He promised Luo Yingbai not to try again because he understood that this method would definitely succeed, as long as he was not the one, the Weibo must fulfill the commissioner’s wish.
Luo Yingbai can finally return to the Heavenly Court to be his Yuan Jun, though they still cannot be together.
This was the longest and yet shortest moment of Xia Xianning’s life. He had always been taciturn, but now felt an overwhelming sense of reluctance and a heart full of words to say.
Xia Xianning pressed his face against Luo Yingbai’s cheek, and while his consciousness was still clear, he softly whispered:
“Senior brother, I’m remembering when we first met again. The Great Emperor of Qiuchen sent you to the Sanqing Seat, and I entered a moment later. You were wearing a bamboo-green robe, holding a tea cup, and looked back at me…”
He didn’t see Luo Yingbai’s full face at first, but saw a person with elegant demeanor and a unique casual grace, like a purple paulownia swaying in the wind. Even the tea cup he held seemed exquisite and distinctive.
Xia Xianning recalled the moment Luo Yingbai looked back at him, his eyes slightly curved: “Senior brother, I thought then, how beautiful this person is.”
He smiled, feeling his strength rapidly depleting, and held Luo Yingbai tighter.
You said that you had come to this world, gained other family and friends, experienced many things you hadn’t before, and was no longer the past Ming Lang…”
“Actually, I knew you were saying this to make me give up. But I always wanted to tell you that compared to the past Ming Lang, I like the current you even more.”
“Because the more time I spend with you, the more I love you.”
The world before him gradually blurred. Xia Xianning saw countless floating cloud lights, with many jumping flames surrounding him and Luo Yingbai, then flying in strings into his body.
He suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Xia Xianning used his magical power to create a Weibo that could fulfill Luo Yingbai’s wishes. Each wish fulfilled would consume his own power, and by this final moment, his magical power was exhausted, completely spent.
This was an outcome he had long anticipated and never regretted.
But Xia Xianning forgot that from the moment of Weibo’s registration, everyone could communicate with Luo Yingbai through it. The people he helped and problems he solved were far beyond just a few red-lettered Weibo requests.
Countless strangers’ gratitude and admiration gathered into the most genuine and pure power in this world, honoring the deity who once protected them with his life.
Impermanence is also a kind of causation, never to be locked away by the heart.
As clusters of flames entered his body, the imagined burning sensation did not appear. His body felt as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring. Xia Xianning vaguely felt his strength refilling his limbs, but the inevitable drowsiness surged, and he quickly fell into boundless darkness.
The Crown Prince’s Return, with a grand and extraordinary procession. Ming Lang had just left the pavilion when he heard distant music approaching, with bells and strings playing melodiously and elegantly.
The man standing before him had his hands clasped behind his back, his eyebrows and eyes gentle and smiling, yet seemingly with a tear sliding down his cheek.
Ming Lang was startled, stopping to look carefully, but there was no one there – only a stubborn old sophora tree standing askew by the roadside.
He kicked the tree in frustration and continued walking.
Turning a corridor, he encountered a familiar face. Ming Lang greeted, “Great Immortal Tai Yi, good morning!”
The white-browed elderly immortal with a weathered face smiled and nodded. Before they could exchange more words, the old man suddenly said, “Except for you, I haven’t looked at anyone else.”
Ming Lang broke out in cold sweat, getting goosebumps: “What.”
.. what?”
No one responded to his question. When he turned his head, the Great Immortal Tai Yi who had just been talking with him had already become a distant back.
Something flashed vaguely in his mind but remained uncaptured. Ming Lang pondered, and with these recurring events, he lost his temper and slowed his pace – the Crown Prince and such, he wasn’t familiar, so he wasn’t in a hurry to meet him.
He just felt like he had forgotten something very important.
This thought grew uncontrollable. Sometimes he thought his name was Luo Ying Bai, sometimes he vaguely remembered he seemed to have an old lover in the mortal world.
What was their name? He couldn’t recall. Why didn’t he bring them along to heaven? He shouldn’t be the type to abandon someone…
Did they break up? Die? Get married?
Ming Lang drifted as if floating in mid-air, eventually approaching the Crown Prince’s procession, arriving late but not terribly so.
The Royal Celestial Realm, with golden radiance and misty clouds, heavenly music floating. The celestial stairs extended endlessly, reaching to the clouds. Amidst countless supporters, Prince Zhu Yan sat in an elaborate soft sedan chair, returning to the heavens.
Ming Lang stared blankly at the sedan chair, its gauze curtains preventing him from seeing inside, yet feeling deeply moved.
As if all the surrounding splendor turned to smoke, only the swaying tassels seemed to knock directly on his heart, making him want to lift the curtain and investigate.
Just as Ming Lang was about to approach and lift the curtain, a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the roadside. The person’s voice was full of helplessness: “Ancestor, the Prince’s procession is halfway through. Why are you suddenly blocking the main road?”
Ming Lang turned to see the Crown Prince of Gou Chen Heavenly Palace – his elder brother, Prince Huang Zhi.
He didn’t know how to feel, simply saying: “I want to see inside the sedan chair.”
Prince Huang Zhi laughed: “You’ve seen it before. What’s the rush?”
Before he could finish, a wind blew, and the curtain rolled up – revealing the chair was completely empty.
Chaos erupted. Officials following the Prince’s procession changed color, everyone frantically searching. Ming Lang looked around, joining the search.
In the midst of the anxious searching, someone lightly tapped his shoulder. Turning, he saw someone standing behind him.
The person called out “Senior Brother”.
In that instant of eye contact, a Buddhist kalpa passed in Shakyamuni’s world. In each other’s eyes, they saw the rolling of sun and moon, life and death.
The east wind stirred light water droplets on lotus leaves.
Past and present suddenly broke through a floating dream, worldly tribulations ended, all previous events returning.
So-called karmic connections are merely all beings turning back to look, just as that person smiled.
“Oh.”
Luo Ying Bai took a deep breath, the corner of his mouth rising: “Xian Ning!”
Without honey water’s sweetness melting between their lips, Xia Xianning held his head and kissed him, sunlight streaming through the window gently caressing his back, warm and slightly itchy, as if encouraging more.
Luo Yingbai blocked Xia Xianning’s hand, pinching his cheeks and pulling them apart, lazily laughing: “Just for a drink of water, you want me to sell myself?”
Xia Xianning’s eyes held a smile, so he didn’t continue, picking up the cup nearby: “If one sip isn’t enough, there’s more.”
Luo Yingbai made a “tsk” sound, snatched the cup, and gulped it down in one breath, finally satisfied.
Xia Xianning grabbed his foot, frowning: “Your foot is so cold, why aren’t you wearing socks?”
Luo Yingbai, feeling slightly ticklish from his grip, laughed: “Forgot, I’ll put them on later.”
Xia Xianning said: “Where? I’ll get them.”
Before Luo Yingbai could respond, the phone on the coffee table rang.
Xia Xianning picked up the phone: “Hello?”
