The black mist grew thinner and thinner. When the first ray of幽蓝 profound blue, translucent dawn light fell into Fucang’s eyes, the earth-shaking battle between gods and demons in the distance still continued.
Probably because those monsters from the Sea of Abandoned Hatred had suddenly run out, the commanding general of the Wuchen Division had issued an all-division summons. A hundred li away, auspicious light and turbid energy fought in chaos that darkened heaven and earth. No one discovered what had happened within the Sea of Abandoned Hatred.
This battle no longer concerned him. Even if he wanted to help, his will exceeded his strength.
Fucang stood upon the Clear Light Array, feeling utterly exhausted, without even the energy to ride the wind or soar through clouds. The nine-headed lion that had been hiding in the sea of clouds seemed to sense that he had emerged and immediately came running while streaming tears. All nine heads burrowed into his embrace at once, calling out softly with tearful eyes.
Fucang stroked its soft lion fur, leaving behind a trail of blood.
In the distance stood a solitary figure in dark black robes. He raised his eyes to look, only to see Shao Yi standing far away with his hands clasped behind his back beside that cluster of pitch-black cotton roses. His eyes were neither watching the Sea of Abandoned Hatred nor the battle between gods and demons a hundred li away, but were fixed on the dawn glow at the horizon where blue and red intertwined. His eyes flowed with shifting light—impossible to tell what he was thinking.
As if sensing Fucang’s gaze, Shao Yi turned his head. His face rarely lacked its usual smile. His profound and calm expression made him look exactly like that ancient Imperial Lord from within the Sea of Abandoned Hatred.
“That was hard work.” He spoke in a low voice, his words carried over by the morning wind. “Thank you.”
Although he couldn’t see what had happened inside the Sea of Abandoned Hatred, when the corpse was completely destroyed, his divine soul felt a long-absent sense of relief in that instant, as if casting off a heavy burden carried for millions of years. He understood then that they must have succeeded.
Fucang didn’t move, nor did he draw his sword. He only said indifferently, “It’s not your place to thank me. If you had the heart to resolve this disaster, why not enter yourself?”
Shao Yi didn’t answer. His gaze fell to Fucang’s side, where it was empty—the bright crimson figure of Qing Yan was absent. Had he perished? It didn’t seem like it. If he had perished, Fucang’s reaction wouldn’t be like this.
It was good that he hadn’t perished.
He quietly gazed at the clear, translucent dawn light at the horizon. The day he successfully left the Sea of Abandoned Hatred, breaking through the black mist, he had encountered just such a dawn.
During all those years trapped in the Sea of Abandoned Hatred, he had only one thought: he absolutely must survive. This obsession caused turbid energy to arise within him, and through various coincidences and mishaps, created the current Sea of Abandoned Hatred. Those fragments that shot out were the consequence of the obsession attempting to leave the Sea of Abandoned Hatred.
He had once so desperately longed to leave that deathly silent, soundless darkness. He spent millions of years and consumed the divine power of three generations of Qingyang Clan descendants. Therefore, he would absolutely never step foot in it again, not even one step—even if the one entering was her, especially because the one entering was her.
He could throw heaven and earth above and below into complete chaos, and he could also smooth it all back out again. As for what methods he used, who he sacrificed, whether it was right or wrong—he didn’t care one bit.
Shao Yi stepped back twice. That layer of gentle and sweet smile returned to his handsome face, his voice becoming light and soft: “Junior Brother Fucang should return to the upper realm early to recuperate from your injuries. When we meet again in the future, we’ll still be colleagues. Farewell.”
His dark black robe’s sleeves swayed gently. His sleeves fluttered like wings, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into the morning light.
When they meet again in the future, they’ll still be colleagues? He wasn’t afraid of the Zhuyin Clan’s retaliation, nor was he afraid of the secrets of the Sea of Abandoned Hatred being leaked? Fucang stood in place for a moment but didn’t intend to pursue him. Large and small wounds all over his body were corroded by turbid energy with heart-wrenching pain. His vision repeatedly went black. He immediately mounted the lion’s back, circled around the distant battlefield between gods and demons, and flew toward the Southern Heavenly Gate.
The wind from the mortal realm, carrying heavy turbid energy, lifted his long hair. Little Nine made sobbing sounds. Fucang patted its back soothingly, but it sobbed even louder. The blood on his body had already soaked large patches of lion fur. The fragrance of divine blood drifted all along their path.
He summoned rain and dew to wash away the blood on the lion fur, but no matter what, it couldn’t be cleaned. Although the sky had clearly brightened, he felt the surroundings seemed to grow darker and darker. His body had not a bit of strength left. In the end, he couldn’t hold on and collapsed limply.
