Do you really think you can get me with just a banana?

Guan Shanyu exhaled lightly and said slowly, "I want to know the reason. Master has always been kind and never harsh on his disciples. He treats everyone gently and is especially kind and tolerant to me. I really can't imagine how he could harm Elder Si and put the blame on me for this matter."

Yan Ruchen was silent for a moment, his eyes swept across the person in the painting, and he said lightly: "It is said that this person was once a close friend of Elder Qing, but later he turned his back on the immortal sect and entered the mortal world, never to return."

Upon hearing this, Guan Shanyu widened his eyes slightly and asked, "What does it mean to betray the Immortal Sect?"

Yan Ruchen shook his head and said, "I don't know the details. It happened a long time ago, and most people in the Immortal Sect don't know him anymore. I just did some careful research myself a while ago, and that's all I know."

Guan Shanyu lowered his head, his expression bewildered, and he spoke slowly, "So, Elder Qing is angry with me because he betrayed me and I look like him?"

Yan Ruchen lowered his eyes, remaining silent. Guan Shanyu frowned, then asked, "If he hates me because of this person, why didn't he insist on framing me and having the Immortal Sect convict me and let me die when I was found innocent?"

Yan Ruchen thought for a moment and replied, "As an elder, Elder Qing may be displeased by your appearance, but he also knows that you are different from his old friend. You've suffered enough, and his goal of diverting attention from Elder Si's death has been achieved. There's no need for him to keep a close eye on you."

After hearing this, Guan Shanyu slowly raised his head and looked at the portrait again, saying, "How much hatred must one have to hang the portrait over the bed every day so that he can never forget it?"

Yan Ruchen remained silent, just staring at Guan Shanyu quietly. Guan Shanyu felt both lost and relieved.

Qing Yuanzi always treated him very well, so when Guan Shanyu knew that he was the murderer, he couldn't convince himself to take action against him. It was like two villains were fighting in his mind. Even when he demonstrated the secret technique to spy on the murderer in Yuchen Palace and Li Xiuqi, he still felt like a traitor.

But now that I know this, I feel much calmer.

Guan Shanyu smiled bitterly, shook his head, looked at Yan Ruchen, and said, "Let's go."

The two blew out the candles and walked out of the room. It was now pitch black outside, with a bright moon in the sky, casting a silvery glow.

Guan Shanyu lowered his head and walked towards his bamboo house. When he passed by the vegetable garden, he caught a glimpse of his own small vegetable patch in the distance, and on a whim he wanted to go and take a look.

Yan Ruchen had just closed the door and turned around when he saw Guan Shanyu had already stepped halfway into the vegetable garden. Curious, he chased after him and asked, "Shanyu, what are you doing?"

Guan Shanyu turned around and waved at him, saying, "I'll go check on the vegetables I planted." He then walked a few steps forward, then suddenly remembered something and turned to Yan Ruchen, saying, "Do you want to come and take a look?"

Yan Ruchen was stunned for a moment, then nodded, walked down from the roadside to the ridge, stepped on Guan Shanyu's footprints, and slowly walked into the depths of the vegetable garden. Guan Shanyu didn't wait for him, but walked to the front of the field with ease, squatted down, and began to check the crops in the field.

Yan Ruchen was not very familiar with these plants. He looked around and found that each vegetable plot had a sign with the signature and the name of the vegetable plot written on it.

He lowered his head to look at the sign that said Guan Shanyu, stared at it for a while, and asked in confusion: "Quanquan Farm? Who is Quanquan?"

Guan Shanyu was carefully checking the spiritual herbs for aphids when he heard Yan Ruchen's question and couldn't help but burst out laughing. He looked at his sign and said, "This one says QQ Farm."

"Q?" Yan Ruchen frowned and tilted his head to ask, "Which word is this?"

Guan Shanyu said: "...I created it myself."

"Oh." Yan Ruchen nodded, seeming to understand. He glanced at the sign again, then squatted down beside Guan Shanyu, curiously examining the peculiar-shaped spiritual herb before him. He asked, "This spiritual herb is growing so well. It must be watered every day, right?"

Guan Shanyu smiled and replied, "No need. My fellow apprentices and I have developed a fertilizer that only needs to be watered once and it will last for a month, which is very convenient. However, there is a side effect, that is, the grass that grows will not be as beautiful as before. But it doesn't matter, Master often says..."

At this point, Guan Shanyu paused, his face suddenly darkening, and he slowly said, "Master said that some things, although not good-looking, are hidden by brown jade, and are much better than those with a golden exterior and rotten cotton inside..."

But he thought his master would be a person who is consistent in his words and deeds, so why is he the latter?

When he arrived in this world, Guan Shanyu was completely focused on being close to the positive characters he'd depicted in his books. Even though Qing Yuanzi had a history with him in the original novel, it was because the original Guan Shanyu had resorted to some trickery, but Qing Yuanzi was essentially an upright person.

But after coming to this world, he witnessed many incomprehensible things.

Why is it that Song Ziye, whom he created with so many beautiful visions, is actually indecisive, stubborn and indifferent; that the goddess Si Hongyin, who was built up with gorgeous words, is actually arrogant and unreasonable; and that immortal sect that claims to be just, actually does some shady things behind the scenes.

The world is becoming more corrupt and people's hearts are no longer as they used to be. Guan Shanyu understands this well.

He had this experience many times since he was a child.

When he was young, his parents divorced and each started a family, so he became the redundant one. He was only twelve or thirteen years old at the time and still needed someone to raise him. So his parents could not abandon him, so they sent him to foster care. Guan Shanyu moved from one relative's home to another at a young age, going to his uncle's house today and his aunt's house tomorrow, but the result was always the same.

