Chang'an City, or the ruins of Chang'an.
Led by Lü Dongbin, Li Daoyi and his companions arrived in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the scene before them evoked a myriad of emotions.
The city had been reduced to ruins, its walls collapsed, and vegetation grew everywhere. A red mist, like that of the underworld, permeated the ruins, the resentment of the dead. The people had passed through many countries and cities along the way, and they had seen the same thing.
"Alas, everything is gone," Lü Dongbin sighed.
The group then followed Lü Dongbin to a mountain fifty miles outside Chang'an City called Cuo'e Mountain. There was a fairy cave in the mountain, which was the place where the Eight Immortals descended to earth to play and gather.
After moving aside the huge round boulder blocking the cave entrance, we entered the cave. It was quite spacious inside, with stone tables, stone beds, and stone chairs. In the center of the cave was an alchemy furnace, but it was covered in rust and had obviously not been used for a long time.
"Back then, I was tricked by Caihe and his gang when I was drunk. They locked me in the alchemy furnace. Who would have thought that I would escape this calamity because of it?" Lü Dongbin said sadly, touching the alchemy furnace.
"Are they all dead?" Dongfang Bubai asked as he walked to the alchemy furnace.
Lü Dongbin shook his head.
"I don't know. I woke up from my hangover three days later. The round stone outside was blocking the cave entrance. After I came out of the alchemy furnace, my magic power disappeared quickly. It took me several days to get back into my body. After I pushed the round stone away, I found that the outside world had been turned upside down. I searched all around but couldn't find any trace of them or any information they left behind. It was as if they disappeared in a hurry."
"To this day, I still don't know what happened, where those monsters came from, why my magic power disappeared, why Chang'an City became ruins, or what happened in the Heavenly Court. I know nothing." As he spoke, Lü Dongbin knelt down and banged his head on the alchemy furnace, tears streaming down his face, his expression one of immense pain.
For twenty years, he had suppressed his emotions. Today, he finally met someone he could confide in, and he broke down completely.
Dongfang Bubai tried to help him up, but Li Daoyi stopped him. Lü Dongbin needed to vent his anger at this moment.
After a while, Lü Dongbin slowly calmed down and wiped away his tears.
"Here, have some. It'll stop you crying. It's very sweet." At this moment, Mengmeng's little hand held a lollipop to Lü Dongbin's mouth.
Looking at the child with big, blinking eyes and a big smile, Lü Dongbin couldn't help but put a lollipop in his mouth.
"Is it sweet?" Mengmeng asked.
Lü Dongbin nodded.
“It’s extraterrestrial demons; it’s these things that destroyed this world,” Li Daoyi finally said.
"Extraterrestrial demons? Those monsters are extraterrestrial demons?" Lü Dongbin asked in astonishment. Countless monsters had died by his sword over the years. Although these monsters had some strength, they seemed insignificant compared to the gods. How could they possibly destroy the world?
“No, those monsters were merely infected and mutated. The real culprit is another kind of creature, and the dark substance they released,” Li Daoyi explained.
"It's a substance that's extremely lethal to cultivators. If they're unprepared, their magical power will be completely absorbed. Moreover, in its initial stages, that substance has a very strong infectious power, capable of invading the human brain and turning people and creatures into bloodthirsty monsters," Li Daoyi continued.
"You are lucky. The alchemy furnace isolated those substances. By the time you woke up, the infectivity was gone, but the ability to devour magic power was still there, so you only lost your magic power."
"I see," Lü Dongbin said, suddenly understanding.
Then Lü Dongbin looked at the group. Li Daoyi and the others were very clean and tidy, and did not look like people who had experienced a great disaster.
"Has your magical power not disappeared?" Lü Dongbin asked.
Li Daoyi smiled slightly, then waved his hand. A powerful aura appeared in the cave. Although Lü Dongbin had lost his magic power, his perception remained, and he felt a pressure far exceeding that of a Grand Luo Golden Immortal.
"thump."
Lü Dongbin knelt down immediately and then bowed.
"Lü Dongbin pays his respects to the Great Immortal."
