Withered Bone Forest

When he returned to Karma Pavilion, it was already evening.

Xiao Wu was sorting through several commission records they had received that day on the first floor. The moment she saw Gu Han push open the door, she hurried over.

"You're back. Are you all right?" Her gaze swept over him, quickly checking for any signs of injury. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm fine."

Gu Han walked over and sat down at the table. Xiao Wu handed him a cup of warm water. "I ran into a few unexpected complications, but I'd say it was a good thing overall."

He briefly recounted what he had seen in Withered Bone Forest and his encounter with Dugu Bo, glossing over the dangerous details of the fight and focusing on the agreement he had made with him.

Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo? That Titled Douluo who's incredibly skilled with poison?"

"Mm. The backlash from the poison arts in his body has already started affecting his bloodline." Gu Han took a sip of water, his expression thoughtful. "If we can solve the problem, he'll be a major asset to us."

"But... do you really have a way?" Xiao Wu asked with some concern. She knew Gu Han had many secrets, but Dugu Bo's poison was a problem that had plagued the Titled Douluo for decades. Even the healing-type Soul Masters of Spirit Hall had been helpless.

Gu Han smiled faintly without answering directly. Instead, he asked, "How did things go at the pavilion today?"

"We got three commissions." Xiao Wu opened the record book. "One was from Granny Wang on East Street. Her cat went missing, and she wants us to help find it. I classified it as a 'weak causal connection,' like you said. We charged ten Copper Soul Coins and accepted. I'll look into it tomorrow."

"Another was from a steward of a Soul Master family in the inner city. They want us to verify whether a family heirloom Soul Tool is genuine. They've arranged for us to visit the day after tomorrow."

"And the last one..." Xiao Wu paused. "It was someone wearing a cloak. They didn't show their face and said they wanted to see you personally. I told them you weren't here, so they left and said they'd come back tomorrow."

Gu Han nodded. "Well done. Finding the missing cat will be easy with Karma Sight, and verifying the Soul Tool won't be difficult either. As for that mysterious person... I'll handle it tomorrow."

He stood up and headed for the stairs. "I'm going upstairs to rest. You should get some rest early, too."

"Wait." Xiao Wu called after him. "Are you... really going to help Dugu Bo cure his poison? Could it be dangerous?"

Gu Han turned around and met Xiao Wu's worried gaze. His voice was gentle but firm. "Some things have to be done. Don't worry. I'm confident."

Over the next two days, Gu Han handled Karma Pavilion's usual commissions while repeatedly thinking through his deal with Dugu Bo.

He knew what Dugu Bo cared about most. It wasn't his own life or death, but his granddaughter Dugu Yan's future. The girl, who had inherited the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison Martial Soul, was probably only six or seven years old now, yet the seeds of poison had already been planted inside her.

In the original story, Dugu Bo had been gloomy for years because he couldn't remove the poison from Dugu Yan's body. His personality had grown increasingly eccentric and withdrawn. It wasn't until Tang San appeared and used the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to solve the problem that Poison Douluo had willingly become an ally.

Now Gu Han's task was to get ahead of that plot.

But he couldn't simply say, "I know where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is, and there are Immortal Herbs there that can cure the poison." That would be far too suspicious. He needed a reasonable explanation, something that could convince the wary Dugu Bo.

Early on the third morning, Gu Han got up at dawn.

He sat quietly in the meditation room on the third floor for half an hour, bringing himself into peak condition. Then he took a jade box out of his Storage Soul Tool. Inside were several herbal essences he had specially prepared over the past two days, mixed with a trace of the Ultimate Ice aura from the Heavenly Frost Sword. They couldn't eradicate the poison, but they were enough to temporarily suppress its backlash and serve as preliminary proof.

"I'm heading out," Gu Han told Xiao Wu before setting off once again for the west city gate.

The morning mist had yet to fully clear around Withered Bone Forest.

When Gu Han reached the agreed meeting place, Dugu Bo was already waiting there.

Today, Dugu Bo wore a dark green robe and stood with his hands behind his back beneath a dead tree. He was still thin, but he stood ramrod straight, like a poison-tipped spear. When he saw Gu Han, his jade-green eyes swept over him sharply, as if trying to see right through him.

"You're punctual," Dugu Bo said. His voice was still hoarse, but there was less hostility in it and more scrutiny.

"I naturally keep my appointments," Gu Han replied calmly, stopping ten paces in front of Dugu Bo.

