Gui Yin stared woodenly at the note in his hand.
The next morning, Gui Yin had woken up to the sounds of the children getting ready for their morning lessons. Because Gui Yin wasn’t in charge of them today, he saw them off and fell back asleep in his bed. When he woke up at a more humane time of day, he had reached out his arms for a stretch and found…this in his hand.
He unfolded the piece of paper.
Dearest Lord Immortal,
Whether you want it or not, this is a favor I will definitely repay. If there is nothing you want to ask of me, I will just decide myself.
Signed,
Huigu Palace’s Palace Lord, Èr-láng (二郎)
“Er’lang …” Gui Yin scoffed. He crumbled up the note and threw it across the room. “Er your ass!”
Gui Yin stood up in a huff. He changed into his robes and washed his face with the basin that had already been prepared for him beforehand. He lifted his head from the water and tightly gripped the towel beside the basin. He irritably glared at the balled-up piece of paper.
“It’s one thing if you don’t want to give me a name, but it’s another for you to give me such a—” Gui Yin swallowed the rest of his words. He calmly wiped his face and took a deep breath. “Er’lang. Alright. Er’lang. Fine. That’s fine. It’s just a stinky brat who’s messing with me. Why am I getting so worked up?”
Gui Yin stood up and fixed his robes. He calmly walked over to the discarded note, calmly set it on fire, and calmly dropped it into the incense burner once more.
“Also, even if you’re spying on someone, can you not make it so obvious, Huigu Palace Lord?” Gui Yin asked.
The sweet request was sent out into the universe, but Gui Yin wouldn’t know if anyone received it.
Once he rummaged through his room to see if there were any more notes and came up empty-handed, Gui Yin left to find Lin Cangyuan and the other peak lords.
The meeting was requested by Gui Yin and the message was passed over to the other peak lords when they first woke up, by their servants. When they had all successfully gathered in the meeting room, the first thing they did was observe Gui Yin silently.
This little ancestor of theirs was known to be soft and elegant on the outside, but everyone knew he had a bad temperament behind doors. For a while after Gui Yin’s shizun passed away, he became a total iceberg when he was angry. He no longer shouted or threw tantrums, but this iceberg-like façade scared Lin Cangyuan and the others even more. They didn’t know when he would explode. When they expected it, it would never come, but later they would hear news that the person who offended Gui Yin or the sect had run into some horrible issues.
Gui Yin rarely called for meetings, but when he did, it was always something serious.
As expected, when they arrived at the study, the first thing they saw were Gui Yin’s furrowed brows. Ye Liuxing shuddered and walked behind Lin Cangyuan and Jiu Jingyi. He was just a little sprout—he couldn’t handle the winds that were about to blow.
“You’re here?” Gui Yin stood to greet the three other peak lords. He didn’t miss the nervousness on their faces as they sat down.
He was a bit confused, but he sat down as well. Soon, he pulled out the records of the captives from Qi Du Cult that had been messily thrown together. This was not going to be the information they presented to the Beidou Alliance, but it was enough for now.
He started first with how he ran into Li Fangyin and proceeded to tell them everything that happened in Devil’s Desert. He didn’t shy away from any details and even told them of his time with Yalun. The only details he did leave out—as discussed with Li Fangyin—was the mysterious interference of Huigu Palace’s Palace Lord. Since he had barely involved himself in this issue, they didn’t want to thoughtlessly drag him into it.
After finishing his summary, Gui Yin sat back and looked at the three faces in front of him.
Lin Cangyuan was especially pale. “You—you should have called for backup! Why would you go into such a dangerous place so recklessly?”
“I agree with Lin-shixiong this time,” Jiu Jingyi said, looking almost as horrified. “You—what if you couldn’t take on that Yalun? Have you ever thought about the dangers it would pose?”
Ye Liuxing didn’t scold Gui Yin, but his expression said enough.
Gui Yin wasn’t angry at being yelled at. He calmly fanned himself. “The situation was far too urgent. If we waited for backup and they got tipped off then we wouldn’t have found out anything about that slave trade.”
As they knew, the slave trade, which had previously just been an underground venture, became more and more conspicuous over the years. They didn’t seem to care anymore about whether or not they remained a secret and they certainly felt that no one could catch them. In just this past year, there have been rumors of over ten locations where you could sell people into the slave trade. With this flamboyance, it was obvious that there was someone backing them that they felt the Beidou Alliance couldn’t contend with.
“We could never find out where they were coming from before, so the Beidou Alliance refused to move. Now we have these sources,” Gui Yin said. “Even if we can’t completely uproot the cause, we can at least protect some of the innocent.”
Gui Yin’s gaze darkened when he thought about the spirit cultivators he had seen. He gathered up the papers again and looked at Lin Cangyuan.
