Chapter 70: Outside Lumen City Lies the Deer Platform (8)
Yan Yi?
Yan Yi!
It really was Yan Yi!
Bai Chunsheng wanted to turn his head to look at Yan Yi, who was holding him, but he was trapped inside this jade figurine and couldn’t even move his head.
For a moment, Bai Chunsheng couldn’t even be bothered to wonder how Yan Yi had managed to find him among this sea of jade figurines that stretched as far as the eye could see. What puzzled him more was—how had Yan Yi even found this place? If he could speak, Bai Chunsheng would have been flapping his wings, demanding answers already.
Yan Yi seemed unaware that the jade duck in his hand was actually Bai Chunsheng. He chuckled softly and continued walking forward, carrying Bai Chunsheng like it was nothing.
Huh?
Why wasn’t Yan Yi saving him?
Bai Chunsheng couldn’t figure it out.
Did he even know that this dumb-looking jade duck actually housed him, the brilliant and heroic demon king, Bai Chunsheng?
Bai Chunsheng desperately wanted to break out of the figurine and give Yan Yi’s hand a couple of solid kicks with his short but powerful claws—just so this idiot could understand who he was dealing with.
But of course, Yan Yi couldn’t hear Bai Chunsheng’s inner cries. It was as if Bai Chunsheng’s luck for the day had already been used up when Yan Yi had miraculously fished him out of that massive pile of jade figurines.
Yan Yi kept moving forward, holding a scroll of jade slips in his other hand. From time to time, he would stop and press the slip against his forehead to read it.
The chamber they were in was bright—lit as if by moon and stars overhead. Bai Chunsheng had no idea where the light came from, but it was enough to illuminate even the intricate illustrations of rare and mythical beasts on the floor, making everything shine brilliantly.
Thanks to Yan Yi, Bai Chunsheng finally got a full view of the chamber. He had just been lying in a corner near the entrance when Yan Yi found him. And all around him, there were jade figurines too numerous to count.
These lifelike faces and the many creatures in all shapes and sizes looked like a complete collection of the world’s species. Any plant or animal one could think of—there seemed to be a jade version of it here.
At first, Bai Chunsheng had curiously scanned the place with the only part of him he could still move—his eyes—trying to see what kinds of things were stored here. But the longer he looked, the colder his heart grew.
Especially when he thought back to that village—so eerily similar to reality.
What if… the figurines here had once also contained souls like his, trapped inside, only to slowly fade away with time? What kind of hopelessness would that be?
Even Bai Chunsheng knew that with a mind so fragmented, even if he were lucky enough to reincarnate, he’d probably end up a fool in the next life.
He didn’t dare think about it any further. For once, he seriously began to think about how he might escape this jade shell that bound him. The first thing that came to mind was the Soul Abyss of the dragon clan. Rumor had it that inside the Soul Abyss burned a life lamp that could revive the dead and regrow flesh from bones. If someone used it to illuminate a person’s shadow, it would reveal all the karmic threads they had ever—or never—encountered.
Unfortunately, that lamp was a sacred relic of the dragon clan, only accessible to direct descendants. Even then, what they saw was just a smaller flame fueled by rare beast oils. Apart from the fact that its flame originated from the life lamp and could recall wandering souls, it wasn’t particularly miraculous.
—It was clearly a dead end.
Bai Chunsheng didn’t want to run into that crazy woman Shen Yuying ever again, either.
But beyond that, he had no more ideas. He sighed inwardly. When he came to his senses, he realized Yan Yi had already carried him out of the chamber.
To ordinary cultivators, this relic site was extremely perilous. But to Yan Yi, it was as casual as strolling through his own backyard.
The place they had just come from was an annex hall. Yan Yi had passed black stone slabs shaped like teeth, skirted a sea of peonies with countless tiny human faces blooming at their centers, and walked alongside a palace river black as ink, its bottom seemingly filled with countless pale bones drifting in the current.
He took his time wandering through it all, before finally carrying Bai Chunsheng out of the garden and into the main hall.
The main hall wasn’t very large. All three walls were bare, and in the center of the wall directly ahead, there was a small hole, as if something had once hung there but had long since been removed.
