“Shizun, have some tea.”
Gui Yin glanced at Gui Linghuo and accepted the teacup that was placed in front of him with a half-smile. He kneaded the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh. He finally looked up at Li Fangyin and Shan Yu’s older cousin, Shàn Bóyīng (鄯博英). Gui Yin smiled courteously, but the smile sent shivers down the younger generation’s spines.
“The elders at home said they need a bit more time to prepare,” Li Fangyin said.
“So, they don’t trust me and think I’m blowing things out of proportion just because a branch of our sect couldn’t handle their duties properly,” Gui Yin said, harshly slamming the teacup down. “Is that it?”
“Lord Immortal, my grandfather truly—”
“I’m not here to shoot the messenger,” Gui Yin said. He looked between the two young men and forced the bitterness from his smile. “Thank you two for volunteering to come.”
Li Fangyin and Shan Boying glanced at each other, flabbergasted that Gui Yin somehow hit the nail on the head.
The two young masters were in the same age group and ran in the same circles, hence their similar personalities. It was preposterous to think that Yin Hua Palace would send their only heir out to the frontlines and, while Elder Shan wasn’t the unreliable type, he was still extremely cautious about fresh news. Thus, there was no way talents from Yin Hua Palace and Zhengyang Shan Sect would have arrived so quickly—it was clear these two young men had volunteered.
“…Gui-qianbei, don’t blame my father. He…really…”
Shan Boying looked even more sheepish because of the good relationship between Gui Yin and his grandfather. “Grandfather is arranging things. I promise.”
Gui Linghuo glanced between the two men and his shizun. The tension was palpable in the area. No matter how much Gui Yin tried to deescalate the situation in his own mind, he still became angrier and more irritated. Eventually, he stood, a tense smile still on his face, and flourished his fan. The three boys’ eyes fell on the fan, which was moving at a rapid pace, and awkwardly glanced back up at Gui Yin’s face.
“Twenty from you and fifty from you?” Gui Yin said.
Li Fangyin nodded. Shan Boying hastily answered as well. Gui Yin breathed out slowly and nodded. “Good. That’s…just enough people to last a month.”
Gui Yin nudged the chair aside and left the tent to get some air.
Ye Liuxing joined Gui Yin as soon as he marched out of the tent. The fan was lightly plucked from Gui Yin’s hand and used by Ye Liuxing to fan himself instead. Gui Yin glared at him through the corner of his eyes, only for Ye Liuxing to smile wider.
“Gui-shixiong, think about it, okay? One Shan Boying and one Li Fangyin are more than twenty people combined. Plus there’s us and those other twenty people and fifty people from Yin Hua Palace and the Shan Sect. It’ll last more than a month this time!”
“Lasting. That’s the keyword,” Gui Yin said irritably. “I don’t want us to just last, I want us to make it out of here alive.”
“I know, I know. But it’s only been a week. Give them another and they’ll come around,” Ye Liuxing said.
Gui Yin glared at Ye Liuxing. “We moved our entire sect out here. And they’re back in the upper realms still living their cushy lives. In one week, we already lost five people. Five human lives.”
Ye Liuxing’s cheerful expression puckered. He lowered his gaze as the two men slowed down. “I know. They’ll come when Elder Shan has finished rallying troops.”
“The crack is getting bigger every day,” Gui Yin said, glaring at the large fluorescent green barrier that loomed over the entire town. “I doubt we’ll have time to wait another week. Ye-shidi, you take the kids and start evacuating the villages and towns around this area.”
Ye Liuxing’s head shot up. He looked at Gui Yin. “Wait what?”
“Or else what? Do you want to leave them here on the front lines?”
“No, but we can have Yenuo do that. I should stay here,” Ye Liuxing said.
Gui Yin’s gaze softened. His irritation subsided as he squeezed Ye Liuxing’s shoulder. “You’re our medic. We need you around to make medicine. Jiu-shimei is already fighting, so we can’t have her work overtime like that, can we?”
