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Translator: Zenas
Proofreader: Silavin
The wind in the night was slightly cold and the mottled bamboo appeared even more serene under the moonlight.
Bai Lie was stupefied as he looked at the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. He felt as if his skull had been opened and a basin of cold water had been poured inside. His body had gone numb at once and he felt icy-cold throughout his body. Just now, he was still holding onto the last bit of his delusional hope that Yin Mei was just joking with him. But such dreams ended the moment he saw his great enemy, Gu Changge, appearing here all of a sudden and picked up the warm wine on the stone table to gulp it down in a carefree and relaxed manner.
Until just a little while ago, Bai Lie had thought that the wine was prepared for him. Furthermore, considering Yin Mei’s attitude and words, it seemed that he had always been kept in the dark and played like a fiddle. This realization made Bai Lie’s whole body tremble with rage. His eyes turned red as a terrifying and ominous aura appeared on his forehead. The character ‘王’’ on his forehead seemed to have come to life and the illusory image of a huge white tiger also appeared in the void behind him. He was not really a fool. It was just that he had been deceived by Yin Mei so far. But right now, he has come to his senses.
“Gu Changge, you…” He glared at the other two people in fury. His eyes were full of intense rage!
It had only been a moment since Gu Changge showed himself and spoke to Bai Lie. He was faintly smiling as if he had completely not noticed the furious Bai Lie in front of him.
“Brother Bai, do you perhaps dislike the thought of drinking wine with this Gu?” Gu Changge sat down behind the stone table. As the moonlight illuminated his handsome and peerless face, he seemed aloof and transcendent like a jade-white god. However, his figure still did not seem out of place. Bai Lie’s heart felt heavier and heavier with each beat, and there was no place on his body that did not feel cold to him.
“Yin Mei, how can you treat your fiancé like this? How about you pour some wine for him? We did trouble him a bit by making him come here so late at night.” Gu Changge smiled in a calm and indifferent manner. He poured the wine for himself and gulped it down, totally ignoring Bai Lie who seemed to be seething in anger.
As far as Gu Changge was concerned, everything that was happening tonight was planned by him. Bai Lie had sent his guardian and followers away to capture Ye Ling, but Ye Ling was being chased by Old Ming and he was likely no longer present in the ancient city. As such, it was going to take a long time before Bai Lie’s men could find Ye Ling.
Gu Changge managed to make some free time. He had been carrying out many plans over the past period, and no outsider except for Bai Lie had seen him here. Ye Ling had not even seen how he really looked. Just a while ago he had gone over to take a look at his scapegoat and he had found him satisfying enough.
As Gu Changge had expected of a Fortuitous One, Ye Ling’s strength and reaction speed were excellent. Not to mention, he also had many life-saving means. Gu Changge had perceived the aura of destruction from the black rune in Ye Ling’s hand. It was most likely a rune that the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being had left for Ye Ling. It was why Gu Changge had told Old Ming not to force his hand and that it was enough to appear as if he was chasing him to kill him. He knew Ye Ling would also not want to use that sort of precious thing as it would be a real waste to use it against someone at the Enlightened King Realm. Old Ming did not have to lose his life because of such a trivial thing.
Naturally, the current stage had been set up by him as well. Gu Changge had instructed Yin Mei to give Bai Lie the ‘hint’ to come to this place. It was not to show-off Bai Lie’s beautiful fiancé being subservient to him, even though he could not deny that it felt really good. Gu Changge had done all this because he still had something in mind. If Bai Lie did not die here, how would he pin the blame on Ye Ling? [It’s time for Bai Lie to play the biggest role in my scheme]
“Yes, Master.” Yin Mei slowly and gracefully walked over to Bai Lie, whose entire body had gone stiff as he was staring daggers at her, furious. She filled the wine cup in front of him before speaking indifferently, “How about you express your thanks to Master for bestowing this wine on to you?”
There was not a sign of gentleness in her tone that Bai Lie was used to before. Instead, there was indifference and disgust in her voice. It made Bai Lie’s body tremble in rage as he felt like slapping her to death. How could he be so foolish? To have been played like a fiddle until now? But if he did not personally see all this tonight, it was possible that he would continue to be fooled and manipulated by Yin Mei.
“You sure have a vicious heart! Yin Mei, I’ve always been very nice and respectful to you. So, why would you do such a thing to me?” Bai Lie could not help but roar at her. It was just that his voice could not travel out of this place.
Yin Mei shot him a glance but did not say anything. She felt that there was no need to talk about these things with him.
