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The footprint looked new. When Ye Zichen’s group saw it, there was only a thin layer of snow coating it.
Given the rate at which the snow was falling, the footprint had to be recent.
“Ye-zi, are you saying…” Yang Jian stared at the footprint. Despite himself, his lips quivered and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. The footprint was just way too big.
It was over ten meters long and three meters wide.
“You’re not saying we should follow the footprints to find the flowers, are you?”
“Is there a problem with that?” Ye Zichen carefully hid his presence, then gestured for Gu Li and Yang Jian to do the same. “When we left, didn’t Venerate Spirit Treasure say that there was sure to be a vicious beast guarding the flowers? Look at this footprint! It seems likely to belong to a vicious guardian beast, don’t you think?”
The footprint did indeed seem to belong to a terrestrial vicious beast, but just thinking about it, its body…
Most likely wasn’t small.
Ye Zichen looked down at his feet, then at the footprint ahead of them. Extrapolating from that ratio, he could roughly imagine how massive the beast in question must be.
They gauged the beast’s direction from the footprint, then proceeded ahead, feeling around for traces of it hidden within the snow.
Just looking at the footprint made Yang Jian’s scalp go numb, but Ye Zichen and Gu Li were already forging ahead, and Yang Jian had the highest cultivation of the group. Besides, he didn’t want to watch the monkey draw his final breath. He had no choice but to force a grin and join his companions.
A hundred meters.
They traversed a full hundred meters before they finally found the beast’s next footprint.
“Do you smell…” Gu Li suddenly stopped, then stretched out his neck and flared his nostrils. Yang Jian and Ye Zichen naturally noticed the smell too. The icy winds carried a hint of a delicate fragrance. The smell was rather distinctive. It was a bit like a rose, but denser.
This concentration only made the smell even more pleasant. Yang Jian even went so far as to suck in a deep breath.
Ye Zichen, however, only took a brief sniff before saying, “It smells like medicine.”
“What medicine could be so fragrant? We’ve run into treasure, haven’t we?” Yang Jian sniffed the fragrant winds once more.
“We have indeed run into treasure,” said Gu Li. “A patch of Thousand Petal Lotuses…. what is that, if not a treasure?”
“A Thousand Petal Lotus Patch?” Yang Jian was stunned. In an instant, he went from enjoying the fragrance to tensing up. “Is this the smell of Thousand Petal Lotuses?”
“What do you think?” Gu Li snorted.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier!” Yang Jian glared hatefully at Gu Li, then waved his hands and erected a barrier. Then, he sat cross-legged, muttering, “I’m doomed! I’m doomed!”
He remembered what had happened to Pu Jingwan and the others. Even the monkey had looked as if he were suffering some sort of renal deficiency.
All of their symptoms were due to inhaling Thousand Petal Lotus pollen.
What was he doing just now?
He’s actually taken a deep breath to savor its fragrance!
His body’s spiritual power lingered in the air around him, and hot steam billowed out of his head.
“What are you doing?” Ye Zichen was somewhat baffled. “Don’t cause a disturbance. If the beast finds us before we even find the Worry-Alleviating Grass, then we all die here, they’re doomed!”
“If I don’t do this, I’ll be doomed!” cried out Yang Jian.
“Then you’re…”
“I’m expelling the poison!”
White smoke flowed out of Yang Jian’s head, and his pores were fully open. He was expelling all the Thousand Petal Lotus poison he’d just inhaled.
Yang Jian was really frantic. He was still young and healthy, in the prime of his life. If he suffered renal failure now, he might as well just keel over and be done with it!
“Don’t waste your power.” Gu Li glanced at the seated Yang Jian and snorted. “Thousand Lotus Flower pollen is a gas. So long as you inhale it, it’ll spread through your limbs and travel through your circulation to every part of your body. If you want to expel the poison, I’m afraid you’ll have to remake your physical body completely. You’ll have to sever and remake your meridians, too.”
“What are you saying?” When he heard that, Yang Jian practically lost his mind.
He’d only just calmed himself down. When he heard that, Yang Jian collapsed on the ground and stared into the sky, as if he’d lost the will to live…
Endless snowflakes drifted down. Without a barrier, they landed directly on his face.
Cold!
But although the snow was cold, it was nowhere near as cold as his heart.
It was over.
His future, all. his prospects, everything was going to end here.
Before long, he’d be just like the monkey. If he went into kidney failure, he could bid farewell to his current happiness.
“Ye-zi.”
Ye Zichen could tell at a glance that Yang Jian had lost the will to live, and it was immediately obvious what he was worried about. He forced himself to smile, then said seriously, “I’ll take good care of her for you.”
“Scram!” Yang Jian jumped to his feet. “Ye-zi, I’ve always treated you like a brother, but now you have your sights on my woman?”
“If you don’t want that to happen, you’d best take care of yourself,” said Ye Zichen.
Suddenly, Yang Jian drooped like a defrosted eggplant. He lowered his head and looked between his legs. “There’s no hope left.”
