Chapter 244: The Mysterious Girl

“Brother, why didn't you help me persuade Su Yan?”

With only the two siblings left in the room, Ma Chulan felt like a deflated balloon; she clearly could have swayed Su Yan just a moment ago.

“Even though we are friends with Su Yan, these are her private affairs after all. How can outsiders interfere?” Ma Chulong had his own principles and sense of propriety.

“The onlooker sees more clearly than the participant, and Su Yan is currently the participant. Haven't you noticed? Ever since she met that old Taoist, she seems to be deliberately keeping her distance from Big Brother Gu,” Ma Chulan said with great certainty.

Ma Chulong had certainly noticed, but if he were Su Yan, he would have done the same.

“Little Sister, there are some things you don't understand.”

“I understand everything. Su Yan is just afraid that she will implicate Gu Yang and cause his actual death, which is why she's acting this way,” Ma Chulan analyzed logically. “But the thing hasn't even happened yet. Is it right to give up a current relationship for the sake of an unknown future?”

Ma Chulong frowned, realizing for the first time that his little sister had grown up.

“If even life is lost, will there be any feelings left?”

“Brother, that's different.”

Seeing Ma Chulan's agitated emotions, Ma Chulong felt it was necessary to have a proper talk with her.

“It is the same. Little Sister, have you forgotten the family rules? We can marry, but the partner absolutely cannot be an ordinary person. Our status dictates that many things are forbidden to us. We can face those ferocious and malevolent beings at any moment, but if our other half is an ordinary person, have you thought about what would happen to them?”

“Su Yan could tell Gu Yang the truth, but what then? Would Gu Yang allow Su Yan to continue doing what she does now, constantly hovering between life and death? Even if he might agree now, wouldn't they eventually want to marry and have children? Once they have a child, would Gu Yang still allow her to take the risk of losing his wife and the child losing their mother just to support her?”

“We are humans, not immortals. Can we ensure a hundred percent success every time we act? If there is even one failure, the first person to suffer the retaliation of the evil spirits will be our closest loved ones. Little Sister, have you thought about all this?”

By the end, Ma Chulong's voice was exceptionally solemn.

To put it bluntly, he was actually the one truly suited for Su Yan.

But he also knew very well that Su Yan had always treated him as a friend, so they could only ever be friends.

The room fell silent once more.

Ma Chulan's expression shifted constantly. She truly hadn't thought that far ahead; she wanted to argue, but she found herself unable to utter a single word.

She couldn't say her brother was wrong, but she wouldn't feel that she was wrong either.

Can love really be conducted with such rationality?

***

Gu Yang walked aimlessly down the street, his mind filled with thoughts of Su Yan from the past few days.

He considered himself clever, yet he found himself completely unable to fathom Su Yan's thoughts.

That girl had denied the engagement and denied having feelings for him, yet sometimes he could sense that she treated him differently.

He had never felt this confused before.

Perhaps he was too lost in thought, for he only realized someone had bumped into him when a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

Fortunately, he steadied his footing immediately and glanced at the other person.

The other person did not offer the expected apology; after their eyes met for a single second, they fled rapidly.

That single second caused Gu Yang's breath to hitch. Before his brain could even react, his body was already in pursuit.

The man who had just bumped into him had strange red light glowing in his eyes.

Gu Yang thought of the night the red moon appeared in the county town, when the townspeople suffered severe issues that seemed very similar to this man.

The man ran extremely fast, but Gu Yang's speed was not slow either.

Furthermore, the fact that the other party became increasingly panicked upon realizing he was being pursued only served to confirm his suspicions.

The two of them, one chasing the other, wound their way around until they unexpectedly reached the edge of the city.

No matter how good Gu Yang's stamina was, he was still just an ordinary person. Not only was his breathing ragged, but his speed was also gradually decreasing.

Just as he thought he was about to lose him, the man running ahead suddenly stopped.

Gu Yang caught his breath slightly and prepared himself for a fight.

To his surprise, however, two figures appeared in the distance directly ahead.

And it was clearly because of these two people that the man had been forced to stop.

Because the initial distance was somewhat far and it was night, Gu Yang could not clearly see the appearance of the two people, but as they drew closer, his gaze became unable to leave one particular figure.

It was a girl who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. Her long hair fluttered, and her white robes made her look like a moonlight fairy.

She possessed a pair of eyes so stunning they seemed capable of drawing in all things under heaven and earth.

At this moment, Gu Yang's mind went blank. Even though it was such a strange face, it gave him a sense of déjà vu.

“Monster, still trying to escape?” The girl's long, melodious voice carried an indescribable loftiness. With a lift of her hand, a dazzling light radiated outward.

The target of that light was the eerie man.

Immediately following, wisps of black gas erupted from the man's body as he scrambled to flee in all directions.

Gu Yang's breathing was rapid, but he quickly regained his composure.

Although he couldn't understand what was happening yet, it seemed the man had been subdued.

However, in the next second, he realized that one truly cannot jump to conclusions too early, because at that very moment, a mass of black gas was flying toward him.

And it was moving so fast that it was impossible to dodge with mere human legs.

In an instant, he had prepared himself mentally for countless scenarios, but just as that mass of black gas was less than a meter away from him, another flash of light appeared.

This light was countless times more magnificent than the previous one, blooming before Gu Yang like fireworks.

The moment the light dissipated, the sinister black gas also vanished completely.

Having escaped death, Gu Yang let out a long sigh of relief.

At the same time, he discovered with shock that the light had actually emanated from the girl's eyes.

This scene left a deep imprint on his heart and was simultaneously reshaping his understanding of the world.

“Are you alright?”

A moment later, the girl approached him proactively to ask.

Gu Yang could now see her features clearly.

She was a beautiful girl, but he indeed did not recognize her.

The girl simply assumed his current reaction was due to being frightened; after all, it was rare for an ordinary person to remain quiet and composed after such an incident.

“I'm fine. What was wrong with that man?”

Gu Yang saw that the man from before was now lying motionless on the ground.

The girl didn't even turn back to look, replying directly, “I just helped him exorcise the evil spirit that had possessed him. He will wake up on his own in a moment.”

Gu Yang frowned. “You mean that mass of black gas was an evil spirit?”

(End of Chapter)