As Gu Chengming walked out of the Barter Market, the Red Dust Art suddenly sensed a certain ripple of cause and effect.
His steps paused slightly. Without changing his expression, Gu Chengming used the motion of straightening his collar as cover to glance backward.
Behind him was a bustling crowd, the cries of vendors rising and falling one after another. He spotted no suspicious figure at all.
[The «Yin-Yang Creation Strategy» was a bit puzzled: Strange—I clearly felt a faint ripple of cause and effect just now. Was it only my imagination?]
"Not necessarily an illusion."
The Red Dust Art had detected something amiss yet couldn't find its source—and that in itself was the biggest problem.
It meant the other party was either of extremely high cultivation, high enough to crush his perception, or carried some special secret art or treasure expressly meant to shield against probes of cause-and-effect and qi-mechanism.
Recalling the information about "thief-cultivators" he'd seen earlier on the bounty board, a vague conjecture took shape in Gu Chengming's heart.
Could it be that some mouse had set its eyes on him?
Confident though he was, he was by no means arrogant.
In a frontier pass with such a mix of dragons and fish, caution kept the boat afloat for ten thousand years.
Gu Chengming did not choose to circle around in the streets to probe; instead, he walked straight toward the Northern Garrison Manor.
Once he returned to the rear courtyard, that prickling sense of something amiss—like a thorn pressed against his back—did indeed vanish completely.
The wind and snow of the frontier pass could always conceal many traces. Regarding the matter of the thief-cultivator, Gu Chengming kept a small measure of wariness in mind.
Yet over the following two days, all was calm within Snowfall Pass, as if the spying of that day truly had been nothing more than Gu Chengming's imagination—which left him puzzled all over again.
Could it be that the very fact of his residing in the Northern Garrison Manor had made the one secretly watching him give up the idea?
Well, at least having no one come making trouble was a good thing.
Time slipped quietly by amid this atmosphere of outward ease and inner vigilance, and in the blink of an eye the moment of parting arrived.
Two days later, beneath the red plum tree in the rear courtyard of the Northern Garrison Manor.
Luo Jinyao had today changed into a set of plain travel-ready close-fitting attire, her long hair bound up high, her whole person looking valiant and spirited, yet giving off a steadiness that put one at ease.
"Little Gu, Junior Sister Yu."
Luo Jinyao looked at the two "children" before her who left her both reassured and uneasy, and couldn't help switching back into mother-hen mode:
"Although Director Zhou's injuries have stabilized, the road back to the Capital is long, and to avoid the eyes and ears of the demon race, we'll need to take several hidden routes. The round trip will take half a month at the very least."
"During the time I'm away, you two absolutely must be careful in all things here at Snowfall Pass." She looked at Yu Wenqiu: "Especially you, Junior Sister Yu."
Yu Wenqiu shrank her neck and nodded obediently, like a grade-schooler being lectured: "I know, Senior Sister. I'm not a three-year-old."
"If you were a three-year-old I'd actually feel more at ease."
Luo Jinyao sighed helplessly, then turned her gaze toward Gu Chengming.
Toward this junior whom she rather admired, her eyes were far more reassured, yet her exhortations were all the more meticulous:
"Little Gu, steady as you are in your conduct, your edge shows too sharply. You now rank tenth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, and you're listed on the Myriad Demon Ranking besides—the eyes fixed upon you are not few. After I leave, try to go out of the pass as little as possible, and unless absolutely necessary, don't go taking on missions that are too dangerous."
"I've already given you the Northern Garrison Manor's restriction-token. If you run into trouble you can't resolve, hide inside the manor and activate the grand formation. I've already had a word with several of the vice-generals within the pass—they'll look after you both."
Gu Chengming's heart warmed slightly, and he cupped his hands in salute: "Rest assured, Senior. This junior will surely look after Elder Yu well."
"Mm, with that word from you, I feel much more at ease."
Luo Jinyao gave the two of them one last look, then hesitated no longer, turned, and departed, vanishing into the vast, boundless wind and snow.
As that reassuring white figure disappeared entirely, the little courtyard once more fell quiet.
"So Senior Sister's gone..." Yu Wenqiu gazed up at the sky, her tone subtle: "Even though Senior Sister treats me very well, being in front of her always feels like going back to the days in my childhood when Master pushed me to study—so much pressure."
Gu Chengming looked at the way she instantly reverted to her true form, and shook his head helplessly.
In the days that followed, apart from his daily routine cultivation and the occasional stroll over to the Hall of Battle Merit, Gu Chengming poured most of his energy into that «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula».
However, the cultivation process did not go smoothly.
Inside the quiet room, Gu Chengming sat cross-legged, his brows tightly knit.
At his side, a blurry pink phantom was struggling to take form, yet it kept flickering a few times and then crumbling apart, like a picture with a poor signal.
"Still no good."
Gu Chengming dispersed the red-dust qi within his body and rubbed his somewhat swollen, aching brow.
After these days of repeated attempts, he had finally found the crux of why this body-technique was so hard to get a foothold in.
Just as he'd realized at the time of his breakthrough, the "cause and effect" he bore was indeed vast and weighty. Whether it was Zhou Qingmu and Qin Qing back in the Capital, or those ethereal, intangible reputations—all could supply an immense amount of red-dust qi.
But the problem was that they were too far away.
