Chapter 137: 187, 188. Lantern Festival, Relics, Hebai Kingdom, Birth (Seeking Subscriptions)

Time passes.

The Lantern Festival.

The Imperial Capital of the Great Shang Dynasty is a city of fire-trees and silver flowers that never sleeps; the star-bridges are crowded with songs and music. Lanterns hang in the bustling streets, and everyone sings songs of peace.

The curfew is lifted tonight; the city is bright until dawn. The lanterns are of every variety, and everything one could wish for is there.

Snowflake lanterns and plum blossom lanterns, like spring ice shattered into pieces; embroidered screen lanterns and painted screen lanterns, gathered into five colors. Walnut lanterns and lotus lanterns hang high on lantern towers; green lion lanterns and white elephant lanterns stand on high lamp racks. There are even some flamboyant nobles who "compete with lanterns to show off their beauty," building giant tower lanterns and giant building lanterns several zhang high on the low hills of the Imperial Capital, visible even from the foot of the hills more than ten miles away.

However, the liveliest place is undoubtedly Xuanwu Temple.

Inside the temple, in front of the Great Dao Hall of the Xuanwu Emperor, thousands of exotic flowers and rare herbs are illuminated by the lanterns.

Bathed in the lantern light, those fragrant herbs and elegant flowers are baked to look like seven-colored coral from the deep sea.

As pilgrims walk amidst the flowing light and beneath the coral, a slight upward glance creates the illusion of being in heaven.

Dreamy light and shadow, and the noisy sounds of revelry fill the senses. During the Lantern Festival, many people used to indulge in revelry before chaotic times, and the festival perhaps carried a hint of sorrow; but now, in this kingdom guarded by the "Xuanwu Emperor," that chaotic world is gradually turning into a prosperous age.

The Holy Children set up altars to perform rites, generals take off their armor to change into robes, Martial Artists mingle with the common folk, peddlers shout their wares, the taverns are thick with the smoke of cooking, and courtesans in brothels raise their voices; yet, a tune of strings and bamboo carries not a trace of decadent sound, exhausting the prosperity of this golden age.

"With such prosperity, one should drink wine and sing, and enjoy life while one can."

Someone at an elegant tavern raises a cup to the moon and says, "Life is short; to happen upon such an age, how fortunate, how truly fortunate."

"Waiter, bring wine, bring meat!" another calls out.

Still others say: "Indulge in the mountains and rivers, why bother with those messy rights and wrongs? Drink, drink, hahaha!"

As the wars come to an end and peace arrives, the cultural mindset of this Great Shang Dynasty is also changing.

The many fragile lives and sudden deaths during wartime awakened their reverence for life, making them begin to cherish this short life and crave "getting drunk today while there is wine today," rather than continuing to pursue fame and fortune.

Amidst the bustling noise, the streets below are lively.

A youth-like man is supporting the hand of a pregnant beautiful woman, walking along the street here.

Children run past them from time to time, but the man always protects her very carefully to avoid the beautiful woman being bumped into accidentally.

"Life is short..." the beautiful woman sighs softly. "Actually, even if one is a scion of a noble family, isn't it the same? Viewed from the vast sea, what difference is there between a noble scion and an ordinary person?"

The man holds her hand and is about to say something, when he hears the "da-da-da-da" sound of footsteps in the distance, accompanied by the clashing of metal scale armor. Before long, a squad of armored soldiers approaches from afar. The leader kneels on one knee before the man and says respectfully, "Greetings, Your Highness the Regent."

This man and beautiful woman are naturally Song Cheng and Su Ningyu.

After Su Ningyu's health improved slightly, it happened to be the Lantern Festival, so Song Cheng brought her out for a walk.

Song Cheng says, "Go about your patrols; I am just walking with my wife."

"Yes!"

The armored soldiers bow to this big figure and then disperse.

In the blink of an eye, people from not far away come to pay their respects again.

Upon asking, it turns out to be someone from a daughter-in-law's family, and this family happens to be related to the Regent through many twists and turns.

No sooner had this family passed than many others hurried over.

Song Cheng doesn't recognize so many people, so he just nods one by one.

Before long, he takes two firework sticks for Xiao Yu'er.

Su Ningyu takes the two firework sticks and waves them in the night sky. Soon, many noble women follow Xiao Yu'er's example, laughing and spinning happily.

She has practiced hard for many years and has seen little of such human fireworks. At this moment, surrounded by people and lanterns, the lanterns and the moon reflecting each other, and faces as beautiful as flowers, it is truly lively.

Such liveliness and prosperity often make people forget loneliness, forget the cold, and forget death.

