Chapter 117 Zhuangzi was fascinated by the butterfly, but why was his hair black...?
It must have been a dream.
Lou Yan opened her eyes in a daze, and her first reaction was to jump twice on the spot.
It was a dream.
Because his feet couldn't touch the ground.
Before him lay a thick fog, and all around him was a chilling cold; the mournful wind made him tremble.
Something seems off.
Lou Yan thought for a moment, then looked down.
Hmm... he doesn't even have a physical form.
Like the thick fog drifting before his eyes, he was merely a wisp of fog that couldn't be gathered together, or even a fog at all.
He might be a remnant of a soul.
The thought startled Lou Yan, nearly causing him to collapse from fright.
After all, of his two lifetimes, the only time he lived in this form was during the two hundred years after being killed by Heng Qichun's sword, when he lingered in the void.
Did he return to those two hundred years ago?
In his shock, Lou Yan suddenly felt fortunate that he was only a remnant soul at this moment.
If it were in human form, it would probably be terrified to death.
Before any further desire to explore could arise, a gust of wind dispersed the thick fog, revealing the scene beyond.
Lou Yan opened his "eyes" wide to look.
The Ghost Cry River rippled with waves, lava relentlessly devoured bones, and the underworld officials, pulling the souls about to be reincarnated, dragged them step by step toward the ferry.
The cries were deafening.
It is not the void.
He's in... the underworld!
Lou Yan's heart was immediately filled with doubt.
He was just kissing Heng Qichun a moment ago, so why did he suddenly end up in the underworld?
Was it Heng Qichun who did it?
That shouldn't be the case.
The divine essence remaining in his body was almost gone, so in theory he should be unable to control himself, who had already fallen into demonic possession.
That……
Before Lou Yan could figure it out, he heard a series of lazy footsteps.
Lou Yan looked in that direction.
A figure in a white robe trailing on the ground slowly walked out of the hall. Although he was now a remnant soul, one could still sense the gloomy aura emanating from him.
It was the barbarian emperor, and the magpie knew the wind.
He was unaware of Lou Yan's presence. Lou Yan, standing directly beneath him, abruptly spoke to a figure walking in from the opposite direction: "Oh, a rare guest~"
The person opposite seemed to respond with something, but the fog was too thick, obscuring most of his face, and it was difficult to hear what he was saying.
Lou Yan frowned, trying to gather his remaining soul together, and floated in front of that person.
The fog cleared, and this time he could see clearly.
Wearing a plain gauze robe, enveloped in divine aura, and surrounded by the rich fragrance of lotus flowers, he became an ethereal shadow, seated high on a lotus platform, a position befitting a deity of the nine heavens.
That's Heng Qichun!
wrong.
wrong.
Lou Yan felt a surge of panic. She tried her best to maintain her composure and anxiously looked Heng Qichun up and down.
Why is his hair black?
The wailing of the Ghost River in the Underworld had not yet ceased. Que Zhifeng, in his capacity as the Yi Emperor, stood to one side. The Underworld was deathly still, with no place that could match Heng Qichun.
But why is his hair black?!
Previous speculations resurfaced, and Lou Yan stared incredulously at the head of black hair that reached her waist, letting out a roaring question.
Huh?
There was no sound.
He exists here as a wisp of a remnant soul, seemingly shrouded by an invisible barrier, unable to approach Heng Qichun's body, nor able to utter a sound.
Anxiety is like a bubbling water balloon, ready to burst at any moment.
Just as Lou Yan was about to unleash her demonic energy to break through the barrier, Emperor Yi smiled and spoke to Heng Qichun.
"I heard... that your little apprentice is a demon wolf." His gloomy eyes lifted, a half-smile playing on his lips, a mixture of disbelief and smirk on his face. "And you personally threw him into the rooftop pond?"
Lou Yan didn't hear what Heng Qichun said at all. He only felt a roar after Que Zhifeng finished speaking, and then he couldn't hear anything anymore.
What is he saying?
The little apprentice under his tutelage is a demon wolf... Ah, that's right, that's him.
He personally threw someone into the rooftop pond... Yes, yes, that was in his previous life...
Lou Yan suddenly raised his "eyes," and all the astonishment in front of him instantly formed a tight spider web, completely enveloping him through that inexplicable restriction.
