Chapter 494 - 463: The Human Leaves the Cage, the Heart Is Between Heaven and Earth

Song Ciwan placed Ah Nan on the ground, and the little girl immediately ran toward her brother.

Ah Nan was surprised by Jing Huaisheng’s three heads and six arms, but she wasn’t afraid.

Maybe it was because she had already been swallowed by the Snake Demon, a true brush with death. Or maybe it was because she had flown through the sky with Song Ciwan, seen the vastness of the world, and witnessed the wonders of Daoist Skill. Or perhaps it was simply that children are naturally more accepting of strange things...

Or maybe there was no reason at all. She simply felt close to him, so no matter how strange he looked, she could set it aside and pay it no mind.

While Ah Nan wasn’t afraid of Jing Huaisheng, he, in turn, seemed to be afraid of her.

As the little girl ran joyfully toward him, his three-headed, six-armed body actually flinched, as if wanting to retreat.

But even as he flinched and tried to back away, his movements were slow. In the moment he hesitated, his body shrinking back, Ah Nan had already thrown herself forward and wrapped her arms around his legs.

The Little Douding hugged her brother, first nuzzling her head against Jing Huaisheng’s thigh before looking up at him, her expression a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Brother, how did you get two more heads and two more pairs of hands? How did you do that? Brother, why are your hands squeezing your neck? Does it hurt?"

Two of Jing Huaisheng’s pairs of arms had been clamped around the sides of his own neck. At first, his determination to choke himself to death had been clear and intense.

When he saw Song Ciwan and Ah Nan standing outside the ancestral hall, his suicide attempt was interrupted, but those two pairs of arms remained locked around his neck.

At that moment, he was still determined to die.

But now, held by the little girl and asked in her soft, innocent voice, "Brother, does it hurt?"

A sudden, overwhelming wave of heartache crashed over him.

Jing Huaisheng froze. His chest ached, a tender sorrow blooming within him. His legs felt as if they were shackled by something heavy, rendering him completely immobile.

He couldn’t answer Ah Nan. A thousand emotions churned in his chest as he lowered his head, his gaze falling. His tongue felt as if it were tied in knots, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

Then Ah Nan spoke again. "Brother, don’t squeeze yourself. It must hurt. When the big snake coiled around me, it hurt so much!"

Jing Huaisheng shuddered. He quickly bent down, all six of his arms reaching out to scoop Ah Nan up from the ground. "Ah Nan, what are you saying?" he asked in alarm. "Didn’t I tell you to hide in the root cellar? How did a snake get you?"

Ah Nan was too young to explain things logically. She could only answer vaguely, "A big snake wrapped me up and then... and then it swallowed me whole! It was so dark in the snake’s tummy. I was scared, but luckily the Immortal Master saved me..."

At this, Ah Nan turned, wanting to point out Song Ciwan and introduce her to Jing Huaisheng.

But when she looked back, where was Song Ciwan?

The Immortal Master in black who had been holding her had vanished without a trace!

Having returned the child to her guardian, Song Ciwan had, of course, departed.

Logically, Jing Huaisheng and Ah Nan were probably not full-blooded siblings. Perhaps Ah Nan was the child of Jing Huaisheng’s stepmother, the one the villagers had spoken of.

But the bond between them was clearly profound, and Jing Huaisheng showed no signs of blaming Ah Nan for the grudges between their parents.

Many things in the Mortal World were not simply black and white. The strength of familial bonds was often one of them, determined not just by blood but by a deeper connection.

Song Ciwan had walked the dusty mortal plane and seen much. In the face of the Mortal World’s endless cycles of love and hate, kindness and vengeance, she had gradually become more philosophical.

Or perhaps, she had simply seen it all before.

This, perhaps, was a state of attainment in the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting: to enter the mortal realm, yet remain detached from it; for the heart to have no final mooring, but to drift freely.

Having reached her current stage of Cultivation, even though she still possessed the seven emotions and six desires of a mortal, she inevitably viewed many things with a certain detachment.

This, perhaps, was one of the prices to be paid for walking the great path of immortality.

’Of course, from another perspective, this isn’t necessarily a price to pay.’

’Song Ciwan’s Dao Heart was resolute, and her Cultivation was constant. By nature, she revered a state of untethered freedom. So, if that freedom brought joy, why view emotional detachment as a price?’

’This isn’t a price at all. It’s an indispensable pillar on the bridge leading to the very end of the Dao!’

Stepping upon the sea of clouds, Song Ciwan looked back at the dilapidated little village by the roadside.

She saw the three-headed, six-armed boy finish packing his belongings. Cradling his three-foot-tall sister, he stood before the ruins of his home, bidding the small village a final farewell.

A single Chaos Bell Fragment had spread its Blood Evil Qi, drawing the pursuit of Demon Beasts and dooming this small village. In the end, it had fused with the heart of the once-ordinary boy, Jing Huaisheng, and completely altered the destiny of the two siblings.

Ah Nan’s clear, young voice drifted through the thick mist at the village entrance, tinged with sadness and reluctance. "Brother, do we really have to leave home?"

The little girl didn’t know what had transpired in the ancestral hall; she only knew that Demon Beasts had killed her parents.

Jing Huaisheng said, "Ah Nan, what if I take you to find a Sect and we become disciples? I heard in Town that some Sects recruit disciples with unusual appearances."

The little girl, who had been so sad, immediately perked up at his words. "Okay!" she said happily. "Ah Nan wants to be a disciple and learn Immortal Technique! Yay, let’s go learn Immortal Technique! When I learn it, I’m going to kill demons and avenge Mom, Dad, Ah Bao, Goudan, Zhuzi... all of them!"

In the end, Jing Huaisheng left the village, carrying Ah Nan in his arms.

Song Ciwan watched them from a distance for a time. Noticing that Jing Huaisheng was heading in the direction of the Cyan Flame Sect, a famous Sect in Yu State, she turned her attention elsewhere.

A chance meeting, and now a parting of ways.

Although the Chaos Bell Fragment in Jing Huaisheng’s heart was undeniably tempting, Song Ciwan wasn’t shameless enough to rip someone’s heart out just to claim a treasure.

She did not covet this treasure.

Unless, of course, he provoked her first. That would be another matter entirely.

Although Song Ciwan hadn’t taken the Chaos Bell Fragment, she had gained a great deal simply by observing its unique resonance.

Not to mention comprehending the technique of "Breaking the Cocoon," but more importantly, through the Chaos Bell Fragment, Song Ciwan had seemingly glimpsed scenes from another epoch—a war between the Ancient Demon and the Ancient Divine Insect Race.

This led Song Ciwan to a new, unsettling suspicion: the Ancient Divine Insect Race’s invasion of the Nine Provinces World and the Profound Origin Land was not limited to the previous epoch.

Not only had the ancient Human Race fought a great war against the Ancient Divine Insect Race, but the Ancient Demon must have as well.

’Perhaps the shadow of the Ancient Divine Insect Race has loomed over the end and rebirth of every single epoch!’

And their methods of invasion were far more varied than she had known.

It wasn’t just about the Golden Core Insect Eggs; the Ancient Divine Insect Race was also capable of waging open war against an entire world, with the force of a tidal wave!