Gu Yuan looked in the direction I pointed. In the mirror was only Dan Zhu. There was no sign of Man Yue.
Dan Zhu quickly turned around. With a worried look on her face, she said, "It's probably when the soul was being separated that Man Yue really appeared. It must have scared Lan Lan. There's still Man Yue's aura on me, which made Lan Lan feel unwell."
Gu Yuan tightly held me with one hand while gently raising the other. A silver light shot into Dan Zhu's glabella. After a while, the blue light disappeared, and there was no sign of anything unusual.
"Dan Zhu, Lan Lan's soul is unstable. To prevent her from having more illusions, you should go back to your cave to recuperate for a while."
Dan Zhu nodded apologetically and was about to leave. Suddenly, she turned around again and said, "How about this? I'll do something for Lan Lan. Is her teacher in trouble right now?"
Gu Yuan thought for a moment and replied, "You go with Wu Qingyun to check the situation first. I'll come later."
From the way they were talking, it was obvious he didn't want to take me along.
Dan Zhu gave me a friendly smile. I nodded apologetically and said, "I'm counting on you, Fairy Dan Zhu."
"Don't mention it." She gave a charming smile and then turned to leave.
After Dan Zhu left, Gu Yuan took a deep breath and gently patted my back.
"I'll try my best to keep you two from meeting in the future."
I sat up from his embrace and whispered, "I don't think it was an illusion. Man Yue might really be coming back."
Seeing how anxious I was, Gu Yuan frowned and asked, "Why are you so afraid of Man Yue coming back? She'll come back sooner or later."
"She said she'd take you away." I lowered my head and fidgeted with Gu Yuan's hand. I just felt so uncertain.
"Do you have so little faith in me? Do you think anyone can just take me away?" Gu Yuan's voice seemed to carry a hint of emotion.
"No, I lack confidence in myself. Look at how I look now. I'm so ugly."
After all, there had been a relationship between them. Although it was a misunderstanding, Man Yue had also saved Gu Yuan.
And I'd grow old someday. I'd definitely look even uglier than I did now. I was really afraid of accidentally losing Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan was helpless. He tapped the tip of my nose and said, "Don't worry. No matter what you look like, I'll never get tired of looking at you."
After seeing that I'd taken my medicine, he turned around and went to deal with the matter regarding the instructor.
I sat on the bedside and looked at my face in the mirror. Except for looking a bit pale, I still looked quite presentable.
Suddenly, I thought I was being ridiculous. I was only twenty - two. It was too early to be worried about my appearance.
Moreover, I still couldn't tell whether Man Yue was a friend or a foe. Why should I let her make me feel inferior?
Thinking this way, my confidence came back.
I put down the mirror and lazily stretched. After lying in bed for several days, my limbs had become weak. I got out of bed and walked around. My physical strength was still okay.
So I changed my clothes and went for a stroll in the shrine.
The shrine was deserted. He Bi must have gone on a date again. Only Bai Qi, the big fox, was lying on the sofa, taking a nap.
Looking at his fluffy fur from afar, my heart melted.
I sat down next to the sofa and grabbed his head, stroking it as if I were teasing a little puppy's head.
He was sound asleep and was startled by my sudden attack. Instinctively, he waved his paw at me.
I didn't expect him to hurt me. I was shocked and quickly raised my hand to cover my face.
When he saw it was me, he quickly retracted his sharp claws. But because he had waved them so fast, he still left a scratch on my hand.
"Lan Lan..." He quickly transformed into his human form and grabbed my hand to check the wound.
Thankfully, he had retracted his claws in time. It was just a scratch on the skin.
Filled with guilt, he fetched the first - aid kit. Kneeling on the ground, he pulled my hand and gently blew on it, then helped me treat the wound.
To be honest, it was the first time I'd seen Bai Qi so fierce.
When he was bandaging my wound, his hands were shaking. He must have been extremely self - reproachful.
I stroked his head with my other hand. To be honest, I also felt very guilty.
I knew he was sound asleep, yet I still played a prank on him. If it were me, I'd be angry too.
"Bai Qi, I'm sorry. It's my fault."
Bai Qi raised his eyes. His big, sapphire - blue eyes were full of shame.
"I should be the one saying sorry. I scratched you."
I patted the sofa, signaling him to sit down and talk.
