Blood kept gushing from Juntian's mouth. He struggled to raise his arm and stretched it out towards Lu Pianpian, "Senior...Brother..."
Lu Pianpian held his hand, feeling the warmth under her palm slowly dissipate.
He asked one last time in a hoarse voice, "Do you... know you're wrong?"
Jun Tian's vision blurred, and in his unfocused pupils, he could only vaguely make out the outline of his senior brother.
He wanted to ask his senior brother why he chose Huan Changming but didn't trust him.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say them.
Jun Tian opened his lips and slowly said, "There's no need... to be sad for me."
Lu Pianpian felt the grip on his hand loosen suddenly, almost causing him to drop her. He gripped her hand tightly again, watching as his junior brother's cold eyes slowly closed.
He always spoke the gentlest words in the coldest tone.
The wind blew away the clouds, and the sunlight came in.
The light finally fell on Huan Juntian, its warmth softening his cold and stern face.
Chapter 70
Heavenly Realm, Heavenly Lord's Palace.
Lu Pianpian's limbs were shackled with divine chains, and she stood beneath the Heavenly Emperor.
His feat of killing the Heavenly Lord Juntian in front of the divine soldiers and generals has already spread throughout the heavenly realm. This scene, appearing before the mortals, is tantamount to him bearing thorns to plead guilty.
But the Heavenly Emperor knew that this was not the case.
He is the one who holds power over the laws of the world, and he can find out the truth behind it all with a single investigation.
"What are you doing, brother?"
Lu Pianpian said, "I mistakenly killed the Buddhist disciple Agana. The damage has been done and cannot be undone."
“You were misled by the Heavenly Lord Juntian, the fault does not lie with you.” The Heavenly Lord sighed, “It was his obsession that forged the demon, and his destiny star Ziwei was also corrupted… Since my brother has already executed him, let this matter be considered closed.”
“Even so, I am guilty of negligence. As Jun Tian’s elder brother, I failed to notice when he went astray and did not admonish him in time. This is a fault I cannot atone for.”
The Heavenly Emperor pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what does my elder brother wish to do?"
Lu Pianpian knelt down with a thud, "I beg the Heavenly Emperor to strip me of my divine position and exchange my divine power for Qu Fuyi's chance to be reincarnated and ascend to immortality."
"You want to use your own divine position and power to give Qu Fuyi a new life and atone for Juntian Shenjun's sins. Brother, you were born a god. Don't you understand the principle that whoever causes the cause should bear the consequences?"
Lu Pianpian remained unmoved, saying, "No one but me can atone for his sins."
“Brother has personally killed the Heavenly Lord Juntian. His divine status has been lost and scattered beyond the Three Realms. Does brother really think that atoning for his sins will allow him to be forgiven by the Heavenly Dao and exchange it for the opportunity to be reincarnated as a human?”
“My mind is made up.” Lu Pianpian kowtowed to the Heavenly Emperor. “Please grant my request.”
The Heavenly Emperor was furious: "You—"
A Buddhist chant drifted closer, entering the Heavenly Lord's Hall. The sound of the tolling bell was ethereal and lingering. Outside the hall, Buddhist light permeated the air, and a compassionate voice rang out: "Amitabha..."
Lu Pianpian and Tianjun walked out of Tianjun Palace. The sky above was filled with clouds and golden light, and the Buddha appeared in the golden light.
The Buddha said, "The Divine Child, with his compassion, promptly pulled the Heavenly Lord back from the brink of disaster, causing him to stop his wrongdoing and prevent him from committing an even greater transgression. This is a virtuous act."
Lu Pianpian clasped her hands together and said, "Please, Buddha, have mercy."
The Buddha smiled kindly, “The divine son is willing to relinquish his divine position and power to help the immortal envoy be reincarnated. Then how does the divine son intend to repay the injustice that caused the unjust death of my Buddha son Agana in the Western Paradise by the divine son?”
The Heavenly Emperor had long anticipated that Huan Changming's death would draw the wrath of the Buddhas and Gods of the Western Paradise, but he hadn't expected the Buddha to arrive at this crucial juncture.
He quickly stepped forward to defend Lu Pianpian, saying, "Our Divine Son mistakenly killed the Buddha's son Agana because he was deceived by the Heavenly Lord Juntian. The fault does not lie with him! Our Heavenly Realm also feels ashamed of Agana's death and is willing to make amends for this matter. However, if all the blame is placed on our Divine Son, I will absolutely not agree!"
