Long Feiye stopped him and asked with a cold voice, “What’s your relations.h.i.+p with Celestial Mountain Sword Sect?”
That had nothing to do with the Moye sword spirit, but it was an important question all the same. Such high swordsmans.h.i.+p skills had to come from Celestial Mountain. Where else could they originate from?
The one-armed man was quite surprised by Long Feiye’s question. He hesitated, but the pain in his bones and the laughter of the proprietress by his side reminded him to answer Long Feiye.
“My master is part of the Heretical Sword Sect. He’s already hidden himself away for years and never asked about Celestial Mountain Sword Sect’s matters. I’m his sole disciple.” the one-armed man replied.
Heretical Sword Sect? Long Feiye was satisfied with the answer. There were plenty of things he didn’t know about the sect, nor had he ever seen some of their secret sword techniques. He backed away, and Han Yunxi immediately went to treat the man with antidote. Actually, she wanted to ask even more questions, but time was running out. If she didn’t cure him now, there’d be no one left to ask.
After the man took the antidote, he simply sat on the ground and sighed. Naturally, Han Yunxi could tell that there was a story between him and the proprietress, but she wasn’t interested in that. She only knew these two had killed seven innocent women and two shadow guards. Their crimes were unforgivable!
As soon as the poison was cured, Han Yunxi asked, “Why is the Moye sword spirit seeping into Gu Qishao’s body? What’s going on? Will his life be in danger?”
The man hung his head, dejected. “I don’t know.”
The proprietress looked at Gu Qishao and abruptly stopped laughing to cry. “It’s gone...the sword he wants is gone…”
The man’s head hung even lower as he sat there in silence. Even as Han Yunxi asked him more questions, he didn’t answer. Finally, she kicked him aside and cursed, “You untrustworthy thing!”
“Miss, I really have no idea, truly,” the man replied. He could see through Gu Qishao enough to guess his birthdate, but not his body or his vines. He only felt that the man seemed to have an undying, undecaying body, just like those plants. Long Feiye’s eyes flashed with a complex expression, but he didn’t say a word.
At this moment, Baili Mingxiang and Xu Donglin cried out. “The lightstream is gone! It’s disappeared!”
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye looked over to see that the red stream of light really had vanished. The sword awn surrounding Gu Qishao had faded as well. Gradually, it too disappeared, leaving Gu Qishao seemingly asleep in mid-air.
“Little Qi…” Han Yunxi said subconsciously in spite of herself.
“Xu Donglin, go take a look!” Long Feiye ordered. If he wasn’t keeping guard over their prisoners, he would have gone himself.
When Xu Donglin went, Han Yunxi made to follow until Long Feiye stopped her, a little angry. “If the Moye sword spirit goes out of control, its destructive power would be enormous. You stay put!”
Long Feiye knew Han Yunxi was worried over Gu Qishao simply as a friend, but he still objected! He was magnanimous enough to take the entire world into his chest, but wouldn’t stand for a speck of sand when it came to this woman.
“But Little Qi, he…” Han Yunxi was worried.
“He wasn’t burned to death, so it shouldn’t be too serious,” Long Feiye replied. As predicted, Xu Donglin had barely gotten close when Gu Qishao opened his eyes to give him a fright.
“Gu...Gu Qishao, are, are you alright?” Xu Donglin stammered.
Gu Qishao stared at him a while before rolling his eyes. The next second he was flying towards Han Yunxi and Long Feiye at high speeds. Seeing this, Han Yunxi’s heart settled back into her chest. If Gu Qishao could still be so lively, then he should be fine. Did he really absorb Moye’s sword spirit? Why did that happen?
Before she could ask him, Gu Qishao rushed in front of Long Feiye and asked bluntly, “Long Feiye, were you trying to slice me to death back there?”
Long Feiye adopted a lofty air as he gave him a silent, scornful look. When he’d slashed at Gu Qishao, it was only to undo the ropes tying him fast. The fact that this fellow could run over to interrogate him now proved that he was conscious and clearheaded throughout the entire ordeal.
Although he was planning to ignore him, Long Feiye suddenly recalled something and asked with a cold laugh, “When I saw you fly towards the fire like a moth, I thought you turned stupid after being tied up for days. Heheh, looks like you didn’t turn into an idiot after all?”
Fly towards the fire like a moth?
Before Gu Qishao could react, Han Yunxi immediately caught Long Feiye’s meaning. When the one-armed man had attacked with swordfire, Gu Qishao had gone to face it of his own accord. She saw with her own eyes, but was too worried about him burning to death to notice the exact details. Now in hindsight, she realized how strange it all was. If Gu Qishao knew what he was doing back then and ran into the flames of his own accord, he must have had a motive.
Did he know something?
