Guanyins Tränen - Kapitel 16
Sacrificing oneself for the country and the nation is their glory!
But……
“But if we let go, we can’t be together anymore.” Changping’s tears streamed down her face. “I can’t bear the hatred and be with a traitor!” Changping turned around, gripped the sword in her hand, and blood soaked her white veil.
That was the first time Tongtong died.
It was a death that Zhou Shixian could not accept. He never dared to hope that the Ninth Princess would fall in love with him, or even if she liked him, he dared not even dream of it. He castrated himself, hoping only to serve by the princess's side, even just watching her would be happiness.
Castration was the only legitimate way to stay by the princess's side.
At that time, he could not only stay by the princess's side, but also openly marry her—the Qing emperor had granted him the marriage.
She died at such a beautiful moment.
He died with national hatred, family feuds, and the helplessness of betrayal.
You must be very unwilling to accept this, right?
Zhou Shixian was unwilling to accept it. Why? Was it because he wasn't a complete man? But he was incomplete because of her.
The deeper the love, the more you give, the more unwilling you are to give up.
Especially when it's something you could easily have.
When you love someone, don't presumptuously give your love, because the person receiving it may not appreciate it.
With tears streaming down his face, Zhou Shixian dripped the thick, black blood of the zombie demon shepherd boy into Changping's wound.
Come back to life, don't die with resentment.
Changping died, but Tongtong came back to life.
52.
How blissful it would be to die like that; at least it would leave Kim Siu-lo with beautiful memories and a sense of guilt.
But Tongtong came back to life, and she lived on forever.
If Tongtong's backstory were told in detail, it would surely be a complex and poignant legend.
However, Tongtong doesn't give anyone time to reminisce.
She took a long breath, and countless ants emerged from around the tomb. Tongtong quickly inhaled them into her mouth. Tongtong glared resentfully at Ksitigarbha, opened her mouth, and sprayed the formic acid from countless ants towards Ksitigarbha. Ksitigarbha remained standing there, unmoved.
He allowed the formic acid to corrode his body.
"Why didn't you dodge?! Why didn't you dodge?!" Tongtong was furious. If this were on a battlefield, it would be a huge insult to her opponent—"I don't deign to fight you."
Ksitigarbha clasped his hands together and said: "The suffering of separation from loved ones, the suffering of being with those we hate, and the suffering of not getting what we want. But if there is no separation from loved ones, and we can take revenge and vent our hatred, and get what we want, then is there really no suffering? Suffering is also a kind of joy."
After Ksitigarbha finished speaking, his body was instantly turned into a pile of bones by formic acid.
Ruyi Baomingzhu jumped up: "Why is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva so easily defeated this time??"
The demon-subduing golden staff slammed into the wish-fulfilling life pearl, and said, "This old man is always just nagging, when has he ever hit me?"
Ruyi Baomingzhu nodded: "That's true, that's true. But our old man's ability to nag is really something else. Back then, Wu Sangui was actually driven to rebellion by his nagging!"
The Demon-Subduing Golden Staff jumped up and shouted, "That's not rebellion! That's clearly doing good! How can you be so short-sighted!"
The Ruyi Jingu Bang (Life-Saving Pearl) broke free from Big M's grasp and charged fiercely at the Demon-Subduing Golden Staff: "You're the one with short-sightedness! You brat!"
The Demon-Subduing Golden Staff, hiding behind Big M, stuck out its tongue: "You little rascal!"
Liu Wei, who came with Da M, finally couldn't help but ask after watching idol dramas for a long time: "Aren't you guys worried at all?"
"Tch!" Big M gripped back the Ruyi Treasure Life Pearl and said, "It's just commonplace. Going to hell at the drop of a hat."
"So what do we do now?" Liu Wei asked.
"Can you beat Tong Mei?" Big M clenched his fist and transformed back into the original form of the Listening Beast.
"We can't beat them..."
"Then why ask what to do? Of course, we're out of here!!!" With that, he vanished in a flash.
The demon-subduing golden staff made a face at Tongtong and shouted, "I'm actually quite good at fighting, but I'll let you off the hook for the sake of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva!" Then it disappeared without a trace.
Poor Liu Wei, poor River God Feng Yi, trapped in a mortal body, moving slowly, he could only run desperately on his feet. Xiao Lu caught up at some point, looked at Liu Wei, then at Tong Tong, hesitated, and finally returned to Tong Tong's side.
Tongtong stared blankly at the white bones on the ground.
Is revenge really that simple? No bloody battle, no desperate struggle, just... like this?
Tongtong felt empty inside.
“The suffering of separation from loved ones, the suffering of being with those we hate, the suffering of not getting what we want—but if there is no separation from loved ones, if we can take revenge and vent our hatred, and if we can get what we want, then is there really no suffering? Suffering is also joy.” She murmured, repeating Ksitigarbha’s words.
She looked up at the ghost generals who had been standing beside her, unsure whether to ask them or herself, "What do we do next?"
The ghost generals gave the same dull reply: "We will obey the Ninth Princess's orders!"
