The Bi-An King, Qin Zibai, Xi Yan, and a group of experts escorted Gu Hai’s flying ship to Dragon Vein City.
Gu Hai activated a sound isolation ritual array on the flying ship, preventing the people outside from hearing their conversation.
“Mister Gu, were you speaking the truth earlier? The dragon vein is fake?” Sima Feng asked anxiously.
Gu Hai took a deep breath and replied, “I don’t know.”
“Ah? You don’t know?” Sima Feng said in shock.
“I only did that to stabilize the situation and buy myself some time for a breather,” Gu Hai said with a smile.
“But…but aren’t you in even more danger now? Once you enter Dragon Vein City and they discover that you were lying, won’t they…,” Sima Feng said worriedly.
Gu Hai gently shook his head and said, “As long as we are fine, there will always be a chance to escape. Isn’t that right?”
“Uh?” Sima Feng appeared tense.
“Furthermore, my guess might not be wrong,” Gu Hai said with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Huh?”
“Qin Zibai, Xi Yan, and the others came to Dragon Vein City for a reason. The Grave Valley of Death lies under Dragon Vein City. There must be something there. However, I do not know if it is a good thing or a disaster.” Gu Hai shook his head.
“You don’t know? How are you going to find it, then?” Sima Feng asked with a bitter smile.
“Just because I can’t find it doesn’t mean that Wanyu can’t,” Gu Hai retorted with a smile.
“Me? How am I going to find it? Brother-in-Law, I already used my monthly prediction earlier. I can’t see the future again for another month,” Long Wanyu said worriedly.
“It’s fine. Aren’t you able to distinguish between ominous and auspicious? We will walk around Dragon Vein City later, going to every corner. I’ll be responsible for searching for opportunities to flee. You will be responsible for finding all the greatly ominous or greatly auspicious lands. Even if we have to dig a meter into the ground, we have to find it,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Alright!” Long Wanyu nodded, still confused.
Soon, the group arrived in Dragon Vein City.
Dragon Vein City was nearly the size of a mundane city, just covering dozens of mountains.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly. “Ha! Is there a need to build a city of such size in this place? Now, I’m even more sure of my guess.”
“Gu Hai, we have arrived. Now, speak! Where is it?” Qin Zibai suddenly shouted.
Everyone looked over.
Gu Hai waved his hand and scattered the sound isolation ritual array of the flying ship.
“Ha! Qin Zibai, what’s the rush? I have not even started searching yet, and you already have a guilty conscience?” Gu Hai sneered.
“Humph! Let’s see how you are going to find something!” Qin Zibai sneered.
The flying ship slowly entered Dragon Vein City.
“Activate the ritual arrays! Don’t let Gu Hai escape!” Qin Zibai shouted.
Rumble…!
The city gate tower suddenly activated a barrier, covering the sky above Dragon Vein City.
Gu Hai looked at the barrier and frowned. Then, he looked at the closed-off Dragon Vein City.
Dragon Vein City was divided into many regions. Each region had many buildings with people staying in them. Gu Hai’s group landed on a mountain summit.
“There are so many people?!” Long Wanyu exclaimed.
“That is par for the course. Whenever a dragon vein appears, many sects, clans, and independent cultivators will gather. All the factions in the area will bring their disciples or private armies, all for the dragon vein,” Gu Hai said with a cold smile.
“Alright, Gu Hai. Start your search. I’ll accompany you,” the Bi-An King said coldly.
It was not just the Bi-An King. The surrounding clan heads, sect masters, and various independent cultivators all looked at Gu Hai with sullen expressions. Furthermore, as time went by, more experts caught wind of the news. They all stared at Gu Hai, either from nearby or afar.
These gazes directed at Gu Hai were not friendly.
Gu Hai looked at everyone and smiled. “Everyone, when searching for treasure, it is impossible to succeed in one go. From here on, it will take some time. If you cannot be patient, then don’t bother following.”
“Humph!”
The many cultivators snorted coldly.
“In that case, I will start my search, region by region.” Gu Hai smiled.
“Please, go ahead,” the Bi-An King said coldly.
“Wanyu, come with me,” Gu Hai called out.
After calling Long Wanyu over, the group started searching that region.
“Dig up that mountain.” Gu Hai pointed to a mountain.
“Why are you looking at me?” One of the sect masters frowned.
“Everyone wants a piece of the treasury. That’s why you are following me. Is it that difficult to contribute?” Gu Hai looked at that sect master.
That sect master frowned and said, “Humph! If you can’t find it, I will teach you a lesson!”
That sect master quickly directed his sect’s disciples to dig up the mountain.
Midway through the digging, Long Wanyu shook her head.
Gu Hai nodded and walked on.
“Dig up that mountain!” Gu Hai commanded a clan head.
“Huh?”
That clan head’s face sank. Then, he said in a cold tone, “I’ll cooperate. However, Gu Hai, if you cannot find the treasury, I will teach you a lesson!”
Gu Hai ignored that clan head, just standing at the side with Long Wanyu and not caring.
That clan head had his private army dig the mountain up.
Gu Hai kept directing the various clan heads and sect masters to do things as though infuriating them on purpose.
Occasionally, Gu Hai glanced at the nearby Xi Yan.
Xi Yan sneered at Gu Hai. Earlier, he had been worried about Gu Hai pandering to these cultivators to convince them to turn against him. Now, Gu Hai was just seeking trouble by himself. If they did not find the treasury, they would kill Gu Hai in their anger. Xi Yan would not even have to lift a finger.
Now that Dragon Vein City’s ritual arrays were activated, there was no place to flee to.
“Oh? Xi Yan? Where is Qin Zibai?” Gu Hai asked with misgivings.
