The improved female villains regained their memories.

He witnessed them kill young girls, using their blood to increase their demonic energy. The statues weren't just for show; after each sacrifice, they would release demonic energy into the statues for the person who made the sacrifice.

The answer is quite simple: Xiang Liushi did not die.

Not only was it not dead, but judging from the fact that it could promptly transmit demonic energy, it was not even asleep.

Where is it?

Did Yu the Great not kill it?

What is it plotting?

This discovery was too important. Yang Pingsheng gathered the intelligence, wrote down the map of the secret passage, and prepared to leave.

However, to everyone's surprise, one person suddenly stood out from among the slaves.

It is Wang Jingxing.

She cursed at the group of witch gods: "You bastards who oppress the good and kind, today I will settle your score with you!"

-------------

Where did this guy come from?

Yang Pingsheng didn't have time to think further. The moment she appeared, he knew things were going to go wrong.

As expected, the witch gods activated a switch, and the secret passage deformed, revealing all the powerful witch gods hidden in the shadows, who then attacked Wang Jingxing.

The air was thick with demonic energy. Wang Jingxing was equipped with magical artifacts, few of which could suppress the demonic energy, so he was forced to retreat steadily. Yang Ping gritted his teeth in anger, but he couldn't just leave like that.

The terrain changed, and his escape route was cut off.

boom!

Chaotic demonic energy filled the secret passage. With a loud bang, Wang Jingxing's protective magic artifact shattered, and half of his body was contaminated with poisonous miasma. He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

The witch gods cautiously gathered around, and when they found she was not moving, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Yang Pingsheng, without hesitation, suddenly attacked and killed. With a whoosh, the long knife sliced ​​open the head of the nearest witch god.

The surrounding earth churned, like a living creature, devouring the gathered shaman gods.

He rushed over, grabbed Wang Jingxing's hand, and suddenly unleashed a spatial killing move.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Fusu's room.

Fusu was engrossed in handling state affairs when he suddenly heard a thud. Looking up, he saw two people fall to the ground.

Both he and Meng Ying, who was hiding in the shadows, were startled. Meng Ying appeared and immediately drew his sword, but was stopped by Fusu.

"Wait, this person looks like it."

Upon seeing that it was Yang Pingsheng, he was greatly surprised and tried to help him up: "Pingsheng, you..."

"Don't come any closer!"

Yang Pingsheng shouted loudly, sealing off the space around himself and Wang Jingxing.

He raised his hand and found that his entire arm had turned black.

"Senior brother, Wang Jingxing is also in Baiyue for some reason. She's second senior brother's sister, and I rescued her along with him," Yang Pingsheng said, forcing himself to speak. "The intelligence is in my possession. I'm poisoned now. Senior brother, please go find an antidote quickly. Don't touch me until you find one, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness.

At the moment he unleashed his spatial killing move, a sorcerer struck him in the back, poisoning him as well.

-------------

It is cold and damp.

What Baiyue used was less poison and more the cold and domineering demonic energy of the Xiangliu clan.

When Yang Pingsheng regained consciousness, he found himself lying in bed, surrounded by layers of arrays. Outside the gatehouse, he could vaguely hear the conversation between Fusu, Zhou Jinyu, and Li Zhujun.

"How could you treat our junior brother like this?" It was Zhou Jinyu's angry voice: "Senior Brother, our junior brother is like this because he accepted your mission. What do you mean by saying this now? Second Brother, don't forget that your sister was saved by our junior brother. You would rather give that thing to your sister than use even a fraction of it for our junior brother?"

"Junior sister, calm down first." Fu Su's voice rang out: "I don't mean to give up on Ping Sheng, but you saw his condition. It's the demonic energy of the Xiang Liu clan. Even the Guardian Heaven Sect can't do anything about it."

“Yes, Junior Sister.” Li Zhujun’s voice followed, “Junior Brother and my sister are in different situations. My sister is only poisoned, while Junior Brother is poisoned by the Yin energy of the Xiang Liu Clan. Even if my thing can be used by Junior Brother, his physique cannot use it. Don’t forget what Junior Brother’s talent is.”

bump!

That was the sound of banging on the door.

Zhou Jinyu's voice was almost an angry outburst: "Hypocritical and hypocritical, Fusu, Li Zhujun, I really misjudged you two. I always thought that you, Fusu, were wise gentlemen, and that you, Li Zhujun, had a kind heart. But now it seems that you are no different from those villains."

The voice turned icy after the outburst: "What do you take Pingsheng for? You use him when he's useful, and discard him when he's not. You try to exploit him, and when you need something from him, you deceive him with your feelings. Now look at him like this, and you all stand aside. Heh, it's truly disheartening."

"Junior sister, that's not what I meant."

"Junior sister, you..."

The two wanted to say something more, but Zhou Jinyu didn't want to listen to their nonsense.

She shooed them away, then creaked open the door.

