It was already well past midnight, and all of Mingri Xinghai slept in this vast basin with hardly any sound.
Jian Chou took a long time walking back from that wine house.
When she left, her heart was full of confusion, but when she returned, it was completely clear: Fu Chaosheng regarded her as a close friend, and their earlier exchange could already be considered a “dispute.” She should find him to clarify this matter properly. Besides, compared to endless arguing, how to solve the problem was most important.
She carried Yashan’s token and easily entered the manor protected by defensive arrays. Returning to the courtyard, she intended to talk with Fu Chaosheng, but unexpectedly, he wasn’t in the courtyard.
Jian Chou extended her spiritual sense to search, but found no trace.
Her brow immediately furrowed. She sighed helplessly in her heart, feeling regretful for the first time that Zhou Mu wasn’t in her hands—otherwise she could use it to locate Fu Chaosheng now.
But currently, she couldn’t.
Fu Chaosheng was originally a supremely evil great demon born from heaven and earth, not to mention he had an unfathomable kun by his side. Where he was, Jian Chou couldn’t detect at all.
She could only sit in the courtyard’s stone pavilion and wait.
She wasn’t worried that Fu Chaosheng would leave completely because of their conflict. Firstly, having come this far, and secondly, he still wanted to investigate the secrets of extreme domain reincarnation and the mystery of the mayfly clan’s fate. Generally speaking, he wouldn’t leave easily, especially with the morning conference approaching.
Before dawn, he should return.
With this speculation, though Jian Chou still felt some vague worry, she wasn’t too panicked. She just watched the hazy stars and moon under the gloomy sky until the horizon began to brighten slightly.
Footsteps indeed came from outside the courtyard.
Along with conversation between two voices.
One carried earnest persuasion, the other was obviously somewhat impatient.
“I advised you kindly before—told you that’s not how humans behave. Even if there’s a dispute, you can’t just walk away. In the human world, this is very rude. Why don’t you…”
“Shut up!”
“Not listening to elders’ advice…”
“Say one more word and I’ll stew you immediately!”
The kun, transformed into a fish-shaped wooden hairpin, suddenly fell silent. At this moment, it only wanted to ask: You’re just a tiny mayfly—even if you stewed me, could you even eat me?
But it didn’t ask in the end.
Because after pushing open the courtyard gate and saying he would stew it, Fu Chaosheng stopped completely, seeing the moon-white figure sitting quietly in the courtyard, becoming slightly rigid.
Jian Chou was waiting for him in his courtyard, naturally having concealed her aura. And Fu Chaosheng, staying in the same manor as Yashan disciples, naturally followed local customs. After entering the manor gates, he walked in naturally. Firstly, he was talking with the kun, and secondly, his thoughts were turbulent, so he didn’t spread his demon consciousness and thus didn’t detect Jian Chou’s presence in advance.
When he saw Jian Chou, she naturally saw him too.
At this time, dawn hadn’t yet broken, the surrounding darkness was all shadowy and indistinct. A clear breeze stirred the mist in the courtyard. A small lotus pond was dug beside the pavilion, but at this season no lotus was planted—only some duckweed could be seen floating on the water surface.
Fu Chaosheng still wore that ancient long robe.
Patterns like moss stains of years crawled all over it. His pale complexion revealed a natural demonic evil, while his deep dark green pupils contained the flow of time. But now, seeing Jian Chou, they held some slight bewilderment. He stood there without moving.
So Jian Chou smiled: “Today at this moment, it’s rare to have some similarity with the scene when I first met you then.”
It was very similar.
At the time when night ended and dawn came, beside a small stone pool with water, moisture in the air, she turned her eyes and saw him.
Every morning was his birthday.
Fu Chaosheng truly couldn’t describe his feelings at this moment. In his originally brief life, he had known her for far too long.
At this moment, he couldn’t ignore her.
He looked at her for a while, also seeing the light, peaceful smile at her lips. Finally, he walked over and stood beside her: “It is very similar.”
