In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 387 Night Talk, The Path of the Martial World
Seemingly worried that Gu Shaoan wouldn't believe him, Fan Sanshan spoke up: "To be honest, Young Master Gu, a few years ago at the ceremony for the succession of the new leader of the Hengshan Sect, I also went with a friend to join in the fun. I still vividly remember the demeanor of Abbess Miejue and Young Master Gu at that time."

"Therefore, I, Fan, will certainly not mistake Abbess Miejue's appearance. Apart from looking a few years older, there is almost no difference in her appearance."

Gu Shaoan glanced at Fan Sanshan with some surprise. He hadn't expected that Fan Sanshan would be among the guests at the Hengshan Sect's banquet back then.

Gu Shaoan calculated the time and shook his head, saying, "My master has been in Emei for half a year and has not gone out. It is impossible for him to appear in the Great Yuan Kingdom."

Given Abbess Miejue's mastery of lightness skills, it would take at least several months to reach the Great Yuan Kingdom, and with the return trip, the time would be more than half a year.

Since the events involving Peach Blossom Island and the Ming Cult ended, Abbess Miejue has never stayed away from home for such a long time in recent years, spending almost all her time cultivating diligently in the back mountains of Mount Da'e.

Therefore, Gu Shaoan spoke with absolute certainty.

Fan Sanshan nodded and said, "I believe that too. After all, the Abbess Miejue I saw in the Great Yuan Kingdom, although her appearance was the same as I remembered, her demeanor and the feeling she gave off were completely different."

"When I met Abbess Miejue at the Hengshan Sect, she was somewhat domineering, but she had the dignified demeanor of a grandmaster. However, the Abbess Miejue I saw in the Great Yuan Kingdom had a sinister feeling about her."

After a pause, Fan Sanshan continued, "I didn't know that Brother Gu knew Young Master Gu before, but I had heard that Abbess Miejue of the Emei Sect had rarely gone out in recent years, so I asked Brother Gu to help me find out if Abbess Miejue was still in the Emei Sect."

"And Brother Gu's reply also indicated that Abbess Miejue was indeed in the Emei Sect, so I suspected that the Abbess Miejue I saw in the Great Yuan Dynasty was probably a fake."

Having said all that, Gu Shaoan understood why Fan Sanshan had only brought this up in private.

The fact that the leader of the Emei Sect has appeared in the Great Yuan Kingdom will inevitably damage the reputation of the Emei Sect.

Meanwhile, Gu Shaoan's mind was churning with thoughts.

He pondered who was behind the fake Abbess Miejue in the Great Yuan Dynasty.

Within the Great Wei Kingdom, there are currently only two or three forces that have a grudge against the Emei Sect or Gu Shaoan, and who dare to wield such a large power.

Zhu Houzhao represents the imperial court, and is the head of the Hundred Knowledge Pavilion, also known as the Hundred Knowledge Scholar.

Logically speaking, Cihang Jingzhai on Wudang Mountain, which was tricked by Gu Shaoan, should also be suspected.

However, six months ago, the incidents involving Zhu Wushi, Pang Ban, and Meng Chixing had not yet occurred. Gu Shaoan had only rejected Qin Mengyao, and the feud between Cihang Jingzhai and the Emei Sect was not as serious as it seemed.

Therefore, after much thought, the only people Gu Shaoan could suspect were Zhu Houzhao and Bai Xiaosheng.

Unfortunately, Fan Sanshan only saw the fake Abbess Miejue and didn't have any other information. Even Gu Shaoan couldn't deduce anything, so he couldn't guess what the other party was trying to achieve by suddenly playing this trick.
After a moment, Gu Shaoan cupped his hands and said, "I'm grateful to Uncle Fan for telling me about this. When I return to the Emei Sect, I will also inform my master about this matter and then investigate it thoroughly."

Fan Sanshan waved his hand and said, "It was just an accidental discovery. Telling Young Master Gu now is just something I said casually. It's not a big deal. However, there's something fishy about it. Young Master Gu and the Emei Sect should be careful."

"I understand, thank you for the reminder, Uncle Fan." Gu Shaoan nodded and then got up and left the room.

However, just as Gu Shaoan left Cheng Shifei and Fan Sanshan and headed towards his room, a deep, magnetic voice suddenly entered Gu Shaoan's ears.

"Young Master Gu, would you be willing to share a drink with me?"

Gu Shaoan paused slightly, immediately pinpointing the source of the sound.

After a moment's hesitation, Gu Shaoan flashed out of the window outside the corridor.

The night sky was clear and bright, the moon hung high, and its gentle light covered the green tiles on the roof of the inn with a layer of hazy silver frost.

A gentle night breeze blew, carrying the coolness and scent of grass and trees unique to late spring, dispelling the lingering smell of blood and smoke on the long street below.

