Footsteps rushed over to the cave, stopping just before the shrubbery. The branches were pushed aside, revealing Qin Siyi’s worried face.
It had begun raining at some point, but no one had the heart to worry about the downpour.
“Da-shixiong!” Qin Siyi cried. She knelt down and pulled him into a hug. “It’s good that you’re okay! We were looking everywhere for you guys, but we couldn’t find you. And—”
Qin Siyi’s words stopped short. Her grip on Gui Linghuo loosened. She watched as he slumped back down. She took in his wet, pathetic appearance and his dull eyes. Anxiety began to claw at her heart as she looked around.
“Where’s A-Yan?” Qin Siyi asked, her voice coming out irritably weak.
The wind howled for a moment, filling in the silence between them. Qin Siyi ignored the way her robes flapped irritably at her side. She pushed away her hair from her face as her anxiety evolved to urgency.
She grabbed the front of Gui Linghuo’s robes. “Where’s A-Yan!?”
“Miss Qin!” Li Fangyin pushed through the cultivators and pulled Qin Siyi back. He glanced at Gui Linghuo before turning back to Qin Siyi. “What are you doing? Can’t you see he’s hurt? We have to get him treated first before—”
Qin Siyi threw Li Fangyin off of herself. “You look around! Do you see your sister anywhere?!”
Li Fangyin’s hand slowly fell back to his side. His subordinates lowered their heads as Li Fangyin slowly looked over the crowd. His heart tightened. He turned back to Gui Linghuo.
“…Linghuo…where’s my little sister?”
Gui Linghuo silently closed his eyes. He felt himself be jerked upwards. Qin Siyi shook him hard.
“Didn’t you hear him? Answer him! Where’s A-Yan!?”
Gui Linghuo slowly opened his eyes. His lips parted silently. It was like the lump in his throat was blocking his words. He wanted to speak. He wanted to apologize, but he knew it would all be worthless.
As Qin Siyi watched the tears roll down Gui Linghuo’s cheeks, she felt a coldness penetrate her bones. She shook her head in disbelief. Her hands slowly released Gui Linghuo and stumbled back as if she had been slapped.
“Say…something,” Qin Siyi said. Her expression scrunched again as she stomped forward again. “Say anything! You wouldn’t ever let anything happen to her! You said you’d always protect her! That you love her. You wouldn’t…You wouldn’t have—”
“She’s dead,” Gui Linghuo said.
Qin Siyi’s grip on the front of his robes tightened. “You’re lying.”
“…She’s…dead,” Gui Linghuo repeated. “She’s dead.”
“Did you see her body? If you haven’t seen her body, how could she be—”
“She’s dead,” Li Fangyin whispered.
Qin Siyi whipped her head over to Li Fangyin. Her jaw clenched as she took a deep breath. “How do you know?”
Li Fangyin unfurled his fingers to reveal a white jade. The jade had a horrendous crack down the middle. “Our parents gave us these jades as children. If anything happens to the other, the jade will be damaged. If it cracks in half…that means the other party is dead. She’s dead. My little sister is already dead.”
Qin Siyi released Gui Linghuo again. The two stared blankly at the white jade in Li Fangyin’s palm.
Faster than anyone could react, Qin Siyi turned around and threw a punch straight into Gui Linghuo’s jaw. Gui Linghuo fell down without much resistance.
The cultivators around surged forward in an attempt to pull Qin Siyi back, before she could land any more punches to the already injured Gui Linghuo.
Qin Siyi pulled at her restraints as Li Fangyin hurried to Gui Linghuo’s side. “You said you would protect her! Why didn’t you!? You’ve always kept your promises in the past, so this time…why? I trusted. That’s why I gave up on her. That’s why…I thought you…”
“Do you think I wanted to let her die?” Gui Linghuo asked. He slowly lifted his head and looked at Qin Siyi. His sadness suddenly turned to anger. He wobbled to his feet and nudged aside Li Fangyin’s helping hand. “Do you think I wanted her to die!? I wanted to protect her too. I love her. I wanted to marry her. Do you think I just wanted to let her die?!”
