Chapter Fifty-Nine: Before and After

Hearing that voice, Zhou Yu instantly brightened and asked inwardly, "You finally showed up?"

"I’ve been awake for ages," the languid voice of Du Niang echoed in his mind. "It’s rare that I don’t have to worry about you, so I took the chance to sleep a few extra days."

Zhou Yu, somewhat annoyed, said, "According to you, you just had a nap. How did your personality shift from a cute girl to a domineering lady?"

Du Niang paused, as if pondering. "I don’t know either. Maybe I grew up?"

Zhou Yu nearly toppled over. "Even if you’ve developed self-awareness, even if you really can grow, isn’t this a little too fast? And where did you pick up that crude habit of calling yourself ‘old lady’?"

"Sis is confused too. Sis doesn’t know."

Zhou Yu: "....."

Chatting with Du Niang in his mind as he walked homeward, Zhou Yu suddenly thought of a question and said, "Before Morrison left, he told me that the reason his watch could always be used was because he had received it long ago. The Americans discovered its hidden settings and cracked them. The rest of us, like me, got the watches only before crossing over. Humanity knew that Asura had tampered with them, but there wasn’t enough time to break the code."

"Besides, humanity hardly had much hope for this savior plan, so we so-called chosen ones are actually a bunch of abandoned people. But the problem is, whether we’re chosen or rejected, we all need to survive. So I want you to see if you can crack the other watches."

"No way! Sis just woke up and you’re giving me such a tough job?" Du Niang complained. "Had I known, I’d have kept pretending to sleep."

Zhou Yu felt his headache intensify and growled, "You need to understand, we’re in the same boat now. I’m working hard every day just to survive, to live better. You have to do your part too, otherwise what use are you? Do you want me to smash you to pieces?" Women really do know how to push their luck. Now she calls herself ‘old lady’ and ‘sis’. If he didn’t put her in her place, who knows, she might end up riding roughshod over him someday.

Seeing Zhou Yu angry, Du Niang’s voice softened, aggrieved. "Fine, fine, I was just joking."

With Du Niang yielding, Zhou Yu calmed down and launched into a serious conversation.

"What happened before and during my being swept up by that tornado—anything I don’t know?"

"That holy beast didn’t die. It transformed into a small snow-white creature. The tornado contained life energy from Hua Queyue, which poured into you all, healing injuries and reducing the direct damage from the tornado. As for why you passed out, I’d guess your level was too low to use the energy within you to protect yourself."

Thinking of Liu Yueming, Zhou Yu asked, "How much energy does the shrunken holy beast contain?"

---

"It’s still at the lower deity level. Don’t be fooled by how much energy it seemed to expend before—holy beasts’ cores are the richest in energy. Its vast form concentrated into a tiny white creature; while a lot of energy was lost, the remaining energy is even purer."

"By your reasoning, Liu Wujian is at least an elementary god. Why didn’t you detect it at the time?"

"He really wasn’t… Unless… Unless he’s far above the elementary god level. The domain he created could cover us from a long distance. I’ve told you, when someone reaches godhood, they can create their own domain; the stronger the power, the wider the domain. If I was inside his domain at the time, then it makes sense I couldn’t detect him."

Du Niang’s explanation only firmed up Zhou Yu’s suspicions. Liu Wujian’s strength was beyond dispute—he had surely reached the level of deity.

And though Liu Wujian acted as if he cared for no one, Zhou Yu always felt there were reservations behind his indifference. Though he sliced off Liu Yueming’s arm, he hadn’t killed him. Liu Wujian’s appearance seemed to be for the holy qilin, yet when he saw Liu Yueming had already subdued it, he didn’t attempt to seize it—another oddity.

Moreover, Hua Queyue said Liu Wujian only had time to cripple his hands before Tianxing and Jin Buhuan forced him back.

But here’s the bigger question: If Liu Wujian could devastate Hua Queyue’s strongest left arm, then logically, he was much stronger. If he wanted to kill Hua Queyue, wouldn’t that be easy?

Besides, Liu Wujian knew Hua Queyue had, thanks to his ruined left hand, broken through and strengthened his arm’s meridians. To Zhou Yu, it seemed Liu Wujian was helping, or perhaps forcing, Hua Queyue to grow stronger.

