It's Definitely That Heartless Gu Changge — Am I Just a Disciple?
It’s Definitely That Heartless Gu Changge — Am I Just a Disciple?
Yue Mingkong’s line of thinking was not without basis.
Just how precious the World Purifying Green Lotus was went without saying — even the Mortal One had painstakingly schemed for ages over this single lotus.
He had racked his brains, gone through countless twists and turns, and finally found a place in the Heavenly Star Realm suitable for its growth, waiting for it to mature before choosing to harvest it.
But why had that mysterious existence she knew nothing about, after fusing with the World Purifying Green Lotus, left behind those equally precious lotus seeds instead of taking them, intending them for whoever came after?
Yue Mingkong was deeply puzzled. Staring at the few lotus seeds glimmering with chaotic light deep within the lotus body, all sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind.
What if that mysterious existence had simply forgotten them by accident?
How likely was that?
Soon, she shook her head, feeling it was impossible.
That would be far too fantastical.
After all, even the Reincarnation of the Mortal One had perished at that being’s hands — and in the Sky Pool of Death, no less, a place where the Mortal One had laid countless backup plans.
Would that mysterious existence make such an obvious mistake?
Furthermore, Yue Mingkong had already sensed a faint, elusive familiarity earlier.
Women had always trusted their intuition, and Yue Mingkong was no exception.
So her delicate brows immediately knitted together, and she was all but certain — this was definitely left for her deliberately by that mysterious existence.
Yet she had never even seen his true face; she wasn’t even sure who that mysterious existence was.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why he would leave them for her. Or could it be that the towering figure who had warned her not to approach outside the Sky Pool of Death back then was also his doing?
The two of them had never even met.
So now, only one final possibility remained — that mysterious Exalted Immortal who had supposedly fallen in the Sky Pool of Death.
“Why would he do this...” Yue Mingkong’s brows furrowed tightly. She felt she was quickly closing in on the truth of the matter.
It seemed that the mysterious Exalted Immortal’s fall in the Sky Pool of Death had been deliberate on his part — meant to deceive the world and, incidentally, lull the Reincarnation of the Mortal One, Jiang Yang, into complacency.
This kind of scheming instantly reminded Yue Mingkong of one person — her fiancé, Gu Changge!
Other than Gu Changge, who else possessed such methods, able to annihilate the Reincarnation of the Mortal One right on his own turf?
And combined with those feelings of familiarity...
The truth had all but surfaced!
“Gu Changge...”
“It has to be that guy...”
Yue Mingkong gritted her teeth slightly, having practically made up her mind in an instant.
Other than Gu Changge, she ran through every possibility and couldn’t think of anyone else with such terrifying methods.
She suddenly felt a bit angry.
That heartless bastard had secretly kept this from her for so long again!
But then, remembering that she had also secretly come down to the Overworld without telling him, Yue Mingkong didn’t quite know what to say.
After all, when it came down to it, she was in the wrong too. Although she had indeed come with the intention of dealing with the Reincarnation of the Mortal One and helping Gu Changge, Gu Changge didn’t know that.
From the looks of it now, Gu Changge had done something to her.
That was how he knew her whereabouts, followed her secretly down to the Overworld, and hid in the shadows the whole time, never showing himself from beginning to end.
That mysterious Exalted Immortal was also a persona Gu Changge had put on.
Moreover, Yue Mingkong recalled the strangeness of Jiang Yang’s behavior when he came to keep the appointment back then.
Now it seemed Gu Changge had secretly lent her a hand at the time — otherwise, Jiang Yang wouldn’t have obediently rushed over to walk into her ambush.
All of this made Yue Mingkong unable to resist rubbing her brow.
She had sensed before that Gu Changge had planted informants around her — he claimed to trust her completely, yet in truth he still kept an eye on her movements.
Back on the Celestial Ancient Continent, it was precisely through such means that Gu Changge had found her many times.
But she had clearly already purged everyone around her — so how had Gu Changge managed to track her down?
“It seems my actions when I left the Gu Family back then aroused Changge’s suspicions, and that’s why he followed me.”
Yue Mingkong murmured softly, quickly identifying the detail that would have raised Gu Changge’s suspicion.
It must have been that she had acted too hastily when leaving the banquet.
And Gu Changge, with his hair-thin attention to detail and meticulous mind, would naturally have noticed that flaw.
Yue Mingkong was no longer anxious about how to explain things to Gu Changge when she returned to the Beyond.
Since Gu Changge had followed her all this way, he must have seen everything she had done.
