Chapter 52 The person behind her pressed their lips against her earlobe, gently biting it.
Ling Shu: "Wait! Immortal Venerable Gu Wan."
Gu Wan turned around: "Is something the matter?"
Zhuang Jinfu replied, "I have something to do."
Before the words were even finished, Mei Xu, along with the scabbard, flew out and hit Gu Wan on the back. Gu Wan staggered forward, steadied herself, and turned around to say, "Zhuang Jinfu, you're so naive!"
"Ah! Master, what are you doing?"
"I'm annoyed, I want to hit someone."
Yin Yu whispered, "She's holding a grudge. She got beaten up by Gu Wan before, and now she wants to get revenge."
Zhuang Jinfu jumped up, stepping on the tips of the grass, and kicked Gu Wan. Gu Wan retreated, but had nowhere to retreat, and was pinned against the tree trunk.
Zhuang Jinfu kicked her in the chest, his sword poking at Gu Wan's cheek. Gu Wan raised an eyebrow, nonchalantly raising her hands, feigning weakness as she cried out, "Ling Shu, save me!"
Ling Shu wondered what she meant by being called. Since she had been called, she would reluctantly go and help.
"Um... Master, isn't it wrong to hit people like this? You are all immortals. Although you can't be killed by beatings, you still have to beat them to death. Don't be soft-hearted. As the saying goes, you learn from your mistakes. Immortal Venerable Gu Wan will learn from her mistakes. Not everyone can be hit casually."
Gu Wan gritted her teeth and pointed at Ling Shu: "Fine, fine, so this is how you master and disciple play games? Yin Yu!"
Ling Shu made a face and said with her hands on her hips, "Of course I'm on my master's side." Yin Yu pretended not to see it, whistling and looking at the sky and the ground.
"Aaaaaah, you damn Zhuang Jinfu, you're really going to hit me?!"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! I was wrong, I was wrong!"
"Help! Someone's killing an immortal! Someone's killing an immortal!"
...
Half an hour later, Gu Wan was bruised and swollen. Zhuang Jinfu casually walked over with his hands behind his back, his sleeves fluttering, not even a strand of hair was out of place, and said to the two of them, "Let's go."
Gu Wan covered her face and silently followed behind the three of them, using her healing magic.
Ling Shu sneaked up to Gu Wan's side like a mouse. Gu Wan was on high alert and retreated three steps at lightning speed.
Ling Shu forcibly took her arm: "Tell me about you and Yi Yun."
Gu Wan turned her face away and said seriously, "I won't say."
Ling Shu shook her hand: "Tell me, tell me. I didn't hit you. Just tell me secretly, and I promise I won't tell anyone."
Gu Wan: "Don't even think about it!"
Ling Shu: "You didn't fight back either."
Gu Wan: "Who said that!"
Whoosh—a sword, its entire body icy cold, grazed past her hair and stopped beside her ear.
Gu Wan gasped.
"I'll talk, I'll talk."
Mei Xu flew back.
Gu Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
"We don't actually have any profound stories."
"It's just a story about a general and an assassin who came to kill him, one who loved the other but couldn't have him, and the other who eventually disappeared into the crowd."
"We met 380 years ago."
Three hundred and eighty years ago, on the battlefield.
"The general is wounded! Quickly, summon the medic!"
Soldiers carried the stretcher inside. The person on the stretcher had an arrow stuck in his chest, a third of it embedded in his body. He had cuts of varying depths on his arm, and blood stained half of his body.
A military doctor was led into the tent to treat the general.
The general was a woman, so the military doctor dismissed everyone else and treated her alone.
The medic put down the tray containing herbs, bandages, and knives, and softly called out, "General?"
There was no response.
The military doctor gently cut open the clothing with scissors to check the wound.
Then take the hairpin from your hair. There is a mechanism on the hairpin. Press it down and pull it out to reveal a short arrow with sharp ends.
A fierce look flashed across the army doctor's face as he forcefully stabbed the general in the neck.
The general suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed her hand with one hand, rolled over and got up from the bed, and in the blink of an eye he was behind the army doctor, tightly binding her two hands.
The general used a bit of skill, and the short sword fell to the ground, where she kicked it away.
The military doctor leaned down, deliberately touching her wound, which made the person behind him hiss.
The person behind her pressed their lips against her earlobe, gently biting it: "Yiyun, wouldn't it be better to surrender to me?"
Yi Yun stomped on her foot hard, turned her face away, and said hatefully, "Gu Wan, kill me if you want, but don't insult me!"
"Insult?" Gu Wan licked her lips. "What's wrong with me?" Gu Wan pulled the sword from her chest and began to clean her wound with healing magic.
Yiyun struggled, but Gu Wan held her even tighter, panting heavily: "If you come five times, I'll let you go five times. They haven't killed you yet, so it seems they have high hopes for you."
