CH 19

During the non-stop falling, Xiao Yuan closed his eyes, meanwhile thinking about a question. [All Have] said that he would be safe after jumping off the cliff, but the cliff was so high and he fell so fast, how on earth could he be safe and sound when he was a mortal with his cultivation base almost gone?

Xiao Yuan’s question was quickly answered. The sound of the wind in his ears gradually became softer, and the speed at which he fell became slower, as if an invisible pair of hands held him. He was like a kite, fluttering and falling, and when he was about to fall to the bottom of the abyss, those invisible hands turned into something tangible and hugged him steadily.

Was he… rescued by someone?

Xiao Yuan wanted to open his eyes but couldn’t open them. His consciousness blurred, as if something was pulling him to sleep. The moment before he completely fell into darkness, he heard a familiar voice: “Someone who Gu Louyin likes can’t just die so easily.”

……

There was boundless chaos and darkness in front of him. Xiao Yuan felt a gust of breeze, and the familiar scent of medicine reached his nose. His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The place he was in seemed to be a cave. It was raining outside, but the cave was warm and dry. He was lying on a pile of hay, and there was a fire not far away, and the firewood was crackling. A young man in white was sitting next to the fire, looking down at the decoction in a medicine pot.

Xiao Yuan knew this young man in white. Not only did they know each other, but in the last month, the two of them spent time together almost from dawn till dusk. Because of it, he couldn’t believe what he saw – his brain must have broken and he hallucinated when he fell off a cliff.

But no matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes, the young man in white still truly sat in front of him. Xiao Yuan opened his mouth and said dumbly, “…Luo Lan?”

Hearing the sound, Luo Lan smiled and said, “You are awake.”

Xiao Yuan said blankly: “Is it really you?”

Luo Lan said, “It’s really me.”

“You are not…” Xiao Yuan recalled the situation before falling off the cliff. His attention had been on Lin Wulian and others who suddenly appeared, and he really didn’t pay attention to where Luo Lan went. He looked at Luo Lan up and down, wondering if it was an illusion, he always felt that this young man was different from before. Although he had the same face, his temperament had completely changed, and his tone and eyes revealed the vicissitudes and maturity that a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy should not have.

Xiao Yuan said vigilantly, “Who are you?”

“Don’t be afraid,” Luo Lan’s voice was as smooth as mellow wine, “since I saved you, I won’t harm you.”

Xiao Yuan believed this. Luo Lan had a chance to do what he wanted to do to him, he didn’t have to wait until now and he didn’t have to go to great lengths to save him. But he also dared to bet his own head that there was something odd and complicated about this man.

Xiao Yuan sat up with effort, looked around and asked, “Where are we now?” ”

“Yunjian Pavilion, Qiyue Mountain.”

When Xiao Yuan heard the words “Yunjian Pavilion”, his face looked like he had swallowed a centipede alive. Luo Lan explained with a smile: “Although Qiyue Mountain is on the boundary of Yunjian Pavilion, it is far from the main peak and few people come here. As the saying goes, an arrow escapes from a crossbow. The more dangerous the place, the safer it is.”

“But the sooner you go and spread the news, the faster it will be.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you’re not dead, including the people of Yunjian Pavilion.” Luo Lan paused, “Including Gu Louyin.” ”

Xiao Yuan said, “Yo, you’ve just called the young master by his name. Who the h*ll are you.”

Luo Lan smiled and said, “Just treat me as ‘Luo Lan’.”

“I think you are treating me as a fool.” Xiao Yuan said, “Let me ask you, was it you who took care of me on Dongguan Mountain this month?”

Luo Lan nodded, “Yes.”

“And Luo Lan in Yunjian Pavilion before that, was that you?”

Luo Lan stopped talking.

“Sure enough, it was the guy you replaced at that time.” No wonder after arriving at Dongguan Mountain, Luo Lan’s attitude towards him had changed. “Where has the real Luo Lan gone, he wasn’t killed by you, right?”

“Am I that kind of person?” Luo Lan said with a smile, “He went to his hometown to visit relatives.” 

