©Novel Buddy
Holding On to My Man-Chapter 101
Edited by baobao and Evan
Gu Bai didn’t worry for long before he knew where he was now.
This was the world of immortals that the next generation of cultivators yearned for the most. That golden robed man was indeed called Yin Li. He was very noble and was the emperor of the entire immortal world.
In addition, the other party was also his former lover… Gu Bai’s former name was Yin Baigu. He wasn’t a person but a puppet!
Yes, according to the system’s words and the information Yin Li shared with his memories, he was originally a puppet made by Yin Li when he was still cultivating in the lower world.
Puppets were not uncommon in the world of immortal cultivators. Many normal cultivators and even demon cultivators possessed them. They could be used for purposes as important as weapons and to help with cultivation, to things as minor as taking care of and cleaning caves.
In essence, they were like robots. Besides being more flexible and not having a soul, they looked almost exactly like normal people.
However, when Yin Li had succeeded in refining the puppet, the puppet accidentally achieved intelligence. Although his body was still a puppet’s, he possessed a human soul and became a real puppet person.
Because his body was made from the spirit bones of the ancestors from each of the hundred families of the cultivation world, and the person who created him was Yin Li, he was named Yin Baigu.
Since the day of his birth, he had been accompanying Yin Li during his cultivation for the realm of immortality, to the realm of immortality, so they had been together for thousands of years.
Until three thousand years ago, when the two kingdoms of immortals and demons fought, he was seriously injured.
Because he was neither a human, demon, ghost, or spirit, but a puppet who was separated from all six realms, he couldn’t reincarnate after death. He therefore used the nirvana method of the Phoenix sect, and the remnant of his spirit went to the lower realms to wait for his rebirth of fire.
Also, because the nirvana rebirth would wash away all of his past, he lost all his previous memories….
Gu Bai was silent after listening.
The story was perfect and well-grounded. Even in the memories Yin Li shared with him, there were many scenes of Yin Baigu and Yin Li getting along with each other, which couldn’t be faked.
But… he didn’t believe it!
Because one of the biggest red flags was Yin Baigu’s appearance. He looked exactly like the relief he had seen in the interstellar tomb, just like the flowery, delicate, refined, and beautiful youth there.
From the memory fragments Yin Li had shared with him, he believed the origin of Yin Baigu, the relationship between Yin Baigu and Yin Li, and that he might be Yin Baigu, but he did not believe the so-called love between Yin Baigu and Yin Li.
If Yin Li hadn’t shown him those memories, maybe he would have doubted and pondered over whether everything was just the past he had forgotten.
But now it was precisely these memory fragments that made him very sure that everything Yin Li had said was just a pack of lies!
Even in these fragments, he had seen Yin Baigu’s intimate smile toward Yin Li, but he didn’t see a trace of affection in Yin Baigu’s eyes.
If a person really loved another person, no matter how much they tried to hide it, it could be seen through their eyes. However, in those scenes, he had only seen Yin Baigu’s deference and admiration for Yin Li because he was the master who created him.
On the other hand, in the relief in the ancient tomb, in every single picture, Yin Baigu’s eyes towards Ye Cang had been so sweet and lingering, his clear eyes reflecting Ye Cang’s figure.
Even if he read it wrong or understood it wrong, those reliefs all showed the fact that Yin Baigu and Ye Cang must have known each other.
But in Yin Li’s story, there was no mention of Ye Cang’s name, from the beginning to the end, as if he had deliberately erased his existence.
Obviously, Yin Li had something to hide from him…
Only after a while, Gu Bai finally raised his head and looked straight at the person in front of him. “Can those memories be found?”
Without his own memories, he could only believe in his own intuition, let alone with Yin Li’s story having so many suspicious parts to it.
Gu Bai’s eyes were too direct and clear and, as Yin Li looked at his own reflection in his eyes, he felt some happiness and some guilt. He was glad that there was only himself in Yin Baigu’s eyes, but felt guilty over the alienation and wariness in those clear eyes.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have your past memories. We have a lot of time to create new memories in the future…”
He couldn’t help but reach out and hug Gu Bai’s head, putting his chin against his forehead, and he didn’t let Gu Bai see his frightened expression and eyes.
Gu Bai struggled uneasily. Whenever Yin Li got close to him, an inexplicable sense of resistance toward him would rise.
But the power gap made him unable to resist at all. Even a small immortal maid who swept the floor had higher cultivation than him, let alone the immortal world’s king.
“I don’t remember anything you’ve just said, so it feels like I’ve just met you. Can you give me some time to adjust?”
Since he couldn’t resist, he could only show weakness. Gu Bai forcefully pushed down the resistance in his heart and gave this whispered request. He would delay as much as he could.
This kind of reaction was very normal for people who had lost their memory. Yin Li wasn’t suspicious and easily agreed. The friendship in his eyes was enough to move anyone.
But it was a pity that Gu Bai wasn’t touched at all. Even if the friendship in Yin Li’s eyes was even more sincere, he wouldn’t believe it because another man had long been living in his heart.
During the next period of time, Gu Bai began to gather useful information from the servants around him without leaving any traces.
