After passing the mysterious elder, Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong walked another dozen steps.
A dozen steps later, the thick fog suddenly dissipated, and the view opened up before them!
What appeared before the two was a cliff, beyond which lay myriad mountains, and below, continuous sea of clouds, with white cranes occasionally soaring past!
If there were a fairyland in the mortal world, it would likely be no different from what they saw now!
This Guanshenglai of Longhu Mountain was probably the closest place to the celestial realm in the mortal world.
On the cliff, there was a platform similar to the Wanfazong altar, paved with large stone slabs. The array patterns on the platform were naturally formed, not appearing artificially carved, but rather like the creation of heaven and earth.
Was this where the first Celestial Master Zhang Daoling refined the Nine Heavens Divine Elixir back then?
“Big fool, look.” Lin Zitong tugged at Yan Shouyi’s clothes, gesturing for him to look back.
Yan Shouyi turned his head and saw that the mist behind them was like a white wall. One step back led to the Guanshenglai, a heavenly realm, and one step forward would return them to the previous mist.
“It’s so magical…”
Yan Shouyi couldn’t help but marvel. Even though he was well-versed in Feng Shui, he couldn’t figure out how this was achieved for a moment.
Fortunately, his true purpose for coming to Guanshenglai was not to understand the secret of this mist, so Yan Shouyi did not dwell on it too much. Instead, he came to Guanshenglai with Lin Zitong.
He curiously observed Guanshenglai, wondering: What was so magical about this Guanshenglai?
Lin Zitong couldn’t help but reach out and touch it.
The moment her hand touched Guanshenglai, the patterns on the platform emitted a faint blue light.
And when Lin Zitong flinched and withdrew her hand, the light disappeared.
Yan Shouyi said, “I suppose we both have to go up to know what secrets Guanshenglai holds.”
Just as Yan Shouyi was about to step onto the platform, Lin Zitong nervously grabbed his hand: “Wait.”
“What is it?”
Lin Zitong, displaying an unusual shyness, struggled for a long time before uttering a sentence:
“This Guanshenglai can show us our past lives, but what if our past lives are not good?”
“What do you mean by ‘not good’?” Yan Shouyi asked, confused.
“For example, if our past lives are not as beautiful as we imagine, or if your past life did something to wrong me, or what if my past life was even more beautiful than I am now, and you like her and not me?”
Lin Zitong threw out several questions, catching the unprepared Yan Shouyi off guard.
Yan Shouyi then found himself between laughter and tears. It was the first time he had seen Lin Zitong like this.
The past Lin Zitong was fearless, not taking any other woman seriously no matter who she was.
It turned out that the person she feared most was her own past self.
Yan Shouyi smiled, flicked Lin Zitong’s nose with his finger, and said gently, “No, none of what you said will happen.”
“Why?” Lin Zitong asked nervously.
“I have seen my past life. He was deeply in love with the Princess of Yushu Kingdom. He loved the Princess of Yushu Kingdom as much as I love you.”
Looking at the gentle Yan Shouyi, Lin Zitong suddenly gained confidence.
She grasped Yan Shouyi’s hand tightly and said softly, “Let’s go up.”
“Mm.”
Hand in hand, they stepped onto Guanshenglai together.
…
Deep within Yan Shouyi’s consciousness.
In that solitary bamboo forest.
General Qing Jiang lay sprawled on the ground.
He idly watched the sky.
He had been bored in this bamboo forest for a long time; he was intimately familiar with every blade of grass and every tree.
Although the General appeared solemn when Yan Shouyi arrived,
when Yan Shouyi was not present, the General was bored to the extreme, even talking to himself and uttering nonsensical words.
“Alas, I wonder when I will be able to leave here.”
“Relying on that brat Yan Shouyi, it might take another few decades.”
“Damn it, next time that brat comes in, I must make him stay here for a longer period!”
“Speaking of which, I’m starting to miss Yushu again.”
Thinking of the Princess of Yushu, General Qing Jiang became restless again. He couldn’t help but roll over, burying his head in his elbows as he lay on the ground.
The next second.
“General? What’s wrong with you?”
Is that brat Yan Shouyi?
Heh, impossible. If he entered my territory, I would definitely sense it.
It must be my hallucination.
I am truly too bored.
“Damn it, General, you’re not dead, are you?” Yan Shouyi’s voice echoed again.
This time, General Qing Jiang felt something was wrong. This hallucination was too realistic.
Immediately after, General Qing Jiang felt someone patting his shoulder.
He suddenly rolled over and, seeing Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong, couldn’t help but let out a startled cry and stumbled back several steps.
“General, it’s me!” Yan Shouyi pointed at himself and chuckled, “Your descendant.”
“I know it’s you!” General Qing Jiang exclaimed, “How did you get in?”
“Get in? No, it should be you who came out,” Yan Shouyi replied.
Only then did General Qing Jiang realize that he didn’t seem to be in the familiar bamboo forest.
Where was this place?
Behind him were cliffs, clouds, and mountains. Beneath him was a strange stone platform with formations.
And before him, besides Yan Shouyi, was a woman who seemed familiar.
A woman?
General Qing Jiang suddenly noticed Lin Zitong, his eyes widening, a look of disbelief on his face:
“It’s you… It’s actually you! Although your appearance has changed, your demeanor remains the same… It’s really you!”
Lin Zitong nervously gripped Yan Shouyi’s hand and whispered, “You just said… General Qing Jiang is very serious and values etiquette… Are you sure this is the real General Qing Jiang?”
Yan Shouyi was also becoming uncertain. He scratched the back of his head and said,
“When I saw the General the previous few times, he didn’t seem like this…”
When General Qing Jiang appeared just now, he was lying face down, his posture extremely undignified, followed by a series of rambling words, which thoroughly ruined the General’s image.
However, General Qing Jiang no longer cared about image at this moment.
He just stared intently at Lin Zitong. A grown man, his eyes couldn’t help but turn red:
“I thought I would never see you again, but we meet so suddenly… Yun’er…”