The eerie aura, accompanied by the heat waves rippling through this vast space, that fire dragon was baring its teeth and claws, with a ferocious appearance, but it didn't continue to expand, as if this form was already its limit. Even so, under that scorching heat, even the hard ground began to show signs of cracking, whereas that seemingly old and worn-out fire basin remained unscathed.

  Fierce flames danced in the eyes of the beast god, as if his own eyes were also ablaze.

  The woman's voice at the other end of the flames chuckled softly and said, "Is your magic really not working, or are you trying to deceive me on purpose? Although this formation doesn't have the Xuanhuo Mirror to boost it, and it was damaged when you were reborn, its power is far from just this."

  The beast god's handsome face didn't show any fluctuations, calmly saying: "Since you're so wary of me, I'm a bit confused, why did you insist on coming to rescue me?"

  The woman hummed and said, "Didn't I tell you earlier? One reason is that I'm after the ancient witch tribe's mysterious formation, and another is that I don't like the pretentious Cloud Old Man in Fengxiang Valley."

  The beast god smiled slightly, seemingly not taking the woman's words to heart, saying: "Although Yun Yi Lan broke his promise, I didn't really believe him at the time. If I had won that battle on Qingyun Mountain, he wouldn't have dared to do this. Isn't kicking someone when they're down what most people do?"

  The woman said: "It's just a pity he still doesn't know that you and I are different, we can't be killed."

  The beast god's gaze was profound, slowly staring at the darkness behind the firelight, the raging flames seemed to be unable to illuminate that place.

  "How do you know I'm indestructible? What if I told you now that I can be killed, what would you think?"

  He stared into the darkness, his mouth corners seeming to still hold a faint smile, as if with a hint of provocation and temptation, he slowly said.

  The woman suddenly stopped speaking, and the entire cave seemed to be left with only the sound of flames burning, but somehow it seemed even more dead than when there was nothing at all.

  "It's been many years since we met until today, how many years has it been?"

  After a long time, the woman said faintly: "I don't remember, not long after I achieved my goal, I mistakenly stumbled upon this place. Speaking of which, why did you look at me differently back then?"

  The beast god smiled slightly and slowly lowered his head, the fatigue on his face seeming to thicken as he said, "At that time, although I wasn't human, I also couldn't bear loneliness."

  The woman fell silent again, seemingly taken aback as well. After a while, she said, "You really do look different today. You never used to talk like that before."

  The beast god's shoulders shook slightly, and he let out two violent coughs, but his face still wore a faint smile, as if in his eyes, nothing mattered: "Have you ever seen someone die quickly, can they be calm like usual?"

  The woman almost immediately added: "But you are not human!"

  "How do you know I'm not human?"

  The flames in the brazier suddenly shot up, like a silent roar from a fire dragon, and then slowly fell back down. The eight mysterious and ominous diagrams around it also slowly descended, their light fading, gradually disappearing into the darkness. The fire dragon slowly merged into the flames, transforming into ordinary firelight, and everything around it darkened, except for some lingering brightness around the brazier.

  "What have you done to yourself?" The woman asked softly after a long time.

  The beast god did not respond, nor did he speak. He looked as if he was getting more and more tired, slowly raising his hand. In the firelight, the skin on his right wrist seemed to have lost its luster, dull and grey. Faintly visible, there was a dark red vein hidden in the muscles of his wrist.

  The beast god looked at the air pulse for a moment, shook his head, and lightly drew a line on his wrist with his hand. After a moment, a small mouth slowly appeared on his wrist, and then a drop of blood slowly flowed out.

  Blood!

  Red blood!

  "How is this possible?" The woman in the darkness seemed too surprised, and she couldn't even speak, after a long time, she seemed to come back to her senses, and said in shock: "You...you actually turned into a human!"

  The beast god didn't say a word, only smiled, such a silent smile, no one knew whether it was a bitter smile or a relieved smile.

  "No wonder, I've always been puzzled. You were born with the essence of heaven and earth, and you should be indestructible. How could you suffer such a great defeat under the sword of the Exterminating Immortal on Mount Qingyun? It turns out that at some point, you became the kind of person you used to despise? Hahaha, hahahahaha!"

