The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 288: The Master of "Life and Death's Peak" and the Imperial Sovereign

It was a dream.

Heaven-Stepping Lord opened his eyes to find himself standing in an endless expanse of wilderness. The clouds were crimson, hanging low enough to touch. Dense reeds grew around him, their seeds floating in the air. whispers echoed amidst the reeds – some laughed, others cried. The voices were soft, like the touch of gauze on fingertips, a sensation as gentle as water.

He walked forward, stirring up blue fireflies hidden deep within the reeds. Then he saw a majestic and tranquil river, more vast than any great river he had seen before, yet flowing at an incredibly slow pace.

A few small boats drifted on the river's surface, distant sounds of a ferryman's song carried to his ears: "I plunged into the thunder abyss, my limbs dissolving into clay. My skull fell into the void, my eyes withered, crushed into dust. Red ants devoured my intestines, and vultures pecked at my organs... Only my soul returns... Only my soul returns..."

Only the soul returns, like yesterday's flowing water.

He seemed to have been here before. When was it?

Heaven-Stepping Lord looked around, everything before him feeling so familiar, but when he delved deeper into his thoughts, his mind felt empty.

"Hey, you."

Suddenly, someone spoke behind him.

He spun around, but all he saw was the flickering glow of fireflies.

The voice was hazy and ethereal: "Keep walking forward, and you'll find me ahead."

Despite his disdain for being directed, his curiosity got the better of him, and he marched into the reed field where the fireflies danced, his face grim.

Soon, he spotted a dilapidated mill. In the overgrown courtyard, broken timber and shattered tiles littered the ground. At the very center of the yard, a man sat on a black stone, his back to Li Qing, gazing at the sky.

"Who are you?" Li Qing asked.

The man didn't turn at the sound of his voice but sighed instead. "I might be someone who's about to leave."

"Leave? Where to?" Before the man could reply, Li Qing pressed on, his tone restless. "And where exactly is this place?"

"The Shore of Souls," the man replied. "Did you see that river? Board the bamboo raft, and it will carry you to the Underworld."

"..."

"To be reincarnated takes seven or eight years. When you enter, a guard with intestines spilling out will weigh your deeds in life. If your sins are too great, you'll be escorted straight to the Eighteen Hells." Speaking of these post-death matters, the man's tone remained gentle and soothing, as if reminiscing about old memories.

"The first level is called Nankao Village, where there was a poor scholar who sold paintings. But he shouldn't be poor anymore, I burned him lots of paper money later. Then there's an old man who sold wontons, and further in, you'll encounter a palace built by the Fourth Prince of the Ghost Realm. Oh, and there's also a Windward Pavilion..."

"Utter nonsense," Heaven-Stepping Lord interrupted impatiently. "What's your point?"

The man fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Heaven-Stepping Lord, are you afraid of death?"

Heaven-Stepping Lord sneered. "Why should I be?"

"I used to think the same way," the man said. "That's why I chose to commit suicide by poisoning myself. I believed I had no more desires left in this world, and that I wasn't afraid of death."

Pausing, the man lowered his head.

"But now, I don't want to leave. He's still alive, and I can't bear to part with him."

With those words, the man lightly leaped off the stone, emerging from the shadows into the clear moonlight. The wind from the other side of the Soul River stirred, sending flurries of dust into the air and fireflies scattering.

Heaven-Stepping Lord's expression shifted. "...Is it you?"

Mo Ran approached him, his chest hollow like a black, gaping hole. His features were relaxed, with high cheekbones and a straight nose, giving his handsome face a resolute aura. He looked much the same as when Heaven-Stepping Lord had first seen him on Dragon Mountain, but now he seemed more composed, no longer lost or fearful as he had been then.

"How could you...?"

"As you can see, I am not a living person."

"..."

"However, for some reason, I seem to be different from others. My seventh day of death has passed, but neither the Black nor White Impermanence has come to claim me for the Underworld. I've been wandering here."

