Chapter 72

Being accurately called out by name by Zheng Yuan Zhenren startled Rabbit Tuan, but what was most frightening was that Zheng Yuan Zhenren actually mastered mind-reading techniques. He hadn’t said anything, yet the other party had seen through his thoughts. That feeling was truly quite terrifying.

But Zheng Yuan Zhenren merely chuckled as he looked at Rabbit Tuan. His aura was upright and serene, and his attitude was extremely friendly. Under his soothing gaze, Rabbit Tuan gradually relaxed and stiffly greeted him, “A Xue pays respects to Zheng Yuan Zhenren.”

“What a good child.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren reverted to his image as the fat old man, fanning himself with a smile as he made an inviting gesture. “Come on in, both of you. It’s too hot outside. Come inside and eat some watermelon—chilled with well water from underground. It’s especially refreshing and perfect for beating the heat.”

Rabbit Tuan’s rabbit fur had been blown into a mess by the early winter cold winds. Hearing the words “beating the heat” struck him as utterly absurd. However, after Dao Qing carried him into Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s Dao Field, he discovered that it was indeed blazing with scorching sun and intense summer heat. In the short twenty or thirty steps from the courtyard to the thatched hut, he had already broken out in a sweat.

Rabbit Tuan sympathetically glanced at the skinny donkey and the hens before Dao Qing carried him into the cool thatched hut.

A massive watermelon sat on the wooden table. Zheng Yuan Zhenren swiftly sliced it into several pieces with his knife. He specially cut a small bowl of watermelon chunks for Rabbit Tuan, added crushed ice, dried fruit, and honey water, then beckoned to him with a beaming smile. “Come eat.”

“Thank you, Zheng Yuan Zhenren.”

Rabbit Tuan wagged his little tail as he hopped onto the table. He happily circled the iced bowl once before burying his head in it and eating.

Once he finished the watermelon ice, Zheng Yuan Zhenren summoned his pet Calico Cat to play with Rabbit Tuan so he wouldn’t get bored.

Zheng Yuan Zhenren called Dao Qing into the inner room and cast a sound-isolating barrier. He said to Dao Qing, “I know why you’ve come to me.”

Seeing Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s straightforward attitude, Dao Qing didn’t beat around the bush. He raised his hand in salute. “Please lend this junior your treasured artifact, Zhenren.”

“That’s no problem at all. Look, I’ve placed the mirror right there.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren lifted his palm-leaf fan and pointed. Dao Qing looked in the direction he indicated. A grimy bronze mirror stood quietly in the corner, its surface unpolished and dull. It looked completely different from how it had been carefully tended in the Ancestral Master Hall, radiating with flowing light.

“But before I lend you the bronze mirror, I have a question for you.” Zheng Yuan Zhenren put away his amiable smile and sharply fixed his gaze on Dao Qing. “Who are you?”

Dao Qing replied, “My name is Xie Shu, with the Dharma name Dao Qing. I am both the Dragon Clan Patriarch and the State Preceptor of Dayong.”

“Wrong. Utterly and completely wrong.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren jabbed at him with his palm-leaf fan. “It seems your earlier speculation was correct. After the incident with the Cave Abyss Spirit, you’ve indeed forgotten everything.”

“Whether you were too harsh on yourself or the Cave Abyss’s corrupting qi eroded you too deeply, we’ll only know once you recover your memories.”

Xie Shu frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren said, “Of course you don’t, since you remember nothing. Then let’s restore your memories for now.”

With a wave of his palm-leaf fan, a stream of pure qi entered Xie Shu’s body. Moments later, Xie Shu’s eyes changed slightly, becoming deep and profound. He nodded faintly at Zheng Yuan Zhenren. “Thank you, Third Martial Uncle.”

“You’re welcome.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren laughed heartily. “You’ve finally recognized me. The reason I sent this avatar to the Lower Realm to play the part of this Cloud Moon Temple’s Palace Lord was precisely to pull you out of a bind at the critical moment. Well? Have you found your ‘hands’ and ‘feet’?”

Xie Shu was silent for a moment. “I’ve met the ‘two feet’ and the ‘right hand,’ but the ‘left hand’ has been devoured by the Cave Abyss. It’s gone.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s expression shifted slightly. “No wonder the Cave Abyss Spirit’s power is so formidable. It even forced me to take a detour just to meet you, waiting over a hundred years ago for your arrival. So that’s because It devoured your ‘left hand.’ Can you still retrieve it?”

Xie Shu remained silent.

“Sigh, so be it. This must be your fate.” Zheng Yuan Zhenren sighed. “Fortunately, the remaining three limbs are still around. You can reclaim them.”

