GB Chapter 40
by VolareAs early as at the Tian Shi Mansion, Qianren had heard that the God of Lamentation’s aura had a negative effect that could make people lose all desires. Even now, though far away, he could still clearly sense that his emotions were being affected. Luckily, he himself didn’t have many desires, so his mind wasn’t shaken like Ling Sui Daoren’s. Instead, he simply didn’t get any closer and asked at the entrance, “May I ask, what did my master discuss with you when he came to the Ghost Domain?”
The God of Lamentation had known of his arrival for a while, but had not made any indication, or rather, this Ghost God wouldn’t pay attention to anything unless it provoked him. Now, he responded to Qianren’s question indifferently, “Why do you ask?”
“Although he is not a serious person, he is extremely earnest about matters of the world. He wouldn’t anger the God of Joy over trivial matters.”
Qianren understood his master. He Huan’s actions may seem casual, but there was often a deeper meaning behind them. As expected, the white-robed man in front of the desk’s expression flickered upon hearing these words, and finally showed some complicated emotion, “He asked me, is it necessary for the Heavenly Dao Alliance to eliminate the Ghost Domain?”
With just this one sentence, Qianren realized he had underestimated his master’s courage. Asking in front of two Ghost Gods if it was necessary to wipe out their lair, the stone tablet was truly well-deserved. Or rather, the fact that they hadn’t fought with him over it meant that the God of Joy had a much better temper than he had imagined.
“Actually, I also think that once one dies, the best choice is to let go of everything and enter reincarnation. It’s a shame that all the ghosts here can’t let go, and not even I am an exception.”
Seeing that Qianren was as shocked as expected by his master, the God of Lamentation chuckled and gave a more startling answer. He had little attachment to remaining in this world, and in the past when cultivators wanted to convert him, he never resisted. Now, he just gave a somewhat melancholy answer to Qianren’s confused look,
“The world no longer has Xi Shang. My old friends and enemies have all departed with time. The regrets I had when I died have not diminished in the slightest. If I could be converted by a cultivator, it would be a happy thing for me. Unfortunately, this hatred for my fallen kingdom is something no Xuanmen Dao Monarch can dissolve.”
Unable to seek life, unable to seek death, perhaps this is the true reason why every Ghost God is so powerful.
With this realization, Qianren unconsciously thought of Zhuge Qingtian and his tone became slightly somber, “Sir, do you still cling to your old kingdom? Even if the ruler of Xi Shang intended to eliminate you to stabilize his regime?”
“If my death could ensure the eternal rule of Xi Shang, what is a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices? What I hate is that I died, and the only nation I loved also died.”
Even though two dynasties had passed in the human world, the God of Lamentation’s words were still exceptionally fervent when he mentioned his old kingdom. However, he quickly calmed down like ash, “I know that this kind of love is crazy and foolish, but only this obsession won’t change even after thousands of years. In the end, Ghost Gods are existences that are so stubborn that even the Heavenly Dao can’t stand it and can only kick us out of the human world.”
The Ghost Domain was not something that the Ghost Gods deliberately released, but rather, the Heavenly Dao did not allow them to walk the human world, reminding the living to stay away from Ghost Gods.
Instantly understanding the meaning behind his words, Qianren didn’t know if Zhuge Qingtian would be the same if he recovered his memories, so he asked, “Are all Ghost Gods like this?”
“The deeper the love, the greater the hate. The fact that the God of Joy is so obsessed with building Yindu and developing his forces is simply because he wants to return to the human world he loves the most.”
When talking about other Ghost Gods, the God of Lamentation’s first reaction was the God of Joy, and his eyes softened unconsciously. He sighed with a hint of distress, “Even if he has no malice toward the living, he would cause disaster as long as he walks among the humans. Therefore, no matter how many times, I will stop him. It’s not to protect the people, but just because I don’t want to see my student hurting the things he loves.”
He didn’t expect these two Ghost Gods to be teacher and student, but only referred to him as a student and not a disciple, they didn’t seem to be very close either. Although he wasn’t sure about their relationship, Qianren thought about it and still asked the biggest question, “What does Sir think the God of Joy wants to do this time?”
“Perhaps he wants to get rid of this old hindrance of mine. After all, every one of my students eventually wants me to disappear…”
When Fang Sui Han was alive, he killed his own student and then was killed by his last emperor student. Now, it seemed that the God of Joy, whom he taught after death, also had intentions of being his enemy. It was clearly a sad thing, but he spoke of it calmly, even with a hint of relief, “Actually, no conspiracy matters. There are only dead people on this island. The worst outcome is just dying again. What is there to be so worried about? You are different from us. Since you are alive, you still have a future. Return to the human world as soon as possible.”
Perhaps it was because the God of Lamentation’s aura really affected people’s minds, when Qianren walked out of the Wanguishu Academy, even he involuntarily sighed in relief. The God of Lamentation was already tired of existing in this world. If the God of Joy could really make him disappear, he probably wouldn’t even resist. This Ghost God seemed indifferent on the surface, but he actually cared about the God of Joy a great deal. However, this was not good news for the living.
Knowing that he couldn’t expect the Ghost Domain to resolve this issue on its own, Qianren was also a bit troubled. He couldn’t help but lament that it was much easier being with Zhuge Qingtian than worrying about these troublesome matters.
