Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Ye Kunlun reclaimed the remaining businesses that rightfully belonged to his branch of the Ye family.
Ye Yuansen, however, seemed like a defeated man, paying no attention to Ye Kunlun's actions and allowing him to suppress the Ye family's enterprises.
"Young Master, the call Ye Yuansen made three days ago has been traced."
Wudao entered Ye Kunlun's study and reported to him.
"Where did the call come from?" Ye Kunlun put down the book he was reading and looked up at Wudao.
"Jingdu."
Wudao's expression turned solemn. He had been extremely surprised when he received this information, never expecting the call to be from Jingdu.
Ye Kunlun narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.
After a moment, he chuckled, "Ye Yuansen has quite the nerve, to have connections in Jingdu. I truly underestimated him."
Ye Kunlun tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
"Have you identified the owner of the phone?" Ye Kunlun continued to ask.
Wudao shook his head, a hint of fear in his voice, "Your subordinate is incompetent. I could only trace the call's origin; all other information has been erased."
"Then we'll investigate slowly."
Ye Kunlun's gaze turned cold. "Now that old fox Ye Yuansen has shown his hand, we'll surely find him by following the clues. I have plenty of time to play this game with him."
Upon hearing this, Wudao remained silent. He would unconditionally execute any command Ye Kunlun gave.
Ye Kunlun added, "No matter who it is, they are surely connected to the events of ten years ago."
"Since Ye Yuansen called him, it must be because he's been pushed into a corner by me."
Ye Kunlun had crippled several of the Ye family's businesses, the banks were urgently demanding repayment, and Ye Hao and Ye Hui had also been incapacitated.
Ye Yuansen truly had no way to deal with Ye Kunlun.
As long as Ye Kunlun pressured him a little more, he was bound to reveal more of his secrets.
"Young Master, three days ago, Ye Yuansen visited the Lingzhu Temple on Mount Dazhu."
Hearing this, Ye Kunlun showed a hint of surprise.
He had met Ye Yuansen three days prior, and it was likely that Ye Yuansen had returned from Lingzhu Temple to his company.
Wudao continued, "I heard that the Lingzhu Temple is quite efficacious, and many residents of Qingcheng go there to offer incense and seek fortune on the first and fifteenth of each month."
Ye Kunlun let out a cold laugh. "This Lingzhu Temple is rather interesting. Ye Yuansen was probably seeking salvation."
Ye Kunlun recalled the Gu he had killed, the Corpse-Nourishing Gu.
At that time, he had tried to track the Gu's aura, and it had disappeared in the direction of Mount Lingzhu.
Thinking back now, it seemed to have some connection to Lingzhu Temple.
Seeing that the sky outside had darkened,
Ye Kunlun said, "Keep a close watch on him."
"Your subordinate understands."
—
After nightfall, Ye Kunlun left Purple Maple Villa and headed northwest of Qingcheng.
In every city, there is always a place where all sorts of people converge.
The northwest of Qingcheng had such a place.
Lame Guanyin Alley was known as the 'Black Market.'
Ye Kunlun's purpose for coming here was to find the Corpse-Nourishing Gu.
This was because the black pill that Ye Hao had fed to Yun Chuxue had originated from this place.
Entering the Black Market from the city felt like stepping into another world.
Dilapidated buildings were everywhere, and foul sewage flowed in the trenches.
It was hard to imagine that such a place, where "filth is accumulated," still existed within a modern, bustling city.
The Black Market was far livelier than Ye Kunlun had anticipated.
Stalls and vendors filled the narrow alleys, displaying all sorts of strange items, with shouts and calls echoing from all directions.
Ye Kunlun walked casually, stopping at various stalls to search for something.
Before long, he stopped at another stall.
It was a stall selling folk medicine, manned by a gaunt middle-aged man with hair like weeds.
Before him were porcelain bottles of various colors, some containing pills, some medicinal herbs, and others poisonous insects.
The stall owner's eyes lit up when he saw Ye Kunlun stop, and he quickly asked, "Young man, what do you need? Rest assured, the folk medicine here can cure any illness, guaranteed to be effective."
Ye Kunlun smiled. "Who can't brag?"
"Young man, you don't believe me?"
The stall owner also laughed. "I'm not bragging, but any difficult ailments within ten miles of Lame Guanyin are solved by the folk medicine here."
Ye Kunlun smiled, but a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes as he saw a jade-green beetle inside a transparent bottle.
Ye Kunlun picked up the bottle and examined it.
"Young man, this is an extremely rare Green-Winged Immortal," the stall owner said promptly when he saw Ye Kunlun examining it.
Indeed, the beetle in Ye Kunlun's hand was the Green-Winged Immortal, the main ingredient for refining the Spirit-Breaking Pill. He hadn't expected to find it so soon after arriving at the Black Market.
Ye Kunlun asked, "Then tell me about the effects of this Green-Winged Immortal."
The stall owner looked surprised at his question. "Young man, you're trying to corner me. The Green-Winged Immortal is produced in the desert regions of the Northwest, and is extremely rare along the coast."
Ye Kunlun stared at the Green-Winged Immortal in the porcelain bottle, not responding.
Seeing this, the stall owner continued, "The Green-Winged Immortal, when taken with hot wine, can treat hernias. One is enough."
"I'll take this one," Ye Kunlun said, putting away the Green-Winged Immortal. "And, I'll take this one too."
Saying that, Ye Kunlun picked up a white porcelain bottle next to it.
When the stall owner saw this, his expression became somewhat strange. "Young man, this stuff is potent. You're young, you probably won't need it."
"I naturally know its potency. What I want to know is where you got these pills from."
Ye Kunlun's smile vanished, and he stared at the stall owner.
The pills in the porcelain bottle were exactly the same kind that Ye Hao had fed to Yun Chuxue.
Furthermore, after scanning them with his divine sense, he found that each pill contained a Corpse-Nourishing Gu the size of a sesame seed.
Corpse-Nourishing Gu normally remain in a dormant state, but they awaken once swallowed or exposed to blood.
"This, young man... you're making things difficult for me," the stall owner's face changed slightly. "This is the Black Market."
"I know this is the Black Market, but do you know that after taking this medicine, the Corpse-Nourishing Gu inside will drain one's vital blood and marrow?"
Ye Kunlun's gaze turned cold, and he released a sliver of his aura. "I believe if someone dies from your medicine, you won't be able to escape responsibility, will you?"
"You, don't talk nonsense," the stall owner was indeed startled by Ye Kunlun's words.
"I only started selling this medicine this month. I've sold four pills in total, and I've never heard of anyone dying."
The stall owner quickly explained.
"That means the recipient hasn't used it yet, or the Corpse-Nourishing Gu hasn't received instructions," Ye Kunlun snorted. "I'll give you a chance. Tell me where this came from."
The stall owner swallowed hard. "You, what you just said is true?"
Ye Kunlun snorted, took out a pill, and gently crushed it, revealing the dormant Corpse-Nourishing Gu.
The stall owner's face contorted at this sight.
Especially the faint stench emanating from the Corpse-Nourishing Gu made his stomach churn.
"This item, I obtained it from the alchemy room of Lingzhu Temple on Mount Dazhu."
"Lingzhu Temple provides free pills and talismans to visitors on the first and fifteenth of every month. How, how could there be such a malicious thing?"
The stall owner spilled out the origin of the pills, fearing that he would be implicated in a murder case.
A sharp gleam flickered in Ye Kunlun's eyes. The result was exactly as he had thought.
The Corpse-Nourishing Gu came from Lingzhu Temple!
He let out a cold laugh and said with a chilling voice, "It's just a disguise for ugliness!"