This time, Ye Zichen couldn’t help but laugh. When Yang Jian heard that, he was instantly furious. “Are you my bro or not?”
“Enough. Stop it with the self pity, alright? Venerate Spirit Treasure sent us to find Thousand Petal Lotuses and Worry-Alleviating Grass. When we get there, there’ll surely be even more pollen in the air, right? The three of us clearly have antibodies for the pollen, otherwise, we would have taken ill already,” said Ye Zichen.
Yang Jian suddenly blinked, then lit up with delight. “Are you saying…”
“Don’t worry about your lower body. Besides, even if you really did get sick, that wouldn’t be effective. We’ve wasted too much time with you already. Hurry up and quit goofing off. We have urgent business to attend to.”
The unearthly winds carried the lotuses’ delicate fragrance, which meant they were nearing their destination.
They’d come this far following the giant beast’s trail. They could be almost certain that it was the only beast guarding the flowers.
Of course, they couldn’t be absolutely certain, since they’d yet to actually see the lotuses.
“The smell is getting stronger.” Gu Li walked at the front of the pack. When he sensed the increasingly intense fragrance, he lit up with delight; he was desperate. An Lu was waiting for him to find the Worry-Alleviating Grass and save her.
Yang Jian and Ye Zichen nodded, their expressions increasingly tense.
They walked around another thousand meters forward….
The beast’s footprints had disappeared.
They’d come all this way by following the giant footprints. As for why they were so certain this would lead them to the Thousand Petal Lotuses, well, that was actually just a guess.
Following the footprints was at least better than wandering about randomly.
Besides, as they followed the footprints, the smell of lotuses really did intensify.
“The Thousand Petal Lotuses are definitely nearby.” Gu Li flared his nostrils and narrowed his eyes. At this point, the fragrance was so dense, it pricked at his nose. However, the icy winds were strong enough that he still couldn’t discern the flowers’ precise location.
His gaze swept over their surroundings. Actually, using his divine sense would be better, if not for the fact that using it might alert the beast that had left the giant footprints. Their goal was to find the grass as soon as possible. If they could do so without alerting its guardian, it would save them both time and trouble.
“Ol’ Yang, open your celestial eye and have a look.”
Given the raging blizzard, it was hard to use the naked eye to discern the flowers’ location. The Great Sage wasn’t present, and Ye Zichen wasn’t fully proficient with the Fiery Eyes of Truth. He could only entrust the mission of locating the Thousand Petal Lotuses to Yang Jian.
Yang Jian’s third eye opened, and he looked around.
“Look!” Yang Jian pointed down into the valley.
A plain stretched as far as the eye could see. It was completely covered in frost, and when they looked over, they saw nothing but ice and snow. There were no distinctive areas at all. However, if you looked closely, there was indeed a seemingly endless patch of white, crystalline lotuses hidden among the snow.
“Are those Thousand Petal Lotuses?” This was Ye Zichen’s first time seeing them, so he wasn’t quite certain.
But the delicate fragrance emanating from the base of the valley was indeed the same one they’d followed all this way.
While Ye Zichen hesitated, Gu Li jumped straight into the valley. At least, he tried to; Ye Zichen caught him and pulled him back.
“Are you insane? The giant beast’s footprints end here; the big lug is obviously down there. If you just jump on in, well, with your scrawny frame, you aren’t even big enough to get stuck between its teeth!”
Gu Li’s hair stood on end; he’d almost forgotten about the guardian beast.
Historically, he’d always carried out his plans with the utmost caution, but this time, An Lu’s life hung in the balance. This made it difficult for him to maintain a clear head.
They’d followed the beast’s footprints and the flowers’ delicate fragrances to find the Thousand Petal Lotuses. The beast’s footprints disappeared here, which meant that it was most likely lurking down in the valley.
As for why its footprints disappeared a thousand meters away from the lotus patch, it was likely active throughout the mountain range, and it had just left to see if there were any trespassers in its territory.
But logically speaking, if it were really that territorial, it should have noticed Ye Zichen’s group by now. They’d been here for quite some time.
“Ye Zichen, what should we do?” Gu Li was completely frantic. The Thousand Petal Lotus patch was right in front of them. He longed to go search for the Worry-Alleviating Grass as quickly as possible, then bring it back for An Lu.
He couldn’t calm down and make a rational judgment. All he could do was leave the planning up to Ye Zichen.
“Why are you asking me? I don’t know what to do either.” Ye Zichen shrugged. “Even if we plan, our plans can’t keep up with new developments. Besides, thus far, we’ve only seen the beast’s footprints. As for the rest…. We haven’t even seen its silhouette.”
“Then….”
“The beast is quite likely at the bottom of the valley. We have to acquire the grass growing beside the lotuses, so we must go down there. Our only possible strategy is…” Ye Zichen licked his lips, then looked into the lotus patch. “To figure it out as we go. Both of you, be careful. It would be best if we could avoid a fight, but if it comes down to a battle, don’t be afraid. Just go ahead and clobber it!”