After the Breakup, My Cold and Aloof Junior Disciple Went Mad - Chapter 3

The Divine Lord’s thin lips were tightly pursed, as if he had been holding back…

His smile freezing on his face, Gu Shenzhi raised a hand and pointed forward. “But Divine Lord… isn’t he supposed to be handling official business inside the Extreme Sun Palace?”

The Fox Lord said, “The Divine Lord will return to the mansion in a short while. Does Wuling Immortal have an urgent matter? No matter, if it is inconvenient for you, I will inform the Divine Lord.”

Seeing the situation, Du Jing stopped smiling as well. He feared the trouble would spill over onto him, so he stepped forward and asked politely, “Little Immortal, the Divine Lord only invited him, right?”

The Fox Lord turned his gaze and nodded at him.

Du Jing breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief. Then, he cast a glance at Gu Shenzhi, his expression very complex—carrying seventy percent schadenfreude and thirty percent the sorrow of a hero meeting his end—and pretended to bid him farewell: “Go with peace of mind. I’ll look after things at home.”

Gu Shenzhi said with a blank face, “Get lost.”

Du Jing responded with a sound and ran away without looking back, showing none of the poise expected of an immortal.

Immortals ought to remain unmoved even if Mount Tai crumbles before them. Gu Shenzhi decided to reclaim some dignity for immortals. He slowly inhaled, forced a smile, and said, “Little Immortal, please lead the way.”

The Fox Lord took back all the name cards and congratulatory gifts into his universe pouch with a wave of his hand, drew out a sword, stepped onto it, and bowed, saying, “You are too polite, Immortal. Please move with me.”

The little Fox Lord did not fly fast, and he frequently looked back to confirm if Gu Shenzhi was keeping up, likely fearing that he might run away halfway.

Gu Shenzhi felt that the child was worrying unnecessarily. If he ran away today, he would probably have to entrust his younger relatives to Du Jing at the Immortal Execution Platform tomorrow.

They say a new official applies three fires, but Gu Shenzhi considered himself tactful, generous, and naturally likable; he had never encountered anyone he couldn’t get along with in his life.

If not for the twist of fate, this fire would have certainly burned the green-eyed Siming first.

But for now, he could only pray that Siming still remembered their colleague relationship and would speak a few good words for him to the Divine Lord, so that the Divine Lord would extinguish his anger.

Gu Shenzhi prayed for a moment, then felt that Siming was probably unreliable. Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself; he decided to inquire about the Divine Lord’s likes and dislikes, so he could cater to them later and prescribe the right remedy.

When the Fox Lord turned to look at him again, Gu Shenzhi took a step and flew alongside him, fanning himself while pretending to be calm in the face of danger. “Is the little Immortal also from the fox tribe of Qingqiu? Do you always follow by the side of the Emperor?”

The Fox Lord moved slightly away from him, shook his head, and said, “There have long been no Nine-Tailed Foxes in Qingqiu. I am from the Red Fox tribe; it was the Divine Lord who took me in.”

Gu Shenzhi had not been to Qingqiu for a long time and really did not know the current situation of the Nine-Tailed Foxes. He had not expected the ancient Qingqiu divine clan to be so desolate now. He worried for others and said, “That is truly a pity… Are there any taboos for the Divine Lord? I am the head of the Extreme Sun Palace. In the future, under the Divine Lord’s rule, I hope to get closer to him. Today, the Divine Lord already has a misunderstanding about me, and I fear saying the wrong thing and provoking the Divine Lord’s dislike again.”

The Fox Lord glanced up at him and said, “That won’t happen.”

He waited a long time, but did not hear the next sentence. Gu Shenzhi was a bit confused: “Ah?”

Before Gu Shenzhi could ponder it, the Fox Lord said, “We have arrived.”

Gu Shenzhi turned his gaze and immediately widened his eyes.

That grand and towering mansion was the Divine Lord’s Mansion. Even though he was accustomed to all the treasure towers and immortal dwellings in the world, Gu Shenzhi could not help but marvel at it.

The mansion rose into the clouds, located at the peak of Ziwel Mountain. The entire structure was paved with cold jade carved into the pattern of white dragon scales. The white walls were nearly a hundred zhang high, spanning across heaven and earth. Layered buildings and pavilions with flying eaves pierced the clouds, showing a cold, silvery white under the immortal light.

It was so grand and solemn that, just by looking at it, one was too intimidated to breathe by the invisible pressure.

It really is… big.

That was Gu Shenzhi’s first thought.

His second thought was that to maintain such a large mansion, at least a hundred immortal servants would be needed. How much merit must be consumed every year?

Gu Shenzhi followed the Fox Lord as they walked along, looking around at the mansion’s decor from time to time, intending to study the Divine Lord’s preferences. However, after walking for nearly the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and almost reaching the main hall, he still did not see a single immortal servant.

The hall was empty, and the echo was terrifyingly loud. Gu Shenzhi simply admired the rare treasures; his eyes were not enough to take it all in. From the carvings on the beams to the jade bricks under his feet, any item taken out would be worth the merit an immortal earns in a year.

No wonder the Divine Lord did not want gifts. Putting his small, pitiful offerings before these treasures was truly not worth looking at.

Entering the main hall, on the jade stairs of the high platform, sat a gilded dragon-patterned paulownia wood throne. Eight dragon-coiled jade pillars stood between heaven and earth. Other than that, there was nothing else in the hundred-zhang-long hall.

This was somewhat strange. He did not know if it was because of the isolation of the high hall or something else, but Gu Shenzhi shuddered and could not help asking, “That… is it just you and the Divine Lord in the entire immortal mansion?”

The Fox Lord shook his head and said, “There is also a Fox Immortal. We both serve the Divine Lord.”

