Chapter 921 - 356: Your Harem Is My Harem! (Part 2)
Fan Wubing sensed that her words had a hint of implication, so he said nonchalantly,
"It depends on how one lives."
Baili Yao Yue laughed, "You’re still so pretentious. There are countless people who live more difficult lives than you do, and yet you’re still not satisfied. Why not exchange lives with them?"
"Can one exchange lives?" Fan Wubing looked at her and asked seriously.
Baili Yao Yue paused, then jumped down from the tree with little interest,
"Talking to you is really boring."
"It’s just because you haven’t gotten the answer you wanted from me."
Baili Yao Yue didn’t get angry for being found out. She sighed and asked with concern,
"Do you really have to keep moving forward? If you lose, you’ll lose everything, and if you win, the outcome might not be what you expected."
Fan Wubing laughed and said,
"I’ve been talking like this for years, how could you not change at all? See, you’ve also become sentimental. In the past, when faced with such matters, you would surely be shouting ’how does life and death matter’ and then charge forward without any hesitation."
Baili Yao Yue said, "In the past, I had no burdens, nothing to worry about. It’s different now."
"I certainly don’t want to become your burden."
"Alright." Baili Yao Yue’s slender eyeliner traced a hint of helplessness. She had a refined appearance, often called the beautiful jade of the world on the Eternal Immortal Continent, highly pursued by literati and scholars, and was their Yan Ruyu in books. But perhaps such circumstances fueled her rebellious nature.
She dislikes conventions and goes her own way, the person with the most vitality in Fan Wubing’s heart.
But now, even she seems to have lost some of her edges due to the matters on the Path of Eternity.
Fan Wubing could feel this. He keenly sensed something and asked,
"Yao Yue, did my senior sister say anything to you?"
Baili Yao Yue poked her face and replied with a question, "Say what?"
This was her usual way of refusing to answer.
Fan Wubing shook his head, "Forget it, let’s not talk about this." He changed the topic, "Jiang... Ran said she really likes your personality, thinks you’re very cute."
"Cute... oh, that’s how she describes me." Baili Yao Yue crossed her arms over her chest and said with great interest, "It does have the feeling of a true queen speaking. Hmm, it seems I need to make her understand who was here first."
"What true queen or not, there’s nothing to inherit at home."
Baili Yao Yue raised a finger and shook it, "No no no, you still underestimate women. Don’t be fooled by the seeming harmony now. Even though it’s not that harmonious, living under the same roof one day, you’ll know two women are indeed a drama. Therefore, I need to first secure the true queen’s position!"
As she spoke, she boldly spread her arms open,
"Then on the left hold Little Sister Man’Er and Little Sister Qingyao, and on the right hold Little Sister Jiang Ran and Little Sister Wei Yi."
Fan Wubing laughed,
"And what about Gu Lan?"
Baili Yao Yue said earnestly, "Little Sister Gu Lan must lie in my arms, of course. She’s like a fragrant, soft woman, like Peach Blossoms Cake! Ha! Your harem is my harem!"
Fan Wubing pinched her nose,
"Don’t overthink it, you little trickster. I’m not the Emperor, and you’re not concubines. Being detached from the mundane, why bind ourselves with worldly etiquette? The Great Thousand Worlds is vast and boundless, we can go anywhere, why stay under a small roof?"
He stretched lazily, saying joyfully,
"I hope you all can make your own choices. Whether together or alone, as long as you like and want it. Countless choices, countless directions, countless destinations... rather than the absolute order created by eternal existence."
"Is this the freedom you want?"
"Mm. It’s not only mine, but belongs to you, and the billions in the Great Thousand Worlds." Fan Wubing laughed, "I wish for there to be no predetermined fate, I wish everyone’s fate, and all things to be unpredictable."
Baili Yao Yue stared at Fan Wubing without speaking.
Fan Wubing felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze, "What’s wrong?"
Baili Yao Yue walked towards her little wooden house,
"Nothing, I just realized there’s indeed no one else but you for me."
"Eh, why suddenly say something so mushy. It’s unlike your style."
"Well, you did say I changed." Baili Yao Yue turned back with a smile, "Alright, enough idle talk, let’s discuss your views on ’balance’."
