Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 552 Return
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingzhi felt a pang of pain in his heart, but asked calmly, "Who?"

"Look!" Ren Yuan made a gesture in the air, drawing the image of the old Taoist priest.

"Master!" A Yao exclaimed excitedly.

“That’s right, it’s him.” Zu Chongzhi nodded, then his eyes stung and he couldn’t bear to look anymore.

"...At the critical moment, he came to my rescue, finally appearing in the Chaos Realm, passing on a wisp of Dao thought to me, and teaching me the unique method, which enabled me to become an ancient god!" Ren Yuan was as excited as a child, with no trace of the dignity of an ancient god left.

"Where is his old home now?" Ayao asked hurriedly.

“Master has already ascended to heaven.” Ren Yuan said regretfully, “It’s a pity that I still have so many questions I want to ask him, but I’ll have to wait until next time.”

"Ah, good, good." Chen Qingzhi remembered his master's instructions and quickly covered up, saying, "Maybe there's still a chance."

"Enough with the nonsense, let's get back on track." Zu Chongzhi's face hardened, and he darted onto the deck. He ordered in a deep voice, "Prepare to set sail!"

"Received, prepare to set sail!" Xiao Heizi and Zuan quickly untied the mooring lines and spread their wings, busily getting to work.

Ren Yuan quickly bid farewell to Wu Gu and Tao Hongjing.

"Take care, Uncle-Master..." Tao Hongjing's eyes reddened, not because he was reluctant to part, but because once Ren Yuan and the others returned, history might change.

Although there may very well be a Tao Hongjing in the future, he will certainly not be the same person he is now.

"Why don't you come aboard and come back with me?" Ren Yuan said softly.

"Wouldn't that create chaos?" Tao Hongjing shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I can't have two versions of myself at the same time."

“Actually, as long as you don’t meet, it’s not a big problem,” Ren Yuan whispered.

"Let's not cause any more trouble, especially since I still have to take you back." Tao Hongjing shook his head and said, "Just remember to take good care of the original me, Uncle."

"Don't worry." Ren Yuan nodded, then looked at Wu Gu.

Wu Gu laughed and said, "I don't need you to worry about me. Just make sure you take good care of my sister."

"I promise." Ren Yuan nodded in agreement, not immediately understanding the meaning behind Wu Gu's words.

"Let's go, to Jiankang!" At this moment, Zu Chongzhi gave the order, and the Chinese Shenzhou slowly rose into the air.

When the ship reached high altitude, the Qiankun Wing suddenly flapped and disappeared over Taihu Lake.

~~
When the Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft reappeared, it had already arrived above Jiankang City.

More than ten years have passed, and Xiao Gang has finally rebuilt the palace. He has only been living there for a couple of days...

But while the imperial palace could be rebuilt, the Great Liang Dynasty was difficult to rebuild. He was worrying in the Shiqian Hall about how to solve the increasingly serious internal and external troubles... The Northern Dynasty was becoming more and more like wolves and tigers, while the Southern Dynasty had not had a newborn for more than ten years.

If things continue like this for another ten or twenty years, the Great Liang Dynasty will surely perish.

As Xiao Gang sighed deeply, the old eunuch stumbled in. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, those people are here again."

"Ah?" Xiao Gang knew who it was as soon as he heard it. He hurried to the palace gate and saw a giant ship with wings flying over the city.

Although the giant ship's appearance had been upgraded, its basic shape remained unchanged, and he could recognize it at a glance as the one that had destroyed Taicheng thirty-two years ago.

Twelve years ago, although this ship never appeared, it was the same people on board who destroyed the Taicheng he had rebuilt once again...

"No, I really can't afford to build it anymore," the white-haired Xiao Gang lamented. "The Great Liang is already destitute, and there's no one left to use."

"I told you long ago, the fate of my Xiao family is sealed, don't try to hold on any longer." Xiao Yuhuan appeared beside him, still youthful and radiant, her face showing no signs of age. "No, I cannot be a ruler of a fallen kingdom, the Great Liang cannot perish in my hands." Xiao Gang shook his head repeatedly.

"Let yourself go, you foolish brother," Xiao Yuhuan sighed. "Anyway, I can't save you anymore."

"Ah..." Xiao Gang was taken aback. Over the past ten years, the regime had been unstable, and he had been targeted by assassins from all sides countless times. The reason he was still able to stand here was entirely due to Princess Yongkang's healing arts and her group of friends at Taihu Lake.

"Why is that?" he asked quickly.

"Because I have more important things to do." After saying that, Xiao Yuhuan rode the red leopard and flew into the sky.

"Princess." Ren Yuan hurriedly came forward, not neglecting Xiao Yuhuan despite his status as an ancient god.

"It's done?" Xiao Yuhuan looked at him and his friends with complicated expressions.

"Yes." Ren Yuan nodded.

"Okay, then we'll take you back." Xiao Yuhuan took a deep breath, holding back her tears, and took one last look at her friends.

"Take care, Princess." Everyone bid her farewell with tears in their eyes.

"Take good care of my past self." The princess loudly instructed Ren Yuan, "Don't make her angry, grant her every request, protect her as she grows up, and never let her be targeted by bad people again."

"Don't worry, absolutely not." Ren Yuan nodded emphatically. "I will always protect her!"

"Everyone back on the ship, I'm about to activate the grand formation!" The princess was a straightforward person who hated all hesitation. After speaking, she summoned the Imperial Seal left to her by Emperor Xiao Yan and shouted:
"The Purple Star shines down, the heavens open a path! The great formation begins!"

The bronze crane in the Taiji Hall raised its head and cried out once more, while the twelve dragon-coiled pillars simultaneously emitted colorful rays of light, converging in mid-air to form a long river flowing with starlight and vibrant colors.

The sky instantly turned pitch black, making the Milky Way appear even more dazzling and breathtaking...

Although it wasn't the first time they'd witnessed such a spectacular sight, Ren Yuan and the others were still deeply awestruck by the 'Yuan Chen Su Guang Chuan'. Of course, they hadn't forgotten the terror of being battered by the raging waves of the river of time.

“The return journey will be far more terrifying than the journey here,” Wu Gu’s voice rang in everyone’s ears. “Going against the current is far more difficult than going with the current, and this is also true in the river of time. Not only will the pressure on the Shenzhou be several times greater, but it will also require extremely strong power to resist the flow of time.”

“Fortunately, it’s only a short distance. If the three of us work together with all our might, we should be able to give you a ride,” Tao Hongjing added.

"You don't have any aftereffects, do you?" Ren Yuan asked.

"No," the three answered in unison.

"That's good." Ren Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Then you must send us to the right place, don't send us back three hundred years."

"Isn't that even better?" Chen Baxian laughed. "We can change even more."

"Perhaps the God of Time could send you to any point in the past," the witch said calmly. "But we don't have that ability. We can only send you back to the moment you disappeared. Even if we wanted to send you somewhere else, we don't have that ability."

"Alright, let's launch a beautiful counterattack!" Ren Yuan nodded and said in a deep voice.

"Alright!" the three responded, their divine power surging wildly and coalescing into a dazzling energy vortex at the bottom of the Chinese Shenzhou ship.

With the divine power of the three deities, the runes on the Chinese spacecraft shone brightly.

"Spread your wings!" Zu Chongzhi shouted the order upon seeing this.

Zu Geng then steered the divine boat, flapped the wings of heaven and earth, and disappeared into the sky above Taicheng.

Xiao Gang breathed a sigh of relief; at least this time the palace he had rebuilt hadn't been destroyed.

(End of this chapter)