BXBX NOVEL Chapter 125 - 125: Wife, It’s Time to Fulfill the Bet
The more Nangong Xuan looked at the imposing figure, the more she perceived the greatness of the Heavenly Lord. Every time she left the Longevity Palace and returned to reality, she found herself enlightened, with a deeper understanding of the Longevity Sutra.
“Reporting to the Heavenly Lord, tomorrow morning, I will enter the Immortal Tomb space to project my spirit into the world where Shebi Shi resides,” Nangong Xuan reported to the Heavenly Lord.
“When you project, sense the mandate within you and call my name,” the majestic figure replied.
“I shall follow the mandate,” Nangong Xuan responded.
She was deeply moved that the Heavenly Lord, for her, a mere devotee, was willing to intervene personally, even if it was a trivial effort for him. It showcased the Heavenly Lord’s trust in her.
Nangong Xuan felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. “To rebuild the glory of the Winter Month, it is our duty!”
After a brief interaction with Nangong Xuan, Lu Xuan exited the Longevity Palace. His plans were well-arranged; having finished the day’s important tasks, it was time to attend to personal matters.
Cheng Lingzhu was sitting at the dressing table, preparing to remove her hair accessories.
“Wife, it’s time to fulfill our bet,” Lu Xuan stood behind her, his reflection in the mirror showing a faint smile.
“What bet? I don’t seem to remember,” Cheng Lingzhu turned around, feigning confusion.
Lu Xuan held her chin and forehead, turning her face back to the mirror. He gently pulled out the hairpin from her hair, letting her silky long hair fall down. He leaned closer, “Shall I remind you?”
“You… Can’t you do it yourself?” Cheng Lingzhu bit her lip, knowing she couldn’t escape her fate. A blush spread across her cheeks.
Such audacity, demanding she do it herself.
She wondered why Lu Xuan had never made such peculiar requests before.
“We’re in a palace,” Lu Xuan reasoned logically. “In summer, the consorts line up with fruit platters, feeding the emperor by hand. It’s quite normal, isn’t it?”
“The ruler of the Thousand Flowers Demon Nation was a woman,” Cheng Lingzhu tried to find a loophole.
“But her consorts were also women… The ruler of the Thousand Flowers would certainly not feed herself,” Lu Xuan blinked. “Besides, grapes eaten by oneself are never as sweet as those fed by a beloved concubine.”
“You and your twisted logic…” Cheng Lingzhu gritted her teeth, standing up.
“Come with me.”
She pulled Lu Xuan by the sleeve, heading deeper into the sleeping quarters.
Hmph, if you’re going to be so reasonable, I’ll have to find a way to shut your mouth tonight…
Cheng Lingzhu thought to herself.
In the Thousand Mountains, a man in black robes looked up at the clear sky, murmuring, “Dream Ruins, Dream Ruins… Such a strange place, I’ve never heard of it.
He had a feeling that the world where Shebi Shi resided hid a great secret. This wasn’t mere speculation; as a Divination Path cultivator, his intuition was precise, connected to his Dao path.
“Should I… Cast a divination?” Zhu Long pondered.
He took out some divination grass from his storage treasure, scattering it on the ground. A spark of spiritual fire appeared at his fingertips. With a flick, the grass ignited, quickly turning to smoke.
“Boom!” A thunderbolt struck down, hitting Zhu Long directly, reducing him to ashes.
A strange light appeared, as if reversing time, and the ashes gathered to reform his figure.
“Boom!” The second thunderbolt struck, dispersing the newly formed figure.
This repeated nine times. When the last thunderbolt ended, a deep pit had formed on the ground in front of the hut.
After a long while, a figure crawled out of the pit.
“That was close…” Zhu Long wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He lay on the edge of the pit, looking at the still-clear sky.
“All I did was try to divine the origins of Dream Ruins… Was that necessary?
His divination had triggered the heavenly mechanism, bringing down the thunder. What frustrated Zhu Long was that he hadn’t divined anything, yet had endured nine thunderbolts.
Zhu Long felt he had suffered a great loss. If it weren’t for his caution, always carrying thousands of life-saving talismans as instructed by his ancestors, he might have perished today.
But that was as far as his divination could go. Continuing further would only provoke heavenly wrath, beyond what his talismans could withstand.
The next morning.
“Wake up, wake up…” Cheng Lingzhu gently shook Lu Xuan, her face still flushed.
“Hmm… Let me sleep a little longer…” Lu Xuan mumbled, burying his head.
“Hey, didn’t you say… We’re going to visit that… Dream Ruins place today?” Cheng Lingzhu reminded him, grinding her teeth slightly.
“Guh… It’s not urgent… they only start the ceremony in the morning,” Lu Xuan replied vaguely.
“Don’t delay important matters. What if that Immortal Tomb organization is up to something again?” she urged, pushing his shoulder.
“Alright,” Lu Xuan finally gave in.
In the Immortal Tomb space, twelve figures wearing masks had gathered.
“Are you ready?” Xuan Ming asked.
“Ready,” replied Shebi Shi, also known as the young He Zhao, feeling somewhat nervous.
“Okay,” Ru Shou said succinctly.
“No problem,” Nangong Xuan confidently said, having the Heavenly Lord’s support, she had nothing to worry about.
Xuan Ming nodded, and a jade slip appeared from the void. He wrote on it and signed his name, then passed it to Di Jiang.
After Di Jiang read and signed it, he handed it to the next person. Once all twelve members of the Immortal Tomb organization had written their code names, the jade slip was placed in the middle of the bronze table and burned.
Everyone watched calmly as the jade slip turned to smoke and merged with the chaos mist above the hall. A moment later, a divine mandate split into three, entering the bodies of Shebi Shi, Ru Shou, and Gong Gong.
“Ready,” Ru Shou announced. He turned to He Zhao, “You return to Dream Ruins City first, then sacrifice to the Immortal Tomb space and transfer our consciousness there.”
“Understood,” He Zhao nodded and his figure slowly faded.
In Dream Ruins City, the young man arrived at a corner of the courtyard.
He Zhao bent down and moved aside a pile of dry grass, revealing a three-foot diameter formation beneath, distinct from the courtyard’s array patterns. This formation, secretly built by He Zhao over the past two days, was a means to communicate with a mysterious entity.
He feared his mother would suspect him of being bewitched if she saw it –
“bewitched” here referring to being influenced by the creatures outside the city. Dream Ruins had Nightmare Demons that lured residents into corruption through dreams.
He Zhao had once suspected that the Immortal Tomb was an illusion created
by Nightmare Demons. However, he discarded this thought, as Nightmare
Demons only operated at night, and their strange rituals also took place then. The Immortal Tomb organization was not bound by such constraints.
He Zhao placed two palm-sized wooden figures, intricately carved and connected by threads at the joints, in the center of the formation. He then cut his wrist, letting blood drip onto specific spots in the formation while chanting a bizarre scripture.
The formation glowed, and a strange energy flowed into the wooden figures, causing them to stand up.
One of the wooden figures bowed, “Ru Shou, at your service.” The other figure also bowed, “Gong Gong, at your service..”