Baili Weisheng sat at the edge of the rooftop, his right foot swinging back and forth. He squinted, taking aim at Meng the Fifth’s retreating figure ahead, mentally calculating from which angle he should kick — so as to send that old fool who had once kicked him and then left him to die flying three thousand feet into the sky with a single blow!
Finally, just before Meng the Fifth was about to vanish from his line of sight, Baili Weisheng found his angle.
But!
Just as he was about to strike, a small flying insect suddenly darted out from his sleeve, fluttering its wings right in front of his eyes!
A flash of anger crossed Baili Weisheng’s eyes, and he swatted at it sharply — but just as his foot was about to lash out, he abruptly froze!
A small flying insect?
No — more precisely, a Gu worm!
Following the records in those three scrolls of ancient scripture, he had used his own blood to cultivate this small flying insect in the shortest possible time, all for the sake of finding the location of the dead barrier!
He didn’t understand exactly what this method entailed, only knowing it should be some unorthodox branch of barrier arts — regardless, he had made use of it.
This little flying insect could sense the scent of the dead barrier.
These past days, he’d had this little insect leading him wandering all over the capital. Unfortunately, after so many days, he’d taken plenty of wasted detours, retraced his steps more than once, even revisited several places multiple times, yet still found nothing!
The ancient scriptures recorded that, in this cycle, the seal of the world of poison beasts would appear in the Great Zhou capital — but exactly where within the capital, the scriptures made no mention.
If the seal hadn’t been closed, perhaps he could have cultivated a Gu worm like a poison scorpion, one that could sniff out the scent of poison from the world of poison beasts. Unfortunately, now that the seal of the world of poison beasts was completely closed, not a trace of its aura could leak out — the only option left was to rely on this little worm.
Baili Weisheng hurriedly turned to look, and saw the little flying insect, which he had swatted aside, still vibrating its wings rapidly, as if trying to lead him somewhere.
This worm was about the size of a palm, its two pairs of wings overlapping — though the wings weren’t large, it flew extremely fast.
“Found it?” Baili Weisheng exclaimed in surprise, momentarily forgetting all about his old grudge against Meng the Fifth.
Seeing that Baili Weisheng’s attention had turned, the little flying insect immediately leapt up from the rooftop tiles and flew off toward the south.
“South?”
Baili Weisheng was puzzled. Where exactly was south? He wasn’t in the very center of the capital — this could be considered the outer city — and the area to the south of here was quite vast.
However, at that moment, he didn’t dwell on it too much, and immediately gave chase.
The long night was still, the bright moon hung overhead, and beneath the moonlight, the insect and the man flying through the air made for a dreamlike sight.
Situ Haonan — no wait, this should be Baili Weisheng — had originally thought he wouldn’t have to go far, but who would have guessed the little flying insect would lead him all the way to the inner city!
The little flying insect’s speed rivaled that of a master of lightness skill, and along the way there was hardly anywhere to gain leverage, leaving Baili Weisheng panting with exhaustion.
Of course, by the time he caught up and the little insect in front of him finally stopped, all his fatigue was forgotten — he stood there as if struck by a bolt of heavenly thunder, utterly dumbfounded!
How could it be here?
He saw the little flying insect land on yellow-glazed roof tiles.
Yes — yellow-glazed tiles!
Throughout the entire Great Zhou capital, indeed throughout all of Great Zhou, only one place was permitted yellow tiles — the Celestial Family, the Imperial House!
Even Jun Beiyue’s own Prince Yao’s residence had never once violated this ancestral decree!
“Don’t tell me… the imperial palace!”
Baili Weisheng muttered to himself in disbelief. The seal of the world of poison beasts, lying within the Jun family’s imperial palace — who could have possibly guessed that?
Baili Weisheng stood dazed for a long moment before he recovered, and couldn’t help but let out an involuntary chuckle.
He landed beside the little flying insect and waited for it to continue leading the way, but the insect didn’t fly onward — instead, after circling him a few times, it retreated back into the wide sleeve of his robe.
The little insect was telling him — it was somewhere nearby, but the exact location was still unknown!
Baili Weisheng couldn’t help rolling his eyes, though in truth this outcome was already quite good — far better than before. Previously, every time the little insect led him somewhere, it would simply turn right back around, telling him: not this place.
“So it’s here!”
Baili Weisheng gathered his sleeves, muttering to himself as he silently leapt down from the city wall, and soon his figure vanished into the darkness.
He wondered how many days the little insect would need to rest. He figured, since he was already here, he might as well go see whether an old friend was doing well or not!
Though, of course, Jun Beiyue had never once considered him a friend — but he, being magnanimous, never minded at all. After all, they had at least shared a few drinks together!
As a man, anyone you could share a drink with was surely a friend!
Of course, in Baili Weisheng’s worldview, friendship never meant being loyal to the death for one another.
Baili Weisheng had secretly visited the imperial palace before, but he had never truly explored it properly.
Three days and three nights later, he suddenly realized — he was lost, and at the same time realized that this palace was no ordinary size; finding the seal of the world of poison beasts within it, it seemed, wouldn’t be so simple after all.
Later, he spent a full three days and three nights following a group of palace maids until he reached the Imperial Study, and from its rooftop, he spotted Physician Gu and Prince Baxian.
Based on past experience, Baili Weisheng had expected to overhear some secret — but to his surprise, Physician Gu and Prince Baxian said nothing at all, and hurried off toward the rear.
Baili Weisheng, like a spider, lay sprawled on the rooftop, chuckling to himself. He knew Jun Beiyue must be nearby.
Sure enough, following Prince Baxian and Physician Gu all the way, he finally found Xuanlong Palace.
Seeing the two of them go inside, Baili Weisheng immediately leapt up onto the roof. But when he cautiously shifted a roof tile aside and saw the scene within, the playful, sly smile on his lips instantly froze, replaced by a grave, serious expression!
How could this be!
Had Jun Beiyue been possessed by some evil spirit?
There, in the steaming medicinal pool, sat a bare-chested Jun Beiyue, half-leaning, half-reclining against the edge of the pool. On that well-defined, sensuously contoured chest, the pulsing of his heartbeat was clearly visible to the naked eye!
It was as though the heart within him were about to break through some restraint, bursting forth!
That heart clearly still bore a wound — this man was obviously still unconscious, and Baili Weisheng could tell at a single glance that his vital energy was severely depleted.
But with such depleted vital energy, how could his heart pulse show such abundant strength, such a powerful beat?
Baili Weisheng watched and watched, utterly transfixed, unable to make sense of it.
Meanwhile, Sha Qiuzi and Physician Gu, who were keeping watch over Jun Beiyue, along with Prince Baxian who was witnessing this scene for the first time, all wore equally grave expressions.
Previously, this sort of phenomenon had occurred only intermittently, and generally didn’t last very long — at most about a quarter of an hour.
But this time, it was completely different!
Since last night, Jun Beiyue’s heart pulse had been beating violently without pause, right up until now, and judging by the current trend, it showed no sign of stopping anytime soon!
How could this be happening?