Chapter 97

"Che, if you don't have money, why imitate others? Let's go, follow me."

The more contemptuous the other person's gaze, the more it indicated that he believed the two had already been reduced to poverty. Gu Xuyao's intention in letting Feng Changshan play three rounds was precisely to avoid arousing suspicion.

Seeing the other person fall for the trick so easily, Gu Xuyao secretly rejoiced and followed Feng Changshan as they walked out of the main hall with the cultivator.

"Brother, we are outsiders and also avid gamblers. It's our first time hearing about such a powerful gambling den in this Haili City. Who established it?"

Gambling dens are both hated and loved, and they generally exist in most cities. Even Meteor City had a gambling den, but compared to this "One Bet Clear," it was like a dog's den.

"Hmph, what do you know? Our master is a big shot. Have you heard of the Red Supervisor Hall? Our master has a connection with the Hall Master."

Gu Xuyao had long known about the Red, Yellow, and Blue Supervisor Halls, with the Red Supervisor Hall being the leader and the most powerful. Although the man's words might be somewhat exaggerated, since he dared to say this, the owner of One Bet Clear might indeed have some connection with the Red Supervisor Hall.

But at this point, Gu Xuyao had already offended a cultivator like Zhen Xuezi; why should he fear the Red Supervisor Hall?

"Is that so? No wonder the gambling den is so luxurious. I'm impressed, I'm impressed."

"Hehe, now you know, right? Let me tell you, this is just a branch opened by our master. The main den is in Red Lion City, where the Red Supervisor Hall is located."

Upon hearing this, the slight unease in Gu Xuyao's heart instantly disappeared. It turned out that the owner of One Bet Clear had a much larger business than Gu Xuyao had imagined, which was good. As the saying goes, important people are busy, so even if something happened here, he might not have the time to deal with it.

"Powerful, powerful. By the way, brother, wait a moment, I have something to tell you." They had just arrived at the entrance to the secret room, and Gu Xuyao reached out to grab the shoulder of the cultivator in front of him.

Although the cultivator was arrogant in his words, his cultivation was only at the third level of the Jade Lustrous stage. Even Feng Changshan could easily deal with him, let alone Gu Xuyao, a physical cultivator.

"You, what are you doing? Don't you dare do anything rash! There are formations everywhere. If they are triggered, everyone will come, and even if your cultivation is higher than mine, you won't survive!"

Gambling dens are not legitimate businesses, and the cultivators who come to gamble are not easy to provoke. Therefore, it was common for cultivators to become upset after losing spirit stones and try to cause trouble. Gu Xuyao's grip was so strong that it had already prevented the cultivator from retaliating, naturally causing him great fear.

"I know these formations can alert others, so I just need a little time to talk to you." Gu Xuyao smiled and nodded to Feng Changshan behind him.

Feng Changshan nodded slightly, and his eyes suddenly turned golden. His fingers moved rapidly, as if performing some calculations.

After a short while, Feng Changshan's eyes returned to normal, and he took out a hundred-treasure gourd, shaking out a withered branch and throwing it into a corner.

A burst of fire and a slight explosion followed, and the formation light that had been floating around immediately disappeared, revealing the entrance to the secret room.

"The branch of the West Shore Tree, you are an expert. What are you going to do...?"

Gu Xuyao did not answer him but smiled slightly. In the next moment, a flash of blade light appeared, and the cultivator fell to the ground.

"Hehe, Brother Gu, I told you that Bao Yue suits you best. It's a pity that your cultivation is not high enough to unleash its true power. However, even so, it is a great help to you now."

Since the battle in the Pufeng Mountains with Zhen Xuezi, Bao Yue had shone brightly in Gu Xuyao's hands. Feng Changshan was not a stingy person, and the other party was his sworn brother. After escaping, Feng Changshan gave Bao Yue to Gu Xuyao, who, seeing that Feng Changshan was a Dao cultivator and did not need Bao Yue, accepted it without hesitation.

"This thing is indeed powerful." Bao Yue was becoming more and more handy to use. Upon closer inspection, Bao Yue was truly magnificent.

Bao Yue was three feet long and two inches wide. The blue-silver blade exuded a strong killing aura, and the hilt, made of an unknown metal, was bright red and extremely cold to the touch. On the back of the hilt was a crescent-shaped ring. The blade itself was curved like a crescent moon, and its surface was so bright that it could reflect the light of the sun and moon.

"Ah, Brother Gu, stop looking. We should hurry and take care of the important matters. Didn't you say you were going to take me for an exciting adventure? What's behind this door?"

Feng Changshan had long grown tired of looking at Bao Yue in the mountains and was more interested in what was to come.

However, he was right. The most important thing at this moment was to enter the secret room and see if Aunt Xu was inside.

Gu Xuyao took a gray pill from the hundred-treasure gourd and threw it at the corpse on the ground. Instantly, a foul smell filled the air, and the corpse turned to ashes.