However, these immortal servants were very tight-lipped. They didn’t speak a single extra word to him, and he didn’t dare to directly ask about Ye Cang.
After all, based on Yin Li’s behavior, the other man shouldn’t be aware that Gu Bai knew Ye Cang at the moment, and he even intentionally concealed him from Gu Bai. Obviously, the other party wasn’t willing to let him know that Ye Cang existed.
However, although he didn’t get to fraudulently acquire any information about Ye Cang, it could be seen, from the frightened faces of these immortal maids and attendants every time they heard his inquiries about the past, that things were absolutely not as simple as what Yin Li had said….
During this period, in addition to occasionally going out to discuss matters with the immortal ministers, Yin Li stayed with him all the time. He took him to see the courtyard of the heavenly palace, beautiful scenery, and gently told him about everything that had “once happened”.
Gu Bai didn’t feel anything in his heart, but he listened very attentively and smiled at him occasionally. Whenever he did, he discovered that Yin Li’s eyes showed a look of joy and fear.
He was joyfully watching the person he liked look at him and smile, but why was he afraid? What was he afraid of?
Only after Yin Li left did Gu Bai put away his smile and became calm.
The scenery of the immortal realm was very beautiful. Every place was more beautiful than any of the famous mountains and rivers in the regular world. However, Gu Bai could only look at it from far away and couldn’t go out to see it, because he couldn’t leave the imperial bedroom without Yin Li’s company.
He brushed a red potted flower on the windowsill and casually spoke to a servant.
“You seem to have been in the immortal realm for a long time. Did you know me before?”
Since he couldn’t ask about Ye Cang, then he would ask about himself. There wasn’t any absolutely perfect logic in the world, and he didn’t believe that he couldn’t find a crack somewhere.
Upon hearing the question, the servant immediately respectfully replied.
“Replying to your Immortal Lordship, this small immortal has been in the immortal realm for more than 3,000 years. Although I had just ascended at the time and was just a servant of the heavenly palace, I did hear about your Immortal Lordship…”
“Oh, I was so famous before? Can you tell me what kind of person I used to be?” Gu Bai raised his eyebrows in interest.
The servant instinctively shut up for a while, but then he thought that now the “Baigu ban” had been lifted and saying something would be okay, so he relaxed and continued to answer.
“This small immortal has never met your Immortal Lordship, so he doesn’t dare to comment rashly. I just heard from other immortals that your Immortal Lordship was a free and easy man with high cultivation. You killed many demons in the invasion war of the demonic realm and made a lot of contributions to the immortal realm…”
“Is that right? I’m that powerful?” Gu Bai was surprised.
“Your Immortal Lordship is a real puppet person created by the Emperor himself. You’re connected to the Emperor’s life and have been taught by the Emperor on demand for thousands of years to become his Immortal Lordship…”
The servant replied respectfully. Gu Bai smiled and continued to ask.
“Unfortunately, I don’t remember any of this. By the way, what did you say about the invasion war of the devil kingdom? Yin Li told me that I was injured in that war, but you said that I was a man of high cultivation, so how could I almost be destroyed by the injury?”
The words fell, and the servant seemed to think of something for a moment. His face showed fear, and then he bowed and stuttered.
“This… this small immortal isn’t very clear. At that time, this small immortal had just ascended and didn’t take part in the war. This was all told to me by other immortals…”
The stuttering was obviously a prevarication. Gu Bai kept up his vigilance in his mind, stopped asking questions, and continued to change the topic.
“Alright, I’ll ask someone else another day. By the way, did I use to have good friends in the immortal realm? Why have I been back for so many days without anyone to talk to? It couldn’t be that I had a bad personality and didn’t even have a single friend, ba…”
This was what Gu Bai had thought most about these past few days. If it was true that he was a casual person, as the small immortal servant said, then this extrovert should have many friends. Even if not there weren’t that many, there should still be one or two, ba.
But now, apart from Yin Li and the immortal servants, no one else came to see him, talk to him, or just chat about the past. This was too strange; did he have such a bad personality before?
When he heard the question, the servant opened his mouth. It seemed that he didn’t know what to say, but he also didn’t dare disobey when faced with the examining eyes of Gu Bai. He hesitated for a moment before coming up with something to please him.
“Your Immortal Lordship is worrying too much…”
“Is that right? Then tell me, whom was I closest to in the past? I’m really bored here. I want to go out for a walk, see more places I’ve been to, and meet people I’ve known before. Maybe I can remember…”
Gu Bai’s goal was to closely watch the servant. If one person didn’t work, he could just ask more people, as he could always eventually find the flaws.
“That, that.. The status of this small immortal is low. When your Immortal Lordship left, this small immortal had ascended. The matters of your Immortal Lordship were told to him by others. If your Immortal Lordship is really curious, it’s best to ask the Emperor…”
When the servant finished speaking, he lowered his head and went quiet. His voice was tense.
“Fine, I’ll ask the emperor. You can go, ba…”
Gu Bai nodded and lightly waved away the servant.
Only when he was left alone in the palace did his face sink, and there was a sense of brutality and cruelty in his heart.