Chapter 153 Calling someone "going to the East China Sea" like that makes it sound like family. ...

The river flows through the Zhongtiao and Xiaoshan Mountains, navigating numerous treacherous shoals, relentlessly flowing downstream.

Exhausted, Chen Ying climbed ashore and lay on her back on a rocky beach, panting heavily. She had been in the river for too long, and her body felt heavy; even lifting her arms was difficult.

Ah Cong's severed right arm was tied in a tight knot. He sat down next to her and nudged her.

Chen Ying closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to sleep: "I'm so tired."

Even if I'm tired, I can't sleep here.

Ah Cong had no choice but to get up and use one hand to pull the mud-like Chen Ying onto his back.

Chen Ying slightly opened her eyes, and with her hands and feet working together, she climbed onto his back, letting A Cong carry her up the cliff of the canyon. This was a plank road specially carved by boatmen to pull boats, with countless deep grooves worn by the tow ropes.

“You saw it too, that woman is even more ferocious than the blind monk. We can’t kill Azhaosu, and if we don’t leave, we’ll only be dead.” She knew that Acong was unwilling, so she comforted him, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

Ah Cong simply carried her forward silently.

“Didn’t we agree?” Chen Ying put her arm around its neck and rested her chin on Acong’s shoulder. “If I rescue them from the Taiyin/Dao Body, I will send you back.”

Ah Cong simply slowed his pace silently as he walked along the narrow rock face.

"Returning to your homeland," Chen Ying said softly. "Isn't this your long-held wish? You've been away from home for so long, and you're finally about to go back. Are you really going to die in this wretched place for the sake of a blind monk?"

Ah Cong slowly came to a stop.

"Then all my efforts will have been in vain? I promised you I would send you back," Chen Ying said earnestly, "Acong, now that Yin Sui has been found, shall we go to the East Sea to find our hometown?"

Ah Cong stood there blankly with his back to her, without responding for a long time.

Chen Ying sighed: "You're already dead, don't be so stubborn. Let that Azhaosu wander in this wretched place, suffering and tormenting. It's actually more satisfying than killing him. Letting him live is also a punishment, and it's even worse than death. If you burn him to death, you'll actually help him completely escape from this sea of ​​suffering."

The reason for this is that Wangxiang is no match for Azhaosu, so why make a pointless sacrifice? Besides, Azhaosu now has an ally who can cleave the heavens and split the earth.

Faced with overwhelming power, her little tricks were utterly ineffective, and her fate was directly comparable to Xu Zhangfang's.

“Ah Cong, for so many years, we’ve depended on each other for survival, and you’ve killed countless people…” Chen Ying turned her head, pressing her cheek against Ah Cong’s shoulder. She showed no remorse for her actions, instead feeling that they all deserved it. “These people are hypocritical, selfish, and greedy. They’re masters of pretense, always pushing their luck. For profit, they scheme against relatives and friends, turning them into enemies. They’ll inevitably stir up trouble to make you look bad to everyone. And what’s worse, some people are all smiles and kindness, pretending to be friendly to your face while slandering you behind your back. They’re a bunch of bloodthirsty, heartless bastards.”

She was tired of seeing these people's faces; the human heart was the most treacherous thing. But... Chen Ying fell into a brief silence, her eyes unfocused as she stared at the holes carved into the rock wall, and said, "But Lu Bing seems different."

Lu Bing was a man of strong likes and dislikes, and he hated her intensely. Chen Ying said, "Sometimes when I see his pitiful state, I feel inexplicably soft-hearted. If I had known, I wouldn't have killed his father and grandmother. Those two old bastards weren't actually that annoying."

Ah Cong's arm moved.

Chen Ying peeked over and stared at it, gesturing with her fingers a few times. Chen Ying shook her head and said, "I just feel a little sorry that we have such a deep-seated hatred for each other."

Ah Cong continued gesturing.

Chen Ying said, "Hmm? I didn't think much about it. I was just bored and said it casually, just expressing my feelings. Anyway, what's the use of regretting it now that it's already happened? I don't regret it. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would still kill."

Chen Ying sighed, "I can only say that he was unlucky to meet me. But I was really lucky to meet him, otherwise, I don't know when I would have gotten around to it."