Han Yunxi knit her brows at him and discovered a deep cut on his shoulder. Beyond that, there were a few injuries from sword qi, but nothing like a dagger stab wound. Most likely, all the dripping blood she’d seen back then came from this deep shoulder wound.
The more she looked, the stranger she found it all. He still has the mood to question Long Feiye instead of worrying about his injuries? Isn’t he curious about them at all? This isn’t normal!
Just how much does he know about the Moye sword spirit?
The one-armed man wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell Gu Qishao about the sword spirit, so it was possible he found out ages ago.
“Gu Qishao!” Han Yunxi suddenly turned stern.
Startled, Gu Qishao looked at her before he started to back away. Long Feiye wasn’t the only man who feared Han Yunxi’s temper. Gu Qishao did too.
“Why weren’t you burned to death?” Han Yunxi asked suddenly.
Gu Qishao’s face paled as he grew fl.u.s.tered. Why is she asking that? Does she suspect something? I wasn’t hurt by the swordfire while wrapped up in my vines. She saw that too, so why’s she still asking me?
Gu Qishao immediately turned towards Long Feiye as his heart dropped. Had he told Poison la.s.s something? Faced with his questioning gaze, Long Feiye only gave him a disdainful look before averting his eyes. That only made Gu Qishao more uncertain.
Did Long Feiye comfort Poison la.s.s with the truth of my immortality after I was swallowed up by swordfire and the sword awn attacks?
Gu Qishao’s heart beat rapidly as he looked at Han Yunxi, suddenly at a loss for words. But Han Yunxi only asked, “Gu Qishao, did you long discover the secret of the Moye sword spirit? What’s the deal with those vines? How could they resist the swordfire?”
Han Yunxi would never guess that Gu Qishao had an undying body. She was angry because she suspected Gu Qishao hadn’t really been held under duress for the past few days, but simply faking it for the one-armed man because he knew of the Moye sword spirit. She thought he was waiting all this time for his chance, which would explain why he met the swordfire head-on!
“Gu Qishao, did you go to the justice department that night? What did you run into? Why didn’t you come back to find us? Or tell us you were all right?” Han Yunxi asked.
Gu Qishao’s taut nerves suddenly relaxed. He understood Han Yunxi’s temper and suddenly broke into a foolish smile.
“You’re still smiling! Just what’s going on?” Han Yunxi almost wanted to kick him. On one side, the one-armed man was waiting for Gu Qishao’s answer as well. He really did kidnap him, but he had doubts after seeing the man rush into the swordfire.
Han Yunxi’s face was white with rage, so Gu Qishao hastened to explain. As it turned out, that night he couldn’t fall asleep and went to the justice department so he could inspect the bodies first. Unfortunately, he ran into the one-armed man and the proprietress on their way to collect the bones. He was certain they were the culprits behind the murders and that the dagger in her hands was Qi Sha. Curious about their motives, he hid in the shadows to watch them collect their bounty, then set the walls of the building on fire.
The next morning, he followed the pair to the sh.o.r.es of Yinyang Lake and overheard them talking. There, he found out the truth and discovered that he was the man of extreme killing aura they wanted. Thus, he purposely showed himself by the lakesh.o.r.e to attract the man’s attention, then got kidnapped.
“Then why did you throw yourself into the swordfire? Were you seeking death?” Han Yunxi was stuck on that point. Even if Gu Qishao knew the truth about Moye’s sword spirit, he had no need to burn himself for it!
Long Feiye’s lips quirked into a smirk as he waited for Gu Qishao to explain himself. But Gu Qishao simply dug out a small root from his shoulder and tossed it in front of the one-armed man. Everyone recognized it as the roots of the vine that had surrounded him prior.
Gu Qishao said, “Even though the vines were hacked off from sh.o.r.e, I can still grow them! With my blood, they become impervious to both fire and water, much less swordfire. With it protecting my life, I had to lure out the Moye sword spirit for a look one way or another. That way, I wouldn’t waste all their efforts!”
The one-armed man was very surprised. He broke into bitter laughs and cried, “Heheh, so that was it!” Although he’d executed every part of his plan perfectly, it was hard to reckon against a man like Gu Qishao! Han Yunxi understood more of the issue after recognizing the strength of Gu Qishao’s vines. She looked back at the still waters of Yinyang Lake, where the bits of fallen vine had already sank to the bottom. Of course, she never suspected Gu Qishao to be lying to her regarding these things, so she didn’t pursue the matter.
Instead, it was Long Feiye whose smirk grew scornful in turn. Although he believed Gu Qishao’s account regarding the one-armed man and proprietress, that stuff after the fireproof vines was all hogwas.h.!.+
If Long Feiye guessed right, the truth should be…