Your Face Dropped (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Deep night, Ye Manor.

The bright moon hung high, the stars were brilliant, and amidst the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, Gu Mo was meditating. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Relying on his senses, he could determine that the person arriving was Ye Jinglan.

Gu Mo immediately got up, put on his outer coat, walked to the courtyard gate, and opened it. Ye Jinglan happened to be at the door, about to knock.

Ye Jinglan wasn't surprised by the coincidence, as he knew Gu Mo must have sensed his arrival and opened the door. Thus, he said directly, "Brother Gu, I just received news that Ye Chen is in trouble!"

Gu Mo was slightly stunned and asked, "He's not dead, is he? He's like a cockroach. He could survive crawling out of the ghost city when he was down on his luck. He must be lucky now."

Ye Jinglan waved his hand and said, "He's not dead, but he's been arrested and imprisoned. He's at the Jingzhao Prefecture yamen right now."

"What's the charge?"

"Murder," Ye Jinglan said. "He killed a woman from a brothel."

"He didn't run?"

"No," Ye Jinglan said. "With his martial arts, if he wanted to run, the Jingzhao Prefecture wouldn't be able to catch him in a short time. However, after he was taken to prison, he should have reported to the Chu Country Delegation to identify him and negotiate. But, in prison, he gave your name, saying you are his Big Brother!"

Gu Mo: "..."

Ye Jinglan chuckled and said, "Let's go. This younger brother you just took in still needs to be protected."

Gu Mo nodded slightly and said, "He only said this evening that he was going to a brothel to test if his luck had returned. Now he's gotten into trouble and been arrested at a brothel. I'm afraid there's more to this than meets the eye."

Ye Jinglan asked, "Are you saying his strange luck, half bad and half good, has activated?"

"It should have."

Not long after, Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

With their identities, the Jingzhao Prefecture naturally dared not be negligent. The Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, Mei Wensheng, personally came to welcome them.

Mei Wensheng's position as Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture meant little to them, but he also had another identity: he was Su Ziyou's teacher. Therefore, out of respect for Su Ziyou, Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan naturally treated Mei Wensheng with some courtesy.

However, Mei Wensheng was a sensible person. He naturally wouldn't dare to put on airs as a senior in front of them just because Su Ziyou associated with Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan. Instead, he became even more respectful because Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan were courteous.

Soon, Under Mei Wensheng's guidance, they arrived at the dungeon and saw Ye Chen in a prison cell.

However, Ye Chen's condition at this time was very poor. His face was pale, he was sweating all over, and he appeared very weak.

"Hey, Ye Chen, why do you look like your Yang Qi has been drained? Did you run into a ghost?" Ye Jinglan teased.

Hearing Ye Jinglan's voice, Ye Chen, who was sitting on the stone bed, suddenly turned his head.

Upon seeing Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan appear, he hurried to the prison cell door, gripping the iron bars with all his might, and said in a deep voice, "You guys know? I damn well ran into a ghost!"

Ye Jinglan's teasing smile froze instantly. "I was joking. What did you do to run into a ghost?"

Ye Chen patted his chest and said, "I, Ye Chen, the Chosen One, right? Who doesn't know my luck is explosive, right? This evening, I casually entered a brothel, and the courtesan begged me to be her Guest of Honor.

This kind of thing would definitely be suspicious for anyone else, but for me, Ye Chen, it's perfectly Reasonable, right? I ask you, who doesn't know that Ye Chen never pays when he visits brothels and always sleeps with the courtesan, right?"

Ye Jinglan was speechless. "Alright, stop pretending. Let's get down to business!"

Ye Chen took a deep breath and said slowly, "When the courtesan and I were in the room preparing for some intimate exchange, I suddenly noticed something on her neck..."

Afterward, Ye Chen recounted his experience at the brothel.

"Can you imagine my fear at that moment? Just a little bit, just a little bit... I was about to go in. I was almost the man who was thrusting into a pile of sewer mud, woo woo woo... You can't imagine how disgusting that was, earthworms, maggots... gag..."

Ye Chen squatted in the corner and gagged for a while before slowly standing up, looking so wronged he was about to cry. He clasped the iron railing with both hands and said mournfully, "Big Brother... my life is so bitter. That was too stimulating. I suspect I won't be able to look at any woman directly again. Woo woo woo... What should I do? I'm only twenty-five, and I still need to have descendants... But I feel like I'll never be able to get over that trauma..."

