Chapter 35

Chapter 35

The next day, with birdsong and a morning breeze, Qi Wuyu and the others traveled by sword toward Tianmen's Five Cities. By evening, they arrived at the first of the five cities. Shen You had contacted Yang Qing in advance, and Yang Qing had already had disciples waiting at the city gate. As soon as they landed, they were led into the city.

The first city was majestic and impressive, with towering watchtowers featuring upturned eaves and intricate brackets that reached into the clouds. Visible runes shimmered around the exterior, a clear sign of its importance.

The four were escorted to the main hall, where Yang Qing was already waiting with tea prepared. Seated in the center, she appeared to be about the same age as Shen You but lacked Shen You's gentle demeanor, exuding a sharp, formidable aura instead.

"You've arrived. Please, sit."

"We pay our respects to the Great City Lord." They paid their respects and took their seats.

"I heard you went after the Fu Xiao? That creature is extremely dangerous. Were any of you injured?"

"Nothing serious," Shen You replied.

"That's good." Yang Qing nodded, then turned her gaze to Qi Wuyu and the others. "Xiao You has told me everything. You've traveled all day; rest first. I've arranged for a meal."

As they ate, they discussed the situation. The crisis in the Five Cities of Tianmen is far more severe than at the Tianyao Sect. Over a dozen disciples have been poisoned. Those with lower cultivation levels exhibit much milder symptoms than those with higher cultivation. Yang Qing has been tirelessly researching an antidote day and night, her fatigue evident. Some of the afflicted have injured people outside, and their families have come to Yang Qing, bombarding her with complaints.

"Right now, the common people everywhere are panicked. I fear the Xuanmen is on the verge of losing the people's trust," Yang Qing sighed.

"This matter must be resolved quickly," Shen You said. "How is your research progressing?"

Yang Qing shook her head. "I haven't found a permanent cure yet. I can only suppress it temporarily."

"I have a formula here that we could try," Shen You offered.

"Good."

After the meal, Shen You and Yao Shuning followed Yang Qing to the alchemy chamber to concoct the medicine. Qi Wuyu and Liu Nanzhou were led to their rooms.

Bored, Qi Wuyu went to find Liu Nanzhou. "First time here, right? Want to go for a walk?"

Liu Nanzhou followed him out. By now, night had fallen. The city remained brightly lit, but few people were out and about. Qi Wuyu suddenly stopped and held out his hand. "Let me see your hand."

Puzzled, Liu Nanzhou extended his left hand. "What's wrong?"

Qi Wuyu grasped his hand. Liu Nanzhou's body stiffened as Qi Wuyu pushed up his sleeve to examine his forearm—smooth, lean, with prominent wrist bones. Qi Wuyu unconsciously rubbed his thumb over the skin. Liu Nanzhou nearly broke out in goosebumps. As Liu Nanzhou shifted his wrist, Qi Wuyu realized the awkwardness and gave an awkward laugh, withdrawing his hand and wiping it on his robe. "Was it this arm that was injured at Jinque Valley?"

Liu Nanzhou nodded. "Yes."

"Not bad. No scar at all."

"Senior Sister's medicine worked very well." He looked at Qi Wuyu, unsure why he had suddenly brought this up. "Is there a problem?"

Qi Wuyu shook his head. "No, I just suddenly remembered and wanted to check if there was a scar. It wouldn't look good if there was one."

Liu Nanzhou wasn't particularly concerned. Besides, who cares about a scar on an arm? It wasn't like his face was scarred.

The two strolled for a while. Ahead, a figure looked familiar. That person also spotted them and ran over, waving. "Senior Qi, Nanzhou, what brings you here?"

It was Zhou Xun.

Qi Wuyu looked him up and down. "Shouldn't you be in the third city?"

Zhou Xun sighed. "You must have heard about the cultivators who were poisoned and went into a frenzy, attacking people."

"That's precisely why we're here."