Jian Chou was silent for a moment before saying: “The similarity I spoke of may differ from what you think. When I first met you on Deng Tiandao, I was still just an ordinary person who hadn’t yet reached Shijiu Zhou. Hearing your words, my heart was touched. Though ignorant, I could be said to have initially recognized this strange and marvelous world through this. Last night, your words were completely different from my original position and principles, making me unable not to think again about myself and this world.”
To Fu Chaosheng, she might be a friend met by chance and coincidence—the longest friendship one could have in a lifetime. To her, Fu Chaosheng’s existence was almost like an endless new world.
“After Fellow Daoist Chaosheng left last night, I thought about many things.”
Jian Chou no longer called him “Fellow Daoist Fu” but changed to “Fellow Daoist Chaosheng,” momentarily stunning Fu Chaosheng. He turned to look at her, but she had no particular reaction.
“I wonder if, after a night has passed, Fellow Daoist Chaosheng still wants to debate right and wrong, and ultimate truth?”
“…”
Fu Chaosheng actually hadn’t expected to see Jian Chou waiting here when he returned this morning, not to mention her suddenly changed form of address and her current peaceful words.
At this moment, what came to mind was some mortal habits he had observed when pretending to be a national teacher on isolated islands in the human world.
What did directly calling someone’s name signify?
He looked at her steadily, then suddenly smiled. Demonic aura grew in his eyes and brows, but without any fierce intent. He said with certainty: “My old friend is no longer angry with me.”
…Should she say he was very perceptive?
Jian Chou looked at the rare smile on his face, feeling somewhat helpless at the moment: “All matters of righteousness and evil, good and bad, relate to my principles. They’re not measured by being angry or not angry. You and I are not of the same species. That you view ‘survival of the fittest’ as the ultimate principle of heaven and earth is understandable. But you regard me as an old friend, and I don’t wish to lose Fellow Daoist Chaosheng as a friend either. If there’s no compromise between us on our conflicting points, this friendship might last for a while but not for a lifetime.”
“My old friend wants to be friends with me for a lifetime?”
Hearing this, Fu Chaosheng’s displeasure from last night completely dissipated. His eyes looked at her with some brightness.
Jian Chou suddenly fell silent.
Wasn’t her great demon friend’s focus a bit off?
“Close friends are hard to find. Fellow Daoist Chaosheng treats Jian Chou with sincere heart, and Jian Chou is not stone-hearted. I naturally should respond with sincerity and don’t wish to turn against Fellow Daoist someday. It’s just that what Fellow Daoist does is truly quite extreme—not something Jian Chou can accept at the moment.”
She was talking about Lu Song, wasn’t she?
The kun had said the same thing before—that even if he detested Lu Song’s chattiness, he shouldn’t have attacked at night. This not only couldn’t solve the problem but would put Jian Chou in an awkward position.
He didn’t care about Lu Song’s life or death—he only cared about Jian Chou.
So in fact, while he still didn’t agree with every word the kun said on the surface, he had already thought about many things in his heart. Moreover, after he spoke those words that normal people could hardly accept, she was still willing to wait here for him and communicate with him calmly.
Fu Chaosheng pressed his lips together, looking at her.
After a moment, he said: “I don’t think I was wrong, nor do I think my old friend was wrong. So thinking it over, it must be that Lu fellow who was wrong. If my old friend thinks I shouldn’t act this way, then I won’t act this way in the future.”
These words were completely different from when he previously explained his theory of survival of the fittest—almost carrying unconditional trust and compliance.
Jian Chou couldn’t help but be moved.
But after being moved, rationality returned.
She and Fu Chaosheng were ultimately not of the same species. If they were to be friends, similar incidents would continue to occur. She didn’t want to have such disputes every time.
So despite Fu Chaosheng saying this, she remained noncommittal.
