Chapter 324 It was you who insisted I give up looking for my senior brother and come here.
Wanqi followed the route map on the Listening Wind Ruler and successfully entered the Yin-Yang School.
Although Ling Jian desperately wanted to fly directly to rescue the person he admired, the thought of his meager funds still caused him a pang of heartache. He said fiercely to Wan Qi, "You must return this thousand silver coins to me!"
"Why!" Wan Qi exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't we agree to split the two thousand silver coins in half?"
Ling Jian said resentfully, "I don't care! You have to give it back to me! This is a thousand silver coins! If you hadn't insisted on swearing to Nangong Sui, she wouldn't have made you do this, and I wouldn't have come with you."
Wan Qi closed his eyes and said, "I don't care, I can't pay it back, go ahead and rob me!"
Wei Ren followed behind, eavesdropping. He thought to himself that the two were not only poor but also stupid. If it were him, he could have gotten the map without paying.
They don't use their brains to think of solutions.
This is Wei Ren's assessment of the two men.
After the initial heartache subsided, Ling Jian started to have wicked ideas. She discussed with Wan Qi, "Don't you think it's a huge loss?"
Wan Qi saw through his thoughts at a glance and said directly, "Do I have the face to ask Nangong Sui to give me money? If you want to ask, go and ask Sheng Fei. Tell him you spent two thousand silver coins to save him and ask him to give it to you. Sheng Fei is a young master, he will definitely give it to you. Remember to pay me back one thousand later."
Ling Jian was furious upon hearing this: "I genuinely wanted to save him! How could I possibly ask for money? What kind of person would I be in his eyes then!"
Wei Ren couldn't believe it. Ling Jian was helping Nangong Sui, but the person in his heart was Sheng Fei. He was a double man and deserved to die!
Ji Meng covered his throat, not daring to speak, while glancing at Wei Ren's expression out of the corner of his eye. He wondered to himself, what was the relationship between Wei Ren and the two people in front of him, with Wei Ren's expression shifting between disdain and doubt?
"What are their backgrounds?" Wei Ren asked Ji Meng.
“The taller one is Wan Qi, a second-level disciple of the medical school,” Ji Meng said. “The other one is Ling Jian, a first-level disciple of the renowned school.”
Wei Ren: "And then?"
Ji Meng said with a bitter face, "That's all I know."
Wei Ren turned to look at him, and Ji Meng raised his hand as if to swear: "I really told you everything I know. Also, Ling Jian admires Sheng Fei a lot."
"Do you think I can't tell?" Wei Ren sneered, his voice tinged with impatience. "Isn't there anything else?"
Seeing his impatient look, Ji Meng was afraid that Wei Ren would activate the poison again and cause him to die in agony. In a hurry, he remembered the incident at the clinic not long ago and told him about it.
"So during the night, Zuoqiu Shan also went to cause trouble for the princess. He didn't know who he heard it from, but he was convinced that the princess and Wan Qi had conspired to frame Chen Jie at the clinic."
Wei Ren listened in silence.
If others heard this, they certainly wouldn't believe it, and might even find it unimaginable that Yu Sui could have done such a thing. But when Wei Ren heard it, a picture immediately formed in his mind, and he was absolutely certain that this was something Nangong Sui was capable of.
Wei Ren's gaze fell on Wan Qi, and he re-examined the man.
It's possible that what Zuo Qiushan said was true, and the truth is that Nangong Sui and Wan Qi worked together to kill Chen Jie. But what's so special about Wan Qi that she caught Nangong Sui's eye?
Wei Ren followed Wan Qi all the way, and they arrived at the entrance of the special forbidden area, the Underworld Lake, as dawn broke. In the distance, there was a large red maple forest, but it seemed that half of the area below the maple trees was submerged in swamp water, with the surface covered with dark green duckweed, obscuring the underwater world.
Standing on the wooded path at the entrance, one could feel the chilling aura emanating from the water. Wan Qi stood at the entrance and said to Ling Jian, "I have a feeling that once I go in, I won't be able to come out."
Ling Jian glared at him fiercely: "Can't you say something nice? Don't you know I really dislike your jinxed predictions?"
