The door was closed tightly from the inside.
Gu Pinglin raised his hand and knocked twice on the door, neither light nor heavy.
After a while, Duan Qingming's voice came: "Who?"
Gu Pinglin said: "It's me."
"Come in."
The door panel trembled slightly, as if it was hit by something, and then there was the sound of the bolt falling to the ground.
The door opened easily, and Gu Pinglin walked into the room. He immediately felt the moist water vapor in the air. There was a large bathtub in the middle of the room. It was obvious that someone inside was taking a bath.
His long jet-black hair hung outside the barrel, with a strand of hair sticking wetly to his neck. Duan Qingming leaned against the barrel wall with his hands open, a few water droplets on his firm chest, his narrow eyes half-closed, his expression relaxed and somewhat enjoying himself. There was faint steam coming out of the barrel, making the two red shadows at the corners of his eyes look even more weird.
They were all men. Gu Pinglin was stunned for only a moment before he quickly came to his senses and asked in a bad tone, "What's going on?"
"What's so worrying?" Duan Qingming slowly opened his eyes and patted the edge of the tub. "Tell me slowly. Do you want to come in and sit down and talk while I wash?"
Gu Pinglin looked at the tub and refused unceremoniously: "Thank you, I don't have the habit of bathing with others."
"It seems like a pity," Duan Qingming paused and said with a smile, "But many things are acquired slowly, so why not give it a try?"
Gu Pinglin ignored his teasing: "What's the matter with that letter? What did you do?"
Duan Qingming pretended not to know: "What letter?"
Gu Pinglin hated to deal with him the most, and said bluntly: "It was you who introduced them to the Duan family's spiritual herb garden."
"Oh, this matter..." Duan Qingming raised his eyebrows, "I asked them to go to the Duan family's spiritual herb garden. Are you still not satisfied with the result?"
"I should be grateful to you for reading my family's letter in private?"
"Of course, I solved a problem for you very well."
"You have good intentions?" Gu Pinglin exposed him. "If you let them work for the Duan family, Madam Qi will definitely think that they are the forces you cultivated. Will they have a good life?"
"Let them quarrel on both sides, wouldn't it be easier?" Duan Qingming smiled at him, "Gu Xiaojiu, do you really care about the Gu family that much?"
Gu Pinglin hummed. He didn't have much affection for the Gu family to begin with, not to mention the experience of being hunted down in his previous life. How could he care? "Anyway, this is my business. I will handle it myself."
Duan Qingming said: "My method is the most effective. If there is a better way, why not use it?"
"Who asked you to meddle?"
"You wanted to be my rival, I just asked you to be more focused, but you really didn't appreciate it."
"I need to concentrate, and I don't need you to interfere."
"Where's Bu Shuihan?"
Gu Pinglin was stunned for a moment, and emphasized again: "I don't need outsiders to interfere in my affairs."
"Hey, aren't there enough outsiders meddling in the affairs of this world?" Duan Qingming said slowly, "Don't we, the outsiders, have to solve the disaster of the monsters in the misty wilderness? Who said that outsiders can't interfere? If outsiders want to interfere, who can stop them?"
Having been an enemy for life, Gu Pinglin realized for the first time that this person's ideas were completely different from his own, and it was completely unreasonable to argue with him. When Gu Pinglin realized this, he was surprised, his eyes became complicated, and his anger inexplicably subsided.
Duan Qingming looked at him for a while, then closed his eyes as if he didn't care: "Okay, whatever you want."
"Anyway, I don't want this to happen again." Gu Pinglin turned around and walked out.
