Seven days passed, and the larvae from the love-silk gu had finally all fallen to the ground and died.
The sky above Mount Emei was no longer hazy pink, but had returned to its former scenery. Wildflowers bloomed quietly beneath the trees, yet a touch of vitality was missing.
This strange change stemmed from Mount Emei's excessive quietness. At this moment, Mount Emei only echoed with the rustling of leaves in the wind. The sounds of insects and birds that should have been present had all vanished. The world was terrifyingly silent, as if someone were standing behind you, cupping your ears.
Though immersed within it, one felt detached.
With the creaking of mechanisms, the Flying Temple slowly "flew" from beneath the cliff onto level ground.
After the Flying Temple returned to its original position, many people emerged from within. Sensing the changes on Mount Emei, Master Guanyun and the disciples of the Emei Sect were overcome with grief, unable to help but cover their faces and weep.
They all knew the reason for Mount Emei's eerie silence – there were no longer any animals on the entire mountain. Those pitiful creatures, affected by the love-silk gu, had long since perished from exhaustion.
The ground was littered with decaying corpses, most in pairs, male and female, but there were also groups of three... and groups of four... and even combinations of close brothers and sisters.
"Amitabha, what a sin..."
Master Guanyun clasped her hands together, chanting Buddhist prayers, while two streams of clear tears flowed from her eyes.
The Emei Sect had suffered a severe blow this time, and it was unknown how many years it would take to recover.
What made her feel even more guilt and pain were the lives that had already been lost.
Long Feicheng comforted her, "Little Aunt-Grandmother, don't be too sad. At least these animals had a good time before they died."
Master Guanyun nearly kicked Long Feicheng back into the Flying Temple.
Yan Shouyi also covered Long Feicheng's mouth, warning, "If you don't have anything good to say, then don't say it!"
Everyone else also emerged from the Flying Temple and began returning to their respective residences and meditation rooms. As they returned to their empty homeland, they could only lament the changes in circumstances and the passage of time.
At the same time, they were also grateful that Yan Shouyi had led people to their rescue; otherwise, their fate would have been even more tragic than that of their fallen sect sisters.
Although the sky was no longer filled with love-silk gu larvae, it was enveloped by the illusion of a giant lotus. Yan Shouyi had already tested it with his clones; the Emei Lotus Array was real and had completely sealed off Mount Emei. Apart from natural elements like air and water, no living being could enter or exit.
What Yan Shouyi found most exasperating was that the Emei Lotus Array could also block mobile phone signals!
A few days prior, Yan Shouyi, full of confidence, had his clone carry a mobile phone out to try and contact Lin Zitong, only to discover that all the phones had no signal.
At that moment, he couldn't help but complain that the ancient Emei predecessors who set up the Emei Lotus Array must have been transmiges. Otherwise, how could they have incorporated the function of signal blocking into the array hundreds or thousands of years ago?
However, Yan Shouyi later understood. The Emei Lotus Array didn't block mobile signals, but rather magnetic fields and energy. Otherwise, Wen Yuxian would have been able to pass through the Emei Lotus Array with ease.
Mount Emei was in a power outage. In the following days, the mobile phones also ran out of battery completely, and everyone gave up struggling with this aspect.
Yan Shouyi looked up at the giant lotus illusion in the sky and said to Master Guanyun,
"I have already broken one of the array eyes of the lotus array. As long as the other two are broken, the Emei Lotus Array will become ineffective."
Master Guanyun nodded, "I have already arranged for the disciples. After they tidy up, they will begin searching for the lotus array eyes."
The others were also not idle. Yan Shouyi assigned Long Feicheng, Zhuge Ji, Ye Tianyuan, Tian Jue'er, and others to go in pairs to search for the lotus array eyes.
After sending them out, Yan Shouyi suddenly noticed that his grandmother, Wen Yuxian, had not appeared, so he asked Master Guanyun with confusion:
"Little Aunt-Grandmother, where is my grandmother?"
Master Guanyun's expression slowly darkened. She said, "The cold poison that your grandmother contracted is worsening, but she did not want me to tell you."
Yan Shouyi was greatly alarmed, "How can this be? I examined my grandmother, and her cold poison was clearly suppressed!"
"That was merely an illusion," Master Guanyun sighed. "If I hadn't intervened to help her, she would have been annihilated on the fifth day. As for now... her condition is very bad. Not only did she not want me to tell you, but now that everyone has returned to Mount Emei, I can finally speak the truth."
Yan Shouyi was filled with remorse and, without a word, rushed back into the Flying Temple.
Elders are always like this. They always hide their illnesses, not wanting their juniors to worry or be distracted, unwilling to become a burden to their descendants in their old age.
They are great, but also selfish, because no grandchild would wish for their elder to pass away. Missing the opportunity means missing it forever, and the regret left in one's heart will never diminish.
Yan Shouyi rushed back to the Flying Temple and went to Wen Yuxian's room. As expected, Wen Yuxian's soul was covered in frost; the cold poison had already spread throughout her entire body!
"Grandmother!"
Yan Shouyi felt immense heartache. He rushed forward to grab Wen Yuxian's hand, but recoiled as if shocked by electricity due to the cold. This chill was so intense that even his Heavenly Corpse Puppet body could barely withstand it!
Wen Yuxian seemed to have expected Yan Shouyi to come. She smiled kindly at him and said,
"You don't need to worry about Grandmother."
"How can I not worry?!"
Yan Shouyi said angrily, "You clearly had a chance to be saved, why did you hide it from me? Why didn't you let Little Aunt-Grandmother tell me?"
Master Guanyun also appeared at the doorway at this moment. She placed her whisk on her arm and said in a self-mocking tone,
"Because we didn't understand!"
Master Guanyun was "getting back" at Wen Yuxian.
Yan Shouyi, unaware of the "inside joke" between the two sisters, didn't want to blame anyone. Instead, he tried to examine Wen Yuxian's condition.
The Luban book recorded some medical knowledge. After examining her, Yan Shouyi despaired to discover that Wen Yuxian was critically ill. Even if Old Jin came, he would likely be powerless to reverse her condition!
"Grandmother was supposed to be annihilated twenty years ago, but heaven shows mercy and allowed Grandmother to see you grow up. Grandmother is already very content," Wen Yuxian comforted him.
Yan Shouyi, who feared nothing, was now filled with terror. He tightly grasped Wen Yuxian's hand, "I don't want... I don't want you to leave, Grandmother..."
There must be a way, there must be!
Yan Shouyi had been constantly losing, and he cherished everyone around him.
Therefore, he would never give up easily!
But the cold poison was so potent, and even Master Guanyun had no solution. How could he possibly break it?
Yan Shouyi's mind raced.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he thought of a possibility.
The cold poison came from the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus. As the saying goes, the antidote for any poison can be found within five steps of its location. So, does this mean that the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus can counteract the cold poison?
Further consideration led him to realize that the fruit extracted from the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus would be the Ice Mountain Lotus Seed!