Chapter 1615: Forget Worries in the Forget Worries Building, But Overcome Sorrow Not in the Wooden Statue

The wine glass clattered harshly as it was placed heavily on the tea table.

In the quiet loft space, a few gusts of agitated wind stirred.

Rao Wangze sat before the table, his face and body enveloped by a hazy, greenish wind, a subtle sense of agitation about him.

He still didn't speak, only glancing at the golden-robed figure to his left, who wore a golden mask. This was Huang Quan.

Indeed, Emperor Wangze, one of the Five Sacred Emperor Family Heads, and Huang Quan, leader of the dark force Yama, were currently sitting at the same tea table—a sight neither had ever imagined in their lives.

Compared to Emperor Wangze's evident unrest, Huang Quan also sat, though appearing somewhat restrained.

His posture was upright, even rigid. His hands hung straight at his sides, lacking the natural curve of relaxed joints, making him look exactly like a wooden statue.

Unlike the murky yellow wine spilled all over Emperor Wangze's table, Huang Quan's cup remained untouched from beginning to end; he hadn't touched it once.

The sound kept ringing in his ears, making him feel more uncomfortable, agitated, and pained than a saw cutting through flesh!

“Aren't you going to say something?”

Emperor Wangze slammed the table and stood up, staring intensely at Huang Quan.

Seeing no response, he exhaled a deep gust of crimson, murky wind, and glanced to his right:

“When may I, this Emperor, depart this building?”

Kong Yuhan, who resembled a jade-faced scholar, was intently carving a palm-sized piece of wood with a chisel.

On it, the vivid image of a middle-aged man with a stern face, sharp features, and a hint of agitation in his brows was emerging.

“Soon, friend.”

Kong Yuhan replied without looking up.

His chisel moved quickly, yet only tiny bits of wood dust flew off with each stroke, making it a tedious process. “...Don't rush,” he added.

The ground floor of the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower was already filled with a hazy atmosphere.

Light from the translucent windows, seemingly borrowed from an unknown source, bathed the space, illuminating floating dust motes in a beautiful, enchanting way.

The irritating sound continued.

Rao Wangze abruptly stood up from the table, no longer able to endure the tormenting sound of the chisel, which had been going on for seven or eight days. He roared:

“I, this Emperor, have matters to attend to!”

“Next time, I'll return to your tower to help you finish this wood carving, how about that?”

The chisel in Kong Yuhan's hand finally stopped. He raised a pair of bright, sparkling eyes and looked at the imperious Sacred Emperor.

At this moment, the winds swirling around Rao Wangze seemed to carry a hint of expectation.

“You're standing too high, friend.” Kong Yuhan beckoned to him. “Have a seat.”

Without waiting to see if Emperor Wangze would sit back down, he set down the wood carving in his left hand and picked up another unfinished piece from the tea table in front of him.

He tilted his head, looking at the golden-masked figure.

The chisel moved again.

Suddenly, black gales descended from above, shattering the tea table instantly.

The black winds, scattering outwards, made Huang Quan's golden robe flutter wildly. Yet, when they swept past Kong Yuhan, they seemed to pass through another dimension, not even disturbing a single strand of his hair.

“I, this Emperor, have urgent matters!”

“In the first heaven of the God's Remains, my power still lingers. If I don't return for a day, a Great Void will be destroyed there every day.”

“If exploited by those with ill intentions, not only the Saint Slaves and the Sacred Palace, but even you, and you...”

He pointed at the rigidly seated Huang Quan, his agitated frustration inexplicably intensifying, and roared, “...even your people from Yama will die one by one!”

Huang Quan remained unmoved. His eyes behind the mask were blank, as if he had been struck by a paralysis spell, not even a finger twitched.

Kong Yuhan glanced out the window.

Evidently, Emperor Wangze's worries were superfluous, as there were hardly any people left alive outside the window.

Such belated pity was utterly worthless.

Kong Yuhan let out a long sigh, and holding the chisel, looked at the Sacred Emperor:

“Friend, you're very anxious.”

