"Hua Zi, are you feeling better?" Little Fuzi, standing by the car door, rushed forward to give the now ’recovered’ Mu Hua a warm embrace.
Mu Hua, tightly hugged, chuckled quietly and pulled a smooth pebble from his pocket, handing it to Little Fuzi: "Ah Fu, I picked this up on the street a few days ago. I’ve been polishing it every day. Now it’s beautiful."
Little Fuzi, seeing the finely polished and lustrous pebble, held it in his hand, unwilling to let go.
"Sister Cui, Hua Zi is better now. Tonight, let’s all have some fun. Let’s party, let’s let loose!"
"Mr. Zhou, if we go to the Metropolitan, what about my donkey?"
"You can ride your donkey to the Metropolitan."
"If you think your donkey’s too slow, why not get in the car?"
Zhou Xuan opened the car door and drove the crowd to the Metropolitan.
Zhao Wuya, Little Fuzi, Sister Cui, and Mu Hua went inside first, while Zhou Xuan and Yun Ziliang leaned against the car door, smoking.
"So?" Yun Ziliang asked Zhou Xuan.
"Mu Hua is my mirror person." Zhou Xuan replied to Yun Ziliang, "There’s a layer of ice between us."
"Inside Mu Hua’s body is the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* and traces of my Nuo God’s aura," Zhou Xuan exhaled smoke, saying, "That’s why Peng Town became a forbidden land. My aura seeped in as well—my aura and that of the Mother of Hundred Demons combined to form the stele egg."
Yun Ziliang nodded and said, "So, the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* is half you, half the Mother of Hundred Demons. What a capricious fate."
"I’d already lamented over that before you," Zhou Xuan said. "But it’s odd, isn’t it? Peng Town’s history only changed in the past two days, yet Mu Hua’s resemblance to me has been there since he was born. Isn’t this strange?"
"You’re the successor of the Fate God. Destiny is but a part of fate. The gears of your destiny had already begun turning long ago,
before you altered history. There were only signs of fate back then;
after you altered history, destiny fulfilled itself."
Zhou Xuan, hearing this, suddenly remembered something and said, "Lao Yun, you know, when I first arrived at Mingjiang Prefecture, it felt off.
As soon as I got off the train, walking through Mingjiang Prefecture’s streets, I had this inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if I’d been there before.
And then, when I entered Sister Cui’s home, seeing that coffin—I even had the feeling that I’d once been lying inside it."
"If I’m not mistaken, that coffin is the one that once held the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits*, and even your inexplicable decision to open a shop directly across from Sister Cui’s house,
are all signs of destiny’s gears turning."
Yun Ziliang then spoke of Mu Hua again: "Mu Hua is your mirror person. As a mirror person, he’s supposed to look somewhat like you, be similarly intelligent, and even have a similar temperament.
His birth was already a result of your destiny’s gears in motion. But because history hadn’t yet changed and your aura hadn’t entered the stele egg,
his consciousness was incomplete, his emotions fragmented. After history changed, destiny fully unfolded, and he naturally became your true mirror person."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan asked again: "Mirror people can fuse. What happens if they do?"
"Mirror people have a hierarchy; between you and Mu Hua, it’s clear who the primary and the secondary are. Once fused, the two souls merge, and the secondary mirror person will perish."
Yun Ziliang went on, "Of course, there are benefits. The fusion of two divine souls would double your cultivation progress..."
Before Yun Ziliang could finish, Zhou Xuan firmly interrupted.
Mu Hua contained Zhou Xuan’s aura. Between the two mirror persons, Mu Hua was naturally secondary, and Zhou Xuan the primary.
Once the two fused, Mu Hua would die.
"I can’t let a good friend die just for the sake of incense offerings." Zhou Xuan said resolutely. "Besides, Mu Hua’s body contains the sealed *Legend of the Hundred Spirits*. If I fuse with him and he dies, the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* will reemerge."
Whether for personal feelings or the greater good, Zhou Xuan couldn’t bring himself to fuse with Mu Hua.
"The *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* is sealed inside Mu Hua’s body?"
"Yes, the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* is even inciting me to fuse with Mu Hua—because once I do, she will be freed."
"Then fusion is definitely out of the question." Yun Ziliang agreed, knowing Zhou Xuan couldn’t do such a thing.
Against enemies, Zhou Xuan was as ruthless as the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves,
but toward friends, Zhou Xuan was respectful and kind in all aspects.
"Incense offerings are just incense offerings. If I want them, I’ll gather them myself."
After speaking, Zhou Xuan entered the Metropolitan.
The matter was now clear—Mu Hua needed protection moving forward. As long as the Three-headed Stone Buddha was defeated, no one would know that the *Legend of the Hundred Spirits* resided within his body.
"When that day comes, Mu Hua will finally be free."
The group listened to music and drank inside the Metropolitan.
In just a few short days, Bai Guang, a singer heavily promoted by the Metropolitan, had become a rising star.
As soon as she took the stage, she was greeted with a chorus of whistles and cheers from the guests.
While singing, Bai Guang occasionally glanced at Zhou Xuan, periodically bowing toward him mid-performance.
"Xiao Zhou, you’re close with the singer Bai?"
"Very close. I was the one who recommended her to the Metropolitan in the first place." Zhou Xuan replied.
"You’re familiar with old singers, and now with Bai. Yet you tell us not to listen to decadent music. You are decadence itself."
Yun Ziliang’s tone carried a tinge of jealousy.
"Being well-connected has its perks."
Zhou Xuan sipped his drink as he listened to the music.
After the performance ended, the host stepped onto the stage, speaking into the pillar microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight at the Metropolitan, the most joyous place in Mingjiang Prefecture—the number one nightclub—
we naturally have a special guest of high caliber. Up next, let us welcome the renowned storyteller, invited straight from Bailemen—Feng Moyan!"