On the roof ridge, Li Xunhuan was already sitting diagonally.

He changed into a clean light blue long gown, but it still couldn't hide the weariness and sickness between his brows.

Two wine jugs were placed beside him, one of which had already been opened and was held in his hand, the aroma of wine wafting faintly. His fingertips gently caressed the wine jug, his gaze fixed on the quiet streets of Baoding Prefecture in the distance and the hazy mountain shadows further away. His figure appeared lonely and desolate in the moonlight.

Hearing a fleeting fluctuation of spiritual energy behind him, Li Xunhuan did not turn around. Instead, he picked up another unopened wine flask and gently pushed it backward.

The wine jug slid smoothly toward Gu Shaoan with just the right amount of force.

Gu Shaoan reached out and caught it; it was slightly cool to the touch.

He walked to a spot about three feet away from Li Xunhuan and sat down casually, not in a hurry to drink, but simply placing the wine pot beside him.

"Master Li's injuries have not yet healed, so he should not drink too much," Gu Shaoan said calmly, his tone revealing little concern, more like an objective reminder.

Upon hearing this, Li Xunhuan chuckled softly, his laughter carrying his usual bitterness and self-mockery: "It's alright, this illness won't make a difference with just a pot of wine."

He tilted his head back and took a swig of liquor. The spicy liquid slid down his throat, triggering a suppressed cough, but he seemed oblivious. Instead, he let out a long sigh, as if the cough and the effects of the liquor could temporarily suppress something churning inside him.

He turned his head and looked at Gu Shaoan.

Under the moonlight, the young Emei sect leader had a handsome face, a calm and composed expression, and clear yet deep eyes that seemed to reflect the moonlight, yet also seemed to be isolated from all emotions.

Compared to his own lethargic "senior," Gu Shaoan's vibrant energy, restrained sharpness, and composure as if he had everything under control formed a stark contrast.

“What Young Master Gu said just now in the room was like a knife cutting into my heart, yet I, Li, had no way to refute it.”

Li Xunhuan spoke slowly, his voice drifting in the night breeze.

Gu Shaoan remained expressionless, and simply said, "However, what surprised me was that Master Li would also engage in such eavesdropping."

Li Xunhuan gave a wry smile: "Originally, I only wanted to send a telepathic message to Young Master Gu, but I didn't expect to hear Young Master Gu talking about me. I couldn't help myself, but when Brother Fan started to say what he was going to say, I didn't listen to any further."

Gu Shaoan nodded slightly, picked up the wine pot, and took a small sip.

Inferior liquor has a noticeable pungent taste when it goes down your throat.

"I trust Master Li's character."

Upon hearing this, Li Xunhuan paused slightly in the hand holding the wine pot.

He then looked up at the bright moon in the sky, as if reminiscing or sighing.

After a moment, Li Xunhuan spoke again: "In my life, I have been proud of my literary and martial talents, my family background is illustrious, and I have once been a dashing and arrogant man who roamed the martial world. But in the end, my beloved left, my family business was handed over, my brothers turned against me, and I am now plagued by a serious illness, my heart is like rotten wood."

"Looking back today, every step I took was flawed, and I was hampered at every turn." "Young Master Gu is so young, yet he has such a clear understanding of the people and situations in the martial world, and he knows how to protect himself and not give others any leverage. In comparison, it seems like I've wasted my decades of life."

His words were extremely frank, even carrying a strong sense of self-doubt and confusion, making it hard to believe that the person who said these words was none other than Little Li Flying Dagger, who had made a name for himself in the martial arts world as "never missing a shot."

Gu Shaoan remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Hero Li is too modest. Different paths lead to different choices. What I have said is merely my own opinion, based on considerations of the sect's inheritance and my own safety. Hero Li is loyal and righteous, willing to betray himself rather than others. This is the spirit of a gentleman. Although I do not admire it, I still respect it."

However, Gu Shaoan's words, though seemingly flattering, actually revealed another layer of meaning.

I respect it, but I don't agree with it.

I understand, but I won't follow suit.

Li Xunhuan understood the implied meaning and his bitter smile deepened: "The demeanor of a gentleman? Ha, it's nothing but indecisiveness and self-inflicted trouble."

Then, Li Xunhuan changed the subject and asked, "Young Master Gu, what do you think I should do with my brother Long Xiaoyun?"

Gu Shaoan gazed at the distant night scene, his voice calm and unwavering: "This is a private family matter for Master Li, and it is not in my place to interfere."

"If you were in their shoes, Young Master Gu, betrayed and plotted against by your closest friend, what would you do?"

Gu Shaoan turned his head and met Li Xunhuan's gaze. His eyes shone brightly and calmly in the moonlight: "If he were a true friend, how could he plot against me?"

