Lonemoon paused and glanced at Shen Ying, then turned back to Xuan Tong, who was now grinning even wider. What the hell?

　　“I’m used to being called Shortie.” Xuan Tong smiled with pride as she walked briskly to Shen Ying. “Sect Master, you are indeed wise. When did you realise it? I even sealed my memory and gave up my remnant soul.”

　　“Mm…” Shen Ying pondered very seriously for a moment. “From when the Godfiend let us find you.”

　　The corner of Meng Po’s lips twitched as her smile faded. “So you’ve known from the beginning? Sect Master, can’t you leave me a bit of my pride? Why can’t you say a different time just to please me?”

　　“Oh.” Shen Ying nodded and continued, “Then from the first time I saw you and realised that your soul was slightly different!”

　　“…” Isn’t that much earlier?

　　-_-|||

　　“Wait!” Lonemoon turned around interrupted their conversation. “Shen Ying! Shortie is… she’s Meng Po. You freaking knew from the beginning and didn’t bother to tell me?”

　　“I thought you knew!” Shen Ying tilted her head.

　　“Knew my ass!” How would he know if she did not say a thing? “What exactly is going on? Isn’t she the mental demon that Chen Ge cut off from himself?”

　　“Mental demons aren’t souls. Even if they made use of the power of Samsara, how could they turn into entire souls in a few short lifetimes?” Xuan Tong explained before Shen Ying could begin to respond. She stepped forward and continued, “In the beginning, I was the one who felt too bored in the Underworld. I wanted to walk around in the mortal world and chanced across that mental demon in the River of Forgetfulness. Out of curiosity, I picked it up and reincarnated together with it. Actually, before that, I had already reincarnated multiple times.”

　　“You went on your own? Why did that Godfiend lead us to you then?” If she was Meng Po, how did the Godfiend not tell? Was he blind?

　　“He did not know about my reincarnation.” She shook her head. They were all part of the three great ancient gods. They could calculate everything that would take place in the world, but they could not predict what would happen to one another. “What’s more, initially, I left a part of my remnant soul at the River of Forgetfulness. That was why he thought I was in the Underworld all this time. Later, Hongyu took hold of my remnant soul. That was how he found out I was missing.” Hongyu himself also realised that her remnant soul was different from all the others. That was why he pulled her from the immortal realm back into the Divine Underworld.

　　“What’s up with the plot that the Godfiend gave me then?” It was obviously about her.

　　“Although I became a mortal after I reincarnated, my luck was very different from everyone else’s. Coincidentally, he wanted to settle the problem with the demonic realm. That’s why he included me in his calculations.” The girl’s wretched luck in the plot was also related to the fact that she was Meng Po.

　　What a mess! It was no wonder that Hongyu instigated Bian Xinchen to pull her back into the Divine World by force. He even said that her soul was special. How could it not be? She was the Supreme Divinity of the River of Forgetfulness.

　　Lonemoon scanned the familiar stranger from head to toe. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but no words came out. A moment later, he clenched his fists by his side and asked, “Well, now… are you Shortie or are you Meng Po?”

　　“I am both.”

　　Lonemoon frowned, not satisfied with the answer. “Shortie, you can’t come back with us?”

　　“…” Meng Po did not reply him. She did not know how to answer him.

　　“Forget it,” Lonemoon sighed. He did not want to hear the answer anymore. Damn it! Was the Invincible Sect fated not to have any sword cultivators as disciples? “Since you’re Meng Po, do you have a way of getting the remnant souls back from the people who have lost them?”

　　“As long as they are not being controlled by anyone, their remnant souls will find their way back.” She smiled. “Mother Feng has already entered Samsara. The travelling souls that were destroyed earlier will take a couple of days before their souls reform once more.”

　　Lonemoon heaved a sigh of relief. It was good to know that everything was going to be alright.

　　“There’s one more person whose situation is quite complicated…” Meng Po frowned, as if trying to solve a difficult puzzle. “His soul is almost completely dissipated, yet he still refuses to enter Samsara.”

　　Lonemoon realised who she was talking about immediately. “Hongyu?”

　　She nodded and waved her hand. An elderly man with white hair and a white beard appeared in front of the two of them. He still had a kind and gentle expression on his face, but now he looked much more worried and pained. The God Power that once surrounded his body was now almost transparent. He looked almost as if he would disappear at any moment.

　　“You…” On seeing Lonemoon, Hongyu paused. He seemed to realise something as he bent down and sat on the floor. The fight had completely left his body. His expression was one of utter hopelessness. “I planned this for so many years. I did not expect that everything would come to this.”

　　Lonemoon frowned, not knowing what to say in response. Hongyu was not a bad person by nature. He harboured no selfish intentions. All he wanted was to keep everything in the world the way they were. He did not even mind jumping into the Reincarnation Stage and blowing himself up. Bai Ze said that when Hongyu organised sermons, he would never turn down any visitor, nor would he keep anything for himself. More than 80 percent of the beings in the Divine Realm had received some sort of grace from him as well.

　　Even though he did all of this just to claim a little bit of each person’s remnant soul to aid him in destroying the Underworld, they could not deny that he was good at heart. What’s more, he knew the technique to control people’s souls. He could have done what Bian Xinchen did – steal people’s primary souls to boost his own God Power – yet he did not. To the end, he did not even allow any of the people being controlled to enter the Underworld and fight to their deaths.

　　He was indeed a kind-hearted man who had taken a wrong turn.

　　“Forget it!” Hongyu sighed. He was becoming more and more transparent. Specks of light was beginning to fly out from his soul. “Life was always meant to be this way. The living beings in the Three Realms are fated not to be able to escape from the pains of Samsara. They can only fight to survive in the mortal world. No matter how hard I try, I cannot fight the heavens.”

　　“Why do you refer to it as the pains of Samsara?” Shen Ying suddenly asked.

　　Hongyu paused and looked at her. “If Samsara was not painful, why do mortals pursue immortality? My life wish was to help the living beings of the Three Realms escape this Samsara.”

　　“But how is your life wish related to the Three Realms?”

　　“What?” Hongyu stared blankly at her.

　　“I mean, Uncle… did you conduct research on the population? There are many people who pursue immortality, but there are more people in the world who are mere mortals.”

　　“But who doesn’t want to live forever?”

　　“Oh, have you asked the living beings of the Three Realms?”

　　“Well…” He trailed off.

　　“You didn’t even ask them before deciding that all of them want eternal life?” Shen Ying sighed and sat down, cross-legged. She rested her chin on her knuckles and said, “Perhaps eternal life is good, but you could be the only one who thinks that way. Each person has a different opinion. For all we know, some people don’t even want to live.”

　　“I…” Hongyu turned pale. He did not know what to say in response.

　　“You made the decision for them without even asking. Even when we elect the president, everybody has a say. Whether they want to live or they want to die, this is a matter for them to decide. You cannot take away everybody’s power to choose, then say it’s for their own good, right?”

　　“…”

　　“Uncle, you can’t have such double standards as a god.”