Facing the old man's question, Wang Yan said calmly, "I think you are a butterfly."
Upon hearing Wang Yan's answer, Venerable Ghost Valley almost burst into laughter.
Wang Yan's answer was practically a huge joke.
At this mont, the old man was Zhuang Zhou himself, sitting right in front of him. Even if Wang Yan was a fool, he could still say he was Zhuang Zhou; why call him a butterfly?
However, his answer was impeccable, without any flaw.
Venerable Ghost Valley could hardly contain himself, eager to chase Wang Yan away so he could enter the palace and obtain that Fallen Lotus.
"Senior, isn't it ti to reveal the result now?" Venerable Ghost Valley asked impatiently.
The old man nodded and said, "Very well, the winner will enter the third palace with , while the loser must leave."
With that, the old man waved his sleeve.
Venerable Ghost Valley only felt a blur before him, and then his body was lifted. As his vision returned, he found himself in another place.
"Hahaha, I've won, I've finally gotten the Fallen Lotus!" Venerable Ghost Valley couldn't help but laugh wildly.
However, just as he laughed, he suddenly noticed that the place he stood looked very familiar, not at all like the third palace.
Venerable Ghost Valley quickly focused his gaze and realized he was at the entrance to the third palace, facing the Bamboo Scroll Bridge.
It turned out he hadn't entered the third palace but was sent back to the original palace entrance.
At this mont, Venerable Ghost Valley suddenly felt two fierce attacks from behind, charging straight at him.
In a panic, Venerable Ghost Valley spun around to defend himself, but he was knocked back over a hundred ters by the two attacks.
However, by then, Venerable Ghost Valley had already seen clearly that the attackers were none other than Venerable Zidan and Venerable Fuqing.
"Why are you two attacking ?" Venerable Ghost Valley shouted.
"Hand over the Fallen Lotus," Venerable Zidan shouted angrily.
"What Fallen Lotus? It's not with at all," Venerable Ghost Valley shouted.
"You clearly said just now that you obtained the Fallen Lotus, and now you deny it," Venerable Fuqing did not believe Venerable Ghost Valley at all.
At this point, Venerable Ghost Valley found himself unable to explain, only defending himself while counterattacking Venerable Zidan and Venerable Fuqing.
In an instant, the three of them were embroiled in a fierce battle.
anwhile, Wang Yan was standing in a grand hall. In front of Wang Yan was a huge curtain, concealing everything in the hall.
In front of the curtain stood the old man.
The old man looked at Wang Yan and asked, "Although you have entered the third palace, it doesn't an your answer is correct. It's just that Venerable Ghost Valley's evasive speech annoyed , so I expelled him. If you want to obtain the Fallen Lotus, you must give a reasonable explanation of why you think I am a butterfly. Otherwise, I will imprison you here for a thousand years."
Hearing the stern tone of the old man, Wang Yan smiled faintly and said, "Actually, saying you're a butterfly is just my guess. If you want to explain, could you reveal your true form?"
The old man said coldly, "This is my true form."
Wang Yan shook his head and said, "This is not your true form, you should be a woman."
Hearing Wang Yan's words, the old man's expression changed involuntarily and said, "Why?"
Seeing the old man's surprised expression, Wang Yan knew he had guessed correctly, and imdiately said, "Earlier, in the Illusion Realm of the second trial, whether it was the pond, fish, or garden, everything was desolate, except for one place filled with brightness."
"Where is it?" the old man asked.
"It's the eyes with which you look at Hui Zi."
"What do you an?" the old man asked, puzzled.
"Those eyes were filled with brightness, with a gentle softness within the brightness. Only in those with love in their hearts can such a gentle gaze be found. Therefore, not only are you a woman, but you are also fond of Hui Zi. This is why I chose Hui Zi earlier."
Hearing Wang Yan's words, the old man's body trembled. After a while, she lowered her head in silence, then said slowly, "I did not expect your gaze to be so sharp."
With that, the old man's body swayed, and a light breeze swept up in front of her.
As the breeze dissipated, the figure standing before Wang Yan was no longer the old man, but a beautiful girl in white, like a flower, radiant and shy.
Seeing this girl, even though Wang Yan had guessed the answer, he was still filled with amazent.
For thousands of years, everyone thought Zhuangzi was a man, but who could have known she was a woman?
If not for noticing the unusual gaze Zhuangzi cast on Hui Zi in the second trial, so similar to how Beiming Xue looked at him, Wang Yan might not have been so suspicious.
If it were the naive young Wang Yan from when he first descended the mountain, even seeing such a gaze, he wouldn't have understood its aning. But now, Wang Yan had observed many, especially through the affections of Beiming Xue, Ouyang Feiting, Catwoman Xiaojie, and others, he was no longer the naive boy he once was.
Thinking of how Zhuang Zi was a talented woman who dressed as a man to get close to Hui Zi and pursue her love, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel emotional.
Suddenly, he recalled the poem people later wrote in praise of Zhuangzi, and he recited it: "Listening to the nightingale's wail as spring departs, dreams drunkenly awake; dreams can only follow the butterfly, drifting with no way to learn the mandarin duck's flight."
At this mont, Zhuang Zi, moved by Wang Yan's words, was reminiscing about her journeys with Hui Zi three thousand years ago. Upon hearing Wang Yan's poem, which seed crafted just for her, she couldn't help but be touched, her eyes filling with mist.
"Thank you for composing such a poem for , sir. In that case, I won't trouble you further. Let tell you why I asked the question about turning into a butterfly." As she spoke, Zhuang Zi's tone beca noticeably more courteous.
Seeing Zhuang Zi falsely attribute the poem's authorship to him, Wang Yan hurriedly wanted to explain that it was a poem by Lu You.
However, realizing even if he explained, Zhuang Zi wouldn't understand who Lu You was over a thousand years later, he quickly gave up on explaining.
But hearing Zhuang Zi about to explain the transformation into a butterfly, Wang Yan was suddenly taken aback, as if a window had suddenly opened, and he mumbled, "Zhuang Zhou dreamt of being a butterfly, Zhuang Zhou dreamt of being a butterfly, if you can be a woman, why can't you be a butterfly too?"
Hearing Wang Yan's words, Zhuang Zi suddenly looked up and said, "So it seems everything was already in your heart. Indeed, I am a butterfly."
As she finished speaking, Zhuang Zi, dressed in white, gently shook her long robe, and suddenly, a pair of colorful wings appeared behind her.
This Zhuang Zhou was indeed a butterfly.
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