A soft sigh left Li Yan’s lips. Gui Linghuo glanced over. “What’s wrong?”
“I was just thinking that if we hadn’t had to go on this mission, we would have been able to see Laoshi,” Li Yan mumbled. “It’s such a shame that he’s coming the day we set out!”
Gui Linghuo smiled half-heartedly. “That’s true. It’s like the heavens don’t want us to reunite.”
“Pei, pei, pei,” Li Yan waved her hand in front of Gui Linghuo’s mouth. “How could you say something so unlucky?”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Gui Linghuo said, grasping Li Yan’s hand with a small smile.
Qin Siyi watched the two lovebirds with an ill-concealed look of disgust. Li Yan met her gaze with an embarrassed smile.
“Don’t you think it’s a shame?”
“It’s a shame,” Qin Siyi nodded. She blew a lock of hair from her face as she looked down at the village below them. “It just happened to be the one day Shizun came back to the lower realm that we were sent out.”
Because of how urgent the signal for help was, they couldn’t even stall a day to go up and see Gui Yin, who had only been a flight away. It was irritating to the point that Qin Siyi hadn’t shown a good expression the whole trip. Anyone with eyes could tell that Qin Siyi wasn’t in a good mood today.
Now a week had already passed. Gui Yin was probably long gone by the time they were able to go back.
“What’s with this rotten mission anyway?” Qin Siyi grumbled. She crouched down and glared at the village in front of them. “Were those cultivators blindly pointing us? Where’s the ghost cultivators? We’ve been camping out here for almost a week and we haven’t even seen a shadow of ghost cultivators.”
“They for sure said they saw ghost cultivators bringing people over here,” Li Yan said. She gasped. “Do you think they found out we were coming, so they went to hide?”
“How would they find out?” Qin Siyi asked as she drew circles in the dirt. She huffed and stood, throwing aside a twig. “We can’t just sit here like this. If there really were people taken by the ghost cultivators they’d probably be eaten by now.”
Gui Yin sighed, but nodded in agreement. “Let’s go look for them then.”
“I’ll go this way,” Qin Siyi said, pointing to the right.
“Wait, we’re not going together?” Li Yan asked, grabbing Qin Siyi’s sleeve.
“It’d be easier to split,” Qin Siyi explained. She looked between Li Yan and Gui Linghuo. “But just because we’re splitting doesn’t mean we’ll act alone. If we find something, we have to inform the others first and we’ll act together.”
Gui Linghuo nodded. “Okay. If neither of us can find anything, we’ll meet back at this tree.”
Qin Siyi nodded. She caught Li Yan’s worried gaze and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and went down the mountain herself first.
Li Yan watched her go before turning to Gui Linghuo with a frown. “Did you argue with her again?”
“Me?” Gui Linghuo stared at his lover incredulously. “No. I haven’t spoken to her in a few days.”
“You…you’re always like this,” Li Yan said, swatting at Gui Linghuo. “You need to pay closer attention to the ones around you! It’s not normal to not talk to someone for a few days if you live with her!”
“I—But,” Gui Linghuo wanted to protest but he couldn’t find any suitable words. He pouted slightly and admitted his wrongs. “I’ll ask her when we’re done, alright? Don’t be mad.”
Li Yan glared at Gui Linghuo. “You better. I’ll watch you until the two of you talk it out.”
Gui Linghuo pinched his ear as Li Yan led the way down the mountain. He and Qin Siyi had been in a cold war for a while. It was just that when Li Yan intervened, Qin Siyi would talk to Gui Linghuo first. But Qin Siyi hadn’t been keeping up a front recently, leaving Li Yan suspicious of what Gui Linghuo did to his little martial sister.
Gui Linghuo shook his head and pulled himself from his own thoughts. He had to focus right now. It was a case of a kidnapping! He can’t let himself get distracted.
“A-Huo, since they’re ghost cultivators, they can’t be hiding behind some barrier, right?” Li Yan asked, staring at the entrance of the deserted village.
