Reborn As The Short-Lived White Moonlight of the Tragic, Powerful Male Lead - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Life Is Truly as Lonely as Snow

They had agreed on the third quarter of the hour of the Rabbit, and since it had only just reached the start of the hour, they were naturally not late.

Gu An stared blankly at the crowd. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to be envious of Xie Lanting being carried by Gu Yunqi, or surprised that they had managed to assemble such a large group of people.

These people were clearly not from the same factions—how had they not started fighting yet?

Along the way, the group of four—Xie Lanting and his companions—could be said to have made a killing. They divided everything equally; while others were still fighting tooth and nail over treasures, their pockets were already bulging.

Many had initially surrendered their items with explosive resentment, secretly plotting to give them a hard time later, but their tempers were smoothed out as the group grew larger.

For example, the first five people who joined felt an immediate sense of balance when they saw later arrivals giving up even more expensive items. They had only given a few spiritual stones, but these newcomers were losing much more precious treasures!

The more people joined this “Are You Crazy” group, the more balanced they felt. The second batch, the third batch… those behind them repeated this cycle of mentality: first indignation, then using the frustration of the newer recruits to soothe their own hearts.

As for the last ones to join, after seeing some of the heavily injured people inside the palace, they suddenly felt lucky. At least they were unharmed.

Through this layer-by-layer psychological dilution, they had weirdly reached a state of inner peace.

Furthermore, when doing business, one must have a broad vision. Besides recruiting those with two legs, Xie Lanting and the others also offered protection to stray merfolk. They didn’t charge them; they provided protection for free. In this way, weren’t there fewer merfolk left outside to be hunted?

That was how they had gathered such a massive entourage.

To avoid slowing down the group’s pace, Xie Lanting had no choice but to trouble Gu Yunqi to carry him again, while Chen Zhushu was clung to his senior brother.

As for the other merfolk in the team, they would rather struggle to hop at high speeds themselves than be carried by strangers. Thus, they kept hopping along; though it lacked dignity, their speed was barely acceptable.

Once inside the palace and realizing that fighting was prohibited, the crowd dispersed to find seats.

Gu Yunqi and Xie Lanting didn’t miss the members of the Gu family. Gu An and Gu Jingping’s eyes were wide with shock. Among the hundred people following them were other Gu family disciples who went to join Gu An, but Gu Yunqi and Xie Lanting casually found a spot to sit, neither too close nor too far from them.

Gu Jingping’s arm had finally fully recovered. He looked at Gu Yunqi and Xie Lanting with suspicion and uncertainty. “How did they do it? Wait,” his expression turned to anger, “did they find some lucky encounter and dare not to hand it over!?”

“Gu Yunqi!” Gu Jingping roared from across the distance. “Get over here!”

Gu Yunqi glanced at him from afar and then turned his head back, pretending to be deaf.

Gu Jingping had bullied him since childhood; subconsciously, he never expected Gu Yunqi to dare to resist or ignore him. He slammed his hand on the table. “You’ve truly revolted!?”

Gu An’s tail irritably lashed the ground unconsciously, and he had nearly shredded his own sleeves with his grip.

Gu Jingping made too much noise, and the two blonde Nagas immediately locked their gazes onto him. They were crafted so realistically by the illusion that no emotion could be seen on their faces; they looked at living things and dead objects with the same eyes. Under that gaze, Gu Jingping felt a chill in his heart. He pulled his hand back and shut his mouth.

Gu Yunqi had indeed gained many benefits, and Xie Lanting was counting the money very happily. Chen Zhushu’s admiration for him had risen from a shallow appreciation of looks to an incredible height; he was now completely devoted.

“Immortal Lord, you are too amazing!” Chen Zhushu leaned on the table, wagging his fish tail with the effect of a dog wagging its tail. “Are you still taking disciples? Take me! I can do many things, please teach me!”

“If you don’t want your father to actually cook you,” Ge Wen said, “then give up.”

