Bu Shuihan has never liked loose and cumbersome Taoist robes, so he still wears sky blue arrow sleeves, a light blue satin ribbon to tie his hair, white boots, and holding the Hu Yin sword in one hand, looking very heroic.
"Junior Brother Duan said that you found clues. Sure enough, we met many people going to the sea realm along the way." He was most familiar with Gu Pinglin and spoke to Gu Pinglin first. When he mentioned Duan Qingming, he seemed to have no grudges at all. His attitude was completely different from before.
"I'm glad that senior brother is here." Gu Pinglin regained his composure and slowly sat back in his chair.
Bu Shuihan did not come alone, and there was a young man beside him. The young man was of similar stature and age, and wore an ordinary narrow-sleeved green cloth shirt. If it were not for the black and simple sword on his back, he would not look like a monk at all. He had a regular appearance, sword-like eyebrows, big eyes, a nose that was a little too high, and lips that were always pursed. He looked a little taciturn, but overall he was very attractive and gave people a sense of stability and reliability.
Bu Shuihan has always been a casual person. When he saw his fellow disciples, he didn't care about anything else and hurriedly greeted Jiang Ruoxu and others. Gan Li took the initiative to step forward to greet him, and they introduced themselves to each other. Seeing them getting busy, the young man just stood by in silence.
"Brother Bu, don't just talk and forget about the guest," Jiang Ruoxu interrupted him at the right time and reminded him, "This friend is..."
Bu Shuihan immediately looked apologetic, repeatedly saying "Excuse me" to the young man, and introduced him to everyone: "This is Brother Yao, he is an excellent swordsman. We hit it off right away, so I specially invited him to come with us."
The young man then clasped his fist towards everyone and uttered a few words in a flat tone: "Yao Feng, nice to meet you."
Bu Shuihan introduced them one by one, and the young men all nodded, clasped their fists, and said "Nice to meet you", and then refused to say a word. Originally, when it comes to vying for opportunities, the fewer people the better, but the clues to the sea realm have already spread, and more people have gone, so this is not a big deal, so Jiang Ruoxu and others did not mind and greeted him enthusiastically.
Gu Pinglin secretly observed this person's words and actions, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
He was dressed simply, his manners were not standard, and he was not from a noble family. However, judging from his temperament, he was definitely not like an ordinary wild monk.
His words were brief and seemingly indifferent, but his eyes often revealed discomfort. This person must be coming out for training for the first time.
Although he was not at ease, he did not show any fear or inferiority. His words and actions were calm and composed, which showed that he was very confident in his own abilities. I am afraid he was not from an ordinary family...
Gu Pinglin glanced at Duan Qingming and saw that his black eyes were flashing with an imperceptible light.
Noticing his gaze, Duan Qingming slightly tilted his head and looked over.
Gu Pinglin retracted his gaze, and when Bu Shuihan introduced this side, he took the initiative to bow to Yao Feng and asked, "Who is the current head of the Yao family outside the mountain?"
Yao Feng was indeed stunned, and answered honestly: "It is my father."
"The Yao family outside the mountain?" Bu Shuihan was shocked and said, "Brother Yao is from the Yao family outside the mountain? No wonder his swordsmanship is so superb!" Thinking of the other party's concealment, he was displeased again, "Brother Yao has kept it a secret all the way."
He was a straightforward person, his emotions were all revealed on his face. Seeing this, Yao Feng felt very apologetic and apologized: "The Yao family has long since left the cultivation world, and my father told us not to show off outside. I didn't mean to hide it, so please don't blame me, brother Bu."
Bu Shuihan felt uncomfortable, waved his hands and sighed: "I wonder why I lose to you every time. Since you are from the Yao family outside the mountain, I am convinced."
Jiang Ruoxu and the others were shocked. After they reacted, they stood up again and greeted solemnly.
