Dong Huiying tilted her head, her face earnest as she pondered. "It seems to make some sense?" But afterward, she faced Liang Zhichen squarely once again. "However, what if I told you that prior to encountering that mudslide, the things I did were laced with hidden complexities? I’ve recalled part of that now, and I’m certain that my nature won’t change overnight—that it will remain constant, that I’ll continue to be as I am now. Would you believe that?" Zhi Chen was taken aback. At that moment, someone muttered, "Strange, where is she?" Shen Qiuyang had waited so long, heating the meal and letting it cool, only for Dong Huiying to still not return. In her anxiety, she went looking and found it odd; they had been together for over a month, yet neither knew the other’s name. Their relationship was quite mysterious—both intimate and yet maintaining a comfortable distance, never inquiring about each other’s past or origins. They continued their cohabitation, and it went well. Naturally, much of this was thanks to Shen Qiuyang’s indulgence. After all, in her eyes, the girl was a complete novice at life. Without her guidance, who knows—she might have starved in the mountains. "Someone is looking for me." Dong Huiying said to Zhi Chen and then called out in the direction ahead, "I’m here!" Shen Qiuyang immediately rushed over. "You scared me to death. I thought something happened to you, or maybe you got lost on the mountain... Eh? Why are you still wearing these musty, tattered clothes? Where are the clothes I got for you? That one’s dirty, why didn’t you change into a clean one?" Just as she finished mumbling, Shen Qiuyang saw Liang Zhichen. Zhi Chen looked back and forth between Shen Qiuyang and Dong Huiying, suddenly enlightened, "You know each other?" Dong Huiying also stared at Shen Qiuyang with a look of surprise. After reheating the meal, Shen Qiuyang was filled with doubts. The atmosphere between the Benefactor and the young girl was highly unusual; it was clear they recognized each other. She remembered the bamboo tube the Benefactor had given her, which contained a portrait of a young girl. The girl in the portrait bore a six or seven-tenths resemblance to the young girl. The few differences lay in hair color, eye color, and whereas the girl in the painting was fresh and lovely, the young girl had a calamitous and seductive aura about her. She felt she had discovered the truth, a realization dawning in her heart. After laying out all the dishes, Dong Huiying hastily wolfed down a few bites and then stood up, "I’m off to refine Gu!" Then she dashed into the next room. Zhi Chen was puzzled and asked Shen Qiuyang, "Gu Refinement?" "Yes, she’s a Gu Girl." After answering, Shen Qiuyang added curiously, "Don’t you know? I thought you knew her, that you had some past with her? She’s afflicted with Gu Poison, and ever since I met her, she’s been engrossed in studying Gu Art. She once told me that the Gu Poison in her is highly unusual—it affects one’s mind upon activation, turning them violent, and she’s been forgoing sleep and food to refine Gu, seeking to use poison against poison to create a Gu King to control the Gu inside her." Zhi Chen was slightly startled. Were these the hidden complexities she mentioned by the river? The viciousness, was it because of the Gu Poison? He had traveled far and wide across Dayuan and had heard many strange tales. The Poison Gu Art was originally from a rival nation, but few in Dayuan deigned to study it, mainly because the Poison Gu Art was deemed sinister. Among those tales, any related to Gu Art invariably ended badly, full of accounts of Gu sorcerers using it to kill and cause harm.