Ye Liuxing opened his mouth, searching for anything to refute Gui Yin. But, after a moment, he obediently fell silent. He nodded. “Alright. I’ll quickly evacuate everyone and come back soon.”
Gui Yin nodded. “Take my disciples with you. And Li Yan.”
“I know,” Ye Liuxing said. He straightened and patted his chest. “I’ll make sure my disciples act as good little healers for you all while I’m gone.”
Gui Yin laughed. Ye Liuxing handed Gui Yin’s fan back to him and jogged off to make arrangements. He turned and was met by Lin Cangyuan. The other man had recovered quickly, but had gained new injuries already. Gui Yin raised a brow and approached him.
“Just because you have pills and elixirs doesn’t mean you should abuse your body.”
“I’m not trying to. I heard some people from the upper realm came. How many?”
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.
“In total seventy-two,” Gui Yin said. “Nearly a hundred.”
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“Pa rtbeiv,” Xel Tlc fmtbfv ylaafgis. Lf rmboofv. “Gbc’a sbe atlcx la’r rerqlmlber?”
“Qtja lr?”
“Ktja obg atf qjra rfnfgji atberjcv sfjgr, cbatlcu tjr ubcf kgbcu, yea cbk, revvfcis, rbwfatlcu tjqqfcfv?” Xel Tlc rjlv. Lf qblcafv ab atf yjgglfg. “Xtbrar vbc’a tjnf j rfcrf bo rfio. Qtfgf vlv atfs ifjgc rbwfatlcu jr beagjufber jr rtbnlcu atf yjgglfg ab xffq la bqfc?”
“That…well,” Lin Cangyuan sighed. He shook his head. “We can worry about that later. Right, will you be taking the shift tonight?”
Gui Yin nodded. “You and the others can just sit back and relax. I will take care of it. Who knows? You might even get a little concert from me.”
Lin Cangyuan managed a short laugh. “Thanks, Qinle.”
“I’m only doing as I should,” Gui Yin shrugged. He glanced at Lin Cangyuan’s leg. “You…take care of that.”
“I don’t need you to remind me,” Lin Cangyuan grimaced slightly as he moved his leg. He waved his hand and headed off in the direction of his tent.
The group of people assembled at the entrance of their camp as the sun was beginning to set. Gui Yin did a quick headcount and suppressed his sigh. He turned to Li Fangyin.
“You’re going to be the center of the formation. I will be keeping the ghosts away,” Gui Yin said.
Li Fangyin nodded. He pulled aside the group that would be a part of the formation and Gui Yin took the rest towards the barrier. His brows furrowed the closer he walked.
The howling of the ghosts had always been grating, but today felt especially off. His steps slowed and he looked up. The ghosts, varying in degrees of humanness, crowded around the crack. There was only one layer of the barrier holding them back. As they pushed their faces and limbs through, it reminded Gui Yin of when someone would push their hands or faces against a tightly pulled saran wrap. The sight would be extremely comedic, if not for the situation at hand.
“Lord Immortal?”
Gui Yin slowly pulled his gaze from the barrier. He let out a soft sigh as he watched the sun sink down below the horizon. In one hand, Shui Meng appeared; in the other, Fenghua took on a dazzling light. The moment the sun’s light vanished, the ghosts began to push at the barrier with more persistence. Despite their best efforts, the last layer of the barrier still burst, allowing several ghosts to spill out.
The outer layer quickly sealed up again, but the ghosts that had escaped had no intention of going back in. They charged forward and descended upon Gui Yin and his group.
While others struggled to keep up, Gui Yin was on the more leisurely side. The sound of Shui Meng ripped through the air in sorrowful tunes, stunning the ghosts and allowing them to be successfully taken down by the others. Gui Yin hovered in the air, striking hard on certain notes when the ghosts came closer, and throwing out his fan when they swarmed others.
The battle seemed to be settling down, as they got closer and closer to daylight again. At this point, those who were keeping hold of the formation were near exhaustion. Those who had been fighting alongside Gui Yin were about to collapse. In the midst of it all, only Gui Yin was still alert.
