Liu Yan seized the opportunity to press the attack.
Qi Buyan raised his eyes and, disregarding his own body, once again lifted his bone flute.
Not only that, a sharp section of Heavenly Silkworm thread silently shot out from his fingertips, aimed at Liu Yan. However, it was blocked by Liu Yan’s trusted subordinate, who fell to the ground clutching his throat.
Liu Yan gave a grateful look to his fallen subordinate and played his flute more urgently, determined to suppress Qi Buyan’s unsteady flute music, giving him no chance to recover.
In the corner, He Sui’an sweated for Qi Buyan, wanting the red snake to help him.
The red snake refused.
It had to stay there and guard her.
He Sui’an couldn’t move the red snake, and she couldn’t rashly go out and risk her life, so she had to give up. Soon, a look of surprise appeared in her eyes as she saw Aunt Cui bringing Ah Xuan to the city gate.
Aunt Cui was killing the Spirit Gu people.
So, she wasn’t helping Liu Yan. If she wasn’t helping Liu Yan, then she was helping them.
Seeing Aunt Cui, whom he had searched for many days without finding, Liu Yan stopped playing the flute. He was first delighted, then endlessly disappointed and incredulous that she was helping others, betraying him.
Aunt Cui shouted for Ah Xuan to take the princess from the carriage and ensure her safety.
Liu Yan had taken Ah Xuan before to kill the princess’s brother and sister-in-law and couldn’t harm the princess again.
“Yes,” Ah Xuan replied.
Unexpectedly, just as Ah Xuan reached the carriage, a long sword pierced his heart from inside. He looked at the sword holder in disbelief, his pupils shrinking. It wasn’t the princess; it was Jiang Xuewan.
Jiang Xuewan, sitting in the carriage on standby, had immediately recognized Ah Xuan’s voice and acted decisively.
She wanted to avenge the annihilation of her family.
Jiang Xuewan pulled out the sword, stepped on Ah Xuan’s body to jump off the carriage, and turned to kill the Spirit Gu people.
Seeing this scene, Aunt Cui froze, her face ashen. Jiang Xuewan didn’t notice Aunt Cui and used the sword stained with Ah Xuan’s blood to slaughter the Spirit Gu people, showing a decisive killing style reminiscent of her father.
Aunt Cui lunged at Ah Xuan.
“No!”
As Liu Yan stopped playing the flute, Qi Buyan used Heavenly Silkworm threads to form a net, killing dozens of Spirit Gu people in one go.
Liu Yan descended the city gate to control the Spirit Gu people more closely. The further the distance, the more energy it took, and controlling the Spirit Gu people was already a very exhausting task. He didn’t want to add extra burden.
Qi Buyan transformed the Heavenly Silkworm thread into a sword, swinging it towards Liu Yan’s position.
The sword energy contained immense inner strength.
Liu Yan narrowly dodged.
The sword intent Qi Buyan wielded broke through the air, and the Heavenly Silkworm thread sword suddenly fell, slashing back at Liu Yan, injuring his face. Liu Yan took a step back.
At this moment, Qi Buyan played the flute to summon the Poison Gu. The red snake on He Sui’an’s shoulder, sensing the command of its master, crawled restlessly but still didn’t leave her side, guarding her.
Besides the red snake, all of Qi Buyan’s Poison Gu swarmed towards Liu Yan at high speed.
Liu Yan also used his Poison Gu to counterattack.
The two groups of Poison Gu, loyal to their respective masters, fought fiercely. They would determine the winner by devouring the other, with each Poison Gu’s power doubling every time it consumed another.
Qi Buyan closed his eyes and blew the bone flute, attempting to counter-control Liu Yan’s poisonous gu.
The suppression of the Silkworm Gu reached its peak, causing blood to flow from his seven orifices. Blood trickled down from the corners of Qi Buyan’s eyes, sliding over his pale face, dripping past his jaw, and onto the snow-covered ground.
He Sui’an held her breath, watching Qi Buyan. Even the red snake remained still.
Her fingers gripping the wall turned white.
The poisonous gu raised by Liu Yan became extremely restless as soon as it smelled the blood containing the aura of the Silkworm Gu. It was eager to devour Qi Buyan entirely, significantly increasing its aggressiveness.
As Qi Buyan continued to endure the backlash of the Silkworm Gu, blood seeped from the corners of his lips, his lean waist bent slightly, the silver butterfly chain on his wrist swayed, and blood choked his throat, making it impossible to play the bone flute for a moment.
He Sui’an was shocked.
How could this happen?
Wasn’t it said in the original work that even with the suppression of the Silkworm Gu inside Qi Buyan, it could rival Liu Yan’s gu techniques and possibly win?
If it weren’t for her being controlled and breaking his silver butterfly chain, Qi Buyan should have only been slightly injured. But now things had turned out like this; could it be a butterfly effect?
She wanted to change the ending, but it resulted in a butterfly effect, causing a deviation in the plot.