Yue Mingkong refused to believe Gu Changge would continue to doubt and guard against her.
“Still, that guy has at least a shred of conscience — he didn’t plan to leave me without even a sip of soup.”
Having figured all this out, Yue Mingkong exhaled softly, a trace of a smile appearing on her face.
At this point, there was nothing strange left at all.
These World Purifying Green Lotus seeds had clearly been left for her by Gu Changge on purpose.
Weng!!
So with a wave of her sleeve, a sweep of five-colored divine light flashed past, and she collected them all.
Afterward, she left the place, intending to wrap things up — eliminating any loose ends that might expose her — and then return to the Beyond.
Since Gu Changge had personally taken action to eliminate the Mortal One, the greatest hidden threat, what else did she have to worry about?
Now, since Gu Changge deliberately refused to see her, she knew that with her own abilities, there was no way she could find him.
Some things, it seemed, could only be asked of him after returning to the Beyond.
Though she worried that, given Gu Changge’s temperament, he would flatly deny everything when the time came, insisting it all had nothing to do with him — and might even turn the tables on her, blaming her for sneaking down to the Overworld...
It had to be said, while Yue Mingkong couldn’t claim to fully understand Gu Changge’s temperament, she had already grasped it quite clearly.
The fact that Gu Changge had left the World Purifying Green Lotus seeds for her showed that she held a certain place in his heart.
This made Yue Mingkong quite delighted.
She, who was always cold and indifferent before her subordinates and confidants, couldn’t help but reveal a faint smile today — her celestial countenance unmatched, her elegance peerless.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, after being struck down into the Sky Pool by that figure wreathed in surging grey fog high above...
Yao Yao felt herself withdraw from that cold, indifferent state of regarding all things as ants.
She no longer possessed supreme power capable of destroying heaven and earth with a casual gesture — she had once again become that frail little girl who couldn’t even kill a chicken.
And right now, she was slowly sinking toward the bottom of the lake.
Powerless and despairing — forget struggling, she couldn’t even muster a shred of strength.
From above came that terrifying pressure, still astonishing even through the lake water.
Under such pressure, all living beings could only prostrate themselves on the ground, not daring to move.
Yao Yao knew that with Grandma’s strength, there was no way she could save her now. Perhaps Grandma had charged up to fight that terrifying figure and had already gone down ahead of her.
They had already fallen out with Jiang Yang, so there was no way he would step in to save Grandma.
Thinking of all this, Yao Yao felt a little sad.
When it came down to it, this matter had nothing to do with Grandma at all.
Grandma had only accompanied her here — she could have stayed outside — yet because of her, Grandma had lost her life here.
After all, against a terrifying existence like that, probably no one but Shifu could prevail, right?
She was going to die here — to join Shifu, Grandma, and her brother Jiang Yang, who was already long gone.
Scene after scene flashed through her mind.
There were memories of playing with her brother as a child, days spent together with Grandma, but most of all, the days and nights spent with Shifu.
“Yao Yao can’t avenge you anymore, Shifu...”
“But I’ll be able to see you very soon.”
At this moment, her greatest regret and reluctance was actually that she hadn’t found any trace of Gu Changge, hadn’t killed Jiang Yang — hadn’t avenged Shifu, hadn’t avenged her brother.
Weng!!
Yao Yao’s eyes were tightly shut, so she didn’t notice that at the center of her brow, that peach-petal-like mark was blossoming with brilliant radiance, illuminating the pitch-black lake bottom in dazzling splendor.
A strange light was emerging there.
Faintly visible was a Peach Tree rooted in endless chaos, chains of order hanging down from it.
And just at that moment, Yao Yao felt herself hit the bottom.
But why was there no sensation of landing in mud — instead, why was it so warm?
There was none of the cold and darkness she had imagined.
It was like that day when she fell from the sky and was suddenly caught by Shifu.
She wanted to open her eyes.
But the next moment, a gentle voice suddenly sounded by her ear, like a clear spring flowing over mountain rocks — natural and mellow.
“Why is this little girl so disobedient? I told you to wait for me at the Celestia Holy Land, so why did you sneak off here all alone?”
Hearing these familiar words, Yao Yao’s eyes flew open, and she stared at the scene before her in disbelief.
At some point, the surrounding lake water had been completely cleared away, forming a space of absolute warmth.
And the white-robed man speaking before her, the one who had caught her — wasn’t he the Shifu she knew so well?
“Impossible — isn’t Shifu already dead? Could this be the legendary Neraka? Am I meeting Shifu in Neraka...”
