Lu Yin let out a deep breath. Back in the Dead Sea, the Trial Sword Stone had leaned on him like this too. Though it was only a stone that had existed for countless years, its disposition might have been like a child's. It needed someone to depend on as well.
It leaned on him because he was human.
And it leaned on Gu Yuan because Gu Yuan was family.
"Ever since I can remember, my mother has been insane."
"The people of the Gu Family said she went insane because my father abandoned her. I resolved to take revenge on Ling Xiao when I was young."
"The first time I met him, he recognized me, and I recognized him too. I asked him why he had abandoned my mother, but he had nothing to say. The Gu Family said he had done it for the sake of cultivation. Cultivators are often heartless..."
Gu Yuan recounted a part of his past. The Gu Family he spoke of might or might not have been the force behind the people who had once hunted Ling Xiao and that girl. It no longer mattered. The Nine Fortresses themselves had been rife with grievances and feuds.
Without powerful enemies from beyond their borders, humanity's own conflicts would have grown countless times worse.
"Who are you?" Gu Yuan asked. He had finished speaking, and his emotions had settled. Only his messy white hair bore witness to his madness.
Lu Yin faced Gu Yuan and slowly bowed. "This junior is Lu Yin, presumably a descendant of the Lu Family from the Third Barrier. At present, I am the lord of Xiang City in Human Civilization."
He bowed not because of Gu Yuan's status, but because even after having a Karma Seed planted in him, Gu Yuan