The two sat closely together for a while. As Chang Yuan felt Er Sheng’s pulse growing stronger, his chaotic mind gradually settled, and he began to ponder other matters. Such as—
Where was this place?
Chang Yuan only knew that the darkness within the Abandoned City’s barrier had swallowed everything, but he had no memory of what happened afterward. All he had seen was the blood continuously flowing from Er Sheng and her gradually whitening face. Only now, looking around, did he realize they had arrived in some unknown place.
White flowers covered the ground everywhere, clustered together in patches that extended to the horizon. The sky was a uniform gray, making it impossible to tell whether it was dawn or dusk. Though beautiful, the scenery was too monotonous, causing unease to creep in after the initial amazement.
As Er Sheng felt her internal energy gradually becoming smoother, she wiggled her bottom and sat up from Chang Yuan’s embrace. Seeing the scenery, she sighed softly, “Where is this place? Chrysanthemums everywhere…”
Chang Yuan casually picked one of the flowers nearby, but as soon as his fingers touched the stem, the delicate petals instantly withered, turning into black powder that covered his hand.
Er Sheng was startled and reached out to pick a flower herself, only to end up with the same black powder. She felt deeply saddened: “Chang Yuan… are we poisonous? The chrysanthemum didn’t even have time to die properly—it just turned to ash.”
“These aren’t chrysanthemums,” Chang Yuan brought the powder to his nose and sniffed lightly before continuing, “This should be the ancient orchid grass. Its petals are as fine as silk, and its leaves are full of juice. It dies instantly upon contact with the life force. In ancient times, this flower grew only in places without human presence, but later, as various creatures multiplied and life force became abundant throughout the world, this flower eventually vanished from existence.” Chang Yuan frowned, deeply puzzled. “This flower should have disappeared even before the primordial era, so long ago that not even its name was passed down… Why are there so many here now?”
Er Sheng was momentarily stunned by his explanation: “Chang Yuan, the Wufang Library should put you on display.”
Chang Yuan stroked her head: “I didn’t know these things before. A friend told me.”
Er Sheng was quiet for a long while, holding Chang Yuan’s hand in hers before asking, “Si Ming?” Er Sheng wasn’t stupid. She still remembered when she first met Chang Yuan, how he had blurted out the name “Si Ming,” showing their deep connection. Moreover, who else in this world besides the Star Lord of Fate would know such obscure matters? Thinking about how close they had been before she even knew Chang Yuan, Er Sheng felt a bit jealous. She stared intently at Chang Yuan and asked, “Do you like Si Ming?”
Chang Yuan was slightly startled, not expecting Er Sheng to guess about Si Ming. He pondered for a moment before nodding: “Yes, I do.”
Si Ming had been the only spot of color Chang Yuan had seen in the Vault of Ten Thousand Heavens. She was bold to the point of arrogance, knowledgeable yet still childlike—for Chang Yuan, who had been confined for too long, it was hard not to like such an interesting person.
But Si Ming’s heart belonged to another, and though she made unorthodox jokes when interacting with Chang Yuan, she maintained strict boundaries regarding romantic matters, never crossing the line. Chang Yuan rarely interacted with others and couldn’t outmaneuver the Star Lord of Fate who had written countless fate patterns in matters of the heart. Si Ming never gave him the chance to develop extra feelings—she only wanted to be friends, so they became very good friends and nothing more.
Er Sheng was opposite to Si Ming…
“Like?” Hearing Chang Yuan say these words, Er Sheng immediately became unhappy. “I told you before that I won’t let you take concubines!”
Chang Yuan froze, not expecting such a response. Seeing Er Sheng’s serious expression, he replied with equal gravity, “I won’t take any.”
“But you like her.”
“Yes, I do…”
Er Sheng’s face paled as she blinked repeatedly, with a hint of despair in her accusation: “You’ve changed your heart.”
There were always moments between them when misunderstandings couldn’t be cleared up even with ten mouths to explain. Chang Yuan simply closed his mouth, looked at her for a while, then moved his head close to Er Sheng and properly bit her lip once, saying seriously: “Er Sheng, I don’t bite anyone else.”
