Chapter Thirty-Six: White Feather

  "A white feather..."

  Liu Suiyun didn't understand at all why a white feather would fall from the body of a blue giant Peng, and Gu Yinghua also didn't understand what was going on. The fear in her eyes dissipated, and her expression became dreamy: "It's a pure white feather, whiter than the snow lotus on Mount Tian, more beautiful... truly beautiful..."

  "I don't know why it's a white feather, but when I saw this white feather, although my whole body was frozen and couldn't move a finger, I had an intuition that this feather fell from that big bird, so big..."

  "This feather is at least several hundred feet long, I have seen the largest and most barbaric alien species, but it is still far from this feather. It was soaring in the blue sky, drifting, and at that moment, I don't know why I was moved to tears by this scene, then this white feather suddenly grew against the wind."

  This was the most bizarre and changing story that Liu Su Yun had ever heard, but he had a feeling that all of this was real: "Soon, it was no longer a feather, but..."

  Gu Yinghua pondered for a moment before thinking of an appropriate adjective: "It's a mountain, no, it should be a colossal jade stele, at least several miles high. The entire stone monument is unbelievably divided into two black and white parts. The upper part is crystal clear and spotless, while the lower part is as black as ink, deep and profound like the sea. It's more captivating than the best ink jade I've seen in my master's place. I wanted to walk away, but couldn't even move a finger, just watching this stone mountain press down on me with its head turned back like a goose!"

  "When the black and white striped mountain came pressing down on me from a height of ten thousand feet, I was frightened stiff again. Once more I felt how small and weak I was, as if I were being crushed by the jade mountains that filled the sky, when suddenly the jade mountain turned back into a white feather, which grew smaller and smaller until it flew over my head and became a plume only a few inches long."

  Gu Yinghua's tone still had a hint of fantasy, but she had already returned to reality: "The white feathers flew around my head for three whole circles, and then I was surrounded by a ring of white light. I even heard the sound of celestial music playing, that was absolutely true celestial music."

  "To know that my master's cultivation has reached the realm of transformation, every time I listen to her Zen music is a kind of beautiful enjoyment, a spiritual baptism. However, compared with this heavenly music that enters my ears, my master's Zen music can only be considered as ordinary songs."

  Liu Suiyun's mood also became turbulent as he listened to Gu Yinghua's account, and he asked: "What about the peacock feather?"

  Gu Yinghua's expression turned somewhat sorrowful, and she pointed to her own ribs: "Then that white feather slowly fell under the coordination of the white light and the immortal sound, landing on my clothes at my ribs, disappearing without a trace. I couldn't find any remaining marks left behind by it, and then my tribulations came..."

  Liu Suiyun seemed to understand a bit: "I believe every word you say, every phrase, and every letter."

  "But many people don't believe me! At that time, I had no idea what was happening. After barely escaping from the Return Goose Peak with my soul shaken, I wanted to ask others to find out what happened, but I didn't expect that nobody believed me. How is this possible? That blue giant Peng spread its wings, covering at least tens of thousands of miles, yet they all said they didn't see it. It was just an ordinary day!"

  "No matter whether they were ordinary people or martial artists, even some fellow Taoists in the foundation-building period, they all said with one voice that nothing had happened on that day, and there was no such thing as a blue giant flying over Mount Yuhua, but my tribulation has already begun."

  Liu Suiyun gently patted Gu Yinghua's shoulder again, and Gu Yinghua excitedly told her own experience: "Since then, my appetite has increased, and my originally slender body has suddenly gained dozens of pounds, even my waistline has thickened by several circles."

  For a young lady like her, this was the darkest moment in life: "The news of my pregnancy is spreading everywhere, at first it was some gossipy girls from the Lin family who were talking about it, then men and women were all talking about it, saying I was pregnant with a child of some wild species, only Huo Shu was reliable, but the darkness had just begun..."

  "I can no longer mobilize my spiritual energy, I am clearly a foundation-building cultivator, but now I can barely mobilize even a bit of spiritual energy. I can clearly feel the movement of the heavens and earth's spiritual energy, yet I still cannot mobilize even a single thread of spiritual energy. I have become a true ordinary woman."

  For a cultivator who has already embarked on the path of immortality, this is simply a blow more painful than death. What's more, the blows that follow are one wave after another: "I've become an ordinary person, many people who used to hide very well have jumped out, they stabbed me in the back at my weakest moment, and even..."

