Chapter 1067: Seventy Thousand Years of Mutual Slaughter (First Update!)
Que Feiyin's soul drifted ethereally, pulled along by an inexplicable force as it flew onward.
Before long, she saw a vast, dark sea of the underworld surging in the pitch-black void, with a half-built gate standing tall within that sea.
Beneath the gate stood a handsome man, carrying a gourd on his back. Countless mosquitoes flew in, landing inside the gourd.
"You're here."
The handsome man saw her and couldn't help but smile. "This is the hundredth death. After this, the Southern Emperor's divine soul will be completely sealed, never to awaken. I will have fulfilled the Heavenly Lord Hao's instructions."
Que Feiyin was pulled toward that incomplete gate, flew through it, and went to be reincarnated.
"These bugs really aren't bad—worthy of being treasures from the Heavenly Emperor's household. But the Heavenly Lord Hao got so many fine treasures and only gave me a packet of insect eggs. How stingy!"
This handsome man was none other than the Netherworld Emperor. He patted his gourd and mused, "The Primordial Divine Insects are too hard to raise. If I could use the Northern Emperor Xuanwu's Five Thunder Gourd to nurture them, their power would surely increase dramatically! The Northern Emperor won't give it to me, but the Underworld Prince is a reckless fool with deep pockets. Maybe I can get a Five Thunder Gourd from him..."
Suddenly, he frowned, feeling that something was off when Que Feiyin passed through the Nether Capital Heavenly Gate. It hadn't completely erased her final vestiges of consciousness.
He felt a vague unease and muttered, "The final step wasn't completed. I don't know where the problem lies... Hmm, next time, then. The Southern Emperor's divine soul has already gone stupid. Killing her won't be hard. There's no need to waste much effort from now on. Since she's this foolish, I'll just use the Primordial Divine Insects to kill her."
Que Feiyin's soul drifted along, knowing she was dead. Yet suddenly, she felt her mind grow clearer, her thinking sharper than before. She wondered, confused: "Did I become smarter after passing through that gate just now?"
Ten months later, Que Feiyin was born. The moment she landed, she understood all her past lives, remembering that she was the Moon Heavenly Lord's disciple named Que Feiyin, and she also remembered how she had died.
The Moon Heavenly Lord ordered her disciples to search for her, but after more than a decade, they still hadn't found her. Yet Que Feiyin had already made her way to the Xiao Han Heavenly Court, astonishing the Moon Heavenly Lord, who thought her Vermilion Bird divine soul had awakened.
But when the Moon Heavenly Lord examined her, Que Feiyin still hadn't awakened her Vermilion Bird divine soul.
Although Que Feiyin had become much smarter, she still wasn't smart enough. It took her four or five hundred years to reach the divine realm. Just as she achieved godhood, the war between humanity and the demigods broke out. Que Feiyin charged onto the battlefield and was killed by a giant mosquito.
After death, Que Feiyin saw that sea of the underworld again, that Nether Capital Heavenly Gate, and passed through it.
The moment she came out the other side, she was astonished—she had suddenly remembered another lifetime's memories!
"How strange!"
Ten years later, the reincarnated Que Feiyin had her hair tied in two little buns, stood only five feet tall, and was still a yellow-haired little girl. She hitched a boat all the way to the Heavenly Court, hopping and skipping to find the Moon Heavenly Lord.
The Moon Heavenly Lord tested her again, and Que Feiyin had indeed grown a bit smarter.
She marveled: "The Southern Emperor's reincarnated body loses a bit of the womb's confusion with each death. What's the reason for this?"
Yet a few hundred years later, Que Feiyin, now a deity, was exploring the Primordial Realm when a sudden giant mosquito landed on her, drained all her blood and energy, and she died on the spot.
Again the sea of the underworld, again the Nether Capital Heavenly Gate. Que Feiyin passed through it and felt a surge of joy: "Ah, I've awakened another lifetime's memories! How strange indeed!"
Strangely enough, throughout the long ages from the Dragon Han Era to the Yankang Era, Que Feiyin died over and over again, each time the same way—killed by a sudden mosquito bite. And each death awakened memories from an earlier lifetime.
