Chapter 1066: A Hundred Lifetimes of Foolishness, Que Feiyin
Qin Mu laughed heartily as he stepped out of the jeweled carriage. "Mu Qing, meet Sister Southern Emperor!"
"Mu Qing? Sister Southern Emperor?"
The girl in red was puzzled. Her voice was very soft and sweet, but her expression was somewhat foolish and dazed. She laughed and said, "You are Mu Qing, but I am not your sister. You foolish one, you've mistaken me for someone else. I am Que Feiyin, a disciple of Moon Venerable."
Qin Mu thought to himself with suspicion, "Could I really have mistaken her? This woman is dressed entirely in red, her clothing and adornments similar to the Southern Emperor's, and the Vermilion Bird feather tucked into her hair is precisely the Southern Emperor's Vermilion Bird plume. I absolutely cannot be wrong! And the poem she just sang—its spirit was extraordinary, its breadth vast, embodying the spirit of all rivers flowing into the sea and stars gathering around the moon. How could a foolish, dazed person write such a piece?"
He asked her directly, and the girl in red, Que Feiyin, replied, "This is Cloud Emperor's poem, not mine. I heard him sing it and learned it."
Dragon Qilin said, "Miss Feiyin, our sect leader is a friend of Moon Venerable and has come to pay a visit. Please trouble yourself to announce us."
"Master is not here."
Que Feiyin looked them over and said, "Master went out with Cloud Venerable and is not in the Heavenly Court. Are you really acquaintances of Master? I don't know you."
Qin Mu stepped out of the jeweled carriage. The eyelids over his brow slowly parted to both sides, and his vertical eye appeared, instantly seeing this woman Que Feiyin's past and present lives with perfect clarity.
His divine eye, having fused with more Primal Chaos Origin Stones, possessed even more miraculous qualities.
He saw that, tens of thousands of years ago, at the position of the Southern Vermilion Bird Palace in the starry sky, a ball of fire fell from the heavens, landing in an ordinary household in the Primordial Realm.
Ten months later, the mistress of that household gave birth to a daughter. When the baby girl was born, red clouds filled the sky, and the red clouds transformed into a Vermilion Bird, circling the delivery room.
This girl grew up, and Moon Venerable came to take her as a disciple, teaching her Dao techniques and divine powers, and bringing her to the Xiao Han Heavenly Court.
However, during a battle with the Dragon Xiao Heavenly Court, this girl encountered the Nether Emperor in the fray. In a single exchange, the Nether Emperor took her soul and struck her dead on the spot.
Moon Venerable was enraged, severely wounded the Nether Emperor, and retrieved her soul.
That very night, Moon Venerable sought out Nether Venerable, who was gathering wandering souls on the battlefield, and handed the girl's soul over to him.
Another ten months passed, and another baby girl was born. She was again taken as a disciple by Moon Venerable. She was exceptionally intelligent, learning any divine power or Dao technique upon first encounter, yet she had lost all memory of her past life and did not know who she was.
But this good fortune did not last long. During a journey, she was killed in an encirclement by demigods. That time, too, the Nether Emperor led the demigods in an invasion of human territory.
Qin Mu saw a third reincarnation, a fourth, a fifth...
Each time this woman reincarnated, she would inexplicably die, and each time she perished at the hands of the Nether Emperor.
Reincarnation after reincarnation gradually eroded her former intelligence and memories. By the time she reached this life as Que Feiyin, it was already her hundredth incarnation.
Although Moon Venerable still took her as a disciple and taught her diligently, Que Feiyin had become somewhat foolish and dazed, known to others as Silly Que.
"The Nether Emperor did this deliberately. His Netherworld Dao has reached a state of perfection. He can see the roots of the Southern Emperor's Vermilion Bird soul's reincarnation, which is why he can accurately find her every time!"
Anger stirred within Qin Mu. Under the gaze of his vertical eye, he had already seen that the reincarnated body of the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird had died ninety-nine times. Each death was either at the hands of the Nether Emperor or related to him!
"The Nether Emperor has a very high level of attainment in the Dao of souls. He must have tampered with the Southern Emperor's soul, trapping her in the confusion of the womb, forever preventing her from awakening to the fact that she is the Southern Emperor. This bastard! He ambushed the Southern Emperor, and he also ambushed Heavenly Yin Empress and Emperor Yi Yue. It's as if he has a deep, abiding hatred for beautiful women!"
Qin Mu steadied himself, forcing a kindly expression onto his face. He beckoned to Que Feiyin and said with a smile, "Miss Feiyin, come over here. I have a wonderful treasure to show you."
