Chenghong was not reborn, so he was not the first life’s human emperor who insisted on killing the one who led her into the evil path, nor the abbot of the Maha Temple who chose to break ties with Gu Junshi in the Endless Sea.
He was born with a pure Buddha bone physique, his eyes capable of discerning all good and evil, which was why he, with his shallow and inferior qualifications, became a respected Buddha son of the Maha Temple.
He had seen countless people, but never anyone like Gu Junshi, who, despite being pure evil, possessed such dazzling merit. He once believed that good and evil were irreconcilable, but in a mortal, he witnessed the coexistence of both.
Driven by curiosity, he used astrology to divine her past experiences.
However, he could not calculate it.
This was extremely rare; even powerful figures like the grand Dharma masters of the Maha Temple were somewhat discernible to him, but her past and future were a blank slate.
Perhaps it was a case of "the mind in waking life manifesting in dreams," for that night, while meditating, he entered a mystical realm and saw scenes related to him and unrelated to him.
He saw a woman, Feng Ling, fierce and dominant, resembling "Gu Yi." She sat on a throne of white bones, looking down upon all beings, with the malevolent spirits of the Ten Directions Yama Hell swirling behind her. She saved a region with her evil power, driving away and killing one hundred thousand demonic cultivators who invaded with slaughter… He also saw her unleash her ferocity, opening the "Yellow Springs Gate," intending to overturn the entire spiritual realm and bring disaster to all living beings…
In her, he saw half good, half evil.
Her actions were entirely driven by impulse and willful abandon.
Chenghong did not know if this was a premonition or if these were events that had occurred in another world.
He could not even discern whether the scenes he saw were true or false, but he saw the abbot, who fiercely rebuked "Gu Junshi" in the Endless Sea. The abbot's inner heart, which he did not allow anyone to perceive, was filled with sorrow and regret for their eventual demise.
He did not pull her back; instead, he let her drift further and further away…
A desolate yet solemn voice in Chenghong's heart repeatedly told him—
Chenghong, this time, you must hold onto her tightly, do not let go, do not abandon her… and even more so, do not let her fall into the same mistakes again.
For the sake of all living beings, for the spiritual realm, and also for… yourself.
Chenghong did not remember these things, but he saw an abbot of the Maha Temple who looked exactly like him and was also named Chenghong.
He wielded a golden staff, soaring through the air, his red kasaya like a colossal Buddha. "He" looked at him, his compassionate and wise eyes, adorned with the thousand-spoked wheel of dharma, reflecting half of the three thousand great worlds, and half secretly harboring a single person, all perfectly complete.
The ethereal yet pleasant, mature, and steady voice spoke, "You are not me… yet you are me. I exchange all my cultivation, lifespan, and karmic fortune for a changing future… Chenghong, do not let yourself, nor me, down."
The young monk Chenghong, clad in plain robes, was inexplicably moved by "his" gaze and words. He lowered his eyes, joined his palms, and said, "This humble monk will do his best."
—
Meanwhile, Gu Junshi left the East Cliff of Misty City. She had intended to resolve the hidden troubles in her body and then go capture Gu Er's master for him, but now it seemed her own issues couldn't be resolved anytime soon. After some consideration, she decided to deal with Gu Er's matter first.
From Gu Er, she learned that his master in the Void Gate was named Yuan Dao. At first, Gu Junshi didn't know who he was, but later, she met him by chance.
He was precisely that middle-aged cultivator who had feigned an interrogation but instead vented his anger by whipping the demonic maiden.
Yuan Dao might have been a pervert, or he might have had a grudge against the demonic race; in any case, Gu Junshi found him somewhat unsettling.
As for why he accepted Gu Er as a disciple for several years and then secretly plotted to harm Gu Er and get rid of him, the reason was unknown.
Guided by Gu Er, they arrived before a cave dwelling with a leisurely immortal aura in a misty ravine. This was Yuan Dao's residence, and the entire cave dwelling was protected by a barrier.
Such barriers were as good as nonexistent to Gu Junshi, but at this moment, she saw a middle-aged man in a green robe and a high crown striding angrily toward Yuan Dao's cave dwelling. His face was filled with a gloomy aura. After shouting impatiently at the door, the cave entrance opened, and a man of medium build with a square face emerged. His features were passable, but his pair of three-white eyes were particularly malevolent when he stared at someone.
After the two stood together, they didn't even have time to enter the cave dwelling for a private discussion before the middle-aged man in the green robe impatiently said, "Yuan Dao, who told you to take it upon yourself to teach that demon a lesson? If your identity is discovered, don't blame me for cutting ties with you!"
Yuan Dao was clearly somewhat intimidated by this middle-aged man. He chuckled dryly, "I was just in a bad mood, so I acted. I won't act recklessly again. Let's not talk about this for now. You returned eleven days ago; did you find that flying zombie at the Du Sheng Taoist Temple?"
The middle-aged man in the green robe frowned, "No."
Yuan Dao's heart skipped a beat, and his expression soured. He gritted his teeth, "Gu Chuhao! I knew from the start that he wasn't really a Gu family furnace seed. I shouldn't have brought him to the Void Gate back then; I should have killed him directly."
"Kill him? Ha, don't you want to pry all the secrets of the Gu family from his mouth?" the middle-aged man in the green robe scoffed.
Yuan Dao's mood worsened at his jab. He said with a stern face, "Doesn't Gu Chuhao still have a mortal sister named Gu Yi? Although she's a waste seed, it's possible she might know something."
With only these two bloodlines left in the Gu family, he didn't believe the Gu couple would tell them nothing.
Relying on the surrounding barrier, the two spoke without reservation.
"Why didn't you take her with you back then? Now you have to bother going to the mortal realm. If you want to go this time, you'll go yourself," the middle-aged man in green grumbled.
Yuan Dao quickly agreed, "Of course, of course. Alas, back then I saw Gu Chuhao as young and intelligent, with good spiritual roots, and I thought the Gu family must have entrusted all their secrets to him. Now it seems I miscalculated. I examined this kid's past memories using soul searching, and he knows absolutely nothing."
Soul searching?
Upon hearing the words "soul searching," the middle-aged man in green exclaimed, "You used soul searching on him? It seems that kid is quite lucky; he didn't end up foolish or dead."
When Gu Junshi heard the words "soul searching," her gaze towards Yuan Dao instantly became as deep and dark as the abyss, filled with danger.
He had actually used "soul searching" on Gu Er. Such a vicious technique was disdained by righteous cultivators, as its use would likely turn a normal person into an idiot, and in rare cases, with bad luck, could directly cause brain death.
It seemed this Yuan Dao was not only of dubious origin but also knowledgeable about many torturous methods, such as soul whips, ice marrow needles, and soul searching. How coincidental, as she had spent thousands of years cultivating in her leisure time and had encountered more tormenting methods than him. She could only hope he could endure them.