But this alertness meant nothing if it was only Gui Yin.
Many people had fallen back at Gui Yin’s command and the ghosts now swarmed Gui Yin. They could instinctively sense who had the highest cultivation in this crowd of people and, now that everyone else was on the verge of collapse, Gui Yin seemed even more appealing.
Gui Yin cursed his luck under his breath as he weaved and dodged through the onslaught of attacks. He caught Li Fangyin’s worried expression, but could only pray that the young man didn’t step out of formation. They had a few more hours until sunrise. It was just a few more hours. If nothing absolutely horrible happened, then they would be able to successfully make it through the night. As a ghost raised its hand and was abruptly shot through by an extra powerful soundwave, Gui Yin risked a glance over towards the horizon.
There was still nothing, but the dark skies were lightening. They were close. Gui Yin took in a deep breath and flew higher, drawing the crowd of ghosts along with him. He waved his fan, conjuring a gust of wind to pull them tighter together, and released another pulsating strum. The ghosts howled in pain as they scattered to the wind. Gui Yin glanced back at the crack in the barrier. The force they used to push it was beginning to weaken as well. With one last mantra, perhaps they could last through the night without another wave.
Gui Yin smiled to himself as he began to drift back to the ground. His feet were just about to touch the floor when he heard Li Fangyin shout.
Gui Yin turned, just in time to dodge a sword. His eyes widened as he was forced back. His fan met the tip of the sword in an unbalanced dance. Gui Yin turned his guqin, wanting to counterattack, only for the abrupt howling above to distract him. The sword just barely missed his arm, creating a ghastly gash. Gui Yin jumped back and looked up at the barrier.
In the worst-case scenario, the crack had expanded even more. Gui Yin turned his attention down to his assailant. The man was dressed in black robes, with a heinous white mask that covered his face. Still, through the gaps of the eyes, Gui Yin could tell he was smiling.
“So, there was someone fooling around in the shadows!” Gui Yin said.
“And what if you guessed it?” the man asked, releasing a clown-like cackle. “Did anyone listen? Is there anyone here to help?”
Gui Yin swallowed any words of rebuttal he could even think of. He glanced up at the barrier. The ghosts had stopped struggling, but the crack didn’t close one bit. He turned back to the ghost cultivator warily.
“What is this?”
“This is just the start,” the ghost cultivator giggled.
“Gui-qianbei!”
Gui Yin looked past the ghost cultivator. His fingers flew across the strings of the guqin. A strong burst of spiritual energy knocked the ghost cultivator off his feet. Ignoring the outcome, Gui Yin immediately flew back towards the others, but it was already too late. The formation had broken, but that was the least of their problems.
Gui Yin stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching in shock as ghost cultivators spilled in from every direction. Even if Gui Yin could take care of a thousand ghosts and Li Fangyin could take care of fifty, what would it matter at this point? With the entrance of ghost cultivators, the thirty people they had brought were nearly wiped out.
Li Fangyin caught Gui Yin, who had been knocked back by a fierce ghost. Gui Yin stood steadily, holding out a hand to tell Li Fangyin that he was fine. Li Fangyin gripped his sword tightly and glared at the ghost cultivators who were slowly closing in.
“What do we do?” Li Fangyin asked, the pain in his side making his vision blur.
“What else can we do?” Gui Yin asked as he glanced at the remaining ten people beside him. “You all retreat. I’ll hold them off.”
Li Fangyin’s eyes widened. “We can’t leave you!”
“Then, do you want eleven people to be my burial companions?” Gui Yin asked through gritted teeth. He grabbed Li Fangyin by the collar and shoved him back towards the other, equally as shocked, cultivators. “Go now.”
The man that had attacked Gui Yin first laughed. “Do you really think you can hold all of us off?”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Gui Yin said. He pulled his fan back. A faint blueish white light encompassed Fenghua. In a moment, a long sword appeared in front of them. Without waiting for anyone else to attempt to stop him, Gui Yin flew forward, thrusting his sword forth.