Yao Yao stared at everything before her in disbelief, then murmured softly, thinking she must already be dead — that was why she could see Shifu in this place...
But Shifu really was so good-looking!
No wonder he always hid his true face behind a veil of mist, never letting anyone see it clearly.
Otherwise, with so many women seeing him, wouldn’t they all be scrambling over each other to become her Shifu’s wife?
Thinking of this, Yao Yao suddenly felt a bit happy. Although she had died, she had finally fulfilled a long-held wish.
She had finally seen what Shifu looked like. She had always known Shifu couldn’t be very old.
He wasn’t some decrepit, lifeless old fossil.
As she thought this, she somehow found the courage from who-knows-where, reached out her little hand, and — as if possessed — actually moved to touch Shifu’s face.
As if wanting to check whether the Shifu before her was real or fake.
However, a hand blocked her, and incidentally rapped her on the head.
Accompanied by a somewhat helpless voice.
“You little girl, what nonsense are you imagining? Your Shifu is mighty and powerful — how could he die? And even in Neraka, Shifu could still take you out of here.”
“Hm?!”
Yao Yao’s little head suddenly couldn’t process it. Why would Shifu suddenly speak like this? Could all of this be entirely her own imagination?
Or was Shifu really not dead? Had she been wrong all along?
“Shifu...”
Yao Yao opened her mouth, intending to ask again.
However, the next moment, the Shifu before her suddenly moved — with a sweep of his robes, the entire expanse of lake water began to surge, as if pushed aside by a pair of invisible giant hands, all of it shut out.
Then, carrying her, he shot up into the sky, swiftly leaving this place.
Seeing this, no matter how slow Yao Yao was to react, she finally understood at this moment.
“Shifu, Shifu, you’re really not dead...”
She couldn’t help but cry out, her little face covered in tear stains, bursting into tears all at once — weeping like a pear blossom bathed in rain as she hugged Gu Changge tightly.
Shifu was alive and well; he hadn’t died.
All the worry, unease, sorrow, and grief of this period erupted at once, like a burst dam — her tears simply couldn’t be stopped.
“How could Shifu possibly die? What are you thinking?”
Gu Changge stroked her head with a helpless expression, his voice gentler than ever before, then said, “It seems quite a lot has happened while your teacher was away.”
“I’m sorry for making you worry, Shifu.”
At this moment, he certainly couldn’t tell her that he had actually been hiding deep within the Sky Pool of Death this whole time, watching the show.
In any case, he would just tell Yao Yao that he had met with an accident back then, had been trapped in this place, and knew nothing of what had happened in the outside world.
Toward this pure and kind-hearted girl, Gu Changge didn’t know what to say either — he could only try to compensate her more in the future.
Since he had become her Shifu, he naturally couldn’t just casually abandon her or anything of the sort.
That was true no matter how one looked at it.
Besides, even if he hadn’t shown himself just now, Yao Yao would have been fine. As a Dao Fruit, the power she had displayed so far was only a small fraction.
How could a mere bit of lake water possibly drown her?
It was just that she didn’t know it herself and had been worrying over nothing.
Hearing Gu Changge’s words, Yao Yao cried even harder, as if wanting to cry out all the sorrow and grief of this entire period.
Gu Changge shook his head slightly, then passed a stream of Celestial Spirit energy into her, lest she harm her mind and spirit in this state.
Extreme joy following extreme sorrow made one most vulnerable to such harm.
In this little girl’s heart, he occupied an unparalleled position.
And soon, Yao Yao slowly recovered from this tumult of grief and joy.
Remembering her nearly disrespectful gesture just now, her cheeks reddened a little.
She raised her head.
Those flawless, captivating eyes like black gemstones fixed intently on Gu Changge. “Shifu, next time, don’t leave Yao Yao alone again, okay?”
Seeing her near-pleading tone, Gu Changge couldn’t help but shake his head slightly and smile.
Then he said warmly, “How could Shifu ever leave you alone? Didn’t I promise you that even if you can’t cultivate, your teacher would still take care of you?”
“Little girl, what nonsense fills your head all day? You are your teacher’s disciple, after all.”
Hearing this, Yao Yao was somewhat dazed, and for some reason couldn’t feel happy.
Her tone also dropped a little, as if dejected.
“To Shifu, is Yao Yao just a disciple...?”
“Of course you’re not just a disciple. Didn’t your teacher tell you? Sometimes a Shifu can be even closer than family.”
Hearing this, Gu Changge patted her head, his voice as gentle and calm as ever.