Later, Xiao Yu'er wants to drink something sour.

Song Cheng remembers that there is a place in the Huangcheng with good "sour soup noodles," so he supports his wife and heads that way.

As they walk, they see a beggar sitting in a wooden barrel, looking up at the moon. Beside him, a noble is patiently saying something to the beggar, seemingly trying to hire him into his family. The beggar is unfathomable and does not respond. Finally, appearing thoroughly annoyed, he says, "I have no interest in glory and wealth."

The noble is anxious and asks, "Then what do you care about?"

The beggar smiles, shakes his head, and says, "Do not block my view of this clear and bright moon."

The unintentional conversation leaves Xiao Yu'er stunned.

She pulls Song Cheng and asks softly, "Could he be some kind of expert?"

Song Cheng sees at a glance that the beggar has the strength of the Qi Realm. To be honest, this realm is already quite good. If someone were to keep seeking, they might gain a "miraculous encounter" from that beggar. However, to him, this beggar is still too weak, far too weak, so he shakes his head slightly.

The next day,

Countless drunkards wake up on the banks of the willow trees again.

But Song Cheng wakes up in his own warm quilt.

He has An Daxiaojie pressed against his front and Tong Niangzi clinging to his back.

They are an old married couple; even without that kind of excitement, it is familiar and cozy, winning in its warmth.

He habitually turns over again, snuggling into Tong Niangzi, letting the hot blood of a Martial Artist in his body be released.

Afterwards, when everything is calm and the room is peaceful again, the liveliness outside the mansion still follows the spring breeze, passing through halls and alleys, squeezing through window gaps, and entering this space.

Song Cheng thinks of the beggar from last night and cannot help but feel a bit emotional.

He still remembers reading some novels before he transmigrated. In those novels, after the protagonist enters a "grass-growing period," all kinds of miraculous encounters always appear; those strong individuals who had never appeared before spring up like bamboo shoots after rain; and the once-powerful factions the protagonist joined suddenly become riddled with crises the moment he joins... But here, he hasn't encountered anything.

He is the greatest miraculous encounter in the Great Shang.

Anyone who can establish even a slight connection with him will truly soar to the skies.

And the Great Shang, supported by him, is ten or a hundred times stronger than before.

Song Cheng's grass-growing period has been very comfortable and very peaceful.

He has absolutely no intention of leaving this comfort zone.

He just doesn't understand why people have to leave their comfort zones and insist on finding challenges and unhappiness for themselves. If one stays in the comfort zone, one will always be comfortable.

Being prepared for danger in times of peace doesn't necessarily mean one has to jump into danger.

However, the old couple quickly handled everything.

Neither of the two women could leave now, because Song Cheng had set a strict rule for them: they were not allowed to wander off until they reached the Qi Realm.

Therefore, after breakfast, the two women would continue to go and practice with Ying'er.

At this moment, Tong Niangzi had simply tied her hair into a ponytail; since she wasn't going out, she didn't need to dress up specially.

An Daxiaojie, however, was grooming herself exquisitely; this was her habit, and regardless of whether anyone saw her, she would always make herself appear refined.

When only the two of them were left in the room, An Daxiaojie suddenly said, "Husband, would you like to take in some more concubines?"

She could feel her husband's restraint.

Her husband simply could not be thoroughly satisfied by them.

Her husband was too powerful; he and they were almost like two different species.

When they were intimate, they could lose themselves, but her husband absolutely could not.

Because if her husband lost himself, he might completely crush them.

Yet, her husband often went into seclusion to practice or was away on business, and it was rare for him to be at home; if he still couldn't be satisfied, problems would arise in the long run.

Compared to her husband having only three wives, her husband's brothers—even Xiao An—or the prominent figures in the Imperial Capital all had crowds of wives and concubines; how could anyone be like her husband?

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Aren't there still Ying'er and Ling'er?"

As the leader of the Yinyun Barrier, An Daxiaojie had encountered a great many cases of romantic or vengeful killings in the Jianghu, and how many of them were because of women? Men seek novelty, and even if they restrain themselves, how could that be as good as direct satisfaction?

An Daxiaojie decided to resolve this "uncontrollable factor," so she thought for a moment and said directly, "I will pick one for you, Husband, so as to share the burden for me, Jia Er, and Sister Su."

Song Cheng shook his head.

He still valued his family very much.

If a woman were to appear out of nowhere and he were just playing around with her, that would not do.

An Daxiaojie's eyes flickered, and she did not pursue the matter further.

However, the two had spent a long time together; who didn't know whom? Song Cheng understood in a second, so he added, "An Jie, don't you go acting first and reporting later, throwing some young girl onto my bed."

