A Moment's Move

Gu Chengyin stood a foot behind Lin Qingyan, able to see the lightning patterns around her pulsing in a certain rhythm.

Like a heartbeat, like breathing, like the silence before the first beat of the war drum on an ancient battlefield.

He looked away, gazing downward.

Outside the spiritual energy barrier, the night in Luodu was in full swing.

The silk lanterns on both sides of the main street were still burning gently, casting a warm golden glow on the faces of pedestrians.

An old man selling sugar paintings had closed his stall and was counting copper coins into his pouch.

The assistant at the silk shop was taking down the door boards; the sound of the wooden axles turning came through the barrier, muffled as if separated by a thick cotton quilt.

A few young ladies wearing veiled hats walked by together. The night wind lifted a corner of the veil, revealing silk flowers pinned to their temples.

They were laughing.

Perhaps they had just bought their favorite jewelry. Their laughter was light and clear like silver bells, but separated by this transparent barrier, not a single trace of it leaked into Gu Chengyin's ears.

He could only see their moving lips, their curving eyes, and their shadows stretched by the lamplight.

No one looked up.

No one noticed that on the top floor of Fan Tower, four Golden Core auras were silently wrestling, lightning and the barrier intertwining into an invisible vortex.

Gu Chengyin withdrew his gaze.

His expression was very calm, as if watching a play that had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, the black figure directly facing the two spoke.

The voice was blurred.

Some kind of spell distorted the vibration frequency of the vocal cords, breaking down and reassembling every sound wave between the lips and teeth.

Male or female, old or young, all characteristics were erased, leaving only a chaotic mass of audio.

Lord Jingzhe.

An honorific was used, as if reading an official document that had been copied countless times.

We have no intention of involving mortals, nor do we intend to make an enemy of the Heavenly Master Manor.

He tilted his head slightly, the edge of his hood sweeping across his shoulder, revealing no skin.

We only ask that you step away for a moment.

Step away.

As these words fell into Gu Chengyin's ears, his eyebrows twitched slightly.

This was not a declaration of war.

It was a request.

Using the innocent lives of mortals as a bargaining chip to ask a Golden Core cultivator of the Heavenly Master Manor to move elsewhere.

It was not goading, not a provocation, but a businesslike negotiation.

I give you dignity, you give me convenience.

Such phrasing did not belong to death warriors.

It was a noble family.

It was a sect.

It was a faction accustomed to playing within the rules, leaving leeway even when taking action.

Lin Qingyan did not speak.

She merely tilted her head slightly, the corner of her eye sweeping over Gu Chengyin.

This glance was extremely short, lasting less than half a breath.

But Gu Chengyin saw it clearly.

Deep within Lin Qingyan's pupils, that incandescent gold had faded by thirty percent.

She was worried about him.

Gu Chengyin smiled lightly.

The true qi and spiritual energy within his body began to circulate, moving along the specific meridians of the amplification breathing technique.

Then he raised his hand and gently patted Lin Qingyan's shoulder.

Lin Qingyan's eyelashes trembled.

At the same time, Gu Chengyin spoke calmly:

Auntie, the hour of Hai has arrived.

Lin Qingyan's pupils suddenly shrank.

She remembered.

After entering Luodu, when the patrol team was about to separate.

Gu Chengyin had written a plain note to Chen Busha, telling him to open it at the hour of Hai.

Lin Qingyan had asked what it was at the time, and Gu Chengyin only said it was official business for Chen Busha.

She did not ask further.

Because at that time, she was still immersed in the afterglow of satisfaction, feeling that even the twilight outside the window was thirty percent gentler than usual.

Looking at Gu Chengyin's silhouette as he held the brush, she thought his handwriting was truly beautiful, with both the exposed and hidden strokes showing character.

Little did she know what kind of advanced strategy was outlined beneath the tip of that brush.

Gu Chengyin had long anticipated everything happening now and was prepared.

