The next morning, everyone left Yuan behind and continued on their way. Except for Xin Ji, almost everyone on Gu Pinglin's side was unharmed, which was also Yuan's credit. At Yuan Xiao's urging, Qi Yanfeng also left with everyone, and Gu Pinglin was also moved by this. The road is ruthless, but people are affectionate. Even a proud person like Yuan Xiao can't escape the bondage of affection, but unfortunately...
Not long after they walked, a majestic mountain suddenly rose up in front of them. It was about a thousand feet high, with clouds and mist swirling around. It looked like a dark green screen with a broken gap in the middle. The whole mountain seemed to have been split in half by a huge axe. At the broken gap, the mountain walls on both sides were as if cut by a knife, and even monkeys could hardly climb up.
"That's the nest of the rabbit-faced bats up there," Xin Ji was afraid that people would think he had attracted the bats, so he didn't dare to say much along the way. He only spoke when they got there, "We can't fly in the air, or we'll alarm them."
Yan Sen didn't want to provoke the evil bat: "Just go around it."
"No, there's a bear over there," Cheng Yi pointed to the left, then to the right, "over there, there are also two big birds."
Yan Sen got angry when he heard this: "The rabbit is a ferocious bat with a rabbit face, what are the bear and the bird?"
"It's just a bear and a bird." Cheng Yi felt aggrieved.
"Okay," Gu Pinglin had been thinking about something along the way. He came to his senses after hearing what was said and decisively stopped the two. "It's not advisable to take a detour. First, it's too far. Second, Brother Cheng also said that this road is the best route. If we change direction, we will only encounter more advanced beasts. The fierce bats suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Yuan family yesterday. This is a good opportunity."
Yan Sen sneered: "What's the big deal about those who died? There are probably no less than a thousand in the nest. Even if we have ten more Inner Dan realm masters, they won't be enough for them to eat."
"Senior, please be patient," Duan Qingming came up. "Although the rabbit-faced bats are fierce birds, they are not aggressive. They are known to bully the weak and fear the strong. They didn't win yesterday. If they meet a strong enemy again today, they will most likely avoid the battle. What Junior Brother said is not without reason."
Yan Sen sneered: "Are you considered a strong enemy?"
"Strength does not depend on cultivation," Duan Qingming raised his hand and made a "one" gesture, and said leisurely, "I have a plan that can help everyone pass smoothly."
Xin Ji immediately praised: "Master Duan is very resourceful, this must be a good plan."
Yan Sen said: "Tell me about it."
"There are six of us in our group and we will be divided into three groups. Junior Brother Gu and I will form a group, Senior Xin will form a group with Brother Cheng and my cousin, and as for you, Senior Yan, you have the highest cultivation level, so you will be in a separate group." Duan Qingming paused, "My plan is very simple. We will take the lead to lure out the swarm of bats, and then Senior Xin and Brother Cheng will be next. You two don't need to fight. Just disperse the swarm of bats unexpectedly, take my cousin away, and lure more fierce bats out of their lair to chase us. At this time, Senior Yan will make another feint to attack the fierce bat's nest with a sword, and the Bat King will give a warning, and the bats in front will withdraw their troops to rescue. At this point of exchange, we and Senior Yan can take advantage of the chaos to escape."
"Great!" Xin Ji praised, "This plan is feasible."
Yan Sen was also a little shaken when he heard it, but after thinking for a while, he glared again: "In the end, it's a trick on me. If the evil bat doesn't chase you, I will attack its nest, won't I be fooled?"
After leaving Yuan Xiao and the others, Qi Yanfeng actually stopped crying: "The rabbit-faced bats are very cautious and timid. As long as the noise is loud enough, they will definitely come out in full force."
Yan Sen said: "What the hell does this little girl know!"
"Now that we are on the same boat, we should work together. A dozen ferocious bats are enough for us. If we cheat you, wouldn't we be cheating ourselves?" Duan Qingming said with a smile, "How about this, if you don't trust us, you can make a decision based on the situation. How about that?"
