He guessed that his father was no longer alive, and had been reduced to ashes in the hell of troubled times.
He was finally truly alone.
He traveled around in search of famous teachers, with no fixed residence, and news from all over the world slipped into his ears from time to time: who became the new emperor, which new country was established. Relatively speaking, the Shu country where he lived had less turmoil.
In fact, he has only one purpose in learning Taoism: he hopes that after learning Taoism, he can gain extraordinary abilities and find the missing girl.
He didn't know why he was so persistent, as if being with that girl was his lifelong ambition.
He didn't find the girl, but the girl found him.
He has been studying Taoism for more than 20 years. He is talented and has mastered the essence of several masters.
At the age of forty-three, when he climbed Qingcheng Mountain to seek the traces of the Celestial Master, the girl appeared without warning.
The girl and the fair-skinned man who took her away stood on the mountain road and stared at him. Their appearance was the same as the moment before she disappeared twenty-five years ago.
The past flashed back to his eyes, and Zhu Yan was shocked and confused.
Zhu Yan has slight spots on his temples, but the girl has not grown up at all, and the man has not aged. Although he has only seen her once, his false smile is as clear as a brand in the memory.
For a moment, he thought it was an illusion, an empty flower from his inner demons, until the girl suddenly attacked him.
The girl waved to him, and he was so stunned that he didn't notice what happened for a moment. It wasn't until his arms went numb that he realized that there were several tiny plum blossom needles stuck in the back of his hands.
At that moment, his mood hit rock bottom.
A girl he had missed for half his life actually hurt him as soon as they met!
After the fair-skinned man whispered a few words to the girl, the girl continued to wave to him. Several fine needles pricked his face. His facial muscles were immediately numb, and he could not even speak. There were countless questions in his heart, not a single one of them. Can't ask.
The two of them walked up to Zhu Yan, and the fair-skinned man said, "Okay, let's finish him now and bring him back to Master."
The girl looked at Zhu Yan's face, completely like a stranger, without the affectionate and beautiful eyes of the past.
When she saw Zhu Yan looking at her with sad eyes and shedding two tears, she turned to the man and asked, "Brother Bai Pu, is he afraid of death?"
"Everyone is afraid of death, so Master prevents you from dying."
Zhu Yan shook his head.
The girl saw it and asked, "Why is he shaking his head?"
Bai Pu began to look nervous: "Hongye! Stop asking, don't forget that this is the test given to you by Master, kill him quickly, any method will do."
So her name is Hongye? After searching for so many years, at least I got a name. Zhu Yan was sincerely moved!
Hongye stared at Zhu Yan's tearful eyes, and suddenly, like a tiny sharp thorn, it stung the corner deep in her heart, touching a mood she had not been excited for a long time, and a feeling of sadness gently surged from her chest.
In order to avoid a long night and many dreams, Bai Pu put his palm on Zhu Yan's chest: "It will be over soon, and it won't hurt."
It was too late, but soon, a strong wind rushed down from the mountain along the mountain wall, rushed into the gap between Zhu Yan and Bai Pu, hit Zhu Yan with his head, and swept him down the mountain.
Bai Pu was shocked and hurriedly used Qinggong to chase after him, but saw Zhu Yan being blown through the grass and over the rocks by the wind, rising and falling, which was not like the ordinary mountain wind.
"There's something weird!" Bai Pu stepped forward and shot towards the strange wind like a flying arrow.
He specializes in melee attacks, so he must get close to his opponent first.
Unexpectedly, another smelly gust of wind rushed from the side and knocked him away, making him unable to get closer.
Before he could figure out the situation, another blazing foehn wind came from another direction and knocked him far away.
Bai Pu finally managed to steady his steps, but Zhu Yan had already disappeared.
Bai Pu searched around for a while and found that Hong Ye had not followed her. He followed the path back to take a look. Sure enough, she was still standing on the mountain road, her head lowered, staring at the ground.
"Hongye!" Bai Pu called her, "What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know," Hong Ye panted slightly, and the uncontrollable sadness hit her heart one after another, "What's wrong with me?"
When she asked, tears suddenly filled her eyes.
"What's wrong with me?" she cried until her whole body was shaking.
