Chapter 749: Chapter 293: The Person I Want to Kill—No One Can Save Them!
Fan Wubing stood alone above the boundless sea.
He couldn’t use his cultivation or divine techniques, completely like a mortal, yet he did not sink into the vast ocean.
Countless butterflies spiraled around him, resembling a colossal tornado.
He tried to free himself from this bondage, to escape this predicament, but couldn’t find that key "point". He didn’t know where he was, nor why he ended up in this situation.
"Butterflies..."
The impression of butterflies flashed rapidly in his mind.
Recently, he had seen butterflies three times.
Once at the Phoenix Emperor Palace, where he saw the transformation from cocoon to butterfly. The second time was when he just arrived at Ji Continent, seeking Yan Hui’s exact location. And the third, just now.
He was adept at observation and summarization.
Finding common characteristics from these three instances.
"It seems every time happens to be when I’m using the Supreme Dharma Orbiting Device? Is it related to this?"
Everything he was experiencing reminded Fan Wubing of an old story from a past life—
Zhuang Zhou Dreams of a Butterfly.
It signifies the blurring between illusion and reality, life’s unpredictability. Not knowing if Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreamt it was Zhuang Zhou.
Perhaps the world in his past life was a mortal world, but the vastness and depth of thought were never confined by power.
Fan Wubing remained calm,
"I must pinpoint one certainty to escape this bewildering state."
Thinking this, he closed his eyes, focused his mind, and silently told himself,
"I am one of these butterflies."
As if brainwashing himself, he firmly believed he was indeed a butterfly. A butterfly that flies across the boundless sea.
A steadfast belief that built an indestructible mental fortress.
Suddenly, everything around became quiet. When Fan Wubing opened his eyes again, he found he had turned into a butterfly. He spiraled along with the swarm of butterflies, and when he looked towards the center, he astonishingly discovered, another self, as a human, or as the protagonist of this illusion, stood motionless there.
"I see it... I see the connection between me and the butterflies... I dreamt of the butterflies, and the butterflies dreamt of me."
An invisible thread of fate connected the human him and the butterfly him.
When this connection became unbreakable, the bewildering, ever-changing illusion shattered.
Fan Wubing returned to Yan Hui’s Daoist Temple, the Yin Yang Cat was snuggled beside his feet, seemingly sleeping soundly.
He subtly furrowed his brow, picked up the cat, left the backyard, and entered the main hall.
The fire in the stove was still burning, crackling. A middle-aged man wearing a golden Daoist Robe embroidered with crimson thread was adding wood to the stove. His back was to Fan Wubing, his figure appeared immensely broad, his lustrous long hair tied up in a high bun. Just from the back view, he appeared to be quite a charismatic person.
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen spoke with his back to Fan Wubing,
"Your Daoist heart is more resilient than I imagined."
Fan Wubing calmly said, "From cocoon to butterfly, soaring across the boundless sea. The Daoist techniques of White Jade Capital are indeed miraculous, and the methods are profound. Had it been someone else, they would have likely drowned in that illusion."
"Did Wu Wangxinger dream of Fan Wubing, or did Fan Wubing dream of Wu Wangxinger?"
"Whether it’s Wu Wangxinger or Fan Wubing, the moon they see is the same one," Fan Wubing replied.
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen looked up, gazing outside the hall, "In a grand dream lasting three thousand autumns, the whole world shares one moon. Eight years ago at this time, perhaps no one expected that Celestial Slayer was still alive, even less that he would seize the Supreme Dharma Orbiting Device of White Jade Capital."
"So, is this why you, Celestial Venerable, have come?"
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen shook his head, "The situation has escalated beyond just a matter of the device. Fan Wubing, although you are a rebel, White Jade Capital has no right under the heavenly principles to execute you. Only the Executors have the authority to do so. But you seized the device and used it. Fan Wubing, you have provoked the dignity of White Jade Capital and pushed it to a perilous situation. Undoubtedly, you have become an existence that White Jade Capital must eliminate."
Fan Wubing said, "So you hadn’t intended to execute me before? But doesn’t this seem a bit redundant? Whether White Jade Capital is a guardian of the Heavenly Dao or not, you are clearer on that than I am, why show off this meaningless formality?"
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen gazed at him intently,
"Do you know, by White Jade Capital’s rules, I should immediately distance myself from you, report this to White Jade Capital, and then, by the heavenly principles, initiate a righteous execution battle against you."
"Just like the campaign against the Demon Cultivator before?"
"Yes."
Fan Wubing asked, "Then why don’t you do it?"
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen’s body started to emit Daoist aura,
"Because, the personal vendetta between you and me, is not yet settled."
Fan Wubing asked, "What vendetta?"
Celestial Venerable Yu Chen furrowed his brow, "You know it."
Since the moment the device was snatched, it was destined that today’s events would unfold. To Yu Chen, this was even more significant than the rules of White Jade Capital, more important than the justice of the world. Just like he risked everything to seek a broken-and-rebuild chance from the Carefree Ancestor. If this vendetta is unresolved, it doesn’t count as a rebuild.
Now is the time to fly across the boundless sea.
Fan Wubing looked at him indifferently, "I don’t know what personal vendetta exists between us. If you are referring to that previous battle... apologies, I’ve gone through too many such battles, and to me, it’s nothing significant. If you prefer to defy the rules of White Jade Capital and waste time on such insignificant matters, then perhaps I have reason to question your qualification as the Little Leisurely Official."
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