"Um... I'd better do it myself tomorrow."
An embarrassed look crossed my face. It seemed he had misunderstood me. His expression was like that of a little puppy, afraid that I might take advantage of his weakness and have my way with him.
The more he acted like this, the more I wanted to tease him. I didn't take his words seriously at all. Instead, I deliberately leaned close to his ear and whispered playfully,
"It's okay. I'll go out and fetch a bucket of water. I'll be right back."
I held a torch in my hand and carried a bucket as I walked out of the cave.
Outside the cave, it wasn't as dark as I had imagined. It must be the fifteenth day of the lunar month. The moonlight shone on the mountains, making the water surface look as if it were covered with silver sand.
I quickly ran towards the stream and squatted down to fill two buckets with water.
Just as I was about to leave, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the water from the corner of my eye.
A chill ran down my spine. How could such a thing appear in the mountains at this late hour?
There were actually two reflections in the water. One was mine, but whose was the other?
I squinted my eyes and stole a glance at the water. The figure in the reflection was standing right behind me. She was dressed in a red robe, with long, disheveled hair. Her head was hanging down, and her black pupils were filled with venomous hatred. Her face was covered with knife wounds, and the most terrifying thing was that the corners of her mouth seemed to have been cut open with a sharp knife, stretching all the way to her ears. Her white tooth sockets were exposed.
This kind of visual shock was bearable, but when she grinned at me, it sent shivers down my spine.
At this moment, I really regretted not listening to Gu Yuan's advice and coming out to fetch water.
I had to react quickly before she attacked me.
I don't know where I got the courage, but I grabbed a piece of wood nearby and swung it at the figure behind me.
"Ouch..." A man's scream rang in my ears.
I looked closely and saw that it was actually Long Lin standing behind me. This didn't seem right.
Just now, it was clearly a woman in a red robe. Why had it turned into Long Lin?
"How could it be you?" The look of horror on my face hadn't faded yet, and I was still very nervous when I saw Long Lin.
"I was about to ask you the same question. I just landed, and you hit me with a piece of wood. That's not very proper, is it?"
"Come here." I didn't have time to explain to him. I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the stream, showing him the reflection in the water.
"What am I supposed to look at? There's no one else in here except you and me." Long Lin rubbed his head and looked impatient with me.
This wasn't right. I was sure I had seen a woman just now. Could it have been a hallucination?
Just as I was feeling confused, Long Lin asked, "Where's my elder brother? Take me to see him."
"What do you want to see him for?" The incident of him trying to kill Gu Yuan today was still fresh in my mind, and I still had some reservations about him.
Seeing the unfriendly look in my eyes, Long Lin took the package off his back.
"I brought you some food and clothes for my elder brother."
Seeing that I still didn't move, he heaved a heavy sigh and said, "Fine, I'll find him myself."
With that, he stuffed the package into my hands and picked up the two buckets of water, walking towards the cave.
He clearly already knew where Gu Yuan was, but he still asked me. Was he crazy?
I knew I couldn't stop him, so I had no choice but to follow him into the cave.
But the further I walked, the more I felt something was wrong. I always felt as if someone was standing not far behind me, staring at me.
But when I turned around to look, I saw nothing. Could it be that I was hallucinating again?
I didn't dare to stay any longer. I quickly caught up with Long Lin and entered the cave.
At this moment, Gu Yuan was sitting cross-legged on a pile of dry grass, breathing in and out slowly.
It was only after Long Lin entered that he slowly opened his eyes.
"Brother, you..." Long Lin's words were interrupted by Gu Yuan before he could finish.
"I knew you would come." Gu Yuan's voice was calm, and his tone was as if he were playing chess with Long Lin.
Long Lin didn't continue. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "How could this happen?"
"How's my mother?" At this moment, he was still most concerned about his mother.
"She's fine. She's been confined in the Qifeng Palace. I've already arranged for someone to go in. Apart from not being able to leave the Qifeng Palace, no one dares to treat her badly."
After hearing Long Lin's words, the heavy stone in Gu Yuan's heart finally fell.
"In the future... I'd like you to take good care of my mother."
"What are you talking about? Why should I take care of your mother? You should get better yourself and take her out with your own strength."
Gu Yuan was silent for a moment. His already dim eyes became even dimmer.
"All I want now is to live a peaceful life for a while." There was always a sense of escape in Gu Yuan's words.
Long Lin looked at Gu Yuan with sad eyes. At this moment, he looked extremely miserable.
The once majestic Crown Prince of the Celestial Realm had now become blind, with tattered clothes. He was hiding in the dry grass of a cave. If there was a bowl in front of him, he would really look like a beggar.
"Brother... I'm sorry. I had no choice but to do that today. I never meant to hurt you." Long Lin's voice trembled, as if he was about to cry.
"I know, so I'm very relieved to entrust my mother to you."
Gu Yuan was silent for a while. It seemed that he thought this topic was too heavy, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "Let's not talk about this. How's Xue Liang?"
Mentioning Xue Liang, Long Lin heaved a heavy sigh. It took him a while to answer, "Xue Liang committed immoral acts in the Celestial Realm and was banished to the mortal world. He's never allowed to return to the Celestial Realm."
This kind of punishment was worse than no punishment at all.
"He killed Boss Gu, and all he gets is to be banished to the mortal world? Do you know how long he's lived in the mortal world?"
At this moment, I really couldn't hold back my emotions and blurted out.
But as soon as I said this, my chest felt like it was on fire. It hurt like hell.
I didn't want Gu Yuan to worry, so I pressed my hand on my chest and tried my best to hide my pain. I stood to the side and didn't say anything else.
"Since things have come to this, all we can do now is persuade Father Emperor to do good deeds. If he continues to be so stubborn, I definitely won't stand by and watch."
As Gu Yuan had expected, once Long Lin knew about the Emperor of Heaven's evil deeds, he definitely wouldn't let the Emperor of Heaven act recklessly. Long Lin still had a certain amount of prestige in the Celestial Realm. When he spoke, the Emperor of Heaven would have to think twice.
"Long Lin, the Emperor of Heaven is already very suspicious. You must control your emotions. We need to plan everything carefully."
"Brother is absolutely right. You should take good care of your injuries. Once I've planned everything, I'll definitely take you back to the Celestial Realm and make Father Emperor kneel in front of your mother and apologize."
"It's getting late. You should go back."
"I'll help you change your clothes." Long Lin said.
"No need. She's here." Gu Yuan was referring to me.
Long Lin looked at me not far away, then walked up to me and gave me some medicine for treating injuries.
"These are the medicines for treating injuries. You should keep them well. Also, help him change his clothes. I'll leave everything to you."
I took the medicine and nodded at Long Lin. He looked back at Gu Yuan, heaved a sigh, and then turned around and left.
After seeing Long Lin off, I quietly walked up to Gu Yuan and tugged at the tattered corner of his clothes. I asked coquettishly,
"Aren't you not letting me change your clothes? Why, have you changed your mind now?"