Basically, you will be sent away after staying for two days.

In order to keep them taking him in for as long as possible, Guan Shanyu developed a frugal diet, was easy to feed, worked hard at housework, and was well-behaved and sensible. However, even so, the days of living under someone else's roof and wandering around continued for two whole years.

It was not until his grandmother could no longer bear it that she took him in to live in the village.

But life in the village was no better than at his relatives' house. He couldn't understand the local dialect, couldn't light a stove, and sometimes couldn't even understand the dialect his teachers spoke in class. For a long time, he had no friends and was gossiped about behind his back by the village aunties. So, the children in the village learned to call him an orphan.

But even so, there are people who make friends with him.

The sad thing was that after only being friends for a month, he found on his way home one day that his so-called friend and those kids who laughed at him were gathered together and secretly talking about him.

It turned out that the child became friends with him just to collect his information so that he could say bad things about him in front of other children.

But that was reality, he couldn't control it, couldn't change it. But in this world, wasn't he the author?

Aren't these the characters he created? Why do they feel so strange, as if he doesn't understand them at all? Or is it that the ending he wrote couldn't satisfy them, so in this out-of-control world, they struggled to grow their own flesh and blood?

Guan Shanyu stared at the spiritual herbs in front of him for a long time. He was a little confused and even began to doubt. Since whatever he did was wrong, would it be right to join forces with Yan Ruchen to expose the three major immortal sects?

The silver moonlight gently fell on the vegetable garden, covering each spiritual herb with a layer of silver gauze. The twinkling lights were like treasures from heaven left behind in the mortal world, which was beautiful beyond words.

The stars and the moon were reflected in Guan Shanyu's eyes. Yan Ruchen clearly saw that Guan Shanyu's eyes, which were filled with stars and the moon, were already filled with loss.

Yan Ruchen tilted his head slightly, avoiding Guan Shanyu's gaze, and said softly, "Human hearts are inherently unpredictable. Do you know what the human traffickers I encountered as a child looked like?"

Guan Shanyu was startled, his attention quickly drawn to these words. He slowly asked, "What does it look like?"

Yan Ruchen tilted his head slightly, his fingers lightly brushing the magical herb that Guan Shanyu had just carefully cared for, and recalled: "They were all very kind-looking grandparents, with smile lines on their faces, squinting their eyes as they gave you candy, comforting you not to be afraid, and saying they would take you home. However, as soon as you turned a corner, a black cloth would cover your head. When you opened your eyes again, you had been taken away to who knows where, and then you would find that either your arm or your leg was broken."

Guan Shanyu hesitated for a moment before slowly repeating, "...very kind grandparents?"

Yan Ruchen pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "There are also handsome boys who specialize in deceiving girls."

Guan Shanyu looked up at him, and his gaze met Yan Ruchen's inky black eyes. Yan Ruchen, still looking at him with a watery expression, deliberately lowered his voice and said with a hint of ridicule, "They all look as handsome as Shanyu, and they're all sure to be fooled."

Guan Shanyu turned his head away, his tone cold and hard: "I don't lie to girls..."

Upon hearing this, Yan Ruchen smiled. He pursed his lips, suppressing his smile. He tilted his head slightly, but suddenly heard Guan Shanyu ask in a dull voice, "Have you ever been cheated?"

"Hmm?" Yan Ruchen paused, turned to look at him, and asked, "By a handsome young man?"

Guan Shanyu bit his lip lightly and replied in a low voice: "I mean being bitten by a human."

Yan Ruchen tilted his head, thinking, "Just once, but I escaped." Turning again, he met Guan Shanyu's worried face and said jokingly, "After all, I'm so smart, how could they kidnap me, right?"

Guan Shanyu's eyes curved, he was amused by him, and turned his head away from looking at him.

Yan Ruchen turned his head again and carefully looked at the expression on Guan Shanyu's face. Seeing that he was in a much better mood, he turned around and stared at the vegetable field in front of him again. It was cultivated by Guan Shanyu carefully, but the spiritual herbs grew unevenly and the painting style was a bit sloppy.

The two of them basked in the moonlight for a while. Guan Shanyu adjusted his mood again, and then he realized that it was getting late and he should rest.

So, Guan Shanyu stood up and dusted himself off. Seeing this, Yan Ruchen also stood up. Seeing Guan Shanyu looking up at the bright moonlight, he whispered, "Go back."

After Yan Ruchen responded with "hmm", the two of them walked out of the vegetable garden, one in front and the other behind.

Guan Shanyu walked ahead, whispering, "You guys need to make arrangements over the next two days, but I can't move around randomly. It would be bad if the elders discovered my whereabouts and interfered with you. But if there's anything I can help with, just call me anytime."

Yan Ruchen nodded and responded: "Okay, I will arrange the tasks then, and I won't be polite."

Guan Shanyu chuckled softly, looking up as he reached the bamboo hut. He turned to say goodbye to Yan Ruchen, but found that he had not stopped, but followed him instead. Looking at the road behind him that led back to the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, Guan Shanyu was puzzled and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Yan Ruchen stood in front of Guan Shanyu and explained, "Most of the sect's disciples are busy outside, but we avoided them and returned. We happened to run into the elders in front of the main gate. Although they didn't say anything in front of us, I think they may still have concerns privately. I don't know if they will return to the sect to investigate the situation at night. So I thought I should stay with you so that I can take care of you in case anything goes wrong."

Guan Shanyu thought about it for a moment and felt that it made sense, but then he hesitated and said, "But there is only one bed in my room. Do you mind if I sleep on the floor next to you?"