Li Jiangfusheng still had nightmares.
Gu Junshi couldn't remember if the previous Li Jiangfusheng had also endured that period similarly, so she asked the Heavenly Dao: "How can he stop having nightmares?"
She could command the winds and rain, even defeat demon gods single-handedly, yet she didn't understand what a sensitive person, who could bottle up their emotions until they suffocated, thought about all day.
The Heavenly Dao knew everything about Li Jiangfusheng, but it only understood mortal emotions in its own way. Thus, it proposed that they could infiltrate Li Jiangfusheng's dreams together to see what nightmares he was having and then find a solution.
When Li Jiangfusheng cried out in fear and moaned in his sleep again, Gu Junshi and the Heavenly Dao's consciousness entered his dreamscape.
They thus witnessed the content of his nightmares… He was confined in a dark torture chamber, his hands and feet shackled, unable to escape. In his dream, he was like a lamb awaiting slaughter, repeatedly dying at Gu Junshi's hands.
Gu Junshi frowned, a deepening darkness in her eyes.
The Heavenly Dao angrily accused, "He dies at your hands even in his dreams! You cruel woman!"
Gu Junshi remained silent.
Ever since the Heavenly Dao had stripped her of her divine status and most of her divine power, it had become less profound and philosophical, and more childish.
After clearly seeing the content of Li Jiangfusheng's nightmares, she withdrew.
The Heavenly Dao followed a step behind, relentlessly pursuing, "Why did you come out? You could have saved him within the nightmare and broken the deathly outcome…"
Gu Junshi looked at the sleeping Li Jiangfusheng. At this moment, his features were still immature and youthful, lacking the later alluring, luscious beauty.
But youth had its own charm.
"Dreams are merely reflections of reality. He believes I will eventually kill him, and he will continue to be reborn to that moment of death. This shadow constantly occupies his heart, making it impossible for him to escape even in his dreams."
One was the murderer of her husband, and the other was the culprit responsible for repeatedly causing the other's death. They were both accomplices, and neither was more innocent than the other.
The Heavenly Dao's voice lowered considerably, "Then how can he be made to believe that you will not kill him again, and that he will not repeat his previous fate?"
Gu Junshi pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps we can try the method I mentioned earlier?"
"What are you going to do?" The Heavenly Dao felt uneasy at her inscrutable expression.
***
The next day
It was a rainy day, and Li Jiangfusheng had no excuse to go out for farming. Gu Junshi, unusually, had leisure time and wasn't disappearing on errands.
Every time Gu Junshi and Li Jiangfusheng were alone in a confined space, he would unconsciously become tense. To accommodate his feelings, Gu Junshi would follow the Heavenly Dao's suggestion and give him some time to adjust.
But today, she wasn't going to let him evade any longer.
Clang!
A sword was placed on the table, its metal striking the wood, drawing Li Jiangfusheng's attention.
Seeing Li Jiangfusheng turn his head, his face paling the instant he saw the sword, Gu Junshi, knowing the content of his nightmares, could guess what images were flooding his mind.
She turned her head and gazed quietly out the window.
Li Jiangfusheng's eyes were fixed on the sword, his heart pounding.
Why had she brought a sword back?
Did she still intend to kill him?
Rumble!
The rain outside intensified, dark clouds pressing low, making it seem as if night had arrived early.
She suddenly spoke, "Fusheng, do you have any wishes?"
Li Jiangfusheng's palms were sweating coldly, his facial muscles pulled taut as if frozen. "Why… why are you suddenly asking this?"
"I just felt…" As she spoke, she turned around and stared at him expressionlessly. "If you don't say it now, I may not be able to fulfill it for you later."
What… what did she mean by that? What was she going to do?
In that instant, many scenes of tragic deaths flashed through Li Jiangfusheng's mind – some that had truly happened, others imagined in his dreams.
Especially now, with the tense atmosphere mirroring that before his rebirth, the same terrible rainy weather, everything seemed to pull Li Jiangfusheng back to the scene of his death.
He couldn't help but tremble all over.
"Gu Junshi…" His voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Oh, how do you know my name is Gu Junshi?" she asked, suddenly curious.
It turned out that in his panic, Li Jiangfusheng had forgotten that this Gu Junshi after his rebirth had never told him her real name.
Li Jiangfusheng froze for a moment, then hastily denied, "I… I don't know…"
But Gu Junshi seemed to see through his disguised inner thoughts, as if she had shed the mask of hypocrisy she had worn since he woke up, and approached him step by step.
Even curled up in the corner, Li Jiangfusheng could feel her powerful oppressive presence.
"Li Jiangfusheng, what does death feel like?" Her questioning voice, however, pierced his heart like a knife.
Li Jiangfusheng looked at her with red-rimmed eyes, the hatred in them flowing out without reservation.
