Fu Yun stepped into the door and stepped on a soft brocade carpet.
This is an elegant study room. There is a large yellow rosewood desk next to the window, on which are placed an inkstone made of Taohe stone and a brush made of Shanlian Lake. On the wall hangs Wu Daoxuan's immortal painting and Huaisu's cursive calligraphy.
This is not a place that ordinary people can afford to live in, but Fu Yun is too familiar with it as he spent most of his childhood here.
A palace maid who came in with a basin of water spilled the water in her hands with a clang, and knelt on the ground in great joy, "Your Highness, why are you back?"
…
The eldest prince, who had been practicing in the immortal mountains for many years, suddenly returned to the palace. The news quickly spread throughout the palace city of this small coastal country.
At this moment, Fu Yun, wearing a plain robe with cloud patterns and a Taoist bun on her hair, was living in a quiet room.
Sit cross-legged with your hands clasped in front of your body.
This was the posture he was most familiar with since he was a child, but for some reason, his heart was always restless in his familiar home.
Why do I feel such strong anxiety when I am just going home to visit my family
But he has always been a very self-disciplined person. Even if he was in great pain, he still tried to regulate his breathing and calm down.
In the state of concentration, I subconsciously let my consciousness spread out in order to find the root cause of my restlessness.
The divine consciousness spread out like a tide. On the corridor not far away, two palace maids were holding food boxes and talking quietly as they walked. "How can there be a person like His Highness in the world? When I saw him, my heart was intoxicated. After this trip, he will not go up the mountain again, right?"
A little further outside, in the palace where his younger brother Fu Zhen was, two eunuchs had solemn expressions on their faces.
"Have you inquired carefully about why the eldest prince suddenly came back? Is he going to live in the palace permanently from now on?"
"The eldest prince has been proficient in both civil and military affairs since he was young, and he has also received a divine fate. He enjoys a very high reputation among the officials. If he covets the position of the Eastern Palace, Your Highness will be in danger."
"Send another person and make sure to keep a close eye on every move over there."
At the other end of the palace, in the mother's bedroom, the younger brother Fu Zhen was leaning beside his mother and asking for a beloved thing.
"Sit down. You are so old, but you still act like this." The queen pushed him away and scolded him, "Your elder brother is back, learn from him. If you can be half as good as your brother, I will feel relieved."
Fu Zhen was not angry, she said with a smile, "I don't want to, my brother wants to be a god, I can't compare with him, I am just a monkey under my mother's knees, I just want to make her laugh."
The mother extended her finger and touched his forehead lovingly, "You."
In the palace school further away, an elderly teacher blew his beard and got angry at a group of little kids who couldn't recite the book. "When the eldest prince was in school, there was not a single article he couldn't recite. He never made the teacher work so hard. Why don't you take him as a role model?"
The little princes and princesses who had just been spanked grumbled.
"Brother, brother, you are our role model. I am tired of hearing this since I was a child. Do you think it is true that brother has never been slapped by the teacher?"
"Brother Huang is a deity who doesn't need to sleep. I think he should learn faster than us."
"My palace maid said that my eldest brother had read all four books when he was seven years old."
"I've also heard that gods don't need to eat or go to the toilet. So if you study every day, it's not easy to make the teacher angry. I always want to go to the toilet in the classroom, and I was just scolded by the teacher."
"It seems that being a god doesn't have any benefits."
Fu Yun withdrew his spiritual consciousness, but instead of getting the tranquility he had expected, he felt an even more suffocating sense of restraint.
"Master, what's wrong with me?" He sat in the Huangting, asking his master in his heart, and even more so, asking his own heart.
The scenery within Huangting changes, as if returning to Xiaoyao Peak where grass and trees grow freely.
The master in green clothes vaguely appeared in front of him, sighed and said, "Yun'er, you are good in everything, but you restrict yourself too much. You can relax a little, don't work so hard every day, go out and have fun with your sisters and brothers. In the competition, it doesn't really matter whether Xiaoyao Peak ranks first or not."
Fu Yun thought in confusion. I have been taught by my master since I was young, and I am deeply grateful to him. Naturally, I must win the championship in the competition, so that my master can be proud of me. That is what a disciple should do.
The master smiled and said, "What the master likes is you, Yun'er, not the halos around you. Even if you don't get first place, you are still a good disciple that the master is proud of."
A girl was sitting on a tree fork high up nearby, chewing an apple. "You are so young, why are you so stubborn? Here, I am the senior sister, and you are the junior brother, so just play peacefully."
