Spirit City, Worship Hall.
Qian Renxue stood in front of Angel God Statue, her blond hair hanging down her shoulders, and her white palace dress trailing on the bluestone floor.
Qian Daoliu stood behind her, with white clothes and white hair, like another statue.
"Ready?" His voice was very soft.
"Ready."
Qian Daoliu raised his hand and placed his fingertips on Angel God Statue's eyebrows.
The statue lit up, and white-gold light poured out from the palm of the statue, illuminating the entire Worship Hall as bright as day.
In the light, a staircase extends from the feet of the statue to the top of the dome.
Qian Renxue Take a deep breath and step up to the first step.
The light engulfed her figure.
Her feet stepped on the steps, the bluestone was cold, each step was engraved with fine angel patterns, and her feet felt slightly hot.
She didn't know how many steps she walked until a door of light appeared in front of her. She walked in.
The fantasy unfolds.
She was standing in the imperial study room of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace. There was a memorial spread out on the desk, and the ink was still wet.
Xue Ye is sitting on the dragon chair, with a rosy complexion and piercing eyes. She does not look like a critically ill old man, but looks like she did when she first came here more than ten years ago.
"Qinghe." He spoke in a loud voice, "You're here."
Qian Renxue stood where he was, not moving.
"I know you are tired." Xue Ye stood up, walked to her, and patted her shoulder,
"Thank you for all your hard work over the years."
His hands are warm.
Qian Renxue looked down at the hand, with protruding veins and thick knuckles, exactly as she remembered.
"Father," she said in a calm voice, "You are already dead."
Xue Ye's hand froze.
His complexion began to change, the redness faded away, paleness emerged, and the eye sockets were sunken, as if all life had been taken away by an invisible hand.
He took two steps back and sat back on the throne.
"Why?" His voice became hoarse, as if it was squeezed out from the depths of his throat,
"I treat you like my own son..."
Qian Renxue said nothing.
She watched as the face gradually changed into the way it had been before death, pale, thin, with prominent cheekbones.
She had seen this face smile, be angry, and be tired before, but she had never seen it ask questions like this.
"Parent and child?" She repeated the word.
She did not explain, the illusion shattered, and Xue Ye's figure turned into countless light spots and disappeared.
Qian Renxue Standing in the empty darkness, a second step appeared in front of her, and she stepped up.
Ashen Territory, night.
Chen Jieqi stood on the altar, the moonlight shining on the bluestone floor.
The feathers in the sleeves felt slightly hot, not burning, but a short, almost imperceptible tremor.
He closed his eyes and felt the sensation extending along the feathers. In the direction of Heaven Dou City, the feathers with burn marks were beating, not Heaven Dou City, but farther south.
Spirit City, she has already started.
Chen Jieqi opened his eyes and put the feather back into his sleeve.
Dugu Bo walked out of the chapel, holding a wine bottle in his hand, and stood next to him.
"The seal of the underground fissure is loosening faster and faster." Dugu Bo took a sip of wine.
"In a month at most, Stone Gate will really turn on by itself. Then you don't need to turn it on, it will turn on by itself."
Chen Jieqi said nothing.
"Evil Soul Master is waiting for that day." Dugu Bo placed the wine bottle on the stone steps, "The black robe side should also be preparing."
"I know."
"What are you going to do?"
Chen Jieqi Looking at the ridge in the distance, in the direction of the Cangmang Mountain Range, gray-black mist surged in the night, a little thicker than last month.
The fog was like a lying beast, slowly opening its eyes.
"Be prepared before Stone Gate opens."
Dugu Bo glanced at him. "What preparations?"
"Defense, intelligence, manpower." Chen Jieqi paused, "Also, wait for her to come back."
Dugu Bo didn't ask who "she" was, he picked up the wine bottle, turned around and walked into the chapel.
Heaven Dou City Outside, wilderness.
Tang San pulled out Clear Sky Hammer from the body of Evil Soul Master, and rubbed the blood on the hammer surface on the body.
This is the fourth one today, the first three were in the morning, and this one is in the evening.
Evil Soul Master was wearing a gray-black robe with a low hood and a bone mask on his face.
Tang Hao was leaning under a tree not far away, eyes closed, as if taking a nap.
"Too slow." Tang Hao's voice floated over from the other side of the tree.
"You hesitated for two breaths when you killed the first one. You didn't hesitate when you killed the second one, but you took an extra look when you retracted the hammer."
Tang San didn't say anything. He squatted by the stream and put his hands into the water to wash. The cold water of the stream washed away the blood and turned it into wisps of light red silk threads that flowed away with the water.
"When you retract the hammer, take another look to make sure he is dead." Tang Hao opened his eyes,
"It's not because I'm afraid he's not dead, but because I want to see him die."
Tang San's fingers paused.
"That's called murderous intent." Tang Hao stood up and patted his clothes.
"Not anger, not hatred, just pure 'it's over.' It's the first time you feel that way, remember it."
Tang San stood up and shook the water from his hands.
He looked down at his hands. The blood on his palms had been washed away, but the old wound from the tiger's mouth was still there. It cracked and healed, healed and cracked again, over and over again.
"Let's go." Tang Hao turned around, "There's another one ahead."
Tang San followed without saying anything.
Spirit City, Worship Hall.
Qian Renxue stood on the second step, and another door of light appeared in front of her, and she walked in.
This time, it was not Xue Ye in the illusion, but herself.
Another Qian Renxue stood in front of her, wearing the same white palace dress, with blond hair hanging down and no expression on his face.
"Who are you?" Qian Renxue asked.
"You." the other party replied, "Qian Renxue."
"What do you want to say?"
"You made the wrong choice." The other party's mouth curved, "You shouldn't have come back, you shouldn't have started the divine test, and you shouldn't have left Chen Jieqi behind."
Qian Renxue's pupils shrank.
"You have stayed at Heaven Dou City for more than ten years, approved tens of thousands of memorials, and performed in thousands of plays.
Everything you do is living for others, living for grandpa, living for the Spirit Hall, living for Angel God."
The other party took a step closer and his voice became colder and colder.
"When have you ever lived for yourself?"
Qian Renxue didn't speak. She looked at the other person's face. The face was exactly the same as hers, but the eyes were different.
There was fatigue, confusion, and unwillingness in her eyes that had been suppressed for more than ten years.
The other party didn't. The other party's eyes were very bright, as bright as a mirror, reflecting things she didn't dare to look at.
"Live for yourself?" Qian Renxue repeated, "How to live?"
"Leave here, go back to Heaven Dou City, go back to Ashen Territory, find Chen Jieqi, tell him you are you,
It's not the successor of Angel God, it's not the young master of the Spirit Hall, it's either Xue Qinghe or you."
Qian Renxue was silent for a long time.
"Then what?"
"Then?"
"Then the inheritance of Angel God was cut off, and the bloodline of the Qian Family was cut off. Grandpa waited all his life, but his wait was in vain."
The other party's smile froze, Qian Renxue raised his head and looked at the face that was exactly the same as his own.
"I haven't lived for myself, but I can't just live for myself."
She raised her hand, and the white-gold holy light condensed in her palm. The other party looked at the light without hiding.
"You are me. You know what I choose."
The holy light exploded and the illusion shattered. Qian Renxue stood on the stairs, with the third step in front of him.
Qian Daoliu's voice came from behind.
"Second level, pass."
Qian Renxue did not look back and stepped onto the third level.