Bai Qi was fuming. Seeing that I was terribly frightened, he softened his tone a bit.
"I really wish he were dead. If he were, you wouldn't have to suffer for him anymore."
I raised my hand and slapped him on the back. I said angrily, "You little rascal! You almost scared me to death. He can't die. He gave me my life. How could I go on living if he died?"
"It's better to scare you to death than for you to be like this. I really don't understand whether Gu Yuan's love for you is a blessing or a curse."
Knowing that Gu Yuan was okay, I didn't mind Bai Qi's complaining words. I even felt that all my wounds didn't hurt so much.
We didn't go home but went straight to the place where Gu Yuan had endured the tribulation. At that moment, Li Hua was guarding him. Seeing me in a sorry state, covered in wounds, she felt so heart - achy that she quickly stepped forward to help me dismount.
"Lan Lan, you've suffered so much."
I gave her a smile and said, "It's not suffering. Isn't this what I should do?"
Then I couldn't wait to rush to Gu Yuan's side and grabbed his cold hand.
Although he was out of danger at the moment, without the inner core to operate, all his magical power had no focal point. It was like loose sand, constantly spreading and dissipating.
His body would become weaker and weaker. Looking at his paper - pale face without a hint of color, I felt really heart - broken.
Without a moment's delay, I quickly took out Gu Yuan's inner core from my palm.
I had held it tightly all the way, afraid of losing it by accident.
The inner core recognized its master. It hovered and condensed above Gu Yuan's head for a while. Then the silver light shot down slowly from between his eyebrows. After the inner core was absorbed by Gu Yuan, a halo like a galaxy spread from his forehead and enveloped his body, as if opening a new era of rebirth for him.
As the halo dissipated, Gu Yuan's closed eyes trembled slightly. His eyeballs moved from side to side from time to time, as if he were having a dream.
I raised my sleeve and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
He seemed to feel someone touching him. He lifted his eyelids slightly, and his scattered gaze fixed on me.
I was overjoyed. "He's awake! Bai Qi, Li Hua, look! Gu Yuan is back."
I smiled happily. My dry and peeling lips involuntarily cracked open, and it hurt so much that I frowned. But I was still over the moon.
"Lan Lan..."
When Gu Yuan called my name, my tears suddenly welled up. My eyes were warm, and my chin trembled violently. I threw myself into Gu Yuan's arms and cried loudly.
I didn't cry because of grievance. I cried because I had saved Gu Yuan. It was a cry of relief.
My crying infected the two people beside me. Even Bai Qi was touched to tears. His tears were so sincere, like stars in the sky, flashing and flying into my necklace. The fifth tear was actually from Bai Qi, probably shed for my happiness.
Gu Yuan lowered his eyes and tried to raise his hand to touch my head. But he had drunk too much. The smell of alcohol on him was strong. He was bound to forget what had happened today.
But it was okay. I would think of a reason to fob him off later.
He didn't want me to know about the heavenly tribulation, so I would pretend not to know.
I stayed there and guarded him all night. Bai Qi and Li Hua accompanied me. It was almost dawn when Gu Yuan's hangover should be almost gone. Then I stood up.
At that moment, I suddenly felt dizzy. My brain was short of oxygen. No body could bear such torture. My vision went black, and I fell heavily.
...
"Pat, pat..." It seemed that something was dripping on my face, making it tingle.
I opened my eyes lazily. What came into view was a big tree. It turned out that the water accumulated on the branches had woken me up.
I quickly sat up from the ground, knowing that I had been dragged to Gu Yuan's spiritual realm again.
However, it was not as cold as before. The snow on the ground had all melted, and the water on the branches was still dripping to the ground.
This big tree also seemed to have new vitality.
The branch that the girl had wrongly accused me of killing had sprouted. It seemed that it was about to revive soon.
I walked around the big tree twice and searched for a long time, but I didn't see the girl.