“Then how did you get to look like him?” The technique of changing faces had been mentioned by Li Xianting before to Xiao Yuan. It was nothing more than cruelly cutting off a person’s face and then using it on himself. But this method could only change the face, not the voice and body shape. And the “Luo Lan” in front of him had the same voice and figure as the previous Luo Lan. No coincidence could be so convenient.

“There is no hurry, I will talk to you about this matter later.” While the two of them were talking, the medicine had been decocted and started bubbling. Luo Lan poured the medicine into a bowl, put it to his mouth, blew it, then handed it to Xiao Yuan. “The incident happened suddenly, I only had time to bring these herbs.”

Xiao Yuan thought that Luo Lan had done the right thing. If he could only bring one thing, it needed to be medicine. There was nothing more important than a healthy body. Although he regained his freedom, his body was still in the same state as before, with a bunch of messy problems, including both Gu infection and poisoning. [All Have]’s conscience probably was fed to the dogs. It said it was going to give him his life but it didn’t bother with detoxifying him and getting rid of his Gu.

Xiao Yuan thought of something and asked, “How did you know that I was going to fall off the cliff?” 

When this matter was concerned, Luo Lan also found it incredible. “I didn’t know, but a voice suddenly appeared in my mind, asking me to wait for you at the bottom of the cliff. I went suspiciously, but I didn’t expect to really meet you.”

Xiao Yuan’s mind was clear. He wanted to talk to [All Have] again, but no matter what he said in his mind, [All Have] didn’t respond to him.

It seems that [All Have] had really left and would never come back.

Xiao Yuan took the medicine and soon began to feel drowsy. The rain outside showed no sign of stopping but was getting heavier and heavier. It seemed like a downpour. Luo Lan apparently set a barrier at the entrance of the cave, and no rain could come in.

Xiao Yuan could barely keep his eyelids open. He didn’t want to sleep. He still had many things to figure out. Luo Lan said, “Go to sleep, I will guard you by your side.”

Luo Lan’s voice inexplicably had a reassuring power. In Xiao Yuan’s distant memory, there seemed to have been such a man who hugged him and gently coaxed him to sleep. Xiao Yuan couldn’t hold on at last and fell asleep deeply.

When Xiao Yuan woke up again, the rain had already stopped. He didn’t know when the barrier was removed, and the air after the rain was refreshing. Xiao Yuan smelt the fragrance of meat, walked out of the cave and saw that Luo Lan was roasting something in a familiar formation. He couldn’t help but say, “Are you stealing techniques from me?”

Luo Lan looked up at him and said with a smile: “I thought it was interesting, so I learned it by myself.”

“That’s also stealing techniques.” Xiao Yuan sat down on the stone opposite him, “Did you get my permission?”

Luo Lan was taken aback, “Sorry.”

Xiao Yuan had no spiritual power and was not in the mood to set up an array to roast chicken when he was on Dongguan Mountain. He grilled fish at Yunjian Pavilion. Luo Lan must have stolen the technique at that time. So it seemed that in all probability he was also someone from Yunjian Pavilion. But he had only seen it once on the sidelines and managed to learn it, which was not something that ordinary people could do.

Xiao Yuan said, “Apologies are useless to me.”

Luo Lan said helplessly: “Then what can be useful?”

“I’ll ask you a question and you answer. If your answer satisfies me, I won’t care about it.”

Luo Lan smiled faintly: “If you still want to ask about my identity, then you don’t have to waste your efforts.”

“Okay, I won’t ask this.”

Luo Lan nodded lightly and said, “You ask.”

“That night in Huaizhou, it was you who brought me back to Dongguan Mountain from Li Xianting’s hands, right?”

Xiao Yuan’s topic was really beyond Luo Lan’s expectation. He couldn’t help sighing: “Master Xiao is really a smart man.”

Xiao Yuan said meaningfully: “It’s not easy to grab someone from Li Xianting.”

Luo Lan said modestly: “It was just good luck.”

