Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 298 Cold Mountain Treasure Vault, The Figure in the Painting (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

By the end of January, the atmosphere in Chang'an had become even more oppressive. Previously, due to the ghost story, many people had spread rumors, which led to the government's iron-fisted crackdown. At the same time, the court and government were in a state of high alert, and they would suspect any slight movement as being targeted.

As the ceremony for establishing the heir apparent drew closer, the atmosphere of extreme paranoia became even more pronounced. Every day, countless people were arrested and investigated, and constables and patrolling soldiers could be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys, meaning that one could be investigated at any moment if they went out.

Even Gu Mo was affected.

He wasn't oppressed by the atmosphere, but rather by the combined pressure from Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou.

Because the two of them begged Gu Mo for help.

Because of the two of them, they have been so busy lately that they have barely had time to rest. This is not only because of the Crown Prince Ceremony, but also because they still haven't found the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault. The poisonous pearl left behind by the Plague God is still threatening the safety of Chang'an City at all times.

Unfortunately, this matter has made no progress.

With the ceremony for establishing the heir apparent just around the corner, the two were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Because they all knew that the poison bead was being manipulated by someone, they were afraid that Qi Miaoxuan, who was hiding in the shadows, would suddenly decide to detonate the poison bead, which would bring a great disaster to the entire city of Chang'an.

Even if they were to transfer the civil and military officials, the morale of the people of Qian would be shaken, and the subsequent consequences would be the destruction of the entire Qian Kingdom, not to mention the establishment of the crown prince ceremony.

If a ghost story can be used to spread rumors that the Crown Prince is immoral, then if a large-scale plague breaks out, rumors will likely spread that the Crown Prince is so wicked that even the heavens can't stand it and have sent down divine punishment.

Gu Mo possesses a poisonous bead, which is inherited from the same lineage.

Gu Mo also said that one could try to sense another poisonous bead using the same aura.

However, it will take time.

It was in this urgent situation that

The day has come to the first day of the second lunar month.

With only one day left until the ceremony to establish the heir apparent, Su Ziyou was so anxious that he didn't sleep all night because he learned from Ye Jinglan and Gu Mo that Qi Miaoxuan was an immortal who had lived for over a thousand years.

Therefore, in his analysis,
Qi Miaoxuan's thoughts had long since deviated from any purposeful pursuit, and were now purely dull and boring, with the aim of entertaining the masses. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this person was very likely to detonate the poison pearl on the day of the crown prince's coronation ceremony.

In that case, the mysterious legends that can be created will stir up even greater storms.

The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. Before dawn, he went to Ye Jinglan's house and found Ye Jinglan, who was also too worried to sleep.

Both of them looked listless, especially Su Ziyou, who looked as if all his yang energy had been drained. Ye Jinglan, on the other hand, was only under great mental pressure and did not feel anything physically. With his cultivation level, he could go without sleep for ten days or half a month without any effect.

"Brother Gu, how is it? Have you come up with a solution?"

As soon as Gu Mo got out of bed, he was blocked at the door by Su Ziyou and Ye Jinglan.

Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, Gu Mo shrugged helplessly and said, "There's no indication of anything. If I'm not mistaken, that old codger Qi Miaoxuan must have been prepared and placed a restriction beforehand. If it takes a while, I can find it, but in the short term, I still say the same thing: you'd better find a way to find those eight treasure maps."

Su Ziyou said in a deep voice, "The duration is fine, but we are worried that Qi Miaoxuan might deliberately detonate the poison pearl during tomorrow's crown prince ceremony in order to make things more fun. If that happens, it will be troublesome."

Gu Mo nodded slightly. He naturally knew that if the poison bead were detonated during the Crown Prince Ceremony, or even in the near future, it would still cause a plague, even if he was there to control the damage as much as possible.

At that time, if the State of Chu takes advantage of the situation and sends people to spread rumors that the Crown Prince has committed wrongdoings, the people's hearts will surely crumble and the foundation of the state will be shaken.

just,

Gu Mo also expressed that he was unable to help.

If Qi Miaoxuan really intends to cause trouble tomorrow, even he can't stop him. Not to mention that Qi Miaoxuan is trying to hide and he can't find her, even if Qi Miaoxuan doesn't hide, he doesn't have absolute confidence in defeating her.

