On the vast grasslands, the sun was bright in a clear and boundless sky. Dou Dou and Yaya ran hand-in-hand, their joyful laughter echoing across the landscape.
"Yaya, this place is so much fun! Dou Dou is going to live here forever!"
Yaya suddenly stopped and stared quietly at Dou Dou. "Qin Xiaodou," she said coolly, "this young lady forbids you from coming here again."
Dou Dou's face was a mask of confusion. "Why not?"
Yaya gazed ahead, her expression thoughtful. Ahead lay the edge of the grasslands, which was also the end for all living things. At the edge, clouds and mist churned endlessly, seeming to conceal something unknown.
In the silence, Yaya said, "Because the Dark Land is a place for the dead. This young lady wants you to live a good, long life."
Dou Dou looked at Yaya, her face full of grievance. "But you must be so lonely by yourself! I want to keep you company."
The words had barely left her lips when Dou Dou felt her body suddenly grow lighter and begin to blur.
Yaya watched her with a smile, reaching out to give her a gentle push. "Listen here, Qin Xiaodou. If you dare come here again, this young lady won't play with you anymore."
"Oh, and this young lady forgot to tell youâLittle Mule is still alive. In fact, he often summons the Dark Land."
Dou Dou shouted and struggled desperately, reaching out to grab Yaya, but she was completely out of control, lifted into the sky by a mysterious force.
After Dou Dou had gone, Yaya walked forward. She gazed at the sea of clouds at the edge of the grasslands and sighed softly.
Suddenly, a great wind arose, and the churning sea of clouds slowly parted.
Beneath the clouds, however, there was no beautiful sceneryâonly corpses. Countless bodies, piled high to form a boundless continent.
"All living things eventually return to the Dark Land," Yaya murmured. "But I hope you all never have to come here."
...
"YAYAâ!"
Dou Dou's eyes flew open as she shouted.
A delicate hand reached out, gently taking her own.
Dou Dou looked up, stunned for a moment. "Shan Shan? How are youâŠ"
Lin Shanshan asked, "How are you feeling?"
Dou Dou rubbed her forehead, then lifted the blanket and pushed herself into a sitting position. She was about to ask where she was when she froze.
This familiar room, this familiar environment⊠I lived here for so long, how could I not recognize this place? Besides, this is my exclusive room in the Green Lotus Palace.
"Is this the Land of Lawlessness?"
Lin Shanshan nodded gently, a smile on her face. But the smile was strained, as if she wasn't happy at all.
Dou Dou scratched her head. "But wasn't Chen Shuisheng already⊠How can he still enter the Land of Lawlessness? Could it beâŠ"
At that moment, she recalled what Yaya had told her on the grasslands in her dream. Yaya said Luo Xiu isn't dead!
At this thought, her eyes filled with hope as she looked at Lin Shanshan, desperately waiting for an answer.
Lin Shanshan nodded. "Yes, my dad⊠he's not dead. He came back. But now, he'sâŠ"
Seeing Lin Shanshan's expression, Dou Dou was suddenly struck by a terrible premonition. "What's wrong with him?!" she demanded.
"Five days ago, my dad found you and saved you⊠He's been unconscious ever since."
Hearing this, Dou Dou scrambled out of bed and rushed out of the room.
Moments later, she ran into Luo Xiu's bedchamber and saw him lying on the bed. Looking at the completely unfamiliar face, she suddenly recalled the man she had met inside the Pill Furnace. Her consciousness had been hazy then, so she had dismissed it as a hallucination.
"Chen Shuisheng⊠How is he?" Dou Dou's eyes grew moist as she slowly walked to the bedside and looked at Master Ping, who stood guard.
Master Ping sighed and said slowly, "To save you, that boy nearly exhausted all of his Essence Blood. To make matters worse, his illness flared up at the same time, so his situation is now quite precarious⊠Right now, he's barely clinging to life. Whether or not he'll wake up, and when, is all up to fate."
Upon hearing this, Dou Dou threw herself onto the bed, hugging Luo Xiu and crying her heart out.
"Chen Shuisheng, you're such a huge idiot!"
...
Depleting one's Essence Blood would be fatal even for a Heavenly Emperor. However, thanks to the Essence Blood provided by Hua Muyan, Luo Xiu's life was spared. His own Essence Blood was also slowly regenerating, but the process would take time. Fortunately, he had the Blood Fiend Jade Amulet to accelerate its recovery.
Luo Xiu slept for half a month. When he finally awoke from his slumber, everyone who had been on edge could finally relax.
...
ăIn the Hundred Herbs Garden.ă
Dou Dou pushed the utterly weak Luo Xiu in a wheelchair, skipping and hopping along. She claimed she was taking him for a walk, but the ride was so bumpy that Luo Xiu wanted to meet King Yan immediately.