With a gleam of light in his eyes, Yan Sen said with satisfaction: "Forget it, I'll do as you say."
"Hmm..." Duan Qingming said slowly, "Since everyone has no objection, let's proceed as planned."
"Miss Qi, please follow us. The rest of the arrangements remain unchanged." Gu Pinglin nodded to Qi Yanfeng, motioning her to follow him, and then walked towards the cliff.
Qi Yanfeng didn't form an external elixir, and Xin Ji was happy to get rid of a burden. Cheng Yi would just obey him. Yan Sen had something in mind and didn't pay attention to such a small matter. Duan Qingming also had no objection. He smiled and let Qi Yanfeng go in front, and then followed.
The closer you get to the cliff, the thicker the evil spirit becomes. The ferocious bat caves on the cliffs on both sides are densely packed, like large beehives, with ferocious bats coming in and out from time to time, and several ferocious bats gliding past in the sky.
“Mr. Gu…” Qi Yanfeng’s injury had not yet healed, and he was even more afraid when he saw this, so he followed Gu Pinglin closely.
"Follow me." Gu Pinglin was polite. Yuan Xiao was overrated, and it was enough for him to be a chess piece. Duan Qingming was too lazy to kill him, and as for bringing Qi Yanfeng with him... Gu Pinglin's eyes darkened slightly.
Qi Yanfeng was so scared that his eyes turned red, but he knew he was powerless to stop this action, so he timidly agreed: "I understand."
Gu Pinglin had no time to comfort her. He nodded to Duan Qingming and raised his finger. Gu Ying's sword came out, and he took the opportunity to move and merged with the sword shadow. In an instant, everyone saw a dazzling purple lightning rushing into the sky and striking the mountain gate with lightning speed!
The purple lightning was followed by a slender golden light, and Qi Yanfeng, who was so scared that he wanted to cry just now, actually caught up with it.
The golden sword light was surprisingly faint, hidden in the sharp purple light. It was difficult to detect if one was not careful. Moreover, it did not have the usual luxurious style of the Qi family. It was obvious that she did this intentionally to hide herself.
Yan Sen had not taken her seriously before, and was surprised when he saw her: "Oh, this girl is not bad."
Duan Qingming's narrow eyes were frozen, and he put away his smile. The Mingfeng Sword was already in his hand. In a blink of an eye, the cold spread, and the surrounding grass and trees were all frost-stained. When he looked again, there was no one in the original place. He saw snow-white sword flowers scattered into the surrounding bats, instantly engulfing the purple lightning! The sword move came later but arrived first, and the bats were frightened. There was a commotion, and they flapped their wings "fluttering". Then, countless ferocious bats with red eyes poured out from those stone caves like a tide!
Yan Sen's pupils shrank when he saw this.
"Master Duan is such a genius, one cannot help but admire him," Xin Ji shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said to Cheng Yi, "Young friend Cheng, get ready, it's our turn next."
A hand lifted him off.
"I'll be responsible for dispersing them," Yan Sen said gruffly, "and you two go and attack the nest. Got it?"
Cheng Yi was very obedient: "Oh, okay."
"How can this be possible!" Xin Ji was very anxious. The two of them were not strong enough to escape. Attacking the nest was undoubtedly a dangerous thing. "Master Duan said..."
"Tell me to take action based on the situation," Yan Sen sneered and kicked him fiercely, "I have the final say here."
"Okay," Cheng Yi was afraid when he saw him angry, "You go and disperse them, and we'll go last."
Xin Ji wanted to say something else, but suddenly remembered something, rolled his eyes and shut up.
The Dan Yijing master took action, and the two inner Dan masters of the Yuan family were not good enough. Black air rose to the sky, and the Soul Wood Sword slashed down with one sword, and the ferocious bats really fell into chaos. Yan Sen successfully dispersed the bats and killed several ferocious bats. To be fair, he completed it very brilliantly this time.
"How amazing!" Cheng Yi exclaimed.
However, in the blink of an eye, the situation changed drastically!