Gui Linghuo shook his head. “With Siyi by our side, she would have seen through a barrier in a second. They must have moved locations or hid somewhere deeper in the forest.”
Li Yan fell into a silent pondering for a minute. “The forest around here is so dense. How are we supposed to find them? Oh, I know!”
Li Yan turned to Gui Linghuo excitedly. “Use spiritual sight!”
“Spiritual sight?” Gui Linghuo echoed.
Li Yan nodded. “Mn! My brother uses it all the time to catch traces of demonic or resentful energy. It might be a little difficult at your cultivation level, but it wouldn’t hurt to try!”
Gui Linghuo hesitated for a moment. “Do you know how to do it?”
Li Yan nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve asked him before! He says all you have to do is concentrate your spiritual energy around your eyes and seek out traces of demonic and resentful energy.”
Gui Linghuo frowned. He nodded slowly. “Then, I’ll give it a try.”
Gui Linghuo closed his eyes. He carefully guided his spiritual energy to his eyes, encircling them gently. He opened his eyes and looked around. As Li Yan had said, he could see particles that he hadn’t seen before. Most were left behind by nature, which all naturally had spiritual energy. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating a little further, and began to see traces of red.
He took Li Yan’s hand. “This way.”
The path sloped downwards, leading them further and further from the hill as they went deeper and deeper into the forest. They had to be careful to avoid the gnarled roots. Despite it being early spring, the grass and trees of this area carried the dullness of vegetation in the dead of winter. The longer they walked, the clearer it was that there were not even birds willing to traverse the surrounding area.
Li Yan’s brows furrowed. “A-Huo.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear…knocking?”
“Knocking?” Gui Linghuo frowned.
He had been too focused on following the trail, so he hadn’t noticed anything else abnormal. The two fell silent, allowing time for the knocking to happen again.
“It’s this way,” Li Yan said, gently tugging Gui Linghuo to the right.
They left the uneven dirt path and continued until the knocking was at its loudest. As if sensing they were there, the knocking stopped.
“It’s coming from here,” Li Yan murmured, pressing her hand against the side of the mountain. She turned to Gui Linghuo. “That means this mountain is hollow? Do you think this could be where the kidnappees are?”
Gui Linghuo nodded. “Come on. Let’s try to find a way in.”
Li Yan let go of Gui Linghuo’s hand. The two split up from where the knocking came from and began to search for the entrance to the cave.
Gui Linghuo’s spiritual sight had yet to wear off. As he got closer to what he assumed to be the entrance of the cave, the slithering black and red tendrils of resentful energy became stronger and stronger. It made his eyes sting, as if he were standing in the middle of a dust storm with his eyes wide open. Unable to bear the pain any longer, he closed his eyes and pressed the heel of his palm to them.
“A-Huo? A-Huo, are you okay?” Li Yan jogged over to him.
“It’s that way,” Gui Linghuo said, pointing ahead of him. He shook his head. “Give me a minute. The resentful energy in this area is far too strong, I…”
Li Yan’s eyes widened. She began to rummage around Gui Linghuo’s pockets. “Your medicine? Where’s your medicine?”
“It isn’t—”
“Where is it?”
Gui Linghuo, with his eyes still closed, fumbled out a pill bottle. Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief as she uncorked the jade bottle.
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.
“Dijwf wf obg cba gfwfwyfglcu sbe mjc’a tjcvif gfrfcaoei fcfgus,” Ol Tjc ktlrqfgfv ab tfgrfio. “Oemxlis sbe tjnfc’a tjv jc jaajmx sfa.”
Xel Olcuteb rwlifv tfiqifrris. “Ktlr lrc’a yfmjerf bo atja atbeut.”