Anxious?

Hahaha, you talk to me about anxiety?

How could I, this Emperor, not be anxious? Who has the leisure or inclination to play with wood carvings with you in this wretched place!

I have important matters to attend to!

Entering the God's Remains this time is a golden opportunity, one of the few best chances to reverse the deteriorating situation of the Wurao Emperor Realm.

The Sacred Infant Plant that intercepted the Ancestral God's fate, the lingering spirit of the God-Slaying Official Ranming, and even the malevolent deity Chongyin himself…

Each of these is a rare and unattainable opportunity on the Sacred God Continent, and they are individuals whom the other four families would prevent me from contacting or cooperating with at all costs.

And now, simply because of a moment of curiosity, he had entered this 'Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower'...

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Emperor Wangze was so vexed he wanted to scream, so regretful he felt on the verge of collapse, and so anxious he considered suicide.

Imagine, in this dilapidated battlefield of ancient ruins, where everyone was struggling desperately for their lives.

Suddenly, you turn your head and see that on the barren ground behind you, where nothing had been before, now stands an exquisite, elegant, unsullied three-story tower.

The tower's plaque bears large characters, recorded in the ancient history of the Sacred Emperor Families, reading 'Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower'—a sight only visible to those with great opportunities in each era.

A mere Sacred Emperor!

His family is facing a crisis!

At such a helpless time, encountering such a fortuitous opportunity, how could one not try to push open that door and forget those worries?

Who would have thought...

Instead, worries arose from within, ceaseless.

After entering this tower, not only were the anxieties not forgotten, but someone also pulled you down to sit, telling you to temporarily forget external matters and calm your mind, and then proceeded to carve a wood statue of you for seven days without finishing it.

My wine glass is full of floating dust from your wood carvings, and you tell me I'm anxious?

This Emperor!

Shouldn't I be anxious?!

“Kong! Yu! Han——”

Emperor Wangze bit out each word, his voice filled with murderous intent.

After a full ten breaths of silence, his tone softened. “Let me out.”

Kong Yuhan, who was carving Huang Quan, said, “Lift your chin a little.”

Huang Quan, apparently neither a wood statue nor deaf, raised his chin slightly at the sound.

“Lower it a bit.”

He lowered it a bit more.

“Too much.”

He raised it back slightly.

“Good, hold that. Soon your statue can be placed with theirs.” Kong Yuhan casually pointed to the ten statues on the display table to his left, and the chisel moved again.

Emperor Wangze glanced at Huang Quan's wood carving, which was only three-tenths complete, then looked back at his own, which was seven-tenths done. Suddenly, a wisp of demonic aura erupted from the winds around him.

“Bang!”

He pointed at the display table where the wood carvings were placed. It immediately exploded, sending splinters flying everywhere.

He turned to face the staircase to the right of the tea table, and with a palm strike, the staircase was instantly smashed through.

He then looked up at the loft's ceiling, performing hand seals as if to blast a hole straight through it, forcing his way out of this Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower, to intervene in the grand scheme of the God's Remains and stir up a storm.

Just then...

“Tick-tock!”

On the wooden wall behind the loft, the pendulum of a wooden clock swung back.

The tea table restored itself.

The display table restored itself.

The ten statues and other items also restored themselves.

It was as if the destruction had never happened.

The Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower truly lived up to its name; Emperor Wangze's anxiety was directly smoothed away by time.

“Kong Yuhan!”

“Let me, this Emperor, out!”

Emperor Wangze turned back and roared, “If you keep trapping me like this, do you believe I'll take action against you?”

Kong Yuhan tilted his head, smiling as he spoke:

“Please do.”

Outside this tower, he was chased by the branches of the Sacred Infant Plant and almost got pierced through.

Inside this tower, only that tree hadn't come in. Otherwise, she would have also quietly sat down to drink tea.

Anxiety?

A tree shouldn't be so anxious.

