Chapter 255

Chapter 249

Zhao Yi lowered his hands. Originally, he had planned to come up behind, wrap his arms around the young man, and rest his chin on his shoulder, pretending to be intimately related like brothers to blend into the crowd in the hospital corridor who were watching the excitement.

But even for this staged behavior, when it came to actually doing it, he was still apprehensive and didn't quite dare to be too intimate. In the end, he just placed his hands on the young man's shoulders and smiled while helping him pinch his shoulders.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his right hand, placed it on the back of Zhao Yi's hand, and looked up at him with a smile, showing some cooperation with Zhao Yi's performance.

The two Daoists were still pulling. The older one wanted to take the younger one away, but the younger one insisted on staying.

When the Daoist spoke, his words carried an 'an shen zhi yin,' which had a hypnotic effect. With every change in his footsteps, his other body parts would move in linkage to maintain a certain harmony with the surrounding environment.

Most importantly, this wasn't something the Daoist was actively doing; it was a kind of instinctual revelation.

Because if he wanted to use force, the young Daoist would have no room to refuse at all.

Zhao Yi and the young man held hands, each trembling slightly. Each tremble was like saying a sentence without needing much information, because they both knew exactly what they saw and what they wanted to say.

Zhao Yi: He's a tough nut to crack, the really tough kind.

Li Zhuiyuan: No concealment.

Zhao Yi: Indeed.

Li Zhuiyuan: Not a match.

Zhao Yi: That's right, the disparity in strength and experience is serious.

Although both Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi concealed their auras, this concealment had a major drawback: it could deceive perception but was very difficult to deceive the eyes.

Eyes are the windows to the soul, and a strong person possesses a certain keenness that allows them to sense a problem with you, no matter how well you disguise it. There are no flaws, no evidence to speak of; it's purely a kind of intuition.

Of course, it's hard to say that Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi's good performance wouldn't have been noticed. What about Runsheng, who was standing by the side?

At this time, Liang Yan and Liang Li walked over from the balcony.

A pair of young, beautiful twins, no matter where they walked, were very easy to attract attention.

And the two Daoists were still immersed in their previous pulling.

The conspicuous things were right there, making you pay more attention, but you still wouldn't deeply notice and discover the problem.

Zhao Yi: Is he fishing for us?

Li Zhuiyuan: Doesn't look like it.

Zhao Yi: Unexplained.

Li Zhuiyuan: Because the reason hasn't been found.

Finally, after taking a deep look at the situation inside the ward, the Daoist turned and left.

The young Daoist was very happy; he thought his master had agreed to let him stay to take care of his grandfather's final journey.

Only Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi, from the Daoist's last glance, saw a kind of contempt for the lives of ordinary people.

It could even be understood that when that gaze appeared, the Daoist had already formed killing intent, but this killing intent was so shallow it couldn't be shallower, because in his eyes, this was no different from throwing a crumpled piece of waste paper into a fire to burn it up.

The dispute ended, there was no excitement to watch, and the crowd dispersed back to their respective wards.

"Let's go."

Zhao Yi led Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng into the ward where Xu Ming was located.

Xu Ming, covered in bandages and plaster, immediately widened his eyes when he saw the young man come in.

There was no hostility, but he instinctively became guarded.

Sun Yan, who was sitting by the side, also immediately stood up. The python that was originally lying under the sickbed darted out even more directly, raising its snake head and flicking its tongue.

Runsheng stood in front of the young man, looking at the python, and couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

No matter how much breakfast he ate, by this point, he should be hungry.

Zhao Yi picked up an apple from the bedside cabinet and asked, "Want me to peel an apple for you?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't eat."

Zhao Yi took a bite, chewed, and said, "You must eat more fruit, it's good for your health."

Xu Ming was no longer guarded, Sun Yan sat back down, and the python also retreated under the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Sun Yan.

Zhao Yi: "Don't sit, come with me."

Saying this, Zhao Yi led Sun Yan to the ward window. Looking down, he saw the Daoist walking out from below.

"You go and keep an eye on him. Choose the most useless small animal."

"Yes."

Although he didn't understand, Sun Yan still chose to do as he was told and quickly left the ward.

Zhao Yi took another bite of apple: "This guy is too strange, both strong and dull."

Li Zhuiyuan: "That's because the way he obtained his strength isn't pure."

Zhao Yi: "I think so too. Can you explain it to me in more detail?"

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and poked his own forehead: "I suspect it's because of this."

Zhao Yi: "Consciousness?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Memory."

Zhao Yi: "Very interesting idea."

Li Zhuiyuan: "He should still come back."

Zhao Yi: "He values that young Daoist very much. The space between their eyebrows is very similar. Are they father and son?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "From their faces, the probability of blood relation is very high."

Zhao Yi: "So, he plans to come back, naturally resolve the burden in the ward, and then logically take the young Daoist away. Very good, better than most parents now; at least he knows to take care of the child's psychological feelings."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You're responsible for protecting him."

Zhao Yi: "What's the point of just protecting him? I want to directly target the older one. Since he's coming back, then bring your people over too, and we'll set a trap. Let's give this river current a record acceleration!"

People from both sides all came from the river, pulled by the karma of the river current. As a result, they coincidentally appeared in this hospital at the same time and witnessed the two Daoists who definitely had problems.

The signs were already obvious beyond obvious.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Too aggressive."

Zhao Yi: "I think this is exactly how it should be. I've also had some new insights into the river current recently. Do you know how many waves I've ridden since the end of that time in Lijiang?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Two times."

Zhao Yi held up three fingers.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Your energy is really good."

Zhao Yi: "So I've discovered that sometimes grasping the main key point to cut in can achieve the same effect. There's no need to be persistent in walking the entire process. For example, this 'Seal Demon Conference' thing, we can either prevent it from happening, or solve the problem directly before the conference begins."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I need to consider it."

Zhao Yi understood. He pointed at Liang Yan and Liang Li, then pointed at Runsheng.

The eyes of the two sisters simultaneously focused, and they both stepped forward, punching towards Runsheng with a single fist.

Runsheng grabbed their opposing fists with both hands, and subsequently, both sides fell into a brief stalemate.

There was no release of aura, and the ward's floor tiles didn't crack; it was just a simple test of strength, considered a preliminary assessment between experts.

The two sisters retracted their fists. Their originally delicate fists were now red, as if they had just been ground by sandpaper, breaking open the skin and flesh.

In their gaze towards Runsheng, their previous arrogance was gone, replaced by deep apprehension.

Runsheng's palms also emitted white smoke. He shook his hands, nodded to the young man, also indicating his approval of the twins' strength.

Zhao Yi: "Strength is their weakest link; their origin may not be low at all."

The first half of the sentence was a fabrication about the two-on-one match; the second half explained their own stronger abilities.

This preliminary assessment wasn't accurate, and the direction would be greatly different from a life-and-death fight, but Zhao Yi just wanted to use this to prove that his team now had decent strength.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't choose inside the hospital. Since we're going to be proactive, then be more thorough."

Zhao Yi: "Agreed."

At this moment, the two sides not only reached a de facto alliance, but even the first round of cooperation plans had been preliminarily finalized.

That things could progress so smoothly was also because Lin Shuyou had severely beaten Xu Ming last night.

Zhao Yi knew about this matter, but he didn't mention it at all because it was meaningless.

If it weren't for what happened last night, he, Zhao Yi, would definitely think about bargaining and争取一些主动权, even if it was just some trivial gain on the surface. After all, he had worked so hard to ride the river, which resulted in a huge improvement in his team's strength.

Now, he was very clear-headed.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Xu Ming. Under the quilt, there was a special vital force flowing within Xu Ming's body. Even under severe injury, it was still active.

The young man asked, "How many days can he recover?"

Zhao Yi: "Originally it would take five days. If he's sent to the hospital, it can be shortened to three days. Moreover, it can save some pills."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You have a heart."

Zhao Yi was so angry he laughed: "Damn it, I saved it for your people to use!"

He was just too diligent and extreme in riding the river, causing the old man at home guarding the medicine garden to refine desperately. The supply of these pills was also a bit short.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm hungry."

Zhao Yi: "There's a noodle shop at the hospital entrance. I've recently become obsessed with Wan Zha Mian."