Que Feiyin was skeptical. She jumped down from the ship, came to the jeweled carriage, and asked curiously, "What treasure?"
Qin Mu gave a faint, enigmatic smile and thought to himself, "It's truly remarkable that this silly girl has managed to live this long."
Que Feiyin laughed out loud. "You, sir, are looking at me with a shifty-eyed expression. You're probably a lecher! Where's the treasure? Hurry up and show me! I won't steal it!"
Just as Qin Mu was about to carefully examine her soul to see what trick the Nether Emperor had played, someone suddenly called out, "Silly Que, what are you doing on someone else's carriage?"
Both Yan'er and Que Feiyin responded at the same time. Yan'er lowered her head, a little annoyed. "Why did I answer too?"
Que Feiyin quickly jumped out of the carriage and said, "My senior sisters are calling me. I'll come see your treasure later!"
Qin Mu was in the middle of observing the source of the womb confusion in her soul. He had only vaguely seen a gate, resembling the Nether Emperor's Nether Capital Heavenly Gate, when Que Feiyin ran off to join the young men and women on the great ship.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment. What he had just witnessed was peculiar. Que Feiyin was the reincarnation of one soul of the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird. Yet, each time this soul reincarnated, it was killed by the Nether Emperor.
And each time it died, this soul of hers would pass through the Nether Emperor's Nether Capital Heavenly Gate.
After passing through the Nether Capital Heavenly Gate, the Southern Emperor's soul would gain a Heavenly Soul, an Earthly Soul, and seven corporeal souls, completing her Three Souls and Seven Corporeal Souls.
"In other words, the Southern Emperor is using the Divine Soul from her Three Souls to reincarnate. After ninety-nine deaths, the Nether Emperor has supplemented her Three Souls and Seven Corporeal Souls ninety-nine times, chipping away at her divinity."
Qin Mu looked at the young men and women at the ship's bow. They were probably Moon Venerable's disciples. They were very wary of him and were talking to Que Feiyin, likely warning her not to talk to strangers.
"After ninety-nine reincarnations, the Southern Emperor has been effectively sealed ninety-nine times. Her divinity has become negligible. If she goes through one more life, the Southern Emperor's Divine Soul will be completely lost, and she will probably never wake up again."
Qin Mu couldn't help but admire the scheme. "If the Southern Emperor's reincarnated body dies one more time, she will degenerate into a mere mortal. The Nether Emperor is truly remarkable. To be able to create a soul technique to deal with an ancient god in this era, he truly deserves the title of Black Emperor. And his patience is astonishing. To have the stamina to continuously ambush the Southern Emperor ninety-nine times!"
He was now fully confident in how to break the Nether Emperor's technique.
But the most critical issue was how to ensure the Southern Emperor's reincarnated body survived in this ancient era.
He only had four more chances to travel back to ancient times. The fifth time, he would be assimilated into non-material. He couldn't possibly protect this silly girl forever, dodging the Nether Emperor's attacks time and again.
The Nether Emperor's tenacious patience was giving him a major headache.
What's more, that bastard was handsome. It was hard for any woman to remain vigilant against his handsome appearance.
"That person in the carriage is clearly a bad guy. Bad guys always say they have a big treasure to trick innocent, naive girls!" On the ship, one of Moon Venerable's female disciples was lecturing Que Feiyin. After she finished, she glanced at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then cut a piece of fine jade from a Ancestral Court Jade Mountain in the Qin Continent. He carefully carved it, then, with a thought, his primordial spirit transformed into the form of Tu Bo.
From his primordial spirit's mouth came deep, heavy Netherworld language. With each syllable uttered, Netherworld demonic energy transformed into Netherworld script, branding itself onto the jade pendant.
The Netherworld language grew deeper and hoarser, like an ancient god who controlled souls was chanting in a low voice.
On the great ship, Moon Venerable's disciples felt a chill in their hearts. The female disciple who had spoken earlier quickly pulled Que Feiyin over and nodded towards the great ship. "Silly Que, look over there!"
Que Feiyin lay on the ship's railing and looked down. She saw that the Dragon Celestial Carriage was following their ship, sticking to them like a shadow.
At that moment, thick, immense Netherworld demonic energy surged out from around the Dragon Celestial Carriage, like giant black pythons weaving in and out around the carriage. It was incredibly shocking!
Que Feiyin was startled and quickly pulled her head back. "Senior Sister, the person in the carriage is not a good person!"
"Of course he's not a good person!"
Everyone chimed in. "He's got his eye on us now! Master said that you have been plagued by disasters since you were young, and that you will face a deadly calamity in the future. This is probably it!"
