Chapter 126 Nourishment

No?! Is this really the Netherworld's Naihe River connected to the bottom of the pool? The Naihe River filled with ghosts, snakes, and insects? Who can fall into the Naihe River and climb out? Or return the same way! It's not like I bought a round-trip ticket!

Xiao Wu opened his mouth so wide that he could have just started shouting in cosplay. Qi Xiaopang Benpang, who had walked back and forth in the Nai River, had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem. He lay on the edge of the pool with his upper body, and used his hands and feet to pull himself up like a turtle.

"This pool is so damn deep, luckily I can swim!"

No, this is not a question of whether one can swim or not. Even if a world swimming champion comes here, he will lose about 100 pounds of weight just by splashing back and forth in the Nai River.

"Brother Qing, please give me a hand!" After Qi Xiaopang shouted, he found that his brother had shrunk again. He was really helpless to help. He didn't dare to order Jiunian around, so he could only ask Xiao Wu for help.

After Xiao Wu reset his nearly dislocated jaw, he didn't rush to rescue the victim. Instead, he asked cautiously, "You're quite capable of holding your breath. You've been underwater for so long and you're fine. I'm ready to bring you back to life."

Fat Qi didn't notice Xiao Wu's alarm at all, and happily shared his discovery with her: "It's not that I can't hold it in, it's that there's a hidden world under the water!"

After hearing what Qi Xiaopang said word by word in a tone as if he had discovered a new continent, everyone looked at the owner of this place at the same time.

Sui Jing was even more blunt: "I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, you're building a temple and digging a pond here, diverting water to raise ghosts, and sealing off the mountain with a large formation. What exactly are you trying to do with all this fuss?"

Xuan He's face darkened for a moment, but quickly returned to normal. He smiled and said, "What? Don't you know what I want to do? This pool connects to the Nai River... Of course, it's to save you."

Suijing sneered and didn't believe a word of it.

Qi Xiaopang, half of his body still submerged in the pool, gave a shudder, sending himself underwater again. After a few grunts, he resurfaced, shaking his head like a frizzled puppy being forced into a bath by its owner. Then, he stammered, as if realizing just how many people were present, in a low voice, "Everyone's here..."

Seeing how miserable and pitiful he was, Qing Bai was about to jump down to offer some words of comfort. However, he jumped but did not land. Jiu Nian supported his waist with one hand and said calmly, "The ground is dirty."

Qing Bai glanced at the stone-paved ground, then looked at his white fur which had turned gray from climbing trees and houses. After two seconds of silence, he accepted Jiu Nian's decision not to let him go out and nestled back into Jiu Nian's arms...it was already dirty anyway.

Fat Qi didn't know he had missed his brother Qing's comfort, and was still trying to climb out of the pool with one hand...

Huh? Why one hand?

Xiao Wu stared at Fat Qi intently and realized that his right hand had been submerged ever since he emerged, even when he was trying to climb out... Was he injured and unable to lift it? Or was there something in that hand that was preventing him from lifting it?

Xiao Wu was brainstorming when Qi Xiaopang, who had been doing useless work with one hand, suddenly looked up. Their eyes met, and the next second, Qi Xiaopang suddenly blinked wildly at Xiao Wu with a force comparable to his eyelid twitching, and his whole face was distorted.

Although it was a bit eye-catching, Xiao Wu felt inexplicably relieved. With such a nerve, it must be him.

So Xiao Wu approached Fatty Qi and started asking him what he hadn't finished earlier: "You said there's a hidden world beneath this pool. Could it be that there's more than just the Nai River underwater, and there are other wonders?"

Unexpectedly, Qi Xiaopang asked in confusion, "What? What do you mean?"

As soon as he said this, not only Xiao Wu couldn't help but doubt his own judgment, but everyone else also looked at Xuan He again at the same time.

Xuan He was really speechless, but he still patiently cleared himself of suspicion: "This pool was dug more than ten years ago. Since the water from the Naihe River was introduced, I have never been down there again. After all..."

Xuan He paused, directing everyone's attention to the Suijing beside him before continuing, "After all, in this world, only the wronged souls who returned to the Nai River after death and the Lingxi clan born from the Nai River can come and go freely in the Nai River."

