Watching Qi Wan'er leave, Gu Pinglin turned and walked deeper into the corridor.
Duan Qingming laughed and said, "What secret is it? You won't even tell your best brother. How curious."
Gu Pinglin said: "You are too curious."
"As the Pavilion Master, of course I have to care about my subordinates," Duan Qingming said, "Guess what Yao Feng saw after being fooled by Qiao Yan?"
Gu Pinglin did not answer: "Tell me the news from Master Yu."
Duan Qingming said calmly: "Why are you in such a hurry? Yao Feng is also your good friend, don't you care?"
Gu Pinglin said: "I don't care about other people's subordinates, I only care about the business with the Sword King Pavilion."
"How heartless and ungrateful! It's a pity that Yao Feng trusted you so much," Duan Qingming sighed, "Okay, let's talk about what you care about. Yu Wuxue has received your letter. He, Li Moqing, Yunhe, Qi Zhen, Zhou Qiu and others will set off immediately and meet you at the agreed place. Master Wei Feng has also led people to the Demon Realm Tianjing Mountain."
Gu Pinglin nodded and asked, "Where's the letter?"
Duan Qingming was puzzled: "What letter?"
"Li Moqing's reply."
"without."
Gu Pinglin stopped and stared at him sideways.
"No, that's all," Duan Qingming said calmly, "If you don't believe me, you can search for it yourself."
Gu Pinglin hummed.
Duan Qingming quickly turned sideways and pressed the jade slip down to block his chest, just blocking his hand: "You really are searching."
"Obedience is worse than respect." Gu Pinglin pushed the jade slip away. He was not surprised by this. Duan Qingming would certainly not easily give anyone the opportunity to attack such a vital part as the chest.
The jade slip disappeared in the blink of an eye, and a letter was sandwiched between the index and middle fingers. Duan Qingming said, "Take it."
Gu Pinglin took the letter and opened it without avoiding him. His brows gradually relaxed.
Duan Qingming saw this and said, "It seems that you have achieved your goal."
"Half done."
"You seem very confident that you can deceive Lu Zhiren. He is a smart man and may be able to see through this situation. It will not be easy for you to defeat him."
"If you can't see through this situation, then it's not simple."
"Are you complimenting me?"
Gu Pinglin put away the letter casually: "Of course, no matter how smart Lu Zhiren is, how can he compare to you?"
"It sounds like you admire me."
"certainly."
"Um?"
"Is it strange?" Gu Pinglin glanced at him and walked to the corridor with his hands behind his back. "I have always admired you. I admire your extraordinary talent, superb swordsmanship, and wisdom. I envy you even more because you were born into the Duan family, have broad knowledge, and are elegant in conversation. You seem to know everything about the world and are proficient in everything. You act without scruples and are free and casual."
Duan Qingming was a little surprised, and walked up to him, saying with a smile: "It turns out that in Sect Leader Gu's heart, I am not a cold-blooded, hateful monster, but a tall, majestic, and charming person."
"Monsters can also be stunning," Gu Pinglin paused, staring at the void ahead with a complicated look, "I often think that after Patriarch Baichuan, if there is anyone who can break through the realm and ascend, that person must be you."
After hearing his words, Duan Qingming didn't react much. He just said casually, "I'm really flattered to have the favor of Sect Leader Gu. It's a pity that you don't follow me."
Gu Pinglin looked at him sideways and said, "Have you ever thought about why you practice swordsmanship?"
"Why would I want to think about such boring things?"
"So you didn't ascend."
“Is ascension important?”
"That's right," Gu Pinglin turned back and looked at the rockery and green bamboo outside the corridor. "Then you know that I practiced swordsmanship diligently, studied the art of sword formations, and learned alchemy, poison, medicine, and even music, chess, calligraphy and painting. I just wanted to surpass you and defeat you one day, so that you would take back that provocation. But due to my limited talent, it is much more difficult for me to do these than for you. Even if I have put in all my energy and done my best, it is still difficult to beat you. I just refuse to admit defeat and try my best to hold on."
Duan Qingming looked at him with interest: "You said so much, you can't just want to praise me specially."