At the moment, she just shook her head: “Actually, you’re not wrong. Humans dominating all things, all things serving humans—all because of differences in strength. Fellow Daoist Chaosheng needn’t change your methods and principles too much because of me, just as my methods and principles won’t change too much because Fellow Daoist Chaosheng is a demon. People in the world each have their own dao. I cannot practice your dao, you cannot practice my dao, but ‘technique’ is universal and can allow the countless daos practiced by countless people in this world to coexist peacefully.”
“Technique?”
Fu Chaosheng didn’t quite understand the meaning of this word.
“What’s called ‘dao’ is your fundamental understanding of this world and the path you want to walk. What’s called ‘technique’ is your method of realizing your ‘dao’ and getting along with this world.” Jian Chou looked back at him, her voice fairly relaxed. “Standing from your perspective, you feel you’re not wrong. Standing from my perspective, you can understand me and say I’m not wrong. Then, might I ask Fellow Daoist Chaosheng to stand from Pavilion Master Lu’s position and think whether Pavilion Master Lu’s previous actions were wrong? Or rather, even if there were improprieties, was the crime punishable by death, and should he have received yesterday’s punishment?”
Fu Chaosheng didn’t want to stand from Lu Song’s position to think about any problems at all. He wanted to say that his reason for thinking Jian Chou wasn’t wrong wasn’t because he could think from others’ positions, but because she was Jian Chou—an old friend he’d known for a lifetime.
But at this moment, he couldn’t say these words.
He looked back at her, seeming to deliberate for a moment before saying: “My old friend means that Pavilion Master Lu had understandable reasons, and even if wrong, shouldn’t have received such heavy punishment?”
“According to my principles, indeed so.” Jian Chou still spoke to him about ‘dao’ and ‘technique.’ “Between Fellow Daoist Chaosheng and me, our ‘dao’ is different—we shouldn’t conspire together. But if there’s suitable ‘technique,’ we can still get along while each maintaining our dao. You needn’t have said much about Lu Song’s matter—leaving it to me, I could handle it myself. With Yashan’s prestige and your heaven-reaching, earth-penetrating abilities, who could shut you out?”
Dao, technique.
Fu Chaosheng pondered for a while and actually understood: “My old friend means I needn’t change my ‘dao,’ but can change my ‘technique’—essentially having me use ‘technique’ to conceal my dao, thereby avoiding the most direct revelation and being excluded by those whose dao differs from mine?”
Though she was reluctant to admit it, at this moment Jian Chou had to nod, laughing and sighing: “It may sound somewhat despicable, but actually many people in the world with different thoughts mostly restrain themselves, using ‘technique’ to ease conflicts between different daos. Though I know Fellow Daoist Chaosheng has great abilities, even with the slightest possibility, I don’t wish to see you become an enemy of the many cultivators in Shijiu Zhou.”
Fu Chaosheng then smiled: “But I privately think that even if I learn ‘technique’ well and use it to ease conflicts and contradictions that should exist, you humans might not necessarily tolerate me. If such a day really comes, which side would my old friend stand on?”
“…”
Why was she starting to feel that her great demon friend’s questions were becoming increasingly impossible to answer? Between him and fellow daoists of Shijiu Zhou, which side should she stand on? This was like asking “If your mother and wife both fell into water, who would you save first?”
Jian Chou looked at him, speechless for quite a while.
Fu Chaosheng thought she found it difficult, remembering their dispute last night and the suspicious, strange looks from those cultivators when they questioned him during the day. His heart couldn’t help but grow somewhat gloomy, and his smile gradually faded.
“Shouldn’t I have asked this question?”
He still knew too little about human relationships and worldly affairs.
But Jian Chou didn’t answer this question, nor did she answer his previous question. She suddenly asked him: “If such a day really comes, which side do you hope I would stand on?”
This question needed no thought.
Fu Chaosheng naturally said: “Of course, my side.”
Jian Chou then looked at him and, in the gradually brightening daylight, lightly curved her lips in a smile: “Then please, Fellow Daoist Chaosheng, never give me a reason to stand on others’ side.”