“Linghuo,” Ye Liuxing immediately stood. He gripped Gui Linghuo by the shoulders, but his own expression was not very good. “Sit down.”
“Ye-shishu…am I hallucinating, or are you blind?” Gui Linghuo asked. His voice was barely above a whisper, but it clung onto the recesses of every cultivator’s mind and made them shudder. “That’s my Shizun, isn’t it?”
“It…It is,” Ye Liuxing said, his fingers digging into Gui Linghuo’s shoulder.
“Then, that’s all I need,” Gui Linghuo said.
Startled shrieks echoed through the arena as Gui Linghuo unsheathed his sword. Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi moved quickly to subdue him. Even Meng Meng and Deng Yenuo quickly moved in front of Gui Linghuo.
“Move out of my way!” Gui Linghuo shouted as he thrashed about. “That’s my Shizun! Are you all crazy? Why are you all holding me back!? That’s my Shizun!”
Meng Meng and Deng Yenuo’s grip on Gui Linghuo slackened. The eyes of the two younger cultivators burned. That’s right? Why did they have to hold Gui Linghuo back? Shouldn’t they be joining him? They had only gotten one glance at Gui Qinle but…
However, Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi knew Gui Linghuo’s situation better than anyone. If they allowed Gui Linghuo to go wild here, he would not only suffer a Qi Deviation, but he might even ruin his cultivation for good. But, surprisingly, even if they used half of their power, they were not able to subdue Gui Linghuo.
The young man barreled out of their grasp, startling them and others who had been sitting near them.
Just as Gui Linghuo was about to charge for Li Huanwei, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Huo’er…”
The voice made everyone freeze.
A soft sigh followed the sound of shifting shackles.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Gui Yin, who leaned his back weakly against the bars.
Gui Linghuo’s hand twitched at his side as he tried to suppress his own rage. He could feel the veins on the back of his neck pulsing. He didn’t need to see to know what color would be showing through his skin at this moment.
“Where did you learn your manners?” Gui Yin asked sluggishly. “Sit down. Listen to your martial uncles.”
Gui Linghuo’s lashes trembled. His chest felt stuffy and his nose began to sour. “But…Shizun…”
“It’s just some surface wounds,” Gui Yin said. He smirked as he lulled up head to look at Li Huanwei. “Someone was too cowardly to do anymore.”
Li Huanwei’s nostrils flared as he glared at Gui Yin.
The proud lord immortal was dressed in prisoner’s clothing. His hair was scattered and the wounds on his body was far too gruesome to imagine. If he were an average man who had never cultivated in his life, he would surely have bled out. If he hadn’t bled out, he would sustain horrible side effects from all his injuries for the rest of his life. His gnarled legs were one sign of that.
Yet, despite his pitiful appearance, he still had the energy to coax his disciple and mock his adversary.
It really made one angry.
“Shizun—”
“Are you not going to listen to your Shizun?” Gui Yin asked.
Gui Linghuo’s lower lip trembled. He finally lowered his sword and allowed Meng Meng and Deng Yenuo to drag his lifeless body back to his seat.
Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi gave him a worried look, but Gui Yin mimicked some motion of a reassuring smile. When everyone in Yunjing Pavilion had settled back down, Gui Yin’s gaze shifted to Lin Cangyuan.
There was only one time when Gui Yin had seen Lin Cangyuan so livid. It was back when he had escaped from Qiao Ceng’s clutches. At that time, Gui Yin had also been battered. If it weren’t for his innate talent, his cultivation would have definitely been stunted and he would have been turned into a crippled.
It was a memory that lived in the fuzzy recesses of Gui Yin’s mind, but now that he recalled it, he could not forget.
Qiao Ceng…had really been a horrible person.
“You brought me all the way out here to make a spectacle and humiliate me,” Gui Yin drawled in his hoarse voice. He glanced at Li Huanwei again. “Won’t you continue? I don’t want your efforts to go to waste.”
