The night was deep, and a fine drizzle drummed against the eaves. Ye Shuyao followed behind, startled by the standoff under the corridor. Her small mouth curled. "The Elders actually believe those nonsensical rumors?"
Seeing the two approach through the rain, the Elders cupped their hands in greeting. "Major Secretary Gu, County Princess Ye."
Gu Qianli had always been close with them. Having lived in this world for three hundred years, Yu Huan naturally avoided the original host's old habits; whenever she could dodge them, she did.
In contrast, Gu Qianli would often stay in Nanjiang for short periods. If he couldn't find Yu Huan, he would drag the Elders into games of chess or Gu-fighting, making them all quite well-acquainted over time.
Yan Ming pulled him aside a few steps and lowered his voice. "Qianli, you've come at the right time. Advise your Junior Sister—it’s truly improper for her to stay so close to that man."
Gu Qianli glanced at the weariness between Yu Huan’s brows and replied flawlessly, "Rest assured, Brother Yan. Sister Yu knows what she’s doing; she’s as sharp as they come."
Liu Qingyi took over. "Young Master Gu, you know our Sect has lived in seclusion for years and never had deep ties with the central government. Lord Xie is investigating the Transformation Disk this time, but who knows if there are other motives behind it? We cannot be at ease with Junior Sister under his very nose."
Gu Qianli smoothed things over with a smile, a flicker of deeper meaning crossing his eyes. "Sister Liu, you worry too much. Lord Xie has his own way of doing things; how can we presume to guess his thoughts? Besides, with me here, I certainly won't let Sister Yu suffer any grievances."
Mo Yan, who was fiddling with an array disk, suddenly looked up and interjected, "Young Master Gu, besides official business, you aren't still pining after our Nanjiang Love Gu, are you?"
"Oh, Brother Mo," Gu Qianli’s eyes swept toward Ye Shuyao with a beaming smile, "with Yaoyao here, I wouldn't dare even if I had ten times the courage!"
Yu Huan stood quietly to the side, watching their pleasantries. She knew the Elders wanted to use Gu Qianli as a buffer while simultaneously fearing his status as an envoy of the Immortal Dynasty. Gu Qianli, for his part, was a social butterfly, careful not to offend either side.
But this delicate balance was as fragile as paper under Xie Wulei’s absolute power.
She only wanted to escape and return to her room to cultivate.
"It's getting late," Gu Qianli said with a pleasant smile. "I still need to ask Sister Yu about Lord Xie’s injuries. We shall take our leave first."
Yu Huan, grateful for the exit strategy, immediately said to the Elders, "I still have important matters to discuss with our honored guests. Please, everyone, return for now."
Without waiting for a response, she turned with the two of them and stepped into the rainy corridor.
As the drizzle fell like silk, Gu Qianli slowed his pace. "They're just rumors, Sister Yu. Don't take them to heart. It’s just idle busybodies wagging their tongues. I can see Brother Xie doesn't care about it at all."
Yu Huan slanted a glance at him. "I wonder which 'idle busybody' has such heaven-defying skill to stir up such a storm?"
The man before her was famous for loving a good show; it wasn't impossible that he had added fuel to the fire.
Gu Qianli gave a dry laugh. "Jiuzhou is vast; there are many busybodies. Perhaps someone wants to fish in troubled waters?"
Yu Huan remained noncommittal.
The central government of the Immortal Dynasty was structured around the "Two Bureaus and Three Directorates." The Jiangyaosi and Zhenmosi, collectively known as the Two Bureaus, were the highest military institutions, holding the power of life and death. The Xuntianjian, Qintianjian, and Guozijian were the Three Directorates, serving as the highest civil institutions.
The Xuntianjian specifically handled inspections, impeachments, and intelligence. To put it nicely, they were the eyes and ears of the Immortal Dynasty. To put it bluntly, they were the world's greatest shit-stirrers, masters of inciting unrest.
"In any case, it is absolutely impossible for Brother Xie to fall for you!"
Gu Qianli stated firmly, "And don't believe that nonsense about 'severing emotions to attain the Dao'! He practices the Way of Supreme Detachment! Yaoyao, isn't that right?"
Ye Shuyao nodded immediately. "It’s the absolute truth! Others might not know the reality, but how could I not? Sister Yu, set your heart at ease! A person like my Senior Brother—what does he know of romance? Saying he’s moved by emotion is like confusing him for some playboy named Gu!"
Gu Qianli cooperatively clutched his chest. "Yaoyao, those words wound your brother deeply!"
