Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Zhu Wuyao hadn't expected that Senior Sister Gu would be so direct. She sighed with a hint of helplessness and said:

"Senior sister, let's leave some room for maneuver in our words, so we can meet again in the future."

It's fine if they both know the truth.

Now that the old story has been brought up again, Zhu Wuyao almost wanted to pretend he hadn't heard it.

Gu Yiguan shook his head and said:

"This way, we can avoid all sorts of guesswork."

“I don’t need to guess how much you know; you don’t need to bother deceiving me or worry that I’ll kill you to cover it up.”

Ruan Ayao didn't know—

Back then, when she was unconscious, Gu Yiguan turned around and went with Zeng Xiaolou to scout out the situation so that they could make thorough preparations before rescuing Adie and Xu Liuxing.

Unexpectedly, Ah Die was secretly plotting something, leading to numerous misunderstandings.

Faced with this situation, Gu Yiguan naturally did not hold back. Among the five, she was the only one who concealed her true strength the deepest and remained unharmed, thus maintaining a firm upper hand at the time.

She was able to suppress Xu Liuxing.

At the same time, with Gu Yiguan's intelligence, he naturally guessed that the mastermind was Adie.

Ah Die's plan was very simple—

The most outstanding disciples of the next generation of the four sects should not be so close. She wanted to make the three of them fight each other, so that they would develop rifts and suspicions towards one another.

She desired chaos, but did not wish to cause the death of her dearest friend.

She had thought that, based on their past friendship, the group wouldn't kill each other, only that their friendship wouldn't be as deep as before.

Unexpectedly, Gu Yi saw through her scheme and went along with it.

"At the time, I really didn't know what the Blood Erosion Curse was."

"But if I say that I can't think of the possibility that 'consciousness is still there,' ha... you won't believe me, and neither will Ruan Ayao."

But people will believe it.

"This is enough."

Gu Yiguan did hesitate.

But if we spare Zeng Xiaolou and Xu Liuxing's lives and keep them by our side... if the Blood Erosion Curse is indeed extremely dangerous, it will have endless consequences.

Should we take the risk of leaving behind two puppets whose own will is unknown?

"At that time, I thought about a lot of things."

"The companionship of youth cannot withstand the test of time and interests. Even if they do not act at the time, one day they will eventually part ways, or even turn against each other, due to the sect's position or the entanglement of interests."

"Roaming the world together on horseback, this experience is indeed worth reminiscing about, but for me, it's just a dream that I'll eventually wake up from."

"So, it was in the Ghost Sorrow Mountains that I woke up from my drunken stupor."

Therefore, Gu Yiguan pretended not to see through Adie's plan.

Destroy those two puppets whose "divine consciousness has been completely invaded".

And they pinned all the blame on Ah Die.

Even after the truth about killing his best friend was revealed, Gu Yiguan was only deceived and had no choice but to do it. In his desperation, he never thought that Xu Liuxing and Zeng Xiaolou could still be saved.

Unless Gu Yiguan admits it himself.

Otherwise, even if the matter is exposed, there are too many "subjective judgments" to defend her, and given her status, if she insists that she acted in a moment of panic and had no time to think, it still doesn't count as a crime, and no one can judge her.

Gu Yiguan has always had a good reputation.

Just like before the incident with Xiaotian Sect, Zhu Wuyao never doubted Gu Yiguan. In her heart, Gu Yiguan was reliable, trustworthy, and honest.

After a long silence, Zhu Wuyao spoke up first:

"So, Ah Die wants you to admit first that Xu Liuxing and Zeng Xiaolou were killed by you."

"This further proves that the Blood Erosion Curse cannot invade the consciousness of a living person."

"Finally, let Ruan Ayao, who knows you well, tell the world—you couldn't possibly have imagined that you were just taking advantage of the situation to kill someone?"

"If you cannot refute this, the Star-Picking Tower will be attacked by other sects; if you want to refute this, you will have to point the finger at Ruan Ayao."

If Ruan Ayao and Gu Yiguan were to have a falling out, the alliance between Zhaixinglou and Taibaizong, two weak sects, might be affected.

Gu Yiguan nodded slightly.

Before coming to rescue Zhu Wuyao, these were the very things she had been pondering.

When she arrived at the Seven Illusions Gate of Stars, she was unaware of the truth about the Blood Erosion Curse, but she could imagine where it could be used against her. Therefore, when the two sides confronted each other, even though she was confident, she did not dare to admit that she had killed her best friend.

Zhu Wuyao thought that the matter of the Seven Illusions Sect of Star Pointing Stars had been resolved cleanly and efficiently.

Only then did they realize the treacherous undercurrents lurking in the shadows.

In retrospect, everything Gu Yiguan did was actually purposeful.

Zhu Wuyao once regretted not leaving one or two survivors to publicly prove the existence of the Blood Corrosion Curse. Now it seems that this was not evidence, but clearly incriminating evidence...

That only proves that the Blood Erosion Curse does not control the consciousness of a living person, but rather the body of a dead person.

"You really are..."

Zhu Wuyao had a thousand words in her heart, but she didn't know where to begin.

The cultivation world is inherently a dog-eat-dog world.

Let alone profiting from it, many cultivators are happy to do things that harm others without benefiting themselves.

According to rules, laws, and morality, Gu Yiguan's killing of her close friend for power and profit cannot be considered innocent. However, if we consider the cultivation world as a backdrop, where none of the powerful figures in these four sects are innocent, her actions back then can be considered decisive.

Zhu Wuyao thought this to herself, but still remained silent.

Would the Juque School be better off with Zeng Xiaolou?

If these individuals become bridges for communication among the four factions, there will undoubtedly be less friction.

Perhaps youthful sentiments can outweigh self-interest.

Perhaps interests are interests, an inevitable trend that cannot be changed by human effort; if you don't play the game, you will become a pawn.

Back then, Gu Yiguan was simply making a choice.

Faced with the choice between a grand dream of wandering the world together, a dream of illusion and tangible benefits, a decision was made.

He became the one who played the game.

From then on, her companions were no longer Ruan Ayao and Zeng Xiaolou, but she sat atop the Star-Picking Tower, facing off against the other sects, playing chess.

One move can change the course of a game; a hundred die, a thousand live.

If I were to walk alone through the world, how many people could I save?

With the destruction of the Xiaotian Sect, the territory, fields, houses, and rising smoke could provide a place for countless people to live and thrive, free from its oppression.

Therefore, Zhu Wuyao never criticized her stance, nor did she intend to accuse her of anything. All she could control was her own actions.

Gu Yiguan continued:

"While the genuine feelings of youth are precious, they are not enduring compared to—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Wuyao interrupted him:

"Senior Sister Gu, when you were young, you would get drunk and ride horses and sing with a few close friends, doing all the things that young people should do, thinking that you could sober up at any time."

How do you know that you haven't been a heavy drinker?

The room was filled with silence.

Gu Yiguan belatedly realized that his consciousness had been cleaved open by lightning, and his thoughts instantly became clear. Scenes that he had usually ignored or never paid attention to reappeared before his eyes.

She raised her arm, looked at the intact sleeve, and said:

“I left a corner of my sleeve, which fell onto her wrist.”

That was the object of her life's promise.