Chapter 42: Emperor Zixu's Identity

Firewood lay scattered across the open space in carefully arranged piles. The village priest moved slowly, lowering his torch to the largest one. The flames caught, illuminating severed limbs and mangled remains. Despite everything, the refined, handsome face remained clearly visible, almost as if the man were merely sleeping. Yan Dan forced herself not to turn away, studying the features carefully. Nan Zhao did indeed resemble him.

But this realization only deepened her sorrow.

Separation and death were inevitable parts of the eternal cycle. She still couldn't see beyond it all.

Liu Weiyang's voice was low, almost a whisper. "This story began nine years ago with two sisters and three close friends. Then a wanderer from the martial arts world appeared, and the younger sister betrayed her clan to run away with him. The older sister had also fallen for the wanderer. When she learned of their escape, she killed him and hid his body in her room. Later, her eldest daughter discovered the secret and became just like her mother."

He paused before continuing. "The younger sister fled with her six-year-old child but was eventually found. By then, she knew her husband was dead. She threw herself on a sword, telling her child with her dying breath to never forget revenge."

After another pause, he added quietly, "Everyone harbors evil thoughts. When they can't be suppressed, these thoughts become inner demons."

A chill ran down Yan Dan's spine. "Enough!" she interrupted. "Don't say anymore!"

Liu Weiyang's eyes remained calm, fixed ahead. "They're here."

Yan Dan focused and saw a slender figure emerge from the shadows. The light lake-blue silk robe shimmered in the firelight, gold thread at the cuffs catching the flames. The person moved with delicate, graceful steps, like a beautiful woman strolling through a garden, skirt swaying gently. But their head remained bowed, face hidden in darkness.

Yan Dan's throat went dry. After a long moment, she grabbed Yu Mo's sleeve, teeth chattering. "We... we should go. There's nothing more to see here."

Yu Mo put his arm around her shoulder, speaking softly. "Okay, let's go now." But neither of them could take that first step.

A soft laugh rang out in the cool breeze. The voice was sweet and gentle, as if coaxing a lover. "So you're here. I've finally found you..."

In a flash of lake-colored clothing, the figure rushed to the center and carefully lifted a severed limb from the crackling fire, cradling it tenderly.

"Nan Zhao! Nan Zhao, what's wrong with you?" A clear, youthful voice suddenly rang out. Shui Xing pushed through the crowd, calling urgently. "Nan Zhao, why are you dressed like this?"

Only when she got closer did someone react, shouting, "Come back! Don't go any further!"

Shui Xing ran to the boy, grabbing his sleeve as tears streamed down her face. "Nan Zhao, why won't you look at me? Say something! How could you become like this?"

Almost instantly, an unsharpened sword tip pierced through Shui Xing's back. The same voice Yan Dan had heard at Fuyun Temple—pinched and unnatural—said, "I told you. After you die, you will not be allowed a coffin. Your souls will scatter, never to be reborn. Your children will suffer the same fate I have today!"

Nan Zhao's face was grim, completely transformed from his usual self.

Yan Dan murmured, "So this is what inner demons are... This boy is no longer Nan Zhao."

Shui Xing's eyes went wide. She struggled to reach out and embrace him, her voice trembling through tears. "Nan Zhao, wake up... Have you forgotten? Tomorrow is your birthday. We promised to spend it together..." Her face was pale with pain, gasping as she struggled forward, finally managing to touch him.

In the cool night breeze, Nan Zhao stood motionless, his face still blank. But then he reached out and embraced Shui Xing. The two Luo Yue people held each other, separated by the boundary between life and death.

This was the most unforgettable night Yan Dan had ever experienced.

The wind that night was bitter cold, biting like the depths of winter.

---

By sunrise the next day, they were already nearly twenty miles from Luo Yue village.

Yan Dan looked back, but the village had vanished from view. She let out a long sigh. "How much farther until we reach the end of the Demon Realm?"

Palace Master Liu remained silent as always.

Yan Dan turned to him with a smile. "You really won't tell me?" She patted her sleeves and began in an affected, high-pitched voice. "Young Master Liu, my heart, my darling, my precious..."

Liu Weiyang trembled and hurried to reply. "Soon. We'll arrive before dark."

"Second question then. Once you remember the past, how will you repay us?"

Liu Weiyang glanced at her expressionlessly. Yan Dan shivered but held on, continuing in that tender, affected voice. "Young Master Liu, my heart, my darling..."

"Anything within my power. Just name it."

Yan Dan turned back, satisfied, only to see Tang Zhou and Yu Mo staring at her with expressions of pure horror. She touched her cheek innocently. "Is there something on my face?"

Yu Mo immediately turned away without speaking.