At the mention of his father, Chen Zhushu’s tail froze in mid-air, and he slumped down dejectedly. He sighed, “Fine, fine. When I’m a bit older and can talk back to him… Immortal Lord, if you are ever willing to take a disciple, please save a spot for me, I beg you.”

Chen Zhushu was a likable kid, but Xie Lanting just smiled. “I have no plans to take disciples for the time being.”

He had to protect his own life while searching for a way back to his own world; he didn’t want to hold back a promising young talent.

Once the third quarter of the hour of the Rabbit arrived, a melodic music echoed through the sky. A transparent water curtain immediately rose in front of the palace gates. Anyone arriving after that was blocked outside, unable to advance another step.

The water curtain looked thin. Some people refused to give up and tried to force their way in. Others pulled out various magical artifacts, intending to blast the curtain open. However, every move they threw out was reflected back onto themselves. Some were sent flying backwards in full view of everyone, their fate unknown.

With such a display, the rest, no matter how unwilling, didn’t dare try again.

the blonde Naga spoke: “For those who did not become honored guests, the Naga King is generous and allows you to seek your own opportunities within the Illusion Sea. You will be sent away in ten hours.”

The Naga’s voice was devoid of emotion, the tone flat and unvarying. “To the honored guests within the palace, the Naga King has prepared three gifts for you.”

Everyone’s spirits lifted. It was finally here!

“The three items are: The Naga’s Heartless Tear, the Thousand-Scale Soft Armor, and the Water Manipulation Decree.”

The Water Manipulation Decree!

Xie Lanting hadn’t heard of the first two, but the Water Manipulation Decree was a spell Gu Yunqi used frequently in the future, and he had mastered it to perfection. It seemed he obtained it right here!

“Though there are many guests, there are only three gifts. They shall go to the destined ones.”

The Naga King, who had been napping on the throne with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. With a flick of his fish tail—though there was clearly nothing in the air—the crowd heard the roar and howl of ocean waves. The sound of crashing water was deafening; from the sound alone, it felt as though the world itself was being reshaped.

Everyone felt their vision blur. When they opened their eyes again, they had all been transported to a different place, no longer inside the palace.

It was impossible to count how many layers of illusions were stacked within this secret realm. The Naga race’s mastery of illusions was unparalleled. The Naga’s voice seemed to come from all directions: “The Water Spirit will provide clues and lead the destined one to find the Heartless Tear.”

Xie Lanting wanted to hear the clue for the Water Manipulation Decree, but the Naga stopped speaking after that single sentence. A translucent blue blob appeared in the air. It had no nose or eyes; as it glided through the air, it trailed a wake of water behind it, looking like it had a little tail.

This must be the Water Spirit.

Grab it!

After entering this place, everyone realized that the heavy sense of restriction on their bodies had vanished, meaning they could fly again. Immediately, someone lunged into the air to catch the Water Spirit. To think was to act.

Clearly, more than one person had the same idea. They collided in mid-air and began to fight.

While everyone’s eyes were fixed on it, the Water Spirit circled once in the air, then suddenly accelerated into a dive. Like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, before anyone could react, it crashed straight into someone’s arms.

Gu Yunqi instinctively raised his arm to block. The Water Spirit hit his arm, bounced off with a bouncy puji sound, and immediately stuck back to him with dogged persistence. Its watery body stretched and deformed, looping directly around Gu Yunqi’s arm and refusing to leave!

Instantly, Gu Yunqi became the center of attention for the entire field.

Xie Lanting: As expected of the protagonist! This is what it means to be favored by destiny!

Xie Lanting already heard the surrounding sounds of swords unsheathing and the hum of magical artifacts and spiritual energy. Everyone was aiming for Gu Yunqi.

The situation was critical. Xie Lanting acted decisively. He grabbed Gu Yunqi’s arm, slapped his tail against the ground, and launched himself like an arrow from a bow.

Following the principle of “wherever the Immortal Lord goes, I go,” Chen Zhushu immediately followed. Since he followed, Ge Wen had to follow as well.

