It was high noon, under a blazing sun.
At the rear mountain of Yao Yue Palace.
Gu Qingfeng wandered casually about the mountain. Though more than four hundred years had passed and Yao Yue Mountain was still the same Yao Yue Mountain, Yao Yue Palace was no longer the Yao Yue Palace of old. Many of the sites were vastly different from how they once were.
He continued his idle stroll until he arrived at the foot of a particular peak, where he finally stopped.
This was a crescent-shaped peak, neither majestic nor towering, rather inconspicuous among the many peaks of Yao Yue Mountain.
The reason Gu Qingfeng stopped here was because this peak was named Little Moon Peak. It was the very peak where Feng Zhuyue had once resided. During the time he had concealed his identity at Yao Yue Palace, serving as a disciple attendant by Feng Zhuyue's side, he had naturally lived on this peak as well.
He had intended to go up and take a look, but discovered that Little Moon Peak was enveloped by a powerful restriction.
The restriction might have been profound, but to Gu Qingfeng, it was no great matter. Without much effort, he silently seeped through the restriction.
On the peak stood exquisite pavilions, elegant gazebos, quiet stone chambers, and hillsides covered in pale blue Yin Moon Sunflowers.
The scenery could not be called particularly dazzling, but it gave one a very peculiar feeling.
Much like the feeling given by the night moon, it possessed a serene beauty.
While Yao Yue Palace had changed, this Little Moon Peak alone remained exactly as it had been in the past, unchanged in any way.
He ascended the peak, and gazing upon the familiar sights, memories from those years surged forth like floodwaters from a broken dam.
The figure of Feng Zhuyue grew clearer and clearer in his mind.
She was a woman whose cold beauty surpassed even that of deep winter. Yet, unlike the cold of winter, while Feng Zhuyue was coldly beautiful, her nature was not aloof or frigid. On the contrary, she was somewhat fiery, somewhat wild, and somewhat domineering.
If not for this, she would not have abandoned Yao Yue Palace back then, choosing to elope with Gu Qingfeng.
If not for this, she would not have, after Gu Qingfeng's departure, slaughtered every last person who had taken part in surrounding and attacking him.
Regarding Feng Zhuyue...
Gu Qingfeng felt a certain amount of guilt in his heart.
At the very least, learning that after his departure, Feng Zhuyue had fallen into melancholy and then pined herself into a state of madness, made Gu Qingfeng feel somewhat uncomfortable. Though his nature was carefree, and he cultivated the supreme Buddhist Great Liberation, some matters could not be let go of simply by being carefree. Some matters could not be met with indifference simply by being liberated.
He was carefree, but that did not mean he was heartless.
He cultivated the Buddhist Great Liberation, but he was not truly a Buddha.
He was a Human.
A mortal.
He too had the seven emotions and six desires, joys and sorrows. And Gu Qingfeng delighted in this; he consistently believed this was the very pleasure of being Human.
As he walked and reminisced, the more he reminisced, the more self-reproach swelled within Gu Qingfeng's heart.
Back then, he thought that by severing his own cultivation, he could repay all the kindness he owed Feng Zhuyue.
Back then, he also thought that as long as he found a woman to impersonate his Dao companion, he could make Feng Zhuyue give up hope.
Thinking about it now, his younger self had been truly naive, too impulsive, and utterly despicable, acting without ever considering the consequences, nor thinking of others.
If he could do it over, Gu Qingfeng would certainly not act this way.
But...
Was there an 'if'?
The answer was definite.
There was not.
Gu Qingfeng had returned this time intending to repay a debt. Yet, the creditor was long gone.
Vanished.
Whether dead or alive, no one knew.
With the person gone, how was this debt to be repaid?
How could it be repaid?
He sighed, shook his head, and muttered helplessly, "Vanished...
Why is it vanished again..." Gu Qingfeng was now deeply afraid of people vanishing inexplicably. To be precise, now, whenever he heard of someone vanishing, his heart grew uneasy and apprehensive, a feeling of creeping dread, like a shadow.
Because over the five hundred years of his cultivation, many people had vanished inexplicably.
Vanishing was just vanishing; there was nothing to fear, no need for apprehension, certainly not for this creeping dread.
At least, in ancient times, before suffering judgment, Gu Qingfeng had never felt any apprehension, let alone creeping dread. He hadn't even paid it any mind.
However.
Ever since experiencing the incident with Yun Nishang, he had carefully pondered all the people in his memory who had vanished inexplicably. It truly fit the old saying: the more you think about it, the more terrifying it becomes. As for why he had this feeling, Gu Qingfeng couldn't quite explain it now.
If it were others vanishing inexplicably, that would be one thing. But this person was Feng Zhuyue.
Although Gu Qingfeng had now given up pursuing Karma, there was one thing he had to admit: Feng Zhuyue was connected to his own Karma.
All Humans possess Karma.
A single Karma tree, with countless Karmic Branches. Every turning point of fate in one's life is a Karmic Branch.
If Gu Qingfeng's first Karmic Branch was the Solar Heart of the Yunxia Sect, then his second Karmic Branch was the Heart of Yin Moon of Yao Yue Palace.
His life underwent its first change because of the Solar Heart, and its second change because of the Heart of Yin Moon.
Back then, during his time concealing his identity at Yao Yue Palace, when he was condensing his Nascent Soul using eighty-one golden cores, it did not go smoothly. Not only was it not smooth, it was perilous. Even with several of Yao Yue Palace's ancestral elders joining forces to assist him, he still failed to condense the Nascent Soul. In the end, it was Feng Zhuyue who stole the Heart of Yin Moon to help him overcome the crisis and successfully form his Nascent Soul.
His reason for severing his cultivation back then might have been to repay Feng Zhuyue's affection, but more so, he wanted to return the Heart of Yin Moon to her.
This was originally understandable, not a major issue.
But ever since experiencing the incident with Yun Nishang, this matter forced Gu Qingfeng to ponder it with grave suspicion.
One must know that the Solar Heart which changed his fate back then was related to Hongxiu, and Hongxiu later vanished inexplicably. It wasn't until this awakening that Gu Qingfeng learned the reason for Hongxiu's disappearance was because she was the reincarnation of Yun Nishang.
Now, the Heart of Yin Moon of Yao Yue Palace was also related to Feng Zhuyue, and Feng Zhuyue too had vanished inexplicably. This couldn't help but make Gu Qingfeng suspect: could Feng Zhuyue also be the reincarnation of someone?
Could she, like Yun Nishang, have long ago detected that he was her Karma, and thus also set up a Karmic trap before the great calamity?
He didn't know.
Gu Qingfeng could neither deduce nor imagine it. He could only hope it was not so.
Otherwise, his life would be a bit too tragic.
Back then, a single Jun Xuanji had given him enough trouble over Karma.
After this awakening, a single Yun Nishang had him running ragged again. He truly did not want to deal with a second one...
He hoped Feng Zhuyue was not.
Otherwise, it wouldn't just be tragic—it would be terrifying.
One woman dragging him into a Karmic trap because of Karma wasn't terrifying. But what about two? Three?
Or even four, or more?
It was simply unimaginable.
If that were truly the case, then Gu Qingfeng would have no choice but to consider an even more terrifying matter: just who was his previous life, to have gotten entangled in Karma with so damn many women!