Deep in Cui Ling's memory, Po Meng went back to the place where he began to remember.
Po Meng is not unfamiliar with Cui Ling. As the child of Cui Yu, the magistrate of the underworld, Po Meng has watched Cui Ling grow up. In my impression, Cui Ling was a very gloomy child at first, but gradually became cheerful. Later, he showed his strong ability to handle government affairs and became Cui Yu's right-hand man.
I have heard that Cui Ling was Cui Yu's adopted child. No matter when, Cui Yu kept the matter secret and never seemed to reveal the cause and effect to others.
Mrs. Meng pushed aside the complicated memory fragments with her hands and slowly began to explore upward. The speed must be slow, otherwise she may get lost in the turbulent flow of memory.
In the deepest waters, Po Meng saw...
A beam of light.
…
Cui Ling is looking around. The buildings next to him are all very tall. Maybe he is just a toddler now.
He was surrounded by light blue light, lying on the ground without crying or fussing, not moving even a step. Passers-by hurried past Cui Ling, occasionally glancing at the child covered in light, but no one stopped. In these troubled times, everyone is exhausted.
Cui Ling had been there with his small eyes, peeping into this world that did not belong to him, until a tall figure came over, with a black robe hanging tightly on his broad shoulders. He took out the book of life and death, and said to Cui Ling said:
"Um...Fairy Yingguang? Are you here?"
The blue light surrounding Cui Ling actually revealed a human form. A girl's face was outlined in the dim light, and then there were fluttering light blue clothes. The long skirt hung on the ground, and a finger was hooked in Cui Ling's hand. .
The girl said excitedly:
"Here, here! Hehe, you just discovered it!"
The man put away the book of life and death with a snap and frowned slightly: "Let's go, I've been looking for you for a long time."
Fairy Yingguang held Cui Ling and walked forward slowly, curiously looking at everything in the underworld.
The man walked and said: "Fairy Yingguang, you are the first light fairy to come to the underworld... As lights and gods, do you actually still have lifespan?"
Fairy Yingguang looked around and responded casually: "Oh, the light can only show our appearance when it shines on the dark places. I used to illuminate a group of separated pioneers on a rainy night, and they fell When we reached the depths of the canyon, we lost the energy to shine the light, and as soon as we regained our consciousness, we were here. It’s okay, we just want to go to the darkest place!”
The man walked forward without answering.
"By the way," Fairy Yingguang picked up Cui Ling with a smile, "This is the little ghost I picked up in front of the ghost gate. How do you like it? Does it look good?"
The man turned back and glanced briefly at Cui Ling, then extended his hand to Fairy Yingguang: "This is the Palace of Hades, please. By the way, my name is Cui Yu, you can also call me the judge. By the way, be careful of the threshold, this The side threshold is a bit high…”
…
It has floated upward for a while, and Wei Wei can see the white light rising from the surface of the memory lake.
"How could this happen!" was the angry voice of Fairy Yingguang, "Can these orphans have no choice but to stay in Hades forever? There's not even light here!"
Cui Yu shrugged: "There is no way. The previous incidents of Ming Gu's defection from Ming Yuan Academy made the Hades reconsider the necessity of Ming Yuan Academy's existence. Before the new policy comes down, Ming Yuan Academy will temporarily closure."
"What about these orphans? They can't wait for your lengthy decision-making process in the underworld! By the time you decide, they will have been wiped out!"
Cui Yu stretched out his hand and tried to calm Fairy Yingguang's excitement: "Fairy, don't be excited. You might as well regard this as a necessary process for the operation of the three realms. Just like in the underworld, there is always the law of the jungle, right?"
Fairy Yingguang hugged Cui Ling tightly with one hand: "Why not build an orphanage?"
Cui Yu sighed helplessly: "Underworld currently does not have the conditions to establish an orphanage. The souls of orphans need to consume a lot of offerings to grow up. The war between us and the demon clan is still going on, and supplies are tight, so we cannot afford such a high cost."
Fairy Yingguang held Cui Ling and slowly took a few steps back.
Cui Yu tried to continue to persuade: "In addition, your reincarnation time has come. According to Pluto's instructions, you will become the light fairy again. I hope you... fairy, fairy? Where are you going?"
Cui Ling raised his little head from the fairy's delicate arms and looked at the fairy's dusty appearance. Now he still doesn't know what happened.
…
Cui Yu pushed the door open, and the wooden door squeaked. There was a strong wind outside the house, like the howling of thousands of ghosts. Inside the house, a dim oil lamp burned sickly.
"Fairy, I need to remind you," Cui Ling was still wearing the black robe, looking seriously at Fairy Yingguang sitting in the corner holding Cui Ling, trying to persuade her, "You are light, even if you become a soul, you In the dark environment of Hades, the divine power to maintain your body shape will slowly dissipate. I suggest you reincarnate as soon as possible to avoid..."