"I just want to tell you that I have been chasing you for a long time, with all my strength." Gu Pinglin paused, "and the ending was not good." He did not even look at Duan Qingming's reaction and continued, "So this time, I will not follow you again. Duan Qingming is Duan Qingming, Gu Pinglin is Gu Pinglin, I have my own path, and we can be brothers and friends regardless of past grudges, but I will not follow you. If this is your purpose, then you should not have given up ascending to save me."
Duan Qingming said: "For me, there is no such thing as should or should not."
Gu Pinglin said: "I asked you to leave Jianwang Pavilion as a trick, the purpose is to take over Baitou Mountain."
"Oh?" Duan Qingming said without changing his tone, "Why did you tell me?"
The gentle voice turned into a chill that went straight to the bottom of my heart. Gu Pinglin was silent for a moment: "I didn't mean to hide it from you."
"Really? No wonder you praised me so much and said so much just now."
"The words are sincere."
"Use is also sincerity."
Gu Pinglin said: "There are Lu Zhiren's spies everywhere in Duyin, but Jianwang Pavilion is special. I want to secretly take over Baitou Mountain as a base to break the Busheng Mountain Soul Locking Array. I will not touch your people, I hope you will be tolerant."
"Not cooperating with Lu Zhiren is the result of my compliance with the rules. You are pushing it too far, Gu Xiaojiu," Duan Qingming said, "Or do you think that if you take the initiative to be honest, I will be tolerant and not bother with you? In order to keep Baitou Mountain as the new site of Jianwang Pavilion, I have spent a lot of effort. You want to take advantage of it without doing anything? Do you believe it? As long as I send out a signal, Baitou Mountain will immediately become a unique place."
"Feel sorry."
"I am deeply grateful for your apology," Duan Qingming said calmly, neither happy nor angry. "You have lived again. Are you practicing to read my face and retreat in order to advance?"
With his hands clenched in his sleeves, Gu Pinglin still said, "I'm sorry."
Duan Qingming stared at him for a long while, then suddenly chuckled, "How difficult is it to defeat Lu Zhiren? You don't need to go through so much trouble."
Gu Pinglin looked at him.
Duan Qingming said slowly: "Use your feelings, maybe Lu Zhiren appreciates you as well."
Gu Pinglin's face changed slightly: "You can impress him more with your tongue, Duan Qingming, stop it."
"A wild cat pretending to be a house cat cannot hide its true nature no matter how gentle its meows are," Duan Qingming said. "It's you, so stop it."
"I admit that I took advantage of you this time," Gu Pinglin sneered, "but you really didn't see it? You knew my intention and agreed to the deal to leave the Sword King Pavilion. Aren't you trying to test whether I would take advantage of you? I would. If you had asked me directly from the beginning, I would have given you the same answer."
Duan Qingming raised his hand, and the jade slip reappeared: "I really want to see to what extent you can use it, but you dare to do this knowing that I am testing you. Aren't you afraid of angering me and ruining your efforts?"
Gu Pinglin was not nervous when he heard this, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you."
"You are rude when you use me, but you are becoming more and more polite when you talk to me," Duan Qingming paused, "We are friendly brothers."
The chill in his heart finally disappeared completely. Gu Pinglin changed the subject in time and looked around. He found some traces and guessed that they were left by Mr. Lu's men after multiple investigations.
By the evening, Yao Feng had gotten better, Nanzhu and Bu Shuihan also came with their people. Gu Pinglin and the others noticed the fragrance and went outside to the bamboo forest to greet them.
The bamboo sea has changed beyond all recognition, only the pavilion and bridge remain the same. The people of Nanzhu sighed and began to worry about the Guangling faction.
Noticing that the number of people was not right, Gu Pinglin looked at the woman next to Ji Qinniang inconspicuously and confirmed that she was a great cultivator in the Inner Alchemy Realm. It seemed that no matter how much Nanzhu hated the Ji family, she still cared about the child in her belly. Nanzhu was also a little surprised to see Qi Wan'er and Yao Feng. She went up to greet them and chat with them. Yao Feng was still taciturn. Qi Wan'er had not seen Ji Qinniang since she ran away from her marriage, and she did not expect her to come. He already felt guilty, and it was even more awkward to meet her. He just pretended not to see her and talked to Nanzhu calmly without looking away. Ji Qinniang seemed not to recognize him and stood quietly beside him.
