Chapter 154 Escaping the Wolf's Den, Only to Enter the Tiger's Lair

"I hope he's alright," Lin Yanghao sighed, a tinge of self-reproach in his heart.

Yet, there was little that could be done. Returning was fraught with peril, and if his guess was correct, the Pill Sect had likely already planted spies in that area.

Before long, Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi arrived outside the stone gate.

At this moment, the surroundings were utterly desolate. Where was there even a trace of Zeng Quan?

"He's not here. Could something have happened to him?" Lin Yanghao asked anxiously.

"Perhaps he assumed you weren't coming out and left ahead of time? Think about it, you were gone for so long; he couldn't possibly just stand here waiting for you indefinitely, could he?" Gu Shi comforted him from the side.

"Let's hope so." Naturally, Lin Yanghao hoped things were just as Gu Shi suggested.

"We should leave quickly. The entire Thousand Saints Marsh is crawling with the Pill Sect's lackeys right now. Even though we've changed our appearances, great danger still looms," Gu Shi warned. He cherished his newly acquired human body immensely.

Ever since obtaining this human vessel, though he had lost his previous cultivation base, Gu Shi felt not a shred of disappointment.

For Gu Shi, this was a blessing in disguise.

As it turned out, Gu Shi had accidentally stumbled upon a miraculous cultivation manual during his lifetime, but with his lifespan nearing its end, he simply lacked the time to practice it. Even if he succeeded, it would have been meaningless.

After all, he was already a dying man.

Yet now, he had been granted a new lease on life. Was this not an opportunity bestowed upon him by the heavens?

If not now, when?

Of course, that was only one reason.

There was an even more crucial reason why Gu Shi did not mourn the loss of his cultivation.

Since ancient times, zombies had been an abomination to heaven and earth. Thus, when a zombie crossed the threshold into the realm of the Hou and underwent its heavenly tribulation, the ordeal was unimaginably harrowing.

No one had ever witnessed the true might of a Hou facing its heavenly tribulation.

Because since antiquity, not a single zombie had ever successfully ascended.

Without exception, every last one of them perished beneath the heavenly tribulation, their very souls scattered to the winds.

Gu Shi had never harbored any illusions about ascension; his frantic cultivation had merely been an attempt to eke out a longer lifespan.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to leave the Thousand Saints Marsh anytime soon," Lin Yanghao said, shaking his head.

"Why?" Gu Shi could not fathom why Lin Yanghao would say such a thing. The Thousand Saints Marsh was not some treacherous wasteland—why wouldn't they be able to leave?

"Think about it. Those damned people from the Pill Sect must have locked down the entire Thousand Saints Marsh by now. Stepping outside right now would be no different from walking right into a trap," Lin Yanghao explained.

"Then what are we supposed to do? We can't just sit here and wait to die!"

"Don't panic, I have a plan. I previously discovered a very secluded spot here in the Thousand Saints Marsh. Why don't we go hide out there for a while?" Lin Yanghao suddenly remembered the place where he had acquired the purple wisteria.

Located in a remote corner, it was indeed an ideal hiding place.

"What you say makes sense. We can take this opportunity to cultivate, steadily improve our strength, and wait for the storm outside to blow over before venturing out." Gu Shi also felt Lin Yanghao's idea was sound. It would provide the perfect environment for him to practice that miraculous cultivation manual.

...

"Is this the place?" Gu Shi looked around. It certainly was a secluded spot; without someone to guide the way, it would be virtually impossible to discover.

"Yes, let's go in," Lin Yanghao said, leading Gu Shi inside.

"What the hell!" The moment he stepped into the cave, Lin Yanghao was dumbstruck.

The turn of events was far too abrupt and completely unexpected.

Lin Yanghao had never anticipated this.

"What kind of ghost place is this? Why did you lead me here?!" Gu Shi gasped, instantly freezing in utter shock.

The cave was densely packed with various spirit beasts—the very same ones he had fought previously!

"How was I supposed to know?" Lin Yanghao had never expected these spirit beasts to still be lingering here. Now, leaving was out of the question, but staying seemed even worse. They were caught in an impossible dilemma.

If they tried to leave, the spirit beasts would undoubtedly give chase, placing them at a severe disadvantage. But staying put was hardly any better.

It truly was escaping the wolf's den only to stumble into the tiger's lair...

"Roar, roar, roar~" The spirit beasts let out low growls, clearly having recognized Lin Yanghao.

Without a second thought, they lunged straight toward him.

Lin Yanghao was seized with terror. Against so many spirit beasts, wasn't certain death the only outcome?

"Bing Xiao, come on out! You're all spirit beasts, so I'll leave it to you to have a heartfelt chat with them." At this critical juncture, Lin Yanghao summoned Bing Xiao out from the spirit beast pouch.

Due to various prior circumstances, he hadn't paid attention to Bing Xiao for quite some time. Strangely enough, despite all this time passing, Bing Xiao hadn't made a fuss about coming out either—which was utterly out of character.

"What are you doing?! Do you have any idea that you've interrupted my cultivation? At least give a heads-up before releasing me!" Bing Xiao was caught completely off guard by the sudden summons.

He had no idea what kind of situation he was currently facing.

"There's an emergency right now," Lin Yanghao offered an apologetic smile. So this fellow had been meditating and cultivating all this time.

No wonder there had been no word from him.

It seemed the saying "cultivation knows no passage of time" was entirely true.

Meanwhile, Gu Shi stood off to the side, looking at the creature that had seemingly dropped out of thin air with a blank expression of utter bewilderment.

A spirit beast?

A spirit beast that could speak?

A superior-grade spirit beast!

Unsurprisingly, Gu Shi also mistook Bing Xiao for a superior-grade spirit beast.

At the same time, he found Lin Yanghao increasingly unfathomable. To him, Lin Yanghao was a riddle, an unresolvable mystery.

Up to this point, Lin Yanghao had revealed far too many secrets—so many that they were impossible to count.

He found himself less and less capable of seeing through Lin Yanghao.

He silently thanked his past self for not pushing things with Lin Yanghao; otherwise, who knew what other trump cards the boy still possessed?

If Lin Yanghao had unleashed Bing Xiao back then, Gu Shi wouldn't have dared to guarantee victory. After all, the combat prowess of spirit beasts was formidable.

Yet, were these all of Lin Yanghao's tricks? Gu Shi had witnessed everything with his own eyes, and Lin Yanghao's methods were endless.

He would pull out one trick today and unveil another tomorrow.

Was he some sort of favored illegitimate child of the heavens, with every good thing in the world falling into his lap?

Gu Shi grumbled inwardly.

Initially, he had resigned himself to death, but now it seemed perhaps Lin Yanghao might actually have a way to resolve this mess?

"I knew it, nothing good ever comes of me coming out. You're trying to get me killed—how am I supposed to beat all of them?!" Bing Xiao wailed miserably.

"You're all of the same kind. Go on, figure out what's going on with them." Lin Yanghao's only remaining hope rested on Bing Xiao.

Whether it would work came down entirely to luck.

Though the odds of Bing Xiao losing were quite high.

"You're overthinking it. They don't care about kinship."