"Clang!" As the sword was about to pierce Zhou Fugui, it suddenly flew out of Tang Yunü's hand and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Tang Yunü covered her face and wept.
"The enemy is right in front of you, why don't you kill him? Go quickly and kill him, avenge your parents!" At this moment, a gentle voice echoed in Tang Yunü's ear again.
"No..." Tang Yunü shouted, "Big Brother didn't do it on purpose, Big Brother even saved me, I can't kill him."
"Oh? How do you know he didn't do it on purpose?"
"Yu Nu knows, knows Big Brother didn't intentionally kill my parents," Tang Yunü replied.
"Hmm, I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me. So, you don't hate him anymore? You've forgiven him?"
"Mm..." Tang Yunü nodded.
"Not hating or forgiving is not love. Do you love him, or would you like him?"
"Like? Yu... Nu... Of course I like Big Brother. In this world, only Big Brother treats Yu Nu the best."
"Regardless of his identity?"
"Yes, what does liking him have to do with his identity?" Tang Yunü replied, surprised.
As soon as Tang Yunü finished speaking, everything vanished like smoke. Zhou Fugui's figure slowly disappeared, a look of relief on his face.
A large door opened ahead, and several rays of sunlight streamed in. Tang Yunü, filled with wonder, stepped through the second door.
Trial of the Heart, Tang Yunü had passed it smoothly.
...
It is not only Zhou Fugui who has inner demons...
"Chè lè chuān, yīn shān xià. Tiān sì qióng lú, lóng gài sì yě. Tiān cāng cāng, yě máng máng. Fēng chuī cǎo dī jiàn niú yáng."
After Deng Lingyao entered the observation room, she also fainted. When she woke up, the first thing she saw was a blue sky and white clouds. Beneath the blue sky and white clouds was a vast grassland, endless and flat, covered in lush, vibrant green grass.
A young and valiant Zhou Fugui, singing a song, galloped his horse and arrived in front of Deng Lingyao. He looked her up and down, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"What are you looking at me for?" Deng Lingyao asked, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, her face flushed with shyness.
"Young Master Tang, the second young master of the Tang family, you've deceived me so much!" Zhou Fugui dismounted, walked up to Deng Lingyao, and chuckled.
"Ah? You figured it out?" Deng Lingyao exclaimed in surprise.
Zhou Fugui pointed at Deng Lingyao's clothes and smiled, "My eyes are not blind."
"Your eyes are not blind? I think your eyes are indeed blind..." Deng Lingyao said indignantly, "If your eyes weren't blind, how could you have fallen for that barbarian woman?"
"Are you talking about Princess Ziyue?" Zhou Fugui scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly, "I had no choice, you know. When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head."
"No choice? Under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head? Hmph, I think you're just greedy for wealth and status, just like your name suggests," Deng Lingyao snorted.
"Who doesn't desire wealth and glory? I am no exception," Zhou Fugui said, shaking his head. "I come from a poor background, and I've been looked down upon and bullied since I was young. Is it wrong for me to pursue wealth and status now?"
Deng Lingyao was so angry that she fell silent.
"Brother Fugui, there are many other things in the world besides wealth and status," Deng Lingyao said after a long pause. "What about wielding your sword in the Jianghu, performing righteous deeds, and roaming the rivers and lakes? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"I knew you were a chivalrous heroine!" Zhou Fugui laughed heartily. "A swordsman with a Hu cap, a Wu dagger sharp as frost and snow. His silver saddle gleams on a white horse, swift as a shooting star. Ten paces, one kill, a thousand miles, no trace left. Once done, he brushes off his clothes and disappears, hiding his name deep within."
"A knight-errant's journey? Are you willing?" Deng Lingyao asked, her face blushing, hands clasped behind her back, swaying slightly, her head bowed, yet she secretly glanced at Zhou Fugui.
"To be a knight-errant with you?" Zhou Fugui smiled and said, "Since you invite me so, how can I refuse a beauty's kind offer? Yaoyao, wielding our swords in the Jianghu, performing righteous deeds, roaming the rivers and lakes, traversing mountains and peaks, this is also my wish!"
Having said that, Zhou Fugui mounted his horse, sat on the saddle, and smiled, extending his hand to Deng Lingyao.
Deng Lingyao was overjoyed. She took Zhou Fugui's hand, got on the horse, sat behind him, put her arms around his waist, and pressed her pretty face against his back.
"Hahahaha!"
"Hehehe!"
The fine steed galloped like the wind, and the grassland echoed with the man's hearty laughter and the woman's bell-like giggles.
From then on, two great heroes suddenly appeared in the Jianghu, a man and a woman, and they were husband and wife. The Jianghu people called them "Snow Mountain Green Valley Heroes" or "Jade Shadow Mountain Bandit Couple"...
...
"Advance!"
"After taking the city, a three-day slaughter is permitted!"
