After that day, Shen Xinghe indeed never appeared again.
In the private room of the Five Flavors Pavilion, only Gongsun Lian and A'Yue remained, sitting across from each other eating and drinking.
“Fellow Daoist Shen really went into seclusion this time.” Gongsun Lian picked up a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks and sighed. “According to people from Tai Xuan Sect, the moment he returned, he shut himself in and didn’t even watch the final rounds of the grand gathering.”
A'Yue curled her lip. “He’s feeling guilty. After Lu Ren made that scene, how could he still have the face to come back?”
Gongsun Lian shook his head and didn’t respond.
As the grand gathering drew to a close, disciples from various sects began preparing for their return journeys. On the evening of that day, Lin Tingwan was meditating by the spiritual spring on Yunmiao Peak when she suddenly sensed someone touch the restriction at the mountain base.
Her Spiritual Sense extended outward, and she saw Gongsun Lian and A'Yue standing side by side at the mountain path entrance, carrying several jars of wine.
Lin Tingwan smiled faintly and opened the restriction.
The two walked up along the stone path, exclaiming in wonder at every step.
“Sister Lin’s place is beautiful no matter how many times I visit.” A'Yue looked around. “This Spiritual Energy, this layout... so much better than our spirit cultivator cave abodes. Humans really do have clever ideas!”
Gongsun Lian nodded and set the wine jars on the stone table. “I brought some Hundred Flower Brew specially from our clan. Brewed it myself. Give it a taste.”
Lin Tingwan took it and pried open the clay seal. A sweet, refreshing fragrance of wine drifted out. She poured three cups, and the three sat down facing each other.
After a few rounds of wine, A'Yue suddenly spoke. “Sister Lin, the grand gathering is almost over. We’re about to go back.”
Lin Tingwan nodded. “I know.”
Gongsun Lian put down his cup and looked at her. “Before we leave, there’s something I want to say to you.”
Lin Tingwan looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
Gongsun Lian was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke. “The day Lu Ren caused trouble, we specially went to inquire about you and Senior Zheng among Shangqing Sect members. Actually, we’ve suspected this for a hundred years. Senior Zheng’s heart... anyone with eyes could see it.”
He paused, then continued: “But human hearts are complicated. Over a long time, it’s not as straightforward as us spirit cultivators being direct.”
Lin Tingwan was slightly startled. Gongsun Lian looked at her with a sincere gaze.
“We can all see what Fellow Daoist Shen was thinking. It’s not wrong to say he took advantage of your vulnerability. But in the end, this is your own matter. No one else has the right to interfere.”
A'Yue nodded vigorously beside him.
Gongsun Lian continued: “On the path of cultivation, gatherings and partings are just fate. We spirit cultivators may gain sentience late, but our lifespans are different from humans. Live a few thousand years, see enough people, and you come to understand.”
“All those twisted, complicated thoughts of humans—we can’t learn them, and we don’t want to. Like is like. Don’t like is don’t like. Simple and direct.”
A'Yue nodded again beside him.
“Right, right! Sister Lin, we spirit cultivators don’t bother with all that fake stuff!”
Lin Tingwan looked at them, lost in thought.
Gongsun Lian added: “Humans often talk about ‘loyalty to one’ or ‘swore eternal vows,’ but we spirit cultivators don’t have so many broken rules. If fate brings you together, you stay together. If not, you part. What’s wrong with having one or two more lovers on the path of cultivation?”
A'Yue chimed in: “Yeah, yeah! If you’re happy, stay together. If not, find someone else! We’ve got plenty of time!”
Lin Tingwan couldn’t help but laugh.
“You two are really carefree.”
Gongsun Lian scratched his head. “It’s not that we’re carefree—it’s that we see clearly. Fellow Daoist, you’ve been among humans too long. Their influence on you runs too deep.”
His words were light, but they struck Lin Tingwan’s heart like a thunderbolt.
He stood up, walked to the cliff’s edge, and looked into the distance.
“The Profound Yellow Great World is vast and boundless, not just inhabited by humans. Cross the remote Southern Province, pass through the Ten-Thousand-Mile Forest, and you’ll enter the spirit cultivators’ world. Over these years, everyone around you has been human. Their rules, their ideas, their frameworks and boundaries...”
He stood up, walked to the spiritual spring, and gazed at the enormous locust tree.
“You are a grass-and-tree spirit, born of heaven and earth, meant to be the freest of all. But look at you now, weighed down with worries. Your cultivation is so high, yet you’re less happy than we are.”
A'Yue also stood up, ran to Lin Tingwan’s side, and took her hand.
“Sister Lin, if you want to, you’re welcome to come see the spirit cultivators’ world.”
Lin Tingwan looked up at her.
A'Yue said seriously: “There aren’t so many rules there. Everyone is a spirit cultivator—grass-and-tree spirits and monsters, mountain rocks and walking beasts. After gaining sentience and transforming, we gather to cultivate. You can be with whoever you want, and you don’t have to be with whoever you don’t. No need to make any oaths under the Dao of Heaven.”
Gongsun Lian walked back, took a jade slip from his bosom, and placed it in front of Lin Tingwan.
“This is the Spirit Race’s token. You should have already joined the Spirit Race, right? Mo Yu must have your original spiritual essence record on his end.”
Lin Tingwan picked up the jade slip. It felt warm to the touch, and she could faintly sense the Spirit Race imprint contained within.
Gongsun Lian continued: “Channel your unique original imprint and you can activate it. If you ever want to go to the Ten-Thousand-Mile Forest in the future, carry this jade slip, and the path will be clear all the way.”
A'Yue added with a smile: “I’ll be waiting for you, Sister Lin! When you come, I’ll take you to eat the most delicious spirit fruits and see the most beautiful moonlight!”
Lin Tingwan held the jade slip, looked at her bright, sparkling eyes again, and felt warmth surge in her heart. “Okay.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Gongsun Lian waved his hand, a trace of youthful spirit visible. “Don’t mention thanks. We’re friends.”
A'Yue took her hand and said seriously: “Sister Lin, no matter what you do, we support you. If you want to find Zheng Xuanling, then find him. If you want to come to the Ten-Thousand-Mile Forest, then come. If you want to be alone, then be alone. Anyway...”
She grinned, revealing two little fangs. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
Lin Tingwan looked at her smile and suddenly smiled too.
That smile was very light, but it was more relaxed than any she’d worn in those past days.
“Okay.”
Night deepened. Gongsun Lian and A'Yue took their leave.
Lin Tingwan stood by the spiritual spring, watching their retreating figures disappear along the mountain path, the jade slip still in her hand.
The night wind blew, and the locust tree rustled softly.
She lowered her head to look at the jade slip, then raised her gaze to the night sky.
Somewhere up there, perhaps someone was also looking at her.
They were right.
She had been among humans for too long.
So long that she had almost forgotten who she could be.
So long that she had forgotten that, in this life, she didn’t have to live like a human.
Could it be that she had never been able to unlock the locust tree’s original inheritance precisely because, from beginning to end, she had always believed she was a human?