"The situation in the Great Northwest is very grim now," Huode continued. "Most of the sects and powers have already pledged allegiance to the Immortal Office. Even if some of the major powers haven't, they've been torn apart and divided. Take Yaoyue Palace for example—ever since Feng Zhuyue went into seclusion, Yaoyue Palace has been thrown into utter chaos. Many of its elders have already been turned by the Immortal Office, causing splits and divisions every other day. And it's not just Yaoyue Palace; the same goes for Crimson-Letter Manor."
Huode went on, "The Great Northwest Frontier has over eighty domains, and Crimson-Letter Manor also has over eighty Branch Halls. From what I know, half of these Branch Halls are secretly colluding with the Immortal Office. A few of them, just like the Thundercloud Branch Hall, have even openly accepted appointments from the Immortal Office."
It was night.
A gentle evening breeze brushed by.
Gu Qingfeng sat with his eyes closed, one hand resting on his forehead, listening as Huode described the situation in the Great Northwest. When Huode mentioned that most of Crimson-Letter Manor's Branch Halls were colluding with the Immortal Office, no trace of anger showed on his face. Even upon learning that a few Branch Halls, like Thundercloud, had openly accepted appointments from the Immortal Dynasty, his expression remained completely unreadable, as if none of this concerned him at all.
He merely said softly, "I've said it before: people strive for higher ground, water flows to lower ground. Whether they join the Immortal Dynasty or the Immortal Office, everyone has their own aspirations. It's not just Crimson-Letter Manor's people joining; even if the old Chixiao members from back then joined the Immortal Dynasty, it would be understandable."
"The old Chixiao members haven't. They hate the Immortal Dynasty to the bone—how would they ever join? It's just that after the Calamity, most of them chose to go into seclusion and didn't know about this. Later, it was only after that kid Er Gou issued a Chixiao Decree that these secluded Chixiao members came out of seclusion."
"Er Gou?"
Gu Qingfeng raised an eyebrow. "You mean Heizi?"
"That's right, him. That kid Er Gou is something else now. He used to be one of the seventy-two Earth Fiends of your Chixiao Sect, known as Lord Black Fiend. Now, he's the overlord of the Great Northwest, called the Great Northwest King. Anyone who sees him has to address him as Lord Blackwater. He's a major figure in our Great Northwest now."
"Er Gou..." Gu Qingfeng murmured the name, his thoughts seemingly drifting back to those days.
He still clearly remembered that Er Gou had been a notorious bandit and robber in the Divine Land back then, leading a gang of brothers to rob the rich to aid the poor. One day they'd rob a nouveau riche, the next a local tyrant, the day after a great clan. They'd even once tried to rob Gu Qingfeng himself. That was the time the two of them met through conflict.
"After that kid Er Gou returned from the Divine Land and heard that a few of Crimson-Letter Manor's Branch Halls had accepted appointments from the Immortal Dynasty, he didn't say a word—he just went and wiped out those Branch Halls that had accepted the appointments. Then he issued a Chixiao Earth Fiend Decree, gathering all the Chixiao members who had been in seclusion across the Great Northwest Frontier, preparing to annihilate the Immortal Office. If Old Mei hadn't painstakingly persuaded him, he would have started a fight with the Immortal Office's people."
"That's exactly the kind of thing that kid Er Gou would do. He's a reckless youth who fears neither heaven nor earth. Forget a measly Immortal Office—he'd dare to annihilate the Immortal Dynasty itself."
Gu Qingfeng then changed the subject. "But who is this Old Mei you mentioned?"
"You've even forgotten Old Mei? He was also a member of your Chixiao Sect!"
"Old Mei?"
Gu Qingfeng thought carefully but really had no impression. "What's his name?"
"Old Mei! That eccentric old man from Mei Mountain. It was you who tricked him into joining the Chixiao Sect back then, remember? You appointed Er Gou as the banner leader of the Blackwater Banner, but you were afraid Er Gou would lead the Blackwater Banner brothers into causing trouble, so you specifically sent Old Mei to help Er Gou. Old Mei, the ancestor of Mei Mountain, known as Half-Immortal Mei, quite skilled in the art of divination."
Hearing Huode's explanation, Gu Qingfeng slapped his forehead and laughed. "You should've just said Half-Immortal Mei instead of Old Mei this, Old Mei that... Is he also in the Great Northwest? I remember that old man was used to a carefree, wandering life. Back then, he did join the Chixiao Sect because I tricked him into it. After all this time, I thought he would have gone into seclusion."
"After you were annihilated by the Immortal Dao Judgment, Old Mei did intend to go into seclusion, but the Old Master persuaded him to come back."
"How so?"
"Back when demons and monsters were running rampant, the Old Master had Er Guo guard the Great Northwest. You know Er Gou's temperament—at the slightest disagreement, he'd want to take someone's head. The Old Master was also afraid Er Gou would cause trouble in the Great Northwest, so he persuaded Old Mei to stay and keep an eye on Er Gou."
"The Old Master is truly far-sighted," Gu Qingfeng sighed. "That kid Er Gou comes from a bandit background. His father was one, his grandfather was one—several generations of his family were bandits. That kid was born with bandit blood flowing in his veins. His temper is like a raging fire, igniting at the slightest spark. If he were left to guard the Great Northwest on his own, the Great Northwest wouldn't be the Great Northwest anymore—it would damn well turn into a bandit den."
"That was before. Now, that kid Er Gou has mellowed out a lot. Although he's still as impulsive as ever, he's much better than before. Especially after getting married—it's simply..."
"What?" Gu Qingfeng was very surprised. "That kid Er Gou has damn well gotten married?"
"You bet he has!"
"Damn it! Such a big event, and I didn't even know about it."
"It happened after the Calamity. Back then, who knows where you were gallivanting around."
"I was only gone for a mere three hundred years, and when I return, everything has changed. Even Er Gou has damn well gotten married. With his burly, rough, and dark appearance, what family's girl would even look at him?"
"Exactly! That's a question I can't figure out either. You have no idea—Er Gou's wife is truly a beauty, truly dignified, and truly virtuous. I heard she's even a young lady from a good family. Standing next to Er Gou, it really fits that old saying: a fresh flower stuck in a pile of cow dung."
"Beautiful, dignified, virtuous, and a young lady from a good family? How could such a fine girl take a liking to Er Gou? Could it be that the girl is blind?"
"Blind my foot! Apart from having a bit of a fiery temper, you can't find any other fault with her."
"Fiery temper? How fiery?"
"All I know is that if she tells Er Gou to go east, he doesn't dare go west. If she tells him to stand, he doesn't dare sit."
"Is it really that extreme? That kid Er Gou has quite a temper himself."
"Some things you just have to believe. This is what they call 'one thing subdues another.' Usually, you see Er Gou, all burly and imposing, acting mighty outside, but when he gets home and sees his wife, he doesn't even dare breathe loudly."
"How did they meet?"
"I heard Old Mei acted as the matchmaker."
"If Old Mei acted as the matchmaker, then it's no surprise. Old Mei is proficient in divination. He must have calculated Er Gou's marriage fate thoroughly and deliberately found him a wife who could keep him in check."
"Most likely."
"Well, if I didn't know, that would be one thing. But now that I do know, I absolutely must drink a few bowls of Er Gou's wedding wine."