The moment Lu Yingjiu saw Jing Xian, he was enveloped by a tremendous sense of relief.
After the relief, came a profound fatigue.
He didn’t even have time to say half a sentence before he fell into a deep sleep.
His consciousness was hazy thereafter.
He heard the roar of the servants, the clash of weapons, and the terrifying sound of bones being crushed.
Barely opening his eyes, he saw that his wounds had been bandaged, and a faint chill, carrying a hint of yin energy, effectively suppressed the pain.
Jing Xian was carrying him along a dimly lit path.
On both sides of the road were bottomless abysses, filled with twisted and crazed faces. They were clearly servants sent by the Heavenly Way, yet they were more terrifying than the ghosts of the ghost world.
Lu Yingjiu only took one look before his eyelids became too heavy to open again. He called out, “Jing Xian…”
Jing Xian said softly, “You continue to sleep, I’ll be here from now on.”
Lu Yingjiu mumbled a response, then fell back into a peaceful sleep.
His dream was filled with cold fragrance.
When he finally woke up completely, there were no enemies around, and they were in a huge hall.
Calling it a hall might be a bit inaccurate.
It was extremely oppressive, with no wind or other living creatures, like a tomb.
From the floor to the walls to the ceiling, everything was a dull gray, without any decorations, and the surroundings were so large that there was no end in sight. Only the attendant statues standing on both sides were lifelike. They were nearly a hundred meters tall, holding divine weapons, either standing solemnly or preparing for battle.
Lu Yingjiu moved slightly, and Jing Xian noticed, his tone filled with surprise, “You’re awake?”
“Mm… Where is this?” Lu Yingjiu asked.
“The end.” Jing Xian said, “The end of everything.”
He stopped, gently putting Lu Yingjiu down.
Lu Yingjiu was still a bit dizzy, and he barely leaned against the base of the statue, sitting down to rest.
It was only now that he noticed that the deep wound on his right hand had been bandaged, and he could smell the slightly bitter scent of medicinal herbs. He tried to move his wrist, and apart from numbness, there was surprisingly no pain.
It was probably some healing method from the ghost world that Jing Xian used, which was exceptionally effective.
He had also changed into a clean and loose robe, all the blood stains and water spots were gone.
Jing Xian handed him water, Lu Yingjiu took a sip and smiled, “You brought so many things?”
“Of course.” Jing Xian also sat next to him and laughed, “Haven’t I always been like this?”
There was freshly coagulated blood on Jing Xian’s hands.
Other places couldn’t be seen, but there must be injuries too.
This was the first time Lu Yingjiu saw him injured, he didn’t know if it was during the fight with the hundred ghosts or in the battle with the servants. Although Jing Xian didn’t show it on his face, he still detected a strong fatigue.
Seeing his gaze, Jing Xian said nonchalantly, “It’s okay, it’ll be fine in a while. The servants can’t chase here, you can rest more, sleep a little longer.”
He laughed, “The figure you just killed was the guard here. After it died, the other servants were headless.” He kissed Lu Yingjiu’s forehead again, “My wife is really powerful.”
Lu Yingjiu said, “I’m fine, the one who needs to rest is you.”
Before Jing Xian could refute, he said again, “Your wound hasn’t healed until now… If it were the usual, it should have been fine in a few seconds.” He looked at Jing Xian and said seriously, “You’re also very tired, aren’t you?”
From the ghost world to now, Jing Xian had been fighting non-stop for nearly ten days.
Jing Xian was about to say something, but was gently embraced by Lu Yingjiu on his shoulder—
For the first time in his life, he was leaning on Lu Yingjiu.
Lu Yingjiu hugged him, “This time it’s my turn to protect you.” He reached out and gently stroked Jing Xian’s temples, just as Jing Xian had done to him before, “Sleep peacefully.”
Jing Xian was stunned.
He laughed, relaxed his body, reached out and hugged Lu Yingjiu back, affectionately rubbing his cheek against his.
Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Lu Yingjiu kept watching over him like this.
Jing Xian slept very deeply, still holding him tightly in his sleep, as if afraid he would suddenly leave. And Lu Yingjiu kept gently stroking his hand and forehead, comforting him.
The vast hall was empty and devoid of any threat, but Lu Yingjiu remained absolutely vigilant. Hairball, who had been brought over by Jing Xian, was also on the lookout with its ears perked up.
The surroundings were extremely quiet.
In the dim environment, only a faint sky light fell from above. In the silence, Lu Yingjiu listened to Jing Xian’s shallow breathing and suddenly realized: they were both still alive.
They were here, safe and sound.
Nothing could be better than this.