Gu Wan released her ear and took a deep breath on her neck: "What, you spent three years seducing me, and now that I've willingly taken the bait, why are you scared?"
Yiyun's mind was racing; this person... was simply insane!
"Gu Wan, let me go! I don't like you!"
Gu Wan turned the person over, pulled her close, and stared at her with her clear, hawk-like eyes: "Why are we fighting amongst ourselves when we are all human? Our real enemy is the demon. If you kill the leader and take his place, are you confident you can win? The noble families you serve sit back and do nothing about the lives of their people. When the real slaughter comes, will they stand tall and fight to the death?"
Yiyun paused. A new general needs time to adjust, and the war is nearing its end. Would changing generals rashly really be beneficial to the situation? She hadn't thought that much about it before. She was just an assassin trained by a noble family, only following orders, regardless of the mission.
Yiyun pondered for a moment and then stopped struggling.
A hand supported her head, and then the person opposite her kissed her lightly.
Her breathing was disordered, and her demands were insatiable, making it difficult for Yiyun to cope.
She pushed Gu Wan away, her eyes brimming with tears, and said with shame and indignation, "What you cultivate is not the Path of Heartlessness at all."
Gu Wan looked at her with amusement: "Oh? Then what path do I cultivate?"
Yiyun turned her face away: "In short, it's not the path of heartlessness."
Gu Wan coaxed patiently, "Do you want to know what kind of path I cultivate?"
Yi Yun froze, turned around, and stared at her with wide eyes: "You... you really are not a celestial being who cultivates the Path of Ruthlessness. You have deceived everyone."
Gu Wan seized the opportunity to kiss her, but pulled away immediately. Yi Yun glared at her, and Gu Wan's lips drew ever closer to Yi Yun's as she whispered, "Your path."
Yiyun then realized that she had just been playing a trick on her.
"Let me go!"
"I can let you go, but you'll have to exchange it for the defense maps of the various aristocratic families."
"Don't even think about it!"
Gu Wan's tone softened, becoming somewhat serious: "Some parasites need to be dealt with. Yiyun, I will protect your family."
Yiyun was persuaded. In fact, she had been hesitant for a long time. The closer she got to this legendary immortal who cultivated the ruthless path, the more she realized that Gu Wan was not the bloodthirsty, murderous monster that others described. Gu Wan was a person with great ambitions and who treated people with respect.
Evian surrendered her loyalty.
Two months later, the war was won, and Gu Wan returned to the capital.
Half a month before she returned to the city, the Zhang family, a prominent clan, was attacked and all 130 members were killed, leaving all the prominent families in a state of panic.
The investigation led back to Yiyun.
Yiyun vehemently denied it, claiming that she had been threatened with the lives of her family and forced to kill Gu Wan.
She had no choice but to go. Inside the tent, Gu Wan wiped her armor as she listened to her recount what had happened to the Zhang family.
Did you do what happened to the Zhang family?
"yes."
"I've changed my mind. Give me back the defense map."
"It's too late."
"Gu Wan! If you want to kill a noble family, you don't have to wipe them out entirely!"
Gu Wan stopped wiping her armor: "Do assassins have feelings too? Yiyun, what's holding you back?"
Yiyun remained silent about being threatened with her family's involvement.
"Family?"
Yiyun remained silent.
"It seems I was right."
"Good Yiyun, soon no one will hold you back."
Yiyun was stunned: "What do you want to do? Don't you dare touch my family!"
"Killers shouldn't have families."
Gu Wan's cold attitude sent a chill down Yi Yun's spine: "You said you would protect my family!"
Gu Wan sneered, "Looks like you want to die with your family. Get lost, I don't need anyone with weaknesses here."
Her completely opposite attitude made Yiyun feel extremely uncomfortable. Standing there alone, she suddenly realized: "You've only ever used me as a tool. You've been sweet-talking me, only wanting to get the defense map from me. Gu Wan, you've been using me all along!"
“Oh dear,” Gu Wan said coldly, “you found out.”
Yiyun drew her sword and lunged at her, but the sword was blocked by a magical force, stopping an inch in front of her chest.
Gu Wan looked up, and Yi Yun was sent flying.
Gu Wan slowly walked to her side, squatted down, and gently stroked her face, her movements tender, yet her eyes were devoid of warmth: "How could the Heartless Immortal Venerable possibly love someone?"
Yiyun got up to fight again, but she was forced to retreat and could not get close to Gu Wan at all.
"Get out of here, you're no longer of any use to me."
Yiyun fled in a daze.
Gu Wan never saw Yi Yun again.
After Yiyun left, Gu Wan would subconsciously try to stay awake whenever she was injured, because Yiyun would always sneak in disguise as a military doctor whenever she was injured.
