Chapter 163: Can Grudges Be Repaid, But What of Love?

Analyze the human-machine thought process; it looks like this:

Trigger condition met = can kiss.

No trigger condition = cannot kiss.

Lu Xingzhou clutched his chest and collapsed into the wheelchair: "The little demoness drugged me before she left..."

Du Gu Qingli: "?"

Bai Mao felt a mix of anger and amusement, even wanting to draw her sword and chop him.

So she truly made a motion to swing the sword, just to scare him.

But the moment the sword left its sheath, Lu Xingzhou moved like lightning, catching her wrist.

Du Gu Qingli was startled; although her sword thrust was merely a feint, given her skill level, even cultivators of fifth or sixth grade usually couldn't see the sword's trajectory, let alone react accurately to catch it.

At the time of parting, Lu Xingzhou was only at the lower sixth grade; how long has it been, and he's already fifth grade... Moreover, his vision is precise and his moves swift; this potential is surely far superior to that Qi Tuizhi who bought his rankings...

While the human-machine was deeply analyzing Lu Xingzhou's strength, a great force surged onto her wrist, yanking her over.

Du Gu Qingli didn't expect his strength to have grown so much; caught off guard, she was pulled onto his lap and held tight. She pushed his chest in anger and haste: "What are you doing..."

As she spoke, her hands instinctively pushed a couple more times; the feel of that chest was different too! Much more muscular.

What has happened to him these days?

Lu Xingzhou said: "I was defending myself; someone tried to chop me with a sword."

"Let go of me~" Du Gu Qingli struggled: "I already said we are not in a relationship like this!"

Lu Xingzhou remembered Bai Mao's points one, two, three, and four before their last parting; they were truly said in a way that made a person's desire vanish completely.

"But I miss you, Qingli."

Du Gu Qingli's struggling paused for a moment, then she quickly added force to break free, standing coldly before him: "There is no sign anywhere that you miss anyone; you are getting along well with the demoness of the Hehuan Sect."

Lu Xingzhou said nothing, merely smiling as he looked at her.

Bai Mao's expression was ice-cold; to outsiders it might look like gazing upon an iceberg, but to him, it felt especially cute.

Du Gu Qingli could not stand his gaze, which looked as if he had spotted a "beautiful flower"; she turned her head to avoid eye contact.

Thus, she became even cuter.

"Since you once captured her, why did you let her go? And you even made her promise not to target me; do I fear her?" Du Gu Qingli turned her head and said: "You can ask her to revoke this request, have her come find me, or I will go find her."

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Du Gu Qingli turned her head back again, glaring angrily: "What is so funny!"

"Initially, I let Chu Yun go because at that time I wanted to connect with the Pei family; her identity had some value to exploit. But since I let her go, I myself fear no aftermath, yet I did not want releasing her to cause trouble for you." Lu Xingzhou said softly: "If I say I am thinking of you, is there truly no sign of it anywhere?"

Du Gu Qingli choked up: "I am not afraid either!"

Lu Xingzhou laughed.

"No laughing." Du Gu Qingli tried hard to maintain an expression as cold as frost: "Others look at me with caution; why do you always smile when you see me!"

"Fine, fine, no laughing."

"You initially wanted to connect with the Pei family; what about now?"

"Now I feel the Pei family has nothing worth connecting with; they are a great noble family with different thoughts... We can have private friendships, but they are not partners for equal cooperation. Or rather, it is not the right time."

"So you and Pei Chu Yun have a private friendship; how did you cultivate it?"

"When I said that, I meant Pei Yu..." Lu Xingzhou took her hand: "Alright, let's stop mentioning others constantly; don't you have anything else to say to me?"

"No. Oh, yes." Du Gu Qingli looked down at his hand: "Let go of me."

Lu Xingzhou sighed and released her hand.

Seeing him sitting in the wheelchair with his head down, looking like a pitiful puppy, Du Gu Qingli suddenly felt a desire to laugh herself.

She suddenly understood why he always smiled when looking at her.

"We are just friends; we cannot touch each other casually." Du Gu Qingli tried to appear serious: "Last time was just an accident; everything has been clarified; you cannot pretend to have forgotten."

Lu Xingzhou said: "If you don't want to be friends, then what conditions are required?"

"Isn't that very simple? Just sever ties; I actually intended to do so anyway."

"Why do you want to sever ties with me?"

"You smell entirely of the Hehuan demoness; it's disgusting."

"Then we have come full circle; shouldn't the Holy Maiden of Tianyao be the one occupying my time, leaving no opening for the Hehuan demoness?"

Du Gu Qingli stood there expressionless, her CPU overheating.

After a few seconds of daze, she suddenly flew into a rage: "It's all your fault; the reason I cannot break through to third grade is because of you and Shen Tang!"

Lu Xingzhou was momentarily stunned. If Du Gu Qingli's cultivation required her to forget these things, then blaming him was one thing, but what did Shen Tang have to do with it?

Yet she did not know that before Du Gu Qingli left, Shen Tang's three soul-stabbing questions were far more piercing to the heart than the intimacy between the two; if Du Gu Qingli occasionally thought of Lu Xingzhou these days, it was inevitably accompanied each time by Shen Tang's three soul-stabbing questions.

"I want to sever ties with you." The girl said seriously, then thought for a moment and drew her sword to cut off a tiny piece of her hem: "Cutting the robe to sever righteousness, is that right?"

Lu Xingzhou reminded her: "That isn't a robe; it's so dirty and tattered, how can you have the face to cut it and throw it to me? Better to cut your hair."