“Then you should have tried harder!”
“What about you!?” Gui Linghuo snapped. “Where were you then!? Is it just my fault? If you had also been there, we could have gotten away! We wouldn’t have—”
“Linghuo!” Li Fangyin grabbed Gui Linghuo by the waist and held him back. “Linghuo, calm down. Your illness. You can’t agitate yourself. You—”
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.
“P vbc’a mjgf!” Xel Olcuteb rtbeafv. Lf rageuuifv jujlcra Ol Mjcuslc, tlr fsfr jigfjvs gfvvfclcu lc wjvcfrr. “Tbe mjc yijwf wf jii sbe kjca, yea ja ifjra P aglfv! Qtja jybea sbe?! Tbe kfgfc’a fnfc atfgf ab ags!”
Hlc Vlsl’r rageuuifr ribkfv. Vtf kbeiv tjnf ojiifc ab tfg xcffr lo la kfgfc’a obg atf batfg meialnjabgr tbivlcu tfg yjmx.
“I wish…it was you who died instead,” Qin Siyi whispered.
Gui Linghuo froze. Li Fangyin could feel the way he stiffened in his arms. He lowered his gaze and slowly released Gui Linghuo. The other cultivators’ grips on Qin Siyi also lightened. The fight was over. Only the roaring thunder remained overhead.
Li Fangyin squeezed the white jade tightly in his hands. He suppressed whatever sadness he was experiencing and released it with a shaky sigh.
“Alright…let’s go back to camp first. Then, we can—”
“Young Palace Lord! Young Palace Lord, something terrible has happened!”
Li Fangyin and the others watched as a messenger stumbled over, frazzled in appearance and temperament. Li Fangyin caught the fumbling man and helped him straighten up.
“What’s wrong? Calm down first and then talk.”
The man shook his head. “I-it’s Lord Ninglan!”
Gui Linghuo and Qin Siyi immediately looked over.
“Ninglan? What happened?” Li Fangyin asked.
“Yunjing Pavilion’s peak lords—two of them are injured and one is unconscious, but Lord Ninglan…he’s gone missing!”
For the thousand or so years he had lived, Gui Yin had never been a pathetic person. When he was still young and not yet a cultivator, he carried himself with a confidence that his neighbors always mocked him for, saying he was too much of a city boy to live in the countryside. When he had split apart his primordial spirit and sent himself into cycle after cycle of reincarnation, he had suffered, but he had always held his head high. And at this moment, when he should be struggling to find a way to survive with his stringless qin and his weakening power, the only thought that occurred to him was that this was the closest he had ever been to rock bottom.
The sound of vultures circled overhead, as if they were ecstatic to witness the making of a fresh meal that they will warm their bellies with.
It was as if the slaughter of Beihua Town wasn’t enough to fill their appetite. They were persistent—swooping down to peck at him, tearing away at his flesh whenever he slowed for just a millisecond too long. His clothes had long been nipped to shreds. His crown had fallen from his head at some point. Every part of his body bled. There were even parts on his arms where bone was exposed.
Gui Yin clicked his tongue. The migraine that pulsed in his mind was beginning to irritate him now. He could hear the cackling of ghost cultivators as they caught up to him once again.
Gui Yin stopped in midair as they encircled him once more.
“War God?” the ghost cultivator chuckled. “Right now, you look more like a street rat to me, Lord Immortal Ninglan.”
His name was spoken with detest, mixed with sarcasm and schadenfreude. After so many deaths of their comrades under his hand, it was obvious that they would be happy about his imminent demise.
Gui Yin straightened. He chuckled weakly as he blew his hair from his face. “If you have the ability, then why not just strike me down right now? Why are you dawdling and wasting my time?”
He paused as he looked over the faces of the ten ghost cultivators who had been sent specifically on his trail. He smirked. “Or are you still scared of me when I’m in this state?”
