Chapter 966: The agony of living forever (1/2)

“Ning Jing, my big sis was afraid it’d affect the baby too. Moreover, Tang Li wanted to tell you in person, so...don’t blame my big sis! She didn’t know we’d be kidnapped, either!” Mu Linger was a good little sister. Even now, she was trying to defend Han Yunxi.

Ning Jing gripped Mu Linger’s hand tightly while muffling her mouth at the same time. After a while, she managed to choke out between sobs, “Linger, do you know? I….I miss him so much.”

Mu Linger was a crybaby to begin with, so hearing Ning Jing’s sobs only made her teary too. “I miss Qi gege too, sobsob…”

Startled awake, Uncle Cheng was about to stomp over when Manager Jin stopped him.

“What happens if they attract someone with their crying?” Uncle Cheng demanded.

“This is already Jun Yixie’s turf. What else are you afraid of?” Manager Jin challenged back.

Uncle Cheng had no retort, so he huffily retreated. Manager Jin returned to his seat with his hands crossed over his chest. He sat straight against a wall and closed his eyes for a doze. Just then, he’d heard Mu Linger call out “Qi gege.” That girl cries like that just because she misses him?

He lowered his head until his hair hid his eyes. But his lips were pursed, and his mood was foul.

Ning Jing missed Tang Li while Mu Linger missed Qi gege. Both men had split up to search for them, but neither had picked up any clues. Tang Li had added up all the paths that led from Three-Way Black Market to Skyriver City and found there were 15 separate trails. He sent men to search one after the other while hunting himself for nights without rest for any sign of secret markers left behind. But it was hard to determine such things. He saw plenty of markers on multiple trees and corners of walls and sent them all to Gu Qishao. There were at least ten different types, but Gu Qishao had negated them all. According to Gu Qishao, he’d truly forgotten what Mu Linger’s were supposed to look like.

If Tang Li knew which marker to look for, his target would be better defined. Unfortunately, he was clueless. Finally, Tang Li realized that it wasn’t reasonable to rely solely on Gu Qishao. He began to study the tracks on the road while using the Tang Clan’s name to announce that anyone who returned Ning Jing to him would gain 30 top-secret weapons blueprints from the Tang Clan archives.

The world went wild at the news! Of course, it was the Tang Clan that lost it first, but as their true master was Long Feiye and their clan head Tang Li, Tang Zijin and the rest couldn’t find either of the men. They wouldn’t go so far as to claim Tang Li’s orders were ineffectual, so all they could do was wait and watch. Manager Jin and Uncle Cheng were both surprised by the news. If not for the fact that he wanted his indenture agreement back, Manager Jin might had even been moved to accept the deal. After all, everyone had tried to get the Tang Clan on their side over the years. 30 top secret blueprints were priceless artifacts! Actually, Uncle Cheng was moved as well. He decided to wait until they met Ning Cheng and Jun Yixie, as Ning Jing would be a huge chip in their favor then.

Gu Qishao had already searched through all of the forests on the northeast side and entered Northern Li territory. His first reaction upon receiving the news was that Tang Li was unreliable as well. He had only asked for Ning Jing, not Mu Linger! Thus, Gu Qishao immediately used the identity of Pill Fiend to announce to the world that anyone who returned Mu Linger to him would get Pill Fiend Valley on a silver platter.

Days later, the news spread all across Cloud Realm Continent. Ning Jing and Mu Linger became the most wanted targets of every person in the world. Everyone talked about them even as all the females envied their status. Unfortunately, the two women in question were completely ignorant to the entire thing.

On this day, Gu Qishao was ready to leave Northern Li for Three-Way Black Market again when he suddenly received a black envelope. Inside was a letter written in red. Cinnabar ink meant bad news…

As soon as Gu Qishao read its contents, his face turned black. Cinnabar ink letters had multiple meanings: some were orders from a sovereign, and this was one such order from Long Feiye, who had told him to meet at Poison Sect immediately or shoulder the consequences. Gu Qishao arched his brow scornfully at the letter with disdain.

“You think this old man will go just because you called? Hmph! If I was, I’d eat this letter first!” So speaking, he tossed the letter into a nearby gully and languidly walked off. But a few steps later, he stopped as his playful expression turned stern. The letter hadn’t mentioned anything else, only for him to come immediately, but Gu Qishao knew what Long Feiye wanted.

He definitely wanted an undying freak like him to deal with the likes of Bai Yanqing. Moreover, he’d probably ask him details about his immortal status. Long Feiye had never exposed his secret, but would that last when he went back? Actually, he had no idea how he became a Poison Gu-like human. He was made into a monster, one that couldn’t die from any illness or injury. Furthermore, he discovered that his body was permanently stuck in at the appearance of a 20-year old without a single change.

Supposedly, the fabled Poison Gu human didn’t die, decay, or age, so he assumed that he was it. After the competition at Medical City, he expressedly paid a trip to Gu Yuntian to ask about this matter. Judging from the man’s reaction, he had no idea that Gu Qishao was effectively immortal. With this, Gu Qishao was more or less certain that Gu Yuntian had created him by chance. He had researched multiple methods to break through the curse of his condition, but couldn’t find a clue. Once, he even joked to Poison lass that a poison woman could save him, but it was just in jest. He had gone searching for the Poison Sect’s poison women, but that was only so he could use the Poison Sect’s might to overthrow and destroy Medical City.

Gu Qishao sighed softly before whistling for his horse. Then he galloped for Medical City. A few days later, Han Yunxi’s group had already arrived in secret. Long Feiye was truly an old fox and issued orders for the groups impersonating them to keep rushing on the road to fake the impression that they were still traveling. Thus, rumors about them run flagrant everywhere. For the sake of hiding their itinerary, Gu Beiyue only met with a few elders and department heads from Medical City to understand recent developments there. He left them with some instructions while they continued to announce that Gu Beiyue had secluded himself.

After rushing about on the road, Han Yunxi’s group settled down in Medical City that very same night. They decided to enter the Poison Sect’s forbidden grounds early next morning. After eating a meal, Gu Beiyue excused himself by saying he forgot to tell Shen Jueming something else and left first. Only Long Feiye and Han Yunxi were left sitting alone in the courtyard. Han Yunxi was resting her chin in her hands and staring at Long Feiye, who glanced back before pushing a cup of tea in front of her.