Yu Huan smiled. These two were clearly insiders who knew the truth and wouldn't be swayed by public opinion.
Gu Qianli’s expression turned a bit more serious as he looked at Yu Huan. "Furthermore, it’s true that Brother Xie is monitoring you. But in this past half-month, has he touched a single blade of grass in Jidaozong? According to his usual style, any sect 'visited' by him in such a manner would already be flowing with rivers of blood. This in itself says something."
He said with certainty, "He is naturally suspicious, and doubting you is part of his duty. But if there were real, ironclad evidence, he would have overturned Jidaozong on the first day and shackled you! Precisely because there is none, he is using this 'close-range pressure' tactic, hoping to find a flaw in your words and deeds!"
He continued, "We grew up together; don't I know you? I have no right to interfere with his actions, but an upright person has nothing to fear! As long as you stay steady and he can't catch any leverage, no matter how powerful he is, he cannot fabricate a crime out of thin air!"
Yu Huan nodded on the surface, but her heart was cold.
She had been here for three hundred years, but the hidden danger left by the original host at age fifteen, three hundred years ago, was a sword hanging over her head. In the original book, it was precisely because of this that Xie Wulei took her life.
Moreover, that prince of the previous dynasty, who was the former emperor's favorite, was casually executed by him on the Imperial Street of the White Jade Capital just for trading a minor secret technique with the demons. Her dealings with the demons were far more extensive. If he could kill imperial kin, what was she? Gu Qianli’s trust was based on her three hundred years of upright conduct, but he knew nothing of the original host’s secret past.
"And, I always feel…"
Gu Qianli was rarely serious. "He doesn't seem in a hurry to solve the case, but rather like he's using the opportunity to set a trap. You don't need to fear his surveillance, but be careful not to become a discarded pawn in his game."
Yu Huan’s heart sank. This confirmed part of her own suspicions.
She had intended to return to her cultivation, but Gu Qianli held her back. "Wait! We still need to ask you about Brother Xie's injuries. Also, Yaoyao didn't go near the Forbidden Ground just for fun; she actually wanted to help search for the Transformation Disk’s whereabouts. This isn't a convenient place to talk; let's go to my courtyard."
Just as the three were about to change direction, footsteps echoed through the rain.
Xiao Jin came by on his night patrol, hand on his saber. His handsome features were sharp, his sleek iron armor carrying the aura of wind and rain.
Seeing the group under the corridor, his gaze lingered briefly on Yu Huan before he nodded in greeting. "Your Highness, Major Secretary Gu, County Princess Ye."
Yu Huan and Ye Shuyao nodded. "Commander Xiao."
Gu Qianli’s eyes lit up. Asking the two women to wait a moment, he stepped forward and hooked an arm around Xiao Jin's shoulder. "Brother Xiao! Are you free tomorrow night? I was just thinking of grabbing a drink with you!"
Xiao Jin replied with a smile, "I knew you’d be thinking of that. The usual place, with 'Drunken Nanjiang' prepared?"
"Prepare a few extra jars!" Gu Qianli laughed.
As they stood with arms over shoulders, Xiao Jin’s gaze seemed to drift toward the guest courtyard as if by accident. He asked thoughtfully, "Qianli, you serve in the same court as Commander Xie. Do you know what kind of path he cultivates? There are too many rumors outside; it's hard to tell truth from fiction."
Gu Qianli said with full confidence, "I guarantee it! Supreme Detachment!"
He poked Xiao Jin’s armor playfully. "I’m only telling you this, so don't spread it. Don't worry, Sister Yu is perfectly safe!"
Xiao Jin’s brow furrowed slightly, looking as if he had more to say.
Gu Qianli tapped his chest with the rib of his fan. "Save it for the drinks tomorrow night; we’ll talk then! Just have the good wine waiting for me!"
With that, he winked at Xiao Jin and, under the other man's somewhat complicated gaze, turned back to the two women.
As they walked through another stretch of the corridor, Ye Shuyao watched Yu Huan and Gu Qianli walking side-by-side. They were talking in low voices, and she couldn't interject at all.
A sense of anxiety surged in her heart—she knew Gu Qianli and Yu Huan had known each other for centuries, a bond far older than the one he had with her, his "benefactor."
Even though Gu Qianli hovered around her all day… what if he harbored other feelings for this peerlessly beautiful old friend?
She quickened her pace and squeezed between them as if by accident.
Gu Qianli turned his head and smiled. "What's wrong?"
