Although the new-arrival was draped in a dense cape of woven palm-bark that obscured his appearance, his voice was all too familiar to Ye Zichen. He didn’t even need to guess; a certain person’s appearance flashed through his mind involuntarily.
“Gu Li.”
The Xuan-Yuan Sword floating in front of head began to hum, and the sword shadows around him began trembling and ringing.
“You recognized me?”
The figure laughed faintly, and with his right hand pulled back his cloak.
As expected, the person standing before them was indeed Gu Li.
He held Su Yan in one hand, and Su Zhu in the other. It was unclear what he’d done to them, but their eyes were tightly closed and they seemed to be barely breathing.
“Boss.”
Jiangchen bowed in Gu Li’s direction. Seeing this, Ye Zichen knit his brow even further.
Shockingly, the Zombie Progenitors were Gu Li’s subordinates.
“I really regret not killing you back in the Modern Realm.”
Ye Zichen’s chest heaved with anger. So much had happened since their first meeting, and over half of it was caused by Gu Li’s mischief.
If he’d eliminated the root of the problem and killed Gu Li back in the Modern Realm, he might not have so many problems now.
His hatred and fury were both transmitted into his sword intent, and the shadows produced by the Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords shook even more fiercely, as if he were on the verge of losing control over them.
“What’s the point of saying that now? In this world there’s no cure for regret.”
Gu Li smiled thinly and glanced meaningfully at Jiangchen.
“Let our empress go. With these two girls in my hands, I trust that the empress will make the right decision.”
Whump.
He forcefully pushed Su Liu’er onto the ground. She pulled herself up, and stared coolly at Gu Li.
“What do you want?”
When she’d first seen Su Yan and Su Zhu, her emotions didn’t change at all, or rather, after all she’d been through, she’d already become accustomed to hiding her emotions.
But the cooler she was, the hotter her anger burned in her heart.
You could bully her, but you couldn’t bully her little sisters. That was her bottom line.
When Gu Li used her sisters to threaten her, she’d had no choice but to compromise, but the flames of rage in her heart burned hotter and hotter.
Gu Li smiled, fully confident in his support system, but that smile…
No matter when, he was always smiling like that.
It was as if he held everyone in the palm of his hand, as if people were just playthings to him. That smile…. Ye Zichen hated it from the bottom of his heart.
What really drove him crazy was that every time he’d let Gu Li lead him by the nose.
“Didn’t I already say that earlier? I want to trade these two girls’ lives for Hanba’s. Two for one, you won’t take any loss at all.”
“That is truly a very reasonable trade,” said Su Liu’er, her expression seemingly ordinary.
“You think so too! That’s really great,” said Gu Li, placing Su Yan and Su Zhu a step to the side. “Here’s an expression of my sincerity. Shouldn’t you let Hanba go too?”
Whoosh.
The instant Gu Li relaxed his grip, Ye Zichen appeared by Su Yan’s side.
“Brother Ye,” Gu Li said faintly just as Ye Zichen was preparing to release his Myriad Mysterious Concealed Swords. “We’ve already fought so many times. Why is your memory still so poor? If your swords kill Hanba, then that girl won’t wake up for the rest of her life. Also, not even tigers eat their own young. Despite everything, Hanba is still your daughter. Are you really in such a hurry to kill her?”
“What exactly did you do to them?”
He tugged at Gu Li’s collar. Jiangchen frowned and took a step towards him, but Lady Nuwa moved to block his way.
Although she didn’t speak, her actions said, “If you want to touch Ye Zichen, you’ll have to go through me first.”
Guli shook his head at Jiangchen and smoothed his lips into a faint smile.
“Brother Ye, you’ve always had an explosive temper, but acting on impulse won’t solve your problems. If you want them to live, disperse your swords. I’m a very cowardly person and get nervous easily. When I’m nervous, I do relatively extreme things…. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Shameless.”
Ye Zichen roughly shoved Gu Li, but nevertheless dispersed his sword art.
“Pretty strong,” laughed Gu Li. He straightened up his lapels and stretched his neck.
“Brother Ye,” he laughed. “There’s no need to be nervous. I just a soul-quieting incantation on them. As long as the empress released Hanba from the ice, there’s no danger to them at all.”
“Do you really think I’d trust you?” said Ye Zichen.
“You can’t not trust me,” said Gu Li, his expression suddenly darkening. “Don’t think you can just rely on luck. I am someone who’s terrified of death. Since I dare appear in front of you, I naturally have absolute confidence. Even though Lady Nuwa is here, there’s absolutely no way for her to break my soul-quieting incantation. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to try it.”
Ye Zichen Su Liu’er glanced vaguely at Nuwa, and before too long received her transmission.
“This soul-quieting incantation is really unusual. I truly can’t undo it.”
“Okay, we agree to your terms, but you have to let both of my little sisters wake up first.”
“That’s impossible, but I can awaken one of them first. As for the other, that’ll have to wait until the empress has released Hanba. I am absolutely sincere. What do you think?” Gu Li raised his eyebrows and grinned.
After a long silence, Ye Zichen and the others nodded.
Gu Li took a few steps toward Su Yan, but Ye Zichen stood between them and blocked his path.
“Move, you’re in my way.”
Clench.
His hands, hidden by his sleeves, tensed into fists as Ye Zichen moved silently aside. He could only watch as Gu Li lightly pressed the space between Su Zhu’s eyebrows.”
“Lil’ Yan, don’t worry about me.”
Su Zhu shouted as she woke with a start. Then she saw Gu Li crouching in front of her…..
“You……”
He stood with a smile, and turned his gaze towards Su Liu’er.
“You see……”
Face cold, Su Liu’er no longer hesitated. She waved her right hand, and the ice that’d been solidified into a sculpture melted rapidly.
Bang.
The ice sculpture shattered.
Hanba emerged from within and ran to Gu Li.
“Thank you for helping me out, Boss.”
Su Liu’er nodded emotionlessly and turned to Gu Li. “It’s your turn. Don’t try any tricks on me. If I could freeze her once, I can do it twice.”
“Stupid bitch, you just took advantage of me when wasn’t ready….”
Hanba glowered at her and shouted angrily, but Gu Li reached out a hand to stop her. With a laugh he nodded toward Su Liu’er.
“Of course I trust the Ice Empress’s means and never intended to play any tricks. Since you released Hanba, I’ll naturally also wake your sister up? “
He walked slowly over to Su Yan, and made the same motions as before.
“Hm……”
On the ground, Su Yan frowned. At the same time, a sword blocked Gu Li’s way.
