"What do you mean, 'what's there to be excited about'? Aren't we both born from the Blood of Original Sin? In a sense, aren't we all descendants of the Blood of Original Sin? That blood gave birth to so many descendants, but unfortunately, that little wench Canyang Wuyou slaughtered them all, leaving only the two of us alive. We're like... like long-lost siblings bound by a sea of blood feud! No! Siblings—long-lost siblings. Now that we've finally met after being separated for so long, shouldn't I, your lord, be a little excited?"
"Descendants of the Blood of Original Sin? Siblings? A sea of blood feud?"
Compared to the excited Gu Qingfeng, Bai Chou appeared much calmer. Not only was she calm, she even seemed unable to comprehend Gu Qingfeng's excitement. Shaking her head, she said, "We are not descendants of the Blood of Original Sin. We are not siblings either, and we bear no sea of blood feud."
"I say, big sister, you really have no sense of humor. My metaphor might be a bit exaggerated, but that's the gist of it. After all, we both have that drop of the Blood of Original Sin flowing within us. I have no parents, you have no parents—we're all in the same miserable boat, right?"
"Sorry, I have parents."
"What? You have parents?"
"I do. Although they passed away long ago, at least I've seen them."
"So it turns out you have parents. From that perspective, you're a bit better off than me, your lord."
Gu Qingfeng sat back down on the cliff edge at the mountain peak, continuing to drink his sullen wine. For some reason, ever since returning to this world, Gu Qingfeng had felt intensely, profoundly lonely. The feeling was so strong it was as if his soul had nowhere to rest, truly like a lost, wandering ghost.
Perhaps sensing the loneliness and desolation in Gu Qingfeng's heart, Bai Chou asked, "As far as I know, you've transcended life and death, good and evil. You've transcended the Great Dao and all living beings, transcended worldly morals, even transcended the self. Shouldn't your heart be like still water, empty of all worldly attachments? Why do you still cling so heavily to the seven emotions and six desires?"
"Yes... I've transcended everything. Shouldn't I be empty of all attachments?" Gu Qingfeng drank and muttered to himself, "So why do I still care about the feelings of the seven emotions and six desires?"
He drank again, finishing the entire jar.
"Perhaps I transcended the self, but not my own heart. Maybe... I'm just a mundane person at core, wanting to be a mundane person with seven emotions and six desires. Maybe, from the very beginning, I never wanted to transcend... Maybe I'm already lost... I just don't know it myself. Or perhaps I'm no longer myself, and I just don't realize it. Too many maybes. Who knows..."
"Heh!"
Faced with Gu Qingfeng's somewhat lonely and desolate state, Bai Chou suddenly let out an inexplicable cold laugh, filled with disdain and a hint of scorn.
"I say, big sister, I'm already this pitiful. What are you sneering at? Have you no sympathy at all?"
"I truly never expected that the acting skills of the once willful and unrestrained Red Firmament Monarch, the Nine Nethers Emperor who shook the Great Desolate, would be so masterful."
"What acting skills?" Gu Qingfeng was baffled. "What play have I been performing for you?"
"So you admit you were acting?"
"What acting? When did I ever admit to acting? What do you mean, big sister?"
"I've said it before. We are not only the same kind of people, but we also share the same Blood of Original Sin flowing within us. I may not see through what's in your heart, but I can sense many things, more or less."
"Sister, have you misunderstood something?"
"Enough. You're still putting on an act with me?"
"I say, big sister..." Gu Qingfeng smiled bitterly, helpless. "What exactly have I been acting out for you? Please, explain clearly."
"You know very well what act you've been putting on."
"Big sister, I really don't understand."
"Heh!"
Bai Chou sneered again but said nothing more.
"I'm thinking, big sister, you must have misunderstood something, right? Since you don't want to say, then there's nothing to be done."
Gu Qingfeng stood up, stretching and yawning. "I'm tired, worn out. Time to go back and rest. I'll take my leave first."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng prepared to leave. Before going, he added, "Also, big sister, I'm lost... Who knows when I might go mad. And I have this flaw—when I go mad, I even kill myself. So, try not to look for me in the future. With such great karma between us, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill you."
With those words, Gu Qingfeng vanished without a trace.
At the mountain peak, only Bai Chou remained standing alone. Wrapped entirely in white cloth, the only visible part of her—her eyes—stared in the direction Gu Qingfeng had disappeared, filled with both anger and fury, but even more with helplessness.
After Gu Qingfeng vanished, another person appeared at the mountain peak.
It was a woman.
A woman who appeared serene and quiet. She was a disciple of Canyang Valley and also Bai Chou's junior sister—Wolan.
Wolan also gazed in the direction Gu Qingfeng had disappeared. Unlike Bai Chou, Wolan's eyes held a trace of sympathy. She murmured, "All this time, I thought the You Di was as aloof and domineering as the legends said, as cold and ruthless as the tales described. Only today did I realize that behind the legend of the You Di's aloof dominance lies such loneliness, such desolation. Just now, watching him drink, he seemed like a lost, wandering ghost. So pitiful..."
"Hehehehe..." Hearing Wolan's words, Bai Chou laughed—a laugh also filled with helplessness. "He's lonely? Desolate? And pitiful? Hehehehe..."
"Senior Sister, what's wrong? What are you laughing at? And why did you keep saying earlier that the You Di was acting? What act was he putting on? I find it all rather baffling."
"Junior Sister, you've been deceived. Tricked by that fellow's masterful acting..."
"I've been deceived?"
"Do you think he really didn't know I'm a disciple of Canyang Valley? No! He knew. Even if he didn't know for sure, he must have suspected it earlier. We share the same Blood of Original Sin flowing within us, and I had met and even crossed hands with him in this world before. How could he not know I'm from Canyang Valley?"
"But he pretended not to know. He acted all surprised, excited, thrilled, talking about 'descendants of the Blood of Original Sin,' 'siblings,' 'a sea of blood feud'... Heh... Can't you tell he was mocking me?"
"Mocking you?" Wolan frowned deeply, shaking her head. "Senior Sister, I don't understand. Why would he mock you?"
"He knows. He knows I came here this time because I need something from him. He must know. He's just pretending not to."