Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 527 Just now, I was teasing you.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan glanced at Wu Yang, who nodded. Xiao Yan then replied without blushing, "I was just joking around."

Only then did he order someone to send the real Chen Qingzhi over.

Taking advantage of this lull, Wu Yang looked Ren Yuan up and down and said, "You really are blessed. Not only did you not die, but you also became a god."

"Should I thank you?" Ren Yuan sneered.

“No need for that.” Wu Yang shook his head and said proudly, “Don’t think that everything will be fine once you become a god. The struggle between gods is also very cruel.”

“I’ve experienced that firsthand,” Ren Yuan nodded. “With a god like you existing, how could things not be cruel?”

"Speak properly," Wu Gu glared at Ren Yuan. "Show some respect!"

"He already killed me once, isn't my attitude respectful enough?" Ren Yuan sneered.

Wu Yang raised his hand to stop Wu Gu from retorting, and then said to Ren Yuan in a serious tone, "I admire your abilities. Be my right-hand man, just like Wu Gu."

"What? Do immortals need to form clubs?" Ren Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.

"Let's create a beautiful new world together," Wu Yang said with a holy expression.

"Pfft..." Ren Yuan almost couldn't hold back.

"Don't laugh..." Wu Gu glared at him and said, "We're very serious."

"Is the beauty you speak of just the beauty of a dream world?" Ren Yuan's smile vanished, and he said coldly, "Do you think I don't know what your purpose is in building so many Buddhist temples? It's to turn the real world into a dream world too!"

“What’s wrong with a dream world?” Wu Yang didn’t deny her intentions at all, raising an eyebrow as she said, “You know, this is the Yellow Emperor’s ideal.”

Seeing Ren Yuan looking at Xiao Yan in disbelief, Wu Gu coughed and said, "Emperor Xuanyuan Huangdi."

“Back then, I assisted the Yellow Emperor, who was also the sage I admired most,” Wu Yang recalled.
"One day, the emperor took a nap and dreamt that he traveled to a place called Huaxu. It was tens of millions of miles away from China and could not be reached by boat, carriage or on foot. It was a place that could only be traveled by spirit."

"The Huaxu Kingdom has neither a monarch nor a leader, and its people have neither desires nor hobbies; everything follows its natural course. They do not know the joy of life, nor the fear of death, so there are no premature deaths. They do not know the closeness of themselves, nor the distance from others, so they have nothing to cherish. They do not know rebellion, nor obedience, so they have no sense of gain or loss."

"They have no fears or taboos. They won't drown in water, they won't burn in fire, they feel no pain from cuts or whips, and they don't feel any itching or pain from scratches. Riding the clouds is like standing on solid ground, and lying in mid-air is like lying on a bed." She paused, then continued:
"Clouds and mist cannot obstruct their vision, thunder cannot disturb their hearing, beauty and ugliness cannot affect their state of mind, and valleys cannot hinder their steps, for they travel entirely through the spirit, moving with divine will..."

"When the Yellow Emperor awoke, he was overjoyed and summoned his ministers, saying, 'I have finally learned what the Dao is; I have attained the Dao! But I cannot tell you.' He then governed the country in accordance with this. Twenty-eight years later, the world was in great order, almost exactly like the Huaxu Kingdom. This situation continued for two hundred years after his ascension."

“This matter is also recorded in the Liezi,” said the witch from the side. “If you don’t believe me, you can go and look it up in the book.”

“I remember, it’s exactly what He said,” Ren Yuan said calmly. “Because Lie Yukou was me a thousand years ago,” Wu Yang said with a look of nostalgia. “Those two hundred years were the most beautiful and greatest era I ever experienced. It made me firmly believe that the human race would be great forever!”

"Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Two hundred years after the Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven, human society began an endless decline." He sighed again, filled with endless disappointment, "Even during the Yao, Shun, and Yu periods, when the light was shining brightly for the last time, it was still far from the Huaxu Realm created by the Yellow Emperor."

“By the time of Yu the Great, it was even more unbearable to watch.” Wu Yang said slowly, “Although Yu the Great had great achievements, he was arrogant and domineering. When the ruler of Fangfeng was late for court, he ordered him to be beheaded. Later, his son Qi, relying on the strength of the tribe, killed Boyi, the originally elected successor, and changed the succession of the world from abdication to the virtuous and capable to inheritance by his descendants.”

"From then on, the world became the private property of the monarch, and the common people became the monarch's livestock. All the beauty of ancient times disappeared, replaced by endless exploitation and oppression, wanton abuse and torture. The human world was no different from the time when ancient demons ravaged it."

"Therefore, for thousands of years, my ideal has been to restore the human world to the time of the Yellow Emperor!" After a pause, He couldn't contain His excitement and said, "No, it's to complete the Yellow Emperor's unfinished work and let the world remain forever in the Huaxu Realm. Isn't that a beautiful new world?"

Admittedly, Wu Yang's speech was very inspiring; at that moment, he radiated an idealistic glow. Unfortunately, Ren Yuan remained unmoved, saying:

"If I hadn't been to Dreamland, I would have actually believed your nonsense. I've entered many dreams in Dreamland, all sorts of them, from intoxicating and decadent dreams to dreams of eternal grudges... but they all have one thing in common—they are all recurring nightmares that torment people!"

He grew increasingly indignant as he spoke, saying, "What sins have the people of the Southern Dynasty committed? Is it not enough that we are repeatedly tormented by you at night? Do we have to live in nightmares during the day as well?!"

"Nightmare is just a means to help me quickly restore my divine power. Once I establish the Huaxu Kingdom in the mortal realm, things will be different. When that time comes, the people will be free from suffering and sorrow, and there will be no ugliness, war, or famine in the world. Isn't such a world worth fighting for? Isn't it worth the people making some sacrifices?"

"It's not worth it; that wouldn't be the human world." Ren Yuan shook his head resolutely.
"It is because of ugliness that we can understand what beauty is. It is because of war that we cherish peace. It is because of suffering that we pursue happiness. As the saying goes, yin cannot produce, and yang cannot grow alone. If you forcibly remove the dark side and only leave the so-called beautiful side, there will definitely be big problems."

"What could be wrong?" Wu Yang shouted, "It'll be paradise!"

"Whether it's heaven or not is not for you or me to decide, much less for us to decide!" Ren Yuan shouted.

"Then who gets to decide?" Wu Yang questioned.

"Humanity's path should be decided by humanity itself!" Ren Yuan said in a deep voice.

"Foolish humans don't even know what they want. The arrogant and greedy nobles wish they could prey on the common people for generations to come, and the apathetic common people think they can only be slaves for generations to come!" Wu Yang said fiercely.

"Our duty as gods is to guide them, and if we cannot guide them, we must transform them!"

"If we can't reform them, then we'll destroy them, right?!" Ren Yuan said sarcastically.

“You…” Wu Yang blushed instantly and flicked his sleeve, saying, “It seems we can’t be companions after all.”

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together." Ren Yuan deeply agreed.

(End of this chapter)