Suijing gritted his teeth. He knew that this guy had bad intentions towards him and was finding every opportunity to discredit him.

As if afraid his words weren't clear enough and that no one would grasp his underlying meaning, Xuan He continued, "What I originally wanted to dig wasn't a pool, but a passage that would allow me to sneak into the underworld and rescue Sui Jing without being noticed. Unfortunately, I misplaced my position and dug into the Nai River, which then flooded back, resulting in the pool we have today. Now that the passage is blocked, I naturally won't waste time on it. Until today, I just thought I had dug a Feng Shui pool."

Until today? I mean...

Xuan He looked at the Sui Jing meaningfully, his eyes filled with admiration. "Who would have thought that Ling Xi, whom I was thinking about saving all those years ago, would come here on his own and even dive into the pool knowing the way there. This can be considered... making the best use of something?"

"So if there's something underwater that shouldn't be there..." Xuan He said, "You should ask Sui Jing, who just came out. He knows more about it than I do."

Although he knew that Xuan He had ulterior motives and was full of bad intentions, there was some truth in what he said.

So several people readily shifted their gaze from Xuanhe to Suijing, as if seriously saying, "Please start your performance (cunning) (debate)."

Especially Qi Xiaopang, he was not in a hurry to climb up, but held on to the edge of the pool with one hand and stared at people intently.

This was the first time in the four years that Qing Bai had been with his classmates that he had seen him so serious, even more focused than during the final exam.

Faced with Xuan He's attempt to deflect blame, Sui Jing, who had been mentally prepared, remained relatively calm and asked calmly, "Oh? So those 'treasures' in the pond are what you raised to improve feng shui?"

Xuan He shook his head, his expression unchanged as he continued, "The water of the Nai River is the most evil thing in the human world. It must be nourished and suppressed by the most yin and resentful energy. Only then has it remained safe and sound until now. This is also... a helpless move."

Suijing sneered, and with a slight movement of his feet, a head with a dented face and broken features rolled down the pile of bones like a deflated football, all the way to the pool.

Qing Bai was prepared for Qi Xiaopang to scream out in fear at the tattered head, but unexpectedly, Qi Xiaopang not only didn't scream, but also took the initiative to reach out and intercept the head that was about to roll into the pool, and carefully put it aside.

Qing Bai raised his eyebrows slightly and became more concerned about Qi Xiaopang's every move.

"Don't talk so righteously. You are the one who is safe and sound, and you are the one who is nourished. It is them who are suppressed." The Suijing finally stopped growing at this moment. The snow-white giant beast stood proudly under the moon, with a soft light all around it. The adult form of Lingxi made people sigh at the spirit of creation just by looking at its appearance.

"You're wrong. They weren't nourishing me," Xuan He looked up at the giant beast in front of him, smiled, and sighed with satisfaction, "but you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan He's originally hanging arms instantly turned into wings, and wind blades along with feathers with a metallic luster swept towards Sui Jing's eyes!

Xuan He was the first to break the deadlock and attack first!

Sui Jing blocked Xuan He's attack with a palm, white light splashed everywhere, his eyes widened, as if he was in disbelief that Xuan He chose to attack him: "I've been here for nine years, and you dare to attack me?"

Qing Bai was amused by this. He pressed Jiu Nian's arm with his claws, and after meeting Jiu Nian's inquiring eyes, he blinked gently: "Now I am even more curious about your status in the underworld."

Jiunian tilted his head in confusion.

Qing Bai looked at Jiu Nian, smiling silently. He thought to himself, it was you who chased the people here from the underworld, but when Sui Jing was attacked, his first reaction was to pull you out to intimidate them. This is not just a simple belief in your strength, it's as if he was certain that you would intervene to stop this private fight...

The first wave of attacks was blocked, but Xuan He did not stop. He rose up with the wind and hovered in the air facing Sui Jing. Countless invisible crane feathers like smoke and mist spread out behind him like a peacock spreading its tail tail, and then, he roared towards Sui Jing like a violent storm.