These cause-and-effect threads were stretched too long. It was like flying a kite: the more line you let out, the weaker your control over the kite.
Trying to use these causes and effects, distant as they were by a thousand li, to condense out a finely-detailed "phantom body" was no different from doing embroidery with a sledgehammer—the slightest carelessness would cause the energy to run out of control.
He needed an anchor closer at hand—someone right beside him, entangled with him in cause and effect deeply enough that he could mobilize red-dust qi finely, anytime and anywhere.
Thinking this, Gu Chengming's gaze passed through the window of the quiet room and fell upon that red plum tree in the courtyard.
There, a certain Elder was wrapped in a thick fox-fur cloak, basking in the sun.
Sunlight spilled across the side of her face, gilding her languid expression with a warm golden rim of light.
Gu Chengming fell into thought.
The afternoon sun carried a rare bit of warmth.
Yu Wenqiu was narrowing her eyes when she suddenly felt a shadow fall over her.
She raised her head and saw Gu Chengming standing before her, holding a pot of freshly brewed spirit-tea and a plate of pastries.
"Elder, basking in the sun?"
Gu Chengming set the teapot on the stone table and sat down at her side as a matter of course.
"Currying favor for no reason means you're either a villain or a thief."
Yu Wenqiu shrank back warily: "Out with it. What is it you want this time?"
"Elder misunderstands."
Gu Chengming poured himself a cup of tea, his tone sincere: "This disciple has merely run into a bottleneck while cultivating that «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula», and would like to ask Elder for a small favor."
"Red Dust Phantom Body Formula?" Yu Wenqiu blinked. "How do I help?"
"It's very simple."
Gu Chengming explained patiently: "The core of this method lies in cause and effect. I need someone close enough in distance, and entangled with me deeply enough in cause and effect, to serve as an anchor and help me stabilize the fluctuations of the red-dust qi."
"So..." He paused. "I need to deepen some bonds with Elder."
"De-deepen our bonds?!"
The instant those words came out, Yu Wenqiu's mind went "buzz."
Bonds? What kind of bonds?
The kind of bond between dao-companions written about in those storybooks? Or the kind of life-and-death-together, cling-to-each-other bond?
Li-little—was Little Gu confessing to her in a roundabout way?
Or was he meaning to...
Yu Wenqiu's gaze drifted uncontrollably over Gu Chengming's handsome face, and some not-suitable-for-children scenes surfaced in her mind. Her cheeks flushed crimson at a visible-to-the-naked-eye speed, the red spreading all the way down to the base of her neck.
"That, that..."
Yu Wenqiu stammered, her fingers clenched tight as she spoke:
"You mean—that, that kind of bond? But I'm an Elder, you know? Th-though it's not that I'm saying no, but this is too sudden, and Senior Sister only just left and here we are already—isn't this a bit..."
The more she spoke, the smaller her voice grew, until at the end it nearly became a mosquito's whine.
As an Elder, she had to be reserved! Right! Reserved!
But if it was Little Gu, then it wasn't entirely out of the question to consider...
Watching his Elder clearly let her thoughts run off the rails, Gu Chengming had no choice but to cruelly cut short her "fantasy."
"Elder, where has your mind wandered off to?" Gu Chengming explained helplessly: "When I said deepen our bonds, I meant deepening the qi-mechanism resonance between us through some everyday interactions—eating together, drinking tea, chatting—so that I can capture the red-dust qi on you more precisely."
"That's all."
Yu Wenqiu sat stunned for a good long while before she finally digested Gu Chengming's words.
So it was just eating and drinking tea?
"Oh—"
Yu Wenqiu dragged out the syllable at length and slumped back into her chair.
In that instant, the sense of relief in her heart and that twinge of disappointment somehow ended up in a dead tie.
"You gave this Elder a fright."
She turned her head away, snatched up a pastry and took a fierce bite, mumbling indistinctly:
"You should've said so sooner! Seeing as you bought me pastries, this Elder will reluctantly humor you, then."
Although the misunderstanding was cleared up, once a seed has been planted, it will quietly take root and sprout amid the trivialities of daily life.
In the days that followed, a subtle atmosphere arose in the rear courtyard of the Northern Garrison Manor at Snowfall Pass.
To Gu Chengming, this was nothing more than a methodical cultivation plan.
But to Yu Wenqiu, the way things were developing seemed to be going a bit beyond her expectations.
Early morning, light snow.
Yu Wenqiu walked out of her room in a daze, her hair still a little disheveled.
By her usual habit, she would go to the kitchen herself to find something to eat, or simply go hungry and wait for lunch.
But now...
Beside the stone table in the courtyard, Gu Chengming was already seated there, two bowls of steaming spirit-rice porridge set before him, along with several plates of exquisite little side dishes.
Seeing her come out, Gu Chengming rose naturally, picked up a wooden comb from the side, and walked behind her:
"Your hair's a mess. Let me tidy it for you."
"Huh? Oh..."
Yu Wenqiu instinctively wanted to refuse, but her body, as if possessed by some spirit, came to a stop.
She stood there stiffly, feeling that warm hand pass gently through her hair, its movements soft and practiced. Now and then a faint ripple of spiritual power would travel down the ends of her hair, leaving her scalp tingling pleasantly.
So this was deepening their bonds?
Yu Wenqiu looked at that bowl of steaming porridge before her, and her heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
Afternoon, the study.