“…Alright…alright,” Li Huanwei hissed through gritted teeth. He turned to his servants. “Bring out the first witness!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktf mgbkv ofii rlifca bcmf jujlc jr atf olgra qfgrbc kjixfv bea ab atf rajcv. Ktf qfgrbc kjr vgfrrfv mifjcis, klat atflg tjlg qeiifv lcab j aluta yec. Ktfs mjgglfv atfwrfinfr klat atf wjccfgr bo j rfgnjca. Snfc atflg mibatfr ibbxfv ab yf j eclobgw. Ktf wbwfca atf qfgrbc rafqqfv bcab atf rajuf, Xel Olcuteb aklamtfv. Zfcu Zfcu uijcmfv ja tlw kbgglfvis jcv meqqfv tlr tjcv.
“…That’s a servant from Huigu Palace,” Gui Linghuo said through gritted teeth.
Li Huanwei smiled and made his way over to the first witness. “As we may all have heard, Lord Immortal Ninglan is a close confidant of Huigu Palace’s Palace Lord Sun. During his time of absence at Yunjing Pavilion, there have been rumors that he has been spending his time at Huigu Palace in order to cultivate. Of course, if that were true, it would be easy to rule out Lord Ninglan as a suspect for this case. After all, Kunlun is a place that does not welcome outsiders, so they will be closely monitored. The first person to witness Lord Ninglan’s absence around the time of demonic mirage, is this gentleman right here. Sir, please introduce yourself.”
The man bowed his head humbly. “This servant is a servant in Huigu Palace. My surname is Zhou. I am in charge of cleaning.”
“Good. Lord Ninglan, have you seen this man before?”
The crowd turned their attention to Gui Yin.
Gui Yin glanced at the man at the podium. His lips curved slightly. When he shifted, the chains that protruded from his scapula bones hit the bars of his cage.
“Zhou Liu,” Gui Yin said. He chuckled. “What a shame. It seems like he was negligent in cleaning out all the rats. We’ll have to blame his hubris on that.”
The servant, Zhou Liu, flushed indignantly. He withheld his animosity, but the older cultivators could immediately sense his anger. They glanced at each other and began to feel even more uncomfortable with the entire situation.
“I know him. I would bump into him on my morning walks,” Gui Yin recalled.
“So, you can confirm that he does work at Huigu Palace.”
“I can,” Gui Yin said.
“Then, Mr. Zhou, please tell us whether Lord Ninglan has truly been cultivating at Huigu Palace the past few months.”
“It is true that Lord Ninglan was an honored guest at Huigu Palace, but he would leave quite often. I have only seen him a handful of times, but I remember him returning only for a day or two quite clearly,” Zhou Liu said.
“So, you are saying he has not been at Huigu Palace this entire time, as the rumors said. Do you have any idea where he might have gone off to?” Li Huanwei asked.
The servant shook his head. “I am just a servant. There is no way I would know what a lord immortal like him has been up to.”
Li Huanwei nodded. “Thank you.”
Gui Yin listened to their little charade in amusement. There was no way anyone would have been able to get into Yunjing Pavilion. Gui Yin guessed what whatever little “witnesses” Li Huanwei was able to pull out would only be able to testify that his presence at Huigu Palace was unaccounted for. However, with just this, how was that supposed to place him as the perpetrator? Just because he was at the scene of the crime? Well, guess who else was also at the scene of the crime.
The next few witnesses sang a similar tune. They were all little spirits from Kunlun who agreed that Gui Yin was not where he claimed to be for the past few months.
Just when Gui Yin was about to get impatient, Li Huanwei finally brought up some more compelling points.
“Lord Ninglan’s presence has been unaccounted for during these past few months. Of course, this isn’t anything too suspicious. He is a grown man with his own mind and two feet. Perhaps, he was going elsewhere fighting evil and defending the common people as he often does,” Li Huanwei said. The words lingered sarcastically on the air as he turned to face Gui Yin with a raised brow. “However, I am inclined to think he was up to something far more nefarious.”
