Deep inside the Forbidden City, Yin Xiu sat on a chair, legs crossed, hands folded on his knees, looking very relaxed."Do you know that the whole world is looking for you?" Opposite him, a young man who looked slightly older than Yin Xiu asked him. This man was called Ai, and he was one of the few men in the palace. He was very handsome, with eyebrows and eyes like a woman, but a tall and straight nose. He was as relaxed as Yin Xiu, standing there, playing with a jade ruyi in his hand. And between the two of them sat "Prince Su", Gao Tianyu, the Holy Son of White Lotus. Unlike the two people, one sitting and the other standing, he looked uneasy, sitting on the chair as if he would slide off and fall to the ground at any time. I don't know when he started to get into the habit of smoking opium. On the table were his pipe, oil lamp, and a thumb-sized box of opium. laugh! He took out a match and struck it on the sole of his shoe. The bright flame flickered with his trembling fingers. call! Yin Xiu sat on the chair and blew out the match in one breath.

Gao Tianyu said nothing, took out another match from his pocket and struck it across the sole of his shoe again. call! Yin Xiu put out the match again. "what are you doing?" Gao Tianyu finally widened his eyes, filled with hatred. "Nothing to do, I just want to say that smoking this stuff is bad for your health." Yin Xiu put his hands behind his head and asked Ayi again, "What about you? Do you smoke?" “I don’t touch this either.” "Are you also worried that it might be bad for your health?" "No." Ai nodded, "I'm afraid of hurting my brain." The two looked at each other and smiled, only Gao Tianyu, who was sandwiched between them, turned his head away angrily. "I still want to ask you, aren't you worried when so many people are looking for you?" "I really have nothing to worry about." Yin Xiu spread his hands, "I can't get out now. Once I climb over the wall of the Forbidden Palace, it's like a fish out of water. Since I can't go anywhere, it means that I will be found sooner or later. So what do I have to worry about?" Ai played with Yu Ruyi and said, "You are indeed open-minded and bright. You are an extraordinary person." "You are amazing too." Yin Xiu killed everyone in the palace seven times, and only the man named Ai in front of him could stop him and bring him here. As for how much Ai weighed, Yin Xiu felt that he couldn't see clearly. This man's strength, identity, and motives are all like a mystery, elusive.

However, Ai did not seem to want to kill him, and he hid himself in a place where the palace masters could not find him. So Yin Xiu sat with him for a while and chatted with him to kill time. Because now, not to mention his physical body, even the magic he uses is all inseparable from the Forbidden Palace. The Forbidden Palace became a birdcage, trapping Yin Xiu inside, making him unable to leave the palace like those old monsters. Ai seemed to see what he was thinking, and looked up and asked, "You don't want to ask me how to leave here." Yoon Soo shook his head, “If you knew, you would have left long ago.” "Or maybe it's the same everywhere in the world, so there's no need for me to leave?" Ai pulled a chair over and sat down. "I'm not lying. It's the same everywhere. There's no difference." "is it?" Yin Xiu let out a long sigh, "I don't have as much experience as you, but I feel that this place is different, and that place is different too. Some places are higher, some places are colder, and some places are hotter. They are very different." "Then I really envy you." Ai narrowed his eyes. "I've been to many places in Kyushu. Even though the seasons are different, they are all similar. The snow, the yellow sand, the blazing mountain fires are all the same." He still held the jade ruyi in his hand, "So I have to find some new fun." "New fun?" Yin Xiu looked around and asked, "Is it in this forbidden palace?" “Maybe inside the wall, maybe outside the wall, who knows?” Ai turned to Gao Tianyu, who had been silent and feeling guilty. "But you are a very interesting person. The Holy Son of the White Lotus became a prince of the imperial court. Anyone who hears this will find it very interesting." "Is it interesting?" The veins on Gao Tianyu's forehead popped out. "I could have gotten away when I was in Changbai Mountain, but Di Wei kept me there and wouldn't let me go." "I know." Yin Xiu nodded and roughly guessed, "He wants to cooperate with you, right?" "cooperate?" Gao Tianyu shook his head. "That bastard treated me as a chess piece and manipulated me at will! Over the past six months, I have been like a dog beside him, letting him command me. I said whatever he told me to say and acted however he wanted me to act. I was like a puppet." "What do you have to complain about?" Yin Xiu spread his hands, "Didn't you play with people's hearts like this before? And so many people died in Changbai Mountain, but you survived. Don't forget that you were the one who killed the White Lotus Saint." "She's in our way." Gao Tianyu wanted to stand up from the chair, but before his buttocks left the chair, he lost the will to do so. "It doesn't matter. Now I am just a dog tied up in the palace. I can't figure out whether I am the Prince Su who is bossed around by Di Wei, or the White Lotus Saint who is being hunted down and wanted to be killed by the imperial court."

