After tidying up their essential belongings, Liu Jiangfusheng consciously shouldered his pack and stood by the door, while Gu Junshi took out a bronze lock and secured the door.
The dilapidated single-room mud hut with a thatched roof seemed to gain a touch of elegance with the gleaming, brand-new bronze lock.
Ever since Liu Jiangfusheng married into the Gu family, he had always believed that he and his wife were equally impoverished, even facing the bleak prospect of starving to death if they didn't work the fields for a single day.
But now, seeing Gu Junshi casually produce an expensive Twin Fish Guang lock, he suddenly felt that all his hard work and sweat, toiling day after day, had been in vain.
"Ayi."
"Hmm?"
"Now that we're leaving, the most valuable thing in this house is probably this bronze lock."
Gu Junshi stared at the lock, pondering for a long time: "...The people of Chuhuan Village are simple and honest; no one will steal the lock."
Liu Jiangfusheng's eyes flickered, and he then said, "Then if Gu Er comes back, he won't be able to get in."
Gu Er, the original body's younger brother. According to the villagers, he had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, handsome and unparalleled in his youth, and diligent and hardy. After their parents passed away, he shouldered the family's burdens at a tender age, uncomplainingly supporting his lazy older sister, who was five years his senior.
About a few months ago, he was recognized for his talent and aptitude by people from a cultivation sect and was taken away from the mortal realm. Everyone said that Gu Er was tired of constantly taking care of his lazy sister, so he abandoned Gu Yi and left alone. Since Gu Junshi had no memory of "Gu Yi," she was unaware of the details.
However, having traversed the cultivation world for a thousand years, she had never heard of anyone named "Gu Er." He either lingered in the low-level ranks, unknown and unnamed, or died too early to become a renowned genius.
Gu Junshi paid no heed to this "brother." Even knowing he was in the cultivation world, she hadn't made any special effort to inquire about him.
"He won't come back," she said.
Seeing her indifferent attitude towards Gu Er, her own brother, Liu Jiangfusheng knew that this person likely didn't hold much importance in her heart. He was somewhat disappointed that Gu Er wasn't her weakness, yet he couldn't suppress the hidden delight that he tightly suppressed within himself. wap.kanshu5.net
"Ayi."
"What is it?"
The two of them left "Chuhuan Village" together. The fields were shrouded in a misty rain. After the wheat harvest, the bean sprouts in the fields were about a foot high. In the green expanse, many villagers were diligently working. Further ahead was a wild lotus pond. The continuous heavy rain had caused the water levels to rise. The lotus leaves were green, washed clean by the downpour, lush and verdant, layered upon each other.
Once he stepped out of the confined interior and into the vast, open world embraced by rain and dew, he felt as though he were truly living in the real world.
Liu Jiangfusheng was in a daze.
Could everything he had experienced before have been merely a nightmare?
Could her calm, impassive gaze and her heartless ruthlessness have been a dream?
He carried his pack, and she held his hand. At first, he would tremble and flinch at her closeness. Even now, he was trying hard to control the physical stiffness of his instincts.
"Ayi, if one day you suddenly wanted to kill me, what would it be for?"
Gu Junshi's expression suddenly froze. She slowly turned her head and gazed at him thoughtfully, "Why... do you think I would kill you?"
Had he perhaps regained memories of his previous death?
This shouldn't be possible, as his reaction was incorrect. If he knew she had killed him so many times, there would only be two reactions: either he would attack her for revenge, or he would flee in terror. But he did neither.
However, that couldn't be entirely ruled out either...
Her tone was still as gentle and pleasant as ever, but Liu Jiangfusheng felt a strong sense of danger. He realized he had momentarily let his guard down and asked such a foolish question.
"No, I, I just had a dream... a very terrifying dream, that's why I'm talking nonsense..." His shallow brown irises were hollow. He bit his lower lip fiercely, and blood seeped out, staining his lips red.
At this moment, a hand lifted his chin, forcefully parting his abused, red and swollen lips.