The ghost cultivator at the front grounded his teeth. He pointed a shaky finger at Gui Yin. “Y-you all kill this vermin for me!”
As soon as the ghost cultivators surged forward, Gui Yin catapulted himself from the circle. He expended what little was left of his energy to teleport from their entrapment. If they had really been smart, they would have started a hidden array. Gui Yin was lucky that they really did underestimate him.
But this was as far as he could run.
Gui Yin stumbled a few paces and nearly collapsed to the ground. He leaned against the tree, his already bleeding fingers digging into its bark. He clutched his chest as he vomited a mouthful of blood. He averted his gaze as his chest heaved. He pushed himself up and stumbled forward a few more steps.
In the little time he had, he had half the mind to look around and get his bearings.
Behind him was the Kunlun Mountain Range, but in front of him wasn’t the Beidou Alliance.
Horrific wails filled the skies, like a mournful symphony. It was already raining when Gui Yin arrived and the rain felt acidic against his open wounds. It made Gui Yin want to lay on the ground, curl in on himself, and give in to his fate. But he couldn’t do that here.
After all, what worse place was there to die in than in Ghost Valley?
Right now, Gui Yin had two options—continue forward into the Beidou Alliance and bring the ghost cultivators in with him or face off with them right here in front of the Kunlun Mountain Range.
The screeches of the insane entered Gui Yin’s already pounding head. They scattered what little gathered thoughts he still managed to have. He wanted to drive a nail into his ears and puncture his eardrums. Even standing on the edge of the Ghost Valley was enough to drive him insane. No person in their right mind could go in there.
Gui Yin paused. Mixed with the mournful cries was the new addition of the screech of vultures. He turned slowly, his gaze focusing on the darkness that swarmed behind him.
No sane person would step into this forest—not even ghost cultivators.
Gui Yin took a deep breath and clasped his hands tightly in front of him. “Buddha, Jade Emperor, and whatever other gods may be watching me at this moment—please let me live.”
Just as the vultures zeroed in on his location, Gui Yin made a run for it. He ignored the way his legs twisted painfully under him. He ignored the way his entire body screamed against his decision. If he wanted a chance to live, a chance to remain a cultivator, he would have to take this risk.
Ghost Valley was home to the clinically insane and was a hotspot of resentful energy, but even ghost cultivators were afraid to enter. The people here were less than people but more like beasts. Even demonic beasts steered clear of this area, for fear of being eaten alive. This was the one area that even the Kunlun spirits were scared of, but compared to an immediate death, Gui Yin figured having a few minutes or even a few seconds to catch his breath would save him.
Just as he predicted, as soon as he ran into Ghost Valley, the vultures above him no longer followed. He breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t relax just yet.
The moment he entered the forest, he already felt many eyes staring at him.
He was an intruder. A newcomer. He was easy pickings.
Gui Yin wanted so desperately to feel around for more talismans on his body, but he knew he had long run out. The ambush of ghost cultivators had been so unexpected. He only concentrated on protecting Lin Cangyuan as the other man forced the new ghost barrier up.
The red moon loomed overhead, watching as Gui Yin traversed further and further into the forest.
Soon, there was silence.
Gui Yin tripped over a jagged root and collapsed on the ground.
The acidic rain singed his wounds. His eyes burned, but he was no longer sure if it was from his own self-pitying tears or the rain. He heard himself grunt. He vaguely knew that he had gotten up on his hands and knees, but he didn’t move to stand. Instead, he clawed his way over to the tree that had tripped him and sat down. He leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree and stared up at the red moon.
Before his arrival, they had spent five days trying to set up the barrier. If it weren’t for the moles within Beihua Town, it would have already been set up. No one would have had to die. And if Gui Yin had just arrived a day sooner, Lin Cangyuan wouldn’t have had to use his golden core to stabilize the barrier.
Even now, Gui Yin couldn’t tell what their motivation was. They stalled until the red moon, but what next? Why did they do such a thing? In the end, his side had won, right? But why did he still feel a prickling, eerie foreboding?