Fu Yun looked at the face blackened by cigarette ash, and his heart skipped a beat.
In the still water in front of him, a door slowly rose up, which was tightly locked with thick iron chains.
Fu Yun took a deep breath, reached out his hand, broke the heavy shackles, pushed open the door and walked inside.
…
Mu Xue was busy working at her familiar workbench.
Silver moonlight shone into the house from the window, illuminating the puppets of all sizes piled up in the corner of the room.
Mu Xue didn’t know how long she had been working here. It seemed that her master’s order had not been completed yet, and she had to continue refining for a long time.
But she didn't feel irritated or tired because staying in such a quiet and deserted space, with these puppets that would never hurt her, made her happy and at ease.
You don't have to pay attention to the violent and greedy master, you don't have to face those faces twisted by jealousy, and you don't have to risk fighting against the terrifying demons.
Just make the things you like patiently, leisurely and leisurely.
No one will bother her, and no one will hurt her.
Enjoying this loneliness forever.
She concentrated on placing a spirit stone into the chest of the tiny puppet in her hand, as if she was installing a heart in it.
finished.
Mu Xue loosened her hand, and the puppet opened its blue eyes and turned its small body in the moonlight.
The window became wider than ever, allowing more moonlight to pour in, smearing on the messy table like silver flakes.
"Thank you, my master." The little puppet clasped his hands together, bowed to Mu Xue, and then reached out to hold her hand.
Mu Xue pulled the thin little arm and the whole person floated up from the ground. She was pulled by the small puppet and flew out of the window.
All the puppets of all sizes in the room, which had accompanied her for countless years and were the result of almost all her hard work, started to move. Behind them, they formed a huge team and flew towards the bright moon in the night sky.
The sparks of human activity on the ground are getting smaller and smaller. The stars in the sky are gradually within reach.
The puppets held hands and slowly gathered together, forming a red dragon. The dragon's roar sounded, and the dragon turned its flexible body, carrying Mu Xue on its back, shaking the water and clouds, and soaring up to the depths of the sky where the stars were shining.
"What's wrong with me?" Mu Xue asked.
The little puppet in front of her pulled her, its blue eyes like stars and mist, "You have entered the Dao through magic, and have already proved the Heavenly Demon. From now on, you will hold the handle of Yin and Yang with the body of Qiankun. You will escape from the sea of suffering and get out of the maze, and you will no longer have to suffer the pain of the world."
"Really? Have I become a demon?" Mu Xue's long-cherished wish finally came true. She was so happy that she started laughing.
The red puppet dragon beneath him began to chant a ballad, and the sound of countless children's voices filled the sky.
"The sky has its lifespan, the earth has its time. Mountains may collapse, the sea may dry up. But I, the demon of heaven, am free. I am one with the great void, and I am not bound by anything. I ride on a red dragon and travel the universe. I am not bound by the laws of heaven, and my lifespan is limitless. There is no greater bliss in the world than this."
A comfortable cool breeze brushed across their cheeks, and as they listened to the distant singing, the earth seemed to be getting farther and farther away from them.
Mu Xue felt relaxed, as if a warm current was flowing through her limbs and bones. The boundaries of her body gradually disappeared, and she flew freely in the starry sky.
She spread her limbs and wandered in the void, and the world turned into a huge blue ball of light before her eyes. She seemed to have gradually lost her body, and her consciousness merged into everything.
On the ground, a tiny ant was trying hard to lift food that was several times its own weight and hurriedly ran towards its nest. A huge and extremely wide chasm appeared in front of it.
Countless partners gathered behind him.
"Step over it."
"Step over it."
Everyone shouted in unison.
A tiger in the jungle pounced on a fleeing fawn, biting its soft neck with its sharp teeth, and its hot and sweet blood moistened its hungry stomach until the sweet prey stopped struggling. It dragged the dead prey back. Several little tiger cubs, with light in their eyes, ran out of the den happily to greet their mother who returned with food.
The hunter in the wooden house lifted the bride's veil. He followed his instinct with joy and kissed the woman with healthy complexion. They were about to complete a great mission to continue their race in this small house.
Inside the magnificent palace, the aged queen had just passed away. The young heir burst into tears and leaned over to kiss his mother's old forehead, bidding her a final farewell.
Time seemed to be only a short moment, and Mu Xue, wandering in the void, experienced the joys and sorrows of thousands of living beings. She understood their sorrows and joys, and their love and desire.
