Chapter 1587: Afterword

The Fox Immortal Realm, once known as the Sacred Realm, had originally been called the Fox Immortal Realm. Now it had merely returned to its old name.

Wuliang Garden was another name from the past. Its people were gone, its buildings empty. Some of the structures left behind had become homes for members of the Fox clan.

A steady drizzle could not stop a group of foxes from chasing and playing in the rain. They darted through grass and woodland, rolled and wrestled, coats soaked through and caked with mud, yet their delight never diminished.

Within the pavilions and towers, a Fox clan elder stationed there stood with his hands clasped behind his back and watched the rain.

Compared with the years they had spent hiding in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, they were free and unrestrained now, no longer living in constant fear.

Wind or rain, it made no difference. The elder wore an expression of complete ease.

Perhaps cutting the Fox Immortal Realm off from the outside world had stopped spiritual qi from leaking away and altered its weather. The climate seemed to be changing.

The elder and the other foxes had all noticed it. Thunderstorms were gradually becoming more frequent throughout the Fox Immortal Realm, and the lightning that came with them often frightened the Fox clan badly.

According to the clan's legends, the Fox Immortal Realm had been like this long, long ago, with frequent thunderstorms...

Crack!

A thunderclap exploded.

The foxes playing in the rain immediately scattered in panic, fleeing back into the buildings before they could settle down. They seemed to possess an instinctive fear of heavenly thunder.

Only after the rolling thunder gradually faded did the rain stop. The sky cleared quickly as well.

Before long, the foxes were racing about and playing again.

One fox, trying to hide from the others chasing it, leapt across a stream and ducked into a hollow encircled by running water.

As it turned around inside, its gaze suddenly stopped.

It stared at the damaged roots in the hollow.

A fresh shoot had emerged from one of them. Several leaves had opened along the tender branch, green as jade, with the faint sensation of spiritual qi lingering around them.

The fox's eyes slowly widened.

It scrambled and tumbled out of the hollow, then lifted its head and began squeaking furiously toward the sky.

The foxes playing nearby gradually stopped.

One after another they turned toward the sound, then came racing over. They gathered around the hollow and stared at the little patch of green.

Before long, the elder stationed there hurried over after receiving word.

He jumped into the hollow, crouched down, and examined the sprout with extraordinary care.

Once he confirmed that it was no ordinary plant, but a new branch growing from the rootstock of a Fox Immortal Fruit Tree, both his hands began trembling.

At last he dropped to his knees.

Facing Heaven, he wept with joy and cried out hoarsely:

"Heaven!"

...

Daluo Sacred Land.

The former Daluo Sacred Land.

The former Fangfei Pavilion.

Gauze curtains hung on every side, letting light spill freely through the chamber. On the couch lay a peaceful woman.

Luo Fangfei was still asleep.

Although she had remained unconscious all this time, the Fox clan had always cared for her attentively.

After much thought, they had finally moved her here.

This was where she had grown up, an environment she knew well. Perhaps being surrounded by familiar things would help her recover.

The Fox clan truly had no other solution left, so naturally they could only hope that familiar surroundings might prove beneficial.

Outside the gauze-draped pavilion, beneath the steps, a Fox clan elder arrived with a report.

Clan Chief Hei Yun was so excited he could barely contain himself. He paced back and forth repeatedly.

Word had come from the foxes stationed at Wuliang Garden.

In the place where Fox Immortal Fruit Trees had once grown in great numbers, beneath the roots of the trees the Nine Saints had wantonly destroyed, new sprouts seemed to have broken through the earth overnight.

Fresh Fox Immortal Fruit Tree saplings were growing again.

Not one.

Many.

"Let's go. I want to see."

Overjoyed, Hei Yun swept one hand outward.

That single gesture almost seemed to anger Heaven.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, startling every fox present.

Hei Yun and the others looked up one after another. The foxes playing below the mountain scattered for cover in fright.

Crack!

