Upon hearing the end of the story,

she was full of joy, seemingly exhilarated by this happy ending.

"This story is so wonderful!" Qing Ji's gaze softened, gentle as water, as she gazed lovingly at Su Ziyu before her, softly saying, "Qing Ji will also strive to be a wife like Bai Suzhen!..."

Su Ziyu remained silent.

An Zhen's lingering consciousness seemed to show signs of rebellion again; he was determined to become a monk.

"Do you know?" Su Ziyu pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Becoming a monk and studying Buddhist Teachings is my lifelong pursuit."

"But a monk cannot marry and have children."

"This troubles me greatly."

"If I marry you, I won't be able to become a monk. But if I want to become a monk, I cannot marry you."

After hearing Su Ziyu's words, the surrounding air suddenly fell into a dead silence.

Qing Ji's expression gradually turned cold, her eerie pupils staring at him, faint vertical pupils already surfacing; it seemed if one thing was said wrong, she would directly turn dark and transform into a demon.

Su Ziyu raised his head to meet Qing Ji's eerie vertical pupils, seemingly ignoring the ghostly fire burning beside her. His countless past experiences watching movies, the acting prowess of generations of film emperors were now empowering him, and he even fully immersed into the role, completely casting himself as An Zhen with deep yet complex emotions, saying, "Do you know?"

"Yesterday I had a dream, a dream of a distant future."

"At that time, monks in Fusang could marry and have children!"

"I was thinking, how wonderful it would be if we lived in such a time!"

Su Ziyu sighed softly and then said solemnly, "I will marry you."

"But it must be after I return from praying at Kumano. Becoming a monk is my lifelong pursuit, I must personally conclude this cause and effect."

Qing Ji listened and was silent for a long time, then looked up at him and said, "Alright. Then I'll wait for you to return."

"In the distant future, can Fusang's monks really marry and have children?"

Qing Ji only cared if An Zhen would marry her; whether or not he became a monk was not important, but the fact that monks couldn't marry was what she hated most. If possible, she certainly wouldn't want An Zhen to give up his lifelong passion either.

"Yes. That's how it was in the dream," Su Ziyu slowly said.

In the fifth year of Meiji, the Fusang government, to weaken the power of Buddhism, issued the "Decree on Lifting the Ban on Meat and Marriage", allowing "Monks henceforward, whether keeping hair, marrying, procreating, drinking alcohol and eating meat, all according to one's own discretion". Initially, this decree was met with extreme resistance from monks, but the resistance couldn't hold as monks inside were of mixed quality, some openly began drinking alcohol, eating meat, marrying, and having children, and the decree even allowed temples to be inherited as private properties, passed directly to one's descendants. This resulted in strict monks leaving no heirs, while those breaking vows could turn temples into family properties, passed on to heirs.

The Sutra of the Profound Silence once said: In the age of the latter law, evil teachers preach, as numerous as sands in the Ganges.

When the Demon King perished with Buddhism, it also said: In the age of the latter law, my sons and grandsons will be monks, wearing your cassock, defiling your Buddhist Teachings; with the name of monks, practice the path of demons.

The night passed without a word.

Su Ziyu finally lived to see the dawn of the next day.

The next day, it was Qing Ji who personally saw him off, and An Zhen, whose fading consciousness had almost vanished, at this time took control of the body; he gave a deep look at Qing Ji in front of him, then turned and walked away without looking back.

Along the way, Su Ziyu became an observer again.

And An Zhen's residual consciousness seemed to burn, clearly about to dissipate, but stubbornly persisted until he arrived at a place called 'Daocheng Temple'.

Meanwhile.

Qing Ji, waiting at home, suddenly shuddered as if she felt something, ran out madly, soon looking disheveled and wretched, her eyes somehow turned into monstrous vertical slits, her lower body transformed into a long snake tail. Qing Ji had transformed into a demon-like form, whizzing past the roads, startling countless people who fled in all directions.

Daocheng Temple gradually appeared ahead.

Qing Ji's figure bore down like a gust of wind upon the place, looking at the trembling monks at the gate, her expression blank, coldly said, "Let An Zhen come out and see me!"

He did not go worship at Kumano!

He came to this temple!

He lied to me!!!

Strands of dark red flames appeared around Qing Ji; the calmer her expression, the colder she was, repressed rage on the verge of eruption.

But the next second, her rage suddenly extinguished.

"An Zhen has already passed away." An old monk slowly walked out, a bit of fear in his expression as he made a reverent sign towards the demonized Qing Ji: "Come with me. An Zhen left some words for you."

In front of a large bell, An Zhen's body sat cross-legged like an enlightened monk but no longer had the breath of life.

Qing Ji slowly approached, filled with immense sorrow on her face; she bent down to gently caress An Zhen's face, seeing a note left by him, a Chinese poem written on it.

—"Once feared deep affection would impair the sacred path, entering the mountains dreading farewell to a great city."

—"How to have both ends perfectly in this world, not failing the Buddha nor failing you."

Blood red tears cascaded down.

Before her, Qing Ji's hands clasping the note trembled, murmuring the poem An Zhen left before passing, choked to the point of speechlessness, her demonic aura gradually faded, her originally dull green snake scales turned crystalline white, at this moment Qing Ji transformed into a White Snake in just a few breaths, she gently, very carefully, and tenderly coiled around An Zhen's deceased form, murmuring: "What purpose is living alone in this world without you?"

Indigo flames appeared.

The flames quickly rose, engulfing An Zhen and Qing Ji, the two disappearing in the fire together in front of the great bell.

.........

"Thank you."

Accompanying that vague voice of gratitude, Su Ziyu slowly opened his eyes.

"Finally out!"

Su Ziyu appeared slightly bewildered as he gazed at his palm, where a strange pearl quietly lay.

—"The Truth of An Zhen[Legend]."

Meanwhile.

At a certain place in the forest, a slightly panicked voice surfaced: "Oh no! He's awake! Qing Ji should also wake up soon!"

"I must hurry and escape!"

"Otherwise he will surely come after me with all his might!"

"The old sly fox!"

"This time I've been terribly harmed by you! This True Dream Realm has cost me a hundred years of cultivation!"

"No! It looks like I can't stay here! I'd better head to Ryukyu!"

Mount Fuji.

In a dense and secluded forest, a ruinous temple recently reduced to ashes suddenly echoed a hasty concerned voice.

"An Zhen!!?"

A long White Snake's tail flashed within the temple ruins and then vanished amidst the lush and verdant forest.

.........

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