TM CH25

Chapter 25 Clouds drifting across the bright sky

The next morning, Rong Qi woke from his sleep, vaguely sensing that something felt off about the time. When he opened his eyes, he saw Gu Yunxing half-reclining against the stone wall beside him, still asleep.

Rong Qi blinked, tilted his head up and moved closer, noticing faint dark circles under Gu Yunxing’s eyes. Remembering what the man had said last night, he felt a flicker of surprise. Had this guy really kept watch all night?

Gu Yunxing didn’t usually sleep sitting up like this. A mix of feelings welled up in Rong Qi’s heart. He couldn’t help but reach out and tug on Gu Yunxing’s sleeve.

Disturbed by the small movement, Gu Yunxing frowned, opened his eyes briefly, then shifted from leaning to lying down, settling beside Rong Qi and going right back to sleep.

Rong Qi: “…Gu Yunxing?”

The extremely tired Gu Yunxing had reined in his usual sharpness. The powerful aura that made him seem so untouchable was now absent. Rong Qi thought, the only way he could possibly defeat such a top-tier expert would be to launch a surprise attack under these circumstances.

But no. At least for now, he wouldn’t lay a hand on Gu Yunxing.

Suppressing that darker impulse, Rong Qi calmly and skillfully kicked off the half of Gu Yunxing’s leg that was lying on top of him.

He yawned and allowed himself to lie there a bit longer. Once he was fully awake, he got up and stepped over Gu Yunxing to go outside for a walk.

Gu Yunxing suddenly rolled over, shifting to lie on his side and completely blocking the exit.

Rong Qi: “Get up.”

Gu Yunxing didn’t move.

Rong Qi propped himself up on one elbow and slowly leaned closer. Aiming at his ear, he shouted, “Get up!”

Gu Yunxing immediately opened his eyes and raised his hand to push the other person back down. His eyes were unfocused, still carrying a heavy drowsiness. After a few breaths of recognition, he said, “Right Protector Rong, good morning.”

Although he’d been abruptly pushed to the ground, Rong Qi wasn’t angry. He stayed in that position and studied the man’s face for a moment before suddenly saying, “Sect Master Gu really does have a good-looking face.”

Having been away from the mortal world for several months, an ordinary person would have long become disheveled and downcast. But Gu Yunxing only had slightly messy hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. His clothes were a little disheveled, and he’d lost some of the lofty and stern air belonging to the Tianji Sect Master. But that only made him seem more real.

No wonder so many women in the jianghu couldn’t forget him.

Someone like Rong Qi had long since stopped caring about appearances. But today was a rare sunny day. Sunlight filtered in through the cracks in the ‘roof’ and ‘walls,’ and for the first time, it felt like he was truly seeing the other man’s face up close.

Gu Yunxing raised an eyebrow and smiled back at him. “I’m nothing compared to Right Protector Rong’s elegant looks.”

Rong Qi was taken aback for a moment, then let out a sneer.

When he was a child, he had suffered through hardship that left him with night blindness. It also hardened his heart, making him cold and distant. Few ever spoke of his looks. As Xu Yan once put it, a person’s face reflected their heart, and he didn’t look like a good person.

A person with too much murderous aura, no matter what they looked like, only inspired fear.

Rong Qi never felt ashamed of this. In fact, he took pride in it. Everyone feared him and wouldn’t dare look him in the eye. That was only natural. So Gu Yunxing’s comment today struck him as a bit unexpected.

He sat up and said bluntly, “Since you’re awake, stop pretending to be asleep.”

Gu Yunxing let out a sigh. “Can’t this humble Gu lie in bed a little longer?”

Rong Qi glanced around. “You call this a bed?”

Gu Yunxing touched the blanket, which still held some warmth, and replied, “It’s barely warm enough to count.”

Rong Qi rolled his eyes and didn’t bother responding. He stepped outside for some fresh air.

Clear skies were rare on the island. But today wasn’t the usual pale, white-tinged overcast days. It was genuinely warm, with gentle sunlight. The light on his face no longer felt damp and chill. It was warm and pleasant, enough to make a person relax.

That day, Gu Yunxing, just as he had said last night, went around the island with Rong Qi for a few more rounds. Unfortunately, there were no new clues, and they didn’t discover any traces of a third person elsewhere.

