"Alright, alright, I won't ask anymore."
Gu Qingfeng felt both helpless and exasperated. He tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, then asked, "But, Jin'er, what's the point of you saying all this to me? It can't just be to get me to go find Su Hua, can it?"
"No. If Big Brother really doesn't want to go find Sister Hua, Jin'er won't force you."
Little Jin'er sat quietly on the white horse, speaking softly, "Actually, Jin'er said so much just because I want Big Brother to truly open up his heart and stop imprisoning his emotions."
"Jin'er..."
Gu Qingfeng let out a long sigh. "You just said it yourself. All the karma I've encountered along my path has been impure. If I really let my emotions run free and end up getting trapped, falling into someone else's scheme would be a minor concern. I'm afraid that by then, I would no longer be myself."
"No! That's not true. Big Brother, don't tell these lies to deceive Jin'er. Jin'er knows that Big Brother might have been worried about losing himself in the past, but ever since Big Brother transcended, you've long since stopped caring about such things. The Big Brother of now doesn't care at all about whether he loses himself or not."
"I say, Jin'er, you..." Gu Qingfeng stared deeply at Little Jin'er, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine.
It truly was like that.
Because he realized Little Jin'er understood him perfectly, even his current state of mind and attitude, she knew it all with absolute clarity.
"Big Brother's attitude towards everything now can be summed up in four words: 'go with the flow.' It means not taking the initiative, not refusing, not taking responsibility, letting everything develop on its own. Big Brother just wants to be a free and unfettered passerby."
"But in truth, Big Brother knows that if you continue to imprison your emotions, you can never truly 'go with the flow.'"
"Big Brother has always known this. Yet Big Brother still continues to imprison his emotions."
"Big Brother isn't afraid of getting entangled in karma, nor is he afraid of being controlled by karma. No, it's not that Big Brother isn't afraid—it's that Big Brother simply doesn't care, doesn't mind. Even if Big Brother truly got entangled in karma and lost himself within it, Big Brother wouldn't care."
"Jin'er really wants to know, since Big Brother doesn't even care about losing himself anymore, why does he still continue to imprison his emotions?"
Without even thinking about it, Gu Qingfeng shook his head and replied, "I don't know myself."
Little Jin'er gazed intently at Gu Qingfeng and pressed on, "Does Big Brother truly not know?"
"I really don't know."
"Heh."
Little Jin'er let out an inexplicable chuckle and shook her head slightly. "If Big Brother truly didn't know, then why, after transcending everything, did you leave behind the Seven Emotions and Six Desires?"
"I left behind the Seven Emotions and Six Desires because I wanted to be a mortal of the secular world."
"Why does Big Brother always treat Little Jin'er like a child? Jin'er said it before, Jin'er is no longer that ignorant little girl from back then."
"Jin'er, how could I dare treat you like a child now? The way you are now, you might as well be my great-grandmother!"
"Ugh! Big Brother! I'm being serious with you right now, please be a little more serious, okay?"
"Fine, fine, fine!"
"Does Big Brother really think Jin'er doesn't know that transcending the Seven Emotions and Six Desires doesn't mean you no longer have them? Even if you transcended the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, even if you attained the 'Four Emptinesses,' as long as Big Brother wished it, you could still be a mortal of the secular world."
Gu Qingfeng didn't continue to respond, merely sipping his wine.
Little Jin'er watched him. After a moment, she said, "The reason Big Brother didn't transcend the Seven Emotions and Six Desires isn't because you want to be a secular mortal. It's because Big Brother has long since felt that your original heart is imprisoned, and you know that in this lifetime, you will never be moved by any woman."
Gu Qingfeng still said nothing, continuing to drink his wine.
And Little Jin'er went on, "Big Brother also clearly knows that your secret lies within that imprisoned original heart. It's just... Big Brother doesn't want to open it, right?"
Gu Qingfeng drained a whole jar of wine and stared at Jin'er. This time, he was convinced, utterly convinced. Little Jin'er understood him better than he understood himself.
How could he not be convinced?
Yes.
Gu Qingfeng knew, and could feel, that his original heart was imprisoned. He had sensed it when he transcended himself. And just as Little Jin'er said, he not only felt his original heart was imprisoned, but also sensed that his secret was hidden within that imprisoned heart.
He opened another jar of wine and continued drinking. "Jin'er, everything you said is correct. However... it's not that I don't want to open it, but that I can't. To open an imprisoned heart, you need a key."
In the past, Gu Qingfeng didn't understand.
He didn't understand why that Great Dao Seed that had once struck him wanted him to go find a woman, saying that woman held the key to himself.
Find the woman, and all secrets would be unlocked.
Later, Gu Qingfeng gradually came to understand.
The key to unlocking his imprisoned heart was the woman that Great Dao Seed wanted him to find.
And it might very well be a woman who could move his heart.
In other words, as long as he found the woman who could move his heart, then he could unlock the secret imprisoned within.
"Since Big Brother knows this, why don't you go look for this key?"
"I can't find it. Where would I go look?"
"Big Brother doesn't want to look at all, so how could you possibly find it?"
"Wait."
Gu Qingfeng seemed to realize something. He stared at Jin'er and asked, "You're not trying to say that Su Hua is that key, are you?"
"Jin'er doesn't know. Why doesn't Big Brother go and try?"
"I'll think about it when there's a chance later."
Seeing that Jin'er still wanted to say something, Gu Qingfeng really didn't want to continue this topic with her and cut her off. "Enough. Let's stop here. Although I don't know how you know so much about me, Big Brother believes you're doing it for my own good. It's just... I don't want to think about this kind of thing right now, and I can't be bothered. I'll take one step at a time and let nature take its course."
"Sigh..." For no apparent reason, Little Jin'er let out another long sigh.
"I say, Jin'er, you're so young, what are you sighing about for no reason?"
"Jin'er is sighing with emotion."
"Emotion about what?"
"Emotion about Empress Nameless's divine foresight."
"Empress Nameless?"
Gu Qingfeng stopped walking and frowned. "Jin'er, you've met Gengwu Wuming?"
"Yes, I have."
"Did she tell you about me?"
"Is Big Brother doubting Jin'er?"
"No, I'm just asking casually."
"Empress Nameless didn't tell Jin'er these things, but Empress Nameless knows."
"So she sent you here to sweet-talk me?"
"Big Brother, you're so unreasonable. When did Jin'er ever sweet-talk you? Jin'er just wanted to enlighten you a little."
"Fine, fine, 'enlighten' it is. Did Gengwu Wuming send you to 'enlighten' me?"
"No. Not only did Empress Nameless not do that, but when I was leaving, she even advised me against it. She told Jin'er not to try to enlighten Big Brother. Empress Nameless said that Big Brother has always done things his own way and won't listen to anyone's advice. And... Empress Nameless also said that if I came to enlighten you, Big Brother would definitely misunderstand Sister Hua, and misunderstand Empress Nameless, and would definitely think Jin'er was sent by them to enlighten you."