  The woman couldn't help but laugh out loud, either because she found it too absurd or because she couldn't control herself.

  The beast god's gaze, staring at the drop of red blood on his wrist, with eyes flashing with complex emotions that are hard to put into words, like joy, like sorrow.

  "I've never disliked anyone," he smiled wearily, "I can be in this world with my own consciousness and awareness, isn't that also what it means to be human?"

  The woman was taken aback and said: "What did you say?"

  The beast god slowly raised his head, gazing at the flames burning in the fire basin. His voice, in this place where darkness and light alternated flashing, seemed to have returned to the distant years of the past.

  "The first time I was conscious, it was her that I saw. At that time, I didn't even have a body yet, and was only in a daze. The woman seemed to be staring at me. As time passed, I gradually took shape, and finally found out that she was a human being, a witch of the generation of witches, named Linglong."

  The glutton let out a low growl beside the beast god.

  The beast god stretched out his hand and stroked its head twice, and the glutton calmed down. The woman didn't make a sound, as if she knew some secret that had been sealed in countless hours of past years was about to be uncovered.

  In the eyes of the beast god, gentleness gradually occupied all positions. His gaze also looked towards the distant darkness, the farthest part of the cave, where perhaps there was once a soul quietly listening.

  "It was Linglong who used her witchcraft to collect and transform the heavenly energy of the southern border, and from it extracted the essence, creating me."

  The beast god said faintly, this secret that had puzzled millions of people for years, no one knew where he came from. "Those heroes of the witch tribe who followed Linglong must have wanted to put me to death, if they knew I was actually created by their revered goddess, I wonder what kind of mood they would be in!"

  He smiled faintly, the killings and bloodshed of the past seemed to have never existed on his body, at this moment, all he had was just a memory.

  "I once asked Linglong many times why she created me, but she never wanted to say. But I finally understood later that it was just for two words."

  "What?"

  The beast god said faintly: "Long life!"

  The woman's voice was slightly surprised: "Changsheng?"

  The beast god nodded and said, "Not bad, you also think it's ridiculous? But back then, she was doing it for this very purpose. At that time, Linglong's mastery of witchcraft had already far surpassed the ancients, and looking around the world, there were almost no opponents left. In the witch tribe, everyone looked up to her like a god. With nothing better to do, she set out to find another goal for herself. This sounds similar to those cultivators in the Central Plains today, but the mystery of eternal life is actually the Heavenly Way. Although she was an extraordinary and intelligent woman, she couldn't figure it out no matter what. Finally, she thought of a method that wasn't human."

  "Non-human"

  "The lifespan of humans is limited, even if one cultivates the Tao and achieves success, they can only live for a few hundred years at most. However, non-human things often have longer lives, and the creation of heaven and earth, the harmony of yin and yang, etc., are eternal and indestructible since the beginning of time. She thought about this and devoted herself to studying it, and in the end, she actually created me from that lifeless thing."

  "She really is something else," the woman said faintly.

  "Hmm." The Beast God smiled faintly and said, "Yes, she is indeed an extraordinary woman. From the moment I came into this world, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her. Then, for countless years, there was only her in my world. Gradually, I began to take shape, and because my true form was born from the essence of heaven and earth, once I had a divine consciousness, I naturally began to absorb the surrounding aura, gradually growing stronger."

  "She seemed to have become somewhat uneasy, her eyes no longer as affectionate as before. When my strength finally began to be able to barely rival hers, from that day on, she never smiled at me again."

  "I was very puzzled at that time, didn't know what it was for, actually I didn't even know why my strength grew so fast, but to me, what's the point of having strength anyway? I just wanted to be with her."

  "You can just tell her, and she'll know, won't she?" The woman couldn't help but say.

  "I've said it, I've said it many times, now that I think about it, it's probably similar to a child throwing a tantrum at their mother." The beast god's mouth corners revealed a faint smile, but it disappeared, "But she never believed me!"

  The woman fell silent, and for a long time she didn't speak. The beast god also fell silent, as if immersed in memories.

  ※※※

  Flames, or a brazier burning in mid-air, quivering gently, as if also panting.