“So, Ah Cong,” Chen Ying patted its face, landing on the mask made of cold iron, “to avoid any unforeseen complications, we must leave quickly. We absolutely cannot stay in Shanzhou. That blind man already came looking for us yesterday. What if he comes and takes Lu Bing away again? Can you afford to compensate him?! Let me tell you, I would rather die than let him take Lu Bing away!”

She even threatened to kill herself, and Ah Cong finally nodded.

"Let's go quickly," Chen Ying said, finally closing her eyes with relief. "I'll take a nap."

After the rain came a clear night. Ah Cong carried her across the valley without complaint. Ahead of them was a round moon, seemingly out of reach, hanging on their way home.

Ah Cong hadn't carried her on his back for a long time; the last time he did was when Chen Ying was little.

Unexpectedly, she grew up before she knew it and got married once. Unfortunately, she met the wrong person. Shen Yuanwen's vows of eternal love to her did not last even half a year before he broke his heart.

Chen Ying didn't cry, make a fuss, or feel wronged. She simply adhered to the principle of making a clean break and not letting things get out of hand, saying, "Let him go to the underworld and deceive ghosts."

Then she completely extinguished the scoundrel and his worthless nonsense without any hesitation. Since she needed to make a mortuary sac for Ah Cong, she used Shen Yuanwen as a breeding ground for leeches.

Since Ah Cong became a useless pool of phlegm, he could only reach the shore using a shroud. Ever since he escaped from the Yin/Taoist body and wandered the human world, his only thought was to return to his homeland.

However, the Boundless Secret Realm suffered a great calamity a thousand years ago, and it could no longer find its way home.

Chen Ying became its partner and was the first to interpret Wang Xiang's inner thoughts. She patiently interpreted it, understood it, and spared no effort to help it.

Then, smiling, he said to it, "I'll take you back."

Because of this seemingly casual promise, she devoted almost all her energy to doing everything she could.

At that moment, Ah Cong suddenly thought with worry: What will you do if we leave? If you are left alone in this world, won't they bully you?

Despite Chen Ying's constant assertion: "I am a Gu Master, no longer that useless person who can be bullied at will. I have done so many bad things and have rich experience. Who in the world can be more wicked than me? If you want to bully me, you're tired of living."

She also said: I don't need you to worry about me.

But when everything was ready, Ah Cong looked at the long road home and suddenly felt reluctant to leave.

Ah Cong never imagined that in this hateful world, there would be someone he couldn't let go of.

It silently called out, "Ah Ying."

I don't remember how long ago it was, but it started calling her Aying.

The immortals all share the surname "A," and calling them that makes them seem like family.

...

After hearing about Wangxiang's origins, Bai Yuan wasn't too surprised. Instead, he understood the purpose of Gu Shi and Wangxiang: "I had some suspicions when Gu Shi took Yin Sui from Jing Guan. She might be after the Boundless Secret Realm."

The Boundless Secret Realm is the refuge of the Undead, and its safety is of paramount importance to both the Undead and the Secret Realm. Even though Bai Yuan had doubts, he did not utter a single word.

Bai Yuan only revealed a little bit about Zhou Yaren's identity after he learned it.

To the world, the immortals are just a legend in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Like those ethereal ancient myths, trouble and disaster can be avoided as long as no one takes them seriously.

"The fear of death is human nature. A mere hundred years of lifespan is simply not enough for them. If they knew there was a way to avoid birth, aging, sickness and death, what do you think they would do?" The answer is obvious. "If the existence of the immortals and the secret realm were exposed, it would surely attract countless greedy people who yearn for immortality."

By then, the whole world will become "Fangxiandao".

After the elixir of immortality was successfully made, Xu Fu, wanting only to live on, murdered all those who knew about it, thus managing to keep the matter a secret. It's hard to say whether he should be grateful or not.

“The Yin Sui is the key to finding the Boundless Secret Realm.” Even to Zhou Yaren, Bai Yuan had never mentioned it, but now there was no need to hide it anymore. “Without the Yin Sui, no one can find the secret realm. Even the Undead themselves, if they want to go back after coming out, will get lost in the vast East Sea without the Yin Sui.”

