The puppets were uncontrolled?
Had something really happened to Wen Tang?
Or did she have some other trick up her sleeve?
Ye Linchong stood up, dusted off his robes, the suspicion in his eyes still lingering. “Lead the way. I will go see for myself.”
The outside of the main hall was already packed tight by the Taiqing Pavilion cultivators. Layer upon layer of spiritual energy barriers overlapped, sealing the entire palace building airtight.
A barrier shimmering with mottled gray light covered the outside of the hall. Its spiritual energy fluctuations were as weak as a candle in the wind, looking as though it would collapse on its own at any moment.
Ye Linchong landed and stood firm. With a light wave of his sleeve, a blast of spiritual energy shot through the air.
With a soft crack, the already crumbling barrier shattered into a shower of light, dispersing into the dark mist.
He barked coldly, “There might be a trap. Stay alert, everyone, and act with caution.”
“Yes, sir!”
The cultivators answered in unison. Placing their hands on their sword hilts, they circulated their spiritual energy to the absolute limit. Standing ready for anything, they stepped forward and pushed open the heavy doors of the main hall's outer chamber.
The doors let out a dull, heavy creak as they slowly swung inward, kicking up the dust that had settled throughout the hall.
The expected ambush did not happen at all. The hall was vast, silent, and dimly lit. Only on the main seat of the high platform in the center sat a quiet figure.
Everyone's grip on their swords tightened instantly, channeling all their spiritual energy into their palms, ready to strike the moment the figure made a move.
But when their eyes fell upon the face of the person on the high seat, all the cultivators in the hall froze, crying out in shock, “Young Master?!”
The startled cry echoed through the empty palace hall.
On the main seat, Ye Chang'an's eyelashes fluttered. He seemed to have just been startled awake from a deep swoon, his eyes sweeping across the hall in confusion.
Once he recognized them, he suddenly snapped to his senses and began to struggle violently. “You bunch of idiots! You finally decided to show up! What are you standing there for?! Get over here and save me already!!”
Only then did everyone see that several blood-red threads were wrapped around his wrists and ankles.
The red threads were embedded deep into his flesh, glowing with an extremely faint, icy spiritual light. They bound him tightly to the chair, tightening with his slightest movement. One thread was even wrapped halfway around his neck, looking exceptionally perilous.
Ye Linchong quickly landed before the main seat. Condensing pale gold spiritual energy in his hand, he swept his sleeve. The blood-red threads bound around Ye Chang'an's limbs snapped inch by inch, dissolving into a fine red mist in the air a moment later.
He asked in a deep voice, “Young Master, where is Wen Tang?”
Ye Chang'an shook off the remaining threads and stood up. His face was pale, but it could not hide the venomous resentment in his eyes.
He glared fiercely at Ye Linchong, his tone hostile and agitated, bursting with rage. “You're asking me? I want to know where that bitch went too! She humiliated me for so long! I'm going to skin her alive and tear out her bones myself! I'll make her—”
His voice cut off abruptly as a surge of metallic sweetness rushed up his throat.
“Pfft!”
He spat out a mouthful of black blood. His vision suddenly went dark, and his body went limp, tumbling down the steps.
Ye Linchong's expression changed drastically. He lunged forward to catch him, quickly pressing his palm against Ye Chang'an's back to channel spiritual energy and investigate.
In an instant, his face darkened. “Dark poison?!”
Wen Tang had actually used the dark poison on Ye Chang'an as well!
After having her love threads extracted, she truly had become completely cold and ruthless, recognizing no family or ties!
Supporting the unconscious Ye Chang'an, Ye Linchong turned and barked orders to the other two elders, “I will take the Young Master back myself. You two stay behind. Lead the men to thoroughly search every single cave and secret passage in Black Cloud Mountain. Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but find Wen Tang! Send word back to the pavilion the moment you have any news!”
Without wasting another moment, he picked up the young man and leapt into the air. His spiritual energy surged around him, turning into a streak of light as he rushed back toward the Taiqing Pavilion at full speed.
The longer one was afflicted by the dark poison, the more muddled their mind would become, and the harder it would be to recover.
The Young Master had been trapped on Black Cloud Mountain for so long; there was no telling how deeply the poison had penetrated.
