"So, what's your deal?" Uncle Guis asked Toh Gen. They walked quite a distance away, though, Xue Xinling's moans could still be heard even so far away.

"Me? I think the appropriate question is, what's your deal, Master Zhui Gui?" Toh Gen responded. They both did not react to the moans of the ladies in the faint distance. "It felt to me, you just barged into our little travelling group. I proposed the idea of a travelling group with Huang Lu."

"I see." Master Zhui Gui nodded. "Then I must apologise."

"Huang Lu has been a good travelling companion, and I would consider him a friend, despite his tendency to get himself into various erotic situations. So, what would interest a peak 7th realm master such as yourself?"

Uncle Gui laughed. "Then I shall be blunt. When I was meditating in the canyons, I received a heavenly decree to protect Huang Lu from harm." The writer of fates decided not to cook up any complicated backstory, and instead just say what it was. The heavens gave the order, and so it is what it is.

"A heavenly decree!" Toh Gen's eyes almost popped.

"Such things are rare, but for one chosen by the Fates, it happens all the time." Uncle Gui said. "One glance at Huang Lu, and I know he has been chosen. The strings of fate will tie more and more women to him. That is his life."

"But... what if you reject the heavenly decree?" Toh Gen asked.

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"Are you courting death, boy?" Uncle Gui said frankly.

"Surely the heavens... wait. Forget I asked. The heavens are cruel." Of course the heavens are cruel. There's no story if the heavens are kind!

"Good. If the heavens command it, I will do so. This may be the heavenly karma I needed to break through to the 8th realm. Just like how the heavenly lightning boosted you to the 4th realm."

Toh Gen nodded. "I didn't need it though. I would get there, eventually."

"And waste a few years, if not decades." Uncle Gui said. "Don't be a fool. If the heavens grant you power, take it. They are just as likely to take your powers away, no matter how hard you work."

"Point taken, Master Zhui Gui." Toh Gen clasped his hand.

"It's just how the heavens are." Uncle Gui laughed. "So, why are you running from the Eastern Wind Sect? I recall the Sect Master was quite a nice guy, even if he was not that talented. The Eastern Wind has a solid reputation around here, and with the secret ancestors beneath your mountains-"

Toh Gen frowned. "Stop right there. That's why I must leave."

The old drunkard laughed. "Point taken. Those old farts can't leave the next generation alone, isn't it? They should sleep, they will be needed one day."

Toh Gen didn't answer.

"I knew them, you know. I knew Lord Firstwind, I even fought with him during the fourth invasion of the Spirit Beasts. He's a nice guy, but I think he's a little worried that he wouldn't have descendants-"

Uncle Gui suddenly got a lot closer to Toh Gen. "Come to think of it... you have the same spiritual roots as him."

Toh Gen immediately stepped back.

"Interesting." Uncle Gui touched his chin. "But you know, you're doing what he did. He went on a trip around the world before he founded the Eastern Wind Sect."

"He did?"

"Yup."

"Huh." Toh Gen slumped.

"History may not repeat itself, but it does like to rhyme." Uncle Gui smiled. "I hope you don't grow up into an irritating old man like him."