Chapter 107: The Flourish of Humanity (IV)
The room fell silent, with only the sound of the instruments slowly rising and falling.
Chen Yunli's thoughts raced, and various concealments and perfunctory words flashed through his mind, but in the end he shook his head and threw them all out of his mind, deciding to be honest.
To ordinary people, his identity is indeed shocking, but in the eyes of Bai Ai and his companions who have faced the most real and miserable appearance of the world, it is nothing.
"Yes, I wasn't born in this era," Chen Yunli said. "I was born thousands of years ago, during the great era of cultivation. At that time, the Way of Heaven flourished, and the Way of Man was not far behind. The human world and the underworld each performed their duties, without interfering with each other."
"Is that so..." Bai Ai didn't say whether she believed it or not. "Then how did you survive until now?"
"Actually, I'm not 'alive' yet." Chen Yunli paused. "I died once. The Chen Yunli standing before you now can be considered to have come back from the dead."
Bai Ai's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets: "Resurrection from the dead? How is that possible? Are you making up a story to fool me?"
Unsurprisingly questioned, Chen Yunli remained calm, "The story behind this is very complicated. You may not believe it, but this is my answer."
"...Okay, now that you've said that, I have no choice but to believe it." Bai Ai ruffled her hair at the back of her head and skipped over the topic. "By the way, sir, the Night Patrol is very short of manpower right now. You're very capable, would you like to join us?"
"This is a serious matter. I need to go back and discuss it with my family." Chen Yunli had his own plans and would not agree immediately. "How much do you need people?"
Bai Ai touched the tip of his nose and smiled: "It's not bad actually - I'm the only night patrol guard left in the whole Lu Town."
Chen Yunli: “…”
Your "okay" and my "okay" seem to be different.
"What about other places?" Chen Yunli couldn't help but ask, "Wouldn't the more prosperous towns in the capital and Jiangnan also have only one Night Patrol Guard?"
"Somewhere else?" Bai Ai was stunned, revealing a look of confusion that didn't seem fake. "What other places? Where are the capital and Jiangnan?"
“……?”
Chen Yunli slowly widened his eyes and remained silent for a while. Only then did he speak with difficulty under Bai Ai's anxious gaze: "What year is it now?"
"Year?" Bai Ai was even more confused, ruffling her hair. "Year... Year..."
Chen Yunli paid no attention to his unusual behavior. He was also trying to recall the dynasty information he had received when he woke up two months ago. Great... what was it? What was the reign of the emperor? No, who gave him this information? Chen Wenjian? But why couldn't he remember?
The cultivator has an excellent memory. Even if it is something he doesn't care about, it is impossible for him to forget it in such a short time.
The vague loss of memory gave rise to a different kind of fear. Chen Yunli froze and looked at Bai Ai, both seeing confusion and uneasiness in each other's eyes.
"...I need to sort out what happened tonight, so I'm going home first. Tomorrow..." Chen Yunli swallowed, then realized his throat was dry and painful, "We'll talk again tomorrow afternoon."
Perhaps influenced by the gloomy environment outside, he instinctively chose a time when the "yang energy" was the strongest.
Bai Ai nodded vigorously: "Okay, okay! I'll take you back right away!"
There was no conversation on the way back. Chen Yunli stood at the tail of the bamboo raft, where the light from the lantern could not reach, and carefully observed this underworld on earth.
What he saw before him was the underworld stretching thousands of miles, with the Yellow Springs' water veins as densely woven as a net. Add to that the occasional wandering souls and the howling of underwater ghosts, and it was indeed ninety percent similar to the underworld he knew.
The missing point is because this underworld has no order and has lost the people who maintain order.
The cold wind blew up the hem of Chen Yunli's clothes, and he lowered his eyes to look at the water flowing under his feet, which was shining with star-like blue light.
Is there a lack of...order?
There was something he didn't want to think about too deeply, but it was slowly coming to light in his mind.
