A Wedge Between Them

Gu Yuan's answer left Gu Lie and the others incredulous!

But it was also exactly what they would have expected.

Gu Yuan was indeed very powerful, but he lacked the resolve to see things through at all costs!

Otherwise, when Xiao Xuan had invited him to join forces against the Hun Clan, he wouldn't have hesitated and missed such a golden opportunity to wipe them out.

Xiao Xuan moved straight on to the second step of his plan. He reined in his soul power, then smiled. "Since you've shown such sincerity, I'll give you another grand gift!"

As he spoke, Xiao Xuan's figure vanished like a ghost!

While everyone wondered what grand gift Xiao Xuan had in mind,

Xiao Xuan reappeared after disappearing for two and a half minutes!

This time, however, he had someone with him!

The people from the Ancient Clan took a closer look.

To their astonishment, it was Gu Yang, who guarded the clan's ancestral hall!

What did this mean?

Gu Yang was just as bewildered!

Earlier, he'd sensed several small-scale battles breaking out in the clan.

But for certain special reasons, he hadn't dared go out and see for himself.

He'd vaguely heard Xiao Xuan's name.

He was very familiar with that name!

The Xiao Clan's patriarch from a thousand years ago.

As far as he knew, Xiao Xuan had been ambushed and surrounded by the Hun Clan a thousand years ago, and had died.

So he hadn't paid it any mind.

He'd assumed the Ancient Clan was arguing again over the allocation of places for the next trip into the Heavenly Tomb.

After all, this wasn't the first time!

So he'd simply sat down in the ancestral hall and started cultivating!

But who could have imagined that just as he was completely absorbed in his cultivation,

he'd suddenly sensed a breeze brush past him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a complete stranger appear right in front of him.

Before he could ask what was going on, the man had grabbed him by the collar and brought him to the council hall!

The key point was—

everyone here was a supreme powerhouse of the Ancient Clan!

Gu Yuan himself was among them!

Gu Yang was terrified.

"Gu Yang?"

Gu Yuan furrowed his brow. "Xiao Xuan, what do you mean by this?!"

What?

Xiao Xuan?

Gu Yang stared at Xiao Xuan, his eyes wide!

As if he'd seen a ghost!

Xiao Xuan said calmly, "I'm helping you root out a spy!"

Feeling guilty, Gu Yang hurriedly jumped in to defend himself. "Patriarch, don't listen to his nonsense. He's slandering me! This is slander!!"

Xiao Xuan smiled. "Why are you in such a hurry? I never said you were the spy, yet you jumped in to explain yourself. Feeling guilty?"

"Gah!"

Gu Yang froze, wishing he could slap himself!

Why had he been so eager to explain?

He'd almost given himself away.

Gu Yuan pressed him. "Then tell us. Who's the spy?"

Xiao Xuan pointed at Gu Yang. "There. He is!"

"You—you're talking nonsense!" Gu Yang shouted, his neck stiff. He was so worked up he nearly stopped breathing!

Gu Lie frowned. "Elder Gu Yang has guarded our clan's ancestral hall for hundreds of years. It's impossible for him to be a spy, isn't it?"

"Exactly!"

The Three Immortals of the Gu Clan didn't believe it either.

Xiao Xuan smiled and shook his head.

You laugh at me for being mad; I laugh at you for failing to see through it.

Gu Yuan studied Gu Yang before him, his deep eyes seeming to see right through him!

Gu Yang felt a chill crawl over him.

In his palm, he clutched a thumb-sized piece of black Ancient Jade.

If anything went wrong, he would crush it at once!

Gu Yuan knew Xiao Xuan wouldn't make such a claim without reason. He must have some evidence.

So he nodded at Xiao Xuan,

signaling him to continue.

With his hands behind his back, Xiao Xuan walked up to Gu Yang.

"What's your name?"

"Gu Yang."

"What's your position?"

"An elder who guards the Gu Clan Ancestral Hall."

"How long have you been guarding it?"

"More than a hundred years!"

As Xiao Xuan asked these questions, Gu Yang suddenly stopped feeling nervous. He answered calmly, without the slightest change in expression.

"What's your name?"

"Gu Yang."

"What's your position?"

"An elder who guards the Gu Clan Ancestral Hall."

Xiao Xuan repeated those few questions, asking them faster and faster. Gu Yang answered just as quickly.

"What did Hun Tiandi send you here to do?"

"Steal the Tou She Ancient God Jade when the opportunity arose!"

"Chang Wei, now do you admit you—no, that was wrong. Gu Yang, now do you admit you're a spy?!"

"Gah!"

Only then did Gu Yang realize something was wrong!

He'd answered all the earlier questions truthfully.

Who could have known that Xiao Xuan would suddenly feint and ask him that?

And he'd blurted out the truth!

"Patriarch, hear me out!"

Gu Yang hurried to make excuses. "Th-this was all a trap he set for me! He deliberately framed me! How could I possibly be a spy for the Hun Clan? If you don't believe me, you can test me with the Soul Testing Stone!"

The Soul Testing Stone was an extremely rare treasure that could determine whether there was anything wrong with a person's soul.

Even the Ancient Clan had only one.

Xiao Xuan said, "Gu Yuan, look. No one even said there was something wrong with his soul, but he admitted it himself."

Gu Yang: ...

Gu Yang tried to explain. "I-I was just trying to prove that I really wasn't a spy."

"Heh. Since you dared stay in the Ancient Clan, Nihility Devouring Flame must have fused your soul with the real Gu Yang's."

Xiao Xuan's words nearly made Gu Yang spit blood!

You even know that?!

Had the Xiao Clan planted a spy in the Hun Clan too?!

If he hadn't been outmatched, Gu Yang would have loved to tear Xiao Xuan to pieces!

Gu Yuan's face was expressionless. He said nothing, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Gu Lie and the others looked grim as well.

When Xiao Xuan finished, he returned to his seat and leisurely sipped his tea.

With his strength, he could have killed Gu Yang outright, then explained everything to Gu Yuan afterward.

But that wouldn't have fit his plan!

Seeing that Gu Yuan hadn't given his verdict, Gu Yang gritted his teeth and didn't crush the Ancient Jade to reveal his identity.

His mission was extremely important!

It concerned the Hun Clan's grand plan!

He wouldn't expose himself unless absolutely necessary!

Gu Yuan walked up to Gu Yang and raised a hand to pat him on the shoulder, hoping to put him at ease.

The guilty Gu Yang jumped in fright!

He thought Gu Yuan was attacking him.

He immediately crushed the Ancient Jade, preparing to escape!

That one move completely exposed the truth: he was a spy!

Gu Yuan's expression darkened, and the vast Dou Qi within him burst forth!

It slammed into Gu Yang.

Boom!

In an instant!

Gu Yang's body turned into a cloud of blood mist.

Gu Yang's soul clung to a piece of jade and tried to flee.

Xiao Xuan, who had been ready for it, intercepted him!

"Trying to run? Did you ask me first?"

"Xiao Xuan! How did you learn of our clan's plan, which we've been plotting for hundreds of years? You've been dead for a thousand years!"

"Of course... someone in your clan told me."

Xiao Xuan knew Gu Yang must have a way to send a message, so he deliberately said this.

"No wonder, no wonder!! But don't get cocky, Xiao Xuan! If the Hun Clan could destroy your Xiao Clan back then, we can do it again!"

"Enough talk. Die!!"

"Ah!!"

Gu Yang let out a scream, then steeled himself and set his soul ablaze. He drew an esoteric sigil in midair.

At the same time, he sent a message:

"There's a spy in the Hun Clan. Gu Yuan and Xiao Xuan..."