"Your Majesty, you're perfect in every way...
It's just...
You're a bit too much of a philanderer, hehe."
Heishui said this with a cheeky grin, earning a furious rebuke from Black Buddha beside him: "How can you talk like that, Er Gou? Where is His Majesty a philanderer?"
"What do you mean 'where'? If our Monarch wasn't a philanderer, how could there be the so-called Twenty-Four Betrayals? Every time people bring it up, we want to defend you, but we can't even open our mouths."
The Chixiao Monarch was undoubtedly a dominant figure of the Ancient Era.
But at the same time.
He was also a man full of romantic entanglements.
Some called him a hero.
He overthrew the corrupt Immortal Dynasty, ended the suffering of the Ancient Era, and ushered in a new age of rebirth for all things.
Others said the Chixiao Monarch was unworthy of being called a hero.
Because he was too much of a philanderer, and too fickle.
Throughout the hundred thousand years of the Ancient Era, nearly every legendary woman of peerless grace and beauty had been involved with him.
From the Borderland Queen, to the Yanluo Empress, the Divine Continent's Female Sect Master, the World-Honored Lady... he spared not a single one. While slaughtering his way through the Immortal Dynasty, he still had the gall to seduce the Dynasty's Eldest Princess. Even when the Immortal Dao passed its judgment upon him, he still found time to flirt with the World-Honored Lady.
A full twenty-four legendary women of peerless grace.
Each and every one had been involved with him.
Yet, in the end, the Chixiao Monarch took none of them.
This was the infamous Twenty-Four Betrayals of the Chixiao Monarch.
Mentioning these Twenty-Four Betrayals, all the Chixiao men present fell silent, their expressions complex. Even Black Buddha, who had just scolded Er Gou, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent. Old Mei, glancing at Gu Qingfeng, scolded again: "Er Gou, don't spout nonsense. Those are all rumors, not to be taken seriously."
"What rumors? We won't mention the others, but the matter with Female Sect Master Ye Tianlan—we all saw that with our own eyes back then."
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"What nonsense? Old Mei, back when Ye Tianlan came to Chixiao Sect, you even went to persuade her yourself. Have you forgotten?"
Old Mei gave a dry cough, seeming somewhat embarrassed. Black Buddha beside him kept shooting warning glances at Er Gou, but Er Gou paid no heed and continued: "It's not like we've known His Majesty for just a day or two. We're all brothers here, what can't we say? His Majesty is upright and forthright, he wouldn't mind such trivial matters. Right, Your Majesty?"
Gu Qingfeng sat in his chair, tilting his head, squinting his eyes as he looked at Heishui. "I say, Er Gou, what the hell have you been through all these years? How have you become more and more like a gossipy woman?"
"Your Majesty, this isn't about us being gossipy or not. You really did go a bit too far back then. We had already started calling her 'sister-in-law' one by one, and then...
You just up and didn't want her anymore. Made things really awkward for us, you know...
And also..." "Stop!"
Seeing Heishui about to continue, Gu Qingfeng quickly cut him off. "You don't know the full story of what happened back then, so don't just make noise. Many things weren't as simple as they appeared on the surface."
"What's not simple? During the World Martial Assembly back then, you did flirt with the Female Sect Master on the Celestial Ladder, didn't you?
And you did say that if you lost, you'd make her your dual cultivation Dao Companion, right?
Later, she took it seriously, but you went back on your word. That's also true, isn't it?"
"That was a trap Ye Tianlan set for me!"
Heishui rolled his eyes and muttered, "Come on, Your Majesty. It's been so long, no need to explain anymore. A trap? What a kind-hearted girl the Female Sect Master was, she wouldn't even step on an ant. She'd set a trap for you?"
"That's just what you thought of her kindness. It was all a facade. Let me tell you the truth, that woman Ye Tianlan's methods are incredibly high. A girl?
Let me tell you, Er Gou, even if the ancestors of our ancestors were still alive, they probably wouldn't have lived as long as Ye Tianlan. And you still think she's pitiful?
I'm the pitiful one! Not only did I fall into that woman's trap, but I'm also like a mute tasting bitter herbs—I can't even complain about it."
"Really?"
Heishui was deeply skeptical.
Old Mei also asked, "Your Majesty, is the Female Sect Master truly as you say, not as simple as she appears?"
"'Not simple' is an understatement. I've stumbled over two women in my life. One is Jun Xuanji, the other is Ye Tianlan. Let's not talk about Jun Xuanji, that woman is just a crazy, mystical lunatic. As for Ye Tianlan? On the surface, she looks as pure as a white lotus flower, but in reality? She's a damn old witch!"
"Your Majesty, if it's really as you say, then why did you flirt with her during the World Martial Assembly back then?"
"That's exactly why I say I fell into her carefully designed trap from the very beginning."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head and sighed quietly. "In the end, it's all because I was too young back then. Got all hyped up by someone's words, got hot-headed, and blurted it out. Thinking about it now, that drunken old Daoist from Shangqing Sect was damn well Ye Tianlan's plant!"
Hearing 'drunken old Daoist,' Old Mei and the others all stiffened. The drunken old Daoist was the Supreme Ancestral Elder of Shangqing Sect, and during the Ancient Era, he was a legendary figure in this world. No one knew how many years the drunken old Daoist had lived, only that even the Great Luo Golden Immortals of the Nine Heavens would address him as 'Senior' when they saw him.
"Don't let me see that drunken old Daoist again. If I do, I'll hang him up and beat him for three days and three nights!"
Heishui asked, "Your Majesty, are these words of yours just made up, or is it really true?"
"Nonsense! You think I'm so bored I'd tease you for fun?"
"But if everything between you and the Female Sect Master was orchestrated by her, then why would she do that?"
"Yeah!
Why? I didn't know why back then either. But now... I can more or less guess the trick behind it."
"Why?"
"For karma, of course. What else could it be?"
Gu Qingfeng raised his cup and drank, sighing with emotion. "Thinking carefully about the life I've lived... all along the way, there were pits dug by others everywhere, traps laid, tripwires set. Either it was damn well premeditated, or meticulously designed, or just plain inexplicable. That I've managed to live until now, even I think I'm pretty amazing."
That was indeed the truth. Yun Nichang, for the sake of karma, laid out the Yunxia Sect.
Feng Zhuyue, for the sake of karma, laid out the Demonic Moon Palace.
And that so-called Lady Wuyou from the Setting Sun Valley, laid out the entire Great Northwest.
Tang Henghuang laid out the Yanluo Kingdom.
Ye Tianlan laid out Shangqing Sect.
Jun Xuanji damn well laid out the entire Great World.
Pits everywhere, damn it!
"I admit, when I was young, I was indeed a bit of a philanderer, liked to flirt with girls when I had nothing better to do. But I'm really not some fickle-hearted scoundrel. A lot of things were damn pits dug by others for me to jump into. You talk about the Twenty-Four Betrayals? This black pot I'm carrying, isn't it unjust? To this day, I can't even explain it clearly."
"Your Majesty, it's not that we're criticizing you, but even if they really dug pits for you, it was you who jumped in yourself. If you weren't a philanderer and didn't flirt with them, you probably wouldn't have jumped in. As the old saying goes, flies don't go after a crackless egg. You were the cracked egg, that's why you fell into their trap."
"I say, Er Gou, are you here today to undermine me or what?
Get lost!
I don't want to talk to you anymore!"