The Harrowing SpectreE’Luo Gui Faction Faction’s Poisonous Blood Gu...
They finally decided to learn the inheritance in the stone chamber…for two reasons.
First, the sword technique itself was not difficult. Second, although neither he nor Su Yang saw it as an outstanding technique, if one excluded the House of Jade in the formula, the skills could be considered top tier in terms of Wulin standards.
However, it seemed that fate was still messing with their lives.
Just as Gu Feidi and Su Yang were preparing to train the technique carved in the stone chamber, a butterfly with almost transparent wings lustrously coated in a blueish-purple powder quietly landed on Gu Feidi’s shoulder.
Followed by the tumultuous sounds of footsteps outside.
Mei Shisan led a team of petal retainers as they pursued the sweet-scented tracking butterfly.
Seeing Su Yang first, it slightly startled Mei Shisan, then he knelt down on one knee saying respectfully, “Young Master!”
The butterfly’s clear wings quivered as it rested on Gu Feidi’s shoulder, then it suddenly took off and rested on Su Yang’s shoulder.
The crowd of petal retainers noticed that their Young Master was wearing the Tengyun Pavilion’s clothes with its signature flying bird embroidery at the collar. Judging from the materials and style, it was an inner robe.
Immediately, they focused on Gu Feidi, eyes full of questions.
Su Yang felt relieved being together with his party members, but amidst his soothed heart, there was a faintly mysterious unhappiness.
But he couldn’t show this before his loyal subordinates. He had to ignore his misery by commanding Mei Shisan to rise and asked, “What’s the situation outside?”
Mei Shisan glanced at Gu Feidi before he walked forward, untied the thin sword at his waist, and handed it back to Su Yang. Looking at the thin sword in his hand, Su Yang realised it was the sword that he left on the battlefield.
Next, Mei Shisan said with a grave expression, “The Central Plains Wulin reinforcements arrived not long after you fell, but by then the E’Luo Gui Faction was long gone. When another team from Tengyun Pavilion showed up, some swordsmen from the Central Plains tried to place the Faction’s scheme on our Sect’s head. Fortunately, the Plum Blossom Hall’s elder rushed to our rescue in time. We were able to withdraw from the scuffle and come to look for you.”
Gu Feidi suddenly questioned, “Did you use the butterfly to look for him…or to look for me?”
Su Yang processed the question in shock. He didn’t have the scent of the Rejuvenating Pill of Fragrant Sorrow. Mei Shisan used the butterfly to guide them, so their target would have been Gu Feidi.
Yet Mei Shisan answered by facing Su Yang, “The Young Master fell down the cliff with him. This subordinate assumed you might be traveling with him. If we found only him, we planned to take him back to our Sect and torture him for your whereabouts.”
Thinking that the explanation was very reasonable, Su Yang nodded and asked his own question, “Where did you search from?”
Mei Shisan replied, “The butterfly went into a crack in the ground. With no visibility, we presumed that there may be another cave below, so we widened the crack and used the rope to climb down. We encountered many venomous snakes on the road ahead. It took a lot of effort to clean them up.”
Afterwards, he cupped his hands into a fist and bowed his head. “Young Master, isn’t it time to return to the Sect?”
Thinking of the mountain of documents he would need to go through once he was back in the Sect, Su Yang’s headache returned with a vengeance.
Hesitating to answer, he sullenly shot a glance toward Gu Feidi as he mumbled, “Like…the thing is, this place has the Sword Sage’s inheritance that we need to gain an understanding of. It might take a few days at least…”
Using the Sword Sage’s inheritance was naturally an excuse. He just simply didn’t want to return to the Evil Sect. On one hand, it was because of his duty, while on the other hand…he still had plenty of time before the next plot, so he could still proceed with his vacation.
However, that was not the case for Gu Feidi who had his own plot. He should leave while he can.
“Since the Divine Sect’s subordinate found who they were looking for, I won’t hold everyone up and will take my leave.”
Gu Feidi talked as if he knew what Su Yang was thinking. He glanced at him and said, “As for the inheritance…you can have it. Farewell Su Yang.”
Picking up his sword, he turned to depart.
But two petal retainers stopped him.
“Since the Young Lord is already in the wasteland, why don’t you stay and be our Yantan Divine Sect’s guest?” Mei Shisan chimed in, “It would be our honour as host.”
Gu Feidi’s expression didn’t change after hearing Mei Shisan’s proposal. Su Yang though was completely stupefied.
Wait a minute, why do we need to stop Gu Feidi?
He still has his own plot he needs to finish. Stop acting on your own initiative to invite him to the Sect as a guest, you guys are going to ruin the plot?!