They stared at each other for a moment, silent probing filling the air between them.

In the end, Dugu Bo spoke first. "You said you could cure the poison in my body. What proof do you have?"

Gu Han didn't answer right away. Instead, he activated Karma Sight and carefully observed the deep-black causal thread on Dugu Bo. Two days had passed, and its cracks seemed to have deepened, especially around the heart, where black miasma coiled and showed faint signs of eroding his life force.

"Your poison doesn't come from an outside source. It originates from your Martial Soul itself," Gu Han said slowly. "The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor is a top-tier Beast Martial Soul, but its poison is far too overbearing. As you cultivate, the toxins gradually seep into your organs, marrow, and blood. Once they accumulate to a certain point, they begin to turn on their host."

Dugu Bo's eyes shifted slightly, but his expression remained unchanged. "Anyone who knows a little about poison knows that much."

"But do you know why the poison is inherited by your descendants?" Gu Han continued. "Because it has penetrated deep into your bloodline and altered the very source of your life. Your granddaughter, Dugu Yan, should already be showing the early symptoms of poisoning. She occasionally feels short of breath at night, and when she circulates her Soul Power, she feels a faint stinging in her meridians."

Dugu Bo's pupils contracted sharply.

He had never told anyone about Dugu Yan's symptoms! Even the healing-type Soul Masters from Spirit Hall only knew that he himself was poisoned. They had no idea his granddaughter was affected, too.

"Have you been investigating me?" Dugu Bo's voice turned cold, and a faint green mist appeared around him.

"There's no need to investigate," Gu Han said, shaking his head. "I saw it with Karma Sight. The poison thread on you that connects to your bloodline has its other end tied to your granddaughter."

He raised a hand and pointed at Dugu Bo's heart. "The poison gathers most deeply here. Whenever it rains or there's a full moon, it flares up like a thousand ants gnawing at your heart, leaving you in unbearable agony. The only reason you're still alive is that you use your Soul Power to suppress it by force. But that's like drinking poison to quench your thirst. Each time you suppress it, the backlash grows more violent."

Dugu Bo fell silent.

Every word Gu Han said struck right at his pain. The suffering he endured alone in the dead of night, the despair that rose in his heart whenever he saw his granddaughter smile so innocently, the exhaustion of searching for renowned healers throughout the land only to return disappointed time and again...

"You said you can cure it." Dugu Bo's voice was a little hoarse. "How?"

Gu Han took out the jade box and opened it. Inside was a mass of icy-blue paste that gave off a cool fragrance, mixed with the faint scent of several herbs.

"This is the 'Ice Heart Paste' I made. It's made from the essences of six cold-attribute herbs mixed with my Ultimate Ice Soul Power." Gu Han held the jade box out to him. "It can't eradicate the poison, but it can temporarily suppress the backlash and ease your pain. You can try it."

Dugu Bo didn't immediately take it.

He carefully examined the paste with his Soul Power, making sure it contained no hidden poison or trap before reaching out to accept it. The Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison made him immune to most poisons, but it also made him instinctively wary of anything foreign.

"Do I take it directly?" Dugu Bo asked.

"Apply it to your chest over your heart and use your Soul Power to activate it," Gu Han said. "It'll feel painfully cold at first, but after about fifteen minutes, you should feel the pressure around your heart ease."

Dugu Bo stared at Gu Han for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, his smile edged with self-mockery. "I've lived for more than seventy years. I never thought I'd put my life in the hands of a young man and give this a try."

But he didn't hesitate. He opened his collar, evenly spread the Ice Heart Paste over his chest, and began circulating his Soul Power.

A bone-deep chill seeped through his skin and pierced straight into his heart. The cold clashed violently with the scorching poison in his body, drawing a muffled grunt from Dugu Bo as a sheen of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Yet he could feel the burning pain that had long dwelt in his chest gradually being suppressed by the cold.

After fifteen minutes, the chill slowly faded, replaced by a feeling of relief he hadn't experienced in years. The pressure around his heart had indeed eased, and even his breathing had become much smoother.

Dugu Bo slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and fastened his collar again. The way he looked at Gu Han had changed completely.

"This is only a temporary suppression," Gu Han said at the right moment. "To eradicate the poison, we need to find two things: a fire-attribute supreme treasure that can neutralize the Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison, and a natural treasure capable of restoring the source of life that the poison has eroded."

"You know where to find such things?" Dugu Bo asked.

