The larvae of the Qing Si Gu must be in a watery environment to survive.
The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were killed, and theoretically, leaving their bodies in place would have been fine, but Huang Qingcang went out of his way to throw their corpses into the Washing Elephant Pool.
Combining these two clues, a terrifying conjecture surfaced in everyone's minds.
The Washing Elephant Pool had become Huang Qingcang's place to raise the Qing Si Gu, and it was possible that the larvae of the Qing Si Gu had already been planted in the bodies of those Qingcheng Sect disciples!
Once these larvae matured, Mount Emei would undoubtedly become a forbidden zone for life!
"Let's go back to the Washing Elephant Pool!"
Yan Shouyi immediately turned around and left the bathhouse.
The other three followed behind Yan Shouyi.
Exiting the bathhouse, Yan Shouyi had Long Feicheng carry the Daoist Master Jin Bi, and the group rushed towards the Washing Elephant Pool without stopping!
Yan Shouyi was now certain that Li Genmiao had sent more than one Twelve Yuan Chen member to Mount Emei, and that there must be a shadow puppetry inheritor and a Gu master among them. As for whether there were more, Yan Shouyi could not be sure.
The group hurried to the Washing Elephant Pool, but as they approached it, they suddenly stopped.
Long Feicheng, carrying Daoist Master Jin Bi, was the last to arrive. He saw the scene before him and his mouth fell open in surprise.
"Is... is this still the Washing Elephant Pool?" Ye Tianyuan exclaimed, "We've only been gone for half an hour, right?"
The Washing Elephant Pool that appeared before them was filled with red flowers. The petals were long and slender, like chrysanthemum petals, but there were only a few of them, making it appear very strange.
The red flowers densely covered the entire Washing Elephant Pool.
Yan Shouyi reached out and parted the flowers, only to see their roots connected to the bodies of the Qingcheng Sect disciples at the bottom of the pool.
Their bodies were covered in flowers, a terrifying sight. Even Yan Shouyi felt his scalp tingle at the first moment he saw it.
Tian Jue'er cried out excitedly, "Quick, kill these Qing Si Gu! If the pollen erupts, we..."
Yan Shouyi immediately unleashed his Palm Lightning!
Silver lightning instantly covered the entire Washing Elephant Pool. The Qing Si Gu were extremely fragile and were instantly killed by the Palm Lightning. The red flowers also withered.
Seeing this, Tian Jue'er couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, "It was close... so close, and these Qing Si Gu would have matured."
The life cycles of Gu insects and humans are different. For example, the larvae of mayflies are "born in the morning and die in the evening." The Qing Si Gu were the same; from larvae to maturity, it only took half an hour.
This was also why the disciples of the Emei Sect had not discovered the Qing Si Gu.
"There's something... at the bottom of this Washing Elephant Pool."
At this moment, Qi Dongqiang crouched by the edge of the Washing Elephant Pool, peering down.
Long Feicheng, caught off guard, ran to Qi Dongqiang's side and crouched down, asking curiously, "What is it?"
Suddenly, Qi Dongqiang slapped Long Feicheng on the back!
Long Feicheng cried out and stumbled into the Washing Elephant Pool!
Tian Jue'er was greatly alarmed. The Washing Elephant Pool might still contain dead Qing Si Gu. If Long Feicheng fell into it, the Qing Si Gu might immediately burrow into his body and begin to absorb his vital energy!
In that case, Long Feicheng would have no chance of survival!
The incident happened so suddenly that everyone didn't even have time to consider why Qi Dongqiang would attack Long Feicheng.
As he fell, Long Feicheng turned his head and looked up at Qi Dongqiang.
He saw that Qi Dongqiang's face was no longer filled with its usual pure innocence. His expression had been replaced by coldness and cruelty, and his eyes held hatred!
This guy... is a hidden wolf!
Long Feicheng roared in his heart.
But at this moment, a strong hand grabbed Long Feicheng!
Before Long Feicheng could react, that hand had already pulled him to the shore!
"Brother Yan!!!!"
Long Feicheng was immensely moved, "I knew it! With you here, I'd definitely be okay!"
"Get away from me, you're disgusting!"
Yan Shouyi kicked Long Feicheng away. Long Feicheng landed near Tian Jue'er and the others, completely unharmed.
Everyone came back to their senses, bewildered, "What... what happened?!"
Why did Qi Dongqiang suddenly attack Long Feicheng?!
After kicking Long Feicheng away, Yan Shouyi turned and stared coldly at Qi Dongqiang.
"What, can't keep up the act?" Yan Shouyi asked calmly.
Qi Dongqiang's expression turned ugly, "So you were wary of me all along?"
"Surprised?" Yan Shouyi said, "From the very beginning, I never trusted you. I suspect that there are at least three Twelve Yuan Chen members on Mount Emei now. Two of them are the shadow puppetry inheritor and the Gu master. This third one is you, the monkey trainer."
"Hehehe... Hahahaha!"
Qi Dongqiang lowered his head and sneered. When he raised his head, a "申" character appeared on his forehead!
He was "Shen" among the Twelve Yuan Chen!
"I originally planned to play with you a bit longer, but your group has ruined the plans of the other two useless fellows. There's no other way, I can only take a gamble," Qi Dongqiang asked unwillingly, "Yan Shouyi, when did you realize I was suspicious?"
Long Feicheng, Ye Tianyuan, and Tian Jue'er were dumbfounded.
Qi Dongqiang was actually a bad guy?
We've been traveling with a bad guy for so long?
When did the leader figure it out, and why didn't he tell us?
Everyone broke out in a cold sweat.
Only Zhuge Ji seemed to have already noticed that Qi Dongqiang was not right.
"Time!"
Zhuge Ji stepped forward and said, "We arrived on the mountain after Daoist Master Jin Bi and his group, with a time difference of less than half an hour. Moreover, they had more people, and their climbing speed was definitely not as fast as ours. But after meeting you, a 'local,' our climbing speed not only didn't increase, but it actually slowed down!"
"When we reached Wannian Temple, many things had already happened there. This time difference exposed your problem. Either you are not from Mount Emei, or you were deliberately slowing us down and delaying time!"
Yan Shouyi nodded appreciatively. He had also guessed that Zhuge Ji had some clues.
"The wounds on the bodies at the entrance of Wannian Temple, I examined them and found that they were very similar to those caused by your monkey's claws."
"But this was only a preliminary conjecture, and it only made me suspicious of you."
"Later, we encountered Huang Qingcang. You immediately rushed forward to fight him without saying a word. This impulsive behavior seemed deliberate, with the aim of not exposing our presence and preventing Huang Qingcang from saying anything that would reveal secrets!"
"In the Wuliang Hall, we found Caiyun's body. I could never understand why everyone else died outside the hall or in their residences, but only Caiyun died in the Wuliang Hall. According to normal logic, Abbess Guanyun, Ling Xiaoxiao, or even any elder of the Emei Sect would have been more likely to replace Caiyun. But why Caiyun?"
"The only person I could think of who might have a connection with Caiyun was you, Qi Dongqiang."