Suddenly, a loud noise woke Gu Qingyu. She got up and looked out the window. It was a thunderstorm.

No wonder...

She closed her eyes as she patted her chest and exhaled. "Baby got spooked."

When she opened her eyes again, someone was in front of her, someone dressed in red robes. 

"Wah!" She let out a scream and that person rushed to cover her mouth. 

"Why, still not used to it?" Yan Zun smiled and looked at Gu Qingyu. The hand that he used to cover Gu Qingyu"s mouth s.h.i.+fted, and he caressed her cheek instead. 

She pushed away his hand and laid down. "Okay, Master, go to bed quickly. We still need to get up early tomorrow."

"Okay." Yan Zun smiled and laid down beside Gu Qingyu.

"Uh... Master... I know you"re just a soul, I"m still not used to it..." Gu Qingyu stared at the person next to her. 

"It"s okay, sooner or later, you have to get used to it." Yan Zun said in his usual lazy tone and yawned. 

...... Sooner or later you have to get used to it? Gu Qingyu no longer paid attention to him and tried to fall back to sleep. The sound of rain outside the window grated against her ears, and claps of thunder came and went. Her brows were tightly knitted as she covered her ears with a pillow. Yan Zun furrowed his brows, then he gently waved his hand. For a moment, the sound of the thunderstorm was m.u.f.fled by something then it disappeared completely.

"...Thank you, Master." Gu Qingyu broke the silence.

"Yes, go to sleep." Yan Zun supported his head with one hand as he laid on the bed, his tone was extremely gentle. Sleep tight.

When she woke up again, Gu Qingyu found that it had rained through the night. She slowly got up and straightened her clothes, while Yan Zun stretched as he floated about in her room. 

She sighed, left the room and went downstairs. Jia Qizhe was already there, alone. A jar of wine was on the table. He sipped from a gla.s.s silently. He watched thousands of troops and horses march into battle, seeking valiant glory at all cost. He drank alone, drunk not on wine but the sorrows of the world. Gu Qingyu watched him as she stood on the steps, for some reason, a sense of loneliness welled up within her.

Sensing her presence, Jia Qizhe raised his head slightly and gave her a faint smile. "Morning."

"Good morning." She walked over and sat next to him. "Why are you drinking alone?"

"I wanted to." Jia Qizhe lowered his gla.s.s and turned to her. "Why, worry about me?"

"Tch." She rolled her eyes. "What were you and Mo Bai up to last night?"

"Nothing." Jia Qizhe cleared his throat. "No one would hurt you now." He reached out and rubbed Gu Qingyu"s head. 

"Why... What?" Clever as she was, Gu Qingyu quickly deduced the hidden meaning in that remark. "You guys... went to find Xuan Di and kicked his a.s.s?"

Cough, Cough, Cough! Jia Qizhe choked on his wine. Forgive him for really not accepting the phrase "kick his a.s.s"!

"No." His voice was very calm. "We didn"t find him, my men are still looking. We fought Murong Qize instead."

Cough, Cough, Cough! It was Gu Qingyu"s turn. "You went to beat up that legendary being again? Wait, why should I say "again?" "

Mo Bai slowly made his way downstairs as she exclaimed. He seemed to be dyed in the clear, spotless morning dew. A short sigh escaped from his lips. "He had been disappointing."

"What?" Gu Qingyu blinked at the mythical, ethereally beautiful, doctor in front of her. Did I mishear that?

"Yeah, he"s too weak even for a simple group fight." Jia Qizhe also sighed and shook his head.

Gu Qingyu"s gaze flitted between the two men. One was as devilish as the king of h.e.l.l and the other was as pure as the G.o.ds in Heaven. Both of them lamented that their opponent, someone who was known as a legendary being, was too weak after they had beaten him up. She could only gawk at the two men in front of her. It"s not that she could not handle something like this, but this revelation was just too overwhelming for her. 

"Come, let"s eat." Mo Bai sat down beside Gu Qingyu. "Yu"er, you"re going to dislocate your jaw soon."

"Oh!" Gu Qingyu quickly closed her mouth and started to eat.

Soon, everyone arrived and they had breakfast together. After everyone had their fill, Gu Qingyu said to Murong Zuoyu and Qi Yichen solemnly, "This is a difficult and arduous journey, and it must go through numerous trials and tribulations! The winds may be chilly, the waters may be freezing, but we must proceed. Go henceforth, my brave warriors!"

Murong Zuoyu and Qi Yichen were silent. Finally, Murong Zuoyu nodded solemnly. "We will return safely." Qi Yichen gave him a look and said without moving his lips."Dude, are you being serious right now?"

Qi Yichen waved his fan weakly. "We will return safely!"

"Then I can rest a.s.sured!" Gu Qingyu nodded. "Goodbye! Farewell!"

Farewell?

Qi Yichen turned his head silently. "Brother Murong! Let"s go! ... Hey? Brother Murong? Where did he go? h.e.l.lo, Brother Murong, wait for me!"

Gu Qingyu pulled out a small handkerchief from G.o.d-knows-where and waved it in the air. "Have a safe trip!"