Seeing that she had been seen through, An Daxiaojie retorted, "How many young girls want to enter the Song Prince Mansion and sleep by your pillow?"

Song Cheng said, "That is merely what their families expect.

If they marry me, can they develop true feelings? All they have is trepidation and submissiveness.

After a long time, they would just be trapped in the courtyard, lonely until the end of their days."

An Daxiaojie said, "Husband, then do you think that if they didn't marry you, they would really find a good family that they fancy?"

Having said that, without waiting for Song Cheng to speak, she turned, took Song Cheng's hand, and said softly, "Husband, just listen to me this time; Jia Er and I have already discussed it."

Song Cheng was helpless and said, "Do as you please, but if you find someone, you must let me see her first."

An Daxiaojie smiled and said, "Fine."

Immediately, the couple began talking about A Ting.

A Ting, having crossed the Yinyun Barrier, and her four companions were traveling, upholding justice, and circling the periphery of the Wanling Empire, and their targets were usually "ancient ruins."

Regarding this, A Ting gave an explanation that was like doing as the locals do: by finding ancient powerhouses, her Prayer Spirit Art could absorb power from them, thereby obtaining a stronger Prayer Spirit Art.

Prayer Spirit Master and Prayer Spirit Art were the characteristic powers of the Wanling Empire.

They were also powers that could only be used in the vicinity of the Wanling Empire.

This power could not be used once one was too far from the Wanling Empire.

Therefore, in the war between the Wanling Empire and the Molten Empire, the Prayer Spirit Masters could not launch long-distance expeditions at all.

A Ting, who had run away from home for so long, gradually lost her resentment toward her mother's "forced marriage," and the little birds flying over the eaves began to look for An Chenyu to report that she was safe.

Song Cheng was very curious about the "Prayer Spirit Masters" of the Wanling Empire.

From his level of perspective: everything must have a cause, and all power must have a source.

Where was the source of the "Prayer Spirit Master's" power?

And why did it cause such a situation?

But as for "where the answers to these questions were," Song Cheng knew: do not seek outward, but appeal to the inner self.

For this question, one only needs to become stronger to know the answer.

He looked forward to the "birth of the third child," looked forward to the formation of the "Four Fierce Lands," and also paid attention to the strange fusion progress on Jilei Mountain.

In a flash, another half a year passed. The lantern festival of early spring still felt like yesterday, but what met the eyes now were deep yellow withered leaves like a tide, covering the thousands of palaces and halls of the Huangcheng, lingering on one roof ridge after another, and on the ground where the tiles varied from place to place.

It was late autumn.

Su Ningyu had been pregnant for a full eighteen months by now.

This could no longer be described as a freak pregnancy.

Su Mengzhen was so shocked that she crawled out of the Ice Coffin and came to her sister's side to take care of her every day.

Incidentally, the conclusion of that day's "Flat Peach experiment" was very unexpected, yet in a way, it was also within expectations: ordinary people eating a Flat Peach were like eating arsenic and would die suddenly. Even those in the Qi Realm would die miserably. Only a Pseudo-Mysterious could use a "Flat Peach" to step into the True Xuan Realm.

This conclusion was enough for Song Cheng.

His original judgment had also been further corroborated.

The Mysterious Grade could be used as medicine, creating medicine-men, and the highest level was to elevate a Martial Artist to the "Pseudo-Mysterious Realm."

And the "Flat Peach" was very likely the "medicine" of a higher-level existence, so how could it not break through the "Pseudo-Mysterious Grade" to the "True Xuan Grade"?

Song Cheng was also incomparably worried about Su Ningyu's abnormality; he stopped almost all his activities and stayed by Su Ningyu's side all day, listening to her talk.

Even though he was with his sister-in-law every day, the two tacitly did not engage in intimacy at this time, but instead took careful care of Su Ningyu together.

At this time, Xiao Yu'er no longer had the appearance of a scion of a noble family; she was like a woman in difficult labor, often in such pain that cold sweat streamed down, her face like gold paper, her breath as thin as a thread.

The days were hard to endure, and the nights were hard to sleep through.

Her whole body was as cold as an ice ball, and when she finally managed to fall asleep for a while, she would scream repeatedly in the middle of the night, shouting things like "Hell, ghosts!" and then wake up in a fright.

After a period of soothing, if one listened to her speak again, one would hear things like, "I dreamed of a road, a very, very narrow road, like a road in the countryside at dusk. I walked on that road, and just like an ordinary person, all my power was gone. I began to feel panic. When I reached the end of that road, I saw hell."

