Chapter 55 The Childhood Betrothal of a Miao Girl (Twenty-Five)
After greeting Elder Xinfang, Shui Mingsheng went to find Jiang Yiqing under the pine tree. Although Jiang Yiqing was invisible...
After greeting Elder Xinfang, Shui Mingsheng went to find Jiang Yiqing under the pine tree. Although Jiang Yiqing had an invisibility talisman, it was hard to guarantee that some special and unknown Gu worms could detect her presence. Therefore, Shui Mingsheng did not dare to take the risk and asked Jiang Yiqing to act with her in front of everyone.
"Yi Qing, what do you think we should do next?" Shui Mingsheng felt that she was able to get to where she was today thanks to Yi Qing's advice. With Yi Qing's intelligence, she might have a different perspective than her.
“Now anyone who has the King Gu can participate in the next competition, and everyone is looking for the King Gu.” Jiang Yiqing said, “Mingsheng, you bought your King Gu from a merchant. Although he agreed not to leak the news at the time, once people find out about this, all the abnormalities will be suspected of being yours again, and then you will be in big trouble.”
"Yi Qing, your mind is indeed meticulous." Shui Mingsheng thought about it and realized that made sense. The reason why no one doubted her was because they did not know her strength. But if they knew that she had the King Gu so early, they would think that she had more opportunities to obtain new unknown powers. Even though she now has the White Emperor Dream Gu and can fight back against a Grand Gu Master, if it is known too early, she will be in a passive position.
“That’s not the most crucial thing,” Jiang Yiqing said. “The biggest problem now is that we need to find a way to save Teacher Xia. We agreed on a ten-day deadline with the Tree Gu, but now we don’t even know exactly when the next competition will start.”
“I once heard an old man say that the Holy Maiden’s relics test not only strength, but also wisdom. I think she must have considered everyone’s special circumstances and left behind some secrets that can be deciphered by those who are determined,” Shui Mingsheng said. “Yi Qing, you are wiser than me. Let’s think about what to do together.”
Jiang Yiqing blushed at her words. She stared at the numbers on the boundary stone below, which had expanded to an astonishing thousand or more. It seemed everyone had come to get involved in the matter of the relics. Since Daobei Ridge was the place where the Holy Maiden left her relics, it couldn't have been as simple as just letting them find a wooden box; there must have been other designs involved.
Jiang Yiqing could still see the words "Boundary Stone Fragment ×10". Last time she left here in a hurry, and there were people all around, so she didn't try. This time she stepped forward and tried to put the boundary stone away.
She was just trying it out, but she didn't expect that the boundary stone would actually be stored in her system space. As the boundary stone disappeared, the entire Daobei Ridge began to experience earthquakes.
Rocks crumbled from the mountain and rolled down to the ground, trees exposed their roots from the soil, and the ground beneath our feet began to tremble.
"Yi Qing?" Shui Mingsheng quickly grabbed Jiang Yi Qing's hand, afraid that she would fall.
"Let's go back to the pine tree."
Shui Mingsheng led Jiang Yiqing to the entrance of the Gate of Daylight. Jiang Yiqing sprinkled a packet of sleeping powder, and the two entered the Gate of Daylight.
"Ming Sheng, try using your White Emperor Dream Gu," Jiang Yiqing reminded him.
Jiang Yiqing had been wondering before whether the Sunlight Gu would have a strange reaction with the Gate of Daylight.
Shui Mingsheng immediately realized what was happening and used the White Emperor Dream Gu. As a result, she did not fall into a deep sleep as before, but remained awake inside the Gate of Daylight, just like Jiang Yiqing.
Jiang Yiqing placed the boundary stone inside the Gate of Daylight.
Whenever the Gate of Daylight was about to take them to Jiang Yiqing's dormitory, Shui Mingsheng would use the White Emperor Dream Gu again to prolong the daytime. Jiang Yiqing saw the numbers on the boundary stone begin to break, and the surface would show colorful patterns.
This process was repeated many times, and they shuttled through several days, allowing the two of them to share eternal time within the Gate of Daylight.
The boundary stone was also affected by the time shift of the Gate of Daylight. When they came to the pine tree again, the time outside had not changed.
Jiang Yiqing then discovered that she could now freely manipulate the boundary stone. She placed it back in its original position, and this time, instead of displaying the number of people, it began to show a countdown.
—60, 59, 58, 57…
The global telepathic message is activated: "A total of 1,030 people will participate in the competition for this relic. Among them, ten Gu Masters who possess the King Gu will be selected as the heirs of the treasure. After the countdown ends, the ranking of the ten heirs will be revealed on the boundary stone. Twenty-four hours later, the Gu Master ranked first will directly obtain the treasure."
As the boundary stone returned to its original position, the earthquake at Daobei Ridge ceased, and everything returned to normal operation. Everyone watched in astonishment as the number on the boundary stone gradually changed to 1.
"What's going on? Am I seeing things? I just saw the boundary stone fly away, but now it's back?"
"Weren't we supposed to be searching for the King Gu? Why are we starting the competition now?"
