Shut Up

“As for who stays and who leaves, that’s for you to decide,” Forgotten Self’s remnant soul declared, his voice sharp and unyielding. “But I will only give you the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. If you can’t decide, you might as well fight it out—turn ‘one stays, one leaves’ into ‘one lives, one dies.’”

Each word pierced like a dagger into their hearts.

—

“How can you say that?!” Gu Feiyan’s beautiful eyes trembled as she cried out in disbelief.

Qin Gou’s gaze remained calm, like a still lake. He looked at Forgotten Self’s remnant soul and said flatly, “Little Yan, you should go. Leave now. I’ll stay behind and have a nice chat with Forgotten Self.”

“I’m not leaving you behind,” Gu Feiyan said without hesitation. “If I was willing to follow you down here, I’m not abandoning you now.”

Qin Gou smiled faintly. “You don’t need to worry about me. Just go. Who knows? I might catch up to you soon.”

If worst comes to worst, I’ll blow up every artifact I have and obliterate this invisible wall. Let the entire Forgotten Self Mystic Realm turn to dust.

Gu Feiyan’s eyes dimmed, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips. “That’s the kind of nonsense you’d use to fool naive girls. I’ve decided: if you stay, I stay. If you leave, I leave. Knowing you, if you’re left alone too long, you’ll lose your mind without someone to talk to.”

—

Qin Gou didn’t respond to her. Instead, he turned to Forgotten Self’s remnant soul and said seriously, “I’ve made my decision. I’ll stay. You can send Gu Feiyan out now.”

Forgotten Self nodded slightly. “If that’s your choice—”

—

“No!” Gu Feiyan bit her lip, her voice trembling with anger. “Qin Gou, if you keep talking like this, I’ll get mad. And I don’t mean the playful kind of mad.”

“Didn’t you hear me, Forgotten Self? Do it now! Isn’t this exactly what you wanted? Why hesitate? Make this woman disappear so we can have a long, private conversation!” Qin Gou said, his gaze unwavering.

“Qin Gou, shut up!” Gu Feiyan grabbed his shoulders, her eyes reddening. “I’m not the kind of woman who hides behind a man, crying and thanking him with empty words. I order you to shut up and come back to the cabin with me!”

“Shut up? Why should I? Why should I listen to you, Little Yan? We’ve never had a superior-subordinate relationship, have we? Don’t you feel the same way? Can you really order me around?” Qin Gou’s eyes bore into hers. “Or has losing your Piercing Illusion Eyes made you blind to my thoughts?”

“I…” Gu Feiyan faltered, unsure of what to say. Did she still have the right to command him? They weren’t related by blood or duty. What gave her the authority?

—

Qin Gou turned back to Forgotten Self’s remnant soul, about to speak again.

But before he could, Gu Feiyan grabbed his collar and yanked him forward. Caught off guard—and given the disparity in their cultivation levels—Qin Gou stumbled.

“I don’t care! I won’t leave alone, and I won’t let you stay here by yourself. Even without my Piercing Illusion Eyes, I can still understand you. But do you understand me? So shut up!”

—

Shut Up (Physical)

Gu Feiyan pulled Qin Gou by the collar and pressed her soft, warm lips against his in a rough kiss.

Qin Gou’s teeth ached from the impact, but he also felt something warm and wet on his cheek—tears, hot and full of emotion, from a girl who had given her heart.

His chest felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. His heartbeat quickened, and their two racing hearts synchronized.

—

“Ding. Congratulations, Host, on completing the mission ‘Unwavering Resolve.’ You have successfully received a heartfelt kiss, filled with deep emotion. Rewards: two lottery chances, 5,000 merit points, and one life-bound spiritual tool advancement privilege.”

—

In that long, lingering kiss, the world seemed to revolve around them. The forest disappeared. The hunter’s cabin vanished. Darkness enveloped everything, leaving them as the only light in existence.

Suddenly, Qin Gou felt a sharp pain on his tongue—Gu Feiyan had bitten him lightly. He immediately responded in kind.

—

Watching this scene, Forgotten Self’s remnant soul began to laugh. Tears streamed down his face as he laughed and cried simultaneously. In his eyes, the two figures before him blurred, replaced by a vibrant, red-clad woman smiling radiantly at him.

He saw her drunkenly dancing with a sword, stunning everyone in the hall. He saw her laughing, dimples forming on her cheeks.

She had once said, “This cultivation world is disgusting, but at least the wine is good.”

She had once said, “What’s the point of endless cultivation? Power struggles are fleeting. Wouldn’t it be better to spend my days with the one I love, playing under the plum blossoms and never waking from this dream?”

He had told her to drink less and take care of herself. Since she hated cultivation and her realm was low, he had gathered rare spiritual medicines for her, hoping she could live to three hundred.

But she had replied, “If I can’t drink, why would I want to live to three hundred? You’ve never truly loved me, so how could I not love wine?”

—

In the end, when her life force was nearly spent, she lay in his arms, a shadow of her former self. She said, “I never believed in this whole ‘born to forget oneself and forsake love’ nonsense. You never married me because I wasn’t beautiful enough or good enough. In my next life, I’ll be the most stunning woman in the world and make you fall head over heels for me… I’ll turn the cold, unfeeling Forgotten Self into a lovesick fool who only has eyes for me…”

—

At this moment, Forgotten Self’s remnant soul saw her again, her red figure smiling at him. His frail, aged body straightened, and his white beard fell away. He became a dashing young man with bright eyes and noble features, standing tall with his hands behind his back, smiling tenderly.

Perhaps in the afterlife, he could finally confess his feelings and tell her how, after she left, the man known as the cold, unfeeling Forgotten Self had cried until his heart shattered.

But not yet. He still had one last thing to do.

—

“Qin Gou,” Forgotten Self said, his voice steady. “You asked me earlier what I wanted most. Now I know. It’s to see true love in adversity—a pair of people who, in the face of life and death, leave no regrets. A pair of lovers who dare to love and hate, far braver than I ever was.”