“How old are you?“ As soon as Luo Lan was about to answer, Xiao Yuan raised his hand to stop him and said, “Don’t say it yet, let me guess.” 

Luo Lan smiled and said, “Guess.”

It was naturally impossible for a person with this level of cultivation to be as young as he looked, but the way he spoke and the tone of his speech did not remind an old person. Xiao Yuan thought about it again and again and said, “I guess you are thirty-six.”

“Master Xiao thinks of me as too young.” Luo Lan said with a smile, “I am already forty-two this year.” 

“…” Luo Lan had a beautiful round face. It was difficult for Xiao Yuan to imagine him as a middle-aged man twenty-five years older than him. After holding back for a long time, he said, “Then what will I call you from now on?” ”

“Call me whatever you like.”

“Then I’ll call you Uncle.” Xiao Yuan said, “Uncle, are you considering a new face?” 

“I’m not considering that for the time being.”

Xiao Yuan asked again, “Why did you save me?”

Luo Lan’s face sank slightly, and he said, “Yunjian Pavilion owes you a lot, and I want to compensate you as much as I can.”

Xiao Yuan sneered, “Then Uncle will have to feed me well.”

“Okay.” Luo Lan handed Xiao Yuan the roasted chicken, “You can try it.”

Xiao Yuan asked, “Is it a pheasant?” I don’t eat game.”

“No, I stole it from the chicken coop in Yunjian Pavilion.”

In the past month, Xiao Yuan wanted to eat more but didn’t have the appetite. Now he was relaxed, and his appetite from the past was back. He sat in the spring light after the rain, eating roast chicken regardless of his image. Luo Lan looked at him and started saying, “You…”

“Shut up, Uncle, I can eat however I like.”

Luo Lan swallowed the words “eat slowly”, shook his head and sighed, “Young people now.”

Xiao Yuan wiped out half of the roasted chicken and walked to a water pool not far away to wash his hands. When he raised his eyes, he saw a rainbow hanging from the opposite mountain peak, like a long bridge, connecting Qiyue Mountain and the opposite mountain. 

Xiao Yuan stared at the opposite mountain peak for a long time; it was visible from the distance that the mountain was green and lush. He felt it was a little familiar. He must have been there.

He had lived in Yunjian Pavilion for so long, but, except for the main peak, he had only been to two peaks, Juedi Peak and… Oh, by the way, that was where Gu Louyin took him to visit his mother’s tomb. Was it a coincidence or intentional that Luo Lan brought him here?

Xiao Yuan looked at Luo Lan. Luo Lan turned his back to him and stared at the rainbow on the opposite side. He was obviously standing under the bright sun, but somehow he gave off a sense of loneliness.

Xiao Yuan stayed in Qiyue Mountain for a few days, and his health gradually improved. Although he was not as good as before, he could make at least two steps before he started gasping for breath. Luo Lan had to leave for half a day every day to find food for him, and sometimes he would bring him some medicinal materials for nourishing qi and nourishing blood and medicinal herbs that would help cultivation. Xiao Yuan suspected that he had stolen them from Yunjian Pavilion. Anyway, he accepted them all without asking.

Xiao Yuan was very curious about Luo Lan’s true identity. He was coming up with all kinds of roundabout questions, but Luo Lan just didn’t fall for it. Xiao Yuan didn’t give up either. The more frustrated he became, the more courageous he became. He regarded it as a pleasure to try prying open Luo Lan’s mouth, and his life did not feel boring.

On that day, Luo Lan came back with a solemn expression and a frown between his eyebrows. Without waiting for Xiao Yuan’s inquiry he took the initiative to say, “Master Xiao, I’m sorry, I… broke my promise.”

Xiao Yuan said, “What do you mean?”

Luo Lan said solemnly: “Gu Louyin was exhausted and desperate. I was worried that he would not be able to survive, so I told him that you might still be alive.”

Xiao Yuan: “…”

“But don’t worry, I only said ‘maybe’ and didn’t tell him where you were. He has already gone down the mountain to find you today. It’s just that the world is so big, where can he find you?” Luo Lan smiled at himself, “I just said that to give him a hope to live.”

