The doctor didn’t know how long the boss had been sitting at this mountain peak. These past few days, he had already noticed that the boss would fall into sleep states from time to time. If this happened to someone else, he would think they had a neurological dysfunction, but the problem was that the boss clearly wasn’t an ordinary person!

So even though he knew being anxious was useless, the uneasiness in his heart still rose uncontrollably like a tide. When he saw two people emerge from the Ancestor Dragon Cave one after another, this uneasy feeling immediately escalated to its peak.

The boss opened his eyes and calmly watched Fu Su walking in front, saying nothing.

“I knew you would be here.” Fu Su’s face still wore that gentle smile. His gaze moved to the rabbit doll in the boss’s pocket, then he smiled faintly at the boss: “Can we talk? Privately.”

The boss nodded and stood up. Ignoring the doctor’s various struggles, he handed the rabbit doll to Hu Hai, who stood behind Fu Su.

“Damn it! Boss! Are you crazy? If you give me to this guy, he could turn around and throw me off the mountain!” The doctor was furious. Everyone knew this Master Hu was a brother-complex! He’d love nothing more than for his soul to dissipate so Fu Su could continue occupying his body and living on.

Hearing this, Hu Hai’s body stiffened. The refusal he had wanted to voice wouldn’t come out, and he could only numbly accept the rabbit doll, even deliberately choosing an angle to shield the doll in his arms from the wind. The little crimson bird perched on Hu Hai’s shoulder was startled, flapped its wings a few times, somewhat doubting which wire in its young master had gotten crossed.

Huh? He’s actually being so obedient? The doctor then remembered that the boss had once used the dragon-patterned bell on Hu Hai – this level of command could probably still be controlled. But was it really okay to do this in front of his brother?

The doctor instinctively glanced at Fu Su, meeting the latter’s rather cold gaze, and couldn’t help but shiver. When he tried to look again, he found the other had already withdrawn his gaze and was walking with the boss toward the Heaven-Piercing Stone of Five Flowers Peak.

Before he could even regret not being able to eavesdrop, the doctor was horrified to discover he had been grabbed by his long ears and lifted out by a cold, pale hand. Looking down at his feet, below was a mountain ravine covered in layers of mountain mist, bottomlessly deep.

Damn! The boss had entrusted him to the wrong person! Now the doctor didn’t even dare struggle, let alone call for help loudly, fearing he might irritate this ill-tempered Master Hu, who might drop him with a shake of his hand and he’d never see the boss again. Well… though it seemed like a stuffed toy wouldn’t die from falling either?

The little crimson bird curiously flew up. For it, this kind of violent mountain wind was nothing at all – it could still fly steadily. The doctor angrily raised his yarn-made eyebrows, really wanting to swat away this stupid bird that was watching him.

Fortunately, this test didn’t last long either. Hu Hai squinted his crimson pupils and hesitated for a moment, then lifted the doctor back and tossed him to the extremely curious little crimson bird.

“Play with this, just don’t break it,” Hu Hai said casually.

What the hell! What do you mean ‘just don’t break it’? The doctor was furious, but a stuffed doll was obviously no match for the little crimson bird. The latter seemed to have gotten a new toy, grabbing the doctor’s long ears and starting to fly around everywhere.

Well… actually, after getting used to this roller-coaster-like dizzying sensation, this experience was quite thrilling… The doctor finally sprawled on the little crimson bird’s back, feeling like he was the male protagonist in a fantasy world who could ride flying mounts.

The doctor looked down to identify the two people standing at the mountain peak, appearing and disappearing in the mountain mist, but unfortunately, he couldn’t hear what those two below were saying at all.

After confirming that the doctor was now being “cared for” very well, the boss withdrew his gaze, refocusing on Fu Su, and said indifferently: “Have you thought it through?”

Fu Su smiled bitterly: “After all these years, Bi Zhi, you still understand me so well.” Fu Su glanced at Hu Hai standing proudly not far away and chuckled: “Did you control Hu Hai to report all my actions these past days to you?”

“No. Although I wasn’t certain at first, thanks to you, these past days, those details almost forgotten in the depths of memory have been turned up bit by bit, which is how I became certain.” The boss spoke very calmly, but his eyes were full of tenderness.

“Oh?” Fu Su smiled, his handsome face showing no embarrassment whatsoever. He hadn’t expected his little trick of burning moon lin incense to fool the boss anyway.

