Within the Celestial Emperor’s medicinal garden in samsara, Ning Fan stood there for a long time.
Almost every day, Mu Weiliang would definitely come to the garden and would sit on the same bluestone, holding the butterfly in her hands.
She would unreservedly spill out all the loads weighing on her mind at the butterfly.
“Little Fan. Did you know that the Immortal Demon World had been split into the Land of the Awakened and the Land of Dreams by someone? Countless royal True Spirits had lost their royal bloodlines, causing them to also lose the power which they were proud of…”
“Little Fan. Did you know that the Devil Pool had been suppressed by someone? That person used nine ‘Emperor Mountains’ to block the nine entrances to the Devil Pool…”
“Little Fan. I heard that my fiancé who was chosen by my father will be returning to the Heavenly Court… He dislikes living creatures from the mortal world the most. You must never annoy him…”
“…Little Fan. Fortunately, he hasn’t returned yet. I don’t want to be married yet. I haven’t had enough fun… Little Fan, look. My father has put the ‘Realm Gate Key’ under my custody. Hehe. You must never tell anybody, okay? The area around the Realm Gate is really dangerous. It was the Immortal Sovereign who personally sealed the place. It must never be simply opened …”
Time passed like flowing water. Mu Weiliang leisurely sat at the medicinal garden day in and day out and there would always be a black-and-white butterfly which was given the name “Little Fan” perching on her shoulder.
The lifespan of a butterfly was very short. The shortest time it could survive was just half a month while the maximum span of its life was never more than 2 complete months.
Day after day, the life force of the butterfly deteriorated as it rested on Mu Weiliang’s soft palms.
The more time she spent with the butterfly, the more painful her heart ached. Because the little butterfly which had only accompanied her for not more than 2 months was going to die soon.
This is a bold butterfly which dared to fly into the Heavenly Court with just its mortal body… It does not deserve death…
“If you are able to cultivate into a butterfly demon, I’m sure that you will be a good demon…”
She gently bit her lip and began to bustle about in the medicinal garden. She intended to search for the dew from the one-million-year-old spiritual herb for the butterfly to drink.
After the butterfly consumed it, its vital force gradually recovered and Mu Weiling’s face brightened up with a radiant smile.
Only then did she realized that she had actually fallen in love with this tiny butterfly.
What a silly girl she was to give her heart to a butterfly…
Since then, a girl like her who was known for being clumsy began to learn embroidery from the maiden immortals in the Heavenly Court. To them, it was truly an astonishing matter as they would stare at her with their mouths agape when they heard of her request.
The princess of the Heavenly Court who is famous for her indolent and carefree attitude wants to learn needlecraft?!
Naturally, no one dared to not teach her.
Therefore, from that day onwards, there was always a busy and beautiful lady appearing on the bluestone with an immortal needle and a white silk cloth in her hands, doing her embroidery.
What she embroidered on the cloth was not a pair of dragon and phoenix which was said to be able to bring prosperity or a pair of love ducks1 swimming in the pond or a natural background of grass, mountains and rivers. On the contrary, it was a pair of butterflies flying and dancing happily in the air.
The half black and half white butterfly was of course Little Fan while she was the other one that looked plainly inconspicuous.
“Little Fan. I’ll preserve my virginity for you… You must cultivate well and be a butterfly immortal someday to take me away… I don’t like staying here.”
Mu Weiling seriously stared at the small butterfly.
Countless months had passed and Mu Weiliang was living happily and blissfully all the time. No one knew the reason of her happiness and no one was able to walk into her world.
The bliss and joy in her life lasted until that very day.
That day, she did not come to the medicinal garden.
On the second day after that, she did not appear.
On the third day, there was still no sign of her…
Ten days later, she finally came to the garden with a haggard face. The butterfly perched on her shoulder as usual but what was unusual about her arrival this time was that there was a golden-haired man following behind her.
His hair was long like a waterfall. The power of his cultivation level was unbelievably high. It was Ning Fan’s first time meeting such a powerful being.
His appearance was vague. But judging from his demeanor, he was a handsome young man.
Wearing a decrepit golden robe, he trailed after Mu Weiliang without uttering a single word.
He was actually giving her the time to think over something.
