“You two,” Shuhu said. “You both will fall in love amid the trials of time and causality. As long as you can join hands and weather them together…”
Xiang Xian: “…………”
Xiao Kun: “…………..”
“Bullshit!” Xiao Kun finally lost it. He never expected Shuhu to give such an answer. After all the guidance on “Heavenly Mandate,” this sudden earth-shattering prophecy of marriage—and they were both men!
Shuhu: “Surprised? That’s exactly right.”
“Right about what?!” Xiang Xian couldn’t stay calm either and laughed in anger. “Do you know what you’re saying?!”
Xiao Kun panted nonstop, glancing at Xiang Xian, then at Shuhu.
“It’s time to go,” Shuhu said. “You must trust each other, entrust yourselves completely without reservation, abandon everything. In the vast dark calamity, that will be the remaining glimmer of light.”
Xiao Kun could listen no more and roared, “Shut up!”
Xiao Kun drew his Tang Dao and slashed down. Xiang Xian’s expression changed. “Hey! Calm down!”
Xiao Kun had first learned his restoration hopes were dashed, then been provoked by Shuhu, losing all reason. He only wanted to cleave this monster spouting delusions. Xiang Xian wanted to stop him, but it was too late. Saber Qi blasted forth.
Shuhu’s head burst into countless light points and dissipated, vanishing completely!
The Bronze Casket imprisoning it shattered into pieces that flew in all directions.
“Have you gone mad?!” Xiang Xian said incredulously. “You heard restoration was impossible and chopped it in rage?”
Xiao Kun panted heavily and sheathed his saber with a furious clang. Xiang Xian stepped forward to grab his collar and shouted, “I still needed to bring it back! Now how do I explain this?!”
Though he said that, both suddenly realized: Shuhu had waited long for this chance. The moment the Bronze Casket opened, the ancient seal broke. Its escape was only a matter of time—perhaps chatting with them here so long was just to erode their vigilance.
Xiao Kun shoved Xiang Xian away forcefully and glared at him in fury.
At the same time, a rumbling came from the mountain behind them. In the valley, rocks and trees tumbled from both sides. Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun turned immediately toward the cave mouth they had come from.
“The Weng Immortal is still pursuing relentlessly,” Xiao Kun said gravely.
They had to join forces against the enemy again, but after Shuhu’s words, the atmosphere turned strangely awkward.
Xiang Xian tried hard not to look at Xiao Kun. After several breaths, a massive roar erupted from the narrow cave mouth as the Black Mountain God charged out!
“Time to go!” Xiao Kun shouted.
Saber Qi crisscrossed. Xiang Xian leaped to higher ground, spun in midair, dodging the Black Mountain God’s charge. In an instant, the valley collapsed, threatening to bury them all—
A golden dragon shot into the sky!
The dragon head carried Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian, breaking through the falling rocks and soaring heavenward.
Xiang Xian stood on the dragon’s back and looked back, seeing Xiao Kun gripping the dragon horn, steering the gleaming golden Flying Dragon out of Xuan Yue Peak toward the east.
Xiao Kun silently gazed at the earth and mountains. They ascended steadily until level with the clouds. Moments later, the golden dragon emerged from the cloud sea amid heavy mist. The sun set in the west, its brilliant glow turning the clouds into shimmering waves amid the wild winds.
Xiang Xian noticed Xiao Kun’s Dragon Jade Pendant resonating with the golden dragon’s light—surely its magic treasure effect.
“We shouldn’t have opened the casket,” Xiang Xian muttered to himself. “We were both tricked by that monster.”
Xiao Kun glanced at Xiang Xian and said, “Though records of the ancient Heaven’s Mandate Casket are rare, I can affirm it’s no mere trickery.”
Xiang Xian hugged Xiao Kun’s waist, repeatedly recalling Shuhu’s three matters, making it even more awkward. He said, “You believe what it said?”
Xiao Kun also thought of the third answer, his expression quite unnatural.
The golden dragon dove sharply toward the ground, startling Xiang Xian.
Then, Xiao Kun tossed him onto the roadside of a wilderness official path.
He knew he had to scram. Walking to the path’s edge, he looked up at Xiao Kun, who hovered less than a zhang high on the golden dragon.
“I have another identity; no harm in telling you,” Xiao Kun said gravely. “I am the Liao Exorcism Envoy of the Great Liao Demon-Exorcism Division. In the Ai Emperor’s reign, Zhu Wen usurped Great Tang, and the Luoyang Exorcism Headquarters moved north to Yan State. Then the Puppet Emperor Shi Jingtang ceded Yan State to the Khitan, so the Exorcism Division stayed in the Northern Lands, passed down generationally. Now, I have succeeded as Department Envoy.”
Xiang Xian: “…”
“So, I am the Grand Demon-Exorcist of the present world,” Xiao Kun said earnestly.
As Xiao Kun prepared to ride the golden dragon away, Xiang Xian chased a few steps on the ground and shouted, “Hey! Wait!”
Xiao Kun hesitated, turned back to look at that tiny black speck. Xiang Xian came to his senses and shouted, “Wait! I have something to say!”
The dragon halted several zhang high. The two gazed at each other from afar, as if separated by eons of time. The wheel of fate turned beneath the primordial majesty, rendering mountains, earth, and their figures infinitesimally small.
Countless familiar memories surged, born and faded.
For a moment, neither spoke. Wild winds blew across the vast plain, silence lasting fully half a incense stick’s time. Xiang Xian felt inexplicably that he had too much to say yet no words came out.
Xiang Xian looked up at the moon, seeing the cloudless sky with a silver moon hanging like a jade disc.
“The moon is so beautiful; don’t waste this fine night,” Xiang Xian laughed and said. “Shall we drink and chat?”
Xiao Kun, annoyed, said coldly, “No drinking. Scram!”
With that, the golden dragon shot through the air, carrying Xiao Kun far away, leaving Xiang Xian alone in the middle of the road.
