Destiny
"How long have we been walking?" Zhu asked Chaolan in the empty space.
Chao Lan pursed her lips. "Three hours."
Zhu Xun's tone was full of anxiety: "How long have you been looking for me?"
"One hour."
"I'm going in a different direction. Whoever finds my uncle first can take him out."
Chao Lan grabbed Zhu Xun, who was turning around: "Come with me."
Amidst the vast expanse of white, Chaolan's anxiety was no less than Zhuxun's.
Zhu Xun tried to twist his arm away, but Chao Lan held on tightly. He glared at her fiercely and said, "Now is not the time to fight."
Chao Lan released him, her expression grave: "I don't want to fight you, but we have to be together."
Zhu Xun stopped and asked suspiciously, "Why should I listen to you?"
Chao Lan sighed, "Master is nearby, but I don't know why I just can't find him. You can sense it, right?"
Zhu Xun did indeed sense it, which is why he was willing to travel with this annoying person for so long: "But there's nothing here. We should give up this feeling and have a better chance of going our separate ways."
Chao Lan asked, "You know about the Purple Emperor Sword, right?"
Zhu Xun paused. What Purple Emperor Sword? The whole world was fabricated. He remained silent, stubbornly heading in the opposite direction.
Chao Lan did not chase after him; he was quietly sensing: "You and I are both spiritual pearls on the Purple Emperor Sword. Only when we are together can we feel the Purple Emperor Sword."
This time, Zhu Xun stopped, but he stood still. Seeing his change in attitude, Chao Lan caught up with him in a few steps.
Zhu Xun looked utterly astonished, the fear from three hours ago still lingering: "You mean, the Purple Emperor Sword is in my uncle's hands?!"
Chao Lan pulled him over to walk alongside him, urging Zhu Xun to keep going: "The Purple Emperor Sword is the prototype of Master, didn't you know? So we have to walk together, no matter what."
Zhu Xun didn't want to think about it that way. He tried every means to find the Purple Emperor Sword and destroy it, but the Purple Emperor Sword was actually...
He walked on numbly, the two of them silent.
"We can't use magic here; we have to concentrate."
"....."
"Can you sense Master? Perhaps my senses are too weak. Why don't you concentrate a little more?"
"......"
Chao Lan sighed softly, stopped and looked at Zhu Xun: "Now is not the time to distract yourself."
Zhu Xun turned his face away, clearly displeased: "My feeling is no different from yours; it's nearby."
Looking at the face that was so similar to his own, Chao Lan felt a strange sense of relief. He chuckled softly, "At least I helped you out, so please don't treat me like this."
Zhu Xun's expression was strange, not understanding why this person would say such a thing. He wanted to be stubborn and say, "I didn't ask you to save me." But then he thought that he did need his help at the time, and for a moment he didn't know what kind of expression to show, so he just looked coldly at the frivolous "younger brother" in front of him.
"Don't laugh all the time, it's annoying. Especially that face." Zhu Xun walked forward without looking to the side.
Chao Lan followed up, retorting, "Our faces are completely different."
Zhu Xun continued walking: "Do you even believe what you're saying?"
Chao Lan was good at easing the tension. Although the two were anxious about not being able to find their master, he still wanted to make them feel more relaxed and not let the oppressive atmosphere affect them or cause them to lose their composure.
Chao Lan pointed to his eyes: "First of all, your eyes are different from mine. My eyes are sharp, while yours are round." He twirled a strand of his hair with his fingertip and waved it in front of Zhu Xun's eyes. "Secondly, our hair is different. Your hair is like willow branches, while mine is like seaweed."
"In the end, don't you also feel gratitude towards your master?"
He coughed twice, wanting to continue, but his words seemed to have touched a nerve with Zhu Xun, who interrupted him: "Can you shut up?"
Chao Lan swallowed those words; in truth, she hadn't figured out the rest herself.
It was empty and long.
You can't even hear an echo.
Chao Lan heard Zhu Xun sigh faintly.
He instinctively reassured her, "Don't worry."
Zhu Xun finally laughed, but it was a mocking laugh. "You seem quite at ease."
Chao Lan lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
Two streams of air pushed and swayed against each other in the air, and the two remained silent in this uncomfortable environment.
"I'm so sorry about what happened at the palace."
"....."
Another silence fell, and both of them frowned anxiously.
Rarely, Zhu Xun replied, "What's it to you?"
It was never Chaolan who abandoned Zhu Xun; on the contrary, Zhu Xun never uttered a word of resentment about it.
During the years he was beaten, verbally abused, and on the run, he never complained. What gave him so many emotions? When did he develop so many feelings?
Zhu Xun continued, "I never blame them. If it weren't for them, how could I have foreseen him?"
This time, Huan Chaolan didn't answer. He remembered the story You Youju had told by the fire when he returned from Fuzhen: a gentleman loves beauty, but only cherishes one flower, so he braved ice and snow for her sake. That story was specifically told to Zhu Xun.
“Perhaps it was your destiny to meet him, but not for me.” He raised one eyebrow triumphantly, a natural and rare smile spreading across his face. “He is my exception, and I am his exception. Everything belongs to me, only to me.”
