Chapter 151 - 150: Got Played

Chapter 151: Chapter 150: Got Played

Outside the castle, a man cursed as he shoved open the door. "I told her not to come, I told her not to come! Now I’ve got to come bail her out in the middle of the night. Dammit, I must have owed that bitch from a past life."

The man hadn’t expected to find someone still awake at this hour, standing guard in the living room.

"Oh, here to welcome me?"

Gu Qingyin stood on the stairs, looking down as she sized up the newcomer.

Martin boots, jeans, a woolen overcoat... At first glance, he looked perfectly normal, but the addition of a purple head of hair sent Gu Qingyin on a trip down memory lane to the height of the punk scene.

"Who are you?" Gu Qingyin asked expressionlessly. "What are you doing at the Huo Family estate in the middle of the night?"

The man smiled, tilting his head up to look at her. "I’m here to pick someone up. Once I have them, I’ll leave immediately."

Only then did Gu Qingyin get a clear look and notice the man even had a tongue piercing. ’I’ve really seen it all now,’ she thought. ’This punk is a Heavenly Master?’

She scowled and delivered a threat. "The Huo Family estate isn’t a place you can just come and go as you please."

The moment she finished speaking, the ancient castle’s main doors slammed shut. A loud CLANG echoed, and then everything fell silent.

The man straightened up slightly. "Are you sure you want to do this? There are quite a few ordinary people here, you know."

Gu Qingyin’s eyes narrowed and she scoffed, "You really have no shame." As she spoke, she covertly formed the hand seals for a Thunder Decision and instantly unleashed it.

"If you think you can lay a hand on ordinary people, you’ll have to get through me first!"

The man hadn’t expected her to launch a sneak attack. Caught off guard, he only had enough time to activate a talisman. A pale golden light shield enveloped him, identical to the Golden Light Shield Dongfang Ran had used during their previous duel.

Gu Qingyin’s gaze hardened. She drew her Fire Burning Stick and was about to charge.

But in the next second, countless pitch-black birds appeared out of thin air and swarmed the man, their sharp claws and beaks striking the Golden Light Shield in a high-frequency assault.

In the blink of an eye, the shield of light shattered, leaving the man completely exposed to the flock’s assault.

’This is it? No way.’ Gu Qingyin paused at the top of the stairs, finding it hard to believe. It was too easy. ’Trying to take Dongfang Ran with this pathetic level of strength? Is he kidding me?’

Huo Yunjing materialized beside her, frowning at the flock. "It’s not that simple."

Sure enough, a gentle white light suddenly bloomed from within the flock of black birds. It seemed completely harmless, but any bird the light touched silently dissolved into nothing.

In the space of two breaths, the entire flock was annihilated.

The man’s figure was revealed once more. His hands were pressed together before his chest, a Light Wheel hung behind his head, and his face now radiated a sense of compassion.

Gu Qingyin stared, dumbfounded. "A Buddhist Practitioner?!"

’If he’s a Buddhist Practitioner, why is he dressed... like this? Was he so repressed as a monk that he went completely wild after returning to secular life?’

The man seemed to read her thoughts and smiled faintly. "You are too concerned with appearances. The flesh may take countless forms, but the heart can remain eternal."

Gu Qingyin nodded as if taking his words to heart, then immediately fired back with sarcasm, "If I may ask, for a Buddhist Practitioner colluding with an evil cult, is your heart truly the same as it once was? If you say yes, then I have to wonder, which temple did you come from? Who’s your master? He doesn’t think like you and worship some evil Buddha, does he?"

The man fell silent for two seconds before stiffly changing the subject. "Where is Benefactor Dongfang?"

Gu Qingyin rolled her eyes, flicked her Fire Burning Stick, and it erupted in raging flames. "Dongfang Ran is right upstairs. Go get her, if you’ve got the guts!"

The Buddha Light was too damaging to Huo Yunjing, so as Gu Qingyin charged forward, she recalled him into her pendant.

Huo Yunjing knew he would only hold her back out here, so he offered no resistance. He was just filled with a sense of loss. ’I’m still too weak...’

The Buddha Light had no effect on Gu Qingyin, so the man could only dodge her flaming Fire Burning Stick in a sorry state, all while chanting, "Good and evil are not inherent to the world. They are merely distinctions born from different perspectives."

"Those who do not share one’s ideology are branded as evil. But how can you be certain that what you believe to be right is truly good? Is it simply because more people agree with you?"

"But truth is often held by the minority."

"Have you never once doubted yourself?" the man’s voice was soft, yet it seemed to pierce straight to the soul. "Has there ever been a moment you questioned if what you were doing was right? Do you ever wake in the dead of night and regret the things you’ve done?"

Gu Qingyin’s face remained grim, as if she were unmoved, but her increasingly erratic attacks revealed her inner turmoil.

A slight smile touched the man’s lips as he pressed his advantage. "Is this path you walk truly your own choice? Or were you influenced by others? Have you ever considered what it is you truly desire?"

"Shut up!" Gu Qingyin roared, swinging her Fire Burning Stick with ever-increasing force. "You’re so damn annoying!"

The smile on the man’s face grew wider. "You’re faltering. Since you’re already faltering, why not make a new choice? Follow your heart’s true desire..."

"Bullshit!" With a roar, Gu Qingyin’s swing suddenly doubled in speed. The man failed to dodge in time and took the stick right to the mouth.

With a loud THWACK, the man was sent flying into a wall before crumpling to the floor, motionless.

Not caring whether he could hear her, Gu Qingyin huffed, "What makes people human is being educated from a young age to know right from wrong. If everyone just followed their base desires like you said, how would that be any different from the savage societies of pre-civilized times?"

"Stop trying to treat me like an idiot." Gu Qingyin put away her Fire Burning Stick and raised a hand, forming a seal. "Ten Thousand Feet Light Prison!"

A blinding white light erupted, shooting like arrows toward the man sprawled on the floor.

The man remained motionless, seemingly without any power to resist. But at the very instant the first beam of white light was about to strike him, his body suddenly began to float, and the light shattered on contact.

Gu Qingyin’s brow furrowed, her eyes scrutinizing the man.

The man snapped his head up, revealing a pair of eyes that were pure, pitch-black voids, with no whites at all.

"Gu Qingyin," the man spoke, but his voice was completely different—hoarse, deep, and carrying a palpable pressure.

A jolt went through Gu Qingyin. "You’re the one pulling their strings? You’re not human? What are you?"

"How rude," the voice sighed. "Just as detestable as your master."

The color drained from Gu Qingyin’s face. "You know my master? Did he leave all those years ago because of you?"

"I am under no obligation to answer your questions. When you are strong enough to stand before me yourself, the answers will be revealed."

As soon as the voice faded, the man’s body suddenly burst apart, transforming into countless feathers of black light that vanished in an instant.

Gu Qingyin froze for a second, then immediately spun around and bolted up the stairs, shoving open the door to Dongfang Ran’s room.

Just as she’d feared, the room was empty.

Gu Qingyin’s expression turned grim. ’That bastard was just talking to distract me so he could sneak Dongfang Ran away!’

She’d never been played for such a fool in her entire life.

Gu Qingyin gritted her teeth. "You’d better pray we don’t meet again anytime soon."