Quan Yong was not surprised that he would say such a thing.
This time, he neither met it with his usual silence nor raised a hand to forcibly suppress the voice. Instead, he said, "If it were the Great Illumination Vision, then naturally it could survey another person's life. But the Clear-Sight Subtlety Mirror is merely a treasure formed from a Divine Ability. It possesses no such wondrous power. Even if it gathers Jia Hua's life force, at most, it can reveal his strongest thought before death."
Zilu fell silent. In that brief stillness, even his habitual venom softened somewhat. Only after a long while did his voice sound again, quieter than before. "A thought will do, then. When I was alive, Martial Uncle treated me very well. You ought to let me hear his last words."
Quan Yong said nothing more.
He turned and left the secret chamber. A short while later, he respectfully brought the ancient blue-green mirror from the Patriarch Hall, holding it in both hands as he returned to the altar. He placed the mirror squarely above Jia Hua's corpse, stepped back three paces, straightened his robes and headdress, and bowed in full ceremony. Only then did he form a hand seal and chant, "Humbly invoking clarity, reverently beseeching subtle insight. Your disciple Quan Yong entered the Way at Upper Pool and practices at Fishing Green, having cultivated for seventy-seven years. Now, with body cleansed and heart purified, I devoutly offer fine delicacies and humbly beseech the sacred mirror to gather life force and illuminate the unknown."
As his words fell, an exceedingly faint blue-green glow slowly rose over the ancient mirror. It spread thinly across its surface, like a layer of blue-green gauze soaked through with lake water. Quan Yong stood to one side with