Mountain peaks stood in great numbers, their summits shrouded in drifting mist and clouds. Deep within a bamboo grove, a waterfall cascaded downward like a bolt of white silk.
Feng Jinhuang sat quietly on the branch of a pine tree, gazing silently at the waterfall before her as tears fell soundlessly.
During this period, the Gu Immortals dispatched by the Central Continent to the Northern Plains to investigate had already returned.
But Feng Jiuge had vanished without a trace.
For Feng Jinhuang, the complete loss of her biological father's whereabouts—stranded in a foreign land—could only mean one thing: his situation was dire.
These past days, Feng Jinhuang had lost all appetite and interest in food. Her cultivation had stalled completely. She spent her days weeping, growing thinner with each passing day.
Life and death.
That heavy word, at the most unexpected of times, had battered against the fragile door of Feng Jinhuang's heart.
It was not as though Feng Jinhuang had never witnessed death with her own eyes.
But when it was her own kin facing such a situation, she lost all composure and every last shred of her tranquility.
Yet she was strong, after all.
The terrible news had not completely broken her. Only in solitary corners did she secretly wipe away her tears. On the surface, she cultivated as usual, though she had no idea what she had been studying lately.
A figure, like an ink wash painting—gradually darkening from pale to deep—appeared soundlessly behind Feng Jinhuang.
"Daughter." A familiar voice called from behind.
Feng Jinhuang turned her head and saw that the newcomer was her mother, Fairy Bai Qing.
"Mother!" Feng Jinhuang could hold back no longer. She threw herself into Fairy Bai Qing's embrace and broke into loud sobs.
Fairy Bai Qing comforted her for a good while before Feng Jinhuang gradually managed to stop crying.
"Mother, Father is so powerful—he must be fine, isn't he?" Feng Jinhuang raised her face, gazing at her mother with eyes full of hope and longing.
But rather than directly comforting her on this matter, Fairy Bai Qing shook her head. "Even the strongest Ninth Transformation Gu Immortal will one day face destruction. What then of your father? All living things must die. Huang'er, stop crying. Let me tell you a story."
It was a story from the "Legend of the Human Ancestor."
The tale goes that the Human Ancestor wished to use the abilities of the Feathermen to rescue his daughter, who was trapped in the Abyss of Ordinariness.
However, the freedom of the Feathermen could not be bound.
The Human Ancestor devised a scheme. When it failed, the Feathermen would rather die than betray their freedom.
The Human Ancestor fell into a state of bewilderment.
He could not find a way to save his children.
His eldest son, Tai Ri Yang Mang, was lost—just as his daughter, Sen Hai Lun Hui, was as well.
At that moment, the Self Gu within the Human Ancestor's heart spoke: "Human, you wish to save your son Tai Ri Yang Mang. I have a method."
The Human Ancestor thought that saving one was better than none, and hastily asked, "Oh? What method?"
Self Gu chuckled. "All things under heaven will die, because this is the trail left when Destiny Gu enters the Gate of Life and Death to visit Fairness Gu. Human, you must enter the Gate of Life and Death and walk the Path of Life and Death once more. As long as you do not walk upon Destiny's trail and instead forge a path uniquely your own—when you pass through the Gate of Life and Death and emerge again, creating a brand-new path—you will have succeeded more than half the battle."
"After that, you need only bring your son Tai Ri Yang Mang onto the path you have walked and lead him out of the Gate of Life and Death. Then he can return to the world of the living, where the sun shines. Your son Tai Ri Yang Mang will escape death and be reborn."
The Human Ancestor heard the method Self Gu described. He was somewhat hesitant, but in the end, he had no better option.
And so he resolved to let Sen Hai Lun Hui remain in the Abyss of Ordinariness a while longer, and first attempt to save his eldest son Tai Ri Yang Mang using the method Self Gu had taught.
The Human Ancestor set off toward the Gate of Life and Death. As he walked, one day he encountered a beastman.
This beastman was tremendously strong, the muscles on his body stacked like boulders, the tusks in his mouth sharper than any blade. He strode across the wasteland at great speed, howling, "Don't come near, don't come near! I'm afraid!"
The Human Ancestor found this strange and asked, "Beastman, what are you afraid of?"
The beastman said, "I'm afraid of my own shadow—it follows me wherever I go, and I can't shake it off. I'm so afraid that I can only run in all directions, exhausted, thirsty, and starving. I'm about to die!"
The Human Ancestor found this amusing. "Beastman, you have such a powerful physique, yet you fear a harmless shadow. Are you cursed with a cowardly heart? What is there to be afraid of?"
At that moment, a Gu Insect crawled out of the beastman's heart and laughed toward the Human Ancestor: "Human, don't be so full of yourself. The reason you don't feel fear is because you haven't encountered me—Fear Gu. Gahahaha."
"Fear Gu?" The Human Ancestor took a step back, his expression changing.
The moment Fear Gu appeared, a surge of terror welled up in the Human Ancestor's heart.
He felt afraid.
Fear Gu laughed even more arrogantly, then said to the beastman, "I'll let you off for now, little beastman, you pitiful worm."
The beastman was freed and immediately collapsed to the ground, weeping with relief.
Fear Gu then turned to face the Human Ancestor. "Human, you dared to look down on me, Fear Gu? Now I shall make you suffer the torment of terror!"
With that, Fear Gu shot straight into the Human Ancestor's heart.
The Human Ancestor felt boundless fear.
Afraid of this, and afraid of that.
Fear Gu made him afraid of the wind. Every time a gust rose, the Human Ancestor would cry out in panic.
Fear Gu then made him afraid of sunlight. The Human Ancestor could only travel by night, frequently losing his way, and during the day he would hide in caves or beneath thick tree canopies.
Fear Gu also made the Human Ancestor afraid of leaves. As a result, he kept far from the forest—any single tree could make him scream.