Xuan He was very confident and even had the leisure to answer Sui Jing's question: "If Master Jiu Nian were to come in person, I would know my own limitations and would never dare to be presumptuous."

"Thanks to you, not only did you lead them to the giant locust tree and use the formation to separate their souls, but you also sent me so many... hostages? If I don't seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, wouldn't I be letting you down?"

Xuan He discovered that Jiu Nian was not his original self!

Qing Bai's breathing stagnated, and his heart calmed down a little after watching the excitement of the dogs fighting each other.

Jiu Nian sensed Qing Bai's uneasiness, moved his hand down, and gently held Qing Bai's body. The large-area physical contact almost instantly soothed Qing Bai's worries.

But Jiu Nian still seemed worried and said as if to reassure: "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"If it's just this level," Jiu Nian said, looking up at the beasts fighting each other on the field, his voice flat, "It's more than enough."

At the same time, the Xuanhe Suijing paused, and then fought more fiercely. Black feathers and white light accompanied by blood and bone fragments swept around, but they all avoided the place where Jiu Nian was standing. For a moment, a vacuum zone was formed.

Obviously, although the two seemed to be fighting fiercely, they were actually keeping a close eye on Jiunian's every move.

What is this? You say you don’t take nine years seriously, but you don’t dare to really take it seriously?

Qing Bai exhaled softly, his stiff body slowly relaxing. He seemed to have subtly grasped the reason why he had stood by and watched the fire from the other side since 1.9 years old, allowing the other two to talk and blame each other.

Is he trying to use someone else's strength to defeat someone else? Kill someone with a borrowed knife? Or... is there something else going on?

Qing Bai was easily comforted, but Xiao Wu was not so naive. She believed everything Jiu Nian said. After all, she had noticed something strange about Jiu Nian before... that kind of cold aura that should never appear on Jiu Nian, as if it were some kind of reptile.

Because of this, she even doubted the authenticity of this Nine-Year Master. It wasn't until Xiao Lingxi appeared that she dispelled her doubts, but her heart was still hanging. Now that she knew that the Nine-Year Master's abnormality was because he was not his original body, Xiao Wu really didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

And as for the "hostages" mentioned by Xuan He, Xiao Wu glanced at Qi Xiaopang who was still soaking in the water and couldn't help but sigh deeply. It was obvious that he was talking about him...them.

Before Xiao Wu could even finish his sigh, Fatty Qi suddenly looked up and asked, "So, the sisters underwater were deliberately imprisoned by that birdman?"

Sisters? Qing Bai recalled the first time he and Xiao Wu "met" Xuan He, when he was dressed as a ghost official, holding a string of ghosts, handcuffed, bound, blindfolded, and gagged, with soul-catching ropes in his hands.

Could it be that these corpses are them...

Qing Bai withdrew his thoughts and looked at Qi Xiaopang, whose skin hadn't wrinkled at all after soaking in the water for a long time. Although his question was a question, it didn't contain any doubt, and it was obvious that he had already determined the answer in his heart.

But Qing Bai still nodded seriously: "What do you want to do?"

Xiao Wu was shocked. Xiao Lingxi actually asked Qi Xiaopang what he wanted to do? Did he say it wrong, or did she mishear? Wasn't this guy a hostage just as weak, pitiful, and helpless as she was? When did he get the decision-making power?!

Qi Xiaopang actually accepted this responsibility he shouldn't have to shoulder with equanimity, saying with an extremely serious expression, "The birdman first trapped the sisters in the water dungeon, torturing and exploiting them day in and day out for decades, treating them as nutrients for that damn 'sacred tree'! The guy who went into the water afterward clearly saw the trick, but not only did he remain indifferent! He even went so far as to use the sisters' remains to nourish himself! And he even messed up the bodies... the remains...!"

"They all deserve to die!"

Xiao Wu's expression was filled with fear again. This, this, this! There was something seriously wrong with Fatty Qi! It was enough that he suddenly knew so much information they didn't, but the resentful aura that erupted from him the moment he said that last sentence almost made her imagine the thousand-year-old blood-robed female ghost, the most resentful person in the City of the Dead!

No! That's not right! The words 'they all deserve to die' were actually a woman's voice!!!