I am the villain in the book

Half an hour later, beneath the Xin Feng Imperial Palace.

The dark tunnel was covered on all sides by dirt, with wooden support frames askew.

Holding a torch and walking through the tunnel, Wei Changtian slowed his pace slightly and asked Xu Suisui behind him:

"Did you have people dig this?"

"Yes, they started digging two months ago."

Wei Changtian frowned: "You dug such a long tunnel right under their noses, and they didn't notice anything at all?"

"Hmph, do you think I'm Emperor for nothing?"

Seeming somewhat dissatisfied with Wei Changtian's question, Xu Suisui muttered softly: "I naturally have ways to hide it from them."

"They aren't guarding the underground formation all day long, and besides, who would think that someone would come to steal the Golden Relic?"

"True."

Turning his head back, Wei Changtian didn't dwell on the matter too much.

Anyway, he was determined to take this Golden Relic with him.

Even if it might not help him break through to First Rank, the First Rank internal energy contained within could allow him to possess First Rank strength in a short period, which would be crucial whether facing Qin Zhengqiu or Chu Xianping.

Of course, normally speaking, he shouldn't be so anxious, and should at least "scout" a few times to designate a plan.

But time was too tight. In order to reach Fangcun Mountain before the second day of the second lunar month, Wei Changtian really couldn't delay too long in Fengyuan, so he had to act directly.

"No matter what happens later, don't run around."

Thinking of this, Wei Changtian warned again: "Stay by my side, and we'll retreat after getting the Golden Relic."

"If you cause any trouble yourself, don't blame me for not saving you then."

"Okay, I understand."

Xu Suisui also knew that this matter was extraordinary, so she didn't bicker with Wei Changtian, but gently grabbed the latter's sleeve and replied very seriously:

"If something unexpected really happens, you should run first, don't worry about me."

"..."

Glancing at Xu Suisui, Wei Changtian didn't say anything more.

The two quickened their pace, and walked along the tunnel in silence for about an incense stick's worth of time.

Then, when Wei Changtian carefully pushed open a stone slab at the end of the tunnel, an underground "tomb" that was many times larger than the Qi Gathering Formation in Yun'an Temple appeared before the two of them.

"Boom!"

The stars and moon hung high in the sky, the night deep and silent.

At the first quarter of the Zi hour, accompanied by a muffled sound from an unknown source, the entire Fengyuan City suddenly shook.

Like an extremely brief earthquake, the tremor disappeared after only a moment, with only the swaying candlelight proving that this was not an illusion.

"Husband! Wake up! What was that shake just now?"

"Huh? What shake? You must be confused from sleeping..."

"Oh dear! The bed really shook violently just now!"

"Alright, I have to go to work tomorrow, don't make any noise..."

"..."

For a time, countless similar discussions arose within the residences of Fengyuan.

Some people who hadn't fallen into a deep sleep felt the tremor, but didn't know what caused it. They were often puzzled for a while before falling asleep again.

Indeed, for ordinary people, this wasn't a big deal.

But the several Buddhist monks within the Imperial Palace all had drastic changes in expression, and soon rushed out of their rooms, turning into black shadows and heading in the same direction.

In less than a quarter of an hour, four solemn-faced Buddhist monks stood before a huge lotus platform, their eyes both vigilant and puzzled.

"The Qi Gathering Formation did indeed show an anomaly just now."

After carefully examining it, someone said with a frown: "But the Golden Relic is still here, and the formation is still operating smoothly."

"But the concentration of internal energy nearby is obviously not right."

Another person leaned over and looked into the lotus pond a few times: "This shows that some of the internal energy stored in the relic did leak out just now."

"Could it be that someone intended to steal the relic?"

"Possibly, but for some reason, this person didn't succeed."

"It's also possible that there's something wrong with the formation."

"How about this, we'll take turns guarding here for now."

After a brief discussion, the four found that the Qi Gathering Formation had no other abnormalities besides leaking some internal energy, so they decided not to act rashly for the time being, but to first report the matter back to White Horse Temple.

At the same time as they were discussing countermeasures, Wei Changtian and Xu Suisui had already returned to the latter's palace.

Unlike the four Buddhist monks' judgment, the two had actually succeeded.

The reason why it didn't cause a big explosion like the Yun'an Temple incident, and didn't make the Buddhist monks notice anything wrong, was because Wei Changtian used a trick of "replacing the beams and pillars."

