"We need to play the long game. If we want to revive the City of Eternal Night, we must have the support of a powerful immortal."
Chi Yu didn't quite understand what Gu Yuan was up to, so she didn't respond but waited for him to continue.
"The City of Eternal Night is a place the Heavenly Emperor has his eye on. Everything he does is to get his hands on it. If the Heavenly Court were to fall under his control, the City of Eternal Night would be doomed."
"So someone must stand up against him."
Gu Yuan's eyes were deep. No wonder he was the Crown Prince Yuan of the Heavenly Court. At such a young age, he was already so scheming.
"So, the person you have in mind is Long Lin?" Chi Yu asked.
Gu Yuan nodded slightly and went on, "Don't think that just because I was once the crown prince, I'm interested in all this intrigue. Besides, my father never intended for me to be the crown prince, and I never had any desire to fight for it.
"So there are no high - ranking immortals in the Heavenly Court who are close to me. But Long Lin is different.
"He has great ambitions. For a thousand years, he has been a paragon of the chosen ones. He has remarkable military achievements and enjoys a very high prestige in the Celestial Realm. Sometimes, his words carry as much weight as the Heavenly Emperor's. So having his support is a sure thing."
Listening to Gu Yuan's words, Chi Yu's mood eased a bit.
"But how can you be sure that Long Lin will help us?"
"Of course, he respects and admires my father very much. But today, he witnessed what Xue Liang did to Boss Gu."
"He didn't come... Could it be you?" Chi Yu stared at him with wide eyes.
"Yes, what I saw, he saw."
"How did you do that? And why did you keep it from me?" Chi Yu was puzzled.
Gu Yuan sighed, glanced at Chi Yu sideways, and ruffled her hair.
"That's not the point."
"Okay..." Chi Yu replied and continued to listen to Gu Yuan.
"Now, it's obvious that the Heavenly Emperor is trying to protect Xue Liang. Long Lin went to see the Heavenly Emperor with the other immortal official. It depends on how the Heavenly Emperor will convict Xue Liang. If the Heavenly Emperor spares his life, Long Lin will surely think that there's something fishy going on with his father, and the image of the wise emperor will surely be tarnished in Long Lin's heart."
"What if the Heavenly Emperor orders Xue Liang's execution? After all, he's just a low - level eunuch. He's not worth saving," Chi Yu asked again.
"The suspicion of protection is already a foregone conclusion. Even Long Lin didn't know about this place. How did that little immortal official find out? Xue Liang wasn't familiar with this little immortal official. He wouldn't have told him such a secret place. It must be the Heavenly Emperor who, seeing Xue Liang in trouble, sent the little immortal official here to check.
"When the little immortal official saw Long Lin, he was extremely surprised. He didn't expect Long Lin to be here. So he had no choice but to take Long Lin to see the Heavenly Emperor. If the Heavenly Emperor executes Xue Liang on the spot when he sees Long Lin, Long Lin will surely think that his father is just putting on a show for him, and he will still have doubts in his heart.
"In other words, after what just happened, Long Lin's belief in his father's great image has started to waver. So as long as Xue Liang doesn't die at this moment, Long Lin will surely stand on our side."
"Are you so sure about Long Lin's character, Crown Prince Yuan? He's been coveting your position as the crown prince for a long time," Chi Yu said.
"Of course. Don't be fooled by his smiling face. When it comes to getting rid of the evil and helping the weak, he's number one. No one dares to claim the second place.
"As for the position of the crown prince, I never wanted to fight with him for it. If he wants it, he can have it. I'm no longer the crown prince anyway."
After hearing Gu Yuan's analysis, Chi Yu's admiration for him grew like an endless river.
Chi Yu looked up into Gu Yuan's eyes, and her face flushed all the way to her neck.
She quickly averted her gaze and said,
"Let's go. Let's leave this place."
Chi Yu picked up the iron rod on the ground, walked to the blood pool, and fished out Gu Qingcheng's skeleton, which had long turned into bones.
The skeleton was covered with blood worms, but they turned into a pile of powder and died soon after it was out of the water.
She took out a bundle from her back, arranged Gu Qingcheng's skeleton properly, and after making sure nothing was missing, she wrapped it up and carried it on her back.
"Mother, I'll take you back to the City of Eternal Night."
Seeing Chi Yu's loyalty and affection, Gu Yuan managed a relieved smile.
"We definitely can't leave through the Mysterious Well now. We have to wait for them to leave before we can get out," Gu Yuan said.
"I have a way. I accidentally wandered into this place while stealing food before. At that time, there was nothing here except the blood pool. I didn't know where I was when I came in, but I got out through the Mysterious Well. So there must be another exit here," Chi Yu said.
Gu Yuan's eyes darkened as he looked into Chi Yu's eyes and asked, "Do you still remember which direction it is?"
"I don't remember. Anyway, it's not the Mysterious Well. This well must have another exit. If we search carefully, we'll surely be able to get out," Chi Yu replied firmly.
After saying that, she took Gu Yuan's hand and walked towards one end of the wall.
Apart from the blood pool, the rest of this place was all walls.
"Look over there," Chi Yu pointed to the opposite side of the blood pool.
"Last time when I came here, the blood pool was only as small as a washbasin. Now it has merged into a pool. But the place over there seems to be where I accidentally walked into last time. As long as we get there, we should be able to find the exit."
Gu Yuan looked in the direction Chi Yu was pointing. It still looked like a stone wall. There was no sign of an exit at all.
If they wanted to get there, they would have to cross the blood pool. The blood worms in the pool were churning, and it was unfathomably deep. No one knew what would happen after they crossed it.
However, Gu Yuan trusted Chi Yu completely. Since she said so, he would surely follow.
"Chi Yu, you wait here. I'll go over and take a look."
After saying that, Gu Yuan lightly tapped the ground with his feet and walked towards the other end of the blood pool.
At first, everything was calm. But when Gu Yuan reached the middle of the blood pool, the blood worms in the pool started to get restless. Their bodies wriggled, just like boiling water.
"Crown Prince Yuan, be careful..."
Chi Yu stood on the shore, extremely anxious. Not only her, but even my heart was in my throat.
This was the second time I saw the blood pool, and no one had ever walked out alive both times.
Although I knew that Gu Yuan had a powerful self - healing ability in his body, being invaded by the blood worms must be worse than death.
The closer he got to the opposite shore, the more violently the blood in the pool churned. Suddenly, several black iron barbed chains flew out of the blood pool. There were fish - hook - like black iron hooks at the top of the chains.
Once they got hooked into the body, they would surely be impossible to pull out.
I was all too familiar with these chains. Weren't they the ones that hooked Chi Yu that day?
The barbs had hooked onto Chi Yu's collarbone, and she had died in great pain in the blood pool.
Just thinking about it made my heart feel as if it was being tightly squeezed. I not only felt sorry for Chi Yu but also worried about Gu Yuan.
I wondered if Gu Yuan would get hurt crossing this blood pool.