Chapter 104: Mythical City

On the Bridge of Forgetfulness, the ritual had already begun.

Within the magnificent scroll formed by five bronze paintings crafted from bones, the scenes truly began to move, starting from the first image.

Yama, the Black and White Impermanence, Meng Po, the Soul Guide, and other guardians of the Underworld stood by the Bridge of Forgetfulness, each with a solemn expression.

On the bone throne, Lady Bai's emerald silk robe gradually shriveled, and her plump flesh hissed white vapor, like snow melting and evaporating into mist, escaping from the folds of her skirt. Her entire body had become skeletal, and beneath her dark hair, there was no longer a bewitching, peerless face, but a skull stained with crimson.

She left the throne and stepped into the first bronze painting.

This was the Scroll of Divine War. After she entered the painting, her bones rapidly disassembled and reassembled, transforming into the fallen deity.

The deity fell from the sky like a meteor, creating a bottomless abyss. Then, in the second scroll, her pale hands groped along the edge of the abyss, slowly crawling out bit by bit. As the second scroll solidified, she merged into the third.

She transformed into a colossal hundred-zhang-tall bone demon, its body entwined with countless broken skulls and naked women. She swung her arms, battling the locust-like figures in the air. Though their forms were vastly different, the bone demon's expression was one of immense pain, as if it were constantly enduring a thousand cuts and a myriad of slices.

After the hundred-zhang bones collapsed, an unquantifiable amount of time passed before a small, girl-sized skeleton crawled out from the pile of bones.

It was Lady Bai.

She carried the pile of broken bones for a very long time, eventually reaching the sandy river. Using the riverbed as a furnace, she boiled the entire river, brewing a soup from her own bones and drinking it.

Afterward, new flesh gradually grew upon her bones. As she cupped water to drink, her gaze, fixed on the sky, was as pure as that of a newborn infant.

Then she walked towards Linhe City, entered its gates, passed through the bustling crowds, and proceeded step by step towards her bone throne.

All the scenes had unfolded once.

Lady Bai stepped into the final bronze painting and, just as depicted, slowly sat down with her back to the throne.

Her face was etched with fatigue, as if she had relived her past life.

She sat alone on the throne, no longer glancing at the souls on the Bridge of Forgetfulness. Skull fragments, like snowflakes, covered her body, transforming into lush, exquisite flesh, nearly flawless.

Meanwhile, by the sandy river, the five white bronze paintings, meticulously drawn by the old men, truly came to life after Lady Bai exited the last one. Between each main painting, countless supplementary images began to emerge, connecting the previously disconnected scenes. Each image seamlessly joined the next, stringing all the visuals into a complete narrative.

These were the five paintings that Lady Bai had spent many years deducing. Now, these five paintings served as critical nodes, giving birth, as it were, to countless connecting images.

If Ning Changjiu were to witness this scene now, he would be truly astonished.

Because these paintings recounted Lady Bai's past and the story of Linhe Kingdom becoming Fengdu. But these were not merely tales of the past; in this city, these five images functioned as five towering pillars, constructing the mythological logic of this Fengdu.

And mythological logic is one of the crucial keys for any divine realm to exist independently and be self-consistent.

The foundation of mythological logic must be built upon real and rigorous established facts, not fabricated out of thin air. Afterward, these facts are exaggerated and altered, cloaked in a veil of mystery, to become a myth.

This veil is what separates the mortal world from the divine realm, akin to a peach blossom curtain, yet its rank is infinitely higher, for it is a sheer fabric woven from the stories of deities.

If the foundation of the story is too false, or if the myth deviates too much from its original essence, the divine realm would collapse.

At this moment, Lady Bai was waiting for all of this to be completed.

Lady Bai was not merely building a Fengdu; she intended for this Fengdu to become a true, brand-new divine realm!

She had promised to bestow immortality upon the entire city.

How could the Underworld grant immortality? True eternal existence belongs only to mythical beings.

Now, with her back to the throne, she sat alone, looking weary, awaiting the completion of the mythological logic and her coronation as the new ruler. Even if this divine realm were fully constructed, it would still fall far short of the legendary Twelve, but that was fine; transforming Linhe City into Fengdu was merely the first step of her grand plan.

Upon the throne, her cultivation realm steadily ascended. From her initial mere Longevity Realm, she would soon break through to return to her peak in the Purple Court, just as she was in life. Once the divine realm was fully established and she assumed control, she could then, in one swift move, enter the Five Paths.

“Madam Bai, we’ve brought the person back,” a maid knelt by the bridge, behind her a boy whose hands, feet, and mouth were bound. It was Shushuo, brought back by the maid.

Lady Bai nodded. With a tap of her pearly white finger, Shushuo's body was lifted by an unseen force, circled the massive bone throne, and slowly floated before her.

