That night.
The moonlight was pure and bright, the starlight dazzling, a gentle breeze brushed by, making the ancient world appear especially tranquil.
Inside the private garden.
Feiyue had taken Xiao Jinr back to rest. Gu Qingfeng sat in a chair, his head drooping, one hand propping up his forehead, his eyes closed, holding a wine cup and gently swirling it.
"Gu kid, what's wrong with Xiao Jinr?"
Huode asked in confusion. At first, he thought it was because of the joke he and Gu Qingfeng had made, which the innocent Xiao Jinr had taken seriously. But watching Xiao Jinr cry her heart out, Huode slowly felt this matter wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface.
Suddenly.
Huode seemed to remember something and said worriedly, "Not good! Xiao Jinr must have recovered her past memories and started overthinking things."
Huode still clearly remembered that ten thousand years ago, when the Present-Ancient Era had just begun, Xiao Jinr had inexplicably triggered the terrifying appearance of the Blood Moon. This was an ominous sign, representing disaster since ancient times. It was said the Blood Moon Xiao Jinr triggered was also related to the Wu Dao Age. Precisely because of this, back then, the Nine Heavens Immortal Path and the Western Heaven Buddhist Path had been desperate to eliminate Xiao Jinr.
Fortunately, Gu Qingfeng had intervened back then, repelling the Immortal Path and Buddhist Path. No one knew what method he used to make the Wu Dao Blood Moon disappear, and the matter was dropped.
And the Saintess Lady Su Hua, worried that Xiao Jinr would remember these unpleasant things after awakening, had sealed Xiao Jinr's memories.
Who would have thought that after returning this time, Xiao Jinr had already recovered her memories.
In Huode's view, it was probably the inadvertent joke he and Gu Qingfeng had just made that caused Xiao Jinr to overthink.
"Gu kid, we shouldn't have made that kind of joke in front of Xiao Jinr just now."
"Those two things aren't connected at all."
Gu Qingfeng threw his head back and drained the wine in his cup, saying, "Haven't you noticed that Xiao Jinr has changed a lot since returning this time?"
"Changed? What change?"
Huode scratched his head, thought carefully, then nodded and said, "Xiao Jinr does give this old man a different feeling than before. The old Xiao Jinr was well-behaved, cute, and innocent. The current Xiao Jinr still looks well-behaved and cute, but she doesn't seem so innocent anymore, and... she's clearly more sentimental. She always gives this old man a very unfamiliar feeling."
Changing the subject, Huode added, "But that's normal, right? After all, so many years have passed. Xiao Jinr's mind has slowly matured. She can't be like she was before."
"Xiao Jinr hasn't just recovered her past memories. I suspect..." Gu Qingfeng said, "her memories from her previous life might also be awakening."
"Xiao Jinr's previous life?"
Huode asked seriously, "Is it also related to the Wu Dao Age?"
"Probably."
"If Xiao Jinr's previous life memories are tied to the Wu Dao Age, then this matter is troublesome."
Huode drank his wine gloomily. Because his own previous life was also related to the Wu Dao Age, he had some understanding of it. He asked, "By the way, Gu kid, this old man has always wanted to ask you, was the Blood Moon Xiao Jinr triggered back then really the Wu Dao Age's Blood Moon?"
"Maybe. I'm not too sure either."
"What do you mean, maybe? Didn't you carefully contemplate what mysteries it held?"
"Contemplate my ass!"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head. "I'm not even sure if that thing is still on me now."
"What? What? Impossible! This old man saw it clearly back then. You kid refined the Wu Dao Blood Moon Xiao Jinr triggered!"
"I did refine the Blood Moon back then... but after sleeping for ten thousand years, my physical body changed, becoming chaotic and disordered. I can't sense any of my old blessings anymore. It's not that I can't sense them, but... how should I put it? Anyway, I can't explain it clearly."
Gu Qingfeng said indifferently, "Originally, I thought I could use the Nine Heavens Immortal Path and the others this time to see if I could force out the vanished blessings. But as you saw, they're all a bunch of cunning monkeys who won't let go of the hawk without seeing the hare."
"Alright then!"
Huode sighed and asked, "Tell me, if Xiao Jinr's existence is truly related to the Wu Dao Blood Moon, what does that mean? Will it really bring disaster? And listening to Xiao Jinr's words just now, she seemed to know something, even asking you to choose between her and Heaven and Earth. The more this old man thinks about it, the more something feels off. It's as if Xiao Jinr knows she will definitely bring disaster to these Myriad Heavens."
"I hope that's true."
"What?"
Hearing Gu Qingfeng's voice, Huode was startled, as if he hadn't expected Gu Qingfeng to say such a thing. He asked with extreme incomprehension, "You kid hope Xiao Jinr brings disaster to this Great Wasteland Heaven and Earth? When the time comes, the Three Thousand Great Daos won't tolerate her, and the Myriad Heavens won't tolerate her either. Are you really planning to destroy Heaven and Earth for Xiao Jinr?"
"Didn't I just say? If I had to choose between Xiao Jinr and this Heaven and Earth, then I'd definitely choose Xiao Jinr. What does the life or death of the Three Thousand Great Daos and this Heaven and Earth have to do with me?"
"That's not what this old man means. Why are you always like this, kid? You see problems as always black and white, either you die or I live. Actually, many things can be resolved, and besides..." Just as Huode was speaking, Gu Qingfeng had already lost interest in listening. He stood up, looked at the night sky, and said, "Huode, I understand what you mean, but you don't understand what I mean. The reason I hope Xiao Jinr brings disaster is that this isn't an unsolvable problem. At the very least, I have the confidence and the means to resolve this matter. But if what Xiao Jinr brings isn't disaster... then I'm afraid it's... unimaginable."
Huode clearly couldn't understand Gu Qingfeng's words and asked in confusion, "What do you mean? If what Xiao Jinr brings isn't disaster, how is it unimaginable? If Xiao Jinr doesn't bring disaster, what else could she bring?"
After a moment of contemplation, Gu Qingfeng softly uttered two words: "Original Sin."
Hearing this.
Huode's heart skipped a beat. "Original Sin?"
"I hope there's no connection between Xiao Jinr and Original Sin. I also hope my suspicion is wrong. I hope so... can only hope..."
"Wait! Gu kid, what exactly are you talking about? Out of the blue, how is it related to Original Sin again? The more this old man listens, the more confused I get. Even if Xiao Jinr is connected to Original Sin, so what? Didn't the Heavenly Secrets Lady already say that Original Sin isn't a sin, it's just a type of Great Dao? And the Heavenly Secrets Lady also said the Book of Fate doesn't even record anything about the True Lord of Original Sin slaughtering the Great Daos and destroying Heaven and Earth. The Book of Fate doesn't even exist."
Gu Qingfeng turned around, glanced at Huode with a look as if he were looking at a fool, poured himself another cup of wine, and said, "That little wench Genggu Wuming's words, listen with your left ear and let them out your right ear. Don't take them seriously. She can only fool you stupid fools."
"Damn it! Fine, you're the clever one, alright?"
Huode gave an unhappy glare. Just as he was about to say something else, suddenly, Gu Qingfeng sharply turned around, looking towards the firmament, his expression turning serious.
"What's wrong?"
Huode looked around but couldn't see anything.
"I'm going to meet someone. I'll be back later. You go play with your bird by yourself."