Chapter 1871 - 1464: Holy Envoy Child Departs, Fourth Floor!

Though he was grumbling in his heart, Yuan Bao still checked their own supplies and reported honestly, "Missus, I’m afraid our rations won’t last us to the top of the tower!"

The Star Innate Tower had nine layers, and they’d only just cleared the Third Layer. Half of their stored food was already gone, mainly because of the addition of Qiwowen Du and his two servants!

Gu Changsheng’s group originally only had four people. Suddenly adding three more mouths to feed—of course the food would disappear faster, right?

Even so, her own missus still refused to give that Holy Envoy Child any food at all just because he wouldn’t reveal anything about the Star Innate Tower!

It was a bit like child abuse, but whenever Gu Changsheng thought of the torment they’d suffered in this Star Innate Tower, she didn’t feel guilty at all!

When Gu Changsheng heard Yuan Bao’s words, she turned to look at their stores, worry filling her as well. "Xiao Er Que, you’re getting more and more euphemistic when you talk. This amount isn’t just ’not enough to last to the top.’ If we can hold out to the Fifth Layer, that’d already be great!"

Anyway, they’d already reached the Third Layer of the Star Innate Tower and were about to go up to the Fourth. Gu Changsheng had at least summed up one bit of experience: this Star Innate Tower really was more perverted with every layer, and each one was harder to clear than the last. The time they’d have to spend later would only increase, not decrease, and the food would definitely be consumed even faster. There was absolutely no way it would last them to the top!

"Missus, then what do we do? It’s all my fault. I thought we’d be out of the Star Innate Tower in at most half a month, so I didn’t stock up more food." As soon as Yuan Bao imagined their supplies running out and his missus and master having to eat those dry, crumbly flatbreads, he felt unbearably guilty and heartache flooded him.

"It’s not your fault. I underestimated how perverted that bastard Ta You is!" Gu Changsheng shook her head and said, "We’re about to step onto the Fourth Layer of the Star Innate Tower. We’ve already made it halfway; there’s no reason to quit halfway. Let’s just take it one step at a time!"

The remaining food would only last them five or six days at most. Qiwowen Du, at least, had been successfully talked into getting engaged to her own Diao Chan, which made him one of their own now. There was no way she’d let one of her own go hungry!

Gu Changsheng only had this one redeeming quality: damn it, she didn’t hog food for herself!

Besides, she was the very definition of an optimist. "Let’s muddle through, take it one step at a time" and all that—she was actually pretty okay with it!

By the time Zhou Mu and Shi Wujue finished prying off all the Luminous Pearls along this spiral staircase, Yuan Bao had finished cooking as well. The group gathered around and had another hearty meal.

Gu Changsheng felt they needed to face the challenge of the Fourth Layer of the Star Innate Tower in their best condition, so she wanted Zhou Mu and Shi Wujue—who had both exhausted a lot of mental energy breaking that damned chess formation—to rest for a bit. But the two of them just shook their heads and vetoed Gu Changsheng’s suggestion.

Among the people present, aside from Zhou Mu and Shi Wujue, even Yuan Bao still had to cook. Only Gu Changsheng was being treated like some sort of revered ancestor, completely waited on. She really did feel a bit like a contractor.

Gu Changsheng did feel a tiny bit guilty about this in her heart, especially since, damn it, she felt sorry for her own evildoer!

But if he wouldn’t let her do anything, what could she do about it?

Being doted on was, honestly, a kind of happiness.

Gu Changsheng still had at least a shred of conscience, so she couldn’t help but feel a stab of heartache over it now and then. But after the heartache passed, she’d just touch her nose and accept it with a clear conscience!

"Let’s go! Fourth Layer of the Star Innate Tower, move out!" Standing before the spiral staircase, Gu Changsheng watched Yuan Bao pack everything up, then grabbed a Luminous Pearl in one hand for light, waved her kitchen knife with the other, and declared with heroic flair.

Zhou Mu looked at his own little woman, all fired up and ready to go. His godlike face was full of indulgent fondness as he took one long stride, passing Gu Changsheng and walking to the front.

Gu Changsheng stared for a second at the tall figure that suddenly appeared in front of her. "Wasn’t I supposed to be opening the path?"

She actually quite liked the feeling of being the lead sheep.

"There’s a scent of blood coming from upstairs." Zhou Mu glanced back at Gu Changsheng, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "The higher we go, the harder it gets. You should follow behind this king; this king feels more at ease that way."

Gu Changsheng touched her nose at that, warmth blooming in her chest.

Shi Wujue’s complexion hadn’t looked good since they left Linyuan City; he was always carrying a sickly pallor. When he heard Zhou Mu’s words, his brows furrowed slightly, and he also took a long step forward...

That tall, slender figure also appeared in front of Gu Changsheng...

This...

This was a little awkward...

Well, Gu Changsheng felt that she could still calmly accept being doted on by her own evildoer, but being looked after by Shi Wujue—deep down, she couldn’t help feeling a teeny bit uncomfortable...

"Um... you’d better stay behind me, City Lord, your body hasn’t been great lately." Even though she had helped Shi Wujue check and found nothing wrong, his complexion had been bad all along, which still made Gu Changsheng quite worried.