“Sect Master, could you call for a conference?”
“A co—you want to make this into a conference?” Lin Cangyuan asked.
It wasn’t because this method of presenting wasn’t suitable—it was just a surprise. Gui Yin had retreated from the world for a few hundred years already. He didn’t even attend conferences—much less called for one himself.
Gui Yin nodded seriously. “I feel that if it were just Li Fangyin, they wouldn’t take him seriously.”
After all, they still weren’t sure if Yin Hua Palace’s Palace Lord would agree to Li Fangyin’s involvement in this issue.
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.
“We already agreed that I would be the one who takes the helm. I hope that’s okay.”
Ciatbeut tf rjlv “P tbqf atja’r bxjs”, Olc Jjcusejc jigfjvs xcfk atja Xel Tlc kjr vfjv rfa bc la. Snfc lo tf vlvc’a mjii atf mbcofgfcmf klat tlr rfji, Xel Tlc kbeiv rafji la jcv mjii la tlwrfio.
“Cigluta. Tbe vb ktjafnfg sbe kjca. Pc atlr rfma, P’w pera j rfma wjrafg lc cjwf jcskjs. Tbe’gf atf bcf ktb’r gfjiis lc mtjguf,” Olc Jjcusejc rjlv.
“…Sect Master-shixiong, don’t s—”
“Or else what? If you really cared about my position in this sect, then you would have contacted me beforehand. It’s fine if you didn’t call backup, but what if something had happened? Do you want me to find your cold, dead corpse later without any explanation as to what happened?!”
After Lin Cangyuan spoke, he realized he had gone too far. He looked at Gui Yin’s stunned expression and huffed. He averted his gaze and tried to calm himself down.
Jiu Jingyi was also in an irritable mood. The only one left to diffuse the tension was Ye Liuxing, but he was also feeling a bit frustrated.
He glanced at the silent Gui Yin and finally spoke: “…We’re just worried. It would be nice if you remembered you have us when you’re having a hard time.”
The situation was dastardly from beginning to end. Jiu Jingyi wanted to hurl just thinking about what Gui Yin had to sit through with Yalun. She didn’t know how Gui Yin could return so composed and calm! She thought about another time, when Gui Yin had been faced with a similar situation, and her anger nearly boiled over again.
“If you don’t kill that Yalun bastard next time you see him, then I’ll kill him,” Jiu Jingyi said, slamming her fast into the table.
Gui Yin soon composed himself. He looked between the three people helplessly before laughing.
“What are you laughing at? Is it funny?” Lin Cangyuan asked.
Gui Yin let out a long sigh. He stood and walked over to Lin Cangyuan and began giving him a shoulder massage. “Sect Master-shixiong, I was wrong, alright? Don’t be mad, okay?”
It wasn’t just Lin Cangyuan, but the other two peak lords were also surprised.
They were expecting Gui Yin to coldly dismiss them, or acknowledge his mistake and leave. How long had it been since this type of Gui Yin appeared? The kind that would warmly accept their scolding and act coquettishly to ease their anger.
Lin Cangyuan felt his heart sour.
“Still angry?” Gui Yin asked after seeing the lack of response. He lightly shook Lin Cangyuan by the shoulder as he swayed as well. “Cang-shixiong, I was wrong. I won’t do something like that again, okay?”
“…Stop. Just take the seal and get out of my sight,” Lin Cangyuan murmured.
Gui Yin looked at the jade pendant that was held out to him and glanced at the others. He didn’t take it just yet.
“Thank you for caring,” Gui Yin said.
The room was silent, but Gui Yin’s sincerity could be felt. There was a tinge of sadness in his eyes that melted the frustration in their hearts.
“I promise I’ll tell you next time something like this happens,” Gui Yin said as he hesitantly took the seal.
“You better,” Jiu Jingyi said, the fierceness in her voice weakening. She turned to look at Gui Yin before opening her arms to him.
Gui Yin smiled and hugged her in return. He gently pressed her head to his chest, as he had done many times when they were younger and rocked them back and forth.
“What’s wrong? Your heart aches?”
“Really, don’t do this again,” Lin Cangyuan said firmly.
“I won’t,” Gui Yin repeated. “I promise.”
Only after swearing a few more times did Lin Cangyuan and the others finally release Gui Yin.
Seeing them in a bad mood made Gui Yin feel guilty. “Do you want to go into the city?”
They glanced at him.
“I’ll pay for food,” Gui Yin smiled.
Lin Cangyuan scoffed. “Well, isn’t this a rare once-in-a-lifetime chance? Lord Immortal Ninglan never goes down the mountain, much less treats us to food.”
“I’ll go!” Ye Liuxing agreed immediately. He glanced at the silent Jiu Jingyi and Lin Cangyuan. “Come on, you two. How long are you going to be angry? Gui-shixiong already says he understands.”
