The only thing that could make Shen Sheng remember and not forget was that night.
Within the brocade curtains, they lay intertwined. The lamplight flickered, bright and dim. Between the subtly revealed glimpses, the snow-white body was draped with a layer of white gauze…
Madam Shen had her eyes covered. Shen Sheng, furious and frantic, cried out: “Stop looking! Stop looking!”
As her voice fell, the scene vanished. When Madam Shen opened her eyes, before her was still her youngest daughter’s innocent and adorable face.
She sighed, lamenting: “Can’t you have some ambition? I thought your heart was full of concern for the soldiers.”
Shen Sheng was so spoken of that she wished the ground would swallow her. She grabbed the remaining four talismans and fled. Too embarrassing.
Watching the figure flee in panic, Madam Shen raised an eyebrow. Young people, full of vigor, especially those trained in martial arts.
After resting her chin on her hand and meditating for a moment, Madam Shen let out another deep sigh. When could she go back?
Still, life here was quite good. A house full of children and grandchildren, everything she could want—except for that worrisome youngest daughter.
Shen Sheng took the talisman paper to find Zhou Ying. This time, she was smart. She read the incantation once, then immediately tossed the talisman paper down.
Following the same method, she also gave them to the other three sisters-in-law.
After doing this, Shen Sheng went to the Embroidery Workshop. Making clothes for someone required some diligence on her part.
However, when the embroiderer asked for measurements, she froze again. The embroiderer smiled, “Without measurements, how can one make clothes?”
Out of options, Shen Sheng had to go find Anu to get her measurements.
Just as she arrived at the State Preceptor Manor, she saw Anu riding away. Curious, she spurred her horse to follow.
Approaching dusk, Anu left the city.
Following closely, they stopped before a lakeshore.
The lake water suddenly swelled, rising past the horses’ hooves. Shen Sheng stared in astonishment at the water beneath her. A small lake, without any rain—how could the water rise like this?
She was shocked. At that moment, from the center of the lake’s water, countless human skeletons were churned up, white bones appearing sinister under the darkening night sky.
Ahead, Anu turned back to look at her and suddenly laughed aloud. “Are you afraid?”
“Why are there so many human bones here?” Shen Sheng was at a loss, bewildered by the sudden change. “Is it murder?”
Bones were churned up, scattered messily across the ground.
Human bones were inherently frightening. To suddenly see so many… even Shen Sheng was scared, her face pale. These bones before her likely numbered several dozen.
Her eyes widened in shock. Anu merely turned her horse around and told her: “This is your Emperor’s secret. Alright, let’s head back.”
“These… what should be done about these…” Shen Sheng reined in her horse. “We’re just leaving like this?”
“Someone will naturally come to deal with them.” A smirk played on Anu’s lips. “You want to spend the night with them?”
“It’s not about spending the night! So many human bones surfacing…”
“Will add so much Resentful Energy and hatred.” Anu said with satisfaction.
Hearing words that didn’t seem to connect, Shen Sheng was speechless. “I’m talking about one thing, you’re talking about another. What exactly do you want?”
“I just wanted to let these human bones be seen by the world. What are you afraid of? You didn’t do it. There’s no need to be this scared.” Anu rode her horse back to the city.
Shen Sheng, unable to grasp the situation, her expression grave, hesitated a moment but ultimately decided to catch up to Anu.
The two entered the city one after another. Shen Sheng followed Anu, but Anu headed towards the palace.
Having no alternative, Shen Sheng followed her as usual. “What’s the story with those human bones?”
“Before your Emperor ascended the throne, he eliminated his dissidents. No, wait—he killed his own brothers. Those are the bones of their wives and children.”
“So why did you dig them up?” Shen Sheng didn’t understand. Dragging out old affairs from so many years ago would only cause more trouble.
The one sitting on the throne was the Emperor. Would the Emperor punish himself for these old matters?
It wasn’t that Shen Sheng’s heart wasn’t in the right place, but revealing this so brazenly would only drag innocent people into trouble.
The two arrived at the Cinnabar Peak Palace. Once inside the hall, the flames beneath the Cauldron burned even more intensely.
Looking at the flames before her, Shen Sheng suddenly had a clever thought and remembered Anu speaking of Resentful Energy and hatred. Her heart jolted. “Resentment and hatred can make the cauldron’s flames burn more intensely, right?”
“Half right,” Anu smiled, narrowing her eyes slightly. Without waiting for Shen Sheng to ask, she readily explained: “When the Imperial Aura weakens, and resentment and hatred surge forth, the cauldron’s flames will reach their peak.”
Three years of war. Countless dead souls and spirits.
The hatred in Shen Sheng’s eyes.
The resentment brought by the surfacing of human bones.
All would become the best fuel for the Cauldron.
Shen Sheng didn’t understand: “The Cauldron… why does it need resentment and hatred?”
“The Cauldron was originally forged from the final wisp of Divine Soul of all the Gods on the South River. That final wisp of Divine Soul is hatred. Therefore, to restore the Cauldron to its peak state, it requires an equal amount of hatred and resentment,” Anu stated.
Shen Sheng rolled her eyes. “You’ve thought this through quite a bit. Even if you repair it, then what?”
“It can allow you to return to a thousand years ago and save the South River.”
“Can’t you go yourself?”
