Of course.
Fear was fear.
Though Da Xing the Mad Monk felt a deep-seated dread towards Cang Yan from the bottom of his heart, he wasn’t so terrified that he’d turn tail and run. Staring at Cang Yan, who was lazily reclining against a pillar in the pavilion, he shouted, "I say, Mistress of Langya, even if This Old Monk is easy to bully, you, venerable elder, don’t need to bully me like this, do you? Last time you made a fool of This Old Monk, fine, but this time you’re pulling the same old trick again, continuing to toy with This Old Monk. My dear grandaunt, even bullying someone shouldn’t be done like this!"
"Heh heh."
Cang Yan didn’t look at Da Xing the Mad Monk. After finishing the wine in her cup, she poured herself another. Her flawless face wore an enigmatic smile.
She herself seemed ethereal and intangible, both true and false, both illusory and solid, like yin and yang, like an immortal and a demon. The smile curling her lips was the same—like a kind smile, yet also like an evil one.
"So what if I bully you…"
Even her voice seemed full of contradictions, tender yet carrying an indisputable domineering air.
Hearing this.
Da Xing the Mad Monk curled his lip and muttered, "If you, venerable elder, bully me, This Old Monk can only endure it."
Indeed.
This was his true thought. If Cang Yan really beat him up every time she saw him, Da Xing the Mad Monk truly wouldn’t have the slightest recourse. If he could run, he’d run; if he couldn’t, he could only endure it. To put it plainly, he didn’t want to, didn’t dare, and couldn’t afford to provoke Cang Yan.
"If I bully you, you endure it."
Cang Yan looked at Da Xing the Mad Monk with a smile, her expression ambiguous as she asked, "And if I kill you, what will you do then?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk chuckled. "The Mistress of Langya is joking with This Old Monk."
"I’m not joking with you."
"If the Mistress insists on killing This Old Monk…" Da Xing the Mad Monk, unsure how much truth was in Cang Yan’s words, cautiously said, "Then This Old Monk can only resign himself to Fate."
Then, shifting the topic, he asked, "But even if I must die, shouldn’t the Mistress at least let This Old Monk die with understanding? You have to tell me exactly where I offended you, venerable elder."
"You haven’t offended me."
"That only confuses This Old Monk even more. Since I haven’t offended the Mistress, why must you, venerable elder, insist on putting This Old Monk to death?"
"You yourself know what you’ve done. No need to play the fool while understanding perfectly well."
"By Heaven’s conscience, Mistress, This Old Monk truly doesn’t know!"
Cang Yan waved her hand slightly, and a wine cup placed on the table flew horizontally towards Da Xing the Mad Monk. "Drink this cup of wine. I believe you’ll remember then."
Da Xing the Mad Monk caught the cup, his heart filled with trepidation, unsure what trick Cang Yan was playing. He lowered his head to look at the cup in his hand.
This cup resembled a small cauldron. Its body was interwoven black and white, like shifting yin and yang. The wine within resembled both black water and black fire, even like Chaos burning. Da Xing the Mad Monk glanced at Cang Yan, then took a deep breath and sent his divine sense probing inside. This single probe nearly scared him out of his wits—his scalp went numb, his face turned deathly pale, even his legs grew weak, and he could barely stand steady.
Because inside the cauldron, he saw a gate. A gate of yin and yang. A gate of Life and Death. A gate of Reincarnation!
What kind of cauldron could contain a Gate of Reincarnation within!
Suddenly.
Five words flashed into Da Xing the Mad Monk’s mind, but he couldn’t believe it, couldn’t quite accept it. He lifted his head, staring wide-eyed at Cang Yan, his eyes filled with disbelief, stammering, "May… may I ask…
Mistress…
Is this…
Could this be the…
Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron?"
Inside the pavilion.
Cang Yan remained lazily reclining against a pillar, holding a wine cup in her hand, looking at Da Xing the Mad Monk with that ambiguous smile. "Guess."
"This…
This…" Da Xing the Mad Monk held the small cauldron with both hands as if holding a burning coal, feeling it scalding hot.
Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron.
This damn thing was a Great Dao heavy treasure, and also a forbidden treasure, and moreover, a cursed artifact.
Life and Death were not forbidden, but Reincarnation was.
The Great Dao numbered three thousand. Life and Death was a Great Dao, and Reincarnation was one too.
The difference was, the Life and Death Great Dao was a natural Great Dao, while Reincarnation was a forbidden Great Dao.
Throughout the ages, all who touched upon the Reincarnation Great Dao were invariably defying the heavens.
Legend had it that in the Primordial Age, a Heaven-defying supreme expert used the Life and Death Great Dao and the Reincarnation Great Dao to forge an artifact. This artifact could determine life and death, could turn the wheel of reincarnation, and was extremely terrifying.
That artifact was none other than the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron.
Who exactly forged the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron?
No one knew.
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn’t know either. He only knew that the supreme expert who had forged the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron back then had been utterly annihilated. Not only that, but all later supreme experts who tried to claim the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron for themselves were also utterly annihilated.
First, the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron was too powerful; not just anyone could control it. Once backlash occurred, you yourself would be the one subjected to life, death, and reincarnation.
But that wasn’t the important part.
The important part was that the Reincarnation Great Dao was a forbidden Great Dao. Anyone who touched upon the Reincarnation Great Dao would not only be judged by the Great Dao but also be Cursed by Fate.
If even touching the Reincarnation Great Dao was like this, let alone this Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron, which was forged using the Reincarnation Great Dao.
It was no exaggeration to say that whoever came into contact with this thing would meet a bad end.
Precisely because of this, the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron was a forbidden treasure, because this thing was inherently born with the Curse of Fate.
If one’s Fate was Cursed, it wasn’t a matter of just one lifetime, but of endless lifetimes.
It would be like falling into a sea of bitterness, a fate worse than death.
Though Da Xing the Mad Monk had never been Cursed by Fate himself, he had seen beings who were, like Jun Xuanji, like Yun Nichang—both had opened the Reincarnation Great Dao, had their Fate Cursed, and fell into the sea of bitterness, unable to escape to this day.
Da Xing the Mad Monk didn’t know where Cang Yan had found this Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron. Just as he was about to speak, Cang Yan’s voice came: "Well? Have you remembered what you did?"
"I…" Da Xing the Mad Monk was at a loss for words. Not only had he remembered what he’d done, he also understood Cang Yan’s purpose in bringing out this Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron. So, holding the Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron with both hands, he walked over and personally, carefully placed this forbidden artifact back on the table. "Mistress of Langya, today…
You, venerable elder, are planning to send This Old Monk into Reincarnation, aren’t you?"
"What else would you think?"
When Cang Yan’s voice came, Da Xing the Mad Monk felt both hatred and fury, gnashing his teeth as he said, "This Life-Death Reincarnation Cauldron is a forbidden item! If you send This Old Monk into Reincarnation, you will inevitably incur the Curse of Fate! The consequences…" Before he could finish, Cang Yan cut him off.
"I understand the consequences better than you. No need to worry on my behalf."
Da Xing the Mad Monk took a deep breath, his voice turning sharp with anger. "So you’re saying that today, even at the cost of being Cursed by Fate, you insist on sending This Old Monk into Reincarnation, is that it?"
"Of course!"
He was cowed.
This time, Da Xing the Mad Monk was thoroughly cowed.