Chang Yuan couldn’t explain the difference between his fondness for Si Ming and his love for Er Sheng. To him, it seemed only this biting gesture could prove the distinction between the two.
Chang Yuan’s bite wasn’t painful, but it left two shallow teeth marks on her lip. Er Sheng pursed her lips and said softly, “I want to meet this Si Ming. You like her so much, I’m sure I would like her too… as long as she doesn’t become a concubine.”
“You won’t be able to meet her…” Chang Yuan’s smile faded before it could fully form. He suddenly realized something he had previously overlooked, or rather, something he had always known but never seriously contemplated.
Er Sheng and Si Ming were the same person.
Although Er Sheng had miraculously survived Chang An’s sword this time, such miracles wouldn’t happen every time. Si Ming had descended to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation, and eventually, the day of facing that tribulation would come—whether she would ascend and return to her celestial position, fail and fall into demonhood, or turn to tribulation ash. But regardless of the outcome, all endings belonged to Si Ming. Er Sheng would completely disappear before then, and the person he loved would become another woman, one who had a beloved man in her heart and no connection to the Divine Dragon Chang Yuan.
At that time, facing an “Er Sheng” who no longer considered Chang Yuan her husband, how should he handle it?
Er Sheng played with Chang Yuan’s beautiful fingers while asking curiously, “Why can’t I meet her? Is it because Si Ming is a deity, too high above to descend to the mortal realm? Then I’ll work hard at cultivation, become a deity too, and then I can meet her.”
Chang Yuan stroked her hair with his other hand, lost in thought, saying nothing.
Perhaps inspired by Chang Yuan’s touch, Er Sheng’s eyes brightened as she said happily, “I’m serious! I’ll work hard at cultivation, and after passing the tribulation and ascending, I’ll be a deity too. Then Chang Yuan and I can fly together forever—wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“There’s no need to envy deities,” Chang Yuan said lightly, though his expression carried a trace of sympathy. “Er Sheng is perfect as she is.”
Without thinking, Er Sheng blurted out, “Then what will Chang Yuan do if I die one day?”
Chang Yuan’s fingers stiffened.
After receiving no response for a long while, Er Sheng looked up at Chang Yuan’s expression and immediately waved her hands: “No dying, no dying. I wouldn’t dare to die even if you killed me.” She held Chang Yuan’s cool hands tightly against her warm chest and said, “I’ll stay with you always, watching mountains and waters, seeing everything you want to see, okay?”
Er Sheng made this promise lightly, while Chang Yuan shifted his gaze to the endless white flowers in the distance and said softly, “Let’s first figure out where we are. We can talk about leaving after that.”
Er Sheng studied Chang Yuan’s expression for a moment before obediently agreeing and standing up. She looked into the distance and sighed deeply: “How are we supposed to get through this?!”
Chang Yuan remained silent behind her for a long while before asking a question completely unrelated to Er Sheng’s words: “Er Sheng, how did you come back?” A cold sword through the heart—to stop the bleeding, heal the wound, and recover enough to bounce around in such a short time was beyond even Chang Yuan’s abilities, so naturally he was curious.
Er Sheng scratched her head and laughed sheepishly: “I did beat up the King of Hell. He said I was too unruly and only Chang Yuan could keep me in check, so he kicked me back up.”
“…That’s good.”
Chang Yuan lowered his eyes, thinking that if she wouldn’t tell now, he’d wait and get her drunk to ask slowly later.
The two chose a direction and began looking for a way out. This place was like an undiscovered paradise, with white flowers withering into a winding black path wherever they walked. Er Sheng looked back and could see the increasingly long trail behind them, feeling as if they were creating the first path in this world.
Er Sheng bounced excitedly a couple of times: “Chang Yuan, aren’t we like gods creating the world?” She held Chang Yuan’s hand, swinging it high with each step as if showing off how intimate and happy they were. “I say there should be a path where I walk, and a path appears.” She jumped forward, and the white flowers quickly withered to ash under her feet. “I say there should be a hole here, and a hole appears.” She swept her arm grandly, pointing toward the horizon. “I say there should be light there, and the light…”
The last part was meant as a joke, but before Er Sheng could finish speaking, a red beam of light shot out from where she was pointing, straight into the sky.