Su Yang pressed down on his temples to stop the raging headache: So this was the aftermath of not having the female lead in this plot, not only am I dragged into the plot, but the Evil Sect would inexplicably invite Gu Feidi to the Sanctuary.
In the end, he could only forcefully give an order, “Let him go.”
Mei Shisan frowned and insisted, “Young Master, please do not act too merciful. The Central Plains is attempting to place all the blame of the dispute on us. The Tengyun Pavilion and Wulin Alliance Leader Gu haven’t made a statement yet. If we don’t do something on our end, the Central Plains Wulin would probably use this as an excuse to act first!”
Su Yang finally showed his irritation on his face. “If we take him back to the Sect, doesn’t it give them all the more reason for the Tengyun Pavilion to attack us?”
Mei Shisan calmly replied, “Gu Feidi is the Wulin Alliance Leader’s only heir. It may be assumed that the Central Plains Wulin would also refrain from taking any action. Having the Young Lord as a guest of our Sect would help Gu Ruohai in reaching an agreement with Central Plains Wulin in our favour.”
The petal retainer from the Plum Blossom Hall completed his explanation in front of Gu Feidi without the slightest bit of fear. They were, after all, at an advantage. With the amount of petal retainers present, even if Gu Feidi’s martial arts were powerful, he was still helplessly alone and couldn’t defend against everyone.
Gu Feidi curled his lip and looked back toward Su Yang. His eyes were full of banter.
Seeing his meaningful glance, Su Yang’s entire head was numb.
He bit down and snapped, “Stop messing around and playing me for a fool! What’s wrong if we let him go? He and I are fellow disciples from the House of Jade. As long as he goes back and explains everything, won’t it have the same outcome?”
Moreover, even if the Central Plains Wulin started a war with them, eliminating the Evil Sect was already set in stone and that meant plot development!
Although most of the plot progress would be skipped, that meant they didn’t need to work on cultivating feelings between the heroine and the protagonist, and he could return to his own world quicker. None of this sounds bad…right?
“Young Master! Please reconsider!” Mei Shisan anxiously knelt down and pleaded, “I know you have the highest expectations and value the relationship of fellow disciples, but Gu Feidi might not think the same! That year, when our Sect Leader and Gu Ruohai completed their training in the House of Jade, their friendship was deeper than blood siblings. Yet, the friendship couldn’t resist the turbulence caused in the Jianghu as they eventually became enemies! Please learn from the mistake of your predecessor. Please heed this warning, Young Master!”
It was the first time Su Yang heard of this, and he frowned.
Gu Feidi lowered his gaze and said mockingly, “It seems that your status as the Evil Sect’s Young Master was all for show.”
Mei Shisan rebuked, “Stop leading our Young Master astray with your malicious plans!”
Annoyed by all the yelling, Su Yang clicked his tongue with emphasis. He walked toward Gu Feidi with confidence, pulled on his wrist, and pushed away all the petal retainers in his way. Personally leading Gu Feidi out of the blockade.
“You leave.” Su Yang said firmly, “I will watch them. They won’t dare to attack you.”
As expected, Mei Shisan didn’t step forward. He could only cry out behind Su Yang, “Young Master!”
Gu Feidi gave him a quick glance and did a fake slight slip. Using Su Yang as cover, he passed a secret message to Su Yang, “Your bodyguard respects you, but he does not obey you. He might be under your Sect Leader’s order to keep an eye on you. Please be careful.”
It startled Su Yang.
After a brief silence, Gu Feidi took a step back and cupped his hands respectfully, “I thank the Young Master so much for the help. Farewell, Su Yang.”
Seeing that Gu Feidi was about to leave, an unclear hesitation surged from within Su Yang.
The darkest, deepest idea popped into his head. Maybe it won’t be so bad capturing Gu Feidi back to the Evil Sect…The idea emerged without warning. It came in a fleeting moment, yet Su Yang shoved it back.
Clenching his fists, in his chaotic mind: According to the progress of the plot, after the protagonist and the heroine leave the tomb, there are some heroic side-plots that take place in the Central Plains. Because of a small conflict, the two separated for a short time. But the heroine was captured by a scheme, which the Evil Sect was behind. So the protagonist had to travel deep into the Evil Sect.
After that, amongst the fight for freedom, they were trapped in the Evil Sect’s Forbidden Ground, where the heroine had to detoxify her poisoned love, followed by a series of incidents where they cultivate their love deeper...
Although he didn’t read the script thoroughly and didn’t know all the details, he could still guess what the following plot would be based on the development.
But he feared that Pu Lingyun’s role in the Sword Sage plot had been disrupted by him, and that didn’t mean he should prevent Gu Feidi from leaving. The plot would go off course even more! Sometimes, he felt like it was impossible to set this plot back on track, but he would still work extra hard on saving the parts that could be salvaged.
