Chapter 386

Late at night, Hongfu Garden.

Zhang Fan walked into the residential complex and checked his phone; it was already past twelve. The old streetlights buzzed, their dim yellow light flickering on and off.

"Finally back!"

Zhang Fan let out a long breath. The closer he got to home, the more relaxed he felt, and even his soul-aspect felt much more comfortable.

Back home, there were no more grudges, no more life-and-death battles. Even though he practiced the Divine Demon Sacred Fetus and couldn't sleep, he could still enjoy a moment of rare tranquility.

It's just that this tranquility wouldn't last for many days before he had to head to Zhenwu Mountain.

Fortunately, this trip to Zhenwu Mountain was to attend the Pure Yang Zhenren's apprenticeship ceremony, so there certainly wouldn't be any twists and turns. It would be just like the last trip, a chance to relax.

Thump... thump... thump...

Just then, a light, slow sound of footsteps came from behind. Zhang Fan stopped subconsciously and turned to look.

Under the streetlight, a slender figure slowly walked out, wearing white sneakers, a capable short-sleeved shirt, shoulder-length short hair, and ethereal eyes.

"Jiang Lai!?"

In the dim night, Zhang Fan stood in the shadows while Jiang Lai stopped under the streetlight, the distance between them no more than ten paces.

At this moment, Zhang Fan was a bit surprised. He hadn't told Jiang Lai he was coming back today, and he hadn't expected Jiang Lai to appear in his residential complex.

"Why are you here? Are you looking for me for something?" Zhang Fan regained his composure and asked.

"I came to see you," Jiang Lai said softly, her ethereal eyes showing no emotion.

"See me? What's there to see about me?" Zhang Fan laughed.

"To see if you're dead," Jiang Lai said solemnly.

"..."

Zhang Fan remained silent. If someone else had said this, he would have definitely thought it was a joke or ill-intentioned, but Jiang Lai...

That must be a sincere visit to see if he was dead.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Zhang Fan laughed lightly. "By the way, I'm going back to Zhenwu Mountain next week to attend the Pure Yang Zhenren's apprenticeship ceremony. Do you want to go with me?"

Back then, it was on Zhenwu Mountain that he met Jiang Lai, recovered his soul-aspect, and slowly awakened from that Great Night of No Light.

"Don't go," Jiang Lai shook her head.

"Huh?" Zhang Fan was stunned, not understanding what she meant for a moment.

"It's very dangerous there!" Jiang Lai said solemnly.

"Dangerous?" Zhang Fan frowned, expressing his confusion.

"You might die!"

"I don't understand," Zhang Fan was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"Jiang Lai, there are many things I don't understand. You aren't as simple as you look on the surface..."

"Eighty years ago, during the Great Daoist Calamity, you were also on Long Hu Mountain!"

Zhang Fan's gaze narrowed into a line. In the vast memories of the Three Corpses Spirit Pellet, he had seen a corner of the past.

Eighty years ago, on Long Hu Mountain, during that calamity that swept the world, five people walked out alive.

The Millennium Demon, the Three Corpses Daoist, Pure Yang Zhenren, Zhang Taixu, and Jiang Lai.

Not only that, the day he was born, the day he entered the calamity ten years ago, and even the day he began to escape the calamity on Zhenwu Mountain... all had Jiang Lai's shadow.

She seemed to have traversed the years and time, overlapping with Zhang Fan's life trajectory.

"Eighty years have passed, and your appearance hasn't changed at all," Zhang Fan stared at Jiang Lai and asked in a deep voice.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I don't know."

Jiang Lai's face still had no expression. She slowly looked up at the night sky and shook her head.

"From the day I existed, I have been waiting."

"Waiting!?" Zhang Fan asked subconsciously.

"Waiting... I am waiting for a person, for an event..."

"The meaning of my existence is to wait for that person and complete that event," Jiang Lai said softly.

This feeling was very wonderful, almost instinctive, branded into her absolute consciousness, just like how people are born knowing how to breathe.

Everyone, and even every living creature, born into the red dust, has a meaning for its existence.

Just like a mayfly, born in the morning and dead by evening, the meaning of its birth is for reproduction; once that is finished, its life ends.

The meaning of Jiang Lai's existence is to wait.

Endless waiting!

"You are the person I am waiting for," Jiang Lai looked at Zhang Fan, her ethereal eyes incomparably clear.

"From the day you were born, I knew you were the person I was waiting for."

"I don't understand!"

Zhang Fan shook his head, feeling even more confused.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

Jiang Lai said solemnly: "As long as you are there, when that critical time appears, I will know."

"That is the meaning of my existence."

In Jiang Lai's consciousness, her existence is to complete "a certain event." The condition for this event to occur is Zhang Fan. As long as she waits for that time node to appear, everything can form a perfect closed loop.

Zhang Fan was thoughtful. Jiang Lai hid too many secrets and incredible things. She was like an artificial intelligence with instructions input; only when the conditions were triggered could the next instruction be formed.

This was too strange.

"So you cannot die," Jiang Lai said solemnly.

"How could I die? I'm going to Zhenwu Mountain this time. Pure Yang Zhenren is there, and he is in the Pure Yang Limitless Realm," Zhang Fan explained.

With Pure Yang Zhenren's cultivation, in the current era, if he isn't a living immortal, he's not far off.

"In this red dust, as long as you are human, you will die," Jiang Lai slowly turned around and looked in the direction of Zhenwu Mountain.

"Even he will die!"

"You say Pure Yang Zhenren... will die!?" Zhang Fan's gaze trembled, showing surprise.

"Life and death are the principles of the Dao. As long as you are human, you will die."

Jiang Lai shook her head softly. In the long years, she had seen too much life and death. In her eyes, the life and death of ordinary people were just like the rising and setting of the sun; since it was a law, there was no need for joy or sorrow.

"Everyone can die, except you," Jiang Lai said solemnly.

"Do you mean that if I go to Zhenwu Mountain, there will be a calamity?" Zhang Fan asked strangely.

"I have a sense of your life and death."

Jiang Lai said solemnly: "Just like that woman by your side last time, she will also bring you a calamity, a calamity concerning life and death."

"Li Lingyin!?" Zhang Fan remained silent.

He finally understood why Jiang Lai had fought with Li Lingyin on sight last time.

"If you go to Zhenwu Mountain, it will also be dangerous," Jiang Lai continued.

"Could there be twists and turns in Pure Yang Zhenren's apprenticeship ceremony?" Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

Pure Yang Zhenren is in the Pure Yang Limitless Realm, a living True Person of the present age, the number one person in the world. With him there, what twists and turns could there be?

"Jiang Lai, I appreciate your kindness."

At this moment, Zhang Fan had no clue. He looked at Jiang Lai and said softly: "A practitioner of the Dao must not avoid calamities to truly perceive the wonderful principles."

"A calamity is both a fatal disaster and a medicine for longevity."

As the words fell, Jiang Lai's gaze slowly retracted. She knew Zhang Fan's mind was made up and could not be shaken.

"I understand."

The cold voice echoed in the quiet, old residential complex. A night breeze blew, and the slender figure before him had already disappeared.

Zhang Fan looked in the direction Jiang Lai had left, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

Returning home, he took out the 【Majestic Suppressing Demon Golden Seal】 and the black iron piece, offered them on the shrine, lit a wisp of incense, and returned to his room.

Hum...

Under the dim moonlight, the black iron piece vibrated gently, emitting an imperceptible ripple, pushing the 【Majestic Suppressing Demon Golden Seal】 into a corner. The rising incense was thick and extraordinary, all surging toward the black iron piece.