"Haha, get up, there's no need for this between us." Li Daoyi withdrew his imposing aura and helped him up.
Lü Dongbin was somewhat bewildered. He didn't understand why Li Daoyi was so enthusiastic towards him. Ever since they met by the river, the other party seemed to know him very well.
There is a cause and effect between us.
"Cause and effect?" Lü Dongbin asked.
“That’s right, I owe you a favor.” Li Daoyi nodded with a smile.
Lu Dongbin's pupils suddenly contracted as a memory flashed through his mind. It was something that happened a hundred years ago. He had gotten drunk in Heaven and seemed to have a dream in which he did something. When he woke up, he vaguely heard a man's voice saying that he owed him a favor. At that time, he was even ridiculed by Tieguai Li.
“I remember now, I think I heard your voice before,” Lü Dongbin said in shock.
“That’s right, that’s me.” Li Daoyi nodded.
"Alright, don't worry about it so much. Just know that we're not bad people." Li Daoyi patted him on the shoulder.
"Yes, thank you, Great Immortal." Lü Dongbin nodded quickly.
Another world, a demonic realm, a dark continent.
This is a world filled with darkness, where two grayish-yellow suns float on the dark continent, one on the left and one on the right. There is no night here, and the suns in the sky never set.
Many strange creatures live on the continent. Unlike the creatures that people are familiar with, these creatures seem to be closer to mollusks, and most of them have wings on their backs.
An evil aura permeated the entire continent. Towering structures stood densely packed on the land, and creatures gathered beneath them. A black energy flowed from the towers from time to time, only to be absorbed by the evil creatures below.
Just as these evil creatures were greedily devouring this mysterious energy, a black butterfly the size of a palm fluttered its wings and cautiously flew toward one of the eerie towers.
Butterflies move very quietly, pausing after each flap of their wings to glide their bodies into the air until they show signs of falling before flapping their wings again, all to avoid being discovered by evil creatures.
The black butterfly was Little Butterfly. After arriving in this world, the little guy observed for a few days and discovered that every day, the evil creatures here would gather under these towers at a certain time. When absorbing this energy, they seemed to fall into a state like sleep.
Even so, Xiaodie still dared not be careless and flew very carefully towards the tower.
Just as she was about to get close, Xiaodie was blocked by the dark energy flowing from the tower. After hesitating for a moment, a small, barely noticeable barrier appeared around Xiaodie. The little creature then flapped its wings and rushed into the dark energy.
"call out..."
In just a moment, her small body passed through, and the barrier on her body was completely eroded by that energy the instant the passage ended.
Xiaodie looked back at the black energy with lingering fear; she was just a hair's breadth away from being finished.
Then Xiaodie looked at the tower. It was called a tower, but it was actually a huge pillar made of some kind of material. At the top of the pillar was a building that looked like a prison, which was surrounded by fences.
Xiaodie glanced back down, and seeing that the evil creatures hadn't noticed her, she flew towards the building's entrance. The gate wasn't protected by any barrier, and the petite Xiaodie easily flew inside.
Inside the building was a dark passageway. Using the dim light, the little guy flew inside.
Soon, a domed circular hall appeared before them, and hanging from the walls around the hall were human bodies, naked, heads bowed, their fates unknown. Black tubes were connected to the navels of these people, and these tubes all extended into a circular opening in the center of the hall.
Xiaodie suppressed her shock and looked around the rest of the hall. Her gaze finally settled on the lower left side of the hall, where there was a square cage. The cage was very large, and she could vaguely see that many people were imprisoned inside.
Xiaodie sensed the life force coming from below, a hint of joy flashed in her eyes, and she quickly flew down.
"Sigh..." Tang Sanzang moved his aching body slightly, then sighed softly.
"Master, are you alright?" a voice rang out beside him.
"Amitabha, Wujing, I can still hold on," Tang Sanzang said, barely managing to put his hands together in prayer.
Then Tang Sanzang looked around. There were still about a dozen people locked in the cage. He recalled that this place used to be crowded with people, but now there were only a few. He didn't know how long his good luck could last. Every month, those monsters would take people out and hang them outside, using something to absorb the energy in people's bodies. Each time, only a handful of people could survive.