Gui Yin’s eyelids became heavy. It was getting harder to breathe. He let out a long sigh. He could no longer see in front of him.
Why was he still worrying about everything else? Who was he to worry about Lin Cangyuan?
He was going to die. And if he didn’t die, when he woke up, he would be going insane. This world would no longer know Lord Immortal Ninglan. His martial siblings would no longer have to worry about what to do for his birthday. Shuangye Peak would no longer have a peak lord. His disciples would no longer have a shizun.
No one would find him here. And for all the crimes he committed, this was the punishment he deserved. To die alone, going insane without a body to be buried.
This is the punishment he deserved for…for…
The magnificent lord immortal fell, but his body was not dirtied by the mud below.
“Master, were we too late?!” A-Qi exclaimed, staring at Gui Yin in horror.
Su Wen bent down, taking Gui Yin’s wrist into his hand. He breathed a sigh of relief. “Lord Ninglan still has a pulse, but it’s very weak and a little odd.”
“Odd? Odd how?” A-Qi asked. “What do we do?! He can’t die, right? If he dies, then Master—”
“Hush,” the man who called himself Erlang stooped down.
His subordinates watched, wide-eyed as he scooped Gui Yin’s bloodied body into his arms horizontally. Gui Yin’s head lulled against Erlang’s chest, but his bloodless face showed no sign of stirring. Erlang turned, looking down coldly at his two subordinates.
“A man is dying and you two are still chatting. Let’s go back to Huigu Palace first.”
“Yes, Master!”
Ten minutes passed.
Erlang strolled into his wing, ignoring the servants who bowed in his presence. Although his expression was calm, his footsteps were quick. Even if it had just been ten minutes, his clothes were already soaked through with blood. He couldn’t help but cringe, but it wasn’t as if he could just pass the man off to another person.
The large double doors flew open without even the lightest touch. A bed had already been prepared. Medical tools sat to the side, along with a range of life-saving pills and elixirs.
Erlang placed him down on the bed and stepped back as the old physician took his place. He looked over the working crowd with a steady expression.
Only A-Qi caught the way Erlang’s fingers curved so tightly into his palms.
“Master, your clothes are all dirty. Do you want me to draw a bath?” A-Qi asked.
“Alright,” Erlang said. “Draw two.”
“Two?”
“One for him,” Erlang said. “He acts like he doesn’t mind, but he also finds being dirty unbearable.”
A-Qi glanced at Gui Yin, who already had the appearance of a stiff corpse. She held her tongue and nodded obediently, scurrying out to do as her master told.
Although he asked for a bath, Erlang didn’t move a single inch. Even half an hour later, when A-Qi returned to tell him the bath had been warmed, he merely hummed. His gaze remained concentrated on Gui Yin’s unmoving form.
This man who detested when others touched him was letting strangers jerk him around as they pleased. His brows didn’t even furrow in annoyance.
With how injured Gui Yin was, it took the physicians about six hours to return him to a near unmarred state. There were still wounds that were bone deep that were still slowly healing, but what procedures should be performed were already done.
As the physician’s assistants filed out, the physician followed Erlang back to Gui Yin’s bed and watched as the master of the palace sat down.
“Why hasn’t he moved?” Erlang asked.
The physician swallowed down his fear and took a deep breath. “My Liege, I’m afraid…this isn’t just about his injuries.”
Erlang’s brows tightly furrowed. He turned to the physician. “What? Then, is it the heart?”
“No, no. Not the heart either,” the physician quickly said. He glanced at Gui Yin. “As I was examining him, I noticed that…his primordial spirit is gone.”
“…His what?”
“He’s not dead,” the physician quickly clarified. “It’s just disappeared. He’s still alive—well and healthy. Well, healthier now. But where his soul should be is just…emptiness, save for a tiny fragment. In its place is something else—like a stand-in. It’s manmade, quite intricate actually. And you do not have to worry, My Liege, it’s working very well.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Erlang snapped. He stood, towering over the old physician. “Where is his soul? How do we get it back?”
