When Wu Xun was in power, Luoyang was obsessed with peonies. Gardeners would often go to Mount Baima to look for high-quality peonies and transplant them into Luoyang's peony garden. The first time Xiang Yu met Wen Bin was on Mount Baima. That day, he went to look for rare varieties …
"Did he fall off the cliff?" Li Jinglong asked.
"No." Xiang Yu replied, "He had wine with him and was drunk. He was lying on a rock …"
A young and handsome gardener was lying on a rock in a drunken stupor among the flowers in the spring. Xiang Yu had only caught a glimpse of him from afar, but unexpectedly, she was tempted. She observed him for a long time and saw that he was painstakingly searching for the best courtesan on the White Horse Mountain so that he could transplant her back to the city.
Li Jinglong said, "So you showed your true form and got to know him."
Xiang Yu said, "No … I was curious, so I followed him back to the city …"
Hongjun: "…"
After that, Wen Bin brought Xiang Yu's real body back to Luoyang and planted it in a pot in his room. He watered Xiang Yu every day. Xiang Yu only found it funny and showed up at night to tidy up his house. Wen Bin also didn't know. The man and the flower quietly got along with each other for half a year …
"Did you get caught?" Li Jinglong asked again.
"No." Xiang Yu replied.
Hongjun said, "You guessed it three times and still didn't get it right. How strange."
Li Jinglong held his forehead with one hand and waved his hand to stop guessing. Wen Bin planted Xiang Yu for a whole year. When spring came in the second year, Xiang Yu couldn't help but bloom. Wen Bin, on the other hand, gradually fell in love with her. He fell in love with a peony. Often, he would sit alone under the moon and stare at the pot of flowers, lost in thought.
Xiang Yu said sadly, "But demons have their own powers, while humans don't. In the end, demons and humans have different paths. If they are together, he will gradually be infected by the poison in my body and will not have a good ending. Heaven has set up this karma to prevent humans and demons from falling in love. After the flowers bloomed that night, I thought it would be better to leave him and continue to go to the White Horse Mountain."
When Xiang Yu returned to the White Horse Mountain, he found that the valley had been occupied by a group of apes. The first one to bear the brunt of the attack was naturally the Gu Ape Wan Jue.
Wan Jue brought the Devil Qi of Tianma with him. Using the Qi of Licentiousness, he stimulated the peonies in the mountains and valleys, causing their cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds. They transformed into human forms. The peonies, which originally needed to cultivate for a hundred years and absorb the essence of the sun and moon before they could become adults, all had new forms.
In order to save the group of sisters, Xiang Yu fought with Wan Jue directly. Naturally, she was not the Gu Ape's opponent, so she was subdued and brought to Luoyang. At that time, Wan Jue sent a monkey demon to look after the peonies and hired a gardener to take care of them. When Wen Bin saw that the white peonies had been recovered, he was suddenly overjoyed. After a few years, Xiang Yu remained dormant, waiting for an opportunity. However, things did not go according to one's wishes. Wan Jue's Demon Qi was originally very strong, and with the help of the Devil Qi of Tianma, he turned the peonies into brothels and accompanied him in Shili Hehan, opening a beautiful shop.
One night, Xiang Yu missed Wen Bin so much that she turned into a clone and came to see him. She was discovered by Wen Bin and was about to confess her feelings when Wan Jue discovered her and called her back to the building.
Wen Bin followed the trail to Shili Hehan and was restrained by Wan Jue's "lust". Xiang Yu had no choice but to inject the Demon Qi into his body. As soon as Wen Bin left, Xiang Yu tried to chase after him, but no matter what she did, she could not cure Wen Bin. That was until Hongjun brought Wen Bin back to the Exorcism Division …
"At that time, I kept feeling that someone was secretly spying on us." Li Jinglong explained, "I thought, could it be that there was someone on our side in the enemy camp? Later, Wan Jue did not know our whereabouts at all, which confirmed my guess. "
"You're right." Xiang Yu nodded.
"You guessed right this time." Hongjun said.
Li Bai said, "Maybe it was a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse?"