So Su Yang didn’t stop him from leaving.
However, when Gu Feidi turned around—one of the petal retainers immediately rushed forward and aimed at Gu Feidi’s heart with his sword!
Gu Feidi was vigilantly on alert before the attack, and he was fully prepared for any sneak attack from the petal retainers. He had already noticed the person’s abnormality. He turned around and raised his blade, ready to block the incoming blow.
But who would expect that the petal retainer would act as if his life was completely useless, as he rushed himself through Gu Feidi’s sword.
The sharp blade’s tip went through the attacker’s chest and exited out the back.
Everything happened too quickly. Everyone was completely shocked, including Gu Feidi, who didn’t expect that the person would use this kind of method, as he froze in place.
Su Yang was about to check on Gu Feidi as he clenched his sword, but Mei Shisan stopped him, “Young Master, please be careful! There is something wrong with that one!”
Sure enough, the petal retainer dropped his sword, raised his hands and tightly gripped Gu Feidi’s wrist that was holding the sword, effectively locking themselves together as Gu Feidi hadn’t pulled out his sword. The spot where the skin met the metal, black blood scattered like a spider web. Then it changed into this strange thread as it wound along the hilt of the sword and quickly climbed up Gu Feidi’s arm.
The petal retainer slowly looked back and showed a frightening smile toward Su Yang.
This process happened within a split second. When Gu Feidi finally reacted, he used his internal energy to send the petal retainer flying and pulled his arm away.
But it was too late.
The black blood morphed into a tough needle as it pierced Gu Feidi’s skin, entered his bloodstream, and disappeared without a trace.
Su Yang shook off Mei Shisan and rushed forward to support Gu Feidi. Completely unaware of the trembling in his voice, “What happened? Do you feel funny anywhere? Pain?”
Gu Feidi gasped for breath, shocked by the whole experience.
Raising his hand and pressing against his pulse. He closed his eyes for a long time before saying, “Nothing feels wrong.”
But Su Yang didn’t think so.
Like hell, nothing happened! In this world of Wuxia, anything strange must have a purpose! They don’t just show up out of the blue to scare people to death! It made absolutely no sense.
While Su Yang was worrying over Gu Feidi, Mei Shisan carefully walked forward to examine the corpse of the petal retainer who died under Gu Feidi’s blade. He promptly said, “Young Master, please come take a look. Does he look familiar to you?”
Su Yang looked back and saw the youthful petal retainer, his face still carrying some baby fat. Although he was dead, his eyes were still half open, but the spirit in them was gone.
“Young Master, do you still remember the little servant who was arranged by the Chrysanthemum Hall’s elder the night you returned?” Mei Shisan asked.
Gu Feidi shuddered.
But Su Yang didn’t notice, as his attention was on the dead petal retainer. After trying to recall this memory, he admitted, “...I don’t remember.”
Gu Feidi tugged his arm out of Su Yang’s hand.
“Didn’t I demand the Chrysanthemum Hall’s elder send everyone back home? How did this one mingle in with the Plum Blossom Hall?”
Frowning, Su Yang kept his inquiry, “All the petal retainers often train together, why didn’t anyone notice that someone sneaked into the group?”
One of the petal retainers stood forward and answered, “Young Master, this man was indeed promoted by our elder a few days ago. He underwent training with us. This time he volunteered to join the search for you, saying…he said…”
Su Yang snapped impatiently, “Spit it out!”
The petal retainer stopped his delay, “He said that he admired and was smitten with the Young Master, and begged our elder to allow him on the mission.”
Staying silent for a moment, Su Yang asked Mei Shisan, “Don’t we check the candidates' background for the Plum Blossom hall?”
Mei Shisan answered respectfully, “Naturally, it is mandatory. But the new group…they must have their background checked in their time entering the Chrysanthemum Hall. I am unsure if our Hall rechecked on our ends. Also, everyone you brought back from the Central Plains Wulin had a clean background. As for the exact origin of this man, I am afraid we won’t know until we return home and check the Chrysanthemum Hall’s archived records.”
Su Yang was lost for words.
“Although I can’t determine his identity, this subordinate has some ideas.” Mei Shisan continued, “The bizarre way his blood acted just now, I suspect it to be what the E’Luo Gui Faction commonly use…their Poisonous Blood Gu.”
Su Yang: “???”
…Wait.
Blood Gu?
Wasn’t this the poison that Gu Feidi got while saving Pu Lingyun when she was captured by the Evil Sect? But that was months ahead of schedule!
What did it mean for it to appear now?!
I love this novel because I can *feel* his frustration through the writing great work by both the writer and the translator