Chapter 2267

For the remaining days of the blessing, Jin Chen did not miss a single day.

At least in the Elders' eyes, it was so.

But during the blessing, the Elders did not dare to disturb the Holy Son and could not speak.

After the blessing ended, Jin Chen took Nan Yixian and disappeared in a puff of smoke, again unable to speak.

Want to have A San pass a message? A San clearly knows whose side gets meat; he agrees verbally but stays silent behind the scenes.

How ridiculous! At this moment, bringing up Jin Que before the Young Master—does he think his life isn't enough for the Young Master to play with?

Until the blessing ended and the High Priest was about to lead everyone out of the Forbidden Ground that day, Jin Que had never seen Jin Chen again, and the Elders gradually stopped mentioning him.

At the mountain path's bend, the Miao King's silver crown glittered in the morning light, dazzling the eyes.

Jin Chen swung the silver bell chain as he walked ahead, occasionally kicking loose stones that startled a few mountain sparrows by the road.

"The Young Master is back!"

Several young villagers cheered and rushed forward, but fell silent upon seeing Jin Que.

He Monei gasped, hurried over and half-supported him; Jin Que's plain white collar was soaked with cold sweat, his lips pallid.

"Jin Que, big brother, what's this?" He Monei's fingers trembled, almost knocking over the medicine box.

Jin Que had no strength to speak; in the next instant, he was helped away by those the Miao King brought, presumably prepared beforehand.

Nan Yixian didn't want to keep secrets for anyone.

He leisurely brushed off the cobwebs on his cuffs, saying, "I've merely solved the Life-replacing Gu."

Before his words faded, a chorus of gasps rose from under the old scholar tree at the village entrance.

Jin Chen held a stalk of dogtail grass in his mouth, squinting to see the veins bulging on the back of the Miao King's hand resting on his silver staff.

The youngsters on good terms with Jin Chen had already cheered off to move the rice wine, while a few white-bearded elders gathered together, their silver ornaments clattering as they muttered things like "ancestral precepts" and "backlash".

The blessing still had one final segment; Jin Chen followed the High Priest toward the Ancestral Hall, and as he was about to leave he glanced back at Nan Yixian, saying, "Older brother, rest at the Spirit Grass Hall; I'll come find you after I finish."

Nan Yixian nodded, watching Jin Chen's back in his purple gauze sacrificial robe disappear around the corner.

He was about to turn when the Miao King's voice came from behind: "Did you solve the Gu?"

Nan Yixian's steps halted; he lowered his eyes and touched the silver bracelet on his wrist, "Yes."

The Miao King exhaled a turbid breath, sighed deeply, his cloudy gaze falling on Nan Yixian: "I heard from the Elders that Jin Que barely clung to life."

"Miao King, rest assured; I used the finest spirit medicine and formations from the South Gate, so Jin Que won't die."

"Moreover... you should look at the scar on Jin Chen's chest."

Nan Yixian's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the pattern on the medicine pouch: "In the past, they cut open his heart to draw blood; old wounds overlapped, truly heartbreaking."

Nan Yixian's words paused, then he turned back to the Miao King: "I forgot—you probably wouldn't feel sorry for him."

Cooking smoke curled up from the village, and in the distance came the laughter of youths gathered around rice wine.

The Miao King tapped his silver staff in silence, "Jin Chen is the Young Master; I have failed Jin Que, so…"

"So he deserves to suffer?"

Nan Yixian suddenly interrupted, his voice still calm, yet it caused the elders behind the Miao King to unconsciously ease their breathing.

"Is Jin Que's life a life, but Jin Chen's not?"

"Even if Jin Que dies, that's his own fate; it's still better than dragging Jin Chen into suffering."

The Miao King's hand trembled slightly, and he didn't respond further.

Nan Yixian turned and walked toward the Spirit Grass Hall; in the twilight his silhouette stood tall like bamboo, "I hope the Miao King won't let Jin Chen see Jin Que these days; tonight I'll brew him a calming soup—he needs a good sleep."

From the direction of the Ancestral Hall came the clear chime of a bronze bell, startling a flock of returning crows.

The Miao King gazed at the darkening sky and let out a heavy sigh.

——

Ancestral hall.

Jin Chen entered the offering hall alone, murmuring the blessing words given by the high priest, then suddenly opened one eye, tilted his head, and heard the high priest's footsteps leaving outside the door.

Just as that movement faded, Jin Chen sprang up, arms crossed, surveying the offering hall covered in totem carvings.

【Hey, so many offerings!】

Ling Gun Gun mentioned it offhandedly.

Jin Chen casually picked a few fruits and tossed them to it, not feeding those myriad strange bugs, and continued studying the pattern.

That night, upon first entering the forbidden grounds, Nan Yixiang showed him the strange pattern captured on his camera, similar to the worm markings on his chest.

Therefore, they believed the life-replacement worm was not merely because the Miao King could not bear his sickly great-grandson's death; a deeper reason lay in some secret within the village.

Moreover, Qianping Mountain Stronghold is not large; almost all inherited ancient texts and techniques are locked in the ancestral hall, so finding them is not difficult.

Jin Chen patted Ling Gun Gun's head, "Full?"

The dumpling gave a cry, perched on Jin Chen's shoulder, eyeing the ancestral hall, its search speed far exceeding that of the naked eye.

Soon after, Ling Gun Gun tapped Jin Chen's face, turned right, 【Found it! The underground chamber on the right!】

Jin Chen found the chamber.

He entered the chamber.

After nearly tearing down the chamber.

Finally found the ancient print hiding the secret of the life-replacement worm.

Upon deciphering the print's secret, it turned out to be intricately linked to the blood worm mother whose blood had been drawn.

The living worm mother drinks human blood; the corpse worm mother gnaws dead human bones.

They originate from the worm king sealed in the amber coffin at the deepest part of the chamber.

The two worm mothers can breed nearly all the poisonous worms in the stronghold; they are replaced every two hundred years, born of the worm king. At each replacement, the stronghold falls into turmoil, and the worm king simultaneously selects newborns born alongside the worm mothers; when the worm mothers fully mature, the newborn happens to be twenty-five years old, inheriting all the lore of witchcraft and wormcraft, and can also control the worm mothers.

Jin Chen flipped through the high priest's handwritten records and discovered that the chosen one was Jin Que.

Unfortunately, Jin Que has been frail since childhood; no one can guarantee he'll live to adulthood.

Thus the elders, after discussion, finally turned their attention to his original body, which is a few years younger, planting a life-replacing gu to prolong Jin Que's life.

"Such a loss-making deal."

Jin Chen muttered, Jin Que will be twenty-five next year; by then he might recover, not to mention he could obtain some broken inheritance and control the mother gu.

He, on the other hand, has nothing, endures pain without complaint, and even has several years of his life taken away for nothing.

Who can tolerate that is a complete idiot.

Jin Chen crumpled the letter into a wrinkled ball, stuffed it back, stroked his chin and looked at the two bronze cauldrons, then gazed at the amber coffin entrance pressed under them.

Better let the Gu King make another choice.

He went over and took a glance at the two mother gu.

"... hiss."

It's so ugly, what's the use of controlling this thing? Maybe having this ability will still get him trapped in the Thousand Screen stronghold.

Jin Chen rejected that idea in just two seconds.

But we can't let Jin Que and those scheming elders get off easy.

Jin Chen picked up the bouncing Ling Gun Gun, met the two bean-like eyes of its dumpling shape, and said, "What do you think about holding a prize contest?"

"【Tell me in detail.】 Ling Gun Gun perked up its ears."