Granny You had finally remembered Gu Qishao.
“Feiye, something’s happened to Sir Gu Qi![1] Quick, come with me!” Granny You urged.
Long Feiye wasn’t concerned, but Han Yunxi grew anxious. “What’s wrong with him?”
Gu Qishao had the Moye sword spirit and poisons to protect himself, so it shouldn’t be a challenge for him to deal with the three Heretical Sword Sect elders!
“I don’t know either, you should all just come with me.” Granny You said as she retraced her steps with everyone following. But they hadn’t gone far when they saw Gu Qishao heading towards them, seemingly unharmed.
“What’s happened to him?” Long Feiye finally asked.
“When I was bringing him over before, he suddenly lost his wits and stood there unmoving. He didn’t react no matter what I did. But why, now...” Granny You looked over, puzzled. Gu Qishao seemed to be completely normal.
Long Feiye didn’t speak, but as Gu Qishao came closer, the rest of the group realized something was wrong. Granny You and the two Honored Elders didn’t sense much, but Gu Qishao’s companions noticed it right away. Rather, it was his gaze on Long Feiye that was out of the ordinary! If this was any other day, Gu Qishao would never stare Long Feiye straight in the face. At least, not eye-to-eye--he’d tried to loom over him or glance at him with disdain. But this Gu Qishao hadn’t shifted his eyes from Long Feiye a second the entire way here. Those long, narrow eyes contained indescribable feelings within them.
Han Yunxi was very displeased by the staring. She unconsciously drew closer to Long Feiye and grabbed his hand. [2] Although puzzled, Long Feiye remained calm and stared back at Gu Qishao, whose gaze didn’t waver.
“What are you looking at?” Long Feiye asked coldly.
“Long Feiye, I...why am I...” Gu Qishao seemed lost. “When I look at you, why do I feel kind of...” He thought for a while, but couldn’t finish the sentence. Long Feiye’s face had already turned gloomy, but Han Yunxi couldn’t take it anymore.
“Kind of what? What’s wrong with you?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Kind of...” Gu Qishao tried again, before he managed to blurt out, “Just...some very complicated feelings!”
Everyone froze.
What do you mean, “some very complicated feelings?” Why does it sound...so suggestive?
As the silence stretched on, Gu Qishao met Long Feiye’s eyes, his devastatingly beautiful face still lost in a confused yet happy haze. Meanwhile, Long Feiye was wearing the ugliest expression of his life! He had seen his share of adoring gazes, but this was the first time a man had given him such an ambiguous look. Was Gu Qishao trying to flirt with him? Or provoke him? He had to be sick of living!
As Gu Qishao continued his staring, Long Feiye unsheathed his sword--not Profound Frost, but the ancient sword Ganjiang. It had a temper of its own, but was now affected by Long Feiye’s feelings after falling under his control. Thus, the newly unsheathed blade was filled with strong killing intent.
In an instant, Gu Qishao turned immobile. Just like before, he was left staring blankly into space, his expression frozen on his face. The only difference was that he was now staring at the Ganjiang blade in Long Feiye’s hands. Everyone grew stunned by this development. Gu Beiyue pushed Gu Qishao, but he didn’t react.
“It was just like that,” Granny You said, “He was standing just like this.”
“Could it be...” Han Yunxi trailed off. “Because of the...”
As if realizing the reason, Long Feiye suddenly sheathed Ganjiang again. Immediately, Gu Qishao regained his senses, completely clueless as to what had happened. Once again, puzzlement crept onto his features. Long Feiye, Han Yunxi, and Gu Beiyue exchanged looks as if discovering a great secret. Granny You and the two Honored Elders were completely in the dark.
With interest, Long Feiye examined Gu Qishao from head to toe and unsheathed Ganjiang again. Immediately, Gu Qishao turned immobile once more. When Long Feiye replaced the sword in its scabbard, Gu Qishao recovered his senses. After repeated the tests yielded the same results, Gu Qishao finally cried out after Long Feiye sheathed his sword for the nth time.
“Enough!”
He had finally found his way here after his head cleared up, but was now muddle-headed after all of Long Feiye’s fiddling. All he felt was repeated instances where he lost control of his body. But it was rare for Long Feiye to find a game that amused him, so he ignored Gu Qishao’s entreaty and unsheathed Ganjiang again. Instantly, Gu Qishao went back to staring blankly.
Long Feiye was very quick in sheathing and unsheathing his weapon, leaving Gu Qishao torn between moments of clarity and confusion. His head began to get woozy from all the switching as he grew unsteady on his feet. Han Yunxi and Gu Beiyue had long been reduced to laughter, while Head Honored Elder had to ask, “Feiye, what’s going on?”
Finally, Long Feiye sheathed his sword for good, giving Gu Qishao back his wits. Before he could explain, Gu Qishao had already summoned Moye and snarled, “What kind of crap is this? This old man doesn’t want it anymore!” ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Novᴇ(l)Fɪre.net
Even he could figure out that this was the Moye sword spirit’s fault. After sensing the Ganjiang sword spirit, it had stolen away his soul and even turned him into Long Feiye’s toy. Every time the Ganjiang sword showed up, Gu Qishao lost his mind, but every time the Moye sword spirit showed itself, Ganjiang didn’t budge because it was under Long Feiye’s control!
Both Honored Elders were astonished at the sight of the new sword spirit.
“This...this is Moye! It’s really Moye!”
