Everyone says Shi Ling and Gan Si are mortal enemies, as incompatible as fire and water. One is an Immortal Venerable, the other a demon. One is an immortal from the heavens, the other is mud from the depths. They are destined to part ways and fight to the death.
Shi Ling sat on his own grave and pondered for a long while, then reached a conclusion: That was half right and half wrong.
It was right because he and Gan Si had indeed reached the point where they couldn't stand the sight of each other. At the very least, Gan Si must hate him!
It was wrong because, in truth, he and Gan Si had liked each other very much at first.
...Though perhaps he was the only one who felt that way.
After all, how could someone like Gan Si possibly want to walk the same path as a stubborn, opinionated demon like him?
*
In Shi Ling's memory, before he met Gan Si, he had always seemed to be the one who was abandoned and cast aside.
But as it happened, he met Gan Si.
Everything Gan Si said was right, and everything he said was fascinating. Gan Si taught him with care, sternly, to the point of being strict, and Shi Ling sincerely thought it was wonderful.
Later, Gan Si wiped the blood from his body and frowned as he told him to stop pushing himself so hard. Though he never stayed up late and was a man of few words, he came out in the dead of night to keep him company while they looked at flowers and plants. Countless times, at the brink of life and death, Gan Si arrived in time to stand by his side.
Shi Ling was deeply grateful for all of it.
Until he became the Demon Venerable.
Looking at the Immortal Venerable Gan Si standing against him, Shi Ling knew that he was about to become the one left behind once more.
He said to Gan Si, "Go. Go far away, so far that you'll have nothing to do with me ever again. Then I'll be happy."
*
On the day he died, fireworks were set off in the immortal sects and the human world. The streets were packed with people, and the news spread from mouth to mouth: "Shi Ling is dead!"
What a pity that someone Gan Si had brought up turned out to be a traitor. Now that this blemish was finally dead, it was the best news imaginable!
No one knew that, on that day, Gan Si had gone alone to a desolate place where no one ever ventured and found Shi Ling's shattered remains. He stayed there for three hundred years.
In the first year, people said Gan Si was deeply loyal, guarding Shi Ling's grave out of regard for their past friendship.
In the second year, people said Gan Si could not forget his old companion because the two had spent years together day and night. It was only human nature.
In the third year, people said Gan Si might harbor treacherous intentions, and that the Immortal Venerable's path was not as flawless as it seemed.
In the fourth year, the immortal sects ordered Shi Ling's bones exhumed and ground to dust. Gan Si stubbornly defied the order and was gravely wounded, nearly dying.
In the fifth year, people said that Gan Si, once an Immortal Venerable, had become a complete madman.
In the three-hundredth year,
Shi Ling opened his eyes.
Theme: Love yourself, love others, and love all living beings.
