“Up onto the roof?”

Old Fifth Meng had no objections — most of the Meng Clan’s skill lay in barrier techniques, and while their barriers were formidable, their martial arts left much to be desired.

Old Fifth Meng had thought he could leap up there himself, but seeing Xuanyuan Lige grab his arm, he gave up the idea.

Xuanyuan Lige gripped Old Fifth Meng tightly and leapt lightly onto the roof — only to suddenly discover someone was already up there!

Old Fifth Meng was so startled he nearly cried out, and it was only thanks to Xuanyuan Lige clamping a hand over his mouth in time that he didn’t.

But even though Xuanyuan Lige had covered Old Fifth Meng’s mouth, the sight of the fellow before him gave even him a fright, and he couldn’t help but let out a low exclamation himself. “You—”

Baili Weisheng had only just noticed them coming up, and when he turned to see it was Xuanyuan Lige, he too sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, thinking to himself: of all times for this guy to show up, it had to be now!

Though at that moment he was sprawled flat on the roof, one hand with fingers stuck into a porcelain vial in a pose that looked anything but composed — in fact rather ridiculous and bizarre — his expression on the surface remained perfectly calm and collected, especially those eyes that always seemed ready to smile, so very friendly.

“Ah, Li’er, it’s been a while!”

He remembered how, back when he’d rescued Xuanyuan Lige and taken him to Sha Qiuzi, he’d sealed every one of the man’s acupoints at once — terrified this fellow might do something rash to himself!

Knowing full well how frivolous Baili Weisheng always was, Xuanyuan Lige had no intention of trading banter with him.

He patted Old Fifth Meng’s back a few times to steady his nerves, then finally released his hand from the man’s mouth.

Who would have expected Old Fifth Meng would then blurt out toward Baili Weisheng, “It’s you!”

Wasn’t this the vicious-looking man he and Meng Duo’er had run into at the city gate?

So he had this friendly side too — so he actually knew how to smile!

Baili Weisheng of course recognized Old Fifth Meng, and an urge to plant a kick on the man’s backside immediately welled up from somewhere deep inside him. Still, he held it down.

Now was not the time!

So instead he let out his usual careless chuckle. “What a coincidence!”

Old Fifth Meng’s smile was strained, the corners of his mouth twitching a few times, thinking to himself: this bastard is actually still alive!

What was he doing here? He and Xuanyuan Lige seemed to know each other quite well, yet clearly weren’t friends. Old Fifth Meng hesitated, then chose to stay silent.

“You two know each other?” Xuanyuan Lige asked.

“Just a passing acquaintance,” Old Fifth Meng said quickly, trying to distance himself.

“That’s right, a passing acquaintance — he watched me nearly die and did nothing. I’m not one to hold grudges, but I do remember faces.”

At that, Old Fifth Meng suddenly felt Baili Weisheng’s smile wasn’t pleasant to look at at all — it was downright chilling.

Hearing this, Xuanyuan Lige didn’t press the matter further; what concerned him more was why Baili Weisheng kept his right hand hidden behind his back the whole time.

What was he hiding?

This fellow may have saved his life once, but on the journey from the coast to Sha Qiuzi’s place, he’d tormented him plenty along the way — there’d been times a single sentence from him could make Xuanyuan Lige choke with anger.

What was he doing here now? His complexion looked terrible, almost as bad as when he’d been sick.

Just who exactly was this man?

If Xuanyuan Lige’s guess back then hadn’t been wrong, this fellow hadn’t simply wanted to save him — he’d had some other purpose entirely!

If Ziqing and Jun Beiyue hadn’t also been there at Sha Qiuzi’s place, who knew what mischief this man might have stirred up!

Ever since then, the fellow seemed to have vanished.

And now here he was again.

“It really has been a while. What are you doing here?”

Compared to Baili Weisheng’s easy familiarity, Xuanyuan Lige’s tone was noticeably cold.

