Chapter 105: The Flourish of Humanity (II)
Chen Wenjian nestled in Chen Yunli's arms and took a few breaths. The dragon tail under him gradually faded away and turned into human legs again.
Chen Yunli touched his leg - it was a solid entity, and there was no sign of it dissipating.
Chen Wenjian chuckled: "Yun Li, are you taking advantage of me?"
"...Just a checkup." Chen Yunli cleared his throat. "Let's exchange ideas on how to address your current situation."
"Ideas..." Chen Wenjian put aside his joking thoughts and said, "I do have an idea, but I can't confirm it yet."
Compared to Chen Yunli's excessive worry, he himself actually doesn't care much about this matter.
The Way of Heaven exists forever, the original devil is indestructible, and with Chen Wenjian's status, unless there is a great power that can instantly wipe out the entire world, nothing in the world can harm his life. The most he can do is sleep and recuperate like the Way of Heaven, waiting for the next great era.
But after he met Chen Yunli, he didn't want to go back to his confused, ignorant and dormant state.
They agreed to never separate.
Chen Wenjian's distracting thoughts had already flown across the vicissitudes of life in an instant, and it was only when Chen Yunli pulled his sleeve and questioned him that he came back to his senses.
"Tell me what you think!"
Chen Wenjian drooped his eyelashes, then raised his head to look at the endless sky outside the window.
The clear sky just now was covered with a few dark clouds at some point, as if the haze in people's hearts was reflected in the sky.
"I suspect that something is wrong with the way of heaven in this life."
Suddenly, a thunderclap resounded throughout the world. In the pale lightning, the sky quickly darkened and heavy rain came.
Chen Yunli raised his eyebrows calmly: "You seem to have said something very truthful that made the Heavenly Dao very unhappy."
"Don't worry about it. He's just trying to save face." Chen Wenjian was calmer than him, even showing a kind of indifference that was accustomed to it. "He and I share the same origin. Although we are not one and the same, I can vaguely sense each other's state. From my perception, its current state is very poor. Not only is it weak, but it is also incomplete."
"Incomplete?" Chen Yunli was surprised. "Is it... the kind of incompleteness that I understand?"
Chen Wenjian nodded. "He's missing a part of the law, a very important law, almost the cornerstone that connects the heavens and humans. But I don't have a clue what it is yet."
Chen Yunli frowned, rubbing his chin in thought: "Can you communicate with the Heavenly Dao and ask Him directly?"
"No, He won't tell me even if I ask Him." Chen Wenjian counted on his fingers and pinched his nose helplessly. "Humanity has no will, so we can't ask Him about it either."
Chen Yunli changed his mind and came up with an idea: "Since there's no one to ask, let's first use the process of elimination and make a bold hypothesis."
"Hmm?" Chen Wenjian smiled. "What is the process of elimination? How do you use it?"
"Don't worry about what it is for now. I'll ask you questions and you'll answer them." Chen Yunli's tone turned serious. "You said that the Heavenly Dao is missing a very important law. How many laws of this nature are there?"
"Not many," Chen Wenjian pondered. "If we don't make a detailed classification, there are actually only two laws of heaven—life and death."
On a larger scale, the rising and setting of the sun and moon is a cycle of "life and death," and the vicissitudes of life and death are the "life and death" of an era. On a smaller scale, the laws of nature and the repetition of all things are also a process of life and death.
In a broad sense, life and death are indeed the cornerstones of the way of heaven and the great way of humanity.
"'Life' is easy to understand; it's a clearly stated law. If something goes wrong, the entire world will grind to a halt," Chen Wenjian said. "Right now, it seems humanity is flourishing in this era, and life is thriving. The law of 'life' is still functioning normally."
"What about 'death'?" Chen Yunli asked.
"Death..." Chen Wenjian paused, "It's hard to say."
From the small things like the growth and withering of plants to the big things like the changing of seasons, the law of "death" runs through them all, yet it is difficult to find any trace of it.
To determine whether there is something wrong with this half of the foundation stone, it is difficult to accurately find the problem without a clear direction.
Thinking of this, Chen Wenjian's expression became somewhat gloomy and solemn.
Chen Yunli remained calm: "So, the missing law of Heaven is probably related to 'death'?"
"Well, it's very likely." Chen Wenjian sighed, looked up and saw that he was thinking about something, and suddenly felt that their roles seemed to be reversed.
In the past, Chen Yunli was always the one who was entangled in trouble, and Chen Wenjian was the one who came up with suggestions.
Now the person in trouble has become Chen Wenjian, and Chen Yunli is unexpectedly reliable.