*Buzz!* All sides of the inner courtyard began to glow at this moment as layer after layer of hazy light rose like a floating mist and transformed into a terrifying and chaotic thick fog, sealing off the whole space. When Bai Lie had stepped into this place, it had activated the formation runes that were arranged here. Each and every side of the inner courtyard was enclosed by the aura from the runes, preventing any sound from being heard outside!
What made Bai Lie feel even more apprehensive was the fact that he had not brought any of his followers with him. He had even sent his guardian away to capture Ye Ling, who would normally be hiding in secret at all times. It made Bai Lie hatefully think about his foolish decision today. As he thought about it, he could not help but shiver with fear. [Doesn’t this mean that Yin Mei’s actions and words at the pavilion were meant to create a rift between me and Ye Ling? She has indeed achieved great success in breaking down our relationship. And by making me send my guardian away, I was led here, alone. I can not hope for the assistance of anyone else now!]
When Bai Lie understood everything, his scalp tingled and a chill ran across his body. From the very beginning, everything he did was within the expectations of others. He had been playing right into their hands. They had already set the trap and were calmly waiting for him to fall into it. The acting skill of Yin Mei was really too fearsome! He had been always under the impression that she was a kind-hearted and gentle person!
After pouring the wine for him, Yin Mei returned to Gu Changge’s side in an obedient and respectful manner, and filled his empty wine cup for him.
“Brother Bai Lie, do you have anything to say? I heard that you wanted to kill me. Why’re you not doing anything when I’m right before you?” While speaking with a faint smile, he rubbed his hand along Yin Mei’s snow-white and fluffy fox tails with a contented and relaxed look on his face. Since time immemorial, villains had died because of talking too much. It was due to them not being meticulous enough and having flaws in their arrangements and plans. But in his case, even if he kept talking the whole night, it would still be impossible for Bai Lie to flee from here. Therefore, Gu Changge was in no hurry to finish him off. Most importantly, he wanted to know about Bai Lie’s thoughts at the moment, as he had always wanted to kill him. Obviously, Gu Changge had all kinds of cruel methods to put his enemy to death. He was not delaying the death of the other party because he was twisted but simply because he had some time to waste.
“Yin Mei, why did you deceive me? What is so good about Gu Changge? Or, did he promise to give you something in return? If he threatened you into doing this, you can tell me! I can help you get out of your situation!” Bai Lie stared at Yin Mei in an extremely ferocious way as if he wanted to devour her whole.
“What an utter fool. The likes of you cannot even hope to touch Master’s feet.” Yin Mei shot him a look of disgust and indifference. Her true attitude towards him had always been like this from the start. She could not have endured being gentle towards him if Gu Changge had not instructed her to act in such a manner. She found it ridiculous that Bai Lie was comparing himself with Gu Changge. Except for the fact that the latter was a bit too ruthless in his ways, there was no aspect in which Bai Lie was comparable to him. He did not even deserve to carry Gu Changge’s shoes.
“Gu Changge, it’s you who has been scheming against me, right? I’ve been always playing into your hands, huh? Yin Mei has been following your orders this whole time?” Bai Lie bellowed. He was extremely furious and wanted to go berserk.
Yin Mei had always maintained some distance between them but right now, she was acting in a cute and intimate manner in front of Gu Changge. He was feeling so much hatred that he was losing control of his mind. Vigour and blood surged inside his blood vessels as he was dying to slap both of them with the terrifying and illusory image of the white tiger!
[Why did I not notice anything before? There is way more to Gu Changge than what it seems on the surface! Who would have thought that he has always been controlling things from the shadows!? No. Rather, there was no one who could have thought about it. After all, even I never found out that Yin Mei actually worked for Gu Changge!] Such thoughts were correct. It was not just him who had been in the dark. It was likely that none of the disciples and elders of Skyward Schloss knew about it. [Just when exactly did Gu Changge set his plans into motion? ]
At this moment, Bai Lie felt a chill running down from his head to the end of his tail. [Gu Changge is the most terrifying person that I’ve known! He has been always directing everything in secret? Just what is his objective? Or, is this all part of a shocking conspiracy with him as the mastermind?]
“It seems that you’re not too foolish and have finally understood the situation. Otherwise, I’d have to consider whether it was worth giving you the time to realize everything.” Gu Changge chuckled as he raised the cup in his hand and slowly took a sip from it. After that, he spoke again, “Brother Bai, would you like to try it after all? The journey to the Yellow Springs is going to be long, you’d better enjoy yourself before you leave.”
“Gu Changge, what do you mean…? You want to kill me?” Bai Lie could not believe what he had heard. His body felt so cold that he longer had the words to curse at the two before him. He belonged to the White Tiger Clan that was one of the Ancient Royal Families, so he did not expect Gu Changge to dare such a thing.