Tang Zhou hesitated before asking quietly, "You weren't too affected by last night, were you? You haven't caught some kind of demonic influence?"

Yan Dan looked distressed. "Senior Brother, you spend so much time with me and you can't even handle a joke? What kind of relationship is this?"

A thunderous crash interrupted them. A magnificent palace descended from the sky, shaking the earth and filling the air with dust. Yan Dan staggered and grabbed Tang Zhou's sleeve to steady herself.

A white jade and amethyst plaque hung on the palace, three large characters written in a flamboyant style: Cloud Heaven Palace.

They had reached the end of the Demon Realm.

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The master of Cloud Heaven Palace was the evil god Xuan Xiang.

Western evil gods were inherently arrogant and warlike, and Xuan Xiang was the most formidable among them—said to be able to withstand thirty thousand heavenly soldiers. During her cultivation in the Heavenly Court, Yan Dan had often chatted with the celestial children about the appearance of Evil God Xuan Xiang.

One celestial child had described Prince Xuan Xiang vividly: long, slanted eyebrows with a large, bell-like eye between them and a captivating gaze. Ears that reached his shoulders, four heads, eight legs, and eighteen hands, each wielding one of the eighteen legendary weapons. In essence, he possessed the combined abilities of all four heavenly kings.

Yan Dan had never believed it, of course. She subscribed to the old saying about not judging books by their covers. A perfectly fine person looking like that would be truly pitiful.

Liu Weiyang seemed to take a deep breath before stepping forward and placing his hand on the bronze door's intricately carved handle. Without apparent effort, a long creak echoed as the door slowly opened. Liu Weiyang walked into Cloud Heaven Palace with measured steps. The palace had three passageways—left, center, and right—and he took the rightmost one without hesitation.

Before long, Yan Dan realized the space had suddenly opened up. They had reached the end. The ceiling of the stone chamber was carved with countless small holes through which light spilled, casting mottled patterns on the ground.

Yu Mo looked up for a while before whispering, "The center is Tian Shu, outside is Zi Wei Yuan, then Hua Gai, Di, Hou, Bei Dou, and beyond that, the Twenty-Eight Mansions. This Cloud Heaven Palace must have been built according to this constellation arrangement. No wonder so few people can reach this place."

Liu Weiyang gripped his jade flute as if forcing himself to speak. "I've been here before." He walked to the opposite wall, softly chanting an incantation. A beam of fire shot up, illuminating the mural with exceptional clarity.

The mural was somewhat faded, its colors dim, but it clearly depicted a black dragon with amber eyes, shimmering scales, and a powerful, soaring form. Beautiful and terrible. Liu Weiyang took two steps right, and the beam of fire followed. The black dragon in the second mural appeared more majestic, its amber eyes radiating fierce ruthlessness. The third wall showed a graceful fairy wielding a jade sword, slashing at the dragon.

Liu Weiyang spoke calmly. "The black dragon in this mural is the progenitor of evil gods. The woman wielding the sword is the creator goddess Nuwa. The evil god was inherently arrogant, angering several high gods. This progenitor ultimately died by Nuwa's sword."

Yan Dan stared intently. The next mural showed a dying black dragon, fierce eyes slowly closing. To the right, the first mural showed a black dragon soaring into the sky. She exclaimed in surprise, "These murals are connected! The one on the left shows the black dragon's death, but the one in front shows its rebirth."

Liu Weiyang nodded slightly. "Essentially, yes. These murals illustrate the cycle of life and death in the universe."

A snapping sound rang out. The front mural suddenly split down the middle, revealing a long, wide walkway stretching into the distance.

At the top of the walkway stood a white jade bench inlaid with gold, the steps below covered by a single piece of snow-white tiger skin.

From this distance, they could see a person sitting rather carelessly on that luxurious bench.

Liu Weiyang gripped his jade flute so tightly it cracked in several places, pieces of jade falling off. His back was rigid as he walked slowly and cautiously up the walkway. The tension was palpable. For some reason, Yan Dan also felt her breathing become labored.

As they drew closer, the figure became increasingly clear. The person propped their face up with one hand, elbow resting on the armrest, sitting with languid ease. Their brows held profound depth, and they watched the approach without surprise, a faint smile playing on their lips.

Yan Dan had already seen the portrait of Evil God Xuan Xiang in the Luo Yue Clan, but now she realized it had failed to capture even a fraction of his spirit. Even though he and Liu Weiyang shared a striking resemblance, she could distinguish them at a glance. Liu Weiyang certainly didn't possess this man's ruthless yet handsome demeanor.

If the person on this bench was Evil God Xuan Xiang, then who was Liu Weiyang?

Yan Dan felt bewildered. If Liu Weiyang wasn't Xuan Xiang, why had the Blood Eagle reacted so strangely to him? Why were they so similar in appearance?

