"That's Yunxia Mountain ahead!"
"Land! Land!"
The giant airship slowly descended along the mountain wall. Under Kaka's excellent piloting skills, it finally hovered over the Changyun River, only five or six meters above the water, and even closer to the mountain wall, just two meters away.
"Look! That's Changyun Cave! Eh? What the hell! Who's that old man?!"
Following Kaka's shout, everyone's eyes converged, and they all saw the Ghost Doctor sitting at the entrance of Changyun Cave, completely bound by vines, his head bowed and motionless.
His graying long hair hung down, completely obscuring his face.
"Go up and check!"
Feng Yuanzheng stomped his feet, and the airship suddenly dipped. Then, Feng Yuanzheng jumped onto a protruding rock at the cave entrance and gently touched the motionless Ghost Doctor.
"Passed out?"
Sensing that the man's breathing was steady and his body was normal with no injuries, Feng Yuanzheng's outstretched right hand changed to a gentle pat on his shoulder.
"Ah!"
The Ghost Doctor was startled awake, crying out and leaping up, but the sturdy vines held him fast, preventing him from jumping.
"What do you want? I told you I don't know where Shangguan Wuji is! Hey, it's too much to knock me out and hide me! Ah! You wouldn't have inappropriate thoughts about an old man like me, would you? I'm telling you, I've kept my body pure for decades! If you try anything, I'll scream! I advise you to calm down..."
"Senior! Senior!" Feng Yuanzheng helplessly interrupted the chattering Ghost Doctor and said, "May I ask Senior's esteemed name? And who was so cruel as to bind Senior here?"
"Ah! You're not that kid?" Only then did the Ghost Doctor clearly see Feng Yuanzheng's appearance, and also noticed the giant airship floating in mid-air not far away.
"Wow! Boats can fly too! Am I drugged and hallucinating?"
Feng Yuanzheng looked back at the others who were continuously disembarking. Since the newcomers couldn't jump directly, they had to rely on Kaka and Feng Jianye to throw and catch them. They had no time to deal with him, so he could only continue to communicate with the Ghost Doctor with a headache.
"Senior, Junior means no harm..."
"First, untie me. My back is itchy, and I can't scratch it while tied up."
"Senior, could Senior please tell Junior what exactly happened, so Junior can help Senior resolve the difficulties?"
"Or you can scratch it for me," the Ghost Doctor said, glaring at him.
"...Alright, Senior, where on your back is it itchy?"
Feng Yuanzheng chose to be cautious and first clarify the identity of the person in front of him.
"My back isn't itchy, my butt is," the Ghost Doctor said, eyes wide, staring intently at Feng Yuanzheng.
"..." Feng Yuanzheng was silent for a moment, then reached out to untie the Ghost Doctor's waistband.
The Ghost Doctor immediately panicked.
"Ah ah ah what are you doing! Let go of me! Let go of me! Help, help!"
The Ghost Doctor, screaming like a pig being slaughtered, rolled on the ground, wriggling like a maggot, trying to stop Feng Yuanzheng from continuing his actions.
Feng Yuanzheng froze there, his outstretched hands forgotten, veins bulging on his forehead, forcibly suppressing the urge to strangle the old man.
Suddenly.
"Hey hey! How are you all?" A familiar voice suddenly appeared. Feng Yuanzheng turned sharply and saw Zhou Ming's image projected onto the wall.
"This is an image I left behind, triggered under specific conditions. Hmm... you must have also discovered how difficult this old man is, right?"
"Let me first introduce this..."
The projected image of Zhou Ming on the wall began to introduce the identity of the Ghost Doctor to everyone, as well as his experiences after entering Changyun Cave.
After catching the Ghost Doctor, Zhou Ming tried both gentle and harsh methods to get the Ghost Doctor to take him to Shangguan Wuji, but the Ghost Doctor was unyielding. No matter what Zhou Ming said, he insisted that he didn't know where Shangguan Wuji was.
An old Jianghu like the Ghost Doctor naturally possessed a will far stronger than a novice like Shangguan Nianci. The Bewitching Soul Gu couldn't make him comply, and Zhou Ming couldn't directly use Soul Devour to kill the Ghost Doctor, which gave him an immense headache for a while.
Later, he thought, why not just knock out the Ghost Doctor and leave him for his teammates? If the Ghost Doctor didn't trust him, he should at least trust Shangguan Nianci!
As for how to make the Ghost Doctor trust Shangguan Nianci, that was his teammates' problem.
Zhou Ming himself, taking advantage of the time before his teammates arrived, continued to explore deeper into Changyun Cave.
As for the image left on the wall, it was the effect of a first-rank image-recording and sound-preserving Gu.
This Gu could engrave images and project them. It fed on light and sound, making it easy to raise. It was a common Gu worm for many Gu Masters and was widely used.
Feng Yuanzheng watched the projected image of Zhou Ming, which played a second time after he finished speaking the first. The same words, the same smiling face, filled him with anger. He slammed his palm out, dispersing the image, which vanished.
They had been left behind by Zhou Ming, and after a difficult journey to get here, they had to deal with the new problems Zhou Ming left behind before they could even catch their breath.
It made him very angry now!