Lin Qingyan closed her eyes, for only half a breath.

When she opened her eyes again, those pupils had completely turned incandescent white.

A golden arc of lightning, as fine as a hair, condensed at her fingertips.

Then she flicked this arc of lightning toward Gu Chengyin.

The moment the arc touched his lapel, it sank into his official robe, like a swimming fish returning to the abyss, silently branding itself on his left chest.

This was a position close to the heart.

After doing all this, Lin Qingyan moved.

She stepped out of the railing of Fan Tower, walking into the void as if walking on flat ground.

Every step landed on invisible spiritual energy stairs, her skirt rolling in the night wind like lotus petals.

Lin Qingyan did not walk fast.

But every step tore open a rift in the oppressive aura of the three Golden Cores at the dome.

At this very moment.

Lin Qingyan was no longer the delicate woman seeking comfort in Gu Chengyin's arms.

But Jingzhe of the Heavenly Master Manor.

She was the strongest Golden Core with invincible combat power.

Gu Chengyin stood in place, watching Lin Qingyan gradually ascend into the night sky.

And then disappear.

The top floor of Fan Tower fell into silence again, appearing to have only Gu Chengyin alone.

But Gu Chengyin knew very well that this was just the beginning.

The spiritual energy barrier allowed entry but not exit; its greatest function was to isolate the inside and outside of Fan Tower.

And then, before being discovered, to capture and control him.

Then the spiritual energy barrier could be undone.

To announce to Luodu, to the entire Great Luo.

That he, Gu Chengyin, had been kidnapped by heinous bandits.

King against king, general against general.

The battlefield of the Golden Cores had already begun, so what followed would naturally be the battle of the Foundation Establishment realm.

Seeing that the top floor was still completely silent, Gu Chengyin simply leaned back and sat on the railing bench, waiting patiently.

If nothing unexpected happened, this place would become very lively soon.

Sure enough, after a short while.

A black shadow suddenly flickered before Gu Chengyin's eyes.

A man in black emerged from the shadows thirty feet in front of him.

A second man in black stepped out from behind a pillar fifty feet to the left.

A third, a fourth, a fifth...

From behind the screens, from deep within the folds of the curtains, from the intersecting shadows of the beams and brackets.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

....

Counting to the end, Gu Chengyin gave up.

Because the place was swarming with men in black, making it impossible to count how many there were.

Gu Chengyin leaned against the railing, his gaze sweeping over the group of men in black who completely surrounded him.

Tall, short, fat, thin, they were all different.

One had shoulders over two feet wide and thick calluses on the web between his thumb and index finger, marks of wielding heavy weapons all year round.

One had a petite stature like a woman, but a very stable stance and lower body.

One had a slightly hunched back, arms extending past his knees, and joints as thick as the gnarled roots of an old tree.

None were the same.

And none were identifiable.

Faces covered with veils, hoods pulled down over their foreheads, even their jawlines hidden in the shadows of their collars.

Their figures and appearances were completely blurred, like silhouettes fished out of ink.

Gu Chengyin looked around at these men in black.

Then he rested his elbows on the railing, crossed his legs, and gently tapped the tip of his boot against the wooden boards beneath the railing.

He was so composed that he did not look like a hostage at all, but rather an audience member watching a good show.

He asked lazily:

Are you guys just going to stand there?

The night wind swept past the eaves, blowing this sentence into fine particles that drifted into the ring of silence formed by the men in black.

Silence.

An extremely, extremely long silence.

Until the last man in black appeared, with a clear mark on his shoulder, looking like he should be the leader.

The leader of the men in black came before Gu Chengyin.

The tips of his toes landed first, then the balls of his feet, while his heels remained suspended in the air.

And he maintained a slightly bowed posture, a preparatory stance to spring and attack at any moment.

Then he cupped his hands and bowed to Gu Chengyin, saying:

Junior Preceptor Gu.

We have no intention to offend.