At that time, the incident in the Misty Wilderness was not new. The demon cultivators from the Reincarnation Valley sneaked into the Northwest Plains and destroyed the forbidden seal between the Broken Soul Forest and the Great Wilderness, causing the monsters to cause trouble. A large number of high-level beasts poured into the Broken Soul Forest, and even the Misty Wilderness outside was affected. The small sects and the people nearby all suffered. In this situation, the Righteous Alliance in the Cultivation World certainly could not sit idly by, not to mention that the high-level beasts had cultivated into high-quality demon pills, which was also a good opportunity for each sect to gain benefits. The eight major sects discussed with the small sects and each sent a master over, including Bu Shuihan and Chen Qian. It took the alliance several months to clear up this disaster.
Nowadays, the high-level beasts in the Misty Wilderness have been basically killed. The masters have entered the Soul-Breaking Forest to reseal the entrance. The remaining low-level beasts are scattered all over the wilderness. All factions use their disciples to practice with them to gain some practical experience. Gu Pinglin is preparing for this. In terms of cultivation, he no longer needs Yue Songting's guidance. What he needs is time to improve his cultivation and swordsmanship step by step.
A month later, Yue Songting indeed asked Chang Jinxin to take his disciples on a journey. They rode on golden eagles and headed straight for the misty wilderness.
The junior disciples were all participating in the mission for the first time, and they were excited and curious, talking non-stop on the way. Duan Qingming was still gentle and humble, and he could talk and laugh with anyone, and he was always popular. Gu Pinglin was relatively quiet, rarely joined in the jokes, and only occasionally reminded everyone of their negligence. His ideas were also feasible, and Chang Jinxin trusted him more and more.
After about a month of traveling and sleeping in the open air, the group finally arrived at the foggy wilderness.
The Misty Wilderness is located on the edge of the Broken Soul Forest. It is a desolate grassland, named because it is covered with fog all year round. Above the wilderness, wisps of thin mist are wandering, and thick fog is everywhere. The air is humid, and visibility is very low. The grass on the ground is a mixture of yellow and green. People walk through the fog and occasionally see small patches of broken leaves and bushes. Strange cries are heard in the middle, mostly from wandering souls, fierce crows and demon cats, which make people feel uneasy.
The junior disciples followed Chang Jinxin cautiously. After walking for a while, a few of them tried to kill a demon cat and found it quite easy. Then everyone gradually gained courage. Occasionally, a disciple would make a fuss and cause a joke, and the group would become lively.
At night, everyone rested among the bushes and made a fire.
The night in the wilderness was not lonely. The firelight reflected the fog above, which was very beautiful. The disciples gathered together to talk. Tomorrow, everyone would go out for training. It was inevitable that they were nervous. Many people discussed forming teams. Gu Pinglin, as Yue Songting's last disciple, performed well in the entrance competition. He was steady and never showed any pride. Although he was serious, everyone liked to approach him. Many teams invited him, and Gu Pinglin agreed.
While everyone was talking, Gu Pinglin walked to the farthest fire, sat down, added a few more firewood, and closed his eyes to meditate.
Not long after, there was movement nearby.
Gu Pinglin opened his eyes and saw that it was indeed Duan Qingming. Ever since the last incident at the Gu family, Gu Pinglin had been practicing in seclusion, and the two had not spoken to each other since.
Duan Qingming asked: "Together?"
This person has always been conceited and disdains to cooperate with others. If he really agrees to cooperate with someone, the other party will have to be careful. Gu Pinglin knows him best and was a little surprised to hear this. He refused: "I have promised Junior Brother Wang that I will go with them."
Duan Qingming didn't care and asked, "Which way?"
Gu Pinglin replied: "Northwest."
Duan Qingming lay back on his back and said nothing more.
Gu Pinglin asked casually: "Where are you going?"
"northwest."
"Um?"
Gu Pinglin frowned.
In his previous life, he and other disciples of Xuanming Sect all went south. Unexpectedly, now that he has joined Lingxin Sect, he has to go north as well.
"Why," Duan Qingming noticed his abnormality, "I can't go to the northwest?"
Gu Pinglin lowered his eyes slightly to hide his expression.
