People are people, lamps are lamps—how did they become the same thing?

And flame and ash…

Hmm, is there any great difference?

After hearing Jian Chou’s words, the Lamp-Lighting Boy blinked in bewilderment, feeling that the originally simple thoughts in his little brain had suddenly been tangled up by her.

This way of thinking was wrong, that way was also wrong.

“What you, her, flame, ash—are you speaking human language? I don’t understand…”

His words were confused, his expression puzzled, truly possessing a unique charm.

Jian Chou immediately laughed out loud.

However, she had no intention of explaining clearly to him. Though all things with spirit in heaven and earth, when encountering suitable opportunities, could always share hearts and feelings, understanding everything the other understood. But obviously, for the Lamp-Lighting Boy, that time had not yet come.

She extended her finger and gently tapped his head, only saying: “I hope you never have a day when you understand.”

“Ah?”

This was getting more and more outrageous.

The little person sprawled on the lamp’s edge immediately became unhappy, his face wrinkling into a tiny ball as he stared wide-eyed at Jian Chou, as if she had said something unforgivable.

Jian Chou paid no mind.

In her eyes, this boy was probably equivalent to “youth not knowing the taste of sorrow,” so she was very tolerant of him in her heart.

At this moment, looking up and around, she saw the moonlight sinking, and the starry river in the sky that seemed painted with bold strokes was also gradually dimming, becoming faint.

Between the eastern mountains, there was already a pale fish-belly white.

Dawn would come soon.

The lamp oil in the lotus lamp had shallowed considerably, the bottom faintly visible.

Under the gradually brightening skylight around them, the originally dim yellow lamplight was like a lonely boat drifting on a river surface, swaying and trembling.

The Lamp-Lighting Boy watched, seeming somewhat drowsy, so he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“I should go.”

Saying this, Jian Chou stood up and looked down from this higher peak at the Chanzong temples and monasteries below. The clean, simple walls and tiles were all wrapped in thin mist, silent in the dim morning light.

After all, she had been trapped in the Sumeru Mustard Seed for too long.

In a flash, another twenty years had swiftly flowed by. The situation in Shijiu Zhou and the Extreme Domain had surely changed, and Yashan must be worried about her safety. Though they probably already knew she had emerged safely, it was still better for her to return early.

This matter should be resolved as soon as possible.

“Are you leaving?”

The Lamp-Lighting Boy suddenly became more alert. Though they hadn’t exchanged many words all night, probably because she was the present her, he felt somewhat reluctant to let her go.

Jian Chou nodded, appearing open-minded: “Thank you for this lotus lamp throughout the night.”

“Will you come again in the future? What about her?”

Seeing her about to leave, the Lamp-Lighting Boy quickly asked again.

Jian Chou’s steps paused. She stood still and pondered for a moment, only replying: “Whether I come depends entirely on fate; whether she comes depends entirely on choice.”

Fate, choice?

Still incomprehensible?

The Lamp-Lighting Boy was somewhat angry, his cheeks puffing up. Finally, he stubbornly stopped asking her, like a child who didn’t get candy, just watching her slowly walk away.

All enlightenment came in a single night.

Regarding how to handle that female demon, Jian Chou’s heart was no longer confused—she had a clear decision.

Bidding farewell to the Lamp-Lighting Boy, she walked in the gradually brightening skylight, stepping on the small path with moss growing in its crevices, leaving that Cinder Pool that contained the world’s past loves, hates, and entanglements, carrying the Lamp-Lighting Sword, heading down the mountain.

Halfway down the path, before returning to the monastery.

On the narrow, steep mountain trail ahead, a snow-white figure actually appeared.

It was a monk.

His angular face was condensed with the surrounding cold morning mist, and between his slightly lowered eyes was a lonely color. His monk’s robe was snow-white, perfectly harmonious with heaven and earth, possessing the indifference of having no emotions or feelings, as well as the blandness of no sorrow or joy.

Yet that pair of eyes and brows concealed a silence that seemed loving yet loveless…

His cultivation was completely undetectable, yet he didn’t feel like an ordinary person at all.

Jian Chou hadn’t expected to encounter anyone on this mountain path at this hour, and felt somewhat mildly curious and surprised.

That monk also saw her, but whether he already knew or simply didn’t care, he didn’t show much reaction.

The two approached and met face to face.

Jian Chou didn’t know how to address the other party, and vaguely felt this wasn’t a moment for words, so she paused slightly and only bowed to this monk with a respectful bow.

The monk glanced at her, returned the courtesy, then walked past her.

The corner of his snow-white monk’s robe swept over the mountain vegetation and flowers, already soaked through, yet the monk seemed unaware, or perhaps simply didn’t care about such trivial matters.

These external things weren’t in his heart.

His steps were neither fast nor slow, and he soon disappeared among the winding mountain paths.

Was he also going to the Cinder Pool?

Jian Chou didn’t know much about the several high monks in Chanzong, but if she had to match someone completely with the monk she’d just encountered, it could only be the legendary Chan Master Xuelang, who had the highest cultivation among the three masters.

