Waiting for someone?
An Qi Sheng's eyes flickered slightly.
Grandma Mu muttered to herself, "More than a thousand years... when will that someone arrive? This little demon's lifespan is nearing its end, and I cannot fulfill your request..."
Under an inexplicable guidance, past events flashed through Grandma Mu's mind.
Fierce battles in the mountains... being severely injured by a descending Demon Subduing Seal... seizing souls to extend life... sensing the approach of one's lifespan ending during cultivation...
The various events of her life flowed through her mind, all the way back to many, many years ago...
Many, many years ago, she was just a blade of grass, her intelligence chaotic in the Netherworld. One day, a divine being descended from the sky, and the resulting airwave flattened a large patch of Netherworld weeds.
The divine being's figure flickered erratically, and his body was filled with a terrifying aura of turmoil, as if he had just experienced a great battle.
After landing, he bent down and picked up a blade of grass that had been uprooted by the wind, and sighed softly:
"It is hardest for vegetation to develop sentience, yet this is my fault. So be it, encountering you is fate. This chaotic Netherworld is no place to settle. I shall send you to the mortal realm to await someone for me. If that matter succeeds, I will grant you a position as a proper deity in the underworld.
If it fails, if it fails, then let this decaying world be destroyed along with it..."
As he spoke, he raised his eyes.
The memory stopped abruptly there.
"Eh?"
An Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. He hadn't cut off the image; rather, he sensed strong resistance.
Grandma Mu's mental fluctuations intensified to the extreme in an instant. Her body trembled violently, and she forcibly broke free from An Qi Sheng's influence, abruptly waking up:
"You! You!"
Grandma Mu's body trembled, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face suddenly became ferocious.
But in an instant, she calmed down again, her eyes losing their light.
Her body swayed, and wisps of spiritual energy, invisible to the naked eye, dissipated. The divine intent in her eyes became increasingly dim, and her body became increasingly old, already emitting the musty smell of a dilapidated house.
The violent fluctuations in her mood caused her to dissipate even faster.
An Qi Sheng captured the various images one by one, and his heart became slightly clear, and complex:
"That was, Bai Wuchang (White Impermanence)?"
Grandma Mu had been silent, but upon hearing this name, her body couldn't help but tremble, and she couldn't help but correct him: "It's Seventh Lord..."
"Bai Wuchang, Seventh Lord Xie..."
An Qi Sheng glanced at this Mu Mei (tree spirit), his eyes rippling with a faint light, and sighed softly:
"It's a pity, you're about to die..."
This Mu Mei's reverence for Bai Wuchang was indescribably deep. It could no longer be described as reverence or loyalty; it was almost the devoutness of a fanatic towards a deity.
For more than a thousand years, she had grown from a blade of grass to the Fourth Realm Mu Mei she was now, never leaving An'nuo County, and for most of the time, she had remained hidden in the mountains as a plant.
The reason she had finally gone out to plunder living souls was because her lifespan was nearing its end.
In order to continue waiting and fulfill Bai Wuchang's request, she had no choice but to leave the mountain and plunder living souls. That was also why, after the Demon Subduing Seal's attack had cut off her possibility of extending her lifespan,
She had become so crazy.
And it was also because of this that she was able to break free from his influence when he touched her deepest memories.
"Yes, I'm about to die..."
A trace of sorrow appeared on Grandma Mu's wrinkled, bark-like old face, and she couldn't help but fall to her knees, heavily kowtowing to the earth, tears flowing out in drops:
"Seventh Lord, Seventh Lord, this little demon is about to die,
But I haven't been able to wait for the person you wanted me to wait for. This little demon cannot rest in peace, cannot rest in peace..."
The memories that reappeared stirred her heart and mind, and the various events before her death made her unable to calm down.
For a time, she had forgotten everything else.
Her body became increasingly decayed, and the aura emanating from her dissipated faster and faster. After nine kowtows, her entire body had decayed to the point where she could no longer be recognized as human.
Where her tears fell, green grass grew into shade, slowly spreading in all directions, covering this dark mountain top with a layer of green.
Monsters and spirits are born between heaven and earth, and naturally return to heaven and earth after death.
The demon soul was shattered, and her lifespan had ended.
There was no turning back.
Specks of crystal-clear green light floated in the sky, and were blown by the wind like rain, scattering across the surrounding mountains. Wherever they fell, green life arose, one after another.
After the great battle, vitality descended once again upon this mountain ruin.
However, if it were to return to its previous state of lush green trees and flourishing vegetation, it would take at least several decades.
Crack, crack, crack~
After nine kowtows, Grandma Mu's body had dissipated nearly halfway. Cracks appeared on her withered, tree-like body, and the old face, unrecognizable as human, had lost its luster.
She stretched out her arms, which had turned into dead wood, and plunged them into the earth. In her last moment, she only wanted to return to the days when she had grown carefree in the Netherworld.
If only she could see Seventh Lord one more time...
But she hadn't fulfilled his old man's request...
Her thoughts completely dissipated at this point, and in her last moment of life, she seemed to hear the gentle sigh of the white-robed Taoist behind her:
"Actually, you waited for him."
Waited for him?
Is... is it him?
Grandma Mu trembled for a moment, and her last bit of life completely dissipated with a drop of tear.