Du Gu Qingli didn't immediately understand that cutting the robe to sever righteousness meant throwing it on the ground; why give it to you, and why be criticized for being dirty and tattered? But then she thought, she was currently wearing his hair on her middle finger, which counted as him cutting his hair; so if she cut a bit for him, would that complete the severance ritual?

So she truly cut a small lock of hair and handed it over.

Lu Xingzhou opened a sachet and, smiling, stored this lock of Bai Mao inside.

Du Gu Qingli's eyes widened.

She then remembered that gifting hair in a sachet was actually a token of betrothal; carrying a loved one's hair on one's person signified being together forever.

The girl trembled with anger: "Lu Xingzhou! You have no shame! Give my hair back!"

"I won't give it back; it's rare to have something to use for longing." Lu Xingzhou kindly reminded her: "The one on your hand isn't good hair; better throw it away; shall I cut another lock for you?"

"I won't throw it away; I'll use it later for sorcery to curse you." Du Gu Qingli turned angrily and walked away.

If she stayed any longer, her two months of cultivation would collapse completely.

I originally thought everything had cooled down completely, that I would only occasionally remember... My heart holds only the sword.

Yet this brief encounter, lasting less than the burning of a single incense stick, brought forth all sorts of shame, anger, and chaotic emotions. I've been practicing the sword in vain; if I stay any longer, my cultivation might even regress!

Dugu Qingli dared not stay any longer and went straight to the National Preceptor's Observatory.

Ye Tinglan stood quietly on the Star-Gazing Platform, watching her disciple approach with a straight, upright figure.

Dugu Qingli looked up, and a strange, unfamiliar realization rose in her heart: Master is so beautiful.

Before, seeing Master only evoked a sense of awe and solemnity; I never thought about whether she was good-looking or not. But now, for some reason, my first reaction is that she is beautiful, more so than anyone I have ever seen. That Harmony Demoness isn't worth a single hair of Master's.

To outsiders, Dugu Qingli's advancing demeanor still seemed like a sword, like ice. Yet Ye Tinglan frowned slightly: "Your heart is unsettled."

Dugu Qingli took a deep breath, quickly expelling the stray thoughts from her mind: "Master once said that going to protect Shen Tang was also a trial of entering the world, to see more of human affairs. But with human affairs so chaotic, they disturb the mind, making things less peaceful than before. Is this good?"

"Only by entering human affairs can the heart be disturbed. What have you entered?"

Dugu Qingli thought for a moment: "Grudges?"

She's even learned to lie now...

But this lie was well told, perfectly matching Ye Tinglan's judgment of her disciple's recent behavior: "Do you have an old grudge against the Pei family girl?"

"Yes. She ambushed me in the Jianghu." Dugu Qingli took the opportunity to ask: "If my cultivation requires me to forget worldly affairs, like the moon reflecting on a cold river, then should I also forget grudges and not let them linger in my heart?"

Ye Tinglan said, "Advising people to forget grudges is indeed the view of some schools, but our Sect does not advocate it."

"Then what should be done?"

"Repay kindness with kindness, repay hatred with hatred. Act with joy, let your thoughts flow freely."

"... Master, are you sure this is my cultivation?"

"What I speak of is the cultivation of the Immortal Dao... If one cannot be free and unfettered, acting according to one's heart, how can one be an Immortal?"

Dugu Qingli fell silent for a moment: "But Master has many worries."

"That is why Master also struggles to be an Immortal." Ye Tinglan smiled: "But you have more hope than I do."

Dugu Qingli thought deeply, then gave up thinking.

"Your cultivation is inherently cold-hearted and emotionless, so naturally you have fewer worldly attachments than others; this is a kind of freedom." Ye Tinglan said: "But being cold-hearted and emotionless cannot mean being ignorant. Not understanding human affairs, not knowing human hearts—that is a stone, not an Immortal. Therefore, you must experience it. Sending you to protect Shen Tang allows you to see the warmth and coldness of human relationships, to see brothers turning against each other, to see disciples betraying their masters... One month of seeing this is worth ten years. Wake from a great dream, and you will know that worldly affairs are nothing more than this, and then you can depart."

Dugu Qingli nodded.

Ye Tinglan said: "As for experiencing the mundane world, naturally one gets entangled in kindness and hatred... Repay the kindness you owe, repay the hatred you hold, and from then on, you will be light, all shackles removed. This is also cultivation."

Dugu Qingli thought for a moment: "Kindness, resentment, love, hatred. Kindness and hatred can be repaid, but what about love?"

"Love? How could someone like you even stir up love..." Ye Tinglan shook her head: "Even if it does stir, it will be slow and cold. After a seclusion of a year or half a year, it will be forgotten completely. Just like the moon reflecting on a river; it seems the moon is on the river, but in truth, nothing is left behind."

Dugu Qingli pondered: "Does Master mean... there is no need to resist?"

"There is indeed no need to resist. Following nature is the Dao."

Compared to the Tianyao Holy Land, or even the likes of the Huo family or Gu Zhanting, the most typical difference is that they are truly cultivating immortality; their mindset and perspective are entirely different.

Ye Tinglan could not shake her sense of responsibility, so she wasted time in the mundane world, but Qingli can transcend it.

She held great expectations for her disciple.

Seeing Dugu Qingli in thought, her previously slightly unsettled mood had already calmed, and there was even a faint aura of breaking through a Dao realm spreading out. Ye Tinglan was very satisfied with her disciple's comprehension and waved affectionately: "Why stand so far away? Come up and let Master see; it's been a while since we met. How much have you grown?"

Dugu Qingli walked up to the Star-Gazing Platform, and Ye Tinglan, smiling, took her disciple's hand to examine it.

The moment her hand touched, her expression froze slightly: "Why is there hair wrapped around your fingers... Strange, what kind of hair is this?"

(End of this chapter)