This night is destined to be sleepless.
On the same night, on Azure Island not far from the palace, a major event was quietly taking place...
In the deep night, the sky was filled with dazzling stars.
The sea was no longer as turbulent as it had been at dusk. The ocean, which had been roaring and surging all day, finally calmed down as night deepened.
The inky night was tranquil and beautiful. A gentle breeze rippled through the air, and the alluring night gradually blurred the boundary between the sea and the land. Everything seemed to be a picture of peaceful and serene beauty!
In this silent twilight, there are no surging waves, no overwhelming pressure; it's so quiet that you can only hear your own breathing and the island's deep slumber...
However, in this tranquil and beautiful night, ever since Mei Zhixuan left the island, the white-bearded old man has been lost in his deep memories...
He sat in the outer room, watching over the woman who was still unconscious and asleep on the bed in the inner room, while reflecting on his life.
After a long while, a sea breeze blew in, and he finally let out a long sigh of relief, slowly speaking to himself, "Wan'er, your Xuan'er has grown up. Can you see it all if you are watching from heaven?"
Perhaps because his memories were filled with too much sorrow, his aged and dim eyes became moist. He slowly picked up a sleeve to wipe his eyes and said, "Over the years, he struggled alone in that vast palace, dealing with various forces on his own. He was really brave, very strong, and did a great job."
As he spoke, his expression slowly darkened again: "But, just now, what happened tonight, what he... what he said just now... did you see it all? Did you hear it all?"
After thinking for a moment, he was filled with remorse and choked out, "Wan'er, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so strict with you back then. You were punished for picking the wrong medicinal herb and were later kidnapped and taken to the palace by bad people. It's all my fault. I didn't take good care of him. I was useless. If I had known this disaster would happen, I would have done anything, even if it meant being shattered to pieces, to get him out of that golden cage after you died. But..."
He let out another heavy sigh, then wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. A barely perceptible smile appeared on his face as he said, "Your Majesty the Empress, she was such a good person! Back then, when I learned of your sudden passing, I disguised myself and went to the palace to investigate the cause of your death, but I was discovered. If it weren't for Your Majesty the Empress helping me escape, I'm afraid I wouldn't be alive today. Seeing how much Your Majesty the Empress cared for Xuan'er, and how obedient Xuan'er was to her, I saw with my own eyes that Xuan'er was living happily by her side, knowing that he would be better off than if he were with me. But I never expected... that Your Majesty the Empress... that she would later have an accident!"
The past events flashed by, as if they had just happened yesterday. Even now, the white-bearded old man still marvels at them: "The Empress Dowager, she was kind-hearted and skilled in medicine, relieving suffering and rescuing people from distress. She was truly a rare good person in the world!"
When he spoke of the Empress Dowager, whom he still admires throughout his life, the image of the woman on the bed suddenly came to mind.
His gaze gradually shifted towards the inner room, and he murmured, "Wan'er, Xuan'er said that the girl inside is the only bloodline left in this world by the Empress Dowager, who was lost in the Western Qin Kingdom."
He paused, then said with genuine astonishment, "Wan'er, do you know? When Xuan'er first brought this young lady to Youlan Island, I almost thought it was the Empress Dowager returning! She really does look exactly like the Empress Dowager. However, I think no one could have imagined that the Empress Dowager would actually be a descendant of the Guardian lost by the Western Qin Kingdom many years ago. This is truly unbelievable! Who would have thought that the descendant of the Western Qin Guardian would become the Empress of my Eastern Ning Kingdom?"
While he was amazed, he was also deeply worried: "But Xuan'er... he now wants to use this kind woman to fulfill his ambitious desires!"
The white-bearded old man exhaled a deep breath and asked, "Wan'er, repaying kindness with enmity will one day bring you bitter consequences. Tell me, what should your teacher do?"
As he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the faint sound of his maid, Lü'er's, hurried footsteps outside the door.
"Knock knock knock! Open the door quickly, Grandpa, Grandpa, something terrible has happened, something terrible has happened!"
At the same time, a series of urgent knocks and shouts rang out, and the white-bearded old man suddenly woke up. He quickly picked up his cane and got up to open the door of the wooden house.
"Greenie, why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? What are you doing here shouting and yelling?"
Greenie swallowed hard, then hurriedly said, "Grandpa, Grandpa, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
"Why are you so flustered? What happened?" the white-bearded old man asked, puzzled.
Greenie seemed unable to speak coherently anymore. She reached out and grabbed the white-bearded old man's arm tightly, saying anxiously, "Grandpa, please go to the beach quickly, hurry, hurry!"