The dark spot on his arm felt incredibly heavy, as if he were submerged in murky mud. Yang Pingsheng struggled to lift his heavy eyelids and weakly saw the figure slowly approaching.

Then, she took his hand.

"Junior brother, I'm here."

Is it an illusion, or reality?

He saw the man holding his hand, smiling as tears streamed down his face.

-------------

In the darkness of unconsciousness, he seemed to see Ye Buxin again.

He saw her dancing, he saw her reading, he saw her sitting in the pavilion, gazing at the moon with a lonely expression.

However, when he woke up in a daze, he saw Zhou Jinyu's face.

He thought he was still dreaming, but when Zhou Jinyu's tears dripped onto his hand, he knew it wasn't a dream.

He was infected by the demonic aura of Xiang Liu, and it was Zhou Jinyu who took care of him without hesitation.

Her face was pale, and she looked much thinner. Because she wasn't dressed up, she looked listless.

Even so, she still managed a forced smile when she saw Yang Pingsheng wake up: "Junior brother is awake. Would you like something to eat?"

Yang Pingsheng moved his lips, and after a long pause, finally uttered a sound: "Intelligence..."

Zhou Jinyu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Junior brother, don't worry, Senior Brother has taken the intelligence. Your efforts have not been in vain."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face again.

"But at least think about yourself, you idiot."

-------------

Xiang Liu's demonic aura was exceptionally domineering. For the next six months, Yang Pingsheng remained bedridden, cared for by Zhou Jinyu.

She tried various methods to find many miraculous medicines and unorthodox remedies to continuously weaken Xiang Liu's demonic aura.

During this time, both Li Zhujun and Fusu came to see him. The former was turned away by Zhou Jinyu, while the latter simply gave him a cold shoulder.

Fusu sat on the edge of the bed and said to Yang Pingsheng, "The message you delivered was very useful. Father King was also very happy and bestowed many magical artifacts and elixirs upon you."

He paused, glanced at Zhou Jinyu who had a cold face beside him, and carefully said, "And your second senior brother, he is also very grateful to you for saving his sister."

Yang Pingsheng found it difficult to speak, so he simply remained silent and nodded.

But he wanted to ask about Fusu Yebuxin's condition, but Zhou Jinyu interrupted him: "Alright, senior brother, you can go now. I need to alleviate Pingsheng's demonic energy."

Fusu smiled helplessly, then, as if remembering something, sighed deeply before saying, "Alright, junior brother, I'll come see you again next time."

There are many things that he cannot change, even if he wants to.

He loathed the power of fate that he held more than ever before, because he had no control over anything.

-------------

To help Yang Pingsheng recover, she brought him back to the mansion in the capital.

She delegated all the tasks Fusu had entrusted to her to her subordinates, and personally took care of Yang Pingsheng, never leaving his side.

She refused many people's visits, clinging tightly to Yang Pingsheng, even during holidays and New Year's, it was always just her and Yang Pingsheng.

Another six months passed, and Yang Pingsheng's body gradually recovered. Although the demonic aura of the Xiangliu clan on his body had not been removed, it no longer affected his walking, talking, or using spiritual energy.

With Zhou Jinyu around, he felt much more comfortable. To keep him from getting bored, Zhou Jinyu even found many novels for him to read.

Knowing that he was worried about Ye Buxin, she would tell him about Ye Buxin's treatment plan whenever she wanted.

“Junior brother, just rest and recuperate here with me. Junior sister has senior brother on her side, so don’t worry.” She always said this.

-------------

Time marches on relentlessly.

It is as ruthless as fate; no matter what you do, it stubbornly moves forward.

Ye Buxin fell into a deep sleep, while Yang Pingsheng recuperated.

In this long year, fate no longer favored these disciples of the Ghost Valley School.

Unseen changes are taking place.

-------------

Zhou Jinyu brought Yang Pingsheng the latest intelligence.

For some reason, the First Emperor's attitude suddenly changed. He no longer summoned Fusu and even reprimanded him for his poor performance in court. He then began to rely more heavily on Li Si and others.

Most importantly, Zhou Jinyu's informant discovered that Li Si had been getting very close to Zhao Gao recently, and both of them intended to support Huhai, to the point that the incompetent man was showing signs of challenging Fusu's authority.

The situation in the court became even more unpredictable. Nangong Qingyang's side was gaining more power, while Fusu, with Yang Pingsheng's incident and Zhou Jinyu's lack of effort, showed signs of decline.

Besides these, there was another thing that troubled Yang Pingsheng the most.

Instead of secretly having Fusu search for resources for cultivating immortality, the First Emperor publicly asked everyone in the court to help him find such resources.

He wanted to live forever.

-------------

Yang Pingsheng was trapped by the demonic energy of the Xiangliu clan. Although he could still move around normally, this period of time was short, and he had to stay in bed for most of the day.