Chapter 613: Finale: Oh, That's How It Is!

My gaze fell to the ground, where those peach blossom petals had fallen.

There, the peach blossom petals vanished, leaving only mottled bloodstains!

Inside the Sānshēng Diàn, a breeze brushed past, causing the peach blossom petals on the old peach tree to flutter up, emitting a faint sound, as if someone were whispering, or as if someone were sobbing.

It turns out these peach blossoms are alive! They have souls!

Only now did I discover that each cluster of peach blossoms on the old tree opens as twin flowers, two blossoms pressed tightly together.

They are like a couple bound by the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ, never parting for eternity.

At the base of each pair of peach blossom petals hangs a red thread, like a tendril.

Strands of red thread fell, winding around Zhúyōu Sànrén's body.

When the red thread withers, the twin peach blossoms fall from the branches, ultimately turning into two drops of blood that vanish completely from this world.

I instinctively glanced at Liu Junyan, my temples throbbing.

I recalled that when we first entered the Sānshēng Diàn, I was drawn to this old peach tree.

At that time I leaned in and sniffed, catching a faint peach blossom fragrance.

I had once marveled at its beauty in my heart.

It is not only beautiful; it grows within the Sānshēng Diàn, which symbolizes unwavering love, giving it a profoundly auspicious meaning.

But now I seem to have uncovered the cruelest fact hidden behind this splendid display—each pair of twin peach blossoms on the old tree represents a couple who once sought the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ in the Sānshēng Diàn.

No wonder the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ in the Sānshēng Diàn are so few.

I originally thought it was because fated ones are hard to find and the Tiěsuǒ Qiáo is hard to cross.

But from Liang Bo and Lin Mei's situation, it seems someone guided them, clearing a path forward for them.

The Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān has existed for hundreds of years.

Over these hundreds of years, just how many people have obtained the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ can be glimpsed from the number of twin peach blossoms on this old tree.

And our fates, too, have been bound by our own hands to the Yuānyāng Tóngxīn Suǒ.

Theoretically, our ultimate fate will be no different from any pair of twin peach blossoms on that old tree.

We personally delivered our love-faith into Zhúyōu Sànrén's hands, where it became his nourishment, armor, and shield!

At that moment, the Three Pure Bell trembled slightly again.

Pure gold collided, producing the sound of the Pleasant Bell.

Yet that bell sounded like a death omen; the instant it rang, the women inside the four incense burners behind us began to moan in pain.

One rose higher than the last.

The smell of blood permeated the air, growing ever thicker.

I couldn't help but turn back, seeing blood seep from the base of the incense burner, forming a stream that flowed toward the giant stone.

The giant stone was actually sucking up that fresh blood!

Dong— Dong—

A faint heartbeat throbbed from within the giant stone, relentlessly pulsing.

At this moment, Liu Junyan gripped the Ancient Bronze Sword in his hand.

On the Ancient Bronze Sword, seven Golden Scales flashed with dazzling light.

Hand raised, sword fell.

A grating screech pierced the eardrums, and a deep gouge appeared on the surface of the giant stone.

Immediately, torrents of blood gushed from the gouge, mingling with an unmistakable incense scent and the radiant Merit Light, surging straight into the Sānshēng Diàn.

Liu Junyan and I were both bewildered by what lay before us.

What is going on?

Just as Liu Junyan's second sword came down on the giant stone, the women's moans cut off abruptly.

Exhausted, they collapsed limp in the incense burners, their faces ashen like dead ash.

Their previously swollen bellies had now gone flat, and beneath them lay a pool of filthy blood.

Liang Bo said that in the dream of pregnancy, the elderly immortal with the aura of a sage told them they were fated to have no child, that a celestial boy would borrow their wombs for a mere formality and would not truly be born, but that having come, they would bring the couples a destiny for offspring, and they would even conceive a child truly their own.

Now it seems this, too, is a complete deception.

They have no child of their own, nor can any offspring destiny appear out of thin air; indeed, after this tribulation, their very lives will be forfeit here.

But they do not know this.

Even to the end of their lives, their hearts still yearned for the arrival of their own child.

Their faith forged flesh and blood, becoming the giant stone's sacrificial offering.

There is no celestial boy serving the City God Lord; there are merely the four offerings sacrificed to the giant stone.

The giant stone absorbed the blood, the sacrifice completed, and its steady, powerful heartbeat grew ever clearer.

Liu Junyan's second sword split the top of the giant stone, blood spilling out and emitting a stronger Merit Light and incense fragrance.

I grabbed Liu Junyan's hand and shook my head at him.

A frontal assault in the Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān would never work; otherwise Wang Fuchen wouldn't have gone to such trouble to lure me into this trap.

"Āyàn, I may have to let you suffer alongside me." I looked at him and said, "You hold off those three middle-aged disciples; everything else is yours to handle."

Liu Junyan's brows knit, but he soon understood, saying, "Xiǎo Jiǔ, go ahead and do what you need; leave the rest to me—I can bear it."

Having said that, he took up the Copper Coin Sword and strode a few steps toward the interior of the Sānshēng Diàn.

Before one even stepped through the gate of the Sānshēng Diàn, a white lash had already swept inside.

Bang!

Amid a shower of peach blossoms, the three disciples of Zhúyōu Sànrén finally stirred, the clamor of battle unceasing.

I then gripped the longbow again, this time aiming the arrow at the giant stone and loosing it without hesitation.

Pfft!

The arrow missed the boulder and instead plunged into a woman's chest.

I couldn't even see clearly how the woman, who had just slumped in the incense burner, managed to get in front of the boulder and catch my arrow with her chest so precisely.

Nirvana fire ignited in her chest, and the flames instantly engulfed her entire body.

The anguished cries echoed throughout the Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān.

Soon, her flesh and soul were utterly reduced to nothing under the scorching Nirvana fire.

I had already fired a second arrow.

Likewise, another flesh-and-blood body caught my arrow...

This happened over and over.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

A sudden round of applause came with the old man's mocking tone: "You deserve to be the renowned Nirvana Phoenix, killing people and destroying souls without blinking; this hermit feels ashamed."

I turned around and saw the lone hermit Zhúyōu Sànrén standing before the Sānshēng Diàn, holding his whisk, he extended two fingers and gently stroked his long beard.

He said: "The Phoenix Lord's decisive and killing bearing reminds me of a deceased person; without her, there would be no Shíjiǔ Dòngtiān, nor would this hermit have today, alas..."

He shook his head regretfully and sighed.

I narrowed my eyes and instantly thought of Yīng.

No wonder I always feel that the events happening in the Jūnzhú Shān Chénghuáng Miào, including the way Zhúyōu Sànrén draws upon faith, give me an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

So that's how it is...