Everything happening before their eyes carried an indescribable sense of the bizarre.
It felt like calling a deer a horse.
Everyone could see that Gu Qingfeng was the deer, yet Ancestor Bingxuan insisted he was the horse—a noble steed at that, so noble that in her eyes, the so-called Heaven's Favored Daughter Leng Yanqiu wasn't even qualified to be his maiden attendant.
Was one person blind?
Were two people blind?
Could it be that everyone present was blind?
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, hadn't heard it with their own ears, who would dare believe this was real?
No one would.
Even now, witnessing Ancestor Bingxuan bowing and performing the Venerable's Salute with their own eyes, seeing her utterly respectful and deferential attitude toward Gu Qingfeng, seeing her fear and trepidation, hearing her address him with 'you' at every turn, hearing her say that Leng Yanqiu wasn't even qualified to be Gu Qingfeng's maiden attendant...
Everyone present still couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe what their eyes saw, nor what their ears heard.
Because this scene was even more exaggerated than a dream, even harder to accept than a dream.
Especially for Yu Dingxing, the leader of the Bingxuan Sect's Nine Sons.
He had always regarded Leng Yanqiu as the goddess in his heart.
When Ancestor Bingxuan announced that Leng Yanqiu would form a Dao-companion bond with Gu Qingfeng, he endured it.
When Ancestor Bingxuan performed the Venerable's Salute to Gu Qingfeng, he endured that too.
But when Ancestor Bingxuan said the goddess in his heart wasn't even qualified to be Gu Qingfeng's maiden attendant, he could endure no more. His face flushed crimson as he rushed before Zhu Xia, roaring at the top of his lungs, "Ancestor! Why?! Just why?! Why do you perform the Venerable's Grand Salute to him? And what gives you the right to say Yanqiu isn't even qualified to be his maiden attendant? What kind of thing is he? What gives him the right?!"
"How dare you!"
Ancestor Bingxuan, who had been bowing with her head lowered, suddenly looked up. She raised her hand and—*smack!*—slapped Yu Dingxing across the face. Her expression darkened as she rebuked angrily, "Ignorant junior! Kneel at once and beg Young Lord Gu for forgiveness!"
The weak Ancestor Bingxuan's slap wasn't particularly forceful; it didn't even leave a mark on Yu Dingxing's face. Yet that single slap drained all color from Yu Dingxing's face, and at the same time, transformed the crowd's initial stunned disbelief into utter bewilderment and creeping horror!
No one knew why!
Yu Dingxing stood there, his expression one of terror, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes wide, breathing heavily. In that moment, the anger he had been suppressing erupted completely. He roared, "Ancestor, you actually hit me in front of all these people, for the sake of some nobody? And you want me to kneel and beg his forgiveness? Hahahaha!"
Perhaps he was too enraged, for his fury peaked into maniacal laughter—laughter that was especially wild, filled with disdain, and laced with boundless anger.
"Silence! Silence, I say! Ignorant junior, you don't understand! You understand nothing! Kneel! Kneel for me!"
Pointing at Yu Dingxing, Ancestor Bingxuan trembled with rage, raising her hand to discipline him again. But perhaps her fury attacked her heart, for she suddenly began coughing violently. The young girl beside her immediately stepped forward to support her.
The laughter ceased.
Yu Dingxing was no longer Yu Dingxing. His terrified expression twisted into one of ferocious malice. Baring his teeth, he gritted them and pointed at Ancestor Bingxuan, cursing, "You old undying wretch! You disregarded everyone's opposition and betrothed Leng Yanqiu to him, then even performed the Venerable's Salute to him, spouting all sorts of nonsensical words and bringing shame upon yourself! And I, Yu Dingxing, have always respected you greatly, yet this is how you treat me!"
"You are, after all, the Ancestor of our Bingxuan Sect! Yanqiu is even our sect's Sect Head! You old undying wretch have no regard for face, but I, Yu Dingxing, still want mine! You can afford to lose this face, but I, Yu Dingxing, cannot!"
"Ignorant junior, silence... silence, I say..." Ancestor Bingxuan was so angry she could barely stand steady, her whole body trembling. Clutching her chest, she coughed violently, her breathing weak as she gasped, "Someone... make him kneel... make him kneel..."
Whether it was the various elders led by Elder Yuhua or the Nine Sons and Eighteen Chiefs, all members of the Bingxuan Sect watched with grim expressions. No one stepped forward, because they all felt that Ancestor Bingxuan's actions today were utterly baffling, completely incomprehensible and unacceptable.
Just as Yu Dingxing had said, for the dignified Ancestor Bingxuan to perform the Venerable's Salute to some nobody was already shameful enough. To then say that the new Sect Head Leng Yanqiu wasn't even qualified to be his maiden attendant—such self-humiliating words weren't just a matter of losing face. From now on, the Bingxuan Sect would surely become a laughingstock. Whether its disciples could even hold their heads high would be a question. What face would they have left to survive in the surrounding territories?
However.
At that moment, an even more unacceptable scene unfolded before them.
They saw Ancestor Bingxuan fall to her knees with a *thump*. In a weak, trembling voice, she pleaded,
"This ignorant junior has offended you, Young Lord. It is all due to this old one's failure in discipline. I beg you, Young Lord, for the sake of Empress's honor, to forgive his crime!"
She had knelt.
The dignified Ancestor Bingxuan of the Bingxuan Sect, a cultivator of three thousand years, had actually knelt before Gu Qingfeng. And she had used all her strength to beg for forgiveness.
Heavens above!
Witnessing this scene, even someone as serene and detached from worldly affairs as Shui Yunruo couldn't help but feel her scalp go numb. She held her breath, her previously clear thoughts turning chaotic in that instant, completely unable to comprehend why this was happening.
Forcing down the shock in her heart, she looked over.
That man in white had been leaning against the stone pillar of the pavilion, sitting on a stone stool from beginning to end, one leg crossed over the other. He held a copper-colored wine cup, taking occasional sips. His handsome face wore a composed expression—neither joyful nor sorrowful, neither bitter nor happy. It was very plain, as plain as if everything happening here had nothing to do with him at all, indescribably calm and composed.
He picked up the exquisite wine jug and poured himself another cup. The wine was Shuiyun Wine, but when poured into that copper-colored cup, the originally clear liquor turned murky, seeming like fire one moment and ice the next, boiling in an instant, then frosting over the next—especially eerie.
He did not look at Ancestor Bingxuan, merely peeling a kind of fruit.
The fruit was a bright red berry, the size of a thumb. Many recognized it—the Redleaf Demon Berry.
It was said to be a poisonous fruit; eating too much could lead to mental derangement.
He just peeled it, eating unhurriedly, not looking up, not watching, not speaking.
"Hahahaha!!"
If Yu Dingxing had retained even a shred of rationality before, then when Ancestor Bingxuan knelt like this and begged for forgiveness, that last shred of rationality vanished completely. His face contorted with ferocity as he threw his head back and let out a roar of utterly furious, maniacal laughter.
"Forgive my crime? Hahaha! Today, I want to see what virtue or ability he possesses, what ability he has, to dare forgive my crime!—"