“T-this,” the physician cleared his throat. He took a step back. “My Liege, I have great suspicions that this was done by Lord Ninglan himself.”
“Explain.”
“The stand-in for his soul is a palm-sized machine. It’s not something normal people would have, nor is it something that can be easily crafted. On top of that, within this machine is a series of very, very complex spells. Spells that I’ve never seen before,” the physician said. “There was something I recognized as the teleportation spell, but it was modified and linked to many other things.”
“So, what?”
The physician smiled sheepishly. It was rare that he had to paint the whole picture for Huigu Palace’s Palace Lord. The man lying on the bed must be quite important.
“Rather than having lost his soul, I believe it was just moved to another place,” the physician said. “And, before you rush away, I already tried to summon his spirit.”
“…And?”
“…Nothing.”
“Nothing,” Erlang echoed.
His gaze drifted back to Gui Yin. He waved his hand vaguely, dismissing the physician as he sank back down to Gui Yin’s bedside. His brows furrowed as he silently observed the man.
If he was still alive, but his soul couldn’t be summoned, then there was only one explanation—he had somehow sent his primordial spirit to another plane.
for like one second i was so ✨️smug✨️ when Qin Siyi demanded to see a body cause like of course you need confirma- and then Li Fangyin confirmed it orz GODS, AND HE CANT EVEN MOURN IN THE MOMENT T-T
well at least i started being reassured Gui Yin was gonna be fiiiiine cause Erlang said that he wasnt gonna die in Ghost Valley and i trust that man. bUT UH??? Gui Yin soul hopped to another world (again) just now?? …Erlang dear, how you gonna follow him akxbakdb;;;
also for realsies question: if Lan Cangyuan used his golden core to stabilize the barrier, is that suggesting he no longer has his golden core?
ough…. this is all ver rock bottom indeed
moment of silence for Li Fangyin, because who knows when he’ll be able to mourn ;v;
answer to your realsies question: it’s definitely a Possibility, but not the only answer. THANKS FORREAD
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the chapter :)<3
THANKS for READINGGGGGGGGGGGG
I’m suspecting…….that the reason the ghost cultivator’s have drawn out the war this long is to gather resentment, to resurrect or break their scorpion demon god free from his chains of imprisonment or whatev. IF y’all remember that when gui linghuo went to rescue the ghost boyo there was sum kinda door with a scorpion on it so……I’m guessing maybe the boyo’s gonna get possessed by qiao ceng ya know.
Also at the end of this I’m really waiting for some REAL father-son moment between the gui’s cus even though linghuo is a good boyo he really does have the most stupid love brain even though it’s effects aren’t the most adverse case i’ve ever read. Man those WMMAP kinda comics really got me traumatised. Big Gui was kinda cheating when somehow the kids raised themselves without much problem lol. Ok though the problem did eventually arise in the form of very strong hatred. I guess this is what happens to siblings who didn’t viciously annoy each other in childhood and when they grow up there is no love in the love-hate relationship.
No no whts with this sudden roller coaster 😭 i can’t- they met after so long and it’s only when our baby is unconscious! And nooo Li Yan no uh I can’t accept her death!!! She was the sweetest and the most understanding character here okay!😭💔💔💔💔
So he transmigrated himself again…. dude you gotta stop doing this, you literally just recovered from the last time.
Yeah, because your dumb ass didn’t think to actually communicate properly and make sure that people could be prepared for what was coming. If you decide to tamper with fate then you must make the appropriate preparations. It’s so foolish. Also, I don’t appreciate this unwarranted A-Yan love triangle. I don’t appreciate even more when you kill off a love interest to add tension to the story. It doesn’t add tension, it just makes me depressed and not want to read it anymore.
Exactly, so much unnecessary melodrama in a novel that had so much promise at the start
That………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………escalated quickly