These evil sorcerers offer living people as sacrifices and steal others' good fortune.
It's obvious that after they take away the good fortune, they won't use it for good deeds.
Master said that the Tao is based on the heart.
She wanted to live, but she didn't want to see Zhan die either.
She even didn't want to be exploited by these villains, which might lead to the injury and death of innocent people.
One of them had to be sacrificed.
Actually, there was another way.
She herself was a perpetual motion machine that could generate good fortune. If she replaced Zhan as the sacrifice, the gourd would surely not be able to bear it.
But then it would be a one - for - one exchange at the limit, a mutual destruction.
Forget it.
She had lived for so long.
It was hard for an ordinary person to live to 100 years old. Although cultivators might live longer, they wouldn't exceed 200 years.
She had already lived for such a long time. What more could she ask for?
Niannian thought for a while and carefully recalled the steps of transforming into a dragon.
She wriggled her body twice and turned into a giant dragon, floating and hovering in the sky.
She rushed towards the gourd.
She was sucked in.
It felt as if there was fire burning all over her body. That was the feeling of being refined.
It was really uncomfortable, but soon she was freed.
In a daze, she seemed to hear a loud explosion.
Then she fell into boundless silence and darkness.
"How do you feel?"
It was that empty and silent space again. A figure appeared behind her.
Xiaotuanzi suddenly turned around. It was Duan Qiu...
"What... what do you want?"
Niannian looked at him warily with a look of about to form hand seals on her hands.
Duan Qiu smiled faintly, shook his head, looked up at the empty sky, and his eyes were slightly red.
He heaved a long sigh. His words seemed to be for himself and also for Niannian.
"After drinking the Mengpo's soup, all the past events fade away. After walking on the path of reincarnation, a new life begins. You all move forward and don't think about the past anymore. Only I am trapped in this small world, trapped in the past memories and can't get out no matter what.
Why is this so? Clearly it's the same soul, clearly it's the same person. Just because one crosses that door, does everything really get wiped out?
If it's really wiped out, how can you meet him for several lifetimes in a row, remember him, and keep him in your heart? But for everyone else except him, you can forget them completely without leaving any bond.
Is this really fair... really fair?"
Niannian didn't understand a single word of what Duan Qiu said.
What a mess these things were!
But she still used her little brain, thought for a while, and seriously answered the question, "Some people's bonds can't be untangled for several lifetimes, while some people's fates may end after just one lifetime. It's just a matter of the depth of the fate."
"A matter of the depth of the fate? So is our fate shallow? Forget it... In your current state, you probably haven't recognized that the wooden spirit is Shen Weixun."
Duan Qiu smiled faintly and shifted his gaze back to Niannian.
"Ah? That's Third Senior Brother?"
Xiaotuanzi was really confused. She really didn't recognize that the wooden spirit was Third Senior Brother.
There were great differences both in temperament and appearance.
So it wasn't that she occupied the body of the little carp, but she was originally that little koi?
Were all the experiences before memories of past and present lives?
"Yes. You've disrupted the Holy Cult's plans more than once. The first time, they wanted to borrow your dragon luck to achieve universal harmony, but you foiled their plan with just a few shouts. The second time, as you know, one group of them kept doing good deeds and accumulating good fortune, while the other group did dirty things in the dark to eliminate dissidents. And once again, you disrupted them.
Do you think you, as a mere mortal, could bear the luck of so many people? You're not an ordinary person. You're the only dragon transformed from a koi in this world.
So as long as the Holy Cult exists, they won't let you, this special existence, go. No matter how many times you're reincarnated, the essence of your soul won't change.
I only have one request. Wipe out all the people in the Holy Cult. Don't judge their merits and demerits. As long as you agree to this request, I'll join you and help you sweep away all the people in the Holy Cult."
Duan Qiu stared intently at Niannian. The emotions in his eyes were complex and hard to fathom.
It seemed like he was looking forward to something, and at the same time, a surge of hatred welled up.
Duan Qiu had just said that there were two kinds of people in the Holy Cult. One kind only did good deeds and accumulated merits, while the other did dirty things.
Xiaotuanzi tilted her head and thought for a while.
Then she still shook her head slightly.
"No. If there really are good people like you said, who only do good deeds and no bad deeds, I won't take action against them, no matter what their identities are."
Niannian's refusal was too decisive. After hearing her words, Duan Qiu's emotions suddenly became extremely agitated.
"Then they'll never be completely eradicated! So what if they do good deeds? They do good deeds with a purpose. They accumulate merits to destroy the world. They're not really good people at all. Why should you let them go?! Why are you always so soft - hearted?
You should know that all of them wish you were dead, and they even wish all the people around you were dead!"
Niannian shook her head and didn't agree with his theory.
In this world, there were not many people who could truly match their words with their hearts. Most people were hypocritical.
One couldn't judge what a person would do just based on what was in their heart.
This was the most superficial and unfair theory.
"Judge people by their deeds, not their thoughts. If they really put their evil thoughts into action and start doing bad things, I surely won't ignore it. But before they take action, they're all good people. This is not being soft - hearted.
Even if a person has an extremely dark heart but never does anything wrong or harms anyone in their whole life, why can't they be a good person?
This kind of judgment is wrong. Some people talk like a saint but act like a devil. They think they're so kind - hearted, but their deeds make them feel guilty. That's not their true nature. That's hypocrisy."
Niannian was very articulate when it came to reasoning. Although she was obedient, she was never the kind of person who could be easily brainwashed.
It could only be said that Taoist Qingyun and the others had raised Niannian very well.
Xiaotuanzi had the ability to think independently and could stick to her beliefs.
"So there's no room for negotiation? As expected, all the past events are wiped out. Even if you remember everything, you won't regain the old feelings. Since that's the case, we have nothing more to talk about."