Chapter 119

"Little White Master, don't be angry." Bo Zhu squatted beside Xie Bi An like a puppy and laid his chin on Xie Bi An's thigh, "Although I don't know why Heaven Master did this, he must have done it to protect you. Who doesn't know that he loves you the most?"

Xie Bi An said gloomily, "But I'm worried about him."

"Heaven Master is so powerful, he will be fine."

Xie Bi An stroked Bo Zhu's head, "Bo Zhu, do you listen to me, or do you listen to master?"

"Er ..." Bo Zhu was a bit naive but not stupid and immediately shook his head, "I won't help you escape. Heaven Master told me that your life will be in danger if you go out."

"I'm not asking you to help me escape, and you can't help me, but I have something very important to do. I must see Official Lord Cui."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you, but it's really important." Xie Bi An said seriously, "Bo Zhu, I have never begged you before, but this time you must help me."

Bo Zhu hesitantly said, "Then, we will have to wait until Heaven Master leaves."

"Bo Zhu, thank you."

When Fan Wu She came in with dinner, he saw Bo Zhu sitting on Xie Bi An's lap, and he kicked Bo Zhu's butt: "Get out."

Bo Zhu jumped up from the floor: "You, you." He saw the fierce look in Fan Wu She's eyes and ran off in a huff.

"Why are you always bullying Bo Zhu?" Xie Bi An scolded, "Don't go overboard."

"He's not a child." Fan Wu She put dinner on the table, arranged the chopsticks properly and poured some wine, "He was just a child when he died, so his looks have not changed, but he is about the same age as me."

Xie Bi An smiled, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. But his heart and mind haven't changed either. He's still a child."

"Then you can't let him stick to you either." Fan Wu She glared at him, "Come over and eat. Throwing a fit at master and not eating, are you a child too?"

Xie Bi An wanted to retort, but gave up again.

He walked over, "Who made the food? It can't be you again..."

Before he could finish his words, he was dragged by Fan Wu She to sit on his lap, and his waist was bound tightly.

"Wu She!"

Fan Wu She said dominantly, "You let him stick to your leg, then you have to stick to my leg as well and make it up to me."

He had scolded and punished Fan Wu She for his nonsense, rashness and willfulness, but it was totally useless. He pinched Fan Wu She's face, which clearly had a jealous expression, and was feeling angry and amused. There was a bit of pampering in his rebuke: "You ah, are really unreasonable."

The tip of Fan Wu She's nose pushed against Xie Bi An's neck: "Only to you."

Xie Bi An was feeling a little ticklish and shrank back to avoid it: "Enough, I don't want to argue with you. You are even more like a child than Bo Zhu with all your words and actions."

Fan Wu She paused for a moment, and his lips gently sucked on Xie Bi An's earlobe, whispering flirtatiously, "When will senior brother let me be an adult?"

Xie Bi An's cheeks burned slightly.

"What we did in the cave last time, senior brother liked it, right? I liked it too." Fan Wu She's hand which was around his waist slowly moved down.

Xie Bi An held his wrist and whispered, "Wu She, restrain yourself. I'm not in the mood to mess around with you right now."

Fan Wu She suddenly felt deflated. This time Xie Bi An's tone was serious, unlike his usual self which has a bit of desire. He said, "I understand you are worried about master, but what is the point if you don't eat? Master will not let us out."

"Bo Zhu promised me that as soon as Master leaves, he will go and invite Official Lord Cui to come. I hope that Official Lord Cui can help us."

"How can Official Lord Cui undo the Master's boundary?"

"If we can't undo it, we'll think of another way." Xie Bi An said worriedly, "Official Lord Cui must be able to help me, or at least, I must know if I was Emperor Kong Hua in the previous life or not."

Fan Wu She's body stiffened and his eyes gradually darkened.

"Never mind, let's eat first. You're right, what's the use of starving myself."

Fan Wu She still clutched Xie Bi An's waist: "Just eat like this."

Xie Bi An laughed helplessly, "Alright, let me try junior brother's cooking for the first time."

Fan Wu She cooked three simple dishes, and they looked surprisingly good. Xie Bi An took a bite of the stir-fried pork with green asparagus and he brightened up, "It tastes good. Wu She, I really couldn't tell that you actually know how to cook. Why didn't you do it last time?"

"I want to eat the food you cooked for me." Fan Wu She took the turnip cake with chopsticks again and brought it to Xie Bi An's lips, "You should love this." He loathed outsiders coming near, both in his previous life and present life, and had lived alone for many years, so how could he not know how to cook?

Xie Bi An took a bite. The taste was soft and delicious. He looked at the dishes on the table and found that every one of them was his favorite, as if Fan Wu She had been born knowing what he liked to eat.

