# 1756
Chapter 1756: An Unfinished Business
Lingbao Tianzun looked at Lin Qiye's red-rimmed eyes and after a moment of hesitation, asked: "Qiye… where is Jialan?"
These five simple words fell into Lin Qiye's ears like thunder. He looked at Lingbao Tianzun's familiar face, instinctively wanting to pour out his heart, but in the end, he swallowed all the pain, crushed and bitten back, pointing to the ground beneath his feet, his voice hoarse: "She's, here."
Lingbao Tianzun's pupils contracted slightly.
Although he had already guessed this possibility when the Eternal Pill appeared, this moment still struck his heart with sharp pain.
The restoration of the origin, the suppression of the seal, the advancement of the gods… behind these reversals that determined the war's outcome, the price was the lives of Jialan and Si Xiaonan.
"I'll inform the Gods of Great Xia to immediately proceed to the Heavenly Court to slumber." The Taoist Venerable Sovereign pondered. "What about the Moon? Does it need to be pulled back to its original orbit?"
"No need. Even with the Eternal Heavenly Court suppressing it, the Cthulhu Faction gods within the seal are still a time bomb… now that all Cthulhu Faction gods are on Earth, to prevent this situation from happening again, it's better to keep the Moon seal as far away from them as possible."
"To prevent them from tampering with the seal again, we might as well banish the Moon entirely…"
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded. "Feasible. Once the Gods of Great Xia have completed their advancement and everything is back under control, we can return then."
Lin Qiye bid farewell to the three Heavenly Venerables and departed the Eternal Heavenly Court, flying toward Earth.
With a bell toll ringing out, the Gods of Great Xia in the space battlefield immediately moved toward the Heavenly Court, like a rain of meteors streaking across the deep void.
Watching these streaks of light flying in the opposite direction, Lin Qiye murmured to himself: "This time, they truly have left… from now on, the path must be walked by humans alone."
The Fate Monk said calmly: "When they return, this chess game will also reach the moment of deciding victory or defeat… I wonder what odds will humanity have then?"
As the three Lin Qiyes departed, elsewhere in the deep void, Sun Wukong staggered beneath him.
"Monkey, are you alright?" Yang Jian was about to head back to the Heavenly Court when he saw this, frowning as he asked.
"It's nothing… I just don't know why, but I'm incredibly drowsy…"
A faint golden light emanated from Sun Wukong's divine essence. His eyelids grew heavy, uncontrollable, as if he were about to fall into a deep sleep at any moment.
"The Heavenly Venerables have rung the bell, calling us to return to the Heavenly Court immediately… do you want to hold on a bit longer? You can sleep once we reach the Heavenly Court?"
Sun Wukong could no longer answer Yang Jian. His heavy eyes closed shut, his consciousness ebbing away like the tide. A faint brownish light surged from within his divine essence, covering the surface of his body, as if he had been petrified.
"Monkey? Monkey?!" Yang Jian examined Sun Wukong's body and found no abnormality whatsoever—his condition was actually incredibly good.
His divine power was growing at a惊人的 rate, having reached a certain bottleneck. Beneath his petrified skin, vitality churned and surged like boiling water.
"This monkey has quite the fortune…" Yuanshi Tianzun's voice echoed across the void, sounding in Yang Jian's ear. "Never mind, don't worry about him. Just return alone."
"Yes."
Yang Jian nodded, casting one last glance at that stone monkey floating in the deep void before transforming into a streak of light and rushing toward the Heavenly Court.
"I almost forgot, there are still a group of little ones to deal with…" Yuanshi Tianzun's voice rang out again. The next moment, a divine light streaked across the cosmos from the Heavenly Court, disappearing into a range of mountains in Great Xia.
After the Gods of Great Xia departed, only a few humans remained in space, the stillness pierced by a hint of coldness.
Huo Qubing stood atop the void, gazing at the enormous grayish-white planet before him. Even though he had now become a Myriad万象 Military Immortal, in comparison to it, he remained as small as an ant.
"Having lived here for over two thousand years, it's my first time seeing its true appearance…" Gongyang Wan stood beside him, those beautiful eyes flowing with emotion, as if filled with lingering thoughts. "Without all that gray mist, how beautiful would it be?"
"One day, that mist will dissipate." Huo Qubing said slowly.
"Yes." Gongyang Wan paused. "But we… probably won't be around to see it."
As the two spoke, a figure flew toward them from the distance. Lin Qiye's gaze swept over the two, his lips pressing together slightly: "Marquis, Gongyang Wan…"
Gongyang Wan turned to look at him, the corner of her mouth curving slightly: "A few months ago, you still called me Gongyang-jiejie all the time, and now you just say Gongyang Wan? I actually prefer the way you used to treat me with such reverence before your transmigration."
Lin Qiye: …
"Gong… Gongyang前辈." Lin Qiye forced himself to say.
In a sense, he had watched Gongyang Wan grow up… without that beating he gave her, where Gongyang Wan would be now was anyone's guess. Calling her Gongyang Wan two thousand years ago was perfectly fine. But in this era, she was after all a predecessor of his former self, calling her Gongyang Wan now would make him seem like he was putting on airs.
Hearing these four words, Gongyang Wan's mood suddenly became much more pleasant.
A faint light began to emanate from Huo Qubing and Gongyang Wan. Their forms gradually faded, and from the moment they left the island until now, this body had reached its limit… this over two-thousand-year vigil would finally come to an end.
"We should go now." Huo Qubing said.
"The agreement from two thousand years ago has been fulfilled. These two moves of chess were played quite perfectly." Gongyang Wan gently touched her cheek. "They've been arguing in my head for two thousand years… finally, it can be quiet."
Lin Qiye gazed complexly at the two people before him, at a loss for words for the moment.
Huo Qubing and Gongyang Wan did not belong to this era. They endured the agony of skinning,抽取 bones,剖心取血—everything but the kitchen sink—merely to persist until this day when the Eastern Emperor Bell rang, to fulfill their promise… now that the promise had been fulfilled, death was their ending, and perhaps, also their redemption.
Lin Qiye saw no trace of sorrow on their faces; instead, there was a faint joy of liberation.
He opened his mouth, then ultimately bowed deeply to these two: "Lin Qiye, on behalf of all the people under heaven, bid farewell to these two predecessors."
The faint light dispersed from their bodies. Their forms faded visibly to the naked eye.
Huo Qubing gazed at Lin Qiye. After a moment, he sighed deeply: "Unfortunately, in the end, I still didn't get to witness your and Jialan's wedding…"
These words fell into Lin Qiye's ears like thunder crashing. It was as if he had thought of something, suddenly lifting his head to look at Huo Qubing and Gongyang Wan's fading figures.
"Wedding…" He seemed to have thought of something. One palm shot out, pulling a thread of karma from each of their fading forms.
"Please hold on for a moment, you two… there is still one last matter that remains, unfinished."