Chapter 196
Tree: “Wahhh… wahhhh… WAHHHHHHH!!!”
Jian Yunlan & Ye Qingquan: “???”
When the tree saw Ye Qingquan and the little boy he was holding, its crying intensified. Tears shot out like a fountain, nearly drenching Jian Yunlan and Ye Qingquan completely. The tree wailed:
“Wahhh… Tree is the guardian of Yingchui Province… wahhh! If you want to go to the next province, you must… must pass Tree’s test…”
The tree cried, the babies in its arms wailed—soon, the entire area was filled with the sound of weeping and splashing tears. The scene was utterly tragic.
By now, Jian Yunlan was familiar with the routine. He immediately asked, “What’s your test? Seeing who’s better at babysitting?”
“No, no,” the tree sobbed, shaking its branches. “It’s… it’s a misery contest.”
Jian Yunlan: “Huh?”
The tree stretched out its branches, showing off the dozens of infants it was holding. Between sobs, it introduced them:
“Qilin, Luan bird, Qingyin dragon…”
Its vines extended like fingers, counting each of the young creatures. “Wahhhhhh! So many babies, and not a single one is Tree’s! They all grow up and leave! Leave! No one remembers poor, lonely Tree! Can anyone here be more miserable than Tree?!”
A misery contest…
Jian Yunlan tentatively offered, “I’ve been orphaned in every lifetime, died young, and the only person I ever loved is about to be executed by the Heavenly Dao. Does that count?”
“No!” The tree cried even harder. “You’re not as miserable as Tree! Do you know the pain of being separated from your flesh and blood?!”
“I do,” Ye Qingquan suddenly spoke up softly. “I raised so many children, and not a single one was mine. They all had their own parents—they only became my children for fame.”
The tree’s sobbing paused.
A pair of watery eyes opened on its trunk, staring at Ye Qingquan. “‘So many’ children? How many? Wahhh… Tree raised forty, and none were Tree’s own, wahhh…” As it spoke, it descended into self-pity again.
“Forty?” Ye Qingquan couldn’t help but laugh. “I raised thousands.”
Tree: “…”
Tree: “…………”
The tree stared blankly at Ye Qingquan, its tears halting mid-fall, as if trying to process whether he was lying. “Th… thousands?! Impossible! You must be lying—Tree can smell liars… wahh… Wait, it’s true?! …No way…”
The tree seemed to fall into deep confusion, its withered face frozen in stunned silence.
Ye Qingquan, still holding Lele’s hand, turned slightly and waved at Jian Yunlan behind him.
Jian Yunlan immediately understood—this was his chance.
He activated the [Thousand-Mile Shrinking Talisman], and a translucent door opened before him.
This time, Jian Yunlan didn’t look back. He stepped straight through.
“…”
Behind him, the tree’s wails continued to echo.
The little boy held two pieces of paper and ran excitedly to Ye Qingquan, raising the papers high and asking, “Daddy, Daddy, my big brother gave me these two pieces of paper—what do they mean?”
Ye Qingquan was taken aback and picked up the papers to take a look:
[Street Food Stall Free Pass (Unlimited Duration) (Special Edition for Boss Jian’s Family)]
As he read, Ye Qingquan couldn’t help but smile and gently patted Lele’s head.
For some reason, Lele bore a striking resemblance to Jian Yunlan.
Looking at him, Ye Qingquan couldn’t help but think of the little boy from the past.
Big round eyes, two little dimples when he smiled, a boy who rode a tricycle to sell roast duck…
*
Passing through a translucent gate, Jian Yunlan arrived in Xuanqiu Prefecture.
—This was the last prefecture. Beyond Xuanqiu was the edge continent of the Mountain and Sea Realm: the Silent Extinction Platform.
Soon, he would meet the Taotie.
Jian Yunlan’s heart pounded with excitement and nervousness. He wanted to quickly cross Xuanqiu Prefecture and head toward the Silent Extinction Platform.
But Xuanqiu was at war.
Jian Yunlan: “?”
To the left were groups of armored Renxian (immortal humans), and to the right were all kinds of spirit beasts native to the Mountain and Sea Realm. When Jian Yunlan arrived, a massive winged serpent swept across the sky, casting a vast shadow and spewing fire at the Renxian. A white-haired immortal soared up on his sword to meet the serpent, swinging a whisk that shot beams of golden light in attack…
Boom!
The flames and golden light collided, and the sparks flew directly toward Jian Yunlan.
Jian Yunlan: “???”
He narrowly dodged the embers.
A line of glowing text appeared in the air:
[Xuanqiu Prefecture is the most unique land in the entire Mountain and Sea Realm. War rages endlessly here, with immortals and spirit beasts constantly in battle. Since ancient times, anyone wishing to pass through must pay a steep price: either offer their flesh to feed the beasts, or sacrifice their soul to a Golden Immortal to aid the human race.]
[Which will you choose?]
Lose your flesh or your soul?!
The previous prefectures had been easy. Why did the difficulty suddenly spike here? That’s unreasonable!
The glowing letters in the sky shifted again:
[Of course, there is a way to pass unscathed, and that is…]
[Provoke both sides, and flee before they all come to kill you!]
Provoke both sides?
Jian Yunlan pondered those words. Suddenly struck with inspiration, he quickly redeemed a summoning talisman from the store.
