An hour later, Gu An hurried along and finally returned to White Mirror Lake.

Following the starlight, Gu An saw that Little Black was actually leisurely pacing on the grassy field outside White Mirror Lake, occasionally lowering its head to nibble on a few blades of grass.

Gu An walked over quickly, Gu An patted its neck and said gloomily, "You're clever, knowing to run back. I wasted half the day looking for you, you heartless thing."

Little Black stared with innocent eyes, as though it understood nothing at all.

But finding something lost was ultimately a good thing. Gu An then scolded with a laugh, "Stop staring. You did some good today, so I'll feed you something nice."

With that, he pulled two handfuls of Golden Cloud Rice from his Storage Bag and stuffed them into Little Black's mouth.

"Chomp, chomp."

Little Black chewed the Golden Cloud Rice with big mouthfuls, its eyes squinting into slits. Since leaving the Spirit Beast Courtyard, it hadn't eaten anything this good.

This master was finally making something of himself!

Gu An rubbed Little Black's mane again, patted its head, then channeled his spiritual power, stepping lightly across the water like a dragonfly, leaping toward the island in the lake.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Gu An's heart tightened. He sensed a strange aura appearing in the small courtyard.

"Who? Get the hell out here!"

Gu An's voice exploded in the night, but his body retreated a few steps toward the lake.

Having just finished a fight, he was physically and mentally exhausted and didn't want another conflict.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, d-don't panic. It's me, Xiao Wenyuan, cough, cough."

Xiao Wenyuan? Gu An furrowed his brow and said angrily, "What are you doing at my place? I haven't settled accounts with you for the trouble you caused me earlier."

This Xiao Wenyuan was the black-clothed stall owner from the Yun Kingdom small gathering, and also the culprit who had brought disaster upon Gu An just now.

Gu An really couldn't stand him!

"Didn't Fellow Daoist Gu tell me to... to come to White Mirror Lake if I had business?" Xiao Wenyuan said haltingly, though his tone remained calm.

I told you to come?

I told you to get lost far away, why don't you listen?!

Gu An was filled with regret. Why was he so loose-lipped, telling this guy where he lived? Now look-he'd run into someone shameless who actually showed up!

"I take it back!" Gu An said indignantly. "Nothing good has happened since I met you. Can you just get lost far away?!"

But Xiao Wenyuan acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing in his same monotonous drawl: "Cough, Fellow Daoist Gu, why must you push people away? What happened earlier was by no means intentional on my part, and I am willing to offer compensation."

Gu An curled his lip. Though he was greedy for wealth, he valued his life more. This Xiao Wenyuan was a ticking time bomb-the Qingyuan Sect might want to kill him if they found out, and the Beastmaster Sect had even come to Qingyuan Sect territory to hunt him down.

What exactly had he done that the Beastmaster Sect wanted him dead so badly?

Soon, Gu An found out why. Seeing that Gu An wasn't responding, Xiao Wenyuan actually started telling a story on his own.

"Fellow Daoist Gu must be very curious why the Beastmaster Sect wants to kill me? Actually, I was originally... the patriarch of the Xiao family, a Qi Condensation clan under the Beastmaster Sect in Bai Kingdom."

"Last year, while exploring the Cloudmist Mountains, I obtained a Cold-Scale Python egg with a trace... a trace of Flood Dragon bloodline, quite high in Potential."

Xiao Wenyuan paused, taking several deep breaths. Whether it was from the pain of his wounds or some sad memory, his speech became much smoother afterward.

"That grandson of True Person Black Flood Dragon forced me to hand it over. I couldn't bear to part with it, so I kept stalling."

"I never imagined he would directly massacre the family under his command. Of the thirteen cultivators in the entire clan, only I escaped."

"It's my fault, all my fault! I only knew he was ruthless, but I didn't know he was this ruthless!"

...

Listening to Xiao Wenyuan begin his curses against True Person Black Flood Dragon and his grandson again, Gu An fell into thought. So his whole family was dead! No wonder he dared to curse that True Person like that.

Cursing a True Person and being hunted by Beastmaster Sect disciples-it basically ruled out the possibility that he was on the Beastmaster Sect's side.

But Gu An still didn't let his guard down. With a Vajra Talisman secretly held in his hand, he crept step by step into the courtyard. Only when he got close did he discover that Xiao Wenyuan hadn't entered the house but was lying on the stone table under the willow tree, his blood staining the table crimson.

Gu An walked closer. When Xiao Wenyuan saw him enter the courtyard, he gave a weak smile. By the faint moonlight, Gu An could see his face was as pale as gold paper, his lips white, nearly at death's door.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, would you allow me to stay here for a few days? I'll leave as soon as my injuries heal. I absolutely won't cause you any trouble."

Gu An hesitated. He didn't know if telling him to get lost now would still work, but he figured it probably wouldn't.

And Xiao Wenyuan likely wouldn't want to leave anyway. Continuing to be tough wouldn't do Gu An any good.

Don't be fooled by Xiao Wenyuan's appearance-Qi Condensation fourth layer, severely wounded, looking like a gust of wind could knock him over. Gu An didn't believe a bit of it.

The blood on those four Storage Bags at his waist hadn't even dried yet!

This old fox was truly cunning! Pretending to be a minor cultivator at Qi Condensation fourth layer, when in reality, even a Qi Condensation eighth layer cultivator had died by his hands. Judging by the number of Storage Bags, more than one had died.

Gu An rubbed the small booklet of Blood Moon Eel insights in his hand, and a decision gradually formed in his mind.

"You can stay, but you absolutely cannot cause me any trouble. Understand?"

Xiao Wenyuan gave a bitter laugh: "I, Xiao Wenyuan, am not that despicable. Fellow Daoist Gu spared me twice; how could I harm you?"

"Fine, fine. You can stay in this room." Gu An pointed to Bai Zhi and Qingliu's room. They still hadn't returned, so it was just right for Xiao Wenyuan.

Xiao Wenyuan forced a smile, stood up shakily, made a bow to Gu An, then tossed a Storage Bag to Gu An, saying, "Consider this compensation for putting you in danger earlier!"

Gu An caught the Storage Bag, weighed it in his hand, and his expression finally improved a bit. He nodded to Xiao Wenyuan, signaling his agreement to the arrangement, then went into the inner room.

Walking to the meditation cushion, he sat down cross-legged, his face already calm.

As for Xiao Wenyuan staying, he was actually happy to see it. In the coming chaos of Yun Kingdom, having an extra force meant being one step safer.

As for whether Xiao Wenyuan would turn on him, he thought it unlikely.

First, Xiao Wenyuan had a blood feud with the Beastmaster Sect. Killing Gu An would mean cutting himself off from the Qingyuan Sect, and with both sects hunting him, there would be no place left for him.

Second, after several interactions, Gu An found Xiao Wenyuan to be a decent person-at least when he spotted Gu An, he took the initiative to block those two Beastmaster Sect disciples.

Finally, the two had no conflict of interest. On the contrary, they were both hostile to the Beastmaster Sect. There was no reason for him to harm Gu An!

On the flip side, if Beastmaster Sect disciples came to attack, Xiao Wenyuan would be an excellent ally, greatly increasing Gu An's safety.

Thinking this, a smile appeared on Gu An's face, and he felt smug about his quick thinking.

This wasn't just turning trash into treasure-it was turning trash into treasure!

At that moment, Xiao Wenyuan, unaware that he had become Gu An's hired thug, also walked into the small room. Moonlight flowed like water, illuminating his face, where two streaks of clear tears had already fallen.

"Wenfeng, Wenshuo, Wuchang... Wait for me to heal, and I'll avenge you! Wait for me!"