As Li Huanwei spoke those words, another person was pulled out. The person was battered from head to toe, but still elicited another wave of curiosity among the crowd. The main reason was that this man’s leg was missing—only a skeleton of it was left. On top of that, his entire body reeked with demonic energy. When he was tossed at Gui Yin’s feet, the man slowly lifted his head.
His eyes widened in horror and he let out a maniac shriek. He struggled against his restraints and fumbled to fall back behind the two heartless guards.
“I-it’s him! It’s him!” the man shouted. He clawed at the guard’s leg desperately. “H-he’s the one—he’s our leader!”
Gui Yin’s eyes narrowed. He shifted in his seat and leaned forward. He watched with great interest as the man flinched and hid behind the guard. A soft laugh left his torn lips. He lifted his head and looked up at Li Huanwei.
“This man is obviously not of sound mind, yet you still bring him out as a witness? What did he witness, exactly?” Gui Yin asked.
Li Huanwei glanced at the crazed man as if he were vermin and turned to the audience. “Ladies and gentleman, this is a demonic cultivator we encountered at the last form of land before Whirlpool Prison. We took him and Lord Ninglan in at the same time and questioned them separately. After a short time, he admitted that Lord Ninglan was the superior that he answered to.”
The crowd burst into chatter. Lin Cangyuan’s grip on Deng Yenuo’s hand tightened. Ye Liuxing rolled his eyes and Jiu Jingyi was ready to hop out of her seat again. Gui Linghuo was held on tightly by Meng Meng. If it weren’t for the fact that he was afraid he accidentally hurt her, he would have already shot up.
“Questioned?” Gui Yin repeated. He laughed until he coughed loudly. He elegantly tapped away the blood that trickled past his lips and smirked. “If you questioned him the same way you questioned me, then that’s called a forced confession. Seeing how this man is acting like a lunatic, you must have questioned him very, very well.”
He glanced at the trembling man and scoffed. “Who knows if he’s even a demonic cultivator?”
Li Huanwei whipped his head towards Gui Yin. “Lord Ninglan, what are you implying!?”
“Do I have to imply anything?” Gui Yin asked, his voice raising despite its hoarseness. He looked out at the crowd. “The ones who will side with you will naturally side with you, but those with eyes and a brain will know just how twisted everything has become. So, what if I lied about being at Huigu Palace? So, what if you saw me at Whirlpool Prison the day Qiao Ceng supposedly broke free? What about it all? If you want to use me as a scapegoat, maybe you should have met with your associates first before you pulled this clownish charade out of your ass.”
Gui Yin slowly turned his gaze back to Li Huanwei.
“Palace Lord Li, I’ve been patient with you thus far because I thought you would put on a good show, but what is this? Even a five year old can play this game better than you,” Gui Yin said.
His words were punctuated by the clatter of chains. The crowd watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as Gui Yin stood. The bars of the cage bent from Gui Yin’s bare hands alone. He held his hand out and let out a loud whistle. Moments later, something flew in through the openings of the pavilion and into his hand.
Gui Yin held the fan in his hand and ran his fingers through the tassel. Upon seeing the tassel, his tense expression loosened slightly.
It was still in perfect condition.
“You—what do you think you’re doing!?”
Li Huanwei’s expression pinched as he and his guards unsheathed their swords.
“You said that if I could break out of my restraints, then I should,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at the claws that still stuck from his shoulders.
The scapula locks stunned most of his movements. If he were to try to break out of here now, it would be too difficult. But if there was one thing he was good at, it was bluffing.
“I did as you asked. Why are you still upset at me?” Gui Yin asked with a small smirk.
“Do you all see this?” Li Huanwei exclaimed as he turned to the shuffling crowd. “He’s trying to escape right under our noses! He’s clearly guilty!”