After listening to Ye Chen's account, Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan both felt a chill and expressed their deep sympathy for Ye Chen.

As fellow men, they could empathize. If they had experienced such a thing, the psychological trauma would be no less than Ye Chen's.

However, Now was not the time for sympathy. After understanding the events from Ye Chen, they still needed to understand the on-site investigation results from the yamen.

Immediately, Ye Jinglan asked Mei Wensheng, "Prefect Mei, what are the investigation results from Jingzhao Prefecture?"

Mei Wensheng said in a deep voice, "Lord Ye, according to our yamen's investigation, the scene at the time did indeed match what this Young Master Ye described. However, it's too outrageous. You are a High Official of the Ministry of Justice, you should know that our government always has to rule out supernatural explanations when investigating cases."

Ye Jinglan nodded slightly and asked, "Setting aside supernatural explanations, how can the scene be reconstructed?"

Mei Wensheng shook his head. "It's a bit far-fetched. If we exclude supernatural explanations, there can only be two possibilities. First, Young Master Ye used his formidable martial arts to kill Yu Niangzi, remove all her flesh, leaving only a skeleton, and then opened the sewer mud to fake the scene.

However, this inference is unreasonable because there was no blood or flesh at the scene. Furthermore, the bones had flesh and blood on them, but there were no signs of flesh being removed. Instead, it looked like it was growing."

Ye Jinglan asked doubtfully, "What do you mean by growing?"

Mei Wensheng said, "It means the bones were growing flesh and blood, although it only looked that way and wasn't concretely confirmed. This is the first possibility inferred from the scene, but it's too far-fetched.

Then, there's a second inference."

Mei Wensheng looked at Ye Chen and said, "According to our investigation, the reason Young Master Ye was favored by Yu Niangzi was because Yu Niangzi was forced into prostitution and, out of desperation, made a bet with someone. It just so happened that Young Master Ye appeared and helped Yu Niangzi."

Therefore, it's reasonable to speculate that Young Master Ye staged a play of "Tales of Gods and Ghosts" with Yu Niangzi to help her escape her predicament, allowing her to get away. At this moment, Yu Niangzi is still alive and hiding somewhere.

However, this theory is also far-fetched. After all, Young Master Ye has spent a lot of money in Chang'an City during this period. If he truly fancied Yu Niangzi, he could have simply paid to redeem her. There would be no need for such complexity. As for the Young Master who forced Yu Niangzi, he wouldn't have the power to deal with Ye Chen, the third most skilled person in the Chu Kingdom!

Therefore, our yamen currently has no further clues and needs to investigate slowly."

Ye Jinglan nodded and looked at Gu Mo, asking, "Brother Gu, what do you think?"

Gu Mo said gravely, "When investigating a case, it's fine to first rule out supernatural explanations. However, the martial world is vast and full of wonders. Many cunning tactics and people or things are not ghosts or gods, but they are more formidable than ghosts and gods. Brother Ye should understand this deeply!"

Ye Jinglan naturally understood deeply, as the source of his martial arts was very much in the realm of "Tales of Gods and Ghosts."

"Brother Gu, are you referring to taboos?"

"It might be related to the Cycle of Reincarnation Mirror."

Gu Mo explained, then looked at Ye Chen and said, "What you just said, during your interaction with Yu Niangzi and the process of her turning into a pool of mud, Yu Niangzi showed no abnormality. Did she firmly believe she was Yu Niangzi from beginning to end? Did she have thoughts and awareness, and wasn't a puppet?"

Ye Chen nodded and said, "Yes, not a puppet. All her reactions were like a normal person. Instead, it was as if someone had manipulated her without her knowledge."

Gu Mo thought of the Fake Dabie monk who had been imprisoned under the Star Plucking Tower of the Directorate of Astronomy for twenty years.

Gu Mo was certain that the Dabie monk was fake, yet the person didn't know he was fake. Furthermore, all his actions, awareness, and memories were those of Dabie.

This was very similar to Yu Niangzi's situation.

The only difference was that Yu Niangzi had a pool of mud inside her body, while the Fake Dabie was a real person.

At this thought, Gu Mo suddenly recalled what Mei Wensheng had just said: the flesh and blood on Yu Niangzi's skeleton didn't look like they had been stripped away, leaving only a little flesh and blood. Instead, it looked like they were growing.

"Fake Dabie... might have been a pile of mud before, and later slowly grew flesh and blood..."

