Yang Jian reached out and patted Gu Zhaoyan’s back, comforting him. “Master Liaokong’s lifespan has reached its end. Do not grieve too much.”
Gu Zhaoyan hugged Yang Jian’s lean and powerful waist tightly, his eyes red and brimming with moisture. “I know. I’m just sad that I never had the chance to show filial piety to Master before he left.”
Listening to Gu Zhaoyan’s choked voice, Yang Jian sighed softly as he stroked his silvery-white hair. “Life and death are decreed by fate. Master Liaokong passed away with a smile, so you should be happy for him.”
“I know.” Gu Zhaoyan nodded, turning his head slightly to rub the moisture from his eyes against Yang Jian’s chest. Yang Jian comforted him for a long time before Gu Zhaoyan finally pulled away, lifting his reddened eyes to look up at him. “Senior Brother, have you been very busy lately? You haven’t entered my dreams for so many days.”
Yang Jian smiled and wiped the tear tracks from his face. “Yes, these past two days have indeed been a bit busy.”
Remembering the silver wolf, Gu Zhaoyan couldn’t help telling Yang Jian about it. “Earlier, when I was looking for medicine for Master, I met a silver wolf under unusual circumstances. When I came down the mountain, it insisted on coming with me, saying that following me would help it find its Dao, and even offered to become my guardian spirit beast. Its cultivation is quite good, surpassing mine, and it has already refined its vocal cords. I figured that having a companion as we travel the world is much better than fighting alone, so I agreed to bring it along.”
Hearing this, Yang Jian smiled. “For it to have such a premonition means it shares a karmic bond with you.” With that, he closed his eyes, sending a wisp of divine sense out of Gu Zhaoyan’s dreamscape to inspect the silver wolf resting beside him. Seeing that its surrounding spiritual aura was pure and untainted, indicating it did not walk a crooked path, Yang Jian nodded slightly, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
At that moment, the silver wolf, standing guard by Gu Zhaoyan’s side, suddenly felt a gaze so powerful it made the heart flutter linger over it. But the moment it tried to track down the source, the feeling vanished entirely.
It opened its eyes, gazing around alertly with sharp, ice-blue eyes. Watching this, Yang Jian nodded with satisfaction. Not bad. Since Zhaoyan’s cultivation isn’t high yet, having the silver wolf by his side gives me some peace of mind.
Withdrawing his divine sense, Yang Jian smiled gently at Gu Zhaoyan. “The aura around the silver wolf is pure and clear. With it protecting you, I can rest easy.”
Gu Zhaoyan grabbed Yang Jian’s hand and asked, “Senior Brother, I’ve almost mastered that set of sword techniques you taught me last time, but there are still a few parts I don’t quite understand.”
“Which parts don’t you understand? Show me by running through it once,” Yang Jian said.
Gu Zhaoyan smiled, drew the frost-white longsword Yang Jian had given him, and began to move. Yang Jian watched closely, then suddenly flashed behind Gu Zhaoyan. Placing one hand over Gu Zhaoyan’s hand on the sword hilt, he guided his arm through the form. “Do not try to follow this move mechanically. Its essence lies in fluidity and moving as your heart desires.”
A wide, warm chest pressed against his back, and Gu Zhaoyan felt his heart race wildly. As a deep, gentle voice echoed close to his ear, his heartbeat thundered like a drum. Beneath the strands of white hair, his jade-white ears quietly turned a soft shade of pink. He bit the tip of his tongue, warning himself not to lose his composure and let Yang Jian discover any flaws, otherwise his senior brother might never come to see him in his dreams again. Suppressing the various tender, fluttering emotions in his chest, he listened intently to Yang Jian’s guidance.
How Gu Zhaoyan came to be Yang Jian’s junior brother was a matter of sheer coincidence. As a model youth of the twenty-first century, even though he was an orphan, Gu Zhaoyan had always strived diligently. After working hard for many years, just as he was about to graduate, he was struck and sent flying by a drunk driver the moment he stepped out of school, dying completely.
To Gu Zhaoyan’s surprise, however, a stray evil wind blew his transparent soul away to some unknown place after death, and a cluster of red flame burrowed right into his soul, nearly burning his spirit to nothingness. Fortunately, he was rescued by Yang Jian, but that patch of red fire had rooted itself deeply inside Gu Zhaoyan’s body and refused to budge. With no other choice, Yang Jian could only send Gu Zhaoyan down the fast lane of reincarnation, after all, it was because of his pursuit of that stray flame that Gu Zhaoyan had suffered collateral damage.