That was the question Zhou Yu wanted to ask but couldn’t bring himself to.

The more he thought, the more complicated it seemed. Zhou Yu’s head spun, so he set the matter aside and focused instead on discussing with Du Niang the problem of opening up other meridian points in his body.

"You actually want to open more meridians? Honestly, I haven’t felt that pain myself, but watching you, I can tell it’s almost suicidal! Absurd! That pain would make most people pass out, maybe even kill them."

Zhou Yu gently pushed open the rosewood door, stepped across the threshold. The old man was gone, whereabouts unknown. The table was piled with food, surely brought from the Spirit Realm’s dining hall.

Zhou Yu sat and began eating, conversing with Du Niang in his mind as he did.

"It was painful, yes, but I endured, didn’t I? Next time, I’ll make it through as well. I’m already used to that level of pain."

"You really are a masochist. Fine, I’ll help you. But this time won’t be as easy—the meridians in your arms are thick, so they’re relatively easier to open. The rest of your body’s meridians are complicated and shattered. Repairing or opening them will be very difficult—even if all goes smoothly, who knows how long it’ll take."

"No matter. I’ve always believed in fate, but never surrendered to it."

As the food on the table dwindled, the plates piled up before Zhou Yu, his belly swelling slightly. Du Niang stopped talking and devoted herself fully to helping him digest.

---

With nothing to occupy him, Zhou Yu idly fiddled with the beast cauldron on the table. Aromatic smoke twined upward from its intricately engraved surface, never ceasing since he’d moved in.

Examining it closely, he saw that the four beasts depicted around the cauldron were the Four Sacred Beasts. The immaculate white creature was the holy qilin, the fiery bird must be the phoenix, the cloud-riding dragon the Azure Dragon, and the black turtle with a single horn could only be the legendary Black Tortoise.

The names of the Four Sacred Beasts echoed throughout the Path of Samsara. By rights, being beasts, they should belong to the demon clans. Yet the sacred beasts had always been tamed by humans, serving as guardians.

For countless ages, the Four Sacred Beasts had not appeared in the world. Now, with the appearance of the holy qilin, a storm was sure to follow. According to information Morrison had gleaned from Zuo Hao, rumors were swirling among the weakening upper echelons of the Beast Sect that all four sacred beasts were about to return. The Beast Sect had learned the location of the qilin’s appearance by using secret arts, leading to the subsequent scheming between Morrison and Jin Buhuan.

Thanks to the Beast Sect’s unique rituals, whenever a sacred beast appears, the sect can seize at least one, elevating itself to a top-tier faction. Now, with the demon clans invading, the Beast Sect, located in the Southern Wilds, was emerging as the strongest force below the Spirit Realm. If they captured two sacred beasts, they’d be able to challenge the Spirit Realm itself.

A kingdom cannot be without a king, nor a mountain with two tigers. Whether for its own interests or for all living beings, the Spirit Realm had to prevent the Beast Sect from possessing the sacred beasts, or at least claim one for itself. But thanks to Liu Wujian and the black-robed demon’s appearance, fate twisted: the holy qilin ended up in Liu Yueming’s hands.

Zhou Yu’s fingers traced the cauldron’s carvings, feeling the spiritual energy infused in its exquisite designs. Analyzing the situation, his thumb unconsciously pressed against the cauldron’s base, where he sensed there was something else engraved.

He lifted the cauldron and peered beneath. There, on the bottom, was a carving of a crab, claws raised menacingly. All the other sacred beasts were lifelike and dignified, but this crab was oddly stylized—almost cartoonish. Beautiful, yes, but nothing like a living creature.

Puzzled by why a crab, so out of place among sacred beasts, would be etched on the bottom, Zhou Yu was interrupted as the old man pushed the door open.

Zhou Yu quickly called out, "Master, come take a look—why is there a river crab on the bottom of this cauldron?"

The old man leaned in, scrutinizing the crab for a long time. His face grew dark, silent.

"Master, what’s the story with this crab?" Zhou Yu asked.

The old man gazed at the crab, its massive pincers raised, sighed softly, and slowly sat down on the stone chair.

Seeing his master settling in to tell a story, Zhou Yu perked up his ears.