Chapter Eighty-One: Gone Mad

  In the quiet of night, two carriages slowly drove out of Snowley City, one after another.

  Shelley City is the closest commercial city to the Silent Marsh, and between Shelley City and the center of the Silent Marsh, there is only a small forest with not very tall trees. In the forest, there are roads for merchants and mercenaries to travel back and forth.

  In front of him, a horse carriage was moving forward, with Chu Ping's expression remaining wooden as he occasionally swung the whip, neither hastily nor slowly.

  Inside the carriage, from time to time came the low laughter of Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian, these two women seemed very relaxed all along the way, always laughing and chatting.

  Behind them, on a horse-drawn carriage, Han Feng and Ku Long sat at the front, occasionally exchanging a couple of words.

  Most of the time, both of them were vigilantly gazing around, as if they had never relaxed.

  Inside the carriage, Shi Yan was silent as a rock.

  For nearly ten days, Shi Yan had hardly left the horse carriage except for normal eating, drinking and relieving himself.

  He came out for every meal with a haggard face, deeply furrowed eyebrows, and a troubled look.

  Late at night.

  Two horse-drawn carriages stopped by a small river in the forest, and two women, Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian, got down from the carriage and went to the riverbank to wash their faces and fetch water.

  Before long, Zuo Shi and Wu Yunlian returned with a basin of water, only to find the interior of the Stone family's carriage eerily silent, without even a hint of movement.

  "What is he doing?"

  Wu Yunlian stared blankly at the Shi family's carriage, her delicate face filled with confusion and perplexity. "On this entire journey, I've hardly seen him come out. Except for each time he comes out to eat and drink lavishly, he seems to always be staying inside the carriage. Each time he does come out, his expression is always dazed, as if thinking about some problem... He's really a strange kid."

  "He's always been a weirdo." Zuo Shi nodded in agreement, "People who study ancient artifacts and literature are all eccentric, who knows what they have in their brains."

  Wu Yunlian burst out laughing, with a charming smile, "Xiao Shi, you can't say that this person is really quite different from the others. In the past, when walking with you, which young man wasn't like a fly buzzing around you? They couldn't be shooed away! This one's good, it's been over ten days and he seems to haven't given you a proper look, not even bothering to get off his horse carriage, truly rare."

  "Don't mind him, he's indeed a weird person." Zuo Shi was taken aback, and after Wu Yunlian said this, she realized that it seemed to be true. Shi Yan had been walking along the way, but hadn't really looked at her straight in the eye.

  Zuo Shi, although not a narcissist, was also aware of her exceptional appearance, which could be seen from the attitude of other young men towards her.

  And Shi Yan, who was also young and romantic at that time, should have been no exception to the rule, so why did he turn out to be so strange?

  No matter what kind of woman, in this regard will be somewhat petty, Zuo Shi is no exception, while not understanding, she also has some resentment in her heart.

  "Give me some water." A sudden, listless whisper came from Shi Yan in the stone carriage.

  Ku Long was taken aback, looked at Han Feng and said: "Madman, is there still water?"

  Han Feng shook his head and pointed at Wu Yunlian and Zuo Shi, who were walking slowly towards them. "These past few days, it's been the two of them carrying water."

  Ku Long stretched his neck and smiled at Wu Yunlian, saying: "Sister, bring some water, my young master is thirsty."

  "Let him come down and get it himself." Zuo Shi pouted, humming softly: "Staying in the carriage all day, isn't he afraid of getting body odor? What a weird person."

  Ku Long smiled and walked towards the horse carriage: "Young Master Yan, Miss Zuo wants you to get down and drink some water."

  "Oh."

  Shi Yan faintly responded with a sentence, slowly pushed open the car curtain, and walked out of that compartment with a haggard face.

  He looked expressionless, with a deep confusion in his eyes, as if he was still searching for a solution to some problem.

  He didn't think much and slowly walked to Zuo Shi's side, directly snatching a bag of water from Zuo Shi's hand and drinking it all in one gulp.

  After drinking, Shi Yan casually handed the water bag to Zuo Shi, who was full of anger, and turned back to the Shi family's carriage, muttering: "This water still has a fragrant smell, it's strange..."

  "Rocky!"

  Zuo Shi's small face turned red with anger, and she shouted: "The water bag you took is mine! Not yours from the Shi family!"

  Shi Yan was startled by her scream and immediately woke up from the state of practicing the Ancient Death Scripture, looking at her strangely and saying, "What's the big deal?"

  "This water bag, Xiaoshi just drank from it, hehe, naturally has a fragrance. Wu Yunlian smiled and said: 'Who knows, maybe there's still some of Xiaoshi's saliva in the water you drank.'"

  "Lotus Aunt!" Zuo Shi's face turned bright red with shame, and she stomped her foot, saying: "What nonsense are you spouting!"