After his reincarnation, because of that cluster of fire, Gu Zhaoyan grew a large red birthmark across half his face, and even his hair color turned silvery-white from the soul-scorching heat. This caused his family to view him as inauspicious and cast him out.
When Gu Zhaoyan had grown to the age of five at Master Liaokong’s Floating Cloud Temple, Yang Jian finally entered his dream, explained the cause and effect, and apologized. “If you are willing, I can take you as my disciple to make amends.”
However, Gu Zhaoyan was reluctant. Captivated by Yang Jian’s stunning looks from the very first glance, he stammered, “I… I don’t want to be your disciple.” If we become master and disciple, how can I graze on the grass beside my own burrow in the future? Although the possibility of him winning over Yang Jian was slim to none, he still had to clear the obstacles first, right?
Yang Jian looked Gu Zhaoyan up and down, frowning slightly. “No wonder Master said you and I lack a true master-disciple fate. How about I take you as an apprentice on behalf of Master instead? From then on, we will address each other as senior and junior brothers.”
“Ah?” Gu Zhaoyan looked up at him in surprise. “Taking an apprentice on behalf of Master? Is that allowed?” Even though he desperately wanted to agree, what if Yang Jian did this casually and his master grew displeased upon finding out?
As if reading his thoughts, Yang Jian smiled. “When I set out, Master also mentioned that he did share a karmic master-disciple fate with you.”
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoyan quickly cupped his fists and bowed. “Zhaoyan greets Senior Brother!” He was terrified Yang Jian might change his mind if he was even a second too late.
Yang Jian smiled and produced a frost-white longsword, handing it to him. “A welcoming gift. First, I will impart a set of cultivation techniques to you. From now on, I will frequently enter your dreams to guide your practice.”
Hearing that he would be able to see Yang Jian regularly in his dreams, Gu Zhaoyan immediately beamed, his brows and eyes curving happily. Framed against his snow-white face, it made him look even more dazzling and beautiful.
Yang Jian had guided him all the way to the present day. The little child of back then had now grown into a dashing youth whose exquisite, picturesque features could steal anyone’s breath away. Even Yang Jian, accustomed as he was to the beauties of the three realms, sometimes found his mind wandering when looking at him.
When dawn broke, Gu Zhaoyan woke up right on schedule. After washing up, he continued his journey with Bailang.
Noticing him hang a string of transparent glazed prayer beads around his neck, Bailang asked with curiosity, “You’re not a monk, and your current journey is to find your family. Why are you still wearing Master Liaokong’s prayer beads?”
Gu Zhaoyan stopped in his tracks, brought his palms together before Bailang, and chanted a Buddhist greeting: “Amitabha. Esteemed benefactor, do you think I look like a Buddha’s child descended into the mortal world?”
Bailang looked him over carefully. Although Gu Zhaoyan possessed an ethereal, handsome appearance, he wore a serious expression right now. Half of his silvery-white hair flowed loosely down his back while the other half was secured with a matching silk ribbon, trailing down the back of his head and lending his otherworldly face an even colder, more transcendent air. He looked precisely like a descended deity or Buddha, effortlessly inspiring trust and goodwill in anyone who laid eyes on him.
Bailang remained baffled by this display, a rare look of confusion flickering across its ice-blue eyes.
Seeing this, a flash of mischief crossed Gu Zhaoyan’s eyes as he said, “Although I know a few tricks for slaying demons and routing ghosts, I’m not a Daoist priest, and I’ve only just descended the mountain. Look at me, I look like a young master lacking the strength to truss a chicken. Where do I look like an expert?”
He placed one hand behind his back and raised the other in front of his chest. “But monks are different. Once I wear these prayer beads, even though I haven’t had my head shaved, anyone with discerning eyes can tell at a glance that I’m a lay disciple of the Buddhist school, and a high-monk’s disciple at that. As we travel the world together, our goal is to vanquish demons and accumulate merit. Now that I have this air of a high monk, ordinary people who encounter hardships will surely treat me as a master. That way, our channels for slaying demons and helping people will open up, the common folk’s troubles will be resolved, and you and I can both accumulate merit. It’s a win-win situation.”
If it weren’t for his reluctance to part with his head of silvery-white hair, he would have shaved it bald long ago, making him look even more like an eminent monk!