“Lbk mbeiv la cba yf?” Ol Tjc qertfv j qlii lcab Xel Olcuteb’r wbeat. “Snfc ktfc ws ygbatfg olgra rajgafv vblcu atlr, tf kbeivc’a tjnf j gfjmalbc ilxf sbegr ktfc tf mjwf eqbc j vfqbrla bo gfrfcaoei fcfgus. Tbe tjnf j rqfmlji mbcralaealbc, rb sbe tjnf ab yf fzagj mjgfoei. Tbe rtbeivc’a qert sbegrfio ab sbeg ilwla klat atlcur ilxf atlr.”
Once the pill dissolved in his mouth, the aching in Gui Linghuo’s eyes subsided. He slowly opened them again and met Li Yan’s cross gaze. He smiled. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Li Yan murmured, pushing the pill bottle back in his hands. “Just remember next time.”
Gui Linghuo nodded obediently. He watched as Li Yan sighed and walked ahead. He let out a shaky breath and glanced down at the black veins that had begun pulsing through his veins. If not for the spiritual sight, he would have already been in this state. It was just a good thing that Li Yan had been by his side this time.
The pair soon found what they thought to be the entrance. Gui Linghuo and Li Yan glanced at each other and turned back to the nondescript side of the mountain. The resentful energy was most concentrated around here. It made Gui Linghuo’s heart hammer against his chest, making him almost feel that his chest cavity was devoid of anything else but his heart.
“We should go get Siyi,” Gui Linghuo said, glancing at the wall. “If we mess up the array, I’m afraid it might alert whoever’s behind this.”
Li Yan nodded. “Alright, let’s go back first.”
“I’ll stay here,” Gui Linghuo said. “Just in case they move again.”
Li Yan hesitated a moment, but eventually gave in. “Then, you be very careful. Make sure not to get caught. Don’t come out of your hiding place if you see them, even if they’re killing the people.”
Gui Linghuo made his promise and watched Li Yan quickly run off. He hesitated for a moment and returned to where they had first heard the knocking. He crouched down on the ground and lightly knocked against the same spot.
When a moment passed and he hadn’t heard anything, he could only scoff lightly to himself. He moved to turn back to the entrance, but something soft echoed in response. Gui Linghuo froze. He crouched back down and knocked again.
This time, the response was faster.
Gui Linghuo smiled. He pressed his hand against the side of the cave, closed his eyes, and sent a simple voice transmission: “Don’t be afraid. We’ll get you out soon.”
He stood, brushed his hands together and returned to the entrance to wait for Qin Siyi and Li Yan.
It took nearly half an hour for them to return. Without waiting for a word from Gui Linghuo, Qin Siyi immediately began to analyze the array before her. Her fingers pinched the air, as if she were turning invisible gears. Her eyes were closed and her brows were furrowed in concentration. About another twenty minutes past before she reached out, grasped something tightly, and pulled.
Gui Linghuo and Li Yan watched in awe as the side of the mountain shimmered, disappeared, and was replaced by the entrance of a cave.
“That was amazing!” Li Yan exclaimed in a loud whisper. She hopped excitedly. “You’re so cool!”
Qin Siyi flushed slightly. “It’s nothing. You could do it too with practice.”
Li Yan giggled, as if she had heard a really good joke, before gesturing. “Come on, let’s hurry and go in!”
“Wait, you two go ahead first. I’ll go somewhere further away and send out a signal for backup,” Qin Siyi said.
“Good idea,” Li Yan approved, giving her a thumbs up.
Qin Siyi chuckled at Li Yan’s antics and quickly departed, leaving Li Yan and Gui Linghuo.
“Let’s see. If we follow the same direction as we came from, the knocking should have come from…this way,” Li Yan whispered.
Unlike what they had been expecting, the inside of the mountain was more like the interior of a real home. The floors, although still dirt, seemed to have been purposefully smoothed over. The cave walls were obviously manmade, even containing traces of ghost qi to prove that it was carved by ghost cultivators.