  Time seems to have stopped in this dark place, listen carefully!

  Past years are memories frozen in ice, melting drop by drop, and slowly disappearing.

  Who can retrieve it?

  Is it you or me? Or are we all just panting and running in the midst of time, yet ultimately unable to catch up with it, gradually growing old and disappearing into that shadow.

  ※※※

  "Finally, there was a day when I no longer wanted to stay in that house with only her. I wanted to go out and take a look. That day, she had been gone for a long time and hadn't come back. I broke through the seal she had set up, opened the door of her house, and walked out."

  "There were many, many people, but every single one of them saw me and let out a terrified scream, fleeing in fear. I don't know why, but at that moment, I started to feel extremely panicked, then infuriated, and finally, I felt a surge of anger rising up within me. It was exactly at this time that over ten warriors who had heard the news came rushing towards me, trying to kill me. I fended them off while retreating, not wanting to fight back. I regretted it deeply - all I wanted was to be with Linglong, and I only came out to take a look."

  "I desperately spoke out, desperately explained, but no one listened, until I accidentally killed the first person"

  A long silence.

  "That young warrior slumped in my arms, slowly lowering his head, and fresh red blood flowed out of his body. I was stunned, others were stunned too, then they charged more fiercely, amidst their shouting and cursing, I clearly heard the sound of wailing from a distance, it was the warrior's family crying! I don't know, but from the moment I first saw the blood, my body had changed, that kind of slaughter generally wrapped around me like madness, I didn't want to kill people, but I couldn't control myself, so I took action, I killed."

  "I have killed many people, so many people." The beast god lowered his head, but his voice continued.

  I stood in the pool of blood, I don't know how long I had been standing there. Slowly, I came to my senses and then, I saw her coming back from afar, surrounded by countless people. She looked at me, staring at me without blinking, her face deathly pale. I didn't know why, but I was very scared. I felt like I really did something wrong, but I didn't know what I had done wrong.

  Then, Linglong took action herself. She personally took action against me. I refused to fight back. I wanted to explain to her. I wanted to tell her that from now on, I would never dare to go out again. I just wanted to stay in that room and accompany her alone from then on. That's all I needed to be content. I said this countless times, but she didn't listen even once.

  "Her magic was not something that ordinary warriors could compare to, and soon my body was battered with a thousand holes. However, every time I got hurt, the wounds would heal themselves by absorbing the surrounding aura, and even I could feel it - every time Linglong hit me, my strength grew faster by a fraction. Finally, Linglong also discovered this, her face ashen, as if she had despaired."

  The beast god was still smiling, reminiscing, but his face had a few more painful expressions: "I slowly began to feel that Linglong really hated me. She used all sorts of witchcraft to deal with me in a frantic manner. Although my body is indestructible, my heart was really suffering. So later on, I ran away myself. And during the escape, everyone I met was scared off by me. It wasn't until later that I realized that at the time, my appearance was truly terrifying to ordinary people."

  He gently patted the ferocious beast lying beside him and said, "My appearance at that time was even uglier than this."

  "After leaving Linglong, I escaped into the mountains of ten thousand miles. Not long after, I discovered this cave and temporarily settled down here. But I wanted to go back, with all my heart and soul, actually just wanting to be with Linglong. So in the end, I still went back, but what greeted me was this formation."

  The flames in the fire pit crackled and popped, as if responding to the beast god's words.

  "I never thought that such a terrifying power existed in this world. Linglong used the Xuanhuo Mirror's power to lay down the Eight Fiery Array, summoning the Eight Desolate Fire Dragons. Under the scorching flames that incinerated everything, even my indestructible body was severely injured, with my vitality greatly damaged and my physical form completely destroyed."

  "I desperately told Ling that I didn't want to do anything else, I just wanted to be with her, but she seemed not to listen at all and just wanted to burn me to death. In the end, I fled in disarray and escaped back to this cave. I don't know why Ling treated me like this, but I'm not reconciled, I really want to be with her."

  "After returning here, with the help of the unique aura of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, I recovered quickly. Just as I was thinking of going to find her again, she had already caught up with me. She brought seven so-called brave warriors and chased them into this ancient cave. She personally came in and found me."