She thought for a moment and replied, "If one day I kill you, it will be because I love you."
Before that, she wouldn't harm him anymore.
Bang—
His entire mind felt as if it had exploded. Hot blood surged into his heart, and he suddenly raised his head, looking at her as if stunned.
"Wh-what did you say?"
Gu Junshi looked at him seriously, her eyes, as dark as an abyss, seeming to hold only him. "If one day I kill you, it will surely be because I have fallen in love with you."
So... all those previous instances of her killing him were because she had fallen in love with him?!
What kind of absurd logic was this?!
Does this mean that his rebirth this time and her not killing him isn't a stroke of luck or some other intention, but because she hasn't fallen in love with him yet?
"But... why?" His eyes reddened, and he looked at her with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
Why was all of this happening? Why, if she fell in love with him, did he have to die?
Liu Jiangfusheng didn't understand. He only felt that this reason was both ridiculous and laughable.
But this time, Gu Junshi did not answer. She quietly observed him for a long time and then continued to lead him, "Let's go."
And for the rest of the journey, they were like they were in a cold war, harboring unspoken thoughts and no longer speaking. Only their clasped hands seemed to have forgotten to separate, remaining so all along.
They reached the bluestone bridge over the lotus pond. The fine, soft drizzle was carried by the wind like woven mist. In the pond, willow branches swayed, dancing in the wind. Indeed, someone was waiting there, though their manner of waiting was somewhat unusual.
He was short and gaunt, wearing an overly wide blue-dyed white-collared Daoist robe. He sat cross-legged on the narrow railing of the bluestone bridge, wearing a bamboo hat. Resting his chin on his hand, he chewed on a dry blade of grass, seemingly bored and resting his eyes. The wind and rain swirled around him but stopped at his periphery, then dissipated like a light mist.
This skill alone indicated that he was an otherworldly master.
"Is it him?" Gu Junshi asked.
Liu Jiangfusheng: "It is him."
She nodded, intending to approach. But then she paused, thinking, and asked her little husband to go first: "Go ask him."
"Ask what?"
"Ask his identity clearly, and what he knows about you."
"Then won't you come with me?" His clear black and white eyes looked at her.
Gu Junshi, however, shook her head. "He is waiting for you. You two talk alone first, and then I will come over."
So Liu Jiangfusheng obediently went to meet the person alone.
But before he could even step onto the bridge, the old Daoist's voice came from under the bamboo hat.
"Boy, have you made up your mind?"
At this moment, Liu Jiangfusheng's beautiful and delicate face showed no expression. He directly asked, "Who are you?"
Daoist Zhiyang leaped down in a somersault and landed in front of him. He propped up his lowered bamboo hat with a single finger, revealing an old face that looked somewhat sharp and monkey-like due to his protruding cheekbones. He winked at him and chuckled slyly, "This old Daoist is the Lord of Mount Wumei from the Great Evolution Sect of the Thirteenth Heaven. If you are willing to follow this old Daoist, you will be my seventh disciple."
Liu Jiangfusheng's gaze swept over his bald brow bone, thinking that the title was indeed fitting.
"Lord of Mount Wumei, why do you want to take me as a disciple?"
"I have said..." He narrowed his eyes, his tone mysterious and low, "Looking at your countenance, this old Daoist knows that you are destined for extraordinary encounters in this life, and in the future..."
Suddenly, his peripheral vision inadvertently swept over the woman following behind him. His enigmatic, high-class demeanor instantly collapsed, and his narrow eyes widened.
Such... such an imposing presence that dominates the world.
"Who is she?"
Daoist Zhiyang abruptly changed the subject and asked anxiously.
Liu Jiangfusheng frowned, stepping forward to block his view, and said with a hint of displeasure, "My wife."
Daoist Zhiyang exclaimed, "What, you're married?!" Immediately after, he seemed to realize something, and anxiously slapped his thigh, "You're crazy! How dare you marry her?!"