Li Yan stuck close to Gui Linghuo as they walked. It wasn’t because she was afraid of what might jump out at them if they parted, but the cave contained an eeriness that didn’t belong to the mortal realm. A cold wind that blew from nowhere seemed to seep through her clothes, making her skin form goosebumps the further in they walked. Her brows furrowed and she couldn’t help but glance at Gui Linghuo. Seeing that he was reacting perfectly normally, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s here,” Gui Linghuo murmured. He could still feel traces of his own spiritual energy from the voice transmission.
He shifted his gaze down to the lock and bolt. His brows furrowed as his finger pinched the lock. There were now arrays on it and no alarm system. There was only a key required to unlock it. It was so simple, that Gui Linghuo almost felt that it was a trap.
Still, a trap or not, they had to discover it for themselves. He was just about to send a stream of spiritual energy through when they heard a thump on the other side.
A frantic “Wait!” sounded behind the doors.
Li Yan and Gui Linghuo glanced at each other.
Behind the door they heard thumping and scooting, as if someone was trying to move forward while still sitting on a chair. Eventually, the labored breathing of the other person could be heard just a door away.
“W-wait, don’t open this door,” the other person said. “Listen to me—continue down this path. Once you reach the lowest level, you’ll find a set of black double doors with scorpions on them. That door will have a protection array. It’s difficult to detect, so be very careful while you’re navigating through it. Inside are captives. You must get them right now. The guards will be back in two hours.”
Gui Linghuo’s brows furrowed. He released the lock and bolt. “Who are you? And why should we believe you?”
The other person fell silent. An annoyed click of the tongue could be heard. “It doesn’t matter who I am right now! You just have to rescue those people, alright? If you don’t Half—the—the ghost cultivators will sacrifice them.”
“Sacrifice?” Li Yan echoed. She met Gui Linghuo’s gaze. “What are they sacrificing these people for?”
Another restless sigh. “Are you two really worrying about that right now? Aren’t you righteous cultivators? Isn’t it more important to save a person and ask later? Why are you hesitating?!”
“Then, what about you?” Gui Linghuo asked.
With their talent in arrays, it would be difficult to be able to undo something in under an hour.
“I…Don’t worry about me,” the other person said. “I’ll be fine.”
Gui Linghuo’s brows furrowed. “Do you have a way to get out?”
“No…but…but there’s more than fifty people in there. I’m just one person,” the person protested. Frantic thumping could be heard from the other side. “I won’t be able to get out, so you both quickly go save the others!”
Li Yan pursed her lips. She touched Gui Linghuo’s arm and whispered. “A-Huo, you stay here. I’ll go take care of the captives in the dungeon. You stay here and figure out how to get that man out.”
Gui Linghuo nodded.
Li Yan turned and quickly ran in the direction the young man on the other side of the door pointed to. Gui Linghuo could hear a sigh of relief, but when he fiddled with the lock again, the breath seized.
“You’re still here!?”
“My partner has gone to take care of the captives you mentioned. Don’t worry about her, she’s quite capable,” Gui Linghuo said. He jiggled the lock. “Say, are there any spells on this thing?”
“No, but—”
The lock shattered in Gui Linghuo’s grip. He threw it aside and pushed the doors open.
The person on the other side toppled over. Gui Linghuo froze.
The person on the other side was a young man, maybe only a year or two younger than Qin Siyi. His hair was unbound, spilling over his shoulders barbarically. He was wearing white robes, like a prisoner would, and one could see the lacerations poking from his collar. His face was deathly pale, but there was an odd, ghostly beauty to him. His pair of phoenix eyes and his plump, yet pointed lips, could make even a straight man pity him.
Gui Linghuo felt that after seeing Li Yan and Gui Yin, there were few people who were attractive enough to impress him, but the young man before him challenged his long set aesthetics.
“You—I told you not to come in!” the young man snapped. He grunted as he shifted and tried his best to sit up on his own.
Gui Linghuo snapped out of his thoughts. He closed the door behind him and rushed forward to help the young man sit up. He knelt down and looked at the cords that bound the young man to the chair. His brows immediately furrowed.
