Chapter 241: Who on Earth Are You?

In Lu Sangjiu’s words, Xie Ningyuan detected a trace of sorrow, something he rarely heard from her.

He couldn’t help but glance at her, but she had already turned away. She gave a light cough to their three other companions, who were still questioning their very existence.

"Have you still not figured it out?"

Her words made all three of them turn to look at her, their eyes filled with confusion.

Lu Sangjiu smiled faintly. "I have a pretty good idea of what you’re all thinking, but actually... things might not be as complicated as you imagine."

"Good and evil have never been absolute. No one can pass completely objective judgment on whether a person is good or bad."

"So, for you to sit here and try to decide whether someone you’ve never met is good or bad is completely meaningless."

"I quite enjoyed Fellow Daoist Xie’s story today because it has given us much to think about."

"But I think the most meaningful takeaway isn’t about Gu Huang’s morality. It’s that it makes us question whether it’s right to judge a person or an event based solely on what others say or what’s written in books."

Her words brought a moment of clarity to the three of them, and they couldn’t help but fall into even deeper thought.

Lu Sangjiu felt she had guided them enough. She simply added, "I’m sure you will all find your own answers to this question sooner or later. In that case, today’s story wasn’t told in vain."

She stood up and stretched. "It’s getting late. This time, we should really go back to our rooms and sleep. As for tomorrow’s plans, we can figure them out tomorrow."

She said she was going back to her room to sleep, but after she returned, Lu Sangjiu found she couldn’t.

She meditated for a moment, but her mind refused to quiet down. So, she got up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

And then... she discovered three heads in the room next door all turning in unison. "Fellow Daoist Lu, you can’t sleep either?"

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’Alright then. So besides Xie Ningyuan, no one else can get to sleep.’

She maintained her smile. "Seeing that none of you can sleep, I suddenly feel sleepy myself... Good night, everyone."

With that, she slammed the window shut and went back to bed.

The remaining three: ???

So, did seeing them unable to sleep put Fellow Daoist Lu in a better mood, allowing her to fall asleep?

The three of them looked at each other. After a moment of silence, they all shut their windows at almost the same time... and went to sleep!

「The next morning,」 when Lu Sangjiu came downstairs for breakfast, she was greeted by the sight of her companions with heavy, dark circles under their eyes.

Normally, Cultivators wouldn’t get dark circles even if they didn’t sleep, unless... they were so weighed down by their thoughts that they exhausted themselves mentally and physically.

At that thought, she cast a sympathetic glance at the three of them. She also felt a little relieved. ’Good thing I cut my losses and got a decent night’s sleep.’

Then, Xie Ningyuan, who had slept even better than she had, came strolling leisurely downstairs.

Seeing the three people with heavy dark circles, he mocked them without hesitation.

"Tsk, looks like you were all up all night. Did my story really give you that much to think about?"

"To think you’d need a whole night to mull over such a simple principle. It seems you really don’t challenge yourselves enough."

Gu Jue and Feng Lin felt the sting of his words but couldn’t think of a rebuttal. Instantly, the dark circles under their eyes seemed to grow even heavier.

Only Chi Yan... he looked at Xie Ningyuan with an innocent and guileless expression.

"It’s not that I couldn’t figure out the moral of the story. The main thing is, you didn’t finish it! I was up all night wondering what happened to them, and that’s why I couldn’t sleep!"

Xie Ningyuan: "..."

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

’Hmm... a bit gratifying. So I wasn’t the only one who remembered the original purpose of yesterday’s storytelling session.’

But of course, given that the rest of the story was a bit inappropriate for younger audiences, it would be rather unethical to tell it in front of Gu Jue, who was a disciple.

For once, Xie Ningyuan took pity on Gu Jue and gave Chi Yan a heartless reply, "I don’t know what happened next either. If you want to know, you can go ask the people involved yourself."

Chi Yan: "..."

’He was afraid he might have the guts to ask, but not the life to hear the answer.’

’How tragic. It seems this story is doomed to have an unresolved ending.’

Chi Yan’s interruption lightened the atmosphere considerably.

Feng Lin hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had been on her mind for a long time.

"Fellow Daoist Xie, I have a question that might be presumptuous. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to."

After saying that, she looked at Xie Ningyuan and asked, "Who... who exactly are you?"

It wasn’t just her; the others were also very curious about Xie Ningyuan’s identity.

After all, they all knew each other’s backgrounds quite well. Only Xie Ningyuan was shrouded in mystery. Yet, judging by his behavior, he didn’t seem like an ordinary person...

Lu Sangjiu didn’t know if Xie Ningyuan would answer, so she naturally didn’t say anything on his behalf, simply turning her head to look at him as well.

Xie Ningyuan didn’t seem surprised, nor did he try to evade the question. He spoke with complete candor, "In that case, let me reintroduce myself to everyone."

"You are likely more familiar with my other name... I am Jichen, the Buddha Son of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect."

At these words, the three of them were all stunned!

They had, of course, heard of the Buddha Son, but he was a legendary figure. They never imagined someone like that would disguise himself as a mere Golden Core Cultivator and be by their side for so long.

Given Xie Ningyuan’s usually unreliable behavior, their shock was immediately followed by disbelief.

But before they could voice their doubts, they saw Lu Sangjiu’s calm expression and knew there was no need to question it.

Lu Sangjiu and Xie Ningyuan clearly had a closer relationship; there was even likely some secret between them... so she must have known his identity all along.

Her lack of surprise or doubt was proof enough... he wasn’t lying.

The three of them fell silent.

It was mainly because they found it truly difficult to associate a sacred and solemn title like "Buddha Son" with Xie Ningyuan!

This was the man who had scammed them out of Spirit Stones last night under the guise of storytelling! How could the Buddha Son do something like that???

It was completely disillusioning!

After their shock wore off, they all recalled what Lu Sangjiu had said last night.

Sure enough, you really couldn’t get to know a person from hearsay or books... It was all a lie!

Xie Ningyuan was very pleased with their reaction, a smug look on his face.

"Although my status makes me a great senior to you all, I’m not one to stand on ceremony. Since you’re friends with Little Jiu, you’re my friends too. No need to be so formal, ha!"

Lu Sangjiu: "..."

She cringed again at being called "Little Jiu."

But she had more or less gotten used to his occasional lack of seriousness, so she didn’t bother to react.

She changed the subject directly, turning to Gu Jue and the other two. "Our business here is finished, but I still have some other matters to attend to, so I’ll need to stay in Qingyun State a while longer. What are your plans?"