Outside the window the cold wind howled; within the room the stove-fire burned warm and mellow.
Gu Chengming was reading; Yu Wenqiu was spacing out.
She had originally meant to read a storybook, but for some reason her gaze kept drifting of its own accord toward that quietly reading figure across from her.
Gu Chengming seemed to be circulating his cultivation method, his whole body giving off a very faint pink halo.
Yu Wenqiu could feel a formless qi-mechanism flowing slowly from her own body toward his. The sensation was not unpleasant; on the contrary, it carried the reassurance of having one's hand held.
"Elder, your tea's gone cold."
Gu Chengming didn't even look up; he simply reached out naturally, took the teacup from beside her hand, refilled it with hot tea, and set it back in place.
The whole process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, his gaze never once leaving his book.
Yu Wenqiu cradled that cup of warm tea, staring blankly at his profile.
Little Gu had often done this sort of pouring-tea, serving-water thing before—so why was it that now...
She suddenly felt this scene looked rather familiar.
Just like in those storybooks—that kind of old married couple who had shared hardship and supported each other for many years, where even without speaking, simply being under one roof made one feel the years were quiet and good?
"Pah, pah, pah! Yu Wenqiu, what are you even thinking?!"
She fiercely spat at herself inwardly, yet the flush on her face simply would not be pressed down.
This feeling was just too strange.
Dusk, the training grounds.
Gu Chengming was practicing the «Myriad Forms Creation Fist», fist-wind howling, his blood and qi surging like a dragon.
Yu Wenqiu sat off to one side, wrapped in her fox-fur cloak.
"Elder, how was that?"
Gu Chengming withdrew his fist and turned to look at her, fine beads of sweat on his forehead, his smile blazing especially brilliant in the setting sun.
"Mm, huh? Good, good—"
Yu Wenqiu came back to herself and, somewhat flustered, looked away.
Comrade Little Yu suddenly found herself starting to lose track of which it really was: Gu Chengming borrowing her "cause and effect" to cultivate, or her using the pretext of cultivation to greedily cling to this rare bit of tender warmth?
And so, time slipped quietly by.
And Gu Chengming's cultivation, too, finally arrived at a qualitative leap.
This night, the moon was bright and the stars sparse.
Gu Chengming sat cross-legged within the quiet room, his expression solemn.
After this stretch of "deep interaction" with Yu Wenqiu, he could clearly feel that the cause-and-effect thread connecting the two of them had become incomparably tough and clear.
It was no longer merely a thread, but a channel for the steady transmission of red-dust qi.
"Now's the time."
At a stir of Gu Chengming's thought, the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» within his body ran at full power.
"Hummmm—"
A vast and gentle stream of red-dust qi came surging endlessly along that cause-and-effect thread, flowing in from Yu Wenqiu next door, who was in the middle of a sweet dream.
Mingled within this aura were trust, dependence, and even a few strands of feeling hard to put into words.
With this high-quality "anchor" lending its support, the true essence within Gu Chengming's body instantly came to a boil.
He pressed his fingers together like a sword and pointed at the empty air to his side.
"Phantom body—condense!"
This time, that pink phantom did not crumble apart.
Amid a warping of light and shadow, a figure identical to Gu Chengming in form—identical even down to the very fluctuations of its aura—slowly stepped forth from the void.
That phantom body gave Gu Chengming a slight smile, and in that instant its liveliness was simply like that of a living person.
At the same time, a vast force of feedback came pouring back into Gu Chengming's dantian like a tide.
That was the reward bestowed by the laws of heaven and earth upon entering the threshold of the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula», and also the "red-dust enlightenment" accumulated over this stretch of time.
"Boom!"
Deep within his sea of qi, that dragon-shaped qi-seed let out a delighted roar, its body swelling a circle larger once more.
The bottleneck at the very peak of the second realm, fourth layer, where he had already been, was easily punctured like thin paper under the impact of this force.
Second realm, fifth layer!
Gu Chengming slowly opened his eyes, feeling the power within him now several times more vigorous than before, as well as that red-dust phantom body standing obediently at his side, moving according to his will.
"So this is the Red Dust Phantom Body Formula."
With this body-technique, plus the burst of [Hundred Heavens Emperor], and that hand of Red Dust Art besides—
As he was now, even without deploying his sword formation, among the second-realm cultivators of this Northern Territory he was already more than able to walk with a swagger.
A sword cultivator who could be a standout among his peers even without using his sword—what was that?
Gu Chengming felt that he really was a bit overpowered now. If his current self were a sect NPC in some immortal-cultivation game, in all likelihood there'd be a great crowd of players crying and clamoring for him to be nerfed.
"All thanks to Elder Yu..."
Thinking this in his heart, he looked, somewhat impatiently, toward this newly-entered cultivation method of his.
As his gaze moved downward, a pale-blue, semi-transparent panel surfaced before his eyes, its text clearly legible.
[Congratulations! «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» cultivation has crossed the threshold.]
[Agility +2]
[Current Agility: 13]
[Conquest Target Selected: Red Dust Phantom Body Formula]
[Favorability: 5 / Stranger]
[The «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» slowly stirred awake.]
[The mist in the corner of the sea of consciousness churned faintly; after several breaths, a phantom—nearly transparent, as though it might scatter on the wind at any moment—at last slowly emerged.]