The task of "dispersing the swarm of bats" was relatively easy, so Yan Sen forced Xin Ji to exchange. However, the power of his sword was too great, and all the ferocious bats were attracted over. Duan Qingming and Gu Pinglin responded according to the plan, but it didn't work. The ferocious bats just kept chasing Yan Sen, and even a Dan Yijing master was at a loss.
Duan Qingming said, "The plan has changed. We will stay to help, and my cousin will leave first."
"We don't need your help here," Gu Pinglin brushed away the hand that was about to hit Qi Yanfeng's left shoulder, and at the same time, he used his sword to swipe away several ferocious bats that were biting at Yan Sen, "Let's go."
Things went completely off plan. Yan Sen had brought this upon himself. There was no reason to blame the two of them. He could only yell at Xin Ji and Cheng Yi: “Why don’t you do it!”
Xin Ji was watching with great pleasure, and promised, "Hold on, Brother Yan, we'll be right there!"
"I'm here to help you!" Cheng Yi shouted, clasping his hands above his head. The green sword suddenly shrank into a line and pierced straight into the bat's nest on the mountain wall.
Xin Ji wanted to delay time to trick Yan Sen, but he didn't expect Cheng Yi to be so sincere. He cursed in his heart and had to cooperate. He was not a sword cultivator, but he actually summoned a sword and chopped it off in a proper manner. The combined attack of the two Waidan cultivators was powerful. The mountain wall shook and rocks fell down. The stone quality here was obviously special, and the damage to the bat nest was not as serious as expected.
Cheng Yi blinked and commented: "Your swordsmanship is really bad."
Xin Ji's face turned red, and he laughed: "I am not a swordsman, so I am naturally not as good as you. Let's go quickly... Huh?"
The group of bats in front did not turn back as Duan Qingming said. It was obvious that the two of them were too weak to pose a threat to the Bat King.
This was a good thing for the two of them. Xin Ji heaved a sigh of relief and laughed, "Master Duan really has a plan that leaves nothing to chance."
"Oh no, run!" Cheng Yi shouted.
The bats had not returned yet, but thirty or forty ferocious bats still flew out of their nests and surrounded the two people.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Xin Ji hurriedly followed Feng Dun to escape.
Cheng Yi did not use any escape techniques, but his body was incredibly fast. He just flew close to the ground, and not far away, he suddenly went into a hole in the ground.
Xin Ji subconsciously stopped and asked: "Friend Cheng?"
Cheng Yi popped his head out: "Come in, come in!"
The cave was too conspicuous, surrounded by rocks and no vegetation to hide his body. Xin Ji hesitated for a moment, and seeing the bats close behind him, he had no way to stop them, so he just dived in. The cave was very small, barely enough to accommodate two people, and it seemed very crowded, but strangely, those ferocious bats flew around in the sky and did not continue to attack.
"I found it," Cheng Yi said proudly, "I hid here for a night before, and then quietly left after they dispersed."
After all, Xin Ji had lived for hundreds of years and had some experience. He immediately guessed the reason: "One thing counters another. I heard that wherever poisonous things grow, there must be something that can detoxify them. There must be a spiritual thing in this cave that counteracts the evil bats, so this is the case."
While the two of them were hiding in the cave and talking, Yan Sen was in trouble over there. Thousands of ferocious bats surrounded him tightly. Yan Sen was ferocious by nature, and after being bitten twice, he started killing in rage. Dozens of ferocious bats fell to the ground, which made the bats even more crazy.
Cheng Yi asked: "Aren't you going to help?"
"Of course I have to help, but..." Xin Ji stroked his beard and lowered his voice, "We will only die if we go up there. Look, Master Duan has left. It's useless for us to go."
"That's right," Cheng Yi said immediately after not seeing Duan Qingming, "Then just ignore him, he's always mean to us."
Xin Ji shook his head and said seriously: "You can't say that. Senior Yan has a high level of cultivation. It's not that we don't care about him, but we believe that he has his own way to escape... Look!" He suddenly showed joy on his face and raised his head to point to the sky.
