"What?"
Outside the great formation.
Ye Xingchen and his group looked at each other in dismay.
All were extremely terrified.
These people from the Feng family.
What kind of freaks were they?
How could the senior be persuaded by just a few words from the Emperor Venerable?
"Then this—"
At this moment, Zhao Huai was in a new round of meditation, connecting to the spatial planes, so he naturally didn't get to witness this highly dramatic scene.
If he had known.
That calling Feng Zhan here not only served no purpose but also spurred Yan Ruyu's idea of destroying the world, he would probably have spat out a mouthful of old blood and died.
"Brother?"
Yan Ruyu was stunned.
He didn't take the jade flute.
But Feng Zhan walked towards Yan Ruyu.
He placed the jade flute in his hand.
"Actually, I also think that this so - called stupid rule, this idea that people of the Feng family should guard the world is just a baseless rumor. It's just a high - hat imposed on us by the world, weighing us down so much that we can hardly breathe."
"Brother?"
Feng Zhan waved his hand.
"Actually, since you were born, I've known that you've had a hard time. You're more sensible than me and elder sister, and more capable too. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. As the eldest son of the Feng family, I should have borne all these. It's my fault as an elder brother that I didn't protect you well."
On Yan Ruyu's cold face.
There seemed to be a hint of warmth.
"Do whatever you want. I'll take responsibility for whatever the consequences are."
"Brother—"
"I can understand your hardships. That little girl Zhao Shuning is probably the one who understands you best in this world. Buran, I just hope that before you do anything, think it through. Will you regret it after you do it?"
Yan Ruyu shook his head.
No.
He wouldn't regret it.
"Then go ahead and do it."
Feng Zhan was used to being idle on normal days.
Even after he came to the Nine - Continent Continent, most of the time, he hadn't fulfilled his duty as an elder brother. Instead, it was Buran who had taken care of him many times.
Buran was right.
If he couldn't even protect the woman he loved, then the title of the Millennium Imperial Teacher would sound like a joke.
Shi Jiu stepped forward.
Feng Zhan grabbed the sleeve of her dress.
"A Zhan?"
"What Buran has decided, we can't change."
"But?"
"Even if mother and the others were here, I'm afraid they would only feel heartache for him and wouldn't do anything else."
"A Zhan?"
"The Feng family is partial to their own. This is ingrained in our bones and is stronger than any sense of righteousness."
Although Shi Jiu didn't understand.
She still nodded.
Then she said, "What about the Matchmaker that Buran mentioned earlier?"
Feng Zhan let go of Shi Jiu's sleeve.
A hint of sadness welled up in his eyes.
"It's nothing. He was obsessed, so he rambled nonsense."
"Then—"
Shi Jiu leaned in and wanted to hold Feng Zhan's arm again, but he silently dodged.
But on Feng Zhan's face.
It was still the same as before.
It was just that in Shi Jiu's heart, she faintly felt that everything seemed to be different.
"Do you know the mandala flower?"
"Yes. It's the most beautiful and lush flower in our Underworld."
Feng Zhan smiled faintly.
Then he said nothing more.
Legend has it.
The mandala flower was originally snow - white.
It was brought to the Underworld by a woman in the past.
The mandala flower was a gift from the woman's beloved.
The woman was sent to the Underworld.
Overnight.
She became extremely old.
Her face was full of wrinkles.
The woman had an appointment with the man to meet by the River of Oblivion.
When she arrived at the river, she first saw her own reflection in the river. Her heart was filled with great sorrow.
She fled in panic.
While running, her shoes fell off.
She ran bare - footed in the Underworld for a hundred miles until she had no strength left and finally stopped.
By that time.
Her feet.
Were already bloody.
The mandala flowers blooming in the Underworld were actually dyed bright red by this blood.
The man had violated the Heavenly Rules by secretly coming to the Underworld.
He waited by the River of Oblivion for many days but never waited for his beloved woman. Finally, he was captured by the Heavenly Emperor and taken back to the Heavenly Realm.
Because of his obsession.
And because he never got to see his beloved woman.
So that man.
Became the Matchmaker, specifically responsible for tying the red strings for men and women in the world and managing the affairs of marriage.
And the woman.
Because she was punished to the Underworld and her appearance was completely ruined, looking like an eighty - year - old woman, she was too ashamed to see the man she liked.
Because she couldn't bear to part with the mandala flowers deep in the Underworld, she settled down there.
She got a job.
She boiled soup there.
She fed the medicinal soup to everyone who was about to cross the Naihe Bridge, making them forget all their mortal affairs of marriage.
However.
She never forgot.
The Bana flower.
Hides memories.
Those who enter the Underworld will all pick one and take it across the Naihe Bridge and then cross the River of Forgetfulness.
All past events.
Will be forgotten.
Shi Jiu couldn't bear to see Feng Zhan showing such an expression.
So she chased after him and said, "Why did you suddenly mention the Manjusaka?"
The Manjusaka was also the mandala flower.
Now.
It was also known as the Bana flower.
Feng Zhan said, "It's nothing. I just suddenly felt emotional."
For all the flowers in the world, generally the flowers and leaves are connected. There are leaves under the flowers and flowers on the leaves. Basically, the flowers and leaves are connected.
But there is a kind of flower whose flowers and leaves can never meet.
It is the Bana flower. It is said to be planted by the River of Oblivion, and its flowers and leaves can never meet in their lifetime.
This was also influenced by the idea of that woman in the Underworld.
The two of them.
Would never be able to meet.
This story.
Was told to him by his mother.
When he first heard it, Feng Zhan only felt sorry. Later, he thought how could there be such a passionate woman in the world.
Mother said.
That woman later couldn't bear the pain of lovesickness and couldn't bear to see the sufferings of the common people. Finally, she drank the Mengpo Soup she had brewed and then passed away.
And Shi Jiu.
Was born not long after that.
Because when she was born, the Bana flowers were also in full bloom around her, she was taken back to the Underworld by the great aunt.
After that.
She was named Meng Shijiu.
She became the person in charge of the Naihe Bridge.
However.
After being with Shi Jiu,
Feng Zhan noticed many details.
Shi Jiu had many habits that even she herself didn't know when she had developed.
Originally.
Feng Zhan didn't take this matter to heart.
Until just now.
When Buran mentioned it.
He felt a thud in his heart and it became extremely heavy.
Buran was different from him.
Buran was a chosen one by heaven. He could fathom all the mysteries in the astrolabe formation, which was as difficult for Feng Zhan as astronomy.
He must have fathomed some heavenly secrets.
That's why he said such things.
Connecting it with the story his mother had told him before.
Feng Zhan thought.
He should have understood something.
Shi Jiu.
Was probably the reincarnation of that woman.
So.
The person that Shi Jiu had been thinking about was always buried deep in her memory. If one day, she remembered everything.
Then.
Would she regret spending these days with him?
"A Zhan? What about Buran?"
A shocked cry came.
Feng Zhan tightened his hand. Shi Jiu's pinch hurt him, and his thoughts completely returned to the present.
"The Upper God he—"
The sound of gasping for air came.