Chapter 147 Yin-Yang White Bones (Seventeen)
Three months later.
The nearly ten-zhang-long flying boat slowly came to a stop. The flowing clouds seemed to lift the flying boat up like giant feathers. Looking out from the deck, there were vast and boundless forests and mountains below. A deep black spiritual energy barrier rose from the ground and soared into the sky. It stretched for thousands of miles to the left and right, like a clear and deep dividing line that separated the inner and outer worlds. This dividing line was so dark and mysterious that no one could see the scenery inside the barrier.
The biting wind made the red hem of her dress flutter loudly, and the gold threads on it shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight. Wei Feng leaned against the railing, gazing lazily into the distance, while a red light silently flashed from the sound-communication array in his palm.
Dozens of interconnected location coordinates slowly appeared on the screen.
These were the locations of the escape formations that Xuan Zhiyan had been gradually passing on to him over this period. However, Jiang Gu was keeping a close eye on him, and anyone he randomly picked from the flying boat had a higher cultivation level than him. He was confined to the spiritual realm for cultivation most of the time and had no chance to escape.
Even this fifteen-minute break was something he begged Jiang Gu for, crying and kneeling.
He didn't quite believe this man named Jiang Gu, who claimed to be his master.
After contacting Xuan Zhiyan, he learned that Jiang Gu had killed Qi Fengyuan, which had nearly wiped out the Yanghua Sect, and that he had kept Jiang Gu by his side only to use him... His remaining goodwill towards Jiang Gu plummeted.
Although he has amnesia and his mind has regressed to that of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, he is not stupid. It is obvious that Jiang Gu has ill intentions towards him. Regardless of why he stayed by Jiang Gu's side before, he knows that there is no such thing as a business that is eager to be taken advantage of.
He squinted, slowly yawned, subtly extinguished the communication talisman, turned around and revealed a bright smile, "Master, it's not time yet."
Jiang Gu stood behind him with a cold expression.
"Follow me off the flying boat." Jiang Gu glanced back at the puppet following behind him. The puppet understood, nodded to him, and retreated back into the cabin.
Wei Feng asked in surprise, "Disembark from the flying boat? But we've already arrived at the border town, aren't we going in?"
“It will take ten days to open the passage to the border town,” Jiang Gu said. “We still have things to do.”
Wei Feng's eyes lit up, knowing that the opportunity to escape was just around the corner. He pretended to be excited and said, "Great! I was really suffocating on this flying boat."
Jiang Gu glanced at him and said, "Come here."
Wei Feng's heart skipped a beat, but he still smiled and moved closer. He was cautious and didn't want to get too close to Jiang Gu, but the moment he got close, he instinctively pressed against him and grabbed his hand.
This has happened countless times.
Wei Feng was completely baffled, but his body betrayed him. Even if Jiang Gu broke free in the next second, he would still enjoy it immensely.
This time, Jiang Gu didn't indulge him. He used his spiritual power to shake off his hand and took him with him as they transformed into two streaks of light and disembarked from the flying boat.
Three hours later, on the edge of Jiexiang, in Yongyuan City.
Yongyuan City is located on the edge of the border region. The cultivators in the city are a mixed bag, and there are many highly skilled rogue cultivators, mostly demonic and monster cultivators. Most of them are looking for opportunities to enter the border region to cultivate, so the trading places here are particularly prosperous.
Jiang Gu and Wei Feng, dressed in gray robes, quietly slipped into the city.
With Jiang Gu by his side, Wei Feng cautiously refrained from contacting Xuan Zhiyan using the communication talisman. He curiously surveyed his surroundings, yet felt no sense of unfamiliarity whatsoever. Even before he could clearly see the words on the signboard, he already knew what this place was, as if... he had been here before.
"Master, what are we doing here?" he couldn't help but ask.
Jiang Gu looked at the address Wei Feng had left before he lost his memory on the jade tablet and said in a deep voice, "Come here to retrieve something."
Wei Feng's primordial spirit was also affected by the poison, but Jiang Gu had investigated many times over the past few months without finding any clues, let alone knowing the consequences of the poison taking effect. This situation of being controlled by others made Jiang Gu feel very troubled.