Chen Yunli, unaware of his sudden shift in thoughts, analyzed, "If that's the case, we can temporarily focus our investigation here. The Way of Heaven is declining in this world, and its 'death' is likely related to something as broad as the laws of nature. As for the 'death' of humanity, that's simple—Wen Jian, do you have a way to confirm whether the cycle of reincarnation in the human world is still functioning normally?"
"Reincarnation?" Chen Wenjian was stunned.
"Yes, reincarnation." Chen Yunli nodded, supporting his chin. "The cycle of life and death is reincarnation. The human race's longevity is inextricably linked to reincarnation. This is also the only law of life and death that connects the laws of heaven and humanity. I..."
"Wait!" Chen Wenjian interrupted him before he finished speaking, a rare occurrence. "What is...reincarnation?"
Chen Yunli was stunned, and Chen Wenjian, who asked the question, was also stunned when he looked at him.
The two stared at each other for a long moment, and Chen Wenjian pinched his brows. "Let me think about it... reincarnation... reincarnation... Yes, there should indeed be such a rule in the world. Otherwise, the souls of humans would have nowhere to go after death, and new humans would not be born to maintain the functioning of humanity... But why do I feel so unfamiliar with this term? And... I can't seem to remember how it works..."
“…”
Chen Yunli pulled down his increasingly anxious hand and held it in his palm. He looked into his eyes with calm eyes, which quickly calmed his inexplicably troubled mood.
"Don't be anxious, and don't be nervous." He touched Chen Wenjian's face, pressed his thumb against his face, and rubbed it soothingly. "The answer is already out, isn't it?"
Chen Wenjian rubbed his fingers.
"Yes, the answer is out."
…
In the afternoon, Chen Wenjian suffered a severe backlash from discovering the truth about the imperfections of the Heavenly Dao. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and just fell into a coma for a long time.
Sick people are always clingy, and gods and demons are no exception.
He insisted on asking Chen Yunli to sleep with him, and if she refused, he would stay in her arms and refuse to let go.
Chen Yunli was so annoyed by his pestering that he wanted to stay with him for a while and then quietly leave after he fell asleep. He went downstairs to sort out the things Bai Ai bought.
As a result, I dozed off until evening.
Chen Yunli opened his eyes and saw the half sunset hanging outside the window, and he felt numb.
He rubbed his hair and tilted his head to look at Chen Wenjian who was sleeping soundly leaning on his arm.
He slept soundly and peacefully, and there was no sign of waking up for the time being.
Chen Yunli didn't bother him. He carefully moved him out of his arms, stuffed a piece of quilt between his arms, and then got out of bed quietly.
He hurried downstairs and sorted the scattered food, snacks and other items in the yard into different categories and put them into the utility room next to the kitchen. He casually made up a spell to keep them fresh and warm and threw it in, and that was it.
After a busy day, the last ray of afterglow brushed against his temples and disappeared into the horizon, and night fell.
A waning crescent moon hung in the sky, with winter frost forming on the curved hooks at both ends, and the moonlight it cast was also chilling.
Chen Yunli suddenly felt a little cold, so he straightened his collar and prepared to go out for a walk.
If there is really a problem with reincarnation, there will definitely be hundreds of ghosts roaming the world at night. This is the simplest and most intuitive direction of investigation.
"Squeak—ah—"
He slowly opened the wooden door, and a sudden, rasping sound of friction was heard, more harsh and sharp than during the day, with a hint of ominous meaning.
Chen Yunli stepped out of the door, looking around as he walked.
The sandbank where they lived was still quiet. The cold wind like a knife blew through here, but it seemed to be filtered out by the thick layers of grass and trees, and a slight rustling sound was made among the swaying branches and leaves.
But the world outside Sha Ting seemed different compared to daytime.
A faint blue light overflowed from the narrow water path. The stream was clear, and layers of blue fireflies were deposited underwater, flickering with the waves, full of eerie and ghostly aura.
With this stream as the boundary, the world on the other side of the stream is shrouded in a strange blue-purple color, some deep, some shallow, like a curtain, and under the curtain of light is endless silence.
Chen Yunli tried his luck and his cultivation level recovered by about 50%, which was enough to be at the first level of the Three Tribulations.
He took out a lantern from the storage magic tool. The originally warm yellow light suddenly flickered and turned into dark blue, like a will-o'-the-wisp.
Chen Yunli reached out his hand to touch the flame in the lamp, and a bone-chilling force penetrated into his internal organs from his fingertips. At that moment, he actually felt a coldness that froze his soul. If he had not used his spiritual power to expel it in time, he suspected that he would really be frostbitten.