"Xuanzang." A voice rang out from not far away.
Tang Sanzang quickly responded.
"Bodhisattva, I am here."
The figure was none other than Guanyin Bodhisattva. Her clothes were already tattered, barely covering her body, and her face was very thin, but she still sat cross-legged on the ground with dignity, instead of lying on the ground like the others around her.
Tang Sanzang tried to move over, but he was too weak to move.
"Look, it seems like something is flying towards us," Guanyin Bodhisattva said, looking outside the cage.
Following Guanyin Bodhisattva's gaze, Tang Sanzang and Sha Wujing looked outside and, in the hazy distance, they indeed saw a butterfly-like creature flying towards the cage.
"A butterfly." Tang Sanzang was somewhat surprised.
"Butterflies? How could there be butterflies here?" Guanyin Bodhisattva murmured.
At this moment, Xiaodie also flew into the cage, her gaze meeting that of Guanyin Bodhisattva.
"Hehe..." The little guy let out a joyful laugh; there really were living people here.
The little butterfly flew towards Guanyin.
"Bodhisattva, be careful!" Tang Sanzang said urgently.
However, what happened next shocked everyone. A pink light emanated from the black butterfly, and then a bright and beautiful pink butterfly appeared. Seeing this long-lost color, excitement flashed in their eyes. Even the weak people on the ground struggled to twist their bodies and look at the beautiful butterfly.
The little butterfly slowly flew to Guanyin Bodhisattva and landed on her lap.
"Hehe, I've finally found you all!" the little guy said happily.
"Who are you?" Guanyin asked, looking puzzled.
"My master sent me," Xiaodie replied.
"Master..." Everyone was even more stunned upon hearing this.
“Oh, I am the Crimson Corpse God, you can call me Little Butterfly, I also come from your world,” Little Butterfly said quickly.
"What?" Guanyin was startled.
"Little Butterfly, where did you come from?" Tang Sanzang asked hurriedly from not far away.
"Well... to be precise, I came from the underworld. My master killed a huge worm monster there and sent me into that black hole. That's how I got here." After saying that, Xiaodie flew to the Bodhisattva's shoulder and sat down, swinging her little legs.
"The worm monsters, those are definitely the ones outside."
"The black hole must be the passage that captured us when we came here."
"How is that possible? Could it be that some powerful magic has not disappeared?"
"How could that be? Even saints suffered back then."
The previously lifeless people suddenly perked up and began to whisper among themselves.
The Bodhisattva slowly raised his hand, and Little Butterfly, understanding the gesture, flew into it.
“I know you. You are Guanyin Bodhisattva, and you are a good person,” Xiaodie said with a smile.
Guanyin then revealed a long-lost smile and said softly.
"Your name is Xiaodie, right? Can you tell me who your master is? And why did he send you here? You should know that this place is extremely dangerous."
"Hmm, I can't say. Xiaodie can't reveal her master's name casually." Xiaodie shook her head.
"I came in to check the situation here, to see if there were any living people. Luckily, I found them. There are many other large pillars like this around here, so it must be the same as here," Xiaodie continued.
"What good will it do to know? Once you're here, you can't get out." Guanyin reached out and affectionately patted Xiaodie's head, sighing.
These words shattered the hopes that had just been rekindled among the people in the cage. Yes, what good did knowing their situation do? They couldn't get out anyway.
"Master probably intended to save you," Xiaodie said.
"No matter how strong your master is, he is no match for these evil creatures. They can devour magical power and ignore the damage from supernatural spells," Guanyin said with a wry smile.
"Hmph, no way! Master is incredibly strong, and so is Little Master. And that bald-headed Saitama is also very strong. These guys are nothing compared to him," Xiaodie said, hands on her hips.
Everyone was taken aback by the little thing's confident expression.
"Hehe, look at this." At this moment, Xiaodie took out something the size of a small pearl from her bosom.
"What is this?" Guanyin asked.
"Positioning beads," Xiaodie said with a smile.
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