Ye Luan looked up at the sky, which was dark and blocked by ancient trees.
She looked at a stone statue in the center of the ground with a human head and a dragon body, pursed her lips slightly, dodged the surrounding guards, and headed inward.
The Myriad Gu Cave was too large, and after wandering for a long time, she accidentally broke into a hidden room.
But suddenly, a murderous intent came from behind her.
Ye Luan froze, turned around, and saw a tall figure fly out of the bath, wrap himself in a robe, and attack her.
The room was too dark for her to see the man's expression, so she quickly took out her knife and swung it back.
As the man approached, for some reason, his attacking force suddenly lessened, as if he were playing with her.
But Ye Luan was still no match, and the man grabbed her arm and threw her into the water.
The deep blue water instantly splashed up, drenching her whole body.
She immediately flipped over, grabbed the robe from the shelf to wrap herself, and mercilessly stabbed the attacker's heart with the knife in her hand.
But the man was too fast and grabbed her hand.
"Little girl, why are you wandering alone in the Myriad Gu Cave instead of staying in Wuzhong?"
Xie Beihan!
Ye Luan was startled and cursed the heavens.
How unlucky to run into him directly.
Xie Beihan chuckled, "Didn't I say I would take you to find that woman? What's the hurry?"
As he spoke, he walked to the table and lit the lamp.
The dim yellow firelight illuminated his sinister silhouette, accompanied by a familiar smile.
Seeing that it was indeed him, Ye Luan took a deep breath and remained silent.
"Since you're here, stay in the Myriad Gu Cave. It saves me the trouble of coming and going to see you."
Xie Beihan smiled and looked at her, his beautiful phoenix eyes carrying an unreadable expression.
Ye Luan said, "When will Your Majesty take me to see Mu Rou?"
"In two days."
Although Ye Luan remained in the Myriad Gu Cave, Xie Beihan suddenly sent people to guard her, and she was followed wherever she went.
However, during her time here, she did gather some information.
It was said that there was a forbidden area in the Myriad Gu Cave called the Sacred Land, where no living person could enter. It shone with the sun and moon and was protected by the Dragon God. It was an extremely terrifying place.
But the Sacred Tower was buried within the forbidden area, so the successive Saintesses could enter the forbidden area when entering the Sacred Tower.
Therefore, she had always suspected that Lan Murou was within the forbidden area.
Xie Beihan was very busy every day. It was rumored that the Great Liang army had attacked the Southern Xinjiang, and the border was in ruins.
But the Myriad Gu Cave was unaffected.
Ye Luan wanted to sneak into the Sacred Land but couldn't find an opportunity.
One day, she heard the sound of troops and horses outside, accompanied by the clash of swords, spears, and halberds.
She knew her chance had come.
The forbidden area was surrounded by蛊 worms, and almost no one had ever set foot there.
Ye Luan was extremely careful, but as she circled around, she was still accidentally bitten by a蛊 worm. Immediately, her hand became weak, and she felt discomfort all over her body.
But at this point, she had to enter the Sacred Land.
She crossed the difficult sandy terrain and headed towards the decaying and magnificent Dragon Building.
But after only a few steps, her head suddenly spun, her face instantly lost color, and she fell backward.
When she woke up again, she was in a room.
She had unbearable abdominal pain, and her arms were covered with terrifying red marks, spreading across her wrists in a strange and intertwined pattern.
Ye Luan looked at her hands in shock and quickly sat up.
Looking at her dense and terrifying arms, she almost cursed the heavens. What kind of ghost place was this, where even a flying insect could kill a person.
"How dare you go to the forbidden area alone, Ye Luan, are you tired of living!"
Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Xie Beihan strode in from outside, his face showing some displeasure.
Ye Luan pursed her lips, not daring to speak.
Xie Beihan walked closer with a murderous aura, pried open her mouth, and fed her a pill.
"Thank you."
"I'll pass on the verbal thanks. I want something more substantial."
Ye Luan: "----"
Xie Beihan snorted, looked at the red marks on her arm, and took out a knife.
"What are you going to do?"
"Extract the Gu for you. Do you want to give birth to a belly full of Gu worms?"
Xie Beihan sat on the edge of the bed, tore open her sleeve, and looked at her gruesome arm, tutting.
Ye Luan glanced at him disdainfully and turned her eyes away.
The cold blade pierced her skin, and Ye Luan frowned in pain, her arm trembling slightly.
Xie Beihan looked at her teasingly and chuckled, "So delicate?"
"Delicate?!"
Ye Luan wanted to retort, but the pain in her arm was too intense. She bit her lip tightly and endured it silently.
"If it hurts, bite me. I need to suck for a while."
Ye Luan struggled to spit out two words from between her teeth.
'No need.'
Xie Beihan scoffed, withdrew his hand, pressed her head onto his shoulder, and used a special Gu-sucking device from Southern Xinjiang to draw out the Gu worms.
After finishing, he applied medicine to the wound and bandaged it.
"I'm telling you, you guessed right. That woman is indeed in the forbidden area, but you can't get in alone. I'll take you in two days."
Ye Luan lowered her eyes. It seemed Xie Beihan intended to lure Tantai Ye into the Sacred Tower and kill him.
Should she remind Tantai Ye not to come, and wait for her to save him?
But she didn't know where Tantai Ye was, and if she told him, he would definitely rush in regardless of his life.
As the thought crossed her mind, her jaw was suddenly lifted with great force.
Her gaze immediately met his sinister eyes.
"Don't think about saving anyone. I must kill them."
Ye Luan remained silent, looking at him indifferently.
Xie Beihan sneered, "Isn't it good to follow me? What Xiao Chizhan can give you, I can also give you."
"Xie Beihan, he has no intention of taking Northern Qi or Southern Xinjiang. Why must you fight him to the death? Isn't it better to be kings of our own territories?"
Hearing this, Xie Beihan smiled, his cold fingertips stroking her jawline.
"Ye Luan, we are born enemies."
Ye Luan was slightly stunned. She wanted to say more, but looking at his eyes, she lowered her eyebrows and said nothing.
She couldn't change anyone.
Only one of them could live!
The Gu she was planted with, she didn't know what kind it was, it was extremely itchy and unbearable, especially the wound where the Gu worms were sucked out. It itched so much that she couldn't stop scratching.
For the past two days, Xie Beihan had been staying by her side, almost personally attending to her matters.
Ye Luan saw this and felt a sense of powerlessness in her heart.
Although the place she lived in was within the Myriad Gu Cave, it was far from the Twelve Cave Dwellings, and the places of discussion were not here either. She couldn't gather any useful information.
But she could now confirm that Xie Beihan wanted to use Murou to lure them all into the Sacred Tower and kill them with the strangeness there.
She wanted to send the news out, but there were too many people guarding her, and she couldn't find an opportunity.
One day, Xie Beihan was not around. Ye Luan took out the phoenix bone from under the twin rings, looked at it carefully, and walked to the window.
She didn't know if it would work, so she decided to try.
The environment around the Myriad Gu Cave was both dark and vibrant. From here, the area below was filled with misty poisonous miasma, like undulating hills.
She gazed into the distance for a moment, then brought the phoenix bone to her lips and began to play.
The sound of the bone flute was as clear and cold as water, with great penetration. But the flute's melody was lingering and long, imbued with a distinct tune.
She played for a while and then stopped.