“Your current situation isn’t great. The Cave Abyss Spirit has always coveted you and your three limbs. Your eldest disciple Xuan Yang is one of the Cave Abyss Spirit’s incarnations, and that little rabbit A Xue is a helper It found.”

“Though the Cave Abyss Spirit is a nasty thing, A Xue is a very cute kid—innocent and pure, without a shred of malice, and quite pretty too.”

“You can kill the Cave Abyss Spirit as you please, but don’t harm A Xue. If you don’t want him, just say the word. I’ll take him back to the Upper Realm right now and make him my little grand-disciple.”

“You can’t take him away. Qixue is my wife.”

Xie Shu’s tone was icy cold as he flatly rejected Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s proposal. “No matter who I am, Qixue is my future Dao Companion. That won’t change.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren burst into laughter. “That sounds nice, but have you asked your three limbs? Would they agree?”

“Besides, the moment you two walked in, I divined your fates. You’re just a fleeting romance—fated but not meant to last. You’ll part in the end. He can’t be your Dao Companion.”

Xie Shu’s long brows furrowed deeply. “Impossible. I’ve divined it before. Qixue is my Heavenly Destined Marriage. We are Fated Dao Companions.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. “Don’t disbelieve me. Divine it here. The outside world is corrupted by the Cave Abyss, so heavenly secrets are unreliable. Only my Dao Field is unaffected. Try divining again.”

Xie Shu took out the yarrow stalks and placed them on the table. He divined his marriage fate once more. After the hexagram formed, his movements abruptly halted.

The hexagram was the Kan Hexagram—greatly ominous. His fate held no marriage; he was destined to end his days alone.

“This isn’t my marriage fate.”

Xie Shu scattered the yarrow stalks, just as he had once refused to accept Qixue as his Fated Dao Companion. Now, he refused to admit they were merely fated without lasting union. “I have a wife, and my wife is Qixue.”

“Self-deception isn’t good.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren grinned slyly. “Look at yourself. You’ve always had that sour face, ignoring everyone, even disregarding me, your Third Martial Uncle. Someone like you getting a wife? You’re fated to be a bachelor!”

Xie Shu ignored Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s snide remarks. He rearranged the yarrow stalks and divined for himself and Qixue. The second hexagram showed they were indeed a fleeting romance, unable to last. Qixue would eventually leave him.

He divined Qixue’s marriage hexagram alone. It showed Qixue’s marriage luck was strong; he would have seven husbands in the future, but Xie Shu was not among them.

Xie Shu tossed away the yarrow stalks.

His gaze pierced toward Zheng Yuan Zhenren like a sharp sword. “You’ve tampered with it.”

“Injustice!” Zheng Yuan Zhenren slapped his thigh. “Divination is your specialty. Right under your nose, what could I have done? You know best what’s going on.”

“Face reality. You and Qixue are just a fleeting romance. You can’t be his husband. I think my grand-disciple Nineteen and the little rabbit match well. He’s only eighteen, handsome and promising. How about I play matchmaker for them…”

Xie Shu: “Shut up.”

“Is that how you speak to your elder?” Zheng Yuan Zhenren shouted dramatically.

Xie Shu ignored him further, lowering his eyes to silently stare at the yarrow stalks. After a long while, he spoke. “I want to change my fate.”

“…” Zheng Yuan Zhenren narrowed his eyes, showing no surprise. “You mean, you’ll change it so you and Qixue become a true Heavenly Destined Marriage?”

“Yes.”

Xie Shu picked up the scattered yarrow stalks one by one and stored them in his sleeve. His tone was flat but resolute.

“Qixue and I have only one future: We are Fated Dao Companions. He is my only wife, and I am his only husband.”

If he had altered his heavenly fate a hundred years ago, it would explain why his divination a century later showed Qixue as his Heavenly Destined Marriage.

Fated but not lasting? No matter. Since he had returned to the past with the chance to alter fate, he and Qixue would surely become Fated Dao Companions.

If the Heavenly Dao was undecided, he would become the Heavenly Dao himself and decree their marriage.

Zheng Yuan Zhenren: “I knew you’d do this. Let me handle it. This avatar of mine can be sacrificed, but you’ll be in the Lower Realm for a long time, and killing the Cave Abyss Spirit is something only you can do.”

With that, Zheng Yuan Zhenren fanned his palm-leaf fan. The simple farmhouse courtyard gradually faded, transforming into a dilapidated ancient ruin.

The ruins stood atop a volcano. Beneath the crumbling bricks, scorching magma flowed faintly, emitting dazzling fiery light. This was the true face of the Dao Field and the reason for its sweltering heat.

Zheng Yuan Zhenren slashed his arm, spilling a large amount of blood. The blood sizzled with white steam on the hot bricks but didn’t evaporate completely. Instead, it trickled along the cracks, gradually forming a intricate spell array.