Could this be empathy? He thought about it with some embarrassment.

This meal was being eaten very sweetly. Xie Bi An felt that Fan Wu She was comforting him in his own way, and he really didn't feel that depressed now.

---

That night, Zhong Kui left the Underworld, and Xie Bi An couldn't wait to ask Bo Zhu to invite Cui Jue.

Cui Jue still didn't know they had returned, and when he saw Xie Bi An, he gave him a lecture first, but when he saw that he didn't look quite right, he asked where Zhong Kui had gone.

With a serious face, Xie Bi An told Cui Jue everything.

Qi Meng Sheng had taken the Golden Trunk Jade Policy, Zhong Kui had lost the Qingfeng Sword, and Xie Bi An might be the reincarnation of the Human Emperor. Each of these things was like a Thunderfire Stone's explosion, which made him unable to come back to his senses for quite some time. He had been having a headache for a long time over the matter of Cheng Yan Zhi and Xu Zhi Nan, and had not yet found a way to set things right. He didn't think that the things that happened in the human realm were scarier one after another, and he almost couldn't sit still on the stool.

Xie Bi An said gloomily, "Official Lord Cui, master has locked me and my junior brother in here and won't let us go out, afraid that I am really the reincarnation of the Human Emperor, and afraid that Qi Meng Sheng will dig up my core, but I am worried about him. How much life does he have left in the Book of Life and Death?"

Cui Jue bit his lip, his face showing a difficult expression.

"Tell me, Official Lord Cui, I'm so worried that I can't sleep and eat in peace." Xie Bi An pleaded.

Cui Jue said in a low voice, "I, Cui Jue, have guarded the Book of Life and Death for a thousand years and have never bent the law for my personal interests or to help my friends or relatives. Today's matter is not trivial and may involve more than Zhong Kui's life and the peace of the earth, so I will make an exception and ask for punishment afterwards."

Xie Bi An and Fan Wu She looked straight at Cui Jue.

Cui Jue took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "It will be this battle."

Xie Bi An's face turned white.

Fan Wu She took Xie Bi An's hand in his and said quietly, "Senior brother, don't panic. Official Lord Cui, you can increase the lifespan of master, right?"

"To increase one's life, one must have great merit and virtue, and I, Cui Jue, will never do anything that goes against the Way of Heaven." Cui Jue said with a stern face, "If Zheng Nan can stop this calamity, it will be considered a great merit."

If Zhong Kui wanted to make merit, he would have to stop Qi Meng Sheng, but to stop Qi Meng Sheng, he would have to die, which was simply contradictory!

Xie Bi An's eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth, "Master cannot die. If he cultivates for another hundred years, he has a chance to ascend."

Even though they were the underworld generals, they could still be reunited in the underworld even if their lives were ended, but once Zhong Kui became a ghost, when his cultivation was not enough, there were only two ways to go, either his past life would be nullified and he would be reincarnated again, or he could cultivate Yin, and the difficulty of cultivating Yin was far, far greater than cultivating Yang. With Zhong Kui's talent, how could he be willing to do so?

"Everything is fate." Cui Jue rubbed his sore brow, "If you guys hadn't gone to investigate Meng Ke Fei and visited Wuliang Sect, he wouldn't have had such karma originally."

"Does Master ... know?" Fan Wu She asked in a low voice.

Xie Bi An held his breath.

Cui Jue nodded gently.

Xie Bi An's eyes became teary. Zhong Kui had known. He knew he was going to die. He knew he couldn't protect his disciples, yet he said nothing, left them in a safe place, and without a second thought went to...meet his death?

He could have avoided this life or death calamity!

"He ... Master..." Xie Bi An choked out, "to just leave like this? Without saying goodbye to me?"

"Zheng Nan is such a person." Cui Jue turned his face away, his tensed jaw trembling slightly.

Fan Wu She's heart was also touched. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Senior brother, Official Lord Cui, now is not the time to despair. Karma can change, and Master may not die."

"Yes, yes!" Xie Bi An suddenly flung himself down on his knees in front of Cui Jue, grabbed his lapels and begged, "Official Lord Cui, will you help us get out of here? We have to go and help our Master."

Cui Jue grabbed Xie Bi An's arm and dragged him to his feet, "Bi An, calm down."

"Master is on his way to Kunlun now. He'll see Qi Meng Sheng soon and he doesn't have much time."

"Bi An, calm down." Cui Jue pressed him into a chair and stroked his head, "If you want to save your master, what's the use of just relying on you guys to risk your lives?"

Xie Bi An clenched his fists, "Then what should we do? Am I the reincarnation of the Human Emperor or not? The core Qi Meng Sheng wants, is it this one in my stomach or not? This is our biggest bargaining chip now."

