted to say that he was not familiar with Ji Meng and had no idea that Ji Meng would go crazy and kill people. But looking at Ling Jian's corpse and then at Ji Meng in the pit, he couldn't bring himself to say such an excuse.

Wei Ren bluntly stated, "Whether you believe it or not, I genuinely had no idea about it, and I used a curse to coerce him into coming here."

Wanqi looked at Weiren in disbelief.

"Alright, you go down. I think this kid is crazy. You're a healer and sorcerer, so it's perfect for you to go down!" Wei Ren withdrew his hand from Wan Qi's grasp, tilting his head towards the pit to signal Wan Qi to jump in quickly. "Go on!"

Wanqi took a deep breath beside him, trying to calm herself down and think carefully about what was going on.

On the other side, Gu Gan, who had found Sheng Fei's location by testing the waters with stones, was traveling using the Wind Riding Technique when suddenly his eyelids twitched and a golden rune flew out from his body and broke. His expression changed instantly, and he immediately landed to start looking for Ji Meng's direction.

“Brother Gu,” Yu Sui called out in confusion, but Gu Gan said to her with a serious expression, “Sui Sui, I have to go find Ji Meng first, he…”

"Why?" Yu Sui interrupted him, her expression becoming even more puzzled.

Gu Gan spoke quickly, "It concerns the Ji family's secret, so I can't tell you now. But Ji Meng is definitely in trouble now, and there may be unexpected results. I can't pretend I don't know. Sui Sui, come with me to Ji Meng's place first."

Yu Sui frowned: "Brother Gu, why do you always break your promises to me? You clearly said you'd go find Third Brother first, but now..."

Gu Gan raised his voice: "Sheng Fei will definitely not die, but Ji Meng is a different story!"

Yu Sui immediately turned cold: "Then you go find Ji Meng, I'll continue looking for Third Brother."

After saying that, she turned and left. Gu Gan subconsciously reached out to grab her back, but Yu Sui shook him off, saying, "Sui Sui!"

"I told you I wouldn't let you leave my side alone!" Gu Gan flashed in front of Yu Sui, stopping her, and said firmly, "You're coming with me!"

Yu Sui looked at him with clear eyes: "How are you going to convince me to go? Why should I abandon my third brother to go find Ji Meng? Brother Gu, you never tell me anything. Do you still think I will only get in your way?"

She wasn't going to listen to Gu and just follow him around without saying a word.

In the past, Yu Sui was accommodating to Gu Gan, so he could keep quiet and Yu Sui could remain unaware of anything, but that's no longer the case.

Gu Gan also realized this. Seeing Yu Sui's resolute attitude, as stubborn as before, his eyes trembled and hesitated, but he still couldn't resist and said in a low voice, "The Ji family of Qingyang is a great family of doctors. The head of the family has been a doctor and a physician for generations."

Yu Sui said, "I know that."

"His Majesty also trusts the sorcerers of the Ji family, because it seems there is no difficult problem in this world that they cannot solve." Gu Gan said with a complicated expression, "But the Ji family has become more and more crazy in recent years. In order to explore more of the mysteries of the Nine Schools, they have begun to test medicines on their own people."

"One of our own?"

“He has Ji family blood... but he’s not a very important person.” Gu Gan said in a low voice, “The Ji family has many children, it doesn’t matter whether he’s there or not.”

Yu Sui couldn't refute this point.

The Ji family does have many children, but Ji Meng has a low status and is not considered very important in the family.

She used to find it strange that the Ji family didn't care about the child, yet they took good care of him and didn't see any mistreatment.

She had initially thought Gu Gan had done something to cause this, but it turned out it was because... Ji Meng was an important experimental subject for the Ji family. She had only ever paid attention to Gu Gan before and hadn't really noticed Ji Meng's existence.

"What medicine did he try?" Yu Sui asked.

Gu Gan shook his head and said, "The specifics are still unclear. Ji Meng himself doesn't know that his memory is damaged, but I can't help him recover it even with the Heavenly Official technique. So it's not caused by the Nine Streams Technique, but by the medicine."

“Normally, Ji Meng doesn’t seem to have any problems, and his Five Elements Qi is normal. But if he is stimulated, his emotions will collapse, and he will go berserk, become furious and bloodthirsty, lose his reason, and his Five Elements Qi will also change.” Gu Gan said solemnly, “If there is no one else around, he will kill himself as well.”

It's clear that Gu Gan had witnessed Ji Meng biting himself, which is why he said such a thing.

Yu Sui looked surprised and asked in a daze, "When did this start?"

Gu Gan sighed, "He was already like this when we first met at the National Academy."

That's been ten years.

You two are quite good at hiding things.

Yu Sui discovered that Gu Gan was also hiding quite a few secrets; they were all in the same boat.

After hearing Gu Gan's explanation, Yu Sui also became interested in Ji Meng's side and had some doubts about the Ji family. So she agreed to Gu Gan's request to go find Ji Meng first.

Wei Ren was not far from them. Previously, Yu Sui had wanted to give Wei Ren time to recover, but now, due to Ji Meng's misfortune, he could only go over and see for himself how they were doing.

Gu Gan was very anxious. He was really afraid that Ji Meng would go berserk and bite him to death. The speed of traveling by the wind technique was several times that of when he went to find Sheng Fei.

So he rushed to the Blackwater River and saw Wei Ren and Wan Qi standing on the edge of the pit, and Ling Jian lying on the ground.

Before Gu Gan even saw Ji Meng in the pit, he had a bad feeling and made the worst-case scenario plan.

When he got closer and saw Wei Ren's figure clearly, he was shocked and couldn't believe it.

Wei Ren?

Wasn't he dead?!

Wei Ren and Wan Qi also noticed someone approaching, so they stopped arguing and looked up warily in Gu Gan's direction. They happened to see Yu Sui slowly walking out from behind Gu Gan, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Why is Nangong Sui here?

Wei Ren and Wan Qi had the same question in their minds at the same time. Soon, they saw the girl walking behind Gu Gan gently raise her index finger and put it in front of her slightly curved lips, making a shushing gesture at them.