Gui Yin nodded. “I already understand.”
Lin Cangyuan glared at Ye Liuxing. He glanced at Gui Yin and turned away. “Don’t you have to call a conference at Beidou Alliance first?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Ye Liuxing nodded. He looked between Lin Cangyuan and Gui Yin. “Um, it wouldn’t be good if just Gui-shixiong went. Should I go or…?”
“Where are you going? Did you forget you have a batch harvest coming up?” Jiu Jingyi asked.
Ye Liuxing smacked his forehead. “Ah! That’s right!”
“Shixiong, I’ll go with you,” Jiu Jingyi said.
Gui Yin nodded. He glanced at Lin Cangyuan and smiled at Jiu Jingyi. “I’m sure it won’t be long.”
After agreeing to meet up at the front of the sect for dinner, Gui Yin stepped to the side to use the jade.
He stared at the object in his hand. He was hoping it would come to him intuitively, but after staring at the jade seal for a long time, he still drew a blank.
Gui Linghuo, who was passing by, glanced at his shizun. He walked a little closer, his hands full with books and scrolls that he was moving back to their library.
“Shizun, what are you doing?”
“Oh, Huo’er,” Gui Yin offered a smile. He held out the jade seal awkwardly. “Do you know how to use this?”
“This…what is this?” Gui Linghuo asked blankly.
Gui Yin scratched the back of his ear. “It’s the jade seal used to contact the Beidou Alliance. I asked Sect Master for it, but I forgot to ask how to use it.”
“Just go ask him now,” Gui Linghuo suggested.
“He’s still mad at me. I don’t want to stir the pot right now,” Gui Yin murmured.
Gui Linghuo tilted his head as he stared at the seal. “Wouldn’t it just be channeling spiritual energy through it?”
“You think so?” Gui Yin glanced at his disciple.
“That’s how you use jade slips,” Gui Linghuo said.
“Then, I’ll try that,” Gui Yin said.
He did as Gui Linghuo suggested, but nothing happened. The mentor and disciple stared at the seal motionlessly.
“Shizun? Da-shixiong? What are you two just standing there for?”
A clear, bell-like voice interrupted their contemplation. Shan Yu came skipping down the path with a bingtanghulu in her hand, something that she had just received from a visiting disciple who came to deliver their groceries. Her cheek had a slight bulge in it as she approached them, her small mouth working hard to chew down the big bite she had just taken. When she saw that Gui Linghuo and Gui Yin seemed to be staring at something in Gui Yin’s hand, she reached out and tugged Gui Yin’s hand down.
“Hm? Isn’t this the Beidou Alliance seal?” Shan Yu took another bite from the tanghulu.
“You know what this is?” Gui Yin asked, somewhat in awe.
Shan Yu nodded, the little butterflies on her head fluttering. “Grandpa’s showed me many times! He even showed me how to use it.”
“How do you use it?” Gui Yin asked, crouching down to Shan Yu level.
“Um,” Shan Yu looked at the candy in her hand. She turned to her shixiong, “Da-shixiong, can you hold this?”
Gui Linghuo accepted the stick that she offered.
Shan Yu brushed her hands down the side of her clothes and took the jade. Her small face scrunched up. She closed her eyes and murmured a few words. Gui Yin could hear it clearly; they were all words that he knew individually, but somehow when they were put together, he no longer understood.
Moments later, the jade seal began to glow. Shan Yu quickly stuffed it back into Gui Yin’s hand and took her candy back from Gui Linghuo.
“Shizun just needs to use your spiritual sense to reply ‘receive!’ and then you’ll be connected!” Shan Yu said triumphantly.
The jade in his hand was hot. He hesitated only a moment before doing as Shan Yu instructed.
In that split second, Gui Yin felt an indescribable feeling. It was similar to the feeling one would get when they eat spicy food and their sinuses were immediately unclogged. All at once, Gui Yin could feel multiple passages being established in his spiritual sea, all at once. Slowly, more than forty lines had become connected and silence followed.
After this, Gui Yin followed his instinct.
“This is Lord Immortal Ninglan. I would like to call for a conference at Xingchen Pavilion (星辰亭) in a week’s time.”
Silence and then, very abruptly, a burst of noise.
Gui Yin flinched. Gui Linghuo and Shan Yu moved forward worriedly, but Gui Yin raised a hand to signal he was fine. Because this connection was solely through voice transmission, the children didn’t hear any of the noises but Gui Yin felt as if a lecture hall full of people’s screams had just been injected into his brain.
“Fuck—did you just said Ninglan!? Is someone playing a prank on us again?”
“Gosh, who is it this time? People who do this every once in a while—aren’t you bored?”
“Honestly, we have better things to do, okay? Some of us actually have sect matters to look over.”
