Not far ahead, there were towering mountains everywhere.
Po Tian Ying carried Cheng Xiao Fan, circling back and forth above the vast mountain ranges.
It seemed to sense that the female wraith was in this mountain area, hovering high and low.
"Chirp—"
At this moment, Po Tian Ying flapped its wings excitedly and plunged headlong into a valley, "Master, I've found her!"
On the mountainside next to the valley stood a temple.
Po Tian Ying landed in front of the temple and said to Cheng Xiao Fan, "Master, the female wraith you are looking for is inside this temple."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiao Fan leaped off Po Tian Ying's back.
He strode into the temple.
Inside the temple, it was as simple as could be. A Buddha statue stood in the center, with no other furnishings around it.
There was no cushion below the statue, not even an altar.
Looking at the Buddha statue, it was a young beauty with her black hair piled high on her head, wearing a white dress, sitting cross-legged with a bamboo basket in her hands.
The basket was filled with medicinal herbs.
No one knew what kind of Bodhisattva this was, without name or title.
Who would build a temple in such a desolate place!
Originally, the statue of the beautiful woman was covered in a layer of dust. But as Cheng Xiao Fan approached, something strange happened.
The dust suddenly vanished.
The entire statue was as good as new.
And the beautiful woman seemed to come alive, a flush of red appearing on her face.
A tempting, faint fragrance wafted through the temple.
"Sir, you have finally come!" The woman, whose eyes had been half-closed, suddenly opened them, her beautiful eyes fixing on Cheng Xiao Fan.
Her voice was as melodious as the warbling of orioles in the forest, the singing of orioles in the empty valley, so pleasing to the ear.
Cheng Xiao Fan was momentarily stunned and asked, "Miss, were the actions of those black rat spirits yesterday all under your control?"
The beautiful woman smiled faintly and said, "Yes, if I hadn't done that, how could you have found your way here!"
"Who are you, and why do you want me to see you?" Cheng Xiao Fan suddenly realized that the wraith attached to the statue was extremely weak.
If he didn't ask for something important quickly, she would soon disappear.
The beautiful woman said, "My name is Hou Ling. I was a disciple of the previous Star Lord. I died ten years ago from accidentally consuming poisonous herbs."
"The previous Star Lord buried me here and personally sculpted a statue in my likeness. He then attached a wisp of my wraith to the statue!"
"The previous Star Lord did this specifically to have me wait here for you."
Cheng Xiao Fan's heart began to pound.
He seemed to sense something and eagerly asked, "Beautiful Hou Ling, tell me quickly, who was the previous Star Lord?"
"And why did he want you to wait for me here?"
Hou Ling said, "The previous Star Lord's name was Cheng Xiao Fan, he…"
*Poof!*
As soon as she finished speaking, a mouthful of blood spurted from Hou Ling's statue, and the entire statue collapsed with a crash.
At the same time, Cheng Xiao Fan was utterly shaken!
He could never have imagined!
The previous Star Lord was another version of himself!
It turned out that the other him on this Yanhuang Planet was actually the supreme Star Lord.
This identity was too prominent!
But!
Cheng Xiao Fan's heart instantly felt like it had fallen into an ice cellar.
He had risked his life to rush from Earth to this place, all to find another version of himself.
Who would have thought that he had died ten years ago.
No wonder when he learned of Jiang Hongyan's background, he always felt a sense of familiarity. It was all because her father had been a special guard of his other self!
Clearly!
The other him must have foreseen his imminent death when he was having this temple built for Hou Ling.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have built a temple for Hou Ling here and used his magic to anchor her spirit, waiting for his arrival.
Tonight, he had arrived here and the only information he received from Hou Ling was: the previous Star Lord was another version of himself.
After searching and searching, he had found only emptiness!
The other him had long since passed away!
Was the other him he met in his dream last time merely a lingering remnant soul?
But why didn't he tell him that he was no longer alive?
The more Cheng Xiao Fan thought about it, the more something felt wrong. The information Hou Ling had revealed should have been more than this.
He couldn't quite figure out what other information was hidden within it.
Furthermore!
Why did the previous Star Lord choose such a remote place to bury Hou Ling?
And now, the new Star Lord was the wife of his other self, yet after ascending to the throne, she had completely betrayed her late husband's principles.
She had turned a perfectly good Yanhuang Planet into this state.
What secrets lay hidden within all of this?
As he pondered.
Cheng Xiao Fan felt as if he had fallen into a dense fog.
He searched the temple of Hou Ling from front to back, finding no valuable clues, and shook his head with a sigh.
Hou Ling's statue lay in pieces on the ground.
But her delicate and beautiful image was etched in Cheng Xiao Fan's heart.
As he exited the temple, he clasped his hands together and bowed three times towards the temple entrance.
He said, "Beautiful Hou Ling, when I find the other Cheng Xiao Fan, I will surely have a new statue sculpted for you and move your temple to a populated area, so you can experience the life of the mortal world!"
Turning around.
Cheng Xiao Fan instructed Po Tian Ying, "Po Tian Ying, before it gets light, carry me for a quick trip to the Star Lord's Hall!"
"Chirp!"
Po Tian Ying responded.
Immediately, it carried Cheng Xiao Fan and soared into the sky.
At this moment!
Under the bright moonlight, the entire Star Lord's Hall was brightly lit.
The Star Lord's Hall covered an area of more than six thousand mu. With its layers of courtyards and winding corridors that intertwined like a Bagua labyrinth, it looked like a maze.
As Po Tian Ying carried Cheng Xiao Fan above the Star Lord's Hall.
White clouds of mist rose from all directions, quickly engulfing the entire Star Lord's Hall.
This is demonic mist?
Cheng Xiao Fan's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the churning clouds.
Why was there such thick demonic mist in the Star Lord's Hall?
He tried to approach the clouds but found an invisible force preventing Po Tian Ying from descending.
"Po Tian Ying, let's not force our way in!"
Cheng Xiao Fan said to Po Tian Ying, "It's getting late, let's go back!"
He knew very well that if Po Tian Ying insisted on forcing its way in, nothing here could stop it.
The reason Cheng Xiao Fan stopped Po Tian Ying was that he realized that if they forced their way in, it might alert the people inside the Star Lord's Hall.
For now, it was not the time to stir up trouble.
...
"Ah!"
Chen Xi suddenly woke up from her dream and sat up in bed with a start.
"Star Lord, what's wrong?" Chen Xi's startled cry immediately attracted a group of female guards.
Chen Xi wiped the cold sweat from her face, calmed herself, and waved her hand at the female guards, saying, "This Star Lord is fine, you may withdraw!"
"Yes!"
The female guards immediately retreated upon hearing her words.