Chapter 121: Past Relations?

The Recollection Mirror was a product of the Baize’s own blood essence and 4900 years of his time. Although it could not tell the future, it could make out the past appearances of all living creatures in the world.

In the past, this item had merely been a small toy of little value to the Baize. But after he was sealed within a vast desert bereft of spiritual qi, where no living creature could be seen for thousands of li, this mirror became the crucial object that allowed him to endure two thousand years of torment.

As an auspicious beast, his lifespan was simply too long. He had seen mountains being engulfed by seawater, the deep sea turning into high mountains, landslides, the ground cracking apart, and borderless lands being split open.

The transformations of the world, life and death, and the appearance of a new species when one fell into extinction – a never-ending cycle.

The advent of an era where the teachings of Buddha were not understood represented the end of the era of the gods and yao. He had originally thought that he could calmly accept the decay of his body, but only after he was sealed in an endless desert did he realize that his heart was unwilling.

No one would be willing to die soundlessly, and an auspicious beast worshipped by countless living creatures was no exception. It was only at this juncture that the Baize found that he was not what he imagined himself to be – wanting for nothing.

“You want to find Bo Lian’s reincarnation?” The Baize looked at the Recollection Mirror on the table. “Bo Lian’s fate is not ordinary, I’m afraid the Recollection Mirror may not be able to find out everything in its entirety.”

“It’s fine to just give it a try,” Feng Ruizhong amassed spiritual qi at the handle of the mirror and wrote Bo Lian’s name and birth data on the mirror. In a flash, spiritual qi surged and the mirror emitted a dazzling radiance. Wind blew, and the mirror projected scenes so realistic that they seemed to be occurring right before their eyes.

“Bridge to bridge, road to road, dead souls can never turn back…”

The man wearing a splendid gown walked behind the yinchai, all sorts of souls by his side. But unlike these souls, there was no Soul-Locking Chain around him, nor did the surrounding souls dare to get too close to him.

“Bo Lian’s being brought to the underworld by the yinchai after his death…”

The door to the yard opened all of a sudden and Fu Li walked in. “Uncle Bai…” Fu Li came to a halt upon seeing the scene in the yard.

It was impossible for a scene of an elegant gentleman with tears of blood streaming down his eyes to not be shocking. Zhuang Qing, who followed Fu Li in from behind, didn’t have to ask Fu Li about the man’s identity because he had already guessed it. When looking at him previously, he had a niggling feeling that the scene was fake and unrealistic. Only now when he watched the man walk among the various souls did he come to realize just how magnificent he was.

“Little Li, what did you come back for?” Feng Ruizhong wanted to keep the Recollection Mirror, but also couldn’t do it too obviously, so he merely smiled awkwardly.

“You’re looking at Bo Lian?” Fu Li reacted more calmly than Feng Ruizhong had thought he would. Looking at the man with tears flowing from his eyes, Fu Li’s lips moved a little.

He looked at the Bo Lian projected by the Recollection Mirror while Zhuang Qing, who was standing at the side, looked at him.

After Bo Lian was led to the Yama Kings’ palace, no Yama King dared to accept his bow. Rather, they courteously addressed him as Lord Bo Lian.

“Lord Bo Lian has extraordinary virtue and is certain to be a wise and capable ruler in your next life. May Lord Bo Lian not miss the opportune period and proceed to the human world.”

“If I am reborn, this life…”

“A new life awaits after birth. Since it is a new life, this life is a fleeting one, there is no need to cling to it.”

“Is there a way to retain my memories of this life?”

“No.”

“Then what meaning is there in reincarnation? What I want to remember will not be remembered and what I want to have cannot be obtained,” The elegant gentleman laughed out loud, a slight chill to his bitter laughter. “Will being a wise and capable ruler allow me to have what I want?”

“The monarch is the most respected in a nation. Naturally, what you want will be obtained.”

“Will I have a long life? Will I have the person I longed for in my previous life?”

“This…”

“Then what use is there in reincarnating?”

“Lord Bo Lian, if you are unwilling to reincarnate, your foreordained fate in the human world will be rewritten. Even your natal chart will become a complete mess. The price of this…”

“So what?”

The Yama Kings were helpless, but they couldn’t treat Bo Lian as any ordinary soul, so they had no choice but to let him stay in the Yama Kings’ Palace.

