The Forbidden Path to Immortality

Chapter 279

Things couldn’t get any worse. Instead of playing along, he might as well go all in. And Gu Yin just happened to be seriously injured…

Off to the side a pulse of qi suddenly flared up. It was all too familiar. It wasn’t overbearing, but it pinned him down without any effort.

Jade Wanderer

Li Xun froze.

Ever since the moment he realized that Jade Wanderer might be dead, a question had been quietly growing in a corner of Li Xun’s mind...

Setting aside the moral and human decency angle and looking at it purely from a rational standpoint, whether Jade Wanderer lived or died would have a significant impact on the strength of both the Miaohua and the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance. And that's not even getting into the price she'd have to pay to actually kill Jade Wanderer...

Now, the answer was clear. And damn, being locked onto by a Nethermyst Puppet felt fucking sucks!

At that moment, Gu Yin clearly had the upper hand. Still, she showed no sign of wanting to end things quickly. After a soft cough, she seemed to forget what she had just said. She turned her gaze toward the distance and motioned for Li Xun to look the same way.

“Over there. Do you see it?”

Li Xun blinked, then followed her line of sight. In the sunlight, he saw rippling water that looked like a small lake.

“That’s Luoyu Lake,” she said slowly. There’s a waterside pavilion beside it, called One Hu of Pearls. It’s one of my uncle’s favorite places.”

The tense atmosphere that had been on the verge of shattering slowly eased with her gentle voice. For a moment, Li Xun couldn’t even bring himself to think about fighting back.

At the same time, he had no clue what Gu Yin was actually trying to get at. All he could do was stay quiet, trapped in that awkward feeling of being powerless to do anything else.

Gu Yin had not been expecting any response from him anyway. After a brief pause, she smiled and went on, “Of course, you know my uncle’s temperament well enough. If he wasn’t reciting poetry or chasing moonlight, he was indulging in women. That place was for his excesses and pleasures. And it was there that he died, on a woman’s body. His primordial spirit was wiped out completely. Even reincarnation was no longer possible. As for his flesh, it was taken and turned into this puppet.” She looked at him. “Want to go take a look?”

Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Technique flashed through Li Xun’s mind. And his head nodded before he even realized it.

“Alright. Come with me.”

Li Xun stared at her in surprise, watching as she stood up and walked out of the pavilion, leaving the Nethermyst Puppet that would have been her best protection. For a moment he had no idea what the hell she was playing at, but in the end, he followed anyway, almost against his will.

Gu Yin had no intention of walking all the way to the waterside pavilion. She lifted into the air and drifted along with the wind.

Li Xun followed close behind. In just a few breaths, the two of them arrived above the surface of the lake, and Li Xun finally saw the so-called One Hu of Pearls Pavilion.

The waterside pavilion was built right along the shore. On land stood a long rectangular hall, its side facing the water fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows. A winding stone bridge connected it to a viewing pavilion that extended out over the lake.

Taken as a whole, the place was undeniably elegant. Yet it was open on all sides, flooded with light. Thinking of what Gu Yin had said about Jade Wanderer’s debauched lifestyle, the implication was obvious.

Gu Yin’s expression was calm and even, betraying no rise or fall of emotion. Looking down from above, she pointed at the water beside the viewing pavilion.

“The water here drops a thousand zhang. This is one of the spring eyes of the Northern Sea. When the tide rises each day, the currents collide and pearl-like bubbles surge up, scattering like crushed jade and broken crystals. It’s breathtaking. That’s where the lake and the pavilion get their names. It’s a pity…”

She did not finish the sentence. Another song drifted into their ears, this time the latter half of the same verse.

“Just because I’m old and worn out,

don’t bother hunting for any more pretty lines from me.

The ten-thousand shades of green are dazzling enough to get lost in,

and what’s worse is when that mountain-flute starts wailing in the night.

A hundred years of heartache,

only the jade railing knows.

I never finished chanting it,

just turned the boat around and headed back,

left standing under the moon, remembering you for nothing.”

Li Xun’s expression subtly changed.

The human mind is a strange thing. It was the same person, the same tune, and barely half an incense stick of time had passed. Yet earlier, the song had felt like it lingered in the rafters, soaking straight into your heart and leaving you warm and moved. But now, hearing it again, it sounded like a lone ghost wailing across a desolate wasteland, eerie cries rising all around, chilling him to the bone and sending cold shivers through every inch of his body.

Gu Yin noticed the shift in his mood but said nothing. When the song faded away, she calmly picked up where she had left off, as if nothing unusual had happened.

“It’s a pity. That scene of fallen jade and scattered pearls hasn’t been visible for decades now. But there’s another sight. It was acquired recently, and it’s worth seeing. I think you’d find it quite interesting.”

Li Xun was still shaken by Yusanren’s singing. He kept murmuring ‘uh-huh, uh-huh,’ not even knowing what he was agreeing to.

Gu Yin gave a wry smile. “It’s nothing more than chanting verses and singing songs. Just a lingering scrap of divine sense causing trouble. And you, of all people, know a thing or two about the Nethermyst Puppet. How can you be this easily frightened?”