Even so, after the cold air left his body, he opened his mouth and the breath he exhaled was still in the form of icy mist.
Chen Yunli stared at the lantern and thought for a while. He did not choose to put it away. Instead, he gathered his spiritual power into his palm for protection and continued to move forward with the lantern.
His first obstacle was the stream that separated Sha Ting from the outside world.
The stream water is clear and the blue fire is blazing. It seems that everything is in the open and there is no danger.
But the dark blue color covering the water surface reminded Chen Yunli of a name.
Forgetful River.
The two most famous water sources in the underworld are Huangquan and Wangchuan.
Theoretically, they should come from the same source, but have different names because they flow through different areas.
Since they have the same origin, the degree of danger is also the same.
Beneath the Yellow Springs and the Forgotten River, there are evil spirits suppressed, unable to escape and unable to escape.
This stream is definitely not the main trunk of the two water sources. It is at most a tributary. But even if it is a tributary, it is terrifying enough for ordinary people.
Chen Yunli took a deep breath and said, "Let me see if you are who I thought you were. If you are... then this world is in big trouble."
The world during the day, the underworld at night.
This is not just a problem with reincarnation, it is a major disorder of the entire human life and death system. If it is not handled carefully, the whole world will die suddenly and become ghosts together. The way of heaven and the way of man will commit suicide hand in hand for love, and the new way - the way of ghosts, will dominate the world by stepping on their corpses.
Being a ghost is certainly easy because he doesn't have to worry about birth, old age, sickness, death, or the seven emotions and six desires, but he still prefers the warm and lively human world.
Chen Yunli gripped the handle of the lantern tightly, lifted up the hem of his clothes with one hand, and stepped onto the stream.
Almost at the moment his footsteps landed, the blue fire under the stream suddenly exploded, and thousands of sparks rushed out of the water like a shattered curtain.
At the same time, countless dry and skinny ghost hands stretched out from below, densely packed along the entire water path, waving and scratching wildly, grabbing at Chen Yunli's feet with their fangs and claws.
“Take me out…Take me out…!”
"Flesh and blood! Fresh flesh and blood!"
"I'm not dead... I'm dead... I'm not dead... I'm dead..."
“It hurts…it hurts…”
"I hate it so much... I hate it so much... Let's die together..."
"Why are you still alive... Why are you still alive..."
"I'm dead... I'm not dead... Am I dead or not..."
“Hate…”
The shrill and chaotic screams broke through his eardrums and drilled into Chen Yunli's brain like an electric drill. He listened for less than two seconds and felt a headache. He was so irritated that he wanted to kill someone.
The spiritual power of the Three Tribulations Realm erupted violently, cutting through the stream like a wind knife or a frosty sword, cutting all the ghost hands in half.
However, the number of underwater evil spirits has accumulated over thousands of years and is almost endless.
After he cut one crop, there were still countless crops left, which could not be completely removed.
What's worse is that this practice caused a riot among the evil spirits. Soon, it was not just ghost hands that emerged from the water, but also dry heads with skin sticking to the bones. Dark ghost fire was filled in the sunken eye sockets, staring at Chen Yunli sinisterly.
“Hate it… hate it…”
"Come down and keep us company... Come down and keep us company..."
"I'm not dead... I'm dead... Am I dead or not..."
Chen Yunli looked at the countless evil spirits at his feet, and heard a complex and miserable howl. He was not afraid, but rather puzzled - was there something strange mixed in with these howls?
Just as he was surrounded by ghosts and a big battle was about to begin, the sound of wooden oars cutting through the water suddenly came from behind him.
“Clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter—”
Chen Yunli looked back and saw Bai Ai slowly approaching on a bamboo raft. There was a lamp pole at the front of the raft with a lantern hanging on it... all of it was yellow.
"Mr. Chen? Why are you out so late at night?"
Before Chen Yunli could respond, he heard the wailing stop instantly, and the ghost hands and heads under his feet quickly retracted into the water, moving as fast as a mole about to be hit on the head by a wooden hammer. Even the blue light at the bottom of the water dissipated at an extremely fast speed.
Chen Yunli: “?”
The surroundings became quiet and "clean", except for a single voice that was still persistently mumbling like a ghost:
"I'm dead... I'm not dead... Am I dead or not..."
Bai Ai rowed the bamboo raft closer and pushed the pole into the water. Before he could open his mouth, he was startled by the resentful voice: "Who is talking?"
Chen Yunli: “…”
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