But this sigh made him feel that something was not right. He had never been picky about official duties before. He could handle even more troublesome conflicts without any emotion. Why did he feel so troubled today? Or rather, what he was troubled about was not handling the conflicts, but having to take time out from teaching his disciple to deal with these power struggles. Has his concern for Zhuge Qingtian reached the point where he could compare it to the Demonic Cult?
Qianren did not believe he had any love for the Demonic Cult. He only took the position of protector due to his friendship with the Cult Leader You Jiang. However, the fact that Zhuge Qingtian’s position had already implicitly surpassed You Jiang surprised him.
Hmm, maybe it was because You Jiang’s position was not that high in the first place?
With this thought that would definitely make the Cult Leader slam the table and call him a traitor, Qianren quickly found where Zhuge Qingtian was. He originally thought that his lonely disciple would be bored and wandering around, but who would have thought that the usually restless young man would be bent over a desk, carefully drawing with a brush.
Qianren knew that all disciples of the Tian Shu Pavilion were skilled in the arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. However, these elegant matters were completely unrelated to Zhuge Qingtian in his imagination. It wasn’t until he personally witnessed him carefully grinding ink and drawing each stroke as if handling a treasure that he realized his disciple had such a quiet and refined side.
Zhuge Qingtian rarely acted this seriously. Seeing that he hadn’t even noticed him pushing the door open, Qianren was curious about what exactly had captivated him so much. So he opened his mouth and asked, “What are you drawing?”
His voice startled Zhuge Qingtian, who trembled and quickly steadied the brush so as not to drop ink on the paper. After making sure he hadn’t messed up, he said in a still-shaken voice, “Master, it’s not right for a person to scare a ghost!”
It was definitely unheard of for a Ghost God to be scared by a living person. After the initial shock, he recovered his usual demeanor and turned his body to show his master the painting, “I asked the God of Lamentation how to draw colors other than red. He said that as long as you don’t hold any negative emotions when you take the brush, your painting won’t be affected. So I drew you, and sure enough, it’s not dyed red by the baleful aura anymore.”
He was still immersed in the focused mood of painting. His words were calm and descriptive, but looking at the painting of himself where the brows and eyes were drawn exactly like they were in reality, Qianren couldn’t help but fall silent. He thought, looks, power, and cultivation could be obtained with some talent in the martial world. But the only person who could be so devoted to him was probably Zhuge Qingtian.
His temperament was always cold, and he was not as attractive as his master. He also couldn’t say a few nice words to anyone. Where exactly did his disciple become so devoted? He truly couldn’t understand Zhuge Qingtian’s thinking.
After a careful analysis, Qianren came to a conclusion – he was indeed the most unpopular male cultivator in the demonic path. No one should have been interested in his personality, so Zhuge Qingtian’s tastes must be so strange probably because he wasn’t a person.
Zhuge Qingtian had no idea that such a logical conclusion had been reached in his mind. He was simply worried that maybe his drawing was not good, or that his master didn’t like the realistic style. Should he have made it more in line with the immortal’s temperament? He was originally confident that he wouldn’t lose to any famous artist…
After a somewhat anxious look at Qianren’s serious expression, Zhuge Qingtian finally couldn’t help but try to make up for it, “Don’t dislike the lack of rich colors. It’s just that Master’s color scheme is too monotonous, so everything appears black. Would you consider wearing other colors, like flowing white clothes?”
The reason he said this was because he was confident that if Qianren’s clothes were slightly more flowing, he could draw the man as a celestial being. However, Qianren’s face immediately darkened upon hearing this, and he only said, “Give up this unrealistic idea. If I wear white clothes, I’ll look ten years older, and if I walk with your other grandmaster, people will think I am his father.”
Zhuge Qingtian had only seen how light-colored clothing made people look younger. This kind of magical effect was the first time he’d heard of it. After imagining it for a moment, he was actually somewhat eager, “You’ve worn it before? Now I want to see it even more. When we disciples walk together, we can make a three-generation family!”
Qianren had no intention of experiencing the kind of thing where they pay the bill and are praised for how lively their son is again. Looking at Zhuge Qingtian who was eager to try, he warned, “Don’t try to tamper with my clothes, or I’ll beat you until you call me grandpa.”
Tch, he could see through his thoughts instantly. Master was getting more and more amazing.
With a helpless pout, Zhuge Qingtian looked down at his master’s muscular physique and suddenly discovered something new. He said happily, “Master, could it be that the reason why your clothes emphasize your muscle curves is intentional? Not because it is convenient for movement, but to show off your figure? Do you actually care about your appearance?”
He was becoming addicted to teasing his master. Dead people have no feeling, but he could clearly feel someone rubbing all over him. This disciple of his had really been asking for a lesson these last few days.
Qianren watched Zhuge Qingtian stick closer to him, raised his eyes, and resolutely said something that immediately made him freeze, “Zhao Huai’an had a younger brother who was only one year younger than him. He died not long after Zhao Huai’an took over the Tian Shu Pavilion.”
Facts proved that Master was extremely accurate in dealing with disciples. As soon as these words came out, Zhuge Qingtian didn’t dare to move. He glanced at Qianren’s expression, made sure that he was okay, and then slowly sighed, “Master, can you not suddenly switch to topics that are bad for the heart? My fragile heart can’t take it.”