“Let him look for me.” Xiao Yuan said indifferently, “Just don’t let him find me.”

Xiao Yuan said it so casually, it was obvious that he didn’t have the slightest nostalgia for Gu Louyin. Luo Lan couldn’t help but say, “Since you have no feelings for Gu Louyin, why did you agree to give thirty cups of blood to him and become a Dao companion with him in the first place?”

Xiao Yuan’s answer was only four words: “I had no choice.”

Luo Lan looked at him with a complicated expression, “Master Xiao seems to have a lot of secrets.”

Xiao Yuan smiled, looking endlessly beautiful, “We are similar in this way, Uncle.”

The two looked at each other for a while, and Luo Lan said, “In addition, I also went to Dongguan Mountain today. I wanted to bring some useful things back, but I didn’t expect that the farmhouse was empty.”

“Really.”

“Probably someone helped to pack up your belongings,” Luo Lan said, “it might be your master and Shidi.”

Xiao Yuan nodded: “It should be.”

Luo Lan asked, “Do you want to tell them that you are not dead?”

Xiao Yuan said, “Ah, forget it, too much trouble.”

“After all, they are your Shimen.”

“It’s all a thing of the past,” Xiao Yuan held a branch and drew circles on the ground in boredom, “Just treat the previous Xiao Yuan as dead.”

Luo Lan smiled and said, “Master Xiao is really free and easy.”

Xiao Yuan said, “Well, the most important thing for a human being is to be happy – I’m hungry, is there anything tasty today?”

“There are rabbits raised by Yunjian Pavilion.”

“Ah, I like to eat rabbits.” Xiao Yuan said with a smile, “I like to eat cute things the most.” 

Xiao Yuan didn’t want to stay in the territory of Yunjian Pavilion for a long time. He felt that he had almost recovered, at least enough to take care of his own life, so he planned to leave Qiyue Mountain.

When Luo Lan learned of his intentions, he asked, “Where are you going?” 

“I haven’t thought about it yet.” Xiao Yuan said honestly, “I might go to Luling City to eat rice cakes first.” 

Luo Lan smiled and then said with a serious expression: “You have lost too much spiritual energy and you have these looks. If you are alone, I am afraid that it will be difficult for things to go smoothly.”

“I know.” Because of this face, Xiao Yuan would encounter some trouble every time he traveled alone. Before, he was at least a little accomplished casual cultivator, and generally some little minions were not his opponents. Now that his cultivation base had dropped five years, if he encountered something tricky, he might not be able to get out of it. “But I can’t stay here forever. No big deal, I’ll disguise myself and go on my way.”

Luo Lan pondered for a moment and said, “Do you want to learn my face-changing technique?”

Xiao Yuan asked, knowing the answer: “Is Uncle’s face-changing technique different from others?”

“Naturally.“ There was a touch of pride in Luo Lan’s tone, “Not only does my face-changing technique not need to cut human skin, but it can also acquire the voice and body shape of the person you disguise as.”

Xiao Yuan’s eyes lit up, “This is good, I want to learn.”

Luo Lan smiled and said, “I can teach you. But you must answer me a question.”

Xiao Yuan teased: “Didn’t you say that you want to try your best to compensate me, but you have to negotiate terms with me for teaching a face-changing technique?”

“The face-changing technique is my original invention. I have never taught anyone. If you learn it, only the two of us in the world can do such kind of an illusion. Master Xiao must give it a good thought.”

“I don’t need to think about it,” Xiao Yuan said, “you ask.”

“I still have that question – why did you have to become a Dao companion of Gu Louyin in the first place?”

Xiao Yuan’s perfunctory answer was “I had no choice”. Although it was the truth, Luo Lan obviously didn’t believe it, so he could only make another excuse. “I wanted to steal Qingyan.”

“Qingyan?” Luo Lan woke up like from a dream, “That’s it. The gate to Qingyan is guarded with a blood ban and only people with Gu’s family bloodline can enter. You do have a solid reason for that.”