Another bolt flashed across the heavens.

Crack! Crack! Crack...

Lightning raged across the sky without pause, chaotic and ceaseless. Brilliant flashes illuminated the gloomy land, as though heavenly thunder itself had descended to cow these fox demons into submission.

The formless, inconstant might of the thunder made hearts tremble and souls quake.

The lightning seemed to have gone mad.

Hei Yun and the others hunched their shoulders and ducked their heads, utterly unable to understand what had gotten into Heaven.

BOOM!

An incomparably violent thunderclap swept across the sky like an enraged dragon.

Heaven and Earth blazed white, bright enough to sting the eyes. Mountains and earth hummed beneath the force of it.

"Ah!"

A woman's scream suddenly rang out from within the gauze-draped pavilion.

Hei Yun and the others whipped their heads around.

Through the curtains they could faintly see someone sitting upright on the couch.

For a moment, several of them simply stared.

Then they looked at one another and ran inside.

They tore aside the hanging gauze and stopped dead, eyes wide. Slowly, astonishment turned into overwhelming joy.

Luo Fangfei was sitting up on the couch, breathing hard, sweat beading across her forehead as though she had just awakened from a nightmare.

The unending thunder outside brought her fully awake.

She looked around in confusion.

At last, her gaze met those of Hei Yun and the others.

The unseen majesty contained between Heaven and Earth seemed to awaken all things that had been sleeping...

...

A mountain city.

Bright sunshine.

Sweltering heat.

An old-fashioned compound stood on the slope. Climbing red flowers covered its walls in dense clusters, vivid and eye-catching.

A taxi climbed the road and stopped outside.

The door opened.

A black walking stick emerged first and touched the ground.

A man stepped out leaning on it.

His hair was slicked back. Sunglasses covered his eyes. He wore a brightly patterned short-sleeved shirt, and from behind the dark lenses he studied the residence before him.

Then a graceful woman climbed out as well.

She wore sneakers, jeans, and a white strappy top. Her long hair fell over her shoulders and stirred in the breeze. She too wore sunglasses.

The taxi drove away.

The woman clearly was not used to clothes that left her shoulders bare. Every now and then, she seemed to want to reach up and cover herself.

She was equally unused to the glasses, as though forever afraid they might slip off. From time to time she pushed them up with one index finger.

Looking curiously in every direction, she walked over to the man with the cane.

Seeing him studying the residence, she asked, "Master Dao, where is this?"

The man was none other than Niu Youdao.

The woman was Shang Shuqing.

Never in her wildest dreams had Shang Shuqing imagined that after entering the black hole in the sky, she would emerge in the blink of an eye into another strange and dazzling world, a world so extraordinary she could scarcely comprehend it.

The corner of Niu Youdao's mouth lifted beneath his sunglasses.

"Home. One of our homes."

He walked to the gate, raised his cane, and knocked several times with its head.

Knock, knock.

Footsteps sounded from within.

At the same time, a voice called, "Who are you looking for?"

A small door set into the gate creaked open.

A white-haired old man in a short-sleeved Tang-style shirt appeared. He looked Niu Youdao up and down suspiciously.

"Who might you be looking for, sir?"

Niu Youdao studied him in return and smiled.

"Old Fang, it's been more than twenty years. You've gotten old. How did your hair turn this white?"

The man called Old Fang looked him over again.

Realizing that this stranger even knew how to address him only made him more confused.

"Sir, you know me? Forgive my poor eyes, but who might you be?"

Niu Youdao planted the cane against the ground and reached out with his other hand.

He caught Shang Shuqing by the arm and pulled her over to the little doorway.

Then he released her, hooked one finger beneath her sunglasses, and gently removed them.

The moment Old Fang saw Shang Shuqing's face, his eyes flew wide.

Disbelief filled his features, as though he had seen a living ghost.

Pointing at her, he stammered, "You... you..."