She felt completely bewildered.
After that incident, Yiyun never appeared again.
The aristocratic families have deep-seated problems, and she wants to strike them down. She believes that reform is useless; reform only temporarily hides the original problems and changes the superficial contradictions. The fundamental foundation of the aristocratic families has not been shaken. The only method she can think of is killing.
Indiscriminate killing.
She used everything at her disposal, whether it was deception or manipulation, anything that could achieve her goal.
She wants to give more talented people from impoverished backgrounds an opportunity to cultivate themselves.
But she alone could not withstand the combined attack from all the powerful families.
She was forced onto the altar, where someone carried a corpse up.
It is Yiyun.
Yiyun was hanged. They wanted to hang her and the two traitors on the altar as a blood sacrifice to the slaughtered noble bloodline.
Yiyun's body was left at her feet.
They said she was really stupid, coming to the city gate every day to ask if the general had returned in triumph, saying they caught her easily without much effort, and she was still asking before she died.
Gu Wan was stunned.
Gu Wan never imagined that someone would expect her to return to the city safely after being used by her. She thought, "Isn't that just being pathetic?"
She couldn't understand why.
A hidden feeling is taking root and sprouting in my heart.
As Yiyun's body rolled at her feet, she suddenly felt how insignificant an ordinary person was, yet how powerful they were, tightly binding her heart. This little person also had her own choices, her own love and her own thoughts; she was so vibrant.
Her thoughts about the common people, the world, humble families, and the greater good all seem hypocritical in the face of Yiyun's real passing.
She uses real people to achieve her "great righteousness" of protecting the world.
Hypocritical, feigning benevolence and righteousness.
What has she been doing all this time?
Gu Wan's unwavering belief in the ruthless path has collapsed.
She no longer cares about lofty ideals or saving the world.
Those powerful families drove her to the brink of despair. Gu Wan went mad and slaughtered all three thousand people below the altar. Her blood stained the moat red, and the river remained red for seven days.
Black lightning struck down from the sky, hitting her heavily; this was the lightning of a fallen immortal.
Her sins were too great, and Heaven could not tolerate her, so it removed her from the ranks of immortals.
Gu Wan ruthlessly revealed the truth, and afterwards, General Gu Wan was no more in the world.
Gu Wan buried Yi Yun's body and chased after her to the Tongxuan Secret Realm. Finally, at the entrance of a cave, she found the clothes that Gu Wan had personally changed for Yi Yun before her burial.
Clothes were torn to shreds and scattered all over the floor.
The deceased noble families still gather in the Tongxuan Secret Realm... They capture Yiyun and push her into the swarm of stalks at night.
Gu Wan spent countless nights searching and finally found a nephew in the nephews that carried the scent of Yi Yun.
This is not Yiyun, she knows it very well.
She may have swallowed Evian or torn a piece from her soul; in any case, this ugly creature could not possibly be Evian.
But she had no choice. This was her only chance to get close to Yiyun, and she had to hold onto even the slightest trace of her.
She dressed the snake in human skin, taught her to speak, taught her to do what a human would do, took her to the street, and had her catch people to absorb their yang energy.
Until he met Zhuang Jinfu and Yin Yu.
They shattered her dream; it was time for her to return to reality.
She warned Zhuang Jinfu not to repeat her past, not to become a heartless person, and not to use any means to achieve her goals.
This Path of Ruthlessness is fundamentally contrary to human nature. Those who cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness are prone to disregarding actual lives for the sake of "saving all living beings," thus committing grave sins of killing. She said she should have broken away from the Path of Ruthlessness and cultivated another path. She also said that the Heavenly Court was wrong to choose the guardian immortals from among those who cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness.
This system for selecting immortals is wrong.
She is a defective product of this system.
Now she wants to mend her broken self.
"Poor Yiyun," Ling Shu sighed after hearing this.
Zhuang Jinfu remained silent.
When Ling Shu heard Wu Qing reveal that he had been demoted to a lower-ranking person, he glanced at Zhuang Jin Fu.
She didn't want Zhuang Jinfu to bear the burden of sin.
She wanted to take back her feelings after he had firmly declared his love for her.
Even though she was certain that Zhuang Jinfu would not fall in love with her or go mad because of her, she still wanted to prevent anything bad from happening, just in case, for the sake of that one tiny bit of hope she held in her heart.
She used to enjoy watching unattainable beauties lose their composure and get angry over love affairs, finding it quite amusing. Now, she thinks that confessing one's feelings so naively and presumptuously is utterly absurd.
She dared not ask her to break the law to love her.
The best distance between them is to be a master and apprentice.
"So, what are your plans for the future, Immortal Venerable Gu Wan?" Ling Shu asked her.
Gu Wan: "Atone for my sins."
