Chapter 203 – Good Reasons
We spent the rest of the morning lying together like that, and it wasn't until my belly protested with a growl that he let go of me. While helping me into a new set of dry clothes, he coaxed a promise out of me to let him start cooking again soon, then reluctantly released me into the kitchen.
I found myself smiling the whole time as I readied my meal. Ever since his recovery, Bai Ye had turned into a sticky gel that wouldn't peel itself off of me. I had never imagined someone like him to have such a clingy side, and the revelation didn't cease to amaze me every day. Sometimes I wondered if this was an influence of the sword spirit on him—in the early visions I had seen, she certainly seemed to be the one that was more capable of acting like this, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was her sweet persistence that slowly melted his heart and made him who he was today.
What was it like to be with him back in those days? How had he come to change so much over time? If only I could have those memories back someday …
In a hurry to get back to him, I quickly finished my food and started cleaning up after myself. That was when I felt a strong presence of unfamiliar spiritual power coming from beyond the doorway.
The disturbance startled me. Was it Bai Ye? Did our activities still end up affecting him? Worried with a shock of remorse, I dropped my tasks at hand and hurried back towards our room. In a rush to open the door, I almost slammed into him over the threshold.
"Are you alright?" I blurted. "The spiritual power—"
"It's not me, don't worry," he reassured me, though his brow was knitted, and he had already passed me on the way to his room. "Lock up Twin Stars," he said tersely. "The Gatekeeper is here, with a power restraining artifact. He's after something."
A power restraining artifact? Was that what emitted such formidable spiritual power? A chill climbed up my spine, though I didn't waste any time hesitating. Bai Ye was right—the Gatekeeper must be after something, most likely Twin Stars, and the safest place to keep them right now would be the secret chamber in the sword vault that no one else knew of. I hastened to fetch the swords out of my room and ran towards the back of the hall. Meanwhile, the Gatekeeper's bellow sounded from behind the front gate: "Bai Ye!"
My hands grew clammy, but I told myself to calm down and focus on what I was doing. Things could have been much worse, I reasoned internally. The timing had already turned out in our favor, since it would've been way worse if the Gatekeeper had turned up weeks ago. The fact that he cared so much about his reputation also meant that he wouldn't simply break into our hall without a good reason, which would at least buy us time …
Running as fast as I could, I got to the sword vault and opened the sealed door, found the secret chamber, and locked Twin Stars inside. On my way out of the vault, I fetched the nameless twin swords that I had returned last month, fastening them onto my belt as I ran back to the garden. When I got there, Bai Ye was already waiting for me, Lightbrighter on his back.
My heart skipped a beat. "Bai Ye," I whispered, tugging lightly on his sleeve. He wasn't planning to fight the Gatekeeper, was he? With his current condition … There was no way that he could win, let alone the adverse effect of summoning spiritual power would have on him.
He looked into my worried eyes and smiled. "I should teach you the effectiveness of bluffing at some point," he whispered back. "Everything will be fine, Qing-er. Trust me."
I was still worried, of course, but if there was anything that we had learned in the past month, it was that we needed to have faith in each other. So I nodded, and together we strode forward and opened the gate.
The Gatekeeper wasn't by himself. The same group from last time stood behind him, everyone wearing a slightly different expression. Su Nian pursed her lips when she saw me, whereas Teng Yuan gave Bai Ye a long look with a hint of warning.
"Bai Ye." the Gatekeeper spoke, raising the artifact in his hand. "I expect that you remember what this is."
The artifact appeared to be a small statue in the shape of a pagoda, and when the Gatekeeper lifted it above his head, its spiritual power seemed to have strengthened even more. This was the power restraining artifact?
Bai Ye narrowed his eyes. "You are planning to take Twin Stars by force?" he asked.
"My duties require me to do so," the Gatekeeper replied. "The demonic sword poses a threat to everyone's safety, and I can no longer tolerate such irresponsible behavior from either your disciple or you, Bai Ye."
"The same words as a month ago," Bai Ye huffed. "But I thought we had reached an agreement last time, Chu Yang. It doesn't look good to change your mind on this so quickly, and for no reason."
A few masters exchanged glances between them in the crowd. But the Gatekeeper wasn't thwarted by the comment. "I have absolutely good reasons, Bai Ye. You may have put up a spiritual power barrier so that we cannot sense what happened in your hall, but it's not hard at all to guess. Our agreement didn't allow for secret techniques involving demonic cultivation. It is my responsibility as Mount Hua's Gatekeeper to stop you before you step further astray."
My jaw almost dropped to the ground at those words. So the Gatekeeper was here because of … the barrier spell? He had thought that the reason for it was … to cover up our usage of Twin Stars?
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