She also grew increasingly intelligent, began to think of ways to avoid death, and repeatedly escaped the strange mosquito's attacks. Each lifetime lasted longer, and her cultivation grew higher.
Eventually, even the Primordial Divine Insects couldn't kill this woman, and the Netherworld Emperor had to act personally.
The Moon Heavenly Lord blocked a few disasters for her, but the Netherworld Emperor was cunning, and she couldn't always be on guard. Que Feiyin died at the Netherworld Emperor's hands.
Later, the reincarnated Que Feiyin had already learned the Moon Heavenly Lord's skills. She simply stopped becoming the Moon Heavenly Lord's disciple, trying to avoid disaster on her own.
The Moon Heavenly Lord was deeply saddened, thinking she had truly died, and gave up.
The Netherworld Emperor had a massive headache but remained persistent, searching everywhere for her. Instead, Que Feiyin ambushed him a few times, nearly killing him.
...
On the Dragon Heavenly Chariot, Yan'er was still worried and asked, "Young master, can that jade pendant really save my mother?"
"Of course it can."
Qin Mu said, "His divine ability's principles can't fool me, so I'm using his hand to break his own seal. But your mother still has to die. The Netherworld Emperor will still go to kill her, completing the complete sealing of her divine soul."
He couldn't help but laugh. "Every time your mother dies, the seal loosens a bit, unlocking one lifetime's memories. After she dies ninety-nine more times, she will fully awaken, and the Vermilion Bird divine soul will awaken."
Yan'er exclaimed, "My mother has to die ninety-nine more times? That's not right! What if the Netherworld Emperor stops killing her..."
"He won't."
Qin Mu said leisurely, "I understand the Netherworld Emperor. This man is extremely obsessive and stubborn. He won't stop until a task is done to perfection. As long as your mother retains a shred of consciousness, he will do it over and over again until her divine soul is completely erased. He's that kind of person, so I'm using his hand to break his own seal."
Yan'er thought for a moment and said, "This guy has incredible patience. To get the Five Thunder Gourd, he sent bugs to gnaw on the Northern Emperor's gourd vine, gnawing for hundreds of thousands of years."
Qin Mu smiled slightly. "From the Dragon Han Era to the present, there have been waves of great calamities. The largest were the Dragon Han Primordial Calamity, the Red Ming Calamity, the Supreme Emperor Calamity, and the Kaihuang Calamity. It's hard for Que Feiyin to survive these great disasters. But because the Netherworld Emperor wants to do things perfectly, he will instead ensure she doesn't completely scatter into nothing. And clashing with the Netherworld Emperor will also make her smarter and smarter. The Netherworld Emperor is extremely wise, and using him as a whetstone will naturally lead to astonishing improvement."
Yan'er clenched her little fists excitedly, her eyes sparkling. "Are you saying my mother is still alive?"
"She must be alive!"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "After we return to Yankang, we only need to check the Book of Life and Death to find out what name she has in this life and where she was reincarnated. The only thing we can't be sure of is whether she has already died ninety-nine times."
He let out a long breath. "If she has already died ninety-nine times, the Vermilion Bird divine soul will awaken, and she will understand all her past lives. And besides..."
He shook the Vermilion Bird feather in his hand and laughed. "With this feather, it will be even easier to find her and the other broken remnants of her soul."
Yan'er wept tears of joy.
Qin Mu also finally put down a burden.
This way of resolving things was perfect!
But he still had a nagging worry: what if Que Feiyin hadn't died ninety-nine times yet?
What if, in her struggle with the Netherworld Emperor, this woman had become so clever and cunning that even the Netherworld Emperor couldn't kill her?
"That shouldn't be."
Qin Mu comforted himself. "The Netherworld Emperor is very formidable. He can't possibly fail to kill a little girl whose Vermilion Bird soul hasn't awakened yet. He's always been a beauty killer—killing women, especially beautiful women, is his specialty..."
——Zhai Zhu is trying chapters of two thousand words. From now on, there will be four updates, occasionally three. For four updates, they will be at midnight, noon, six in the evening, and ten at night. For three updates, they will be at midnight, noon, and eight in the evening. Special notice!