"That's right, we have to confirm this first."

"Does Official Lord Cui have any idea?" Fan Wu She's pupils were cloudy, and his heart was also overwhelmed. He had originally tried his best to stop Xie Bi An from knowing his past life, but now, he was afraid that nothing could stop Xie Bi An from being determined to save Zhong Kui.

"Bi An, have you really been to the Three Lives Stone and nothing can be seen on it?"

"Yes."

After hearing those words, Cui Jue turned his back and looked out the window in silence.

The two of them didn't say a word, waiting patiently.

After a long time, Cui Jue turned around, "You said that you occasionally dreamt of your past life, and after being caught in Yun Zhong Jun's illusionary spell, you also saw fragments of memories from your past life, even mixing them with your own memories of your current life."

"Yes."

"But it is written in the Golden Trunk Jade Policy that Yang Yu of Yuzhou is the reincarnation of Emperor Kong Hua, so why are you still certain that you are the one based on these mixed memories?"

Xie Bi An's eyes looked ahead vacantly: "I have ... a very strong premonition. There are indeed confusions with reality in those memories, especially after being struck by illusions, and probably compiling some of them by myself, but I believe many of them are true because they are so real, as real as if I were experiencing them myself."

"I can find out who you really were in your past life, but it's very dangerous. Once it is done, you will see more and more memories of your past life, and the situation may worsen, causing you to be unable to distinguish between your past life and present life. If it continues to worsen, you will be mentally disturbed, and you will have to end up drinking the Five Flavors Bewitching Soup, forgetting your past life as well as your present life, and start all over again."

"That's too risky!" Fan Wu She shouted, "No way, senior brother."

But Xie Bi An's face was very calm: "Okay."

"Senior brother!" Fan Wu She shook Xie Bi An's shoulder fiercely, "What are you thinking? Is it so important to know your past life? In fact we can already be sure that you are the reincarnation of the Human Emperor. As long as Yang Yu's core doesn't take effect, we will have a way to deal with Qi Meng Sheng."

"I don't just want to know if I am Zong Zi Heng or not, I also want to know what regrets I have from my past life that make these memories haunt me repeatedly."

"You're going to risk the possibility of having your mind disordered and eventually forgetting about us just for that?! Master won't allow it either!" Fan Wu She roared in his heart: You have already drunk Meng Po soup once. You have already forgotten me once. You shall never forget us again in this life. You shall never forget Xie Bi An and Fan Wu She again!

Xie Bi An grabbed Fan Wu She's hand and said soothingly, "What Official Lord Cui said was just a possibility. I don't believe that I will lose to my memories. Instead, I feel that only by knowing what happened before and understanding cause and effect can I truly be liberated. It's not just for Master's sake, it's for my sake too." It's even more for you, Xie Bi An thought to himself. He didn't want to have recurring dreams of a man, who wore Fan Wu She's face but wasn't Fan Wu She, humiliating him in that way. He didn't want to have those unpleasant memories lingering in his mind one day when he and Fan Wu She had fallen in love and a canal is formed when water comes*.

Cui Jue said, "Yes, it's just a possibility. If you have a strong heart, you'll be able to get through it. However, it is unlikely that you will recover all your memories of your previous life, and will still only remember bits and pieces."

"I understand. The more I see, the more I can piece the story together on my own."

"Xie Bi An!" Fan Wu She was so angry that he called him by name, "I forbid you to take that risk!"

Xie Bi An looked at Fan Wu She gently but firmly, "Wu She, I have already decided. Believe me, I will never forget you."

You said the same thing in your previous life.

Fan Wu She's pupils were grey and his heart was bleeding. It was ridiculous that he even had the idea of just being a pair of little Yin servants with Xie Bi An and living out this life in peace. All the lessons he had learned in his two lifetimes were telling him that the only way to get what he wanted was to be supremely powerful. Fearful of losing this person as he had in his previous life, he had to take back the power of his previous life and defend what he cherished.

After Xie Bi An had reassured Fan Wu She a few more times, he looked at Cui Jue: "What needs to be done Official Lord Cui?"

"I'm going to summon the remnants of your previous life’s soul."

Fan Wu She turned pale from distress.

The remnant of the previous life’s soul.

The soul of Zong Zi Heng.

Emperor Kong Hua, Zong Zi Heng, his big brother.

Two remnant souls, rubbed together by fate, were going to meet a hundred years later?

The past rolls and rushes in.

SQC’s notes: End of Volume 3. Back to the previous life tomorrow!

-----

a canal is formed when water comes*[水到渠成]---- sth. achieved without effort.; what happens without extra effort; when conditions are ripe, success will come

 

Edited on 22 Apr. 21 (Emzie)

 

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