With just one sentence, Li Xunhuan was rendered speechless.

Then, Gu Shaoan continued, "If anyone plots to harm me, they are not my true friends, but enemies with malicious intentions. The only way to deal with enemies is to take swift and decisive action to eliminate them completely and prevent future troubles."

"No matter how many reasons there are, when life and death are at stake, there is no room for hesitation or mercy. As for what others say afterward, that is a matter for afterward."

When a person dies, everything is empty.

His tone was calm, yet it carried a resolute and unwavering coldness.

This is quite different from his usual gentle and refined image, but it is more in line with his decisive and ruthless nature as the young master of Emei and when he killed the Great Joyful Bodhisattva.

Li Xunhuan tightened his grip on the wine pot slightly.

"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots...to prevent future troubles..."

Li Xunhuan murmured these two words repeatedly, his eyes flashing with struggle and pain, which eventually turned into a deeper weariness and confusion.

He can't.

At least for now, thinking about the pain Lin Shiyin might suffer as a result, and the reputation of "fratricide," he still cannot make up his mind.

Li Xunhuan tilted his head back and gulped down another large mouthful of wine, letting the burning and bitter taste fill his chest and abdomen. He said with a hoarse voice, "It seems I, Li, will never become someone like Young Master Gu."

In response to Li Xunhuan's words, Gu Shaoan said, "Hero Li doesn't need to become me."

"The world is vast and can accommodate countless ways of life. However, every way of life must bear its corresponding consequences and costs. It is not wrong for Master Li to choose the path of valuing loyalty and righteousness and being self-disciplined and forgiving."

"but."

Gu Shaoan suddenly changed the subject.

The rest of the words followed.

"Once you choose this path, you must also bear the constraints, pain, and risks that come with it. This is what you, Master Li, deserve."

Gu Shaoan is not Li Xunhuan's nanny. He has no reason to, and will not, arbitrarily judge or guide Li Xunhuan's actions.

Just like a martial artist who knows his own weaknesses or shortcomings but doesn't try to make up for them, if one day someone finds out his weaknesses and he is killed, he deserves to die.

Therefore, he did not judge whether Li Xunhuan's actions were right or wrong, but simply stated the facts.

The choice and responsibility are clearly returned to Li Xunhuan himself.

Li Xunhuan was stunned for a long time, then suddenly let out a long sigh. The sigh blended into the night wind, as if adding a new sense of bewilderment.

He stopped talking about Long Xiaoyun and, after a moment of contemplation, asked, "Being able to analyze Li's affairs, it seems that Young Master Gu has also heard about what Li did more than ten years ago. Young Master Gu, do you think what Li did was right or wrong?"

Li Xunhuan's question was like a poisoned needle, gently piercing the seemingly calm surface of the conversation under the moonlight, revealing the old wound that had been churning for over a decade and was already festering and ulcerated.

Gu Shaoan did not answer immediately. He slowly turned the wine pot in his hand, his gaze sweeping over Li Xunhuan's slightly tense profile due to nervousness and anticipation, and finally settling on the eternal bright moon, as if to find clearer words in its cool radiance.

After a moment of silence, Gu Shaoan's voice rang out, unhurried and calm: "For me, if I truly love someone, I would worry about her well-being even if she were with me, let alone entrust her to someone else with peace of mind?"

The night wind suddenly picked up, making Li Xunhuan's clothes flutter loudly. Gu Shaoan's words were like a morning bell and a newly sharpened ice blade piercing into Li Xunhuan's heart, leaving him frozen in place like a clay or wooden sculpture, his face frighteningly pale in the moonlight.

Even the spicy alcohol in my stomach couldn't dispel the piercing chill that kept churning in my heart.

Suddenly, a violent cough echoed on the night wind, lingering for a long time.

After a long while, Li Xunhuan suddenly let out a long sigh, which blended into the night wind and seemed to add a new sense of bewilderment.

Li Xunhuan then raised the wine pot in his hand and gestured to Gu Shaoan: "In any case, I will remember the life-saving grace tonight. If Young Master Gu has any requests in the future, as long as it does not violate morality, I will do my best."

Gu Shaoan nodded and raised the pot in return, saying, "I've got it."

After he finished speaking, Gu Shaoan didn't say anything more. The two of them silently drank their wine under the moonlight. One of them had a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, a tangled mess that he couldn't untangle.

A calm and serene mind, with clear and bright eyes.

The moonlight stretched their shadows long, casting them onto the green tiles. One shadow appeared lonely and desolate, while the other stood tall and serene, as if foreshadowing two completely different paths in life that would briefly intersect at this moment.

The martial arts world will always be the same, but what will always be different are the people living within it.

People are different, and the paths they take in life will naturally be different as well.

(End of this chapter)