...
Fan Wubing and Baili Yao Yue sat across from each other at a low table.
Fan Wubing thought for a while and said,
"Jiang Ran’s return completed the cycle of my destiny, whether you look from the start to the end, or from the end to the start, it’s symmetrical. This is a balance in destiny. I think, if a person has their own fate, how could a world not have one? I felt this Small Thousand World was unbalanced precisely because my destiny cycle was previously not balanced. As the Lord of All Beings, what I could feel was inherently unbalanced."
"Well said. You want to recast the Path to Immortality, to shape the Heavenly Dao, you must understand the fate of this Small Thousand World. And now... do you understand?" Baili Yao Yue asked.
The Eye of Eternity burned bright, Fan Wubing replied,
"I understand."
"Even so, do you still wish to recast the Path to Immortality?"
"Facing the Heavenly Dao can only conquer it. This is the insight you gave me. And now, I also want to say, facing destiny can only transcend it."
Baili Yao Yue took a deep breath,
"Then let’s not waste time, charge forward!"
Fan Wubing laughed aloud, "That’s more like you."
Before leaving,
Baili Yao Yue patted the head of Piqiu and said,
"I’m off to do big things, keep an eye on my little wooden house."
Piqiu whimpered twice.
Fan Wubing observed the celestial phenomena and said,
"There are less than five hours left till the Human Dao Assembly begins."
He was somewhat worried,
"But where exactly did my senior sister go?"
Baili Yao Yue waved her hand,
"Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t be affected even if the Great Thousand Worlds collapsed."
"...Alright."
The two vanished into the mountains, embarking on the path to recast the Path to Immortality.
...
Jiang Ran sat on the terrace, enjoying the night breeze; at this moment, she felt incredibly tranquil, as if fully possessing her own life.
Si Jiuyou appeared silently by her side, saying nothing.
Jiang Ran glanced at her and smiled,
"Wubing complained to me, saying you’re playing hide and seek with him."
"No."
Jiang Ran gazed at the distant night sky, "Xiaojiu, you’re not being honest at all." She reached out, making a gesture to grasp the stars, "I may not be as powerful as you, but I can see the gloom in your eyes."
Si Jiuyou said,
"And you’re the truly powerful one, able to gather so many people around you unshaken. Even I am used to it."
"Why?"
Si Jiuyou said,
"Because you’re the destiny worm of this Small Thousand World. And because you’re the first to consciously realize it and break free from the destiny’s arrangement. You’ve never been to the Great Thousand Worlds, never walked the Path of Eternity, nor seen the Everlasting Mountain, yet you’ve touched destiny and broken free from it. Jiang Ran, I admire you."
Jiang Ran smiled faintly,
"So, Xiaojiu didn’t stop me from sacrificing myself?"
"I always felt it’s self-fulfillment. Plus, I wanted the one who guides Wubing in the final direction to be you."
"Why?"
"Because you’re a good person. A trustworthy friend. Entrusting him to you, I feel at ease."
"Entrusting him to me..." Jiang Ran could hardly contain her laughter, "Xiaojiu, is that truly what you think?"
"Yes."
"I knew it, you’re not honest at all." Jiang Ran said, "You can’t always keep your focus on Wubing, you should think about yourself too."
"No need." Si Jiuyou said blandly, "As long as he achieves true freedom."
Jiang Ran sighed helplessly. She no longer dwelled on the matter, instead speaking well of Baili Yao Yue,
"Actually, Miss Baili is a very good person. You don’t need to be so bothered by her."
"Even you speak well of her." Si Jiuyou’s expression chilled.
"If I were her, perhaps I’d harbor resentment towards you too."
"It’s not the same thing. She deceived me on the Path of Eternity, I don’t care about that anymore. But she attempts to prevent Wubing from achieving true freedom." Si Jiuyou frowned and said, "I can forgive her for being independent, but I will never condone this action."
Jiang Ran looked at Si Jiuyou and said nothing.
Her junior brother’s freedom was a taboo Si Jiuyou would never tolerate crossing.
Jiang Ran couldn’t help but think, is Baili Yao Yue really preventing Wubing’s freedom? If so, why?