I'm about to suffocate.
But Lou Yan finally figured it out.
—This is after he swallowed a shark whole in his previous life, and was exposed as a demon by Heng Qichun and imprisoned in Tiantai Pond.
So now he has returned to his past life and seen what happened back then.
The suffocating feeling gradually subsided after this realization. Lou Yan held her breath, knowing that Heng Qichun would not be able to find her in her current form, but she still carefully gathered all her remaining soul fragments and fearfully peered down.
Little did he know that while he was imprisoned on Tianchi Terrace and suffering the pain of being bitten by mermaids, Heng Qichun secretly risked the great taboo of the gods and the underworld to open the gates of hell and meet Que Zhifeng.
It wasn't that Lou Yan was particularly narcissistic, but he had a feeling that Heng Qichun's appearance in the underworld this time was probably related to his unfilial son.
The thought had barely formed when he heard Heng Qichun seem to hum in response to Que Zhifeng's earlier question.
—You even threw him into the rooftop pond with your own hands?
"Tsk..." Que Zhifeng shrugged. "There are so many sharks in the rooftop pond. They're bound to gnaw at his flesh and blood, making him suffer a fate worse than death. How could you be so heartless?"
Heng Qichun remained silent for a moment.
He still had black hair at this time, and his handsome appearance was even more outstanding under the cover of his hair. His eyebrows were like the moon, and his eyes were clear and bright, the bright color of the divine bone before it was extracted from his body.
After a moment, Heng Qichun spoke, his voice carrying an ancient divinity, "Outside the Heavenly Sound Palace, in front of everyone in the Immortal Path, I dissected his demon bones, intending to teach him a lesson. But..."
The tone shifted abruptly, "I detected a trace of demonic energy in his demonic bones."
Lou Yan was stunned for a moment, and at the same time Que Zhifeng was taken aback, his tone even changing slightly as he opened his mouth: "What?!"
"You mean...he is, he is..."
“He is a demon,” Heng Qichun said. “To be more precise, he possesses demonic bones. Once these demonic bones fully develop within him, he will completely fall into the demonic path.”
Through a thin, hazy mist, Lou Yan could clearly see that Que Zhifeng's face had changed.
The man, whose gloomy disposition had persisted through two lifetimes, suddenly turned pale, his face gradually becoming obscured by an anxious expression. If one looked closely, one could even glimpse a hint of fear within it.
The King of the Underworld, who rules over the entire underworld, is actually wary of a demonic bone that has not yet fully grown.
Lou Yan felt that if it weren't for his status, he would probably have jumped up on the spot.
"Then why is Senior Brother keeping him around?" Que Zhifeng said in a hoarse voice. "Tiantai Pond can imprison him for a while, but how could it possibly imprison him for a lifetime?"
"Besides, he swallowed the Mermaid King's youngest son alive. The Mermaid Clan will definitely not let him go. He will suffer countless torments underwater. As his resentment accumulates, won't that further accelerate the growth of his demonic bone?"
He was right about everything. Lou Yan thought to himself.
Heng Qichun's expression remained unchanged, and he still met his gaze calmly.
He didn't emphasize how "Lou Yan" was, but instead suddenly brought up an old story. He asked Que Zhifeng, "Do you know who the last demonic bone fell on?"
"Hezizhou?"
“He Zizhou, Elder Hengyang’s youngest disciple,” Heng Qichun said. “A very good child.”
Que Zhifeng had never met Nan Xu before. Upon hearing this, he raised his eyes disdainfully and sneered, "Even the best child can become a demon."
“Yes.” Heng Qichun gave a bitter smile. “Even the best child can become possessed by demons, so no matter where I lock Lou Yan up, I can’t stop it.”
"But Elder Hengyang felt sorry for Nanxu and there was a hidden reason why he escorted him to the God Realm that day."
This is yet another hidden secret in the Six Realms. Que Zhifeng has been detached from worldly affairs for a long time and finds everything new and exciting.
He secretly raised his head, raised an eyebrow at his former senior brother, and waited silently for Heng Qichun to speak.