…

“Meow… meow meow!”

Outside the hut, Rabbit Tuan and the Calico Cat were playing Go—stop—one—five—chess when the ground suddenly shook violently.

The Calico Cat pounced on Rabbit Tuan, shielding him protectively under its belly like a mother cat with her kitten, warily scanning the surroundings.

Rabbit Tuan struggled to poke his little head out from under the cat’s belly. He stared in shock as the house vanished. He and the Calico Cat were now inside a transparent barrier.

Below the barrier stretched a majestic volcano emitting white smoke, with slow-flowing magma. Above them loomed a sky dense with dark clouds, flashing with lightning—like the end of the world.

Rabbit Tuan froze for a moment before instinctively searching for Dao Qing. Unbeknownst to him, he had grown very familiar with Dao Qing’s figure. He spotted Dao Qing’s back on the volcano instantly, but they were too far apart, and the barrier kept him from reaching him.

Boom—!

A terrifying dark purple heavenly thunderbolt crashed viciously toward the ground, striking right at the spell array’s center where Zheng Yuan Zhenren and Dao Qing stood. In the instant the thunder flashed, everything in his vision turned to nothingness, swallowed by blinding purple light.

“Dao Qing!!”

Rabbit Tuan’s heart skipped a beat. He pressed against the barrier, shouting Dao Qing’s name.

He forgot to close his eyes and was blinded by the excessive brightness, plunging into temporary darkness.

Deprived of sight, Rabbit Tuan grew even more panicked. Hearing thunderbolts continuously strike the volcano, his paws turned ice-cold with worry. Only when the Calico Cat trotted over and licked his fur did he calm down somewhat. He huddled with the Calico Cat for warmth.

He could do nothing but quietly wait for the heavenly thunder to end.

After an unknown time, the thunder ceased, and silence fell. He felt the barrier shake, then descend. Afterward, he tumbled into a familiar embrace.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Rabbit Tuan heard Dao Qing’s voice. “It’s all over.”

Dao Qing’s voice sounded normal, but Rabbit Tuan smelled the stench of charred flesh. His heart clenched. He blindly pawed at Dao Qing. “Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”

Dao Qing: “I’m fine.”

“Cough cough… The one who’s hurt is me.”

Another voice spoke—Zheng Yuan Zhenren’s, sounding twenty years older. “Those thunderbolts all struck me… Ow, my legs are roasted.”

Rabbit Tuan’s heart raced in fear. “Zheng Yuan Zhenren, can you hold on? Dao Qing, quickly heal the Zhenren…”

“It’s fine. If I die, I die. This is just an avatar. My true body is perfectly fine.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren chuckled, but in truth, this avatar had been charred black by the thunder, resembling a terrifying charred corpse. Even Dao Qing fell silent.

“Third Martial Uncle,” he said solemnly to Zheng Yuan Zhenren, “Thank you for this.”

“It’s rare to hear you thank me. Worth it.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren raised his nearly severed arm and tossed the shrunken ancient mirror to the ground, where it returned to its original size. “Alright, matters here are settled. You two head back.”

He then blocked Rabbit Tuan’s hearing and spoke privately to Xie Shu. “The heavenly fate is changed. From now on, you and Qixue are truly a Heavenly Destined Marriage. You know what to do. Cherish your fated one.”

Xie Shu: “I understand.”

Zheng Yuan Zhenren: “This avatar of mine is done for, but there’s still much to do here. I need to make Cloud Moon Temple renowned across the world.”

He coughed a few times, and a puff of black smoke emanated from his throat. “Then I’ll leave behind a puppet corpse. Let it finish the remaining tasks for me, and finally place the Ancient Mirror in the Ancestral Master Hall. In the future, you will return to this era and meet me.”

Xie Shu said, “Thank you for your trouble, Third Martial Uncle.”

“It’s a small matter, not worth mentioning.”

Zheng Yuan said, “However, after returning to the future, your memories of the Upper Realm will still be sealed. In your memories, you will only be State Preceptor ‘Xie Shu,’ and I will only be the ‘Fifth Generation Palace Lord.’ Only when the time comes will you gradually recover your true memories.”

“I understand,” Xie Shu said.

“Alright, get out of here already. It hurts like hell; I must withdraw my divine sense.”

Zheng Yuan tossed down a puppet corpse resembling a plump old man, then withdrew his divine sense. The charred corpse collapsed to the ground, devoid of any breath. In its place, the puppet Zheng Yuan stood rigidly and said in a mechanical tone, “Martial Nephew, please.”

Xie Shu nodded slightly and stepped into the Ancient Mirror with Rabbit Tuan.

A blast of icy astral wind swept over them, and before long, they had returned to their own era.