“Death Chains?” Gui Linghuo breathed.
“That’s why I said it was useless,” the young man said, jerking away from Gui Linghuo’s warm fingers. He glared at him. “You see now? So, quickly go after you shimei!”
Gui Linghuo glanced at the young man above him and turned back to the cords. “She’s not my shimei, she’s my lover.”
“I wouldn’t care even if you two were blood siblings or if you two were married,” the young man hissed. He pulled away again. “Quickly go after her!”
“You already told us all the dangers, right?”
“Yes. But it’s faster if you two work together. You already know what these are, so it’s useless to try and save me,” the young man grumbled. “You’re a righteous cultivator. You can’t unlock these without ghost qi.”
Gui Linghuo’s fingers rubbed at the cords, his brows furrowing further. He looked up at the young man. “If we leave you here, then what happens to you?”
“I…nothing much,” the young man said, averting his gaze.
Gui Linghuo’s grip tightened. “Will you be sacrificed as well?”
“…I’m different,” the young man said, scooting away from Gui Linghuo. “I already knew I was eventually going to be a sacrifice as a kid, so this is just resigning to my fate.”
Gui Linghuo suddenly thought of the sightings of children at the ghost cultivators’ side that had been mentioned before. His gaze grew darker. He sighed and turned back to the chains.
“What are you doing?” the young man jerked away again. “Do you not speak human speech? If you touch these with that pure body of yours, you’ll definitely suffer knockback. Do you not want to live?”
“Stop talking.”
“You! I’m just trying to help you. Go find your little girlfriend. There’s so many people. Do you think she can handle all of them?” the young man asked.
At that moment, the doors were pushed open again. The young man froze in fear, but when he saw the uniform that looked similar to Gui Linghuo’s, he calmed back down. He nudged Gui Linghuo with his foot.
“Is this your friend?”
Gui Linghuo looked over his shoulder. “Follow this path down to find a pair of double doors. A-Yan will be down there.”
Qin Siyi glanced at the young man. “He’s…”
“I’ll handle it. Don’t worry. Just focus on aiding A-Yan,” Gui Linghuo said.
The young man bit his lower lip and turned to Qin Siyi. “Miss, quickly grab this guy. He’s crazy! He knows I’m being locked by Death Chains, but he’s still trying to free me!”
“Death Chains?” Qin Siyi raised a brow. After a moment, she nodded. “Then, be careful.”
The young man’s eyes widened as Qin Siyi absconded. “She—she must not like you! She wants you to die!”
“She doesn’t want me to die. She’s my shimei.”
“You think just because you have the same mentor, she won’t harbor ill feelings for you? You’re too naïve! Even your blood-related sister can kill you for a bao, much less some stranger you grew up with,” the young man said. He thrashed a bit. “Let go of me, psycho!”
Gui Linghuo sighed in irritation. “Stop moving! I know how to undo it.”
“What do you mean?! You’re not even a ghost cultivator, you—”
The young man’s words stopped short. He suddenly gasped in pain and slumped forward. His entire body began to tremble and his lips paled even further. Cold sweat began to bead at his forehead.
Gui Linghuo glanced at him worriedly. “It’s going to hurt a little. You have to bear with it.”
The young man whimpered pitifully.
If the locking of the Death Chains felt like a thousand tiny needles being pushed into his skin, then the unlocking of the Death Chains felt like a hundred knives being simultaneously pulled out. No—perhaps pulling out knives would have been merciful. At this moment, the feeling of knives being extracted continued again and again as the cords pulsed around his chest, abdomen, wrists and ankles. His vision began to blur and he tasted copper at the back of his throat.
“Bear with it,” Gui Linghuo whispered.
Black and red wisps tangled at his fingertips. His face paled slightly as he forced aside his cultivation to tap into the ghostly miasma that slept in his meridians.