Despite Li Fangyin’s protest, he was dragged away by his companions. His eyes widened as Gui Yin quickly became swarmed by the ghosts. A sharp scream escaped his throat. He attempted to throw the cultivators around him off, but in his current state, he could barely stand straight.
The cultivators stagnated as well as they watched the horrific scene, with the sinking guilt of knowing that they wouldn’t have been of much help.
Gui Yin struggled as the ghosts traveled through him, leaving his body uncomfortably cold. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. In the blurriness of his consciousness, he saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at him. At this moment, he nearly laughed. If this was his last moment, then this would be his last thought. Why was he thinking about a man he barely knew? How pathetic.
The next swing of his sword connected with one of the ghost cultivators, but he couldn’t twist his body in time to block the swarm of ghosts that were about to engulf him whole. He closed his eyes and braced for the worst.
His eyes slowly opened as the battlefield rang with new screams. They were not by his people, but by the ghost cultivators who had been attacking. Gui Yin looked at the person in front of him.
“My apologies, Lord Immortal,” the young man knelt down. “My master told us to come aid you, but it seems we’ve arrived late.”
“Your…master?”
The young man lifted his head. “Yes. My master is the Huigu Palace Lord.”
“You are…That’s right, I recognize you,” Gui Yin murmured.
“My name is Su Wen,” the young man said, somewhat amused by Gui Yin’s vague recognition.
“Su Wen,” Gui Yin repeated. He swayed slightly, but was immediately caught by Su Wen. He looked around at the newcomers and frowned. “This is Huigu Palace’s people.”
Su Wen readjusted Gui Yin against himself and hummed. “My master told us to go to Zhengyang Shan Clan first with a letter from him. Presently, Elder Shan is back at the camp. These are his elite cultivators. There are also monks from various temples, who are here to take care of the Ghost Barrier.”
Gui Yin felt his head spin. Elder Shan, that old rat! He says one thing and the man takes decades to send people out, but only one letter from Erlang was enough to get his butt moving? If it weren’t for Shan Yu, he would want to break any connections he had with the Zhengyang Shan Clan!
“Where’s your master?” Gui Yin asked dazedly, clinging onto his last thread of consciousness.
“Master is dealing with matters regarding Huigu Palace. If you want, I can inform him that you want to see him and—”
“No. I don’t want to see him,” Gui Yin said, surprisingly irritated. He shifted his weight, but still fell back limply against Su Wen.
“Lord Immortal, please stay still. Your injuries aren’t light. I will take you back to the camp first,” Su Wen said.
Gui Yin felt his vision blur. He nodded noncommittally and slowly succumbed to the fatigue.
When he awoke, he saw Su Wen first. He sat slowly, only to be pressed back down. When he looked over, he realized it was Lin Cangyuan and the others.
“This—”
“An acquaintance,” Gui Yin said, quickly explaining his relationship with Su Wen. He glanced at Elder Shan behind Lin Cangyuan and his fellow peak lords. The old man had his head lowered in shame. Gui Yin suppressed his irritation and held his head.
“Lord Immortal is fine,” Su Wen informed him. “Though, I would advise you not to push yourself in the next few days. Even if there is a war, you need to take care of yourself.”
“What about the barrier?”
“Tomorrow, Elder Shan and the monks will head out there and patch up the barrier. But we have other things to worry about now,” Lin Cangyuan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turned to Gui Yin with a wry smile. “Your instinct is right as always. The ones at Yinfeng Valley are behind it.”
Gui Yin leaned back, accepting the tea Su Wen handed him. “So, what? Have they declared war?”
“Does attacking sects in the upper realm count as a declaration of war?” Jiu Jingyi asked with a slight smirk.
“Of course, they were targeting the upper realm. That’s where the big fish are,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Elder Shan. “Were you aware?”
“We got a message from the brat from Huigu Palace just today,” Elder Shan said. He appeared sheepish. “Lord Immortal Ninglan, we didn’t mean to take so long.”
“In normal circumstances, one week is certainly not long. But these could hardly be called normal,” Gui Yin said.
