I give up!
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist had completely given up.
He didn't dare to gamble on whether the mysterious power Gu Qingfeng had unleashed could destroy the intricate supernatural abilities and profound mysteries within the Peach Blossom Eye. Seeing that the mysterious power was no longer surging from Gu Qingfeng's palm, the Old Daoist secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though he remained on edge. After hesitating for a long moment, he finally spoke: "Just what exactly do you want to know, kid?"
"Tell me everything you know."
"How am I supposed to know where to start!"
"In that case, I'll ask, and you answer."
Gu Qingfeng remained seated beside the Peach Blossom Eye, unhurriedly drinking Peach Blossom Wine. That gray power, interwoven with black and white, burned around the Peach Blossom Eye like an evil flame, yet this flame was a static one, as if frozen in place.
"Is the Life Vein guarded by Canyang Mountain the Life Vein of the Wu Dao Age?"
"So I've heard. Whether it actually is, this old man doesn't know."
"You don't know? To my knowledge, aren't you also from the Nine Elder Caves?"
As if surprised that Gu Qingfeng knew this, the Peach Blossom Old Daoist showed a hint of astonishment. "How do you know that, kid?"
"How I know is none of your concern. Answer my question."
"Fine, alright. It's true, this old man was once from the Peach Blossom Cave, one of the Nine Elder Caves. But that's all there is to it. As for what exactly the Life Vein guarded by Canyang Mountain is, I truly don't know. It's like this: we're all people of this world, but does that mean you, kid, know everything about this world? The only thing I know is that the Life Vein guarded by Canyang Mountain is related to the Wu Dao Age. As for whether it's the Life Vein of the Wu Dao Age, I really don't know. I've never even seen it."
"What is your relationship with her?"
Gu Qingfeng glanced at the woman in the portrait.
"This old man is merely a servant by the Empress's side."
"A servant?"
This genuinely surprised Gu Qingfeng.
"What else did you think?"
"Then who is she?"
"Now that's a good question."
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist also looked at the woman in the portrait and sighed. "If it were possible, this old man would also like to know just who the Empress is."
He paused, then added, "In my recollection, the Empress only ever said she belongs to the Wu Dao Age."
"What does that mean? Is she a person from the Wu Dao Age?"
"Kid, listen clearly. The Empress only said she belongs to the Wu Dao Age. She did not say she is a person from the Wu Dao Age."
Gu Qingfeng fell silent for a moment, as if pondering something. After a while, he asked, "So, by that logic, the founding ancestor of Canyang Mountain also belongs to the Wu Dao Age?"
"That should be the case. The Empress said that she and the Canyang Worthy One both belong to the Wu Dao Age. As for what secret is truly guarded beneath Canyang Mountain, in all heaven and earth, I'm afraid only those two know."
"Why do you eliminate the so-called Life-Vein Persons? Don't tell me it's because their existence threatens the Life Vein. I don't believe in fate; I only believe in karma. All things in heaven and earth have their karmic cycles. Your elimination of the Life-Vein Persons is no different. Even if a Life-Vein Person truly could threaten the Life Vein, it couldn't possibly be all of them."
Facing Gu Qingfeng's words, the Peach Blossom Old Daoist did not respond immediately. Leaning against the wall, he slowly sat down, casually opened a jar of Peach Blossom Wine, and gulped down half of it. Gazing at the portrait on the wall, he spoke.
"The Empress said that she and the Canyang Worthy One are both waiting for a person, waiting for someone who also belongs to the Wu Dao Age. As long as they kill this person, everything will end."
"Who is that person they're waiting for? Why kill them? And what will end?"
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist shook his head, murmuring, "The questions you ask, this old man truly doesn't know. The Empress never said. I can only guess that it might be..."
"Karma?"
Gu Qingfeng supplied two words.
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist was greatly astonished, staring deeply at Gu Qingfeng. After a long moment, he nodded, tacitly agreeing. "That's merely this old man's guess."
"Damn it, karma again..." Gu Qingfeng now got a headache whenever he heard the word 'karma'.
"Didn't you just say it yourself, kid? All things in heaven and earth have their karmic cycles. Love and hate, life and death, all are the workings of karma."
Gu Qingfeng asked again, "Since they are waiting for someone who belongs to the Wu Dao Age and intend to eliminate him, why have they killed everyone?"
"The Empress said they don't know when this person will appear, nor can they determine exactly who it is. The only certainty is that this person will definitely appear in the Great Northwest, and upon appearing, they will inevitably affect that Life Vein."
Gu Qingfeng continued his line of thought: "So, all these years, anyone who appeared capable of affecting that Life Vein was killed by you. Better to kill ten by mistake than let one escape, right?"
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist nodded.
"How many so-called Life-Vein Persons have appeared in total?"
"Over seventy."
"Are they all dead?"
"One's whereabouts are unknown, life or death uncertain. And one is still alive."
"The one whose whereabouts are unknown, life or death uncertain, is a Life-Vein Person taken in by Canyang Mountain."
"You know about this too, kid?"
The Peach Blossom Old Daoist looked at Gu Qingfeng with profound meaning. "Since you know this, you should also know that the other surviving Life-Vein Person is you."
"Back then, when the founding ancestor of Canyang Mountain appeared and eliminated all the Life-Vein Persons taken in by your Nine Elder Caves, the Life-Vein Person taken in by Canyang Mountain vanished, life or death unknown—let's set that aside for now. But why am I still alive? You might have stopped the people from Canyang Mountain back then, but you likely couldn't have stopped Canyang Mountain's founding ancestor."
"Even if ten thousand of this old man tried, we couldn't have stopped the Canyang Worthy One. The one who truly stopped the Canyang Worthy One was the Empress."
This much Gu Qingfeng could more or less guess. But there was one thing he couldn't understand. He asked, "You just said the Peach Blossom Empress and the Canyang Worthy One both belong to the Wu Dao Age, and their purpose in coming here is the same: to eliminate that person who also belongs to the Wu Dao Age. So why did the Peach Blossom Empress stop the Canyang Worthy One from killing me?"
"Heh heh heh..." The Peach Blossom Old Daoist suddenly laughed, shaking his head as he did. "Young Gu, you should ask the Empress about that, not this old man. I too would very much like to know why the Empress spared no cost to save you back then, you know? Young Gu, back then, to save you, the Empress fought the Canyang Worthy One to a mutual standstill, nearly being wiped from existence."
Opposite him!
Gu Qingfeng poured himself another drink, contemplating the Old Daoist's words in his mind.
He truly couldn't understand either. Why did the Peach Blossom Empress turn against the Canyang Worthy One for his sake, fighting to a mutual crippling?
Could it be that he was the person they spoke of, the one who also belonged to the Wu Dao Age?
Setting aside whether he was or wasn't.
Even if he really was, it still didn't make sense.
The Peach Blossom Empress's purpose in coming here was to eliminate the person who belonged to the same Wu Dao Age as them. If he was the person they were waiting for, she should have killed him. Why would she instead save him?
Remembering the scene when he met the Peach Blossom Empress in the Great Desolate Heavenly Realm...
She asked him if he was that person, if he remembered her...
This couldn't help but make Gu Qingfeng suspect: Could he really belong to the Wu Dao Age as well?