67: Profound and unfathomable

  "I know the Du family has a skill that can condense soul spirits. I need you to help me condense a set of soul spirits."

  When Du Sulin heard Peng Haotian say this, her pupils contracted for a moment, but then she laughed. Can the four words "create trouble for people" be used to describe this? Does Peng Haotian think that condensing soul spirits is as simple as a child playing with clay? Du Sulin spent over 20 years without succeeding even once, and could hardly protect herself; now she still has the mind to do this for others.

  "What are you smiling at?" Peng Haotian's gaze had not left Du Siling's face since he stated his purpose, and any slight change on Du Siling's face did not escape his eyes.

  "It's just funny, that's all." Du Sulin's smile still lingered on the corner of his mouth as he continued to say: "If condensing soul spirits was something I could do with a flick of my wrist, I would definitely help you. Unfortunately, I'm not capable of it."

  "Can't do it?" Peng Haotian's face changed color, this was the first time Du Siling saw him with a somewhat flustered expression, and then he continued to say: "Why can't you do it?"

  "It can't be done, then it just can't be done." Du Sulin replied calmly, "Is there anything else why?"

  Peng Haotian walked a few steps to Du Siling's front, looking down at Du Siling with an intimidating aura, "Whatever price you want me to pay, just name it!"

  Peng Haotian's eyes seemed to be murderous, but he eventually suppressed his bad mood and asked extremely calmly.

  Du Sulin shook his head, "It's not something that can be done at any cost. I just don't have the ability."

  Peng Haotian's heart sank, and he fell silent for a moment.

  "If you have nothing else to do, I'd like to take Aunt away." Du Sulin said, seeing Peng Haotian's contemplative expression, he retreated his chair and stood up.

  Peng Haotian still didn't speak, he just waved his hand and turned around to face away from Du Siling, whispering in a voice that Du Siling couldn't hear: "It seems that guy still left himself with an ace..."

  In the vast garden, a swing carried a woman in a fiery red long dress swaying gently with the wind.

  Her thin lips opened slightly, as if she was humming a soft tune. Closing her eyes, the narrow red eyeliner involuntarily conjured up the image of a peony in one's mind, and its stunning beauty was probably everyone's first impression.

  By her side, there was another woman, wearing a long blue robe, with her hair coiled into a bun and held in place by a jade pin. If one looked closely, they would notice that this woman's eyebrows and Du Si Lin were quite similar, except that she had an extra hint of calmness and a lack of sharpness compared to Du Si Lin. She didn't speak, but simply pushed the swing, with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.

  This was Duslin's aunt Du Kongyang, whom he had never met before. At this moment, in Du Kongyang's eyes, it seemed that there was only the woman in front of him, and every frown and smile was the whole world.

  She finally understood why Du Kongyang was willing to stay here and not leave. The woman in red, she must be the one in her aunt's heart.

  "When are you coming?" It was Du Kongyang who interrupted Du Siling's contemplation, looking at her niece in front of her with a smile on her face.

  "I just arrived," Du Sulin replied, "I saw you and... didn't dare disturb..." After finishing speaking, Du Sulin smiled at Du Kongyang with a profound meaning.

  Du Kongyang turned his head and looked at the woman still sitting on the swing, smiled, and then turned back to Du Silin and said: "Have you seen Peng Haotian?"

  Du Sulin nodded.

  "What's wrong?" Du Kongyang asked.

  "It's unfathomable, and there's another feeling that can't be put into words, it's just very strange." Du Sulin thought for a moment before saying.

  "Is it because he is kinder than you imagined?" Du Kongyang asked again.

  Du Sulin carefully recalled the scene of meeting with Peng Haotian, nodded thoughtfully and said, "This may also be a reason."

  Du Kongyang patted Du Siling's shoulder and said: "Is there anything else you want to tell me? If not, then go back."

  "Auntie, you..." Du Siling was stunned, she wanted to say, aren't you going back with me?

  "Peng Haotian doesn't restrict my freedom, but he does restrict Hua'an's, so I won't go back with you. Besides, it's not bad here, someone provides food and lodging, and can also get the most advantageous information." Du Kongyang said with a smile.

  "Alright, but you must ensure your own safety." Du Sulin raised an eyebrow and didn't stop him. "By the way, Auntie, I want to help Jing Jie find her brother Gui Si Guo who is still alive, but as for the art of deduction... " As he spoke, Du Sulin himself couldn't help but laugh dryly twice.

  "A true descendant of the Du family, your divination skills are only effective once in ten attempts. You're the only one throughout history!" Du Kongyang shook his head and said helplessly. For some reason, Du Silin had shown no talent for divination since she was young, her aptitude was dull as a rotten wood. So after all these years, she had only just begun to grasp the basics of divination, and being able to accurately predict the weather was already quite an achievement. "Get me Qi Si Gu's birth chart."

  Then Du Kongyang picked up a stone from the ground and drew on it with one stroke, her long fingers constantly calculating. Before long, she furrowed her brow.

  "How is it?" Du Si Lin asked when he saw that Du Kong Yang had finished his demonstration but remained silent for a long time.