"Why do we need to distinguish so clearly?" Ai shook his head and said, “As a human being, there is no need to be so clear-cut. In fact, no one can know exactly who they are. For example, some people think they are heroes who can be loyal to their friends and stand by them through thick and thin. But when something really happens to them, they realize that they just want to live a good life. Some people think they are good people, but they can also commit crimes because of greed for a few ounces of gold. Come to think of it, everyone knows nothing about the world, not to mention themselves. " Yin Xiu agreed with what he said, but this was not the time to discuss people or philosophy. He just asked, "Why did you bring us here?" "What do you think?" "I do not know." Yin Xiu had no intention of guessing the answer. "You neither let me go nor kill me, or have other intentions, so I have no idea what you want to do." "What about you?" Ai asked Gao Tianyu again. Gao Tianyu's face was full of reluctance. "I don't know either. I only know that old dog Di Wei was more afraid of you than the emperor. He didn't even dare to raise his head. When you told him to bring me here, he didn't dare to ask anything and just did what you said. So I came here and sat with you two." After a pause, Gao Tianyu asked the question he had been wanting to ask. "Yin Xiu, are you here to seek revenge on me?" "I don't have that much free time." Yin Xiu waved his hand, "You are not as important as you think. I have many goals, but there is no place for you among them." Hearing this, Gao Tianyu did not feel happy at all, or feel like he had escaped death. He just sat there. He even felt a little depressed and angry because he realized how insignificant he was in the matter. "Don't mind it." Ai waved his hand at him and said, "Holy Son, everyone has his own destiny. Your matter has come to an end before." His words did not comfort Gao Tianyu at all, but only made him more depressed. "But who are you?" Yin Xiu suddenly asked Ayi: "You said that no one can recognize themselves, but at least everyone should know their own identity. For example, he is the White Lotus Saint, and I am a Taoist priest. What about you? Who are you?" "Are you interested?" Ai turned the jade ruyi in her hand and said, "Actually, I can't really explain who I am. I should be considered a very noble person, because as the Son of God said, even the demon Di Wei would not dare to act rashly when he saw me. However, no one here calls me by my title or anything else. You know that noble people all have a title. Or am I a chivalrous knight, a martial arts legend like the Northern Spear Saint Bai Xiu? I'm not bragging, but I think the Northern Spear Saint's understanding of martial arts is far inferior to mine. But if I am a man of the martial arts world, then why am I in the Forbidden City and not in the martial arts world? I have neither enemies nor so-called friends. This is not how a man of the martial arts world should behave, because people of the martial arts world eat meat with big mouthfuls, drink wine with big bowls, and take pleasure in settling scores.

