It Was Actually Your First Time...

Hearing the coldness in Gu Feidi’s voice, Su Yang suddenly had a realisation. 

—He attempted to help Pu Lingyun gain a favourable impression toward Gu Feidi. Did it have the opposite effect? Pu Lingyun was after all, Gu Feidi’s Xiao-Shimei and the heroine. He, the Young Master of the Evil Sect, asked a bunch of questions regarding Pu Lingyun. What gave him the right?

No wonder Gu Feidi was angry!

So Su Yang immediately denied, “No! It’s nothing like that.”

With that, he tried to change the subject, “So where are we? How did we get here? Did you say we can’t return the same way?”

Gu Feidi breathed out a turbid breath, replied with an affirmative, still sounding a little unhappy. 

But he quickly adjusted his mood and told the simplified version of the story on their encounter with the E’Luo Gui Faction after they fell off the cliff. “The E’Luo Gui Faction sent someone to set up a net in the middle of the river in advance. They were obviously prepared. I suspect they were the ones who deliberately disclosed the news on the Sage’s tomb to the Central Plains. But what I don’t know is...what their ultimate goal is.”

In the dark, confusion appeared on Su Yang’s face. 

This plot originally belonged to Gu Feidi and Pu Lingyun, which he had never participated in. But he knew that the plot in the False Tomb of the Sacred Swords was not this complicated. 

Who was he kidding? This transcript was set up to cultivate the protagonist and the heroine’s love. How could the two focus on their feelings when the complicated plot smacked them in the face?

Moreover, Arch-Enemy was written by a female author. Su Yang assumed that the plot written by the original author should be the same as the script. Simple and sweet and occasionally insert a villain to make trouble for the two. No need to arrange for any crafty plots and machinations. 

But now, what kind of strange development was this?

The E’Luo Gui Faction? This script was supposed to be a flat scenery board! How did it suddenly become 3D and gain the ability to jump!!

Seeing that Su Yang didn’t reply, Gu Feidi pursed his mouth and said in a low voice, “No matter, you’re seriously injured. It’s best for us to rest first. Once you can travel without issue, we can figure out how to get out of this place alive.”

Head filled with muddled thoughts, Su Yang made a sound in agreement. He endured the burning pain on his back, sat cross-legged and began using his internal energy to heal.

An unknown time passed, maybe from the blood loss, but Su Yang suddenly felt sleepy. He nodded off, head swaying, until he carelessly fell on Gu Feidi’s shoulder. His head rolled along Gu Feidi’s shoulder and he almost fell back into the underground river. 

Gu Feidi quickly held the sleepy man steady, sighed silently, unfolded his legs and rearranged Su Yang to rest on them.

It couldn’t be helped that their resting ground was too small for him to move freely. 

Su Yang murmured vaguely, as he curled more into Gu Feidi and really fell asleep.

However, he did not sleep soundly. 

At first, he had a dream of fleeing at the wasteland. Although he was a little nervous, he didn’t feel afraid. Later, he stopped at the edge of a lake and saw a sea of corpses and blood, which dyed the lake a crimson red. A deformed corpse floated out from the lake of blood with his thin sword lodged in its chest. 

Su Yang was startled as he stared at the dead person. It was the remains of the Wujiang Sect’s member who he stabbed in the heart to save Gu Feidi.

“It hurts…” The frightfully mangled body said quietly, “Do you want a taste of this killing blow? Stabbed in the heart…that’s right, you should die with a sword in the heart…”

With the corpse's voice, the scene abruptly changed. 

Gu Feidi stood before him, holding his long sword. He was covered in blood, and eyes glowing red. 

Su Yang wanted to escape, but he couldn’t move. He could only watch as Gu Feidi aimed his sword at his heart.

“No! No stop!” Su Yang didn’t know where this immense fear came from, but his subconscious mind begged for mercy, “Gu Feidi…don’t…”

However, it suddenly occurred to him that he had to die in the plot. So he turned around and pleaded, “I am not afraid of death, really! But I am afraid of pain. Could you knock me out first and then kill me?”

