Returning to the secret room that held, Fang Zheng, Fang Xiang, Ma Hong Yun's soul and now stepping into the room a petite woman walked in.
She had flawless pink skin and her face was soft and slightly round with light pinkish lips, she was dressed in an oriental dress that was embodied with beads and such.
It was none other than Zhao Lian Yun.
"Ma Hong Yun!" she gasped upon seeing his soul trapped in one of the containers but before she could rush towards him an illusory red figure appeared between her and him.
"Zhao Lian Yun I've been waiting for you," the illusory figure held his hands behind his back as he talked to Zhao Lian Yun, though she was looking through him to see Ma Hong Yun.
"Red Lotus what have you done to my Ma Hong Yun!" Zhao Lian Yun snarled at the red figure.
Of course, it was Red Lotus Demon Venerable!
"I swear if you've done anything to hurt him; I don't care how many or all of my life I will use it all to kill you!" Zhao Lian Yun was filled with rage and Love Gu was feasting off the residual energy, glowing brighter and brighter.
But Red Lotus made a gripping motion with his fingers and it was as if a cold bucket of water was doused on her.
Zhao Lian Yun instantly regained her composure: "Strange. Just now I was certainly about to give all my lifespan to Love Gu in the hopes it would kill Red Lotus but on further thought, that's an incredibly stupid plan."
As if being able to read her mind: "Indeed. It would be stupid because I'm already dead."
!!!
That's right she was currently only conversing with Red Lotus's will and anyway even if she did want to make the sacrifice play it would be to get Ma Hong Yun out of here not take Red Lotus down!
"What is going on…?" Zhao Lian Yun was confused by the sudden burst of emotion she experienced.
"Grab a seat," Red Lotus motioned to the table he conjured in front of them, taking a seat himself: "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, so I'll answer two right off the bat. No, I am not harming Ma Hong Yun and yes I can revive him."
"You can…!"
Red Lotus wagged his fingers: "No more questions until you listen to me first and sit down."
Zhao Lian Yun looked at the chair and Ma Hong Yun's soul resting in the chamber behind Red Lotus.
Common sense told her that Red Lotus could have easily killed Ma Hong Yun anytime he liked and that he had no possible gain to lie.
After all, even if Red Lotus was previously acknowledged by Love Gu it is possible that he was like the previous Spirit Affinity Fairy and lost faith in Love as well.
One could not force Love Gu's approval anyways but:
"I feel this growing sense of urgency, desperation and, recklessness building within me as if this is my one and only chance and if I don't grab it, I'll lose and that I should do anything and…"
Red Lotus snapped his finger again, and Zhao Lian Yun felt a chill go down her spine.
"I suggest you sit down before you do something that you'll regret, think about it won't Ma Hong Yun be so glad to wander the earth as a soul without a body?"
Cold hard logic snapped Zhao Lian Yun out of her daze: "Indeed, even if I teleported him away it would only be his soul and without me, Heavenly Court wouldn't even bother to help him regain his body."
Zhao Lian Yun decided to heed Red Lotus's advice as if he wanted her dead, he could have just let her go down that train of thought until eventually…
"Good." Red Lotus clapped his hands and a tea set appeared before the pair: "Now have some tea, its called Earth Mountain Spring Bewilderment Tea."
Zhao Lian Yun was suspicious at first, but the tea had some strange allure to it: "It's good! What's it made from?"
Zhao Lian Yun very much wanted to take a few crates of it home.
"Simple, it includes a few Rank 6 Plants, Rank 7 Calm Heart Grass, Pacifying Soul Soup and…"
Red Lotus continued to list a few ingredients.
"Eh? Did I hear you correct Pacifying Soul Soup?"
"Yup."
"As in the mythical Pacifying Soul Soup from the Bewitching Lake beyond the Doors of Life and Death?"
"Yup scooped it myself."
"…" Zhao Lian Yun was truly shocked by the lifestyle of Venerables: "To make tea from such a resource…"
Zhao Lian Yun savoured every drop of the tea.
"Feel better?"
"Mhm," Zhao Lian Yun nodded: "You know something about my situation, don't you?"
"Indeed, I do."
"Are you going to tell me or wait for me to ask?"
"Ah right, your problem is that you have been with Love Gu for far too long."
Zhao Lian Yun revealed a doubtful and puzzled expression so Red Lotus continued:
"I'm not trying to pry Love Gu from you I'm relaying to you my experience back when I used Love Gu to crack Fate. You see you only know the version of the story where I succeeded but there were numerous times where I obtained Love Gu and was driven mad by it. Though most were when I still tried to save…never mind that."
Red Lotus seemed slightly affected as he said that last line:
"Anyway, after multiple attempts I realized that Love Gu liked to play on the feelings of its chosen person not solely because that person believes in Love but because they have and are capable of displaying great amounts of Love which Love Gu feeds off on both the positive emotion and the negative emotions created by despair and believe me, I had plenty of it while using Love Gu."
Red Lotus emphasized that point firmly: "You saw how you lost control and nearly gave yourself into Love Gu for something completely worthless?"
Zhao Lian Yun nodded. Her goal of saving Ma Hong Yun was twisted into one of saving for the sake of saving.
"That's what nearly happened to me many times when I first found Love Gu," Red Lotus recounted the numerous attempts he made and nearly made to save his lover, all at the cost of his life but would not bring any result.