Fifteen minutes later, the two stopped in front of a secluded courtyard in the city.
The house was located in a narrow alley. The mottled and dilapidated wooden door looked like it was about to fall. Two rusty soul-suppressing bells hung from the eaves above the door. A corner-broken plaque hung on the protruding wooden pole at the entrance, which read "Sui Xin Fang" in seal script. A cold wind blew by, and the rusty bells made a hoarse sound.
Wei Feng instinctively stepped in front of Jiang Gu, even he himself was taken aback.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Gu didn't notice anything amiss.
Wei Feng, however, looked tense. He already knew that he had an extraordinary sense of smell. He smelled an extremely familiar yet disgusting stench and mobilized his meager spiritual power to try to envelop Jiang Gu's primordial spirit.
Jiang Gu instantly understood his intention and used his spiritual power to shroud the two people's primordial spirits in a thick layer, even being so cautious as to completely seal off their Dao Heart Dantian.
The wooden door creaked open, and a paper doll jumped out. Unlike the palm-sized paper doll Jiang Gu had seen at the auction, this paper doll was indistinguishable from a real person, except that it was a thin, yellowish sheet with two black, bead-like eyes painted on its face with ink, and a mouth drawn with blood-red vermilion that stretched to its ears, almost splitting the face in two.
"Heaven and Earth Pavilion, spirit beast number 943, retrieve the medicine." The paper figure stared intently at Wei Feng, its bright red mouth opening and closing, revealing a narrow and secluded path behind the yellowed paper.
It turned and walked forward. Thick fog enveloped the courtyard, which was of unknown size, and the air became stuffy and damp. Jiang Gu and Wei Feng exchanged a glance. Wei Feng was obviously still unaware of the situation. He whispered, "Master, something's not right here. Let's leave."
Jiang Gu ignored him and instead activated the Fire Rope within Wei Feng's body, tightly wrapping it around his waist, with the other end disappearing into his own wrist. "Follow him."
He gave orders as if it were his right, which displeased Wei Feng, but he dared not show it and could only grit his teeth and follow the paper figure.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the faint sound of conversation could be heard from within the mist. Jiang Gu then concealed himself along with the Fire Rope.
Wei Feng turned his head and didn't see him. He panicked, and then he heard Jiang Gu's cold voice: "Do as I say."
Wei Feng calmed down a little, but he still couldn't suppress the disgust he felt for this place. He followed the paper doll to an empty room with only a simple row of tables. Two people were already waiting at the tables. One of them had a pair of pointed ears and his translucent lips were sewn shut with black thread. He only nodded slightly when he saw Wei Feng.
The other one had a rounded horn on his forehead and golden eyes. "Jiu Si San, long time no see."
Wei Feng instinctively felt scared and wanted to run away, but he also frowned and nodded at the other person.
He couldn't afford to reveal any flaws, or he would die—this thought almost consumed his entire being. He stood beside the unicorn with a grim face.
“The other day, Master was in a bad mood, and Jiu Si Er accidentally stumbled upon him and had his mouth sewn shut.” Lin Jiao said in a low voice, “You’ve been on a mission for so long, you’ve escaped this time.”
"Hmm," Wei Feng replied indifferently.
Lin Jiao didn't mind. "The poison in my primordial spirit is becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. The antidote that Suixin Workshop gives me is never enough. I'm afraid I won't last more than a few months before my primordial spirit rots and I die. Considering that we used to work together, please do me a favor and don't let me become a paper doll."
Wei Feng glanced at him but did not respond.
Jiang Gu remained hidden in the shadows, giving Wei Feng no instructions, but Wei Feng remained perfectly composed, his brows slightly furrowed.
Soon, a slightly brighter-colored paper figure appeared behind the long table. Its black bean-like eyes swept over the three of them. It folded up the paper figure that had led the way and stuffed it into its mouth, chewing as it said, "One drop of Jade Marrow each of the spirit beasts No. 942, No. 943, and No. 946 of the Heaven and Earth Pavilion."
