In the garden of the Wind-Cloud Branch Hall, Huo De puffed on his large tobacco pipe, inwardly admiring Gu Qingfeng's skill at lying through his teeth with his eyes wide open.
His face didn't redden, his breath didn't quicken. He spoke not only with a convincing demeanor but also with such an air of authenticity, as if it were all true. His acting skills were truly unparalleled.
In Huo De's mind, if he didn't already know this guy's identity, he would have been completely fooled by this youngster.
Spiritual will?
How could he even think of that?
Looking at Ziyang and the other Chixiao People, they had clearly been deceived by Gu Qingfeng's superb acting and believed it all to be true.
Indeed.
They had no reason to doubt, nor could they find any grounds for suspicion.
At this moment, each of them seemed to have lost their souls, kneeling on the ground in utter dejection.
All along, they had hoped that Monarch Chixiao was still alive, and they had always wished they could see Monarch Chixiao again in this lifetime.
Even though they knew it was impossible, even though they had personally witnessed Monarch Chixiao being judged by the Immortal Dao and reduced to dust, they still clung to the hope that Monarch Chixiao was alive...
Until now, hearing Gu Qingfeng say that the last remaining shred of Monarch Chixiao's spiritual will had dissipated and vanished, the hope within Ziyang and the other Chixiao People shattered as well. Soul-lost and despondent, they knelt on the ground, their eyes immediately moistening as they wept, tears streaming down their aged faces.
Such a scene deeply moved Su Hua, Lan Fei'er, and the others. In their impression, the Chixiao People were heroes of unyielding pride and iron resolve, valiant figures who had waded through seas of blood. They had thought them cold and ruthless, killing without mercy. No one had ever imagined that upon learning the last shred of Monarch Chixiao's spiritual will had dissipated, they would weep so bitterly.
Opposite them,
Gu Qingfeng still sat casually, pouring wine for himself. He did not speak to console them, nor did he know how to.
Back then, the reason he had chosen to feign death was precisely because he didn't want to implicate these brothers of the Chixiao Sect.
He knew all too well that the sins he had committed in those years were far too many and far too great. The Immortal Dao would not forgive him, and the Heavenly Dao even less so. He didn't want to implicate anyone, especially these brothers who had followed him to conquer the world.
That was the case back then.
Later, after ascending to the Heavenly Realm, the deeds he had done there, in terms of sinfulness, were ten or a hundred times worse than what he had done in this world.
Although he had luckily survived the ancient cataclysm, it was merely luck. Now, the essence of heaven and earth was being reborn, and the myriad Daos were re-evolving. Once the essence of heaven and earth completed its rebirth and the myriad Daos stabilized, what kind of terrifying judgment would descend upon him then, Gu Qingfeng did not know.
What made him even more helpless was that, already burdened with countless sins, he had now cultivated a mysterious heart overflowing with sinister energy. And compelled by circumstances, he had also produced endless Taiji Golden Cores...
Gu Qingfeng understood very clearly in his heart that he was sinking deeper and deeper on this path of sin. Forget this lifetime, not even ten lifetimes would probably be enough to wash away these sins.
Under such circumstances, he naturally did not want to implicate anyone.
Ziyang wiped away his tears with his sleeve, his eyes red as he asked, "Young Master, dare I ask...
did the Monarch...
leave any instructions before... before he departed?"
"He asked me to give you four words."
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment, then said solemnly, "Simplicity is truth..."
"Simplicity is truth..." Ziyang and the other Chixiao People murmured these four words, seeming to understand, yet also seeming not to...
"I think what Monarch Chixiao meant was for you to forget the past and return to simplicity. Cultivation, cultivation... what you cultivate is the heart, yet also not the heart; what you walk is the Dao, yet also not the Dao; what you seek is truth, yet also not truth..."
Ziyang and the other Chixiao People might understand 'simplicity is truth,' but as for so-called cultivating the heart yet not the heart, walking the Dao yet not the Dao, seeking truth yet not truth... they did not comprehend.
Not only did they not understand, even Su Hua did not understand, only feeling that this statement was both contradictory and profoundly abstruse...
"Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. Gu Tianlang is dead, so let him be dead. You need not grieve too deeply."
Gu Qingfeng stood up and stretched his back fiercely. "The dead are dead; we, the living, must continue on, must we not..."
As his words fell, suddenly, a peal of laughter came from somewhere in the sky.
"Heh heh heh heh..."
The laughter was strange, as if coming from the Nine Heavens, yet also as if from the Nine Nethers. It seemed to come from all directions, yet also seemed as illusory and ethereal as if from ancient times.
"Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth...
Heh heh heh..."
"The dead are dead, the living continue on...
Heh heh heh..."
"Gu Tianlang is dead...
Heh heh heh..."
The illusory laughter seemed to mock something, yet also seemed to ridicule something. Ziyang and the others couldn't tell where the laughter came from. They looked around, sent out their divine senses to probe, but could not locate the source of the sound at all.
At this moment, Gu Qingfeng looked toward the west. Others might not be able to detect it, but he knew this voice came from the Nine-Hua Alliance, more precisely, from that Tai Xuan Stele he had always wanted to go to but had never faced.
He gazed, just gazed, his brows deeply furrowed, his dark eyes flickering with complex emotions.
It was a kind of inner conflict, and also a kind of helplessness.
The laughter seemed to belong to a woman.
At least, it sounded that way.
She continued laughing loudly, her voice once again sweeping in from all directions:
*A prodigy of a generation, Gu Tianlang, astonished all beneath Chiyang Ridge;
On the path of madness, he buried immortals;
Laughing proudly over Chixiao, shaking the eight wilds;
A single melody of judgment brought sorrow upon the world;
Since then, the world has been without its Monarch.*
When the woman's illusory voice transmitted these words, Ziyang and the others were stunned. They all knew these were the verses carved on the tombstone in Monarch Chixiao's mausoleum.
"Monarch Chixiao...
Heh heh heh heh..."
The woman's voice was full of mockery, unclear whether she was mocking Gu Qingfeng or the so-called Monarch Chixiao.
"Let me ask you, has Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang truly died?"
Gu Qingfeng remained silent, only gazing at the Tai Xuan Stele located to the west.
"I ask you again, has Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang died..."
The woman's voice came again. After a long while, Gu Qingfeng finally responded, "He is dead..."
As soon as he responded, the woman's unrestrained laughter swept over like a storm, even more sarcastic, even more contemptuous.
"I ask you again, has Monarch Chixiao died..."
This time, Gu Qingfeng responded without hesitation, "Dead..."
The woman's laughter grew even more unrestrained, even more sarcastic, even more contemptuous.
"I ask you again...
Has Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang died!"
"Dead..."
Once, twice, ten times...
The woman asked over and over again, tirelessly, repetitively, and each time Gu Qingfeng's answer was the same: merely two words, 'dead.' Yet each time he responded, the woman would burst into laughter, each laugh more sarcastic than the last.
No one knew exactly how many times the woman asked, nor how many times Gu Qingfeng responded.
"You say he's dead, so he's dead...
Dead is good!
Dead is good...
Dead is truly good...
For a heartless, cruel, emotionless liar who deceived heaven and earth and betrayed feelings, a scoundrel like him, dying is truly what he deserved..."