It's pure provocation and showing off.
In Chao Lan's eyes, this person was like a rooster with its head held high, pacing around with a strange malice, waiting for the right moment to peck him hard.
Where does this malice come from? Since he says it wasn't because the palace abandoned him... in fact, they were both chosen and abandoned.
What could possibly warrant such wariness from Zhu Xun, making him feel like he was always on the opposite side? It wasn't the innate hatred between the God of War and the Demon Emperor. Because Zhu Xun had never done anything to harm humanity; on the contrary, he had helped the immortal sects.
The answer is obvious.
A chill crept up from the soles of his feet, seeping into the ground and causing him bone pain. Chao Lan couldn't help but shiver.
The person in front of him became even more excited upon seeing his expression, his smile widening, his eyes filled with disdain, mockery, and contempt.
"He's been with you since you were a child, how could you have such thoughts?"
Zhu Xun pressed closer: "What are you thinking?"
Even though there was no wind, Chao Lan felt a chill, as if a gust of wind was sweeping over him, making it hard for him to breathe.
Zhu Xun refused to back down: "Do you dare ask yourself that question?"
"What does it have to do with me?" He dared not say those words. He was suddenly furious. He hadn't been angry after being rebuffed so many times by Zhu Xun, but now he was enraged. He angrily pushed Zhu Xun away. Zhu Xun staggered two steps, his smile disappeared, and he scrutinized the hypocrite in front of him.
The sinister aura in his eyes was uncontrollable. He had previously only suspected that this fool had impure thoughts about his uncle, but now he was certain. Why not end him here and there, and then he would have no more worries?
Chao Lan suddenly lost her earlier arrogance and instead sat cross-legged, chanting a calming mantra. Zhu Xun stepped forward, his anger rising; it was like punching cotton!
"Hey! You damned Taoist priest!"
After Chao Lan had recovered to a certain extent, he slowly raised his head. Whether he was still angry, annoyed, or furious, no one could say for sure.
"Are you crazy? Didn't your master teach you to calm your mind and stabilize your character while he was by your side? Not only is your own Dao heart unstable, but you also want to drag me into this?"
Seeing Zhu Xun's worthless expression, as if he wanted to punch her right then and there, Huan Chaolan laughed out loud: "In the Eight Directions Compass, you were aiding and abetting evil by stirring up my will, weren't you? But judging from your appearance, you were probably stirred up yourself, weren't you?"
Zhu Xun was stunned for a moment. Why had this person suddenly become so sharp? He turned around: "Hmph, do you think I'm not like this all the time? Don't blame others for your own weak willpower."
And so, as if a skyscraper had risen from the ground, a blood-red inverted cross emerged from the earth's core not far away, and with a rumble, a skyscraper rose from the ground. The two stopped arguing and actually prepared for battle.
"What is this?! A square building?!" Chao Lan asked in surprise.
Zhu Xun quickly regained his composure; he reached out and touched it—it was icy cold. Two large, bright glass doors stood open in the center, inviting them inside.
The two exchanged a glance, sensing the presence of Ju.
Upon entering the hospital, one sees many shadowy figures coming and going, dressed in strange white and blue clothes, moving in a hurry.
The two felt out of place here, searching for You Youju's whereabouts. Finally, Chaolan found a staircase leading upwards. He quickly called out to Zhuxun, but Zhuxun stopped in front of an iron gate and looked around. Red lights were flashing around the iron gate, and he had seen these symbols in You Youju's ledger before.
"Cen Zhuxun, come quick! You can go up from here!"
Zhu Xun glanced at Chao Lan with a hint of resentment, seemingly very unhappy with how he addressed her.
Then Zhu Xun reached out and tapped a circle. The "up" symbol inside the circle immediately lit up with a red light, and the symbols on the circle flashed.
Chao Lan asked, "Do you recognize these things?"
Zhu Xun straightened up and glanced sideways at Chao Lan: "These are Arabic numerals, the symbols of Master's hometown. You've been by your uncle's side for so many years, and he hasn't even told you this?"
Chao Lan blushed: "Master's hometown?"
"Ding, we've arrived at the first floor."
Chao Lan looked around alertly: "Did you hear that?! Who's talking?"
Zhu Xun was very curious about these items that appeared in her master's stories when she saw them for the first time, but she still pretended to be calm: "These are my uncle's and my secret."
Chao Lan smiled, pretending to be nonchalant: "Everyone has secrets, that's normal."
Zhu Xun rolled her eyes slightly and began to carefully examine the square iron box. To the right of the closed iron door, there were three buttons. The top button was labeled with the Arabic numeral 6, and the other two were on the left and right, facing the same direction.
Chao Lan carefully observed Zhu Xun's actions, while Zhu Xun emphasized the number 6: "Only the 6th floor?"
Chao Lan replied, "This must be the floor where Master is located."
Zhu Xun's heart was filled with turmoil, and his wrist, hidden in his sleeve, trembled uncontrollably. He was extremely excited. It turned out that everything his uncle had said was true, and at this moment, he was inside the iron box, step by step, to meet the trapped You Youju.
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