Never forget
When he asked this question, everyone else's attention turned to A Qiu. This was because Gu Yi was always the most powerful person in the Southern Dynasty, and his safety was related to the fate of the world.
None of those present were outsiders. A-Qiu lowered her head, and after a moment, she said, "After Master wakes up, he may forget many things."
Lie Changkong stared blankly, "What?"
Gongye Fusu had already understood half of it and said, "Does the young lady think that if the young master wakes up and no longer remembers his identity, then there are some things that don't need to be known to him?"
A Qiu looked up at Gongye Fusu and said in a deep voice, "Most of a person's suffering comes from having desires but being powerless to fulfill them. Even if Master wakes up, he can never return to what he was before. In that case, it would be better to let go of the past and live freely and roam the mountains and fields."
When Gongye Fusu and Bai Shi arrived, they gasped in shock.
Gu Yi, the young master who rose like a comet and shone brightly in the Jiangdong regime over the past decade, is actually going to retire like this?
A Qiu said to Lie Changkong, "You stay here. If he wakes up, you can vaguely tell him that he has a name, friends, and disciples. But if he doesn't want to understand what happened before, you don't need to say anything more, just let him have his way."
Gu Yi described how his personality became quite eccentric after the change. A Qiu had dealt with that "other side" of him, and it was probably impossible to predict what he would remember or forget.
Lie Changkong was speechless, unable to utter a single word.
A Qiu said, "What? Is it difficult for you? Is the young master of the Tianquan family destined for great things and unwilling to serve as a servant to a useless person?"
Lie Changkong immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "I dare not. If the young master knew the connection between the Lie family and the master, he would not have said such a thing. The Tianquan family has served the imperial tutor for generations. Regardless of the master's advancement or retreat, honor or disgrace, they have only served one master in their lives. The young master need not worry about this. I was just an accident."
A Qiu then said to Gongye Fusu, "By order of His Majesty, I must immediately return to the capital with the painter Bai, and also investigate the matter of the Zhuyou Sect. Would you like to come with me, Young Master Fusu?"
Gongye Fusu nodded and said, "Whether it's refining the Divine Transformation Pill to help the Young Master restrain his 'Outside-the-World Body,' or for the sake of the Zhuyou Sect, I will do my duty without hesitation. However, there are a couple of things to discuss with the Gongye family's spice shop. Would you be willing to wait until tomorrow morning and travel with our family's carriage?"
After a moment's thought, A-Qiu nodded in agreement.
Bai Shi also said, "Since we've just had a formality, I also need to return to Tiangong Workshop to give the Meng family some explanation."
Ah Qiu agreed.
Gongye Fusu and Bai Shi both had their own matters to attend to, while Lie Changkong stayed with Gu Yi in the secluded paradise of Zuowang Peak.
A Qiu then returned alone to the inn in Huanhua City.
When she pushed open the door to the room again, the scene when she left the room two days ago was still vivid in her mind, and a wave of exhaustion and loneliness surged into her heart, almost drowning her.
It can be said that she has never felt such loneliness since birth.
She had experience of venturing into large cities alone to plot assassinations before, and she also spent many years practicing martial arts alone in the snowy mountains behind the city.
But those times passed by quickly, seemingly without leaving any trace in her heart.
The silence in the room at that moment made her feel an unbearable loneliness.
It's simply because Gu Yi is no longer here.
Even if he were to wake up again, the person who would wake up might not be the one she used to know and rely on.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
The thought that he would no longer be a part of her life made her feel inexplicably lost.
She once truly believed that she could rely on him forever, for the rest of her life.
She wasn't a dreamer, but from the moment she first saw Gu Yi, he gave her this dazed feeling. And for her to experience this feeling was naturally quite unusual.
A-Qiu barely slept a wink all night, only drifting off to sleep at dawn.
Hearing a knock on the door, she suddenly realized that the sun was already high in the sky.
Bai Shi's kind and gentle voice came from outside the door: "Miss, are you up?"
A Qiu immediately jumped up and opened the door, only to see Bai Shi dressed in a floral cloth robe, carrying a bundle in one hand and a scroll in the other, with soft cloth shoes on her feet and her long black hair flowing down her back, dressed for a long journey.
Seeing A Qiu's bewildered expression, she was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Thank you for being willing to take me to the capital. I have a small gift for you." She then handed over the scroll in her hand.
A Qiu was stunned after seeing it.
This is an extremely exquisite light-colored portrait, with flowing robes that resemble those of a fairy, and a faintly visible background that features a pink and white peony.
While at Tiangong Workshop, Aqiu and Gu Yi agreed to the manager's request to have an artist depict Aqiu's appearance as a portrait to be kept at Tiangong Workshop as a fine deed. Bai Shi was summoned to see Aqiu and Gu Yi at that time. While engaging in conversation, she kept writing, and in no time she had already sketched Aqiu's portrait. She said that she would need to refine and add details when she got back to complete the painting.
But the painting in A Qiu's hand is indeed lifelike and exquisite, with every detail of the clothes and hair vividly depicted. However, what leaps off the page is the image of a man and a woman.
A-Qiu's gaze did not linger on her own portrait, but instead lingered on the tall, imposing man behind her, his face veiled by a heavy hat and gauze. He had always been like a mountain peak, majestic and serene, standing there as if he would always be there whenever she turned back.
