"Wait!" Gu Yuze said. He could not see any guards around the Shaodi Cave to ask any questions so he could only ask Senior Han Ji.
Han Ji paused and turned to look at him, staring quietly without speaking.
Gu Yuze did not have to think deeply to know why other disciples were so cautious of this senior. His aura was unyielding, like an imposing snowy mountain. For one so young to have an aura so immutable, it was quite rare.
He had been ten times stronger though.
"Senior Brother, I don't know much about the Shaodi Cave, what exactly should I do inside and would the sect prepare my meals?" The last part was definitely the most important part of the question.
Shaodi Cave was a punishment in the sect that was usually given to Taoists of the Practitioner or Master rank, not a Novice like the young disciple in front of him. Why did Elder Zhang Yu sentence him to three days in the Shaodi Cave.
The guilt wrestled in his stomach and he looked down at the disciple, "There are no meals prepared in the Shaodi Cave, use these three days to meditate in silence and reflect on your actions."
As Gu Yuze gritted his teeth, Han Ji just lifted the jade pendant in his hand, the dense patterns on the rock wall lit up, and a loud crack broke the wall into two to reveal a pitch-black cavern.
At the same time, an extremely icy cold aura whistled out. Everywhere it passed, a layer of thick ice instantly condensed on the ground.
So cold!
Gu Yuze couldn't help but shudder, and his teeth chattered. Should he make a run for it? He shook his head—he could imagine Elder Zhang Yu perched on his high seat, declaring, "Ten days of reflection!"
A second later, Gu Yuze heard the cavern wall close behind him.
An expanse of pitch blankness. The silence echoed around him. This was simply a cold, dark cave.
Gu Yuze swallowed. He had not been in this world for more than three hours and he was already starving, cold and in such a place.
Three hours ago, he had been fighting the ghost king in a resplendent battle and now….
Gu Yuze suddenly felt incomparable loneliness in this cave. All he could hear was his own heartbeat and his incomplete cultivation. Of course, there were also the growing pangs in his stomach intensifying with each passing second.
He could not even muster enough spiritual energy to draw a light talisman. It was almost as if he were the only one left—as if everything else no longer existed.
Gu Yuze sighed and stepped forward, sitting down cross legged. Fortunately, he was used to this kind of crazy loneliness.
Hmph!
How many times had he undergone a closed door cultivation? He had been seven when he had entered the sanctuary for seclusion. That time, he had been very scared but he was even more scared of not being able to control his terrifying energy ravaging his body and greedily reaching for the spiritual energy of those around him.
Closing his eyes he decided to rest for a while. After resting for a while, Gu Yuze decided to lay out all his cards and cultivate. With the amount of the things he had to consider, three days would pass quickly.
He reached out for the paper that Su Hai had dropped in his pocket. A pity he could not read it right now. Su Hai? Who was Su Hai?
Gu Yue tried to cultivate but the feeling of 70% of his spiritual energy being drained into the seal made him grit his teeth.
He could not! He just could not! He could endure being poor, could endure being thrown into this cave by a frozen cucumber and an elder whose eyes were bigger than the rest of his face but he could not, he could absolutely not endure this feeling of drinking and yet still being thirsty.
What should he do?
At this rate, even after a hundred years, he would not even have enough spiritual power to contact the underworld.
Cultivation techniques were vastly different from sutras or spiritual manuals. Many people used only one throughout their lifetime, passed by their family, their sect or their master.
Destroying your cultivation technique was almost the same as destroying all the progress you have made in your cultivation.
For a master, this was unthinkable but for a novice like the little ghost king that barely had any cultivation, it was bearable.
It was tricky. The person who had given Gu Yuze this technique and sealed him was probably in this sect. They might even be more than one.
He could not afford to raise any flags. He was too weak right now.
Number one: change his cultivation technique. Number two: leave this sect.
A bell rang outside, Gu Yuze quickly stood up, heading toward the wall. Who was it? He had not been in this cave for up to six hours.
Had that Elder recalled the folly of his ways and asked for him to be released? Finally.
There was the sound of something being dropped from outside.
Gu Yuze reached the wall, bending down and reaching out till his hand found a large box.
He touched it and it immediately lit up. Gu Yuze closed his eyes before opening it slowly as his eyes adjusted to the warm light.
Gu Yuze excitedly opened the box, there was a lunch box, he took it out. Three bottles of water, six protein bars.
Gu Yuze reached for the end of the box, there was a heated blanket and a book.
The Fractured Teachings of Ying Jing.
Gu Yuze could not help but chuckle. Ying Jing, how fitting for his situation.
He used the light from the box to open the paper, it was a signed photograph of Su Hai outside the sect, he was wearing sunglasses, looking nothing like a Taoist.
Gu Yuze frowned and then turned the back of the photograph.
There was just one sentence on the back of the photograph, "A gift. Enjoy."
Gu Yuze looked at everything in front of him and he could not help smiling as he opened his lunch box.
What was the little ghost king's relationship with Su Hai? One was a lowly novice disciple of the Sect, one was a practitioner, a highly favored disciple of the sect. He would think about it after eating.
He swallowed as he opened the lunch box. The steamed rice was fluffy and soft, with the wonderful beef soup, it tasted amazing.
Gu Yuze could feel his body warming up after each mouthful.
Su Hai. No matter his relationship with the little ghost king, Gu Yuze would not forget this favour.