Chapter 216

Tafengcun isn't large, but there are plenty of women of marriageable age.

Moreover, this marriageable age range is hard to define; after all, my mother is almost fifty and she still got pregnant, didn't she?

Just thinking about my grandmother's belly also growing makes that scene… unbearable to watch.

Of course, the belly swells up overnight—this pregnancy appearance is obviously more sinister.

In the past, every child's birth in Tafengcun, although many were not full-term, at least followed the rule of "when the melon is ripe, the stem drops."

Now you don't even bother to pretend anymore?

If it were normal times, I would really want to go to Tafengcun to take a look.

But right now, I refused Hui Moqiong.

He was beating around the bush, nothing more than trying to send me away to buy time for Liu Junyan and them.

"There's nothing to see." I said, "Better hurry and take me to Liu Junyan's side."

Hui Moqiong still wanted to say something, struggling a bit, but I had already walked past him and moved forward.

He scratched his head, followed up, muttering: "I said Yingyingzi's mouth is unreliable, her heart is biased, she'll betray us sooner or later—see, I was right, wasn't I?"

"She's not favoring me; she thinks you're unreliable." I said, "You know Liu Junyan's situation better than anyone—if he really took this calamity for Du Chan, afterwards he'd only be trapped in the Dang Pu getting beaten."

"You came later, you haven't endured those extremely passive days that I and Qingying sister went through, nor have you personally witnessed Liu Junyan being shattered by heavenly thunder as he tried to break out of the Dang Pu; Qingying sister feels sorry for Liu Junyan."

"Fine, fine, you all feel sorry for him." Hui Moqiong complained, "But he also feels sorry for you, and you all gang up and shut outsiders out, right? I've been back this long, yet I'm still not accepted? Why is it always me who gets hurt, boo-hoo."

Hui Moqiong feigned agony and tears, making me instantly feel guilty.

I really misspoke just now.

I hurriedly apologized: "I didn't mean that, Fifth Lord—you've been working hard these past months, contributing the most; the Dang Pu can't do without anyone, especially you—you're the boss of the Five Blessings Immortals!"

Hui Moqiong's eyebrows immediately rose, somewhat proudly he said: "As the boss, it's normal to suffer some grievances—after all, one must set an example. Turn left ahead, the ground at the entrance sinks; watch your step."

While speaking, Hui Moqiong had already led me down into the cave.

Before entering the cave, I looked around and found that this black mist had already thinned; above the mound direction I had predicted, there actually hovered a faint red halo.

I narrowed my eyes to look closely and suddenly realized it was the light of the blood moon filtering through the black mist.

I withdrew my gaze and followed Hui Moqiong down into the cave.

The cave mouth is tiny, only enough for one person to walk in bent over.

The earthen steps kept descending, only ten or so meters, before a flat passageway appeared ahead.

After passing through the passageway and turning right, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a cavern of about sixty to seventy square meters, with Du Chan and Jiang Bin kneeling upright in the very center, in the same posture.

At that moment, both of their bodies were filled with black energy.

Jiang Bin's black energy was somewhat heavier, while Du Chan's black energy faintly showed a layer of blood light within.

Beside them stood a rack filled with various tools, bottles and jars, as well as some hair, animal hides, ores, and so on.

Next to the rack, Jiang Si Que was adding dark red stone powder into a round bowl, which already contained some paste-like substance; he added it bit by bit, stirring slowly, fully focused.

Liu Junyan initially kept his head down, watching Jiang Si Que's hand movements, occasionally asking a couple of questions; upon hearing the noise, he lifted his head and the first thing he saw was me.

His vertical pupils shrank sharply, then a fierce gaze shot toward Hui Moqiong.

Hui Moqiong shrugged helplessly, then crossed his arms and leaned against the cave wall, eyes fixed on the ceiling, an air of "not my problem."

Liu Junyan strode over to me, gripping my shoulders and said, "Xiao Jiu, you…"

"Don't try to persuade me, Liu Junyan—I came here and I won't leave." I said firmly, "I know what you want to do: choosing to expand Yin to help Du Chan bear the calamity is the right decision, but you picked the wrong person to bear it—no one is more suitable than me."

"No way!" Liu Junyan said decisively, "Xiao Jiu, don't mess around—you can't bear it."

"Anyone might not be able to bear it, but I will definitely bear it." I said, "After all, the innate curse was placed on me; the backlash that shouldn't have appeared also showed up unexpectedly, indicating that I have within me an factor that the Phoenix Lynx Shu cannot shake—through this opportunity, perhaps I can glimpse the secret hidden in my body."

Liu Junyan could not refute.

I pressed my advantage: "Let me do it, Liu Junyan—what looks like a crisis-ridden situation to you is, to me, a rare and precious opportunity; of course, I need you, and I need Fifth Lord to guard my back."

How dire the situation outside is, they know better than I do.

This underground cavern has remained undiscovered to this day, thanks to Hui Moqiong and his disciples and descendants.

But once the other side makes a move, our side will instantly be exposed, and a fierce battle is unavoidable.

Liu Junyan's fingers gripping my shoulders were unconsciously tightening; he couldn't make up his mind.

I said, "Ah Yan, do you really think using the ice silkworm is better than bearing the calamity through expanding Yin? If we have to choose one, I'd rather bear the calamity through expanding Yin."

The ice silkworm is like drinking poison to quench thirst—a dead end.

Although Xiaoye helps, we need dragon bone blood each month to suppress the ice silkworm's gu poison—how extravagant.

Unless absolutely necessary, I will never touch the ice silkworm.

"Seventh Lord, I'm ready." Jiang Si Que's voice suddenly interjected, "We can begin expanding Yin."

I turned my head to look at Jiang Si Que and said firmly, "I'll do it."

Jiang Si Que's eyes clearly flashed with joy; obviously, he also thought I was the better choice.

I pushed Liu Junyan aside and walked straight toward Jiang Si Que.

After I stood firm, Jiang Si Que held a silver needle and said, "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I need to take a drop of blood from your right middle finger."

I extended my finger without hesitation, and the next moment Liu Junyan grabbed it.

Liu Junyan stared at Jiang Si Que and asked, "When you spoke to me earlier, you didn't ask for my middle finger blood—why do you need Xiao Jiu's now?"

Jiang Si Que said, "Seventh Lord, choosing you to bear the calamity through expanding Yin is a reluctant move—it's using your fate to suppress the Du sisters' fates; whereas Xiao Jiu Zhanggui's fate matches Du Chan's, choosing her to bear the calamity through expanding Yin is to replace Du Chan's fate with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui's, which can immediately rescue Du Chan—the two are not comparable."

In other words, at the moment the expanding Yin succeeds, I will temporarily become Du Chan.

Doing this, even when the other side first makes a move, they won't notice that the person has been switched.

This is naturally what Jiang Si Que hopes for, and also what we most want to see.

The later we are discovered, the greater our chances of victory…