Chapter 2206: Deja Vu
Chapter 2206: Deja Vu
Zu An was someone who had already gone through all kinds of experiences before. It wasn’t easy to make him feel things like fear or panic. But in that instant, the seemingly casual question from this weak and delicate young lady made him break out into a cold sweat. He was immediately put in a difficult position, saying, “Uh, about that…. That was just something I said to piss off those sworn enemies of mine so they couldn't think straight.”
“Is that so?” Chu Chuyan gave him an indifferent look, but she didn’t expose his lie.
Zu An wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and quickly changed the topic. “I’m now already the lord of the underworld, and I can bring the departed spirits out from this place. I’ll save you right now…”
He quickly tried to save Chu Chuyan and bring her out of the underworld. Even if he had to spend some virtue, so what? He had ten billion, so how could it not be enough…
His expression suddenly froze. He discovered that he actually couldn't save Chu Chuyan. When he obtained the Netherworld Book of Life and Death and became the ruler of the underworld, he had learned that he could grant life to most departed spirits, except for a few. And she was none other than one of those special exceptions! Right now, she was in a state between life and death, and she was also bound by the thousand-year contract of the Bridge of Helplessness. She couldn't leave this place at all.
When she saw the rigid smile on his face, Chu Chuyan seemed to guess what he was thinking; she consoled him, saying, “Ah Zu, my current condition is a bit special. My body has already disappeared, but I'm protected by the Pure World Icelotus. Only after a bit more time passes and I can condense a new body will I be able to return to life.”
Zu An’s voice trembled as he asked, “How long are you talking about?”
Chu Chuyan opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn’t answer directly. “It should be a bit longer than the time I need to stay under the Bridge of Helplessness.”
Zu An felt his heart turn ice-cold. According to the laws of the Bridge of Helplessness, those who didn’t drink Grandmother Meng’s soup to wash away all of their memories had to stay under the Bridge of Helplessness for a thousand years. If it was even longer than a thousand years... He then remembered something else he had heard. Perhaps it would take over ten thousand years…
When she saw how sad he became, Chu Chuyan comforted him, saying, “It’s fine. You’re now the underworld ruler, so you can come and see me often, right? I won’t be so lonely then.” 𝘧𝓻ℯ𝑒𝑤𝓮𝒷𝓷𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝓬𝓸𝓂
She actually sounded really happy. Before this, she had thought that she would have to spend thousands, perhaps even more than ten thousand years alone. No matter how much she enjoyed peace and quiet, it would still be lonely. Sometimes, she hadn't been able to help but feel a bit of despair when she realized that in the future, she could end up being able to see Zu An but not talk to him, and that he wouldn’t even be able to see her.
But now that Zu An had become the underworld emperor and could keep her company at any time, why wouldn’t she feel happy?
Zu An hugged her again. “Don’t worry, I'll definitely find a way to save you and bring you out ahead of time.”
“Okay, I believe in you.” A look of happiness appeared on Chu Chuyan’s face as she spoke. She had personally watched her lover achieve far too many things that seemed entirely inconceivable at first. Now, he had even become the underworld emperor! Everything seemed like a dream.
Zu An took her into his arms. When he felt her cold body, he suddenly had an urge to cherish her greatly. “I went to White Jade Palace to look for you, but Yan… Your master said that you went into the secret dungeon to cultivate, but you went missing inside. Did you end up going to another point in spacetime?”
“I didn’t expect you to even know about that,” Chu Chuyan said in surprise. “That's exactly what happened. Back then, I was cultivating in White Jade Sect’s secret dungeon, when there was suddenly a disturbance on that stone at the mountaintop. The entire secret dungeon grew unstable. I wanted to see what was happening, but I was sucked inside as soon as I approached that stone. When I came to, I was already in an unfamiliar place and time, and I encountered some special circumstances.” She looked at Zu An and was about to say something further, but stopped.
“You can’t talk about those things?” Zu An asked considerately.
Chu Chuyan nodded and said, “You need to experience many of those things yourself. If I speak of it, it'll only harm you.”
“Then don’t talk about it. You know what kind of guy I am! I’ll probably get by just fine no matter where I end up.” Zu An massaged her slender waist. He didn’t want to trouble her too much. Many times, knowing too much would only bring trouble, so it would be better if he just didn’t know in the first place!
“Okay.” Chu Chuyan leaned gently into his chest as she said, “I actually felt a bit sad at first. You experienced a lot of things together with Manman and even the other women, and the two of us spent the shortest amount of time together, so I always felt a bit of regret over that. But I won’t think about those things anymore. We experienced a lot of things together, far more than you can even imagine.”
Zu An knew that she was likely talking about the events of that different point in spacetime. He didn’t continue to ask about it out of consideration for her safety. Instead, he remarked, “It seems you were the Snow Lady all along.”
“Yeah.” Chu Chuyan felt happy as she said, “Some things happened in that time period and I became the Snow Lady. I gradually forgot about many things, only recently regaining my memory. I didn’t expect to reunite with you in that kind of situation. Unfortunately, we had to part again just after we met.”
Zu An was overcome with pity. He couldn't help but kiss her.
Chu Chuyan’s body trembled. At first, she was still a bit rigid, but she gradually began to relax and gently responded to him. After a long time passed and their lips separated, there was a bit of a blush on her pale face. “I didn’t expect it to feel the same as when I was alive, even after I became a ghost.” A lot of the sensations were still there, and even stronger at that.
“The other souls might not be so lucky. Besides, you aren’t a true soul since you’re in a state between life and death. Even I don’t really know what kind of condition you're currently in,” Zu An explained. “But since I'm now the underworld emperor, I still at least have some authority.”
Zu An couldn't help but move closer to kiss her again, but her fingers pressed lightly against his mouth to stop him.
“What is it?” Zu An asked in confusion.
Chu Chuyan’s expression seemed to be a bit strange. After some hesitation, she said, “You and my master…”
Zu An was alarmed and quickly said with an embarrassed smile, “There isn’t much between us.”
Chu Chuyan rolled her eyes. “After I became the Snow Lady, many of my memories were sealed and damaged, but after all those things happened in the sealed land, I remembered who I was and many of my memories returned. If I wasn’t mistaken, when I was the Snow Lady in the Great Snowy Mountains, I chased after you and my master, right?”
Zu An was sweating buckets and said “Uh, you were pretty fierce back then. Sigh, if I had known it was you, why would we even run?”
“You seemed to have used some forbidden skill that left you severely injured,” Chu Chuyan recalled.
“That’s right. I was still pretty and you were at the earth immortal rank. If I hadn’t gone all out, I might not have been able to leave the Great Snowy Mountains,” Zu An said with a deep sigh.
Chu Chuyan suddenly asked, “How did you recover?”
Zu An’s expression immediately froze. “Uh, you know that my skill is a bit special and my regenerative ability is pretty strong.”
Chu Chuyan shook her head. “I understood your condition back then well. You were already on the verge of death. Your normal recovery abilities wouldn’t be able to treat those injuries at all.”
“I had some special medicines…” Zu An explained without much confidence.
Chu Chuyan seemed to just watch his performance quietly. When she saw that he couldn't continue the act, she said, “In that kind of situation, perhaps only that special treatment method of your Primordial Origin Sutra could save you, right? Just like how you saved me in the past. But you need a woman to cooperate with you for that, and the only one at your side was my master.”
Zu An was speechless.
“If I remember correctly, there seemed to be some special hot springs in the direction you went missing. Was that the place where you were treated?” Chu Chuyan stared at Zu An with her beautiful eyes, as if she could see straight through his heart.