"The information broker also said that the Lake of the Dead is difficult to enter and difficult to exit." Wan Qi walked in. "Before entering the Lake of the Dead, you have to cross the Stone Sea. This area in front of you is it. If we fall into the water, we will be petrified and sink into the mud. If we are not petrified within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, we will die inside."
Ling Jian walked behind him: "Why don't you take the road? Why do you have to be so stupid as to walk through the water?"
Wanqi said, "This forest road will definitely have an end!"
Ling Jian scolded him, "Shut up! I get nervous listening to you!"
Wanqi shut up, and the two quietly groped their way forward. The wooden path suspended over the red maple swamp was crooked and didn't look very sturdy, but since they had already started walking, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and walk to the end.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, Wan Qi, who was at the front, suddenly stopped.
"What are you doing?" Ling Jian asked impatiently.
Wanqi said, "It's the end."
He turned to the side, letting Ling Jian look ahead. At the end of the wooded path, there was still a large maple forest and swamp, still within the stone sea area, with no end in sight, but there was no path to walk ahead.
Ling Jian recalled what Wan Qi had said not long ago, took a deep breath, suppressed the throbbing nerves in her temples, and heard Wan Qi stammering, "How are we supposed to walk when there's no road left? Are we supposed to climb trees and fly?"
"This route map must have it written down, right? It must have shown how to cross the Stone Sea to get to the Lake of the Dead!" Ling Jian said calmly. "If it doesn't show the route from the Stone Sea to the Lake of the Dead, I'm going back to kill him."
Wanqi placed the lantern in his hand on the railing and carefully examined the wind-listening ruler.
Wei Ren hid behind Ji Meng with him. Ji Meng saw the situation ahead and whispered to Wei Ren, "There's no way down here. We can only get across through the red maple trees. It's inconvenient for you to carry me. How about this, I'll wait for you here. You go first."
Wei Ren said coldly, "It's really troublesome to carry you around, so I plan to sink you in the water."
“Never mind then,” Ji Meng said in a low voice, looking around. “Whichever tree you jump to, I’ll jump to. Climbing trees has always been my specialty.”
Wei Ren is now only praying that the two idiots ahead know the correct route. To prevent them from getting lost, he sent two shadow bugs with him, and so far they haven't been discovered.
Although Wei Ren considered these two fools, he would still be cautious when necessary, after all, one was a top-level disciple of a renowned family, and the other was someone favored by Nangong Sui.
Wan Qi studied the map on the Listening Wind Ruler for a while, then held back Ling Jian who was about to explode, and said repeatedly, "Yes, yes, if the path on the ground is gone, we can walk on the trees. Crossing the Stone Sea is very simple, as long as we don't fall into the water."
After hearing this, Ling Jian regained her composure and followed the Ten Thousand Chess Wind Control Technique to jump onto the maple tree.
A short while after Wan Qi left the maple tree, a black shadow appeared in his original spot. Wei Ren followed Wan Qi by three to five shadowy figures, ensuring the target remained within his sight.
Around 7 AM, two more figures appeared in the Red Maple Swamp.
Yu Sui followed Gu Gan slowly, listening to him transmit his voice to someone: "I have obtained the route map to Shihai. Thank you very much this time."
Chen Xian said, "Okay, be careful. We'll talk if you need anything."
Gu Gan needed to get a route map from an information broker to reach the forbidden area of the Yin-Yang School, the Nether Lake. However, he asked Chen Xian for help and got it for free.
Because Yu Sui climbed the Bluebird Tree, he shattered all the Five Elements Light Cores he released. He was unaware of the situation with Sheng Fei and Wan Qi, which is why he followed Gu Gan on this trip.
There was one thing she and Gu Gan thought alike: they didn't want Sheng Fei to die.
Gu Gan stopped and waited for Yu Sui, who was still walking behind: "Chen Xian said that besides us, at least three other people also wanted the map of the Lake of the Dead."
Yu Sui: "Who is it?"
Gu Gan: "She didn't know either; the other party doesn't disclose buyer information."
"You won't even tell me?" Yu Sui said. "Brother Gu, doesn't Chen Xian listen to everything you say?"
Gu Gan said helplessly, "Sui Sui, there's no such thing."
Yu Sui's eyes still conveyed the words "I don't believe you."
Gu Gan changed the subject at the right time, telling her to be careful of the swamp water under her feet: "The Yin and Yang energies are reversed in the Stone Sea. If you fall in, your body will be petrified in the water. If you cannot get rid of the petrification state within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, you will die."
