What is Jun Xuanji's true self?
What is it that she has lost?
And what is this so-called forgetting?
He did not understand.
Gu Qingfeng did not want to think about this question. If possible, he did not even want to see Jun Xuanji.
"I have forgotten...
I have forgotten everything. I am lost, utterly lost... but I still remember you...
And I remember that mortal world that belonged to the two of us. That is the only memory I have left now...
I do not know what exactly happened...
I do not know why I am lost, nor why I have forgotten..." Three thousand strands of white hair danced across that breathtaking, peerlessly beautiful face. A blood-red robe fluttered around that illusory, solitary crimson shadow...
Her deep eyes were filled with hesitation and confusion.
"Jun Xuanji, if the Yanyang Heart is truly with you, just give it to me. I do not wish to fight you again."
"No!
You do not understand, you have not realized..." Jun Xuanji shook her head slightly. "I truly do not know if your Yanyang Heart is with me or not. I have truly forgotten..."
A headache.
That was what Gu Qingfeng felt now.
If it were anyone else, Gu Qingfeng could see through their heart with a single glance.
But facing Jun Xuanji, he truly could not see through her, not even a little, not a shred, not a trace. It was like this before, and it remained so now.
Forget seeing through Jun Xuanji's heart, he did not even know what kind of existence Jun Xuanji was now.
Illusory yet real?
Neither spirit, nor primordial spirit, nor even a soul.
The only thing he knew was that Jun Xuanji looked very weak. He could not help but sigh. "Where is your true body..."
"True body?
I do not know, I have forgotten..."
"Then why are you inside the Taixuan Stele?"
"The Taixuan Stele?
I do not know...
I do not know why I was sealed inside the Taixuan Stele either...
I truly do not know..."
Hearing that Jun Xuanji was sealed inside the Taixuan Stele, Gu Qingfeng was greatly surprised.
"Why was I sealed inside the Taixuan Stele...
Why!
Exactly why...
Why..." Jun Xuanji hesitated, was confused, and murmured.
Jun Xuanji tried hard to recall, her expression exceptionally pained. The more she tried to remember, the more painful it became. That solitary crimson shadow also began to flicker and waver...
Gu Qingfeng just watched, unmoved. He had been deceived by Jun Xuanji once before, and it was the most painful experience of his life. Having been fooled once, he would absolutely not be fooled a second time.
For a woman as cryptic and unpredictable as Jun Xuanji, he had long since decided to keep a respectful distance.
"I do not know, I have forgotten...
I have truly forgotten..." Jun Xuanji's expression grew increasingly painful. She held her head in her hands, the solitary crimson shadow trembling slightly, becoming more and more ethereal, like a flame about to be extinguished. Along with it, the blood-red color filling the sky gradually faded, and the solitary moon hanging in the air also flickered in and out of sight.
"Karma..." Jun Xuanji's figure began to dissipate. She raised her head and looked at Gu Qingfeng. "I have forgotten everything...
I only remember you...
I remember the mortal world that belonged to the two of us, and also...
Also karma, your karma. Do not seek it...
Do not seek your karma...
Please, do not..."
As the blood-red color filling the sky vanished, as the solitary moon disappeared, Jun Xuanji's solitary crimson shadow also faded away one after another. Only her worried, hesitant voice lingered in Gu Qingfeng's ears...
"Give up...
Karma, alright...
Give up..."
The lingering voice faded, like the end of a song and the dispersal of the crowd. Jun Xuanji had completely vanished...
Leaving only Gu Qingfeng standing there alone. He furrowed his brows, staring intently in the direction where Jun Xuanji had disappeared. He just stared, and the more he stared, the more unsettled his heart became. The more he stared, the more tangled his heart felt. The more tangled, the more helpless. The more helpless, the more hesitant... He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He did not know how long passed. When he opened his eyes again, he looked up at the night sky, at the firmament, and murmured, "It seems I can't escape her in this lifetime. I fled and fled, only to return to the past in the end, and still got blocked by her on the road...
Is this the so-called fate?"
"Heh heh heh..." Mentioning fate, Gu Qingfeng gave a bitter laugh. He shook his head and looked again at the night sky and firmament. "If this is the so-called destiny, then destiny can go screw itself!"
Having said that, as if he had made some decision, he cursed loudly, "I don't know if I owed her in a past life. How is it that I just can't escape her? If I die one day, it'll definitely be at the hands of this woman, Jun Xuanji!"
As his words fell, he vanished. In an instant, he had already appeared beneath the Taixuan Stele.
It was a towering stone stele. It looked ancient, very ancient, so ancient that even Gu Qingfeng could not discern its age. It was not sacred, not bright, not pure. It only possessed an aura of antiquity and age, very solemn, very austere...
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed it. A very uncomfortable feeling gradually rose in his heart, a feeling like being accustomed to darkness and suddenly being enveloped by sunlight, very jarring.
This was Buddha Aura!
And it was a Buddha Aura that even Gu Qingfeng found exceptionally startling.
In his impression, Immortal aura was holy and bright, because the Immortal Dao's origin was like that.
But Buddha Aura was solemn and austere.
Immortal aura suppressed evil, a suppression like fire and water being incompatible.
Although Buddha Aura also suppressed evil, it was not like Immortal aura's direct confrontation. It was more like a kind of majesty and tolerance, even acceptance and salvation.
Gu Qingfeng had encountered much Buddha Aura in his life, but he had never encountered Buddha Aura as ancient, aged, and profound as that of the Taixuan Stele.
It was truly ancient, ancient as if it were incompatible with the mortal world.
It was also truly aged, aged like an old monk who had passed away sitting in meditation since the ancient era.
It was also truly profound, so profound it gave Gu Qingfeng a sense of oppression, and also a feeling that made him revere it.
This made him feel very astonished.
Because he cultivated the Buddhist Great Freedom, which emphasized following one's heart, being free and unrestrained, not revering heaven and earth, not fearing gods and demons, not even being bound by life or fate.
Yet now, he felt a sense of reverence towards the Taixuan Stele.
What exactly was this thing?
He did not know.
Just now, Jun Xuanji said she was sealed inside here.
Why?
Because she had fallen into demonhood?
This Taixuan Stele did not seem like a seal for suppressing evil demons.
To be precise, this was not a seal at all. As for what it was, Gu Qingfeng could not say for the moment.
He tried to release his divine sense to carefully probe it, but the result greatly shocked him.
Because he could not sense the Taixuan Stele's existence at all.
It was not that he could not probe it, but that he could not sense it!
How could this be!
Gu Qingfeng's divine sense had once been tempered with a special spirit. It could perceive heavenly secrets above and explore earthly divinations below. If he wished, he could observe the origin of all things in the world. Even the Three Thousand Great Daos that ruled heaven and earth, he could glimpse.
Yet now, he could not sense the existence of this Taixuan Stele.