Chapter 1106: Guessed the Beginning Right, But Not the Ending

Ambush!

A quick glance took in the vast hall’s scene, and the moment he noticed the absence of Xuan Nu, the thought instantly flashed through Meng Qi’s mind.

Despite his heroic aspirations, before entering the Su Nu Immortal Realm, Meng Qi had already envisioned numerous scenarios to prepare for various responses. For instance, the current Xuan Nu might have already discovered the spy or Gao Lan’s surveillance, intentionally putting on a show and setting up an ambush to lure Gao Lan into a trap. Alternatively, she might be exceptionally cautious by nature, seemingly retreating into seclusion for cultivation and isolating herself, but in reality, she might have already escaped like a golden cicada shedding its shell, holding prepared treasures and secretly undergoing tribulation somewhere far away.

Therefore, the current situation before his eyes did not exceed Meng Qi’s expectations and preparations; instead, it felt exactly as he had anticipated.

Involving himself in such matters, how could everything go as smoothly and powerfully as his humorous senior brother imagined?

His senior brother should have been aware of this when he invited him to assist…

Simultaneously with this thought, Meng Qi also had a faint bitter smile. His peerless blade pointed obliquely, scrutinizing every clue within the vast hall, his feet positioned such that one stood inside the hall while the other outside, as if standing between two universes.

As his divine consciousness extended and covered the area, both he and Gao Lan suddenly exclaimed, “Hmm!”

Though seemingly empty and devoid of figures, the place was actually filled with various illusory things—resembling memories, emotions, experiences, and imprints.

Meng Qi’s mind stirred, and the Lamp of Unity lit up, illuminating the origins of all effects, allowing him to step into a realm of causality and touch the illusory domain of minds and spirits. Meanwhile, Gao Lan’s eyes were veiled with a faint golden hue, shimmering gently like sacred virtue reflected in water, while his merits gleamed as bright as a mirror.

In an instant, their sights transformed. Before Meng Qi stood a Buddhist hall where Tathagata sat high, his face compassionate, his golden body surrounded by fragrant incense and white smoke, illuminated by an ancient green lamp. A monk in gray robes, with lowered eyelids, was rhythmically tapping a wooden fish and chanting scriptures day after day like a devoted practitioner. However, his youthful face, which should have been full of vigor, subtly contradicted this image.

Dudududu, Amitabha Buddha, thus I have heard.

The monotonous echo of the wooden fish contained a certain power to calm the mind. Suddenly, a woman dressed in a red wedding gown entered the entrance of the Buddhist hall. Her face was delicate, with traces of a playful and mischievous past in her eyes. Her pace slowed, and she stopped behind the gray-robed monk.

“Why have you come again?” the monk, without lifting his eyelids and continuously tapping the wooden fish, asked in a calm but distant tone.

The woman in the red wedding gown curled her lips, her smile as radiant as ever, bringing an involuntary sense of joy to others. However, her tone was low and calm, as if narrating something unrelated to herself:

“Master, I am getting married.”

Bang! The wooden mallet in the gray-robed monk’s hand suddenly snapped, and the dudududu sound abruptly ceased. He became like a statue, motionless.

The woman in the red wedding gown’s smile gradually faded, tinged with a touch of sorrowful beauty:

“I don’t want to accept it, so I plan to end it all.”

With a bang, the gray-robed monk suddenly jumped up, causing the incense table to wobble precariously.

End it all? The monk’s eyes flew open, filled with anxiety and concern, with no other emotions remaining. He stretched out his hands, attempting to stop her.

However, in his black, bright eyes, the woman’s neck had already bled dry, her red attire indistinguishable between wedding gown or blood-soaked dress.

His hands passed through her without touching anything solid, merely penetrating through.

The gray-robed monk froze in his actions, his gaze fixed on the sight before him as the figure gradually faded.

A ghost before the Buddha, merely coming to bid farewell.

Clang! The incense table fell, smoke and ashes rising, obscuring the image of Tathagata. The scene gradually dispersed, drifting into the vast hall.

What was this? Meng Qi slightly furrowed his brows, many doubts arising in his mind. At this moment, another “painting” unfolded before him and Gao Lan.

On a sickbed lay a pretty and mischievous-looking woman leaning against a pillow. Her cheeks were hollow, her body emaciated from illness, her breaths shallow and weak, and her once lively eyes gradually turning murky.

Beside her, a middle-aged scholar tightly held her hands, his eyes concealing an unrelenting sorrow and grief.

This middle-aged man had thick eyebrows, hinting at a touch of rigidity, and his mustache was oddly thick and coarse.

At the sight of him, Meng Qi’s mind immediately surfaced with his name:

“Wu Jizhen, the ‘Mad Scholar of Liuyang’!”