The Yao Family outside the Mountain is not a noble family, but it is an old family with a history that is not inferior to that of the great noble families. In the past, the Yao Family's swordsmanship was almost as famous as the "Yinlan Li Family", but they have always taken retreating from the world to practice as their family motto, living in seclusion in the "land outside the mountain", not keeping retainers and servants, and being self-sufficient, so they are called the Yao Family outside the Mountain by the cultivation world. No one knows where the "land outside the mountain" is. The Yao Family's children occasionally come out to practice, but they rarely reveal their identities, never stand out and become famous, and never interfere in the affairs of the outside world, so although the Yao Family's swordsmanship is powerful, it is rarely noticed.
Yao Feng sat on a chair, and was obviously overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the crowd. He answered every question asked, and remained silent most of the time.
Gu Pinglin changed the subject: "A few brothers didn't come?"
Bu Shuihan said, "I received a letter from Junior Brother Duan. He heard that you found a clue, so he rushed here first. They plan to continue searching in Danghun Mountain. I think there are some strange things in the sea realm, so let them try their luck there."
He was impulsive but not stupid, and he obviously realized that the news about Haijing was spread intentionally.
Gu Pinglin nodded: "Since you have noticed something is wrong..."
Duan Qingming smiled and said, "The situation in the sea is complicated now, so it's always a good idea to have more people. It will be more reassuring to have Senior Brother Bu come to help."
"Junior Brother Duan is right," Bu Shuihan rarely agreed with him, "I think people from those big sects and families have come, so we should be prepared."
Gu Pinglin said calmly: "Senior Brother Duan is thoughtful."
Bu Shuihan and Yao Feng were traveling almost non-stop. Flying swords consumed a lot of energy. They would go out to sea the day after tomorrow, and they needed to recuperate. Therefore, everyone just briefly talked about what had happened since they parted and dispersed early, returning to their rooms.
After seeing everyone off, Gu Pinglin quickly walked out of the room and kicked open the door next to him: "Duan Qingming!"
The straight-collared outer robe was taken off beside him. Duan Qingming was lying on the bed in just a beige robe, his eyes closed, his left hand behind his head, and his right hand holding a pen, slowly gesturing in the air.
The brush tip moves lightly and gracefully, yet seems to reveal a tremendous force. With each stroke, there is a slight sword intent spreading out from the tip of the brush. The movements are surprisingly slow, sometimes smooth, sometimes condensed.
When Gu Pinglin walked in and saw it, his eyes froze immediately.
Sword path! He is splitting up the sword moves!
Without the domineering swordsmanship of Xuanming School, and influenced by Lingxin School's swordsmanship, the few moves he created were never perfect, so he wanted to use the method of splitting sword moves to find defects and improve them. Gu Ying's swordsmanship was famous for its complexity, and no one knew how he remembered the hundreds of thousands of subsequent changes.
"Here it comes," Duan Qingming opened his eyes calmly, the pen stopped in mid-air, "Junior brother came to me angrily, is there any misunderstanding? Please sit down." He pointed to the chair in front of the window with his pen.
Gu Pinglin just glanced at the chair and sneered: "The account has not been settled yet, there is no need to sit down and talk."
"So you're here to settle accounts with me," Duan Qingming said, "What exactly made you angry?"
"Why bother pretending?" Gu Pinglin waved his sleeves and smashed the table to pieces. "If you dare to hurt the brothers of Lingxin Sect, I will kill you!"
"Hey, you're so angry," Duan Qingming smiled suddenly, "Are you talking about Bu Shuihan? Thanks to your mediation, Junior Brother, he has finally let go of his grudge against me. I should thank you."
Gu Pinglin felt extremely depressed.
Influenced by his past life, he tried to stop Bu Shuihan from clashing with him. How could he not be suspicious? This time, he was too deliberate in sending Bu Shuihan away, which allowed him to take advantage of him. He really missed a move.
Gu Pinglin suppressed his anger and said, "You want to use him to restrain me?"
Duan Qingming did not answer but asked: "Are you questioning me?"
"What's the matter?" Gu Pinglin asked.
Duan Qingming said without any shame: "You monitor me, and I contain you. What's the problem? It's dangerous to be my opponent. You should have known this a long time ago."
