CH 35

Strangely, after fighting with Gu Feidi and returning to the camp, Su Yang didn’t suffer from insomnia and soon fell asleep wrapped in a blanket.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning and Mei Shisan was patting his shoulder gently.

Seeing Su Yang opening his eyes, Mei Shisan said respectfully: “Young Saint, it’s time to set off.” 

The flower aide and his party had already completed the preparations and two or three seniors who were familiar with the terrain of the Wasteland were immersed in the study and deciphering of the Rift Valley map. Seeing that everyone was not affected by the event changes that occurred yesterday, Su Yang brightened, went to the lake to wash up and prepared to set off.

On the other side of the lake, everyone from Tengyun Pavilion had also arisen. They were forming small teams and getting together to discuss something. Seemed like they wanted to search for traces of the Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage in the area around the oasis.

These people were not aware of the storyline and assumed that the Tomb of the Sword Sage would be in the oasis, but it was normal.

Su Yang glanced quickly over to the guesthouse opposite and saw a slender woman with her back to him feeding a horse at the stables.

He thought to himself: Don’t tell me it’s trendy to take hormones in the Central Plains, right? Not only has Gu Feidi grown so fast, even Pu Lingyun, whom I haven’t seen for a few months also looks a lot taller?

At this time, Xu Yunzhan came out of the guesthouse, walked to the stables and said a few words to the woman. He raised his hand to brush away some hair at her temples and laughed softly, his eyes full of mirth.

Su Yang: !!!

Wait a moment, Xu Yunzhan, what’s going on with your expression?

Pu Lingyun is your biao mei… No, it doesn’t matter if it is ancient times… What’s important is that Pu Lingyun is your buddy’s intended wife!

Also, you yourself will later meet this love of your life, Yingniang!

What’s the matter with you now?

Xu Yunzhan chatted with the woman in the stable for a while, then he took her hand and went into the house.

Back on the opposite bank of the lake, Su Yang was a confused mess this early in the morning.

He thought: Seems that in order to pass the censorship board, the script has had many omissions and amendments. It seemed that Pu Lingyun and Xu Yunzhan’s cousin-love relationship had also been deleted?

No wonder the storyline had to arrange for Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun to be alone in the Tomb of the Sword Sage. It turned out to be creating opportunities for the two!

Su Yang felt that his responsibility was unprecedentedly significant.

——If he couldn’t force Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun down the cliff together, then Pu Lingyun may be hijacked by Xu Yunzhan and the heroine would be gone!

If the heroine was gone, then the series of storylines where Gu Feidi fell into the Forbidden Area of the Devil Sect would not be carried out… the plot would collapse completely!

Su Yang clenched his fists, struck the water’s surface and quickly returned to the Devil Sect camp.

He called Mei Shisan over and instructed solemnly: “Choose two people to stay here and devise a plan. We must lead Gu Feidi and the others to the desert rift by whatever means necessary!”

Mei Shisan was puzzled: “However, according to Young Saint’s deductions, the Sword Sage’s Tomb is very likely to be in that direction, why would we lead Gu Feidi there to snatch it from us?”

Su Yang thought for a while, but couldn’t think of any good excuses, so he pretended to be knowledgeable: “Naturally, I have a plan. In short… all you need to do is follow the order.”

Mei Shisan was silent and replied: “Yes, Young Saint.” 

The Devil Sect group quickly packed their clothes and left two flowers aides to wait for the opportunity to move. The others left the Willow Leaf Lake oasis and proceeded to the northern part of the Eluo Ghost Tent’s territory.

——Previously, a flower aide who was familiar with the Wasteland said that the ‘rift valley with a river below’ mentioned by Su Yang should be somewhere within Eluo Ghost Tent’s boundaries.

Eluo Ghost Tent was located in the northwest and was even more remote than the Devil Sect by comparison. They were not so much a Jianghu influence, but rather nomads who opposed the imperial court. Their territory was almost nearing the Northern Icefield.

Rumour had it that the fighters of Eluo Ghost Tent behave surreptitiously and were skilled at taming a kind of palm-sized black and white ghost owl to deliver news—during the day, they would use the white ghost owls as they could hide in the snow fields and deserts with their colouring. During the night, they would use black ghost owls so that they blended into the surroundings and would not be easily noticed.

