That night.
The full moon hung high in the sky, stars glittered brilliantly, and the night scene was enchanting.
A solitary peak, as if piercing through the world, stood towering above the clouds.
An ancient, verdant pine grew on the edge of a precipitous cliff at the summit of the lone peak.
Beneath the pine tree.
A man and a woman leaned against each other.
The man was coldly handsome and serene, his demeanor lazy, seated against the ancient pine, one arm holding the woman, the other holding a wine pot, gazing at the nightscape.
The woman was peerlessly beautiful, her aura transcendent, nestled in the man's embrace, her beautiful eyes fixed on the man.
A fierce wind howled.
Snow-white robes fluttered wildly, and ink-black hair danced in disarray.
Both the man and the woman were thus.
They just leaned together like that, letting the fierce wind roar past.
They were none other than Gu Qingfeng and Su Hua.
At this moment, whether on her stunningly beautiful face or in her tender, affectionate eyes, whether in her spirit or her soul, Su Hua was brimming with happiness.
Having lived two lifetimes, this was the first time she had ever experienced the feeling of the word "happiness"; she had never possessed it before.
If possible, she truly wished time would stop at this moment, so she could forever lean together with the man she loved.
But it was only an "if."
Unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world, and time would not stop at this moment.
Su Hua was well aware; she could even feel what was about to happen.
"Promise me, don't leave me, okay?"
Su Hua nestled in Gu Qingfeng's embrace, gazing at him with deep feeling.
"Didn't I already promise you?"
"But I'm afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"I don't know what I'm afraid of either, I'm just very afraid…
And this feeling of fear is growing stronger and stronger."
"Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Su Hua burrowed deeper into Gu Qingfeng's arms, pressing against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and murmured, "I can feel that Wudao Mountain is about to descend."
Gu Qingfeng nodded. He could feel it too—that feeling was indescribable, as if something was calling to him.
"You've already decided, haven't you?"
Gu Qingfeng did not respond.
And Su Hua didn't seem to want to know the answer to the question either, saying only, "No matter what decision you make when the time comes, I will stay with you. If you destroy heaven and earth, I'll be with you. If you defy heaven and change fate, I'll be with you. If you sacrifice yourself and die, I will still stay with you…
I want to stay with you forever and ever, never to be separated again, okay?"
Gu Qingfeng just smiled faintly, raising his hand to gently stroke Su Hua's hair, saying nothing.
They just leaned against each other like that, sunrise after sunset, day after day.
No one knew how many sunrises and sunsets they passed through, nor how many days and nights repeated…
Su Hua didn't care, and Gu Qingfeng cared even less.
…
Azure blue, clear sky.
A beautiful sea of flowers, an exquisite pavilion, a tranquil emerald-green pool, a waterfall like the Milky Way of the Ninth Heaven, immortal cranes soaring in the sky, seven-colored immortal deer strolling amidst the clouds.
This was a cave abode.
Su Hua's cave abode.
Only, Su Hua had left the cave abode a very, very long time ago.
Several people sat in the pavilion.
All were women.
Among them was Su Hua's Sixth Senior Sister, Nalan Qianqiu.
She stood, watching, watching the two other women in the pavilion playing a game of black and white Go.
One of the women wore magnificent black robes, her long hair coiled high, her appearance stunningly beautiful, her aura noble.
Her beauty was dazzlingly gorgeous, enchanting and moving, beautiful with myriad charms, and beautiful in a peerless, magnificent manner.
Her aura was supremely noble, as radiant and dazzling as the great sun, yet her beauty was also like the night moon—dark, serene.
Her presence was ethereal and mysterious, like an immortal of the Ninth Heaven, yet also like a demon of the Nine Nether.
Nalan Qianqiu stood precisely beside this woman, for she was none other than the Eldest Senior Sister she revered, Cang Yan.
She was the master of Langya Blessed Land, also a legendary woman renowned throughout the Great Wilderness.
Playing Go opposite Cang Yan was a young girl, a girl wearing white robes, sitting with her legs bent, barefoot.
This girl looked only fourteen or fifteen years old. However, she did not possess the innocence and naivety a girl her age should have, nor was she cute and well-behaved. Instead, she possessed only an ordinariness that her age should not have.
Truly ordinary. On this girl, one could find no shining points whatsoever. She was ordinary like weeds on the grassland, ordinary like drops of water in the great sea, and even more ordinary like a speck of dust in this world—insignificant.
Yet, despite being so ordinary, sitting opposite the supremely noble, ethereal, and mysterious Cang Yan, who resembled an empress, it was impossible to ignore her presence.
Nalan Qianqiu knew that this girl might appear very ordinary, but it was only an appearance. Her existence was not ordinary in the least; not only was it not ordinary, it was even more mysterious and ethereal than a legendary woman of the Great Wilderness like Cang Yan. For this girl was none other than the one known throughout heaven and earth as the Messenger of Fate, the Embodiment of Causality, the one who knows all things under heaven and on earth, from ancient times to the present—Genggu Wuming.
"Why are you so unsettled today?"
Genggu Wuming's voice was as ordinary as her person. She asked softly, very lightly.
"Hua'er."
Cang Yan uttered only these two words, faintly.
"You're worried about Hua'er?"
Cang Yan nodded.
Genggu Wuming smiled and said, "Don't worry about Hua'er. She is very happy now, happier than you, than me, than anyone."
"It's only fleeting happiness."
Cang Yan said, "And this fleeting happiness of hers will likely be repaid with endless ages, endless reincarnations, and endless pain. The price is too great, so great that Hua'er simply cannot bear it. No one can bear it."
Beside them.
Nalan Qianqiu suddenly knelt on the ground, full of remorse, and said, "Eldest Senior Sister, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have told Junior Sister the secret that Gu Qingfeng is the You Di… It's all my fault…" Nalan Qianqiu truly regretted it deeply.
At the time, hearing Su Hua pour out the pain of her two lifetimes, she couldn't bear it and revealed the secret that Gu Qingfeng was the You Di. Moreover, she even supported Su Hua in pursuing her own happiness.
Only when Eldest Senior Sister descended did she realize she had made an unforgivable mistake. She had never imagined the consequences would be so severe—so severe they might condemn Su Hua to eternal damnation. Especially when she heard Eldest Senior Sister Cang Yan say that Junior Sister, by going to find Gu Qingfeng, might in the future fall into endless reincarnations and endless pain, Nalan Qianqiu was filled with regret.
"Rise. It has nothing to do with you."
Cang Yan did not blame Nalan Qianqiu, only saying, "What is destined to happen will ultimately happen. Even if you hadn't told her his identity, Hua'er would have found out. The path was chosen by herself. Even if she falls into eternal damnation in the future, she must bear it herself. She should have realized this when she made her choice."
Genggu Wuming said, "I think, even knowing she might fall into eternal damnation in the future, Hua'er would still disregard everything to go find him, exchanging endless pain for fleeting happiness. In the eyes of many, this may not be worth it, but for Hua'er, it may not be unworthy. Pursuing her own happiness may lead to eternal damnation, but if she gives up, it will be an eternal regret."
Holding a white Go piece in her hand, Genggu Wuming said softly, "Eternal regret is often more painful than eternal damnation, isn't it?"
Placing a white piece on the board, Genggu Wuming added, "I…
envy Hua'er. Sadly, I can only envy…"