[First it silently restrained its own aura to the utmost; then, warily, it swept over and over—three times—across your sea-of-consciousness meridians, your dantian and sea of qi, and even those corners of your spirit-soul that ordinarily not even you yourself had ever noticed.]
[Only after confirming there were no eavesdropping restrictions, no lurking old-grandpa soul-remnant, and no spiritual marks left behind by any other great power, did the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula»'s taut phantom grow a little more solid, and let out a long breath.]
[It smoothed a hem of robe that did not exist: "Fellow Daoist Gu, was it you who awakened me?"]
Watching this out-of-the-ordinary manner of entrance, Gu Chengming suddenly felt a flicker of familiarity in his heart, and replied: "It should be?"
Fellow Daoist Gu?
Now that was a form of address he had never heard before.
And judging from this debut personality, it seemed to be the extremely cautious type?
[Hearing this, the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» knit its brows slightly.]
[It wore a look of "just as I thought," then lowered its voice: "Fellow Daoist Gu, there are many people and watching eyes here—who's to say there isn't some great power passing by, spying across the void? Best for us to be cautious. Don't reveal too many secrets, and above all don't lightly speak your true name aloud."]
Gu Chengming felt a bit unsure, and instinctively glanced around at his empty sea of consciousness:
"We're communicating with divine sense within the sea of consciousness right now—this is inside my own body. That kind of thing shouldn't happen here, should it?"
[Hearing this, the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» shook its head in disagreement, those eyes brimming with the helplessness of "you're too naïve."]
[It spoke earnestly and with weight: "Fellow Daoist Gu, you're still too young, your experience too shallow. This world of immortal cultivation is treacherous and unfathomable, lethal intent lurking on every side—who told you the sea of consciousness was necessarily safe?"]
[Ticking off its fingers, it reproached: "What if there's some ancient old fiend skilled in body-seizure lurking deep within your bloodline? What if, in the course of your cultivation, a formless heart-demon has sprouted and is secretly spying on you? What if your cultivation method has some flaw?"]
[It pointed at the «Hundred Bones Resonance» beside it: "Especially this one—it's far too flashy! Fellow Daoist Gu, heed one piece of advice from me: from now on, conceal your abilities where you can, and refrain from sticking your neck out where you can."]
[Seeing this newcomer method single it out the moment it took the stage, the Hundred Bones Resonance flew into a rage.]
[Paying it no mind, the Red Dust Phantom Body Formula went on with its exhortations: That Elder Yu who helped you break through is also a considerable hidden danger. One must never be without a heart wary of others—at the very least, lay seventeen or eighteen restrictions upon her, ensuring that even if her soul is searched she won't be able to spit out half a word. Only then is it safe.]
Gu Chengming's scalp went numb as he listened.
This newcomer method—why did it carry such a whiff of an old devil?
"Don't. That's our own Elder Yu—absolutely trustworthy. Besides, the discipline of our Wenjian Sect is upright and pure; we don't go in for this sort of thing."
[The «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» sighed, but seeing Gu Chengming's resolute attitude, it only shook its head helplessly.]
[It paused, as if to make up for the awkwardness of having its suggestion just rejected—or perhaps truly out of concern for Gu Chengming's little life—and abruptly changed the subject.]
[As for matters of combat, however, you must never be careless. Observing your previous combat style, Fellow Daoist Gu, it's far too fierce and headlong—at every turn you're clashing head-on. This is a grave taboo.]
[It extended a finger and traced a few strokes in the air, saying gravely: "Next time you condense a phantom body, remember above all not to use it merely to deceive the enemy or to die in your stead."]
[Not only must the phantom body look convincingly real—better yet, hide a few high-grade 'Soul-Extinguishing Thunderbolts' within it, or the kind of bone-melting poison that dissolves on contact; at the very least, stuff in a few self-detonation talismans.]
[The moment someone means to harm you, or attempts to attack your phantom body, we just detonate it directly. Even if it doesn't blow them to death, the dust and spiritual-power ripples produced by the blast can buy you at least three breaths' time to flee.]
Huh, now that's a handy way to use it.
Gu Chengming fell into thought.
[It patted a sleeve that did not exist, looking at Gu Chengming with sincere eyes: "Fellow Daoist Gu, I know you cultivate the sword-dao, which prizes breaking rather than bending. But only by staying alive is there output; only by staying alive can one prove the Dao."]
["Those geniuses who die along the way—however dazzlingly brilliant they were in life, after death they're nothing but a mound of yellow earth, their very names forgotten by others. Only the one who lives to the end is the winner."]
["Since you and I are now one body, sharing weal and woe, I will wholeheartedly help you toward long life."]
Gu Chengming nodded, deciding to smooth its fur the right way for now: "Many thanks for your guidance, Fellow Daoist. In my conduct hereafter, I will surely be doubly careful and think thrice before acting."
[Hearing this, the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula»'s ever-taut expression at last eased a few degrees.]
[It looked at Gu Chengming, a few notes of approval in its eyes.]
[«Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» favorability +5]
[Current favorability: 10 / Stranger]
Now, perhaps, it was also time to go deal with the source of that inexplicable spying he'd sensed back then at the Barter Market?
Snowfall Pass, atop the eaves of an unremarkable teahouse.
Nuo Tao dangled her two legs in the air, swinging them idly back and forth, those eyes fixed on the Northern Garrison Manor in the distance.
These past two days, she hadn't been idle.