Neither should a person. Haste makes waste. If Emperor Wangze hadn't flared up a dozen times, his wood carving would have been finished long ago, and I would have no reason to keep him here.

Of course, Kong Yuhan didn't invite him into the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower solely to help Xu Xiaoshou.

He had his own purpose:

“Friend, there's something I've always been quite curious about.”

“You're like the wind, still in summer but capable of raging waves when stirred. It's clear you're not a very restrained person.”

“But since you choose to attack my Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower, why don't you attack me instead? Why only repeatedly warn me?” Kong Yuhan was genuinely curious.

Hearing this, Huang Quan slightly turned his face.

It was evident that he, too, had been curious about this question in recent days: a dignified Sacred Emperor actually dared not lay a hand on a junior.

But soon, he forcibly moved his face back to its original position.

Curiosity, a long, long time ago, Huang Quan had trained himself to have very little of it.

“Plop.”

Emperor Wangze plopped back onto the small stool, and records from ancient history flashed through his mind.

In the history of the Wurao Emperor Realm, seven individuals had seen Kong Yuhan and left records, which were visible to later generations.

However, on those few pages of the 'Chronicle of Time,' a page was blank before and after the visible entries, roughly enough space for over twenty names. These names were completely invisible to later generations.

Meanwhile, in an ancient book three fingers thick, only a few dozen pages were visible when flipped through, recording only insignificant matters. Yet, few people recalled anything strange after closing the book. Was this normal?

No, it was not.

Rao Wangze knew it was 'not normal,' and now he also understood this 'strangeness.'

In the history of the Wurao Emperor Realm, his talent was not considered exceptional; he believed himself to be merely average. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought the 'Rao' clan from fourth place in 'Moon Northern Hua Rao Dao' to nearly the bottom.

But some of his predecessors were indeed very formidable.

Among the seven predecessors who recorded even Kong Yuhan's name and significant related events, the seventh predecessor left the following evaluation:

“It is thus evident that there is a Kong Yuhan in every generation. I therefore have reason to suspect he is a traveler of time, a witness to history, an explorer of destiny.”

“He is searching for an answer. Unless he finds this answer, he will continue to wander... Or perhaps, this itself is not 'wandering.' He, no, is...”

Is what?

Presumably, that predecessor was not one to leave people in suspense; he should have left some more words, but they were no longer discernible.

Perhaps his power was limited.

Perhaps it was his own perception that was limited.

After all, that line of text had only become visible to Rao Wangze bit by bit over time.

He dared not make any rash conclusions, or add a few more words himself to the end. He believed he wasn't qualified to do so.

But!

Even the single word 'is,' no matter how one considered it in the context of that predecessor's era, shouldn't have been used to describe an ordinary person, right?

Amidst his turbulent thoughts, the tea table had already become quiet again, with only the annoying 'cha-cha-cha' sound of the chisel remaining.

After the era of the Ten Revered Seats, a Kong Yuhan appeared.

Outside the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower, Rao Wangze had already decided that he would never make an enemy of Kong Yuhan, regardless of time or place, unwilling to be involved in such a great karmic entanglement.

Inside this tower, it was naturally even less likely that he would strike at Kong Yuhan.

But could these things be spoken aloud?

Glancing at Huang Quan of Yama, Emperor Wangze swallowed words that had repeatedly risen to his throat but were difficult to utter.

History was a treasure.

Culture was a legacy.

Among the other four great families, it was unlikely any had such secret records. How could Rao Wangze possibly reveal such treasures so easily in front of an outsider?

“Carve me first.”

Emperor Wangze reached out and pressed down on the wood carving in Kong Yuhan's hand.

After all, he was a Sacred Emperor, while Huang Quan was merely a Half-Saint. It was perfectly reasonable to change his mind midway and cut in line again.

If Huang Quan didn't allow him to cut in line, he would naturally act.

If he did act, Emperor Wangze would even be willing to sit still, allowing Huang Quan's Profound Wound Sword and Soul Sever to slash at him in turns.