Bai Pu tried to step forward to comfort him, but she pushed him away.
Bai Pu had no choice but to take a few steps back, tighten his lips, guard the words he wanted to say out loud, and wait quietly for her to finish crying.
※※※
After the strong wind subsided, Zhu Yan found himself in an abandoned Taoist temple.
The Taoist temple is located on the edge of a cliff. The terrain is difficult and dangerous. It is unknown which generation of people built it with strong will. However, the supply of food and water here is difficult. After the founder passed away, it fell into a wild fox den.
Sure enough, Zhu Yan saw strange monsters all around, all in human form but not human.
They crowded the Taoist temple, making the refreshing mountain air become stuffy and smelly.
While Zhu Yan was still surprised, a man with a sticky and wet body came forward. Looking at his wide mouth, he knew it was a toad. He revealed his identity to Zhu Yan: "I have lived in Qingcheng Mountain for a hundred years, and I have practiced in this Taoist temple since I was a child."
"Are you goblins?" The fine needles inserted in Zhu Yan's body had been removed by them and he was able to speak.
The toad spirit nodded without his neck and could only shake his body: "That's what you call it."
Over the years, Zhu Yan has been traveling alone in the world, and his courage has grown greatly: "You surround me, and you must be asking for something. You must have a reason to save my life. If you are willing to say it, I am all ears."
"There is nothing to hide. We demons are meeting, and we hope that you will lead us and be our king of demons."
"King of a Hundred Demons?" Zhu Yan couldn't help but laugh after hearing this, "I am a mortal who has not yet completed the Taoism. How can I lead you? Did I admit the wrong person?"
"Your Majesty, I don't know. Have you ever heard of Chi You?"
"Chi You? Is he the opponent that Huang Di always cannot defeat?"
"To tell you the truth, two thousand years ago, you were Chi You."
Zhu Yan was stunned for a while, not knowing how to react: "So...?" He touched his body, "There is no evidence for two thousand years, and now even a little girl can kill me."
"What you don't know is that Chi You is still your soul. You can call him out as long as you are willing."
Zhu Yan has been cultivating Taoism for many years, observing quietly and meditating, but he has seen the movement of true energy, but he has not seen any soul.
He was dubious, so he looked around at the demons: "You seem to know my origins very well, so please tell me, why did that man want to kill me just now?"
"It wasn't him who wanted to kill, it was his master who ordered it," said the Toad Spirit. "We don't understand why. It is said that you died at the age of forty-three in several lives. If you had not died, he would have killed you."
Zhu Yan was very curious, what does "several lives" mean?
He knew in his heart that when he turned from the road into the woods and saw Hongye for the first time, it was like seeing him again after a long separation. It was definitely not a coincidence. Apparently Hongye also thought the same way back then. If it weren't for the past life, I'm afraid it would be impossible to explain my excitement back then.
If what the toad spirit said is true, then the relationship between him and Hongye may not be that simple.
"Who is his master?"
"We can't figure out his details. He is neither a human nor an immortal, nor one of our generation. He is a powerful character. We risked our lives to save you today."
"Thank you. I forgot to thank you for saving my life. I'm very sorry."
The toad spirit shook his head and said, "Speaking of which, their master has lived for a long, long time. There is a thousand-year-old tree spirit among us, and we have met him when we were young."
"But...the two people who want to kill me, I met them more than twenty years ago, and they have not grown up at all!"
The toad spirit looked back at the monsters and then said: "We are also confused. They don't seem to be immortals, but they can live forever, so we just avoided a head-on conflict."
Hongye's face appeared in Zhu Yan's mind, and tears welled up in his eyes unconsciously.
"Okay," he slapped his knees and said miserably: "Although I don't know what the benefits are of being a demon king, the position of emperor in the world must be obtained by killing. The demon king who comes to your door, why not give it a try?"
After hearing his promise, all the demons started talking excitedly, and the quiet Taoist temple suddenly became noisy.
But his biggest purpose is to find the girl and tell her how much he has missed her all these years; and ask her why she hurt him? Why won't you grow up?
Zhu Yan realized that the fact that he missed that girl so persistently inexplicably meant that the karma in his past life must be extremely deep.
