To be honest,
This wasn't the first time Gu Qingfeng had doubted his own life.
He had doubted it before when he encountered Yun Nishang.
Was that all?
No.
Thinking carefully, he had doubted his life many times over the course of his five hundred years of cultivation. Because during these five centuries, he had encountered far too many bizarre and strange events, and met far too many mysterious and eerie people. While he didn't understand the hows and whys at the time, one thing was certain: those bizarre events that occurred on him and those mysterious people he met were absolutely not accidental, nor could they be coincidences. They were a kind of fate, or more precisely, that was Karma.
Gu Qingfeng didn't want to seek out Karma, at least not the Karma from his past life.
But now it seemed the Karma of this life and the Karma of his past life were fundamentally inseparable.
Originally,
Gu Qingfeng had no interest in his past life, not a shred of it.
But after this awakening, first Yun Nishang, then Feng Zhuyue, plus Jun Xuanji who had long ago made Gu Qingfeng understand Karma—to this day, saying he wasn't curious would be a lie. Gu Qingfeng also somewhat wanted to figure out just what misdeeds his past life had committed, why it had brought him so much bizarre Karma.
This also rekindled an impulse in him who had originally prepared to abandon Karma.
What to do?
Try seeking it out?
Get to the bottom of this matter?
If so, he was afraid he might truly fulfill Xiao Jinr's words—he might get sucked in.
Getting sucked in wasn't scary; there was nothing to fear.
What he feared was that after getting sucked in, the more he struggled, the more complicated it would become, and in the end, he'd struggle himself to death without ever figuring things out.
Gu Qingfeng truly didn't want to struggle anymore.
He had struggled for a full five hundred years.
He was truly tired of struggling.
When there was nothing to do, drinking some wine, basking in the sun, teasing a young girl, finding a few amusements—this was the life he wanted.
But why was such a seemingly simple life always beyond his reach?
Before, Gu Qingfeng didn't know why.
Now he was gradually beginning to understand: in the end, it was because he couldn't let go. But what exactly he couldn't let go of, he didn't know. He always felt a strange, inexplicable obsession deep within his heart that he couldn't release.
As for what that obsession was,
He didn't know that either.
He didn't know how much time had passed. Gu Qingfeng shook his head. He had always been too lazy to ponder such headache-inducing problems. Looking at Feiyan across from him, then glancing at the grand hall of Yao Yue Palace, he suddenly felt somewhat amused.
What was so amusing?
Gu Qingfeng wasn't clear either. Without thinking too much, he stood up, stretched lazily, and said, "Alright, I've asked what needed asking, and learned what could be learned. What I don't know, asking would be pointless anyway...
Let's leave it at that."
"Monarch, you...
You're leaving?"
Seeing that Gu Qingfeng seemed intent on leaving, Feiyan looked quite panicked.
"What?
Do you have other matters?"
"I...
I..." Feiyan stammered, as if too embarrassed to speak.
"Speak."
At Gu Qingfeng's single word, Feiyan knelt on the ground again, pleading, "When Her Majesty disappeared back then, she was not in her right mind. I fear something might have happened to her...
I beg the Monarch, for the sake of past affections, could you find out Her Majesty's whereabouts? I...
I kowtow to you here..." *Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Feiyan knocked her head against the floor.
"I say, Sister Feiyan, believe me, I want to find Feng Zhuyue even more than you do. But the key is she disappeared...
Whether she's alive or dead, where she went, I don't know either. How do you expect me to find her? Even if I wanted to, I have no starting point."
Indeed.
If possible, Gu Qingfeng truly would like to find Feng Zhuyue and ask her just what was going on.
"With the Monarch's abilities...
Wanting to find a person in this world shouldn't be..." "Stop!
Hold it right there, sister. You overestimate me. If your lady were just an ordinary person, finding her wouldn't be difficult. Even if I couldn't find her, I could at least know whether she's alive or dead. But Feng Zhuyue is different. At the very least, she's no ordinary person. It's not that I haven't tried looking, but unfortunately, I found absolutely nothing."
Gu Qingfeng had truly tried to find Feng Zhuyue.
He had tried when he first came to Yao Yue Palace, and he had even used his unique, world-surpassing 'Mind-Reading Insight'. He could sense a person's existence based on artifacts they had refined, or formations they had set up—as long as the other party left behind residual consciousness, he could sense their presence through a mere wisp of it. Even if they weren't in this world, not within the Five Elements, even above the Nine Heavens or below the Nine Nethers, he could sense them.
Alas.
When he used Mind-Reading Insight to sense Feng Zhuyue, she wasn't in this world, nor within the Five Elements, nor in the heavens above or the earth below.
There was only one possibility for such a situation.
Either Feng Zhuyue was dead, completely and utterly annihilated, wiped clean from existence.
Or her existence had transcended heaven and earth.
As for whether Feng Zhuyue was utterly annihilated or had transcended heaven and earth,
Gu Qingfeng could not determine.
"But..." Feiyan looked somewhat dejected. She seemed to want to say more, but facing the renowned Lord Chixiao, there were many words she dared not utter.
And just then, a strange disturbance came from within the grand hall, followed by the entire Yao Yue Palace hall shaking.
"What's going on?"
Gu Qingfeng felt rather puzzled, looking around.
Across from him, Feiyan grew very tense. She seemed to remember something, exclaiming aloud, "Not good! Han Dong is in seclusion in the inner hall! Could something have happened to her!"
Without further thought, Feiyan rose and rushed desperately toward the inner hall. Gu Qingfeng observed the shaking hall, feeling puzzled, then followed her inside.
Inside the inner hall's secret chamber.
Han Dong sat upright in a cross-legged position, hands resting on her knees. Her face was currently very pale, her expression one of extreme pain, as if enduring something. Her body trembled incessantly, surrounded by a shimmering moonlight radiance that burned fiercely like flames.
"Han Dong! Han Dong!"
Feiyan anxiously called out twice but received no response from Han Dong. Seeing Han Dong's pained expression, she wanted to rush over, but Gu Qingfeng stopped her.
"The power surrounding her is so strong. If you charge over, you'll be reduced to ashes in an instant."
"Monarch, I beg you, save Han Dong."
"Don't panic. She won't die."
Gu Qingfeng narrowed his eyes, carefully observing Han Dong, and asked, "You said earlier that Han Dong is fusing with your Yao Yue Palace's Yao Yue Heart?"
"Yes."
Feiyan was very worried for Han Dong's safety. Watching Han Dong's trembling body, seemingly enduring pain, she couldn't help but recall her own experience from years past. "Could it be...
that Han Dong also cannot refine the Yao Yue Heart?"
"No, she has already refined the Yao Yue Heart, and...
is currently fusing with it."
Hearing that Han Dong had refined the Yao Yue Heart, the stone hanging in Feiyan's heart finally dropped. Once the danger had passed, she felt quite delighted, because refining the Yao Yue Heart meant Han Dong was fully qualified to inherit the position of Yao Yue Palace Master.