Upon hearing this, the white-bearded old man frowned immediately, and as he stepped out of the threshold, he hurriedly pulled the door of the wooden house shut.
Then he turned and stared fixedly eastward. Supported by the girl in green, he hurried over, muttering in bewilderment, "The seaside?"
On a quiet coastline, layers of blue light began to emanate from somewhere.
As the seawater surged upwards, the blue glow was washed ashore by the waves, stretching out in patches. The shimmering seawater surged onto the shore wave after wave, making everything seem so mysterious, like a dazzling galaxy in the night sky.
At night, the ocean gradually transforms into countless shimmering stars, blending seamlessly with the seawater and sandy beach.
From afar, the crystal-clear blue light shimmered on the sea, forming dreamlike and dazzling streaks of blue light, like stars falling into the ocean. It gave the illusion that the winding beach was a starry sea under the night sky.
Soon, the white-bearded old man and the girl in green hurried to the beach.
The white-bearded old man's eyes widened in astonishment at the shocking scene before him: "What... what is going on?"
As soon as the two approached, the white-bearded old man broke free from the green-clad girl's support and, leaning on his cane, staggered toward the now increasingly vast Sea of Gloom.
"Good heavens, what, what is going on?"
After observing the surroundings for a long time, the white-bearded old man was utterly astonished by the strange phenomenon before him, which resembled a raging flood.
In fact, the white-bearded old man had spent his entire life here. The shimmering sea of light that appeared before him was the very phenomenon he had spent his life studying, so it wasn't the first time he had encountered it.
However, he had never seen anything of such a large scale in his entire life.
If someone unfamiliar with the scene were to witness this spectacle, seeing the blue, starry waves crashing against the shore and rocks with the ebb and flow of the tide, reflecting a crystalline blue light, they would find the scene incredibly wondrous and utterly romantic!
But only he knew that this was not a romantic scene, nor was it a beautiful sight; it was a disaster.
Little did they know, the eerie light emanating from the seawater was actually a deadly poison.
He devoted his life to research and discovered that when this ghostly poison reaches a certain level, it will change the water and soil quality of the entire Dongning Kingdom, and will also be released into the air to pollute the air, generate more other viruses, make all contaminated organisms sick, and even... there are more possibilities.
"Grandpa, what should we do?"
The girl in green approached the white-bearded old man and asked helplessly.
The white-bearded old man looked up at the time, puzzled, and said, "Based on previous observations, such a scene is unlikely to last long. Let's wait a little longer."
The two sat back down on the large rock on the beach and waited and waited. Time passed by, but the area of the eerie light in front of them did not diminish at all. Instead, it grew larger and larger, as if the entire area as far as the eye could see was covered by the blue light.
“Wait a little longer. In such a quiet environment, based on our past experience, the dim light should fade quickly…”
The white-bearded old man looked at the sky again and said, pretending to be calm, but he knew clearly in his heart that the scene tonight was definitely not normal.
Just as the first rays of light were about to appear on the horizon, suddenly, as if drawn from silk threads, strands of seven-colored light slowly emerged from the direction of the wooden house in the night sky.
The wisps of seven-colored light increased and gradually converged, eventually forming a huge phantom image of a seven-colored phoenix.
The phoenix's illusory form hovered above the wooden house, fluttering its magnificent, seven-colored wings, seemingly rising higher and higher...
Just as the white-bearded old man and the girl in green stared at him wide-eyed in astonishment.
The seven-colored phoenix phantom began to move slowly.
Yes, it took flight.
It then let out a cry that tore through the night sky, flapping its colorful wings as it rushed straight toward the direction where the white-bearded old man and the green-clad girl were.
The white-bearded old man and the girl in green stared intently as the seven-colored phoenix phantom flew overhead.
Finally, it stopped in the middle of the sea, then slowly turned its head back, as if staring at the two of them, or gazing reluctantly in the direction of the wooden house.
Just as the two were looking at each other in bewilderment, unsure of what would happen next, the seven-colored phoenix phantom standing in the middle of the sea suddenly scattered, turning into countless starlight points, which slowly fell into the vast ocean.
The white-bearded old man stared dumbfounded at the scene before him, unable to react for a long time.
After an unknown amount of time, the clear, melodious voice of the girl in green kept ringing in his ears: "Grandpa, look! The ghostly light has disappeared! The ghostly light has disappeared..."
The white-bearded old man turned his head and looked at the girl's sweet smile, finally revealing a slight smile himself.
Just then, a ray of light shone down from the horizon, and the long night passed; finally, dawn broke...
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