"Better be careful, Ta You is not a good sort." Shi Wujue turned back at her words, said in a low voice, then took another long stride, stepping past Zhou Mu in front of him to stand at the very front. "I’ll go first. There are some things this City Lord might know more about than you, and that way if anything sudden happens, I can react first..."

Zhou Mu frowned at Shi Wujue’s back, at that flying snow‑white hair and those eyes as deep as a Cold Pool, dark and bottomless. In the end he nodded and said, "Then be careful."

"Mm." Shi Wujue answered, his black robe billowed, and he started up the spiral stairs.

"Hurry up and follow, the smell of blood up there is a bit off." Gu Changsheng called to Qiwowen Du and her own Yuan Bao, then headed toward the steps.

As they climbed, Gu Changsheng and the others drew closer and closer to the top of the tower, and the bloody stench grew thicker and thicker.

"What a strong smell of blood." Gu Changsheng looked at the tower top barely a dozen meters above, her brows knitting tightly. "This isn’t the smell of human blood."

Gu Changsheng was a Doctor; she had once slaughtered on the battlefield and had seen rivers of blood. Naturally she was no stranger to the smell of human blood.

But the smell coming from the top of the tower didn’t seem like human blood, it carried an unhideable fishy, resinous tang...

"Mixed with the smell of human blood, but definitely not only human!" Walking in front, Shi Wujue turned around, that world‑startling face full of gravity. "Be a bit more careful. When I push the door open later, stay on guard, don’t let yourselves get hurt."

"Mm." Gu Changsheng and the others hurriedly nodded.

The Fourth Layer of the Star Innate Tower was even more bizarre than they had imagined.

If it wasn’t the smell of human blood, then where did it come from?

"Brat, you lot wouldn’t happen to be keeping some kind of fierce beasts penned up inside this Star Innate Tower, would you?" Gu Changsheng looked back at the Holy Envoy Child following behind her, her face dark as she asked.

At this moment the expression on the Holy Envoy Child’s face was also somewhat grave. He lifted his head to glance at Gu Changsheng, then lowered his eyes. "Let me go. The Holy Master has let out things that were never supposed to appear here. If you keep taking me along, I’ll only drag you down..."

"So there really are fierce beasts penned up in the Star Innate Tower?" Gu Changsheng’s eyes widened at that, the bright little face growing even more solemn.

"If they were just fierce beasts..." that would be fine! The Holy Envoy Child cut himself off mid‑sentence, swallowed the rest and didn’t speak again. He only looked at Gu Changsheng pleadingly, his small face full of pitifulness. "Let me go. Believe me, if you keep bringing me along, I’ll only drag you down. On the Fourth Layer of the Star Innate Tower, even with the power bestowed by the Holy Master, I can’t guarantee my own safety. If you bring me, I’ll only be a burden..."

In these ten‑odd days of being together, the Holy Envoy Child had also seen it clearly: this woman Gu Changsheng, although she seemed to radiate an all‑over aura of ’strangers keep out, do not offend’, as long as you didn’t go looking for trouble with her, she wouldn’t actively target anyone.

Moreover, even though she didn’t give him good food because he refused to reveal the secrets of the Star Innate Tower, she hadn’t gone so far as to leave him without even a flatcake to eat.

It had to be said, the Holy Envoy Child really didn’t have high standards.

"You..." Gu Changsheng looked at the Holy Envoy Child, her brows furrowing even tighter. She turned back, glanced at her own evildoer and at Shi Wujue, and seeing them both nod at her, finally said to the Holy Envoy Child, "Then go. Go back and tell your master, when I reach the tower top, I’ll definitely make him pay!"

"By the time you reach the tower top, the Holy Master, he..." The Holy Envoy Child opened his mouth at her words, wanting to speak, but when the words reached his lips, he ended up not saying them. He gave Gu Changsheng a deep look, then his small body turned, slipped past the people behind, and headed down the stairs...

Gu Changsheng knew that in this Star Innate Tower, aside from climbing layer by layer to challenge it, there had to be other paths. But seeing the Holy Envoy Child like this, no matter what, he was never going to tell them about any shortcut!

"What was with that look he gave just now? Why do I feel like it was a bit sad?" Gu Changsheng watched the departing back of the Holy Envoy Child, puzzled inside.

When the Holy Envoy Child left, he had looked back at her; in that gaze there had been words on the tip of his tongue, and an unhideable sorrow.

Was that sorrow for her? Or for something else?

No one answered Gu Changsheng, because they didn’t know either.

Gu Changsheng shook her head, turned, and urged Shi Wujue and her own evildoer to continue up toward the tower gate at the top. The ridiculously thick stench of blood made one almost want to retch. Gu Changsheng used a great deal of effort to suppress the urge to vomit, worry clear in her eyes. "With this bloody stench, could that hundred‑odd people Diluo Han and the others sent up to the Fourth Layer already be dead?"

The smell of blood was truly too strong, even more pungent than a battlefield with blood all over the ground.

This kind of reek of blood absolutely wouldn’t be caused by just a few people, or a few fierce beasts...