Niu Youdao raised his cane and pressed its head against Old Fang's chest, pushing the man blocking the doorway aside.

Then, holding Shang Shuqing's hand, he strode brazenly inside.

Old Fang, still standing to one side of the door, turned his head and stared after them.

Only after some effort did he recover his senses.

Something felt wrong.

He hurried after them at a trot.

"You two, who exactly are you? Who did you come to see?"

Niu Youdao led Shang Shuqing through the courtyard as though he knew every inch of the place.

He cut directly across a path between the garden beds toward the main hall.

Then he suddenly raised his cane and pointed toward a little garden beside the main residence.

"Old Fang, what did you do with the little bamboo grove I planted? What's with all these flowers and plants? Put it back the way it was."

"..."

Old Fang stopped short, stunned.

His gaze fell on the way Niu Youdao walked with the cane.

Niu Youdao pulled Shang Shuqing into the main hall and looked around.

At last, his gaze settled on one wall.

A number of framed photographs hung there.

Old Fang ran inside as well and said sternly, "Sir, who exactly are you? If you keep behaving this recklessly, I'm going to call the police."

Niu Youdao could not be bothered explaining.

He could not be bothered paying the man any attention at all.

Still holding Shang Shuqing's hand, he walked straight toward the wall of photographs.

Seeing Old Fang's reaction, Shang Shuqing felt terribly awkward.

In a low voice, she asked, "Master Dao, what are you trying to do?"

"I told you I would give you a satisfactory explanation. This is also the main reason I came back."

Niu Youdao had already drawn her in front of the wall.

He lifted his cane and tapped the tip against one enlarged photograph.

The picture seemed to have been taken inside an ancient mountain temple.

Four people stood within it.

In the center was a woman beside a compassionate-looking monk.

On the left stood a slick-haired man with a cane.

On the right was a small, thin man whose eyes looked sharp and capable.

"Judging by the time, this photograph should have been taken around forty years ago."

Old Fang had been about to warn them again.

Hearing Niu Youdao state the date, he froze once more.

The cane tip moved to the woman in the middle.

"Look at her. Do you recognize her?"

Shang Shuqing went still.

Almost unconsciously, both hands rose to touch her own face.

She opened her mouth but did not know what to say.

"Forty years ago, these people saw a mural inside an ancient tomb. The mural mentioned this temple, so they came here..."

Niu Youdao began recounting an old story.

He spoke of the monk's prophecy, and of the misfortune that later befell the woman in the photograph.

After the prophecy came true, the man with the cane immediately returned to the temple to find the monk.

By chance, he arrived just as the monk was nearing nirvana and received several final verses from him.

The story unfolded slowly.

Shang Shuqing listened with complete attention.

Old Fang, standing nearby, was already dumbstruck.

After receiving those verses, Niu Youdao continued, the man with the cane came to believe in cause and effect, in reincarnation.

He began searching for the flower that bloomed upon the Other Shore and for a way to see through the mystery of rebirth.

Later, he encountered danger inside another ancient tomb.

When he awoke, his consciousness had entered the body of a young man.

There he met Dong Guo Haoran of Shangqing Sect, accepted an entrustment from him, and went to Shangqing Sect.

He spent five years there under soft confinement.

Then he met Shang Shuqing and descended the mountain.

Later, while passing through his village on the road, he encountered Monkey, who had likewise awakened in the body of another young man from the same village.

After finishing the story, Niu Youdao looked at Shang Shuqing and smiled.

"You probably know what happened after that. I don't need to keep telling you, do I?"

Shang Shuqing looked completely dazed.

At some point, Old Fang had begun crying as though a dam had burst.

"Master Dao! I'm not dreaming, am I? You're Master Dao? You're really Master Dao?"

"Stop sniveling in front of me. Don't block the way. Move aside."

Niu Youdao swept his cane across and nudged him away.

Then he pulled Shang Shuqing toward another large photograph.

This one showed a woman alone.