Ye Jinglan sat down on the stone steps at the door and said, "I have been doing my best to investigate those eight treasure maps. I already had one, and I have specific clues about the other seven. Four of them are in Ye Chen's hands. I'm not worried about these four. As long as you ask, Brother Gu, Ye Chen will definitely give them to you."

The most important ones are the other three, which came from the Yue Kingdom, the Northern Zhou Kingdom, and the Later Qin Kingdom, respectively. However, just when I finally found out who possessed the treasure maps in these three kingdoms, and we were about to arrange for someone to intercept them, someone else beat us to it.

Gu Mo asked, "Can't we find out who did it?"

"We can't find it, it's too mysterious." Ye Jinglan said, "Originally, the three people who possessed the treasure map from the three kingdoms of Northern Zhou, Yue, and Later Qin were all experts, all of them were grandmasters."

Just yesterday, at almost the same time, the three of them were attacked one by one. There was no ambush; it was a fair and square fight, and each time it was one-on-one. They easily defeated the three grandmasters and took the treasure map.

Most importantly, the three people who stole the treasure map were actually three women, and they all seemed quite young. Even more absurdly, they vanished right there in Chang'an City, thanks to the combined efforts of the Imperial City Guard, the Six Doors, and the Night Division. They left no trace, as if three peerless masters had suddenly sprung from the ground.

Gu Mo asked doubtfully, "It can't be that bad. If someone can defeat a grandmaster, they must be a grandmaster themselves. People can disguise themselves, but their martial arts skills must leave some trace, right?"

Ye Jinglan shook his head and said, "We can't discern any style of martial arts from these three. Moreover, they all disappeared by blending into the crowd within the encirclement. If it was just a disguise, they probably wouldn't have been able to escape so easily."

Gu Mo said, "In short, we have absolutely no leads right now."

Ye Jinglan nodded and said, "If we can find out which faction those three experts who intercepted the treasure map came from, then things will be much easier."

For a moment, all three of them fell silent.

Ye Jinglan's investigation has run out of leads, Gu Mo can't find the poison bead in a short time, and Su Ziyou doesn't have any good solutions either.

After a while,

Gu Mo patted Ye Jinglan on the shoulder and said, "Brother Ye, do your best and leave the rest to fate. There are many unsolvable problems in this world. Not all problems have answers. If you have done your best and still can't solve it, then you can't be blamed."

Su Ziyou shook his head and said, "Brother Ye, Brother Gu is right. If we can't find the best answer, then we can only settle for second best and make the mistake even smaller. If there's really no way to stop the poison bead from erupting, then we can only try to minimize the impact. That's also a kind of victory!"

Ye Jinglan looked up at the sky with a helpless expression, sighed deeply, and said, "We can only ask God for help..."

Before Ye Jinglan could finish speaking, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his view. It was Ye Chen, whom he hadn't seen for several days. Without saying hello, he used his lightness skill to fly in and was now standing on the wall.

Since returning from the clay figurine shop that day, Ye Chen has been recuperating. Although he was not seriously injured that day, being pulled into the mirror had greatly depleted his energy and spirit. Coupled with the shock of the incident at the brothel, he was listless and had been sleeping at the Honglu Temple for several days without leaving the premises.

At this moment, Ye Chen stood on the wall, smugly fiddling with his hair, and said in a very flamboyant manner, "I, Ye Chen, the chosen one, am back again. Big brother, Ye Jinglan, have you missed me?"

Ye Jinglan pursed her lips and said, "What, you went to visit free brothels again?"

Ye Chen's face stiffened instantly, and he recalled the very unpleasant experience from that day, saying, "Can you please not bring up things that are hard to talk about?"

Ye Chen flew down from the wall with a speechless expression and cupped his hands in greeting to Su Ziyou.

He had met Su Ziyou at the clay figurine shop that day, and they could be considered acquaintances, though not close. Therefore, they still needed to observe proper etiquette.

Su Ziyou returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

Gu Mo asked with a smile, "Why didn't you use the main gate? What kind of nonsense is it to climb over the wall?"

Ye Chen chuckled and said, "Big brother, I'm a江湖人 (jianghu person), okay? A江湖人 should have the demeanor of a江湖人."

"Watch out or someone might break your legs!" Gu Mo joked.

Ye Chen waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, there aren't many people in the world who can break my legs. I'm not that unlucky!"

Gu Mo smiled. Although Ye Chen's words sounded a bit pretentious, there were indeed not many people who could beat Ye Chen. After all, he was ranked third on the Chu Kingdom's Heavenly Ranking and was definitely a top-tier expert below the top ten in the world.

