Chapter 449: Another Visit to the Deep Pool of Dreams

Chapter 449: Another Visit to the Deep Pool of Dreams

After leaving her family, Second Madam Gu spent decades searching for Gu Qingyan. Now that she had finally received news about him... Chu Liang could not even imagine how she felt at this moment.

He handed over the letter and obtained the name he wanted, then he quietly took his leave.

Chu Liang and Second Madam Gu had made an agreement. Once the case that Chu Liang was investigating was resolved, he would take her into the mountains to search for Gu Qingyuan. Chu Liang only vaguely remembered the location of the Deep Pool of Dreams, but he was confident they could find it with some careful searching.

Upon returning to the inn, Chu Liang told Yan Qihu, "I've learned that there is one survivor who entered the hidden realm with them, a man named Xue Ziyang. We need to find him quickly, or he might meet the same fate as the others once night falls."

Hearing that, Yan Qihu wasted no time in leading the group straight to the location that Second Madam Gu had provided—Xue Ziyang's residence.

Xue Ziyang was a well-known scholar in Kaoshan City. He ran a free private school, where he taught children from impoverished families. It had earned him the nickname Master Ziyang among the townspeople.

Xue Ziyang wasn't in the business of escorting people into the mountains, so it was unclear why he had participated this time.

When Chu Liang's group arrived at Xue Ziyang's school, they found the gates locked and the place deserted.

Just then, a neighbor happened to walk by, and Chu Liang stepped toward him to inquire about the situation. "Brother, do you know where Mr. Xue might have gone?"

"Oh, you mean Master Ziyang?" the neighbor responded warmly with a big smile. "I have no idea."

Chu Liang remarked inwardly, Why are you so happy if you don't know...?

"But my child goes to his school, and from what I've heard..." the neighbor continued, "Master Ziyang seems to have run into some major trouble. He rarely cancels classes, and whenever he does leave, he always gives a return date. But this time, he said he doesn't know when he'll be back..."

Chu Liang asked, "Did he leave in the past couple of days?"

"Yes, just yesterday," the neighbor answered. "He took a day off, then he came back and taught for one day before leaving indefinitely. Haaa, Master Ziyang is such a good person; I hope nothing bad happens to him."

"Thank you."

He then turned back to discuss with the group from the Great Astral Sect.

Chu Liang speculated, "The first time he left was likely to join the expedition into the hidden realm. The second time must have been because he panicked after hearing about the deaths of the other three. At this point, he's probably seeking refuge somewhere."

Ji Lingyu chimed in, "Before we arrived, I asked the City Supervisory Division about him. Xue Ziyang studied under Wei Lang, a renowned scholar from the Noblemen's Hall in Jiangnan."

"Then it's highly likely he's returned to the Noblemen's Hall," Chu Liang guessed.

Yan Qihu said decisively, "Let's head over and look for him there."

"Aaaaahhhhh!!!" Xue Ziyang screamed, jerking upright!

He gasped for breath for quite a while. With Wei Lang's help, Xue Ziyang finally calmed down. He still looked quite dazed, but he gradually returned to his normal self.

That was when Chu Liang and the others thought it was safe to begin questioning him.

"Esteemed Senior Xue, who exactly did you enter the Southern Bastion Mountain with that day? Which hidden realm did you explore, and what did you encounter?"

Xue Ziyang sighed deeply and said, "Haaa, it's a long story...

"I usually just teach in Kaoshan City and would never rashly venture into the Southern Bastion Mountain. But a few days ago, Chunyu Tu came to me. He told me that the precious herb I need to reach the pinnacle of the sixth realm seems to be in a hidden realm.

"It just so happened that there was a very wealthy woman from the Western Regions who was forming a group to venture into the Southern Bastion Mountain, so Chunyu Tu asked if I would like to join them."

So, it was about treasures of nature, after all, Chu Liang thought. Money might not buy happiness, but it sure helps you avoid a lot of trouble.

Xue Ziyang continued, "The others were all prominent cultivators from Kaoshan City, so I thought it wouldn't be a very challenging expedition and ended up agreeing to go with them.

"At first, the journey went smoothly. We passed through the Valley of Bewildering Fog, where many lingering spirits and Sickle Ghosts wandered, but they posed no real threat to us. Later, our path was even blocked by ghosts from the previous dynasty..."

"Hmm?" Chu Liang was a bit surprised. "Esteemed Senior, the place you went to... Is it the Deep Pool of Dreams that's at th e end of the Valley of Bewildering Fog?"

"That's right," Xue Ziyang confirmed. "Do you know of it?"

"I've been there as well..." Chu Liang said puzzledly, as he hadn't encountered the same situation as Xue Ziyang. "Beyond the Deep Pool of Dreams, isn't there a hidden realm that is filled with dense spiritual energy and has a palace on a mountain peak?"

"No..." Xue Ziyang shook his head. "After we passed through the Deep Pool of Dreams, we entered a gloomy ghost domain. It was a battlefield littered with piles of white bones and battered corpses."

Huh?

This description struck Chu Liang as rather strange.

He recalled the time he, Pushan, and Luo Yao had followed a diabolical cultivator through the Deep Pool of Dreams. The hidden realm they'd entered had been completely different from Xue Ziyang's account.

That hidden realm is probably the place where Gu Qingyan is trapped, which means it should be a place of lush mountains and serene waters, with palace halls and towers.

Xue Ziyang continued, "As soon as we entered, we knew something was wrong. We kept hearing a voice calling out, but we couldn't find the source... The further we went, the clearer it became, until finally, we heard the voice calling out the name of that woman!

"Her name is Caiyi."

1. The young lady that went undercover as a teacher at the South Mountain Academy in Book 1. Lin Bei’s book boy era. ☜