Lady Bai's cloud-like black hair fanned out. Her skin was milky white, her slender form elegant and upright, as if carved from beautiful, cold jade, with lines so supple they offered no resistance. Her fingers rested by her vermilion lips, near eyes as deep as if smudged with dark smoke, and in those mirror-like pupils, the boy's profoundly astonished face was reflected.

She crooked a finger, tearing away the seal on Shushuo's mouth.

Shushuo, as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his chest after prolonged difficulty breathing, bent at the waist and gasped several times. He hastily raised his head, staring intently at the woman on the throne before him.

“You… you are…” Shushuo’s eyes widened, looking at her with utter disbelief. “You are…”

“It is I,” Lady Bai said indifferently.

“Sister Bai… Bai?”

Of course, Lady Bai now was vastly different from the girl she had been years ago, yet Shushuo recognized her at first sight.

She had become even more beautiful, her beauty cloaked in a veil of mystery that left him spellbound. A mere glance and he couldn't help but shed tears.

Years ago, a girl, outwardly cool and indifferent but with a heart of gold, had helped him drive away those who bullied him. She introduced herself as Bai Ling, telling him to just call her Sister Bai. She then gave him a list and asked for his help collecting some goods, and afterward, as if having done something utterly mundane, she casually spoke a few words and left.

After that, her face was etched into Shushuo's mind, from daily yearning dreams to his utter heartbreak after her death. Now, his sorrow had finally been significantly eased by time, yet this girl, who should have long been dead, reappeared before him.

However, time seemed to have passed many years over her as well; she had become mature and alluring. There was little of her youthful charm in her every gesture or smile, replaced instead by a monarch-like majesty and mystery.

“Sister Bai Ling?” Shushuo asked again.

Lady Bai closed her eyes, her slender eyelashes gently lowered without a single tremor.

Shushuo’s heart pounded like a drum. Unsure whether to feel excitement or fear, he simply gazed fixedly at the person before him, his voice hoarse as he asked, “Who… who exactly are you?”

“I know you have many questions,” Lady Bai finally spoke, her voice just as cold, as if he were a stranger. “I did not lie to you. My name is Bai Ling. You may call me Lady Bai, like the others.”

“Lady Bai?” Shushuo paused, slightly stunned.

Bai Ling ignored his question and continued, “Many years ago, my true form was shattered, leaving piles of bones, many fragments of which scattered throughout this city. Some of them cultivated human forms, though most, upon appearing, were already decrepit old people. I imbued them with memories, making them a part of the plan. And you, too, were formed from one of those bone fragments.”

Listening to her words, Shushuo glanced at his own body, suspended high in the air without support, then at Linhe City below, adorned with white lanterns. He couldn't be sure if this moment was real or a dream.

Lady Bai's words continued: “But you are different from all of them. You possess your own true consciousness, a complete life. This once made me suspicious, making me want to peel back your flesh and see what that bone fragment had truly grown into.”

Shushuo felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively touched his back, his fingers immediately finding his extremely gnarled backbone.

A few days earlier, Ning Changjiu had also stared at his back for a long time.

His true vital point was not even his heart or head, but this bone from which everything had originated.

“I once wanted to kill you, to use your spiritual bone to complete my divinity, but now it is unnecessary. I also have that child, Ning Changjiu, to thank for perfecting your heart,” Lady Bai reopened her eyes, like a queen receiving a knight returning from war. “Since you have survived until now, I can bestow something greater upon you.”

Hearing her words, Shushuo was overcome with an inexplicable dread and instinctively cried out, “I don’t want it!”

Lady Bai looked at him indifferently and said, “You have no choice.”

Having said that, she waved a finger, sealing his mouth once more.

Behind her, a shadowy corpse figure rushed over, kneeling on the ground. “Madam, something has happened. The Butcher is fighting a white-clad youth in the street. I have brought this Horse-Face back to present to you first.”

“Oh? He actually escaped from that courtyard?” Lady Bai was slightly surprised, and said coldly, “That Ning Qingshui is truly useless. If he weren’t in this city, his apprentice would have killed him again.”

As she spoke, she tapped her finger, constructing human bones beneath the horse’s head and imbuing it with sentience.

Lady Bai then asked, “And the Ox-Head? Where did he go?”

The shadowy corpse figure knelt, trembling. “The Butcher said that ox… is gone.”

Lady Bai dismissed it. “It’s just a mad ox; at most, it broke through a fence and ran into the street. It’s still in the city. Tell the Butcher to kill that youth as quickly as possible. I will provide him with the mad ox's location; retrieve it swiftly.”

The shadowy corpse figure visibly relaxed. “Yes, Madam.”

Lady Bai closed her eyes. Now enthroned like a deity, with just a thought, she could extend her divine consciousness throughout the entire city, pinpointing everyone’s location.

A moment later, however, Lady Bai suddenly opened her eyes.

The five bronze paintings, imbued with mythological logic, were gradually becoming complete, and her humanity was slowly fading. Yet at this moment, her expression still betrayed her surprise.

“The city gate has been tampered with; someone else has entered the city!”