“Sir Gu Qi, why do you have the Moye sword spirit?” Granny You hadn’t seen it before she made it to the peak because Gu Qishao had already squirreled the spirit away. This was her first time seeing it in person and it was incredible.
While the Ganjiang sword was sealed atop Celestial Mountain, the Moye sword had long been destroyed. Its sword spirit had vanished from the jianghu ages ago. None of the three elders expected they’d live to see it in this lifetime, much less that Gu Qishao possessed it. Han Yunxi told them about their adventures in Qingchuan Water City before the three exhaled with feeling.
“This really is gaining everything with minimal effort! Feiye, this old man was worried that you two wouldn’t be able to track down the Moye sword spirit within the one-year deadline, but now it seems all you need to do is recast the spirit into a sword. There’s hope for your dual cultivation!” Head Honored Elder was very moved.
Second Elder and Granny You stared at Moye, unable to wrench their eyes away. What swordsman didn’t love treasured swords? Ganjiang was too powerful for them to view with the naked eye, but Moye was a female sword and much more gentle. Moreover, it only had spirit and no body, which meant it was at half strength. This gave them the chance to gaze upon it clearly at close range.
“Cast a sword...” Long Feiye trailed off meaningfully.
Meeting the Moye sword spirit had been a coincidence at Qingchuan Water City, just as obtaining the Ganjiang sword here was an unexpected bonus. Who knew that these two matters of chance would become the foundation to ensuring his dual cultivation with Han Yunxi succeeded? Head Honored Elder was right. If they hadn’t ran into Moye by chance, one year was unlikely for them to discover this sword spirit at all.[3]
Now all they had to do was forge a sword. Long Feiye’s first thought was the one-armed blacksmith in Qingchuan Water City, Ye Xiao. Back then Han Yunxi had spared his and the proprietress’ life. The old saying was true: helping others was equal to helping yourself.
Ye Xiao should be able to help them!
While everyone was rejoicing over Moye, Gu Qishao only said coldly, “Which of you lot can take the Moye sword spirit away? I can’t afford to keep it anymore.”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIf they hadn’t ran into Ganjiang, Gu Qishao would still like the Moye sword spirit. With its help, he could fight on par with some of the highest experts. But now he was basically under Long Feiye’s complete control. If Long Feiye got angry one day, all he had to do was draw his sword and Gu Qishao would be stuck spacing out like an idiot.
This sucks!
Both Honored Elders and Granny You wanted to accept feel what it was like to wield a sword spirit; unfortunately, it wasn’t an option. Not only was Moye very strong, it also carried traces of evil energy. Not just anyone could bear its power.
Feeling rather distressed for Gu Qishao, Gu Beiyue smiled and suggested, “If His Highness and the princess join forces, they should be able to use the Lustbite and Phoenix energies to subdue Moye.”
Back at Qingchuan Water City, Han Yunxi had yet to awaken her Phoenix energy or else Moye wouldn’t have fallen into Gu Qishao’s hands. Hearing Gu Beiyue’s suggestion made Gu Qishao chuckle as he turned to Han Yunxi. “Poison lass, Ganjiang and Moye were couple swords to begin with. Since Long Feiye has Ganjiang, it’s only natural for you to possess Moye. How could Qi gege steal your things? Hurry and take back, yeah?”
Han Yunxi smiled guilelessly and prepared to reply when Long Feiye suddenly stuffed Ganjiang into Gu Qishao’s hands. He caught the sword out of reflex and discovered that it was very heavy.
“I’ll take it back after we finish forging another blade. For now, you can look after this sword too. Keep a close eye on it, you’ll pay with your life if you lose it!” Long Feiye’s eyes were chilly, but his final words were enough of a threat for Gu Qishao. “Pay with your life” reminded him that the only reason Gu Qishao could take the Moye sword spirit at all might be because of his undying body. If Han Yunxi were to take his place, she might not succeed at all. As soon as that happened, everyone would start suspecting his physiology.
A complex look flickered past Gu Qishao’s eyes before he gripped the Ganjiang sword with both hands, not daring to make a peep. Those who didn’t know any better might even assume Long Feiye had cowed him into submission. Just like that, Gu Qishao became Long Feiye’s exclusive sword slave, in charge of carrying his blade...
Although forging another sword was a big deal, now wasn’t the time for that. They still had to clean up the mess at Celestial Mountain! Other disciples had already taken the unconscious Master Jianxin back to Nine Xuan Hall. Both Honored Elders and Granny You stayed behind to oversee things while Long Feiye’s group brought the two surviving Heretical Sword Sect elders to rescue Third Honored Elder. By the time they reached Heretical Sword Sect, it had already been abandoned. Only a few disciples who didn’t escape in time remained. That didn’t matter with the two Heretical Sword Sect elders in their hands. They were certain they could still track down Third Honored Elder.
“Where is he?” Han Yunxi demanded icily.
Second and Third Elder had long submitted to Long Feiye and the rest after witnessing Head Elder’s gruesome death.
“In the secret dungeons!” Second Elder cried. But by the time he and Third Elder led them there, the room was already empty.
“Where is he?” Long Feiye demanded like ice. Third Honored Elder was no ordinary prisoner! With the three Heretical Sword Sect elders at Celestial Mountain and Bai Yanqing gone, who else could have gotten the key to this place?
1. Sir Gu Qi...Sir Gucci...oh, the temptation is so strong...
2. Is...is HYX being jealous of GQS here?
3. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you do....*drumrolls* the protagonists’ handy plot armor! You can’t lose with this baby by your side.