Although Gu Yuan didn't mention any names in his words, I could already detect some clues from between the lines. In fact, he had already recognized me.
He knew full well that the person talking to him now was his wife, but he didn't want to expose it.
I took a deep breath. With each breath, my heart ached unbearably.
But I didn't want him to see me in pain. I wanted to reach out and gently scrape the tip of his nose, but my arms were already too weak.
"The Meng Po Soup is the relief. If one bowl isn't enough, have two. Forgetting the past is the relief."
"If I forget, how can I find my wife? I've never even seen what she really looks like."
"Some people will only accompany you for a short while, so don't be sad..."
"Try to save Chi Yu. Maybe in the next life, you'll meet your wife again..."
At this moment, my consciousness gradually blurred. The beautiful memories of Gu Yuan and me echoed in my mind.
Suddenly, a green - glowing firefly appeared in front of me, hovering above my head. I murmured softly:
"It's okay. It's enough for me to remember some things alone..."
Chi Yu's eyes slowly closed, and a crystal - clear tear slid down the corner of her eye.
I woke up again until something bit my forehead.
I reached out to wipe the tears from the corner of my eyes. When I looked down, I found that the wooden phoenix feather had somehow appeared in my hand.
I was shocked. Did I take over Chi Yu's body again?
"All things are suffering. You suffer, and so does he. What you two have been through is far beyond what I can compare with. Being able to meet again now is your fate, Lan Lan. You must cherish it."
Hearing Chi Yu's voice, I then realized that I had returned to the real world.
I looked down at the red thread on my ring finger that had been broken by Gu Yuan for a thousand years. For a moment, I didn't know what to say.
"Lan Lan... Crown Prince Yuan has endured too much for you. In fact, when you entered my body, he had already sensed it. But he knew in his heart that as long as he exposed your identity, you would leave him. So he kept everything to himself and didn't say a word."
"You see things quite clearly." I said to Chi Yu with a hint of disappointment in my voice.
"Often, those involved are confused. This time, no matter what he says, don't let go... Because he loves you so much."
"Loves me? If it were before, I would surely believe it. But now..." I didn't continue, but my heart was bleeding.
Gu Yuan unilaterally took away the Soul Chapter and destroyed the marriage certificate without saying a word. Was all this because he loved me so much?
"You've also seen your past. Over a thousand years of vicissitudes, the only thing that hasn't changed is his determination to find you. Isn't this true love?"
Chi Yu was a bit excited when she spoke. It was the first time I had heard Chi Yu talk like this.
I didn't want to discuss these things with her anymore, so I changed the topic and asked, "Then what happened later? After I left, how did our souls get out? How could Ying Gou give up such a good bargaining chip?"
"The souls of the three of us have merged. If we want to separate, someone must use their real body to seal Ying Gou."
"So... Ying Gou's soul was sealed inside Gu Yuan's real body?" This didn't seem hard to imagine.
Chi Yu nodded and continued, "Unexpectedly, the Heavenly Emperor actually agreed to this proposal."
"That old fox. Of course he would agree. After all, the spirit of the snake scale has merged with Ying Gou. If they aren't separated, how can he get the pure spirit of the snake scale?"
"But it's really tough on Crown Prince Yuan..."
Chi Yu told me what happened later one by one.
The Heavenly Emperor put Chi Yu's physical body into the blood pool of the mysterious well and locked her shoulder blades.
When the blood worms in the blood pool devoured the physical body, they could separate the souls of the three people. At that time, Ying Gou had absorbed part of the spirit of the snake scale.
After Ying Gou's soul was separated, it was necessary to use a real body to contain it immediately while it was weak.
If Gu Yuan wanted to completely seal Ying Gou's soul, he had to endure six thunderbolts every month to seal this demon. If he didn't, Ying Gou would counter - attack, and Crown Prince Yuan would become Ying Gou's puppet.
After hearing Chi Yu's words, my heart suddenly tightened. Only at this moment did I understand why Gu Yuan had endured nine thunderbolts. The first six were to suppress Ying Gou.
All of this was endured for me. His purpose was to save me.
It turned out that Gu Yuan loved me so much, and he had always been silent, never saying a single extra word.
"Now, I don't know why Bai Xiangjun wants to revive the demon tree. If we don't stop it, by the time this tree grows lush, Gu Yuan will probably be like you and me back then, being manipulated until his demise."
When Chi Yu said this, her body gradually became transparent.
"Lan Lan, you were born missing a soul. You shouldn't have had the chance to be reincarnated. This life was obtained by Gu Yuan going against the heavens. Because of this, he endured two more thunderbolts. Coupled with the one thunderbolt he endured for killing the dragon scale during the tribulation, it's exactly nine thunderbolts, which is already the highest punishment in the celestial realm."
"Although there was a small misunderstanding about the full - moon incident in between, his original intention was always for you."
"Now I'm returning this soul to you. With all your three souls and seven spirits intact, from now on, you won't be an ordinary person anymore. Even for my sake, please reconnect that red thread... And be sure to keep the handkerchief in the wooden box well."
After Chi Yu's voice faded, her body gradually became transparent until it turned into a ball of light, flying straight towards my heart.
"Chi Yu, what are you doing..."
"Boom..." There was a loud noise in my heart, and my body trembled.
I suddenly sat up, and my head hit the coffin lid.
Only then did I realize that I had been having a dream within a dream. Now I was back in reality. This was the tomb of the living dead, the tomb of Xi Nu.
I pushed the coffin lid down a bit. The dim yellow light in the tomb shone into the coffin, and I found that Gu Yuan was no longer in the coffin.
Where had he gone? I quickly climbed out of the coffin.
When the firefly saw me wake up, it flew around me in a circle and then landed on my shoulder.
"Xiaoying, where has Gu Yuan gone?" I knew this little thing was spiritual and could understand my words.
It shook its little tail. Its chubby butt glowed with fluorescence. It flapped its tiny wings that were almost hidden by its butt and flew towards the side, leading me.
The corridor here was so dark that it was really scary to walk alone. Xiaoying flew and stopped. I could already tell where it was taking me.
Gu Yuan should have gone to the main tomb chamber to see Xi Nu.
I carefully watched my steps. When I was almost at Xi Nu's tomb chamber, I didn't dare to go any further.
I hid behind the stone door of the tomb chamber and listened to what they were saying inside.
The tomb chamber was extremely quiet, so I could easily recognize Gu Yuan's voice.
"Mother... Do you know that you're making a deal with the devil..."