People outside always called him: the Emotion Monk.

She didn’t know what kind of story this Chan master carried, but she figured that among all sentient beings in this world, many could see through things, but even more couldn’t.

Actually, whether one could see through or not…

Neither was important. What was important was seeing one’s true heart clearly amid layers of confusion.

So though she found this chance encounter quite strange and the other’s identity mysterious, Jian Chou didn’t think much about it. She quickly withdrew her gaze and continued down the mountain.

Along the way, she could faintly hear the sound of a jade flute among falling flowers.

It came from up the mountain—probably that monk playing.

Whose jade flute secretly flies its sound, scattering into spring wind throughout Luoyang city.

This melody actually expressed endless tender attachment and lovesick longing…

She listened to this tune as she descended the mountain.

At this time, a red sun just revealed some outline from between the mountains. Crimson sunset glow adorned the entire monastery, and from the bell and drum towers on both sides of the Heavenly Kings Hall came the sounds of morning bells and evening drums, echoing leisurely.

The distant sea surface also raised waves.

The Thousand Buddha Hall was behind the Standing in Snow Pavilion, the rearmost great hall in Chanzong’s main temple. Inside were enshrined countless large and small Buddhas, and now it confined that female demon who had emerged from the Cinder Pool.

When Jian Chou reached the hall’s entrance, the bell and drum sounds had just ended.

Her footsteps also stopped.

She had originally thought that coming down from the mountain, she would be the first to arrive here, but unexpectedly, someone had come even earlier.

A mocking smile curved her lips as Jian Chou resumed walking over, standing beside that person, looking up together at the high-hanging plaque of this great hall.

“Fellow Daoist Xie has been here for a while, hasn’t he? Why not go in?”

Xie Buchen had indeed been here for a while.

His blue robe was clean, his head slightly raised, his eyes lifted. The profound handsomeness and elegance in his features, blended with the nobility in his bearing, wasn’t diminished in the slightest by his overly indifferent expression.

He heard Jian Chou’s words but didn’t respond.

At this time, the sky wasn’t completely bright yet. Though the hall doors were open, inside was pitch dark, with only those dim yellow candle flames visible—no human figures could be seen.

Though Xie Buchen didn’t speak, how could Jian Chou not know the reason?

The existence inside was indeed a demon different from humans, but at the same time, it was also all the past she had cast aside.

Even she herself had taken a long time to accept it, and only dared to come after this morning’s sudden enlightenment. How could Xie Buchen possibly have no reservations so quickly?

Jian Chou understood in her heart, but at this moment, she pretended not to know and actually waved her hand at him, wearing a smile, saying: “Please—”

Xie Buchen finally turned to look at her.

Between her delicate and serene brows and eyes was only a deep, dark, waveless calm. No longer could he see any deep resentment or deeply buried hatred—only that calm rationality, and extremely deeply hidden disdain and disapproval.

The Jian Chou before him was not the Jian Chou of the past.

This obvious difference and division suddenly surfaced in his heart at this moment.

Xie Buchen thought of all the circumstances of that female demon he’d seen yesterday, and surprisingly felt his usually clear mind filled with chaos. In the Sumeru Mustard Seed, for Jian Chou it was four hundred years of lonely cultivation, but for him it was five hundred years of cultivation and five hundred years of torment.

Only because she no longer had feelings for him, while he still loved.

The more time they spent together, the more his love grew.

In those five hundred years, however much his cultivation increased, his heart demon grew by the same amount.

So during those five hundred years, he had harbored a strange suspicion.

The journey to the snowy regions, obtaining the Nine Doubts Cauldron, entering the Sumeru Mustard Seed—there were indeed opportunities everywhere, but also dangers at every turn. Especially his heart demon…

Could Hengxu Laoguai truly have no awareness at all?

Xie Buchen withdrew his gaze, only pressing down all those especially tormenting feelings in his heart. His steps and expression equally calm, after Jian Chou’s “please” fell, he stepped inside.

It looked dark from outside, but after entering, it felt bright.

Jian Chou naturally didn’t fall behind. She entered the hall together with Xie Buchen, blinked her eyes, and had already adapted to the light inside the hall that was somewhat dimmer than outside.

The hall interior wasn’t completely flat—there were seven steps at the very front, symbolizing the seven-story pagoda of Buddhism.

The female demon Jian Chou sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion at the top of those steps.

People cannot see their own backs.

This was also Jian Chou’s first time seeing “her own” back view from behind.

It appeared somewhat slender, but because her spine was straight, she looked particularly upright. The flickering light and shadow in the hall, reflected on her silhouette, added a nearly dreamlike isolation from the world.

On the surrounding walls, colorful paintings meandered, with thousands of Buddhas watching.

She sat cross-legged under the gaze of these thousand Buddhas, not moving at all, like the Buddha statues in front—as if lifeless sculptures.

Solemn, without a trace of demonic aura.

On the ground was no complex array or talismans, only a simple golden circle, drawn not particularly round, without that feeling of striving for regularity.