She wore a bikini and a gauzy scarf on a beach, her pose sensual and alluring.

Shang Shuqing flushed when she saw it.

The woman looked so much like her that it almost felt as though she herself were dressed that way.

Niu Youdao pointed the cane toward the woman's chest.

"This is her birthmark. Look."

Shang Shuqing stared carefully.

A patch of pink lay there, shaped like half a flower petal.

It looked extremely familiar.

Niu Youdao removed his sunglasses and casually handed them to Old Fang, who accepted them without thinking.

Then Niu Youdao reached toward Shang Shuqing's shoulder.

He pulled aside one of the straps there.

On her shoulder was a pink birthmark exactly like the one on the woman's chest in the photograph.

"After the ugly mark on your face disappeared, I could hardly believe two people could look so alike. The night you summoned the hundred thousand Crow Generals, I couldn't resist checking beneath your clothes. I found no birthmark on your chest, and at the time I was deeply disappointed."

"Only after we came here, when I made you mine the night before last, did I discover it was on your shoulder. That's why I brought you here immediately."

Tears welled from Shang Shuqing's eyes.

"So that's it... so that's it..."

She looked back at him through the tears.

"All those years, when I combed your hair, I always felt there was some unseen connection between us. Master Dao, do you believe me?"

Niu Youdao raised one hand and wiped away her tears.

"I believe you. I had eyes but failed to see, and made you wait all those years."

"Don't cry. Come."

He drew her back toward the earlier photograph and pointed to the small, thin man.

"Monkey. That's what Monkey originally looked like. Hard to believe, isn't it? That hulking brute was originally built like this. In fact, that's where his nickname 'Monkey' came from."

Shang Shuqing laughed through her tears.

She turned and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face to his chest as tears slipped from beneath her closed eyes.

Niu Youdao held her.

Then he looked back and called, "Old Fang."

"Yes."

Old Fang hurried over and bowed slightly.

"Master Dao!"

Niu Youdao said, "I've fallen behind the times. I brought back a few old things and nearly had them confiscated on the way. I stored them at the old place where I used to have you collect things. The code is still the same. Fetch them for me as soon as you can."

"I'll explain everything else to you slowly later."

"And restore that bamboo grove."

"All right. I'll take care of it now."

Old Fang bowed, turned away, wiped at his tears, and hurried off.

...

Deep into the night, a fine rain whispered outside.

Cool air drifted through the open window, accompanied now and then by a gentle breeze.

Beneath a standing lamp, Shang Shuqing sat curled in one corner of the sofa.

Her long hair fell smooth and loose. She wore a strappy top and short shorts, her bare legs tucked beneath her.

A diary rested across her lap.

She held an apple in one hand and occasionally took a bite as she read.

The diary contained another woman's years.

It recorded a stretch of the past.

When Shang Shuqing reached the page where the entries ended and found nothing written beyond it, she turned her head toward the open window.

For a while she simply stared outside, thoughtful and faintly melancholy.

Not far away, Niu Youdao sat beside a large writing desk.

He was working with an ancient bronze mirror.

A beam of light shone across its surface while, pen and paper in hand, he rapidly copied down the writing it projected.

A cup of hot tea was set beside him.

Shang Shuqing came around behind his chair, leaned gently against his back, and kissed his cheek.

Her face brushed close to his neck.

"I suddenly thought of Yin'er just now. I wonder how she's doing."

Niu Youdao stopped what he was doing.

He fell silent.

It was not only Yin'er.

He remembered many people.

Lost in thought, he raised one hand and stroked Shang Shuqing's head.

She caught his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it softly.

"You've been working on this constantly lately. What is it?"

Niu Youdao touched her cheek.

"It's another world. A vaster world."

"If one day you grow tired of living like this, tell me."

"I'll take you there for some fun."

Shang Shuqing gave a soft "Mm."

Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered tenderly:

"It's late. Stay with me..."

[End of Chapter 1587]