When he heard the flower aide speaking about this, the first thought in Su Yang’s mind was: take the white pill during the day and you won’t be drowsy; take the black pill at night and you will sleep soundly…

He thought: This is really a fictional world. The martial arts world is so vast and there are all kinds of birds.

However, as Su Yang was complaining in his heart about this matter of the ‘black and white ghost owl’ that he did not understand and that could not possibly exist in reality, this strange bird had already quickly spread a piece of information across the Wasteland.

The Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage was here and all the forces of the Central Plains martial arts wanted a piece. And what they feared most was that the Tengyun Pavilion behind Gu Ruohai, the leader of the Martial Alliance, would join hands with his good friend Qianfeng Villa—once such a big force participates, it would use its status in the Jianghu to order the minor sects to share news and even handover the legacy of the Sword Sage. It would be very difficult for others to get a piece of the pie.

——Furthermore, it wasn’t clear who was responsible for spreading the news, but it solved the urgent needs of all the minor schools.

“What? The Young Master of Tengyun Pavilion and the Devil Sect’s Young Saint had a private meeting at the banks of Willow Leaf Lake at night and they chatted happily?”

“I heard that the two of them entered Lesser Jade House together, so I guessed the outcome! The same was true for Leader Gu and the Devil Sect Leader, which had led to the troubles of those years…”

“Shh, don’t speak of that matter again, be careful…”

“So this old affair is repeating itself, Tengyun Pavilion is involved with the Devil Sect?”

“It seems that we can’t fully obey the Young Pavilion Master of Tengyun Pavilion!”

“Yes! It’s hard to ascertain the thoughts of youngsters. What if they were bewitched by the Devil Sect, we would be in danger!”

“That’s why we should unite, maybe the two of them have combined their forces…… “

This news meets the needs of all minor schools, therefore it spreads extremely fast. Within a day, countless versions of it had been circulated throughout the Wasteland, with some newly included ‘suggestive’ additions.

“I heard that two years ago, when Lesser Jade House was selecting candidates, the Devil Sect demon spawn had teased the Young Master of Tengyun Pavilion and spoke to him flirtatiously!”

“I heard that two months ago, twelve youths from certain sects which had been abducted by the Devil Sect were suddenly released back. I believe that the Devil Sect demon spawn is trying to please Young Hero Gu by dismissing his harem!”

“I heard that Su Yang had encountered Young Hero Gu two days ago and the two had a fight, but Young Hero Gu almost didn’t return any blows. In the end, he blocked an arrow for Su Yang and let him go!”

Naturally, no one dared to take these gossip to Gu Feidi and Su Yang, but they couldn’t suppress the news from reaching Tengyun Pavilion’s and Devil Sect’s own discreet communication channels. Therefore, both Su Yang and Gu Feidi learned of different versions of gossip from different sources the next day.

Su Yang spat out the sip of water onto the face of the flower aide who had reported it to him.

“WHAT!” He choked a few times, stared and gritted his teeth in anger, “How could the news spread like this? Who is spreading the rumours?!”

The flower aide’s face was dripping with water droplets but he was calm and respectfully replied: “This subordinate has checked. The original source of the news was Wujiangmen and only the night meeting between you and Young Hero Gu was reported. As for the latter… it was probably the martial artists spreading falsehoods.”

Su Yang narrowed his eyes: “Wujiangmen?”

Flower aide nodded: “Yes. Wujiangmen has always been known for being well-informed and expedient in spreading news. This time, they initially spread the news throughout the Wasteland.”

Damn Wujiangmen!

Su Yang quietly cursed in his heart.

He had been traversing the storyline so carefully, yet this kind of freakish statement was still able to be broadcast. It simply wouldn’t give him a way out!

What if Gu Feidi also received the news and it caused the rift between him and Pu Lingyun to deepen? What if she really fell for Xu Yunzhan, what then?

No, the search for the Wasteland rift must be expedited. He had to let Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun fall off the cliff as soon as possible to be alone and to develop their feelings!

But speaking of that… he really couldn’t imagine what kind of expression that lil’ uptight Gu Feidi would have if he heard of these scandals.

Gu Feidi was expressionless.

He looked up and glanced at the Tengyun Pavilion guard who had come to report and said indifferently: “I see. You can go.”

The guard left at the order.

Xu Yunzhan looked at Gu Feidi with a complex expression, “You’re not angry?” 