Seeing that it was difficult to escape, Yan Sen became anxious and simply followed the original plan. He flew his sword through the air and slashed at the nest on the mountain wall. The Bat King was frightened, and dozens of ferocious bats that were originally guarding the two were summoned and turned around and flew over to support them.
"Good opportunity, let's go!" Xin Ji looked back and found that there was no one around him.
A hundred miles away, the trees ahead gradually became sparse, and the ground was covered with yellow rocks. Gu Pinglin and the other two were waiting on a stone slope. Seeing Xin Ji and the other two escape first, Gu Pinglin was not surprised. Cheng Yi was able to get out from this road, which meant that he had a way to escape, and Xin Ji would naturally be fine if he followed him. In Duan Qingming's plan, the most dangerous person has always been Yan Sen.
About an hour later, Yan Sen also arrived.
Just as Duan Qingming said, the ferocious rabbit-faced bats bully the weak and fear the strong. Yan Sen had a great level of cultivation in Dan Yi realm and mastered the top swordsmanship of the Soul Sword Flow. Although he suffered a great loss, he killed nearly a hundred ferocious bats alone. The bats entangled him for a while and did not gain any advantage, so they finally let him go.
Xin Ji pretended to be relieved: "I'm glad Brother Yan is okay."
"Stop pretending!" Yan Sen was seriously injured and was filled with anger. He stared at him coldly, "I don't know when you went to practice swordsmanship?"
"Brother, you are wrong to blame me," Xin Ji sighed, "It's not that I am hiding my incompetence and not trying my best. Now that I have lost my pupil painting and Master Gu has taught me, I don't want to practice those harmful things anymore, so I want to practice swordsmanship instead, and I can ask Master Duan for some advice."
Gu Pinglin narrowed his eyes slightly.
This old devil was forced by the situation to lower his posture again and again, even at the cost of his dignity. He has been practicing magic for no less than a hundred years. If he is really willing to abandon the Taoist path for a hundred years and practice swordsmanship instead, such courage is rare.
Yan Sen's face was distorted, he didn't believe him at all: "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Senior Xin has only reached the level of external elixir cultivation, so he can't help you at all," Duan Qingming interrupted the two with a smile, "I just don't understand why you suddenly changed your plans?"
Yan Sen choked.
Duan Qingming asked in confusion: "Could it be that my arrangement is wrong?"
"No, I was in a hurry and made a mistake," Yan Sen was too clever for his own good. He could only respond in a rough voice and warned Xin Ji and Cheng Yi, "You two, stop giving me trouble in the future!"
"That bastard is not easy to deal with. Senior, you are too careless. You must be more careful next time." Duan Qingming warned gently, and the word "bastard" sounded meaningful.
Yan Sen choked again, snorted, and went over to meditate and regulate his breathing.
"First, heal your wounds and get enough energy. We will set off tomorrow morning," Gu Pinglin said, and turned to Duan Qingming, "Brother Duan, let's go explore the way first."
In the past few days, everyone has roughly seen that the immortals are the real masters of the world.
Gu Pinglin flew close to the ground while observing the surroundings and comparing them with Cheng Yi's description. Duan Qingming followed behind without saying a word, as if he was really just there to keep him company.
It was not until the investigation was completed and the two were ready to return that Gu Pinglin asked, "What are you dissatisfied with?"
Duan Qingming asked: "How do you know I'm dissatisfied?"
"Miss Qi means no harm, you can see that."
"If you didn't stop Yuan Xiao, it wasn't a good intention."
"Duan Qingming and the Qi family are relatives on the surface, but everyone can see their actual relationship. It's natural for her to be suspicious of you," Gu Pinglin turned around and looked at him, "Besides, she's not wrong."
Meeting his gaze, Duan Qingming chuckled, "She's right. I'm heartless and take advantage of people... But Gu Xiaojiu, as smart as you are, do you also think she is kind and righteous?"
Qi Yanfeng was smart enough. If he really had feelings for Yuan Xiao, it would be impossible for him to leave according to his reasons. Gu Pinglin said: "Even if he is not affectionate, he is not completely cold-blooded."
