Chapter 1716
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Chapter 1716 Gongyang Wan’s Liberation
[Distance until the Eastern Emperor’s Bell Rings: 104 years]
A black crow circled in the sky. On the marble ground, a beautiful woman in a smoky blue qipao was holding the hand of a teenage boy, standing in front of a rockery.
Behind them, a young man wearing a Western-style vest looked at his wristwatch. The monocle on his nose reflected a faint light as he glanced behind him, as if waiting for something.
The misty drizzle dampened the boy’s clothes. He looked up at the beautiful woman beside him in confusion and asked:
“Madam Director, why are we standing here?”
Gong Yang Wan calmly replied: “Waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Oh…” The boy nodded, looked at his wet clothes, and spoke again, “Madam Director, why aren’t we using umbrellas?”
“What? You can’t endure this bit of wind and rain?” Gong Yang Wan said coldly, “To become a true strong person, you must experience the baptism and tempering of wind and rain… If you can’t handle a little rain, you might as well go home early.”
The boy opened his mouth, but then silently lowered his head and said softly:
“I’m not afraid of the wind and rain… I just worry that your clothes will get wet, and you’ll catch cold.”
Gong Yang Wan glanced at him without saying anything.
“He’s coming.”
The young man wearing the monocle suddenly spoke, looking in a certain direction.
Gong Yang Wan turned to look. Through the gray drizzle, a black-clad figure holding an umbrella in his right hand was slowly walking across the wet marble path. The umbrella brim was slightly lowered, concealing the person’s face, making it difficult to see clearly.
His footsteps made no sound at all, like a ghostly shadow in the rain curtain, quietly arriving before everyone.
“Greetings, Lord Lin,” the young man respectfully said.
Lin Qiye lifted a corner of his umbrella brim and carefully examined the refined young man before him. A trace of surprise flashed across his brow:
“Hu Jia?”
“It’s me,” the young man smiled. “However, my name is now Lu Fanglin.”
“After two thousand years, you’ve also taken that step… Congratulations.”
“I’m still far behind you, Lord Lin.”
Lin Qiye’s gaze moved past the young man to the two people behind him. After two thousand years, Gong Yang Wan’s appearance hadn’t changed at all, but the boy she was holding hands with seemed somewhat familiar to Lin Qiye.
“Who is he…?”
“A child I picked up from the roadside. Now, he’s also a member of the Demon Suppression Bureau,” Gong Yang Wan answered.
“Hello, my name is Nie Jinshan.”
Hearing these three words, Lin Qiye’s eyes narrowed slightly. He lowered his umbrella brim a bit more to cover his face again and said somewhat helplessly:
“You shouldn’t have brought this child to meet me… If our karmic connections become entangled again, it will be very troublesome.”
Gong Yang Wan was startled, “This child is separated from your era by over a hundred years, right? He also has karma with you?”
“Yes.”
“I understand.” Gong Yang Wan nodded. “Hu Jia, take him for a walk around.”
“Yes.”
The young man stepped forward, took young Nie Jinshan’s hand, and turned to walk into the misty rain.
During this process, young Nie Jinshan widened his eyes, trying to see the mysterious man’s face clearly, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it out. His eyes were full of confusion.
After the two had walked far away, Lin Qiye slowly spoke:
“Why did you ask me to come this time?”
“I have a reason,” Gong Yang Wan paused. “I plan to dissolve the Demon Suppression Bureau.”
“Dissolve it?”
“Yes… For over two thousand years, the Demon Suppression Bureau has risen and fallen through dynastic changes, from the initial dozen or so people, to hundreds at its most prosperous time, and now down to just a few…”
She lightly curled her finger, and a layer of skin peeled off the rockery in front of them, revealing a huge stone salvaged from the East Sea, densely engraved with names, numbering over ten thousand.
A reminiscent look appeared in Gong Yang Wan’s eyes, seeming somewhat dazed,
“Now, the feudal dynasties have completely collapsed, and the world has entered a completely new stage… The Demon Suppression Bureau is no longer suitable for this era.”
Lin Qiye pondered and nodded slightly.
Gong Yang Wan was right. Even though over these two thousand years, she had continuously changed and improved the model of the Demon Suppression Bureau according to dynastic changes, but facing this century of people’s great leap forward in thinking and explosive growth in technology, it was inevitably difficult for the Demon Suppression Bureau to keep pace.
Moreover, with the decline of feudal dynasties and people completely forgetting the existence of the Demon Suppression Bureau, it had become extremely difficult to recruit new members. Now, there were fewer than ten members left. This wasn’t due to Gong Yang Wan’s poor leadership, but an inevitable result of changing times.
“It doesn’t necessarily need to be dissolved. With a change in thinking and model, there might still be a turning point,” Lin Qiye advised.
The Demon Suppression Bureau was founded by Huo Qubing, but it contained over two thousand years of Gong Yang Wan’s heart and soul… Now that she wanted to dissolve it, she must feel some reluctance.
Gong Yang Wan shook her head,
“Lin Qiye… I’m tired.”
“For over two thousand years, I’ve been exhausting myself for the Demon Suppression Bureau… There are so many people in the world who would die pursuing immortality, but for me, immortality is a form of torture.
A Zhu is already dead, and we once reached the pinnacle of humanity. I should have been buried with him two thousand years ago… For the sake of the Demon Suppression Bureau, I’ve continuously devoured abnormals to extend my life, which is why I’ve lived until today.
In two thousand years, I’ve consumed over one hundred and forty abnormals… This body of mine is completely made up of these one hundred and forty living people stacked together.
Now when I bathe, I have to close my eyes, because seeing this body makes me feel sick… I’m weary, Lin Qiye, I’m truly weary.”
Gong Yang Wan looked at her fair and delicate hands, but her eyes were full of disgust and revulsion,
“I… don’t want to continue obtaining immortality by eating people.”
Lin Qiye looked at her pained face and fell silent.
“So, you asked me to come to help you find release?”
“With the dissolution of the Demon Suppression Bureau, my two-thousand-year mission can be considered complete… I can become a guardian spirit protecting the nation’s fortune like the Marquis, but this kind of immortality sustained by eating people… I don’t want to continue.”
“The process of performing the Soul Concealment Technique is not easy. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“It’s just pain.” Gong Yang Wan smiled self-mockingly. “Flaying skin, extracting bones, cutting out the heart, drawing blood… Consider it punishment for my cannibalism.”
Lin Qiye looked at Gong Yang Wan’s imploring eyes and finally sighed deeply:
“I understand… What about Nie Jinshan?”
“Hu Jia and Yan Zhong will take care of him for me.”
Lin Qiye nodded, and a broken sword slid from his sleeve into his palm.
He slowly walked toward Gong Yang Wan,
“Then we’ll… meet again in a hundred years.”
Looking at the cold gleaming blade, Gong Yang Wan’s lips curved slightly upward, and relief appeared in her eyes. She slowly closed her eyes:
“Yes.”
