Chapter 27

Guo Jing could not help himself and blurted out the question.

It was truly because Li Li Li Zhangsheng was far too unlike an eight-year-old child.

What was I doing when I was eight?!

Thinking of this, Guo Jing could not help but fall silent; people really... cannot be compared to one another!

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Li Li Li Zhangsheng slowly returned to the Scripture Depository.

"Li Li Zhangsheng is back?!"

"Did you go to see Little Dragon Maiden again?!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang looked at Li Li Li Zhangsheng and could not help but ask.

"Hmm?! Old Man Wang, why have you come?!"

"I went for a stroll down the mountain and saw a silly boy."

Li Li Li Zhangsheng looked at Wang Wang Wang Chongyang with surprise.

One must know that ever since Wang Wang Wang Chongyang had left in such low spirits last time, he had not come to find him for quite a while.

"A silly boy?!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang was somewhat puzzled. What was wrong with this little disciple? Instead of going to see Little Dragon Maiden, he went to see a silly boy?!

"Forget it!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang did not press for details. He had come today for an important matter, so he paused slightly, as if organizing his words, and asked slowly, "Can you... wake up a living dead person?!"

Mount Zhongnan, Quanzhen Sect, Scripture Depository.

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang looked at Li Li Li Zhangsheng with a complex expression and a solemn demeanor; in his eyes, there was both a trace of anticipation and a hint of worry.

"A living dead person?!"

Li Li Li Zhangsheng paused, his expression strange, as if he had guessed something. "You don't mean... Auntie Lin, do you?!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang’s expression stiffened; he had not expected Li Li Li Zhangsheng to react so quickly and guess it all at once.

"Tell me!"

"What exactly happened between you and Auntie Lin?!"

Li Li Li Zhangsheng became interested, showing a gossipy look, full of curiosity.

"Don't you already know?!"

"Why... why do you still want me to... to say it?!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang became uncharacteristically bashful, his expression awkward, his lips mumbling.

"Just tell me!"

"If you don't tell me, I won't save her!"

Li Li Li Zhangsheng "threatened."

"You... you really can..."

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang became even more nervous, terrified that Li Li Li Zhangsheng might be deceiving him.

"I can even create the Longevity Technique, let alone a mere living dead person?!"

Li Li Li Zhangsheng said nonchalantly.

He was not speaking nonsense; with his heaven-defying comprehension, a mere living dead person was nothing, and she wasn't truly dead yet anyway.

A look of joy appeared on Wang Wang Wang Chongyang’s face. After a long silence, he let out a long sigh and began to speak slowly.

"Sigh!"

"Very well!"

"Since you want to know, I will tell you..."

"The story of Ying and me..."

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang looked wistful, the expression on his face constantly changing—at times proud, at times dejected, at times joyful, at times emotional, at times... all sorts of things, too numerous to list.

"I became famous in my youth, excelling in both literature and martial arts, roaming the pugilistic world, and soon rose to prominence."

"At that time, the Jin State was powerful and invaded the Great Song. I rose in anger to raise an army, wishing to achieve great deeds, but in the end, I was no match for the Jin State, and my soldiers were all but wiped out."

"Helpless, I came to Mount Zhongnan, built the Ancient Tomb, and called myself a 'living dead person.' No matter who came to persuade me, I refused to take even half a step out."

"Until the eighth year, a girl named Lin Lin Chaoying came outside the Ancient Tomb and cursed me in every way possible for seven days and seven nights, finally forcing me out."

"I was cursed until I was drenched in blood, and I immediately went out to argue with her. But as soon as I left the Ancient Tomb, I saw a girl with bright eyes and white teeth, smiling beautifully."

Speaking of this, Wang Wang Wang Chongyang inadvertently revealed an inexplicable smile. "I suddenly realized that she wanted to provoke me to come out, and it was out of good intentions."

"Thus, from that time on, Ying and I turned from enemies into friends and roamed the pugilistic world together."

"Looking back now, that period was the happiest time of my life."

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang could not help but sigh, and a look of regret could not help but appear in his eyes.

Li Li Li Zhangsheng did not speak, listening quietly, but in his heart, he curled his lips: Isn't it too late to regret it now?!

After a pause, Wang Wang Wang Chongyang seemed to regain his composure and spoke of the many past events of him and Lin Lin Chaoying roaming the world and punishing evil to promote good.

"We fought and bickered all the way... How could I not know Ying’s feelings for me? It was just that 'the Jin State is not yet destroyed, how can I have a home?' Plus, the 'Innate Technique' I practiced required me to maintain my virginity... I could only fail Ying’s feelings and pretend not to know."

"If it were an ordinary woman, once she understood my actions, she would either leave in sorrow or wait silently."

"But Ying was Ying. Under heaven, there is only one Ying!"

"She was top-tier in character and appearance, had extraordinary talent, and possessed peerless martial arts. Looking across the four seas and eight wildernesses, she was a rare and remarkable woman."

"She was very unconvinced by me in her heart. Why was I always so listless and playing deaf and dumb?!"

"Thus, Ying came up with a method."

"That was... a martial arts duel!"

"The first match was a physical fight. I exchanged thousands of moves with Ying, and it was a draw."

"So there was a second match, a literary duel, and we made an agreement!"

"You know this agreement: If I won, Ying would commit suicide on the spot and naturally would not see me again. If Ying won, either I would give her the Living Dead Tomb to live in and obey her orders for the rest of my life, never disobeying anything; otherwise, I would have to become a monk or a Daoist priest, build a temple on this mountain, and accompany her for ten years."

"Ying was very smart. She knew I wouldn't watch her commit suicide, so she came up with this method."

"And for a woman as talented and proud as Ying, this was already the highest realm of affection she could express."

"But Ying was also clever, only to be misled by her own cleverness. In this way, my retreat was also blocked by her."

"In the end, Ying won, and I could only give her the Ancient Tomb; I built a small Daoist temple nearby and became a Daoist priest."

"Perhaps! Perhaps... from that day on, Ying gave up on me..."

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang was extremely melancholy, his expression dejected. A faint sense of sorrow flowed around his entire body, and it even affected the celestial phenomena in the surroundings.

"This... what is going on?! I want to cry!"

"Me too! I don't know why, I just want to cry..."

"I remembered Er Ya from back then..."

"..."

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang’s sadness not only affected the surroundings, but even the Quanzhen disciples outside the Scripture Depository were affected, and inexplicably, they shed tears unconsciously.

Li Li Li Zhangsheng was not affected, but he could not help but sigh. Looking at Wang Wang Wang Chongyang’s self-pitying expression, he had the urge to beat him up.

This silence lasted much longer than the previous one.

"Later, when I entered the Ancient Tomb again, I learned that when Ying practiced to the peak of the Celestial Human realm and was about to break through to the Land Immortal realm, she suddenly suffered from qi deviation. If it weren't for the ten-thousand-year cold jade freezing her, Ying would have likely perished."

"But even so, Ying became a... living dead person!"

At the end, Wang Wang Wang Chongyang sighed heavily. Unknowingly, his eyes filled with tears, which slowly flowed down his cheeks.

He regretted it!

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang truly regretted it!

If he hadn't been so stubborn back then, perhaps Ying wouldn't have become a living dead person, and perhaps things wouldn't have turned out differently...

"Let's go!"

After a long silence, Li Li Li Zhangsheng suddenly stood up and said.

"Go?!"

Wang Wang Wang Chongyang was stunned, as if he hadn't come back to his senses yet.

"Of course, to go to the Ancient Tomb to save Auntie Lin!"