Ye Shuyao gave a cold huff and ignored him, grabbing Yu Huan’s arm and saying affectionately, "Sister Yu, my Senior Brother has been hogging you these past few days; I could hardly find a chance to talk to you! I finally caught you today!"
"Before I came to Nanjiang, I saw you in many romantic novels. They said your grace was peerless, and seeing you now, you really are better looking than even my Senior Brother!" She deliberately brought up appearance, both to test Yu Huan and to observe Gu Qianli’s reaction.
She then gave a pointed smile. "Even though he practices the Path of Heartlessness, you two look so well-matched standing together."
The implication was clear—using someone else's name to subtly sever any romantic link between Yu Huan and Gu Qianli.
Yu Huan: "…?"
On one hand, no one would be happy to find out they were written into romantic pulp novels. On the other hand, this County Princess was comparing her looks to a man? And saying they were well-matched? Well-matched with that cold-blooded Living Yama?
But seeing the clarity in the girl's eyes, her little scheme was transparent. Yu Huan found it amusing and understood her worry—she was afraid this childhood friend would steal her "Brother Gu."
She smiled faintly. "The County Princess is the one graced with such spirit and beauty, a true natural gem. Those novels are merely fabrications. I am devoted to my cultivation and have no heart for romance; I fear I’ve disappointed the 'kindness' of those authors."
Her gaze drifted to the grinning Gu Qianli as she teased, "Rather, it is the County Princess and Major Secretary Gu—one a fair lady, the other a dashing gentleman—who look much more pleasing to the eye standing together."
Hearing this, Gu Qianli was naturally overjoyed. "Sister Yu, if you can speak so well, please speak more!"
"Who's pleasing to the eye with him?!" Ye Shuyao said, but her eyes suddenly lit up. Hearing Yu Huan distance herself, she gripped Yu Huan’s arm even tighter.
"Actually, Sister Yu, you're so wonderful! You're both beautiful and insightful! Unlike my Senior Brother, who keeps a cold face all day and does nothing but force me to practice my skills and copy books. So boring! Ugh, I take back what I said! He’s not a match for you at all. He’s much uglier than you; he doesn't deserve you in the slightest…"
Yu Huan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just a moment ago, she was forcing a match, and now she changed her tune the second she got what she wanted? But these words were pleasant to the ear—who would want to be a match for that smiling tiger?
Beside them, Gu Qianli rubbed his chin and spoke up, "Yaoyao, what you said isn't quite right."
Ye Shuyao: "?"
He said solemnly, "Judging solely by skin-deep beauty, your Sister Yu’s title as the First Beauty is well-deserved. But—to compare Brother Xie to others based only on skin is to undervalue him far too much."
"True beauty lies in the bone, not the skin. With frost and snow for spirit and jade for bone, that certain aura…"
Gu Qianli’s gaze turned distant, as if reminiscing. "If not for the fact that my heart is already spoken for," he tossed a wink at Ye Shuyao, "and if not for Brother Xie’s terrifying reputation that keeps people at a distance…"
He said slowly, "I'm afraid even a man like me would be unable to resist, having my soul stolen away by him."
Yu Huan: "?"
Ye Shuyao: "??"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Gu Qianli realized his slip of the tongue and hurried to fix it. "No, I mean, he looks so untouchable that it makes one want to peel away those layers of clothing and see the true face beneath…"
The more he explained, the worse it sounded.
After speaking, even he was stunned. "?"
Ye Shuyao pointed at him, her voice trembling. "Gu Qianli! What… what kind of nonsense are you saying?! You couldn't… you couldn't actually have fallen for my Senior Brother, could you?!"
She was utterly shocked, feeling a strange sense of crisis.
Gu Qianli quickly begged for mercy. "I was wrong! Don't misunderstand! My Sect appreciates beauty regardless of gender, but my heart was long ago tethered by a little heartless thing like you! Heaven and earth be my witness!" He swore to the heavens, his peach-blossom eyes full of affection.
Standing nearby, Yu Huan’s temple throbbed.
As expected of someone from the Joy Union Sect; he dared to say anything.
Ye Shuyao’s mind was a mess.
Gu Qianli’s attitude toward Yu Huan was as clear as water, without a hint of romantic tension.
But those words about her Senior Brother were bizarre.
Who could possibly fall for a cold, rigid person like him? Isn't that just asking for suffering??
She pursed her lips, her inner alarm bells ringing as her sense of crisis suddenly shifted directions.
The three of them, each with their own thoughts, entered Gu Qianli’s guest courtyard, which was draped in crimson gauze and filled with the characteristic style of the Joy Union Sect.