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan looked at Runsheng and the twins. "Runsheng bro, you all get something to eat."

Runsheng: "Okay."

Liang Yan and Liang Li exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, but in the end, did not respond.

But they could feel that the 'all' here included them both.

A very strange feeling, so inexplicable, they had to listen to that young man's command?

Li Zhuiyuan and Zhao Yi walked out of the hospital and entered the noodle shop. Zhao Yi ordered two bowls of noodles.

Some things couldn't be said openly to subordinates or partners, but they had to talk about them first.

Zhao Yi took out two pairs of chopsticks, wiping them with a tissue as he spoke: "Don't you think that young Daoist is very strange? He's a demon, yet he has no demon qi."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Your view?"

Zhao Yi: "Only specially cultivated demons can achieve this effect, but this method is a bit too inhumane.

It requires exchanging the mother's fresh blood with the demon's fresh blood during pregnancy and nurturing the infant in the mother's body with demon blood.

This method is very difficult and requires extremely high standards, but once successful, it can cultivate a human body with a demon spirit. As long as the demonic nature isn't stimulated, he won't even know he's a demon."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I know this method."

It was recorded in the that an evil cultivator once tried to use this method to cultivate the infant he wanted, but failed.

Wei Zhengdao first had this evil cultivator sent to be 'destroyed for the righteous path'.

Then, Wei Zhengdao spent quite a lot of space analyzing the reason why this evil cultivator couldn't succeed, explaining how to improve the success rate. Finally, he sighed: This method is harmful to people.

Wei Zhengdao just loved to do this kind of thing. When he became interested, he would research and ponder. His book was full of criticism and warnings, but if a true evil cultivator got his book, they would probably be so excited they'd shed tears and treat it as a treasure.

The noodles were served. The two of them picked up their chopsticks and began to mix the noodles.

Zhao Yi: "Tell me, how did I meet you again this time? Why are you always a ghost that lingers?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "There's a way to solve this problem, once and for all. Do I need to do it?"

Zhao Yi: "That's not what I meant. Think about it, since we're arranged to ride the same wave together, there must be a reason, right?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Okay."

Zhao Yi: "When I saw you, I thought, after seeing that young Daoist, I had a guess in my heart. This wave is very likely to involve..."

Zhao Yi deliberately paused, then, both of them said in unison:

"The Yu family."

Dragon King Yu, famous for controlling beasts. As long as you mention cultivating demon spirits in the Jianghu, as long as you keep tracing upwards, you can always connect it to the inheritance of the Yu family.

There's no other way; who let them be the genuine Tai Shan Bei Dou in this line? In history, every generation of Dragon King Yu had a demon as a follower when they rode the river.

Zhao Yi: "In Lijiang, we had contact with Yu Miaomiao, a person from the Yu family who rode the river. We also learned about the current situation of the Yu family through her.

If this wave is also related to a person from the Yu family, then it makes sense that the Heavenly Dao would arrange for us both to be together again.

I suspect that the deepest point of this wave and the final target is likely to be surnamed Yu."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You can think a bit further, and be a bit bolder."

Zhao Yi pushed his well-mixed noodles to Li Zhuiyuan, and pulled the noodles in front of the young man, which were not yet mixed, towards himself and continued mixing.

"You say, I'm listening."

Last time in Lijiang, the two of them had a longer recovery time. Zhao Yi had many conversations with the young man. Although he knew the young man was deliberately hiding things, even just saying some surface theories and insights allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the river current and the Heavenly Dao.

He was originally a smart person. With a little guidance, he could ponder on his own.

Li Zhuiyuan: "That time in Guizhou, you could say it was because of your family's ancestor, so let's not mention it for now. But that time in Lijiang, before the snatching of the three broken jade pieces began, I and Yu Miaomiao each had one piece in our hands.

Can this be understood as the layout of the Heavenly Dao having already begun at that time?"

Zhao Yi licked his lips.

Li Zhuiyuan continued: "The change in the Yu family's situation can already be confirmed. The Heavenly Dao is unlikely to allow a Dragon King family whose nature has changed to continue to exist."