Thus, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xie Lanting took the lead, and the four of them plunged straight into the Gu family’s team, accompanied by Xie Lanting’s clear voice—

“Fellow Gu family disciples, we must protect our family’s lucky encounter! We absolutely cannot let others steal it!”

When there’s trouble, it’s “our Gu family.” When there’s not, “who are you?”

Gu An and Gu Jingping were both stunned.

Who was it that had treated them as non-existent in the palace just now? How could there be such a thick-skinned and shameless person in this world!

But the outsiders didn’t care. Everyone remembered the scene in the palace where Gu Jingping roared at Gu Yunqi; this person was definitely from the Gu family!

For Gu Jingping and Gu An, there was one positive point: it was definitely better for the item to be in Gu Yunqi’s hands than in someone else’s. Gu Yunqi was, after all, a member of their Gu family; whether they wanted to take it or ask for it later, the maneuverability was very high. If it fell into someone else’s hands, the struggle would be much more troublesome.

Gu An made an immediate decision: “Form the Xuanqing Sword Array!”

Except for Gu Yunqi, the Gu family members who came out this time were all elite disciples below the Nascent Soul stage, and they were well-trained. Forty of them had eventually gathered in the hall. At Gu An’s command, the disciples immediately took their positions and raised their swords to form the array.

Of course, some among them had personal conflicts or even refused to accept Gu An as their leader. But at this moment, they were perfectly unified for no other reason than the fact that everyone else’s techniques were already crashing down on them like a tidal wave.

In a life-or-death moment, they huddled together immediately; everything else had to be set aside. They could fight amongst themselves after they got out, but they only had one life.

The Xuanqing Sword Array was one of the Gu family’s famous arrays. It could be used for both offense and defense; when used well, a few people could withstand dozens, and dozens could withstand a hundred. For a moment, it truly blocked the attacks from the front, creating an opening for Xie Lanting and the others.

Xie Lanting looked at the Water Spirit’s appearance. Spiritual energy bubbled from his fingertips as he said to Gu Yunqi, “Hide it first.”

Gu Yunqi pulled the Water Spirit off his arm. After a thought, he stuffed it directly into his sleeve. The Water Spirit was more than happy to stick close to him, hugging his wrist tightly.

While everyone else fought and scrambled for a lucky encounter, the Water Spirit acted as if it were afraid Gu Yunqi wouldn’t want it. The protagonist’s halo was truly unfathomable.

Chen Zhushu watched Xie Lanting’s fingers dance as spiritual energy quickly formed into a ball. He asked curiously, “Immortal Lord, what are you doing?”

Xie Lanting’s hands didn’t stop. “A little trick.”

Gu Yunqi looked at the energy at Xie Lanting’s fingertips and suddenly had an epiphany: “Spiritual butterfly?”

Xie Lanting nodded. “Smart. I’ve molded spiritual butterflies before, but they don’t actually have to be butterflies. They can be molded into birds, swimming fish, or even… a blob.”

As he spoke, a ball of spiritual energy took shape. Its form and appearance were sixty to seventy percent similar to the Water Spirit. Combined with the fact that Xie Lanting’s spiritual energy was also a deep blue, adding another twenty percent, it was enough to fool people from a distance.

Xie Lanting found the right moment and threw the spiritual energy out, while at the same time crying out in alarm: “Oh no, the Water Spirit escaped!”

Those fighting heatedly immediately diverted their attention. Their peripheral vision only had time to catch a glimpse of a blob of something trailing a blue trail of light through the air, fleeing rapidly away from the crowd. It looked like it was about to leave their line of sight.

“Not good!” someone shouted. “After it!”

Xie Lanting had intended to play the role fully and shout it himself, but he hadn’t expected everyone to be so cooperative. It saved him the trouble.

As Gu Jingping chased after it, he didn’t forget to curse: “Gu Yunqi, you waste! You couldn’t even keep the item once you got it!”

With his curse, the outsiders were even more convinced it was real and chased even more vigorously.