"What do you mean by asking that?"
She gently caressed his eyebrows, reddened from crying. "What are you afraid of? Afraid that I will kill you?"
Zing—
The last nerve in Li Jiangfusheng's mind finally snapped. He angrily pushed her away, then rushed to the table, forcefully grasped the hilt of the sword, drew it, and turned, thrusting it into Gu Junshi's abdomen.
However, due to his weak and limbless state, the thrust was not deep.
Gu Junshi lowered her gaze, watching the blood droplets from the wound fall to the ground.
"You want to kill me?"
Her tone remained calm.
The fleeting courage and righteous indignation that had just risen in Li Jiangfusheng crumbled. He was about to let go, but his hand was tightly gripped by another cool hand.
"Why let go?" Gu Junshi looked into his eyes. "You should have stabbed deeper to kill me."
Her grip was so strong that Li Jiangfusheng's entire upper body followed her direction, and the sword embedded in her body was deepened inch by inch, until it was halfway in.
The pungent smell of blood intensified, deeply affecting Li Jiangfusheng.
"What are you doing?! Let go, you'll die!"
Li Jiangfusheng couldn't believe it.
"If I don't die, you will always be restless."
"No… no, that's not it…"
"Didn't your wish just now was to have never met me?"
Li Jiangfusheng stared at her blankly.
"If I die, will you finally stop having nightmares and worrying that I will harm you?"
Li Jiangfusheng began to weep, his words incoherent. "How do you know about the nightmares? You… how do you know? Are you like me… it's impossible, how could you…"
She sighed with a hint of helplessness. "When you had nightmares, you mumbled in your sleep, and that's how I learned that the source of your nightmares is me…"
"So you deliberately let me attack you? You're doing this for me…" Li Jiangfusheng scoffed with a dazed smile, then his eyes burned with even fiercer flames. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You're always so self-righteous!"
He couldn't accept it. With all his strength, he broke free from her hand, flung open the door, and rushed out into the dark, heavy downpour.
After he left, Gu Junshi cleanly pulled out the sword and threw it on the ground.
The bloodstains on her body vanished cleanly.
Gu Junshi murmured to herself, "This outcome seems a little different from what I expected."
The Heavenly Dao was silent for a moment. "…He is about to regain his memories."
"After regaining his memories, he should follow the original plot and go to the Great Yan Sect."
"Yes."
"Then we will go too."
"…But you are already dead."
"Gu Yi is dead; I'll just take on another identity. How much of his resentment has been dispelled now?"
"Not at all!"
Gu Junshi was perplexed. "His resentment stemmed from me killing him, right? Now that he has taken revenge, why hasn't his resentment value decreased at all?"
The Heavenly Dao had no way of knowing such things. It guessed, "Perhaps you've killed him too many times, and him killing you back once isn't enough to appease him."
If that was the case, it was also manageable.
"Then let him kill me a few more times."
The Heavenly Dao didn't know what words to use to describe her as she appeared so calm and composed.
"You are truly ruthless to yourself."
Gu Junshi's personality was strong; once she set a goal, she would resolutely execute it. Just as she had calculated meticulously and hardened her heart to kill her husband to ascend, this time she could be ruthless to herself to awaken Li Jiangfusheng.
***
Indeed, as the Heavenly Dao had predicted, Li Jiangfusheng regained his memories after killing "Gu Yi."
And after regaining his memories, Li Jiangfusheng did find Daoist Zhiyang and successfully joined the Great Yan Sect.
He was determined to cast aside his disgraceful past and start anew, but the nightmares still tormented him. Previously, he always dreamt of being killed, but now he dreamt of killing that woman.
One year later
"Junior Brother, why are you here? The new disciples who joined this year need to see the Sect Leader together later. Master told you to go with me."
Fangrui found Li Jiangfusheng under a mimosa tree.
He was practicing swordplay, dressed in a moon-white robe, his collar inlaid with a circle of white fox fur. His movements and demeanor were as exquisite as a painting, as ethereal as an immortal.
"Alright."
He replied faintly and took the lead towards the main hall.
Fangrui followed him, her small face blushing, her eyes filled with affection.
As he stepped into the hall, Li Jiangfusheng first saw the Sect Leader above, lounging on a daybed behind a curtain of purple silk, flanked by several Mountain Lords and Elders.
After approaching and paying his respects, he stood beside the eyebrow-less Mountain Lord and his gaze unconsciously swept over the disciples in the crowd.
However, when he saw a particular woman, his gaze couldn't be moved away from her.
"…Who is she?" In that brief moment, his emotions surged so intensely that his voice became hoarse without him realizing it.
Hmm?
Fangrui felt that Li Jiangfusheng's expression was not quite right and followed his gaze.
"They are all newly admitted disciples. Junior Brother, what's wrong? Do you know her?"