Compared to the lavish opulence of the side hall that could leave anyone in awe, this place was so austere it could move someone to tears. On the floor was a single meditation cushion, and directly in front of it stood a small wooden table.
Atop the table sat a slender brocade box and a plain, standard lotus-shaped incense burner. A stick of incense, not yet fully burned, was still placed inside it.
As soon as Yan Yi opened the door to the main hall, that half-burned incense stick suddenly began to burn again.
The wind from the garden drifted into the hall, and Bai Chunsheng’s vision seemed to blur for a moment. When he could see clearly again, he vaguely saw long, flowing red veils. These veils surrounded him and Yan Yi, billowing in the wind like secrets long bound and now unraveling upon a high altar.
There was a cushioned chair, a fragrance table, and by the window, a golden cage hung in midair.
Someone was sitting on the cushioned chair, but the red veils obscured the view. Everything appeared misty and hazy, leaving only a faint impression.
A breeze came.
The wind blew in from far away and lifted the layer of red veils.
The person reclined lazily on the cushioned chair, seemingly holding a round fan. His features were refined and elegant, like distant mountains dyed with green-blue ink. His skin was white as jade glowing with the evening sun, his cheeks pale with a touch of pink, shy and reserved. When he saw Yan Yi frozen in place, he slowly opened his half-lidded eyes. Those water-lustered eyes shimmered like a sunlit lake, sparkling with light as he pouted coquettishly and said, “Why did you take so long to get here?”
Bai Chunsheng, still being carried, felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His emotions surged so violently that he actually wobbled a bit.
If he could move, he would have started yelling right away.
Th-this… wasn’t that himself sitting on that cushioned chair?
And—why wasn’t he wearing any clothes?!
No, no—this impostor disguised as him, how dare it not wear clothes!
Such shameless indecency!
Didn’t “he” feel any shame? How embarrassing!
If he weren’t immobilized, the first thing Bai Chunsheng would do was annihilate this monster impersonating him, then cover Yan Yi’s eyes and sternly warn him not to look.
But for now, Bai Chunsheng was nothing more than a little jade duck figurine. He could only watch helplessly as this creature in his form—barefoot and completely nude—walked up to Yan Yi.
Yan Yi asked, “Why aren’t you wearing clothes?”
The expression on the face of the “Bai Chunsheng” was playful, almost smiling. He frowned delicately and replied with a pouty grievance, “But little duckies don’t wear clothes, do they? So I’m not wearing any.”
Bai Chunsheng wanted to scream: To hell with your little ducky! I’m not one! That foul thing’s the duck—its whole damn family is!
Yan Yi didn’t respond. He sighed, glanced at the “Bai Chunsheng” in front of him, then at the actual Bai Chunsheng he was still holding.
And then he walked forward.
He walked straight through the cushioned chair, following his memory until he reached the lotus incense burner. He pressed down and extinguished the stick of incense that had suddenly begun to burn.
Bai Chunsheng thought he heard something crack near his ear. The jade shell imprisoning him began to fracture, shedding pieces of jade one by one.
Yan Yi placed him in his palm and used his other hand to gently peel away the outer shell that had bound him.
Bai Chunsheng sat limply in Yan Yi’s hand, soft and warm. Yan Yi felt like he was holding a little cotton ball that radiated warmth and could even talk.
The cotton ball flapped its wings and exclaimed, clearly agitated, “That thing just now wasn’t me! How could I possibly say… something like that!?”
Yan Yi curled his index finger and tapped lightly on Bai Chunsheng’s little duck head. “Ah,” he sighed, “you really are a clueless little duckling spirit.”
Author’s Note:
Bai Chunsheng: “How did you know that wasn’t the real me?”
Yan Yi: “Easy. Because even in my dreams, I’d never imagine something that good.”
The scene takes place in Ten Thousand Demon Sect’s Star-Plucking Pavilion. Bai Bai’s Nascent Soul sometimes squats in the birdcage, chirping away.
So earlier, when Bai Bai saw the little birdcage in Xiao Yan’s place, he was quite puzzled: “Your Yuan Ying likes squatting in a birdcage too?”
Yan Jingqiu first went silent, then answered tactfully, “No.” It’s my wife who likes it.
—Of course, Bai Chunsheng liked cages that were open. If they were closed, he’d be terrified.
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