Moreover, considering Ye Chen's unique destiny and fortune, even if he encountered one of the top ten masters in the world, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat him.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Gu Mo asked.

Ye Chen said with a grin, "I just came to pay my respects to you, big brother. Oh, and by the way, big brother, do you want the treasure vault?"

"The Cold Mountain Treasure Vault?" Gu Mo asked in confusion.

Ye Chen said, "Yes, it's the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault that's been causing quite a stir in the martial arts world lately!"

Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou exchanged a glance.

They had previously investigated and knew that Ye Chen possessed half of the treasure map. They were planning to ask Gu Mo to ask Ye Chen for the remaining three treasure maps after finding them, but unexpectedly, Ye Chen took the initiative to bring it up himself.

It's just a pity,

Those three pictures have lost their clues.

Gu Mo said, "I heard that you have four treasure maps, but they are useless. You need all eight treasure maps to find the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault."

Ye Chen chuckled and said, "Big brother, your information is outdated. I don't just have four treasure maps, I have seven. Isn't the other one in your Qian Kingdom's palace? Go ask the emperor for it, and you'll have all the treasure maps."

Upon hearing this, Ye Jinglan, Su Ziyou, and Gu Mo all showed surprise.

Ye Jinglan quickly asked, "Were those three mysterious experts from yesterday your men?"

Ye Chen looked bewildered and asked, "What mysterious expert?"

"You don't know?" Ye Jinglan asked in confusion, "Yesterday, the three experts from the Later Qin, Northern Zhou, and Yue kingdoms who possessed the treasure maps had their treasure maps stolen by three mysterious people. If you didn't do it, how did the treasure maps end up in your hands?"

Ye Chen asked in surprise, "There's such a thing? I didn't know that. I've been lying in the Honglu Temple for several days. Yesterday I felt much better, so I went out for some fresh air."

I had just stepped out and was about to buy two skewers of candied hawthorn on a street when, for no apparent reason, a pretty girl walking past me reached out and touched me.

With my martial arts skills, I was sure I could dodge it, but I felt that such a beautiful girl wouldn't touch me for no reason. She must be trying to steal money. She's so beautiful, she wouldn't steal money for no reason. She must have her reasons. So I didn't dodge.

I swear, I really didn't have any other intentions. I just felt that I couldn't let such a beautiful girl go astray. I thought I would let her steal my money, and then I would follow her to see what was wrong with her. I would never use her situation to force her to do anything. I just thought that such a beautiful girl should be touched by love.

But to my surprise, the girl didn't steal my money; she simply wanted to touch me and even left a piece of paper in my pocket. She must have been attracted by my handsome appearance and extraordinary charm, but, being a young lady, she was always reserved and found it difficult to express herself, so she must have written a letter to ask me out…”

Ye Jinglan pursed her lips and said, "You don't need to describe the process you've imagined to us. Just get to the point."

Ye Chen said, "When I took out the paper, I found it was a piece of parchment the size of my palm. I recognize this thing; it's the treasure map of the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault. It's not fake; it's real. I had four of them before, and I can tell them apart."

I immediately thought that the girl must have been too excited and accidentally mixed up the letter inviting me with the treasure map, then handed it to the wrong person. So I hurriedly chased after her, but the girl simply turned around and disappeared.

I searched for ages, chased after him across two streets, but couldn't find him. I could only lament that we were destined to meet but not to be together, since the treasure map didn't leave an address for us to meet. However, someone as handsome as me, even if I miss out on a wonderful relationship, I'll immediately find another one.

Just when I was feeling down, I met the second girl in the crowd. Our eyes met amidst the throng, and at that moment, we both knew that we were the soulmates we had been searching for.

However, the young lady remained reserved. She lowered her head shyly, pretending to brush past me, and then secretly slipped a token of their love into my arms…

Ye Jinglan's lips twitched as he said, "It's not another treasure map, is it?"

“That’s right,” Ye Chen said. “I didn’t expect the second girl to be so careless as to give the wrong token of love.”

So I chased after him again, but I failed again. I was even more frustrated and upset. Two beautiful opportunities had slipped through my fingers due to unforeseen circumstances. Was it because I was handsome that I had to suffer this torment in love?

Perhaps God heard my heart's desire, for at the turn of the corner, I encountered my third destiny. The girl was passionate and ran towards me, throwing herself straight into my arms.