So I guess I should be a fairy, or a ghost?" "Fairy?" Yin Xiu frowned, feeling that Ai was a little nervous, but for such a master, whatever he said seemed reasonable and acceptable. "I feel this way, so I am waiting for an opportunity, karma, so that I can transcend and ascend." "Ascension again?" Gao Tianyu remembered the ghost fairy, or the prince of Shang, whom he met in Changbai Mountain before. That experience was so terrible and horrible that now when someone mentions this word to him, he just feels annoyed and wants to avoid it. Aiyi did not give him the chance to evade. He did not care what the White Lotus Saint was thinking. He just propped up his chin and asked Yin Xiu, "Tell me, how did people ascend to heaven more than 200 years ago? Is merit important, or is opportunity the most important?" "I don't know that." Yin Xiu spread his hands, "We in the Maoshan sect cultivate for this life, we don't ascend to heaven, we don't become immortals." "is it?" Ai was a little disappointed. "I asked the Eastern Imperial Master of the Imperial Observatory. Although he didn't practice Maoshan Taoism, he also gave the same explanation." "Oh?" Instead, Yin Xiu was surprised, "That boy is really not an ordinary person." "He's already a national teacher, how can he be an ordinary person?" Gao Tianyu snorted coldly, "That guy is also very scary, it seems that he can see through me at a glance." "is it?" Yin Xiu has never met Dongfang Weilai, but has heard Ma Xiaoyu talk about him several times. "Then I would like to go to the Imperial Observatory to see it for myself." "Haven't you been there once?" Gao Tianyu laughed, "But you were being chased and blocked, so you had to hide here." "It's not that I want to hide here." Yin Xiu looked at Ai Yi, "You were the one who asked me to come here." "That's right. I saw you running around the palace like a headless fly, so I just brought you here to stay with me for a while." "Is that all?" "Yes, that's all." Ai smiled, "Just like some warriors sharpen their weapons before going into battle, I don't sharpen my weapons, I sharpen myself." "Then why am I here too?" Gao Tianyu asked.

"Because it's boring for two people to stare at each other, that's all." "So I'm just here to keep you company?" Gao Tianyu was so angry that he almost laughed, but there was nothing he could do. At this moment, he was only thinking about the pipe on the table. Just one look at it made him feel a lot more at ease. While the three of them were silent, the bright sunshine outside the house suddenly disappeared, and the sun was gradually swallowed by the black shadow. They did not look at the strange sight, but remained seated, allowing the darkness to swallow them up. After sitting quietly for a while, the sun appeared again, shining on the faces and shoulders of the three people. Di Wei had also arrived at the door of the room. He did not enter, but instead said respectfully through the door, "Sir, the person has arrived." "it is good." Ai stood up, put the jade ruyi into his clothes, walked to the side and took out the box from the secret compartment. He opened the box and found a long sword inside. Just by looking at the black scabbard, Yin Xiu felt the hairs on his arms stand up. "You can go wherever you want. I have other things to do." As he said this, he glanced at Yin Xiu again and said, "Speaking of which, I have to thank you." "Thank me for what?" Yin Xiu was puzzled. "Nothing, just thank you for bringing him here." After saying that, he left without looking back. Di Wei followed behind him, gave Yin Xiu a fierce look, and left with Ai. Since he could leave, Yin Xiu didn't stay any longer and stood up. Gao Tianyu suddenly became nervous. If Di Wei left, there would be no one here who could stop Yin Xiu from taking his life. However, Yin Xiu didn't even look at him and just walked out. As he crossed the threshold, Gao Tianyu asked for some reason, "Is that it?" "Forget it?" "I said," he swallowed, "you won't kill me?" Yoon Soo paused, “I was going to kill you.” Gao Tianyu broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that he and he were mortal enemies. Both of them were rivals fighting for the world, and there was no reason for them to let the other go and let the other return to the sea. Under Yin Xiu's gaze, he already felt his palms getting damp, and his death was near. However, Yin Xiu did not do anything. He just glanced at the pipe on the table and left without looking back. Gao Tianyu stood there in a daze. It was only after a long while that he came to his senses and realized why Yin Xiu didn't kill him or even say anything to him.

"Doesn't he consider me as his rival anymore?" Gao Tianyu smiled foolishly, took out a match, rubbed it on the sole of his shoe, and lit the oil lamp. Holding the pipe in one hand and the match in the other, he stared at the burning flame without blinking. The firelight illuminated his fingers and also his eyes. Only when the flames kissed his fingers did Gao Tianyu throw away the match, tears welling up in his eyes. (End of this chapter)