After Murong Zuoyu and Qi Yichen left, Gu Qingyu kept the handkerchief and dabbed away her tears. "Children, I hope you will return soon!"

Everyone else was speechless. Children?

"Boss, it"s time for you to take your medicine!" Qi Wan took out a bottle of medicine. 

Gu Qingyu grabbed it without a second look. She opened it, poured it into her mouth and chewed it carefully. "Well, it tastes good."

Qi Wan was stunned. Did she really just eat that?

"What is this?" Gu Qingyu looked at the bottle curiously.

"Things that can help you after taming weapons." Qi Wan wiggled his finger. "Guaranteed to have only benefits and no harm!"

"Little Yu"er, what is your weapon?" Jia Qizhe turned to Gu Qingyu with a curious look. 

"Would you like to try it out? Spar with me!" Gu Qingyu looked at Jia Qizhe with puppy eyes. "Just for a bit!" She had hoped to test her strength against Jia Qizhe for a long while and see how she has grown since their journey began. 

Jia Qizhe hesitated before he accepted her proposal. "Okay."

Very soon, they came to the yard of the tavern. Mo Bai, Qi Wan and Xie Zang used their powers to create a barrier and enclosed Jia Qizhe and Gu Qingyu within it. With their help, the two of them could fight to their heart"s content without worrying about affecting anyone outside. 

Blue light gathered in Jia Qizhe"s hand and it slowly formed a sword. 

"Ghost Howl." He summoned with a low voice. Blue light glowed from the formed blade.

Gu Qingyu stretched out her hand, and instantly felt on summoning presence alone, Jia Qizhe was still miles ahead of her. A chain appeared on her hand.

That surprised Jia Qizhe. "A chain?" Not a whip or a sword, nor a flute or any instrument, but a chain? His Yu"er was truly extraordinary. 

That had surprised Mo Bai as well. On the other hand, a smile appeared from the corner of Xie Zang"s mouth. His kitten was about to show off her true potential. 

Jia Qizhe gently curled his hand and prompted Gu Qingyu to take the lead. She wasted no time and threw out the chain, sending it swinging towards Jia Qizhe. Jia Qizhe merely held out his empty left hand, grabbed the chain and yanked it.

This speed! This strength!

Gu Qingyu was also a smart cat, and she cleverly chose to release the chain instead. When he held the chain, Jia Qizhe was slightly stunned.

It feels like ... Is it the Soul Chain?

He stared at Gu Qingyu in surprise, but his expression remained blank. Gu Qingyu regarded his expression as contempt and provocation. She extended her right hand, her index and middle fingers were raised, her thumbs, ring finger, and little finger were gently buckled and placed next to her mouth. There was a golden glow at her fingertips. The chain shook in the air, broke away from Jia Qizhe"s grasp and hit him instead. 

"Very good." Jia Qizhe focused and entered a stance with his sword. "It seems that I need to get more serious."

"No need to be more serious!" cried Gu Qingyu.

Jia Qizhe"s sword flew towards the chain. When the chain came in contact with Ghost Howl, it lost its magic power and landed on the ground with a bang. The winner had been decided. 

Gu Qingyu sighed slightly and walked over to pick up the chain: "It"s amazing, Jia Qizhe."

"You are not bad." Jia Qizhe smiled slightly, his sword turned into blue gas, and slowly dissipated in the air.

The barrier faded, Qi Wan skipped over to Gu Qingyu. "Oh, Boss has worked hard!"

"Not at all, you guys were the ones that put in the hard work." Gu Qingyu waved her hand.

Mo Bai laughed. "Yu"er, you have made great progress, keep it up. "

"Yep, I will!" Gu Qingyu nodded.

Jia Qizhe tilted his head slightly. "Ah, yes. Qi Wan, come with me, I want to talk to you about something."

"Oh!" Qi Wan hopped to Jia Qizhe"s side.

Gu Qingyu and Mo Bai watched them leave the yard, then she looked curiously at the flute in his hand. "Say, Mo Bai, is this your weapon?"

"Ah, yeah." Mo Bai glanced at the flute in his hand and nodded slightly.

"So cool, so weapons can take the form of instruments as well..." Although I"ve seen it in novels before, it"s really different to see it with my own eyes.

"Yes, they can." Mo Bai stroked his jade-green flute as if to wipe away non-existent dust. "The melody it plays can evoke deep fatigue inside."

"Deep fatigue... from within... " Gu Qingyu zoned out a little. 

"It plays quite well, even without activating it. Yu"er, would you like to listen?" Mo Bai asked softly. 

Unexpectedly, Gu Qingyu nodded. Mo Bai stood under the tree, and he placed the flute against his lips, the jade flute glistened in the sunlight. He exhaled softly from his mouth, and a beautiful whistle resonated from the flute. Mo Bai continued to play, the song was so gentle. The song seemed to draw her in and she was submerged in its soothing melody. She could go to h.e.l.l and back to hear this again. She could sacrifice everything. All so that they could be here forever, just her listening to him play for all eternity.