As soon as the words fell, a little Fox Immortal dressed in white walked into the hall, as if he had been waiting at the entrance for a long time.

The Fox Immortal had two snow-white fur ears standing straight up on his head; it seemed he had not fully transformed yet. He dragged a large, furry tail and carried a tray to serve tea to Gu Shenzhi.

He looked fresh and cute, with a pair of large, bright eyes. At a glance, he actually looked a bit like what Gu Shenzhi used to look like.

Moreover, a very bright and plump little bird stood on his shoulder; it was bright yellow, and its tail feathers were trailing with seven-colored clouds. This made Gu Shenzhi look a few extra times, wondering what kind of immortal bird this was.

As the little Fox Immortal walked over, he stole glances at him from time to time, and even the little bird on his shoulder jumped a few steps and landed on Gu Shenzhi’s shoulder.

When accepting the teacup, Gu Shenzhi smiled slightly, friendly touched the bird’s feathers, and asked the Fox Immortal, “Why are you staring at me? Is there something strange about my face?”

The little Fox Immortal blushed instantly and became visibly nervous. “No, nothing…”

He looked just like someone who had done something shameful. Gu Shenzhi looked suspiciously at the white porcelain teacup.

Just as he was about to investigate further, the teacup was snatched away by the Fox Lord.

The Fox Lord poured the tea onto the tray. His cold face showed some panic. He hurriedly grabbed the plump bird, stuffed it into the little Fox Immortal’s arms, pushed him out of the hall, and said loudly, “This tea was from yesterday. I’ll have him change it for a fresh one. Please wait a moment, Immortal.”

The tea in the tray faintly gave off a sweet fragrance. Gu Shenzhi loved drinking tea, but he couldn’t identify what kind of tea it was.

Gu Shenzhi shrugged his shoulders and walked around the hall a few times. Gazing out, he was the only person in the empty, vast hall, and he felt a sense of loneliness for no reason.

He shook his head, feeling that the Divine Lord’s mansion was incredibly strange from top to bottom.

He did not know how long he had waited. The Fox Lord did not bring new tea, but the hall made of cold jade became colder and colder.

Gu Shenzhi was of the lineage of the Great Sage King Peacock Mingwang, and he possessed fire essence within his foundation. Originally, this bit of chill would not have meant anything to him. However, he had injured his core years ago, and now he could not withstand the cold at all.

He was choked by the coldness and coughed. Even his lungs felt cold with every breath. He wanted to hug his arms to warm up, but felt it would lose his composure, even if no one was watching him here.

Gu Shenzhi sneered at himself.

He really didn’t know why he was pretending to be strong. It was just that he had held on for so many years, so it had become a habit.

Gu Shenzhi had a happy childhood and had not suffered much.

But as he approached adulthood, he swallowed all the eight sufferings of the world in one gulp. The taste… made him truly unwilling to think back on it.

Whenever the night was deep and lonely, and he felt he couldn’t hold on anymore, Gu Shenzhi would take out the long flute left by Lu Nanfeng, hold it in his arms, and recite his name over and over, as if he were right beside him.

Even if time had passed and Lu Nanfeng’s face had become a bit blurry, it was still a thought to hold onto.

Previously, Gu Shenzhi had also thought that once things were finished here, he would go to the mortal world to find Lu Nanfeng.

Although his memories had been erased, with Gu Shenzhi’s cultivation of so many years, he still had some confidence that he could make him like him again.

It was a pity…

Gu Shenzhi frowned slightly. The old injury in his primordial spirit ached faintly, as if it were about to flare up early. He raised a hand to pinch his temples and sighed heavily.

Never mind. He didn’t even know how much longer he could live, so he had no ability to go looking for him.

Gu Shenzhi held on for a while longer, but the chill drilled into his bone marrow. Fearing he would collapse in the Divine Lord’s hall later and be unable to explain, he was just about to manifest a magic treasure to warm his body when a sound of footsteps came from the high platform in front of the hall.

The footsteps were steady and unhurried, yet carried a pressure that made Gu Shenzhi sober up instantly.

Gu Shenzhi immediately lowered his head and bowed: “Divine Lord.”

The Divine Lord did not answer, but instead walked down from the jade stairs of the high platform. The “tap-tap” sound of his long boots hitting the floor came closer and closer, like someone tapping on Gu Shenzhi’s tense nerves. Gu Shenzhi held his breath, not daring to move rashly.

Until the Divine Lord walked to within half an arm’s length of him. At this distance, Gu Shenzhi could clearly see his shoe surface. The silver-moon boots were spotless, and a beautiful honeysuckle flower was embroidered on the shoe surface with light yellow gold thread.

Honeysuckle was not the mainstream of the Immortal Realm; in fact, apart from the flowers of the Twelve Flower Gods, none were mainstream, but honeysuckle was truly quite niche.

Gu Shenzhi was just thinking about the person’s shoe surface, totally unaware of the distance between them, which was already a bit too close for two people meeting for the first time.

The Divine Lord did not answer, but instead reached out a warm hand and forcefully hooked Gu Shenzhi’s chin, forcing him to lift his face.

Gu Shenzhi frowned slightly. His gaze landed on the Divine Lord’s face, but his eyes suddenly froze.

It was a cold and heroic face, with sword-like brows and star-like eyes, a high nose bridge, and peacock-stone-colored eyes that were deep and沉, carrying complex emotions when looking at him, making one’s heart itch.

It was just that the Divine Lord’s thin lips were tightly pursed, as if he had been holding back a wave of anger.

The Divine Lord withdrew his hand. His eyes stared fixedly at Gu Shenzhi, and he said word by word: “In all these years, have you been doing well?”