In front of him, Gu Feidi held up his sword with a ferocious look. His eyes locked on Su Yang. 

But he said unnaturally, “...I will not kill you.”

Su Yang immediately shook his head. “No! You must kill me!”

Gu Feidi stepped forward and raised his hand. He held Su Yang’s cheek gingerly in his hand. The emotion in his eyes was very gentle as he asked in a soft voice, “Why do I have to kill you?”

Stunned by his question, Su Yang blurted out, “Because this was arranged in the drama…”

Before he could finish, there was a sharp pain on his back, as if someone had cut him.

He snapped his head back and saw the actress who played Pu Lingyun behind him. Her eyes were full of jealousy and hatred. She screamed at him angrily, “I am the female lead! You cannon fodder villain dared to steal my role—! I will end you!”

As she cried, she waved her sword, aiming toward his neck to behead him. 

Su Yang’s whole body trembled as he woke up in fright. 

Gu Feidi retrieved his hand from Su Yang’s cheek and asked, “Nightmare?”

Su Yang was relieved, and thought, It was only a dream.

He turned his head, only to find that he was lying on Gu Feidi’s lap, and he sat up in a quiver. 

Then he sucked in a cold breath from the pain in his back.

Gu Feidi asked again, “Did you bump your wound?”

Su Yang grimaced in pain in the dark for a while and said forcefully, “...It’s nothing.”

Gu Feidi said, “If you don’t mind, you can tell me more about your nightmare.”

Su Yang recalled the sea of blood that existed in his dream, and that guy from the Wujiang Sect. He himself didn’t understand how the other party’s face had left such a deep impression on him. The period between facing the assassin and his death wasn't that long. 

He shook his head with a bitter smile. “Being my first kill, it’s a little…”

In the middle of explaining, Su Yang stopped talking. 

He immediately reacted by shutting up. He was playing the role of the Evil Sect’s Young Master!

Although the Young Master didn’t kill everyone he met like a fly, it should not be his first blood. He was so out of it, anything could slip out of his mouth. What if Gu Feidi noticed the strange things he said weren't aligned with his origin? 

Fortunately, he seemed to overthink it this time. 

Gu Feidi’s breathing only gave a slight pause. With a light smile, he asked, “This was actually…your first time?”

Su Yang: “...”

Hey man, isn’t what you said a little too ambiguous?!

“It was actually nothing.”

Gu Feidi’s voice was soft, but it carried a powerful force, and his tone was comforting and gentle.  

He said, “The man you killed was very likely an E’Luo Gui Faction spy who was placed in the Wujiang Sect. There was always hostility between the Imperial Court and the faction. Every few years, it would invade the border, and plant many assassins and spies within the Central Plains. Whether they are martial artists or soldiers of the Imperial Court, they would silence anyone who saw them. So, please don’t let this burden your heart...”

Su Yang sighed, hugged his knees and buried his face in his arms.

He thought, Gu Feidi grew up in the Wulin, and would never relate. Killing in the peaceful modern world was a very serious matter.  

Su Yang didn’t understand it either. He didn’t even have the heart to kill a fish. How could he send his sword into a living man’s heart at that time?

What on earth was he thinking?

…No, the truth was he wasn’t thinking of anything.

After going through his memory, this was the conclusion he came up with. 

At that moment, the other party was about to slice off Gu Feidi’s head clean off, and he subconsciously intersected the attack completely without a second thought. All the movements were instincts drawn from his two years of hard training. 

A warm hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. 

Gu Feidi patted him on the shoulder lightly and said in a whisper, “No worries. Don’t be afraid. I am here with you.”

Su Yang was shocked.

Not able to control his emotions anymore. His nose stuffed up, warm tears glittered in his eyes, and a few drops threatened to escape. 

He immediately raised his hand to cover his mouth, trying to adjust his breathing to get his emotion back under control. After a brief struggle, he suppressed the signs of crying. 