"My enlightenment and ascension were completely unexpected. Someone like me should have gone to hell, but I didn't go to hell, but ascended, which means there must still be a use for me."
“I will practice medicine, help the poor, or do other things,” Gu Wan said with a smile. “I will not save the common people, nor will I accept any offerings. I will go among the people, wherever I am needed, I will go.”
"However, I cannot escape the mistakes I made in the Tongxuan Secret Realm. I will atone for my sins here before leaving."
The three chatted with Gu Wan for a few minutes and learned that she was also going to the city, so they traveled together.
Daylight broke.
Zhuang Jinfu was originally walking beside Ling Shu, the two of them walking side by side, but after a while Ling Shu walked backward and went to Yin Yu's side.
Gu Wan saw Zhuang Jinfu walking ahead alone, so she followed her. Seeing that she was all alone, she spoke to her, saying, "If you like something, cherish it. Don't wait until you die to regret it."
"Can't understand."
Gu Wan cursed, "Keep pretending, or you'll lose your wife."
Zhuang Jinfu rolled his eyes: "You don't need to worry about it."
After entering the city, the four of them had breakfast and returned to their respective inns to rest. Yin Yu went to the government office to hand over the captured ghost. Gu Wan couldn't escape and was locked up by Yin Yu. After all, the case was related to her. After the report was submitted, Gu Wan had to serve as a soul-collecting ghost for a period of time to atone for her sins.
At lunchtime, Zhuang Jinfu came to wake Lingshu up for lunch.
Ling Shu refused to get up, so Zhuang Jinfu pushed the door open and came in, patting her blanket.
"Get up, Ling Shu."
Ling Shu crawled under the covers and turned over: "I'm not getting up."
Zhuang Jinfu sat on the edge of her bed, reached under the covers with both hands, pulled her up, and then let her lean against him, embracing her with both arms.
She said gently, "My disciple, get up, it's time for lunch."
The cool touch, the familiar crisp scent, the clear voice, and the soft touch on her back sent Ling Shu's mind racing, bringing her back to her senses.
She quickly got out of Zhuang Jinfu's arms, pulled the blanket over her body, leaving only her head sticking out.
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Ling Shu's reaction was a bit excessive. In the past, she would have pounced on her and wrapped her arms around her waist, snuggling up to continue sleeping. What's wrong with her today?
Zhuang Jinfu went out to wait for her to come downstairs for dinner. Yin Yu and Hu Shi were already downstairs. When they sat down, Ling Shu squeezed between Yin Yu and Hu Shi and ate happily, showing no signs of anything unusual.
Ling Shu was about to go out to inquire about Wen Ji's whereabouts. Zhuang Jinfu originally wanted to go with her, but Ling Shu told her not to, and that she would go with Yin Yu instead.
Zhuang Jinfu eventually followed her out.
Throughout the journey, Ling Shu didn't say a word to her, staying close to Yin Yu and calling her "Grandma" sweetly.
In Chunlan Tower, sitting at the same table meant inevitably having to sit next to Zhuang Jinfu. To stay away from her, Ling Shu moved a chair and sat in front of the small stage, preferring to listen to the music up close.
The same pipa player from last time came. She recognized Ling Shu at a glance. Ling Shu specially brought a chair over and stood very close to her, presumably because she liked her music. She lowered her eyes and bowed shyly, and was about to play her instrument barehanded.
Ling Shu interrupted her: "Wait, I want to ask you about someone."
The pipa player looked up shyly: "Whom does my patron wish to inquire about?"
"Wen Ji, a nine-tailed fox demon, do you know her?"
"know."
Ling Shu asked in surprise, "Where is she?"
"She is the owner of Chunlanlou."
Yin Yu was greatly shocked. Although she came often, she had never inquired about who the owner was. Ling Shu couldn't believe that finding her mother was so easy. Zhuang Jin Fu calmly drank his tea.
Ling Shu: "Could you introduce me to someone?"
"Can."
The pipa player, holding her pipa, stood up and asked them to sit down while she went to invite her employer.
The person returned shortly afterward.
The pipa player led a woman dressed in simple clothes. She had an oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a mole at the end of her eyebrow. She had a gentle temperament and was very approachable. As soon as Ling Shu saw her, she rushed over and hugged her.
"Mother."
Winnie: "I don't have a child as big as you."
Ling Shu held her tightly, saying, "Mother is just teasing me. You are clearly my mother."
Wenji pulled her hand away: "Child, you've mistaken me for someone else. I've never given birth, how could I have a child as big as you?"
Zhuang Jinfu put down his teacup and stood up: "Lingshu, please don't be rude to the master. My disciple misses his mother and mistook you for someone else in a moment of panic. Please forgive him."
Wen Ji looked at her with a more scrutinizing gaze, and chuckled as she asked, "You are Shu'er's master?"
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