'Impossible,' Zuo Chen thought to himself.
Although those two were not as strong as he was, there's no way that a single Gu Master could beat them unless they were somewhere around Fang Yuan's or his own strength. He had not brought them along simply to be eye candy, after all.
"Good to see you can make it, Bai Ning Bing," Fang Yuan said. He noticed something... off about her that wasn't present earlier, not to mention the fact that she wasn't wearing a mask anymore.
A while ago...
Bai Ning Bing had placed a mask upon her face as they headed out.
"I will deal with the leader among them. Can you handle two Rank 3 Gu Masters?" Fang Yuan had asked. Bai Ning Bing would have normally been offended by such a question.
However, she no longer had full power of the Northern Dark Ice Soul Physique with her. She was limited to only ninety percent primeval essence right now, a fact that Fang Yuan was quick to remind her of.
"Don't you worry," Bai Ning Bing said. Their plan was simple: with the enemy divided, each of them would go after a different group.
Bai Ning Bing emerged some distance from where Zuo Chen was.
Fang Yuan had dropped her off here atop his Hundred Li Earthwolf Spider before burrowing down and going to confront Zuo Chen.
Bai Ning Bing walked slowly. It had been a while since she had been outside the Dollhouse. At some point, she thought she ran into a group of Gu Masters and hid herself behind a tree quickly.
However, it had only turned out to be a small flock of wild deer. Their ribs were showing, a sign of the lack of food on the mountain.
Bai Ning Bing sighed. She had been in somewhat of a deep depression ever since the Yin Rotation Gu had been used upon her. The reason she had hid was because she didn't want to see the Bai clansmen's reactions to what had happened to her. It would have been one thing if all of the Bai clansmen were dead. However, she could not tolerate their looks if they knew what had happened to her. 'What had happened to this once proud genius of the Bai clan?' they would think.
The Legends of Ren Zu, Chapter 4, Section 31:
Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance had managed to use a combination of Lightning Gu and Hatred Gu in order to break through the heavenly Qi Wall, thereby destroying Blue Heaven in the process. The shards of what had once been Blue Heaven fell to all four corners of the world, while the creatures which had made Blue Heaven their home fell to the earth.
He and his sister, Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence, had finally managed to escape!
However, Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance was not unaware of the destruction he had just caused.
"What? What did I just do?" he thought to himself.
All the lives that had been shattered, countless organisms which lived in Blue Heaven were now stranded, homeless, without any place to return.
Their cries and laments of anguish reached his ears, pounding away at his heart like the strikes of a hammer. Beneath this, even his Heart of Hatred began to bend.
'What in the world have I done?' Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance thought to himself. In his hatred, he had not seen the damage that he was doing to others or the world.
Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence urged her brother, "Brother. Now that we've managed to get out of Blue Heaven, I think that we should make our way back to Father as soon as we can."
However, Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance had now changed. Upon seeing the state of what he had done and the cries of pain coming from those who used to call Blue Heaven home, he no longer felt like moving.
One of the Nine Heavens that had stood above the world were now gone, forever, all because of him.
"How could I have done something like this?" In his hatred, he had completely lost his sense of self.
While Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence urged her brother to get going, she found that he had instead simply dug a hole in the ground with his hands and then dived straight into it. "Brother, what are you doing?" Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence asked.
"I'm hiding here," Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance said. "I'm hiding where no one can see me. I don't want anyone to see me. If they don't see me, then they will not be able to judge me. I cannot withstand their judging looks. Sister, please leave me be and go find Father on your own."
Hatred Gu no longer controlled Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance and had already flown off.
Once people abandoned their hatred, they usually found themselves empty and desolate. Hatred was like acid, which damaged the vessel that kept it in more than what one intended to throw it upon.
Lightning Gu, now that it was free, also found no use of staying with Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance, and had also fled.
Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence was at a loss of what to do.
While she did want to go back to her father, she did not want to abandon her brother like this. "Brother! Brother! Please come along with me!"
In response to this, Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance simply dug the hole in the ground further and then covered the top with dirt so that he couldn't be seen. "Forget that I ever existed."
"How can I possibly forget that?" Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence asked.
In response to her, a voice came from beneath the hole. "There's no point in trying to reason with him. Your brother isn't going anywhere."
"Who are you?" Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence asked.
"I am Pride Gu," the voice answered, coming from beneath the ground. "Once I have lodged onto a person, they will cling to me, even if it leads to the loss of their life. Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance, don't listen to her, you won't be able to handle it if you come out. Let us keep staying underground where no one can see us. It is better that way. We will be safe here."
Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance dug even further. It was dark where he was going, but he couldn't bare the thought of going up into the light.
"Brother, come back!"
"Human, your brother cannot even see what is right in front of him right now because I blind him."
Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence started pacing around. How could she get rid of Pride Gu? At that moment, Cognition Gu answered her. "Oh, human. Wherever one thinks, so do I appear," Cognition Gu said, materializing in order to come to her aid.
"How can I get rid of Pride Gu?" Myriad Gold Wondrous Essence asked Cognition Gu.
"Oh, human. What is the source of Pride? It is shame. Your brother is currently ashamed of what he had done in his hatred, and because of that, his pride will not let him leave. If you want to get rid of Pride Gu, you must get rid of Shame Gu first."
The only person who had no sense of pride, was one who had no sense of shame.
A truly shameless person would feel indifferent to how they were treated, or how the world treated them. Such a person would be indifferent to whether they were exalted or derided - honored or dishonored.
While if one felt shame, they would naturally feel pride, and feel the need to do anything they could in order to protect it.