Seeing that I was getting a little worked up,
Du Yunting shook off my hand and said mildly, "Calm down. I was just saying hello to her. I meant no harm."
"The words 'ill intent' are engraved on your soul."
I said scornfully, "Why pretend to be a good person? Do you even know how to spell 'good person'?"
He wiped the red wine off his face, though the stains on his shirt wouldn't come out. Smiling at me, he said, "Do you know why Qin Shi Huang, that unparalleled emperor, was so obsessed with immortality? How many rulers throughout history have flocked to pursue it?"
"But not a single one succeeded. They died in their pursuit of immortality."
"But I succeeded. Can you see any trace of Lü Zhengxian in me? Can you see any trace of Du Ruhai?"
He was actually bragging to me now.
I glanced at him. "You think I won't recognize you just because you've put on a new disguise? You think you're a different person just because you've changed bodies?"
"What's the use of living that long? You're just another scourge that lasts a thousand years."
Du Yunting shook his head. The way he spoke really did seem like he had become someone else. "When someone gets what they want, or reaches heights ordinary people can't attain, their way of thinking becomes different from that of ordinary people."
"I think one of humanity's greatest inventions is philosophy. Philosophy gives people a second soul."
"I've been studying Buddhist teachings lately. There's great wisdom hidden in them. I'm sure you've already noticed that I'm completely different from before."
He actually made me laugh.
"Oh, you're studying Buddhist teachings now? Then what's your next grand plan?"
"'Reborn as the Buddha'? Or 'Those Years I Spent Trapped in