Chen Zhushu said dissatisfiedly, “Who is he? Does he know how to speak like a human?”

The target of the verbal abuse, Gu Yunqi, was used to it. “His brain isn’t very good. Ignore him. Let’s go.”

Xie Lanting’s lips curled into a smile at those words. Not bad. Gu Yunqi dared to directly badmouth someone now—did this mean he was stripping away his disguise bit by bit?

They needed to escape quickly now. Gu Yunqi instinctively wanted to loop his arm under Xie Lanting’s tail again, but Xie Lanting quickly pressed down on his arm. “Ah, we can fly now. The fish tail doesn’t interfere with flying.”

…Right, they could fly. He had gotten so used to carrying him along the way that he had actually forgotten.

Gu Yunqi withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened. Only he knew if there was a shred of regret in his heart.

The four of them immediately fled away from the crowd amidst the chaos. While fleeing, Xie Lanting remotely controlled the spiritual energy blob to lead those people even further away. The spiritual energy blob was as fragile as a butterfly; it would shatter if touched. Fortunately, no one dared to attack the “clue.” With one person trying to grab it and ten people trying to block, the spiritual energy blob actually managed to drag the crowd along for over half an hour.

Finally, a disciple from a certain sect seized the right opportunity and threw his family’s capturing treasure toward the spiritual energy blob, successfully covering it. He was ecstatic and was about to pull it back, only to watch “the Water Spirit” shatter into pieces within his capturing net.

Now, not only him, but everyone was stunned.

“I… my treasure doesn’t harm living beings.” The disciple who acted was flustered and hurriedly asked his fellow disciples to testify. “You all know that!”

“Yes, it’s just a restraining artifact,” the fellow disciple said, but then hesitated, “but this Water Spirit… does it count as a living being?”

The disciple grew anxious. “It’s just a capturing artifact; something living or dead couldn’t possibly scatter at a single touch!”

True. Everyone had seen it when the Water Spirit crashed into Gu Yunqi’s arm; it had been quite bouncy.

“Wait,” someone finally raised a doubt, “when the net caught the Water Spirit and made it stop just now, I felt… didn’t it look a bit different from the previous one?”

Gu An’s heart skipped a beat at those words. He quickly looked back, only to see that Gu Yunqi and Xie Lanting were nowhere to be found among the Gu family team. He immediately realized they had been played!

Seeing his movements and expression, Gu Jingping also connected the dots. Just as he was about to turn around to confirm, Gu An grabbed his arm and sent a secret transmission: Don’t look back!

Gu Jingping: “Did you find something?”

Gu An’s mind was also working quickly. “Yunqi must have taken the Water Spirit, but we cannot admit it right now. We must insist that they shattered the Water Spirit. We’ll go find him quietly later.”

If they let this group of people go after Gu Yunqi again, when would they ever get the item for themselves?

Gu Jingping also understood and spat. “Gu Yunqi! I’ll definitely give him a piece of my mind when I find him!”

While the doubt about the real and fake Water Spirit hadn’t yet fully fermented in the crowd, Gu Jingping took a deep breath and let out a mocking laugh with his punchable expression. “It’s clearly you who made the Water Spirit disappear, and now you’re trying to confuse the public because you’re afraid of the group’s anger. Or did you use some trick to hide it yourself?”

Gu An helped play along: “Talking is useless. Hand it over!”

People in the crowd also began to echo:

“Yeah, who knows if you’re telling the truth?”

“Exactly. If there’s really nothing wrong with your capturing treasure, bring it out and let everyone examine it together!”

The disciple with the capturing treasure cursed: “Bah! If I let you examine it, will my artifact ever return to my hands? Just say it if you want to rob me!”

“Refusing to show it means you have a guilty conscience!”

“The lucky encounter is gone because the Water Spirit was scattered; use your items to make up for it!”

As a new round of chaotic fighting began, the real Water Spirit was following Gu Yunqi, having already been carried far, far away.

The excitement belonged to them; the group of four traveled alone. Ah, it truly was as lonely as snow.