Although it wasn’t good for his lifespan, Gui Linghuo had used this technique multiple times in the past decade to undo traps set up by ghost cultivators. At the time, he had only had to expend a drop of energy. Death Chains required a bit more exertion though.
“You…let go,” the young man gasped.
“We’re almost there,” Gui Linghuo said. His other hand came up to squeeze the young man’s thigh. “Bear with it a little while longer.”
“No,” the young man said shakily. “No, I’m not worth it. Just…just go. They’ll be back soon. Even…even if you free me t-they’ll be able to find me. So, you—”
“Then, I’ll protect you,” Gui Linghuo said. “It’ll be fine.”
The young man bit his lower lip. “Stupid righteous cultivators. He…he was right. You’re all idiots.”
Gui Linghuo ignored the young man. Or, rather, he could no longer hear the young man properly. His ears were beginning to ring. He had to close his eyes to make sure the ghostly miasma didn’t run out of control and take over his entire being.
Just a little more…just a little more.
“Da-shixiong, are you almost done?” Qin Siyi’s voice drifted to him.
Gui Linghuo hummed. Had it already been an hour? Or, with Siyi’s help, would it have only been half an hour?
“You take all of them out first. I…I need a little more time.”
Li Yan and Qin Siyi shared a glance.
“You take them away first,” Li Yan said. “I won’t know where to take them as well as you. I’ll stay here with A-Huo and watch for any dangers.”
Qin Siyi reluctantly agreed. “Be careful. If the ghost cultivators come, just drag Da-shixiong away. Don’t worry about that other person.”
Li Yan nodded. “Alright.”
The young man’s lashes fluttered. He glanced at Gui Linghuo’s pallid face. See? Your shimei and your little girlfriend are much smarter than you.
Li Yan closed the door behind her and squatted down beside Gui Linghuo. “A-Huo, are you okay?”
“Just a little more,” Gui Linghuo murmured. His grip on the young man’s thigh tightened. “Just a little more, okay?”
The young man laughed weakly, but didn’t offer a response. He shifted his gaze to Li Yan. “They’re going to come back soon. You should take him now.”
Li Yan pursed her lips. She glanced at Gui Linghuo and then back to the young man.
“Now!” the young man shouted.
Li Yan stood, but before she could grab Gui Linghuo, she was thrown off. “A-Huo?”
“Please, it’s almost there,” Gui Linghuo whispered. His breathing had long become labored. “Just a little more. Stop throwing a tantrum, won’t you?”
The young man glared at Gui Linghuo. He looked at Li Yan sternly, but Li Yan didn’t move. She smiled helplessly and shook her head.
The young man tiredly closed his eyes. He sighed. His head lulled back and he didn’t bother anymore. If these two people wanted to die, then who was he to try and prevent them?
Another twenty minutes past. The black cords finally unraveled.
Gui Linghuo stood up excitedly. He scooped the young man into his arms and immediately bolted from the door with Li Yan hot on his heels. The young man was startled into holding onto Gui Linghuo. He glanced at the other man above him and felt a subtle heat developing on his cheeks.
“Where are we supposed to meet with them?” Gui Linghuo hurriedly asked.
“Siyi said they would be by the river. They—”
Li Yan’s words stopped short. She had to grab Gui Linghuo by the back of his robes to keep him from stumbling forward.
Five people stood in front of them, perfectly blocking their way out. The people wore black cloaks, with black and gold scorpions embroidered onto them. The man in the middle wasn’t the tallest of the group, but his presence was strong. As he stepped forward, it became harder and harder for Li Yan and Gui Linghuo to breathe. His face wasn’t only obscured by his hood, but he was also wearing a full white mask, leaving only his black glassy eyes for them to see.
“Interesting. A righteous cultivator who can also manipulate ghost qi.”
The man’s voice was low, but had an odd, grating quality to it. If Gui Yin were here, he would compare it to cheap voice changers that were used on the internet. The only difference was that instead of comical, the man somehow seemed more terrifying.
