"Didn't you claim to have transcended life and death?" Ouyang Ye gritted her teeth and shouted, "Come on! Die right now, then come back to life, and this lady will believe you're Gu Qingfeng!"
"Little sister, isn't that a bit too demanding?" Gu Qingfeng replied with a helpless smile. "You want me to kill myself just to prove I am myself, then resurrect? If word got out, even if people didn't call me an idiot, they'd say I'm a bit of a fool!"
"Hah!" Ouyang Ye shot him an extremely disdainful look. "This lady knew you didn't have that ability! All you can do is boast!"
"Alright, alright, even if I'm just boasting, okay?"
"What do you mean 'even if'? You are boasting!" Ouyang Ye snorted coldly. "Fine. Didn't you also claim to have kidnapped the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord? Come on! Let this lady broaden her horizons. I've never seen a Buddha Lord in my life—haven't even seen what a Western Heaven Buddha looks like, let alone a Buddha Lord."
"This..." Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin as if considering.
"What? You claim to have transcended life and death, and you can't prove that—fine. But you can't prove you kidnapped the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord either?" Ouyang Ye mocked sarcastically. "Or are you going to say the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord is sleeping?"
"Actually, the Great Sun Tathagata really is sleeping."
"Hahaha..." Ouyang Ye burst into laughter again. "My Young Lord Chiyan, my Gu Qingfeng, my dear Elder Gu, dare you spin a more exaggerated tale? Dare you boast any bigger? Sleeping? Why don't you say the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord is taking a shit!"
One had to admit, Ouyang Ye's mouth was truly vicious. Even someone like Gu Qingfeng felt a bit embarrassed by her words.
"Fine, little sister, you win. I really admit defeat. Looks like if I don't drag the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord out for you to see today, you'll probably tear me apart with your words."
"Great! Great! Hurry up and invite the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord out! Don't just talk without action..." As Ouyang Ye was shouting, Gu Qingfeng waved his hand and said, "See for yourself."
"What? What do you want me to see?" Ouyang Ye looked left and right but saw nothing. She shot him another disdainful look. "Are you going to say the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord's Dharma power is so profound that us mortals can't see him?"
Gu Qingfeng frowned, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Ouyang Ye. He was puzzled—how could this little girl's mouth be so sharp?
"What! What are you looking at! Where's the Tathagata Buddha Lord you invited?"
"Look up and see for yourself."
Ouyang Ye rolled her eyes, then looked up and was instantly startled. Because, at some unknown time, an ancient Buddha statue had appeared hovering in mid-air. Not just her—Han Dong and Qian Shan were also greatly alarmed, having no idea when this massive Buddha statue had materialized.
It truly was a colossal Buddha statue.
Like a towering mountain, it exuded a strong sense of oppression. The Buddha's face was very kind, seated cross-legged with hands joined in prayer, eyes closed, solemn and dignified.
"My dear Young Lord Chiyan, don't tell me this is the so-called Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord?"
"What else? Who did you think it was?"
"Hah..." Ouyang Ye let out an extremely scornful laugh. Looking at Gu Qingfeng, she pointed at her own eyes and said very seriously, "Look into my eyes. Do you think these eyes of mine are just for decoration? Or do you really take me for an idiot? You bring out a Buddha statue like this and dare call it the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord? I say, big brother! Even if you're trying to fool someone, at least get a golden, glittering Buddha statue! Even if it's not shining with golden light, at least make it look newer! You bring out this broken statue from who-knows-which dilapidated temple and dare claim it's the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord?"
Gu Qingfeng was starting to feel a bit wounded. He looked up, pressing his fingers against his brow. "The true form of the Great Sun Tathagata is at least hundreds of millions of zhang tall. Where am I supposed to get that for you? This is just its wrathful avatar, but it's sealed. Once it opens its eyes, the true wrathful form will manifest..."
"The wrathful avatar of the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord is fine too! Then make it open its eyes and show some divine power!"
"If it manifests its divine power, there'll be big trouble. Forget your Aunt Xue, all the demons, ghosts, and monsters in this world would be annihilated in an instant..."
"Pah!" Before Gu Qingfeng could finish, Ouyang Ye spat fiercely. "Enough! You really can lie through your teeth without batting an eye. Your boasts are getting more and more outrageous—even I'm starting to doubt my own existence from listening to you..."
"You can ask Sister Qian Shan. She should be able to see something, more or less."
"You can't even fool me, and you want to fool Sister Qian Shan?"
"Sister Qian Shan, can you see anything?"
Qian Shan had been staring at the massive Buddha statue. To be honest, she could indeed sense something special about it, but that was all. To say this statue was the wrathful avatar of the Great Sun Tathagata? She wouldn't believe it even if beaten to death. Because she simply didn't believe that the so-called Young Lord Chiyan could kidnap the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha Lord. Forget Young Lord Chiyan, forget the Scarlet Flame Monarch—in all heaven and earth, no one could kidnap the Great Sun Tathagata. Not even the Heavenly King or the Lord of Heaven himself.
"Forget it. Looks like I overestimated you." With a wave of his hand, Gu Qingfeng put away the wrathful avatar of the Great Sun Tathagata. "I must have been sleeping too soundly. What the hell am I doing arguing with you all about this? Really must have water in my brain..."
"Hey!" Ouyang Ye landed in the garden. "Your boasts have been busted, and you still dare to stubbornly refuse to admit it? Let me tell you, I was already tired of playing this trick when I was still in diapers! Want to fool me? Kid! You're still too inexperienced!"
Gu Qingfeng glanced at her, shook his head, and lay back in the hammock to continue sleeping.
"Hey, why aren't you talking? Keep boasting!"
"Didn't you claim to be Young Lord Chiyan?"
"Didn't you claim to have transcended life and death?"
"Didn't you claim to have kidnapped the Tathagata Buddha Lord?"
"What other boasts do you have? Spit them all out! Let this lady see if you can really blow your boasts up to the heavens!"
Gu Qingfeng really didn't want to keep messing around with Ouyang Ye anymore. But the little girl, having gained the upper hand, refused to let go and kept pestering him relentlessly. Even with Han Dong and Qian Shan trying to persuade, Ouyang Ye showed no sign of stopping.
Indeed.
To be fair, while Ouyang Ye was a bit willful and mischievous, she was absolutely not the type to push her advantage too far.
The reason she was acting this way was because she simply could not tolerate someone impersonating Young Lord Chiyan.
She could have someone impersonate Young Lord Chiyan, but others impersonating him themselves? Not allowed.
Moreover, there was another, even more important reason.
She truly wanted to know if the person before her was the one who had died at the Taixuan Stele three years ago, the one she had thought about day and night.
She really wanted to know.
Deep down, she also very much hoped this person was him.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have persistently pestered, demanding Gu Qingfeng provide proof even though she knew these boasts were false, even though they were utterly outrageous.
She really wanted to believe these outrageous boasts.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
After a series of verification, she finally realized that the person before her could not possibly be that mysterious man she had thought about day and night.