At that moment, the massive winged serpent in the sky was struck by a sword from a Renxian. Letting out a painful cry, it started falling—right toward Jian Yunlan!
Just as the giant snake was about to crash down on him, a colossal being suddenly rose from the ground beside him, blocking the impact.
“Hungry hungry hungry!!!”
Countless giant mouths opened in the sky, letting out eerie, chilling cries.
A man rode atop one of the giant mouths and scooped Jian Yunlan up. Most of the man’s face was hidden beneath a hood, but when he removed it, he smiled warmly at Jian Yunlan and said:
“Boss Jian, long time no see.”
It was Mu Dongsheng and Yun Wen!
One of the giant mouths extended its tongue and affectionately rubbed against Jian Yunlan’s bundle of braised delicacies before transforming into a red-haired boy.
The boy stood shoulder to shoulder with Mu Dongsheng, shielding Jian Yunlan from attacks flying in from all directions.
—After the apocalypse, Mu Dongsheng led the humans in rebuilding efforts, while Yun Wen led the non-human species. Together, they united to create a new home.
Their synergy had been forged through those experiences.
“And we owe it all to Boss Jian,” Mu Dongsheng explained.
Yun Wen nodded in agreement, “That’s right.”
The two of them worked in perfect harmony, like comrades who had fought side by side for years. In the midst of the battlefield between Renxian and spirit beasts, they formed a small protective shield around Jian Yunlan—no attack could break through. Absolute defense. Absolute safety.
On the left, the Renxian were full of confusion. As they intensified their spells, they began probing the strange shield at the center with their spiritual senses.
On the right, the spirit beasts were also puzzled. They sent more elite beasts to attack and dispatched scouts to investigate.
And then… they saw it.
To protect something, a human and a non-human were fighting side by side—with perfect coordination!
The Renxian on the left were furious:
“How can our human race associate with such filthy, lowly creatures?! This one must be a traitor to humanity—a human defector! He must not be allowed to live!”
The spirit beasts on the right were also furious:
“Beastfolk will never be slaves! Awooo awooo awooo!!!”
“This traitorous beast actually bowed to humans just for a bite to eat—spineless wretch! He has disgraced the name of our beast race. He must be executed!!!”
In the next second, both the Renxian and the spirit beasts simultaneously turned their attacks toward a single target—all firepower concentrated on the direction of Jian Yunlan, Mu Dongsheng, and Yunwen!
Just then, the glowing text before Jian Yunlan’s eyes changed:
[Conditions met. You have gained permission to pass through Xuanqiu Prefecture.]
A translucent gate opened up before him once again.
“Boss Jian, go after Lord Taotie—we’ll hold things down here!” The fierce wind blew back Mu Dongsheng’s hood as he nodded at Jian Yunlan.
Yun Wen echoed his words: “Hungry! Hungry hungry!”
Jian Yunlan looked deeply at the two of them.
The confident and determined Mu Dongsheng, and the perfectly coordinated Yun Wen—after all their twists and turns, it felt like they were always meant to stand side by side. Bathed in light, they saluted him from afar.
Jian Yunlan smiled in farewell: “Come eat for free at the food stall sometime. I’ll make you a few extra bowls of porridge!”
A spark lit up in their eyes.
One human and one beast cheered and high-fived:
“Heck yeah—!”
Their voices were swallowed up behind the closing gate.
Jian Yunlan stepped through it, leaving Xuanqiu Prefecture.
If he remembered correctly, next was the Silent Extinction Platform…
At this moment, there were 30 minutes left until Taotie was to be executed by the Heavenly Dao.
And Jian Yunlan was correct.
After using the Thousand-Mile Ground-Shrinking Talisman, he should’ve arrived directly at the Silent Extinction Platform.
And indeed, he had.
The Silent Extinction Platform was a vast, boundless highland. Everything was gray and desolate—no soil, no plants, no signs of life. Only the eternal sun and moon shone overhead, yet the cold that seeped into one’s bones felt more like death than light.
For the immortal beings of the Mountain and Sea Realm, the Silent Extinction Platform was the very concept of death.
In front of it stood a long white staircase—the only path leading to the platform.
Jian Yunlan had just lifted his foot to step onto it—
When suddenly, the world shifted. A violent wind howled. A jagged, pitch-black crack tore open on the once-pristine steps, and from it came ghostly wails.
One by one, shadowy figures emerged from the mouth of the underworld!
Countless ghost envoys flowed out—some holding chains, some lanterns—faces twisted in joy, sorrow, rage, or fear, all shrouded in the aura of death.
Then, two figures floated out—one in black, one in white.
Their faces were long and gaunt, pale as ash.
The one on the left wore a black suit and a newsboy cap that read: “Peace Under Heaven.”
The one on the right wore a white suit and a baseball cap that read: “Prosperity Upon Sight.”
Behind them… came a familiar face.
A massive horse head, reddish-brown mane, golden-rimmed glasses, and a humanoid body in a tailcoat.
Upon seeing Jian Yunlan, the horse-headed man pulled a huge scythe from his coat pocket and grinned:
“Departed Soul No. 66666, I’m Ma Mian, the underworld’s top-rated soul reaper with five-star reviews.”
“By order of the Heavenly Dao, the Ten Yama Kings now march with King Yan himself. We’re here today for one thing only…”
—“Your time is up. Come with us.”