He wanted to see how Kong Yuhan, who always called him friend, would react when he saw his friend about to be wounded, and what he would do to his other friend.

His hope, once again, was dashed.

Huang Quan didn't move an inch.

Regarding being 'cut in line,' he had endured it no less than ten times in this Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower. How could he possibly erupt this time?

“I, this Emperor, always cut ahead of you. You're not angry, are you?”

Emperor Wangze once again couldn't suppress his curiosity, and spoke to the golden-robed masked figure.

Anxiety was something everyone experienced.

In this Forget-Worry Tower that bred anxiety, he himself had erupted a dozen times, yet Huang Quan remained remarkably calm.

From beginning to end, he hadn't spoken a single word!

Even when Kong Yuhan asked him questions, he never responded, behaving with greater composure than a Sacred Emperor. This annoyed Rao Wangze, but at the same time, he felt a certain admiration.

No wonder he could command Yama. Someone with such temperament was destined for extraordinary achievements.

Huang Quan remained silent, stubbornly posing as a wood statue.

Emperor Wangze also suppressed his impulse, choosing to give Kong Yuhan face, and did not attack the disrespectful Half-Saint.

At this moment, Kong Yuhan pushed his hand away, pulled out Huang Quan's wood carving, and held it up, displaying it to him:

“Friend, take a look. Does it resemble him?”

After the general outline of Huang Quan's wood carving was complete, the detailed carving of the head was now finished.

Emperor Wangze had been too lazy to pay attention to others from beginning to end. Now, as he looked up, he was startled to realize that the face carved by Kong Yuhan on Huang Quan was not a mask...

“It has features?”

He examined it closely.

Eyebrows as delicate as a clear stream converged towards the high bridge of the nose, then flowed smoothly down to the moderately full lips. Like two bright moons, a finishing touch, they were set by the side of the stream-like brows and mountain-like nose, hazy, otherworldly, and full of the weight of time.

This feeling... Rao Wangze reached up and pressed his forehead, finding the face strangely familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Just as he was about to speak.

Suddenly, he cast a side glance.

Above the raised wood carving, he saw Kong Yuhan's face behind it, as if it were a reference for comparison.

“Bang!”

Instantly, the tabletop flipped over.

Emperor Wangze sprang to his feet, the winds around him subtly infused with horror.

Kong Yuhan's face and the face on the wood carving were clearly... identical!

“Who are you carving?”

“Huang Quan.”

“Who are you carving?!”

“Huang Quan.”

“Tell me, who are you carving?!”

“Friend…” Kong Yuhan put down the wood carving, glanced at it himself, finding it lifelike and nothing strange. He frowned. “Are you, perhaps, overly anxious?”

Emperor Wangze leaned forward, staring fixedly at Kong Yuhan.

He abruptly turned his head, and stared fixedly at Huang Quan's mask.

He raised his hand to strike, attempting to knock off Huang Quan's mask, but his hand passed through as if into the long river of time, unable to grasp or knock off anything.

—He passed through Huang Quan.

Emperor Wangze suddenly turned around, and fiercely swung a palm towards Kong Yuhan's face, but it was as if he had struck into another dimension.

—He passed through Kong Yuhan.

Few things could instill fear in a Sacred Emperor.

At this moment, Emperor Wangze experienced a spine-chilling dread he hadn't felt in a long time.

He dashed to the wooden door of the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower, and began pounding on it with a barrage of blows.

Bang, bang, bang…

This was the sound in his mind.

In reality, with every strike, his hand passed straight through the wooden door.

It was as if even the wooden door was fake, and the entire Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower, along with everyone inside except for himself, was an illusion.

But the anxiety was real!

Emperor Wangze froze in place for about ten breaths, then suddenly exploded into a furious gust of wind, his broken, tearing screams echoing through this floor of the Ancient and Modern Forget-Worry Tower:

“Let me out! I, this Emperor, want to leave! I, this Emperor, want to leave!!!”