Chapter 30

Speaking of this, Gui Bu Gui suddenly remembered something. He looked up at the back of the Chief Steward, blinked his eyes for a long time, and then said, "That's not right, this little guy's constitution shouldn't be suitable for the medicine, right? Even if my abilities are sealed, my judgment shouldn't be that off..."

"You haven't gone blind," Wu Mian turned his head to look at the old man and continued, "His constitution can't assimilate the medicinal power. Unless the Great Alchemist is present, taking the pill will be a death sentence for him."

Gui Bu Gui, who had lived for hundreds of years, instantly understood Wu Mian's meaning. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Actually, there are plenty of ways to kill him. There's no need to be so extravagant. Do you know how many rulers would trade their countries for this pill? Now you're using it as a bargaining chip. Have you considered how those rulers feel?" As he spoke, the old man's face turned red, as if he would try to snatch the pill if Wu Mian didn't change his mind.

Seeing Gui Bu Gui's expression, the corners of Wu Mian's mouth curled up into a rare smile. He held the pill in his palm and said to the old man, "Who said it's a bargaining chip? Whether it is or not, it's up to him."

Seeing the old man's puzzled expression, Wu Mian, somewhat impatient, said, "I'll give him the pill and explain the issue with his constitution and the medicine. But whether he takes it or not is up to him."

Hearing Wu Mian's words, Gui Bu Gui's expression became even more conflicted. "Can you change the game? Holding a pill of immortality and facing death, do you know what that feels like? If your fate is bad, you're dead either way. You go mad before you even die." Thinking of how he had taken the pill when he couldn't bear it anymore, Gui Bu Gui's expression became agitated.

Wu Mian glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, just as he was about to speak, he heard the Chief Steward shouting from the main altar, "Do you want to go around one more time?" Both of them looked in the direction of the voice and saw the Chief Steward standing at the edge of the altar, waving his hand and shouting, "If you want to go around in the opposite direction, you should have said so earlier! My lame leg can't hold out for long!"

"No need! Just stay where you are," Gui Bu Gui replied irritably. Although the old man had been agitated just now, it was only because he was reminded of his own past. It had nothing to do with the Chief Steward. However, seeing that the Chief Steward had already reached the center of the main altar and nothing unusual had happened, the old man's expression improved slightly.

While Gui Bu Gui was carefully examining the environment, Wu Mian had already left the side altar and walked towards the Chief Steward's position. Gui Bu Gui didn't stop him and followed behind, heading towards the Chief Steward.

Gui Bu Gui walked cautiously, but fortunately, Wu Mian, who was exhausted, couldn't walk fast either. The time it took for the two of them to reach the altar was not much faster than the Chief Steward, who had a good leg.

After the three met at the base of the altar, Wu Mian directly threw the wax pill to the Chief Steward, saying, "Here, you're lucky..." The Chief Steward was initially stunned upon catching the wax pill, but he quickly realized what it was. His eyes shifted from the wax pill to Wu Mian, and he almost shed tears, remembering the suffering he had endured for the pill of immortality. He wanted to say something polite, but he couldn't form coherent words and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Seeing the Chief Steward's state, Gui Bu Gui shook his head and muttered, "I thought it was a good thing. You'll have sleepless nights in the future."

After throwing the wax pill, Wu Mian ignored the Chief Steward. He slowly climbed the altar, walked around it, and then turned to Gui Bu Gui, saying, "Is the thing here?" The old man was also wandering around and replied, "How would I know? But given that old man's temperament, it's likely here. But who knows if he might have a change of heart and moved it to another altar..."

While Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui were aimlessly searching, the sobbing Chief Steward said, "The... thing... you're... looking for... is it... this... big... box?" He gestured with his hands to form a square box.

"That's it!" Before Wu Mian could speak, Gui Bu Gui said, "Xu Fu has something vital to his life, which he might have given to Wu Mian to balance him after breaking the seal." The size of the box the Chief Steward gestured was about right to fit that thing.

The Chief Steward, tightly holding the wax pill in one hand, pointed to a dried fruit offering platform at the base of the altar and said, "L-look... at... that..."

Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui looked in the direction the Chief Steward was pointing. On the platform, a lacquer box was casually placed. They exchanged a glance and ran towards the platform. Wu Mian, being closer, forgot about his exhaustion and used all his strength to reach the platform first, grabbing the lacquer box.

Before he could open the box, the temperature of the entire altar suddenly dropped. Wu Mian, Gui Bu Gui, and the Chief Steward all sensed something was wrong. As they looked around, a black shadow suddenly emerged from the ground behind the Chief Steward. The shadow held a weapon that was neither a knife nor a sword and silently swung it at the Chief Steward's head.

"Behind you..." Wu Mian shouted, and the Chief Steward understood. Just as he was about to run forward, a black light flashed, and the Chief Steward was split in two, falling to the ground.

The event happened in a split second. As soon as the Chief Steward was split in half, the shadow, as if wary of the splattered blood, quickly retreated several yards and then turned into a wisp of black smoke, seeping back into the ground at an incredible speed.

Although Wu Mian was a fangshi, he had no memory of this shadow. Shocked, he stared at the ground where the shadow had disappeared and shouted to Gui Bu Gui, who was nearby, "What does Xu Fu mean by this? Using such a tactic, does he want to give us the box or not?" He was so angry and surprised that he didn't bother with formalities and directly mentioned the Great Alchemist's name.

After Wu Mian spoke, Gui Bu Gui didn't reply. When Wu Mian looked up, he saw the old man had already climbed back onto the altar and was waving him over, saying, "Come up here. That was a water ghost. The lime and cinnabar under the altar prevent it from coming up!"

Wu Mian, not in the mood to argue, climbed the altar with the lacquer box. Upon reaching the top, he found that Gui Bu Gui had brought the Chief Steward's two halves of the body to the altar. The old man was squatting on the ground, searching through the body. As he searched, he muttered, "Not even a decent weapon, and you still call yourself a fangshi? You wasted your life, hiding so many peaches in your sleeves."

At that moment, black smoke began to rise from the ground below the altar. The smoke quickly gathered and reformed into the shadow's shape. The shadow circled the altar and then slowly walked towards the center.

Now, Wu Mian had nothing but the box in his hands. The dagger he had left on the side altar's array, and in his current state of near-exhaustion, even with a weapon, he had no chance of winning. He slowly backed away and shouted to Gui Bu Gui, "What do we do now? Do you have a way to deal with it?" The old man, behind Wu Mian, said, "Hold on, I'm thinking of what to do with these things."

Hearing Gui Bu Gui's tone, Wu Mian was about to turn around to see if the old man had run away when a sudden gust of wind came from behind him. A dagger flew past Wu Mian's hair towards the shadow. Just as the dagger was about to pierce the heart, the shadow suddenly turned into smoke and dispersed. After the dagger passed through, the smoke reformed into the shadow's shape, and it continued to walk towards Wu Mian and Gui Bu Gui calmly.