Xiao Yuan was noncommittal.

Luo Lan seemed to have thought of something again, his expression suddenly changed and he said, “Your surname is Xiao?”

Xiao Yuan felt inexplicable: “If my surname is not Xiao, is it Luo?”

Luo Lan asked, “What is your relationship with the Xiao clan?”

Xiao Yuan became even more confused, “Huh?”

Seeing that Xiao Yuan didn’t seem to be pretending to be clueless, Luo Lan’s expression eased slightly as he said, “You don’t know the Xiao clan, so why do you want to take Qingyan.”

“In Qingyan, divine weapons will be forged. Yunjian Pavilion also became the number one sword sect in the world because of Qingyan. Among those with a little ambition, who doesn’t want Qingyan.”

Luo Lan murmured: “You are right.”

Xiao Yuan rolled up his sleeves, “Then can I start learning face-changing, Uncle?” 

Luo Lan’s face changing technique was indeed a masterpiece. It did not require a deep cultivation base, it only needed a part of a person’s body, such as a hair, to look exactly the same as that person. And after you had done it once, you didn’t need to use anything else the next time you did it again.

Although the face-changing technique was good, it was not easy to learn it. It was not enough to rely on diligence without understanding. Fortunately, Xiao Yuan’s understanding was quite high, and he had already got the hang of it after half a month of study. Luo Lan couldn’t help but feel a little regretful. If there was no bloodletting, with Xiao Yuan’s smartness, he might be the second Gu Louyin, another arrogant son of heaven.

In a blink of an eye, it was the 15th of the month again. Xiao Yuan was worried about how to survive the full moon night, and Luo Lan surprised him again.

“Before Gu Louyin went down the mountain, he asked Han Mu to develop an antidote for the Acacia Gu in your body. Although Han Mu did not find a complete solution to the Gu, she refined an elixir that can suppress the Gu when the Gu attack occurs. And then I…”

Xiao Yuan’s eyes lit up, “Then you stole the antidote using your face-changing technique, didn’t you?” ”

Luo Lan nodded, as if a little ashamed. “Actually, I didn’t quite steal it. This antidote was originally meant for you by Gu Louyin, I just…”

“I got it, I got it, it’s not stealing.” Xiao Yuan said happily, “Where is the antidote?” ”

Han Mu’s antidote was similar to that given to him by Meng Chi the first time. Xiao Yuan took the antidote and did not fall in heat that night. It was a pity that there was only a small bottle of the antidote stolen by Luo Lan. Xiao Yuan counted it, and there were twenty-four pills in total, enough for him to use for two years.

Xiao Yuan asked, “Uncle, do you have a prescription for the antidote?”

Luo Lan shook his head and said, “Han Mu’s prescription is in her head. She never writes prescriptions. After you go down the mountain, you can visit a few pharmacists. Anyone with a little ability should be able to tell the recipe for the antidote.”

“Okay,“ Xiao Yuanan smiled at Luo Lan, “Thank you, Uncle.”

Luo Lan took the opportunity to say, “Shouldn’t you also thank Gu Louyin?”

Xiao Yuan raised his eyes slightly, “I’d say, Uncle, do you have some secret relationship with Gu Louyin? Why do I get the impression that you are always helping him out?”

Luo Lan coughed lightly and said, “He and I are both from Yunjian Pavilion. Considering that I am his elder, I naturally want to help him. Look, does he have a chance?”

Xiao Yuan only said, “Who is Gu Louyin?”

Luo Lan: “……”

Speaking of the Acacia Gu, Xiao Yuan thought of another thing. He remembered that in addition to Acacia Gu, Meng Chi also poisoned him. Those who were poisoned by Flame needed to use an antidote every hundred days, otherwise Flame would start burning from his heart and all his internal organs would be burned to death. Now that a hundred days had passed and he had not taken any antidote, there was nothing wrong with him. Could Meng Chi had given him a fake poison?

Xiao Yuan was contemplating as he heard Luo Lan ask him, “What is Master Xiao thinking?” 