This girl probably thinks the wheelchair is a toy.
Dou Dou suddenly asked, "Chen Shuisheng, how come you're not dead yet?"
Luo Xiu gave her a strange look. "What? From the sound of it, you'd rather I wasn't alive?"
"That's not it at all! Don't be ridiculous. Dou Dou isn't some heartless beauty."
Luo Xiu drew a sharp breath. "Forget it. Just push me back and let Shan Shan do it."
With a serious expression and a determined gaze, Dou Dou said, "No way. It was decided that Dou Dou would take care of you."
Luo Xiu's face darkened. "You're not taking care of me, you're trying to murder me!"
"Who's trying to murder you?! Dou Dou won't allow it!"
...
Before long, the two of them left the Hundred Herbs Garden and saw Kui Dou at the main gate of the Green Lotus Palace. Kui Dou, who had been resurrected by the Elysian Nether Earth, had been kneeling at the gate for days. At first, everyone found it strange, but they gradually began to treat him like a piece of furniture.
Dou Dou asked curiously, "Why are you making him kneel here?"
Luo Xiu replied, "To let you play with, of course. He possesses a Body of the Dark Land, so he'll just resurrect if he's killed. You can kill him for fun whenever you're bored."
"So? Are you happy I'm giving you a Red Emperor to be your toy?"
"No way! Dou Dou is a kind person now. I don't like killing people anymore."
"Didn't you used to threaten to cut people's heads off for fun?"
"Dou Dou has matured!"
...
As they were talking, An Ran suddenly appeared. An Ran was in her adult form, which was, in fact, her true appearance. Her form as a little girl was simply a state she used to suppress her powerful cultivation.
The moment Dou Dou saw An Ran, she wanted to turn and flee. Over the past few days, An Ran had frequently come looking for Dou Dou, sometimes several times a day. Without fail, she always came for the same reason.
"Your Highness the Princess, I implore you to return with me to Everlasting City, succeed the throne, and take charge. The people of the Ageless Tribe need you!"
Hearing this, Dou Dou's shoulders slumped. "I knew it," she said wearily. "It's about this again."
Luo Xiu looked puzzled. "From the look of it, you don't want to go? Being a Queen would be great. You could do whatever you want, eat whatever you want, and take as many treasures as you please."
Dou Dou said, "But I want to play with you."
Luo Xiu asked, "But even if you become Queen, you can still come play with me, right? You could even bring some treasures along when you visit."
At his words, Dou Dou fell silent, apparently considering the idea carefully. After a moment, she looked up suddenly. "That makes sense!"
Then she turned to An Ran and asked, "Is being a Queen a really high rank?"
An Ran bowed. "It is supreme and unparalleled, a station of unrivaled dignity. All Elves will heed your command."
Dou Dou's eyes darted around. "Then can Dou Dou order Chen Shuisheng to give me back rubs?"
An Ran blinked in surprise. "Absolutely."
Luo Xiu's face darkened instantly. "Hey, I don't remember doing anything to offend you."
Dou Dou huffed. "Back on Earth, you were always stealing my snacks. Now that Dou Dou is going to be a big shot, I'll definitely have to keep you in line!"
An Ran smiled and shook her head, giving Luo Xiu a grateful look.
"Your Highness the Princess, I have an important matter to discuss with Mister Luo."
Hearing this, Dou Dou quickly pushed the wheelchair to An Ran. "Go on, go on! Dou Dou is going to find Lao Ba and Black Fatty to play with."
A short while later, after Dou Dou had left, An Ran pushed the wheelchair into the Hundred Herbs Garden.
"Thank you for your help just now."
"For what?"
"I have approached Her Highness the Princess many times these past few days, but she refused every time. I never imagined you could convince her to accept the throne with just a few words."
Luo Xiu smiled. "That's because you don't understand her well enough. You always talk to her like an adult. I suggest you interact with her in your form as a little girl from now on."
An Ran smiled sweetly. "Thank you."
Luo Xiu asked, "You mentioned you had a matter to discuss, High Priest. What is it?"
An Ran's cheeks flushed. With a light wave of her hand, she unfolded a Barrier that enveloped them both.
"It is, of course, to repay you for saving the Queen."
Luo Xiu waved his hand. "There's really no need. Dou Dou and I..."
He couldn't finish his sentence, freezing in place. At that moment, An Ran's clothes were gradually disappearing, revealing the snowy-white landscape of her skin in several places.
"High Priest, what are youâŠ"
An Ran said in a sultry voice, "Don't talk. Just do what you did with the Flower Demon that day."
...