After coming out of the Illusion Realm, Zhang Ze began living a blissful life without a care in the world.
He was enamored with the present ti, not wanting to think about anything besides those before him.
Human Emperor Banner, Great Emperor, Thousand chanism Pavilion, the so-called conspiracies, and the Little Earth Immortal that was stolen away—he temporarily put them all out of his mind.
These past few days, if he wasn't lying on his bed sleeping with his Junior Sister, he'd be sitting in the courtyard during the Wise Man's Ti, having idle chitchat with Li about anything under the sun.
They'd talk about Spiritual Liquid number forty-five, Stone Jade Brick number thirteen, and discuss whether to make extra spicy buns.
In the words of Junior Sister, the two of them were just yapping about nothing.
When Zhang Ze had so downti, he wouldn't do serious work; instead, he'd fiddle around with a small walnut, watching Lily laugh foolishly at idiotic chat records she picked up from other groups.
This mindless, laid-back life continued until the morning of the fourth day.
To the sound of Li's snoring, Zhang Ze was kicked out of the courtyard by the frustrated Junior Sister.
"Go out for a walk! If you stay here any longer, you'll beco a fool!"
After saying that, Junior Sister shut the door with a bang.
But after a while, the door opened just a crack again, and Junior Sister tossed the still-dazed Li out with him.
"Take Li out for a stroll too; it's clearly gained weight recently."
After saying this, the door closed again.
Looking at Li, noticeably plumper, in his arms, Zhang Ze sighed.
"Ah, fickle won. Just yesterday, she was so sweet… oh well, oh well, I'll take you on an adventure away from ho."
Zhang Ze didn't have the heart to wake Li, so he placed it on his head like a hat. Once it was stable, he slowly made his way out of the Thousand chanism Pavilion.
Where to go?
He had no idea.
Wearing a loose robe, with Li atop his head, and shuffling along in a pair of cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles, Zhang Ze ambled along while munching on sunflower seeds and greeting both familiar and unfamiliar people he t along the way.
Before he knew it, he had arrived near the Jade Book Tower.
Looking at the tall tower in the valley, Zhang Ze pondered for a mont, straightened his clothes, and walked into the valley.
There was no special reason; he just wanted to say hello to Loulou.
And perhaps thank Loulou for its selfless dedication over the years, and for the ticulous care over the past few days.
Upon reaching the front, Zhang Ze realized that Loulou had been repaired.
The area where the roof was removed had new tiles, and the freshly applied putty was shining brightly under the sun.
Once this putty, mixed with Abyss Stone Dust Spirit, dried, professionals could inscribe all sorts of arrays upon it.
Lily had ntioned wanting to add a full tal armor to Loulou, one that could transform and form a spiral drill bit.
But it seed Loulou refused, saying it was traditional and felt secure maintaining itself in the old way.
Thinking about all these odds and ends, Zhang Ze stood in front of the Jade Book Tower, adjusted the 'Li hat' on his head, and waved to greet Loulou.
"Hey, Loulou, good morning."
But when the Jade Book Tower saw it was Zhang Ze, the whole building trembled, and several pieces of the freshly applied putty that hadn't yet dried fell down with a clatter.
"The Illusion Realm is broken; what are you doing here?" Loulou asked anxiously.
"Not here for anything, just purely want to chat with you."
Seeing Loulou's reaction, Zhang Ze felt a bit speechless, thinking that he hadn't done anything wrong, so why was he being looked at this way.
Jade Book Tower, "If you want to chat with , that's fine, but you must first sign an agreent."
"What agreent?" Zhang Ze asked.
Jade Book Tower, "If the Jade Book Illusion Realm ever reopens in the future, you must promise to never set foot in it again."
"Forever," Loulou added.
Zhang Ze, "?"
He looked at Jade Book Tower with a wronged expression but ultimately nodded, "Alright, if I must stay out, I will. To tell the truth, I'm kind of allergic to the whole illusion thing now."
Jade Book Tower, "Hopefully, you'll never recover from this illness."
Zhang Ze, "?"
That was a bit impolite.
After the two reached a preliminary verbal agreent, the Jade Book Tower manipulated a Thousand chanism Puppet to step out of the building. The puppet was dressed like the Dragonfly Captain, holding a contract in one hand and a box of ink paste in the other.
Jade Book Tower, "Make a handprint."
Seeing Loulou suffering from PTSD because of him, Zhang Ze readily stamped his palm on the contract, hoping to soothe Loulou's frazzled nerves.
After Jade Book Tower verified everything was in order, it returned to its usual deanor and said to Zhang Ze, "Co in for a sit."
The interior of Loulou had also changed; the illusion core, essentially the Human Emperor Flagpole, had been removed, taken to Thousand chanism Pavilion for research.
Whether considering the safety of the Human Emperor Banner or its research value, the Jade Book Illusion Realm likely wouldn't reopen anyti soon.
Now, this spacious Jade Book felt sowhat unsightly.
With Li in his arms, Zhang Ze casually found a chair and sat down. As he looked at the vacant spot, his not-quite-awake mind started daydreaming again.
He mused that perhaps it was really feasible, as Lily suggested, to place Emperor Xiaojing's eyeballs here, and later, when they found other scattered remains, hang them on the walls to create an Emperor Xiaojing personal museum…
"What did you co to say to ?" Loulou's voice cut through Zhang Ze's wandering thoughts.
Upon Loulou's inquiry, Zhang Ze couldn't think of anything substantial offhand, so he asked casually.
"You almost died from the Illusion Realm, and you still want it to reopen?"
Jade Book Tower remained silent for a long ti, then said, "It's not because of the Illusion Realm; it's because of you. Besides hosting the Illusion Realm, what else can I do?"
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