"Zhou Ming! You bastard! How dare you make me clean up your mess! When I catch you, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
Feng Yuanzheng's roar echoed on the cliff face... After a full half hour, the Ghost Doctor finally dispelled his distrust of everyone.
The main reason was Shangguan Nianci was right there. The Ghost Doctor, using some unknown method, confirmed Shangguan Nianci's identity through Bloodline detection. Only then did he slowly lower his guard and finally agreed to lead everyone to Shangguan Wuji.
Upon entering Changyun Cave, everyone was amazed by the environment inside.
Along the way, scattered points of fluorescent light in the grass illuminated their path. Various exotic flowers and plants adorned the area, swaying in the wind, creating a beautiful sight.
The grass underfoot was soft, and the fresh scent of plants filled their lungs with each breath, revitalizing them and making them feel comfortable all over.
"Wow, what beautiful scenery!"
"I didn't expect Changyun Cave to be a world of its own! With flowers and grass everywhere, it's like an otherworldly paradise."
"So many magical plants, I've never seen them before!"
"There's no sunlight in here, how do these plants grow so vigorously?"
"Senior Ghost Doctor, is this the wonder of Changyun Cave?"
The Ghost Doctor, amidst the crowd, was sweating profusely, thinking, why are you asking me? Go ask that damned brat! Ask me, what the hell do I know!
Led by the Ghost Doctor, everyone meandered through the cave, passing through various fork in the road, going up and down, making them dizzy and almost lost. Suddenly, the Ghost Doctor, who was walking ahead, stopped.
Everyone was wondering why when they saw the Ghost Doctor's eyes widen, his face filled with inexplicable surprise as he muttered, "Impossible, he found this place? He found this place so quickly? Impossible, but those grasslands are even here, did he really find this place?"
Suddenly, the Ghost Doctor took off running. The confused crowd behind could only quickly follow.
The Ghost Doctor's lightness skill was good; only a few veterans could keep up with his speed. Shangguan Nianci barely managed to trail behind, while the newcomers were left further and further behind.
After running several hundred meters and turning a corner, the area ahead suddenly opened up.
Streaks of sunlight pierced through fissures in the mountain, like countless golden and silver ribbons cascading down, illuminating the space ahead and revealing a vast, spacious area.
What appeared before everyone was a valley-like area within the mountain, with lush greenery, verdant grass, and blooming flowers.
Streams flowed gently, their waters clear and bright, shimmering like broken silver in the sunlight, converging in the center of the valley into a mirror-like lake.
A gentle breeze blew, rippling the lake's surface and stirring the grass leaves and flower petals to dance. The air was filled with a fresh, rich fragrance, intoxicating and delightful.
A wooden house stood by the lake. At this moment, a young girl stood at the doorway, anxiously looking into the house, yet seemingly hesitant to enter, only pacing at the entrance.
Just then, the girl saw everyone appear. Her anxious expression turned to joy, but she still dared not call out, only waving repeatedly at them.
At this moment, everyone saw Zhou Ming's figure leisurely emerge from the wooden house.
"Zhou Ming!"
Feng Yuanzheng shouted, charging forward. He abruptly stopped in mid-air, completely defying the laws of physics, then fell straight down, only to stop in mid-air at the last second before landing, neutralizing the downward force, and then gently alighting on the ground.
"Zhou Ming, you..." Feng Yuanzheng was about to get angry, but Zhou Ming's soft words cut him off.
"Shangguan Wuji is in the wooden house. Go in and see."
"You, you..." Feng Yuanzheng's finger trembled as he pointed at Zhou Ming, but he finally glared at him, angrily waved his hand, and stormed into the wooden house.
The girl at the door reached out to stop him, but didn't even catch a corner of Feng Yuanzheng's clothes.
Being rushed into the wooden house twice by strangers, and then seeing the Ghost Doctor arrive, added a few shades of grievance to her anxious face. Her eyes reddened, and pearl-like tears rolled down profusely.
"Oh dear, oh dear, my dear disciple, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Did he bully you?" The Ghost Doctor pulled the girl behind him, his expression unfriendly as he looked at Zhou Ming.
"Brat, how did you find this place?"
"Senior Ghost Doctor, you're awake. It seems the force I used to knock you out was just right." Zhou Ming grinned.
"I didn't do anything to your precious disciple. I just found this place by following the spreading grass and came to take a look."
"I didn't expect to stumble upon the main person. It seems I didn't need to keep you alive back then."
Zhou Ming tilted his head, revealing a very malicious smile, which sent a shiver down the Ghost Doctor's spine.
"Hehehe, little brother, you're joking, aren't you? I already know that you and these several heroes came together to awaken Wuji and jointly fight against that silly god from Dongying, right?"
The Ghost Doctor rubbed his hands, a fawning smile on his face as he spoke.
At this moment, Shangguan Nianci and the others had also entered the wooden house and seen Shangguan Wuji. Soon, Shangguan Nianci's cries came from the wooden house.
Feng Yuanzheng walked out of the wooden house, glanced at Zhou Ming, then turned his gaze to the Ghost Doctor.
"Senior Ghost Doctor, what was the truth of what happened back then? You can give us an explanation now, can't you?"