Xiang Yu laughed, but Li Jinglong was very embarrassed. Xiang Yu explained, "Wan Jue sent a monkey demon to spy on you guys, but they were all dealt with by me."
Kun Shen said in a low voice, "Now that the karmic karma has been settled, what do you think?"
Xiang Yu bit her lip. After a long time, she said, "I think … I'll be with him in the end, even if … I'm willing to do so."
Hongjun did not understand, but Li Jinglong said, "You can let it go, but he might not be able to."
"That's right." Xiang Yu's cheeks flushed red. "You men understand men the best."
Li Jinglong heard this and looked at Hongjun.
Hongjun, "???"
Li Bai said to Hongjun, "One of them is a demon, and the other is a human. They can't go to bed to perform the ritual. You have to teach them how to detoxify the poison."
"Oh!" Hongjun suddenly understood. Xiang Yu's face was so red that it was about to drip blood. She said in a low voice, "Thank you, benefactor."
Hongjun said, "I'll give you the prescription …"
"Wait." Yuan Kun suddenly said lightly, "Flower demon, all living things grow in heaven and earth, and have their own destiny. Even if it's for a moment of pleasure, you won't hesitate to die tomorrow?"
Hongjun thought it couldn't be that serious. He looked at Yuan Kun, and then at Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu seemed to have thought it through. She said, "As long as I can be with him for a day, it's also good."
Yuan Kun said again, "The cycle of karma is intertwined. Since you know the Mahamayuri and the Acalanatha, you're also destined to be together. It's fate, but it's also a tribulation. As long as you've thought it through and don't regret it in the future, it's fine. "
"What will happen?" Hongjun asked.
Yuan Kun didn't answer. Li Jinglong slowly shook his head. In heaven and earth, sometimes there were many things that couldn't be said out loud.
"I've thought it through." Xiang Yu said.
Yuan Kun then said to Hongjun, "Give her the prescription."
Hongjun copied the prescription and gave it to her. Xiang Yu leisurely walked into the hall and knelt down in front of Hongjun. Hongjun hurriedly went to help her up, but Yuan Kun said to Hongjun, "You also kowtow to her in return. Go."
Hongjun was baffled, but he didn't disobey Yuan Kun's order. After all, Yuan Kun's relationship with Qing Xiong was equivalent to that of an uncle. Moreover, he was the Demon King. Hongjun obediently knelt down and kowtowed to Xiang Yu, each kowtowing three times.
Li Jinglong vaguely felt that something was amiss, but Xiang Yu didn't ask much. She smiled and said, "Since fate has been determined by the heavens, I thank Kun Shen."
Yuan Kun only nodded slightly. Li Jinglong's heart moved. He said, "Where are you going next?"
"Naturally, we're going to find a place to stay in Chang 'an City." Xiang Yu said, "The earth energy here is endless. Because the sisters were ravaged by the Gu Ape, their vitality was greatly damaged. We only hope to stay in the Exorcism Division for a few days. After recuperating …"
"The two of you can stay in the Exorcism Division for now." Li Jinglong said, "Since there's no one here, you can watch over this place for me. If there's anything, just listen to my message from Chang 'an."
Xiang Yu was overjoyed when she heard this and wanted to kneel down to thank him again. Li Jinglong calmly accepted it. This time, Yuan Kun didn't ask Li Jinglong to return the gesture. Hongjun looked at Li Jinglong with a smile in his eyes. Thinking back to Yuan Kun's previous words, perhaps Xiang Yu had unintentionally saved his life in the future. That's why he kowtowed.
"Since we've settled here, we should return to Chang 'an." Yuan Kun said.
Li Jinglong knew that Yuan Kun had instructions, so he immediately packed up and had Hongjun and Li Bai follow. They set off the next day. Yuan Kun left Luoyang and went to Luoshui. He actually transformed into a giant leviathan and carried them north along Luoshui, entering the Yellow River.
This was the first time Hongjun rode on a demon king's back. He couldn't help but exclaim. Li Bai smiled and said, "I've visited all the famous mountains and rivers in my life, but I've never seen an immortal. Now that I've come across such a fortuitous encounter in the Central Plains, it's truly wonderful!"
