Chapter 67: Rebellious Psychology
“What did you say? What drug addiction?”
Liang Zhi Che heard Jiang Ce say such strange words without changing his expression, and inexplicably felt a bit scared.
“No, didn’t you say Righteous Qi can force the poison out? Not only did I not force it out, I even absorbed it all in. What’s going on? Could it be that rebellious psychology has kicked in?”
The rash on Jiang Ce’s face had completely disappeared by now. Although he didn’t understand why, he figured the mercury poison probably wouldn’t affect him.
“I-I don’t know either. I’ve never encountered this situation.” Liang Zhi Che looked equally puzzled upon hearing this.
Jiang Ce pondered for a moment, then suddenly had an impulse and approached Liang Zhi Che.
“What are you trying to do?”
Liang Zhi Che was startled and retreated two steps.
“Bring out your Righteous Qi again for me to see.” Jiang Ce coaxed patiently.
“Why? No!” Liang Zhi Che felt a chill and refused outright.
“Let me check if your Righteous Qi is normal.”
“No!”
“Be good, let me see!”
“No!”
Losing patience, Jiang Ce directly unleashed the black fire special edition Righteous Qi toward Liang Zhi Che.
In desperation, Liang Zhi Che had no choice but to comply with Jiang Ce’s wish, wrapping his ordinary version around his body to protect himself.
But who would have thought, the moment it touched Jiang Ce’s special edition, the ordinary version melted away like snow encountering a blazing fire.
Liang Zhi Che was greatly alarmed. Not only was his own Righteous Qi dissolving, even the spiritual energy in his body shrank back, unable to exert any strength.
Jiang Ce timely withdrew his Righteous Qi, not letting it harm Liang Zhi Che.
The latter was stunned in place at first, at a loss, then shouted as if he had seen a ghost: “What’s going on?”
Jiang Ce had verified his suspicion and waved it off nonchalantly, saying lightly: “Minor issue. Your Qi is female, so it can’t handle my male one.”
Liang Zhi Che was speechless for a moment and couldn’t help wanting to retort, but due to his Confucian cultivator upbringing, he tried his best to restrain himself. Yet instinct ultimately overcame reason, and he blurted out:
“Chilling. When will women ever rise?!”
Jiang Ce’s body shuddered, and he whipped his head toward Liang Zhi Che: “So, you’re a fellow debater?!”
Compared to Jiang Ce and Liang Zhi Che, the others’ situations were hardly optimistic.
Above a ten-thousand-zhang abyss, an iron chain stretching endlessly across connected the cliffs on both ends.
Two precarious figures were hanging on it, slowly inching toward the distance.
“Gongyang Dan, hold on tight!”
“How much farther to the front? I’m starting to feel fatigued.”
“No idea, can’t see the end.”
“Damn, if only I knew escape technique, I could teleport straight to the other side.”
“By that logic, if we were Heaven-Reaching Dharma Masters, we could just fly across.”
“No idea if the others are safe.”
“Hard to say. This Great Tomb is eerie. Even Martial Uncle Xuan Qing fell for it, so we must be even more vigilant.”
Above the turbulent underground dark river, Xuan Qing stood on a piece of rotten wood, crossing the river on a single reed.
Behind him, Liang Zhi Zhou swayed left and right, struggling to keep balance on the rotten wood.
“If you can’t stand steady, hug onto me.”
Liang Zhi Zhou looked embarrassed, but to avoid falling into the water, he still hugged Xuan Qing from behind.
“Martial Uncle, the others…”
“No idea. To evade my perception, there must have been no spiritual energy fluctuations throughout. The Great Tomb dispersed us purely with mechanisms, which means the builder’s methods are far too brilliant. The person buried here must have an extraordinary identity.”
“Will they run into danger?”
“Hard to say. Judging from what’s happened so far, the tomb master probably wants everyone who enters here to die and be buried with him. Their situations likely aren’t much better than ours. Let’s see for now. If it comes to it, I’ll have to leave them here and go out to get Gatekeeper Xiao to help.”
