"Old Monster."
Gu Qingfeng held a cup of wine, furrowed his brow, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, "I've come this time, firstly, to see you all, and secondly, to ask for news of Hengxi."
Before Gu Qingfeng's words had even fully landed, Old Monster Tang snorted coldly without any courtesy, "Oh, Lord Monarch, you are the illustrious, famed Chixiao Monarch! Even the Nine Heavens hold you in awe when your name is mentioned. You still remember our Hengxi?"
Gu Qingfeng could only offer a bitter smile. He knew Old Monster Tang had always been displeased with him over the matter of Tang Hengxi. Not only had he sealed Old Monster Tang away back then, but even after he broke the seal and left Yanluo Kingdom, this old fellow had sought him out several times.
"Old Monster, that was all so long ago... Couldn't you just..." Before he could finish, Old Monster Tang erupted in fury, "Hengxi is dead."
"Dead?"
"That's right! Dead! Killed because of you!"
At that moment, Xuanze spoke up, "Tianlang, don't listen to Old Monster's nonsense. Back then, after you faced Immortal Dao Judgment, that girl Hengxi couldn't accept that cruel reality. She didn't believe you were truly dead, so she left to search for you. Perhaps Hengxi has been waiting silently somewhere all this time for your reincarnation."
"Hmph! If you hadn't toyed with her affections and then abandoned her, how could our Hengxi have vanished without a trace until now? It's all your fault!"
"Old Monster, that's a bit harsh, isn't it? What do you mean 'toyed with her affections and abandoned her'? Back then, Hengxi and I were perfectly innocent. I never played with her feelings. How can you talk about abandonment?"
Gu Qingfeng should have kept quiet. As soon as he retorted, Old Monster Tang immediately stood up, his beard bristling as he roared, "You heartless little brat! Our Hengxi was such a wonderful girl, yet your sweet words bewitched her until she couldn't eat or sleep. Later, she fell for you, and hey! You, son of a bitch, actually rejected our Hengxi's feelings!"
"Didn't I explain to you back then? My situation was dangerous. I could face pursuit from the Immortal Dynasty at any moment. How could I dare accept Hengxi's feelings?"
"What good is explaining to me? Why didn't you think of that earlier? If you knew you were in danger, why did you spend all day flirting with our Hengxi? You got her hooked, made her fall for you, and then you, son of a bitch, just patted your ass and left... And then you said you didn't want to drag her down, damn it! Was our Hengxi afraid of being dragged down by you? If you ask me, all that talk about 'for Hengxi's own good' and 'not wanting to burden her' was just your damn excuse for being fickle! You, son of a bitch, are nothing but a philandering ghost!"
To this, Gu Qingfeng did not rebut.
Because when he was young, he truly did have a habit of flirting with women.
As for not wanting to burden her and rejecting Tang Hengxi's feelings... Gu Qingfeng himself didn't know whether he genuinely didn't want to cause her trouble or if it was just an excuse he crafted for his own fickleness.
Perhaps it was a bit of both.
"And you, kid... Damn it, you're really not human! If you had really died back then, that would have been one thing, but you actually faked your death! Do you know how heartbroken our Hengxi was? She was utterly devastated, nearly fell into demonhood! Since you were faking your death, couldn't you have damn well told Hengxi in advance?"
"Back then, facing Immortal Dao Judgment, I couldn't guarantee I'd survive. I had no hope at all. What was I supposed to say? If I told them and then I really died... wouldn't that have harmed Hengxi even more?"
"That would still have been better than now!"
Old Monster Tang's fury had not subsided. He pointed at Gu Qingfeng, berating him incessantly, venting all the anger he had suppressed over the years. Gu Qingfeng said nothing, merely drinking his wine in silence. Beside them, Xuanze tried to mediate. A long while passed, and only after Old Monster Tang seemed to have vented all his pent-up rage did he finally stop.
He threw back a cup of wine and said, "Now Hengxi has vanished without a trace. I've searched for many years and found nothing. Regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional on your part back then, it all happened because of you. If you had died then, fine. But since you're not dead, I don't care—you have to find Hengxi and bring her back to me!"
"I came to see you today precisely to ask for news of Hengxi. If you've searched for so many years and found nothing, how am I supposed to find her on such short notice?"
"Hengxi never believed you were dead back then. She couldn't accept it. She's definitely waiting for you to return. As long as Hengxi knows you're still alive and have come back, I believe she will appear."
"According to your reasoning, then, what should I do to let Hengxi know I'm still alive?"
"Damn it! You just need to announce to the world that you're still alive! If Hengxi gets the news, she'll definitely appear."
Xuanze said, "Old Monster, how can you be so selfish?"
"How am I being selfish?"
"Right now, everyone believes Tianlang is dead, the Immortal Dynasty included. If Tianlang publicly declares he's still alive, will the Immortal Dynasty let him be? Asking Tianlang to do this is harming him."
Hearing this, Old Monster Tang finally realized the gravity of the situation. He had been so preoccupied with worrying about Tang Hengxi that he'd forgotten how dangerous Gu Qingfeng's identity truly was. Once exposed, those bastards from the Immortal Dynasty would absolutely not let the matter rest. Moreover, he was well aware that the Immortal Dynasty of the Present Era was far more formidable than in the Ancient Times. Besides, apart from the Immortal Dynasty, this world also had the so-called 'Little Nine Heavens'—the Immortal's Zenith.
"If publicly revealing my identity could help find Hengxi, I wouldn't mind doing it. As for the Immortal Dynasty, they can't do anything to me. I don't care about them."
"Tianlang, since you've survived, don't walk the same old path again."
"Kid, although I also want to find Hengxi, you'd better keep a low profile. You barely snatched your life back from the jaws of Heaven; don't go stirring up trouble again. Do you think this is still the impoverished era of the Ancient Times? You might have dominated the world single-handedly back then, but in the Present Era, that's not so certain."
"The Present Era is brimming with fortunes and providence. All kinds of blessings exist, and even the Mandate of Heaven has descended. Moreover, during the great calamity of the Ancient Times, a storm of reincarnation swept through, and who knows how many great powers reincarnated into this world. I advise you to rein in your temper from now on. Don't be as impulsive as before. Otherwise, you might not even know how you die."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and said helplessly, "All that is secondary. The important thing is, even if I publicly announce my identity now, tell everyone under heaven that I, Gu Tianlang, am still alive—not only alive but back—the problem is, damn it, no one would believe me."