CH 63

Everything froze.

Gu Louyin’s heart lurched, his chest almost bursting with emotion, but he didn’t even dare to breathe hard. He was afraid that if he took a deep breath, the person in the mirror would disappear.

Did he inadvertently fall into an illusion again, or was it because of his memories that his mind was in a turmoil and he was seeing an illusion?

Although Xiao Yuan couldn’t see Gu Louyin’s expression, he could feel something was wrong and tentatively asked, “What’s the matter?”

Gu Louyin whispered, “Don’t move.”

Xiao Yuan stopped and asked, “What do you see?”

When he spoke, the lips of the beauty in the ancient mirror opened and closed and there was a trace of confusion and worry in his eyes.

Gu Louyin stretched out his hand; his fingers touched the cold surface of the mirror and brushed over the corner of the beauty’s eye, asking silently: Is it you?

He did not dare to confirm. He once thought he had found him, but in the end there was only a dead body in front of him. This kind of torture, this pain from losing and gaining and losing again, even he couldn’t bear it a second time.

Gu Louyin’s throat rolled; cold burst out from his fingertips and a thick layer of ice crystals immediately formed on the ancient mirror, covering the faces of the two of them.

“Louyin?”

Gu Louyin slowly turned around and looked at Shen Fugui’s face with a strange gleam in his reddened eyes.

Xiao Yuan said in surprise: “Your eyes… What is there that can scare you into crying?”

Gu Louyin’s throat was blocked; he couldn’t say a word. Did he want to ask? The last time he asked, it turned out that it was his wishful thinking, he was deceiving himself. He didn’t dare to ask, he was afraid of repeating the same mistake, and he was also afraid of… scaring that person away. If it was really him, he was by his side using the face of another man, which was enough to show that he didn’t want to reveal his identity; so why bother to force him.

Gu Louyin closed his eyes and said in a low voice, “I’m fine.”

Xiao Yuan didn’t think he was fine at all. Looking at Gu Louyin who seemed to be quite agitated, even more so than when he came out of the guqin formation, he asked. “You just said ‘ancient mirror’, what kind of ancient mirror is it?”

Gu Louyin said as calmly as possible: “Two years ago, I brought back an ancient mirror from Luling City that was extremely full of Yin energy and could absorb souls. Qian Sang said that he would destroy the mirror, but it seemed that he had broken his promise. The mirror is hidden here and it is missing a corner compared to two years ago.”

Xiao Yuan chuckled softly and said, “I’m not surprised at all.” He was very impressed with this ancient mirror. At that time, both he and Gu Louyin looked in the mirror, and as a result, there was an extra “Xiao Yuan” and a “Gu Louyin”, which caused them quite a lot of trouble. Thinking about it, Xiao Yuan’s expression changed and he said, “You just got caught in the mirror?”

Gu Louyin’s eyes were deep and dark, as if thousands of emotions were hidden in their depth.

Xiao Yuan, who didn’t get an answer, shook his hand in front of Gu Louyin, “Louyin? Did you hear me?” What happened to Gu Louyin? Suddenly it felt weird. If it weren’t for his aura that he was familiar with, Xiao Yuan would have suspected that this was a fake Gu Louyin.

Gu Louyin forcibly stabilized his mood and said, “En, it reflected me.”

Xiao Yuan felt it was not good, “What about me?”

Gu Louyin hesitated for a moment and lied for the first time in his life: “I… I didn’t see clearly.”

Xiao Yuan looked around and said, “If that mirror really took one of your spiritual and one of your physical souls, where would it put them?”

Gu Louyin’s mind was not on it but he reluctantly thought after being asked by Xiao Yuan, “Yunjian Pavilion, a place that Gu Hang can see at any time. This is also the reason why the ancient mirror lacks a corner.”

Xiao Yuan sighed, “What should we do, Gu Louyin, you are exposed; if the ancient mirror also reflected me, then I am also exposed. Gu Hang does have tricks up his sleeve, and it was our own complacency.”

Gu Louyin thought for a while and asked, “What do you want to do?”

This was the first time Gu Louyin had consulted with him after the two of them started travelling together. Xiao Yuan was a little flattered and said, “There are two options. The first one is that we withdraw quickly before the people from Yunjian Pavilion come; the second is that we act according to the situation and keep looking for the thing you want.”

Gu Louyin looked at him and suddenly said, “Qingyan.”

Xiao Yuan was taken aback, “What?”

“The thing I want to take is Qingyan.”

Xiao Yuan thought, of course I know what you are going to take, but why are you mentioning it at this critical moment?

“As long as Yunjian Pavilion loses Qingyan, it will no longer be the number one sect in the world.” Gu Louyin said, “This is also his wish.”

Xiao Yuan scratched his head with his flute and kept pretending: “Who is the he you are talking about?”

Gu Louyin didn’t answer the rhetorical question: “If I don’t get Qingyan this time, do you think he will be angry with me?”

Xiao Yuan said without hesitation: “If you want my opinion, it is important for us to save our lives. If we can’t get it this time, there will be another time – as long as there are green hills, no need to worry about the firewood.”

Gu Louyin quietly watched Xiao Yuan for a moment, then said, “Give me your hand.”

Xiao Yuan didn’t know what Gu Louyin wanted to do, but he still stretched out his palm. Gu Louyin’s hand changed direction, took Xiao Yuan’s hand and brought him up to the nameless sword. Xiao Yuan only felt his body getting light suddenly, and there was a wind under his feet. The nameless sword carried the two of them back all the way down. After a short time, they returned to the beginning of the maze.

