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Chapter 449: Another Visit to the Deep Pool of Dreams

Chu Liang and Second Madam Gu had made an agreement. Once the case that Chu Liang was investigating was resolved, he would take her into the mountains to search for Gu Qingyuan. Chu Liang only vaguely remembered the location of the Deep Pool of Dreams, but he was confident they could find it with some careful searching.

Upon returning to the inn, Chu Liang told Yan Qihu, "I've learned that there is one survivor who entered the hidden realm with them, a man named Xue Ziyang. We need to find him quickly, or he might meet the same fate as the others once night falls."

Hearing that, Yan Qihu wasted no time in leading the group straight to the location that Second Madam Gu had provided—Xue Ziyang's residence.

Xue Ziyang was a well-known scholar in Kaoshan City. He ran a free private school, where he taught children from impoverished families. It had earned him the nickname Master Ziyang among the townspeople.

Xue Ziyang wasn't in the business of escorting people into the mountains, so it was unclear why he had participated this time.

When Chu Liang's group arrived at Xue Ziyang's school, they found the gates locked and the place deserted.

Just then, a neighbor happened to walk by, and Chu Liang stepped toward him to inquire about the situation. "Brother, do you know where Mr. Xue might have gone?"

"Oh, you mean Master Ziyang?" the neighbor responded warmly with a big smile. "I have no idea."

Chu Liang remarked inwardly, Why are you so happy if you don't know...?

"But my child goes to his school, and from what I've heard..." the neighbor continued, "Master Ziyang seems to have run into some major trouble. He rarely cancels classes, and whenever he does leave, he always gives a return date. But this time, he said he doesn't know when he'll be back..."

Chu Liang asked, "Did he leave in the past couple of days?"

"Yes, just yesterday," the neighbor answered. "He took a day off, then he came back and taught for one day before leaving indefinitely. Haaa,

Master Ziyang is such a good person; I hope nothing bad happens to him."

"Thank you."

He then turned back to discuss with the group from the Great Astral Sect.

Chu Liang speculated, "The first time he left was likely to join the expedition into the hidden realm. The second time must have been because he panicked after hearing about the deaths of the other three. At this point, he's probably seeking refuge somewhere."

Ji Lingyu chimed in, "Before we arrived, I asked the City Supervisory Division about him. Xue Ziyang studied under Wei Lang, a renowned scholar from the Noblemen's Hall in Jiangnan."

"Then it's highly likely he's returned to the Noblemen's Hall," Chu Liang guessed.

Yan Qihu said decisively, "Let's head over and look for him there."

...

The Noblemen's Hall was located in the Misty Rain Pavilion in Jiangnan, and it was not far from the Southern Regions. This was why when trouble occurred at the South Mountain Academy, Song Qingyi[1] had gone over to resolve it.

Chu Liang's group traveled swiftly and soon arrived at the Misty Rain Pavilion.

It had been a long time since the Noblemen's Hall expanded. They were no longer contained in just one ancient building; instead, they occupied numerous pavilions and towers scattered across the mountainside. The Misty Rain Pavilion was relegated to being a place of symbolic significance, only used for the ceremony to formally acknowledge their disciples as new distinguished scholars—Confucian masters—and inscribe their names in the pavilion.

Unlike large immortal sects with many disciples, the Noblemen's Hall housed only a few resident Confucian masters and their remaining disciples.

The Noblemen's Hall was quite empty most of the time, but when trouble arose, the Confucian masters whose names had been inscribed in the Noblemen's Hall and even Confucian masters belonging to other Confucian halls across the land would all lend a helping hand. Their influence should never be underestimated.

Yan Qihu held a high status in the Great Astral Sect, so the moment he introduced himself at the Noblemen's Hall, a disciple emerged and respectfully led them inside. A short while later, a Confucian master came out to greet them.

The Confucian master wore a loose robe with wide sleeves. Though his hair was white and his face aged, he was broad-shouldered and he had a glowing complexion with a healthy amount of red in his cheeks. It was clear at a glance that he was brimming with vital energy.

The Confucian master cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Wei Lang. I hear you've come looking for my disciple?"

"Mr. Wei," Yan Qihu replied politely and quickly explained why he and his group were there. "We wish to find out which hidden realm your disciple and his companions ventured into and what they encountered there."