Before he finished speaking, an irrepressible desire appeared in the eyes of Zhao Feng and Lin Jiao, who rushed closer to the table. Wei Feng also couldn't help but want to get closer, his blood was surging wildly, but he forced himself to hold back and not lose his composure.
The paper doll opened its palm, revealing three drops of milky white liquid. The sharp-eared creature snatched one drop, eagerly opening its mouth to shove it in, tearing its sewn lips to shreds and leaving a bloody mess without a care. The creature with the unicorn horn excitedly revealed its true form—a mutilated beast with half its skin peeled off and hooves cut off. It licked away its own jade marrow with fervor, then, unwilling to give up, licked the paper doll's palm again, but to no avail.
The unicorn-horned beast let out a painful howl, and its turbid, pitch-black primordial spirit slowly emerged from its body. A single drop of jade-grade marrow was clearly insufficient to suppress the poison within its primordial spirit. Its bloodshot eyes glared at Wei Feng, "Jiu Si San! Please, give me your drop of jade-grade marrow! You'll get even more marrow fluid after you complete the mission—give it to me!!"
He roared and charged straight at the drop of jade marrow in front of Wei Feng. Wei Feng grabbed the drop of milky white liquid and quickly retreated. Lin Jiao stumbled and crashed into the wall. Undeterred, he charged at him again, "I don't want to die! Please give it to me!"
The sharp-eared creature next to him had already left after getting the antidote. The paper-skin man obviously didn't care about the fight between the spirit beasts. He put away the table and waited quietly to the side. Jiang Gu did not show himself rashly in the concealment formation, even though Wei Feng had been injured by the unicorn horn.
“Kill him,” Jiang Gu said.
Wei Feng was stunned for a moment. He thought he would hesitate, but he didn't. Before he could even react, he transformed into his original form, roared as the unicorn charged at him, and his sharp fangs pierced through the opponent's neck, his claws pierced through the opponent's heart, and then he cleanly ripped out the opponent's core. Finally, he snapped the opponent's neck, ending the battle at an extremely fast speed.
A profound silence fell over the surroundings.
Wei Feng uncontrollably transformed back into human form. He clutched the Jade Marrow in one hand and the blood-soaked Yuan Dan in the other. Blood splattered all over his face, and crimson liquid slid down his chin, dripping onto the ugly, enormous head at his feet. The unicorn-horned creature that had been talking to him just moments before stared at him with its eyes wide open in death.
He didn't even feel any emotional fluctuation in himself.
The paper figure next to him walked over, gathered up the corpse of the unicorn, and with a flash of his hand, the corpse turned into a thin piece of paper, which he folded up and placed on the table next to him.
A thick fog enveloped the area, and the long table and the cardboard figures vanished together.
Wei Feng and Jiang Gu returned to the two dilapidated wooden doors.
Wei Feng caught his breath, turned to look at Jiang Gu, his bloodied lips moved, and his eyes were filled with confusion and fear, "Master..."
Jiang Gu took the jade marrow he was clutching tightly, cast a water-drawing spell to wash the blood off his face, and said coldly, "It's nothing."
Wei Feng's slightly drooping eyes were bloodshot. He gripped Jiang Gu's sleeve tightly, the nauseating taste of blood still lingering on his lips. "What exactly am I?"
The talisman in his palm began to flicker silently again, but he had no interest in looking at it anymore.
Wei Feng finally realized, belatedly, why Jiang Gu might have known what he was doing all along, yet was certain he wouldn't leave easily.
What exactly happened during the seven years he lost his memories?
"You are my disciple." Jiang Gu lowered his eyes to look at the drop of jade marrow in his hand, his voice growing colder. "You are nothing else."
He knew how to cure Wei Feng's poison. But he had also fallen into Chu Guanshan's trap, even though they had never met before.
As for how much of Wei Feng's instruction to seal his memories was at Wei Feng's behest, he had no idea.
Jiang Gu clenched the drop of jade marrow, looked up at the distant boundary barrier, which hung down like a huge black curtain, carrying the stench of blood and the filth of the air, sweeping towards him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