“So, what should we do?” Lin Cangyuan asked.
“I have a proposition,” Gui Yin said to Lin Cangyuan. “Jiu-shimei remains here with three fourths of our sect to watch over the border with a few other volunteers. Sect Master-shixiong and I will return to the upper realm and help the Beidou Alliance regroup.”
Lin Cangyuan frowned. He glanced at Jiu Jingyi.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Jiu Jingyi said. “But are you sure? We can leave Yenuo here and—”
“No. You will remain here,” Gui Yin insisted.
Jiu Jingyi stared at Gui Yin blankly for a while before slowly nodding. Deng Yenuo glanced at Gui Yin. His gaze lowered, but those in the tent already understood his meaning. It would be an unwise choice for all the peak lords to throw themselves headfirst into a life or death battle. If anything happened to Lin Cangyuan and Gui Yin, then there would at least be Jiu Jingyi and Ye Liuxing left to run the sect.
The atmosphere turned heavy, but Gui Yin smiled. “You still have to take care of my little disciples. Who else am I going to make babysit them?”
Jiu Jingyi laughed quietly, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
The next week, Lin Cangyuan and Gui Yin, along with thirty disciples, returned to the upper realms. They met with the others at Xingchen Pavilion and divided the continent into where they assumed the ghost cultivators may attack first. Yunjing Pavilion was sent towards the northeast along with Yin Hua Palace. The civilians were evacuated as far from the battle as they could. Many were sent to the lower realms, where they were received by Ye Liuxing and the others, while some were sent towards the desert.
As things settled and they hopped onto a lifeless routine, Gui Yin finally noticed his two new tails.
“Why are you two following me everywhere?” Gui Yin whispered.
Su Wen awkwardly cleared his throat. “Master—”
“Go back to your master,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Wu Feng. “You too.”
Su Wen and Wu Feng glanced at each other helplessly. Their pace quickened after Gui Yin, dodging the cultivator soldiers as well as they went.
“Lord Immortal, we’re under orders of our master to protect you,” Su Wen protested. “If you send us back, he’ll think we did a poor job.”
“That’s right. He’ll probably send other people anyway,” Wu Feng added.
“Isn’t it better to have two people you know at your side rather than half a dozen strangers??” Su Wen asked.
Gui Yin rolled his eyes. At first it was just Su Wen, and then suddenly there popped out a Wu Feng. It had been three months since the all-out war started and these two had been following him around for three whole months. Gui Yin had never had attendants following him closely before, so to suddenly have two made him uncomfortable all over. He refused to let them take care of him in a way that they would look after their master, but to still have two people who would watch his back so closely (almost too closely) brought him discomfort all over.
He stopped and glared at the two men. “Is he spying on me?”
“No!” the two chorused a little too quickly.
Gui Yin’s eyes flickered between the two sheepish men and scoffed. He flourished his fan. “If that master of yours is really so concerned, then tell him he can come see me for himself.”
Thank you for the chapter!!
thanks for reading!!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
thank for the read! uwu
i gotta unclench my jaw jxhajxhja woowee that was a tense battle!! but i am relieved that there are two attendants keeping an eye on things (sorry Gui Yin, i think they’ve been and will continue being helpful akdhsjdjs)
Hehe thanks for reading!!!
Dare. You. To. Come. Is this asking for a date? Hahahahahaha! Thanks for this awesome chapter 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣⚔️😳
Mayhaps 👀👀👀 thanks for reading!!!
My thoughts during this chapter:
Author-sama I thought it would be atleast 3 chapters before tragedy strikes, you really know how to deal damage.
Wait but if my man got captured what was the favour from them ghosties for?
Ok so am I gonna get a 16 yr time skip or smth or we gonna watch the lil babies drown in grief
Damn, and I was so ready for it too. Welp join us next time on is gui yin gonna get critically injured or is erlang gonna save his ass.
LMAO nah it’s too soon for such tragedy 🙁 maybe next chapter— (jk) THANKS FOR READING!