Upon hearing that teasing voice, Huode instinctively shuddered, jolting to his feet as if waking from a dream—or a terrifying nightmare—his face flushed red and eyes wide with shock.
Just as he began to doubt whether he had misheard or was hallucinating, a figure materialized out of thin air.
It was a young man.
Clad in robes whiter than snow, with hair as dark as ink.
His languid ease rivaled the setting sun.
His carefree demeanor was intoxicating as twilight.
Who else could it be but Gu Qingfeng?
He approached leisurely, a faint smile on his face, reminiscent of the sunset, the dusk, and the evening breeze. "What's the matter? Don't recognize me already?"
"Gu kid! You... you..." Perhaps it was too shocking, or perhaps it was too sudden—the shock made it hard for Huode to believe, the suddenness left him utterly unprepared. He stood frozen for a long moment before finally snapping back to reality, exclaiming joyfully, "Gu kid, you're really not dead!"
Gu Qingfeng directly settled into the old master's chair, picked up a wine cup, took a sip, and said lazily, "People aren't that easy to kill."
"I knew it! I knew you wouldn't die!" Huode was thrilled, even ecstatic, so excited he danced about and laughed heartily.
He was overjoyed.
Three years.
Three years of constant worry and fear, and now, the stone that had been weighing on his heart finally settled. How could Huode not be happy?
"Gu kid, if you weren't dead, why did you only come back now? Do you have any idea how worried I've been, almost worried to death!"
"I may not have died, but it was close."
"What happened? Was it Jun Xuanji?"
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean?"
Gu Qingfeng didn't hide anything, recounting everything that had happened inside the Taixuan Stele in detail.
Beside him, Huode listened with his heart pounding in his throat.
Jun Xuanji had lost herself.
And the Buddhas of the Western Paradise.
When he heard that Gu Qingfeng had devoured the wrathful avatar of the Great Sun Tathagata, Huode nearly choked on his own breath.
"Good heavens! You... you really devoured... devoured the wrathful avatar of the Great Sun Tathagata... and then... then refined it?" Huode stammered, his throat tight. "The Great Sun Tathagata, that's the Buddha Lord!"
"So what if it's the Buddha Lord?"
Looking at Gu Qingfeng leisurely sipping his wine, Huode suddenly didn't know how to respond.
So what?
Huode didn't know 'so what' either.
He simply couldn't imagine how a person could possibly devour a Buddha Lord, let alone refine one!
In his view, such a thing was utterly impossible.
Forget devouring and refining a Buddha Lord; even speaking ill of one was a grave act of disrespect, a heinous crime that would invite divine retribution and karmic consequences!
Yet this guy acted as if nothing had happened, casually mentioning how he'd devoured and refined the Great Sun Tathagata with such a nonchalant, indifferent tone—as if he hadn't consumed a Buddha Lord, but a mere spirit stone.
Huode initially wanted to offer some advice, but after a moment's thought, he decided against it.
The things Gu Qingfeng did were beyond his comprehension, and he had no idea how to advise him anyway. Clutching his pounding heart, Huode wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and tried to stand up, only to find his legs still unsteady. He couldn't help but sigh.
This wasn't the first time Gu Qingfeng's actions had left his legs weak with fright.
As for how many times it had been, Huode had lost count.
Long ago, he had sworn never to ask Gu Qingfeng about anything again, fearing he couldn't handle the truth. Yet, in the end, he hadn't been able to resist. Huode took a deep breath, shook his head, trying to forget what Gu Qingfeng had just said, and made another mental vow: from now on, he would absolutely, positively never inquire about anything related to Gu Qingfeng again. Otherwise, he might one day be scared to death.
"Did anything happen while I was away?"
Learning that three years had passed, Gu Qingfeng was also quite surprised, silently lamenting how time slipped away unnoticed in cultivation—three years gone in the blink of an eye.
"Not much, really. After you were reduced to ashes at the Taixuan Stele that day, the Immortal Court sent people not long after. They almost clashed with Ziyang and the others, but fortunately, Fairy Suhua stepped in and settled the matter. Fairy Suhua stayed here for over a year, investigating the cause of your death. In the end, she found nothing and left."
"What about Ziyang and the others?"
"They're probably still at the branch hall. After your incident, they reorganized the branch hall, guarding the Four Great Domains while also instructing the disciples there. But, Gu kid, after you were reduced to ashes, Ziyang and the others were utterly grief-stricken. They knelt and paid respects at your memorial for more than half a year, feeling they had failed you, that they were unworthy of you."
"Unworthy of me how?"
Huode rolled his eyes. "They all thought you were the successor of Lord Chixiao. When you were suddenly reduced to ashes, Ziyang and the others felt they hadn't protected you well enough, that they were unworthy of their Lord Chixiao."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, saying nothing.
"Aren't you going to see them? Say hello?"
"Forget it."
Gu Qingfeng took a drink. "Let things take their natural course."
"Gu kid, what are your plans now? Still pursuing karma?"
"I'd like to!"
Mentioning karma gave Gu Qingfeng a headache. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his forehead. "But damn it, I don't even know where to start!"
Jun Xuanji losing herself, Yun Nishang performing the Soul Burial—both were consequences of pursuing karma. This made Gu Qingfeng feel somewhat uneasy, especially considering what Yun Nishang had said: the Mysterious Era would reappear in the Present-Ancient Era, and past and present selves would clash. It all filled him with an inexplicable restlessness.
"Then what are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do? Deal with it as it comes!"
Gu Qingfeng stood up, stretching and yawning. "Let nature take its course. Go with the flow. What is meant to be will come; what isn't meant to be cannot be forced... The inevitable will arrive, and forcing the impossible is futile..."
"And then?"
"What do you mean, 'and then'?"
"I mean, are you staying here, or what?"
"Huode, you know what?" Gu Qingfeng rubbed his face with both hands. "This time pursuing karma, even though I didn't find a damn thing, it made me realize one thing."
"What's that?"
"The causes of this life should be resolved in this life; the fruits of this life should be reaped in this life; the debts of this life should be repaid in this life."
He let out a long sigh. "When I cultivated in this world back then, I owed many favors and many debts. I was young and foolish then, and I left in a hurry without settling them. Now that I'm back, I plan to repay all the favors and debts I owe from back then."
"As for karma..." Gu Qingfeng picked up a cup of wine, gazing at the setting sun—the Great Sun—then threw his head back and drained the cup in one gulp. "I haven't even finished repaying the debts of this lifetime yet. How the hell do I have the leisure to repay the debts of a past life!"