Heaven-Stepping Lord narrowed his eyes slightly.

"There's no need to be nervous. With my spirit core inside your body, there's no way I can live." Mo Ran gazed at the vast River of Souls and spoke softly, "But I don't want to leave... I want to go back."

Upon hearing this, Heaven-Stepping Lord was initially startled. Then, he placed his hand on his chest. After a moment of silence, he twisted his lips into a grotesque smile. "Your spirit core is with me? That means... Hua Binan succeeded? He did it. Soon, I'll be able to come and go as I please, and—"

Before he could finish, Mo Ran interrupted him.

Mo Ran turned his head and looked at him indifferently. "Do you know who Hua Binan is?"

"..."

He approached Heaven-Stepping Lord, drawing near until he lifted his ethereal finger, glowing with a gentle white light, and gently tapped it between the deity's brows.

"In truth, telling you would be futile. He has tampered with your mind; anything that could hinder his control over you, he has eradicated. But since a sliver of your soul still lingers, you should at least recall some memories... Don't let yourself be manipulated so blindly."

For some inexplicable reason, the moment Mo Ran's finger touched him, Heaven-Stepping Lord was overwhelmed by an excruciating headache, as if fragmented images were rushing past his eyes at lightning speed.

"What are you doing?!"

Mo Ran didn't respond, only cradling the deity's face in his hands. He gazed at him in quiet sorrow. "If only you could know the whole truth."

"You..."

"I can leave with a little more peace of mind this way."

Heaven-Stepping Lord gritted his teeth. "What truth? What nonsense! Let go of me!" As he spoke, he struggled furiously to break free from Mo Ran's constraint, but his strength seemed to dissipate against the other man's ethereal form; his spells and limbs passed right through him.

Mo Ran closed his eyes and sighed softly. "Do you know? I really wanted to show you everything since my rebirth, every memory I possess."

"Perhaps it's because my obsession ran too deep that my soul wasn't taken away, allowing me to meet you here."

Speaking softly, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Heaven-Stepping Lord's.

"Turn back," he murmured. "Set yourself free."

Upon hearing these words that echoed too closely with Chu Wanning's last words in his previous life, Heaven-Stepping Lord trembled. However, before his rage could erupt, a gruesome sight of bloodstains flashed before his eyes.

Once more, he witnessed the tear in the Realm of Ghosts.

In that catastrophic calamity that transformed his existence, everyone was too preoccupied with their own survival, screams echoing through the heavens.

Heaven-Stepping Lord drifted like a kite on a string, hovering in mid-air above a weeping crowd, amidst the stench of blood and severed limbs. He looked around, searching. Where was Shi Mo? Where could he be?

He couldn't find him, couldn't locate him, his heart burning with fury. Suddenly, he stopped.

Through the smoke, a familiar figure stirred. Heaven-Stepping Lord darted over, astonished to see his younger self, unconscious and on the verge of death.

What had happened?

As if in response to his unspoken question, the scene shifted. Someone was carrying his broken body, struggling through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Whose hands are these?

Those mangled limbs, torn and bloody... whose do they belong to?

That person, who despite being unable to crawl any further, still refused to let go, holding onto him with all their might—just who is it?

Heaven-Stepping Lord swooped low over the ground, circling around the two figures. He stared at the blood-soaked body, barely recognizable from the face—yet, in the end, he saw clearly, and it struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Chu Wanning...?"

How could it be... how could this be!

It seemed as if someone was roaring in anger beside his ear. The voice was distant, yet the fury behind it pierced his very core. The roar echoed, "The blood on the stairs has yet to dry; that's the path he took to guide you home!"

"The Mirroring Realm is a twin bond; whatever injuries you suffer, he shares them equally."

"How can you say he didn't save you... how can you say he didn't save you..."

A chill ran through his entire body.

Heaven-Stepping Lord abruptly snapped open his eyes, his irises glowing crimson. He glared at Mo Weiyu before him, gritting his teeth as he spat, "What are you showing this deity?! Something so... preposterous and vile!"

