Zhou Zishu did not harbour any expectations for her terrible mouth to produce any nice words, but upon hearing this, a laugh escaped him nevertheless. He shook his head and said, “Fuck you. Gu Xiang, if you weren’t a young lass, I would have to beat you up eight times a day.”

Gu Xiang carefully scooted away, eyeing Zhou Zishu guardedly. Then she saw that this man was only drinking and had no real intention of hitting her, and heaved a sigh of relief. She thought about it, and magnanimously comforted him, “Lord Seventh said that the Great Shaman might have thought of a solution, maybe it can really save you?”

Zhou Zishu held a sip of wine in his mouth, savouring its taste for a long while as though he could not bear to swallow it down. A very long moment later, he finally said, “It’s tough.”

Gu Xiang blinked, and frowned, as though she did not really understand. A long while later, she finally poked Zhou Zishu with the tip of her shoe, and asked, “Are you suicidal?”

Zhou Zishu cast a glance at her and said, “You’re suicidal.”

“If that’s so, back then, why did you…”

Zhou Zishu started to smile.

As she looked at this man smile slowly, silently, Gu Xiang’s heart started beating a little faster out of no reason at all. She shifted her gaze away quickly; people said that beautiful women were harbingers of disaster, but as it turned out, beautiful men were too, she thought. She heard Zhou Zishu say, “To me, there are only two paths in life--either live well, or die well. For this, I can tolerate much for a period of time, but no one should ever entertain the thought of stopping me.”

He was a master of shrewd scheming, and soft-hearted at times, but when it was not the occasion for tenderness, his heart could be as unyielding as stone. He could be harsh on others, and could be harsh on himself too. He had always done as he wished, never withholding whatever he wanted as a heavy secret to bear in his heart. Even if he had paid a price that others would find too high for what it was worth, he never looked back, and never regretted his decision.

I throw my head back to laugh at the heavens, and proceed on my way; how can I be anyone mundane?[3]

Zhou Zishu looked at Gu Xiang and said softly, “Lass, you decide who you are. Others have no say in this matter. I see that you are quite clever, but why do you not understand this?”

Gu Xiang listened to him, almost stupefied. Zhou Zishu finished the jar of wine in his hands, flung it to one side, and turned to return to his room.