Liu Yan no longer controlled her from afar to kill Qi Buyan as in the original work, but Qi Buyan seemed to be seriously injured now, and it was uncertain what would happen.
No.
She had to find a way.
As He Sui’an was racking her brain for a solution, she saw the figures of her parents in the snow. This time, the scene was so real it seemed to be right in front of her; despite the heavy wind and snow, they did not blur.
A startled cry brought He Sui’an back to her senses. Her heart trembled, and she hurriedly looked at Qi Buyan.
The person who cried out was Zhong Kong.
“Young Master Qi!”
It turned out that Qi Buyan’s poisonous gu was counter-controlled by Liu Yan’s flute sound. Both groups of poisonous gu swarmed towards Qi Buyan. His black snakes and silver snakes were among them, no longer recognizing their master.
Seeing that Qi Buyan was about to be overwhelmed by the dense swarm of poisonous gu, He Sui’an rushed out with the red snake. The red snake leaped up, its mouth open, ready to bite Liu Yan and stop him from taking further action.
In a hurry, He Sui’an pulled out a hairpin and forcefully cut her wrist.
Blood dripped down.
It pooled on the ground.
Her blood was special, containing an aura that people here did not possess, as if something foreign had suddenly appeared.
The poisonous gu originally crawling towards Qi Buyan unanimously changed direction, surging towards her. Despite always fearing insects and snakes, He Sui’an did not stop the bleeding; instead, she made another cut.
He Sui’an knew that the black snake liked her blood, as did the other poisonous gu.
She used her blood to lure them away from Qi Buyan.
The poisonous gu flew towards her.
He Sui’an dropped the hairpin and turned to run. Perhaps the bravest thing she had ever done was to lure away the poisonous gu that could dismember a person in an instant.
Su Yang and the others called out to her loudly.
They wanted to help her but couldn’t. They were entangled by numerous Spirit Gu masters.
At a critical moment, the poisonous gu raised by Qi Buyan forcibly woke from Liu Yan’s counter-control. As the other poisonous gu pounced towards He Sui’an, they blocked the attack with their bodies and fought with them.
He Sui’an’s legs went weak.
She didn’t know where she found the courage to do such a thing.
He Sui’an was panting.
Qi Buyan walked towards her.
Spirit Gu masters came to kill them, but they were all killed by him using silkworm threads.
He Sui’an watched Qi Buyan step by step towards her. He took her bleeding hand, his eyes reflecting her red blood: “You lied to me. You clearly promised not to take off the silk ribbon…”
Before Qi Buyan could finish speaking, He Sui’an hugged him: “Because I was afraid. I was really afraid. I was afraid you would die.”
Qi Buyan was slightly stunned.
At this moment, Liu Yan’s flute sound came.
He Sui’an’s head hurt. Knowing the original story, she realized that Liu Yan wanted to control her.
In a desperate attempt, she used the hairpin to cut her wrist again. The intense pain kept her conscious. To her rare relief, this method worked.
Qi Buyan held He Sui’an.
He wouldn’t let her continue: “Don’t.”
He Sui’an didn’t cut again because she found that cutting her wrist once could keep her awake for a short period, without needing to continue cutting.
Qi Buyan looked at Liu Yan.
The boy’s face, which always wore a smile, was now completely devoid of any trace of it.
Qi Buyan instructed the red snake to take He Sui’an away first. He Sui’an didn’t insist on staying, knowing she might distract Qi Buyan. She listened to him and temporarily left with the red snake.
Liu Yan, however, had a triumphant smile.
The next moment, his smile froze.
Some of the Spirit Gu masters lost control. They were banging against the tightly closed city gate, frightening the citizens hiding behind it and causing them to scream in fear.
Liu Yan’s hand, which was holding the flute, trembled.
Out of control.
The Spirit Gu masters were out of control.
How could this be? The possibility of Spirit Gu masters losing control was so low. How could it happen to him? They must not harm innocent citizens. Liu Yan panicked for a moment and then suddenly looked at Qi Buyan.
As long as he could feed the Spirit Gu masters with the blood carrying the Silkworm Gu aura from Qi Buyan, they would no longer be out of control.
Liu Yan quickly moved to kill Qi Buyan.
The out-of-control Spirit Gu masters smelled the strong scent of living humans inside Chang’an City and gathered together, causing the city gate to tremble significantly, almost as if it were being struck by a battering ram.
Liu Yan became increasingly desperate to obtain Qi Buyan’s blood, playing the flute with all his might.
The part of the Spirit Gu masters still following Liu Yan’s orders surrounded Qi Buyan. These Spirit Gu masters were extremely difficult to deal with, as they felt no pain and had immense fighting strength.
He Sui’an, who was almost at the city gate, suddenly stopped.
A gust of wind and snow hit her face.
She felt her steps become lighter. The broadcast sound of the ancient city, the shouts of her parents, were right in her ears. The figures of people from two worlds intertwined. Was this a sign of returning?