More than twenty minutes later, Jing Xian’s eyelids twitched.
“Awake?” Lu Yingjiu looked at him, “Do you want…hmph?”
Jing Xian turned his head and kissed him.
Their lips intertwined, kissing deeply and inseparably.
When they finally separated, Lu Yingjiu was dizzy. He heard Jing Xian quickly speak , “I searched many places before I saw hairball and then found you under its guidance. If it was a little later, I wouldn’t have seen you. Are you still dizzy now? Does the wound hurt? Do you want me to give you artificial respiration?”
Lu Yingjiu was even more dizzy, “Slow down, slow down, what are you talking about?”
Jing Xian didn’t answer, but hugged him and kissed him again, performing the so-called ‘artificial respiration’.
Lu Yingjiu was originally not fully recovered, and after this, he was even more dizzy, as if his brain was oxygen-deprived from the kiss.
After they separated, he held his head, “Why did you suddenly do this…”
He was so calm just now!
How did he suddenly turn back into a love brain!
Jing Xian said, “I woke up and have energy again.”
Lu Yingjiu: “…I can see that, I shouldn’t have let you sleep.”
“It’s good,” Jing Xian savored it, “We can sleep like this more times in the future, it has a different charm.”
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Jing Xian seemed to have developed some strange hobby.
Surviving the catastrophe, there was no time for sentimentality and tenderness, nor for whispering sweet nothings. They continued to walk hand in hand through the hall.
Moving forward amidst a sea of gray.
Lu Yingjiu asked, “You said this place is ‘the end of everything’?”
“Yes, I have an impression of this hall.” Jing Xian replied, “If we keep going, we will see the source of the Heavenly Way’s corruption.”
“Have you been here before?” Lu Yingjiu was somewhat puzzled.
Jing Xian said, “My memory is also very vague. It was a long time ago, perhaps so long ago…before I was born.”
As they continued to walk, Lu Yingjiu understood what Jing Xian meant.
A heavy door appeared in the hall.
It was a very ordinary stone door, at least a hundred tons in weight, but they just pushed it lightly, and the stone door opened with a rumble.
The scene behind the door was no longer dim.
Bright sky light descended from above, illuminating the right half of the hall. The left half was absolute darkness, filled with yin energy.
Light and darkness were clearly divided, splitting the hall into two sides.
On the left, Lu Yingjiu saw countless fluttering ghosts.
They were broken and fragmented, drifting uncertainly in the yin energy.
“This is…” Lu Yingjiu’s eyes widened slightly.
Jing Xian said, “These are all remnants of souls. If a powerful remnant soul leaves here and goes to the ghost world, it becomes a priest. Perhaps a long time ago I was also one of them, so I have a vague impression of this place.”
Lu Yingjiu said, “Then the right side should correspond to the human world.”
He tentatively walked into the light on the right, but Jing Xian let go of his hand.
Thump, thump, thump——
There seemed to be a pulse in the light, causing the air and the earth to tremble.
The pulse was not alone, it rose and fell, like an ocean—this was the unique symphony formed by the intertwined pulses of countless living beings.
On the two sides of this hall, one side was life, the other was death.
Lu Yingjiu looked back and saw Jing Xian still standing at the stone gate. Hairball was also wagging its tail, staying by Jing Xian’s side.
Lu Yingjiu asked, “Why don’t you come over?”
Jing Xian shook his head with a smile, “We can’t cross over. We can only stay on the other side.” He pointed to the dark side.
Lu Yingjiu suddenly understood.
The two sides corresponded to Yin and Yang, he and Jing Xian could only go their own ways.
He couldn’t see what was in the darkness.
Similarly, Jing Xian on the other side couldn’t see him either.
They had to part for now.
“Eh.” Jing Xian looked at him and said, “Then we’ll meet at the end?”
“Yes,” Lu Yingjiu said, “We’ll meet at the end.”
The two looked at each other from a distance and each stepped into the sides of the hall.
In the brilliant light, listening to the layered heartbeat, Lu Yingjiu couldn’t help but quicken his pace.
Faster, even faster.
It was said that humans and ghosts have different paths, and their thoughts and concepts were destined to be different.
But this had never been a condition to limit them, it wasn’t in the past, and it wouldn’t be in the future. Love would encompass everything.
Lu Yingjiu knew that at the end of this light and darkness, life and death, Jing Xian would be waiting for him.
Just as he would wait for Jing Xian.
He hurried through the light, and although they had only been apart for a few minutes, it felt like a hundred years had passed.
After an unknown amount of time, another stone door appeared in the distance.
It seemed to be the end.