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, the names of the ten heirs and the King Gu appeared on the boundary stone.
"No.1 Witchcraft: Crimson Jade Emperor Gu".
No. 2 Wen Qing: Bai Di Meng Ming Gu.
No. 3 Xu Shou: Corpse King Gu.
No.4 Ning Xue: Demon King Gu.
No.5 Li Shi: Red Eyed King Gu.
No. 6 White Eyebrows: Eagle King Gu.
No. 7 Xinfang: Ice Silkworm King Gu.
..."
Once the rankings were revealed, everyone was in an uproar.
Xin Fang and the others rushed over upon hearing the news. The Miao Jiang Gu Masters, who had been chatting amicably, were now all very wary of each other.
“Xinfang, you really do have the King Gu. You wouldn’t admit it when I asked you,” Bai Mei said.
“You didn’t tell me you had the Eagle King Gu,” Xinfang said.
"As expected, the Crimson Flame Jade Emperor Gu belongs to the sect leader. But who exactly is this Wen Qing? Wasn't she ranked first in the last ranking? How come she's above the sect leader?" Bai Mei asked.
Of course, they didn't know that this Wen Qing was a fabrication by Jiang Yiqing. Because she could control the boundary stone, she changed the rankings before they were officially announced.
Jiang Yiqing downgraded the ranking of Bai Di Meng Ming Gu, changed Shui Mingsheng to Wen Qing, and tried to distance herself from her to avoid any association. Originally, Jiang Yiqing wanted to downgrade Bai Di Meng Ming Gu even further, but others wouldn't believe it, because when a King Gu is cultivated to its highest level, its name will change to "Emperor" or "King," so being in second place was already the limit.
As long as they maintain their first-place position and remain undiscovered, they will automatically receive the treasure after 24 hours.
Upon receiving the news, Li Shi immediately purchased the Crimson-Eyed King Gu from a Gu Master at a high price, thus securing a place in the rankings. He had originally planned to enhance the strength of the Crimson-Eyed King Gu, but unexpectedly, the competition began so quickly.
This is very unusual.
Strange things have been happening ever since the day the road to Daobei Ridge was opened.
According to his statistics, only five people in Bai Mei's group had the King Gu at that time. Ning Xue was a mysterious female Gu master in Miao territory, so it was normal that she did not appear. It was also normal that the sect leader did not come because he was stationed in Tiantong Academy in the center of Miao territory. As for Xu Shou, even if he came, there would still be one person missing. This person was almost certainly Wen Qing, who was unknown but ranked second.
Wen Qing's appearance opened the way up the mountain, which is almost a foreseeable fact. However, no one has ever seen Wen Qing, nor does anyone know her. If it was this Wen Qing who dug the giant pit and reduced the number of people on the boundary stone by two when she left Daobei Ridge, then it means that she has an invisibility gu, and that she has a companion.
Who is the most suspicious?
To deduce this matter, we must start with Wang Gu.
"Merchant, when I asked you about buying the King Gu, you said you sold it to someone else. That's why I asked someone else who bought the Crimson-Eyed King Gu. Who did you actually sell your King Gu to?"
"The most important thing for us business people is to keep our integrity," the merchant said. "I can't tell you who it was sold to, but I can tell you that the King Gu was not in good condition and probably died later, which is why this person's information is not on the ranking list."
"What if the King Gu combines with other powerful Gu worms to form an extremely powerful Gu worm?" Li Shi said, "For example, the White Emperor Dream Gu?"
"That's impossible," the merchant said. "The White Emperor Dream Gu was the Gu that previously overpowered the Sect Master. In order to compete with it, the Sect Master invested a large number of Gu worms and eventually cultivated it into the Crimson Flame Jade Emperor Gu. Who has a deeper foundation than the Sect Master?"
"It's hard to say what fate has in store," Li Shi said. "Judging from your tone, you don't think the buyer has that kind of power?"
"Yes, if that's true, it's terrifying."
The merchant had visited Qingfeng Village.
The merchant left without Li Shi stopping him. He had originally intended to use some means to get the merchant to confess, but that would break the ironclad rule of Miao territory against attacking caravans, and he would become the target of public criticism. It wasn't worth it.
Most importantly, the information revealed by the merchant deepened his suspicions about Shui Mingsheng. The merchant had reportedly made a large deal in Qingfeng Village. What if Shui Mingsheng really had bought the King Gu?
*
Shui Mingsheng received a phone call.
She picked up her phone, and Zhao Xiran said anxiously on the other end, "This Li Shi, I also hacked into his personal device and found that he's been investigating you, about caravans, about Wang Gu, and he even kept records of your accounts."
Shui Mingsheng was startled. Thinking of the signs that Qingyu Tower had been spied on, he said, "That trash, he should have found out that I am Wen Qing by now."
Despite all our efforts to conceal it, we still can't hide it anymore. It seems we have to confront it head-on.
"Zhao Xiran, could you do me another favor and go to Yushan Village to pick up Xiaozhi for me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
