Chapter 1201: Reinforcements?

Chapter 1201: Yuanjun?

Qinglong stretched out his hand and gently tapped the table, feeling a strange unease about the current situation.

Nothing significant had happened... yet why did he have this unsettling premonition?

He had been wandering in "Taoyuan" for so long and never felt anything like this before.

It was as if he was waiting for death.

Chaotic thoughts and an irritable mood made him unable to sit still.

He turned his head and saw Tianshe and Tiangu sitting at the round table, which only added to his frustration.

"Everyone else has gone to attend to their own matters... Are you two that idle?" Qinglong said coldly.

"Ah?" Tianshe looked up, wanting to say something, but suddenly caught sight of Qinglong's eyes and quickly lowered his head. "But... but there are no 'yanjiu xiangmu' right now..."

"No?" Qinglong frowned. "Has the Juzhong been rebuilt? Have you found a substitute for Xuanwu?"

"This..." Tianshe said timidly, "It's a bit late today... I think I'll do it after dawn tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow is the tenth day," Qinglong said. "Tianlong is about to wake up. Do you still have time to prepare for yanjiu?"

Tianshe nearly forgot about that and quickly stood up. "Yes... I'm sorry... I'll go find a suitable candidate right away..."

Once Tianshe left the room, Qinglong turned his gaze to Tiangu.

Tiangu didn't know what Qinglong wanted to say and just sat in silence with his head down.

"You can go too. Let me have some peace alone," Qinglong said. "If there's any news, come back to this room."

"I... okay." Tiangu nodded, then heaved his bulky frame to his feet and started toward the door, but he was called back once more.

"Is there really nothing unusual going on below?" Qinglong asked.

"Unusual... no." Tiangu shook his head. "Someone broke the rules earlier, and Zhuque handled it. It's all sorted out now."

Qinglong stared into Tiangu's eyes for a long time before finally giving a sly smile. "Tiangu, if you're lying to me... you know what'll happen."

Tiangu shivered all over, then glanced at the head on the table in the center.

That head of Tianzhu had been sitting there all night, with dried blood caked on the skin.

"Yes..." Tiangu gritted his teeth and nodded. "What I said is all true..."

After Tiangu also left the room, Qinglong slowly closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

What exactly was going on...?

Why did everything feel a little different after coming out of the "Cangjie Qi" arena?

What had happened in that game?

...

"Brother!" Laosun waved frantically at Dihu in the "Chelian" corridor. "Since I've come up, I need to get going! I won't cause any trouble for my brother today!"

"Don't be like that! That's not giving your old pal face, is it?" Dihu grabbed Laosun's arm. "You've come all this way—come sit at my place!"

"Really, I can't, brother. I came empty-handed!" Laosun waved his hands repeatedly. "How can I visit someone for the first time with nothing?"

"You're being too formal with your old pal, aren't you?!"

Renhou watched the two bickering and stepped forward to whisper a reminder: "Teacher, you're being too loud. You might attract other 'Shengxiao'."

"Ah...?" Dihu paused, then lowered his voice to Laosun. "Do me a favor and come sit at my place. I've got wine—we can have a couple of pots, just us brothers."

"With wine, I wouldn't... well..." Laosun hesitated. "If there's wine, then..."

"Laosun..." One of the "Jidao" couldn't stand it anymore. "We still have a mission, you know."

"Oh! Right!" Laosun quickly turned to Dihu. "Brother, I've got some business. Where's the 'Huocang'?"

"The Huocang...?"

"Or Heiyang will do!" Laosun said. "Do you have a Heiyang here?"

...

Dizhu led the members of the "Mao" team out through the door behind them. He glanced around—the corridor was empty for now, with the nearest person at least a hundred meters away.

"This is freaking exciting..." Luo Shiyi said. "We actually made it up here...?"

"You all need to be careful," Dizhu said. "Every step we take now carries a risk of death. I'll get you hidden in my room as quickly as possible without alerting anyone."

"So, how's your reputation usually?" Luo Shiyi asked. "If we run into other 'Shengxiao', will they turn a blind eye?"

"My reputation..." Dizhu hesitated. "It's terrible."

"Huh?"

Dizhu knew he had always been arrogant and overbearing, so plenty of "Shengxiao" were probably hoping he'd meet his end. Normally, his ruthless ways kept people from messing with him, but now that he'd lost his "Manli", he was just an ordinary person. Leading a group of "Canyuzhe" through here so openly was dangerous.

"A hot-tempered woman." Dizhu turned back to Zhoumo. "You're the 'Chuanyin', right? Want to check in with someone about the situation over there?"

"Um." Zhoumo nodded, then closed her eyes.

She had never tried using Chuanyin on the "Chelian" before, so she felt a bit nervous.

After a few attempts, though, she started to sense something was wrong.

No matter what information she tried to send, it was like dropping a stone into a deep well—no echo came back.

"Tsk, that's strange... My 'Huixiang' seems like..."

She turned to look at Qianwu, Baijiu, and Luo Shiyi.

"Can you control your 'Huixiang'?" she asked.

The three of them lowered their heads and tried to focus their thoughts, but it felt like there was a river between them and their Huixiang—they couldn't grasp it at all.

"It's okay," Dizhu said, reassuring them. "Everyone starts out like this."

"Right." Zhoumo nodded. "Tsk, you have Huixiang too—how did you manage it?"

"I don't know," Dizhu answered honestly. "I always thought I hadn't successfully brought my Huixiang onto the 'Chelian', so I ignored it for a long time. Then one day, when I'd pretty much forgotten about it, it just appeared out of nowhere."

Dizhu's answer only left them more confused.

"Tsk, but we don't have that much time," Zhoumo said. "Isn't there a simpler way? If I can't release my Huixiang... things will be worse than we imagined."

Baijiu thought for a moment, touching her ponytail as she said, "Forgotten... and it appears?"

"Xiaojiu, do you have an idea?" Zhoumo asked.

"Not yet..." Baijiu replied. "Maybe it'll come to me later."

"Let's go," Dizhu said. "I just hope we don't run into any 'Shengxiao' along the way. My room is far—it's over a hundred and fifty doors from here."

They had barely taken a few cautious steps when they heard footsteps behind them.

Turning around, they saw a group of unfamiliar "Canyuzhe" emerging from the door they had just come through.