"Don't be happy too early." Yuan Kun Shen said coldly, "When we return, you should smell the Soul Leaving Pollen."
Li Bai didn't understand, but Hongjun's mouth twitched. He looked at Li Jinglong, and Li Jinglong indicated that he would handle it himself. When the moon rose from the Eastern Mountains, the Luoshui was covered in silvery light. When Yuan Kun Shen arrived near the Yellow River, he suddenly leaped into the night sky and disappeared into the sea of clouds.
"Wow!" Hongjun exclaimed.
Li Bai sat on Yuan Kun Shen's tail and drank, minding his own business. Li Jinglong, on the other hand, had a lot on his mind. He and Hongjun sat side by side on Yuan Kun's head.
"Kun Shen." Li Jinglong finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Will you return to Chang 'an with us?"
"I'm not going back." Yuan Kun's voice replied, "I'm injured, and I'm not Xie Yu's match."
Hongjun said, "It can't be, 'not his match'?!"
In his world, Chong Ming was the strongest, and even if Qing Xiong was slightly weaker, she wouldn't be too weak. Yuan Kun Shen and Qing Xiong should be evenly matched. Why were these three great monsters so afraid of Yang Guozhong?
A young man whose entire body was glowing appeared on the top of Yuan Kun's head. It was Yuan Kun. He had his back to the two, and his face was facing the sea of clouds. He used the Soul Splitting Technique to transform into a human body and talk to them.
"Xie Yu has a treasure of heaven and earth in his hands." Yuan Kun answered, "This magic tool has the power to reverse time and cause and effect. It can disrupt all the futures that I foresee, so I can't predict when he will appear, and I can't predict all the karma that will be disrupted by him."
Li Jinglong said, "This is what I want to ask …"
"I know what you want to ask." Yuan Kun said, "When I handed the Mind's Lamp to Qing Xiong, I saw the scene of the two of you fighting in the rainstorm."
Hongjun, "!!!"
Li Jinglong held his breath and was speechless for a long time. What happened back then was actually within Yuan Kun's predictions!
Hongjun said with a trembling voice, "Kun Shen, did you arrange all of this?"
Li Jinglong's expression immediately became somewhat uncomfortable, as if when he found out that his fate was actually in the hands of someone else, it was a merciless mockery to him.
"The cycle of karma engenders each other." Yuan Kun said, "Two thousand years ago, when I met Zhuang Zi, I had the power to pry into karma and deduce. You humans say that 'the mysteries of heaven cannot be revealed', but standing in front of one fork after another, whether it's fate or fate, it's just a kind of 'arithmetic'."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and said, "Have you learned the Flying Star Divination Token?"
Li Jinglong frowned deeply and said, "I know a little."
Hongjun knew that the Flying Star Divination Token was a spell used by alchemists during the Han Dynasty to calculate the so-called "four seasons" and "destiny", but it had long been lost. Yuan Kun walked towards them and sat down cross-legged facing the two of them. At this time, he appeared in the state of a soul, and the black cloth over his eyes had disappeared without a trace. Instead, it was replaced by the shining stars in his eyes.
"Obtaining one of the Nine Palaces means that the activation of karma, the calculation of palaces by palaces, intertwining and rebirth, one thing after another, no matter how big or small, will be continuously deduced." Yuan Kun said, "Hongjun obtaining the Mind's Lamp is karma; going down the mountain is karma; catching a demon is karma; karma intertwines and evolves. As long as the calculation is right, he is destined to meet Li Jinglong in the alley in the city …"
Hearing this, Li Jinglong felt a little better and said, "Your guidance to Hongjun is also within karma?"
Yuan Kun leisurely replied, "No, I am not within karma. However, your fate with Hongjun has long been predestined. If you want to trace it back, the two of you have a deep relationship. I merely added an operator to this Nine Palaces grid and then moved this abacus."
"This operator is the Mind's Lamp." Yuan Kun finally said.
At this time, Hongjun seemed to have comprehended something. It was as if what Yuan Kun revealed was some kind of extremely profound mystery between heaven and earth.
However, Li Jinglong did not allow him to think carefully and asked, "Where did karma begin?"