Gu Feidi said, “The nosy people of the martial arts world love putting a spin on things and spicing stories up. A lot of the news would be twisted in the end. Haven’t I witnessed enough of this?”

Xu Yunzhan smiled: “I’m asking you, aren’t you angry about Wujiangmen secretly spying on your movements?”

Gu Feidi was silent for a moment, his expression giving no clue as to his thoughts.

He said: “I originally didn’t agree with the involvement of Tengyun Pavilion and Qianfeng Villa in the Sword Sage’s Tomb matter. But everyone in the Pavilion hoped that I could get the legacy of the Sword Sage. My father also hoped that I could establish myself in the martial arts circles as soon as possible, so I really didn’t have a choice.” 

After speaking, he paused and continued: “Those little sects are worried that we will rob them and they will do everything possible to find reasons to oppose us temporarily. From your point of view, it should be expected.”

At this time, Xu Yunzhan smiled: “I expected that they wouldn’t want to work together with us, but I didn’t expect…you would meet with him privately by the lake late at night.”

Hearing this, Gu Feidi raised his eyebrows: “When you say it like that, you make him sound like he is some sort of femme fatale.”

Xu Yunzhan smiled and shook his head, “A joke.” 

After a pause, Gu Feidi said, “That day that the Devil Sect killed all the Wujiangmen people by the lake, perhaps there is some other hidden reason to it.” 

Xu Yunzhan asked, “Did you talk to him about this last night?”

Gu Feidi did not speak and Xu Yunzhan took it for granted that he had acquiesced.

“He may not be bad in nature, but his identity is, after all.” Xu Yunzhan said, “You and I both have our responsibilities. I believe that you will not be swayed by your emotions and garner big losses due to small matters.”

Gu Feidi still did not answer.

He lowered his gaze and looked at his hand that was holding the horse’s rein.

The tough leather wristband covered half the back of his hand. His skin was a healthy colour, revealing the most vigorous spirit.

After traveling for four hours, they turned round a jagged rock and suddenly noticed a cloud of smoke and dust before them. It seemed that several teams were fighting.

The skillful and spry red figure in the crowd was extremely eye-catching. He was fighting one against three enemies, but he was not embarrassed to be in such a position. His every move and strike seemed as if he was toying with the three people. Although he was more than capable of breaking through immediately, for some reason, he never did. He didn’t seem like he was trapped; more like he was waiting for something or someone.

Gu Feidi frowned slightly and was about to spur his horse forward.

Xu Yunzhan blocked him and asked, “Who are you going to help?”

Gu Feidi was silent.

Xu Yunzhan said: “Wujiangmen, Tongyun Temple and Xuanji Temple have excellent reputations in the martial arts circles. If you want to help Su Yang, you must face them. It’s better to just observe.”

Gu Feidi closed his eyes and said in a low tone: “Naturally, I want to help the Central Plains martial arts circles.”

At this time, Su Yang was dealing with the three men who besieged him, trying to fight this ‘fake match’ for a longer period of time without hurting anyone.

This was not the first wave of enemies he’d encountered along the way.

The small sects that they had encountered earlier were not large in scale and those who dared to provoke their Devil Sect’s team mostly took advantage of their combined numbers. Su Yang had planned to delay some on the way, but his ultimate goal was to wait for Gu Feidi and the Tengyun Pavilion group to catch up, so that they could reach the rift valley together.

However, this time, they encountered a group of opponents who were not very good at evading.

According to Mei Shisan’s advice, this time they were jointly besieged by the ‘second-only-to-Tengyun-Pavilion-and-Qianfeng-Villa’ Xuanji Temple and Tongyun Temple from the Central Plains. They had also been joined by the ‘good-at-delivering-news’ Wujiangmen. Fortunately, none of them had senior sect members in their current capacity. The teams were made up of hall masters, incense masters and chief guards. It was not that hard pretending to deal with them.

He didn’t want to kill anyone. It was just that there was very little room for him to exhibit his skills.

During the fight, everyone in the field keenly caught the sound of an approaching horse.

Gu Feidi, dressed in white, rushed in, drew his sword and lunged towards Su Yang. As soon as he entered the battle, he pressured the three people, who had been besieging Su Yang, to one side.

Su Yang barely blocked Gu Feidi’s blow, but he didn’t seem dispirited at all, in fact, his eyes lit up.

——You’ve finally arrived! This Young Saint has been waiting ages for you!