“That’s enough, Li Huanwei!”
The attention shifted to Lin Cangyuan and the others, who had made it to the ground floor beside Gui Yin at some point. If it weren’t for Gui Yin, signaling for him to hold back, he would have long gutted this so-called palace lord.
“What’s this? You want to cover for him still? You’ve already refused to send in a report about the happenings of Whirlpool Prison in order to protect him, but even with all the evidence on the table, you still want to protect him!?” Li Huanwei shouted.
Lin Cangyuan schooled his expression and glared at him. “I have already said that we sent in a report. As for why no one has gotten it, I’m sure you understand why in your heart.”
“You just don’t want to lose face,” Li Huanwei huffed. “Wasn’t it like this all those years ago too? Let us not forget that it was Gui Qinle who allowed the great demon god Qiao Ceng to get hold of the forbidden demonic ascension scroll! It was all due to his own muddle-headedness that his own Shizun and his nineteen martial siblings all perished in order to correct his misdeeds!”
Gui Yin felt a lump forming in his throat. His fingers curled limply around his folding fan. He lowered his eyes under the accusatory gazes casted in his direction.
Ye Liuxing glared at Li Huanwei. “Those are rumors—”
“He gave his heart to the demon god! What makes you think his heart won’t be stirred once more just by a few honeyed words?” Li Huanwei asked. “You really think a person like him would be able to resist the demon god’s temptation!? Please, every honorable cultivator here. Gui Qinle is not a person to be trusted!”
Gui Yin’s hand shot out to grab onto Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi. His two martial siblings turned to look at him as they were gently pushed behind him. Gui Yin looked at Li Huanwei.
“You’re right.”
“Qinle!”
“No, Sect Master. He’s right,” Gui Yin said, his scabbed hand gently holding Lin Cangyuan’s. “Back then, I wanted to protect a monster even after knowing just what kind of person he was. I believed he was good and that he could change. I hid the truth from my Shizun and the entirety of Yunjing Pavilion. I disgraced my sect and I caused pain to those who trusted me. I was wrong. I admit it. I thought a person I trusted would never betray my trust, so I gave my heart to a dog and watched as he tore it apart.”
Gui Yin smiled. “And I paid the price. Those two-hundred days I spent locked up in his dungeon; the sight of my own Shizun losing half his cultivation; the knowledge of everyone who cared about me giving up their lives for me…I already paid the price. And you…think…that I would undo the very matrix that holds the remnants of my dear family’s souls?…Why? For a mass murderer?”
Gui Yin stepped closer to Li Huanwei. “Li Huanwei, I know you’re a petty person. If you wanted to kill me so badly, then just do it.”
“What—”
“I, Gui Qinle, am not afraid of death. In fact, I’ve long welcomed it with open arms,” Gui Yin said, his chin lifting slightly to display his arrogance. He turned to the crowd. “In fact, it’s more than you who wants my death, isn’t it? That’s why everyone is so ready to go up in arms, right?”
He turned back to Li Huanwei and smirked. “So, what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time to put an end to this outrageous charade? I’m a participant and even I’m bored.”
The moment Gui Yin’s words fell, eerie laughter broke through the air. First, it started with what sounded like a child’s laugh, then was the heavier laughter of an older man. Eventually, the ghostly laughter encased the entirety of the pavilion. The cultivators present stood, but before most could register what was happening, they found swords protruding from their chests.
Every entrance was suddenly flooded by the demonic cultivators. Blood splattered against the columns and the white floor.
“Shizun!”
The scream cut through the tragedy that was falling all around.
Gui Yin had managed to run his sword through several demonic cultivators that had rushed towards him while Lin Cangyuan deftly covered his back. However, it was clear that Gui Yin was overexerting himself. Lin Cangyuan held Gui Yin’s arm as Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi protected them.
“Linghuo, take your Shizun and quickly leave,” Lin Cangyuan said as the young man finally made it to their side.