Actually, Tongtong also really hopes that someone can send her out on assignments, because sending someone out is more tiring than being sent out.
She stood up unsteadily, walked to the remains of Ksitigarbha, picked them up one by one, then put them down, then picked them up again.
"What should I do next?" she murmured.
It turns out that the most painful thing for people is not birth, aging, sickness, death, love, hate, separation, but rather the absence of these things.
Life has eight sufferings, but it also has its joys.
53.
Gain and loss are always fair.
Tongtong's eyes were empty, because her soul was empty.
Having avenged myself, life seems to have become empty. Immortality has its own kind of torment; being able to die is, in fact, a kind of happiness.
Tongtong put down the remains of Ksitigarbha, stood up, and said to the ghost general and Xiao Lu behind her, "Let's disperse."
"Is this how it ends?" A voice flashed through Tongtong's body. "You've already given up on Ksitigarbha's little trick?"
"Ant Demon?" Tongtong frowned.
"I sacrificed my life, Ant Demon, to rid you of the zombie poison, and this is how you repay me?" Ant Demon roared.
“He’s dead,” Tongtong said.
"But my goal has not yet been achieved!!" Ant Demon said.
"I'm tired, I don't want to get entangled anymore," Tongtong sighed.
"You ungrateful bastard! I used all my demonic power to help you control the zombie poison and revive you. I really misjudged you!" Ant Demon struggled inside Tongtong's body, and thick black blood seeped from the corner of Tongtong's mouth.
At first? At first?
When the restoration attempt failed and all the soldiers perished, Princess Changping had become the zombie Tongtong, becoming the target of pursuit by Taoist priests and monks, including Jin Xiaoluo.
That moment, that moment, will never be forgotten by Tongtong.
Jin Xiaoluo's demon-slaying staff was pressed against Tongtong's throat, trembling. Tongtong could not discern any emotion from his expression.
“I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Tongtong said.
“You know I’m saving you,” Jin Xiaoluo said. “Go where you’re meant to go, follow the laws of nature, and be reincarnated properly.”
"Will we ever meet again?" Tongtong asked.
"If fate allows." Jin Xiaoluo trembled as she exerted her strength, and thick black blood flowed from Tongtong's throat.
"Do you... still love me? I've become like this..." Tongtong cried, her eyes bloodshot.
"To love or not to love, that's the answer!" Jin Xiaoluo gritted his teeth and pierced Tongtong's throat with a spear. Tongtong fell to the ground.
Jin Xiaoluo turned away, and no one saw his tears. He didn't look back, and walked away from Tongtong with firm steps. Tongtong's soul floated above her body: "Is this the answer? Is this answer love, or not love?"
“Of course I don’t love you! If I loved you, how could I bear to kill you?” An ant flew over, landed, and transformed into a woman wearing a crown.
"Being killed by him is the ending I wanted... the best ending." Tongtong sighed, seeing Death approaching to take her away in the distance. "I only ask for the next life..."
"An afterlife? You still want an afterlife?" the ant woman laughed. "You've killed countless people, lived by sucking blood, and you still want an afterlife?"
"Then... what will happen?" Tongtong asked in terror, desperately hoping to meet Jin Xiaoluo again in her next life.
"Alas! Foolish human beings, even if you were reincarnated, you and he would only miss each other life after life. Besides, for someone like you, there is only one ending: eternal damnation in the deepest hell."
The two grim reapers drew closer, and one of them said, "Did Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva really pardon this female zombie?"
"real."
"What should we do?" Tongtong couldn't hear Death's words, nor did she understand the true meaning of missing each other life after life. She cried and said, "What should we do? Will we never see Jin Xiaoluo again?"
"Don't die," Ant-Elf said.
"But...it's too late..." Tongtong looked helplessly at Jin Xiaoluo's back, which disappeared into the depths of the woods.
"I can help you!" Ant Demon said, "On the condition that you help me reclaim my territory! With the blood of a thousand-year-old zombie combined with my demonic power, we will surely be invincible!"
If Tongtong knew how big the territory that Ant Demon claimed to be, she probably wouldn't have agreed so easily, right?
However, Tongtong had no idea.
Tongtong had no idea that the territory Ant Demon wanted to reclaim was actually the entire surface space of the world.
The ants had had enough of living in their burrows and wanted to come up for some fresh air.
Tongtong hesitated and nodded. The ant spirit grabbed Tongtong's soul, burrowed into her body, and struck out with a palm, instantly obliterating the two Grim Reapers.
Tongtong laughed loudly, and Yimei laughed loudly.
From that moment on, Tongtong became Tongmei.
53.
When Mao Mao led Professor Xiao out of the laboratory, the whole city was quiet. The ground was littered with the bodies of infected people, and some people in white coats were already cleaning up the bodies.
People came out in twos and threes, timid, like rabbits that had just escaped from the tiger's mouth.
Professor Xiao held the golden pill in his hand, stunned. "It's...it's useless? This was made from the essence of the only thousand-year-old poisonous frog I had left..."