"Haaa..." Wei Lang sighed. "My disciple hasn't been in a good condition since his return. I'll take you to see him."

He led the group to a room in the rear courtyard. Upon opening the room's door, they saw a middle-aged scholar lying on a bed with his upper body bare. He appeared haggard and weak. There were talismans all over his body and dozens of steel needles embedded in his head.

"He returned yesterday, saying he had encountered danger and hoped to avoid disaster by staying here," Wei Lang explained. "But at nightfall, he became violent and went berserk. There was even demonic qi seeping from within his body. I had no choice but to suppress him and put him into a deep sleep."

"Mr. Wei, did a blood moon appear over the Noblemen's Hall last night?" Chu Liang asked.

Wei Lang shook his head. "No, we didn't see anything like that."

Chu Liang nodded slightly.

It seemed the blood moon's influence was limited to the area around Kaoshan City, most likely because the source was in the Southern Bastion Mountain. The further away the target was, the less they were affected... though only to a certain extent.

Judging from Xue Ziyang's current state, it was likely he would have met a tragic end last night if Wei Liang had not intervened.

"To save him, we need to find out exactly what they encountered. Could you wake Mr. Xue?" Chu Liang asked.

Wei Lang hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. "Very well."

With a gentle wave of his hand, a faint blue light seeped from the talismans and steel needles, instantly releasing the seals on Xue Ziyang.

"Aaaaahhhhh!!!" Xue Ziyang screamed, jerking upright!

He gasped for breath for quite a while. With Wei Lang's help, Xue Ziyang finally calmed down. He still looked quite dazed, but he gradually returned to his normal self.

That was when Chu Liang and the others thought it was safe to begin questioning him.

"Esteemed Senior Xue, who exactly did you enter the Southern Bastion Mountain with that day? Which hidden realm did you explore, and what did you encounter?"

Xue Ziyang sighed deeply and said, "Haaa, it's a long story...

"I usually just teach in Kaoshan City and would never rashly venture into the Southern Bastion Mountain. But a few days ago, Chunyu Tu came to me. He told me that the precious herb I need to reach the pinnacle of the sixth realm seems to be in a hidden realm.

"It just so happened that there was a very wealthy woman from the Western Regions who was forming a group to venture into the Southern Bastion Mountain, so Chunyu Tu asked if I would like to join them."

So, it was about treasures of nature, after all, Chu Liang thought. Money might not buy happiness, but it sure helps you avoid a lot of trouble.

Xue Ziyang continued, "The others were all prominent cultivators from Kaoshan City, so I thought it wouldn't be a very challenging expedition and ended up agreeing to go with them.

"At first, the journey went smoothly. We passed through the Valley of Bewildering Fog, where many lingering spirits and Sickle Ghosts wandered, but they posed no real threat to us. Later, our path was even blocked by ghosts from the previous dynasty..."

"Hmm?" Chu Liang was a bit surprised. "Esteemed Senior, the place you went to... Is it the Deep Pool of Dreams that's at th e end of the Valley of Bewildering Fog?"

"That's right," Xue Ziyang confirmed. "Do you know of it?"

"I've been there as well..." Chu Liang said puzzledly, as he hadn't encountered the same situation as Xue Ziyang. "Beyond the Deep Pool of Dreams, isn't there a hidden realm that is filled with dense spiritual energy and has a palace on a mountain peak?"

"No..." Xue Ziyang shook his head. "After we passed through the Deep Pool of Dreams, we entered a gloomy ghost domain. It was a battlefield littered with piles of white bones and battered corpses."

Huh?

This description struck Chu Liang as rather strange.

He recalled the time he, Pushan, and Luo Yao had followed a diabolical cultivator through the Deep Pool of Dreams. The hidden realm they'd entered had been completely different from Xue Ziyang's account.

That hidden realm is probably the place where Gu Qingyan is trapped, which means it should be a place of lush mountains and serene waters, with palace halls and towers.

Xue Ziyang continued, "As soon as we entered, we knew something was wrong. We kept hearing a voice calling out, but we couldn't find the source... The further we went, the clearer it became, until finally, we heard the voice calling out the name of that woman!

"Her name is Caiyi."

1. The young lady that went undercover as a teacher at the South Mountain Academy in Book 1. Lin Bei’s book boy era. ☜