There was a large pool of blood that belonged to the mussel. Obviously, it was injured and held captive. Every piece of evidence was a match to her speculation. She could a.s.sume that the mussel that the four Great Guardians had claimed must be hers."Lu Wu, trace the scents of these four men and find them!"
"Yes!" Lu Wu took a sniff of their surroundings and pointed at a direction. "They went that way!"
"Right, let"s look for them!"
Yun Yanli offered to join them. "Xijiu, I shall join you."
"It is all right. You are still injured, so you should focus on your recovery. I can find them on my own." Gu Xijiu then swiftly pa.s.sed him a bottle of medicine before leaving with Lu Wu.
Hesitantly, Yun Yanli slowed down. He knew that his ident.i.ty must not be revealed, so it was not appropriate for him to see the four Great Guardians face-to-face. He would be in great trouble if they found out that he was still alive. Hence, he headed in a different direction though he promised to still help in the search.
…
Gu Xijiu was burning with anxiety. She was worried about the condition of the mussel. Had it been tortured? She bore no interest in politics. She would stay away from the complications, as long as the political game did not harm any of the people that she cared about.
She had certainly heard about the four Great Guardians and the ma.s.sacre, too, but she was not really concerned. In politics, there was no definite line between right and wrong. Every single one of the rulers would definitely do anything that he could to secure their throne, even if it meant driving away and exterminating the surviving members of the past royal family to ensure that there are no mishaps.
They would spare no mercy in the killings, especially to those who rose in rebellion to the succession of the throne. The evil plots for the throne would often end up in brutal fights, even between a father and a son, let alone the members of no blood connection. Every change of era was built on blood and bones.
Ye Tianli, the new Emperor Immortal, could be considered as a good emperor, but he should not be acknowledged as a good man. A really good man would never be able to become an emperor. Also, his followers would not be any better, just like the four Great Guardians. Their names had become a byword for cruelty.
People would tremble in fear upon hearing their brutal torments. Her only hope was that they would not torture the mussel, for the sake of its ident.i.ty as a majestic being.
…
The mussel had three major concerns. First and foremost, it feared that its master would one day abandon it. Secondly, it had a fear of hunger. Lastly, it was scared of confinement. At this very moment, it was experiencing two of out its three greatest fears.
It had not been given anything to eat for the past three days, not even a drop of water. Also, it was confined in a magic bottle gourd.
The magic bottle gourd was no ordinary cell. It was a magical item that could change its size to accommodate different needs. When the mussel was first confined in the bottle, it tried to expand its size to shatter the wall. To its surprise, the bottle grew along with its body size. The mussel had tried many times, but nothing worked. In desperation, it wanted to cry so badly.
It had heard about the story called "A Journey To The West" from its master. In the story, the monsters had many magical instruments; one of them was known as the Golden Purple Bottle Gourd. It had once housed Sun Wukong in it.
It thought that what she had shared was only a story, so it was beguiled with the tale of adventure. Never had it expected that it would one day be trapped and tortured in a similar situation. The bottle was like a living h.e.l.l. The mussel thought that the actual h.e.l.l would probably be a much better place than the bottle.
For the first two hours, there would be raging fires, tormenting the mussel from every corner. The next two hours, there would be piercing cold winds, penetrating the mussel"s skin. The temperature could drop abruptly to 70 or 80 degrees below zero; so cold that it could only breathe ice out of its nostrils. The following two hours would be filled with the smoke torment. The smoke would choke the mussel, making it difficult for the mussel to breathe.
These torments were considerably bearable for the mussel. What tortured it the most was the smell of food that would fill its nostrils every two hours.