"Every time I convinced myself that if I had just a little bit more, I would be able to use Love Gu to break free…what a fool I was." Red Lotus shook his head: "You see Love Gu is one of the few Gus that still retained its conciseness from Ren Zhu's time!"
At that point, the Love Gu inside Zhao Lian Yun flew out from her aperture and attempted to make a run for it.
"Hmph! Do you think I would forget you!" Red Lotus jumped up from his seat and motioned with his fingers.
Scarlet red strings burst from the walls and floor griping Love Gu trapping it from escaping.
"Red Lotus! We had a deal!" the voice was not very loud, but it still contained great fury.
"Love Gu can talk!" Zhao Lian Yun was shocked once again but without being given time to process:
"Zhao Lian Yun don't listen to this man he just wants to use you and your lover, Ma Hong Yun, to revive his dead wife!" Love Gu shouted: "Inject me with all your strength and I can bring the 3 of us out of here!"
"This…" Zhao Lian Yun was slightly tempted once again.
"Hmph, after nearly a million years you're still up to the same old tricks," Red Lotus waved his hands again and Love Gu's influence was wiped.
"Tch, damn you Red Lotus!" Love Gu angrily roared.
Zhao Lian Yun snapped out of it once again: "W…what's happening"
"It's simple, every attempt I got Love Gu made it seem as if I was an inch closer to my goals, but I soon began to grow numb, which meant Love Gu was no longer entertained thus, it devised a plan, it allowed me to succeed! But it robbed not only my Venerable Status but my Love for her as well! I felt joy at my success but when I look back at her I couldn't feel the Love anymore…all that work and for what!?" Red Lotus slammed the table and continued:
"But Love Gu was more insidious than that, as soon as I rebirthed determined to end Fate, Love Gu 'returned' my loss Love and trapped me in another spiral of an attempt after attempt only to be met with the same heartbreak! It was only then did I realize there was a conspiracy. So, I steeled myself to do the unthinkable…I watched her die, became a Venerable and headed for the Doors of Life and Death, there I walked to the Lake of Bewitchment and drank enough Pacifying Soul Soup to forget my Love."
"Drinking the soup gave me unprecedented clarity and focus but my heart now has a hole where she once filled, I had to forget everything, her face, her touch," Red Lotus gripped his hands so hard that if he were alive blood would have dripped down: "even her name!"
"Every time I think of it I draw blanks when people mention it all I hear is blanks I can't even see her name when it's written out as it gets fogged up!"
Red Lotus lamented: "I truly regretted it the Love had returned but I had to give it up, I had no choice it was necessary, imagining the suffering that I had to go through and then putting myself in the shoes of people who could not resist such a Fate! Made me, more so than ever, determined to end Fate!"
Red Lotus explained the plan that no one in history knew of: "The only way to break Fate was for an Otherworldly Demon to do it and I knew that if Fate remained as it was that no complete Otherworldly Demon could exist, I was the only one who could do it, I thought long and hard but could not find a way to turn myself into half an otherworldly demon much less a complete one but then it dawned on me, Love Gu can resist Fate to some degree it's possible to use Love to hurt Fate! My realization led to a new branch in the River of Time that I quickly isolated from the prying eyes of Fate. This was my only shot! I knew Love Gu would no longer acknowledge me now but I had a plan for that Attitude Gu!"
"Thieving Heaven Demon Venerable had not come into the world yet but ironically because of Fate, Time was fixed and as a Time Path Venerable I could look into his future and thus, took his recipe for Attitude Gu, refined it and used it to fool Love Gu!" [1]
"The rest from there is history, I damaged Fate Gu and set in place a Million-year scheme to find and create a complete otherworldly demon to deal with Fate and now it's time I wrap up that entire scheme."
"W…what are you doing??" Love Gu grew worried as Red Lotus pulled it towards him.
"Hmph! Weren't you having fun toying with the lives of people, sucking the life and love out of them so they can feel the despair that it leaves behind? Well then let me introduce the greatest despair of man; death!"
Red Lotus motioned for Love Gu to be placed in the coffin that was connected to all the 3 containers.
"Wait. Let's talk about this is it her you want? I can give her to you. I'll even leave you guys' alone Fate is no more anyway so why go through all this…" seeing that its words were falling on deaf ears.
"Zhao Lian Yun, are you really going to let this mad man take away your one chance at redeeming your loved one? I can bring him back and let you 2 live happily ever after just give me 60 no 40 years of your life and we'll call it even!"
Zhao Lian Yun turned away as despite hearing all Red Lotus had to say and drinking the tea, she was still a little hesitant about giving up Love Gu.
"No, you can't do this! I'm Love Gu! Love Gu! Do you know how long I've been around? I've been around before time began! I…I…"
Before Love Gu could say its final words, it was shoved inside the centre coffin.
"Wh..what are you going to do?" Zhao Lian Yun hesitated to ask.
Red Lotus merely smiled: "Bring your husband back of course!"
[1] Can't fit this in the already long narrative but Red Lotus also destroyed all the Gus he had on him when Duke Long killed him, obviously excluding Love Gu. Just in case you're wondering whatever happened to Attitude Gu.
[2] Also if you're wondering why he's so determined to go against Fang Yuan it's because he only ever treated Fang Yuan as a tool to cut the cancer known as Fate. If Fate is the worst thing to happen to humanity then Fang Yuan is number 3, according to him. (SSDV is no.2)