The man on the bench finally moved, adopting an even less dignified posture. His gaze swept over the group below, and he spoke slowly. "You've finally arrived." When he saw Liu Weiyang, his eyes paused slightly, but the hint of a smile remained, neither too strong nor too faint. "Emperor Tianji Zixu Zhaosheng. My kinsman. My brother."

There were three Emperors of the Nine Heavens: Emperor Tianji Zixu Zhaosheng, followed by Emperor Yuanshi Changsheng and Emperor Dongji Qingli Yingyuan.

This Emperor Zixu had been truly unlucky. He and Jidu Xingjun had entered the Cloud Palace first, then perished together with Prince Xuan Xiang, dying young without even a body to recover.

At the time, his celestial attendants had wept inconsolably, pulling Yan Dan along and lamenting that their Emperor was a rare celestial being—handsome and refined, meticulous yet gentle, knowledgeable in all things, utterly enigmatic. They mourned that heaven itself was jealous of such talent.

Yan Dan glanced at Liu Weiyang discreetly. He was undeniably dashing, but warmth was nowhere to be found, and refined elegance seemed absent.

However, Xuan Xiang had just mentioned that Emperor Zixu was his clansman, his brother.

No wonder the blood eagle had reacted so strangely. Their features were nine-tenths alike.

Could it be that during the war between immortals and demons, they had worked together from the inside? Was Emperor Zixu actually a spy planted in the Heavenly Court? That would be pitiful for Jidu Star Lord, caught in the middle and forced into becoming a scapegoat. As for why Cloud Heaven Palace disappeared and the Demon Realm was destroyed, it was probably because Xuan Xiang and Emperor Zixu had a dispute over spoils, leading to a rift and ultimately mutual destruction.

Yan Dan had barely finished this train of thought when Xuan Xiang said in a deep voice, "Li Shu, I didn't expect that after so long, you've become such a useless, pretty face."

Liu Weiyang had steadied his breathing and replied calmly, "That's better than someone who doesn't even have the ability to reincarnate and can only seal themselves in paper and ink."

Yan Dan was terrified.

Suddenly, Xuan Xiang stood and slowly descended two steps, his brows furrowed as if he had witnessed a thousand mountains and rivers. "For the past thousand years, I have been waiting for someone to come. I am willing to give everything to obtain one thing." He opened his palm, and for a moment, the hall filled with dazzling light. "I have fully repaired my soul and can directly reincarnate. As long as you take my soul out of here, I am willing to exchange all my cultivation with you. From then on, no one in heaven or earth will compare with you."

Liu Weiyang was silent for a moment. "I just want to know—what exactly happened after I arrived at Cloud Heaven Palace? Why did I lose this memory?"

"Back then, I broke the seal protecting the Demon Realm, and everything here was about to perish. Then the Underworld Palace appeared out of nowhere. Star Lord Jidu said he wanted to explore the ultimate secrets of heaven and earth within, so you two went into the Underworld Palace together. As for what happened afterward, I didn't see it."

Yan Dan rested her chin on her hand, thinking. Listening to their exchange, the truth of what happened seemed to be that Prince Xuan Xiang had grown tired of living and destroyed his own territory. After witnessing this spectacle, Emperor Zixu and Star Lord Jidu happened upon the Underworld Palace, which was known to wander and reportedly held the ultimate secrets of heaven and earth. The two hit it off and went in together. Later, something happened, and Emperor Zixu lost his memory, becoming the current Liu Weiyang.

It was unfortunate that rumors in the Heavenly Court always claimed the three of them had fought a great battle—truly earth-shattering and awe-inspiring—ultimately resulting in mutual destruction. This was completely contrary to the truth. Were those rumors just entertainment?

Liu Weiyang slowly extended his hand. "I will help you bring your soul with me. Don't worry."

Xuan Xiang smiled slowly, the expression holding something subtle, neither too deep nor too faint. "Then I will send you all out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding scenery twisted and spun, just like when they first entered the Demon Realm. Suddenly everything became dizzy, the world spinning. Her vision filled with chaos, like the vast emptiness before the creation of heaven and earth—without light, without vegetation, only endless darkness and helplessness. She didn't know where she was and could only let that mysterious force pull her along. The force was completely irresistible.

After the chaos subsided, Yan Dan opened her eyes and found herself lying before a stone tablet. The surroundings were elegant and peaceful.

She was back in the Divine Firmament Palace.

A pot of tea on the low table was boiling, emitting a fragrant aroma.

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Thoughts on Chap 42

It serves as the climactic conclusion to the Demon Realm arc in Agarwood Like Crumbs. This chapter reveals crucial backstory about the tragic events in Luo Yue village, where inner demons and past betrayals manifest in devastating ways.