Chapter 622: Epilogue: The Ferry

On the opposite bank, the Golden Shackles General led a large contingent of netherworld officials and soldiers from the Chenghuang Temple, guarding and firmly protecting the opposite shore.

Hui Moqiong quietly told me that the netherworld official on duty that night was no longer stationed at the Chenghuang Temple.

I asked if he had been transferred elsewhere.

Hui Moqiong didn't answer my question, merely letting out a low laugh.

From his smug expression I could see that the netherworld official had been dealt with.

No wonder Gu Yuan has been quiet these past two days—he was suppressed.

Whoever he sent to provoke us at that pass must be one of Gu Yuan's trusted aides.

Wang Fanchen's fate unknown, that aide could be silently eliminated; Gu Yuan didn't even get a chance to question it—shows he can't control the Chenghuang Temple.

What else can we do?

Just behave and keep a low profile.

My favorability toward the Golden Shackles General increased considerably.

Wang Fanchen dares to abandon the Chenghuang Temple, gambling everything for love—not mere reckless bravery, he has confidence.

His confidence comes from those two trusted aides of his.

Of course, there could be far more than two.

I crouched by the river, staring at the constantly turning Netherworld Ferry, my eyes blurred, my mind racing; if the ferry were to be completely swallowed by the water, I would rush over at once and pull Yu Nian out of the river.

I remain confident in my reaction speed and flying ability.

As the Netherworld Ferry sank deeper, everyone grew more tense, even their breathing tightened.

After an unknown span of time, a golden light suddenly shot up from the distant river surface, straight to the heavens.

That golden light was composed of countless golden characters; A Cheng exclaimed excitedly, 'It's a Praise Virtue Memorial! It's Merit!'

These Praise Virtue Memorials were burned by the over a thousand people rescued from Mount Junzhu; their convergence formed Merit Light appearing here, indicating Wang Fanchen is likely beneath the river.

This position corresponds to… apparently the section beneath the Chenghuang Temple's rear courtyard where the incense ash torrent lies.

How could Wang Fanchen be there?

It wasn't that Fanchen had been awakened into form… I jumped up, realizing that's how it was!

No wonder Wang Fanchen insisted on retrieving the stone from me back then.

After the battle in Zangqu, we never saw Fanchen again.

Fanchen previously dwelled parasitically in Yu Nian's body; since Yu Nian's soul could be drawn back to the Nineteen Heavens, so could Fanchen.

But Fanchen had no life of his own; it was Wang Fanchen who gave him a bit of continued existence.

Thus, when the Lovebirds' Heart Lock was melted, that spark of life was left within the stone.

From the start, Wang Fanchen had left a contingency.

That stone must ultimately have been sent back by him into that abyss.

No wonder his last words to Yu Nian upon leaving the Nineteen Heavens sounded strange.

"Fanchen… is merely a speck of dust, I specially fashioned him to prolong your life and keep you company; I am Wang Fanchen."

He left a backup through Fanchen.

He wasn't sure whether he would be discovered, nor when.

He hoped Yu Nian would find him, yet feared that if she did, she would mistake him for Fanchen…

What a cunning and tormented man.

But now the problem arises: how to bring him back?

Fanchen's formation came from Wang Fanchen's awakening and shaping.

The tides of feng shui have turned; now it's his turn…

At that moment, on the Netherworld Ferry, Yu Nian's figure moved.

She seized the Thousand Soul Banner in one grasp, waving it continuously, faintly accompanied by the sound of chanting.

At the same time, the Ferry Boat drifting to and fro on the Wangchuan River with the current, as if summoned, surged upstream on its own.

The instant the Netherworld Ferry was completely swallowed by the river water, the Ferry Boat appeared within everyone's sight.

Yu Nian leapt up and steadily boarded the Ferry Boat.

The Ferry Boat surged further upstream, then the bow dipped and it swiftly sank beneath the water.

Merit Light illuminated half of the Nether Realm's sky; the Golden Shackles General stood anxiously by the riverbank, ready to draw his weapons at the slightest stir.

They were as jumpy as a startled bird.

Nor were we any different.

No one entered the water again.

Nor did anyone know what exactly happened beneath the water.

Merit Light persisted; the water surface went from initial black to covered in gold, then to rolling crimson waves, with heat surging up from below… the whole process was long and agonizing.

A muffled thunder rolled from above; someone warned, 'Heavenly thunder is coming—someone is about to undergo tribulation.'

Everyone retreated a distance toward the Nether Realm.

Immediately, bolts of heavenly thunder fell one after another, each sinking into the river below.

A blood rain fell without warning.

Just as in the past, Wang Fanchen and his disciple took shelter from the blood rain beneath the eaves of Yin Dang Hang.

Yu Nian and Wang Fanchen shared a glance that spanned myriad ages.

Wang Fanchen said, Yu Nian is his love tribulation.

This love tribulation, after hundreds of years and countless setbacks, has finally arrived as promised.

Can we survive it?

Can't cross?

For the two of them, it actually doesn't matter anymore.

What matters is that they have always deeply loved each other.

And they eventually reunited.

I gripped Liu Junyan's hand tightly, my nails digging into his palm, yet I felt nothing.

I was too nervous.

I was afraid, afraid that Yu Nian wouldn't come back.

Liu Junyan let me hold him, never letting out even a muffled groan.

The blood rain fell for a full quarter hour before stopping, the river water seeming to be stained red in places.

The Merit Light gradually faded.

The river surface returned to calm.

A deathly silence.

So quiet that it felt as if there were no signs of life left underwater.

I desperately told myself, hold on!

Liu Junyan returned my grip, wrapping an arm around my shoulders to let me lean on him.

Only then did I realize my whole body was trembling uncontrollably.

Whoosh…

A sound of rolling water broke the silence, and everyone jolted.

Immediately after, we saw the ferry boat's prow emerge from the water.

Yu Nian held the punt pole, standing precariously at the bow, one foot on the gunwale, the other on the deck, and thrust her body downward.

Thus the bow was pressed down by Yu Nian, large sheets of water cascaded off the hull, after a jolt the whole ferry boat settled steadily on the water.

At the stern, a tall man sat obediently holding the Thousand Soul Banner, his body swaying with the boat.

Just as he emerged from the water, the man's whole body showed an eerie all-over red, yet his surface flashed with a sheet of golden Merit Light.

After leaving the water, the red and gold quickly faded, and he became lively all over.

It was Wang Fuchen!

Yu Nian really brought him out from the depths of the incense-ash flood using the ferry boat.

The ferry boat ferrying—how could that not be a kind of enlightenment?

Though the love tribulation is hard to cross, they still managed to cross it.

Ten years of cultivation to share a boat crossing, a hundred years to share a pillow—between them, it's far more than a hundred years.

Their future will surely also have many, many hundreds of years…