Of course they can't go there, because the things there are too much for even a Qi Refining Realm cultivator like Bu Shuihan to deal with. In the previous life, a team from the Lingxin Sect had an accident in the Luoyan Swamp in the northwest and lost four disciples. Gu Pinglin remembered the names of those disciples, so he specially chose their team this time in order to take them away from the Luoyan Swamp. Originally, Gu Pinglin wanted to take them south, but thinking that other teams might also accidentally get killed, he decided not to change the route, or perhaps to prevent others from getting into accidents.
As for Duan Qingming, no matter how talented he is, it is impossible for him to deal with that thing. Gu Pinglin wants to defeat him, but he doesn't want him to die unjustly in the misty wilderness. However, this person is naturally restless. If he knows what it is, he will probably have to go, and even drag others to play with him.
Gu Pinglin said calmly: "If you want to go, that's fine."
Duan Qingming did not continue the topic: "You are very familiar with my swordsmanship."
Gu Pinglin was not surprised at all.
Duan Qingming was used to using the Gu Ying sword light to block people's sight. Gu Pinglin had suffered a great loss in his previous life, so he got used to it later. It was just a small side face movement in the entry-level competition, but he really noticed it. After all, the two had never fought before, so it was impossible for him not to be suspicious.
Gu Pinglin said: "Knowing your opponent is something everyone does."
"Really?" Duan Qingming's expression was unclear.
"Of course." Gu Pinglin remained calm, as if letting him guess.
Duan Qingming suddenly asked: "What is there in the northwest?"
He suddenly changed the subject. If it were someone else, they would be caught off guard and exposed. But Gu Pinglin just raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you think?"
Duan Qingming said slowly: "Although the Misty Wilds have been cleansed, there may be one or two ferocious beasts that were missed."
It's not surprising that he could think of this. Gu Pinglin knew that he was just testing him, so he laughed and said, "Yes, if you are not afraid of death, go and see for yourself."
"Are you provoking me?"
"You can understand it that way."
Upon hearing this, Duan Qingming slightly turned his head, looked at him for a long time, and chuckled.
Gu Pinglin asked: "What are you laughing at?"
"I laughed. Gu Xiaojiu, your provocation this time was too deliberate."
"I always do."
"You don't want me to go," Duan Qingming sat up, moved closer to Gu Pinglin, and rested his chin on his shoulder, "What's there?"
The breath of the conversation was in my ears, blowing my hair. Gu Pinglin remained calm and said, "Why would I stop you from going?"
"You care about me?"
"Maybe. After all, we are friendly brothers." Gu Pinglin also glanced at him sideways, smiling and saying, "But maybe, I knew you would be suspicious, so I deliberately led you there. Do you dare? Sorry, I accidentally provoked you again."
"oh?"
Eyes met.
His narrow eyes were still dark and bottomless, his thoughts were hard to fathom;
Her big eyes are as bright as stars, and her emotions are so exposed that it is hard to tell whether they are true or false.
After a while, Duan Qingming raised his face with a smile and stopped talking.
Gu Pinglin wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he knew that saying more on this issue would only make things worse. When he was about to change the subject, he looked up and saw a fire in the thick fog in the distance. The fire was gradually approaching this side, and he could vaguely hear human voices.
"There's someone over there." Someone called.
The disciples of Lingxin Sect stood up at the same time and looked at Chang Jinxin.
Chang Jinxin had already noticed the movement, and bowed to the distance and asked, "Which sect are the friends coming from?"
"Xiao Chang!" a woman called out in surprise, "Is that you?"
"It turned out to be Senior Sister Yan," Chang Jinxin breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to explain, "She is a friend of Xuanming Sect."
When they heard that it was someone from Xuanming Sect, the Lingxin disciples immediately lost their enthusiasm, hummed, and sat down to talk again. They really didn't have a good impression of Xuanming Sect and were too lazy to pay attention to him.
On the contrary, Gu Pinglin couldn't help but pursed his lips, stood up, and looked at the group of people coming towards him.