Cui Yu was stunned for a moment.
He saw a group of orphans behind Fairy Yingguang.
"Fairy, these orphans are..."
The fairy smiled: "It's my child."
Cui Yu said helplessly: "Fairy, I told you that the current conditions cannot raise these children. Even if they can maintain their body shape, they will not grow up to have the intelligence required for reincarnation, because... Wait...the light in their eyes is..."
Cui Yu looked at the faint blue light in the children's pupils in disbelief.
"Fairy...you gave your fairy power...to them?"
The light around Fairy Yingguang was indeed much dimmed, and she smiled.
"Yes, I didn't expect that my magical power would be quite useful to them. These little guys are so cute!"
"But... if you act like this, the immortal power will collapse soon. Now there is a war in the world, how many children can you save?"
Fairy Yingguang started counting seriously.
"...Six, seven, eight, nine, nine. In two days, there may be ten, eleven."
Fairy Yingguang stroked Cui Ling's face with her almost transparent fingers: "Look, this little guy you've seen is almost ready to walk now!"
…
Cui Ling has begun to read, but his mother always disappears and appears. Even when she appears, it is usually a light blue outline shadow. Every time, his mother will say:
"You haven't studied yet. I'll spank you, Cui Ling!"
Today, the man who always wears black robes is here again. His mother sent her to study nearby. Cui Ling ran to the side and quietly leaned on the window with her feet to eavesdrop on the conversation between her mother and the other party.
Cui Ling disliked the man in black robe very much. He brought bad news every time he came.
This is the man's voice: "...It's very bad. The battle situation is also very unfavorable. Both the third brother and the seventh brother are injured, and the eighth brother is missing. The demon clan is attacking very fiercely at this time. Maybe it is borrowed from the Empress Houtu." The warriors who came... King of Yama Bao Zheng resigned from the post of King of Yama. He had previously suggested to other Hades to restart the Hades Academy, but it had never been approved by other Hades. The same was true for many recent proposals, so he quit. , I feel that maybe I can do something practical as a worker..."
The mother poured the man a glass of water: "Don't worry, take your time, it will be solved."
The man looked at his surroundings, picked up the water glass and asked his mother, "How are you doing? Are you still used to it here?"
The mother smiled, and a trace of peace overflowed: "Thank you, Mr. Cui, for allocating such a large courtyard in your house for us to live in. The children are very happy."
The man sighed: "What I do now is less than one-tenth of what you do. Can your body still bear it? How are these orphans?"
Mom showed a proud look: "I went up two days ago and terrorized the pioneers I rescued before. Now they have built a new monument and temple for me. There are many believers! I now have immortal power. With a steady supply of supplies, I can help many more children! After many children gained intelligence, I sent them to reincarnation, except for him..."
The man asked: "Isn't it still possible?"
Mom sighed: "It's all my fault. I gave him too much immortal power at once. Some time ago, I asked someone to ask Po Meng. He has a body now and is no longer a soul. He is not suitable for drinking Po Meng." Tang, so now he can’t enter reincarnation, so he probably can only stay in the underworld.”
The man nodded: "This is easy to handle. The underworld is always short of manpower. People like him can always find errands in the underworld. They are very clever. Look, he is still peeking at us talking..."
When Cui Ling heard the two talking about him, he lost his footing and fell to the ground. He patted his butt and ran away.
…
There was a heavy knock on the door, and my mother appeared from a beam of light, sat up, and got up to open the door.
Cui Ling rubbed his eyes: "Mom, who is it? It's so late and you're knocking on the door."
Mother patted Cui Ling's forehead gently: "Good boy, have a good rest."
The sound of the door being opened was heard, and Cui Ling fell asleep again.
When Cui Ling woke up, her mother hadn't come back yet, and a long sigh sounded from the room next to her.
Cui Ling got out of bed, rubbed his eyes and walked outside the door. The door of the next room was slightly opened, and Cui Ling leaned his ear against the cold door paint.
It was the man's voice again, but now this voice was much tired: "...You don't have to agree. This matter has nothing to do with you in the first place."
My mother's sweet voice like a silver bell rang: "Master Cui, needless to say, if the Hades are really willing to reopen the Hades Academy, they will definitely be able to save more children. I should do something for the Hades. of."
The man's voice was a little anxious: "No, this is not a matter of doing something, this is a matter of sacrificing your entire life! I told the Plutos, but they ignored me at all! They just concluded that you would definitely agree, but you In fact, there is no obligation to do so at all, you don’t have to... you don’t have to..."
The man's voice became deeper and deeper, like hitting a broken drum, and finally became silent.