“Nothing much, just passing through. Saw this roof was nice and spacious, good quality — came down to sun myself a bit,” Baili Weisheng said with a chuckle.

“Oh…” Xuanyuan Lige drew out the word as if he understood perfectly, then said flatly, “Lying flat, sunning yourself? Comfortable, is it?”

“Comfortable — more comfortable than lying down properly,” Baili Weisheng said, yawning contentedly, clearly with no intention of getting up.

“Then let me try it too.”

Only then did a hint of a smile cross Xuanyuan Lige’s face as he pulled Old Fifth Meng along, step by step drawing closer.

“Don’t come any closer!” Baili Weisheng suddenly cried out in alarm.

Xuanyuan Lige actually stopped, eyeing him with suspicion. “What exactly are you doing?”

“What did you come up here to do?” Baili Weisheng shot back.

“None of your business,” Xuanyuan Lige said coldly.

At that, Baili Weisheng seemed almost pleased, narrowing his eyes with a grin. “Heh heh, I’ve got no interest in your business either!”

He pointed with his other hand toward a ridge line not far away. “Look, you take that side, I’ll take this one. You go about your business, I’ll go about mine — we’ll stay well out of each other’s way!”

“Not an option,” Xuanyuan Lige said with a cold snort.

“Then what do you want?” Baili Weisheng asked, still good-natured, still chuckling.

“What are you hiding in your hand?” Xuanyuan Lige’s eyes were sharp — what could possibly escape his notice?

“Nothing at all, see for yourself.”

Baili Weisheng said this with an entirely earnest face. Xuanyuan Lige had expected him to actually hold out his right hand, but instead the man simply said “see for yourself” and didn’t move an inch.

Fine. If he wouldn’t move, Xuanyuan Lige had plenty of ways to see for himself.

Having already experienced this man’s gift for glib nonsense, Xuanyuan Lige didn’t bother wasting more words and simply walked straight toward him.

But just at that moment, Baili Weisheng finally felt the poison spider inside the vial begin to loosen its grip.

Had it fed enough?

Once it had gorged itself on human-gu blood, all he needed to do was toss it onto the seal, and it would immediately trigger the seal’s activation!

This was the method recorded in the Three Ancient Scrolls — normally it wouldn’t require feeding it so much blood, but his gu-cultivation skills were limited; he had no way to command the poison spider directly, so all he could do was feed it until it let go on its own!

Watching Xuanyuan Lige close in step by step, Baili Weisheng kept smiling on the surface while glancing sideways down below, straining to focus and aim carefully at the spot right over Jun Beiyue’s heart!

Down below, inside the room, everyone stood guard around Jun Beiyue, utterly at a loss for what to do.

Neither Sha Qiuzi nor Imperial Physician Gu could find anything wrong through his pulse, yet no one understood why blood kept trickling from the corner of Jun Beiyue’s mouth!

He looked as though he were suffering greatly, as if fighting with everything he had against something, straining to break through something!

Was it because of the Five Elements Seal that his pulse showed nothing abnormal?

Finally, Situ Haonan could bear it no longer and roared at the two Meng Clan elders, who had remained silent the whole time. “Has the seal broken or not?!”

The two Meng Clan elders had no explanation to offer, and dared not attempt one either — they could only shake their heads in unison, helpless to assist.

If he really were in the process of breaking through the Five Elements Seal, it shouldn’t be causing him this much suffering — could there possibly be something else layered onto this seal?

The two Meng elders dared not even think about it, nor did they want to. All they could think of was fleeing, and how to avoid taking the blame!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, the sound of Jun Beiyue’s heartbeat surged violently louder, startling everyone so badly their hearts leapt straight into their throats!

What was it! What on earth was happening!

And at almost that exact same moment, up on the roof, Baili Weisheng’s fingers finally came free — the poison spider had completely let go!

He switched hands, gripping the poison spider in his left, and just as Xuanyuan Lige closed the final distance, he thrust out his right hand. “See, really nothing at all!”