At this thought, Gu Mo asked Mei Wensheng, "Prefect Mei, may I go see that skeleton?"

Mei Wensheng hurriedly said, "If Great Hero Gu wishes to see it, of course, you may. Shall we go now?"

Gu Mo nodded.

Mei Wensheng immediately led the way, and Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan followed.

Ye Chen quickly shouted, "Big Brother, Big Brother, what about me? What about me? Don't leave me behind!"

Gu Mo looked at Mei Wensheng and asked, "Prefect Mei, can you release him?"

Mei Wensheng cupped his hands and said, "Young Master Ye is a suspect, and there are also sensitive Chu Kingdom people involved. Theoretically, he cannot be released from prison at this time. However, if it is Great Hero Gu who wishes to take him away, Young Master Ye can leave immediately."

His Majesty and the Imperial Ministers had already set a precedent in the Imperial Court: as long as it was not treason, local governments would unconditionally obey the will of Great Hero Gu.

Ye Jinglan said softly, "Brother Gu, in the current situation, your existence is equivalent to Su Qianqiu's status in Southern Jin for our Gan. You don't need to do anything. Just acknowledging the identity of a Gan Person will bring more help to our Gan than hundreds of thousands of troops. Therefore, His Majesty and those cunning old ministers have reached a consensus: to enshrine you!"

Gu Mo nodded slightly, without saying much, and only said to Mei Wensheng, "Then let Ye Chen come out!"

Mei Wensheng immediately had the jailer open the prison cell door.

In fact, this prison cell door alone could not have trapped Ye Chen. However, the meaning represented by the prison door was the will of Gan's law, which was the true thing that could trap the Great Grandmaster Ye Chen.

Ye Chen quickly ran out of the prison cell and came to Gu Mo's side, giving him a thumbs up and exclaiming, "Big Brother, your status in Gan is really high!"

Gu Mo let out a light laugh and circulated his energy to observe Ye Chen's "Luck Qi" and "Misfortune Qi." He found that both masses of Qi had grown considerably.

However, Gu Mo didn't say much and led Ye Chen away.

Soon, The group arrived at a mortuary and saw the skeleton. As Mei Wensheng had said, the skeleton had flesh and blood on it, but it was peculiar. It didn't look like it had been stripped down to just a little flesh and blood; rather, there were some tentacles.

Gu Mo immediately closed his eyes slightly and circulated his energy to sense the patterns of heaven and earth.

When he opened his eyes again, He saw wisps of special Qi lingering on the skeleton, attached to it. The faint flesh and blood were like the imperceptible vitality of mold on food.

Gu Mo gently raised his hand and pulled out that wisp of vitality.

At that instant, The skeleton instantly began to blacken and rot. In just a few breaths, the skeleton turned into a pool of mud, emitting a disgusting stench.

"It's this..."

Ye Chen pointed at the pool of mud and said, "Yu Niangzi was covered in this kind of mud... This skeleton is also mud..."

Mei Wensheng was shocked by this sudden scene and looked at Gu Mo, cupping his hands. "Great Hero Gu, what... what is going on?"

A cold light flashed in Gu Mo's eyes, and he said, "I have a general understanding. This is not a Ghost God, but something even more powerful than a Ghost God. A mysterious power can turn clay figurines into real people, replace real people, and become real people!"

Mei Wensheng said in a deep voice, "I suddenly remembered something. My disciple Su Ziyou has been investigating the Flesh-Eating Ghost Case recently. Twice, he had the murderer surrounded, but the murderer disappeared without a trace.

Both times, the surroundings were in civilian residences and had drainage ditches. Since this Yu Niangzi can turn into mud, does that mean the reason those two surrounded murderers disappeared without a trace was also because they turned into mud?"

"Investigate!"

Ye Jinglan made a decisive command. "Prefect Mei, immediately mobilize the manpower of Jingzhao Prefecture to investigate if there are any places in the Capital City with large amounts of mud, as well as places that create clay figurines, including Ghost City... Hmm, we will handle Ghost City with the Ministry of Justice!"

Mei Wensheng said, "It will be faster to investigate from Yu Niangzi's experience. Since Yu Niangzi is a clay figurine, it wouldn't have happened for no reason. She must have had some contact or connection!"

Ye Jinglan nodded.

Immediately, Mei Wensheng left the morgue.

Ye Jinglan looked at Gu Mo and said, "Brother Gu, I'm going to the Ministry of Justice now. You can wait for my news at my place first!"

