Lü Bufan's master had sealed his spiritual sense again, leaving him asleep in bed.
"Blind man! Are we really doing this?"
"Mm..."
"Will it work? This fellow's just an ordinary mortal. Can he take it?"
"What are you saying? Speak up!"
Han Wu, the deaf man, carried Lü Bufan on his back and held the great vat in one hand as he followed Master Ming. The four of them slowly headed toward the village entrance.
Old Skeleton stood guard at the entrance to the little Land God Temple, with the big black dog lying listlessly beside him.
"Senior... is this... really going to work?"
Old Skeleton waved his hand. A radiant glow rose from the Land God Temple, instantly sealing the surrounding area into a small world of its own...
"Enough nonsense. This is what Big Black wants! It's also the method that costs the least! Otherwise... I'm afraid Big Black won't be able to suppress his true nature!"
Master Ming looked at the big black dog and said, "But he... he's just a mortal child! I never intended to thrust him into the teeth of the storm. I only wanted him to understand the truths of this world someday... and live out his life in peace..."
Old Skeleton gave a cold laugh. "Heh... I thought you were a little wiser than Shameless... turns out you're no better. What is the most mysterious thing in the mortal world of the Three Realms? Have you ever considered that?"
Master Ming slowly shook his head, his expression solemn.
"It's fate... all things cross paths, and fate is the most wondrous thing of all... above fate lies cause and effect! It is the meeting of causes and conditions that brings this vast world into being..."
As though suddenly enlightened, Master Ming asked, "Are you saying... my meeting this child was no simple coincidence? This boy's identity..."
Old Skeleton spat. "Back to the lower vehicle again! You really are rotten wood... why can't mortals have their own great destinies, their own great causes and consequences? There's a reason the mortal world has suffered under the immortal realm for so many years... you lot have only yourselves to blame for not rising to the occasion!"
Master Ming smiled bitterly. "I'm ashamed beyond words..."
Old Skeleton stroked Big Black's fur beside him. "Some things cannot be spoken plainly, but there's no need to tie yourself in knots over them... mortal or immortal, even evil ghosts and wandering spirits will have their opportunities when the time comes! Since Big Black chose him... let's give it a try!"
From inside the great vat, Du Yuan said quietly, "How about letting us old fellows try instead?"
Old Skeleton scoffed. "You try? Never mind how deeply your spiritual roots have already been steeped in the Heavenly Dao. Just ask whether Big Black is willing to grant you that blessing!"
Du Yuan glanced at the big black dog on the ground and lost his nerve.
Master Ming said gravely, "Then let's try! Since this is the fate linking Bufan and Big Black, let nature take its course! If he can't withstand it... that, too, will be his lot."
"As long as you understand..."
Old Skeleton sat cross-legged on the ground before the Land God Temple... after a long silence, Master Ming formed a spell seal with his fingers. The stone stele in front of the little stone tower nearby suddenly shone with a hazy radiance, enveloping this small patch of the world...
Old Skeleton reached out his lone arm and pressed his hand onto Big Black's head...
"Old friend, we've squabbled and muddled along together for so many years... though you truly had no choice, I still want to thank you! The Great Dao turns, dispersing and flowing without constancy... may you one day fulfill your wish and attain your rightful place in your true heart!"
Rich golden radiance flowed like water from Old Skeleton's hand, wrapping around the big black dog's body!
For an instant, Master Ming and the other two seemed to glimpse a pair of enormous crimson eyes in the void!
Those eyes brimmed with defiance and fury, along with a thick, savage malice and thirst for battle! Behind them, the faint outline of a gigantic manifested form appeared, wreathed in black demonic flames...
A single glance made them feel as though their souls were shattering!
Old Skeleton silently recited some unknown ancient incantation, then gave a gentle tug with his lone arm...
Wrapped in flowing golden light, an unknown presence peeled away from the big black dog's body.
Old Skeleton's face turned waxen yellow, and a faint air of dimness and decay settled over the little Land God Temple...
The big black dog trembled all over on the ground, then abruptly opened a pair of blood-red eyes! The sight left Master Ming and the other two clenching their teeth in fear...
"Whew..."
Old Skeleton opened his palm. A dim, dark-red mass of energy floated above it, faintly warping space and time and carrying a trace of restless savagery...
"Go! Divide into two... and live on without end! Your heart has grown so weary over these years... it would do you good to go out and see the world! As for what you choose afterward, that is your freedom!"
Old Skeleton turned his palm over and pressed the eerie orb stripped from Big Black into the sleeping Lü Bufan's abdomen!
Lü Bufan jerked violently in his sleep. Veins bulged all over his body, and his skin instantly turned blood-red... a foul, bloody stench seeped out as drops of tainted blood and slime oozed from his limbs, torso, and seven orifices...
Master Ming was beside himself with anxiety. He hurriedly called Du Yuan and Han Wu over to hold Lü Bufan upright. All three poured their most fundamental, purest innate and acquired spiritual power into Lü Bufan's body with everything they had, trying to stabilize his frail spiritual platform!
Lü Bufan's body had already become a bizarre, chaotic space! Brutal, terrifying power destroyed his weak, narrow meridians and blasted apart his dry, withered dantian...
One after another, the acupoints along his circulation pathways were torn apart. That not-yet-fully-awakened will instinctively searched for something inside Lü Bufan's body!
Suddenly, the soul hidden in the deepest recesses of Lü Bufan's sea of consciousness gave off a faint wisp of spiritual energy... so weak that it seemed ready to scatter at any moment!