  "It doesn't matter." Du Kongyang stood up, dusting off the dirt stuck to his body. "Jing Ji and Feng's premature death by suicide was against heaven's will, and neither of them entered the underworld's City of Wrongful Death to atone for their mistakes. Jing Ji even became a nine-colored snake, going against the heavenly way. All things in the world have a fixed number, with cause and effect cycling through each other. The two of them had committed suicide due to the cause sown by Qi Si Gu, so the divination showed that Qi Si Gu was only reincarnated within these twenty-five years. I deduce that Qi Si Gu was left in the underworld to suffer over three hundred years of punishment."

  "What family did Nuo Jisi Gu finally reincarnate into?" Du Siling hastily asked.

  "The heavens' secrets cannot be revealed, far away in the sky, yet right before one's eyes. Ponder it slowly." Du Kongyang said with a deliberately profound smile, then she didn't linger any longer, and after encouragingly patting Du Silin's shoulder, she walked towards the direction where Hua An was.

  "Aunt..." Du Sulin wanted to say something more, but there was only a back view of Du Kongyang. Her eyes inexplicably turned red, she was going to close herself off. Perhaps this would be the last time she and Du Kongyang could see each other.

  Depressed and downcast, Du Sulin's rationality still existed. After wandering around Peng Haotian's mansion for a few rounds, he left.

  The words of Peng Haotian involuntarily emerged in his mind.

  I believe time can change a lot of things, you don't leave, Qing Zhu doesn't even give Luo Fei a chance. Taitian, Qing Zhu and Luo Fei are just ordinary people, but you're not. As the years go by, even if you can watch your beloved woman grow old in front of you, I think Qing Zhu's heart won't be at peace. She is getting older day by day, while you remain forever young. Do you want to turn her into a zombie like you? She is not you, she is just an ordinary person, and after becoming a zombie, she can only live on blood.

  Indeed, Peng Haotian's words are true. Du Siling deeply understands that now she and Xiao Qingzhu can still avoid thinking about this issue because they are both in their prime years. However, time is passing day by day, and ten years later, Xiao Qingzhu will still be Xiao Qingzhu, but her beauty will be gone. Du Siling will also remain the same, with her youth intact. Even if Xiao Qingzhu can accept it now, what about twenty or thirty years later?

  She suddenly felt at a loss. She wouldn't leave Xiao Qingzhu, but Xiao Qingzhu would leave her. The cowardice hidden in her bones grew out. And so she silently returned home like this.

  Even Feng and Dong Shuanghe didn't listen carefully to what she said, they just murmured a few words in response.

  Back in the room, Xiao Qingzhu was not there, and Du Siling threw herself onto the bed. The tip of her nose was filled with the fragrance of Xiao Qingzhu's body, like orchids and musk, and her ears seemed to be hearing Xiao Qingzhu's soft whispers.

  She won't leave Xiao Qingzhu. So, what to do in the future? How to do it right? Indeed, once a person has a hint of negative emotions and becomes depressed, all sorts of annoying bad things come flooding in like a tide.

  Douslin is now in such a situation. Her slender fingertips drew countless symbols in the air, hidden characters, suspended characters, water-avoiding characters... Finally, she transformed her fingers into palms, and with a wave of her hand, they all dispersed.

  "How could Peng Haotian suddenly have the idea of condensing his soul?" A question suddenly flashed in Du Siling's mind.

  This question also has no answer. But there is a good thing, because this question interrupted Du Siling's original thoughts, so she gathered her emotions, washed up in the bathroom, and walked out of the room.

  "Tai Guang?" Du Si Lin had just stepped out of the door when he ran into Fang Feng and Dong Shuang He, with a worried look on his face.

  She didn't know that Du Sulin's distraction was due to thinking about his relationship with Xiao Qingzhu, and kept guessing that it was because Peng Haotian had done something to her that made her so lost.

  "It's nothing." Duslin waved his hand, "Let's go to the living room and talk." She remembered Du Kongyang's inference about Jisu Guo, and said to Fangfeng.

  Moving to the living room, Du Sulin recounted the process of meeting Peng Haotian today to the two of them. As for his final evaluation of Peng Haotian, Du Sulin only used four words: unfathomable.

  "What's so profound?" Xiao Qingzhu happened to open the door and come in, seeing three people gathered in the living room, and asked a sentence.

  "Peng Haotian is unfathomably deep." Fang Feng replied subconsciously.

  "Oh." Xiao Qingzhu nodded upon hearing this, her eyebrows furrowing slightly without realizing it, but she didn't say much.

  "How come you're back so early?" Du Siling walked over and took the bag from Xiao Qingzhu's hand.

  The company gradually got on the right track, and Xiao Qingzhu's life also became busy with it. Therefore, when Xiao Qingzhu came back so early, Du Siling was slightly surprised.

  Xiao Qingzhu changed into slippers and gently pinched Du Siling's pointed chin with her onion-like fingers, raising an eyebrow to ask: "Can't you come back early?"

  Du Sulin's face turned red and she hastily replied: "Okay, okay."

  Dong Shuanghe and Fang Feng stifled their laughter on the side, the scene was like a frivolous young master teasing a virtuous maiden, Du Siling's shy expression wasn't something that could be easily seen.

  "Cough, cough..." Fang Feng cleared his throat twice and, having seen what he wanted to see, changed the subject to divert attention: "Tai Guang, who do you think 'far in the sky but near at hand' refers to?"

  Du Sulin shook his head and said, "I don't know, Aunt always likes to be mysterious. I think when the time is ripe, she will give us an answer. Since we know that Si Gu has already reincarnated and is among us, then Jing Jie doesn't have to worry so much."