His rage was boundless, but the gaze he met made him freeze in sudden shock.

Mo Ran gazed back at him, his dark, tranquil eyes inexplicably moist. "I've done my best to give you all my memories."

"Who wants to see your affairs with him?! Who cares about what happened after you were reborn?! You cling to life, betraying Shi Mo... You're nothing like this deity!" He was practically enraged. "Who asked you to take matters into your own hands? Get lost!"

That fury that struck fear into countless hearts failed to stir even the slightest ripple in Mo Ran's eyes.

Mo Ran looked at him with a hint of pity. Standing before Heaven-Stepping Lord, a cluster of golden flames suddenly ignited from the corner of his robe. His ethereal form began to dissolve bit by bit within the fire, turning into shimmering motes of light.

"I should have left without saying anything."

"I used the power of my soul to give you all my memories. This act defies the natural order; I don't know what will happen to me in the end." Pausing, Mo Ran smiled. "Perhaps I'll be rejected by the Six Realms of Reincarnation, or perhaps I'll be immediately condemned to the Realm of Unending Suffering."

"Heaven-Stepping Lord didn't reply.

"I considered the best-case scenario," Mo Ran said. "Maybe my soul can follow the spirit core and merge into your body together."

Up until now, Heaven-Stepping Lord hadn't paid much attention to what Mo Ran was saying, but at this point, his long brows suddenly knitted together: "Don't even think about it!"

Mo Ran looked at him with a hint of a smile: "Are you afraid?"

"What is there to fear?" Heaven-Stepping Lord felt greatly offended and narrowed his eyes, "This body belongs to me, don't even dream of stealing it!"

Mo Ran sighed: "You just don't want to accept certain truths."

"..."

"You don't want to accept facts that I've acknowledged, but you choose to ignore."

"Shut up!"

Mo Ran looked at him calmly. The illusory figure was vanishing more and more quickly, reaching his waist, his chest... Before disappearing completely, he raised his hand, trying to touch the strands of hair at Heaven-Stepping Lord's temple. But Heaven-Stepping Lord recoiled as if he had been contaminated by some deadly poison.

Seeing this, Mo Ran only smiled. However, the golden dots within his body were like moths drawn to a flame, suddenly surging towards Heaven-Stepping Lord's chest. Heaven-Stepping Lord felt a familiar power stirring within him, a power so intense and blazing hot like molten lava beneath rocks.

This power made him feel a sense of familiarity, yet at the same time, it filled him with extreme disgust.

"You dare not merge your soul with this seat!"

"I don't want to leave either. I'll give it my all for one final attempt."

Heaven-Stepping Lord grew furious. "Scram out of here, this seat commands it!"

But Mo Ran only stared at him. "I'm sorry. In the end, we're still rivals for this body."

Silence.

"It would've been great if you could regain your true nature."

"Be Mo Weiyu." The golden flames swiftly engulfed his fingertips, then consumed that young and handsome face. "Don't be Heaven-Stepping Lord."

With those words, everything vanished into dust...

At the same time, the hidden chamber in the Heavenly Sound Pavilion was suddenly illuminated by blinding golden light, as bright as daylight, causing Shi Mo to momentarily lose sight. He hastily lifted his sleeves to shield his eyes. It took a long while before the intense radiance faded away.

Shi Mo had never encountered such a situation before. He suddenly waved his sleeves and, with a pale face, looked into the ice coffin.

There, he found himself staring into a pair of eyes so dark they were almost purple.

Heaven-Stepping Lord slowly sat up from the sarcophagus. His face was as white as ice, and his lips had yet to regain their color. He seemed carved from cold jade, formed by an eerie spring. Even the black robe embroidered with golden threads exuded a chill, and the light that fell upon him appeared frozen.

Heaven-Stepping Lord raised his hand, his slender, pale fingertips resting on the edge of the coffin. Then, he rolled his eyes and fixed his gaze on Shi Mo.

