Three days later.
Fang Ming, accompanied by Nannan and Qing Mian, arrived at Gu Cheng's room. Little Nan was using the small stove in the room to boil medicine for Gu Cheng. Upon seeing Fang Ming and the other two, she quickly stood up.
"Young Master, greetings," Little Nan said, bowing.
"You carry on with your work. I'll have a chat with Brother Gu," Fang Ming said.
"Little brother, you're here. Please, have a seat," Gu Cheng said, sitting up half on the bed. His complexion looked much better, and his spirits were higher.
"How is your health, Brother Gu?" Fang Ming asked with concern.
Gu Cheng smiled, "With Miss Little Nan's care, I've improved a lot these past few days. While I haven't reached my peak, I'm at least at seventy to eighty percent of my former strength."
"Oh? Recovered so quickly?" Fang Ming was surprised. Gu Cheng had been so weak when he was rescued. He hadn't expected him to be so recovered in just three days.
"It's just the help of some Taoist methods," Gu Cheng waved his hand dismissively.
"Little brother, is there something you need from me?" Gu Cheng asked, puzzled.
"Yes." Fang Ming nodded gravely. "Since your body has recovered to seventy to eighty percent, we must hurry and prepare. Otherwise, once the Yunxian Poetry Gathering ends, it will be too late."
The Yunxian Poetry Gathering was scheduled to begin in three days and would last for about five days. This meant they had to find the painter within eight days, or everything would reset into a cycle! Gu Cheng, as a native of this world, wouldn't be aware of this.
"So urgent?" Gu Cheng hesitated. "Has the Liu family made any moves?"
"Three days ago, Young Master Liu came to see me once and discussed some matters."
"What? Young Master Liu sought you out?" Gu Cheng was greatly alarmed. "Did he discover I escaped?"
Fang Ming shook his head. "It was about the hosting of the Yunxian Poetry Gathering. He invited me to be a special guest."
"A guest?" Gu Cheng was confused. "You shouldn't know each other, should you?"
"I indeed don't know him, but... we had a long conversation. For now, you just need to know that he and we are on the same side," Fang Ming dropped another bombshell.
"What?!" Gu Cheng exclaimed, jumping up. "Little brother, you're not joking, are you?"
"Shh," Fang Ming gestured for silence. "I'll tell you the specifics when I have time. In short, our plan must proceed quickly. We absolutely cannot let it drag on until after the Yunxian Poetry Gathering."
Little Nan, eavesdropping quietly at the side, couldn't understand Fang Ming's words, but she could roughly piece together the situation. Young Master Liu had actually betrayed the Liu family and joined forces with Young Master Fang! This was truly earth-shattering news!
"What exactly do we need to do?" Gu Cheng managed to calm down, sitting cross-legged on the bed, his expression solemn.
Fang Ming thought for a moment and asked, "Can you still summon the members of the Demon Extermination Division?"
Gu Cheng nodded without hesitation. "Yes, we have a special contact method for the Demon Extermination Division. I can summon them at any time."
"Then there's no time to lose. You go and summon the members of the Demon Extermination Division immediately. The Liu family will attack us soon. Our actions have already disrupted some of their plans. It might be that only one side of us can survive!"
The Liu family would absolutely not allow Fang Ming to lead the Demon Extermination Division to overthrow them. Therefore, once the Demon Extermination Division was gathered, they would inevitably face a devastating blow! Young Master Liu's visit had made Fang Ming realize he was exposed to the Liu family's gaze. Only by breaking the existing cycle could he find the painter and leave this world! Otherwise, he would be trapped here forever!
"I understand," Gu Cheng nodded gravely. "I'll go now. We can be assembled this afternoon."
"No problem."
Gu Cheng got out of bed, put on his tattered outer coat and shoes, and hurried out of the room.
"Oh, Master Gu, you haven't drunk your medicine yet," Little Nan opened her mouth to stop Gu Cheng, but he was too quick. Before she could speak, he had already vanished.
"It's alright. It's not too late to drink it when he returns," Fang Ming said with a smile. Having the Demon Extermination Division as an ally gave him more confidence in dealing with the Liu family.
"But..." Little Nan still wanted to say something, but seeing that neither Fang Ming nor Gu Cheng seemed to care about drinking the medicine, she had no choice but to give up.