Hearing this voice, Xuanwu mechanically turned her head slowly to look at Baihu.

“I’m… liberated…?”

This cool, clear voice was obviously very different from before—she was choking up.

“Yes, Wu Xuan.” Baihu nodded with a complex expression, then looked toward Jiang Shi. “Qinglong told me about this matter, but I didn’t have time to notify you…”

“Right…” Jiang Shi also nodded at the side. “Everything just now was done under Qinglong’s orders to test you.”

After hearing this, Xuanwu’s entire body trembled again, slowly saying: “But that’s not right… Qinglong clearly used thunder and lightning…”

“You have to believe me.” Baihu said. “We don’t need to keep considering things for Qinglong anymore, right…?”

After hearing this, Xuanwu turned around and looked into Baihu’s eyes.

Yes, why exactly should she find an excuse for Qinglong?

How wonderful would it be if all of this were true?

No, she couldn’t have such thoughts.

Because at this very moment in this very place, all of this was true.

A long journey was finally about to reach its end at this moment.

Xuanwu stared at Baihu’s turbid eyes for a long time, and her entire person actually became dazed.

Although the other party had become extremely aged, his gaze was familiar.

“Wu Xuan, why do you always try to reason with them?”

A young man’s voice rang in her ear:

“Aren’t we now the referees in charge of management? How can just reasoning work?”

In her mind, a young man dressed in white was sitting together with a young girl, leaning against a dilapidated low wall.

At that time, the sky was pink.

“Don’t call me Wu Xuan!” the girl replied.

This young girl’s voice kept echoing in Xuanwu’s mind, but she couldn’t remember who it was.

“Oh right, you’re not Little Xuanzi anymore, you’re ‘Xuanwu.’ This name suits you so well.” The young man said. “Qinglong said it casually, didn’t expect it to fit so perfectly.”

The girl smiled happily: “Yes, I feel like Qinglong seems like a Bodhisattva. He used only a very short time to fulfill everything the Bodhisattva promised me.”

“Bodhisattva…? I… actually feel that Qinglong isn’t a Bodhisattva…” The young man shook his head with a troubled expression. “I don’t dare say more, but you need to be careful in your actions. You can’t keep reasoning with those who break the rules, otherwise if you anger Qinglong it’ll be troublesome.”

“But Big Brother Hu, those people who break the rules are also human beings. Even the Bodhisattva looks down upon all living beings with lowered eyes. How can we casually take away their lives?”

“They are people who broke the rules.” The man said. “If they could reason clearly, they wouldn’t have broken the rules in the first place.”

“This…” The girl was stunned. “But I’m a bit afraid… If I don’t reason with them, what else can I do? Do I really have to use this body of ours to kill people?”

“You can frighten them! Do you usually watch short dramas? The other day I even remembered a phrase for scaring people. I’ll teach you.”

“‘Short dramas’… what are those?”

“Never mind that.” The man said. “Just remember this line!”

“Oh…” The girl nodded.

“Listen carefully… I am Old Hu! Put down your weapons and enjoy the slaughter!” After saying this, the man was amused by himself. “Oh dear, sorry… that’s a bit too silly. If that doesn’t work, just act like those ancient officials—slam the table and shout ‘Audacious!’ Maybe that way…”

After hearing this, the girl also giggled with laughter: “Big Brother Hu, you’re so interesting. You sound like an old man.”

“What are you saying, silly girl? This was originally an old man’s line!”

The two then laughed heartily, and even the atmosphere became relaxed.

That year’s sky was still pink, and the wind that blew through memories wasn’t fishy or foul.

Xuanwu wanted to see what else the girl and the man said afterward, but the memories in her mind were completely chaotic.

The only thing she had an impression of was that man staring at her, his eyes full of sorrow, murmuring: “Do you still remember me?”

The memory shifted again, and the girl was standing together with Qinglong. Next to them lay a bloody and mangled corpse.

“I’m very disappointed in your current state.” Qinglong said. “To actually need me to take action…”

“I’m sorry…” The girl slowly lowered her head.

“I only have two requirements in total. How many have you fulfilled?” Qinglong asked again.

“The first one…” The girl’s voice became quieter and quieter. “I’ve never disobeyed you.”

“No, you haven’t fulfilled even one.” Qinglong said. “First, you cannot disobey me. Second, defend the rules with thunderous methods. You haven’t completed the second, which means you’ve disobeyed me.”

“No… I wouldn’t dare…” The girl kept her head down. “You’re like a Bodhisattva… I wouldn’t disobey you…”

“Stop mentioning your bullshit Bodhisattva…” After Qinglong finished speaking, he frowned, then paused for half a second as if suddenly thinking of something. “Right… Bodhisattva, I finally know…”

“Mm…?”

“I know where your problem lies… you have too much reason!” Qinglong laughed maniacally. “That’s right… as long as I take away half your rationality, you won’t consider so much anymore.”

While the two were talking, a man wearing glasses with messy hair walked in from outside the door.

His gaze was evasive, not daring to look at Qinglong or the girl.

“What is it?” Qinglong asked.

“‘Wild Growth’ is ready.” The man with glasses said. “That native can activate relatively stable ‘Wild Growth.’ I came to report to you…”

“‘Wild Growth’…?” After hearing this, Qinglong’s eyes turned cold. “Tell me what use this broken thing has? You… wait…”

Qinglong seemed to think of something and instantly became interested. “…’Wild Growth’ can only be applied to plants?”

“This…” The man with glasses thought for a moment. “It should be… I think.”

“Try it on a human.” Qinglong stood up and pointed at the girl behind him, saying, “Her appearance looks far too harmless. Make her entire body ‘grow wildly.'”

“Entire body…?” The man with glasses was stunned and unconsciously looked at Qinglong, but a moment later hurriedly moved his eyes away. “This… that’s not right… When this thing is used on a human body, there’s no way to determine whether it will make the person more aged or fatter… Moreover, humans have hair and nails and many other parts that can grow… At that time she…”

“What are you saying?” Qinglong interrupted.

“What… I…”

“What are you saying?”

Qinglong repeated again. The man with glasses was so frightened he didn’t dare make a sound.

“Don’t you have confidence in the ‘Divine Beast’ you created yourself?” Qinglong slowly walked to the man’s side, leaned down and said with a smile near his ear, “Oh right, if she really loses control, you’ll stay there and be buried with her.”

After hearing this, the girl was stunned and for some reason began to feel afraid.

But at this moment, Qinglong came to the girl’s side with a smile on his face, placed both hands on her shoulders, and said softly: “No need to tremble. Today we will conduct a deeper level of transformation on you. This is an honor that other ‘Divine Beasts’ have never had. From now on, you will be even more powerful.”

The girl neither nodded nor shook her head, only feeling somewhat afraid.

But… what happened after that?

Where did the girl and young man in the memories go?

Xuanwu couldn’t remember.

This memory was like a movie that wasn’t finished filming, coming to an abrupt halt after this scene.

The images stopped, the sounds stopped, even the wind in the memories stopped.

No matter how much she thought about it, only one sentence remained in her memory—”Do you still remember me?”