That will flashed over and descended upon Lü Bufan's sea of consciousness! After leaving a small mark and a dark-red bead, it slowly withdrew from his sea of consciousness and his body...
Reluctantly, the will flowed back around the big black dog lying on the ground, but the dog did not open his eyes again.
Threads of mysterious light flowed from the big black dog, peeling away and slowly taking the shape of another big black dog! Only this one seemed somewhat younger...
Old Skeleton let out a soft breath of relief. He waved Master Ming and the others aside, then slowly lifted the old, sleeping Big Black and laid him on the enormous stone...
"Old friend! Sleep well... in your dreams, your master will be there with you. As long as you're here... those bastards won't dare come running wild so easily. Let's keep each other company, just as before!"
Master Ming and the other two watched over the still-sleeping Lü Bufan, staring in wonder at the other big black dog sitting on the ground...
Du Yuan timidly asked Master Ming through voice transmission, "Boss Ming... this one... this one... would count as..."
Master Ming replied, "It's like one soul divided in two, each nurturing itself! One still relies on the nether mist behind the stone stele to rest, recover, and quell its savagery... the other actually relies on a trace of primal essence in Lü Bufan's heart to nourish its soul!"
"What? Lü Bufan? This... this boy..."
Master Ming shook his head. "Don't ask me. I wouldn't know even if you did! There's no need to ask, either... just raise the boy well. At the very least, he should be able to borrow some of Big Black's power in the future..."
"Then what does that make him? Human? Demon? Monster?"
The deaf man beside them suddenly murmured, "A human-monster, maybe?"
"Oh, give it a rest! Why not a demon-man... aren't you deaf?"
"What did you say? Speak up..."
Lü Bufan had a dream...
First, he dreamed he was standing beside a little lake. There was actually a slender young girl by the water, her back to him as she washed clothes with a wooden paddle.
Lü Bufan quietly watched her from behind. Suddenly, she turned and gave him a sweet smile...
It was Meng Lian'er!
Lü Bufan chuckled foolishly. Cooking smoke curled above the little village, and Mute seemed to be arguing with the deaf man...
Master Ming was probably sleeping, while Du Yuan, the cripple, was annoying Granny Yu again. The Sword Cultivator Huang Jiu sat beside Stork's nest, watching the fun...
...This is wonderful...
"Lian'er... you're so beautiful..."
Splash! A basin of cold water came pouring over his head... Lü Bufan cried out, too late to dodge!
"You little brat! Those old fossils have taught you every bad habit they know..."
Lü Bufan woke with a start and discovered that he was stark naked, soaking inside a great vat!
I seem to be... at Granny Yu's house? Then... where's Meng Lian'er?
Granny Yu stared at the bewildered, still-dazed Lü Bufan and scolded him with her hands on her hips. "What are you looking for? You fell ill... that old blind man dumped you here for a medicinal bath! Since you're awake, you're nearly recovered. Soak for another two hours, then get lost!"
"Th-thank you, Granny Yu..."
Lü Bufan kept feeling as though he had forgotten something. There also seemed to be a strange new sensation in his heart.
"Woof..." The big black dog suddenly appeared in Granny Yu's doorway. His coat looked much glossier, and there was a glimmer in the eyes he usually kept narrowed...
Lü Bufan knew that this big black dog was a strange presence in Two Realms Village, ancient and intimately bound to the village... Master Ming, Du Yuan, the deaf man, and Huang Jiu all feared him to their very bones.
Yet Lü Bufan was not particularly afraid of him! It was as though they had known each other long ago...
Granny Yu frowned and stepped back a few paces.
The big black dog slowly walked in, sniffed beside Lü Bufan, then went out again.
Han Wu's booming voice suddenly sounded outside the door. "Granny Yu... is the boy better yet?"
Granny Yu answered irritably, "He's better! Hurry up and take him away... he stinks to high heaven."
"Right you are..."
Han Wu strode over, then picked up the great vat of magnetic essence black iron, weighing several hundred pounds, as easily as if it were a chamber pot, and walked off.
Lü Bufan instantly understood how Du Yuan felt being carried around by Han Wu all day.
Enduring the bone-piercing chill inside the Black Iron Vat, Lü Bufan was just about to ask something when he saw a lovely figure appear in the courtyard!
It's over... why is every meeting more awkward and miserable than the last?
Carried along inside the vat, Lü Bufan despairingly copied the cripple Du Yuan and shrank into it like a turtle, tears streaming down his face...
Han Wu was still greeting the girl. "What a pretty little lass! Hahaha..."
Meng Lian'er pressed her lips together and bowed. "Here are a few altered clothes. Uncle Han Wu, sorry for the trouble, but could you take them back for Lü Bufan?"
"Oh! Now that's a rare treat... that little brat Lü Bufan sure is lucky! Never saw him with any decent clothes. I hear he used to be a beggar and a little brothel errand boy... it's fine, he doesn't care what he wears."
Lü Bufan, huddled inside the vat, abruptly poked his flushed face out and protested, "I'm not a brothel errand boy! And I don't want to be one..."
With a little snort, Meng Lian'er could not help breaking into a sweet laugh.
Han Wu flicked Lü Bufan back into the vat with one finger...
"You're not a brothel turtle? Then why are you hiding away like a turtle now? If you've got the guts, come out and take a few steps!"
Stark-naked Lü Bufan seethed with anger, but there was no way he dared come out like this...