…
After putting Chen Yunli on the sandbank, Bai Ai continued to paddle the bamboo raft to patrol Lu Town at night. Before leaving, she confirmed with him for the last time the time and place of the meeting tomorrow.
Chen Yunli pushed open the courtyard gate, but did not step over the low threshold immediately. Instead, he looked up and stared at the direction of the bedroom upstairs for a long time, until the hem of his clothes was soaked by the cold dew at night and stuck to his calves, making him feel cold. Then he woke up as if from a dream and slowly walked in.
The twenty steps to the second floor seemed to take him half a lifetime. All the past events—not only his experiences in this world, but also those of the two previous worlds—all flooded back into his mind, weighing down his chest and causing a heavy ache. Even his breath was thick with the scent of blood.
It was not until this moment that Chen Yunli finally understood how Chen Wenjian had felt when they had parted ways. Although Chen Yunli was earnestly trying to empathize with the "target of the mission world," he ultimately found it difficult to truly feel the same way.
And now, it was Chen Wenjian's turn to go first. Only then did he realize how painful it was to be left where he was.
Chen Yunli stopped at the door, reaching for it, then quickly retracted his hand. The intricate carvings on the door were like tangible flames, burning in his eyes and heart, making him unable to touch it.
At this moment, Chen Wenjian's sleepless voice rang out from inside the door:
"Yun Li, come in."
"I have something...I want to talk to you about."
Chen Yunli curled up his fingertips, took a deep breath, and calmly pushed the door open.
There was no light in the room. Chen Wenjian sat in the darkness, releasing the vaguely visible black dragon tail, which was surrounded by bright blue light, making his expression dim and unclear.
However, after Chen Yunli walked into his sight, his expression softened.
The slender tail tip wrapped around Chen Yunli's waist and lifted him to the bed with a gentle but irresistible force.
At the same time, Chen Wenjian opened his arms to catch him, and he immediately hugged back. The two buried their shoulders in each other's arms, and the strength of their hugs gradually increased, as if they wished that their bones and blood would merge into one, and there was a sense of tenderness and tragedy of sharing life and death.
"I just went out for a while." After a long silence, Chen Yunli took the initiative to open the conversation, "You will never imagine what I saw."
Chen Wenjian chuckled: "Well, then tell me about it."
Chen Yunli recalled what he had seen and heard recently, describing it to him in as much detail as possible, from the stream that had become a tributary of the Yellow Springs, to the ghosts wailing beneath it, all the way to the loom-like device that could transform human souls into silk thread.
At the end, he paused and repeated what Bai Ai had told him about the current situation in the human world, including his speculation about the reasons for this situation.
Chen Wenjian listened quietly, occasionally responding or asking a few appropriate questions to guide him to continue, as if he really knew nothing about it and was quite interested.
But he and Chen Yunli actually both knew one thing very well - he was already aware of these situations, and also knew... how to end this terrible situation.
After telling all his discoveries, Chen Yunli's throat felt a little dry and he couldn't help clearing it.
Chen Wenjian summoned the tea set on the table, brushed his fingers across the teapot, and the cold tea became hot tea, which was poured into the cup and handed to him.
Chen Yunli took a sip of tea and covered his hands with the warm cup. "I've finished what I want to say. Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Chen Wenjian tightened his grip around his waist, then slowly loosened it: "What do you want to hear?"
Chen Yunli raised the corner of his mouth bitterly: "Forget it, let me ask you a question."
"Um."
Chen Wenjian cooperated too much, just like a puppet, letting him pull the strings that controlled him and giving him all the right to choose and decide.
Chen Yunli swallowed the pain in his throat with his tea and asked, "How many years have you been awake?"
Chen Wenjian was stunned.
Before tonight, Chen Yunli and Chen Wenjian didn't care about this issue. One of them never thought of asking, and the other never intended to bring it up.
But even for such a blind spot problem, the answer is as heavy as the mountains and the sea.
