"I said, Fei Kui, I didn't realize you knew quite a lot."
Fei Kui looked slightly embarrassed and quickly said, "This lowly one just... just heard it from others."
Gu Qingfeng smiled and said nothing.
"Young Master, our luck is good. With the Temple Fair approaching, Mobi Blue Peak has been open to the public these days. Look, that's Mobi Blue Peak." Gu Qingfeng followed Fei Kui's pointing finger and immediately spotted Mobi Blue Peak.
The mountain peak stood tall and lofty, appearing particularly unique among the rugged, continuous mountain range. Especially the Mobi Blue flowers blooming all over the peak, shimmering with a faint violet-blue radiance, were truly breathtakingly beautiful. Under the sunlight, Mobi Blue Peak resembled a woman dressed in violet-blue robes, just like Empress Niangniang Tang Hengxi—elegant yet not cold, beautiful yet not gaudy, pure and refined.
Gu Qingfeng ascended Mobi Blue Peak.
Memories from that year flickered through his mind in fragments.
He still remembered clearly how he had played the qin at the mountain's summit back then, while Tang Hengxi danced with her sword amidst the sea of Mobi Blue flowers.
He also remembered clearly how he had drunk wine on the mountain back then, with Tang Hengxi nestled in his arms, the two of them admiring the sunset together, the beauty of dusk.
He remembered even more clearly how, under the moonlight and starlight, on this very Mobi Blue Peak, they had talked about everything under the sun, expressing their innermost thoughts to each other.
Reaching the summit, he closed his eyes, reminiscing and feeling, because this Mobi Blue Peak carried far too many memories between him and Tang Hengxi—some beautiful, others that filled him with regret and self-reproach whenever he recalled them.
Their last meeting, and even their parting, had also taken place on this Mobi Blue Peak.
He had said he was leaving.
Tang Hengxi was unwilling to let him go. She hoped Gu Qingfeng would stay and confessed her feelings to him.
However.
Gu Qingfeng did not stay. He still left.
As he departed, he looked back, forever unable to forget the sight of Tang Hengxi collapsing on the summit, weeping uncontrollably, her heart utterly broken, her grief inconsolable.
If he could do it over again, Gu Qingfeng would definitely not leave, let alone depart.
Unfortunately.
There are no 'ifs' in this world, and it is impossible to start over.
Sigh.
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and sighed inwardly, blaming himself for being too young, too willful, and too selfish back then, always thinking only of himself and never considering others' feelings.
The summit of Mobi Blue Peak was not large to begin with, but there were simply too many visitors, crowded and bustling everywhere. Gu Qingfeng did not linger long. Just as he was preparing to descend the mountain, he noticed people not far away seemingly looking at something on the cliff face, and their discussions seemed to mention Tang Hengxi.
Puzzled, Gu Qingfeng walked over and looked. Only then did he discover several lines of poetry carved into the cliff face.
*Your heart soars to Chixiao, aspiring to rival the heavens.*
*The sun sets once more in the west, wandering to the ends of the earth.*
*Returning to Mobi Blue Peak, I reminisce on the feelings of yesteryear.*
*Affection lies hidden in the sea of my heart, awaiting only your return.*
*When you wish to rely on another, I am willing to grow old by your side.*
"Sigh, I heard this poetry was left behind by Empress Niangniang herself."
"Yes, they say it was here that the Monarch parted from Empress Niangniang back then. Empress Niangniang was heartbroken, staying alone on this Mobi Blue Peak for a very, very long time. I heard when the Yanluo royal family found her, she was already on the brink of death."
"Even so, Empress Niangniang still could not forget the Monarch. Judging from the literal meaning of the poetry, Empress Niangniang knew the Monarch's heart soared to Chixiao, higher than the heavens, and that he loved to wander the world. As for Empress Niangniang, she was willing to wait, until the Monarch had played enough, ventured enough, wandered enough, and wanted to settle down, to find someone to rely on—then Empress Niangniang was willing to grow old by his side."
"Sigh, Empress Niangniang is truly pitiful."
"Who says otherwise? But then again, which woman who fell for the Monarch wasn't pitiful?"
"In the end, it's all the Monarch's fault. How could he be so heartless back then?"
"From what I know, the Monarch has always been heartless towards women."
"Miss, you can't say that, nor think that way. You can't just consider Empress Niangniang; you must also consider the Monarch's perspective. The Monarch's situation was very dangerous back then. He was already a wanted criminal by the Immortal Dynasty. For Empress Niangniang, he wiped out the Four Great Families and Six Great Sects, and single-handedly defended the Yanluo royal family against the Immortal Dynasty. By then, the Monarch was already a sinner in the eyes of the Immortal Dao. Facing pursuit from the Immortal Dynasty, how could he accept Empress Niangniang's feelings?"
"Exactly! You women are just short-sighted, only talking about feelings all day. If the Monarch had truly accepted Empress Niangniang back then, wouldn't that have harmed her?"
"I agree with that. Presumably, the Monarch had no choice but to leave back then because he feared implicating Empress Niangniang."
"What's there to agree with? What 'fearing implication,' what 'having no choice but to leave'—these are just excuses, aren't they? Empress Niangniang didn't care about any of that at all."
A number of young men and women had gathered at the summit, still arguing endlessly about the Monarch and Empress Niangniang. The men generally expressed understanding for the Monarch, while the women were different, most siding with Empress Niangniang and feeling indignant on her behalf. At first, the men's side could still argue reasonably and held a slight advantage. But later, when the women's side brought up the Monarch's Twenty-Four Crimes, the men's side was utterly defeated.
As everyone knew, the Monarch's infamous Twenty-Four Crimes referred to his emotional entanglements with twenty-four women.
The men's argument about fearing implication and having no choice but to leave simply couldn't hold up against the Monarch's Twenty-Four Crimes.
Weren't you saying the Monarch left Empress Niangniang because he feared implicating her? If he feared implication, why did he get involved with so many other women? If that's not an excuse, what is?
The women, quick-witted and sharp-tongued, used the Monarch's story to mock men in general, leaving the men's side speechless and forcing them to leave in awkward embarrassment.
Gu Qingfeng had been watching silently all along.
In truth.
Whether he had truly feared implicating Tang Hengxi back then, or had merely used it as an excuse...
Gu Qingfeng himself did not know.
Perhaps it was the former.
Perhaps it was the latter.
Or perhaps it was a bit of both.
Gazing at the poetry Tang Hengxi had personally carved into the cliff face, Gu Qingfeng's heart grew increasingly unsettled, and his desire to find Tang Hengxi as soon as possible grew more urgent.
Suddenly.
He remembered Fei Kui saying that Tang Hengxi seemed to have lived on this mountain peak for a period and had even opened a Cave Dwelling here, though no one had been able to find it to this day.
Thinking of this, Gu Qingfeng immediately released his divine sense, conducting a detailed investigation of the entire Mobi Blue Peak.
The existence of a Cave Dwelling is actually a unique small space. Calling it unique isn't entirely accurate, because all Cave Dwellings rely on the spatial Laws of this world to exist while simultaneously hiding within nature. In other words, a Cave Dwelling both exists within this world and within nature, but it cannot be detected by the naked eye.