This was not the first time Baili Weisheng had let the little flying bug wander off on its own. It had happened several times before, but each time, the bug would fly back to him after a while.
This time was different, though — which made Baili Weisheng suspect that the little bug might have found where the seal was hidden.
The search radius had been shrinking steadily, and by now it had narrowed down to nothing but the area around Xuanlong Palace. If the bug had found something, it had to be the seal’s location!
The thought filled Baili Weisheng with a surge of fighting spirit, and he shot forward at once.
He quickly found the little bug — and was startled to see it had landed right on the roof of Xuanlong Palace!
“No way!”
Baili Weisheng hovered in midair, stunned.
He had always assumed the seal would be in some palace hall or courtyard, but no matter how he tried, he could never have imagined it would be inside Xuanlong Palace itself.
Seeing Imperial Physician Gu and the others returning nearby, Baili Weisheng quickly ducked out of sight. But the little bug, watching him from a distance, didn’t move at all. There was no doubt — this was the place!
“Tsk tsk tsk… tsk tsk tsk…”
Baili Weisheng couldn’t help grimacing, suddenly caught off guard by a strange feeling.
Of all places to hide the seal to the Poisonous Beast World, why did it have to be inside Xuanlong Palace? How was he supposed to open it here?
Once everyone had gone inside and the area outside had gone quiet, Baili Weisheng finally poked his head out from around the corner, and silently leapt up onto the roof.
But the moment he landed on the roof, the little bug couldn’t wait any longer — it darted through the gap in the tiles that he had shifted before, and flew inside!
This gave Baili Weisheng a fright. He quickly lay flat, his eyes following the bug. This little thing — one moment listless and sickly, the next full of energy, more anxious than he was!
Fortunately, Xuanlong Palace, the sleeping quarters of successive rulers of Da Zhou, was four or five times the size of an ordinary hall, so a tiny flying bug drew no attention at all. Otherwise, Baili Weisheng would probably have lunged forward to grab it back.
At that moment, he was completely focused, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the bug, his handsome, refined face set in a serious expression that gave off an oddly stern air.
Whoever said that a carefree, easygoing man looked his best when he got serious — surely they meant someone exactly like Baili Weisheng right now.
Unfortunately, after watching for so long, that seriously handsome face gradually darkened, turning into something like a devil’s mask.
Once inside Xuanlong Palace, the little bug did exactly what it had done outside these past few days — circling around the entire empty hall, flying round and round without stop.
At first Baili Weisheng waited tensely, but gradually he understood what was happening.
This stupid bug hadn’t found the exact spot — it had only narrowed the range down to Xuanlong Palace itself.
Everything inside Xuanlong Palace had long since been cleared out. Now the entire hall held nothing but the great pillars that couldn’t be removed, and a long table beside the medicine pool, covered with all kinds of medicines.
Baili Weisheng didn’t know much about seals, but he understood the basics.
In such an empty space, a seal needed something to anchor to. Aside from the medicine pool, there was nothing but the pillars and the floor of the great hall.
But there were a full twelve pillars, and the floor stretched across a vast expanse!
If there had been no one around, Baili Weisheng would have kicked the little bug aside and gone down to search himself.
He knew how to open the seal. Even though the hall was large, if he could work at its center, he should be able to open it.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t just any place — this was Xuanlong Palace!
Unless Jun Beiyue, that sleeping god, woke up, there would be people here day and night, guards inside and heavy troops outside!
The more Baili Weisheng watched, the more conflicted he grew, while the little bug kept circling relentlessly, filling him with irritation he couldn’t shake!
Gradually his handsome, refined face darkened to its limit. He slowly lifted his head and looked toward where the two Meng Clan elders were staying, a flash of malice crossing his eyes.
If he wanted Jun Beiyue to wake up sooner, it seemed he’d have to get rid of those two frauds from the Meng Clan first!
A murderous intent utterly at odds with his clean, refined air flashed through Baili Weisheng’s eyes. He was about to leave when he suddenly dropped flat!
Thank goodness — thank goodness his reflexes were quick, or if he’d pressed his hand down just then, Situ Haonan inside would surely have noticed him.
Pain!
The old wounds on his shoulder and chest flared up again.
He clenched his teeth, cursing the Gu Nanny bitterly in his heart. But after so many flare-ups, he knew exactly what state his injuries were in.
He knew he had to leave immediately, or soon he wouldn’t be able to move at all.
He needed to find somewhere safe to hide. This was the palace, not the outside world — the smallest slip and he’d be discovered.
Baili Weisheng glanced at the little bug, then quickly turned and left. Before long, the bug noticed its master leaving and hurried to catch up.
The silent Xuanlong Palace — everyone inside waited in silence, and the arrival of the two Meng Clan elders had given them all hope.
No one knew whether Jun Beiyue, who had been unconscious for so long, could sense anything of the outside world at all — whether he knew how many things had happened around him, whether he regretted that one glance back amid the tornado.
No one knew — at this very moment, was his heart racing with urgency?
In the medicine pool, he lay utterly still, leaning against its edge, his head tilted slightly back, beads of steam condensing on his fevered body and sliding slowly down his bronze skin.
His three thousand strands of ink-black hair hung loose and damp, droplets still clinging to some of the ends. From a distance, no one would guess he had been unconscious for over a year — he looked more like someone resting after a bath, eyes closed in quiet repose.
If Baili Weisheng’s handsomeness was refined, carrying the clean air of a scholar, blooming like a lotus, then Jun Beiyue’s handsomeness was cold and severe, radiating through and through the chill, dignity, and dominance of an emperor.
His striking, almost maddeningly handsome face was a little pale, but even pale, even with his eyes closed, he gave off an unspoken air of authority, as though the next moment this king would lazily open his mouth and issue a command.
Everything was so quiet, yet his heart kept beating on and on. One didn’t even need to press an ear right against his chest — just being close enough was enough to hear the strong, forceful heartbeat: thump! thump! thump!
It was as though some force were stirring restlessly inside him, different from before — this time the pounding seemed even more powerful, that suppressed force seeming ready to burst through its restraints and erupt at any moment.
Was this the power of the heart?
Who could feel this power of the “heart”?
Who could feel the power of this man’s heart? Perhaps only his wife had that chance.
Unfortunately, Ziqing couldn’t see it — she was still trapped in the Poisonous Beast World at this very moment, quietly waiting for his rescue.
No matter how the outside world roiled with hidden currents and gathering storms, the Poisonous Beast World remained peaceful.
Ever since the little baby was born, that peace had grown three parts livelier!
To Ziqing, the little baby was truly her greatest comfort, her absolute source of strength.
Even though most of the poison-cultivator ruins in the Poisonous Beast World had been destroyed, leaving no clues to follow.
Still, Ziqing hadn’t given up — she and the Four Great Poisonous Beasts searched the entire realm every single day.
When there seemed to be no way out, one had to make a way. Even a dead end had to yield a path forward!