“I remember you used to secretly read the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic.” A slight smile played at the boss’s lips – those memories were precious to him. It was precisely because he treasured them so much that he was reluctant to take them out and remember them, like beautiful fragile soap bubbles in sunlight that would burst and vanish at the slightest touch.

“Treat illness before illness occurs, treat disorder before disorder arises.” Fu Su quoted the most important concept from the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic and sighed: “You must have read it too, otherwise how could you not worry that I truly wanted to overthrow this world?”

The boss didn’t answer his question but reached out to touch the crimson dragon on his right shoulder, saying calmly: “People always say they have no choice, but really they just don’t want to give up what they’ve already obtained, and don’t want to let go of what they hope to obtain. This perhaps is what’s called greed.”

Fu Su understood his meaning and said self-mockingly: “Bi Zhi, are you so at ease? Aren’t you afraid I’m greedy?”

“When persuasion is useless, one can only let them realize it themselves. This year’s time should have been enough for you to see clearly.” The boss withdrew his hand, and there was actually a wound on his fingertip cut by a sharp thin thread. He didn’t waste that drop of blood either, directly smearing it on the crimson dragon. The crimson dragon’s lifelike pupils flashed with light, then dimmed again.

Fu Su didn’t notice this detail but leaned against the mountain rocks and looked down. At this moment, the mountain mist had subsided a bit, scattered by the fierce wind, revealing the magnificent scenery below. Fu Su gazed for a long time before murmuring: “Back then, Father Emperor must have stood here seeing this same scene… Back then… it’s been over two thousand years now, and I’m truly free.”

The boss’s suspended heart finally fell back to its original place.

He had finally won the gamble.

Although this result was within his expectations, why did his mood feel worse than he had imagined when truly facing this moment?

Fu Su took out a small cauldron from his robes. The boss looked closely and discovered this small cauldron was extremely familiar – it was actually the black gold cauldron he had once exchanged with the curator using three antiques, which he later couldn’t find anywhere. The boss didn’t pursue how this black gold cauldron had ended up in Fu Su’s hands – Hu Hai had the White Marsh Brush, so entering and leaving his Mute House would be effortless. “This cauldron is…”

“Since the universe-stabilizing formation has already suppressed eleven array points, might as well seal this one too.” Fu Su paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued: “While I haven’t changed my mind yet.”

The boss accepted the black gold cauldron, his lowered eyelids concealing the complex emotions in his eyes.

Tang Yuan used a lotus leaf to scoop some more hot spring water, drank a few sips, casually wiped the water stains from his lips with the back of his hand, and only then noticed his foodie master’s grave expression.

“What’s wrong? Is something not right?” Tang Yuan was terrified, afraid that the next second this foodie master would say he hadn’t eaten enough candied hawthorn and ask him to go buy two more sticks.

The young Taoist frowned, directly extended his hand outside the barrier to sense the external atmosphere, made calculations with his fingers, and sighed: “The universe-stabilizing formation is changing.”

“Universe-stabilizing formation? What’s that? How is it so awesome?” Tang Yuan’s eyes lit up, but the next second they widened like bells, because he suddenly saw that behind the Taoist, those ethereal hot spring vapors were actually forming the graceful figure of a woman in mid-air. The half-transparent mist became increasingly solid, and soon it was clear this was an extremely beautiful woman. Her body was shrouded in white mist like snow, her features delicate and mysterious as an ink painting, her thin lips curved in a mocking smile, her pupils pale and empty yet emanating an indescribable charm.

Though Tang Yuan was young, he knew that if mountain spirits and ghosts existed in this world, what appeared before him now was definitely one. Seeing that the woman’s lower body was actually a clearly visible graceful snake tail, Tang Yuan was even more shocked and completely speechless, making gasping sounds in his throat, his mind completely blank.

He watched as the woman extended her jade-white hands, placed them on his foodie master’s shoulders, and lowered her head toward his neck with extreme intimacy.

Tang Yuan’s face flushed red. He instinctively wanted to avert his eyes, but this scene seemed to have some magical power. He watched helplessly as that supremely alluring woman suddenly revealed two sharp teeth in her mouth and bit down on his master’s neck.

Tang Yuan jumped up in shock, wanting to rush over and rescue his master, but he seemed frozen in place, his whole body lacking strength.

Contrary to his expectations, there was no bloody scene. The foodie master didn’t even move, peacefully allowing that woman to devour the spiritual energy from his body. The woman’s materialized thick snake tail wreaked havoc in the garden below, and in the blink of an eye, the beautifully arranged garden was left in complete ruins.