Zhao Yi: "So, the Heavenly Dao is already planning to deal with the Yu family?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "The existence of demon spirits is inherently repelled by the Heavenly Dao. When Xuanmen people make a move against demons, they never need to find a reason to explain; they inherently possess natural justice. It's very normal for the Heavenly Dao to arrange things this way. It would be strange if it didn't do anything."

Zhao Yi: "The Yu family is going to be exterminated?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If they endure, they can continue to exist. If they don't endure, they will disappear like smoke. In other words, this is a calamity, and also one side of the Heavenly Dao."

If the Heavenly Dao were truly enlightened and omnipotent, then Fengdu Great Emperor and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva would not still exist. But the fact is, all the Heavenly Dao can do is suppress them.

The Yu family is likely facing such a situation now.

Zhao Yi: "So, this time isn't the end, just a temporary pause. If we safely pass this wave, then next, the river current will probably push towards the Yu family?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Okay."

Zhao Yi: "Are you crazy?"

The Qin and Liu families have fallen into such a situation, and he, Jiujiang Zhao, doesn't even dare to provoke them. Yet he's being told that in the future, he'll have to go against Dragon King Yu?

Zhao Yi: "That's a Dragon King family, even if it has big problems, it's still a Dragon King family. No, I mean, why are you so calm? You should be clearer than me about how terrifying the foundation of the Dragon King family is."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm used to it."

Zhao Yi's eyes widened: "Used to it?"

In the last wave, Li Zhuiyuan clearly knew that Pudu Zhenjun was a clone of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and he still slapped him.

Now, it's nothing more than knowing in advance that he might have to go and slap Dragon King Yu in the future.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Do you have room to choose? Or rather, do you want to bargain?"

Zhao Yi: "I..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Accept it openly sooner. Let the Heavenly Dao see your attitude, and you can gain more benefits."

Zhao Yi suddenly woke up: "You're tricking me! You've been hiding all these things from me before, and today you're telling me so much all at once. You're deliberately trying to bind me to you!"

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the garlic on the table and asked, "Do you eat garlic?"

Zhao Yi lowered his head and pleaded: "Can you spare me?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You just weren't very energetic when you were listening to me. You also said to grasp the key to the problem and fiercely accelerate the river current."

Zhao Yi: "I didn't think it was this kind of acceleration."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Before this matter, I just speculated that the difficulty of this wave would be lower. Now, if we consider this wave as a preliminary performance, indeed, the difficulty has decreased."

Zhao Yi: "If I separate from you now, you do your thing, I do mine, even if I deliberately make trouble for you and fight with you, wouldn't I escape?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Okay, yes."

Zhao Yi: "Hahaha!"

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and ate his noodles.

Zhao Yi gnawed on the large garlic without peeling the skin.

After both of them finished their noodles, Li Zhuiyuan called out to the boss: "Boss, how much is it?"

The boss walked over and asked, "Together?"

Zhao Yi: "Together."

Then, he pointed at the young man, stood up first, left his seat, and walked out of the noodle shop.

Li Zhuiyuan took out money from his pocket to pay the bill. When he walked out, he saw Zhao Yi squatting by the roadside smoking.

"Your eyes are red."

"I just accidentally rubbed some eye boogers; the garlic is spicy."

"No need to be so nervous. At most, we're just a small branch stream in the storm where the Heavenly Dao targets the Yu family."

"Big rivers and waves can still retreat; branch streams are most likely to dry up and break off." Zhao Yi stood up, "But, it doesn't matter. Adding difficulty is just adding difficulty. Anyway, you're in front to bear the brunt. We agreed, if you die, I'll run."

"Okay."

Zhao Yi: "Was it your new subordinate who injured Xu Ming?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It was A You."

Zhao Yi: "Damn it, this guy is taking public revenge for personal grievances!"

Subsequently, Zhao Yi said again: "He won't get away with it without cost, right?"

"He needs two days to recover."

"Xu Ming needs three days. Then let's change our plan a bit. Find a way to delay that Daoist for three days. After three days, both our personnel will be ready, and then we'll act together.

Since we're treating this wave as a preliminary performance for the future, then let's carry out this exercise perfectly. With the best posture, we'll act decisively and crush this wave directly!

There must be other teams in this wave. Then it's a good opportunity to let them see what true river riding is!"

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

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