This pill was called the Miasma Fire Pill, a very cheap tool. It contained extremely high temperatures and could instantly turn objects to ashes. However, due to its instability, cultivators could not control it with their spirit energy. In fact, even a slight increase in force would cause it to explode in the air, making its use very limited.

Glancing at Feng Changshan, who was covering his nose, Gu Xuyao pushed open the stone door leading to the secret room, revealing a downward-curving staircase behind it.

The staircase passage was wide enough for three people to walk side by side, and they descended in silence.

After about the time it takes to eat a meal, they reached the bottom of the staircase, where they were greeted by another set of formations and a stone door.

But how could these formations be a challenge for Feng Changshan? In no time, he broke the formations, and then Gu Xuyao used his strength to push open the stone door.

As the sound of the stone grinding against the ground faded, the two finally saw the true appearance of the secret room.

Groans echoed in their ears, and in front of them were two rows of iron bars. The secret room turned out to be a hidden prison!

"This..." Slowly entering the secret room, the people behind the iron bars were no longer human-like, their bodies mangled and having suffered countless tortures. Feng Changshan, who had never seen such a scene, immediately turned pale.

As for Gu Xuyao, he was accustomed to such sights. The severed limbs and bodies in Taiheng Sect were far more numerous than here. He was only concerned about Aunt Xu.

When he reached the last cell, Gu Xuyao finally found his target.

"Aunt Xu!" He softly called out to the woman sitting in the corner of the cell. She lifted her head slightly, and through her disheveled hair, she saw Gu Xuyao's face.

At first, she could not believe it. She could not believe that she would see a familiar face in the prison of Haili City. After a while, she finally reacted, and her completely despondent heart revived. She stood up abruptly and pushed her hair back.

"Xuyao! It's really you! Why are you here!"

"No, don't speak yet. Listen to me. Miss, Miss has been captured. You must go, you must go and save her!"

Aunt Xu's face was covered with scars, clearly indicating that although she had not been tortured to the point of being unrecognizable, she had suffered physical pain.

Gu Xuyao frowned slightly upon hearing this. He had already had such a suspicion from the beginning, but he did not understand why, given the distance of at least ten thousand miles between Meteor City and Haili City, they would be captured here. Moreover, Meteor City was a place that followed the law, and Su Yun was a legitimate shop owner. How could she be captured so easily?

"Aunt Xu, don't panic. Su Miss has been kind to me. If she is in trouble today, I will definitely save her. But first, you must tell me the whole story so I can plan how to act."

Seeing Gu Xuyao promise to rescue Su Yun, Aunt Xu could not help but shed tears, sobbing as she recounted the entire story.

It turned out that not long after the strange phenomenon that night, Meteor City was attacked by an unknown group. No one knew their background, and that day, the entire city was filled with corpses. Aunt Xu and Su Yun were lucky to escape amidst the chaos.

However, neither of them had top-notch cultivation, and it was not safe to wander in the wild. Before long, they were discovered by another group. The leader of this group was infatuated with Su Yun's beauty and had them captured and brought to Haili City.

"Is that so? Do you know the name of the cultivator who captured Su Miss and where she is being held?"

"I don't know where she is. As soon as we arrived in Haili City, I was separated from Miss. They originally kept me in a dungeon, which was dark and damp, with no sunlight. But today, they brought me out, saying that Miss had pleaded for me, so I was moved here."

As the saying goes, beauty brings misfortune. Su Yun often faced harassment from rogue cultivators in Meteor City, and after the city's fall, she was captured because of her beauty. This truly fulfilled the old saying.

"Alright, Aunt Xu, I will save you first, and then I will find a way to rescue Su Miss."

Saying this, Gu Xuyao was about to open the cell door.

"No! Absolutely not!"

But Aunt Xu stopped him.

"Xuyao, listen to me. That man is obsessed with Miss, as if he were poisoned. You can see that as soon as Miss asked for me to be moved to a different cell, I was immediately brought here. So if you save me, he will naturally strengthen his defenses. By then, even if you find out who he is, it will be too late. I have served Miss all my life, and it doesn't matter if I suffer. The most important thing is not to let Miss suffer. Xuyao, you must leave here quickly and not let anyone discover your connection to me, or it will be bad!"

Gu Xuyao had spent two months with Su Yun, and Aunt Xu was actually not a bad person, just sometimes bossy. But her loyalty to Su Yun was absolute, and he did not know what kind of story they shared.

"Alright, Changshan!"

Aunt Xu's words made sense, but Gu Xuyao could not just leave.

"Ah? I'm here..."

Gu Xuyao's call brought Changshan out of his shock, and he came to Gu Xuyao's side, his face just beginning to regain some color.

Each cell in the prison was protected by formations, and Aunt Xu had been fed pills to suppress her spirit energy. But these were no challenge for the two of them. First, Feng Changshan broke the formations, and then Gu Xuyao gave Aunt Xu some antidotes. Finally, Feng Changshan re-established the formations as they were originally.