CH 8

Chapter 8

After the matter was resolved, Gu Louyin decided to take the bronze mirror back to Yunjian Pavilion. The others had no objection.

Xiao Yuan asked, “Is Master Gu going back to Yunjian Pavilion now?”

Gu Louyin shook his head: “I haven’t found my Shixiong yet and the whereabouts of the three mirror people are also unknown.”

Mu Yingyang interjected grimly, “Do all Shixiongs now like to run around?”

Xiao Yuan didn’t seem to hear it and said, “Okay, then we will find him before we go back.”

“We?”

Xiao Yuan smiled and said, “I have admired the prestige of Yunjian Pavilion for a long time and always wanted to go and see it, and ask for a piece of warm jade along the way. Would Master Gu like to take me there?”

Xiao Yuan was courteous to Gu Louyin, and Gu Louyin naturally didn’t refuse. “Okay.”

Mu Yingyang said, “I’m going too.”

Xiao Yuan was a little impatient: “Shidi, stop making trouble.”

Mu Yingyang strutted and said, “Don’t you just want to go to Yunjian Pavilion to have a look? I will accompany you, and when you have finished looking, you will honestly go back to our Shimen with me.”

Xiao Yuan didn’t bother to argue too much with Mu Yingyang. It was impossible for him to return to his Shimen, impossible in this life. When he  completes the task of [All Have] and there are no more constraints, who can control where he goes. “Your legs belong to you, you can follow if you want. Don’t say that your Shixiong didn’t warn you that the people of Yunjian Pavilion place great importance on etiquette and manners, so if you don’t temper your attitude, be careful of being beaten up.”

Mu Yingyang glanced at Gu Louyin and said coldly, “That’s only if they have the ability to do so.”

They stayed in Luling City for several days and still hadn’t found Steward Wang and the two other people; however, the Shixiong Gu Louyin was looking for took the initiative to find them himself.

The steward came when the three of them were having lunch. Mu Yingyang didn’t care for the table full of delicious food and called the steward to tell him he wanted to order a few more dishes.

Xiao Yuan said, “It’s almost time to go, aren’t there many dishes enough for you?”

Mu Yingyang said confidently: “What’s the use of having many dishes if they are not what I want to eat.”

The steward hurriedly said, “Master Immortal can eat whatever he wants. No matter what, this little one will immediately order the kitchen to cook it.”

Mu Yingyang really ordered: “Crab stuffed with orange, fried shrimp cakes, steamed sea bass…”

The more Xiao Yuan listened to him, the more wrong it felt, “These seem to be what I like to eat, right?”

“Oh, so you are allowed to like them, but I am not allowed to like them?”

Xiao Yuan felt like he was talking to a three-year-old child, “I didn’t say that. However, Luling is located in the northern territory and it is in the middle of winter. Where will they find crabs for you, why do you have to make it difficult for other people?”

Gu Louyin said, “It turns out that Master Xiao likes to eat seafood.”

“These dishes are our Shizun’s specialty. In the past, he used to cook them for us…” Mu Yingyang seemed to think of something, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Xiao Yuan couldn’t help but find it funny. Mu Yingyang’s reaction seemed to indicate that the mention of Shizun would make him feel uncomfortable, but it was unnecessary. Shizun was the same as Xiao Du; even if Xiao Yuan once had one or two points of true affection for them, now they were just a part of the [All Have] task.

At this moment, a young man ran into the hall shouting, “Master Immortal, Master Immortal, your Shixiong has been found!”

Hearing this, Gu Louyin put down his chopsticks and hurriedly left the table. Xiao Yuan ate another four delight meatballs and said, “Let’s go, Shidi, let’s go and see the brotherhood of others.”

Xiao Yuan thought he would see tears in their eyes, see them hugging and weeping, but it turned out his imagination was too wild. Even when he saw the Shixiong he had longed for, Gu Louyin still had a cold and distant expression, only the corners of his mouth rose a little bit.

His Shixiong looked really happy. He looked at Gu Louyin unblinkingly and said, “After I arrived in Luling City, I was worried about being chased by the demonic sect, so I hid and secretly looked for my Shidi. Today by chance I heard that the governor’s mansion was looking for me. I knew that it was my Shidi so I rushed over immediately.”

Gu Louyin said, “I’m glad Shixiong is okay.”

“This sentence should be said by me. On that day, in order to save me, you risked your life to lead away the people of the demonic sect. Were you injured?”

