Chapter 3 The Blazing Fire That Bids That Day Into Two...
The Li family mansion was simply furnished; aside from the servants needed to operate the household, they hardly purchased any extra personnel. Therefore, Nezha dragged Pingyu along, swaggering about, unnoticed by anyone.
He took Pingyu to the place where he usually practiced meditation.
After putting down the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon), Nezha sat down cross-legged. He made a hand seal, which transformed into a ray of red light and shot towards Ping Yu's brow.
Nezha opened his eyes and found himself in a pale space. There was no sky, no earth. There was only boundless emptiness and a thin layer of water as smooth as a mirror beneath his feet. Nezha saw a huge, round stone disc standing not far away.
It has twenty-four round holes, with a piece of dull amber set in the center.
"What is this?" Nezha squinted, curiously reaching out to touch it. But before he could touch it, the stone disc suddenly melted into water, flowing into the ground's water layer.
Pingyu is in the water.
She was now standing on the cobblestone path she had dreamt of in the hall. There was no way back; she could only move forward in the predetermined direction, all the way to the dense forest where the giant python resided. Pingyu was somewhat bewildered. She looked around, unable to understand how she had suddenly returned to this place.
"I remember being bound by the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon), and then..." She tried to piece together her fragmented memories, finally choking back tears. Ping Yu touched the back of his neck, gritting his teeth as he arrived at the answer: "Then I was knocked unconscious. What the hell? He actually just knocked me out just to exorcise a demon?!"
With a swift motion, Nezha brought down his blade without the slightest hesitation.
The boy's voice was so close, it seemed to be right next to Ping Yu's ear. She was startled and quickly covered her ears and crouched down. Nezha was just trying it out; he hadn't expected Ping Yu to actually be able to hear his voice.
He reached out and touched the water; his fingertips felt icy cold, creating ripples.
It seems that this water can not only reflect human images, but also transmit sound.
"Third Prince?" She recognized the voice, but her wariness didn't lessen much. Ping Yu lowered his hand and slowly stood up. He looked around, making sure he was alone.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"I don't know. I also want to ask where you are! I'm in a place where the colors of heaven and earth are indistinguishable. The ground is flooded, but I can see you on the surface of the water." Nezha paused slightly. He changed his tone, continuing with a teasing smile, "You were so scared that you crouched down with your head in your hands? You're such a coward!"
Pingyu blushed slightly after being bluntly mocked for her earlier blunder. Thinking it best not to argue with the child, she said, "It's normal to be startled when you suddenly speak. But..." She took a deep breath, calmed herself, and said to Nezha, "So what do we do now? The Third Prince isn't here, and I'm just a weak mortal; I'm completely helpless against the giant python."
“What are you afraid of? Let’s go.” She heard the boy reply, his voice tinged with a hint of fighting spirit: “I want to see what kind of monster is so arrogant that it dares to enter my dreams even when you’re sleeping in my house!”
Actually, staying put and waiting for the dream to end is the best option.
After all, they didn't know where the other was, and if they encountered the python demon, Nezha probably wouldn't be able to arrive in time to rescue them. But Nezha could see what was happening here, and the thought of having to coax the troublesome Lingzhu after waking up gave Pingyu a headache. After hesitating for a while, she reached out and grasped the bell around her neck.
In truth, she wasn't without means of self-preservation. It's just that ordinary demons and ghosts would scatter at the sound of a bell, but the giant python in her dream wouldn't. Instead of fleeing upon hearing the bell, it treated it as if it were nothing. If she were to truly face the python demon alone, the bell would likely perish before she could escape unscathed.
Pingyu was wondering whether he should gamble or not.
At this moment, Nezha's voice rang out again:
"By the way, do you know what that stone disc in your dream was?"
Stone disc?
Pingyu's face clearly showed her confusion. She asked, "What stone disc? I don't know."
"It was a large stone disc with many holes in it, almost reaching the sky." Nezha recalled what he had just seen, and he had a vague idea about where he was now. He said, "Anyway, you'll be staying at my house for a long time, so I'll ask my master when we get back."
As soon as he finished speaking, Pingyu made his decision.
She remembered that the reason she had come to the Li residence to stay was to ask the immortal for a way to break free from her tribulation. The Immortal Taiyi was notoriously protective of his own! Regardless, she should first ensure Nezha's well-being.
The girl walked along the stone path, as Nezha told her, "The python demon is just ahead."
Nezha walked alongside Pingyu, the stone path long, as if he were walking side-by-side with the girl. Until they reached the water's surface, where a lush green began to seep out. Pingyu returned to the green forest. The giant python still remained there, gazing at the girl from afar, its golden eyes gleaming with cold light. Pingyu stopped, clutching her life-saving artifact tightly, silently sweating profusely. She had been unexpectedly pulled into this place in the hall; at that moment, her mind was in turmoil, her thoughts chaotic, and she felt neither fear nor the urge to flee in the face of the python demon, standing there blankly, waiting to be devoured.