The Buddha's benevolent smile remained as he looked at Lu Pianpian and asked, "May I ask what the Divine Child thinks of the matter of Agana?"
“A mistaken killing is still killing.” Lu Pianpian had already made up her mind. “I am willing to exchange my life for my life. Please, Buddha, take my life away and give the gods and Buddhas of the Western Paradise an explanation.”
The Heavenly Emperor, exasperated, said, "Divine Child, be careful what you say!"
The Buddha laughed loudly, looking up at the sky. After he finished laughing, he twirled the prayer beads in his hand and said, "When Agana was undergoing a calamity in the mortal realm, he was reincarnated as Huan Changming, the prince of the Li Kingdom. In this life, he was supposed to experience all the suffering and hardship of the human world and eventually die tragically at the hands of villains, but the reincarnation of the divine child in the mortal realm saved him."
Lu Pianpian lowered her eyelashes silently. "It was my recklessness that altered his fate."
This caused Huan Changming, who should have already completed his tribulations, to die at his hands, unable to even regain his position as a Buddhist disciple.
The Buddha continued, "When he was Huan Changming, he suffered many hardships, which made him stubborn and extreme in his actions. He was filled with hostility and contempt for everything in the world. He loathed everything, including himself..."
"But the appearance of the divine child taught him how to love."
Lu Pianpian looked up in surprise and met the Buddha's benevolent gaze. "The divine child cherished him like a treasure and loved him dearly. He also learned from the divine child how to love others."
Lu Pianpian clenched her fingers into her palm, "He was born a Buddhist... He should know how to love all things, to love all living beings..."
"His love for all things in the world was indeed innate, and the gods and Buddhas revered him because of his status as a Buddhist disciple; no one had ever truly loved him."
As a disciple of the Buddha, Agana selflessly dedicated his love and kindness to all things from the day he was born. However, it was less about love and more about a responsibility. Over millions of years, as the world changed and the stars shifted, Agana's love for all living beings gradually became hollow and numb, and the responsibility placed upon him became a shackle that imprisoned him.
It is only natural for Buddha to love all people. People feel that this is the proper way, and gods and Buddhas feel it is even more so.
But even Buddha is a manifestation of a human being.
Gods and Buddhas only know that their disciples are compassionate and have immeasurable merits, but they never thought that Agana also wanted to experience the feeling of being loved.
And Huan Changming, the incarnation of Agana, is even more so.
He desperately longed for someone to truly cherish, value, and love him. But when that person appeared, he became lost again.
Because he has never been loved, he doesn't know what it feels like to be loved, or how he should respond when someone loves him.
In matters of love, he is like a young child, confused and clueless.
Lu Pianpian taught Huan Changming how to love through her words and deeds.
Lu Pianpian's eyes reddened. The Buddha, knowing his pain, comforted him: "Divine Child, there is no need for regret. If you hadn't saved his life and moved him in the mortal realm, he wouldn't be in this state of mind. Divine Child, there is no need for grief over his death. When you were Lu Pianpian, you gave him your spiritual bones and wings to prolong his life. Now you have personally killed him, destroyed his spiritual bones, and taken back his wings. These two actions are cause and effect; when they cancel each other out, the grudges are settled..."
When the Heavenly King heard the Buddha say this, he knew that they had no intention of blaming Lu Pianpian. He breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to the Buddha, saying, "May the Buddha be merciful."
Lu Pianpian wiped her eyes and pressed for an answer: "Then, is there any possibility that he could be reincarnated?"
"Amitabha……"
The golden light faded, and the sound of the tolling bell echoed through the heavens. The Buddha said slowly, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed..."
Lu Pianpian was stunned for a moment, then rode the cloud to chase after the Buddha. Halfway there, she turned back and instructed the Heavenly Emperor, "If Fairy Su Rou asks about this matter, the Heavenly Emperor should only answer that you will go to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation and will return to the mortal realm when your merits are complete."
He was unaware that news of his junior brother's death had already spread throughout the Heavenly Realm, and that Qu Surou knew it was only a matter of time.
The Heavenly Emperor grabbed Lu Pianpian, "What does my brother want to do?"
Lu Pianpian withdrew her hand and respectfully bowed to the Heavenly Lord. "The Demon Realm is in dire need of reconstruction. Since I have lost my divine status and become a demon, I request to go to the Demon Realm and become its ruler."
The Heavenly Emperor's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.