Whoosh~
A gentle breeze blew, lifting An Qi Sheng's Taoist robe, and also scattering Grandma Mu's body, which had turned into dust.
Under the dust, a faint, dark green blade of grass could be seen stubbornly breaking out of the soil.
An Qi Sheng looked down at the mountains, which were gradually turning green under the night sky, and muttered to himself:
"Bai Wuchang, Seventh Lord Xie, ha, interesting..."
That Bai Wuchang, Seventh Lord Xie, whom he hadn't met but whose name he had heard so much about, was waiting for him.
There was no reason for this, but An Qi Sheng understood it in his heart.
The aura in this world was complex and chaotic, and it was extremely difficult to accurately predict fate using divination methods, but his control over himself was no longer limited to his physical body, Qi, aura, or even the good and evil intentions, schemes, and calculations of others in the dark.
They could all be faintly reflected by the bright mirror hanging high in his heart.
As An Qi Sheng closed his eyes slightly, he seemed to hear the sigh from thousands of years ago:
"If it fails, if it fails, then let this decaying world be destroyed along with it..."
What did he want to tell him?
And why did he think he would come?
What was that matter referring to?
The Netherworld Lord Sacrifice?
Various thoughts flashed through his mind and were cut off. An Qi Sheng stood up, caught the yellow dog running towards him with the sound of wind, and stepped down the desolate mountain.
People have thousands of emotions and thoughts. Curiosity is human nature. An Qi Sheng had never had the idea of cutting off his own distracting thoughts, but his heart was like a bright mirror hanging high, with its own rules. No distracting thoughts could affect his actions.
Bai Wuchang, Seventh Lord Xie, the Netherworld Lord Sacrifice, the fragment of the Dao Yi Diagram, and even the entire Imperial Heaven Realm, he was extremely curious about them all.
However, he was very clear about what to do at what time.
........
Whoosh!
Stopping with the wind, the Fox Taoist slowly exhaled a long breath. Cold sweat had soaked his fur, and his whole body was a little dim and erratic. The ups and downs of his spirit had made it difficult for him to maintain his illusion.
Thump~
As he stopped, little red foxes fell down one by one, chirping. Some were hugging his legs and acting spoiled, some were climbing on his body, circling around him, and some were running away into the distance.
"My little ancestors, such a big thing happened today, and you still dare to run around?"
The Fox Taoist waved his hand and grabbed the most mischievous little red fox by the scruff of its neck.
The latter stuck out its tongue and pretended to be dead, not moving at all.
"You..."
The Fox Taoist sighed helplessly.
It was not easy for wild animals to develop intelligence. Even if he had become a demon, his descendants might not be able to develop intelligence. These little red foxes were already among the few of his descendants who had developed intelligence.
It was just too difficult.
Unless they left Daqing, the human race would be supreme in these eight wastelands. However, the lands ruled by the Ten Fiends of the Imperial Heaven outside of Daqing were far more cruel than Daqing, a thousand times over.
It was truly a matter of tens of millions of living beings paying tribute to one person. Whether human or demon, even ghosts and devils, their sole purpose of existence
Was because the Ten Fiends of the Imperial Heaven needed them to exist.
How could he dare to go?
Not only him, but all the demons and ghosts were the same.
"This place is not suitable for a long stay."
The Fox Taoist glanced at the little foxes: "Go, take all the scriptures with you. We're moving!"
"Ancestor! Let's run away quickly. This place is so dangerous. What's the use of bringing those thick and big broken things?"
The little red fox, who was being held by the scruff of its neck, said crisply:
"Let's run away now!"
"Run your ghost!"
The Fox Taoist was disappointed and hit the little fox hard, before looking at the other little foxes in a huff.
Ya!
The other little foxes scattered with a bang and ran towards the empty Jiaoyuan Temple ruins not far away.
Looking at the broken walls of Jiaoyuan Temple, and recalling Grandma Mu, who had almost died from a Demon Subduing Seal strike while cultivating in the deep mountains, the Fox Taoist sighed deeply:
"The world is so big, where is there a place for us to settle down..."
In the world, it was difficult for those who were not humans, demons, ghosts, monsters, or spirits to live.
Even peerless demons at the level of the Ten Fiends of the Imperial Heaven would encounter the emergence of the Netherworld Lord, and invincible figures like the Netherworld Lord would encounter 'divine retribution'.
In this world, in this world, who can be happy, who can be free?
With a thought, he heard an exclamation from the courtyard.
"Hmm?!"
The Fox Taoist's expression changed, and with a leap, he had crossed a hundred zhang and rushed into the Jiaoyuan Temple ruins.
Before he landed, he saw a group of little red foxes 'chirping' and surrounding a little milk dog, seemingly without any danger, and breathed a sigh of relief.
But before he could completely let out that breath, the heart he hadn't let go for long was raised again.
He saw a white-robed Taoist standing at the edge of a dry well in the center of the ruins, with his back to him.
The Taoist was neither tall nor short, but in his perception, he was like a towering sacred mountain, and he was like a little ant, trembling involuntarily.
This Taoist was clearly the white-robed Taoist from before.
His heart was cold, and he stood frozen in place, not daring to move.
An Qi Sheng ignored the Fox Taoist's intentions and listened to the movement in the well.
He threw a stone into the well, and even now, he had not heard the sound of the stone landing.
This seemed to be a bottomless pit.