Lying on his mother's lap, Liu Fuguang was speechless. He wanted to cry loudly, but he didn't even have the strength left to do so.
“… I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he grabbed his mother’s hand, “I’m an unfilial son and have caused trouble for you…”
Xiji held her youngest son tightly in her arms. Her trembling hands touched the back of Liu Fuguang's head and neck, and then felt his thin shoulders and protruding shoulder blades. Her fingers pinched his bony arms, and she had the vague feeling that she was slowly waking up from a nightmare.
"Zhuo Lang?" Xi Ji asked softly, "It's really you. You're back, right?"
"Yes," Liu Fuguang choked up, "It's me, I'm still alive, I'm not dead... Mother, I'm back..."
Xiji then stopped talking. She stroked Liu Fuguang's back again and again, just like those nights in their childhood when Liu Fuguang caught a tent full of shining fireflies, and Xiji hugged him and told him legends and stories from the past.
Many years have passed, but his mother's sleeves still have that faint fragrance that makes him feel sleepy, just like golden osmanthus covered with dew. To Liu Fuguang, this is the smell of home.
After an unknown amount of time, he was tired of crying. Xiji used her fingers to push away the hair that was wet with sweat and tears and stuck to his cheeks. She looked at her son's sunken cheeks, and suddenly remembered the injuries on his body. She hurriedly stopped asking him to kneel.
"Zhuolang!" Xiji woke up as if from a dream, "Your injuries, how did you... "
She still remembers that when Zhou Yi, the half-immortal who had lost his body, entered the palace of Dongzhao with Zhuolang's body, the first words he said were "Zhishan has passed away, his body must not be discovered by the Dragon God. The time left for you to pay your respects is very limited, please hurry up."
Everything happened so suddenly! The huge shock, grief, and hatred were like a tidal wave that instantly overwhelmed them. They believed Zhou Yi's words and had no time to prepare many things. Even the tombstone was hastily carved by Chengzong and then handed over to the other party.
And then... And then, Queen Xi's memory, like a mural eroded by wind and sand, became completely blurred.
"The half-immortal Zhou Yi came late at night with your body. He persuaded us that the living are dead, but your body must not be discovered by that evil beast. He had to take you away quickly..." Xi Ji looked carefully at her little son with tears in her eyes. "Now you are back. Did he lie to us? Your father's hair turned white almost overnight. He wanted to issue a decree to gather the support of the people of the world and send troops to conquer the evil dragon, but then... Ah, what happened later? My mind is not very clear! Did Zhou Yi save you? Or did my son have a long life and good fortune? What kind of adventure did he have?"
Looking at his mother who was in a state of mixed feelings of sadness and joy, Liu Fuguang sighed in his heart. He pondered for a moment and whispered, "Zhou Yi is no longer a half-immortal, but a true immortal. Six thousand years have passed, mother, and times have changed. I'm afraid that this world is no longer the world you saw in the past..."
Queen Xi looked confused and asked subconsciously, "What?"
Through Liu Fuguang's intermittent narration, Xiji finally understood the current situation.
Because he didn't want Dongzhao to be destroyed, the evil creature actually took action and used the bottle technique to shrink Dongzhao and freeze him for six thousand years. During this long period of time, due to the absence of the most good, Xuanri was in the sky, and the most evil family was dominant, making all the worlds full of the imperfections and poisons of Zhuo Xin Tian Can. And Zhuolang, her youngest son, was hidden in a coffin by Zhou Yi and pretended to be dead to survive, until someone accidentally entered the tomb and woke him up...