"We are brothers, Qi is my enemy, you want to help her?"
"Do you regard Qi as an enemy?"
"Qi is not worthy yet," Duan Qingming's answer was just like in his previous life, full of undisguised and familiar arrogance, "but they want to get rid of me as soon as possible."
Gu Pinglin said: "This is not a reason for you to use Miss Qi to test me."
"I don't care whether you care about me or not." The red shadow at the end of his eye suddenly became clear, tinging his black eyes with a bit of demonic aura. Duan Qingming said in a calm voice, "This is just a warning. Whether it's for Qi Wan'er, Bu Shuihan, or Lingxin Sect, you care about too many things, and these useless emotions will always affect your path."
Before I knew it, the sky had changed, the clouds moved away, the wind picked up, blowing the black cloak and the snow-white robe, and the air was filled with a thick chill.
On the high Yellowstone, the two men stood facing each other, and the scene seemed familiar.
Gu Pinglin said: "Actually, I have been thinking about this too."
Duan Qingming asked: "Result?"
"I've thought it through," Gu Pinglin stared at him calmly, his black hair brushing against his cheeks. "If you really don't care about anything, how can you get 'enlightenment'?"
The essence of Tao is nothingness. If there is no "existence", how can there be "nothingness"? How can one "cut off" from the thoughts of the world? If one's mind is empty, how can one "enlighten"
If you don't reach the state of nothingness that you have realized, once you are contaminated by it, can you easily get rid of the entanglement of your inner demons
In your previous life, did you truly transcend everything and achieve enlightenment and ascend to heaven
"It doesn't matter whether you understand or not. As long as you are strong enough, it won't be difficult to break through the realm." Duan Qingming held his chin and lowered his head. His tall nose almost pressed against his nose tip. He looked down at him and cast a cold shadow oppressively. "If you fall behind, you should focus on the people in front of you, instead of staring at the losers behind you and being influenced by them and having some loser ideas."
"Who to look at is my choice." Ying's eyes suddenly became sharp, and Gu Pinglin pushed the hand away calmly, "You have crossed the line."
"Um?"
"That's enough. I don't want to argue with you." Gu Pinglin waved his hand to stop him, and took two steps away seemingly casually. "We are brothers. Of course, you are more important than Miss Qi. I saved her because she deserves it. Excellent swordsmen deserve to be admired. You also think so, so you will guide her, don't you? Use her to test me to prove that you don't really want her to die."
silence.
"Your understanding of me has also crossed the line."
"oh?"
"It makes me uneasy. This feeling is really disgusting, but... I can't bear to leave." Duan Qingming paused with a faint arc on his thin lips. No emotion could be heard in his voice. "What do you think we should do?"
Gu Pinglin said without hesitation: "We are all men, so we should use men's methods."
"Of course." Duan Qingming seemed to remember something and stared at his lips with interest. "If you were a woman, wouldn't you have to marry me?"
"What a pity, I'm a man." Facing the straightforward joke, Gu Pinglin was neither angry nor amused, his eyes were sharp, "Duan Qingming, I respect your extraordinary talent and intelligence, and I'm grateful for your rescue in the sea bone pit. We can become brothers in this life. I have never given up on you, a rare opponent. I don't want to be your enemy again unless it is absolutely necessary."
Duan Qingming was noncommittal: "And then?"
"I don't object to your game, but I don't like others crossing the line on the road," Gu Pinglin said in a slightly cold voice, "I hope there won't be a next time for something like Miss Qi."
"What if I don't agree?"
"That can only mean that you don't know me well enough," Gu Pinglin said, "In fact, I don't know you as well as you think. That's all I can say. You can do whatever you want."
The cloak was lifted, and the black figure disappeared silently, leaving behind a white shadow.
The tall figure stood alone among the dark clouds in the sky and the yellow stones on the ground, with his black hair and robe sleeves fluttering in the wind, as if blending into the strong wind.
In a moment, he turned around and disappeared.