Illusion or Reality?
Illusion or Reality?
Gu Xijiu had traveled directly to the Haoyue Kingdom to test the self-proclaimed heaven's gift disciple; however, the result was disappointing. Mu Feng adviced her according to the rules that she should put that person into the Dark Forest after dissolving his spiritual power.
Subconsciously, she was irritated by that task. 'What kind of rules are these? Why are there so many rules!?' Being the rebellious woman that she is, she put that person into the Dark Forest without removing his spiritual power.
She then returned to the Biwu Palace after solving the issue. However, she felt frustrated and depressed in there and then left after staying for only half a day.
She had no idea what she wanted to do. She had been traveling around as if there was a hole inside her heart, which made her feel empty to the extent she lost her passion in everything.
"Mu Feng, I remember you said it's always Spring all year round in the Biwu Palace?" She randomly asked as she noticed snowflakes on her dress and hair.
Mu Feng smiled awkwardly. "Indeed, that used to be the case. However, this year seems to be slightly different." In fact, the cold breeze had been howling for almost half a year. This strange occurrence was not limited to the Biwu Palace; the weather of the entire continent was also strange.
Half a year ago, it was summer. However, they had an early fall as the leaves began to fall since June. The temperature started to fall every day since then. Soon enough, everywhere was covered in snow.
Snowflakes continued to fall on Gu Xijiu's face as she lifted her chin and looked at the sky. She would not feel the cold anymore due to her current level of spiritual power. She merely sat down on a stone bench and continued admiring the snow.
Mu Feng was observing her as he waited somewhere nearby. Gu Xijiu had not initiated any wizardry barriers; hence, the snow fell on her freely but did not melt at all.
She was sitting there silently as if she was a snow sculpture. Gu Xijiu was now carrying a strong cold aura with her. The temperature of her surroundings would drop automatically wherever she visited.
In fact, Mu Feng suspected The Lord's emotion was the reason for the strange weather all over the continent. However, he did not dare to tell her. After all, it was winter at that moment; hence, it was normal for it to be cold.
A pair of cranes were hunting for food nearby. Perhaps, it was too cold as they began to cuddle to warm each other up. Gu Xijiu narrowed her eyes as she hated to see anything in pairs now! A strong force was formed as she lifted her arm and moved toward the cranes. Both of the cranes immediately flew away as they were frightened.
Mu Feng was speechless. The Lord indeed had a very strange temper recently; she hated anything that was lovey-dovey. Therefore, Mu Feng and the other messengers tried to avoid showing up in pairs in front of The Lord to avoid irritating her.
Everything seemed normal besides that. Gu Xijiu had become the true Lord and began to execute her responsibilities. She remembered that she used to look up to those great people who were at the highest positions. Now, she has become the most powerful person on the continent, and all the citizens even knelt and greeted her.
Everyone respected her and built temples for her. That was supposed to be the peak of her entire life, but she did not feel happy at all. She could not even feel her emotions. As she traveled around the continent, she only felt lonely even despite witnessing all the beautiful scenery. Perhaps, that was precisely what she had to experience when she became the most powerful person in the continent?
Gu Xijiu still felt that a big piece of her heart was missing; hence, she was wandering around the continent over the past six months trying to find some answers. She did not only wander around the Saha World but also visited hell and the Monster Kingdom. All three realms were very different from each other with unusual phenomena. Unfortunately, she was not impressed at all.
Subconsciously, she was looking for something, but she had no idea what it was. She even visited a few of her friends, such as Long Siye from the Tianwen clan, Qian Lingyu from the Haoyue Kingdom, Lan Waihu and Yan Chen, Li Mengxia, and many more.
She had been to many places but still could not find anything worth searching for. No matter who she met, she still could not feel anything, as if she subconsciously distanced herself from others.
"Master, I think something is wrong. Are you sick?" The Firmament Stone began to approach her again. Gu Xijiu was too lazy to respond. She was a physician after all; certainly, she would know if she was physically ill.
The Firmament Stone had been talking to her very often recently and even persuaded her to be more courteous to others. In fact, it thought she was suffering from depression. In fact, she did not intend to commit suicide but thought her life was too long and boring.
"Master, there are many more spells you have yet to learn. Why don't you go to the study room? There are plenty of secret scrolls in there." The Firmament Stone tried to find something for her to do.
Gu Xijiu had nothing to lose; hence, she went to the study room. The study room remained the same, but she fixed her gaze at the two chairs behind the table.