Zhou Xun led them to a place to sit. "We have quite a few poisoned people here. To make it easier to monitor them, the Great City Lord has housed them all in the first city. Li An is here too."

Liu Nanzhou asked, "He was poisoned too?"

Zhou Xun nodded silently. "We were together those days. I don't know how he got poisoned. That day, as we were leaving Yingchi Island on our way back, he suddenly reached for a man. Fortunately, I stopped him in time, preventing a disaster. When the episode hits, he doesn't recognize anyone, not even me. He even attacked me. I had no choice. I couldn't leave him outside unsupervised, so I had to knock him out and bring him back."

Qi Wuyu stroked his chin. "Sounds much more severe than my case."

Zhou Xun was surprised. "Senior Qi was poisoned too?" He looked at Qi Wuyu suspiciously. "But why do you seem... much better?"

Qi Wuyu smiled slightly. "Because my spiritual power is low. This poison is strange; the lower one's cultivation, the lesser the effect."

Qi Wuyu added, "Just wait a bit longer. We should have news tomorrow."

"That's great!" Zhou Xun glanced at the sky and stood up. "Senior, it's getting late. I should head back."

Qi Wuyu nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll go with you to see Li An."

"Alright." Zhou Xun bid them farewell, and the two of them started walking back.

Qi Wuyu walked with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself, "Li An... Zhou Xun... We all drank together that time. What a coincidence?"

Liu Nanzhou said, "It is quite a coincidence."

They exchanged a look. This poison was most likely the Pepper Flower Wine.

"If it really is the Pepper Flower Wine, why is Mo Chen unaffected?" Liu Nanzhou asked, puzzled.

Qi Wuyu: "Hmm... Maybe he has a special constitution?" He thought for a moment, then smiled slightly. "I guess we'll find out the answer the next time we see him."

They each returned to their rooms.

Yang Qing, Shen You, and Yao Shuning emerged from the alchemy chamber two days later. Qi Wuyu took the medicine from Shen You and put it in his mouth. Liu Nanzhou stood motionless beside him, keeping watch.

As soon as the medicine was ingested, it felt like a clear spring washing through his spiritual meridians, merging the two conflicting energies within his body. First, they roared and churned violently inside him. The breath he exhaled was scalding hot, yet his limbs turned icy cold. A thin layer of frost even formed on his eyelashes. His entire body trembled uncontrollably; he couldn't tell if he was hot or cold. After a moment, it finally stabilized, and a wisp of black energy dissipated from between his eyebrows.

Shen You checked his pulse, her face lighting up with joy. "It's working!"

Qi Wuyu slowly opened his eyes. The frost had melted into droplets clinging to his lashes, making him look as if he had just cried. Liu Nanzhou's throat moved as he asked, "How do you feel?"

Qi Wuyu let out a long sigh and leaned back. "Feels much lighter."

Yang Qing immediately ordered people to deliver the medicine to those who were confined. Shen You and Yao Shuning used a teleportation array to send the medicine back to the Tianyao Sect. Then, all three of them seemed to lose their strength, each returning to their rooms to sleep like the dead.

Feng Cong and Jiang Ce arrived to take charge of the situation. Feng Cong still remembered Qi Wuyu and exchanged a few pleasantries with him. Jiang Ce, however, didn't seem like much of a talker. He wore a stern expression, looking as if everyone owed him money wherever he went. Zhou Xun stayed by his side.

Liu Nanzhou observed Jiang Ce. When he was young, Qi Wuyu had told him stories about Jiang Ce and his wife—tales of romance, a talented scholar and a beautiful lady, a love cut short by fate. But try as he might, Liu Nanzhou couldn't see where Jiang Ce's "talent" lay. Instead, he seemed rather difficult and harsh.

Perhaps sensing Liu Nanzhou's gaze, Jiang Ce glanced at him, not particularly friendly.

Zhou Xun leaned close to Liu Nanzhou and whispered, "Don't mind my master's stern appearance. He wasn't always like this. After my shiniang passed away, he gradually became less sociable and more temperamental. But he's still very good to us disciples."