Chen Wenjian was silent for a moment, then spoke almost word by word, "About... a hundred years."
One hundred years ago, Chen Wenjian's true body awakened from a long sleep.
A hundred years ago, life and death were out of balance, yin and yang were out of order, and the human world and the underworld became one.
Everything was just as Chen Yunli had imagined.
In fact, as early as when he learned of Chen Wenjian's identity, he had wondered why this primordial demon, who had the same origin as the Heavenly Dao and had unfathomable strength, had been sleeping under the Black Sea for a long time, useless to the heaven and earth, and nameless in the Three Realms?
But at that time he was too lazy to think about it deeply, and there was no need to think about it deeply, so he put his doubts aside. It was not until he returned to reality from the illusion and learned from Bai Ai what happened in the human world that he suddenly realized.
Chen Wenjian's slumber was not a deep sleep, but the transformation of most of his consciousness and power into the Great Dao of Life and Death, connecting the two paths of heaven and man, and forging and maintaining the operation of reincarnation.
He has never been useless to heaven and earth, nor does he need to become famous in the three realms.
The ending of the story was already written at the beginning.
"What year is it in the human world now?" Chen Yunli asked again.
Chen Wenjian said, "The third year of Emperor Zhao of Great Chu."
"Is it really the third year of Emperor Zhao of Great Chu? No, let me ask it another way." Chen Yunli clenched the hand on his back tightly, his nails digging deep into the flesh of his palm. "Is the third year of Emperor Zhao of Great Chu this year... or a hundred years ago?"
Chen Wenjian slowly closed his eyes.
Chen Yunli understood.
He suddenly sighed, then chuckled softly, his tone full of calm helplessness, as if this situation was exactly what he had imagined.
Chen Yunli pushed Chen Wenjian away, reached out to touch his pale cheek, and tapped his eyelashes with his thumb like knocking on a door. He then opened his eyes again, revealing dark blue eyes - really like the stream soaked in will-o'-the-wisp, but uniquely gorgeous.
"You've made up your mind, haven't you?"
"...I'm sorry." Chen Wenjian looked up into his eyes. He was clearly the embodiment of rules, high above him, but now he was looking up at his hard-earned love. "I promised to be with you forever, but if I let you live in a huge ruin with only me by your side, you won't be happy, and I can't bear it."
"Besides... why should I ask the human world and the netherworld to sacrifice themselves for my wish? It's unfair, and the most important rule of heaven and earth... is to maintain the greatest degree of fairness in matters of life and death."
"You will return to reincarnation to save those ghosts who have wasted too long, and save those who are still alive from the danger of their souls leaving their bodies. But... what about those who have disappeared?"
Except for Lu Town, there is no one else who can be protected under the prosperous humanity.
Chen Yunli could actually guess Chen Wenjian's answer, but he was always stubborn. Since he asked, he had to ask clearly without leaving out anything.
After all, this is his last review task in the near future, and he may not meet Chen Wenjian again in the mission world in the future.
They must have a clear and distinct ending.
Chen Wenjian curled his lips slightly. "I will bring them all back. Reincarnation, reincarnation, can follow the direction of the long river of time, and naturally it can also go upstream and return to the starting point."
"What's the price you're going to pay?"
“…”
Chen Wenjian sighed softly, "My true body, soul, and spiritual consciousness will all merge with the concept of reincarnation, and I will no longer have any sense of self. From now on, beneath the Black Sea, there will no longer be that mountain-sized figure with a human body and a dragon's tail. And Chen Wenjian will no longer be by your side."
Chen Yunli's Adam's apple slid, and a piercing pain came over him, making him understand more deeply how Chen Wenjian felt when they parted in the past.
It really hurts, no wonder he is so obsessed with it.
"Okay." Chen Yunli said, "Tomorrow morning, let's go and see the world today. At least I want to know what kind of world I will face after losing you."
Chen Wenjian looked at him for a while, then suddenly hugged him.
"Um."
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