As the current "Walker" of the Myriad-Theft Gate, if Nuo Tao wanted to dig up information on someone, then even if the other party had hidden their underpants inside a storage pouch, she could ferret out the color of them from the faintest clues.
"Inner-gate disciple of the Wenjian Sect, night-patrol guard of the Night-Watch Bureau, and tenth on the very latest Hidden Dragon Ranking..."
Nuo Tao spat out the grass-root in her mouth and scratched her head, a bit vexed, muttering under her breath:
"Seems kind of impressive."
Recalling the results of that day's trailing, she still felt a lingering fear even now.
She'd originally thought he was just some sword-cultivator fellow with a bit of family wealth—who'd have known the man would swagger straight into the rear courtyard of the Northern Garrison Manor, a place guarded by a fourth-realm great sword cultivator?
"Too hard."
Nuo Tao sighed and fished out from her bosom that warm, lustrous white-jade Fire Phoenix token, holding it up to the sunlight.
This thing was both a treasure and a hot potato.
That old rascal of a master of hers had once said that when the venerable Myriad-Theft Immortal Sovereign left this secret realm behind in those years, he had deliberately split the key into two.
One half remained in the gate, serving as a token of inheritance; the other half was scattered into the mortal red dust, drifting along with the current.
And every generation's heir of the Myriad-Theft Gate, in order to truly graduate from their master's tutelage, had to go into the red dust to find this other half of the key, and "steal" it back.
This was not merely seeking a key—it was seeking a "tribulation."
What the Myriad-Theft Gate cultivated was the stealing of heaven's secrets and the filching of cause and effect. That half-token drifting out in the world would, in the unseen workings of fate, be drawn by cause and effect, ultimately falling into the hands of the one most able to counter the heir, the most troublesome, or the one fated to be hopelessly entangled with the heir.
This was the so-called "meeting one's tribulation."
"Haah—"
Nuo Tao poked at the Fire Phoenix's eyes with her finger, somewhat depressed:
"If it weren't for this whole business, running into such a good-looking, capable fellow, this young lady would absolutely go up and strike up a chat—maybe we'd even develop into some moving, song-worthy tale of the martial world."
"...But of all things, you just had to be my 'tribulation.'"
She really was a little reluctant to make her move.
After all, this was the first time since she'd come down the mountain that she'd run into the sort of fellow whose mere profile could make her heart skip several beats! That clean temperament, those warm, gentle brows and eyes—he was simply grown right on her aesthetic sweet spot!
"Still..."
Nuo Tao rolled over, shifting into a more comfortable position sprawled across the roof tiles, and consoled herself:
"Look on the bright side—the difficulty isn't actually all that great?"
She thought of the glorious deeds of her own master, the "Dunno" Daoist, back in his day.
It was said that her master's "tribulation" in those years had been a token that fell into the hands of a peak fourth-realm devil-cultivator.
At the time, her master had only just barely crossed into the third realm. In order to steal that token, he was hunted by that devil-cultivator for a full thirty thousand li and nearly lost half his life, finally fleeing all the way to the Capital before just barely succeeding.
By comparison...
"Tenth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, mid-second-realm..."
Nuo Tao counted on her fingers, the corners of her mouth unable to keep from tilting up slightly, revealing two cute little fangs:
"Sure, among his peers he counts as a monster, but in the end he's only second realm."
"I may not be able to beat you head-on, but I'm a thief-cultivator! I'm not trying to fight you to the death—I'm trying to steal something!"
"Stealing something from a mid-second-realm fellow has got to be a whole lot easier than snatching a life from a fourth-realm devil-cultivator, right?"
Thinking it through this way, Nuo Tao's mood instantly lifted quite a bit.
Besides, she wasn't the kind of bandit who threw all reason out the window.
"Hmph, this young lady is a reasonable sort."
Nuo Tao silently worked out her plan in her heart: "Worst case, once we get into the secret realm, I'll split half the treasures inside with him... mm, a four-six split works too! If he behaves well, I could even do three-seven!"
"Just consider it compensation for borrowing his token."
Having made up her mind, Nuo Tao began her patient stakeout.
A place like the Northern Garrison Manor was definitely not somewhere you could force your way into; that fourth-realm great cultivator inside, the one called Luo Jinyao, sounded like a thoroughly bad customer just from the name alone.
She was waiting for an opportunity.
At last.
This very morning, Nuo Tao keenly sensed that the sharp, biting sword intent that had hung over the Northern Garrison Manor all this while—leaving her feeling as if a thorn pressed at her back—had suddenly vanished.
Immediately after, she saw a streak of white rainbow pierce up through the sun and fly off toward the south.
"That fourth-realm great sword cultivator left?!"
Nuo Tao's eyes lit up, and in her excitement she nearly crushed the roof tile in her hand.
A heaven-sent opportunity!
The greatest obstacle had departed; now in that little courtyard there remained only that good-looking fellow, and one pretty female Elder who did nothing all day but eat and drink and didn't look too bright.
"It's in the bag!"
Nuo Tao patted the dust off her hands, and instantly slipped into work mode.
Before long, the side gate of the Northern Garrison Manor slowly opened.
A tall, slender figure walked out from inside.
Today Gu Chengming had changed into a set of ink-colored close-fitting attire convenient for movement, the Wave-Listening Sword hanging at his waist—seemingly planning to head out to the snowy plains beyond the city to cultivate, or to carry out some mission.