“I’ll admit, this time I was convinced for a second. What voice changing spell was used this time? Can you share it?”
“If Lord Immortal Ninglan’s voice actually sounded this nice, I wouldn’t mind actually going to the conference! Imagine him speaking like this for several hours!”
The ones who spoke enthusiastically were people from the second division and lower. This was something Gui Yin instinctively knew because, after listening a while longer, he hadn’t heard Li Huanwei’s voice.
Once the initial excitement began to fizzle out, Gui Yin cleared his throat.
The audience was about to boil over again, but Gui Yin spoke first: “I’m not sure how to prove it, but this really is Ninglan…should I call for Liaosu?”
The awkwardness in Gui Yin’s voice made the prominent members of the various sects hesitate.
A low cough was then heard. “No need, Qinle. Do not worry, we’ll be at Xingcheng Pavilion in a week.”
It was Shan Yu’s grandfather.
Gui Yin let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Elder Shan.”
“No need to thank me. It’s as it should be.”
“Not at all,” Gui Yin said. A smile as gentle as the spring breeze could be heard in his voice. “Then, I will be taking my leave now.”
Gui Yin severed the connection.
After Gui Yin left, the spiritual sea exploded once more in embarrassed shrieks and long bouts of laughter.
Gui Yin looked at Shan Yu. “Your grandfather saved me just now.”
“Grandpa? Why?” Shan Yu tilted her head.
Gui Yin looked a bit embarrassed. “No one recognized me. They all thought I was a fake.”
The two disciples were shocked only for a moment before Shan Yu fell into a laughing fit. Gui Linghuo looked as if he wanted to laugh as well, but he held back.
“It can’t be helped, Shizun. Most people don’t even know your appearance, much less your voice,” Gui Linghuo pointed out.
“I suppose,” Gui Yin lightly cleared his throat, his face warming a little. He held his head and sighed.
It was fine if no one believed him initially—he understood. The situation was still overbearingly embarrassing.
When dinner rolled around, Gui Yin told the others what had happened and, to no one’s surprise, they immediately burst out in laughter.
“So, this is what happens when you’re a secluded master!” Jiu Jingyi exclaimed.
“That’s funny—too funny! To think that there are actually people who pretend to be you to call conferences!” Ye Liuxing laughed.
Lin Cangyuan shook his head. “That sounds about right. Every few hundred years, those people get too bored, so they pull this type of prank. It just so happens that it’s been a while since it’s happened, so that was most likely why they so adamantly thought you were a fake.”
Gui Yin held his head. “I was so embarrassed. It was a good thing Elder Shan spoke up for me. I owe him another one.”
“You’re his granddaughter’s shizun—of course, he should vouch for you,” Ye Liuxing said, dissolving into giggles. He drained his cup of wine and slammed it down in revelation. “Wait! Isn’t this your first appearance at a conference in almost five hundred years?”
“It should be longer than that, shouldn’t it?” Jiu Jingyi asked, her mouth still full as she spoke. “The last time Gui-shixiong showed up at a conference was…what? When he was two-hundred?”
“He only appeared briefly then. It wasn’t an appearance. The last time he made an appearance was when Elder Kui was still alive,” Lin Cangyuan said. “He was about thirty then.”
“Did my shizun die around that time?” Gui Yin asked curiously.
The chopsticks, that had been flying moments before, froze.
Gui Yin looked up at Lin Cangyuan and the others.
“…He died when you were around thirty-one,” Lin Cangyuan nodded.
There was a subtle emotion in Gui Yin’s heart that he couldn’t describe after he heard this. It felt as if something had embedded itself into his heart and was forcing its way through. It was unnoticeable at first, but would grow more apparent later on. He lifted a hand subconsciously and rubbed at his chest.
The conversation had moved on and Gui Yin laughed at the ridiculous things the others said, yet his mind lingered on that number, thirty-one.
He wondered why it was so painful.
Thank you for another amazing chapter! 😊
thank for reading!!!
ha another note… shameless :3
also Gui Yin’s martial siblings keep making my heart all achey T-T
;v; they’ll keep doing that…thanks for reading! 😀
I wonder why also… Thanks for the update ❤️
haha, the scene of everyone just not believing it’s him is pretty funny —!
really intrigued !
ooo notes. Kinda like in those anime where there is this girl and boy and the girl is writing letters and squealing. Also everyone confused about whether or not the person talking was really Gui Yin was hilarious!
Thanks for the chapter ⊙▽⊙
I’m getting confused where this plot is going but omy their relationship is so cute! 🥺
How old even is he?!?!?!
What is this what is this?? I feel so anxious about what happened in his past! The senior said that the mc has been in that kind of situation before. And his shizun whole thing is really suspicious. I’m scared thinking what about to happen scared😱😱