Xuan Qing sighed: “Your strength is too weak. If I force you out, you might not make it to the surface before succumbing to the impact of the escape technique.”
Liang Zhi Zhou opened his mouth but said nothing.
He had thought reaching Seventh Rank would not only give him a chance to get back at Jiang Ce but also earn him respect from the elders. Unexpectedly, when real trouble hit, Seventh Rank or Eighth Rank made no difference—they were equally weak in the eyes of true powerhouses, unable to help and even becoming a liability.
“Martial Uncle, sorry for causing you trouble.”
Xuan Qing glanced back at the ashamed Liang Zhi Zhou, showing no blame, and instead comforted him: “We all go through this. In the future, you’ll be the backbone of the gatekeepers. Every tribulation is precious experience for you—don’t get discouraged.”
“Understood!”
Qin Shen Bo shattered another rolling boulder, gazing at the rocky peak with no visible top, pinching his somewhat swollen right hand, his expression more grave than ever.
“No idea how the others are doing.”
“Everyone has to survive…”
In a corner of the labyrinth, Jiang Ce shielded Liang Zhi Che in the wall nook as countless refined iron crossbow bolts rained down on him, clanging loudly.
“Don’t you think you’re a bit useless? You can’t even handle traps aimed at ordinary people—what are you doing out in society?”
“Big Brother.” Liang Zhi Che was speechless: “Even as a Jianghu sorcerer, I’m still human. Plus, I’m only Eighth Rank. I’m good at reciting Classic of Poetry to torment low-level vengeful spirits, but with hundreds of arrows shooting at me, blocking half is already thanks to these mechanisms being worn out.”
“Fine, have you considered switching to the Buddhist Sect? Look at my Golden Bell Shield—super tough.”
“Nah, it requires shaving my head. Can’t accept that.”
“I thought it was because of Confucian cultivators’ pride.”
“Not that proud. Ever since I accidentally stumbled into Tieba that year, our family’s top genius seat went to my brother. I haven’t progressed in the Confucian Path for a long time.”
“Yeah, I can tell. You have that fallen girl’s vibe.”
“I regret it so much now, total regret. Tieba harms people deeply.”
With the crossbow bolts spent, the two—who had grown accustomed—straightened their clothes and continued straight through the walls, led by Jiang Ce.
The mercury poison along the way was fully absorbed by Jiang Ce, bolstering his Righteous Qi.
“So, as a Confucian cultivator, sneaking peeks at that stuff—don’t you feel ashamed?”
“You have no right to lecture me.”
Liang Zhi Che sighed: “Do you know what seventeen-year-old Ninth Rank means?”
“What? Idiot savant?”
Liang Zhi Che rolled his eyes at Jiang Ce: “Back then, I was young and foolish, thought I was the world’s unique genius, immune to external influences, so I didn’t care.
But the more my dad forbade me from looking, the more I wanted to. In the end, five years later, I’ve barely gone from Ninth Rank to Eighth Rank. Even this training trip was only because of my brother’s influence. Do you get how I feel?”
“From what you’re saying…” Jiang Ce thought for a bit: “I think it’s your dad’s fault, sparking your rebellious psychology. I can relate deeply to that.”
Jiang Ce showed a reminiscent look: “When I was little, a senior brother always bullied me. I was seven, he was nine, just because Master favored me.
I told Master about it, and he told me to endure, then punished him himself. But not only did the senior brother not stop, he got worse.”
“Oh, your Master sparked your senior brother’s rebellious psychology, making him bully you even more. Got it.”
“No, you don’t get it.” Jiang Ce shook his head: “What I’m saying is, Master’s telling me to endure sparked my rebellious psychology. I contacted human traffickers to sell my senior brother. If Master hadn’t found out in time, he might be stuffed in cotton somewhere by now.”
Pushing this book. They say it’s an alt account by Air Conditioner, we don’t know, we’re honest folks, shouldn’t get scammed, right?