I knew that the girl was Man Yue. I had wanted to have a good talk with her and find out who she was. But unfortunately, she wasn't here.
I sat cross - legged under the tree, trying to figure something out. I wanted to know why it had revived and what the meaning of the revival was.
...
"Lan Lan, get up. I have something to ask you." A cold voice came into my ears, disturbing my sweet dream.
I was all too familiar with this voice. It was Gu Yuan's. As soon as I opened my eyes, he would definitely ask me about the inner core.
Actually, I hadn't figured out how to deal with it yet. I originally wanted to pretend to be asleep, but unexpectedly, he picked me up from behind like a chick.
"Ouch, it hurts so much!" I had been bruised all over in the past two days. Although there were no visible wounds on my body, the wounds on my soul would take some time to heal.
Being tugged like this, I felt as if my soul was about to be torn apart.
Hearing me cry out in pain, Gu Yuan immediately stopped and checked if I was hurt.
I opened one eye playfully and grinned wickedly. "Haha, I'm just kidding. You actually fell for it."
Gu Yuan raised his eyebrows and gently slapped my butt. He didn't hit hard, but I cried out in pain. However, I still smiled foolishly at him.
"What's going on with the inner core?" Gu Yuan pulled me up and asked seriously.
I pouted and folded my arms across my chest. I said discontentedly, "You still have the nerve to ask me? I want to ask you. Didn't we agree that there would be no secrets between us? Why didn't you discuss such a big thing with me?"
"I'm asking you a question, and you're accusing me first." Gu Yuan said seriously.
I folded my arms and pouted. I snorted at him and stole glances at him from time to time, looking really angry with him.
He pursed his lips. Seeing me angry, he was finally charmed by my cute appearance.
"Okay, okay. I was wrong. You win."
Only then did I turn my face and give him a big, charming smile.
"Sure enough, Lan Lan is capable. She single - handedly killed the Nine - Infant Evil Immortal and convinced Dan Zhu to return the inner core voluntarily."
I looked a bit confused. What was he talking about? It seemed that Gu Yuan was subtly mocking me.
Afraid that he would notice something wrong, I pretended to be innocent and said, "Who... who told you that?"
"Just now when I entered the house, I happened to meet Li Hua. She stopped me and told me what had happened. She also repeatedly told me not to blame you."
"Ouch."
Seeing that my expression was a bit off, Gu Yuan continued to ask, "Isn't it like this?"
"Yes, of course it is. Your wife easily defeated that old Nine - Infant monster."
Seeing my self - boastful and proud look, Gu Yuan lovingly pinched my face. "You're so full of yourself."
"Hehe. Do you want to hear the truth?" I moved my butt towards him playfully.
"Go ahead. What are your conditions?" Sure enough, he saw through me.
I leaned in closer, puffing out one cheek. "Kiss me. After the kiss, I'll tell you."
For a long time, Gu Yuan didn't move. I straightened my face in confusion to see what he was doing.
He gave a devilish smile, grabbed the back of my head with one hand, and forcefully pulled me in front of him. He pressed his cold lips against mine.
Before I could react, he pried open my teeth and forcefully took the air from my mouth.
It was not until I couldn't breathe and patted his chest that he slowly let go.
"Is this enough?"
"Enough, enough. More than enough..." I swallowed hard, and my chest heaved. This guy always liked to be so domineering.
Afraid that he would do something more, and knowing that my body couldn't take it now, I quickly said, "Of course it wasn't just me. You know my capabilities. How could I have accomplished it alone? The dragon scale and Bai Qi were the real heroes. Without them, I couldn't have snatched the Nine - Infant's inner core so smoothly."
Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of Bai Xiangjun. This person was neither an enemy nor a friend. I couldn't figure out his identity. Maybe Gu Yuan would know.
"There's another person..."
My expression became extremely serious, without a hint of joking.
"Gu Yuan, what's your relationship with Bai Xiangjun? We owe a lot to his help this time when we snatched the Nine - Infant's inner core."