I held her in my arms, and she leaned against me. We walked around the alley two and a half times. Then, she left shyly. However, even though she was very shy, she still remembered to leave me a token when she left. However, this girl was a bit careless and gave me the wrong token, stuffing a treasure map into my arms!
I've missed another love, another destiny. This wretched fate, why must a handsome man like me suffer so much hardship on my path to love!

While talking,

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, his face filled with sorrow.

Gu Mo: “…”

Ye Jinglan remained silent, only clenching her fists tightly.

Su Ziyou gently patted Ye Jinglan's shoulder and whispered, "Never mind, he's your God!"

Ye Jinglan: "..."

He was indeed praying to God for protection, and then Ye Chen appeared.

“Brother,” Ye Chen said, “I waited at the Honglu Temple all night, but those three girls couldn’t find me. I knew then that I must have missed these three chance encounters.”

While talking,

He took out three parchments from his pocket and said, "Although these three love affairs ended without a trace, these three tokens are witnesses and have great commemorative significance, commemorating my lost love. I'm giving them to you!"

Gu Mo pursed his lips and said, "A perfectly good treasure map, but after you said that, I suddenly feel like it's been desecrated, even dirty!"

Ye Jinglan quickly asked, "Where are your other four?"

"I gave them away," Ye Chen said. "But don't panic. I remember those drawings very clearly. I can draw them out anytime without any errors. As for the last one, you'll have to figure that out yourselves."

“No problem,” Ye Jinglan said quickly, “I’ll go to the palace to get it right now.”

Immediately, Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou hurriedly went out.

As they left the Ye residence, Su Ziyou asked doubtfully, "Brother Ye, do you think there's something wrong with this Ye Chen? He must know the value of this treasure map, yet he just gave it to Brother Gu for nothing."
"I heard you mention Ye Chen acknowledging Brother Gu as his elder brother a while ago. He thought Brother Gu was a jinx to him, so theoretically, shouldn't he be keeping his distance now? Why is he going to such lengths to get close? Surely Ye Chen wouldn't really become Brother Gu's underling just because of a few words back then?"

Ye Jinglan said with a smile, "Brother Su, you don't cultivate, so you don't understand. Although Ye Chen can't be considered a cunning old fox, he is still a smart man."

At first, he swore allegiance to Brother Gu because he was terrified by his bad luck and grasped at straws. But after the clay figure incident, he was definitely willing to be the younger brother.

"Why?" Su Ziyou asked, puzzled.

Ye Jinglan said, "Because the higher one's martial arts skills, the more one can understand Brother Gu's unfathomable depths. If there is really a problem with the Great Sun Demon Art that Ye Chen is cultivating, then when the problem erupts, the only person in the entire world who can help him is Brother Gu!"

……

at the same time,

In the Qi Prince's mansion in Chang'an, Prince Li Zhongyi was raging in his study, with ink, brushes, paper, and inkstones scattered all over the floor. In front of him stood three beautiful women.

If Ye Chen were here, he would definitely recognize that these three women were the three girls he had met yesterday.

"Three useless people!"

Li Zhongyi pointed at the three women and yelled, "Three of you, all fooled by the same person! Are you all pig-brains?"

The three women remained silent, enduring the scolding in silence.

Li Zhongyi grew angrier the more he thought about it. Just then, the door suddenly opened, and a young woman appeared in the doorway. Her temperament was otherworldly, like that of an immortal. She was clearly very beautiful, with a graceful and curvaceous figure, but as a normal man, Li Zhongyi couldn't bring himself to have any impure thoughts. This was because the woman's aura was simply too holy.

This woman was none other than Xiaobai, who came from Penglai Island.

The moment Li Zhongyi saw the woman, his anger vanished, and he quickly bowed and said, "Fairy Bai, what brings you here?"

Xiao Bai calmly said, "I was just wandering around when I heard you throwing a tantrum, so I came to see if anything had happened."

Li Zhongyi pointed at the three women with their heads down and said, "It's all because of those three. Yesterday, we sent the three of them to intercept the treasure map of the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault. They had already succeeded, but in the end, all three of them were tricked out of the treasure map by the same person, and all their efforts were in vain."

Xiao Bai was puzzled and asked, "What's going on?"

These three women were three experts she trained using Bai Yujing's abilities after arriving in Chang'an. Their thinking was only different from that of normal people, lacking only emotions. Although their martial arts skills were not comparable to top-level grandmasters, they far surpassed ordinary grandmasters, and their ability to handle affairs was not weak.

“You tell me yourselves!” Li Zhongyi shouted angrily.

The first woman said, "When I took the treasure map, I was chased and surrounded by the Imperial City Guard. Although I lost my human skin mask, the Imperial City Guard was not easy to fool, and Ye Jinglan was also there. In desperation, I could only transfer the treasure map to other people to avoid being searched."

At that time, I happened to see a simpleton, a man in his twenties or thirties, still drooling over candied hawthorns. I thought I'd put the treasure map on him; he probably wouldn't realize he had something extra for a day or two. I never imagined he would be the famous, destined man of the martial arts world, Ye Chen.

The second woman then said, "I was in a similar situation. Wang Zhengge of the Six Doors personally tracked me down, and I also decided to move the treasure map out. Just then, I saw someone grinning at me like an idiot, and I thought he was the perfect candidate. I never expected it to be Ye Chen."

The third woman said, "Me too. I also thought he was an idiot. Ye Chen must have done it on purpose. He was so deceptive, just grinning like an idiot. He seemed very simple-minded. I thought if I put something on him, he wouldn't notice for a while, and I could easily take it back."

After listening, Xiao Bai looked bewildered and said, "Who is this Ye Chen? How could his methods be so sophisticated? He managed to manipulate the three of you all by himself. I'm afraid he has been secretly watching you all along, planning everything step by step. That's why there are so many coincidences. He didn't even have to lift a finger to get everything and didn't attract the attention of the court. This person is as cunning as a demon!"

Li Zhongyi said, "This person is the third best expert in Chu, known in the martial arts world as the Man of Destiny. He already possesses four treasure maps, out of a total of eight, and he now has seven!"

Xiao Bai, with an expression of certainty, said, "Your Highness, this shows that this person must be a master strategist who can win battles from afar. It's only natural that the three of them were deceived, so there's no need to punish them!"

Li Zhongyi felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Since you, Fairy, are pleading for them, then let it go."

Xiao Bai said, "Right now, the most important thing is to find a way to get the treasure map from Ye Chen. Since he has seven maps, he must be planning for the eighth. This man is incredibly cunning and can plan a hundred steps ahead. The eighth map will definitely be his. We can wait until he gets all the treasure maps and then take it down!"

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Li Zhongyi said. “Fairy, the eighth treasure map is in my father’s hands. This morning, when I found out that Ye Chen was the one who stole the treasure map yesterday, I actually planned to ambush him. However, I don’t know if it was a coincidence or if he had planned it in advance, but he went to Ye Jinglan’s residence early in the morning. Not long after, Ye Jinglan entered the palace. I suspect that he handed the treasure map to Ye Jinglan in order to cooperate with my father.”

Xiao Bai said, "It can't be a coincidence. Ye Chen is too smart. He sees things very clearly. As a Jianghu person, what he needs most in the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault is the martial arts inheritance inside, while what your father wants is definitely the wealth."

They each get what they need, so they can cooperate naturally and happily, without any conflict. They even gain your father's friendship—a win-win situation. This person is not only exceptionally intelligent but also very rational. Your Highness, this man must not be offended. If he is, he must be killed decisively!

Li Zhongyi said in a deep voice, "With Ye Chen's actions, he will not only receive the protection of the most powerful person in Chang'an City, but also the protection of Gu Mo, the number one expert in the world. No one in Chang'an City can touch him."

Xiao Bai asked in confusion, "Is Gu Mo also in Chang'an?"

"Yes." Li Zhongyi asked doubtfully, "Does the fairy know Gu Mo?"

"I know him, and we have a personal grudge," Xiao Bai said. "This person is truly the best in the world. I am no match for him now. Your Highness, since he is in the capital, let's abandon the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault. After the Crown Prince Establishment Ceremony tomorrow, let's leave the capital and head straight to our fiefdom. Let's not linger any longer!"

Li Zhongyi was greatly shocked; he was utterly astonished by the extraordinary abilities of the White Fairy before him.

Last year, this fairy suddenly approached him seeking cooperation, claiming to be an overseas terrestrial deity who needed to assist a person with a python destiny to ascend to the throne and become a celestial being by transforming into a dragon.