Lu Yingjiu quickened his pace, almost running over, leaving the light—
Jing Xian had been waiting there for a long time, smiling as he embraced him.
Humans and ghosts have different paths.
Different paths leading to the same destination.
Looking again at the giant door, the two of them put their hands on the stone door side by side.
This time the stone door was not so easy to push, they almost exhausted all their strength, and hairball also tried hard to hit the door, causing the stone door to tremble slightly.
One inch, two inches, three inches…
It finally opened slowly.
Whoosh—
The wind gushed from the door, blowing their clothes. Lu Yingjiu squeezed through the door and saw golden human figures dancing in the air.
Unlike the human figure he killed, these human figures had peaceful faces, their eyes closed lightly, and they fluttered with the wind, like a flock of golden birds in the gray world.
And at the very end…
At the very end was a towering ancient tree.
It was not clear what species it was, lush and leafy. The golden human figures rested in it, sitting on the branches, looking curiously at the newcomers.
Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian slowly approached.
With every step, Lu Yingjiu could feel an additional vibration, as if something deep in his soul was resonating with the ancient tree.
When they got to the bottom of the ancient tree, they saw a thick black mass at the root of the tree. The tree root had been eroded by it, rotten a large piece, and black water gushed out from it.
When Lu Yingjiu’s gaze moved up—
The tree trunk suddenly opened its eyes!
Eyes of different sizes turned at different frequencies and in different directions, exactly 59 in total!
Lu Yingjiu murmured, “It seems this is the source of the infection… But where did this infection come from?”
Jing Xian looked up and said, “There’s water dripping from above.”
Lu Yingjiu: ?
He followed Jing Xian’s gaze and sure enough, there was a small…cloud?
The cloud was floating abruptly in the air, and tiny black rain fell from it, just dripping on the tree root.
Lu Yingjiu said, “This house of the Heavenly Way is leaking water.”
Jing Xian: “…Indeed, it’s a bit impoverished.”
Lu Yingjiu tentatively threw out a talisman.
The talisman rode the wind, floated into the black cloud and was swallowed up, without any reaction.
Just as Lu Yingjiu was worrying about what to do, he saw Jing Xian’s gaze shift to the side. Then he suddenly reached out and grabbed two golden human figures that swept past him!
Lu Yingjiu: ?
Human figures: ? ? !
Jing Xian exerted his strength and threw them directly into the black cloud like lead balls.
Pu-chi!
After a slight sound, the human figures dissipated, and the black cloud also dispersed in response.
Lu Yingjiu: “…Too violent.”
“As long as it works.” Jing Xian raised his eyebrows, “Look, isn’t the cloud dispersing?”
This time, Lu Yingjiu clearly saw what was behind the cloud.
—That is the whole world.
Birds and beasts, sunrise and moonset, perennial snow-capped mountains, a touch of light green on the antlers, and blue fish lingering in the underground caves. The buds break through the soil, the eaglets take off, the trees decay, the lone wolves grow old, decay and prosperity coexist, death was also a new life.
Then there were joys and sorrows, births, aging, sickness, and death, countless faces emerge, newborn babies, old people in their twilight years, dark-skinned men walking on the construction site, women with beautiful faces carefully dressing up… Some families were happy and some were worried, firewood, rice, oil, salt, chicken feathers, garlic skins, all kinds of trivial matters pile up together, constituting all aspects of life;
Further down was the pitch-black ghost world, the crimson spider lilies grew wildly on the other side. Amidst the changing winds and clouds, the priests resist freezing ice while the ghosts and monsters gnaw on each other, and the bones pile up higher than the mountains. The scenes of the eighteen layers were diverse, outlining the boundless madness. The final picture was fixed on a tree of flowers in the abyss, white flowers wither and flourish—that was also the place where Jing Xian was born.
And all of this was condensed into the small world in the cloud.
The black water was dripping from it. Greed, madness, selfishness, hypocrisy, arrogance…
The Heavenly Way is invisible, binding all things, but also paying the price.
The world itself was the source of pollution.
Lu Yingjiu frowned.
He originally thought that the source of pollution was a specific thing that could be destroyed, but now it seemed that it was impossible to eradicate it. As long as all things exist, this corrosion would follow like a shadow.
But…
Lu Yingjiu said, “Let’s try to get rid of this rotten tree.”
“What about the source of pollution?” Jing Xian asked, “If left unchecked, the Heavenly Way will be corroded sooner or later.”
“Don’t worry,” Lu Yingjiu shook his head, “Just let it go. Negative emotions cannot be dissipated, but there will always be people who stand up.”