He had never seen anyone who could be so indifferent and casual when speaking with killing intent like Gu Changge. He even felt as if a monstrous and bloody aura was rushing in his direction with enough force and volume to submerge him! Gu Changge was far scarier than he appeared on the surface. He had always thought that Gu Changge was just a young prodigy with profound cultivation, but he never expected that he would have such a side to him as well.
“Brother Bai, could it be that you still don’t understand your situation? Why would I have you come here if I didn’t have the intention to kill you? You think I want us to sit together and have a long chat over alcohol?” Gu Changge let out a light laugh. He did not seem like a person of this world and there was also no sign of killing intent from him.
*Buzz!* But the moment he spoke, the wine cup in his hand split open and many divine flowers burst into bloom. It was as if lustrous, celestial flowers had taken root in the void, in an attempt to absorb nutrients from all living beings.
*Puff!* Bai Lie had always been on guard against Gu Changge so that he could react in a timely manner when the other party attacked. But he never thought that Gu Changge would attack all of a sudden while he was still talking to him. Moreover, he was sent flying away without being able to put up any resistance.
The illusory image of a white tiger behind him had also immediately exploded into ashes! His chest had burst open and strange flowers had taken root in there. The glittering flower swayed from time to time, appearing like peerless, celestial flowers. Horrible pain came from the depths of his soul, making Bai Lie let out a painful shout. Every means of resistance he possessed had collapsed at this moment, and the white tiger image he had activated in defense had also disappeared instantly after it broke down into fine pieces! It seemed that there was too much difference in their strength!
“Your strength is absolutely not at the Honoured King Realm. What more are you hiding…?” Bai Lie supported himself up with his hands as he widened his eyes and coughed up blood. His whole body was covered in blood as he showed an expression of disbelief on his face. It was because Gu Changge could break through his white tiger spell with just a casual attack. It meant that the power used by Gu Changge had already transcended the limit of what he could resist in his cultivation realm, which was very shocking to Bai Lie. It made him feel even more apprehensive. [Just how many secrets is Gu Changge hiding? He is really too frightening!]
“It’s a waste of natural resources for Brother Bai to be in the possession of the Hepta-Metal Source.” Gu Changge did not reply to him. He only stared at the dark-golden rune gradually appearing in Bai Lie’s hand with a look of satisfaction in his eyes. If there was something on Bai Lie that he was rather interested in, it was none other than this Hepta-Metal Source. It was ranked among the top three best things in terms of attack power in the Beyond and it could evolve anything into a powerful means of offense. It was just that the difference in realm between Bai Lie and him was a bit too great right now, so he was basically unable to display the might of the Hepta-Metal Source.
*Buzz!* Suddenly, a dark-golden flame burst into being above Bai Lie. The terrifying ‘王’ character on his forehead brightened and it contained the pressure to subdue all the beasts in the world. It seemed that Bai Lie had ignited his essence blood with the intention to go all out at the risk of his life. But he found it unbelievable that the lustrous, celestial flowers had still not shown any sign of disappearing even in his current state. Their root was still inside his chest as if it had become part of his soul!
*Pop…* More and more flowers blossomed one after another. They appeared beautiful and appealing but there was fresh blood on them. Gu Changge watched the scene with a look of interest from behind the stone table. He did not move in the slightest. However, Bai Lie knew that if he did not do everything in his capacity, he would definitely die here. Gu Changge’s eyes looked like he was watching his prey. At a little ant that he could casually pinch to death at any time.
“Let’s see who survives among us, Gu Changge!” Bai Lie shouted as his spiritual sea began to shine and a hazy radiance appeared there. He took out a shiny and golden paper with many golden words circling around it. It transformed into a fierce white tiger, seeming to have appeared from the nine heavens. The moment it appeared, terrifying pressure permeated the air! It was his life-saving means that he would only use when his life was in real danger!
“Die!” Bai Lie let out a loud roar as he transformed into a divine, dark-golden figure and rushed at Gu Changge to fight with him. If this courtyard was not enclosed by the formation runes, it would have absolutely exploded at once!
Suddenly, monstrous demonic aura appeared as a black and crimson demonic halberd appeared in Gu Changge’s hand. Without moving his body away from the incoming attack, he simply brandished the halberd with a calm expression. The extremely shiny, golden paper exploded into pieces immediately, and Bai Lie’s body also collapsed to the floor at the same time!
“Are you actually a God…?” Bai Lie had a look of despair and disbelief in his eyes.
“Can’t you die properly? Why’re you trying so hard to resist?” Gu Changge’s expression remained unchanged. His other hand reached out to hold Bai Lie’s neck, making all of his offensive aura instantly disappear!
Goodness. Drawn out but fun.
Many thanks