"It began four thousand years ago when two Wisdom Kings fought a world-shaking battle during the Age of Gods." Yuan Kun said, "Li Jinglong, you can only ask me three questions. You must think carefully."
Li Jinglong did not understand and asked, "Why?"
"Because in this Calculation Cage, each person's karma can only be inserted three times." Yuan Kun raised one hand and with a "swoosh", an eighty-one grid cage of light appeared. The millions of operators in the cage were crazily moving. This cage of light continued to expand until it covered the sky and earth. It was as if even the energy of the veins of heaven and earth was attracted to it, jumping and colliding inside.
"This is the first question." Yuan Kun said.
Hongjun screamed, "This doesn't count!"
"Of course it counts." Yuan Kun coldly replied, "Do you think this answer has no effect on him?"
Li Jinglong took a deep breath. He originally wanted to refute, but after hearing Yuan Kun's words, he calmed down instead. Perhaps from Yuan Kun's explanation, he revealed some kind of principle behind this Calculation of Karma, which also allowed him to roughly understand how to break the predetermined future …
When he looked directly at Yuan Kun again, Yuan Kun's gaze was filled with admiration, as if he had guessed what he was thinking. Yuan Kun replied, "If you are smart enough, you should remember what I said to you when we first met."
"One thought." Li Jinglong murmured, "All karma is born from one thought …"
Yuan Kun only nodded slightly. Li Jinglong instantly understood the key point that he did not say out loud. Every "thought" that was suddenly born was an operator that was added to this huge Calculation Cage. It would break a predetermined fate … And if he combined the involvement of Hongjun and Tianma, perhaps this future was not impossible to change.
"How did 'demons' come into being?" Li Jinglong asked.
"'Demons' are people, demons, and gods themselves." Yuan Kun said, "It is the darkness that has been abandoned. The seven emotions and six desires, the three thousand nightmares, birth, old age, illness, and death, all kinds of pain, are not controlled. Those who want to cultivate to become immortals must abstain from desires. Those who abstain from desires will remain in the world. When they die, they let go of their obsessions and reincarnate. Those who let go of their obsessions will remain in the world … "
"The saints' cut off the three corpses to become saints'. The three corpses that were cut off are left on the earth … and all kinds of things, thus becoming 'demonic energy'."
"But the Heaven and Earth Veins have their own power to purify it." Hongjun said. "No … Yes, yes, it should be like this." Hongjun was afraid that he would be tricked into asking another question, so he hurriedly changed his words.
"You have to put this demonic energy into the Heaven and Earth Veins, only then can it enter the purification cycle." Yuan Kun said, "How do you gather this demonic energy that is drifting in the Divine Continent?"
"Demonic Seed …" Li Jinglong said with a trembling voice.
"Four thousand years ago, Mahamayuri and Acalanatha wanted to save all living beings from suffering from the demonic energy …" Yuan Kun turned around and faced Chao Yun and Lan Canghai. He said slowly, "Mahamayuri used himself as a seed to form the Tianma Seed. He reincarnated once every thousand years, gathering all the demonic energy in the world …"
"… Acalanatha was reincarnated, using the Six Artifacts to destroy the Tianma Seed."
"The moment Acalanatha's power destroyed the demonic seed, the demonic energy returned to the Heaven and Earth Veins. A thousand years later, the demonic energy gradually thickened, and the Divine Continent was filled with hostility. Mahamayuri was reincarnated again … and so on, the cycle repeated. "
Li Jinglong suddenly recalled that in the Luoyang Bureau of Exorcism., Yuan Kun had said this:
"The cycle of cause and effect is intertwined. Since you are acquainted with Mahamayuri and Acalanatha, you are also destined to be together."
"Next question." Yuan Kun said lightly.
Li Jinglong pondered for a long time. He looked at Hongjun and then at Yuan Kun.
"This is your last question." Yuan Kun said, "Why don't you ask about the future?"
Li Jinglong replied, "I don't want to ask about the future."
Yuan Kun just looked at Li Jinglong quietly. Li Jinglong suddenly said, "When I don't know the future, I still believe that everything is not predestined."