He continued, “I’m thinking, the corruption of the Heavenly Way may not be accidental. Just like people will be born, get old, sick, and die, plants flourish and decline. The Heavenly Way would be polluted, and then be saved, it is also part of the cycle.”
“But we don’t have to worry about the future, because there is never a lack of heroes in this world.”
There will be heroes where there are villains, and the coexistence of light and darkness is the real balance. In a few years, when the Heavenly Way falls again, this hall will welcome new visitors, and those visitors will be as brave and strong as they are.
They will bring their loneliness and passion, overthrow the fall, and sweep away the decay.
And then…
They will also hold hope for the future.
Lu Yingjiu smiled and said, “It’s like a lamp passed down from generation to generation. We are not the ones who light the fire, nor the ones who extinguish it, we are just ordinary people who pass it on. But we all know that it will burn forever, until the end of time.”
“We are not unique heroes, and I am relieved for this.”
“…I understand.” Jing Xian nodded, “Then let’s start.”
—Saying ‘let’s start’, in fact, both of them didn’t know what to do.
After all, cleaning up the Heavenly Way, no one had ever done it.
Lu Yingjiu said, “According to the formation, what we found is the ‘contaminated place’ of the Heavenly Way. So this tree, we should destroy it. The Heavenly Way may be damaged because of this, but it can recover.”
“How to destroy?” Jing Xian looked up, “Burn it?”
Lu Yingjiu was also at a loss. “I guess so.”
Jing Xian was silent for a while, and then said, “What if, what if it burns badly?”
Lu Yingjiu was still at a loss. “I don’t know.”
Although the Heavenly Way is invisible, the law itself should not be hurt, but who knows? As the saying goes, a fire on the mountain in the afternoon will get you to the police station, and another saying is that setting fire to the mountain will let you sit through the prison. If they accidentally damage something, it will be a big problem.
But they have no other choice now.
“Now we can only believe in the formation,” Lu Yingjiu took a deep breath, “Theoretically speaking—I mean, theoretically, we won’t have any problems with the fire. If there really is a problem…”
“Then we will be famous for all ages.” Jing Xian said.
Lu Yingjiu: “That’s called infamy.”
“It’s the same thing.” Jing Xian smiled, “You and I are accomplices, what’s the difference? Right and wrong, honor and disgrace are all on us.”
Lu Yingjiu shook his head with a smile. “Being with you for a long time, I’m almost becoming a villain.”
The villain couple looked up at the ancient tree in tacit understanding.
A gust of wind rose, and the leaves rustled. Those eyes sensed that the crisis was imminent and turned frantically.
But its servants had long since died out, and it had no power to resist.
The two no longer hesitated, one ignited the ghost fire, and the other drew the talisman.
The decayed place was surprisingly flammable, and soon, the fire was raging, greedily licking the tree roots, branches, and leaves…
The human figures perched on the tree flew up in panic, hovering in the air, but helpless.
This was a fire of prosperity.
The hundred-meter-high tree crackled, the eyes were swallowed, the green leaves turned into flying ash, and even the cloud was outlined with a red edge.
Lu Yingjiu and Jing Xian stood side by side, the bright red light fell into their eyes, and the heat wave lifted their sleeves.
The two were silent, watching the whole tree burn.
It was unknown how long it took, the ancient tree turned into flying ash. The wind lightly rolled up, and the ashes scattered and disappeared, leaving only the golden human figures dancing in the air, very lost.
Lu Yingjiu whispered, “Let’s go.”
Jing Xian nodded.
Behind them, a beam of light descending from the sky appeared.
The golden human figures danced around the beam of light, seeming to hint at something—that was their passage out of here.
Everything was over.
However, just after they had walked a few steps, Lu Yingjiu heard a voice coming from behind:
[Lu Yingjiu, your time has come.]
Lu Yingjiu was taken aback and turned around abruptly!
He saw that the place where the ancient tree grew was empty, and the human figures landed, lining up on both sides of the road, bowing respectfully—
It was like the ancient times, when the ministers greeted the new king’s ascension to the throne.
Jing Xian couldn’t hear this voice and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
In this split second, Lu Yingjiu understood their meaning:
The Heavenly Way was already incomplete. They are looking forward to him becoming the Heavenly Way at this moment.
He was originally a part of the Heavenly Way, so of course he could do it…
That would be the closest position to the gods in this world.
The height that could be reached was beyond what humans and ghosts couldn’t reach or dare to imagine in their lifetime.
Now this opportunity was right in front of him, within reach.
The vast voice came again:
[Lu Yingjiu, your time has come.]
Oh that’s a good twist.