Chun Jun at his waist emitted low, continuous humming sounds. Fucang instinctively gripped it tightly.
He wouldn’t let go, absolutely would never let go again.
*
The Wuchen Division’s calamity ended much faster than imagined. The battle generals had originally prepared for a great battle lasting several months. Who knew whether it was an illusion or luck—Lord Zichou and that group of monsters that ran out from the Sea of Abandoned Hatred seemed to have significantly weakened in their repeatedly healing power that had troubled the gods so much. After the all-division summons was issued, the complete extermination was accomplished in merely five days of the lower realm.
Battle generals with keen eyes noticed even more—the Sea of Abandoned Hatred within the Clear Light Array seemed to have faded considerably in color. Having never encountered such a situation before, the gods dared not act rashly for fear of more problems emerging. Instead, they dispatched additional battle generals to strictly guard the Sea of Abandoned Hatred daily.
When Lord Baize arrived at the Sea of Abandoned Hatred, what he saw was the area around the great array densely packed with guarding battle generals. The commanding general of the Wuchen Division looked extremely nervous and asked carefully, “Lord Baize, would you please look—what is the current situation of the Sea of Abandoned Hatred?”
What situation? It was clearly the situation where more than half of the Zhuyin darkness shrouding the Sea of Abandoned Hatred had diminished! Such a simple matter, and they still had to specially invite this busy old fellow to come down and look? These youngsters nowadays really!
Lord Baize furrowed his brow, then suddenly felt things weren’t so simple. Something like Zhuyin darkness was impervious to all methods. Moreover, it was entangled together with turbid energy and regeneration divine power. At bottom, this black mist shrouding the Sea of Abandoned Hatred was no longer purely Zhuyin darkness. If it could be dealt with, the Imperial Lords of several previous generations would have dealt with it long ago. Why would it have dragged on until today?
Why did so much suddenly disappear? When the Fangfeng Clan and those monsters ran out from the Sea of Abandoned Hatred, was it related to this?
“Continue dispatching battle generals to guard it.” Lord Baize gave a noncommittal response. After thinking, he added, “If there are any more abnormal changes, notify me immediately.”
The commanding general was frightened by his vague words until his face turned deathly pale: “Lord’s meaning is… this so-called abnormal change, could it be…”
Lord Baize sighed, “What’s there to be afraid of? Could it be that Lord Chiyou will jump out from inside and eat you all?”
He turned and floated away lightly, leaving the pale-faced commanding general in place—Lord Chiyou might jump out from inside?! The poor general froze.
Lord Baize hurried back to the upper realm and happened to run into Grand Emperor Qingyuan at the Southern Heavenly Gate. He immediately called out, “Young ghost Qingyuan, you’re in charge of settling the battle division’s generals—is there any news about the missing Lord Zhongshan and Young Dragon Lord?”
Grand Emperor Qingyuan quickly performed a bow, “Lord, since you’ve mentioned this matter, I was just about to tell you. Just moments ago, word came from Zhongshan’s side saying that Lord Zhongshan and Young Dragon Lord were both injured while exterminating demon clans. They only recently returned to Zhongshan. After their injuries heal, they’ll return to the division to continue exterminating demon clans.”
Oh? They went back?
Lord Baize was somewhat surprised. What demon clan could injure two members of the Zhuyin Clan? Once the Zhuyin Clan was injured, how could they recover without at least hundreds or thousands of years? By the time their injuries healed, the demon clans in the lower realm would probably all be exterminated. Moreover, these vague words were extremely strange—not mentioning the disappearance at all, nor mentioning exactly how they were injured. Why did the Zhuyin Clan’s actions always carry a trace of strange and sinister energy?
Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly caught sight of a wooden box covered with cinnabar incantations placed behind Grand Emperor Qingyuan. His eyes immediately lit up. Throwing everything else to the back of his mind, he moved forward to look left and right: “What treasure did you fish up from the lower realm? Another piece of Lord Chiyou’s fingernail?”
Grand Emperor Qingyuan was simply helpless at his habits and quickly blocked his brutal attempt to tear off the cinnabar incantations: “Your Lordship, slow down! These are all treasures that fell from the Sea of Abandoned Hatred to the lower realm on that day, dropping from Zhuxuan Yuyang Manor. Over these years, the battle generals have collected back this much here and there… You can’t open it! If you open what’s inside, something terrible will happen!”
He struggled to snatch the wooden box into his arms and floated away without looking back: “I’m returning these items to Zhuxuan Yuyang Manor. Your Lordship, please attend to your business.”