The maze had been forcibly broken by the two of them. What kind of boundless dense forest was it? It was obviously a small clearing with several strangely shaped dead trees planted on the ground.

Xiao Yuan quickly found the entrance of the cave and said, “Can we only return the same way? Will the people of Yunjian Pavilion be waiting in front of the cave?”

Gu Louyin said, “It is possible.”

Xiao Yuan was worried: “Then if we go out rashly, won’t we just deliver ourselves for them to kill?”

“We won’t.” Gu Louyin said, “As long as you follow me.”

Xiao Yuan believed it, smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll follow you.”

The two hurried all the way in the secret passage and finally saw the light of the exit. In the backlit place, there were three people holding swords, blocking their way.

The leader of these three was Gu Hang, the Master of Yunjian Pavilion; the two people standing behind him were the elder Qian Sang and Gu Hang’s favorite apprentice, Lin Wulian.

Xiao Yuan smiled, “You move very fast.” He remembered Gu Louyin saying that in addition to the Gu family, only Gu Hang’s most trusted elders knew where Qingyan was hidden. Lin Wulian was not an elder of Yunjian Pavilion, nor a member of the Gu family, but Gu Hang brought him here to catch them, so the degree of importance he attached to him was evident. He would not be surprised if Gu Hang asked Lin Wulian to take over as the Young Pavilion Master instead of Gu Louyin in the future.

Gu Louyin’s expression was extremely cold, as if it was not his father, Shixiong and Shishu who appeared in front of him, but three strangers who got in the way.

Lin Wulian looked at Gu Louyin with misty eyes and said in a low voice, “Shidi…”

Gu Hang said solemnly: “It seems that you have already defected to Xuanle Sect. Just the two of you, where is the third one?”

Gu Louyin said calmly: “This matter has nothing to do with Xuanle Sect.”

Xiao Yuan turned his face and whispered, “I’m afraid Gu Hang won’t believe this.” Gu Hang had just received the letter from the Sect Master of Xuanle asking to borrow Qingyan and now that he saw Gu Louyin and Shen Fugui here trying to steal Qingyan, if someone said it had nothing to do with Xuanle Sect, let alone Gu Hang, he himself wouldn’t believe it either.

“Gu Louyin, why are you doing this?” Qian Sang scolded angrily, “Previously, for the sake of a corpse, you did not hesitate to seriously injure your fellow disciples and even attacked the pavilion elders! The Pavilion Master thought that since you were of his Gu family blood, he would not pursue you apart from expelling you. But instead of being grateful, you are helping others to steal the treasure of Yunjian Pavilion? So rebellious and reckless, how can you be worthy of what your father taught you in the past?!”

Xiao Yuan couldn’t help but say, “’Expel’? I obviously heard that Louyin left by himself.”

Qian Sang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, “Young Sect Master Shen, this is the family matter of our Yunjian Pavilion and it is not for outsiders to comment.”

Gu Louyin said, “No.”

Qian Sang said sharply: “No what?!”

Gu Louyin glanced sideways at Xiao Yuan and said, “It’s not a family matter, and he is not an outsider.”

Xiao Yuan raised his eyebrows. The feelings between Gu Louyin and Shen Fugui were deeper than he thought; he was no longer an outsider.

The bad guys finished talking, and the good guy Lin Wulian started softly. “Shidi, Master didn’t want to make a move on him, and I…… I didn’t want to either.” He said with his eyes reddening, “As long as you sincerely repent, it is not too late to make everything better.”

Gu Louyin was indifferent, raised his sword and said, “Don’t waste your words.”

Gu Hang narrowed his eyes and said, “Very good.”

Xiao Yuan turned the flute in his hand, “Louyin, are you sure you can defeat Gu Hang?”

Gu Louyin remembered that Xiao Yuan would often do this with his fan; his heart thumped slightly and he said, “Four points sure.”

“Four points…” In fact, four points was not that little. Gu Hang was the Master of the number one sect in the world, even Xiao Du, who used to be arrogant, did not dare to say that he could definitely beat him. Gu Louyin wanted to win, but now was not the time. “Okay, I can add two points.” Xiao Yuan said, “You concentrate on dealing with Gu Hang, leave the remaining two to me.”

Qian Sang said angrily: “Young Sect Master Shen says that but doesn’t he look down on my Qian family too much!” After that, a long sword was unsheathed and a dazzling sword light rushed towards Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan was about to fight back, but suddenly felt an arm tighten around his waist. He was actually hugged by Gu Louyin. Gu Louyin’s movement was extremely fast, and at the next moment he took him to the side of the stone gate.

Xiao Yuan blinked, “What are you doing, I can do it myself.”

“En, I know you are very good.” Gu Louyin said, “I just wanted to do this.”

Gu Hang said unhurriedly: “If you want to run, I’m afraid it’s too late.”

Gu Louyin didn’t seem to hear Gu Hang’s words. With the face of ‘Shen Fugui’ reflecting in his eyes, he said, “I will come find you.”

Xiao Yuan was taken aback, “What–”

Gu Louyin let go of Xiao Yuan’s waist and pushed him out of the secret passage abruptly. Before Xiao Yuan could react, the stone gate suddenly closed in front of him with a dull loud noise, isolating Gu Louyin and the three people of Yunjian Pavilion from his sight.