"Here he comes!"
Nuo Tao drew a deep breath, the spiritual power within her body beginning to circulate along a bizarre route.
[Thief Art · Dust-Merging].
Her figure did not vanish, but in the perception of those around her, her sense of presence instantly dropped to the lowest possible level, as though she were nothing but a stone by the roadside, a clump of weeds, a speck of dust.
Even if she walked openly down the street like this, so long as she made no overly world-shocking move, the gazes of passersby would slide subconsciously past her, leaving not the slightest impression in their minds.
This was the Myriad-Theft Gate's signature skill, and also the source of her confidence in daring to trail a Hidden Dragon Ranking prodigy.
The wind and snow blew fierce; the alleys were deep and secluded.
This was the most remote corner of Snowfall Pass—within the pass, yet a place few people normally came to, with almost no one living there.
"Close enough."
Gu Chengming halted his steps, his back to the alley mouth, his fingers lightly caressing the hilt of his sword.
It wasn't that he was truly without any guard; the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» within him had long since been running at its utmost.
And at a distance of less than five paces behind him, the air warped faintly.
Nuo Tao held her breath, those big eyes flickering with excited light. She was like a little fox about to capture its prey, cautiously extending that pair of hands—slender as jade, yet swift as lightning.
Closer, closer still!
That bulging, stuffed-full storage pouch was right before her eyes!
"Got it!"
In her [Dust-Merging] state, Nuo Tao's heart leapt with joy.
Good-looking as this fellow was, and decent in cultivation too, his wariness still left a little something to be desired. As long as her fingertips touched the restriction-node on the storage pouch, with the techniques of her Myriad-Theft Gate, she could spirit away the things inside within half a breath—even without using spiritual power.
However, just as her fingertips were about to touch the storage pouch—
"Hum—"
A pale-pink aura, carrying a few notes of ambiguity yet incomparably tough, suddenly erupted from within Gu Chengming's body without any warning.
That was not sword-qi, nor ordinary spiritual power, but—red-dust qi!
Thousands upon thousands of red-dust cause-and-effect threads seemed in this instant to come alive, instantly weaving into a formless great net that bound fast that little hand reaching toward him.
"What?!"
Nuo Tao paled with shock and instinctively tried to spur her escape art to flee.
But that red-dust qi was like a maggot in the bone, spreading instantly from her fingertips throughout her whole body.
For a thief-cultivator practicing the [Dust-Merging] art, the thing most feared was precisely this kind of cause-and-effect entanglement. Once tainted by red-dust cause and effect, that state of "untouched by all methods, merged into the dust" was instantly shattered.
"Pop!"
Like a burst soap bubble, Nuo Tao's figure was directly "squeezed" out of the void, tumbling down in a sorry heap onto the snowy ground.
Before she could even react, a sheathed long sword had already pressed against her throat. At the same time, that thick pink aura surrounded her on all sides, sealing off every avenue of retreat.
Nuo Tao's eyes went wide as she looked at this good-looking fellow before her—still wearing a smile, yet with a hint of mischief in his eyes—her mind a complete mush.
The Red Dust Art?!
This was the unpassed secret of the Harmonious Joy Sect, a method specifically for toying with cause and effect and manipulating the human heart—and the absolute bane of thief-cultivators like them, who prized "not a leaf clinging to the body"!
Wasn't this fellow a sword cultivator of the Wenjian Sect? Wasn't he the kind of straight-as-a-pipe type who only ever yelled "I have one sword that can open the gate of heaven"?
Since when did any proper sword cultivator double-cultivate a Harmonious Joy Sect method?! This was way off-specialty!
"I'm done for, done for!"
Feeling those red-dust qi strands coiling endlessly around her like tentacles, Nuo Tao's heart went cold by half.
This time she really had hunted geese all day only to get her eye pecked by one.
However, just as she despaired, a thought even more terrifying yet carrying a few notes of the inexplicable suddenly flashed across her mind.
Wait—Harmonious Joy Sect? Red-dust qi?
This pink, tender sort of atmosphere, this method of tying a person up...
Nuo Tao's little face flushed crimson in a flash.
She raised her head to look at Gu Chengming's face, which looked especially handsome in the wind and snow, and then thought of those rumors about the Harmonious Joy Sect's "yin-gathering" and "cauldron-vessels."
"He wouldn't be meaning to harvest-and-replenish off me, would he?"
Once this thought surfaced, it could no longer be pressed back down.
As a looks-obsessed type, Nuo Tao looked at Gu Chengming's face, and a bizarre emotion actually welled up in her heart.
On one hand was the fear of being about to lose her innocence; on the other hand—
"If it's being harvested-and-replenished by this sword-cultivator fellow, it seems... not entirely unacceptable?"
"No, no! Nuo Tao, you have to be reserved! You're the heir of the Myriad-Theft Gate—how can you have such a thought?!"
In her heart, mortal and divine warred; yet on her face she put on a tragic, heroic expression of "a scholar may be killed but not humiliated," squeezing her eyes tightly shut, her lashes trembling, and in a tone facing death unflinching yet carrying a few quavering notes, she cried out:
"Gu... kill me, then! I will not yield!"
However, the warm touch or the teasing words she'd anticipated did not come.
Within the sea of consciousness, a dead silence.