Gu Mo waved his hand and said, "I need to go to Princess Chengyang's Mansion first. I remember when I just arrived in the capital a couple of days ago, Princess Chengyang mentioned that she had a clay figurine that looked just like a real person!"

Ye Jinglan exclaimed, "It couldn't be that coincidental, could it..."

"We'll have to go and see to find out!"

Immediately, Gu Mo and Others left Jingzhao Prefecture.

Ye Jinglan rushed to the Ministry of Justice, while Gu Mo and Ye Chen rushed to Princess Chengyang's Mansion.

Late at night, the Princess's Mansion was very quiet, and the knocking on the door sounded particularly heavy.

Soon, the gatekeeper opened the door and bowed respectfully upon seeing Gu Mo.

Gu Mo asked, "Are the Princess and my younger sister here?"

The gatekeeper hurriedly replied, "The Princess and Miss Gu are both here. They returned this afternoon. Great Hero Gu, do you wish to see the Princess or Miss Gu?"

"Both."

"I will go and inform them right away."

Immediately, the gatekeeper quickly went to report.

After a while, Li Li, Gu Chundong, and Hongyi arrived in the living room.

"Ge!" Gu Chundong quickly ran to Gu Mo's side and asked, "Why are you here so late at night?" (She) looked at Ye Chen beside Gu Mo and asked, "Who is this?"

Ye Chen hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Heroine Gu, my name is Ye Chen. I'm the new subordinate your brother just recruited!"

Gu Chundong: "??"

Li Li, who entered last, was yawning continuously and said grumpily, "Oh my, my Great Hero Gu, do you know how much damage calling a blooming maiden awake so late at night does to her skin? If I become ugly and can't get married, you'll have to take responsibility for me!"

Gu Mo pursed his lips speechlessly, but he didn't have time to banter with Li Li now, so he asked, "I'm here to see your clay figurine?"

Li Li asked doubtfully, "Why are you looking at a clay figurine?"

"To investigate a case," Gu Mo said. "Don't worry about it, just take me to see your clay figurine first."

Li Li waved her hand and said, "You're late. I've already sent the clay figurine back."

Gu Mo asked doubtfully, "Why?"

Li Li said, "It's all because of your younger sister. That clay figurine was too lifelike, and she found it creepy. What could I do? Although I really liked that clay figurine, my dearest Chundong spoke up, so I had to get rid of it. But I couldn't bear to destroy it directly, so I sent it back to the Clay Figurine Master. I thought I could go and see it anytime I wanted in the future."

"Where is that Clay Figurine Master?" Gu Mo asked.

"Tingyu Town, in the east city," Li Li said. "It's the fourth Clay Figurine Shop on Niwa Alley. The boss's surname is Song."

"Ge, are you going there?" Gu Chundong asked. "I'll go with you!"

"No need," Gu Mo waved his hand and said, "You just stay at the Princess Mansion." Then, Gu Mo looked towards Li Li and said, "Arrange for someone who's been there to guide me now."

"Alright!"

Li Li immediately got up and walked out.

Just then, Gu Mo's pupils suddenly contracted. He actually saw a wisp of Nascent Soul Power flash across Li Li.

"Li Li, wait a moment!" Gu Mo called out.

Li Li turned around in confusion, about to ask "What's wrong?" However, before she could even speak, she found Gu Mo already in front of her, reaching out his hand towards her cheeks.

That instant, Li Li's heart leaped into her throat. Her heart pounded uncontrollably, and her small face instantly turned red.

She liked Gu Chundong, so she often joked about becoming Gu Chundong's sister-in-law. But after joking about it so much, she sometimes found herself genuinely thinking about it. And Gu Mo, being Number One Under Heaven, had an unparalleled appearance and demeanor. As a woman, it was impossible not to be moved. It was just that Gu Mo was on too high a level now, and she usually only dared to joke, never taking it seriously.

So, At this moment, facing Gu Mo's sudden intimacy, she couldn't suppress the excitement and nervousness in her heart. Her cheeks burned, her heart raced, Then, she closed her eyes slightly, quietly waiting for Gu Mo's touch.

However, After closing her eyes for a while, she didn't feel her fingers being touched. She opened her eyes in confusion and heard Gu Mo speak, "Your face... fell off!"

Then, she saw Gu Mo gently pull at her face.

Then, a layer of skin fell to the ground.

It was her face!