Bai Qi had been acting quite strangely recently. As a friend, I needed to show my concern.
"Bai Qi, do you have something on your mind recently? You seem to be in a bad mood."
Bai Qi didn't expect me to be so observant. I'd noticed his every move. He felt even more self - reproachful.
"I'm fine. I just feel bad seeing you hurt." He held my injured hand, his face full of concern.
I ruffled his hair and changed the subject.
"Bai Qi, tell me the truth. What really happened on the day of the soul - separation? I vaguely heard you talking to Gu Yuan in the formation. What exactly were you going to cut off?"
Bai Qi lowered his head. When he heard me say those words, his eyelashes fluttered slightly, as if he were deep in thought.
Although it was only a fleeting moment, it didn't escape my eyes because I'd been staring at his face.
"Of course, it was to cut off the connection between your soul and Man Yue's. What else could it be?" He didn't look up and pretended to answer nonchalantly.
"Gu Yuan told you to keep it a secret. Why is this a secret?" I held his little face with both hands, making him look me in the eye as he spoke.
He didn't dodge anymore. Staring into my eyes, he suddenly smiled with his eyes curved.
"I'll tell you, but you can't tell Gu Yuan."
"Don't worry. I won't."
"Because when Man Yue's soul was separated from her body, she was naked. Gu Yuan was afraid you'd misunderstand, so he told me to keep it a secret."
After hearing this, my expression froze. One of my eyebrows was raised higher than the other. I was extremely embarrassed. Even the hands holding his face felt hot.
"Really just because of this?" I still couldn't quite believe it.
"What else did you think it was?" he retorted.
"I asked you because I couldn't figure it out." I quickly let go of his face and turned my head away. My face was as red as a monkey's butt. I felt like I'd been teased by a little kid.
Seeing that I stopped asking, Bai Qi's smile faded. He leaned his head against the back of the sofa. Although my back was turned to him, I could feel him staring at me intently.
When I looked back at him, he quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
This kid must definitely have something on his mind.
I'd dig deeper into this once I got better.
"Bai Qi, take me out." I nudged him.
He still pretended to be asleep and just shifted his body without moving.
"Gu Yuan said you should have a good rest."
"I've rested enough. Take me to the instructor's house. I'm worried about Gu Yuan."
"Gu Yuan is extremely powerful. What's there to worry about?"
He still lay there lazily, not moving at all.
"If you won't go with me, I'll go with Ling Er." I pretended to be angry and got up, not wanting to talk to him anymore.
"Alright, alright. I can't stand you. Let's go, let's go."
With my back turned to him, the corners of my mouth were almost reaching the sky. I knew this trick would work.
Saying that, he grabbed my arm and turned into a blue light. In a short while, we arrived at the instructor's house.
He specifically concealed our auras and we hid in a corner of the room.
At this moment, Wu Qingyun was holding down Fang Tong, the instructor's son, and taking the knife out of his hand. The instructor was so scared that she was squatting on the ground, silently wiping away her tears.
Fang Tong kept mumbling. His voice was slurred, like the mutterings of someone in a dream. I couldn't understand a word.
They say that ghosts talk nonsense. I guess that's where the saying comes from.
Gu Yuan crossed his arms in front of his chest. His cold eyes were slightly squinted. It seemed that he could understand what Fang Tong was saying.
After a few minutes, Gu Yuan said to Dan Zhu and Wu Qingyun, "Go to the school."
The two nodded. Wu Qingyun went to take care of Fang Tong. Dan Zhu and Gu Yuan were about to leave the room one after the other when the heel of Dan Zhu's high - heeled shoe suddenly got stuck in the crack of the door threshold.
She sprained her foot and was so scared that her complexion changed. "Ouch!"
Her body uncontrollably fell into Gu Yuan's arms.
Out of instinct, Gu Yuan steadied her. I could clearly see Dan Zhu's face from my position.
She seemed to sense my presence. The faces of Man Yue and Dan Zhu alternated in front of my eyes, making me dizzy.
Just when I thought I was having another illusion.
It wasn't Dan Zhu. It was Man Yue.
She was looking at me provocatively. Between her index finger and middle finger on the hand resting on Gu Yuan's neck, there was a shiny silver needle, slowly approaching Gu Yuan's neck.
"Gu Yuan, watch out..."