"Thank fate." Qin Shi stood up and replied.
After two cups of wine, Li Tan sat down and gestured to the three of them. "Alright, let's not stand on ceremony, especially Brother Qin. Just treat this as your own home, no need to be so formal."
Qin Shi smiled and nodded. Then, the table was mostly filled with Li Tan and the Undying Taoist's reminiscing, as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for many years. Of course, the truth was that they had not seen each other for many years, so after a few rounds of wine, they started chatting. Li Tan and the Undying Taoist briefly described the development and major events of Nightless City in the past three years, and then sincerely invited the Undying Taoist, "Undying Taoist, Nightless City was established by you and my father. Now, Nightless City is lacking a talent like you. I've always felt sorry for the accident that happened to you in the past three years. Now that you've finally recovered, I hope that you can come out of retirement and continue to serve Nightless City. Don't let my father's efforts go to waste."
However, the Undying Taoist smiled and shook his head. "I'm just an old man, what can I do if I leave the mountain? Indeed, I accompanied your father to conquer this world, and then I accompanied him to protect this world. However, times have changed, it's the era of you young people. When he unfortunately fell, I had already chosen to live in seclusion. After that, because I was fated with Minghao, and because I don't have any descendants in this life, I chose to accept him as my disciple. It can be considered as finding a suitable successor for what I've learned in this life, but it's a pity …!"
The Undying Taoist didn't say anything else, but everyone present, including the palace maids and servants, understood that Li Minghao definitely couldn't continue cultivating in his current state.
This was the regret of the entire Nightless City.
"Sigh …!
I knew it would be like this. Alright, I won't try to persuade you anymore. I just hope that if Nightless City is really in trouble one day, Undying Taoist won't just sit back and do nothing. "Li Tan sighed.
"Of course. Even if I go into seclusion, Nightless City can only have the surname Li!"
The Undying Old Daoist spoke with great vigor. As he spoke, his old eyes fell on the Zhao Family's wooden sign in the hall.
Of course, Li Tan did not notice this detail. He was moved to tears. After that, the two chatted for a while. When Li Minghao was mentioned again, both of them felt it was a pity. The Undying Taoist suddenly said, "By the way, Li Tan, Brother Qin told me that he wants to see Li Minghao. Is he in the residence now?"
"Oh, there's such a thing?" Li Tan turned his head curiously. "Little brother, you want to see my son?"
Qin Shi said sincerely, "To be dissatisfied, City Lord, I do want to meet Young Master Minghao. Previously, we could be considered to have met by fate. We met once at the market and caused him to fall to the ground. I want to apologize to him in person."
Li Tan hesitated, but since the Undying Taoist had spoken, he did not suspect Qin Shi too much. He nodded. "Mm, that's good too. Minghao is in the residence. But you know his situation. It's difficult to ask him to come out. Why don't I call someone to bring you to him?"
"That's great."
Qin Shi revealed a joyful expression. This would be convenient for him to carry out his next plan.
"Come!"
Li Tan clapped his hands and a maid appeared beside him. "Bring Brother Qin to Young Master's room."
"Yes." The maid said to Qin Shi, "Young Master Qin, please follow me."
"Then, Castellan, Undying Senior, I'll be taking my leave." Qin Shi cupped his fists at the two of them and followed the maid into the hallway of the hall.
Upon entering the hallway, Qin Shi could not help but click his tongue. On both sides of the hallway, there was a crystal display stand every five meters. It was filled with rare treasures. He thought to himself, "Li Tan really loves collecting."
At this moment, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at one of the crystal display stands. There was a bottle made of ceramic, and a dark liquid leaked out. Qin Shi's heart raced. "This is … Desolate Geocentric Milk?"
"Indeed. I just did not expect Li Tan to place all these treasures in the Castellan Residence." The Blood Shaman nodded.
Hearing this, Qin Shi was shocked. He frowned and said, "That's strange. If Li Tan's entire collection is here, then what happened to the Space Formation that was sealed outside the Nightless City during the day when we were about to enter the city?"
"I don't know. But from the looks of it, it's not as simple as it looks. There must be a whole other world inside," the Blood Shaman said.
"Little guy, look over there!"
Suddenly, the Blood Shaman's voice became heated. He pointed at the display stand in front of the Desolate Geocentric Milk. There was a black crystal on the display stand.
Qin Shi saw the crystal and became serious. "This power, is it the Demonic Aura?"
"Yes, and it's very powerful." The Blood Shaman's heart trembled.
Qin Shi nodded. He could feel the extraordinary power in the crystal, but he did not lose his composure like the Blood Shaman. After all, he knew where he was.