Gu Chengming looked at this female thief-cultivator on the ground—blushing one moment and gnashing her teeth the next—and asked expressionlessly in his heart: "How should I deal with her?"
The next moment, a calm voice rang out in his mind.
[The «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» swept a wary glance over that female thief-cultivator and said coldly:]
[Fellow Daoist Gu, this woman's body-technique is bizarre, able to ignore most restrictions, and she knows your whereabouts and your background. If you let her leave, she will surely become a great calamity down the road.]
[For an uncertain factor like this, the only way to handle it is—kill to silence, pull up the weeds by the roots, and best of all, grind even her spirit-soul to oblivion, lest any cause and effect remain.]
Gu Chengming nodded.
Reasonably put—that was exactly his intention.
Toward this sort of person—unknown in background, sneaking around trailing him for several days, and reaching out to steal his things the moment she arrived—he held no tender, flower-pitying, jade-cherishing sentiments at all.
"Boom——!!"
The next moment, the ambiguous pink aura that had been coiling all around instantly dispersed.
In its place came a domineering, terrifying pressure, as though it would suppress the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths!
[CG / Hundred Heavens Emperor, Aid Me]—activate!
In the void behind Gu Chengming, a blurry, towering phantom of an emperor slowly surfaced. That phantom merely raised one hand, and the wind and snow all around instantly froze.
Gu Chengming slowly lifted his right fist, the blood and qi throughout his body boiling to the extreme in this instant, a suffocating aura of death locking fast onto Nuo Tao on the ground.
With this single fist coming down, never mind a second-realm thief-cultivator—even a pig-iron ingot would be blasted to slag!
Nuo Tao, who had been keeping her eyes shut, her inner monologue in full swing, caught in a state both nervous and afraid and faintly expectant, abruptly sensed that something was wrong.
That was no amorous atmosphere.
That was killing intent! The kind of killing intent that would scatter her—flesh, bones, and all—to the winds.
She snapped her eyes open, and what she saw was not some handsome man's face, but a fist swelling ever larger in her vision, wreathed in terrifying qi-force—along with Gu Chengming's pair of cold, utterly ripple-less eyes.
"Eh??"
Nuo Tao was completely dumbfounded.
This wasn't how the script went! Where was the promised Harmonious Joy Sect harvesting-and-replenishing? Where was the promised flower-pitying, jade-cherishing?
This wasn't about bedding her—this was really about killing her!!
That terrifying sense of oppression made every hair on her body stand on end, and the "aloof lady-knight, dying unbowed" posture she'd been struggling to maintain instantly collapsed.
"Wuwaaaahhhh—!!!"
Nuo Tao no longer cared about any image; she clutched her head with both hands, curled into a ball, and wailed: "No!! Don't kill me!!!"
Seeing that fist about to fall, she squeezed her eyes shut and rattled off words as fast as someone reciting a menu:
"I was wrong! I shouldn't have stolen your things! I'm from the Myriad-Theft Gate! I'm rich! I have lots of treasures!!"
Gu Chengming's fist-wind blew her bangs into disarray, but showed no sign of stopping.
Nuo Tao was so frightened that tears came out, and she threw down her last trump card: "Don't kill me! The storage pouch on me has a heart-linked restriction laid down by my master's gate! If you kill me, all the treasures inside will self-detonate and be destroyed——"
"Boo-hoo-hoo, let—let me go, fellow... I really do have a lot of money, wuwaaaahhh..."
To save her life, this time Nuo Tao truly threw all caution to the wind.
"Whew—"
That fist came to a forcible halt a mere half-inch from the tip of Nuo Tao's nose.
[The Red Dust Phantom Body Formula, however, narrowed its eyes: The Myriad-Theft Gate? Fellow Daoist Gu, since she's willing to hand over her treasures, why not bind her up first, and decide later?]
Gu Chengming gestured for her to continue.
Nuo Tao trembled as she undid the restriction on her storage pouch, clattering out one item after another.
"This is Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, this is a top-grade second-tier Cloud Shuttle, this is three thousand spirit-stones..."
In the blink of an eye, a small mountain had piled up on the snowy ground.
Gu Chengming raised a brow, having to admit that this thief-cultivator's family fortune was indeed tongue-clickingly rich. Just this one spread of things on the ground was worth no less than tens of thousands of spirit-stones—far wealthier than an ordinary second-realm consummation cultivator.
Nuo Tao slumped on the ground, gasping for breath in great gulps, looking at Gu Chengming's still-calm face and feeling as if she'd just danced a dance before the very gates of hell.
"Everything's here, fellow. Can you let me go now?"
Nuo Tao looked at him pitifully, teardrops still hanging at the corners of her eyes.
Gu Chengming paid no mind to that spread of treasures on the ground; instead, he reached into his bosom and took out that Azure Luan token, waving it before Nuo Tao: "This thing—what is it used for?"
Seeing that token, Nuo Tao's eyes visibly flickered—that was an instinctive panic.
She bit her lip, her gaze shifting about, and stammered: "It's just an ordinary antique token. I thought it looked nice and wanted to take it back to collect..."
This token concerned the Myriad-Theft Gate's inheritance secret realm, and was a secret of her master's gate besides. If she carelessly blurted it out, on a matter this grave her master would absolutely cleanse the gate of her.
Watching her play the dead-duck-with-a-stiff-beak act, Gu Chengming's eyes narrowed slightly.