Zhuang Qing knew he was painting Fu Li. The vivid, lifelike rabbits were Fu Li and so was the lively youth. In every single stroke and painting lay yearning and love. The human called Bo Lian had romantic feelings for Fu Li. Zhuang Qing couldn’t help turning to look at Fu Li. Had Fu Li known about this?

Ten years passed without Bo Lian reincarnating.

Twenty years went by. Forty years went by. The Yama Kings gradually stopped persuading him, merely sighing beside him, “Lord Bo Lian, your natal chart has been ruined. The underworld can no longer control your fate. You will have to seek your own blessings on the day of your reincarnation.”

Bo Lian continued to remain silent as he sketched on silk fabric the outline of a youth with a jade band sitting on a tree. The youth’s brows and eyes were curved in smile, his bright eyes resembling two tiny suns.

Eighty years went by, and no longer did anyone persuade Bo Lian to reincarnate. However, he heard about news regarding Reflecting Mist Mountain from a ghost messenger. This was the first time he had heard about something related to the mountain since his death.

“It’s a pity that those yao from Reflecting Mist Mountain all perished in the hands of the azure dragons in order to stop them from doing evil. Even the mountain was wrecked by the azure dragons.”

“The yao on Reflecting Mist Mountain… all died?”

“Yeah, all of them died. Not a single one survived. That lightning strike caused a good half of the mountain to disappear.”

The person he had longed and thought of was already dead, yet he had no chance to even see the other party’s departed soul, because humans and yao were destined to walk different routes.

Bo Lian burned all his paintings. Everyone in the underworld said that he had gone insane.

“If you and I were both yao, if you and I were both not yao…”

Dressed in a clean and neat brocade gown, Bo Lian walked across the Naihe Bridge to Meng Po.

“Has the Lord given it careful thought? If you reincarnate now, you may be destitute, miserable, and lead a poor and simple life…”

Bo Lian shook his head. Accepting the bowl of soup from Meng Po’s hands, he raised his head and downed all of it. A stream of bloody tears dripped into the colorless, tasteless soup, suffusing the bowl of soup with color.

“After stepping onto the Path of Reincarnation, your previous lives and this life will become separate paths.”

The man in a brocade gown jumped dazedly into the Reincarnation Pond. Even when his soul vanished into the pond, he didn’t take a single glance back.

The Recollection Mirror was about to continue when the body of the mirror suddenly started shaking fiercely, as if unable to bear the formidable spiritual force. The scene projected in the yard changed to what vaguely seemed like a lofty palace. However, this scene merely appeared for an instant before the Recollection Mirror lost its effect and the scene disappeared completely.

Feng Ruizhong was not only not disappointed upon seeing the scene vanish, he even secretly heaved a sigh of relief. It was quite inappropriate for Little Li’s current lover to see just how much a human had liked Little Li in the past. He tossed the Recollection Mirror back to the Baize and gave a hollow laugh. “Who would have imagined that Bo Lian had such thoughts about Little Li? Fu Li was just a half-grown child at that time.”

The atmosphere was a bit strange. Fu Li stole a peek at Zhuang Qing, feeling an indescribable guilt. He clearly hadn’t done anything bad, but he still didn’t dare to look directly at Zhuang Qing at this point.

“That Bo Lian, what did he reincarnate as?” Grabbing Fu Li’s hand, Zhuang Qing turned towards the Baize for the answer.

The Baize shook his head. “He destroyed his own natal chart, I don’t know.”

“Uncle Bai doesn’t know either?” Zhuang Qing’s expression was overly tranquil.

The Baize met his gaze, feeling like Zhuang Qing had already guessed his drastic drop in strength. He shook his head with a bitter smile. “Yes, I don’t know.”

“Since he has already reincarnated, it’s not important who he was after that,” Fu Li stated seriously. “He’s already forgotten me, isn’t that very good?”

Those yinchai were correct. After stepping onto the Path of Reincarnation, the previous and current lives were different paths. Why look into an outcome that was predetermined? He didn’t know how much hardship Bo Lian had experienced after reincarnation, nor could he change it. Once time had elapsed, there would never be a way of turning it back. It was unknown how many times Bo Lian had reincarnated. Since he possessed virtue and purple qi, he would certainly avert disaster in the end and become an overlord, even if his natal chart had been destroyed.