Mom's voice was as thin as a piece of paper: "But this is the best solution for Hades, isn't it? If there are more sacrifices on the battlefield, Hades will collapse. There is no other way, I know."
Mother's voice became softer: "You don't have to blame yourself. This matter has nothing to do with you, Mr. Cui. However, if possible, I will entrust my little guy to you."
After a long time, a man's voice rang out: "...what's his name..."
Mom seemed to be thinking for a moment, and then said in a cheerful voice, "Cui Ling, what do you think?"
Cui Ling outside the door was confused, but seemed to notice something. He opened the door crying and hugged his mother tightly.
"Mom, I don't want you to leave!"
Mom stroked her hair with her weak, boneless hands and said softly: "I don't want to leave either. But the light has to shine in the darkest places."
…
Cui Ling quietly flipped through the files and carefully read the records about the first battle of the Underworld Demon:
Countless monsters moved up the cliff, broke through the defenses of Chi Yunling and Han Yuanbi, and launched a fierce attack on the underworld army from the bottomless abyss. The long-lasting black mist lingers on the battlefield, which is the insidious murderous aura spread by the monsters. The army couldn't find its direction at all and was killed and defeated.
Until a beam of light fell on the battlefield, the light dispelled the black fog of the entire battlefield like a beacon, and the soldiers' swords and armors were blazing with scorching light. The abyss monsters exposed to the light panicked and were killed by the soldiers until they were bloody, driving them back into the abyss. With the help of this momentum, Hades worked hard and overthrew all the advance army camps of the demon clan in Hades. The heavenly army arrived belatedly and wiped out the demon clan's power in the world of the world. The first demon war ended with Hades' tragic victory.
There is no record of where the light went. It seemed to dissipate on the battlefield. The soldiers thought it was a miracle and did not pay attention.
In the same year, under the strong suggestion of Cui Yu, the then literary judge, the wise and powerful Hades reopened the Hades Academy and established a place for the orphans of Hades to grow and be raised.
"Cui Ling, are you in the study?" Father Cui Yu's voice came from outside the door.
Cui Ling put away the file and took two steps forward: "Father."
The father had a serious look on his face: "How's the study going? The Plutos are waiting for your report."
"Ready, father, let's go."
The two walked side by side outside the house.
The sun is shining brightly in the courtyard, and the grass and trees are well trimmed. You can comfortably bathe in the light and sway your body.
"Father, I asked you before about the origin of the light in the courtyard... You told me that you obtained a treasure. Is this treasure... related to mother?"
The muscles on Cui Yu's face moved imperceptibly.
The two walked a few more steps, Cui Yu stopped and said to Cui Ling solemnly.
"Yes. That treasure is your mother. She is... the treasure of Hades."
…
"Cui Ling, how are you today? I heard that you were very angry when you came out."
Cui Ling sat bored on the bench in the courtyard, holding a blade of grass in one hand, one leg shaking on the ground, and frowning.
Cui Ling heard the sound, stood up and said hello to his father, and then sighed again: "It was rejected again. It is too difficult for the Tenth Palace Pluto to reach a consensus. It is obviously a very simple matter... The implementation process of the previous matter was also very difficult. No, except Master Bao and I are of the same mind, everyone else has their own plans. Also, everyone’s position has been determined. There is no reward for doing right, and punishment for doing wrong. No one is willing to do more, but...but..."
Cui Yu also nodded helplessly: "I have been a civil judge for such a long time, and the Ten Palaces of Hades have also rotated quite a lot. But the underworld has always been like this, Cui Ling, get used to it."
"I can't get used to it..."
"Force yourself to get used to it. I will go to heaven in a while and will discuss the following matters with the people in heaven. I hope there will be some changes."
"Really father?"
"Yeah. By the way, there are a few more light fish in the study. Is it you, Cui Ling?"
"Huh? I don't know. Is it mother? I'll go take a look!"
…
Cui Ling threw the letter on the table angrily.
The content of the letter has not changed from before. It seems that the heaven does not care about everything in the underworld at all, and my father is not taken seriously in the heaven at all. Now the financial crisis in Hades has taken shape, and the trend of deterioration is getting faster and faster. Hades will one day completely collapse.
Cui Ling finally understood that the underworld, which belonged to the heaven, would not end well.
Everything my mother did for Hades... cannot be exchanged for any gratitude. There is no record of my mother in any history book.
Cui Lingyou's blue pupils flashed with scorching light.
It’s okay not to want this kind of Hades.
…
Po Meng had already swam above the surface of memory. She found everything she needed, closed her eyes, and shook her fingers gently.
The lake water rose rapidly, compressed and gathered into a small cup.
Po Meng picked up the cup, shook it slightly, then picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
These memories have a permanent home.
The water cup disappeared into Po Meng's hand.
Po Meng closed her eyes and slowly opened them again.
It's time to go out.