Instead of answering directly, Gu Han asked, "Have you heard of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"

Dugu Bo's body jolted.

Of course he'd heard of it! It was one of the fabled three great treasure troves of the world, a wondrous place formed where the ultimate cold and heat converged, nurturing countless Immortal Herbs. He had spent years secretly searching for clues about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but never found any.

"You know where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is?" Dugu Bo's voice trembled with barely contained excitement.

"I don't know its exact location." Gu Han shook his head. Before Dugu Bo could look disappointed, he continued, "But with my Karma Sight, I can see that the source of the poison thread on you points faintly northwest, about three hundred li from here. There's an extremely dense aura of life and fluctuations of two opposing energies there. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well may very well be there."

He had thought up this explanation long ago. He couldn't reveal too much, but he still needed to offer a reasonable lead.

Dugu Bo closed his eyes and sensed carefully. A moment later, he opened them, his eyes flashing. "Three hundred li to the northwest... deep in Sunset Forest!"

He had indeed discovered a strange place in Sunset Forest in his younger days. Two opposing energies, one cold and one hot, had filled it. But he hadn't been strong enough to explore it back then, and the place was occupied by a powerful Soul Beast. Even after becoming a Titled Douluo, he had gone back to look for it, but had never found the entrance.

Now, after hearing Gu Han's words, all the clues suddenly fell into place.

"If it really is the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, it must contain Immortal Herbs that can cure my poison." Dugu Bo looked at Gu Han. "But why are you helping me? What do you want?"

At last, they'd reached the crucial question.

Gu Han replied calmly, "Three things."

"First, if we find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, I get first pick of three herbs there."

"Second, after you're cured, you'll lend me your strength three times, as long as it's within your abilities and doesn't go against your principles."

"Third..." Gu Han paused. "I want you to become a guest elder of Karma Pavilion. You don't need to stay here. Just lend us your name and occasionally keep watch over the place."

After hearing him out, Dugu Bo didn't agree right away. Instead, he carefully considered all three conditions.

The first was entirely reasonable. Without Gu Han's guidance, he might never find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The second was somewhat delicate, but the condition that it must not go against his principles gave him plenty of freedom. As for the third...

"A guest elder?" Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow. "You want to borrow my name?"

"Karma Pavilion deals with matters of cause and effect, so sooner or later we'll cross someone's interests," Gu Han said frankly. "Having a Titled Douluo watching over the place will save us a lot of trouble. Of course, I won't bother you with ordinary matters. You'll only need to step in if we face an enemy at the Titled Douluo level—and that would count toward the three times you agreed to help me."

Dugu Bo mulled it over for a long while.

Gu Han's terms were quite sincere. He wasn't taking advantage of Dugu Bo's desperate situation, and he had given him plenty of respect and freedom. Besides, if Gu Han really could cure him and save both his and his granddaughter's lives, that kindness couldn't be measured by any conditions.

"Fine." Dugu Bo finally nodded. "I agree. But only if you really can lead me to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the Immortal Herbs there can actually cure my poison."

"Of course." Gu Han smiled. "There's no time to waste. When do you want to leave?"

"Now." Dugu Bo had always been swift and decisive. "I'll return to my residence and leave word. We'll meet outside the north city gate in an hour."

"Agreed." Gu Han nodded. "I need to return to the city and make some preparations, too."

The two parted ways.

On the way back to the city, Gu Han felt conflicted. He knew this trip to Sunset Forest would completely change his relationship with Dugu Bo and give him early access to the enormous treasure that was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

But opportunity always came with risk. In the original story, powerful Soul Beasts guarded the area around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and it was Dugu Bo's territory. Though Dugu Bo hadn't found it yet, his sensitivity to poison meant he might already have laid down some defenses there.

More importantly, what reason could he give for knowing so much about these Immortal Herbs?

"Looks like I'd better do my homework in advance," Gu Han muttered, quickening his pace.

An hour later, outside the north city gate.

Gu Han waited there with a simple pack on his back and the Heavenly Frost Sword at his waist.

Before long, a flash of green appeared, and Dugu Bo stood before him. He had changed into a fitted outfit that was easier to move in, and now carried an herb basket on his back. Clearly, he was prepared for a lengthy search.

"Let's go." Without another word, Dugu Bo shot into the air and flew northwest.

Gu Han circulated his Soul Power and followed close behind.

The two figures soon vanished into the distant sky.

Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.