He had saved Bo Lian because the other party had virtuous qi and he hadn’t wanted such a human to perish in the wilderness. In the subsequent days on Reflecting Mist Mountain, he got along with Bo Lian very happily. He gave Bo Lian many books and cured him of his illness, while Bo Lian accompanied him for a joyous period of time. Therefore, neither of them owed the other.

He just hadn’t been aware that Bo Lian had had those thoughts towards him.

“Weren’t you going to work?” Kang Gu changed the topic. “Why did you run back again?”

“Uncle Bai and you haven’t gone to the Yao Union for registration, Zhuang little dragon and I came back to bring you over,” Fu Li replied. “Having a human identification card will make future travel in the human world convenient.”

“No rush, no rush, going over two days later won’t make any difference,” After such an awkward incident, the Baize was too embarrassed to go out with the two juniors.

“Okay then, Zhuang Qing and I will go to work first,” Fu Li tugged on Zhuang Qing’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”

Zhuang Qing silently followed after Fu Li. When he reached the door, he looked back at the three elders, all of whom returned a kindly smile.

After the two juniors left, Kang Gu nearly rolled up his sleeves and strung Feng Ruizhong up for a beating. “Look look look, you insisted on looking and now Zhuang Qing saw all those things. What if he falls out with Little Li?”

“When I suggested looking at it, weren’t you also quite curious? Isn’t it very shameless of you to blame me now?” Feng Ruizhong was not to be outdone and got into a quarrel with Kang Gu.

The Baize silently sat by the side. When the two yao were about done with their quarreling, he raised a brow. “Continue, I see you have learnt quite a few new curse words in the human world, I haven’t heard enough of them.”

Kang Gu: …

Feng Ruizhong: …

“Have all the years you’ve lived gone down a dog’s stomach?” The Baize kept the Recollection Mirror. He slammed a hand on the stone table. The table instantly fell apart and marbles rolled all over the ground.

“You merely survived under the eyes of heavenly law and you already forgot who you are. If you think your lives are too cushy, go to a corner and torment yourselves, don’t harm Little Li!”

Kang Gu and Feng Ruizhong didn’t dare to speak. Only after the Baize left with a displeased expression did Feng Ruizhong ask in a low voice, “Isn’t the Recollection Mirror his? If he didn’t agree, could we have used it?”

“You’d better shut your mouth and talk a little less,” Kang Gu fished out his Qiankun pouch. “I’m not sure if Little Zhuang has any interest in magic treasures and medicinal pills. Why don’t we get Little Li to send him some so that he’ll be a bit happier?”

“Is Little Zhuang that kind of yao who got together with Little Li for magic treasures, medicinal pills, and whatnot?” Feng Ruizhong was in a bad mood.

“He may not value them, but a gift from a companion is always something to rejoice over.”

“Then… we can give it a try?” 

In the car, Fu Li secretly glanced at Zhuang Qing a good number of times from the front passenger seat. Zhuang Qing didn’t have much reaction. When the light was red, Zhuang Qing twisted the cap off a bottle of milk and passed it to Fu Li, which he obediently finished. He usually felt that milk wasn’t nice to drink, but he was unusually cooperative today.

“Zhuang little dragon, you’re angry at me?”

“It’s someone else who likes you, not you who likes someone else, what is there for me to be angry about?” Zhuang Qing’s fingers tapped against the steering wheel, full of dissatisfaction with the capital’s traffic conditions. Just waiting for a red traffic light to pass took more than ninety seconds, and even then it was still so congested..

“Really?”

“Don’t tell me you want me to prove that I’m not angry?” Zhuang Qing cocked his head at him. The corners of his mouth curved. “En?!”

Fu Li shook his head. “No, no.”

“Everything’s all right then,” Zhuang Qing said. “Place the empty milk bottle in the storage box.”

“Oh,” Fu Li obediently placed the bottle in the right place. Seeing that Zhuang Qing was still expressionless, he patted his chest and declared, “Don’t worry, I have no ambiguous intentions towards Bo Lian at all. In the many years I’ve lived, I’ve only liked one yao – his name is Zhuang Qing. As for Bo Lian or Bo Fu, they’re definitely only ordinary friends. I have no other intentions.”

“None at all?” There was still ten seconds to the the of the red traffic light. Zhuang Qing’s mood was a little better.

