It seems she really has caused a huge disaster!
For so many years, the Old Taoist Priest had been dodging and wandering about just for the Treasure Mirror, and now with his efforts falling short, the blow to him was indeed quite substantial!
But... to watch Yanyan fall into the Beast Path with her own eyes was something she truly couldn't bear, and considering Yanyan had ended up this way largely because of her own fault, she would save her even if it cost her own life!
Alas! In the end, she had wronged her master!
In truth, the blame did not entirely rest on Gu Shi Yi; the Old Taoist Priest also bore responsibility. He had kept her in the dark for so many years. Had he told Gu Shi Yi the reasons behind it earlier, she surely would have thought twice before acting. But now that things had come to this point, further talk was useless!
Gu Shi Yi sat cross-legged, her mind a complete mess, as a day passed by with the master and disciple sitting in meditation. During this time, Gu Shi Yi called the Old Taoist Priest to eat twice, but he shook his head and bade her to leave. Her worry growing, she wanted to offer some words of comfort, but seeing the Old Taoist Priest's expression, she dared not intrude and could only hope that after a few more days, when his anger subsided, they would find a way to remedy the situation!
So she waited until the sky turned dark, when the Old Taoist Priest suddenly left the grand hall. Upon seeing his disciple seated in the courtyard, he said,
"I'm going out..."
"Master, where are you going?"
Gu Shi Yi jumped up,
"I will come with you!"
The Old Taoist Priest glanced at her,
"I haven't seen her for so many days; I'm going down to check on her!"
Who this "her" was, the master and disciple both knew full well. Under normal circumstances, Gu Shi Yi would have taken the opportunity to tease the Old Taoist Priest about his brothers, but that evening, she didn't dare to breathe a word and instead forced a smile saying,
"Then you go... you go... and have a pleasant time with her!"
The Old Taoist Priest gave her a look and sighed,
"What kind of talk is that from a girl who is not yet married!"
He truly hadn't taught her well!
No longer paying her attention, the Old Taoist Priest strode out of the mountain gate and headed downhill. Gu Shi Yi chased him outside and, watching his disappearing figure on the mountain path, she breathed a sigh of relief and took out the clay figure from within her robe,
"It's good for Master to visit Widow Zhang's house, relax... perhaps by tomorrow when he returns, he'll be in better spirits!"
As close friends who shared everything, the Old Taoist Priest's romantic affairs were already well known to his disciple, who had gossiped about the whole lot with her close friend. Li Yan'er sighed,
"It truly is a world where one can practice Great Cultivation. Our master must be around seventy by now, and yet he can still be so... well... full of vigor..."
Widow Zhang was also in her sixties!
But upon reflection, it didn't seem so strange. In their world, people in their fifties and sixties, who danced with more energy than the young at square dances, were common sights!
Gu Shi Yi said,
"Exactly, over at your place, a sixty-year-old giving birth is considered 'a pearl produced by an old clam,' here people giving birth at sixty is nothing rare..."
In this realm, people often married around the age of twenty and then kept on having children, with some still bearing children at the age of sixty, boasting large families of children and grandchildren!
However, although they could give birth to many, they couldn't always raise them all. First, there were diseases ravaging the population, second, Demons and Monsters wreaked havoc, and third, every ten years or so kingdoms would engage in war with battles involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The number of births couldn't keep up with the number of deaths, and thus the population of the secular world within this realm remained small.
Since Gu Shi Yi could no longer see the Old Taoist, she turned back and went inside, sitting down in the courtyard. She placed the clay figure on the table facing the moonlight and said solemnly,
"Yanyan, as I have mentioned before, your soul has entered this realm, but a Soul Body cannot endure here for long. If you wish to remain in this world for a considerable time, now you have two paths to choose from..."
As she spoke, she held up one finger,
"One choice is to Cultivate the Path of Ghosts. I will beg my master to find the scriptures for Ghost Cultivation for you to begin practicing. If you succeed in your cultivation, you can still transform into human form and may even ascend to become a Ghost Immortal. However, the suffering endured by Ghosts on their path is ten times greater than that of mortals. I've heard Master mention that not only do Ghost Cultivators face Heavenly Tribulation at each new stage of their cultivation, but they must also suffer Hellfire and the agony of Yin Wind Marrow Washing every month, which is worse than death. Consequently, many Ghost Cultivators change greatly after achieving high levels of cultivation, become deluded by inner demons, and bring disaster upon the mortal world..."
And the ultimate end for most of these Ghost Cultivators is to be utterly destroyed by the cultivators of this realm, leaving not even their spirits behind!
The clay figure looked utterly confused and helpless,
"I... I..."
She had never practiced the Dao, let alone the Ghost Path. She did not know what Hellfire was nor the suffering of Yin Wind Marrow Washing, but it sounded terribly frightening!