“Yes.” Gu Louyin looked sideways at Xiao Yuan, “It was this Master Xiao who saved me.”

Lin Wulian and Xiao Yuan looked at each other, slightly startled.

Mu Yingyang frowned and stood in front of Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan bypassed Mu Yingyang and cupped his hands towards Lin Wulian, saying, “Master Lin, isn’t it? I have heard so much about you.”

Lin Wulian was a very handsome man dressed in a blue shirt. If he didn’t have a sword in his hand, Xiao Yuan would have thought he was an elegant scholar.

Lin Wulian bowed deeply to Xiao Yuan, “Thank you, Master Xiao, for your life-saving grace.”

Xiao Yuan used his folding fan to touch Lin Wulian’s hand and said with a smile: “Master Lin doesn’t have to bow so deeply. It was your Shidi I saved, so he should be the one to bow.”

Gu Louyin’s expression was a little uncomfortable. Lin Wulian said seriously: “Master Xiao saved my Shidi, which is equivalent to saving me. In the future, if Master Xiao needs anything I can help with, I will definitely go through fire and water and leave no stone unturned.”

Xiao Yuan was just listening to these pretentious words but didn’t take them to heart. He smiled, “Master Lin is too polite.”

After finding his Shixiong, Gu Louyin still wanted to stay in Luling City to find Steward Wang and others. Lin Wulian said that the two of them had been away from Yunjian Pavilion for a long time and that the whole Shimen would definitely be worried, so they should go back to their Shimen first. As for the three mirror people, it was very likely that they had already left the city. The search would take time and effort. It was better to send more people after returning to Yunjian Pavilion than for the four of them to search for a needle in a haystack.

Xiao Yuan said, “Master Lin has a point. The mirror people are created by the bronze mirror by transforming resentment. Instead of spending time on them, it is better to figure out the secrets of the bronze mirror first. Maybe as soon as the bronze mirror is destroyed, they will disappear by themselves.”

Gu Louyin pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, “Okay, it will be done according to what you said, let’s go back to Yunjian Pavilion first.”

The four of them said goodbye to the governor of Luling, took the bronze mirror and headed towards Yunjian Pavilion. Xiao Yuan and Mu Yingyang did not have swords, so they could only ride the swords of the other two sword cultivators. Xiao Yuan and Gu Louyin, Mu Yingyang and Lin Wulian paired. Mu Yingyang had a lot of dissatisfaction about this arrangement and hated the fact that his claw could not carry him and his Shixiong to fly in the sky.

Xiao Yuan said with great interest: “I have never used a sword before, what if I fall off it?”

Gu Louyin said, “You won’t if you hold me tight.”

Xiao Yuan let out a “oh” and said with a smile: “Then I will have to hold on tight.”

Mu Yingyang’s face turned black, as he said coldly: “Shameless.”

Gu Louyin didn’t think that there was anything wrong with his dialogue with Xiao Yuan. When Mu Yingyang scolded him like this, he felt a little guilty inexplicably, coughed slightly and said, “I didn’t mean that.”

Xiao Yuan looked blank: “Then I don’t need to hold you tight?”

Gu Louyin: “…whatever you want.”

The feeling of flying a sword could be described as terrible. Cold wind rubbed Xiao Yuan’s cheeks raw and in order to stand firm on the sword he had to hug Gu Louyin’s waist from behind, trying to get warm along the way.

Gu Louyin’s body stiffened slightly as he asked: “Cold?”

Xiao Yuan pressed his face against Gu Louyin’s back, closed his eyes and said, “En…”

Gu Louyin thought for a moment and said, “Let go of me first.”

“That won’t work, I will be blown away by the wind.”

Gu Louyin thought that with Xiao Yuan’s slender figure it was indeed possible, so he asked him to continue to hold onto him, then took out the warm jade, opened Xiao Yuan’s palm and put the warm jade in it.

Xiao Yuan felt warmth in his palm and then his whole body warmed up. “You gave me the warm jade, what about you?”

Gu Louyin said, “I am not afraid of the cold.”

Xiao Yuan slowly closed his palm and sighed softly: “Master Gu, don’t be too nice to me…”

Gu Louyin said calmly: “You saved me.”

Wrong, he hadn’t saved Gu Louyin, he just approached him deliberately due to Xiao Du’s arrangement. The so-called saving grace was nothing more than a trick.