A Grandmaster who had once shared a profound relationship with a manifestation of the current Xuan Nu!

At this, Meng Qi gained some understanding.

The scenes within the hall were all the experiences of different manifestations of Xuan Nu, revealing the karmic connections and destinies of their lives?

There were those who had wronged others, and those who had been wronged!

At this moment, on the sickbed, the pretty and mischievous-looking woman gently shook Wu Jizhen’s arm, her voice filled with deep emotion: “From now on, forget, forget me…”

Her voice faded, her vitality extinguished. No matter how much true essence Wu Jizhen poured into her, it was of no avail. He raised his head and let out a long howl, a mournful cry of a bereaved partner.

Since the experiences of different manifestations were displayed within the Su Nu Hall, the current Xuan Nu must be nearby! A flash of inspiration struck Meng Qi as he gazed toward the rear hall and instantly closed the distance.

It appeared that it was not a trap or a false lead as previously speculated, but rather that the location chosen by Xuan Nu for her retreat was peculiar, or her current state was difficult to comprehend.

Could it be that she was attempting a breakthrough?

Gao Lan, obviously quicker on the uptake than Meng Qi, flashed his Taoist robe and appeared as a yellow figure ahead, both of them passing through “the heavenly beauty who severed worldly ties to embrace a life of Buddhist devotion,” and “the childhood sweethearts, sharing a lifetime of love, growing old together, buried together in a tomb, leaving only one corpse behind.”

The further they advanced, the deeper they seemed to penetrate the current Xuan Nu’s spiritual world, witnessing hundreds, even thousands, of different lives and emotions.

Suddenly, Gao Lan, who was running ahead, slowed his pace. At the threshold separating the front and rear halls stood a woman in plain robes, her demeanor elegant and otherworldly, untouched by worldly grime. Her eyes held a compassion for saving all sentient beings, her beauty unparalleled, radiant and captivating.

Her hair was tied up, with a wooden hairpin across it, resembling a lay devotee.

Then Meng Qi saw Gao Lan stop, his cold and deep gaze flickering with indescribable surprise and intensity, as if a young man caught in his first love.

“Yan Ran…” he softly called out.

Yan Ran? So this was the senior sister-in-law? Meng Qi paused as well, taking a closer look. He saw that the woman in plain robes had many wounds, as if she had just gone through a bloody battle, and there were still faint, shadowy enemies around.

“High Lang.” Yan Ran looked up in surprise.

Gao Lan was moved. He raised his right hand, swung his long sword, and destroyed all the illusory enemies around her. Excitedly, he said, “Yan Ran, this time I will definitely save you!”

“Definitely help you dominate the Xuan Nu Dao body!”

With one step forward, Gao Lan appeared before Yan Ran, stretching out his right hand to grasp the slender hand she similarly extended.

Their hands touched, but passed through each other.

An indescribable regret flashed across Yan Ran’s face as she called out softly once more: “Lang…”

Her figure gradually faded, and the imprint disintegrated.

What was going on? Meng Qi’s gaze passed through Yan Ran toward the rear hall, where he saw the current Xuan Nu sitting beside a coffin, her body blurred, like returning to the misty, already devoid of life!

Had the current Xuan Nu passed away!

Before taking the step toward ascension, she had lost control, suffered backlash, and immediately passed away. Thus, her manifestation imprints flew out, leaving traces in the hall?

Xuan Nu had actually died! Meng Qi could hardly believe his eyes. He had envisioned numerous scenarios and different developments, but he had never thought it would end this way.

I guessed the beginning right, but not the ending…

The current Xuan Nu had neither been exceptionally cautious nor had she anticipated that the humorous senior brother would act prematurely, forcefully entering the Su Nu Dao to attempt to kidnap her, but she was dead.

She was dead, and as her manifestation, Yan Ran had no chance of reincarnation!

The humorous senior brother had prepared for years, exuding dominance and might, yet encountered such an ending. Was this truly the will of heaven?

What is the will of heaven?

Breaking through to become a Dharmakaya body is the distinction between humans and immortals, one of the greatest obstacles on the path of cultivation. Failure was inherently likely, but he and the humorous senior brother had instinctively avoided this possibility.

Meng Qi stood stunned, looking back at Gao Lan, who was staring at the fading figure before him, his right hand still in a grasping posture, softly calling out: “Yan Ran…”

Since ancient times, emotional attachments have often ended in regret.

Boom!

The Su Nu Hall trembled, as the stress caused by Meng Qi and Gao Lan’s forceful intrusion manifested.

The two failed to swiftly accomplish their plan and leave quickly.

“Yan Ran!”

Gao Lan suddenly raised his head and let out a long howl, his voice echoing, filled with indescribable grief.