The depthless black eyes drifted down to the young man in Gui Linghuo’s arms. He reached out from under his cloak, revealing a perfectly normal hand, if not for the way his nails were pitch black. He remained silent as he pointed at the young man.
“I believe you have my property.”
Li Yan’s brows furrowed tightly. Her hand tightly was already reaching for her silks. “Property? Humans can’t be another person’s property.”
The cloaked figure laughed humorlessly. “Of course, he’s my property. I clothed him, fed him, and raised him. I spent so much time on him. If he weren’t my property, then what is he?”
Gui Linghuo’s grip on the young man tightened. “Our backup is on the way. If you don’t move now, I’m afraid this confrontation won’t end well.”
“Won’t end well? Certainly, it won’t end well. But not for me. For you.”
Black tendrils shot out from his sleeves. Gui Linghuo hadn’t had the time to retrieve his sword when Li Yan flew in front. White silks collided with the shadowy tendrils. For a moment, the man stumbled back. Gui Linghuo managed to steady Li Yan. He threw a glance at the man, grabbed Li Yan by the arm, and teleported away.
It wasn’t far, but it allowed them to escape the encirclement.
“Can you walk?” Gui Linghuo asked.
The young man nodded and quickly got down from Gui Linghuo’s embrace.
“A-Yan,” Gui Linghuo held the girl’s shoulders tightly. “You—”
“I’m fine. It wasn’t a hard hit,” Li Yan reassured him. She was lucky she caught him by surprise. She caught the young man who almost tipped over and turned to Gui Linghuo. “Carry him first. Let’s hurry and go.”
Gui Linghuo pursed his lips and hurriedly scooped the young man back up. The two of them began to run, hoping they could lose the ghostly man and his entourage.
The young man tightly gripped Gui Linghuo’s robes. “Leave me. You won’t be able to escape them with me.”
“It’s fine,” Gui Linghuo said, ignoring the way the young man pinched him. “Just be good and stay still.”
The young man pursed his lips and glanced at Li Yan. He lowered his gaze and let out an internal sigh. His fingers slowly curled into his palm, but he still resisted from leaning into Gui Linghuo.
“Children nowadays are quite nimble. Look at you both, scurrying from me like little rats.”
Gui Linghuo slid to a stop. He glanced behind him, only to find their only other point of exit was blocked off again. He gripped the young man tighter in his anxiety. If he grabbed Li Yan and teleported now, he might not have enough energy to fight when they were truly cornered. And he wasn’t like Gui Yin or the other peak lords—his teleportation was sporadic, without a specific distance or location in mind. He could be teleporting several feet to the left or several miles off course from where they should be.
In the incident that they traveled further from where backup was, then Li Yan, him, and this young man would truly be screwed.
“In a real battle, there’s no time to think,” the man said, a smirk heard clearly in his voice.
Gui Linghuo shifted the young man in his arms, attempting to perform a sword seal, but before he could move, Li Yan had already pushed him behind her and faced the shadow man’s attack head on again.
“A-Yan!”
Li Yan deflected the tendrils. She grabbed Gui Linghuo and pursed her lips. “You have to run.”
“Yes, let’s hurry.”
“No,” Li Yan pursed her lip as a sliver of blood flowed down her chin. She coughed as her eyes began to redden at the edges. “You have to run.”
“…What?”
Li Yan forced a smile. Her face had grown much paler in the short period of time they were speaking. She pressed a hurried kiss to Gui Linghuo’s lips. Her voice was soft as she spoke: “Even if I make it back, I don’t think I’ll survive. So, you go ahead first, okay?”
“Wait…no, A-Yan, you—”
“Don’t rush to see me,” Li Yan said.
Gui Linghuo felt a warmth between her fingers. He tried to shake her off, but the teleportation spell was already activated.
“Live out your life. Make sure to be happy. Then, when we meet again, be sure to tell me all about it,” Li Yan whispered.
“A-Yan!”