—You can break a real man’s bone and bleed him dry. But he must never shed a tear in front of his arch-rival!

But he did not account for Gu Feidi’s sensitive ears, for he had already picked up the disordered breathing. 

Gu Feidi took back his hand on Su Yang’s shoulder. He closed it into a fist and gently pressed it against his chest. 

The two men, with their hearts and feelings barricaded, stopped their conversation. 

In the dark cave, the concept of time became extremely vague. Their stomachs were rumbling with hunger, then it went away as their bodies feasted on the stored energy in their bodies. The vicious cycle continued two to three times. After who knew how long, Su Yang’s back wound began to show signs of healing and scabbing. 

It was time to explore the deeper part of the cave. Otherwise, they may starve to death here before Su Yang’s wound could completely heal. 

After all, living in this world was not the same as filming. They couldn’t live for ten days to half a month in the Sage’s tomb just by drinking water. This would kill any mood to talk about love. They must find a way out as soon as possible. Even if they can’t find the Sword Sage’s tomb, they must find a chance to survive. 

They re-entered the water from the stone bank and swam along in the direction of the underground river. 

Having spent time together with Di Ling in the House of Jade, they learned basic skills in determining their position with sound because of their curiosity. Using the sound, they groped along the dark cave to advance. 

Soon, they left the river and arrived at a dry bank. They walked along a very narrow stone crevice that could only be passed by one person at a time. After a while, the cave widened. 

Walking forward, they encountered a right turn, then after a winding pathway, their vision was abruptly illuminated by a weak light. 

They looked at each other in surprise and immediately pushed along the gap of the lit up mountain wall. 

The more they moved forward, the brighter their vision became. Until they came out of the crevice. Su Yang raised his head in surprise and looked at the hanging dome shaped like a church before him. 

This underground cave was long and narrow, very similar to a corridor.  

The top of the cave was a very high, arc-shaped on two sides, as it gradually closed up into a narrow but long chink. The crevice ran through the whole cave along the dome. Outside the crevice, an azure sky could be seen in the distance, as if they were really under the sky. 

Where the ground and the wall met, a small stream flowed through, making a babbling sound. Probably because of the faint light from the daytime and having a water source, tenacious plants took root here, displaying a sliver of vitality in the cave. 

Gu Feidi stood at the entrance of the cave, speechless. 

He finally couldn’t suppress the exclamation in his eyes after a long time. “...This was the work of the immortals.”

Su Yang thought, ‘This was not the work of the immortals, this is a fictional world. So any kind of unexplainable geological structure can safely exist here. Just like the House of Jade, even the Evil Sect’s Sanctuary is like that. Now adding the Sage’s tomb to the long list. He was used to these amazing sceneries, no need to be super surprised any more.’

Gu Feidi searched around for a moment, then he suddenly showed a smile, saying with bright eyes, “I found something to eat!”

By the water side of the cave stream, there were clusters of green plants, some of which even had beautiful purple flowers.

“These are wild onionsThe wild onion they found is allium mongolicum, native to Asia. .” Gu Feidi said with a smile. “I thought they only grew under the sun, I didn’t expect that they would grow a bundle in this cave. We should be able to eat our fill with these.”

Gu Feidi’s knowledge astonished Su Yang. “How do you know desert plants? Isn’t your Pavilion from the Central Plains?”

Gu Feidi raised his eyebrow. “Since I am journeying to the desert, I naturally would seek my seniors for advice and their expertise. I did my homework before coming here. How about you? You grew up here, why didn’t you recognise these are wild onions? Not in your everyday meal?”

Su Yang choked from embarrassment. There was a long pause before he found a reasonable excuse. He raised his chin and said haughtily, “This one recognises what they look like on the table, but not what they look like growing in the dirt.”

—There are countless people in modern society that are in the same boat as him, and couldn’t tell the difference between rice and wheat. So this explanation was very relatable, with absolutely no chance it would blow his cover!