He felt that this place was too dangerous for Yu Sui, and subconsciously replied, "It's too dangerous. Just wait for me at the end of the forest path."
Yu Sui didn't stop walking, directly passing Gu Gan. Gu Gan was stunned for a moment, then heard her say, "You always say that, and then leave me standing there."
"You were the one who insisted that I give up looking for my senior brother and come here, and now you want me to wait?"
"Sui Sui," Gu Gan hurriedly followed, and was about to explain when he heard the girl's tone subtly impatient, "You couldn't even protect me on the way to the Lake of the Dead, so how can you protect me when I'm being chased by so many peasant sorcerers from the Yan Kingdom?"
"Brother Gu, how many more times do I have to listen to these useless promises?"
Gu Gan's expression changed instantly. He looked at the figure walking ahead, but the girl never turned around. The sky was already bright, but the maple trees in the stone sea were too tall and dense, with many branches and leaves, blocking out a large part of the light and making the light in the forest path still dim.
He thought Yu Sui was angry.
Gu Gan had seen Yu Sui's annoyed look before, but he could not recall her ever being so sarcastic, impatient, or disdainful towards him.
It seems that Yan Manfeng's death really affected Sui Sui. Gu Gan attributed all of this to the trouble caused by the Breath of Earth, because he always remembered that Yu Sui was very afraid of being hunted down by the peasant sorcerers. Fear brought anger, and he was just being blamed by Sui Sui.
"Fine, since you don't like hearing it, I won't say it anymore." Gu Gan took a deep breath, caught up with Yu Sui, and walked forward side by side with her. "We'll go to the Lake of the Dead together, but you must promise me that you will stay close to me and not leave my side for even a moment."
“Brother Gu,” Yu Sui frowned, displeased, “Since you’re the one who’s going to protect me, then you should find a way to stay within my reach yourself, instead of asking me to do it.”
Gu Gan was afraid that she would say something heartless and hurt him again, so he could only say yes and go along with her wishes.
They saw the lantern left by Wan Qi at the end of the forest path. Gu Gan estimated the time based on the burning of the wick, and the other side was about two hours ahead of them.
So Gu Gan reminded Yu Sui again: "Be careful. It seems that we are not the only ones going to the Lake of the Dead. If they are all going for the ancient inscriptions and fragments, then they should not be with the Qingyun Society."
Yu Sui just blinked and looked down into the water without replying.
Gu Gan wasn't used to Yu Sui's abilities yet, so he subconsciously wanted to have a backup plan in case she got hurt. So he picked up the Wind Listening Ruler to contact Ji Meng.
Ji Meng had previously sent a telepathic message to Gu Gan, but no one answered. Now that Gu Gan was sending a telepathic message, he couldn't receive it. At this moment, Wei Ren was holding Ji Meng's Wind-Listening Ruler, which was buzzing in his hand. He glanced at the information displayed on the ruler, then looked back at Ji Meng with a half-smile.
"Why don't you answer it?" Ji Meng said softly to Wei Ren, who was standing on the opposite tree trunk, as he crouched on the tree trunk. "Just in case he has some urgent business..."
Before he could finish speaking, something unexpected happened ahead.
The two people who were using the Wind Riding Technique to move to another tree were suddenly attacked. Two red arrows shot out from the void, accompanied by sharp beast roars, and hurtled towards them.
With fierce energy and accurate aim, the arrow struck the unsuspecting Wan Qi from the air and knocked him into the water, creating a huge splash.
Wei Ren and Ji Meng's expressions changed instantly upon witnessing this scene.
Ling Jian reacted faster. The red arrow grazed his neck, drawing blood. Ling Jian gritted his teeth and instantly descended to save Wan Qi, who had been shot down, but he was too late. He had to retreat back to the tree and stare in disbelief at the rippling water.
The girl in white, standing atop the maple tree with her eyes covered by a green cloth, held a bow and arrow and murmured, "Two more."
She drew her bow again, her fingertips snapping the string, and two red arrows shot towards Wei Ren and Ji Meng.
[Author's Note]
My darlings, I didn't have much time today, so I just wrote a little and posted it. No update on the 5th, update on the 6th.
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