If one asked what hell was like, one would get, "A hundred ghosts running wild," where flames burned everywhere, and in the fire were charred corpses crying like monsters, sounding like infants wailing; and one would see swords and shadows, old graves for a thousand miles, and flickering ghost fires, as if true yet illusory, truly difficult to distinguish.

Song Cheng knows of the "Four Strengths" and the "Four Fiends."

He also knows that the "Four Strengths and Four Fiends" reveal, to a certain extent, a part of the truth of this world.

One-dimensional beings cannot see the two-dimensional, and the two-dimensional cannot see the three-dimensional; so how can three-dimensional people be so arrogant as to believe that the limit of the world is three dimensions? It is merely that they cannot see the higher levels.

However, the "dimensions" that Song Cheng knew from popular science books before he transmigrated are completely inapplicable to this other world.

Before he transmigrated, the three dimensions were "line, plane, and solid," and the fourth dimension was "time."

But now, the "four" in these "Four Strengths and Four Fiends" is "Body, Soul, Dream, and Domain."

Everyone is a "three-dimensional lifeform," meaning they only have "body, soul, and dream." The body is in the world, the soul is in the body, and occasionally one can dream, dreaming of some drifting, strange things and worlds.

And the "fourth dimension" is the end of dreams, and also the entrance to the "Reappearance World."

If one were to say that every action and every cause and effect of a life is a small pebble cast into the rolling Canghai of time, then everything in the "Reappearance World" is a pattern carved into an immortal sacred mountain.

Ordinary people at most dream, letting their thoughts drift in dreams; even if a few wisps of thought rush into the "Reappearance World," they vanish in an instant.

As for the Ghosts, although they have a place in the "Reappearance World," they have completely lost human consciousness, lost their "body, soul," and even their "dream"; they are incomplete.

Therefore, Song Cheng can understand Su Ningyu's dreams.

Without a doubt, the "small path at dusk in the countryside" that Xiao Yu'er spoke of is a dream, while "hell" is the Reappearance World.

He secretly gave a bitter smile; as expected, this time, it is not simple.

A Ting is merely the child he had with the "Double Ghost."

And the one in Xiao Yu'er's womb is the one he had with the "eight ghosts, including the Great Dark Heaven"—has it already left a mark in the Reappearance World before even being born?

"Husband, Husband!"

Xiao Yu'er grabbed Song Cheng's hand pitifully, "Am I going to die?"

Song Cheng said: "What are you talking about? Your sister Chen Yu was like this too when she was pregnant; it's just that the pregnancy symptoms are severe."

"Mm," Xiao Yu'er responded softly.

After a long while, she finally calmed down.

Song Cheng walked slightly out of the room, but outside the door, there was a daughter-in-law asking to see him.

That daughter-in-law was holding a baby boy and said respectfully: "Father-in-law."

Song Cheng looked at the baby boy, and the baby boy was also staring at him with a pair of round, black-grape-like eyes—this is his eldest grandson, and also Song An's eldest son—Song Zhangjian.

"Chang, Ping, Xi, Le" is the name generation he set for his descendants.

Since Song An, all children will follow "Chang, Ping, Xi, Le" to determine their names.

Song Cheng took his eldest grandson and held him for a moment.

That daughter-in-law said again: "My family obtained a piece of East Sea Warm Jade, which can repel severe cold; I have come specifically to offer it, perhaps it can help the Third Mistress."

Song Cheng nodded.

The daughter-in-law hurriedly offered it up.

Song Cheng took it and looked, then gripped it, and knew in his heart: this is a piece of Sun Nine-Pattern Gold ore; he does not know how it got mixed with jade, but the fusion is quite good, and it counts as a top-grade warm jade; wearing it on the body can indeed repel evil and avoid cold.

"Where did it come from?"

"Reporting to Father-in-law, Zhangjian's uncle is a Yunhe Inspector in Fengzhou; recently, he obtained it inadvertently in an arid land between the river and the East Sea. After he obtained it, I found out, and worrying about the Third Mistress, I asked him for it..."

Song Cheng is not harsh toward his daughter-in-law, especially since she is the mother of his own eldest grandson, so he said gently: "You have a heart."

That daughter-in-law was pleasantly surprised and hurriedly said: "As long as it is useful to the Third Mistress, that is enough."

Song Cheng said: "We cannot treat the person who offered the treasure unfairly; how about this, have him come to my manor's library to choose a technique to copy and take away."

That daughter-in-law hurriedly waved her hands and said repeatedly: "Father-in-law, I absolutely did not come for any benefit."

Song Cheng smiled and said: "I am not bestowing the technique for that reason either."