“But—”
“No but’s! If you stay here, you’ll definitely die,” Lin Cangyuan scolded. He nudged Gui Yin into Gui Linghuo’s arms. “No matter what happens, don’t turn back. Don’t listen to your Shizun and keep flying for Huigu Palace. I’m sure someone will be there to help you.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
“You—Lin Cangyuan!” Gui Yin twisted from Gui Linghuo’s grip, but he found that he suddenly couldn’t move. He whipped his head over to Gui Linghuo, who had already hoisted him onto his back. “Gui Linghuo, do you still have any respect for your Shizun!?”
“It’s because I respect you that I’m doing this,” Gui Linghuo said.
With one hand, Gui Linghuo managed to carve a sloppy tunnel through the battlefield. Soon, the pair took to the skies. Gui Yin’s breathing was labored and his vision was beginning to grow fuzzy. Even without his acupoints sealed, he didn’t have the strength to move anymore. His body began to shudder uncontrollably.
He felt a soft, steady stream of spiritual energy course its way through his body. It caused the chill in his bones to subside only a little, but he continued to tremble.
“It’ll be fine,” Gui Linghuo muttered under his breath. “We’ll get to Kunlun soon, Shizun. Lord Yue will help you. Shizun, hang in there.”
Gui Yin allowed his forehead to rest against Gui Linghuo’s back. He took a shuddering breath. “I’ll be fine…”
“Of course,” Gui Linghuo said with a short laugh. “Of course. Shizun, you’re Lord Immortal Ninglan. What on this earth can harm you?”
Gui Yin smiled weakly. His hand held onto Gui Linghuo’s arm. He slowly forced himself up. “That’s right. So, you head back to the pavilion, and I can get to Kunlun on my own.”
Gui Linghuo’s lips pursed. “This disciple apologies for disobeying Shizun’s orders.”
“Let me down.”
“No.”
“Let. Me. Down.”
“No,” Gui Linghuo’s grip on Gui Yin tightened.
The surge of spiritual energy became stronger. It nearly caused Gui Yin to fall asleep, but his willpower was stronger.
“Gui Linghuo, if you don’t turn back right now, I’ll disown you as my disciple!”
“Then, disown me!” Gui Linghuo said. He pursed his lips as he took a shaky breath. “Shizun, we lost you once already. We can’t lose you a second time. Please…they’ll be fine. Can’t you trust them?”
“They were all lured there because of me!” Gui Yin shouted. He turned his head as the cold wind caught his throat. Wheezing coughs raked through his body, causing his wounds to tear further. His fingers were beginning to feel numb, but he ignored the sensation. “Huo’er, turn back. I’ll be fine.”
“This disciple apologizes for disobeying Shizun’s orders.”
Gui Yin’s vision faded in front of him. The blood that had already pooled at the edge of the stage entered his mind. A vision of his own Shizun drifted in front of him. The man’s bloodless face seemed to be etched in his mind for eternity.
The bamboo hut, the cold dungeon, and the final resting place for everyone he had cared about all flashed through his mind.
He slumped forward tiredly as the warm current gave him a false sense of security.
“Disobedient disciple,” Gui Yin scolded. “Wretched student.”
Gui Linghuo listened to Gui Yin’s weak statements. He lowered his gaze as his nose began to sting. The words that fell from Gui Yin’s lips were cruel, but the cruelest thing was that they were clearly not directed at Gui Linghuo.
These words, that were spoken in an injury-induced drowsiness. They were words that traveled through time to a weaker, more naïve version of Gui Qinle. These words were not directed at the disciple who was sacrificing his all to keep his Shizun safe, but were directed at the wretched child who brought the downfall of his own peak.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Gui Yin!!!!!!!! ough where are my words….. breaking my heart, this man is
thanks for reading!
So whose ultimate dying are we gonna witness now?? I’m not prepared
Oh my lordddddd