"Sometimes, telling the truth is less likely to be believed."
The Second Elder and his party left.
Gu Shen turned around and spoke to Li Qingci.
Li Qingci let out a sigh of relief as the Elder Council finally left, but her worries did not dissipate.
She recounted the dream she had earlier to Gu Shen.
As a Cultivator of the Prayer Technique, she cared a great deal about the meaning of "Dreams."
In her view, it was a form of guidance.
Every dream should be taken seriously.
"There’s a rift within the Li Family..." After listening intently, Gu Shen slowly said, "After Li Quhu’s death... many people do not wish for Qing Sui to become the true Family Head."
So far, before Qing Sui’s title as Family Head, two words still needed to be prefixed.
She had the name but not yet the authority.
And most importantly... it wouldn’t be long before that "acting" would be removed. According to the rules, a suitable successor must be found within a month of the Family Head’s death. This was also the reason why those guys from the Elder Council were so anxious to act.
Having decided to "take action,"
they would not allow Qing Sui to truly become "Family Head."
Li Qingci’s dream was indeed worth noting... The members of the Elder Council seemed to be planning to use the [Copper Human Lamp] project as a breakthrough point, and judging from the current situation, if one day, the scene of the dream with people surrounding the Divine Temple Mountain were to appear, it wouldn’t be impossible.
For the first time in her life, Li Qingci felt the desire to leave this mountain.
If she could go outside, she wouldn’t have to let a little girl like Qing Sui face such a difficult situation.
At least... she could do something.
Even if she could only have a negligible impact, it was better than staying here, unable to help at all.
"Even within the Divine Temple... one can still help those outside."
Gu Shen discerned Li Qingci’s thoughts.
He spoke reassuringly, pulling an old and worn Copper Human Lamp from his bosom.
In Li Qingci’s previously dim eyes, a glint of light sparkled.
This was... the last lamp!
"The [Copper Human Lamp] project is no longer important," Gu Shen said with a smile. "The last lamp has been found..."
He raised his head, looking towards the mountain top.
His voice, even when he spoke, was slightly trembling.
The reason was simple... with all four lamps gathered, did it mean that he would be able to witness the realization of the Li Family’s prophecy?
Climbing the mountain.
The mountain wind was biting and fierce.
Today, the top of the Divine Temple Mountain seemed to anticipate an out-of-the-ordinary event.
Gusts of chilling wind swept through, and the Black Flowers that Gu Shen had cleaned were gone, leaving a few tiny white petals fluttering on the cleansed mountaintop.
Gu Shen, carrying the Anger Lamp, entered the Divine Temple.
Li Qingci followed him, indicating with her eyes that the placement of the last lamp should be done by him.
Gu Shen took a deep breath.
His expression solemn, he moved to the last corner of the temple.
Joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure.
The four fundamental emotions that make up a "complete human"... Now, only the light in the last corner remained to be truly borne.
He held the Copper Human Lamp in one hand, slowly extending his palm into the spirit flame of the corner.
A spark of anger rose from Gu Shen’s calm chest. He held his breath, feeling the seething anger within, yet his eyes remained utterly calm as he gradually felt the spirit that the Anger Lamp had accumulated over six hundred years.
This was the correct lamp.
The surface of the ancient Copper Human Lamp seemed to be gilded, blooming with ripples of brilliant colors, and then all those emotions poured into the "container."
Gu Shen withdrew his hand, and the anger in his chest slowly faded.
The moment he put down the lamp.
He felt a sense of relief, as if he had completed a "lengthy great undertaking."
Collecting the four lamps.
This year actually flew by quickly, but upon reflection, because it was filled with hope, every day of waiting was long.
The collection of all four lamps did not produce the earth-shaking phenomenon rumored.
The interior of the Divine Temple remained as quiet as ever, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Li Qingci clenched her sleeves, waiting tentatively, not daring to make the slightest sound...
It might have been an illusion.
She felt as if the world had become too peaceful.
Even the sound of the wind on the mountain was no longer as piercing.
Gu Shen called out Chu Ling’s name in his mind... only to receive a hoarse, intermittent, and vague response.
"Shasha... shasha..."
The Spiritual Link that had been established with Chu Ling, which was originally incredibly stable, had become inexplicably disturbed.
After setting down all four lamps.
Gu Shen began to panic. He quickly pushed open the wooden door of the Ancient Temple and stood in front of the mountain well, leaning over to look. The wind above the mountain had died down, but the wind inside the well seemed to have grown stronger.
The previously mirror-like well water suddenly rippled on its own.
The scene before Gu Shen’s eyes turned chaotic—
He seemed to see the shaking "little one."
And he seemed to see the swaying "well water."
The Spiritual Link still retained the last trace of connection, like using a communicator in a place with poor signal, where both people had to stand on their tiptoes to hear the very last sound, to see the very last scene in each other’s eyes.
The disordered images seemed to overlap, switching back and forth.
Chu Ling sat inside the carriage.
She was more nervous than Gu Shen.
To her, life was a thing without length, without width, without meaning... She had infinite time, would not die, and could not really say she "lived."