At this claim, Xiang Lanzhi still did not believe it, and said mockingly, “Then how did you find the entrance to the immortal mansion?”
Yu Qing still spread his hands and told a bare-faced lie, “I did not find it. The entrance to the immortal mansion found me. Someone sent me a letter saying this was the entrance to the ‘Mirror Flower Immortal Garden’. Only then did I try coming to Kunling Mountain to search for it. I never expected there would really be an entrance to an immortal mansion here.”
Hearing this, Xiang Lanzhi asked suspiciously, “Who sent you the letter?”
Yu Qing: “At first I did not know who sent it. After I found that abyss outside, the vine demon appeared and met with me. Only then did I learn she had arranged for someone to send me the letter.”
Xiang Lanzhi did not understand, “Why did she send someone to deliver a letter to you?”
The Bee King sized Yu Qing up from head to toe, clearly harbouring the same doubt.
Yu Qing: “I was curious too. I asked her the same thing. She said I was the most suitable, the person she could trust most. So she took the opportunity of the ‘Morning Sun Assembly’ to invite me here.”
Xiang Lanzhi was stunned for a moment, “What makes you the most suitable, the person she can trust most?”
Yu Qing: “I asked her that too. She said I had found the ‘Little Cloud Realm’.”
Xiang Lanzhi grew even more confused, “What does that have to do with you having found the ‘Little Cloud Realm’?”
How could Yu Qing know what relation there was? Anyway, it was all nonsense. Lies were for others to judge. There was no need to trouble himself. He spread his hands again, “I do not know. She did not say.”
Xiang Lanzhi thought for a moment, and seemed to figure something out. She nodded slightly, which left Yu Qing somewhat dumbfounded.
The Bee King asked, “How did the vine demon open the mansion gate?”
He had learned from Xiang Zhen earlier that the vine demon outside was still alive, and had asked Xiang Zhen about it. But Xiang Zhen knew nothing. Naturally he wanted to find the answer now.
“I do not know.” Yu Qing shook his head, then probed, “Do you not know? She should know you, right?”
The Bee King: “Of course she knows me. She was killed by this king back then. By all reason she should be dead. This king did not leave her any way out when I struck. I cannot figure out how she came back to life either.”
Yu Qing blinked. He remembered the vine demon saying this one had been affected by evil qi and was very brutal. Now it seemed that was not the case.
He had long felt something was off about that vine demon. Naturally he took this chance to ask, “Your Majesty, why did you kill her?”
The Bee King: “She was contaminated by the large amount of evil qi leaking from the mansion. She was no longer merely a demon. She had become an evil spirit. How could this king allow her to cause chaos in the outside world? Naturally I had to eliminate her root and branch. Back then, she was not the only one killed. Basically all living things that could move and had not been able to leave the immortal mansion were cleared out by this king in the end.”
Yu Qing was speechless. That vine demon was an evil spirit?
Both sides accused the other of being an evil spirit. He could not quite determine which side was true and which was false.
Xiang Lanzhi took up the questioning, “What did that vine demon ask you to come in for?”
Yu Qing lifted his chin toward the Bee King and told the truth, “She asked us to come in and kill him.”
The Bee King knew he was referring to using the pollen. This was also what made him suspicious. He asked, “Since she can open the mansion, and knows the way to kill me, why does she not come in herself? Instead she lets you come in to carry it out. She is more familiar with the environment here. If she came herself, the success rate should be higher, should it not?”
Xiang Lanzhi said, “I know this. That vine demon is locked down by Kunling Mountain. Her true body should temporarily be unable to leave that abyss. If she were not hampered in movement, she would not have lurked for so many years before making a move. Without finding an absolutely reliable person, she would not dare act rashly.”
Speaking to this point, she was somewhat puzzled again, and asked Yu Qing, “Such a dangerous matter. She asked you to come in and kill. And you just came in?”
Yu Qing: “Naturally I was moved by the benefits she promised. She said there was an immortal spring here that grants eternal youth. Wash in it and you could attain longevity.”
As he said this, he watched the Bee King’s expression closely.
At these words, Xiang Lanzhi’s eyelids twitched wildly. She exclaimed, “An immortal spring that grants eternal youth?”
Women were rather interested in eternal youth. Even Xiang Zhen beside her was visibly moved.
“Immortal spring?” But the Bee King said suspiciously, “Where in the Mirror Flower Garden would that thing come from?”
Yu Qing pressed on, “She said there were two immortal springs in the mansion. One was the Heaven Spring. After bathing in it, one could attain eternal youth. The other was the Human Spring. It could turn demons and ghosts into normal people.” He still watched the other’s reaction closely.
But the Bee King looked at him as if he were an idiot, and he was not polite with his words either, “You are quite the fool.”
Yu Qing glared, “Speak properly. Do not curse. You are not much better off now either. Like me, your life is in someone else’s hands.” He glanced at Xiang Lanzhi.
The Bee King retorted, “If there really were those two immortal springs you speak of, do you think this king could have fallen into your hands? If affected by the soul-dissipating pollen, a soak in the Heaven Spring would fix it. Do you know how severe the situation was when the evil qi ran rampant back then? Do you know how many former friends I killed because of it? Du Niang outside, back then she was also a very close friend of mine. I did not want to kill her either. Even letting her enter the Human Spring to soak and become a normal person to cultivate would have been fine. Such a simple truth. Does she not know it? Yet she could still use it to fool you. And you could actually believe it. You really could foolishly run in here and help someone do their dirty work. Tell me yourself, are you stupid or not?”
“……” Yu Qing was left speechless there, his expression blank and foolish.