Gu Pinglin glanced at the other two people who appeared: "This is..."
"He's a fellow Taoist from the Su family." Nanzhu made a brief introduction and shook her head again.
The two Su disciples bowed their hands, their expressions angry and sad. "Half a month ago, the Wanfa Sect besieged the Su Clan. The Patriarch risked his life to help the two of us escape. We were chased by the Wanfa Sect along the way. We hid from place to place. Fortunately, we met Young Master Nan. As long as Master Gu can avenge the Su Clan, we will be at your service."
When Gu Pinglin and his group set out, there were only 30 people. Along the way, they met many surviving cultivators, most of whom were disciples of small sects and aristocratic families. Among them, there were more than ten external alchemy cultivators, which together were a considerable force. Now there are two more. Gu Pinglin said without expression: "Thank you for your trust. Now I have to break the soul-locking formation of Changming Mountain first, otherwise the entire cultivation world will sooner or later become a lonely Yin land."
"Of course." The two Su disciples said hurriedly.
One of them looked around and said worriedly, "I don't know where the fellow Taoists from Guangling Sect have gone. Don't let Wanfamen..."
Gu Pinglin waved his hand: "They are fine, I will make my own arrangements."
Bu Shuihan understood the meaning of the words and was surprised: "So, the Feijian Palace and others are also..." He quickly stopped talking.
Upon learning that the people from these sects were not really missing, everyone was overjoyed. Although they tacitly refrained from asking any questions, they were visibly excited and began to chat and laugh.
Duan Qingming narrowed his eyes slightly, as if thinking about something.
Gu Pinglin scanned the area calmly and turned to Ren Ping: "Since Wanfa Sect has discovered our whereabouts, we cannot just sit there and wait for death. Now we have no choice but to escape. Senior Brother Ren, Senior Brother Jiang, and Fellow Daoist Su will stay here to confuse Lu Zhiren. Young Master Nan, Senior Brother Bu, and I will take a detour to Changming Mountain tomorrow."
It was dangerous to stay and even more dangerous to go in and break the formation. Ren and the others knew that they were not strong enough and agreed.
"If it weren't for Sect Leader Gu who saved the Qianyang Mountain Spirit Eye, the consequences would be disastrous. We cultivators should contribute to the cultivation world."
"This journey is extremely dangerous, Master Gu, please take care of yourself."
…
Gu Pinglin stopped Jiang Wu from speaking with his eyes, and said, "Thank you all for staying in Guangling Sect for a while. Why don't you go in and settle down first, and then discuss and check and arrange the formation."
A surviving Xiaoyao Sect Taoist Supervisor smiled and said jokingly, "The Guangling Sect is famous for its harmony between the zither and the sword, and its elegance is unparalleled. We, the vulgar guests, have come uninvited and occupied their nest. I hope the fellow Taoists of the Guangling Sect will not blame us when they know about this."
Qi Wan'er was full of energy and said, "We are all in the same situation. Master Zhou is very reasonable and will not blame me."
Nanzhu laughed and waved her hand: "Don't stay outside, let's go inside and talk."
"Let's go, let's go." Everyone echoed and walked inside.
Seeing that Nanzhu didn't introduce Ji from beginning to end, let alone greet them, Qi Wan'er, no matter how careless she was, noticed something was wrong. He restrained his smile, slowed down his pace hesitantly, glanced at Ji Qinnan who was lagging behind, and noticed her belly. He looked at Nanzhu who was talking and laughing in front of him, and couldn't help but frowned, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Yao Feng held his shoulder and shook his head.
Qi Wan'er sighed. He was not the kind of person who dwelled on the past, and due to his background and upbringing, he knew it was inconvenient for him to comment on other people's family affairs. So he put aside his guilt and followed the crowd in.