Bai Shi explained, "The one that Tiangongfang wanted was a portrait of a contemporary Baizhu dancer, so I only painted the girl. This one, however, is a special painting for you as a memento of your trip to the Southwest with the young master."
Ah Qiu stared intently for a moment before saying, "Thank you."
Bai Shi said understandingly, "Miss carries a sword with her, so it's inconvenient for her to carry this. I'll hold this painting for you first, and you can put it away yourself when we arrive at our destination in the capital."
Gongye Fusu, who lived next door, had also gotten up long ago. Hearing the commotion, he pushed open the door and came out, saying with a smile, "Young Master Meng was deeply uneasy when he learned that the disturbance at Tiangong Workshop a few days ago had actually involved the Junior Tutor and Miss Aqiu. He refused to let it go so easily and sent dozens of pots of exquisite peonies to our carriage, as well as nearly a hundred catties of famous fragrant herbs, begging me to take them back to the young lady."
Upon hearing this, A Qiu frowned and said, "He meant well, but how can I possibly have the time to take care of so many flowers back with me?"
Gongye Fusu smiled and said, "This time, young lady, you will be exercising power on behalf of the Junior Tutor, so why worry about not having servants and maids? Not to mention others, my Gongye family is willing to give you two flower servants to stay at Jinling Terrace and take care of your mundane affairs."
After a moment's thought, A Qiu decisively said, "No need. When Master was alive, he disliked such extravagant and cumbersome practices, and he did not want to be surrounded by servants, which would leave him with no privacy. Even when we use the Junior Master's Charioteer, it is for the sake of the world, not for personal matters. I should follow his family tradition and keep things simple and not complicated in my own affairs."
Gongye Fusu smiled meaningfully and said, "Therefore, the Junior Tutor has extremely clear vision and is a public servant of the world. Everyone is happy to have fertile fields, mansions, and beautiful maids, but they do not know that they will become enslaved by them. The Junior Tutor devotes all his energy to the world, so he does not want to be burdened by external things in the slightest. It is a blessing for the Southern Dynasty that you, Miss, will inherit his family's tradition."
He then said, “In that case, I have an idea. These peonies are all rare and precious flowers. Why don’t you entrust them to the Gongye family, and we will cultivate and propagate them for you? In the future, you can either give them away or sell them, whichever you decide. As for those spices and medicinal herbs, you can also entrust them to the Gongye family. We can either convert them into silver or sell them on your behalf. You have inherited the position of Junior Tutor and have the power of the Junior Tutor’s Charioteer under your command. You will surely need money in the future.”
A Qiu understood perfectly that Gongye Fusu's suggestion was for her sake, and it was not a personal favor but rather out of consideration for Gu Yi's sense of justice for the world. She did not refuse and simply said, "Thank you, Young Master Fusu."
Recalling her first encounter with Gongye Fusu at Tangli Garden, she thought he was as handsome as an orchid, elegant and refined like a noble young master, but in reality, he was a shrewd and capable businessman who could not hide anything from his eyes. Now, thanks to Gu Yi, she had received his full care and assistance, and A Qiu felt grateful.
Gongye Fusu then said, "The carriage is waiting outside. Please get in, ladies. The speed of the Gongye family's carriages and horses is naturally not as fast as the horse-riding skills passed down by Young Master Lie, but we can change horses along the way and return to Jianzhang within a few days."
A Qiu and Bai Shi followed Gongye Fusu out of the inn and saw the Gongye family's carriage, adorned with a tricolor family crest, waiting at the entrance.
A Qiu glanced one last time in the direction of Dawanshan Mountain in the south of the city, then lowered the carriage curtain and said, "Let's go!"
The moon was high in the sky, its clear light shining into the main hall of the Hidden World Sect's ancestral temple.
The entrance here is wide open, devoid of any human presence, yet it remains spotless and free of dust and moss due to regular cleaning. A portrait of the Daoist patriarch hangs in the hall, likely painted by Li Wujiu himself, probably twenty years ago. The incense in the burner still burns half-burnt, its wisps of smoke soothing that one can completely forget worldly troubles and enter a state of deep meditation.
Lie Changkong sat cross-legged on a futon in the hall in the middle of the night, with "Hundred Slashes" and "Strategist" placed in front of him, completely forgetting the passage of time.
He sensed something amiss in the distant mountains, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, realizing with a start.
Under the moonlight, in front of the statue of the Dao Ancestor, amidst the flickering smoke, stood a tall figure with snow-white hair that flowed down like countless wisps of auspicious vapor.
He had no idea when the person came in.
What made Lie Changkong's hair stand on end was that he didn't know if the person in front of him could even be called a "human".
Even though they were so close, he couldn't sense any human presence or energy emanating from the other person.
Shocked, he was fortunate that his eyesight was still intact, and he finally recognized the person in front of him by relying on his eyesight and years of familiarity.
He whispered, "Master, you're awake?"
The man turned around calmly, looking at Lie Changkong with emotionless gray eyes, and asked, seemingly irrelevantly, "Where is she?"
Lie Changkong wasn't sure who Gu Yi was referring to, so he cautiously asked, "I wonder who Master is asking about?"
Even this "she," based solely on the pronunciation, he couldn't discern whether she was male or female, friend or foe.
Who knows who will be the first person Gu Yi remembers when he wakes up?
Li Wujiu, who held the life-or-death barrier for him? Xiao Chang'an, the culprit who caused him to be in this situation? Or perhaps... her?
Lie Changkong's heart pounded.
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