This is an unprecedented and indescribable feeling.
He transformed himself into a celestial demon, transcended the six realms of reincarnation, and was no longer as narrow-minded as before.
But for some reason, there seemed to be a thread sticking in her heart, thin and lingering, soft and strong, connecting her to a corner of the world in the distance.
Mu Xue opened her eyes and saw the vast universe and stars of all sizes before her. Her heart was always tied to that thin thread.
The little puppet floated in front of her, "Don't think about it anymore, the Great Dao is your ultimate pursuit. There is supreme happiness here, isn't it?"
Mu Xue lowered her head and looked at the glowing thin thread that bound her heart.
The puppet's eyes sparkled. "Tear it off, tear off this unnecessary thing. From now on, we will be free and live happily here."
Mu Xue reached out and grasped the string, as if speaking to the puppet, or to herself,
"We are born as human beings, and we follow the path of humanity. If we truly give up everything in the world and stop being human, we will never be able to attain the Great Dao, and we will never be able to cultivate to become an immortal or a demon."
The little puppet fell silent, revealing a look of regret. The red dragon unwillingly turned its beautiful body in the void, stretched its head over to rub Mu Xue's face, and gradually turned into red dots of firefly light, dissipating between heaven and earth.
Mu Xue fell back to the ground, stood in front of the door that was glowing white, and walked through it.
…
Cen Qianshan found himself standing in a muddy market.
The colorful glass lights above were reflected in the dirty water on the street. A boy, riding a four-wheeled magic weapon, rushed through the dirty water, splashing mud and causing angry curses from the street.
"Really? Look, it's all over you." The person next to him took out a handkerchief, held his face up, and helped him wipe off the mud on his face.
Cen Qianshan stared blankly at the red dress and the smiling face in front of him.
“What are you standing there for? Don’t you even recognize your Master?” The man smiled and waved at him.
"Hey, newlyweds, even if you're as sweet as honey, don't show off on the street." Aunt Niu, who sells noodles, rolled up her sleeves, brought a tray of steaming white bread to the table, and teased them with a smile.
Cen Qianshan choked and his entire face turned red from bottom to top.
Aunt Niu’s son, Marshal Niu, pulled aside the curtain and came out.
"Now I know that my face is red, and who is the one who has to marry into the school, regardless of whether he wants to marry into the school?"
The master did not refute such a strange statement. Instead, he turned around with a smile, took his hand and walked forward, "Don't pay attention to them, let's go back."
The master’s fingers were a little cold and slightly calloused, and he held his palm and squeezed it gently.
That slight movement seemed to pinch his heart, gripping his softest spot, forcing him to move forward.
The pure white snow gradually floated on the road, and the soft world became quiet.
The only thing left on the snow was a couple walking slowly hand in hand.
In front of us is a familiar courtyard with warm yellow lights on.
The gate of the yard was locked with a thick iron chain.
The master stopped in front of the door, his red clothes were as red as fire and his eyebrows and eyes were as beautiful as a painting.
She stretched out an arm and slowly stroked her hair downwards, "Hurry up, open it, I want to get in."
She was so close to him, her eyes were shining, her earlobes were sparkling, her lips were slightly opening and closing, and her orchid-scented breath was blowing on his neck.
Cen Qianshan's throat rolled, and he reached out to the iron chain, but then he tightened his fingers in the air and stopped.
"You've waited so long for me," the master stroked the back of his neck, rubbed it gently, and whispered softly in his ear, "Now I'm in front of you. Break these shackles, take me in, and from now on I belong to you."
Cen Qianshan stared at her, his chest heaving, and he pursed his lips and said nothing.
"Don't be like that, Xiaoshan. Be more unrestrained. Let go of your shackles, and you will get me and get unprecedented happiness."
Cen Qianshan grasped the wrist that was hooked around his neck and slowly pulled her away from his neck, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes.
"Master," he said softly, "sometimes, the difference between humans and demons is that there is still a bottom line in people's hearts. Especially for someone like me, if I have no restraint, I don't know what kind of devil will come out of this door."
Slowly, but surely, he pulled the arm down.
"I'll wait for you. Wait for the day when the real you is willing to follow me to this door. Open it for me and take a look at what's locked inside."
Cen Qianshan was pulled out of a white light by a soft little hand.
He came to his senses and found that he had entered the gate of Dongyue Temple.
A little girl was holding his hand, looking at him with a twinkling smile.
A low sigh was heard from the depths of the temple.