He could not afford to delay; it had to be dealt with immediately.
By the time they made it back to the side room of the Taiqing Pavilion's main hall, the first light of dawn was just beginning to break on the horizon.
Ye Chang'an lay collapsed on the soft couch, his face as white as paper and his lips tinged with a dark blue. Wisps of dark, malevolent energy crept up the veins of his neck, and his breathing was so faint it was barely perceptible.
Upon receiving the news, Ye Chongguang broke out of his seclusion and rushed over, pushing open the door with a gust of wind from his lingering spiritual energy.
He took a few steps to the bedside, his eyes sweeping over Ye Chang'an's condition. The irritation and anxiety in his eyes flared instantly, and he raised his hand to press down on Ye Chang'an's chest.
“Pavilion Master, you mustn't!”
Seeing through his intention, Ye Linchong quickly stepped forward to block him. Ye Chongguang paused, casting a cold, sideways glare as his voice turned bone-chillingly cold, “Move aside.”
Bowing low, Ye Linchong pleaded urgently, “Pavilion Master, though you have practiced a portion of the Wen family's secret arts, if you do not have a pure light spiritual root to purify and neutralize it, forcing the poison into your own body will inevitably damage your soul's origin, even if you manage to dissolve it. The losses would far outweigh the gains!”
“Moreover, this is a critical juncture! What will we do if Feng Qing decides to strike at us?”
“Stop telling me what to do.”
Ye Chongguang knitted his brows, impatiently waving his sleeve to unleash a gust of wind that forced Ye Linchong back half a step. “Get out and guard the door. No one is to approach without my command.”
Ye Linchong stumbled back, but quickly stepped forward again, gritting his teeth. “Pavilion Master! The century-old foundation of the Taiqing Pavilion rests upon your shoulders; nothing must go wrong with you! Why not pass the poison-transfer technique to me? Let the dark poison be transferred to my body instead!”
Ye Chongguang's movements paused. He looked down at the bloodless Ye Chang'an on the couch, then back at Ye Linchong. His eyes swirled with dark thoughts, and he hesitated for a rare moment.
“Pavilion Master!”
Ye Linchong's tone grew even more urgent. “With Feng Qing watching us like a hawk and Wen Tang still at large, the Taiqing Pavilion cannot afford to lose your leadership for even a single second. My cultivation is decent; this bit of dark poison won't kill me anytime soon. You don't need to worry about me!”
The room fell silent for a brief moment before Ye Chongguang finally withdrew his hand, his voice softening slightly. “Very well. Rest assured, once I find Chen Qingqiu and thoroughly refine the inheritance, I will cure your poison as quickly as possible.”
He condensed a wisp of spiritual light and, swift as lightning, sent the mental cultivation method directly into Ye Linchong's sea of consciousness.
Then, taking half a step back, he said in a deep voice, “Begin.”
Ye Linchong nodded, composed himself, and walked to the bedside, pressing his palm firmly against Ye Chang'an's chest.
As he circulated the mental cultivation method, strands of dark, malevolent poison were drawn out through his palm, boring into his meridians like icy, venomous insects.
Wherever the poison traveled, his meridians felt as if they were being gnawed and burned, with excruciating pain spreading through every limb and bone.
The veins on his temples bulged, and cold sweat instantly drenched his back. He gritted his teeth so hard they clicked, but he did not let out a single groan.
Before long, the dark blue on Ye Chang'an's cheeks began to fade.
Once the dark poison was completely transferred into his body, Ye Linchong could no longer hold himself up. The moment he pulled his hand back, his body went limp, and he fell heavily to his knees before the couch, his chest heaving violently as a sweet, metallic taste surged in his throat.
Yet, in that exact split second of relaxation, Ye Chongguang's sharp roar suddenly exploded in his ears, “Watch out!”
Startled, Ye Linchong whipped his head up.
On the couch, the supposedly unconscious Ye Chang'an had opened his eyes at some point. With his fingers curved like claws, carrying a thick mass of dark, malevolent energy, he was ruthlessly striking down toward Ye Linchong's crown. A smile curled on his lips. “You fools actually thought you could find Master? Keep dreaming.”
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