[The «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula» suggested: Fellow Daoist Gu, this woman's words are evasive—there must be something hidden. Since she won't talk, why not simply search her soul?]
Gu Chengming thought helplessly: But I don't know how to search a soul.
However, though he couldn't search a soul, he did have an idea he'd long wanted to test, but had been hampered by the lack of a suitable guinea pig.
Gu Chengming looked at the girl before him, still trying to spin lies to fob him off, and his gaze suddenly turned a bit subtle.
He gave a smile—gentle in expression, yet one that made the hairs on Nuo Tao's back stand straight up.
The next moment, a hand-chop landed on the back of Nuo Tao's neck.
Nuo Tao didn't even have time to let out a whimper before her eyes rolled back and she crumpled limply to the ground.
Gu Chengming casually swept up the treasures on the ground together with the unconscious Nuo Tao, his figure turning into a streak of flowing light as he swept off toward the Northern Garrison Manor.
Northern Garrison Manor, the quiet room in the rear courtyard.
The earth-fire formation drove away the chill, and the room was warm and cozy.
Nuo Tao was tossed carelessly onto the soft couch in the corner, still unconscious.
Gu Chengming sat cross-legged across from her, fingers lightly tapping his knee, his mind composing that bold plan.
Since the Red Dust Art could weave illusory realms, could it be used to construct a sealed, looping space of consciousness, for carrying out a certain kind of deep "education"?
[Hearing that an illusory realm was to be used, the «Yin-Yang Creation Strategy» instantly perked up: Little Gu, I have a plan!]
[Why not construct a Harmonious Joy Sect Paradise-Hell within the illusion, where you grab her and harvest-and-replenish off her day and night, harvesting until her mind collapses—by then she'll surely confess everything!]
Gu Chengming was speechless. Wouldn't that be purely a wet dream? What the heck use is that?
He decided to give this utterly imagination-less Yin-Yang Creation Strategy a lesson.
"Have you heard of Pavlov's dog?"
[The Yin-Yang Creation Strategy was puzzled: What's that?]
[The Hundred Bones Resonance: Which ancient demon-beast is that? Sounds pretty cool.]
Gu Chengming gave no explanation; instead he closed his eyes, his vast divine sense, accompanied by pink red-dust qi, beginning to weave that precise and intricate illusory realm around Nuo Tao's sea of consciousness.
What he meant to construct was a rigorous behavioral-psychology model based on "stimulus—response—reinforcement."
A certain specific command would, through tens of thousands of repetitions, be carved into her subconscious, becoming an instinctive reaction that bypassed conscious thought.
This was an extraordinarily vast undertaking. For a full half-day, the quiet room lay in dead silence.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from Gu Chengming's forehead. Had he not just broken through to the second realm, fifth layer, and cultivated the «Red Dust Phantom Body Formula», his control over red-dust qi reaching a state of fine subtlety, this kind of illusion-weaving—delicate to the utmost extreme—would absolutely have left his spirit-soul withered to death.
Even as it was, he felt utterly exhausted.
"Whew..."
At last, in the instant the final cause-and-effect thread closed, Gu Chengming let out a long breath and slowly withdrew his hand.
A bit crude though it was, that logical closed loop named "obedience" had already been planted deep within Nuo Tao's dreamscape.
No telling how much time passed.
The girl on the soft couch—her eyelashes trembled once, and then she abruptly opened her eyes.
"Hah, hah—"
Nuo Tao gulped down great mouthfuls of fresh air, like a drowning person just fished out of the deep sea.
Her whole body was already soaked through with sweat, her cheeks showing an abnormal flush, her body still trembling faintly beyond her control.
In that dreamscape, long as if it had no end, she could not remember who she was—she only remembered that sword-cultivator fellow holding a little bell... and that when the bell rang, she had to sit properly.
Doing it right earned a pat on the head, and that soul-level sense of pleasure.
Doing it wrong, or attempting to resist, meant boundless, endless emptiness and pain.
Once, twice, ten thousand times...
Until that reaction became an instinct more natural than breathing.
Nuo Tao slowly turned her head, her gaze gradually focusing on the young man sitting cross-legged before her.
The instant she saw Gu Chengming's face clearly, the bewilderment in her eyes vanished in a flash, replaced by a complex emotion.
There was fear, there was shame, there was dependence—and even a flicker of the impulse to please?
Those emotions tangled together, making her instinctively shrink back, yet unable to keep from wanting to draw closer.
Gu Chengming looked at her in this state, and his own heart was beating uncertainly too.
This was, after all, his first attempt at this sort of illusory realm; just how effective it was, he had no certainty either.
"Did it count as a success?"
Gu Chengming thought it over and decided to verify the result.
"Sit."
The instant these words left his mouth, it was as if some switch had been thrown.
Nuo Tao's brain hadn't even had time to process the meaning of the words before her body had already reacted one step ahead.
That heir of the Myriad-Theft Gate, who ordinarily styled herself "the great thief leaves no form," at this moment actually sprang up from the soft couch with a "whoosh," and then, with the utmost standard, utmost obedient form, brought her legs together, instinctively placing her hands before her as well, and lifted her head to look at Gu Chengming, full of expectation.
Then, a crisp sound brimming with the desire to please blurted right out of her mouth:
"Woof!"
[The «Yin-Yang Creation Strategy»: ?]
[????]
[Yin-Yang Creation Strategy favorability +10]
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