The twelfth year of Shunzhi.
Two years passed in the blink of an eye.
The Awakening of Insects.
A continuous drizzle fell, and all things returned to life.
Battered by the spring thunder and rain, all things in the world recovered their vitality.
After a heavy snowfall, the Mortal World thrived once more.
The cats in the Cat Spirit Temple had survived a bitter winter. Mice were scarce in the early spring, but thankfully, the commoners knew of the temple's spiritual nature. They occasionally brought food, allowing these cats to eat their fill.
Lihua had taught these cats how to survive in this world, even though they still couldn't read.
Looking at this temple full of cats, it suddenly felt that it, too, had found a home.
It truly had become the cat king.
...
Summer arrived.
When newborns no longer entered the world tainted with demonic qi, the cultivators of the Righteous Path breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They had constantly worried that the demon would trigger the great tribulation of the Heavenly Dao. Surprisingly, ever since that incident, the fiend had never shown himself again.
The practitioners of the demonic path also seemed to have gone into hiding, rarely showing themselves in the Mortal World.
The Demon Sovereign woke from Reincarnation once more.
The current days were quite dull. All he had to do was perfect the flaws of his physical vessel, a process that would require a very long time.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld, Chen Changsheng walked a different path. Sitting cross-legged before Reincarnation, he refined the Yin-Yang Qi.
Everything was enveloped in silence, yet it felt as if it foreshadowed a great chaos looming in the near future.
During these monotonous years.
Zhao Yuqing occasionally visited him in the Underworld.
Manyue never stopped Zhao Yuqing. This was likely because when the Heavenly Dao pursued her to this place years ago, Zhao Yuqing had cleared the obstacles for her, so she owed him a favor.
Zhao Yuqing was a very boring man.
It showed in his actions. Yunfu Mountain was completely desolate, yet he could stay there alone for decades, even centuries.
Thus, every time he visited, he only exchanged a few words with Chen Changsheng.
They only spoke of the changes occurring in the outside world.
And so, the years hurried by.
...
The fourteenth year of Shunzhi.
Autumn arrived.
The weather turned cold.
The commoners no longer wore thin garments, wrapping up to ward off the biting wind.
Located toward the north, Shangjing always cooled down earlier.
And this autumn wind caused the Sovereign of the Nine-Five to catch a chill.
After attending the morning court session, he felt dizzy and lethargic.
The palace physicians brewed medicine for him, but no matter how potent the brew, it could not cure him instantly.
He lay in bed for an entire day.
It wasn't until nightfall that Yan Nantian groggily regained some clarity.
He felt a bit surprised. "I actually fell ill..."
Could he no longer withstand even a light breeze?
Back when he rode into battle, he had braved the most freezing winds without ever feeling this miserable.
He stood before the mirror and looked at himself.
The streaks of white in his black hair seemed to serve as a reminder.
He really was growing old!
This left Yan Nantian anxious and uneasy.
The deeper he thought about it, the more terrified he became.
That very night, he ordered someone to invite Daoist Sanyuan into the palace.
"Please sit, True Man."
Daoist Sanyuan sat respectfully, then asked, "Your Majesty summoned this poor Daoist late in the night. Is there an urgent matter?"
Yan Nantian smiled. "I have some doubts, so I wished to seek a bit of guidance from the Priest."
Daoist Sanyuan paused, then said, "Please ask, Your Majesty. This poor Daoist will answer everything he knows."
Yan Nantian hesitated for a moment before speaking bluntly, "May I ask the True Man: as an emperor, is the path to immortality truly severed?"
Those words startled Daoist Sanyuan into a cold sweat.
He had never expected Yan Nantian to ask this question so straightforwardly.
Yan Nantian chuckled, pretending to be calm. "You need not worry, True Man. I am merely curious. I'm just asking casually."
Daoist Sanyuan replied, "To answer Your Majesty, you bear the human dao qi fortune. You hold the esteemed position of the Son of Heaven, but by sitting in that seat, you are also bound by it."
"So it's impossible?" Yan Nantian asked.
Daoist Sanyuan pondered deeply for a long time. "Does Your Majesty wish to hear the truth?"
"Naturally. Speak openly; I absolve you of any crime."
"If Your Majesty abandons the throne beneath you, there should be a chance."
Hearing this answer, Yan Nantian was left in a daze.
Stop being the emperor?
But this position wasn't something one could simply take up or discard at will.
Disappointed, Yan Nantian chatted casually for a few more sentences before ordering someone to escort the True Man out.
After leaving the palace, Daoist Sanyuan's mood was exceptionally heavy.
He understood that whether His Majesty was acting on a passing whim or a premeditated thought, the seed of pursuing immortality had been planted.
Daoist Sanyuan felt a lingering dread, largely out of fear of this karma.
He also somewhat regretted the sentence he had just spoken.
"Sigh, how did I get so muddled in my old age? A sin, what a sin..."
Daoist Sanyuan didn't know what to do. He knew that, no matter what, this karma had attached itself to him.
Thus, the very next day, he found an excuse to hand over the affairs of Quandao Palace to his disciples and headed south back to Quanshan.
He had to hide.
Tong Nianyi arrived at the palace early in the morning to record the daily activities of His Majesty.
Seeing the emperor's tired eyes and dull expression, she asked, "Did Your Majesty not rest well last night?"
Yan Nantian exhaled and said, "I caught a chill, so I naturally feel a bit unwell."
Tong Nianyi said, "This humble minister heard that Your Majesty summoned Sanyuan True Man into the palace last night. Should this matter be recorded in the daily logs?"
Yan Nantian nodded and said, "There is no need to record it."
Tong Nianyi lowered her head and replied, "Yes."
The emperor spoke very calmly, but Tong Nianyi understood that he had definitely discussed something secretive with the True Man. Otherwise, the palace staff would have summoned her into the palace as well last night.
If His Majesty suddenly summoned someone into the palace at night, she was required to attend as the Diarist of Daily Life. But last night, no one had come to summon her.
Over the next six months, Tong Nianyi increasingly felt that something was amiss.
In the past, the emperor rarely cared about matters concerning Daoists.
But now, Daoists frequently entered the palace. The emperor would occasionally chat with them, speaking a lot of nonsense.
Yes, nonsense. To Tong Nianyi, these conversations seemed like ordinary small talk, yet it felt as though the emperor always wanted to say something else. But right at the critical moment, he would end up wanting to speak yet holding back.
This situation persisted for a full half a year.
One night, Yan Nantian felt restless and apprehensive. Waking up with a start, he panted heavily, his temper exceptionally volatile.
The palace attendants were scolded mercilessly, and a new batch of maids and servants were swapped in that very night.
The rumor spreading around was that the emperor had suffered a nightmare, which enraged him. As a result, during the morning court session the next day, his words carried a tone of constant irritation. Knowing this, the civil and military officials didn't dare to provoke him.
After the court session ended, Tong Nianyi came to the Imperial Study as usual.
On this day, Yan Nantian didn't say a single word. He endlessly reviewed memorials, trying to numb himself.
Tong Nianyi didn't dare speak out of turn either. But at noon, just as she was about to leave...
She had already reached the door.
When she heard a low murmur come from behind her.
"Why can I not live forever..."
If it were anyone else, standing so far away, they definitely wouldn't have heard this whisper.
But Tong Nianyi had been different from ordinary people since childhood.
She heard that sentence plain as day!
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