The young man tumbled from his arms as Gui Linghuo lunged forward for Li Yan. But the scenery had already changed and they were already back by the cave. The young man rolled several paces, wheezing in pain as he slowly propped himself up. He watched as Gui Linghuo fell to his knees. His hand still stretched out for a person that was already a long distance away.
“I have to go back,” Gui Linghuo muttered to himself. “I have to.”
He turned quickly on his heel as his sword appeared at his side. His knuckles were white from how tightly it was being gripped. But a sudden sharp pain pierced through his wrist. His sword fell to the ground and he felt his knees weaken. An aggressive light flashed through his eyes. He flexed his hand, watching as dark tendrils slowly inched up his veins.
Gui Linghuo saw his vision blur. He fell forward, but he didn’t touch the ground.
The young man carefully laid him down, his lips pursed. “I’m sorry.”
“You…don’t apologize,” Gui Linghuo said. His voice already sounded congested. He shifted, pushed the young man off and reached for his sword. “I have to go back. A-Yan can’t just die like this. I—”
The young man reached out and quickly hit Gui Linghuo’s two acupoints. He shifted his gaze in his frozen state and stared at the young man in betrayal.
“Knowing what that man is like, she’s already dead. And he’ll be coming for you now. With your body’s constitution, you’ll be an even better sacrifice for the Demon God,” the young man said, hurriedly placing Gui Linghuo’s sword against his chest and lifting him up. His brows furrowed tightly. He sighed. “I told you that you shouldn’t have saved me.”
Gui Linghuo’s acupoints had been hit. He was unable to move and he wasn’t even able to talk. He was only able to watch as the young man murmured a spell he had never heard of and gently placed him back down in the shrubbery.
The young man straightened, his face much paler than before. He cupped his hands together and bowed. “This is where we part. The acupoints will loosen in about an hour. Once they find me, this area will be deserted again. Quickly go meet up with the others, okay?”
The young man hesitated. He glanced behind him and knelt down again. He gently wiped the tears that came down Gui Linghuo’s cheek. “I’m really sorry. But I don’t want you to die too.”
The young man stood. He gave Gui Linghuo one last look and ran in the opposite direction.
Above, Gui Linghuo could hear the cry of vultures. He lifted his gaze, watching as streams of shadows flashed over his head. In the next moment, he heard a loud scream. And then silence. He slowly closed his eyes, his heart going cold.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
(but like who is ghostly phoenix beauty? 👀) AAAAAAAAA IF GUI LINGHUO DIDNT INSIST ON SAVING- no. i refuse to believe anyone is dead until i see a body. mm.
you have a similar brain to qin siyi i see– thanks for readddddding!
I’m afraid to turn to the next chapter nooo😭😭please li Yan you can’t die and the poor handsome young boy too!
Damn I didn’t like Li Yan but I also didn’t except author-sama to kill her off so casually like daaaammnn. what will Li Fangyin and Qin Siyi do now? I thought my man was picking up a harem but instead it was buy one return one. Just when I was thinking author-sama was a tease it turned out to be a murder in cold blood.
I thought that the new guy was gonna be some kinda repeat of how gui yin met qiao ceng or something like that but i’m not so sure about this character anymore. The descriptions of beauty was kinda reminding me of tht other guy the scorpion demon turned into…..
are you talking about Yalun? He’s a centipede demon. And don’t worry, most villainous looking beauties have similar descriptions– thanks for read!
Huh. Yes I was talking about Yalun. Kinda forgot he is a centipede cus of tht time he appeared in the pool with gui yin then asked if gui yin really forgot so i just thought after the qiao ceng story came in that he was the one who deceived him and shit.
Mm I thought you got confused between the two bc I was confused by your comment since Qiao Ceng was barely mentioned LOL nvm then it’s all good. You continue doin you 😳
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
thanks for reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have a nice daayyyy 💕
What just…wha… … need to read on cause I’m so worried and… thanks…
have fun readin’ uwu thanks for read!!!
I was expecting it but it still hurts