“There is no need to report Lord Qin’s movements to you, right?” Xi Yan sneered.
Gu Hai looked at the Bi-An King. The Bi-An King frowned slightly and started searching the surroundings as well.
Indeed, Qin Zibai had vanished.
“Gu Hai, pick up the pace. How long are you going to take at this pace?” Xi Yan said coldly.
“Ha!” Gu Hai smiled coldly, ignoring him.
——
Qin Zibai and a white-clad child stood at the entrance of a palace hall in Dragon Vein City.
“Hehehehehehe! Gu Hai? Oh, that lass? To think that they barged in on their own? Hehehehehe!” The white-clad child showed a ferocious expression as he looked into the distance.
The white-clad child was none other than the lifespan cultivator who helped Duke Lu Yang back then, Mister Dongfang. Back then, Gu Hai had killed him, but his main body revived him. Now, Mister Dongfang appeared in Dragon Vein City.
“Mister Dongfang, will Gu Hai’s arrival spoil our plan?” Qin Zibai asked sullenly.
“He can’t. The entire Dragon Vein City is a lifespan ritual array. After Gu Hai enters, he cannot escape. Hehehe! Good timing! Good timing! Enemies frequently cross paths, indeed!” Mister Dongfang said with a ferocious expression.
“Is the number of people still insufficient?” Qin Zibai frowned.
“We are still a little short. Don’t worry. There will be more people entering my Blood Dragon Lifespan Ritual Array!” Mister Dongfang said with a cold smile.
“What is below? Gu Hai said there is a treasury. Is that true?” Qin Zibai asked out of curiosity.
“Treasury? Haha! Perhaps. You just need to cooperate with me,” Mister Dongfang said indifferently.
“But Gu Hai…”
“Hah! Don’t worry. No one can discover my Blood Dragon Lifespan Ritual Array. Imperial Emperor Xi Yu promised that you would cooperate with me. All you have to do is cooperate. Don’t ask so many questions,” Mister Dongfang said coldly.
Qin Zibai frowned slightly, clearly somewhat upset.
“There’s no need to look at me like that. Hah! This time, it is not just me; my main body also promised Imperial Emperor Xi Yu to help him deal with the Qian Nation’s lifespan cultivator. You should be content!” Mister Dongfang said coldly.
——
In an underground palace under Dragon Vein City:
Two people stayed in this underground palace: the fat-as-a-mountain Purple Subtlety and the skinny-as-bones Longevity.
On this day, Purple Subtlety held many soft brushes with his two hands in a large hall within the underground palace. When the brushes swiped the air, it seemed like they dipped into ink.
As Purple Subtlety moved in the underground palace, ink splattered out.
When the black ink landed, it immediately formed myriads of talisman scripts.
Buzz!
The ground of the underground palace suddenly turned red, looking like red-hot iron. It seemed like boundless flames would spew out.
However, the tens of thousands of talisman scripts released dazzling black light, instantly suppressing the fire.
“Behave! Phew, that was close. I was nearly too late in drawing the talismans this time. It is all that lazy Longevity’s fault. Otherwise, I would have been baked into dried meat.” Purple Subtlety let out a long breath.
Then, he looked at his work with satisfaction before dragging his fat belly towards a side door in the palace hall.
After passing through the small door, he entered another palace hall.
In that palace hall, the skinny Longevity held many brushes in his right hand, focused on painting something on a piece of beast-skin parchment.
“What? Longevity, what are you doing?” Purple Subtlety suddenly yelled with a scowl.
“Ah?” Longevity immediately hid the beast-skin parchment behind himself.
“Noth-nothing. Hehe!” Longevity laughed with a guilty conscience.
“You bastard! Are you painting again? This great me is so fat all because of you. You caused it! Yet you are still painting? Painting?!” Purple Subtlety was enraged.
“I saw that you went to draw talismans earlier, so I felt an itch. Just an itch,” Longevity said apologetically.
“Itch, my ass! Your itch is going to harm me! This great me will fight you to the end!” Purple Subtlety charged over while glaring.
“You…you! Don’t come over! If you come over, I’ll show you the painting!” Longevity cried out.
“Show it to me? Show it to me, then! Go on, show it to me. Do you believe that I will read poems to you?!” Purple Subtlety rushed over.
“Don’t! Don’t! Elder Brother! Big Brother, please don’t read. I am already so skinny. If you read them, I will die! I won’t show you my painting! I won’t!” Longevity shouted in horror.
[TL Note: The usage of elder brother and big brother in Chinese here is equivalent to saying or crying uncle. It’s a verbal form of submission.]
“What nonsense! I don’t believe you. You say this every time, and I fall for it every time!”
Bang!
Purple Subtlety grabbed Longevity’s neck.
“Isn’t it the same for you?! Every time I go to draw talismans, don’t you also recite poems?” Longevity squeezed Purple Subtlety’s neck as well.
“What nonsense? Can’t you just ignore me and not listen?”
“Not listen, my ass! Your voice penetrates everything, even if I block up my ears!”
“You bastard! This great me will beat you to death! Itchy? It makes your hands itchy?”
“Aren’t you the same?”
The two tumbled around in the underground palace, fighting each other.
Rumble…!
Suddenly, some sounds came from outside.
“What is that sound?” Purple Subtlety felt slightly startled.
The two stopped fighting and listened carefully.
“Brother-in-Law, you can’t dig any further! We can’t dig anymore! Quickly leave this place! Hurry!” Long Wanyu’s anxious voice rang out.
“Someone found us?” Longevity goggled.
“We are saved? Someone! Please dig! Hurry!” Purple Subtlety immediately said excitedly.