“You really are not lying to me? If I give you the Realm Gate Key, you will really tell my father to call off our marriage?” Mu Weiliang spoke while her eyes flashed with doubt.
“How would I be willing to lie to you? Hehe. It really shocked me that you’ve fallen in love with a mere butterfly. The way you do things is always exceeding all expectations. Well, I don’t think I’m going to do anything about it. As the ‘Love Wielding Immortal Emperor’, I never force someone’s feelings. Moreover, as long as you hand the key over to me, I will also connect the string of love between the both of you using my Immortal Emperor’s power. Even if you two go into samsara, you will still be reunited with each other in your future lives and stay together forever… How does that sound?!”
“But this key is very important. If you…” Mu Weiliang’s expression was visibly moved, even though the butterfly on her shoulder was violently fluttering its wings, trying to warn her.
“Don’t worry. Don’t tell me you don’t believe in my power? If the key is in my hands, no one will be able to steal it from me. In fact, it is quite dangerous for you to keep it…”
“Then…Then you must never go against your word…”
Mu Weiliang bit her lip in nervousness and passed a purple-golden key to the golden-haired man.
He then activated his immortal power to pull the love strings for Mu Weiliang and the butterfly together and tied a knot. After that, he vanished…
Seeing him disappear, Mu Weiliang heaved a sigh of relief and held the butterfly in her hands.
“Little Fan. You must quickly cultivate and transform into human form to bring me out of here… I really hate this place. Bring me to the world of mortals and grant me a peaceful life where I don’t need to have my hands be stained with blood… Okay?”
The butterfly flew from her hands for the first time and landed on her cheek, gently touching her with one of its wings.
That action caused Ning Fan to feel stunned.
Because he had done that similar action countless times to Zhihe…
“Zhihe! Is it possible that Zhihe is also the soul of the female corpse while the butterfly…is…me?!”
“So this is samsara?”
It was as if there was an invisible love string binding them together generations after generations…
All of a sudden, a thought surged within Ning Fan’s mind.
“In our previous lives, you were the daughter of the Celestial Emperor while I am just a simple butterfly…”
He remained silent.
He finally understood the unique feelings that he had towards Mu Weiliang in the Demon Sinister Forest and the reunion with Mu Xiaohuan in the Land of Slumber.
If he was not wrong, Zhihe was one of the three souls of Mu Weiliang. Besides, she was very likely to be the main soul!
At the same time, the image of a holy and pure woman wearing white robes appeared in his mind.
Her Dancing Sleeve Spell, the seven-colored light rays…
If Ning Fan thought correctly, that Si Wuxie was…
Her objective of coming to the Yue Country was actually…
“I get it now!”
At this moment, Ning Fan’s pupils expanded, heightening his attention. It was as if he was able to see through a person’s life including their previous ones with just a single look.
It was a seed. A seed that was planted by the power of Samsara. Due to the limitation of his cultivation level, he was not able to comprehend it. But one day in the future, this seed would germinate and grow its roots. When the time comes, it would be enough for Ning Fan to gain the power to change samsara!
He did not utter much but stood beside the bluestone, waiting to see what would unfold next.
In the past, he once pried into the remnant memories of the female corpse and found the scene where Mu Weiliang was betrayed by someone.
Now, he knew that her fate had become difficult to change the moment Mu Weiliang handed over the Realm Gate Key to the Love Wielding Immortal Emperor.
Well, that person obviously did not harbor any good intentions! Perhaps there was only the slow-witted girl, Mu Weiliang who failed to see through him.
Love Wielding?! Maybe he was the reason why Mu Weiliang would fall in love with a butterfly? He was probably the one scheming for such a relationship in the dark!
The demon race has been annihilated. The devil race has been suppressed. Could the divine race of the Heavenly Court be the next target?!
“Love Wielding Immortal Emperor…Who is this man?!”
Not knowing how long had passed, a strong wind blew through the Heavenly Court.
That wind which blew continuously made everyone ill at ease. Carrying a trace of indomitable aura, it swept across the entire Immortal World.
Above the sky, a purple-golden gate which was immeasurably massive emerged all of a sudden.
A purple-golden ray of light flashed past the gate from top to bottom. In the next moment, it opened!