Having said that, he thought for a moment and remembered that this daughter-in-law seems to be a princess of the Ji Family, surnamed Ji, named Youke.

So he said again: "Youke, Xiao An is away, and you have worked hard in the manor."

Princess Youke chatted with Song Cheng for a few more sentences before happily leaving.

Song Cheng gripped the warm jade, but he did not intend to give it to Xiao Yu'er; the reason is simple—if he could help alleviate Xiao Yu'er's condition through a "suppression" method, he would have done it long ago.

But is this kind of "suppression" not a form of harm to the baby? In the current situation, he can only take things as they come and deal with them step by step.

The Great Shang Dynasty's fifty thousand troops and ten thousand magical beasts, after traveling for more than half a year, finally wound their way around the Yinyun Barrier.

The young general also began to become steady; while ordering people to draw maps, he also explored into the distance, and after a few days, he saw a city.

Song An did not attack the city, but camped outside and sent envoys into the city to communicate.

Before he set out, although he boasted that he would expand the territory for the Great Shang Dynasty, when the time came, he would not be reckless.

Sending envoys was for the purpose of "understanding" and "establishing diplomatic relations."

If he could allow the country here to establish contact with the Great Shang Dynasty, then... his trip would not have been in vain.

And if he encountered trouble, and words did not work, then he would start a fight.

At dusk, the people who went to scout for information returned and reported some basic information to Song An.

"General, this place is called Hebei Kingdom, and it is a vassal of a large country called the Wanling Empire. The accent is not much different from my Leiyun Continent accent, and gold and silver can also be used for trade here..."

Song An nodded and sent envoys again, bringing Jiangnan silk, Fengzhou fragrant tea, and other specialties, preparing to go officially to discuss the matter of "establishing diplomatic relations," while also sending people to purchase food.

Patter.

Patter, patter, patter, patter, patter—the sound of pebbles rolling into the deep darkness came.

It bounced back and forth between the hard and rugged valley walls for a long time before hitting the bottom.

"Be careful, Xiao Yuan."

A Ting shouted.

"I know, Big Sister." The lively young girl replied, then raised her hand and knocked on the stone wall, saying, "Big Sister, the rock here is extremely, extremely hard. I just slashed it with all my might, but only managed to chip off a tiny bit of stone dust. There must be treasure here."

On the other side, the voice of a youth named Zhang Ling came.

"Big Sister, you, Xiao Feng, and Brother Lu stay put for now; wait for Xiao Yuan and me to scout ahead first."

Having said that, another seemingly frail youth closed his eyes and muttered, as if chanting a spell or meditating, then held up a ball of wind in his hand and pointed at the tall, upright youth in the distance.

The tall youth's feet were instantly wrapped in wind, and his movements became much more agile.

"Thanks, Xiao Feng," Zhang Ling said, then followed Xiao Yuan, who was gripping a giant blade, to scout into the darkness ahead.

A Ting clapped her hands, and a rabbit and a monkey also followed closely behind the two.

She looked at the pitch-black, strange cave before her and touched the cold, hard rock wall, suddenly reminded of Yaochi Peak on Jilei Mountain.

The rocks there were just as hard.

There were Flat Peaches on Yaochi Peak.

Yet in the Wanling Empire, experienced adventurers had already taken "ancient ruins in such hard environments must contain treasures" as common knowledge.

Was there any connection between the two?

The obedient A Ting thought for a moment, and in the blink of an eye, she told her distant father and mother.

Everything she knew, her father and mother would always know.

Another month passed.

On the last day of the year at the hour of the Rat, the Ghost Tide in the North Land erupted as never before, and besides the North Land, many monsters also crawled out abruptly from the Yunhe.

Countless died.

But Chang Jian's uncle escaped the disaster because he had come to the Song Prince Mansion to transcribe cultivation techniques.

On the same day, at the same time, Su Ningyu gave birth.

The blood was nearly black, and frost covered the ground.

The hearth fire in the room, the lanterns in the mansion, and the lights in the city suddenly all went out.

The baby girl crawled out from the ink-colored blood, born with her eyes open—they were a pair of eyes like flawless white jade.

It was a pity the eyes were very dull.

After the baby girl crawled out, she remained motionless and dazed.

If she were not the daughter of the Song Prince Mansion, anyone could see that this baby girl was not only blind but also a fool.

Yet even though no one dared to say it, this reality did not seem to change.

Half a month later, almost the entire Imperial Capital knew that "the third young lady of the Song Prince Mansion, Song Mo, had been born," but as for everything regarding the third young lady, the vast majority of people would not know even a single thing... because Song Mo was indeed blind and a fool.

(End of this chapter)