Zhou Fugui, fully armored, rode a tall horse, raised his long sword, and coldly ordered.
"As per the Great General's command!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Behind Zhou Fugui were countless soldiers and horses, stretching as far as the eye could see. At his command, the vast army formed ranks, carrying siege equipment such as scaling ladders, and charged towards a city in the wilderness.
"Zhou Fugui, what are you doing?" Deng Lingyao, standing beside him, angrily gripped the sword at her waist and glared at Zhou Fugui, repeatedly asking, "Why attack this city? And slaughter for three days? What exactly are you trying to do? I never thought you would be so cruel."
"For power, for everything in this world!" Zhou Fugui said coldly, glancing at Deng Lingyao. "This city has obstructed me for three months and wounded countless soldiers. It is hateful! I will annihilate this city to quell my resentment!"
"Zhou Fugui, you've changed, you've become so cruel and merciless. Have you forgotten our original pact?" Deng Lingyao's face turned red with anger as she pointed at Zhou Fugui and asked.
"Wielding our swords in the Jianghu, performing righteous deeds?" Zhou Fugui sneered, "Without power, how can we wield our swords in the Jianghu and perform righteous deeds? Without power, people will only think of you as thieves. Once I hold the world in my hands, once I possess power, then I will perform righteous deeds."
"Do you care so much about power? Don't you care about me?" Deng Lingyao's eyes welled up with tears, which overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. "If you dare to attack the city, I will lead people to defend it against this tyrant!"
"Alas, Yaoyao..." Zhou Fugui sighed. "I know you cannot bear to see this, but I truly don't want to live such a life of displacement and hiding anymore. Yaoyao, we will have children, wouldn't you want them to live the same life as us? Also, for the sake of this mere city, would you break our marital bond? Yaoyao, after I conquer the world, you can do whatever you wish."
Deng Lingyao was immediately caught in a dilemma.
Deng Lingyao remained in the secret chamber for several hours, undecided and conflicted. When she completed the heart trial and walked out of the chamber, she was even later than Tang Yunü.
...
"Swish..."
As Deng Lingyao entered the second secret chamber, she felt a sudden sense of enlightenment. Before her eyes was a huge stone chamber. The chamber was overgrown with weeds, yet it was bathed in sunlight. Warm sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, casting dappled golden spots. Beneath the golden sunlight, there were cascading waterfalls, flowing down to form pools. The sunlight hitting the pools created rainbows.
Above the waterfalls, on the cliffs, stood three Buddha statues. One of them emitted a golden light, as if one had arrived in the Western Pure Land.
Such beauty astonished Deng Lingyao.
Deng Lingyao had grown up in Shangzhi Pavilion, yet she had never known such beautiful scenery and such a stone chamber existed here.
However, Deng Lingyao understood in her heart that she had not entered this chamber to admire the scenery, but to find a way out.
The chamber was, of course, not easy to exit. It was filled with intricate mechanisms, which was the second test: the trial of wisdom, to decipher the mechanisms and escape the chamber.
So, after admiring the scenery, Deng Lingyao began to observe carefully. She noticed that among the three Buddha statues on the cliff, the middle one was the largest, and its back faintly shimmered with golden light. Therefore, the exit of the chamber must be behind this statue.
However, the cliff was over ten zhang high, and the rocks were as slippery as a loach's back. Waterfalls continuously flowed down. Climbing or leaping up was impossible.
Exiting this chamber was not about climbing or leaping. Before each of the three Buddha statues, there were three wooden ladders. The ladder in front of the middle Buddha statue was suspended, hanging in front of the statue. Thus, these three Buddha statues must be the key to deciphering the mechanism. How to use the other two statues to lower the wooden ladder of the middle statue?
At this thought, Deng Lingyao simply sat on the stone steps, hugged her knees, and carefully observed the three Buddha statues, searching for the key to deciphering the mechanism.
The mechanisms laid by Deng Lingwei and Xue Hongniang were not easy to decipher; they required careful observation and deep thought.
Could he break it here?
Deng Lingyao suddenly thought of Zhou Fugui and blushed, burying her pretty face in her knees.
It is said that demons are born from the heart. After completing the heart trial, Deng Lingyao finally understood that the grassland, the dual sword union, wielding swords in the Jianghu, the change of heart, and everything that had happened before were all figments of her imagination...
She actually thought about him... and even became husband and wife... and had children... How shameless! Deng Lingyao thought shyly.
Would Father and Mother have noticed? Deng Lingyao thought with a mixture of shock and shame. If they knew her inner thoughts, she wouldn't be able to live...
In fact, Deng Lingyao was overthinking. The founding patriarch of the Deng Ling Sect had left these three tests. What happened to each person after entering the inner chamber was different. Therefore, Deng Lingwei and Xue Hongniang had no way of knowing what would happen in the inner chamber.
Demons are born from the heart, yet Deng Lingyao had still not completed the heart trial.