Many unsuspecting people coveted the Yin Sui, such as the Taoist Yuan Can in Jingguan, Puzhou. He meticulously plotted to seize the Yin Sui from Guanlan in order to build a palace for refining his form and attempt to resurrect himself in the Taiyin.

Others in the know plotted against Yin Sui in order to find the secret realm where the Undead could survive.

Bai Yuan said, "If the Wangxiang are truly the remains of the Undying People, then their association with the Gu Master and their theft of the Yin Sui must be for the purpose of returning home."

Just as humans, no matter where they go, always want to return to their roots and homeland, so too does the mythical creature Wangxiang.

The words "return home" filled Zhou Ya's heart with desolation: "The Gu Master is a vicious and wicked man. By doing this, they have undoubtedly exposed the key to the secret realm to the Gu Master, putting their people in danger once again."

Bai Yuan could understand: "Without the help of the Gu Master, they can't do anything. They can only wander at the bottom of the water forever, never find the Yin Sui, and never be able to return home."

Therefore, Wangxiang must rely on the Gu Master.

Azhaosu was expelled from the Boundless Secret Realm and went through life and death. Zhou Yaren had no memory of her homeland, but she was different from those who were forced to leave their homeland and died in foreign lands.

Zhou Yaren pondered for a moment and said, "If the Gu Master is as treacherous as Xu Fu, then it will cause incalculable consequences."

Bai Yuan analyzed: "Judging from the journey of the Gu Master and Wang Xiang, they have been traveling eastward along the Yellow River, which shows that their next step is to go to the East Sea to find the secret realm."

Zhou Yaren's expression turned serious: "We must take back the Yin Sui from the Gu Masters and stop them from finding the secret realm."

Bai Yuan said, "However, I still have a question."

Zhou Yaren asked, "What?"

"Back then, when those alchemists sacrificed their lives and bound me with their unjust deaths, the clues in the underworld pointed to the River Tomb. According to the Gu Master, perhaps those alchemists wanted to tell me that the boys and girls who had ingested the elixir were in the River Tomb, hoping I would find their corpses there. However, I was too late. The Qin Dynasty had already fallen a thousand years ago, and those corpses had long since rotted in the filthy soil, their bodily fluids seeping into the river and turning into ghosts," Bai Yuan pondered. "But the corpses of the boys and girls only prove that the alchemists' alchemy failed; they cannot avenge them at all. In fact, the fact that so many people died from the poisonous elixir would only make their crime even more serious. Therefore, what the alchemists were pointing to was the few pregnant corpses carrying Gu elixirs buried in the River Tomb."

Zhou Yaren did not interrupt.

“Obviously,” she said, having spoken with Zhou Yaren before, “among this group of extraordinary individuals is a Gu master who uses pregnant women to create Gu and buries them in the filthy soil of the river mound.”

This is exactly the same method Chen Ying used to make Gu by taking Xiao Hua's pregnant belly in the original village. They later found a jar containing Gu ingredients in the cellar where the Gu master was hiding.

Zhou Yaren continued, "The first thing Wang Xiang did after emerging from the Taiyin/Dao body was to carry the coffin into the river tomb and dig out the Gu Yin from the filthy soil."

"Why?" In fact, Bai Yuan had never figured it out. A thousand years ago, those sorcerers and Gu masters buried Gu-inducing agents in the river tomb. A thousand years later, Wang Xiang joined forces with Gu masters to dig up this pit of Gu-inducing agents in the river tomb. Bai Yuan judged, "Besides using Gu leeches to make scabbards for them, this pit of Gu snakes in the river tomb is very likely a very important part of the Gu masters' search for the secret realm. Could it be related to their search for the secret realm?"

"What could it possibly have to do with anything?" Zhou Yaren frowned, thinking of the two Gu snakes that had hatched from their sleeves. "Could these Gu snakes, left over from a thousand years ago, be helping them find their way and successfully enter the Boundless Secret Realm?"

Bai Yuan only learned from A Zhaosu's underworld divination that Yin Sui was the key to finding the Boundless Secret Realm, and the information was not very specific: "In that case, is it possible that when Xu Fu led the alchemists out to sea to find the immortal mountains, he initially relied on Gu magic to find them?"

Zhou Yaren thought this deduction was very reasonable: "It is very possible that Fangxiandao discovered the secret realm using the Gu technique from the very beginning."