“If I go and cannot return, someone must remain here to guard it.”
Shen Sheng was half-believing, half-doubtful. “A single time and space cannot hold two versions of the same person. That’s why you can’t go back, right?”
Anu glanced at her but said nothing.
Shen Sheng assumed she had guessed correctly. She stepped forward to examine the cauldron, circling it twice. She found it unbelievable, yet also felt a sense of bewilderedness. Would such strange things really happen?
Could people from a later era truly come to an earlier one?
Could someone from an earlier era go back to save the past?
She asked Anu: “If it fails, what will happen?”
“If it fails, it will just be what you see before your eyes right now.”
“If I succeed, will you disappear?”
“I won’t disappear.”
Shen Sheng stopped in front of Anu, gazing at her clear, unadorned face. “If I help you, can you promise me one condition? Help me protect the entire Shen family.”
Her father and brothers had died in battle, her sisters-in-law were wretched. She had to take good care of them.
Anu let out a cold laugh. “You think you will succeed?”
“I’m just saying, if I help you… wait, why did you choose me?” Shen Sheng suddenly realized something was off. Why had Anu specifically chosen her? Couldn’t she just grab anyone?
“Because you won’t die.” Anu’s gaze was fixed.
Having told too many lies, she no longer knew how to deceive.
“How could I possibly not die?” Shen Sheng was confused again.
Anu explained: “You have my blood within you. I am a God. How could you die then? Princess Anle tried to assassinate you twice, both times extremely perilous. Did you feel even the slightest pain anywhere on your body?”
“You’re right about that. I felt no pain at all,” Shen Sheng suddenly understood. “How did I get your blood in me?”
Anu, exasperated by her foolishness, took a deep breath. “Because of the Lovesickness Gu.”
“Lovesickness Gu… Lovesickness Gu… Did you plan to scheme against me from the very beginning…” Shen Sheng suddenly had a flash of insight. “From start to finish, you’ve been scheming against me. From our very first meeting. Good heavens, how can your mind be so deeply cunning?”
From the moment the Gu was resolved, the two of them had been bound together.
Following this logic, she had gained the blessing of longevity for nothing.
She laughed and asked: “Will I live to be a hundred?”
Anu didn’t answer the foolish question. She simply looked at the cauldron, deep in thought.
The day after returning home, the State Preceptor Manor sent over many books, all records concerning the South River.
Looking at the two large chests full of books, Shen Sheng fell into deep thought. Before she could even begin reading, a major incident erupted outside.
News spread that the Emperor had cruelly murdered his older brothers and their wives. Some said the resentment was so overwhelming it caused the lake water to suddenly surge, washing the human bones ashore.
What kind of resentment could make the bones at the bottom of the lake surface like that?
For a time, opinions varied wildly.
It took Shen Sheng three to five days to finish reading the ancient texts. In this era, demons and monsters also existed, but they were suppressed, unknown to common people.
In the era of the South River, demons and Immortals coexisted, and there were also many Immortals who specialized in demon hunting.
The South River was a sacred site for healing and recuperation, revered as ‘Holy Water’.
Only women who loved each other deeply and drank the South River water could conceive and give birth to daughters.
If one party lacked true feelings, it would fail.
In other words, the South River water could also test the love between women.
Beneath the South River lay a black hole. This black hole was the Source of the South River, and inside it was an Evil Devil.
The Evil Devil had been sealed beneath the river by ancient Immortals, intending to cleanse its Devil Qi. Unexpectedly, the Evil Devil swallowed the Divine Artifact that stabilized the South River.
The Gods joined forces to exterminate this Devil. Only Clan Leader Jiang Wan discovered the problem: the black hole was not an Evil Devil, but the very Origin of the South River itself.
In other words, after the Gods mistakenly killed it, the South River water dried up, and the Gods withered away.
With their final breath, the Gods, to rectify their mistake, used the last wisp of their Divine Souls to forge the Phoenix Cauldron, allowing Jiang Wan to return to the past to make amends.
But for some unknown reason, the Cauldron brought Jiang Wan to a thousand years in the future.
Reading this far, Shen Sheng generally understood the sequence of events. Anu had been pregnant when she arrived and gave birth to Buyan and Buyu here, a thousand years in the future.
There was still one point she didn’t understand. Why had Anu chosen her?
Could Buyan and Buyu not do it?
Or was there some other secret that Anu hadn’t revealed?
After reviewing the books, Shen Sheng had someone deliver them back to Anu. At the same time, the Embroidery Workshop delivered the newly made clothes. Both items were sent together to the State Preceptor Manor.
New Year’s Eve was approaching, and the manor grew lively. Buyan and Buyu went to the Main Room and wheedled out a few red envelopes, then couldn’t resist coming to show off in front of Shen Sheng.
Shen Sheng hadn’t had time to prepare anything yet, so she just gave them the New Year gifts she had received herself when she was little.
The gifts were all beautifully crafted silver ingots in the shapes of various flowers.
The two weren’t greedy either; they each took one, and showed them off as they scampered away.
Shen Sheng laughed in spite of herself, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at the two cheerful little figures. If they truly were her own…
Wait, no. If it was as Anu said, then Buyan and Buyu were her own children. Didn’t that mean she herself was also a God from a thousand years ago?