Li Xun’s mind was a little unsteady right now. Normally, he would have let the awkwardness pass, but this time he answered on instinct. “Uh… is that so? I’ve only seen what those puppets can do when they kill. I never really thought about this part.”

The tension between the two of them eased a little. A glint flashed through Gu Yin’s eyes, as if something had just clicked.

“I’ve heard you and Hundred Ghosts from the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect are sworn enemies. Did you see it while dealing with him?”

“Exactly,” Li Xun said. At the same time, his guard went up. “Hundred Ghosts has some impressive forbidden techniques and real cultivation behind him, but the biggest headache is still that Nethermyst Puppet. I’ve taken more than a few losses because of it.”

Gu Yin nodded. “So that’s how it is… Very well. If our talks go smoothly, I may have to trouble you with one more favor.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go down.”

Gu Yin led the way and descended first.

Li Xun’s eyes were sharp. He saw clearly that while they were dropping down, Gu Yin took a jade vial from her sleeve and tipped out a few pills, swallowing them. After landing, she gently rubbed her lower abdomen, working the medicine through her body. The fatigue on her face became even harder to hide.

As long as I move fast enough…

Li Xun couldn’t help but have a few thoughts. But just as his fingers twitched, something else occurred to him.

Back then on Zuowang Peak, he'd stumbled across Gu Yin sneaking around. Because he was too weak at the time, he had nearly been silenced for it. And then… how exactly had Zhong Yin saved him?

Gu Yin had no idea what thoughts were spinning through Li Xun’s head. She leaned casually against the railing, her gaze drifting out over the lake.

Li Xun stood at her side, mind still churning, not making any move to sit down.

For a while, neither of them said a word. The silence stretched on, heavy and almost uncomfortable. Only when the sun started dipping lower, its slanted rays hitting the water and bouncing bright glare into their eyes, did Gu Yin finally break into a small smile.

"You know... the exact spot you're standing on right now? That's where my uncle took his last breath."

The corner of Li Xun’s eye twitched, and he said nothing.

Gu Yin drew her gaze back into the pavilion and slowly looked around. “It really does look just like this,” she said. “Too bad it isn’t night anymore, and the Pearl Spring no longer bubbles up in the lake. Still, because of that, you absolutely can’t miss the other sight. I think you’ll be very happy once you see it.”

The surface of the lake beneath the pavilion suddenly churned. Centered directly below the pavilion, the water split cleanly to either side, revealing a passage wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Stone steps led downward, disappearing into the depths at a glance. Far below, a faint glimmer of light could be seen, though from here it was hard to make out clearly.

With Li Xun’s keen eyesight, it was obvious this was a cleverly designed formation or mechanism. It relied not on manpower, but on something like water-repelling pearls.

Still, building such a structure at the bottom of a lake… what purpose could it possibly serve?

He had no time to dwell on it. Gu Yin was already on her feet. Maybe the medicine was finally kicking in. Her cheeks flushed with a touch of color, looking a lot healthier than before. The way she glided down, slipping through that curtain of water, was straight out of a dream: pure grace, like the goddess Luo rising from the river, light on her feet and dancing through the air, unreal and mesmerizing.

Li Xun didn’t know why that thought crossed his mind. But when Gu Yin glanced back from beneath the water wall and beckoned to him, he didn’t hesitate and followed.

The moment his body slipped beneath the surface, the waters above snapped shut again. The surge sent spray flying, yet not a single drop touched him. The light around him dimmed all at once.

With every step he took down, the water above sealed itself a little more. When he glanced to either side, the view at the bottom of the lake was crystal clear through the watery walls. Now and then, schools of fish drifted past from all directions, catching the light filtering down from surface. It had a strange, almost peaceful beauty to it.

Before long, though, Li Xun’s attention shifted back to Gu Yin.

In the dim surroundings, her snow-white figure stood out sharply. With the shifting light and shadows, her form flickered in and out of view... just like whatever was going through her head right now, completely impossible to pin down.

As he was quietly trying to read her intentions, Gu Yin slowed her pace. When Li Xun drew level with her, she adjusted her steps so they walked side by side.

“This is actually the worst possible situation,” she muttered.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that how it is? No matter what the real knot of the problem is, as long as both people are still alive, there’s always a chance to work it out. Like those guesses I mentioned earlier. Even if you admitted they were true, so what? You can talk it through, negotiate, make amends. There’s always some way forward. And even if there isn’t, weighing the pros and cons and making a tradeoff isn’t exactly impossible.”

She made it all sound so effortless. Li Xun didn’t agree at all, but the moment she said “weighing the pros and cons,” a chill ran through him. He forgot to argue back.

She went on, “The real nightmare is when it’s like what happened between you and my uncle. Hatred with no clear cause, completely one-sided, with no way to return it. Killing doesn’t solve anything, crying gets you nowhere, and even finding some outlet for it all is hard. And besides… Well, this time I took a huge risk.”

Hearing the unspoken meaning in her words, Li Xun frowned. He honestly couldn’t figure out what Gu Yin had found out, or how much she knew.

And now, where exactly was she leading him?