“Definitely none. How can Bo Lian compare to you in my heart? You’re definitely, definitely the best!” Fu Li pointed at the sky and swore. He finally understood why the male leads in human dramas were so fond of swearing – because there was nothing better than this move when coaxing a lover.

“He waited so many years for you and even destroyed his natal chart, but you weren’t moved in the slightest?”

“I was, but…”

“En?!”

“N-No, I have you, how can I be moved by someone else. Really, believe me.”

The car started up again. Zhuang Qing’s grand car shuttled through the traffic. While listening to Fu Li’s various oaths, the image of Bo Lian drinking Meng Po’s bowl of soup with bloody tears surfaced in his mind. For Fu Li, this human had given up his fate as a monarch, given up a comfortable life, and even wept tears of blood in soul state. What kind of emotion was this?

Was Fu Li really completely unaffected by him?

“You’re the handsomest in my heart, every glance leaves me intoxicated…”

“That’s enough,” Zhuang Qing interrupted Fu Li. “Don’t memorize this sort of mushy street song lyrics.”

“There’s a difference between my words and song lyrics…”

One glare from Zhuang Qing and he didn’t dare to speak.

The car entered the management bureau. Zhuang Qing watched Fu Li follow behind him with his head hanging. A while later, he sighed and gripped Fu Li’s wrist. “Look at the steps when you’re walking, don’t look about recklessly.”

“En en,” Fu Li held Zhuang Qing’s hand. “You’re around, so I’m at ease.”

“Fu Li, who did you learn to speak so sweetly from?”

“It’s not that my mouth is sweet, I’m just expressing my innermost feelings,” Fu Li pointed at his eyes. “Look at my sincere eyes.”

Seeing the way he made a supreme effort to open his eyes, Zhuang Qing laughed.

What did it matter who Bo Lian was? Someone who was already dead should not be an obstacle in his and Fu Li’s feelings. In any case, it was him who got together with Fu Li and the one acknowledged by Fu Li’s elders was also him. The person who would be with Fu Li forever would also be him.

In this war of emotions, it was him, the person who came later, who won.

Qian Luguo was a backpacker and a photographer. He had been to many different places, captured many pretty photos, and even won an international prize.

This time, he entered a deep mountain said to have cavemen, a map bought locally in hand. Unfortunately, he didn’t photograph anything of value in the mountain even after staying for many days. On the day he was going to leave, he picked up his binoculars and glanced through it, discovering a snow-white figure in the jungle, as if… a white ape was walking upright. The unusual height of this ape and abnormally white shade of the fur all over its body made him think about the legends of cavemen.

Should he flee or chase after it for a photo?

Qian Luguo only hesitated for a second before rushing to catch up to it. However, when he dashed to the area where the white ape had appeared, there was nothing there, not even a single white strand of hair was visible. Unwilling to give up, he searched all over the place, but there were no traces of an animal passing through.

Had he seen wrongly?

The sound of dried leaves being trodden on suddenly came from behind him. Frightened, he instantly looked back and saw a tall man standing not too far away. The other party was dressed in clothes very similar to his own, just that the color differed a little.

Noticing the camera dangling around the other party’s neck, Qian Luguo heaved a sigh of relief. “You also came to the mountain to photograph cavemen?”

“Cavemen?” The tall man was briefly stunned before immediately gripping his camera. “Yup, I searched the mountain for a very long time but didn’t spot any cavemen.”

“Seems like it was only a rumor,” Qian Luguo forced a smile. “I’m going to go down the mountain today. The weather forecast states that it’ll snow heavily tonight; it’s dangerous to stay here.”

“I’ll go down the mountain with you.”

Hearing that the man would leave with him, Qian Luguo was even more reassured. The fact that he would leave with him in broad daylight proved that the man who suddenly popped out was not some strange mountain spirit.

The man didn’t talk much, but when he did, his words made a lot of sense. It was apparent that he was an extremely learned individual. Qian Luguo was even somewhat reluctant to part with him at the moment of their separation, so he gave his phone number to the other party.

“You’re really going to the capital to seek out your nephew?” Qian Luguo was a bit worried. Some of his children weren’t even attentive to him, let alone his nephews. It was unknown whether this man would be welcomed by the nephew he sought.

“Yes, I came out to find him.”

Qian Luguo watched the other party’s rear view in the distance and let out a small sigh. Hopefully the nephew the other party had personally raised still remembered this familial love.