It was rare for Xiao Yuan to feel a little guilty towards this young master Gu who was as cold as the breeze and as bright as the moon. When he regains his freedom, he must apologize to Gu Louyin personally. If he wants to kill or slash him… no, not kill or slash, he hasn’t lived enough. But if Gu Louyin wanted to punch him a couple times, he would not resist.

Yunjian Pavilion was located to the south of the Yangtze River, far from the north, so even flying the sword took two days to get there. After nightfall, the four of them found a dilapidated temple in the wilderness and decided to rest there for one night and continue their way tomorrow.

Mu Yingyang’s hair was messy and his face was pale. He was tossed sick during the sword flight, so he spat out, “Do you sword cultivators have to cultivate with the sword, can’t you cultivate with something else?”

Lin Wulian smiled and said, “Master Mu is joking, if not swords, what would sword cultivators cultivate with?”

Xiao Yuan casually said, “Fans?”

Lin Wulian noticed the folding fan in Xiao Yuan’s hand and said warmly: “Master Xiao, this folding fan has a compelling aura and is extraordinary. It must be a treasure.”

“Maybe? I don’t know. This was given to me by my Shizun on my sixteenth birthday.”

Mu Yingyang’s expression was full of surprise. He didn’t expect Xiao Yuan to mention Shizun so calmly, as if… he was talking about someone who had nothing to do with him.

Lin Wulian said, “So that’s it, it seems that your Shizun must love Master Xiao very much.”

Xiao Yuan chuckled softly, noncommittal.

Gu Louyin said, “Does this fan have a name?”

“Yes.” Xiao Yujian looked at his fan and said, “It was chosen by my Shizun and named [Wuguan Fengyue].”

“Having nothing to do with romance,” Lin Wulian murmured, “It’s a good name.”

“Yes,“ Xiao Yuan raised the corners of his lips in a smile, “a good name.”

The light of the fire reflected on Xiao Yuan’s face, and the dilapidated temple was brightened by his smile for a moment. Gu Louyin and Mu Yingyang were in a daze for a short while.

After it got dark, the four of them meditated and rested around the fire. Xiao Yuan walked out of the decrepit temple lightly while the other three were asleep.

Injecting spiritual power into the earring made of nine-tone snail, Xiao Yuan waited for a long time before getting a response. This time, it was Meng Chi again who communicated with him.

Xian Yuan roughly told Meng Chi about the recent events, “If nothing else happens, I will be at Yunjian Pavilion tomorrow.”

Meng Chi: “Okay – does Gu Louyin like you?”

Xiao Yuan: “…no.”

Meng Chi sighed: “It seems that we still have to wait for the fifteenth of next month.”

Xiao Yuan: “There is one thing that I am still curious about.”

Meng Chi: “Say it.”

Xiao Yuan: “On the night of the Lantern Festival, Mu Yingyang was also in the governor’s mansion. Didn’t the Venerable Lord know?”

Meng Chi: “Of course His Lordship knew, is there anything that can be hidden from him.”

Xiao Yuan: “So the Venerable Lord knew that Mu Yingyang was by my side and acquiesced in this matter?”

Meng Chi smiled and said, “The Venerable Lord naturally has his reasons for doing this.”

Xiao Yuan was somewhat uneasy. Xiao Du deliberately let Mu Yingyang stay by his side, and his intentions were definitely not good.

Meng Chi: “After you arrive at Yunjian Pavilion, in addition to continuing to please Gu Louyin, there is one more thing to do.”

Xiao Yuan: “What?”

Meng Chi: “Find a way to get Gu Louyin to take you to a place. This place is sealed with a blood ban technique. The Lord has tried many times, but he never could get there.”

Xiao Yuan: “Blood ban technique? What is it, why haven’t I heard of it.”

Meng Chi said in surprise: “Didn’t your Shizun teach you? In short, after the blood ban is set, only those with the Gu family bloodline can enter. This is also the reason why the Lord asked you to become a Dao companion of Gu Louyin’s.”

Spirit and blood of Dao companions were blended. After dual cultivation, Xiao Yuan would also have the blood of the Gu family and could enter a place where only the Gu family could go – this was Xiao Du’s original intention.

As Xiao Yuan realized it, one thought suddenly occurred to him. “Since there is such a technique, why didn’t the Lord use it on me? So that he can know early whether I was of the same family as him.”

Meng Chi smiled and said, “Of course the Lord would use it if he could. It’s just that the younger brother the Lord was looking for was the child of his stepmother who remarried his biological father after the death of his biological mother. So, the Lord and his younger brother are not related by blood.”