"Impostors?
What impostors?"
"The ones pretending to be your descendants, successors, or disciples, of course."
"There's such a thing?"
"What do you mean 'there's such a thing'?
Let me tell you, Gu kid, your so-called descendants, successors, and disciples are all over the world now. Hell, there are even quite a few people pretending to be you personally."
Huode gave a rough rundown of the situation regarding those impersonating Gu Qingfeng himself and his supposed descendants. Gu Qingfeng listened with a deepening frown. "Is it really that exaggerated?"
"I'm not exaggerating one bit. The reality might even be more outrageous than what I'm telling you."
Seeing Huode wasn't joking, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but let out a wry laugh. "Don't those people have anything better to do? Why impersonate my descendants for no reason?"
"Nonsense! In our world, many people treat you like a god. If someone really were your descendant, who would dare offend them?
No matter where they go, they'd be treated like lords, worshipped and served."
"Hasn't anyone exposed them?"
"Exposed? How could they?
You were quite the playboy in your youth, always hooking up with this one or flirting with that one. Who the hell knows how many descendants you might have left behind? And those little bastards can recite your romantic history in perfect detail. Strangely enough, it all checks out. Some of the little bastards even possess tokens from you. Who the hell knows if they're real or fake."
"Tokens? What tokens?"
"The magic treasures you used to carry around, like the Flowing Flower Flying Sword, the Drunken Chant Blade, the Crimson Soaring Tomb..."
"I gave almost all that junk away."
"Probably to your various lovers, right?"
"I forgot. I gave away too many. How would I remember who got what?"
Gu Qingfeng let out a deep sigh. "I never imagined there'd be such messy affairs."
"Tch. Serves you right."
Huode shot him a look of utter disdain. "Who told you to rack up so many romantic debts? If not for that, the world wouldn't be crawling with these impostors pretending to be your descendants!"
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, speechless and helpless. "Forget those impersonating my descendants. Why would anyone impersonate me personally?
To the Immortal Dao, I'm a sinner. What's the point of impersonating me? Aren't they just asking for trouble?"
"Didn't I just say? Many treat you like a god. Some frauds impersonate you specifically to fool the ignorant. Damn it, if impersonating your descendants gets you treated like a lord everywhere, imagine impersonating you personally. The treatment they get is even better than the Jade Emperor himself!"
"Are they all blind? Can't they tell the real from the fake?
Even if they can't, if one impersonates me, then two, then so many... there's only one real one. Any fool would know most are fakes."
"Oh, ancestor, you can't say that for sure. Those frauds impersonating you, every last one of them has some real skill. They're not idiots either. Would they dare impersonate you without a few tricks up their sleeve?
A few years back in the Divine Continent, I ran into two guys impersonating you. To be honest, even I couldn't tell them apart, let alone anyone else."
"Really? Is it that bizarre?"
"Extremely bizarre. They have the skills, they have the capabilities, and they know all about your affairs in perfect detail. Even when it comes to extremely private matters, they can convince you completely. Ask them anything, and they'll give you an answer, and a very accurate one at that. You can't help but be impressed."
"Nonsense."
Gu Qingfeng shot Huode a sidelong glance. "Anyone with a bit of knowledge in divination or those miscellaneous arts from the three teachings and nine schools can guess what you're thinking. Of course they can answer whatever you ask fluently."
"Anyway, it's really bizarre. Whether it's their tone of speech or their way of doing things, they're exactly like you. No one can tell what's real and what's fake. Isn't Wang Pangzi an emperor now, having founded a kingdom in the Southern Sea Cloud Region?
That kid is currently worshipping two Monarch Chixiaos."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He cursed with a chuckle, "Damn it, Wang Pangzi followed me for so many years, and he still can't tell the real me from a fake?"
"See now?
You know better than anyone what kind of person Wang Pangzi is. That guy is shrewd as a fox. If even he can't tell, you can imagine how incredibly capable those frauds impersonating you must be."
Noticing Gu Qingfeng lying back in the Master's Recliner, constantly rubbing his forehead, Huode knew the guy must have a headache right now.
After a moment of silence, Huode slowly said, "So, Gu kid, it would've been fine if you hadn't come back. But now that you have, a whole heap of troublesome matters are waiting for you out there. These troubles... no one but you can really settle them."
"If I'd known this, I might as well have not come back."
Gu Qingfeng gazed up at the sky with a sigh. "Karma, karma. What is karma? This is damn karma. The causes I sowed back then, only I can bear the fruits now."
After hearing all this from Huode, Gu Qingfeng finally realized what a chaotic mess his faked death and departure had caused.
Faced with this, besides helplessness, all that remained was more helplessness.
He was a lazy man. Listening to tunes, drinking fine wine, and basking in the sun was the life he yearned for most. In the past, he had no choice but to fight and kill to survive. Now, having been judged by the heavens and left with nothing, Gu Qingfeng truly had no desire to stir up trouble again. Seeking out karma was just a way to pass the time. Occasionally moving his limbs to find some amusement was fine, but to stir up as much trouble as before? He simply didn't have the heart for it anymore.
Now, with so many troubles arising because of him out there, what should he do?
What to do? Play it by ear. See how it goes.
This question, Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to think about, nor did he plan to do anything about it.
He owed nothing to this world, and he owed nothing to anyone.
If he really owed anything, it was this world that owed him.
He wasn't some paragon of virtue. For this world, he had already made one sacrifice. But only one. He made that sacrifice only because he was born into this world, for no other reason. One sacrifice was enough. There would absolutely not be a second.
As for those Crimson-Letter Sect branches running amok under his banner, or those frauds impersonating his descendants swaggering about and deceiving people... he really didn't have the heart to bother with such matters.
He shook his head.
Couldn't be bothered to think about such a pain-in-the-ass issue.
Just as he raised his cup to drink, he suddenly noticed a little bird hurriedly flying towards them.
The bird was only about the size of a palm, its body entirely emerald green, looking delicate and adorable. The flower crown on its head was especially beautiful.
Some of the bird's feathers were missing, clearly injured. Its flight was unsteady, swaying and staggering. As it passed over the Yunxia Sect, the bird looked down and immediately dove, landing on the table beside Gu Qingfeng. It glared fiercely at Gu Qingfeng and Huode, speaking in a human voice, "You little ones, if you dare reveal my whereabouts, this lady will swallow you whole!"