  "I'm not surprised, because I was created by her in the first place. If there's anyone in this world who can handle me, understand me, who else could it be besides her? But what I really don't get is why she had to treat me like this. I said so many things to her, why didn't she listen at all? However, this time Linglong actually responded to me. She said: In fact, everything was her fault. Creating a monster like me was an even bigger mistake. Because I am born from the evil energy of heaven and earth, naturally having a murderous aura. If I were allowed to live in this world, I'm afraid all living things would suffer a terrible fate."

  "I desperately explained to her that I didn't care, all I wanted was to be with her, nothing else mattered. But she just gave a desolate and bitter smile, saying she believed me, actually she wasn't unwilling to be with me either, but...but what if she died afterwards?"

  In the ancient cave, a faint and distant sigh seems to be echoing in the darkness, as if someone is lamenting for that moment thousands of years ago. But does anyone still remember the tears that fell back then?

  "I was stunned, my mind a complete blank. I knew that I was indestructible, but I had never thought that Linglong would die. To this day, I still remember clearly the pale smile on her face, with tears falling from her eyes. Then, she once again activated the Eight Trigrams Mysterious Fire Formation, trapping me within and incinerating my physical body once more. But the essence of the malicious energy that I had transformed into was something that she could not eradicate."

  "After the law array passed, she was also seriously injured, but I was created by her. In the flames, I still asked her, why did you treat me like this?"

  "This time, she didn't say anything."

  "She spread the law array in this ancient cave, sealing me inside. Day and night, it burned fiercely, and as soon as my vital energy recovered slightly, the flames would incinerate that bit of vital energy. In the end, she gazed at me blankly and suddenly asked if I had any remaining wishes."

  The beast god chuckled and said, "Heart's desire, what heart's desire could I have? My only heart's desire is to be with her. So I asked her, why can't I be with her? Linglong looked down and slowly said, because I'm not human, nor a living being, it's destined that we can't be together."

  "I then said loudly to her in the midst of the raging flames: Let me be human!"

  His tone suddenly turned high-pitched, he abruptly lifted his head and loudly shouted towards the dome of the cave.

  "Let me be human!"

  "A loud rumble", all four walls shook simultaneously, rocks fell down in disorder, the sound was like a drumbeat, shaking one's ears to deafness.

  In the flying dust, the beast god slowly lowered its head.

  "What happened afterwards?" The woman's voice in the darkness said.

  "She seemed to be frozen, a long time passed, not moving at all. I endured the suffering of being burned by fierce flames, my thoughts were all gone. But she suddenly stood up, stopped her spell, and walked to my side. I stared at her blankly, not knowing what she wanted to do."

  She said in a low voice to me: It was she who owed me an apology. Then, she started reciting a long and tedious incantation, slowly pulled out the dagger, and began to cut herself one knife at a time.

  "What?" The woman in the darkness exclaimed.

  "I was stunned, no, I was frightened silly, really silly, and didn't know what she was doing. Slowly, Linglong used her own flesh and blood, even her white bones, to build a skeletal frame on the ground, then she placed me on this skeleton. As her incantation grew more urgent, I gradually merged with this body, and even my consciousness began to blur slowly."

  "I heard her voice getting lower and lower, but she was still talking to me: This is the last thing she can do for me. From now on, as long as someone finds the five sacred artifacts and puts them in this skeleton, I will be able to come back to life. However, after coming back to life, although my magical powers are still there, my body has become human. Since it's human, it is no longer an immortal body."

  "She said she was single-mindedly pursuing immortality, offending the heavenly way, and created a monster like me, but an illicit love affair occurred, which is even more wrong; also because of me, she caused countless deaths, making the world's calamity even heavier. And when she personally harmed me, she stopped talking here, my consciousness was about to disappear, in a daze, I only heard her say one last sentence:"

  "I will always be with you"

  I have never understood this sentence.

  Until I, after tens of millions of years, died and was reborn, standing once again at the entrance of the ancient cave.

  That statue, battered by wind, frost, rain and snow, yet still gazing deeply into the depths of this ancient cave.

  ※※※

  I hugged her.

  I understand.