While taking the Golden Relic, he placed the Golden Relic obtained from the Qi Gathering Formation in Yun'an Temple back in its original position, completing the "switch."

Because the effects of the Golden Relics were the same, in this way, except for a small amount of internal energy leaking out during the switching process, causing a brief tremor, the entire Qi Gathering Formation was not damaged and could continue to operate.

So, through a "cat for a prince" trick, Wei Changtian easily "switched" to a Golden Relic containing a large amount of First Rank internal energy.

"Well, the internal energy is indeed about twice as much as the previous one."

In the palace, Wei Changtian nodded to Xu Suisui and carefully put the Golden Relic into his arms.

Now that he had obtained the item, he naturally wouldn't waste time in Fengyuan.

"I'm leaving. The Buddhist monks shouldn't suspect anything for now."

"But you still need to fill in that tunnel as soon as possible."

"If they really come looking for you, you should deal with them first, and wait until I've dealt with the matters of Fangcun Mountain before saying anything else."

After briefly instructing Xu Suisui, Wei Changtian grabbed the teapot on the table, took a sip of water, and then prepared to leave.

But before he could take a step, he heard Xu Suisui suddenly say:

"I want to go to Fangcun Mountain too."

"Huh?"

Wei Changtian was stunned, then waved his hand impatiently: "What are you going to do? Cause me trouble?"

"I won't cause you trouble."

Xu Suisui moved a little closer and replied very seriously:

"Wei Changtian, if you die this time, then I'll never be able to go back."

"If I'm still alive at that time, it won't mean anything to me, so I might as well go with you, and die together if we have to."

"And I also have a system, which can help you more than anyone else."

"..."

Staring straight at Wei Changtian, Xu Suisui's tone was particularly serious, even a little stubborn.

The impatience on Wei Changtian's face gradually faded, and he looked back into Xu Suisui's eyes, seemingly thinking about something.

In fact, what Xu Suisui said was indeed correct.

Although she wasn't a martial artist, just the fact that she had a system meant that she could provide more help than anyone else.

But to say that Xu Suisui insisted on going just to help him...

"Do you think that I might directly ascend to immortality this time?"

After a long while, Wei Changtian slowly asked: "So you don't want to miss this opportunity?"

"Yes."

Xu Suisui didn't hesitate and admitted it readily.

"Wei Changtian, if the matter of the Heavenly Secret of Ascension is true, then this is actually an opportunity for us."

"If you ultimately win against Qin Zhengqiu and Chu Xianping, then perhaps you can take me back."

"And if you lose, then as you said, we may never be able to go back in this lifetime."

"So I must go with you, to help you as much as I can, even if I die, I won't regret it."

"..."

The dim candlelight flickered slightly, illuminating Xu Suisui's calm face.

To be honest, this was the first time Wei Changtian had seen her so determined to do something.

In short, in Xu Suisui's view, if Qin Zhengqiu or Chu Xianping ascended to immortality this time, then she would never have a chance to go home again.

That's why she would risk her life.

In fact, compared to Xu Suisui, Wei Changtian had more ways out, because his obsession with "going home" didn't reach the same level as the former.

The same was true for going to Fangcun Mountain this time. If he really couldn't defeat Qin Zhengqiu and Chu Xianping at that time, Wei Changtian wouldn't fight to the death. He would probably save his life first and slowly think of a way later.

Even if he might never be able to go back because of this...

From this perspective, Wei Changtian was undoubtedly more rational, and Xu Suisui was more "foolish."

But this time, Wei Changtian didn't think there was anything wrong with Xu Suisui's "foolishness."

After all, everyone's pursuits are always different.

"Alright, go if you want to."

Sighing in his heart, Wei Changtian reminded one last time: "But you need to be clear that you really might die this time."

"Yes, of course I'm clear."

Xu Suisui still didn't hesitate at all: "I won't regret it."

"...Then hurry up and pack up, let's go."

Shaking his head, Wei Changtian didn't say anything more.

In fact, he really wanted to ask Xu Suisui why she had such a great obsession with "going back," even surpassing life and death.

But until Xu Suisui ran behind the screen to change into casual clothes and stood in front of him again, he didn't ask the question.

Perhaps, this question could only be answered when he and Xu Suisui really met again in that world.