Er Sheng’s eyes bulged in shock: “It… it appeared!”
Chang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He keenly noticed that with the appearance of that red light, a strangely familiar feeling began drifting through the air. After her initial shock, Er Sheng quickly recovered, let go of Chang Yuan’s hand, and pointed very seriously at her right palm: “Roast chicken, roast duck, wontons, and dumplings—come forth!”
The wind-swept white, silk-like flower petals across her palm, which immediately turned to black dust upon contact with her life force and scattered into the air.
Er Sheng was disappointed, and Chang Yuan resigned.
“Why doesn’t it work for food?” Er Sheng looked pitifully at Chang Yuan.
“Perhaps it’s… been taxed,” Chang Yuan vaguely remembered Si Ming telling him about how things would mysteriously disappear in the mortal realm, and gave a noncommittal answer before saying seriously, “Let’s go check out that red light.”
Having a goal was better than wandering. They walked for a while and soon approached where the red light had appeared.
The closer they got, the more Chang Yuan’s brow furrowed. He felt the surrounding energy suppressing his divine power, just like the pressure he had felt in the Vault of Ten Thousand Heavens for thousands of years. Seeing that Er Sheng’s expression hadn’t changed and her steps remained light, Chang Yuan made some calculations.
In the Vault of Ten Thousand Heavens, the stronger one’s divine power, the greater the restrictions—to the point where Chang Yuan couldn’t even maintain human form inside, while Si Ming had fared much better back then. This place probably worked on the same principle.
Chang Yuan gazed solemnly at the red light shooting into the sky. In his memory, only places concerning the vital forces of heaven and earth or imprisonment grounds like the Vault of Ten Thousand Heavens would have such seals. The seals in the Vault were to prevent him from escaping and causing havoc—what was this place trying to prevent? Moreover, this place was covered in ancient orchid grass, suggesting no one had set foot here for at least several hundred thousand years. So secretive, yet carefully sealed…
Could some terrifying secret of heaven-shaking proportions be hidden here?
“Chang Yuan?” Er Sheng had been walking forward and only noticed she had gotten quite far from Chang Yuan when she couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore. “Come on, what are you thinking about?”
Chang Yuan shared his thoughts with Er Sheng, but she ignored everything else and kept asking: “Are you feeling unwell? Where are you uncomfortable?”
Chang Yuan looked at Er Sheng for a while, feeling both helpless and shamefully heartwarmed: “It’s nothing, just some suppression of my powers. The most troublesome thing now is, if my guesses are correct, it’s almost impossible for us to leave.”
Er Sheng froze: “Why?”
“First, the sealing power here is extremely overwhelming. Half of my divine power is suppressed, making it impossible to force our way out. Second, this place hasn’t been discovered for tens of thousands of years, so it must be extremely well hidden. If I’m not mistaken, its entrance should be within the Abandoned City’s barrier—only such a place could keep this location undisturbed for so long. We must have accidentally triggered something and, by coincidence, fell in here. If the entrance is so well concealed, the exit… might not exist at all.”
Er Sheng pondered his words for a moment and said, “In that case, let’s go back to the way we came. We’ll leave the same way we entered.”
Chang Yuan shook his head: “We were pulled in by the darkness of the Abandoned City’s barrier. I don’t know how we entered this place.”
“Then what should we do…” Er Sheng scratched her head and thought for a while before clapping her hands and deciding, “If we can’t get out, let’s just make do with living here. I’ll have children, you’ll build houses, and we’ll be creation gods, bringing life to this world of flowers!”
Seeing Er Sheng’s bright eyes, Chang Yuan thought of something not so innocent and gradually blushed at his thoughts.
“Ahem.” He cleared his throat and turned to look at the red light on the horizon: “Let’s go check over there first, maybe we’ll find something else.”
“That works too,” Er Sheng said, “As long as I can have children with Chang Yuan, anywhere is fine.”
Er Sheng walked forward with grand strides, swinging her arms boldly. Chang Yuan followed behind, seriously contemplating for a long while before mumbling softly: “It would be better in a house…”