Wine is a wonderful thing.
It can dispel worries and banish sorrows.
Gu Qingfeng loved fine wine, always had.
However, he drank not to dispel worries, nor to banish sorrows. It was simply a habit, a form of companionship.
He was an orphan, with no father, no mother, and no family.
He didn't have many friends either.
During his cultivation journey in this world, he lived a life of constant fighting, never knowing if he'd see tomorrow. What carried him through wasn't willpower, nor innate talent, nor some grand fortune or opportunity—it was fine wine.
Throughout his five hundred years of cultivation, only fine wine had accompanied him, experiencing all the joys and sorrows, the partings and reunions, the anger and happiness alongside him, never leaving his side. In a sense, what he drank wasn't wine, but a kind of loneliness.
Only when drinking did Gu Qingfeng not feel like a solitary soul.
Only when drinking would he not sink into that boundless, endless solitude...
He drank all the fine wines of the world, not seeking intoxication, but to dispel the ever-deepening loneliness within his heart.
The dusk gradually faded, and night descended.
After leaving Taohua Temple, Gu Qingfeng swayed his white jade fan in one hand and sipped Taohua Wine from a jug with the other, smiling. "As the old saying goes, 'Three cups of wine in the vast mortal world, and those three cups should be Taohua Wine...'" Three cups of Taohua Wine down, it felt like falling into the churning mortal world, body and mind becoming incomparably relaxed and carefree, especially delightful. This marvelous sensation was truly priceless.
Finding the old horse he had left earlier, he glanced at the darkening sky, pondering where to find a place to rest. Suddenly, a shout reached his ears.
"Lao Jiu!
Lao Jiu!"
Hmm?
Gu Qingfeng unhurriedly lifted the wine jug to his lips for a sip, then looked up to see two women flying toward him.
One was peerlessly cold and beautiful, like a rose of ice.
The other was charming and vibrant, brimming with youthful vitality.
They were Han Dong and Ouyang Ye.
"Where have you been, you rascal!
Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you!"
"Nowhere special, just came out of the Peach Blossom Secret Realm."
"I thought so, hmph!
You made Sister Handong and me search for so long inside the secret realm."
Gu Qingfeng shrugged, then smiled, narrowing his eyes as he looked Han Dong up and down. "Well, well, Sister Handong, is it? That's quite a pretty little face you've got there."
Han Dong was like proud snow, even more like frost. Perhaps Gu Qingfeng's words were too frivolous, causing her willow-leaf eyebrows to arch slightly, a flash of disgust instantly crossing her beautiful eyes.
It wasn't that Han Dong was aloof; it was simply that Gu Qingfeng at this moment resembled a complete rogue. He sat there on the old horse, one hand swaying the white jade fan, the other holding the wine jug to his lips, a playful smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. Especially those deep eyes, sweeping over Han Dong's figure without the slightest restraint.
Any woman would be utterly disgusted by such a rogue, let alone a woman like Han Dong, burdened with worries and naturally cold-hearted.
"Hey, how can you be so rude! Where are you looking!"
If anyone else dared to tease Han Dong like this, Ouyang Ye would have made them regret it without hesitation. However, she needed a favor from Gu Qingfeng, so she couldn't very well say anything.
"The love of beauty resides in every heart. The heavens gave us eyes, are they not meant for appreciating beauties?"
Ouyang Ye glared at him, thinking disdainfully: *A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory. Exactly the same as that Gu Qingfeng fellow.*
"Hey, Lao Jiu, you haven't forgotten what you promised me, right?"
"What promise?"
Hearing that he didn't even remember, Ouyang Ye grew both anxious and angry. "We agreed beforehand! You promised to trade the Cloud-Color Sword to me."
"Oh, that's all..." "Don't tell me you're trying to back out now! I'm warning you...
You can't go back on your word! One must keep their promises, and besides..." Ouyang Ye, fearing Gu Qingfeng would renege, alternated between warnings and threats.
"Alright, alright, it's just the Cloud-Color Sword. Is it really that serious? Would I lie to you?"
Gu Qingfeng asked, "Weren't we going to trade? What about the thing you mentioned? Let's see it."
"Something that precious, how could I carry it on me? Come back with me now, and I'll show you!"
"I have to go back with you?"
Seeing Gu Qingfeng hesitate, Ouyang Ye quickly said, "What? Is there some inconvenience? Or are you afraid I'll trick you? Hmph!
You rascal...
If I had any intention of killing you for the treasure, I would've done it back in the cave mansion! You wouldn't be alive now!"
"Little girl, not very old, but quite the schemer."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, smiling helplessly. "Since that's the case, don't just stand there. Lead the way, let's go."
"You're...
just going to ride that horse?"
Watching Gu Qingfeng slowly ride forward on a horse, Ouyang Ye was first stunned, then utterly speechless.
In this modern era, few people rode horses anymore.
Any cultivator, once they formed a Golden Core, could fly on swords, soaring freely through the skies. Who wouldn't prefer that?
Even for long journeys, worried about spiritual energy consumption, most would choose a Spirit Beast as a mount, or perhaps acquire a Spirit Beast-drawn carriage.
Who would still ride a horse?
And an ordinary horse at that.
What Ouyang Ye found even harder to accept was that this fellow was riding an *old* horse. Even she, who wasn't an expert, could tell this horse was decrepit and moved with slow, plodding steps.
An old horse like this, even if given to a beggar, the beggar would scorn it.
Gu Qingfeng slowly turned around. "What's wrong with riding a horse? Do you look down on horse riders?"
"I...
I...
I don't! It's just..." Ouyang Ye simply couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it. The fellow who had been willing to give her the Cloud-Color Sword in the cave mansion would actually ride an ordinary old horse. It defied all logic. In her mind, someone who could casually give away a treasure like the Cloud-Color Sword must be either extremely wealthy or of noble status, and fabulously so at that. His mount should at least be some rare Spirit Beast. Ouyang Ye racked her brains but couldn't understand why it was an old horse.
She couldn't figure it out.
And Han Dong beside her felt the same.
Ever since following Ouyang Ye to meet Gu Qingfeng, her brows had been furrowed, and they furrowed deeper and deeper. Her cold, deep eyes watched Gu Qingfeng's departing back, sinking into deep contemplation and endless confusion.
Initially, when Ouyang Ye said this fellow was only at the Golden Core stage, Han Dong had been somewhat skeptical, thinking Ouyang Ye might have missed something in her probing. But when she saw Gu Qingfeng, she realized it was just as Ouyang Ye had said—this fellow truly was at the Golden Core stage, as pure and unadulterated as could be.