Mortal Mirror

Above Tian Gou Town, Zhuang Xiaoyao, the Monk, Li Zheng'an, the Black and White Demons, and many other divine beings were vying for the treasures in the sky. However, the treasures were scarce, and after snatching a few, they began attacking each other. For a time, the sky above Tian Gou Town was filled with intense fighting.

Li Ergou continued to fall towards the bottom of the Longevity Well. He didn't know how many treasures he had grabbed, but he stuffed them all into his mouth.

Finally, he reached the bottom of the water and saw a huge golden light sphere. It truly resembled a massive moon, suspended there, motionless.

Gazing at this enormous light sphere, he suddenly fell into a trance. He saw a man of immense strength and a woman of extraordinary beauty, deeply in love, living a life of farming and weaving.

But suddenly, one day, the man transformed into a large dog with nine eyes—it was actually the Nine-Eyed Celestial Dog! Then, countless people came to capture him.

The woman was filled with sorrow and helped the Nine-Eyed Celestial Dog fight, but in the end, the Celestial Dog was defeated and dragged away. The woman was also sealed away, becoming the form he saw before him.

He was somewhat dumbfounded when he suddenly heard an incredibly pleasant voice say, "How dare you come here with such audacity!"

The voice paused for a moment, as if deducing something, and then said with annoyance, "So that's it. I didn't expect you to be plotted against as well. These people are truly vicious; they all deserve to die!"

Immediately, he saw a golden light erupt from the light sphere, shooting into his forehead. Then, he heard the voice continue, "We are both pitiful souls; I will give you a hand. Unfortunately, your natural endowments are too poor; I can only help you this far. The rest depends on your own fortune."

Li Ergou suddenly felt as if the entire world had become silent.

At this moment, he felt not a single distracting thought.

Suddenly, he thought of something: Could he take this opportunity to cultivate the Nameless Technique?

He didn't know why he wanted to do this, but he immediately closed his eyes and sat cross-legged in the water.

As he silently recited the Nameless incantation, this time there wasn't a single distracting thought. His heart was like a clear mirror. As the incantation circulated endlessly, he suddenly said, "So that's it! If the heart does not die, then the Dao cannot be born. The end of man is the beginning of the divine. I finally... understand."

At that moment, he abruptly opened his eyes. A trace of天地元气 (Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy) flowed within his meridians. He succeeded! He had finally embarked on the path of the divine.

He was overjoyed, but as he looked at the mysterious light sphere, he understood that it must have been the one who helped him. He was immediately filled with gratitude.

However, he felt a tightness in his chest, as if he was about to suffocate. He immediately put his palms together and bowed to the light sphere, saying in his heart, "Whoever you are, I, Li Ergou, will remember this kindness. As time goes on, I will definitely repay this debt."

Then, without thinking further, he quickly swam upwards.

The Great White Elephant consumed the liquid from three green gourds and felt much better; at least he wouldn't die. He endured the pain and crawled to the edge of the well. Then, looking into the ancient well, he said with a sorrowful expression, "Brother Ergou, alas, I am ultimately incapable of protecting you!

But don't worry; when I return, I will burn a lot of paper money for you. I heard you like reading storybooks; I will go to Wu the Immortal and buy some to burn for you. May you have a good journey."

Just at that moment, he saw the well water bubbling continuously. Then, a head floated up, scaring him into a loud scream.

At that moment, the Celestial Dog's eclipse of the moon passed, and the sky became bright again. Only then did he see clearly that it wasn't someone else in the water, but Li Ergou!

"Ergou!"

The Great White Elephant happily pulled him out of the water. At this moment, Li Ergou's face was pale. Although he had been greatly nourished by the things below, he was still somewhat dazed due to excessive blood loss.

The Great White Elephant hugged him tightly, excitedly saying, "That's great, that's great, Ergou! I thought you were dead."

Li Ergou chuckled and said, "My dog's life is tough; I won't die."

In the Liu family's courtyard, a servant, his head and face covered in blood, ran into the courtyard, shouting loudly as soon as he entered, "Master, something bad has happened! Something bad has happened! The eldest young master and Li Ergou have perished together."

Qianqian and Zhuzhu were happily looking at the opportunities they had obtained when they heard this. Zhuzhu was immediately dumbfounded. At this moment, the Liu family members also came out, asking what had happened. The servant couldn't explain clearly for a while, only saying that both of them were dead.

Upon hearing this terrible news, Zhuzhu almost fainted, and Qianqian helped her hurry over to take a look.

When the Liu family and Qianqian arrived at the Longevity Well, they saw the Great White Elephant supporting Li Ergou, about to head back, while Liu Teng lay lifelessly beside the Longevity Well, dead beyond dead.

Seeing that Li Ergou was fine, Zhuzhu was relieved, but her eyes were red.

Liu Shiye knew that Li Ergou had killed Liu Teng and was immediately furious. He immediately wanted to kill Li Ergou to avenge Liu Teng, but Zhuzhu naturally wouldn't allow it. At this moment, Zhuzhu, Qianqian, and Liu Shiye all came to Li Ergou's side, asking what had happened.

When Zhuzhu heard Li Ergou's words, she was immediately furious, scolding Liu Teng for dying without regret. Although Liu Shiye was angry that his son had died, he couldn't afford to offend Zhuzhu even more.

Sons could be born again, but offending Zhuzhu meant offending her parents, and offending her parents meant offending the entire Zhu Royal Palace. At that time, it would be questionable whether the Liu family could even exist. With her backing Li Ergou, he wouldn't dare to seek revenge at all.

Therefore, he felt stifled and could only transfer his hatred, hating Huang Batian to death, believing that his and Liu Teng's deaths were all instigated by Huang Batian.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Huang Batian, you wait! You harmed my good son; I will make you wish you were dead."

Although Li Ergou had survived, he had lost too much blood. After seeing Zhuzhu, he became too emotionally agitated and fainted. Zhuzhu felt sorry for him and actually stayed with him in the martial arts hall for an entire night.

That night, many things happened in Tian Gou Town. Many people died in the struggle for treasures, but all of this had nothing to do with Li Ergou. He slept soundly, dreaming of many people: Dad, Mom, Sister, Stone, Shijiu, Sining, Zhuzhu.

Just at that moment, Li Ergou suddenly opened his eyes and saw Zhuzhu by the bedside, looking at him groggily.

He exclaimed in surprise, "Zhuzhu, why are you here?"

Zhuzhu was awakened by his shout and said excitedly, "You're finally awake!"

Li Ergou rubbed his head, and many memories began to return.

After a while, he looked at Zhuzhu and said with a wry smile, "Alas, I really didn't expect that we could meet again. I thought I was going to die at the time."

Zhuzhu said with a worried face, "I was really afraid you would die."

She stretched out her fair hand and held Li Ergou's hand. This was also the first time that the young boy and girl had held hands with the opposite sex. Li Ergou couldn't help but feel his heart pounding.

Zhuzhu's face was also flushed, and she was very shy.

However, Zhuzhu did not let go, but said with a sigh, "Ergou, I am really happy that you are okay, really happy. You don't know, I was so worried at that time.

It's just that I'm sorry, but I can't stay by your side anymore, because I... I... am also leaving here soon."