Liu Nanzhou nodded. "Oh."

The poisoned disciples took the medicine. Their conditions varied, and their reactions to the medicine differed as well. Some felt as if their meridians were burning after taking it, unable to sit still. Li An, however, remained quiet the whole time, sitting with his head bowed. When he finally looked up, his eyes were clear again.

Zhou Xun walked over to him, bent down, and waved his hand in front of his face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Li An's head followed his hand, swaying twice. "Five."

Zhou Xun nodded. "Good, you're not a complete idiot yet."

In about the time it takes to burn one incense stick, the poisoned disciples gradually came to, and other disciples took them to rest.

Feng Cong said, "The demons are behind this again."

Qi Wuyu said meaningfully, "There's more to it than that."

Pepper Flower Wine... Boss Cheng is from the Yanlu Clan.

"From the way you said that, Brother Qi, you already know the source?"

Qi Wuyu smiled slightly. "Just a hunch."

"At least it's a lead," Feng Cong said. "Better than knowing nothing at all."

Qi Wuyu asked, "How is the Demon-Subduing Formation?"

"No disturbances."

Qi Wuyu raised an eyebrow. *Not now... but it probably won't be long.*

A hundred years... if he were also suppressed for a hundred years, he'd have long since been raising hell to turn the world upside down.

Some people were exhausted, so Liu Nanzhou helped them back. As he left, he saw a wisp of black mist escape from that disciple's forehead as well. It took nearly an hour to settle everyone.

Qi Wuyu contacted the Tianyao Sect. The three disciples had already taken the antidote and were asleep. Qi Wuyu was relieved.

He stretched, feeling like he'd been running around nonstop. He was planning on getting some solid sleep soon. As he walked toward the courtyard and didn't see Liu Nanzhou return, he decided to go look for him. But when he turned around, he saw Liu Nanzhou coming back.

His steps were unsteady, as if he were drunk. Qi Wuyu hurried over to steady him. "What's wrong?"

Liu Nanzhou looked at him, his vision blurry, seeing double. He couldn't make out who was in front of him. He pressed down on Qi Wuyu's shoulders, his grip gradually tightening, squeezing hard enough to make Qi Wuyu's shoulders ache.

Meeting his pair of red eyes, Qi Wuyu's heart skipped a beat—so it *was* a demon.

Qi Wuyu pursed his lips. Before he could do anything, Liu Nanzhou shook his head, and his eyes returned to their bright amber color, as if the previous pair of red pupils had been an illusion.

Liu Nanzhou blinked, slightly stunned. "Shizun?"

As soon as he spoke, his whole body collapsed. Qi Wuyu hurriedly caught him, picked him up, and carried him back to the room.

Qi Wuyu settled him on the bed, frowning deeply as he looked at him, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

What had he just encountered?

Qi Wuyu reached out his hand, then withdrew it. He paced back and forth in the room before finally sitting by the bedside as if having made up his mind. He pressed his forehead against Liu Nanzhou's.

In a flash of spiritual light, Qi Wuyu's Divine Sense entered Liu Nanzhou's Spiritual Platform.

Inside Liu Nanzhou's Spiritual Platform, it was like boiling magma. Qi Wuyu immediately saw a fist-sized mass of black mist clinging to one corner of his Spiritual Core.

Qi Wuyu wanted to take a closer look but heard a sound behind him. He turned and came face-to-face with his own reflection.

Even though Qi Wuyu had lived a long time, aside from looking in a mirror, he had never seen himself like this. Moreover, although that person had the same face as him, his aura was completely different. Qi Wuyu never knew he could look so sinister and gloomy—and not very bright.

Qi Wuyu then remembered where he was.

Qi Wuyu: "..."

This is spooky.

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Author's Note: Never again rushing deadlines at the last minute. Next book, I'll definitely stockpile more drafts [shrugs]. Comments have been decreasing lately—is no one reading anymore? [bursts into tears]