Chapter 750 — Lan Ling's Premonition

"Regret? Regret what?" Feng Yan shook his head. "From the moment I decided to take on this mission and come here with you, I've never regretted it once!"

"I'm happy..." Xiao Susu said, and the words came from the bottom of her heart. "But I truly want to advise you—after I'm gone... go back to your family, all right? You're the heir. You were meant for greater things. Don't let me hold you back..."

"Go back? How am I supposed to go back now?" Feng Yan smiled bitterly. "I said it back then, and I meant it: from the day I walked out of the Feng family's gate, unless they come for you in proper style—a grand palanquin, eight bearers, every honor due—and acknowledge you as the young madam of the Feng family, I will never return!"

"Tianlong, you're too stubborn. I'll be dead—how could they come for me? Would they haul back an ice coffin?" Xiao Susu laughed. "After you go back, you could still give our daughter a better life..."

"Impossible. Once I go back, Father will certainly force me into a marriage with another family, and then they'll see our daughter as a thorn in their side, wishing her dead sooner rather than later!" Feng Yan shook his head. "Don't try to persuade me. My mind is made up! After the child is born, I'll take her back to be registered in the clan records. I'll acknowledge myself as a descendant of the Feng family, and nothing more—but I will never go back!"

"Have it your way..." Seeing that she could not move him, Xiao Susu could only shake her head helplessly. "Then what do you plan to do from now on?"

"I'll raise the child on my own, bring her up properly, and then help her find a cure!" Feng Yan said. "Don't worry. I'll do everything in my power to see it done!"

"Of course I believe you... Are you still secretly hoping that I might wake up again someday?" Xiao Susu had seen right through him.

"Naturally. I believe a miracle will happen!" Feng Yan said.

"Then I'll look forward to the day I open my eyes again... and see you, and see our daughter..." Xiao Susu said, a note of longing in her voice.

"That day will surely come. By then, who knows—our daughter might already be as old as you are now..." Feng Yan, too, was full of hope for the future.

"Hehe, then when we go out together, will people say we're mother and daughter, or sisters? Won't I look too young?" Xiao Susu laughed. "By then they'll say you're walking around with a pair of twins!"

"Hahahaha!" Feng Yan burst out laughing. "Even better! Then I'll be an old husband with a young wife, and everyone will envy me!"

"Oh, Tianlong, will you promise me one thing?" Xiao Susu said suddenly.

"Hm? What is it? Tell me!" Feng Yan had not expected her to turn serious all at once, after laughing and joking with him a moment before. "What do you want me to do? If it's within my power, I'll do it."

"If... I mean if!" Xiao Susu paused there for a moment. "If there were only one chance to save a life, I'd want you to give that chance to our daughter, not to me. Can you do that?"

"That..." The daughter was not yet born, so Feng Yan could not yet feel a father's love; as things stood, if there were a chance to save a life, he would rather save Susu than the child. But she had asked him in that way, and looking into her expectant, resolute eyes, he said at last, "All right, I promise you! If there is a chance, our daughter will be treated first!"

"Good. As long as you promise me that, I'm satisfied," Xiao Susu said with a nod.

Not far from them, Yang Shuoxuan had not gone to rest either; he was chatting idly with Xia Xue and Lan Ling, recalling days gone by.

Yang Ce had never spent very long with Xia Xue and Lan Ling in the past, but everyone has their own precious memories, and telling them now was rather delightful.

"I wonder whether the Giant Force Gu will be able to counter Elder Right's Vajra Gu this time. I keep having a premonition that things won't go as smoothly as we expect!" Lan Ling said. "I hope my premonition is wrong... but my premonitions have always been accurate. They've never once been off..."

"Oh? Why would such a premonition come to you all of a sudden?" Yang Ce was startled. "That doesn't make sense. Isn't the Giant Force Gu the very bane of the Vajra Gu? How could there be a problem?"

"It's hard to say... I can't quite put it into words myself!" Lan Ling shook her head. "It's true that the Giant Force Gu is the Vajra Gu's bane, but with some things, accidents can happen..."

"Accidents?" Yang Ce asked, puzzled.

"For instance, Elder Right might also know the Giant Force Gu's weakness. Or his Vajra Gu might have mutated through his improvements. It's hard to say..." Lan Ling smiled bitterly. "And besides, once the Giant Force Gu is taken, the number of times it can be used is limited. After a few uses, it has to be fed nutrient fluid or spring water—and that's where the problem lies..."

"You mean that if we attack a few times and miss Elder Right, or hit him but fail to achieve the expected effect, and our Giant Force Gu can no longer be used, we'll be in a passive position—is that it?" Yang Yuting asked, tilting his head.

"Exactly. That's precisely what I mean... With many things, it's not enough that theory says it can be done. In practice, one accident or another always comes up!" Lan Ling nodded.

"Actually, I have an idea..." Yang Ce said suddenly. "Since the Swift Cicada Gu can secrete nutrient fluid, why not give the Swift Cicada Gu to Brother Lin Ce again and let it produce nutrient fluid inside his body? Wouldn't that keep the Giant Force Gu active indefinitely?"

"In theory, yes. But the Swift Cicada Gu has already grown into a mature gu. Once taken, it will severely impair his intelligence, and his memory will still decline rapidly. It would turn Brother Lin into a forgetful idiot!" Lan Ling shook her head.

"What if he takes it right before we deal with Elder Right? Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Yang Yanzhou said. "For example, if we know we're going to deal with Elder Right today, we just have Brother Lin Ce take it today—wouldn't that work?"

"And what happens to you afterward? Even if we defeat Elder Right, are you going to let Brother Lin Ce live out his days as a forgetful idiot?" Lan Ling countered.

"Of course not. I can use the old method—use silver needles to pin the Swift Cicada Gu, then dig it out. Wouldn't that solve it?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"The old method? That's impossible!" Lan Ling said. "Have you forgotten what you all took?"

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