"…"

Despite knowing that he was his master, Shi Mo couldn't help but take a half-step back under the piercing gaze's icy chill.

"You…" Swallowing, Shi Mo steeled himself. "You've finally awakened."

Heaven-Stepping Lord didn't respond. His expression was extremely sinister, even more unpredictable than before.

Panting, his back drenched in cold sweat, he still saw Grandmaster Mo's final smile before his eyes. He closed his eyes, attempting to sense if there were indeed any extra unnecessary three souls and six spirits within him. But clearly, this wasn't something that could be answered by mere sensation.

Standing by, Shi Mo noticed the change in his expression and promptly reached out to cover his forehead, silently chanting a spell to soothe Heaven-Stepping Lord's inner turmoil.

"How was it?" Shi Mo intoned the Spirit Suppression Incantation and fixed his gaze on the other's face, asking.

Heaven-Stepping Lord didn't answer immediately. After a long while, he raised his hand and flexed his fingers. His neatly trimmed nails were like frozen ice, devoid of any hint of blood color.

He stood up from the coffin.

"I seem to have had a very long dream..." Heaven-Stepping Lord began, his voice rough as he spoke his first words.

Shi Mo's expression was wary. "It was all an illusion."

The Imperial Sovereign's black robe billowed like clouds, while his golden threads shimmered like water. Stepping out of the coffin, he wore a somber expression. "I suppose that's right."

His gaze locked onto Shi Mo, who returned the intense stare. After a moment, Shi Mo ventured in a hushed tone, "Do you still remember who you are?"

"..."

A few moments of silence ensued.

The cold and handsome man seemed to give a soft laugh, parting his lips. "How could I forget? The Immortal-Treading Imperial Sovereign, Mo Ran, Mo Weiyu."

He paused slightly, lowering his eyelids as he gave Shi Mo a languid salute, "I am willing to serve you."

A fleeting wild delight seemed to flash in Shi Mo's eyes, but he still didn't dare to let his guard down. He fished out a crystal from his Qiankun Pouch. It shimmered with an eerie green glow and had a bizarre appearance; it was the most powerful crystal used to test a cultivator's spiritual energy.

His Adam's apple bobbed with anticipation as he walked over and handed the crystal to Heaven-Stepping Lord.

"Can you light it up?"

"Heaven-Stepping Lord's gaze roamed, casting a cold glance at the stone before replying nonchalantly, "How difficult can that be?" With those words, he pinched the crystal with two fingers, the veins on his hand bulging.

In an instant, the world's most formidable spiritual current surged into it. Not only did the crystal shine brightly, but cracks also began to appear on its surface.

Shi Mo held his breath, his eyes fixed on the stone without moving for a moment.

Suddenly, a crisp "snap" echoed, and the greenish stone shattered between Heaven-Stepping Lord's pale, slender fingers. Then, under the impact of the fierce spiritual energy, it turned to dust and vanished—into ashes!

"What is this?" Heaven-Stepping Lord casually brushed away the powder between his fingers and sneered, "Not worth playing with."

Shi Mo suddenly relaxed, taking a few steps back before collapsing onto a stone bench nearby as if completely drained of strength.

This... was the world's most formidable power... Did it finally return to him at this very moment?

Unable to contain himself, Shi Mo's trembling intensified. The dim light in the stone chamber illuminated his peerlessly exquisite face—was it ecstatic joy or a sense of relief? The flickering light made it difficult to discern, even casting an eerie shadow.

After a long while, Shi Mo buried his face in his hands and murmured in a low voice, "Mother, did you see that? I did it."

He seemed to be bordering on madness as he abruptly stood up and shouted at the empty walls of the stone chamber, where no one else was present except for him and Heaven-Stepping Lord. "Did you see that? It's almost here! Did all of you see it?"

No one responded to him. He burst into laughter in the silent, enclosed space, and as he laughed, tears began to roll down his cheeks—golden tears.

They were identical to those shed by the former Butterfly-Bone Beauty, Song Qiutong.