Although Rong Qi was naturally suspicious, he wasn’t the type to obsess over dead ends. He suggested they go check out the coastline.

The gray shore stretched into the vast, deep sea. Just like every other day, there was no sign of any ship. The two of them sat on the rocks near the remnants of the old cabin, quietly watching the distant horizon.

Waves rose with the wind. The sky was high, the sea boundless.

Rong Qi: “Gu Yunxing, whether there’s someone else on the island doesn’t seem to matter anymore.”

Gu Yunxing: “That doesn’t sound like something you would say.”

Rong Qi gave a faint smile. “Then what should I say? That man can conquer nature? That I’ll kill gods and Buddha if they stand in my way?” He threw out a few lines with the flair of a demon lord, then added, “No one told me what to do when the sea itself blocks the road!”

Sensing a rare display of dejection from the man beside him, Gu Yunxing lifted a hand and lightly touched his shoulder.

Rong Qi looked at the hand in surprise, then shifted his gaze to Gu Yunxing’s face. “What, is Sect Master Gu trying to comfort me?”

Gu Yunxing: “Yes.”

Rong Qi fell silent. He turned his eyes back to where the sea met the sky and listened to the sound of the waves for a while before saying slowly, “Gu Yunxing, I’m starting to realize you’re not that annoying after all.”

Gu Yunxing was caught off guard. Words of warmth from a certain demon were so rare that for a moment, he felt strangely disoriented. In a low voice, he asked, “Rong Qi, what do you plan to do once we get out of here?”

Rong Qi gave a small tug at the corner of his mouth. “Naturally, I’ll do what the Right Protector of Lihuo Palace is meant to do.”

“Oh, the Tianyuan Manual,” Gu Yunxing said with a light smile. “But what about what you want to do?”

“Me?” Rong Qi let out a quiet laugh. “Even my name was given to me by my master. What do you think?”

“I’m the Tianji Sect Master. Gu Shuiliu is my mother. And even so, I still have things I want to do,” Gu Yunxing said calmly. “Right Protector Rong… maybe I shouldn’t call you that. On this deserted island, you and I are just Rong Qi and Gu Yunxing.”

“My name is Rong Qi^[1] because when Zou Yuchuan found me, it was in a place called Rongjia Village. At that time, I was being held underwater by a few thugs for fun.” Perhaps it was because the sea was vast and the sound of the waves was lonely that Rong Qi mentioned the past so calmly. He didn’t look at Gu Yunxing, only said flatly, “It wasn’t just me. There’s also Xu Yan^[2] and Shen Qi^[3]. Tell me, how can people with names like ours compare to Sect Master Gu, whose name means ‘clouds drifting across the bright sky?’”

Gu Yunxing said nothing for a long time.

“But I suppose I should be glad it was you who ended up stranded here with me. If it had been one of those hypocrites from the Wulin Alliance, I wouldn’t have let them live three days.” Rong Qi made no effort to hide the malice in his voice. “And you? If Fang Lian showed up, how long would you tolerate me then, Gu Yunxing?”

Gu Yunxing met his eyes, clearly seeing the hostility behind them.

“Rong Qi, on this island, we can be companions.”

Rong Qi froze, as if he’d just heard something strange. He looked at Gu Yunxing in surprise.

Companions?

And he claimed not to be one of the righteous sects. How else could he say something so ridiculous?

Rong Qi scoffed inwardly, though a trace of ease still crept into his expression. He lay back on the sand, staring up at the drifting clouds as golden sunlight filtered through the gaps, casting a warm glow over his face. In the distance, waves rolled in one after another, crashing softly against the shore.

Gu Yunxing lay down beside him as well, his gaze distant and calm.

No one knew how much time passed. The sound of the waves grew louder, the clouds gathered, and the last streak of golden sunlight at the edge of the sky was soon swallowed up.

In an instant, the weather turned.

Rong Qi listened carefully to the sound of the water, his brow furrowing. “Is the tide rising again?”

Gu Yunxing sat up. “The wind’s picking up.”

Rong Qi’s brief good mood vanished without a trace. “This cursed place doesn’t give a single day of peace.”

Gu Yunxing reached out and pulled him up. “Let’s head back. Looks like another storm is coming.”

Rong Qi nodded. “Mm.”