No.
Not now.
She didn’t want to go back at this moment.
Qi Buyan, who was about to counterattack with his flute, seemed to sense something and looked in He Sui’an’s direction. The expression she now showed was exactly the same as that night when she realized she might be going back.
Could it be…
His fingertips holding the bone flute turned white.
If that were the case, then they would die together now. He wouldn’t let her leave.
Qi Buyan composed himself, retracted his gaze, and held the bone flute with his bloody hand, raising it slowly and playing one melody after another.
The forbidden tune required life to play.
While it quickly burned through Qi Buyan’s life, it could kill the one person he intended to kill without affecting anyone else, unlike the previous tunes that harmed indiscriminately.
Qi Buyan hadn’t used it initially because he wanted to see He Sui’an a bit longer. He had hoped to resolve Liu Yan using conventional means, and then, after sharing the stuffed buns she wanted to eat tonight, they would die together.
But she was about to leave.
So, he changed his mind.
Qi Buyan decided to use the forbidden tune against Liu Yan, to kill him, and then, before his own death, activate the life-and-death bond of the Love Gu. Although the process would be different, the outcome would be the same.
Liu Yan was injured in the lungs by Qi Buyan’s sudden, bizarre flute melody.
Aunt Cui, still grieving for Axuan’s death, suddenly looked up and shouted at Qi Buyan, “Qi Buyan, stop!”
He Sui’an seemed to realize something.
She immediately turned back.
As He Sui’an ran, she reached out her hand from afar, “Stop!”
Qi Buyan continued playing.
Liu Yan recalled what the tune Qi Buyan was playing was. Aunt Cui had mentioned it before. This was a forbidden tune from Miaojiang, capable of mutual destruction. Qi Buyan had actually learned this extremely difficult forbidden tune.
Aunt Cui had said that even someone as talented in gu refining as Qi Shu couldn’t learn to control everything with the forbidden tune, and few people would learn it anyway, as it required one’s life to play it.
Liu Yan wanted to stop Qi Buyan but found himself unable to move, as if bound by ghostly hands.
He hadn’t achieved his great ambition yet.
How could he die at the hands of a mere youth?
Liu Yan struggled, but he couldn’t escape the constraints of the forbidden tune. In just a moment, his meridians shattered, and he knelt to the ground, blood streaming from his seven orifices.
With a “bang,” Liu Yan’s body exploded.
With his death, all the Spirit Gu masters were instantly destroyed. Qi Buyan’s hand loosened, and the beautiful yet bloodstained bone flute fell to the snow, its indigo tassel dyed bright red.
With blood on his face and a voice barely audible amidst the snow, Qi Buyan said, “He Sui’an, are you going to leave? You’ve been watching the snow for a long time today.”
He Sui’an kept running towards him.
She shook her head, “No.”
Qi Buyan looked at her, thinking it was time to activate the life-and-death bond of the Love Gu.
But as he prepared to do so, he suddenly remembered He Sui’an removing the blindfold and appearing at the city gate, enduring pain to cut herself, using her blood to lure away the poisonous gu attacking him.
He hesitated.
In that moment of hesitation, He Sui’an almost reached his side.
Amid the white snow, her red dress stood out vividly.
She still reached out her hand.
Qi Buyan couldn’t help but stretch out his hand too, wanting to grasp hers. Soon, he felt a loosening at his wrists and ankles; his life was burning to its end, and the butterfly silver chain was about to break.
If he didn’t activate it now, it would be too late.
But he still wanted to hold her hand first.
Both hands were in midair.
So close, just a little more and they would have held each other, but Qi Buyan’s hands fell uncontrollably, and he collapsed into the snow. Waves of wind and snow swept over him, and he watched as He Sui’an disappeared.
Qi Buyan’s eyelids grew heavy.
Right, hadn’t he already resolved to do whatever it took to keep He Sui’an? Why couldn’t he do it at the last moment?
Since he had the fire-attributed Silkworm Gu within him, he hadn’t felt cold.
After more than ten years, Qi Buyan felt cold again. It was probably because he was dying, and the Silkworm Gu was leaving its host.
Did he regret it?
Regret not activating the life-and-death bond and dying together with He Sui’an?
Qi Buyan didn’t know.
But he knew that He Sui’an was afraid of death; she was very afraid of dying…
Blood trickled from Qi Buyan’s lips, dripping continuously onto the snow, staining it red in no time.
He completely closed his eyes.
With the sky covered in dark clouds, the fierce wind and snow raged. After a massive snowstorm, the surroundings became eerily silent, as if no one was there. Severely injured, Su Yang and Shen Jianhe hurriedly looked in their direction.
He Sui’an seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Qi Buyan lay quietly in the snow.
A tear fell from the corner of his eye, merging into the snow. He lay still, with indigo robes and silver ornaments covered by the wind-blown snowflakes.
The boy seemed to merge with the snow, silent and still.
THE END
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NO I’M JUST KIDDING!