Chapter 144: Inviting the Female Lead to Drunken Dream Island

“Alright,” the two of them responded in unison.

Once they were far enough away, Lian Li finally couldn’t hold it together anymore. His entire body relaxed, and he no longer stood ramrod straight. Instead, he hunched his back, looking like a survivor of a great disaster.

Yun Huizhou wasn’t quite as dramatic, but he also relaxed slightly.

Seeing Lian Li’s exhausted state, Yun Huizhou knew that although Lian Li hadn’t complained over the past few days, he wasn’t quite used to suddenly undergoing such intense training from the East Island Matriarch.

“Go back, take a bath, and rest first. I’ll go see Brother Zhao myself,” Yun Huizhou said to Lian Li after a moment’s thought.

Actually, he shouldn’t have had to think before saying those words. Previously, he would have spoken without the slightest hesitation or second thought.

But now, as he said it, he couldn’t help but wonder: was he saying this out of care for his Junior Brother, or because of his own impure motives?

He knew that if he were facing Zhao Honglan right now, he certainly wouldn’t say such a thing.

In truth, he was already certain that he did indeed harbor those kinds of feelings for Lian Li.

The problem was that these feelings likely stemmed from Lian Li’s time in a female disguise. This left him exceptionally conflicted; it might lead to a situation where he clearly liked him but found it impossible to accept.

“No, it won’t take much longer. I’ll go with you,” Lian Li replied. Seeing that Yun Huizhou remained standing there without a reaction, he turned his head.

Upon looking, he saw that the man had started spacing out again for some reason, his entire being radiating a sense of gloom and internal conflict.

Lian Li reached out, tugged on Yun Huizhou’s sleeve, and called his name.

“Hmm?” Yun Huizhou glanced at the hand tugging his sleeve. It was white and delicate, but clearly the hand of a young man.

“Then let’s go together.” Withdrawing his gaze, Yun Huizhou looked toward the courtyard where Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan were staying.

Seeing the two of them arrive together, Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan both wore expressions of surprise.

After all, over the past few days—though they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes—they could tell from the bruises on Yun Huizhou’s face just how cruel the East Island Matriarch’s training had been. It seemed impossible for her to release both of them at the same time.

Yun Huizhou and Lian Li didn’t plan on staying for long. Right now, they only wanted to hurry back to their rooms, take a bath, and rest for a while.

As for packing, they had almost nothing to pack. This trip had originally been the West Island Lord’s excuse to give them a vacation.

“Senior Sister Qu, we came mainly because Junior Uncle asked us to see if you’d be willing to come to Drunken Dream Island with us for a while,” Lian Li said quite bluntly.

But Qu Tingquan understood immediately: the West Island Lord was interested in the Holy Gu inside her.

She didn’t know much about the Holy Gu herself; she had only overheard a few things while she was in a state of semi-consciousness at the Spirit Cult.

Since its founding, the Spirit Cult’s history was no shorter than that of the Qinghong Sword Sect, yet because of the nature of their martial arts, they had never produced a true Transcendent Master.

However, within the Spirit Cult’s territory, they could barely count as half-Transcendent Masters with the help of Gu insects.

At the Spirit Cult’s peak, there were five seniors who could act as Transcendent Masters by utilizing Gu insects.

And this Holy Gu was very likely the key to allowing the current Spirit Cult Leader to take that final step.

Now that the Gu was in her body, it might be of great use for her to take that step in the future. Unfortunately, she knew too little about it and didn’t know how to nurture it—nor did she know what to watch out for to ensure the Gu didn’t negatively affect her if she left it alone.

She could clearly feel that after encountering the Spirit Cult people, they had tampered with her.

Now, she could distinctly feel the Gu insect residing in her Dantian, whereas before, neither her Master nor the other Transcendent seniors of the Qinghong Sword Sect had ever discovered anything unusual.

While it was possible they simply knew too little about such things, the root cause was likely that the Gu insect hadn’t “come to life” before.

Now that the Spirit Cult had “awakened” it, it had begun to act up.

Most importantly, while she could handle ordinary Spirit Cult disciples, she couldn’t even seize control when facing the Spirit Cult Leader or the Great Elder. At most, she could only compete with the Hall Masters.

If this Gu really was that effective for a Spirit Cult member to take that step, the Spirit Cult Leader would definitely not give up. She would certainly be targeted.

The Leader might even take the opportunity to strike personally, knowing others couldn’t handle her. At that time, a Transcendent Master might not be there to save her again.

She had originally discussed with Zhao Honglan that after returning to the Qinghong Sword Sect, she would ask the Medicine Hall Master to examine the Gu. If that failed, she would ask her Grandmaster to request the West Island Lord’s help.

Now that the West Island Lord had made this proposal, it suited her perfectly.

“In that case, I shall trouble Senior West then,” Qu Tingquan said with a hint of joy on her face.

Zhao Honglan was also visibly happy. “Tingquan, if you go to Drunken Dream Island, I’m sure Master and Uncle Qu will be at ease.”

Seeing the two of them start smiling affectionately at each other, Lian Li felt like he and Yun Huizhou were two massive, high-wattage lightbulbs.

He shrunk his neck, tugged Yun Huizhou’s sleeve again, and signaled with his eyes for them to leave quickly.

Yun Huizhou also felt that the way Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan were smiling at each other made his skin crawl. He immediately turned around and followed Lian Li without looking back.

The two returned to the courtyard where they kept their things. Upon entering the room, they found that hot water had already been delivered.

Their small courtyard naturally couldn’t compare to the one where the West Island Lord lived; there was no bathing pool, only wooden tubs.

Yun Huizhou said to Lian Li, “You go wash first. I’ll circulate my energy.”

Lian Li didn’t refuse. He took a set of clothes from the cabinet, carried the hot water, and went to the bathhouse.

The hot water made him drowsy. Even the bruises from the past few days of being knocked around didn’t hurt as much.

Lian Li’s eyes blinked rhythmically. He felt as if he had been drugged; he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Even when he forced them open, his gaze couldn’t focus.

Realizing that if he continued like this, he might fall asleep in the tub, he braced himself against the edge, stood up, dried himself, and put on his inner robes. He didn’t even bother with his outer robe before running back to the room.

Sensing him coming out, Yun Huizhou opened his eyes, wondering why he had finished so quickly. He then saw Lian Li run straight for the bed as soon as he emerged from the bathhouse.

He reached the bedside and lunged onto it, making the bed shake with the impact.