  Gu Yinghua couldn't say anything more, she stopped for a while before saying: "Even the person who had promised to be my matchmaker, when I needed help the most, not only didn't give me any help, but also thought I was ruining the family's reputation, and even refused to see me in person, directly sending back the wedding letter and scolding me as a shameless woman."

  Gu Yinghua said, as she once again lifted her sleeve to reveal a small red plum blossom in the snow: "I just have a little swelling, my hymen is still intact and I am still a chaste and untouched virgin. People say I'm pregnant, but I've never had any morning sickness or heard the baby's heartbeat. I still have the most precious thing in life, I'm still a yellow flower in a big boudoir... even before today, I haven't been touched by a man's finger..."

  All the hardships and bitterness surged to Gu Yinghua's mind, Gu Yinghua even became a bit neurotic, she muttered to herself for half a day before saying: "Thanks to Huo Shu being by my side, at that time he was really the best in this world..."

  Gu Yinghua didn't know how to describe Huo Qianshu, and finally said the words: "The best man in the world... I and Huo Shu decided to go to Yuanzhou to find my brother, return to Master's place, and figure out what was going on. But after leaving home for only three days, we inexplicably encountered the pursuit of the Pang family, barely escaped, and then...then, met you!

  Liu Suiyun had been infected by Gu Yinghua's emotions, he held Gu Yinghua's hand, looking at Gu Yinghua's slightly swollen jade face, making a promise to her: "Don't worry, I will be like Huo Shu, even if I die, I will send you to Yuanzhou."

  "Thank you!"

  Gu Yinghua tightly grasped Liu Suizhen's strong hands, her tension slowly easing, and she made a promise to him: "Believe me, I am still the same pure and unblemished Gu Yinghua, that innocent and chaste disciple under the nun's seat."

  "Uh-huh." Liu Suoyun comforted Gu Yinghua with a sunny smile: "This is just a small setback in life, the sun will still shine on you, believe me!"

  "Thank you!" Gu Yinghua rarely showed a smile, she withdrew her delicate hand and leaned against the wall of the Tian Nu Temple with Liu Suizhen, shoulder to shoulder: "You are as reliable as Huo Shu!"

  "Hmm! Fire Uncle is a good man."

  Gu Yinghua said with some sadness, "Yes, Huo Shu is a good person. You and he are alike, both of you like to hide your deepest secrets in the innermost part of your heart and never share them with others. I have shared with you the most difficult thing for me to talk about in my life, now can you tell me what secret you're hiding in your heart?"

  "I..."

  Liu was stunned for a moment. He had never thought that Gu Yinghua would put forward her own requirements at this time, and the requirement was so reasonable that he couldn't refuse it.

  What he just heard was the most private secret of Gu Yinghua, Liu Suizhen believed that this strange and bizarre experience must be true, just like he now completely believed in Gu Yinghua's chastity, but he didn't know how to answer Gu Yinghua's question.

  The air solidified for a while, and Liu Suiyun reluctantly brought a smile to answer: "Miss Gu, everyone has their own private space. I dare to guarantee you that the things in my heart have never had any malicious intent towards you, nor will they cause any harm. Just like the sound of thunder on a clear day, it will only be kind."

  Liu Suizhuan brought up the fact that he was originally going to keep quiet about his ability to control the sound of thunder, but Gu Yinghua couldn't help feeling a little resentful in her heart. She had already told Liu Suizhuan all her deepest secrets, but he didn't want to say anything: "I believe you, but do you know that this fact makes me look like a fool? Do you want me to make mistakes again and again unintentionally? No matter how difficult it is to speak of the experience, I will keep it in my heart as a sweet and beautiful part, and I won't laugh at you or reveal a single word to outsiders."

  "When can you speak out everything?" Gu Yinghua asked, "This is unfair to me. If you don't want to say it now, will we be able to do so in Yuanzhou? This may be the last time we see sunlight in our lives. Don't you want to share the sweetness and bitterness of life with me?"

  "Miss Gu, this is just a matter of personal principle." Liu Suoyun helplessly spread out his hands: "I simply don't know when the right time to speak up is, perhaps I'll take these worries with me to hell, but I've promised Huo brother that no matter how many twists and turns we go through, even if it means sacrificing my own life, I will definitely send Miss Gu safely to Yuanzhou. I have never gone back on my principles."

  "Alright then!" Gu Yinghua finally gave up asking: "I won't ask anymore, once we arrive in Yuanzhou, we'll go our separate ways and pursue our own paths."

  A crystal tear was welling up in her eye socket.