  Ku Long and Chu Ping were both stunned, their facial expressions also becoming strange. Even the Korean wind quietly raised its head and glanced over this way.

  However, soon the three of them pretended to know nothing and busied themselves with their own affairs, as if they hadn't heard Wu Yunlian's words or seen the blush on Zuo Shi's face.

  Shi Yan immediately reacted, but with a straight face pretended to be confused, and smiled: "It's nothing, I'm not particular about these things, I won't think your saliva is unclean."

  With that, Shi Yan turned around with a flourish and directly slipped back into the carriage, never showing his face again.

  "Hehe! Hahaha!"

  Wu Yunlian's smile caused her shoulders to quiver, and the towering chest shook slightly. She suddenly felt that Shi Yan wasn't so boring after all. This little guy occasionally came up with a sentence that made people laugh uncontrollably.

  Zuo Shi stood there in a daze, his eyes wide open, and after a while, he suddenly shouted: "Shi Yan! You bastard!"

  "Han Bo, you can go now." A calm and steady voice came from inside the carriage.

  "Oh." Han Feng's mouth curled up into a strange arc as he urged Ku Long beside him, "Let's get going."

  The Shi family's carriage slowly overtook the Li family's carriage for the first time and continued moving forward.

  Zuo Shi stood alone, her face flushed with embarrassment. She glanced at Wu Yunlian and then looked at Chu Ping, who was lowering his head in silence. With a burst of anger, she said: "What's so funny? There's nothing to laugh about! You're all so boring!"

  Zuo Shi hastily retreated into the carriage, pouting and saying: "Ping Bo, hurry up and start the car! I want to crash into Shi's family carriage, I'll show that scoundrel!"

  Chu Ping was taken aback and looked pitifully at Wu Yunlian.

  Wu Yunlian smiled and shook her head, also getting on the carriage. Inside the compartment, she comforted in a gentle voice: "Alright Xiaoshi, that guy didn't do it on purpose, don't bother with him anymore."

  "That's too much! Actually saying I... saying I..." Zuo Shi hummed in annoyance, but somehow couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

  ……

  Shi Yan didn't take this little episode to heart at all.

  In the carriage, he furrowed his brow, leaning against the carriage board, with strange symbols flickering in his eyes.

  Regarding the life and death seal ancient incantation, the word incantation was rapidly rotating in his mind.

  During this period, Shi Yan devoted almost all his energy to comprehending the Life and Death Seal Ancient Technique.

  Even when eating, his brain didn't rest, constantly understanding the practice method of the life and death seal, as if he was crazy.

  He is this kind of person.

  Once he has made up his mind to do something, he will focus on it single-mindedly, putting all his energy into the task at hand, and will not be swayed by external factors.

  Years of extreme sports career made him understand a truth - only with a devil-like dedication can one truly take something to the extreme!

  Seal of Life and Death! Seal of Life and Death!

  Now in his mind, there is only one thought, that is to understand the practice method of Shengshi Yin with the fastest speed.

  It's best to truly grasp the cultivation secrets of the Life and Death Seal before entering the Silent Swamp.

  Only in this way, in the dead silence of the swamp, can he have more power to protect himself and have more opportunities to gain things that are beneficial to him.

  Shi Yan closed his eyes, relaxed his whole body, and slowly sorted out the epiphany of this period of time.

  After a long time.

  His spirit stirred, and his vital energy slowly flowed, gradually rising from the lower abdomen to surge gently into his right arm.

  The speed of the essence flowing in the body is not fast, but it is constantly gathering and condensing in the right arm.

  A strand of essence gathered in a section of his arm, and his right arm was crystal clear, even the bones and blood vessels inside were clearly visible, as if his skin was transparent.

  Shi Yan did not know about the anomaly on his arm.

  With his eyes closed, he tried to stimulate the refined essence in his arm according to the cultivation method he had comprehended during this period of time.

  When his right arm slowly swelled up, Shi Yan's heart was ruthless, and the essence in his arm suddenly surged violently towards the palm of his hand!

  "Hahaha!"

  A thread of crystal clear essence, like lightning, suddenly burst out from the five fingers.

  Those five strands of spiritual energy seemed to have a spirit of their own, stretching and shrinking at the tips of his fingers without ever leaving the confines of his fingertips before shooting out directly.

  "It still won't work."

  Shi Yan opened his eyes, gazing at the crystal-like Essence on his fingertips, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face. He furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "Something must have gone wrong somewhere; this isn't what's supposed to happen when you successfully cultivate the Birthmark. Where did it go wrong?"

  The murmuring sound grew fainter and fainter, and the vital energy at the tips of his right hand's five fingers slowly withdrew back into his fingertips.

  Shi Yan once again fell into deep contemplation, as if possessed, continuing to seek the truth of the Life and Death Seal's cultivation.

  ……