“I was thinking about the poison in my body.”

“Poison?” Luo Lan said in surprise, “Have you been poisoned?”

“Well, it was a few months ago.”

Luo Lan said, “Might Master Xiao remember it wrong? When you were in Yunjian Pavilion, Han Mu once checked your pulse. If there was any poison in your body, it would be impossible for her to not see it.”

Xiao Yuan said with a hint of playfulness: “It’s interesting.” He didn’t know if Meng Chi violated Xiao Du’s order and gave him fake poison, or if this was Xiao Du’s original intention.

However, regardless of the reason, it had nothing to do with him.

Two months later, Xiao Yuan was able to use the face-changing technique to perfection, and he had no reason to stay in Qiyue Mountain.

This time Luo Lan didn’t stop him anymore and personally sent him to Huaizhou at the foot of Yunjian Pavilion. Xiao Yuan said goodbye to Luo Lan wearing an ordinary passerby’s face.

After the two had been together for so long, he still hadn’t found out Luo Lan’s true identity and he didn’t have the patience to keep spending time on Luo Lan, so he had to admit defeat.

“Uncle, can we still meet?”

Luo Lan said: “Even if we meet, you and I may not be able to recognize each other.”

“That’s right. Next time we meet, who knows whose face we will wear.”

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Luo Lan said, “On the occasion of parting, I have three things for you.”

“Three things,” Xiao Yuan said with a smile, “Isn’t it a bit too much?”

Luo Lan took out the three things one after another, namely the warm jade engraved with the word ‘jade’, Xiao Yuan’s previous magic weapon Wuguan Fengyue and the nine-tone snail that Xiao Yuan discarded a long time ago.

“Forgetting the other two,” Xiao Yuan stared at the nine-tone snail in Luo Lan’s hand, “Where did you get this?” 

“It was fished out of the stream.”

Xiao Yuan was speechless for a while, “I don’t want it, you take it.” Luo Lan said in surprise: “You don’t want it? This nine-tone snail can transmit sound for thousands of miles, and it is a rare treasure…”

“Take it away, take it away, take it away.”

Luo Lan didn’t understand why Xiao Yuan avoided this treasure as if it was a snake or a scorpion and asked, “Who gave you this nine-tone snail?” ”

“Hehe.”

“That person must be protecting you.”

Xiao Yuan seemed to have heard some stunning joke – Xiao Du protecting him? Does Luo Lan not understand the meaning of the word ‘protect’?

“There is a heart-protecting spell on the nine-tone snail, don’t you know?”

“What spell?”

“The heart-protecting spell can transfer the injury to the caster when the recipient encounters a fatal injury, so it becomes a ‘life exchange spell’. This method is so profound and unpredictable that it cannot be mastered by ordinary people.” Luo Lan guessed, “Did your master give it to you?” 

Xiao Yuan said thoughtfully, “According to you, if I stab myself in the chest now, it will not be me who dies, but the person who cast the spell?”

“You can say that. But why are you getting excited the more you talk about it?”

Things were things, and people were people. When Xiao Yuan didn’t care about someone, even if he carried the things that person gave him, it didn’t affect him much. Why not use the things he could use? Xiao Yuan accepted the nine-tone snail as if nothing happened, “Since it can save my life, I will reluctantly take it. As for the other two things… I don’t need them anymore, I’ll give them to you.”

“Don’t you want your fan anymore?”

“En, why do I need Wuguan Fengyue if I have the face-changing technique.”

Luo Lan warned him: “The face-changing technique is not invincible. Sometimes it is inevitable to fight an enemy with real swords. You still need a weapon to protect yourself.”

Xiao Yuan said calmly: “With my current cultivation base, I may not be able to use Wuguan Fengyue. You can put it away for me first, one day…”

Luo Lan understood what he meant and said, “One day your spiritual energy will recover, and I will wait for you to pick it up at Qiyue Mountain.”

“Okay.” Xiao Yuan handed it over and said, “Uncle, I will see you later.” 

Luo Lan also waved his hand and said, “See you later.”