Gu Junshi watched him perform.
"A Yi, why aren't you speaking? Pay attention to me," he lowered his voice, his tone soft and his laughter like falling flowers, elegant and refined.
She smiled, but her eyes were like an ice lake with a thin layer of frost.
His tone was clearly imitating the way her little husband spoke to her in private.
Did he think everyone who acted cute and pampered in front of her would earn her pity?
Gu Junshi's eyes remained as indifferent as ever, her expression unmoving. Her thin lips were like blades, "Danya, I'm not interested in you."
These words were a direct answer to his previous question, and for Danya, it was the most blatant humiliation.
His three years of effort to get closer had not caused even a ripple in her heart.
If she had felt even a moment of affection or emotion towards him, she wouldn't have spoken so heartlessly.
But Danya also didn't consider that Gu Junshi's initial impression of him was extremely poor. She was a person with deep schemes. It wasn't difficult for her to feign politeness and speak with a forked tongue, but it was hard for her to open her heart to someone.
Especially since he had pushed her off a cliff based on a casual thought, later slandered her with rumors and gossip to satisfy his dark thoughts, feigned affection, used her, and designed the Six Jiang Fusing. All these were premeditated. How could she have any good feelings for him?
Danya's heart ached, and a slight stinging sensation in his chest.
He told himself that he didn't care about Gu Yi, that it was all just an act.
But... with a cold flick of his sleeve, a golden light suddenly flashed, and a barrier was erected, blocking any possible prying eyes.
A cold, white hand with distinct knuckles moved from behind Gu Junshi to the front, pulling her into an embrace.
Danya rested his head on her shoulder, "Why are you so cold to me... is it because you're afraid Junior Brother Fusheng will misunderstand? Then let's do it secretly, okay? I won't let him find out."
Gu Junshi had not expected him to be so obsessed with cuckolding her little husband.
"But I'm tired of playing."
His scummy words caused a fleeting cold flash in Danya's eyes, and the slight tear in his heart seemed to grow larger. He refused to admit that he had lost.
"How can you say you're tired of playing when you haven't truly played with me?"
His neatly trimmed fingers lifted her chin. Her lips were pale, tinged with a delicate rosy white, her lips slightly curved at the corners, the arc of her upper lip possessing a unique charm. He looked into her clear black eyes, which seemed to see through him in an instant. As if bewitched, he was about to kiss her when...
*Bang!* The barrier was shattered.
"Is this your husband?"
A cool, clear voice rang out from behind them, like a spring flowing over stones, pure and untainted.
They turned to see a monk, like a green pine in the snow, approaching. The breeze rustled the green waves, and the surrounding bamboo rustled.
Danya glanced at the monk, his deep ink-black eyes unreadable.
It was this monk who had broken his Golden Bell Cauldron barrier... and what did his words mean?
Gu Junshi pulled Danya's hand from her chin and stepped away from his embrace. Her eyes were calm and unfathomable, as if the person who had almost been forcefully kissed was not her.
"No."
Her denial caused Cheng Hong's usually impassive expression to falter slightly, as if he couldn't understand. He lowered his eyes, but he wouldn't comment on others' affairs.
However, he didn't want this "fellow disciple," whom he saw as having a connection with Buddhism, to go astray.
Therefore, he said, "All appearances are fleeting. To break free from the cycle of reincarnation, one must abandon all worldly prosperity, sever self-attachment with the sword of wisdom, extinguish greed, anger, and ignorance, and accumulate merit with the compassion of my Buddha..."
Seeing him incessantly mumbling scriptures, Gu Junshi impatiently raised an eyebrow, "Speak plainly."
Cheng Hong paused, then slowly uttered four words, "Male beauty is misleading."
Gu Junshi was truly amused by him now.
Was he accusing her of being promiscuous, or did he think she was deceived by male beauty?
Danya sized up Cheng Hong, then smiled faintly, though his smile didn't reach his eyes, "A disciple of Maha Zen Temple?"
Everyone knew that Maha Zen Temple had a golden-bodied disciple, but few knew who he truly was.
Yet, Danya had revealed his identity in a single sentence.
"Dianyu."
Cheng Hong also revealed Danya's identity with a single sentence.
Two strangers who had never met could discern each other's identities, which spoke of their profound insight and a subtle hint of rivalry.
"What is the meaning of the Buddha's disciple breaking my defenses and intruding into my private barrier?"
Cheng Hong clasped his hands and said calmly, "This humble monk came to find this female benefactor. I saw her trapped within the cauldron just now, so I intervened and broke the barrier."
This was also where Danya was confused. Gu Yi was merely a mortal; when did she become acquainted with the Buddha's disciple of Maha Zen Temple?
"Why is the Buddha's disciple looking for her?" Danya asked.
Cheng Hong: "Because I forgot to say something to her just now."
"What did you want to say to me?" Gu Junshi asked this question.
He looked at her, "This humble monk is a monk of Maha Zen Temple, my dharma name is Cheng Hong, and I currently reside on the East Cliff of Misty Mountain."
Her eyes deepened, shimmering with a dark light, "By revealing your origin so clearly, are you inviting me to find you?"
"I am merely worried that the female benefactor will think this humble monk has an unknown origin and is spreading falsehoods. May I know the benefactor's name?" This man appeared detached from the world, far from worldly affairs, yet he was extremely astute in understanding human hearts.
Gu Junshi did not answer him. As she brushed past, she paused, "I've heard a saying in Buddhism, 'cutting flesh to feed an eagle.' If you want me to enter Buddhism, why don't you try the Buddha's saying, 'If I don't go to hell, who will'..."
He paused, "What do you mean by that, benefactor?"
"To break male beauty with male beauty, and lead me to Buddha."
He was suddenly stunned but quickly lowered his eyes, clasped his hands, and softly recited a Buddhist verse.
Seeing his reaction, he probably understood, or was pretending not to. In any case, Gu Junshi merely wanted to shut him up.
Since their "good deeds" had been interrupted, and Gu Yi had left, Danya had no intention of staying any longer. However, before leaving, he heard the meddling Buddhist monk say, "Danyuedanyu, the cliff beneath your feet is treacherous. It is best to take a step back in time."
Danya turned his head. After contemplating the words, he understood their meaning.
"Buddha's disciple, your Buddha's teachings don't extend as far as your interference, do they? What concern is matters of love and affection between men and women to you?" he smiled elegantly.
Cheng Hong said, "She already has a husband."
"So what? In this cultivation world, dual cultivation between the strong is not limited to just one man and one woman," Danya's eyes, which rarely held a smile, narrowed slightly. He was feeling restless today, to the point of speaking without restraint to a Buddhist cultivator.
Cheng Hong was not surprised by his words. With a compassionate expression and a calm tone, he said, "Everything is merely your desperate plea, benefactor. She does not wish it. This humble monk overheard it."
After speaking, he swept his plain monk's robe and turned to leave.
Desperate plea?
Danya stared at a spot in the air, his voice laced with a chilling coldness that made one's hair stand on end, like a viper flicking its tongue, "Even if it is a desperate plea, so what? In this world, things that are willingly given up are still things one wants. To take is fine, to snatch is fine... to deceive is fine. If I don't let go, no one can make me give up."