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"Chang'e."

"It's Chang'e."

Upon seeing her arrive, the gathered immortals couldn't help but sneak sidelong glances.

Her reputation as the ultimate beauty of the heavenly court wasn't exaggerated in the slightest. When they saw her trademark unadorned skirt, even some of the major players of the Immortal Region felt their hearts stir.

Chang'e landed before Lady Providence and bowed slightly in greeting. Then, her gaze fell onto Xiao Yumei.

Coincidentally, Xiao Yumei was gazing right back at her….

"Big Sister Yumei, you look just like each other!" said Xia Keke, batting her eyes. Actually, she'd seen Chang'e before, but hadn't noticed anything unusual at the time.

But now that the two of them were together in the same place, even though they weren't exactly identical, they seemed very similar.

"Oh really?" said Xiao Yumei. She smiled indifferently but said nothing no more. Instead, she simply glanced intermittently at Chang'e.

This woman…..

She didn't know why, but when she saw her, she felt an inexplicable throbbing deep within her heart.

Little did she know, Chang'e felt the same way.

"Senior, everyone you were waiting for has arrived, so shouldn't we…." said Su Liu'er, in too much of a hurry to stop herself.

Lady Providence looked over Xiao Yumei and Chang'e a few times, then her gaze lingered at a certain spot in the distant sky.

After a while, she finally nodded and smiled. "Just about everyone's here, so let's head out."

Someone paying close attention might have sensed that when she said "just about everyone," her tone was decidedly uncertain.

But by that point, everyone was so focused on Ye Zichen and Su Yan that they paid no attention to that sort of minor detail.

"Buddha, could I trouble you to handle the situation here?" asked Lady Providence, speaking one last time before departing.

"Amitabha! Leave this place to me, then."

"Thank you, and sorry for the trouble. "

She followed Su Liu'er from the mountain. Little did she know that shortly after she left, a black-robed figure appeared amongst the clouds.

The figure removed her hat, revealing the female form beneath.

The black-robed woman's gaze was desolate, and from time to time, she sighed.

"Lady Saintess, it's already late. We should leave."

A white-whiskered old man laughed warmly. She only nodded noncommittally and let out another long sigh.

"Lady Saintess, you are the Saintess of our clan. In this life, you have no fate with that child. I hope you'll be able to focus on our country and cast aside your private affections for that son of the mortal realm. Furthermore, the boy's godhead has already shattered. He will not step into the God Realm in this lifetime. But there's no need to fear; he will most likely keep his life. Xuan Ji herself has decided to aid him, so there's no need to worry about his survival."

The elder seemed to know what she was thinking, and couldn't help but try and comfort her.

The saintess didn't respond, only focused intently on Lady Providence as she gradually faded into the distance

After a long while….

"Let's go."

Her low murmur betrayed her reluctance as she suddenly placed her hat back about her head and silently disappeared. Although she didn't know it, a single tear fell from her former spot and onto the ground below.

After Lady Providence left, the immortals felt as if a terrifying sense of oppression had vanished from their hearts.

Fuxi of the Immortal region took a step forward and bowed slightly before the Buddha.

"I already know what you're about to say," said the Buddha, silencing him before he even had a chance to speak.

Fuxi understood the Buddha's superhuman methods, so he simply stood to the side, waiting silently.

"Come here."

Without any preface explanations, he gathered both Gu Li and the battered and bruised Zombie Progenitors before his lotus throne.

They were all unconscious. The Buddha glanced at the Great Strength Bodhisattva, who understood his intentions. He walked up to them and knocked them on the head one-by-one.

"Demon!" shouted Gu Li, waking with a start. When he saw that Si Liu'er had vanished and that there was now a Buddha standing before him, he hurriedly fell to his knees.

"Buddha, thank you so much for saving my life."

"It was no trouble," said the Buddha coolly.

"Buddha, there's something you might not know: just now, there was a demonic woman here. She's the one who wounded me like this. Oh merciful Buddha, I hope that you will harshly punish that demoness. She succumbed to her inner demons and now thirsts for blood. Letting her linger in this world will only bring disaster upon humanity. Please, show her no leniency."

Gu Li put his all into muck-racking and mudslinging, not realizing that the Buddha had actually already cleansed Su Liu'er of her heart demons.

Now he was slandering anyone he could, knowing that if he succeeded it would be to his advantage.

"I already know," said the Buddha in the same cold voice-tone as before.

"Hm?"

Gu Li's heart leapt. He was calculating internally and soon turned toward the Zombie Progenitors.

Bang.

He knocked his head against the ground.

"Buddha, I hope you can understand. It is true that my humble self cooperated with the Zombie Progenitors earlier. In truth, I had absolutely no desire to associate with such filth, but they are extremely cunning, far more than a small figure like myself could handle. To save my life, I had to feign cooperation. I had no other choice."

The Buddhist Domain had always been extremely mysterious. According to legend, even the higher-ups of the God Realm had to treat him courteously. Before this sort of figure, he didn't dare feign innocence and completely deny his relationship with the Zombie Progenitors.

But even so, he could at least throw them under the bus!

"Surely the Buddha will understand that even as I feigned compliance, I didn't harm a single living soul. From the beginning, they were the evildoers. All this humble one could do was stay home, abstain from eating meat, and pray that the Buddha could cleanse my sins."

"I already know."

He knew, again?

Gu Li frowned despite himself. What exactly was this damned baldy up to?

No matter what he said, all he got in response was "I already know."

If the Buddha had said even just a few more sentences, Gu Li might've been able to pick up a hint or two. But even if he parsed them thoroughly, what could he figure out from just three short words?

But at least it seemed that the Buddha wasn't about to kill him, so it didn't matter. Everything was fine as long as he didn't die.

Just as he thought this, the Buddha suddenly spoke. "You brought calamity upon the common people, and shall be executed for your crimes."

Bang.

Without even stopping to think, Gu Li slammed his head into the ground once more. He didn't want to just die like this! He had to talk himself out of this.

"Buddha, please understand, I….."

"That's enough," said the Buddha, cutting him off. "I already know you personally didn't hurt anyone, but you can't pretend you didn't have a relationship with them. Still, the Buddha is merciful. The sea of bitterness has no bounds; repent and the shore is at hand. I am willing to give you a chance to turn over a new leaf and repent."

"This humble one will abstain from meat and pray every day. I'll spread good karma and I'll support the common people."

Nothing mattered as long as he lived! Nothing mattered as long as he lived!

Gu Li repeated this phrase over and over in his heart. Where there is life, there is hope. Nothing was more important than his life.

As long as he lived, anything was possible.

"It's good you feel the way," said the Buddha, nodding in satisfaction.

Then his face darkened as he reconsidered. "But evil lurks within your heart. How could I possibly trust you?"