Suddenly, she seemed to have seen two people sitting on the chairs; one was reading, and another one was writing. It was such a lovely moment. The one who was reading seemed to have a question and asked the one who was writing. The one who was writing wrapped his arms around the one who was reading and began to explain. The one who was reading then wrapped her arms around the man and kissed his chin.
Gu Xijiu held her breath as she suddenly felt a familiar heartache. She knew it could be an illusion as she often saw these images. However, it used to appear only for a very short time and disappeared in a blink of an eye. She could not see the people clearly, but she felt it was the same two people. Strangely, the illusion stayed slightly longer this time; it was probably around ten seconds! Although it was still a blurred scene, she subconsciously knew that it was a man and a lady.
"My Lord…" Mu Feng reminded her as she was idling in front of the doorstep. She paused a little, then the illusion immediately disappeared.
Abruptly, she asked Mu Feng, "Did I fall in love with someone before?"
Mu Feng scratched his head. "Hmmm, I'm not sure." In fact, he did realize he had forgotten about something, but he could not recall what exactly it was. He paused for a moment as if he recalled something. "My Lord, you were once in love with the overlord of the Tianwen clan, and the relationship seemed to be good."
Gu Xijiu frowned as she certainly remembered something between her and Long Siye. However, part of the memories between the two of them was missing too. Many of the interactions between Gu Xijiu and Long Siye involved Di Fuyi; hence, it was normal for her to forget part of it as everything related to Di Fuyi had vanished.
She frowned and pondered as her gaze stopped at the two chairs again. Were the two people Long Siye and herself? She somehow felt that her obsession was to find out the real identity of these two persons. She left swiftly after stuffing a scroll into her storage space.
Mu Feng quickly followed. "My Lord, where are you going?"
Gu Xijiu remained silent. She was the Lord; she had no obligation to reveal everything to her subordinates. Certainly, she would use the directed audio spell to contact them if she needed anything.
Mu Feng sighed as he watched her disappear into the snow. The Lord liked to be alone. She would only contact them when there was something important.
Mu Feng was concerned as he looked at the snow out there. It was already February, and the spring buds should be growing by now. However, the weather was still freezing cold, and there was no sign that the ice would melt soon.
…
The sound of a flute lingered around the world. It was amazing. Gu Xijiu was standing on a big tree watching a white-robed man playing the flute. The man was charming; he was standing there alone as if he was the most beautiful creature in the world.
There was a big lake somewhere nearby which would never be frozen regardless of how cold the weather could be. The water was moving and splashed against the wall of the shore. It was scenic. However, Gu Xijiu suddenly saw that the man changed into a set of purple robes though she could not see him clearly at the time.
The man lifted his head as he heard something and Gu Xijiu was anxious! She suddenly saw a fox-eyes headband, very long black hair, and a smile that had no competition. Certainly, that was an illusion again as it almost disappeared instantly.
Suddenly, she saw a man in front of her. This person was surprised. "Xijiu!"
Gu Xijiu was slightly disappointed. She leaped and landed onto the ground. "Instructor Long, you're very free today, huh?"
Long Siye smiled with a pair of beautiful eyes. "I'm free every day; so, you're always welcomed, Xijiu."
Long Siye prepared a tableful of dishes for her under a tree. The toasted to each other. However, she did not have any special feeling even though Long Siye tried to impress her. She could still feel the loneliness she used to have, and that made her even more disappointed.
Gu Xijiu wanted to get to the bottom of everything; hence, she got Long Siye to play the flute as she was kind of into it at that moment. Long Siye placed the flute under his lower lip and said with a loving gaze, "Xijiu, I haven't listened to you sing for ages. Why don't I play a song for you to sing along to?"
Gu Xijiu did not reject; perhaps, singing could help to relieve her negative emotions. This time, Long Siye played a song which both of them were familiar with- 'Zhi Jian Sha' by The Legend of The Phoenix.
'I remembered you urged me to get onto the horseback as you played the lute under the moonlight in Jiangnan that year.
You wanted to stay as you never wanted me to miss you even because you knew that I loved you.
You told me fate was like the sands between our fingers; we need to let it go.
Regardless of the four seasons, I will spend the rest of my life going through all life's struggles with you…'
The song was lingering around the forest as the sound of the flute was pretty clear. It could be considered a perfect piece from both of them.
Suddenly, Gu Xijiu felt the scene was very familiar. All of a sudden, she saw a man floating in the lake.