The Bee King’s face was full of contempt, “If what you say is true, then I can imagine she simply did not dare let you confront me. She probably wanted you to kill me the moment you succeeded.”
“……” Yu Qing was still speechless. At this moment he truly felt he was stupid.
Xiang Lanzhi looked at his appearance and knew the Bee King had definitely hit the mark. She scoffed, “You are quite stupid. I really do not know how you earned the false reputation of ‘the greatest talent under heaven’. Could it have been plagiarised?” This was purely teasing.
But she then changed the subject, “I have heard that in some immortal mansion there is an immortal spring that can grant eternal youth, called the ‘Three Lives Spring’. I wonder if Your Majesty knows in which immortal mansion it is?”
What she referred to was the thing all powers wanted to find. Longevity was the dream of all people. Since the topic had come to this, naturally she would ask casually.
The Bee King said indifferently, “The so-called ‘Three Lives Spring’ is a collective name for three springs. He only mentioned the Human Spring and Heaven Spring just now. There should also be an Earth Spring.”
“Three?” Xiang Lanzhi did not understand, “Should?”
The Bee King: “I have only heard of it. I have not seen it. As he said just now, the Heaven Spring can grant people eternal youth. The Human Spring can turn demons and ghosts into normal people. The Earth Spring can turn people into demons and ghosts.” Speaking to this point, he actually could not help but sigh, “The sudden rampant evil qi in the various immortal mansions seems to be related to the refining of this ‘Three Lives Spring’.”
Xiang Lanzhi: “What do you mean?”
The Bee King shook his head, “To instantly turn people into demons and ghosts, to instantly turn other things into normal people, to instantly bestow longevity upon people, do you think that is something an ordinary immortal can do? Relying on one’s own strength seems a bit inadequate. The various immortal mansions seem to have been dividing the labour to refine this remarkable divine artifact. During the process, some mishap occurred. It seems to have thrown all the immortal mansions into chaos. As for whether it was finally refined or not, I do not know either.” The others did not know if these words were true or false.
Yu Qing knew the other’s explanation of the “Three Lives Spring” was not wrong. Moreover, he had witnessed the existence of the Earth Spring. Still unwilling to give up, he said, “That vine demon said there was a spring beneath the immortal palace.”
The Bee King sneered, “Little Beard, still not giving up? There is indeed a spring beneath this tree. It is the only water source visible within several hundred li. It is for the daily needs of the immortal palace. If you think there is something special about it, forget soaking. You can go drink your fill. However, that spring water does taste a bit better than ordinary water. After all, it has absorbed the spiritual energy of this spiritual root. It can bring some benefit to the physical body.”
Then he looked at Yu Qing with the eyes of someone looking at a fool again, “She not only deceived you. She probably did not intend to let you leave alive either. There is something she probably did not tell you.”
Yu Qing immediately asked, “What thing?”
The Bee King: “Did she not tell you that after I was affected, I could only sit and wait for death within three days?”
At these words, Yu Qing and Xiang Lanzhi could not help but exchange glances.
Yu Qing then tried asking, “Is that not so? If she cannot kill you, what use is there in her sending me in?”
The Bee King: “With the cultivation of you people outside, no one can kill me. What Earth Master, what Earth Mother, none are enough to fill the gaps between my teeth. Although using my cultivation to protect myself is no different from suicide, the power of a single strike I can deliver before self-detonation is enough to kill everyone before my eyes. She probably did not tell you this, did she?”
Xiang Lanzhi’s heart pounded as she looked at him. The other’s words were tantamount to warning them, do not force him to act, or none of them would live.
But Yu Qing’s face showed suspicion. The vine demon had indeed not told him these things. But if they died, who would bring out the things the vine demon wanted?
He then frowned. The vine demon knew the way in and out. She held the golden fruit that could open the mansion. Did she definitely need them to bring things out? Did she have to rush to bring things out now? Could she not find another suitable candidate?
His face gradually darkened. Yet he felt something was wrong.
Before he could speak, the Bee King had already said it, “She probably did not tell you I have four more people here, because she did not know. Before the immortal mansion was sealed, those four people had not yet appeared. They were trained by me one by one later on.”
On the other side, Nan Zhu, who had been putting out fires behind the divine tree, suddenly waved urgently, urgently beckoning Mu Aotie over.
Bai Lixin also came over upon seeing this, but Nan Zhu directed her to keep watch. It was not that he wanted to guard against Bai Lixin, but rather he genuinely needed someone to help keep a lookout.
“What is it?” Mu Aotie did not understand. He did not think it was likely they were abandoning Old Fifteen to flee.
Nan Zhu lifted his chin toward the top of the divine tree, “That black gourd the vine demon spoke of. We must hurry and look for it. If it really exists, we might as well take the chance to pluck it.”
Mu Aotie asked in shock and doubt, “Are you mad? Right now our lives are in others’ hands, and you still want to go steal things?”
Nan Zhu sighed, “What if we can get out? If we get out, and we do not give the vine demon what we promised, how could she return my precious fruit to me?”
Mu Aotie: “No, things have become like this. Stealing things again is not appropriate. What if we are discovered?”
Nan Zhu patted his chest, “Now is the perfect time to steal. Just now it was so chaotic. The people from Kunling Mountain are all dead. If anything is missing, they took it. It has nothing to do with us. There is no proof since they are dead. Besides, the Bee King is already a prisoner. Even if discovered, what can he do to us? Sigh, I will not waste words with you. They are interrogating now. The matters here cannot be finished in a short while. This is the perfect opportunity to act. You keep watch below. I will go up and look.”