Without waiting for his reply, Lu Pianpian once again rode the cloud to chase after the Buddha.
The Heavenly Emperor watched his departing figure and cried out in anguish, "No—"
Those who could ride the clouds have long since flown far away.
Three hundred years later.
In the past three hundred years, the Demon Realm has transformed from its former lifeless state into a completely new place.
Everywhere is shaded by green trees, with abundant water and flowers. Where there are flowers, there are forests. Although it is a place with strong demonic energy, it has been transformed into a fairyland. Even the demonic beasts living in the demon realm have become much more docile and honest.
The reason the Demon Realm has become like this is said to be because the current Demon Lord's original form was the Spirit Rhinoceros Butterfly. Gods always like to tinker with things related to their own habits. Although some demons dare not agree with the Demon Lord's aesthetics and customs, they dare not question the Demon Lord's preferences.
The Demon Lord had shown them immense kindness; if it weren't for his guarantee to the Heavenly Realm, they would still be homeless, fleeing the pursuit of the gods somewhere.
Therefore, their peaceful lives today are all thanks to the Demon Lord. As for why the Demon Lord, a god, fell into demonhood and came to live in their demon realm, that is a secret. No matter how much the demons try to find out, it is difficult to know the truth behind it.
Ah Fen sat on the high roof. Three hundred years had passed, and she had grown from a naive girl into a beautiful young woman. But the only thing that hadn't changed was her habit of sitting on the roof, waiting for someone.
Mu Lingzi, holding the Heavenly Book in her left hand and a half-grown one-horned child in her right, walked towards A Fen, saying, "The sun is about to set, let's go back."
Ah Fen said "Oh" and climbed down from the eaves.
She had long since learned to wait patiently, and she knew that waiting was not something that could be done overnight. She was no longer as inflexible as before.
The one-horned child looked at A-Fen, who was growing taller and taller, and sighed, "Why is it that Sister A-Fen has grown so tall, but I haven't grown at all?"
The two brothers from the Heavenly Book patted him on the shoulder as if to say, "What's so special about that? I've been this size since I took human form, and I'll still be the same size in millions of years! Isn't that great? That's called eternal youth!"
After he finished speaking, he heard the other person sigh again, and he quickly said, "Of course you are different from me. You are a dragon, so you grow slowly. In ten million years, you will definitely grow into an adult. Don't worry!"
"Really? Will I really grow up to be an adult?"
"Of course! I am the all-knowing Lord of the Heavenly Book, why would I lie to you!"
Hearing the two children boasting to each other, Mu Lingzi let go of their hands and handed them to A Fen, saying, "You do it!"
He was a prominent bamboo demon in the demon realm, but after spending three hundred years in the demon realm, he ended up as a baby-raising tycoon. What a disgrace!
Although Ah Fen is tall, she is about the same age as them, so joining their conversations is no problem at all.
Leaving the three children together, Mu Lingzi hurried towards the Demon Palace; he had important business to attend to that day.
The Demon Palace gates were tightly shut. Mu Lingzi walked to the door and knocked. After a short while, she heard a response from inside: "Please come in."
Mu Lingzi pushed open the door and entered. Lu Pianpian, who was sitting on the Demon Lord's throne grinding ink, immediately turned serious upon seeing him.
Mu Lingzi was well aware that Lu Pianpian disliked him, but he was used to Lu Pianpian's attitude towards him and was not surprised at all.
Lu Pianpian had no patience for him. "Just say what you have to say."
Mu Lingzi coughed. "Found it."
Lu Pianpian paused in grinding the ink, and Mu Lingzi continued, "There's a sect in the lower realm that only accepts women. He became a disciple of the sect leader there, and it's said that he's highly regarded. The sect leader even intends to pass the sect's position to him..."
"Only accepting women?" Lu Pianpian frowned.
Mu Lingzi waved her hand, "Who knows how he got in... But with that face, it wouldn't be difficult for him to disguise himself as a woman." What's more, he has many years of experience in disguising himself as a woman, so he can do it with ease, even more so than a woman herself.
After Mu Lingzi finished speaking, she took out a piece of folded paper from her sleeve and handed it to Lu Pianpian, "It just so happens that this sect is recruiting disciples these days, so if you want to go, that would be nice..."
Lu Pianpian snatched the paper, stood up from the Demon Lord's throne, and started to walk out. Mu Lingzi quickly stopped him, "You're going out dressed like this?!"
Lu Pianpian looked at him, "What's wrong with me?"