Sitting by the window, Yu Huan noticed a copy of the "Ice Heart Mantra" written in elegant script on the table, with the original jade slip annotated by Xie Wulei lying open beside it.
She asked intentionally, "Isn't this the County Princess's schoolwork? Why is it in Major Secretary Gu’s room?"
Ye Shuyao’s cheeks flushed slightly. "Gu Qianli insisted on snatching it to help me copy! I didn't ask him to!"
Gu Qianli waved his fan and laughed. "Brother Xie ordered her to copy it three hundred times. I was afraid she’d get tired, so I happened to try a new use for my Word Spirit Divine Ability, 'Dragons and Snakes,' to copy it both quickly and beautifully!"
Yu Huan saw the pride in his eyes and noticed Ye Shuyao’s feigned annoyance that hid an equal amount of pride. She couldn't help but chuckle.
Her gaze fell upon the open "Ice Heart Mantra." The mantra itself was balanced and peaceful, but the sword-intent annotations on the side were full of paranoid and even harsh judgments:
"Romance is like poison, burning the heart and corroding the bones."
"Once delusions arise, the foundation of the Dao must crumble."
"Remaining unmoved by beauty is the mark of a true cultivator."
"Only through ultimate purity and coldness can one attain eternity."
…
Between the lines lay nothing but rational restraint. Yu Huan also noticed that in the blank spaces of the annotations, there were doodles of little turtles and phrases like "Old Fossil," "Ugly Freak," and "Ice Face." Her mouth twitched.
Ye Shuyao coughed, trying to save face. "…Senior Brother is very serious with his annotations, right? Every word is a gem, true wisdom of the Great Dao!"
Yu Huan: "…" It certainly fit his persona of having severed all desires.
But a sense of strangeness welled up in her heart: severing desires was the instinctive state of a Heartlessness cultivator. Why was there a need for such deliberate, cautionary annotations, as if he were constantly reminding himself?
On second thought, he wasn't reminding himself; he was clearly on guard, afraid that Ye Shuyao’s Dao heart would be stained by the dust of the world, making her unable to inherit the lineage of the Ninth Peak.
Gu Qianli poured some floral tea and got to the point. "How is Brother Xie’s injury? I saw his door was tightly shut earlier, so I didn't go in to disturb him."
Yu Huan’s hand holding the cup paused. "The external wounds are healed. But internally… I am helpless. His life is not in danger, but as for the pain, he can only endure it."
Gu Qianli’s brow furrowed. "Even a Heavenly Physician can't help? This backlash is truly that severe? Still, it shouldn't leave a Great Ascension Cultivator this weak."
He recalled the Human Emperor inquiring about Xie Wulei’s old injuries and felt a surge of alarm. "I observed his aura; there is a deep accumulation of old ailments. His physical strength doesn't seem to reach the reality of the Great Ascension realm, as if he suffered an extremely severe wound to his very source?"
"Yes." Ye Shuyao’s eyes reddened. "It was an injury from the battle at the East Sea Soul-Burying Cavern ten years ago. That Soul-Burying Cavern is incredibly sinister; it's a cursed land that drifts through Jiuzhou. No one knows when or where a spatial rift will open, but once it does, countless Spirits of the Nine Nether surge out like a gateway to the ghost realm has been opened, filled with terrifying malevolence. That time, it opened in the East Sea—"
"Senior Brother was heavily injured while suppressing it. His physical body collapsed, and his soul nearly dissipated. This current body was reconstructed by the Sect Master using countless supreme treasures…"
Gu Qianli sucked in a breath. "Physical collapse? Soul dissipation? Reconstructed body?! That’s practically dying once already!"
Yu Huan was also stunned.
Gu Qianli was horrified for a moment, then remembered the man’s pale appearance. So that was why.
However, he privately mused that this reconstructed body was actually quite excellent—broad shoulders, narrow waist, perfectly proportioned. It was a pity it was trapped inside the shell of Supreme Detachment. If he didn't join the Joy Union Sect, it would be a complete waste of natural resources.
"After the heavy injury, he slept for ten whole years in the Frost Abyss Forbidden Ground of the Ninth Peak before waking up," Ye Shuyao said with a complex expression.
"He slept for ten years without waking?"
Gu Qianli found it hard to believe. "But in those ten years, whenever I went to look for you, I clearly saw him no less than twenty times! Just recently, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I ran into him at the Star Observation Terrace. He was standing in white under the moonlight, twirling a jade talisman, his aura perfectly stable!"
Author's Note: