The sage was determined to die.

Yan Ming's eyes widened. Faced with such unfounded slander, he almost instinctively wanted to refute it.

But Gongsun Yang patted him on the shoulder, stopping him from saying anything more.

"Brother Yan, what exactly is in the river?"

Gongsun Yang narrowed his eyes, his face showing a fox-like scrutiny, but in reality, he had no idea what to expect.

Ji Bai, this irresponsible director, left the scripts completely blank, with only four words on the flyleaf: "Improve it yourself."

Fortunately, the person in front of him was a much worse actor.

Seeing that Yan Ming didn't respond for a moment, he continued, "It's okay, I'll go and see for myself."

"You..." Yan Ming made a move to stop him, "Don't go..."

The two of them chatted like they were going through a procedure, exchanging words back and forth. They weren't exactly in sync, but they could still manage to spout some random nonsense.

Yan Ming did not stop Gongsun Yang. Gongsun Yang even gave everyone a provocative smile and then jumped into the river in a curved line.

Such a crude operation once stunned everyone.

Before these people could even react, someone else had already gone through the process.

For a moment, even those who had never been in the river before began to hesitate.

Are these two acting or not? What about them?

To go or not to go?

A few breaths later, Gongsun Yang thrashed about, drenched in sweat, and crawled out of the shore, clutching something tightly in his hand. His facial features seemed to twitch from excessive excitement.

Seeing everyone's gaze turn towards him, he instinctively tried to hide what he was holding, a subtle action that naturally didn't fool anyone.

As Gongsun Yang climbed ashore, he shouted, "Gentlemen, something's definitely wrong with this river. There are many corpses down there; it's a trap."

Before he could finish speaking, two or three more figures rushed toward the riverbank.

Compared to others, their biggest advantage is their sharp eyesight; they won't mistake that fleeting glint of light, as it's highly likely to be a fragment of Wenxin.

Although such fragments have almost no chance of becoming literary masterpieces, they are still extremely valuable.

……

Ji Bai was like a handsome mermaid, blowing bubbles and humming a song in the river.

When Gongsun Yang came down alone, he was a little surprised and asked, "Just you alone?"

Gongsun Yang was not surprised to see Ji Bai, but he was somewhat amazed by the other's lung capacity, which allowed him to stay in the water for so long.

"The other fish," Gongsun Yang said, using a more appropriate term, "should swim over later."

Ji Bai hummed a song, nodded, and asked him, "Are you afraid of pain?"

Gongsun Yang was taken aback, not expecting the other party to ask this question.

The next second, a pale yellow crystal flew towards him. He instinctively grabbed it, and then he could no longer control his expression.

Fortunately, the devil is fair.

Ji Bai hummed that melody, which was very strange and didn't sound like a song at all. In this eerie environment, the melody seemed to pierce their ears.

If anyone speaks, Ji Bai will tell them that this is the devil's trill.

"You are very lucky."

Ji Bai appeared gentle on the surface, but in reality, he spoke like a devil, each word treading on the painful notes of everyone.

"As long as you can endure the pain, you are qualified to obtain this literary heart..."

As soon as everyone came down, Ji Bai-fa tossed each of them a tiny, pale yellow crystal, like a flyer. Now, everyone was petrified and in excruciating pain.

Seeing this, Ji Bai simply smiled and said, "The more pain you experience, the greater the chance of obtaining the literary heart."

Upon hearing this, for some reason, the wails of the crowd grew even louder, as if they were in a competition.