At this moment, the maid who was leading Qin Shi turned around and asked, "Young Master Qin, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine. Let's go."
Qin Shi quickly adjusted himself and suppressed the restlessness in his heart.
He knew that now was not the time to show it. He had to see Li Minghao first and find out his condition. Then, he would find a chance to obtain the Desolate Geocentric Milk from Li Tan and ask about the origin of the crystal.
They walked all the way to the end of the long corridor before the servant girl brought Qin Shi to a stop in front of a stone room. She said to Qin Shi, "Young Master Qin, this is Young Master's room."
"Alright, I understand. Thank you."
Qin Shi replied politely. With a squeak, he opened the door alone.
Then, he frowned slightly. He peered through the gap of the door. There was no light at all. It made him feel as though he had fallen into a dark abyss.
"Little guy, be careful. There's Demonic Aura in this room!"
The Blood Shaman's warning came before he even entered the room. This made Qin Shi calm down and think to himself, "There's indeed a ghost!"
Then, he carefully walked into the room and used his spiritual sea to determine the appearance and layout of the room. Then, he saw a skinny young man on the bed. This young man was none other than Li Minghao.
Li Minghao was curled up in a corner. When he saw Qin Shi, he suddenly stood up excitedly and rushed towards Qin Shi. "It's you?"
"You still remember me?"
"I remember!"
Li Minghao grinned. Then, he actually took a few steps back. After that, he gathered his strength and charged towards Qin Shi.
With a bang, he fell to the ground again. Then, he giggled and said, "Fun, fun, this is too fun. I want you to play with me!"
Li Minghao seemed to have an inexplicable closeness to Qin Shi. This made the maid standing outside the door slightly surprised. She said to Qin Shi, "It's really strange. These years, no matter who Young Master Li meets, he mostly stays far away. This is the first time I've seen him so close to someone."
When Qin Shi heard this, he pondered for a moment. This should be because he also had an evil spirit in him, but he naturally wouldn't say it out loud. He only smiled lightly at the servant girl, "I think, this might be because Young Master Li and I are more fated."
"En, that's good too. Young Master Li will have a companion to take care of the knot in his heart. We're all happy for him. Young Master Qin, you can stay here for now. I'll go back and serve the City Lord."
"Alright, go ahead."
Qin Shi nodded politely. Then, when the maid disappeared from his sight, his eyes became slightly serious. His gaze fell on Li Minghao and he said with a smile, "Little guy, you want me to play with you, right?
Then you have to promise me one thing first. "
"What is it?" Li Minghao looked up and asked.
Qin Shi waved at him and said, "Come here, let me see the situation in your body."
"Okay, but you have to promise me that you will play with me." Li Minghao had no idea what Qin Shi was going to do and agreed directly.
"It's a deal."
"Then let's pinky swear!" Li Minghao said slyly.
With a wry smile, Qin Shi stretched out his little finger and hooked it with Li Minghao. "Pinky swear and hang, it won't change for a hundred years. Is that okay?"
"Yes!"
Li Minghao answered with satisfaction. After that, he was very obedient. He turned around from Qin Shi and when he showed the back of his head to Qin Shi, he did not forget to whisper, "Then you have to be quick so that we can play together."
"Okay, it will be quick."
Qin Shi gently smiled. Then, he opened his palm and a ball of mixed colors appeared. It was mixed with Spiritual Energy and Soul Energy. It was like a whirlpool on the surface of the sea as it slowly approached the back of Li Minghao's head.
"Break!"
In an instant, Qin Shi probed into Li Minghao's body. The first place he entered was Li Minghao's sea of consciousness. After the telekinesis landed, he inadvertently frowned. This was simply a purgatory. There was not a single place in the surroundings that was intact. Not only was it dark and desolate, the surroundings were also filled with monstrous flames.
"Ha, what a terrible injury."
Qin Shi smacked his lips. This was the first time he had seen such a messy sea of consciousness. Even the Undying Taoist was not so serious.
"Indeed, his sea of consciousness is almost completely destroyed. These flames have suppressed his soul and nerves. Because of this, his body is like an empty shell. There is no soul to support him and he has no consciousness." The Blood Shaman agreed.
This situation was much more serious than Qin Shi had expected. He could not help but sigh. "Yes, it seems that it will take a lot of effort to cure him."
"Furthermore, whether it can be done or not is another matter. Looking at the current situation, if his soul is only suffering from the intense flames, then it's still fine. As long as we dispel the intense flames here and rescue his soul like the Blood Magus did, then recuperate, it'll be fine."