"Although the gods are gone, the divine punishment remains. If Nanxu were to truly suffer the divine punishment, he would surely be annihilated. Therefore, it was Elder Hengyang who personally dug out his demonic bones in the Nine Heavens to shield him from that divine punishment, thus preserving his chance for reincarnation."
This matter was indeed unknown to outsiders, and even Que Zhifeng was stunned for a moment, then couldn't say anything.
He had been in charge of the underworld for hundreds of years, so he naturally remembered that many years ago, a soul named "Nanxu" had asked him to send him to Hezizhou and become a disciple of Elder Hengyang, at the cost of his short life.
He agreed.
He then became a boy who had lost his demonic bones and was left with only a faint trace of demonic energy.
“The demonic bone will not disappear with a person’s reincarnation,” Heng Qichun said. “When Nanxu’s demonic bone from his previous life was extracted, it neither vanished into thin air, but took root in the next person.
"Now, this person has become Lou Yan."
The magpie knew the wind was silent.
Although he had not spent long in the Eighteen Realms, he was very familiar with the temperaments of his two senior brothers.
Heng Qichun had only said this much when he already knew what he wanted to do.
really.
"Zhifeng." Heng Qichun called to him, his tone suddenly softening, revealing a restraint and reluctance that a god should not have. "If Hengyang treats Nanxu this way, then Louyan is the little wolf I raised with my own hands."
"I can't let him not even have the chance to be reincarnated."
quiet.
The fellow disciples, whether gods or ghosts, fell silent. On the banks of the Ghost Cry River in Shenyong, only the sound of lava churning and crashing against the riverbank remained.
All human voices in the underworld fell silent.
Lou Yan's remnant soul had unconsciously scattered several times, only to be forcibly gathered together by him.
The lingering soul remained perched aloft above Heng Qichun's head, waiting for his master—or Que Zhifeng—to utter the next word.
It was Que Zhifeng who spoke next.
After a long silence, his face turned deathly pale again, his eyes drooped, and he looked listless, as if he had completely given up on trying to dissuade Heng Qichun.
Lou Yan saw him raise his hand and form a ghost seal.
A blood-red ghostly line extended from his fingertips, gradually forming a huge spider web. Ghostly energy swirled on the web, and soon—spots of red light appeared on it.
A blinding halo flashed by, and countless blood-red butterflies suddenly took flight in the air.
Lou Yan frowned and immediately stared at the fluttering blood-red butterflies.
This thing... seems somewhat familiar.
"This is the Lacquer Garden Butterfly, a sacred object of the underworld." Soon, he heard Que Zhifeng say, "It can create dreams regardless of life or death."
"When Lou Yan dies in the future, you must preserve his soul. This soul need not enter the cycle of reincarnation. I will find a way to let it enter the dream woven by the Butterfly of the Lacquer Garden."
Heng Qichun had heard of this kind of butterfly. He stared at the intricate butterfly wings and couldn't help but frown. "Does he want to live in his dreams?"
“Dream is reality, and reality is dream.” Que Zhifeng smiled. “As Senior Brother said, since we can’t stop him from falling into the demonic path no matter what, let him enter this dream. At that time, his physical body will be dead, but his soul will have a place to rest.”
“More importantly…” Que Zhifeng’s fingertips twitched, tightening the blood-red spider web, reminding Heng Qichun, “He is a demon wolf, and he also has an original body that is different from ordinary people.”
The Butterfly of the Lacquer Garden has the power to create dreams. Its soul can enter a dream and live another life in the mortal world created by the dream weaver.
If Lou Yan can survive this dream, then he can draw out Lou Yan's remnant soul from the dream and return to reality through Lou Yan's original body.
Dreams are reality, and reality is dreams.
At that time, dreams may come true, and there is even a possibility of reversing the course of history.
The dead can be brought back to life, skyscrapers can rise from mudflats, and peace can be restored to the world as before; these are not impossible things to achieve.
Seeing that Heng Qichun's expression was softening, Que Zhifeng spoke up at the right moment: "Senior Brother, have you made up your mind?"
Heng Qichun remained silent for a moment, then reached out and touched a butterfly that flew in front of him, saying softly, "I need you to fetch something for me."
"What?"
"My divine bones."
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The author's note: To put it simply: Qi Yuandie's dream can overshadow reality.
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