She wasn’t concerned about what Qi Buyan had to do. Her main interest was in knowing which inn they would stay at, so she could visit them later to ask about the Yan King’s Tomb.
Su Yang knew very little about these matters. It had been difficult to get even a few words out of her father.
The Su family’s ancestors were craftsmen who assisted the Yan King in designing the tomb. They had witnessed the Yan King being ordered to build the tomb, witnessed him being ordered to create the Longevity Gu, and ultimately witnessed his tragic death.
The Su family passed down this secret through generations, tasked with guarding the Yan King’s Tomb.
The Yan King had shown kindness to their family.
Therefore, the Su family had to protect his tomb.
Additionally, the tomb contained records about the Longevity Gu, the exact location of which the Su family didn’t know and couldn’t destroy. Their duty was to guard the tomb and keep the secret of the Longevity Gu.
Longevity.
Few could resist this temptation. Throughout the many generations of Su family guardians, some had harbored sinister thoughts.
But their fate was not good.
In her father’s generation, the Yan King’s Tomb was eventually discovered by those with ill intentions.
Her father had known for a long time that someone was creating Yin Corpse Gu in the Yan King’s Tomb but concealed it because that person was Yan Luoxu, the sister of Yan King Yan Wuheng, who had lived for centuries.
The Su family passed down not only the secrets of the Yan King’s Tomb and the Longevity Gu but also several portraits of the Yan King. One portrait included a woman, Yan Luoxu.
Each portrait was inscribed with a poem and signed by the sibling pair.
They were brother and sister.
Su Ruilin hadn’t expected Yan Luoxu’s Yin Corpse Gu to go out of control and harm the people of Fengling Town, causing their deaths.
He felt immense guilt over this.
Su Yang didn’t believe anyone could live for centuries. It was the first time her father mentioned the Longevity Gu to her.
By chance, Su Yang learned that someone was attempting to recreate the Longevity Gu from a century ago, and the person behind it was connected to Chang’an. Despite her father’s objections, she came to Chang’an.
The methods for creating the Longevity Gu were too cruel.
It shouldn’t be made again.
Su Yang wanted to find and stop the person attempting to create the Longevity Gu. Knowing about this, she couldn’t just stand by. She had recently made some progress.
She planned to investigate today and didn’t have much time to discuss with He Sui’an and Qi Buyan about their experiences in the Yan King’s Tomb. They would have to talk another day.
He Sui’an watched Su Yang leave.
Qi Buyan went to find an inn. Chang’an had many inns, as it was a hub for merchants and foreigners. They needed a place to stay.
Where there is demand, there is supply.
Chang’an had a street known as “Inn Street,” filled entirely with inns. Upon arriving in Chang’an, they asked for directions and headed there, saving time on finding an inn.
He Sui’an, being new to Chang’an, didn’t know about this street initially.
She learned by asking around.
They went to Inn Street.
Qi Buyan didn’t spend much time choosing, picking the first inn on the left because it was less crowded than the others. He Sui’an didn’t mind which inn they stayed at and followed him inside.
When she heard the price, she was speechless. One tael of silver per night, whereas other inns charged around two hundred wen, making it five times more expensive.
The inn’s guests were all wealthy or noble. They preferred not to stay in a crowded inn.
Qi Buyan took out a gold piece.
This was to pay the innkeeper.
He Sui’an remembered Qi Buyan mentioning that he had charged gold for his Gu-making services in the past. He didn’t take on tasks easily; he only agreed if interested, charging a thousand gold per job.
Gold was universally accepted as currency.
The innkeeper accepted Qi Buyan’s gold.
He smiled and asked if they needed one room or two.
Qi Buyan, holding his bundle with one hand, looked around the inn. “One room.”
The innkeeper called a servant to show them upstairs. The rooms in Chang’an inns were somewhat different but generally similar to other places. Chang’an inns usually categorized rooms as: Heaven, Earth, and Human.
The servant led them to their room.
This inn offered no Earth or Human rooms, only Heaven rooms.
As He Sui’an followed the servant into the room, she understood why the inn’s prices were so high.
The Heaven room resembled a wealthy family’s residence, with ceramic vases on the cabinets, paintings on the walls, a bookshelf filled with books in the corner, a chaise lounge on the left, and a redwood canopy bed on the right.
To the south, there was a wardrobe for guests to store their bundles, and to the north, a floor screen stood opposite a full-length mirror, tall enough to reflect a person entirely.
He Sui’an put down her bundle.
She opened the window and looked outside, discovering that this inn was located along the main street of Chang’an.
Qi Buyan casually dropped his bundle and joined her at the window. The hour was still early, and the main street of Chang’an was bustling with people. After watching for a while, deep in thought, he returned to the middle of the room and sat down.
As soon as he sat, the poison Gu hidden on his body started crawling out.
They were hungry.
Their master hadn’t fed them in a long time.
With a slight movement of his hand, the poison Gu immediately crawled out through the room’s crevices to find food for themselves. He Sui’an turned to look at him.
After some thought, she asked, “What are you looking for this time?”
“A Millennium Red Jade.”
