Chapter 27: External Blood Bag

Gu Yuye stood up and summoned Gu Youren and Gu Yuandao into the room. He looked at Gu Youren and asked in a deep voice, "The medium used to set up the Huilan Formation in the bedroom at Xiefang Court, if I recall correctly... was a Mermaid's Tear?"

Gu Youren paused, then nodded. "Yes."

"And where is that Mermaid's Tear now?"

"The Mermaid's Tear could not withstand the power of the Huilan Formation and shattered into powder. It should have been cleaned up by the servants by now..."

Gu Youren called for her head maid, Jing'er. Jing'er bowed respectfully and reported cautiously, "The pearl powder was mixed with a great deal of dust and bloodstains. I instructed the servants to collect it and separate it slowly. The powder can be used as an auxiliary material for alchemy and was meant to be sent to Consultant Li."

The Mermaid's Tear was a top-tier pearl produced by the Sea Kingdom. In Gu Fangchen’s bedroom, such things were merely used to string curtains; once shattered, they were considered useless waste to be discarded. However, for the servants of the manor, these were golden crumbs fallen from their masters' fingers. Especially given Gu Fangchen’s flamboyant and extravagant nature, serving in his courtyard carried high risks but also brought generous rewards. The servants had long since made a habit of picking up such scraps.

Fortunately, because the pearl had shattered so thoroughly, it would take some time to separate the powder, and it had been kept in storage. Otherwise, if the Prince, who was currently in a rage, had discovered it missing, they would have faced severe punishment.

Gu Yuye had no time to concern himself with the petty dealings of his servants. He simply commanded, "Bring it all here."

"Yes."

Jing'er returned shortly after and presented a box containing the powdered pearl. Gu Yuandao looked at the dirty, chaotic powder in the box, and his brow furrowed as he immediately detected something amiss.

"The quality of this Mermaid's Tear is not high enough to support the formation of a Huilan Array on its own. The fact that it exploded into powder proves that the formation was formed very reluctantly; even if it had succeeded, it would have collapsed in a single breath." Gu Yuandao continued, "If this pearl was to be used as the core of the array, it would have required other materials to assist it."

Gu Youren’s proficiency in array arts was not profound—she only understood the basics through analogy—but Gu Yuandao possessed the attainments of a sixth-rank array master. He saw the crux of the issue at a glance. Gu Youren suddenly realized her mistake. Back then, she had assumed that someone had inscribed an array on the pearl beforehand and had Gu Fangchen carry it, allowing him to escape. But since the pearl itself could not stably form the array, that theory did not hold. She wore a grave expression and muttered, "But at the time, we found nothing else in the room that could have been used for an array."

Gu Yuandao paced and pondered for a moment, then a sudden spark of inspiration struck him. He whipped around to look at the box of powder. "There was! The blood! It was the blood!"

Gu Yuandao asserted, "The poison in Gu Fangchen’s body made his blood a natural and excellent medium for drawing arrays. In other words, someone used his blood to draw the Huilan Array onto this pearl."

Gu Youren’s pupils constricted. She had been blinded by the obvious! Because Gu Fangchen had been smashing things in the room and had cut his own hand, she had subconsciously assumed the blood on the pearl was accidentally smeared by him. And if the blood was the medium, it meant that the array must have been drawn by Gu Fangchen himself!

Gu Youren immediately shook her head. "Impossible! To possess such methods, one must at least be a master of array arts. Gu Fangchen has never even touched upon the field; how could he possibly arrange a Huilan Array?"

"Indeed, it is impossible..." Gu Yuye sneered. "Therefore, whoever he is, he is certainly not Gu Fangchen."

The two siblings looked at each other, both feeling a sense of relief. As expected, their father could never have done anything to betray their mother!

Gu Yuye narrowed his eyes. Even if the opponent possessed heaven-defying means that rendered the causal lines impossible to falsify, he simply needed to falsify "Gu Fangchen" himself. If Gu Fangchen was no longer Gu Fangchen, what did it matter if he was his biological son or not?

Gu Yuye looked at the powder in the box and said coldly, "Gu Fangchen sought out Princess Prajna to cure his poison, did he not? Go and invite Master Juehui. Years ago, for the 'Nianhua Seal' used to suppress the Heart-Seed Poison, the Garan Temple took a drop of his heart blood and a wisp of his soul. If it doesn't match, then someone is an impostor."

...

"Creek—"

Gu Fangchen pushed open the door to the east wing of Ning Caiyong’s courtyard. Since Xiefang Court had been largely destroyed and was uninhabitable, he would have to make do in Ning Caiyong’s quarters for the time being. This east wing had been his childhood residence and was still well-preserved, so he could stay there as he pleased. He had dismissed Old Man Ding to the guest quarters, leaving only Qing Jian to follow him closely.

Gu Fangchen walked into the room, closed the door, and slumped down. He stretched his limbs, feeling as though his entire body was strained from being so tense. "This fragile body is far too delicate..." Gu Fangchen couldn't help but grumble, then let out a long breath.

*Huu...*

Finally, he could have a moment of peace. He sighed and looked up at the "Angler" profession. But it would only be for a while... even if Gu Yuye didn't stir up trouble, this "Angler" profession could only be maintained for seven days. In the game, players could stack professions, but here, the random profession system clearly only gave him one at a time. While the passive skills of the profession remained in effect, many active effects would vanish if he stopped utilizing it.

The dead cannot return to life, and he did not know if these causal lines would restore themselves. If the causal lines were to revert, he would have no chance to transform again. Therefore, he needed to secure enough trump cards for himself as quickly as possible. His own strength was, of course, the most important part of that.

Gu Fangchen rotated his arms and turned to look at the motionless Qing Jian, intentionally darkening his expression. "What? Don't you even know how to serve someone? Do I need to remind you?"

Qing Jian looked up, her golden lotus-like eyes devoid of emotion. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before stepping forward and reaching out to touch Gu Fangchen’s shoulder, intending to undo his buttons. Gu Fangchen grabbed her wrist, speechless. "I asked you to massage my shoulders and hammer my legs. What are you thinking?"

Qing Jian retracted her hand with a *whoosh*, lowered her head to stare at her toes with an expressionless face, and turned to knead Gu Fangchen’s shoulders in a very stiff manner.

Gu Fangchen picked up a stack of paper, closed his eyes to think, and began to write down the materials needed for his refinement. Qing Jian snuck a glance at him and, seeing that he didn't seem to mind the misunderstanding from earlier, let out a small, silent sigh of relief.

Gu Fangchen finished writing, straightened the papers, and suddenly pulled one out to hand to the Xiyin attendant. "Here, the recipe for the Jade Refinement Pill."

Qing Jian was stunned. She took it, remained silent for a long time, and asked, "Is there no cost?"

Gu Fangchen flicked the paper to dry it and said leisurely, "Of course there is. For the next few days, you might have to be stuck to me—eating together, living together... and sleeping together."

He intended to use the "Refining Demon Method" to temper his physical body into a puppet. Clearly, the person who invented this method had no need to consider the physical or mental health of the puppet. Some players who walked the path of heresy had tried this route; it tested both physical endurance and willpower. Since Gu Fangchen possessed neither, he had to take a shortcut: using an external, ultra-large human blood bag to provide him with a constant supply of blood throughout the process!