Gu Pinglin said: "It's just you and me, there's no need to involve others."
"Opposite, don't you use all means to defeat the opponent?" Duan Qingming looked at him with some surprise, "Could it be that you just want to fight me openly?"
Gu Pinglin was choked.
I used all means to win, and I fought to the death. That was my previous life. After my rebirth, I had already awakened and just wanted to fight him to get rid of my obsession, and I didn't want to start a dead end. However, I forgot one important thing - this is an extremely dangerous opponent, with an unpredictable temperament, acting at will, and attacking without any worries. My state of mind has changed, but he has not. Once the game starts, he will play to the end.
Duan Qingming threw away his pen and got up from the bed: "Swordsmanship is not your forte, you will never surpass me; if you only want to defeat me with your cultivation, then as you said, you have the Creation Art, and I may not be able to defeat you at this moment, so what else do you need to compete with?"
Seeing that Gu Pinglin didn't answer, he suddenly changed the subject: "This time, I won't move Bu Shuihan."
"Oh?" Gu Pinglin stared at him, not believing that he would give in easily.
Duan Qingming really said: "This time it was Bu Shuihan, what about next time? Chen Qian, Chang Jinxin, Ren Ping, you don't care about them?"
Gu Pinglin frowned: "You..."
"It probably also includes the newly recruited Gan Li, your master, and the entire Lingxin Sect," Duan Qingming walked slowly in front of him, "You have too many concerns. You keep saying you want to be my opponent, but what do you have to compete with me? How many times can I let you win?"
Gu Pinglin was silent.
Every game has a price. In the previous life, Bu Shuihan died, Chen Qian was injured, and the Lingxin Sect declined. Those prices were too heavy, and they were all the guilt that they had carried in their hearts for many years.
Duan Qingming chuckled, walked to stand behind him, stretched out his hand to pull his long ponytail, and whispered in his ear: "What surprised me even more is, Gu Xiaojiu, are you here to question your opponent and reason with him?"
Hearing the teasing and sarcasm, Gu Pinglin's body stiffened.
After being provoked, he would go straight to the door to question and threaten, and take the opportunity to test the person. This was a habit that he had formed at some point in his previous life. As for that person's response, he would either pretend to give in or provoke and stimulate him. More often than not, the conflict ended with the two of them drawing their swords.
Now that he was reminded, Gu Pinglin realized something was wrong.
The person in front of him didn't remember anything and still retained the habits of his previous life. Moreover, he put forward excessive conditions to him that would have been impossible in his previous life, and even tried to persuade him.
"You made this mistake, or... You didn't even consider me as your opponent? What am I to you?" The gentle voice was like a spring breeze blowing, revealing temptation, "Perhaps we are more suitable to be loving brothers and sisters, wasn't it better before..."
"The past is meaningless," Gu Pinglin interrupted him and turned around abruptly, "I don't want an opponent who is obsessed with the past."
Duan Qingming looked at him with an unreadable expression.
The obsession is not extinguished, and the road is not smooth. It can be seen that the road to rebirth is destined by God. Gu Pinglin wiped away the embarrassment in his heart and said decisively: "I need an opponent, and you do too."
"Do you really want to be my opponent?"
"So what?"
"It's too dangerous to be my opponent," Duan Qingming smiled slightly and put his hand on his shoulder, "I can't bear to let you go."
unwilling
It was as if a thunderclap went off in his head, Gu Pinglin's expression changed slightly, and his thoughts went blank for a moment.
"Maybe I'm reluctant."
"unwilling."
On the opposite side, the black eyes were enchanting, concealing a coldness.
But why is there a faint voice in my mind? It sounds so familiar, who is sighing
…
After repeatedly searching his memory and making sure that this sentence did not exist, Gu Pinglin slowly relaxed his body and found that his palms were full of cold sweat.
In any case, the past life is irrelevant.
At this moment, Gu Pinglin really didn't want to stay here any longer, so he said calmly: "Don't touch him this time. I hope you remember your words."
Duan Qingming said nothing and watched him walk out the door.