At first, he scoffed at her, only making contact with her because of her extraordinary demeanor. But after getting to know her, he was quickly impressed by her magical abilities. The most direct example was his three maids, who were originally ordinary people, but after being trained by her for only a month, they all became top-notch experts.

Can,
Now, this fairy maiden, who is no different from a celestial being in his eyes, is actually afraid of Gu Mo.

He knew that Gu Mo was very powerful, the best in the world, and could even ignore the army, but he always felt that although Gu Mo was the best in the world, he was definitely not as good as a fairy like Bai Xiangu.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

“Fairy Maiden,” Li Zhongyi asked doubtfully, “is Gu Mo that powerful? Are you an immortal?”

Xiao Bai said, "I came to this mortal realm from the Earthly Immortal Realm to undergo tribulation. Many of my skills cannot be used in a short time. I need to adapt. At most, in a year, Gu Mo will be no match for me!"

Li Zhongyi suddenly understood and felt relieved. He said, "I am relieved to hear what you said, Fairy. What I am most worried about is that I will be intercepted by Gu Mo when I raise an army. He has a very good relationship with Ye Jinglan, Zhuo Qingfeng, Su Ziyou and other people in the Second Brother's faction. If I raise an army, he will definitely help the Second Brother, and he can almost ignore the army."

Xiao Bai waved his hand and said, "No need to worry. Once we reach your fiefdom, I will give you many martial arts manuals. You can recruit talented people and don't be stingy with money and manuals. I can then train countless masters for you."

Li Zhongyi was excited. Pointing at the three women, he said, "Is it like training these three women?"

Xiaobai nodded.

For her, training ordinary masters is very simple. Bai Yujing has many quick-learning martial arts techniques in her inventory. The simplest one is the ordinary and complete Taotie Divine Skill, which can directly absorb the internal energy of others for one's own use.

Then, after killing someone, she can extract their primordial spirit, cleanse it with Bai Yujing's abilities, retaining only their martial will and basic consciousness, and then find a matching body to fuse with, thus obtaining a master with strong martial will and internal strength.

Although these cultivated ones are no different from puppets, they are far inferior to the people on Penglai Island who could cultivate and grow autonomously. Although the ones she creates now have consciousness, they are injected with it and can only operate according to a fixed consciousness, unable to grow.

However, it doesn't matter for beginners.

The path she is taking now is different from that of the first and second island lords. The first and second island lords took the elite route, and each of the primordial spirits they collected was the best of its time, and then each primordial spirit was allowed to develop freely.

But she is different. She takes an inclusive approach, integrating all consciousnesses into one, and then, with the help of the power of the nation and the world, she pushes her will to a higher level.

The original first and second island lords did not understand the subtle uses of human power, but she did, so she wanted to support Li Zhongyi to become emperor.

……

Chang'an City, Ye Mansion.

Ye Jinglan quickly found the last treasure map in the palace. Then, combined with the four treasure maps drawn by Ye Chen, the complete treasure map of Hanshan Treasure Vault was revealed.

When put together, it's not a map, but a poem.

After Su Ziyou deciphered the clues, the location of the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault was quickly pinpointed to a lake in Chang'an City.

Immediately, Ye Jinglan mobilized the Imperial City Guard troops to surround the entire lake area.

Gu Mo stood on the shore, his fingertips tracing the cool ripples on the lake's surface. His inner force quietly probed into the lakebed. After a moment, he looked up at Ye Jinglan: "There are fluctuations in the formation at the bottom of the lake. It should be the entrance."

Ye Jinglan could no longer contain himself. He immediately gave Su Ziyou some instructions and asked Su Ziyou to take command of the Imperial City Guard. Then he plunged into the lake.

Then, Ye Chen and Gu Mo exchanged a glance, gathered their strength, and stepped onto the water, their figures disappearing into the blue waves like arrows.

Deep in the lake, undercurrents swayed the aquatic plants. A faint light rose from Gu Mo's palm, breaking through the murky water and lifting up the silt that was two zhang deep. On the rock wall at the bottom of the lake, half of a Bagua diagram was carved, which was the confirmation of "Qian Gua hidden in water" in the poem of the treasure map.

Ye Chen clung to the rock wall, his fingertips poking randomly in the grooves of the divination symbols. Suddenly, with a "click," a crack appeared in the rock wall, letting out a faint green light.

The three filed in, and then the stone slabs closed, isolating them from the lake water.