Qi Buyan slowly removed his wrist guards. He wore them to facilitate killing, but generally avoided the constraint when he didn’t need to fight.
Placing the wrist guards on the table, he revealed his wrist, where the wounds from cutting himself three times in Hongye Village had healed, leaving only faint pink scars that stood out against his fair skin.
A butterfly-shaped silver chain covered part of the scars.
He Sui’an sat on another wooden chair. “A Millennium Red Jade?”
Hearing this, she immediately knew how rare and precious it was. “Do you know who has it now?”
The servant had recently replaced the tea in the room. Qi Buyan picked up the green porcelain teapot, poured two cups, and pushed one to He Sui’an. “I found out before we left the mountain.”
He Sui’an drank the tea he poured for her.
She didn’t know why Qi Buyan sought so many things.
Since knowing Qi Buyan, he had found the mother Gu of the Yin Corpse Gu and the Wan Cao flower, and now he was looking for a Millennium Red Jade.
Before she met him, He Sui’an didn’t know if he had found other items, but truthfully, she was quite curious about his purpose for gathering these things.
Despite her curiosity, He Sui’an refrained from asking directly.
Qi Buyan seemed to read her thoughts. “I’m looking for these things to create the King of Gu. I left the mountain to create it.”
The King of Gu?
It dawned on He Sui’an that Qi Buyan, who had always been passionate about cultivating Gu, especially those that were highly challenging, was aiming for the highest and most difficult one to cultivate—the King of Gu.
He Sui’an lazily leaned on the table, her long hair falling to the side. “Are you being commissioned to create the King of Gu, or are you doing it for yourself?”
Qi Buyan glanced at the small silver accessory at the end of her hair. “For myself.”
“And after you create it?”
He Sui’an rested her head on her arms, looking up at him with curiosity. “Once you find all those things and successfully create the King of Gu, will you return to Tianshui Village in Miaojiang?”
Creating the King of Gu would allow Qi Buyan to neutralize the Heavenly Silkworm Gu in his body.
For over ten years, Qi Buyan had searched through every Gu book he could find, and this was the only method to counter the Heavenly Silkworm Gu. By using the King of Gu to attack the Heavenly Silkworm Gu, there was a fifty percent chance of success.
This would let the two Gu fight within his body.
Whichever Gu survived would prevail.
The King of Gu and the Heavenly Silkworm Gu couldn’t coexist. Qi Buyan loathed the Heavenly Silkworm Gu that Qi Shu had left in him and would go to any lengths to remove it.
Qi Buyan held the small silver accessory at the end of He Sui’an’s hair, the little bell jingling. He had tied it there for her that morning. “He Sui’an, would you like to return to Tianshui Village with me one day?”
He Sui’an smiled brightly. “Sure, what’s it like there?”
“There are mountains, water, and trees,” he said softly.
She suddenly jumped up, ran to the wardrobe, and pulled out a rouge box, then returned to Qi Buyan’s side. “Look.”
“This is a rouge box I bought in Qingzhou. I never told you why I bought it, did I? I just liked the design on the box. It has mountains, water, trees, and even a little wooden house.”
Qi Buyan’s fingertips touched the small wooden house on the rouge box. “Is that so.”
The design wasn’t painted.
It was all carved.
He could feel the raised contours and outlines of the design with his fingertips.
The little wooden house reminded him somewhat of his own wooden house on the solitary mountain in Tianshui Village. It brought a slight sense of familiarity, as this was the first time he had been away from it for so long.
But it was only a slight sense of familiarity.
No other emotions accompanied it.
Qi Buyan was naturally indifferent and rarely developed any attachments, not even to the place he had lived in for more than a decade. However, compared to other places, he was more willing to return to the Tianshui Village in Miaojiang.
It was convenient for cultivating Gu there.
He withdrew his hand from the rouge box.
He Sui’an had originally bought this rouge not for makeup, but at this moment, smelling the faint fragrance emanating from the box, she was tempted to try it on, curious to see how she would look with it.
She opened the rouge box, wiped her hands clean with a handkerchief, and dipped her finger into the red rouge inside, carefully applying it to her lips.
“Does this color look good?” she asked casually.
Qi Buyan touched the corner of He Sui’an’s lips, gently wiping the rouge, staining his fingertips with the same red. “It looks good.”
He Sui’an lowered her gaze to his finger touching her, her heart skipping a beat. She instinctively turned her face away, and his fingertip brushed across her cheek, leaving a bright red streak.
She stood up. “Then I’ll go look in the mirror.”
But Qi Buyan grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. She turned back.
Qi Buyan looked up at her as she stood, his long hair falling in strands over his shoulders and back, the tips naturally curling and adorned with silver ornaments.
From He Sui’an’s angle, she could see Qi Buyan’s slender neck, the Adam’s apple that moved occasionally, the hint of his collarbone beneath the indigo collar, and the veins under his thin skin.
He suddenly called her name, “He Sui’an.”
He Sui’an responded, “Hmm?”
“Kiss me.”
She thought she had misheard.
The young man closed his eyes and whispered, “I want you to kiss me.”