But the woman standing here now is lucid.
Only now did Ping Yu get a clear look at the green python: its head and tail seemed to reach the sky, and it was covered with fine, emerald-green scales that shimmered with an oily sheen. Therefore, the scales did not resemble scales, but rather looked like flesh covering the python's body.
"Third Prince..."
Ping Yu murmured softly, taking a half-step back. The light on the scales was dazzling, looking extremely eerie, even bewitching, making one want to get closer. Her gaze drifted to the side, not daring to look at the snake scales again.
"Don't talk."
Nezha's voice became serious.
He could see more clearly through the water than Pingyu could.
Nezha noticed that there were bulges on both sides of the giant python's head.
A python growing horns is an omen of transforming into a dragon.
The horn is under the skin, just a hair's breadth away from growing out.
The python demon wanted to use the girl's extremely yin body's flesh and blood to shed its skin and become a dragon.
No wonder when Pingyu arrived, dark clouds loomed over Qiantang Pass, and a fierce storm raged. But when she awoke, the clouds had completely dissipated, and the sun even rose. It seemed that it wasn't the Qingming rains, but rather the heavenly thunder summoned by this python demon!
Thinking of this, Nezha raised his arm and shook it, then closed his five fingers. With the movement, the golden ring around his neck expanded in mid-air and entered his palm.
"Hello"
Nezha's sudden shout startled Pingyu. She instinctively tilted her head to listen, but dared not ask any further questions. The boy continued, "Although it's just a guess, he might know where he is now."
“A person’s dreams occur in the sea of consciousness, which only the primordial spirit can enter. So I should be in your sea of consciousness, while you are probably in the sea of consciousness of this long worm. It is determined to devour you and transform into a dragon, so when it invaded here, it did not enter with its primordial spirit, but connected your seas of consciousness together. So there is only one way for me to get to you.”
What method?
During the conversation, the giant python began to move.
It descended upon Pingyu once more, just like in her previous dream, as if an entire mountain were pressing down on her. The extreme size difference triggered Pingyu's megalophobia. Even her breath caught in her throat; the suffocating sensation sealed off her senses, pinning her feet to the distance.
Unable to move, Pingyu watched in terror as the giant python approached step by step.
Nezha pressed the Universe Ring onto the water's surface. As he channeled his inner energy into it, the ring trembled more violently, humming incessantly. The water seemed to boil, ripples spreading and droplets dancing. Just as he finished charging, he shouted sharply at the girl in the water:
"escape!"
Instantly, his breathing became easier.
From the moment she turned and took her first step, Pingyu clearly heard the sound of something breaking.
Loud and crisp.
The sky above my head shattered.
Ping Yu paused, then looked up at the sky. From the center of the muddy sky, a spiderweb-like pattern stretched out, the cracks like deep trenches emitting a faint light. Then, like a shattered mirror, the sky began to fall, inch by inch.
The gap in the sky is a pale emptiness.
The python demon realized something was wrong, and it moved even faster, opening its huge mouth to bite down on Ping Yu's head.
But Pingyu did not flee again.
Her pupils reflected a streak of falling fire.
Crimson flames cleaved the dark sky in two, hurtling towards the giant python with terrifying heat. The python failed to swallow the girl; its fangs stopped abruptly at her healed hair. Instead, rain poured down upon it.
It was a warm, sticky rain. A few raindrops blurred Pingyu's vision, and she hurriedly wiped them away, only to see the world appear even more crimson. She stood there, looking up.
The python's body landed heavily on the ground, a perfectly round, bloody hole pierced through its seven-inch mark. The flames had extinguished, transforming into red silk that once again enveloped the boy.
So it was the Universe Ring...
Nezha stood on the python's body and disgustedly shook off the blood from the Universe Ring.
He looked down at Ping Yu and asked, "What's your name again?"
“Pingyu.” She wiped the blood from her face and replied blankly.
Nezha jumped down, landing right in front of Pingyu. His clean clothes contrasted sharply with the girl's filthy appearance. He asked, "Pingyu, why didn't you run when I told you to? You almost got eaten, you know that?"
"I know," Pingyu nodded, her dazed expression nearly infuriating Nezha. The next second, the boy raised his hand and pressed it against her forehead. He frowned and cursed, "Are you an idiot?"
After saying that, the boy pushed forward with his palm as if venting his anger.
Pingyu was pushed over.
She leaned straight back.
When it fell to the ground, the pebbles scattered and turned into clear lake water all over the ground.
The girl poured herself into the water and her reflection sank to the bottom.
A note from the author:
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