But precisely because of this, it had a Chan meaning that penetrated heavenly mysteries.

It was drawing ground as prison, encircling all seven steps within.

The female demon Jian Chou sat in this “prison,” unable to step out.

When Jian Chou and Xie Buchen arrived, she had already noticed. She only raised her head to gaze at the statues ahead for a long time before standing up and turning to face the two.

They stood on the left and right with a clear distance between them, distinct as separate rivers, as if neither had anything to do with the other. But this scene, falling in her eyes, became infinite mockery.

Only because their calm yet complex expressions were truly too similar.

“If not for deep hatred and great enmity, you two would indeed be a match made in heaven and earth. The same ruthlessness, the same arrogance…”

The female demon Jian Chou’s gaze moved from Jian Chou to Xie Buchen, and she suddenly smiled.

“I am everything she cast away and severed—old affections, old love, old bonds. Looking at me now, do you feel your heart breaking into pieces, or feel it being torn apart?”

Her gaze was too direct, too sharp, like a knife. And this knife was stabbed precisely into Xie Buchen’s heart.

He closed his eyes.

As if this way he could become quiet and calm, untroubled by all the disturbances around him. But beside his ears, footsteps sounded, and then slightly cool fingertips reached out, touching his chin.

“You came precisely to see clearly, didn’t you?” A light laugh rang out in the same voice as Jian Chou’s. The female demon Jian Chou had actually come before him. “Why close your eyes then?”

That cool touch from her fingertip almost instantly penetrated to his heart.

Xie Buchen opened his eyes.

The female demon Jian Chou’s face, identical to Jian Chou’s, was close at hand. At some point, she had walked down from that highest step and stood on the lowest step, looking at him with eyes that seemed to contain affection.

Seemed to contain affection.

So be it.

“Actually, I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask you, this clever person.”

Her voice was very low, her gaze also very shallow, as if one could see to the bottom at a glance. But when you truly looked in, you felt there was a vast sea, a deep abyss inside.

Xie Buchen didn’t blink—he saw everything clearly.

He still appeared very calm, but in the depths of his eyes and heart, everything had withered. No longer were there green mountains and blue waters, flourishing branches and leaves—only thorns everywhere, desert sands, desolation and bleakness.

Only he knew what he felt at this moment.

The female demon Jian Chou leaned forward, approaching him.

That slender index finger still pointed at his chin, and she actually lowered her head, dropping a kiss gentle as snowflakes, light as touching water.

It should have been infinitely tender, but her posture at this moment was clearly looking down from above, high and mighty.

Thus, such a kiss actually looked like casual favor, even charity!

Xie Buchen’s standing figure immediately stiffened for a moment.

Tremendous waves instantly surged in his heart. He tried desperately to suppress them, but they were so turbulent, carrying scorching force that almost burned through his entire chest!

Though his expression remained calm, the sudden ice that filled his eyes revealed his sense of facing a great enemy!

However…

When he slightly raised his eyes to meet the female demon Jian Chou’s gaze, everything instantly froze again. The sharp blade this time pierced him completely without reservation!

In her eyes was no tenderness, much less any love.

There was only merciless mockery, seemingly compassionate pity, all manner of derision. Without needing to say a single word, just this look was enough to make everything clear.

She did it deliberately.

Xie Buchen had always been a person calm to the extreme, even calculating to the point of coldness.

He could clearly separate his love and hatred from the Great Dao, always weighing all measurable strategies, desires, and human hearts. Even knowing that loss would cause him pain, once a choice was needed, once abandonment was required, he would cut it off without mercy.

Rational, as always.

But this didn’t represent complete detachment.

His love for Jian Chou couldn’t be extinguished because she still existed. He could clearly and indifferently feel the torment and pain of both body and soul…

Burning coldly, going mad rationally.

“Pitiful and detestable…”

The female demon Jian Chou’s gaze seemed able to penetrate his shell and see everything in the depths of his heart and soul. She seemed to feel some pleasure and smiled, asking the question she had wanted to ask earlier.

“Xie Buchen, tell me—one present, one past—which me do you love more?”

“…”

Jian Chou, who had been coldly observing, finally couldn’t help but slightly raise an eyebrow.

Earlier she hadn’t sensed much demonic aura from this female demon, but the other’s every word and action indeed carried the willfulness and evil spirit that only demons possessed.

That action just now was clearly somewhat presumptuous…

But seeing her completely unconcerned attitude, her manner of bestowing favor, Jian Chou actually felt some appreciation.

However, at this moment…

The question she posed, in this situation and scene, truly revealed a complexity so extreme it was beyond words.

The female demon Jian Chou only stared at Xie Buchen.

He remained silent for a long time, the bloody taste already surging in his throat as he slightly closed his eyes.

Actually, the female demon felt she knew the answer. But she thought he wouldn’t respond.

Unexpectedly, just as she laughed once and turned to go back, Xie Buchen’s eyes, which hid endless changes, reopened, his gaze now completely clear.

He spoke with a calm and certain answer: “Not you.”