The passage was slippery and narrow, but it opened up suddenly at the end—a dungeon made of white jade came into view. The dome was inlaid with luminous pearls, illuminating the room with dazzling gold and silver. Among the piles of treasures and jade artifacts, there were ancient sword boxes and silk scrolls scattered around, which was the true face of the Cold Mountain Treasure Vault.

"found it!"

Ye Jinglan's gaze sharpened as he pointed to the black iron altar in the center of the underground palace.

Above the altar, a jet-black bead floated and spun, swirling with wisps of black energy. It was the same poisonous bead left behind by the Plague God, exactly the same as the one in Gu Mo's hand.

Gu Mo had a deep understanding of the poison bead, so he immediately stepped forward, condensed a pale golden aura at his fingertips, and carefully removed the poison bead like tweezers, causing the black aura to instantly recede.

"Something's not right!" Gu Mo suddenly said.

Ye Jinglan asked疑惑地问道, "Something's not right?"

Gu Mo said, "When I was outside, I could clearly feel that there was a special restriction in this underground palace that blocked my senses, but it's gone now. If there wasn't a restriction, I wouldn't have been able to tamper with this poison bead for so many days without being able to sense it."

Ye Jinglan said in a deep voice, "The construction of this underground palace is not very sophisticated. Without the restrictions, it would not be able to be hidden so well. However, these restrictions should be connected to the formation of this underground palace. If we look around, we should be able to find something."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "Qi Miaoxuan is no ordinary person. If his restrictions are not dealt with, there will inevitably be future troubles. If we let those soldiers outside come in to move the valuables, they may encounter irresistible dangers."

Ye Jinglan nodded repeatedly and said, "We must search carefully."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen knew it wouldn't do. He had been experiencing a mix of bad luck and good fortune lately, and the so-called restrictions here were so important even to Gu Mo, indicating a high level of danger. He didn't want to repeat the mistakes he made at the clay figurine shop.

Immediately, Ye Chen said, "Big brother, you and Ye Jinglan can search. I won't get involved. My luck is sometimes good and sometimes bad, so I don't want to hold you back!"

Gu Mo understood Ye Chen's predicament, so he nodded and said, "Then just find a place to rest. There are many treasures here. See if there's anything you like that you can pick and take back."

"That sounds good, hehe!"

Immediately, Ye Chen happily opened the boxes and began selecting items, while Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan used their internal energy to probe into the cracks in the stone wall, searching for the hidden restriction hub.

Ye Chen was worried about encountering bad luck, so he deliberately avoided things like the magic array on the wall and specifically chose to look for treasures in the large boxes in the middle. Just as he opened the third box, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an old scroll painting rolled up in the golden light.

He blew the dust off the painting, unfolded it, and saw a woman in a colorful long dress. Her eyebrows and eyes were smiling, like peach blossoms moistened by the morning dew. Her eyes seemed to hold the shadows of a starry river, and her lips were naturally red without any makeup. When the corners of her lips were slightly curved, it seemed as if honey was about to flow out.

Her long, colorful dress shimmered with light, and the cloud patterns embroidered with gold thread appeared and disappeared with her movements. Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and the jade ornaments adorning her hair swayed gently. With every gesture, she seemed to have crushed the spring light all around her.

"Wow, this is truly beautiful!" Ye Chen exclaimed in amazement, his fingers unconsciously tracing the hem of the woman's skirt in the painting. "If only she were real, she's so gorgeous..."

Before the words were even finished, the corners of the woman's mouth in the painting actually curved upwards, revealing a smile.

Ye Chen exclaimed, "You look even more beautiful when you smile..."

Huh? He laughed!
Oh my god, it's me again!

Ye Chen's expression changed, and he exclaimed, "Big Brother..."

At that moment,

A glint flashed in the woman's eyes in the painting, and Ye Chen suddenly froze.

At this moment, Gu Mo heard Ye Chen's shout and hurriedly came over, asking, "What's wrong?"

Ye Chen scratched his head, pointed to the book in his hand, and asked cheekily, "Big brother, isn't it pretty?"

Gu Mo: "??"

At this moment, Ye Jinglan was also drawn over by Ye Chen's shout, thinking that he had made some discovery, and then he heard Ye Chen's question.

Ye Jinglan said speechlessly, "Is that all you're asking?"

"I want this painting."

Ye Jinglan retorted, "What, are you going to take him back to sleep with you?"

"Ah."

Ye Jinglan: "??"

(End of this chapter)