Within the courtyard of Yunxia Sect, Nalan Qianqiu stared in the direction Gu Qingfeng had departed, her expression incredibly complex—filled with anger, regret, and worry.
It had all started with pleasant conversation and laughter. Nalan Qianqiu had truly believed Gu Qingfeng would agree to lay low for a while. And initially, he really did agree.
Yet, she never imagined that Gu Qingfeng's agreement was nothing more than an offhand remark.
Nalan Qianqiu felt that Gu Qingfeng had been deliberately toying with her, and so, she was furious.
However.
Beyond the anger, what filled her more was regret and self-blame.
Before coming, she had repeatedly warned herself: when meeting Gu Qingfeng, she must speak with utmost caution, absolutely must not defy his will, and certainly must not utter a single word of warning or threat. Regardless of whether he agreed or not, she needed to be careful and prudent, and must never foolishly use a forceful attitude to challenge the Nether Emperor's solitary pride and domineering nature.
But.
When she sat down to drink with Gu Qingfeng, perhaps it was his leisurely, carefree banter that gave Nalan Qianqiu a false impression, causing her to completely forget all the warnings she had repeated to herself before coming.
Nalan Qianqiu knew she had made an extremely grave mistake.
That mistake was placing the dignity and glory of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao above all else in front of Gu Qingfeng. By doing so, she had essentially asked Gu Qingfeng to lay low for the sake of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao's prestige.
With so much deep-seated hatred between Gu Qingfeng and the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, how could he possibly lay low for their sake?
Nalan Qianqiu knew she also shouldn't have revealed that the various Destiny-Bearers, Law-Enforcers, and Tribulation-Responders of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao had all received the sacred edicts.
Although she understood that even if she didn't say it, Gu Qingfeng would be able to sense it, speaking it out herself and him detecting it were two entirely different matters. By saying it herself, she carried the suspicion of issuing a warning and threat.
She especially shouldn't have asked Gu Qingfeng to lay low for the sake of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, or for the sake of all living beings.
That was a form of moral coercion.
Even more despicable than a warning or threat.
If the other party were a righteous gentleman, perhaps moral coercion might work.
But the problem was, was the Nether Emperor a righteous gentleman?
No!
Absolutely not.
Moreover, did he care about the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?
Did he care about all living beings?
The answer was certain.
He didn't care in the slightest.
Asking a being of False Original Sin, one who might even trigger the Ancient-Modern Cataclysm, to lay low for the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and all living beings—what was that if not foolishness?
However.
What made Nalan Qianqiu feel most foolish, and what she regretted most, was dragging Xiao Jinr into the conversation in front of Gu Qingfeng.
She understood clearly.
Gu Qingfeng doted on Xiao Jinr immensely and cared for her the most.
If she hadn't dragged Xiao Jinr into this, there might still have been room for negotiation.
But once Xiao Jinr was involved, there would be no room for negotiation whatsoever.
Nalan Qianqiu did not want to use Xiao Jinr to threaten Gu Qingfeng.
She truly did not want to, nor did she have that intention. To be precise, she simply did not dare to use Xiao Jinr to threaten Gu Qingfeng.
She also understood better than anyone that using Xiao Jinr to threaten Gu Qingfeng would not only be completely ineffective, but would instead make the situation even worse, potentially to an irreparable point.
Yes.
She knew.
She had always known.
Yet, while drinking earlier, she still said it.
It wasn't that she said it intentionally, but in her anxiety, the words just slipped out.
By the time she wanted to explain, it was already too late.
Everything was too late.
Nalan Qianqiu didn't know why she had been so foolish.
Before coming, she had repeatedly warned herself to speak cautiously. So why, after meeting Gu Qingfeng, did she still commit such a foolish mistake?
Why exactly?
Nalan Qianqiu didn't know.
Now, filled with regret, she wished she could viciously slap her own mouth.
She laughed.
Laughed at her own naivety and foolishness.
Meeting Gu Qingfeng this time.
Seeing his leisurely and carefree demeanor, seeing him with nothing to do, seeing him chatting and laughing freely.
Nalan Qianqiu had thought that after sleeping for ten thousand years, Gu Qingfeng had changed.
Become ordinary and worldly, become humorous and witty, and become more reasonable.
Only now, only after Gu Qingfeng had left.
Did Nalan Qianqiu realize that all of this was merely her own assumption, merely an illusion.
Gu Qingfeng was still that solitary, peerlessly domineering Monarch Chixiao from back then, still that cold and ruthless Nine Nethers Emperor.
He had never changed.
"I shouldn't have come on this trip..." Nalan Qianqiu stood there, murmuring to herself in a daze. "I shouldn't have met him..."
"Madam."
The elder who had been standing guard beside Nalan Qianqiu spoke up. "Perhaps... we could have Jin'er go and persuade the Nether Emperor? Didn't you say the Nether Emperor dotes on Jin'er the most? If Jin'er intervenes, the Nether Emperor might change his mind."
Nalan Qianqiu furrowed her brows, closed her eyes, looking utterly weary as she shook her head. "If we incite Jin'er to go persuade him, whether the two of us can return alive today would be an unknown."
"What?"
The elder was shocked. "Why?"
"I've already made one foolish mistake. I don't want to make a second one..."
"Then... Madam, what should we do?"
"Yes! What should we do?"
Nalan Qianqiu, originally dressed in magnificent attire and exuding an imposing aura, now looked utterly haggard. "How would I know what to do..."
"Madam, what exactly did the Nether Emperor mean by those last two sentences? What does he mean by asking you to take a message to the Nine Heavens, saying 'he's back'?"
"What do you mean you don't understand?"
"The Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, in order to eliminate him back then, besieged him time and again, hunted him, judged him... Now he's back. What do you think he means?"
"Heh..."
For no apparent reason, Nalan Qianqiu opened her eyes, looked up at the sky, gazed at the great sun hanging in the firmament, and laughed. "From the very beginning, my Eldest Senior Sister advised you all not to provoke him. And what about you? Relying on your status as the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, you refused to listen, stubbornly determined to eliminate him. And the result? After all these years, have you eliminated him?"
"No, not only have you failed to eliminate him, you've instead pushed him step by step into the abyss of Original Sin. Now he stands within the abyss of Original Sin. Are you satisfied?"
"Back then, when you personally pushed him into the abyss, did you ever consider that one day, he would stare at you from within that abyss like a demon?"
"You didn't. You certainly didn't. High and mighty as you are, arrogantly believing you rule over heaven and earth, thinking you can do as you please and cover the sky with one hand, how could you ever imagine that this very heaven and earth is the abyss?"
Rather than saying Nalan Qianqiu was talking to herself, it was more like she was deliberately speaking for the ears of those Patriarchs of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao.
"The words he just spoke, I imagine you all heard them. He said he's back. Everyone, just wait. Wait for his judgment from the abyss."