Que Feiyin paced back and forth anxiously, like an ant on a hot pan. "What do we do? Master isn't in the Heavenly Court, and Uncle Ling and Uncle Yun aren't here either. Who can stop this great demon?"
Everyone panicked. "Keep your voice down! Be careful not to let the demon hear you!"
From below, faint demonic words could be heard coming from the Dragon Celestial Carriage, extremely evil. The demonic nature emanating from the carriage grew stronger and stronger, making everyone's scalps tingle.
"It's probably a great demon king from the Netherworld!"
Inside the carriage, Qin Mu had changed several types of runes before finally finishing the jade pendant. He called Yan'er over and said, "Give this jade pendant to Que Feiyin. Tell her it's a welcoming gift from me. Also, ask her for the Vermilion Bird feather in her hair."
Yan'er took the jade pendant and tested the waters. "Young master, is that Que Feiyin my mother?"
Qin Mu nodded.
Yan'er was a little reluctant. "She looks so silly. How could she be my mother?"
Qin Mu laughed. "Go on, hurry!"
Yan'er flew up to the great ship. This ship was fleeing towards the Xiao Han Heavenly Court, trying to shake off the Dragon Celestial Carriage, but it never succeeded.
When everyone saw Yan'er fly up onto the ship, the chubby green sparrow transforming into a big, plump girl, their hearts tightened. "The demon king's maidservant has boarded the ship! Que's bloody calamity has arrived!"
Yan'er walked up and said, "Mother... Miss, this is the treasure the young master wanted to show you."
Que Feiyin wanted to step forward and look, but everyone held her back to prevent this silly girl from falling into harm's way.
Suddenly, Yan'er closed in, squeezed past the crowd, and stuffed the jade pendant into Que Feiyin's hand. "This is from the young master!"
Everyone was greatly alarmed and were about to activate their divine powers when, suddenly, the space around them split open. Their distance from Yan'er and Que Feiyin grew farther and farther, startling them all.
The divine power Yan'er had used was actually from the same lineage as theirs, a direct inheritance from Moon Venerable!
Que Feiyin, however, was not surprised at all. She curiously examined the jade pendant, overjoyed. "There really is a treasure! My senior brothers and sisters said the young master in the carriage was a bad guy who specialized in tricking naive girls!"
She hung the jade pendant around her neck. The pendant instantly vanished with a *shua* sound, disappearing into her body!
"You tricked me!"
Que Feiyin flew into a rage and grabbed Yan'er. "My beautiful jade pendant is gone again!"
Qin Mu's voice came over. "Miss Feiyin, look at your primordial spirit."
Que Feiyin quickly looked at her own primordial spirit and saw that her Vermilion Bird primordial spirit had the jade pendant hanging around its neck. Her anger turned to joy, and she laughed. "Oh, it's here."
Taking the opportunity, Yan'er plucked the Vermilion Bird feather from her hair. Que Feiyin became furious again and chased after her, shouting, "That's my treasure! I don't want your treasure! Give me back my treasure!"
Yan'er quickly flew back to the carriage and yelled, "Let's go, let's go!"
Dragon Qilin flicked his whip, and the six celestial dragons hurriedly pulled the carriage away into the distance. Que Feiyin chased after them relentlessly, crying as she ran.
Her senior sisters and brothers quickly caught up to her and tried to console her. "Silly Que, stop chasing. Be glad it was just a trickster and not an assassin, or you would have lost your life!"
Que Feiyin couldn't stop wiping her tears and sobbed, "That fat girl tricked me! If I ever find her, I'll spank her bottom until it's black and blue!"
"You barely escaped with your life, and you're still bragging? When Master comes back and finds out about this, she'll spank *your* bottom until it's black and blue!"
As they were talking, a buzzing sound came from all around. Some tiny insects, very small, flew out of nowhere and approached the great ship.
Everyone looked and said, "The wind and waves are strong here. How did mosquitoes get all the way out here?"
They shooed the insects away, but noticed that although the bugs were small, they looked ferocious, with sharp fangs and a sharp stinger in their mouths.
They drove the bugs away, puzzled. Que Feiyin said, "I'm feeling a little sleepy."
Everyone looked at her and were horrified. In that short span of time, Que Feiyin had become as thin as a stick, her face full of deathly aura. A huge mosquito was clinging to her back, its proboscis inserted into her back, right into her heart, sucking her blood with force. The mosquito's belly was already swollen and fat.
In the blink of an eye, all the blood and energy in the girl's body was drained dry by the mosquito, and she died instantly!
Everyone fell into a panic, wailing and crying to the heavens.
—Happy birthday, Lan Xiaojuan!~