Chapter 54: Mourning |
[July 30, 2023]...
“The Azure Sky king, Shěn Lí, of the Demon realm has wiped out those who attacked the Demon and Immortal realms.”
The messenger from the Demon realm was dressed in a plain robe. His head was lowered to the floor as he quietly reported to the Immortal emperor. “The Demon emperor especially requested this messenger report the news to Your Majesty. Hopefully Your Majesty will be at ease now.”
The Immortal emperor nodded. “Very good. Very good. I did not expect the Azure Sky king to be so capable. Dare I ask, how the king is doing? Her achievements in suppressing the enemy forces are great; I would like to reward her.”
“Thank you Your Majesty for your kindness, but. . . there is no need.” The Demon messenger clenched his fist on the floor. He was silent for a long time. When he finally got his emotions under control he spoke in a business-like manner, “The king died in battle.”
The Immortal emperor was stunned. Before he could react, a squeak came from the entrance, and someone pushed the doors to the Heavenly Deliberation hall open without announcement. In the backlight, a man in a white robe stood, unmoving for along time. Those in the room couldn’t see the expression on his face clearly, only that he seemed distracted and in a daze. Once he stepped through the entrance, his expression changed, and was the usual one he always wore.
“Why has High God come?” The Immortal emperor stood up to greet Xíng Zhǐ, but Xíng Zhǐ acted like he didn’t hear.
Xíng Zhǐ stared at the Demon messenger and asked, “Who were you talking about just now?”
Upon seeing him, the messenger gave the proper bow and politely replied. “Answering High God’s question, The Azure Sky king, Shěn Lí, of the Demon realm, died in battle somewhere over the East sea yesterday.”
His words not only stunned the Demon messenger, it also stunned the Immortal emperor; after all, communication between the two worlds could only be reported after thorough vetting. How could High God not know this? The messenger kowtowed to the floor.
“If it is not true, may I be struck by five thunderbolts. . . ”
Xíng Zhǐ looked cold. “Don’t make an oath before a god. It will come true.”
The messenger’s fists were still clenched tightly and now his joints were white. He couldn’t keep the hoarseness out of his voice. “High God does not know, but this lowly one would gladly suffer the tribulation to make the news false.”
Silence fell in the hall. Sounds of thin breathing came from those around the hall, but not a sound came from Xíng Zhǐ. It was like his heart wasn’t beating.
Xíng Zhǐ finally believed. He asked, “Where is the corpse?”
“The king died along with the enemy in the East sea. Her Highness’s body could not be recovered and the general who made it to the scene at the time was only able to gather the pieces of a broken spear.”
“The East sea. . . where in the East sea?”
“The East sea is so vast. The general was unable to locate the area again after returning. . . ” The messenger looked like he was getting emotional over the situation. “No one knows were the king’s body is now.”
Pain shot like a bleeding wound through his heart. What was this feeling? An invisible force gripped the wound roughly and staunched the bleeding.
From the outside, Xíng Zhǐ carried the same emotionless expression he always carried. To the Immortal emperor he said, “Yesterday I noticed a change in the air flow in the outer heavens. It seems something happened in the lower realms. And now I’ve learned that the Azure Sky king was killed in the human world. Her Highness must have fought fiercely. The Azure Sky king is powerful, I’m afraid the force of the battle may jeopardize the Human realm. I would like to go down to the lower realms and investigate. What does the Immortal emperor think?”
How could the Immortal emperor refuse after all that? He nodded. “That should be fine. Does High God need me to assign anyone to help?”
“No, they’ll only get in the way.”
In the past, although Xíng Zhǐ would say things that embarrassed the Immortal emperor, he was never this blunt. The emperor coughed twice. “So be it. High God’s body is precious under Heaven and belongs to the world, please take care.”
Xíng Zhǐ was turning to leave when the Demon messenger called out to him. “High God, one moment please. The general who was present at the time said he heard the enemy use the Water-Stop technique. As far as I know, under Heaven, the only one who knows that technique is High God Xíng Zhǐ. I do not doubt High God, but. . . ”
“Water-Stop? Xíng Zhǐ glanced sideways at the Demon messenger. “They could not have been using Water-Stop.” Xíng Zhǐ turned around and left without further explanation.
On the way to the lower realm, Xíng Zhǐ was thinking to himself that it wasn’t long ago he felt Shěn Lí would be troublesome, that it would be best if she disappeared. But he never thought she would really disappear, and certainly never this easily, let alone that he would feel so empty at the thought of her absence.
It took an instant for Xíng Zhǐ to use a cloud to ride down to the Human realm. The Immortal emperor was right, he was a god and his body belonged to the world. His life was not his own and he needed to protect the people of the three realms. He had to look at the situation at hand and remember the things he was not allowed. There were so many “could not’s, would not’s and must not’s” though.
The clouds hung low above the sea and the wind pressed the waves up and down; a storm was coming.
Xíng Zhǐ stood above the sea quietly watching the huge waves roll below his feet and listening to the roar of thunder above his head. Though the world was loud, it felt very quiet to him.
“Shěn Lí.” He called out softly. The wound in his heart tore open and the piercing cold wind poured in. He looked around, trying to find her figure, but in such a vast sea and in such an expansive sky, he didn’t know where to start.
A bolt of thunder flashed, and the rain poured down. Xíng Zhǐ was the only thing between the sea and sky. Thunder clapped above and lightning struck his body, but he was a god and had no fear of lightning. In the transition between light and shadow, he thought he saw a figure struggle in the waves. Her hand reached out to him. “Xíng. . . Xíng Zhǐ. . . ”
The waves shoved her head down.
Xíng Zhǐ’s pupils dilated. He didn’t think but acted on instinct. He stretched his hands out to grab the person, but his fingers came away wet with water and seaweed.
An illusion. . .
A huge wave came from behind but he only stood staring blankly at it. Eventually it hit and buried him in water. Under the waves, he couldn’t hear the thunder, but every flash of lightning was like a sharp knife that split time and space, cutting bloody memory bits of Shěn Lí out of his mind. All the angry and happy moments turned into daggers that tormented him, repeatedly carving holes in his heart.
No matter how much he tried to staunch the blood from dripping, no matter how he tried to cover up, blood kept creeping through the nooks and crannies. Then, like the broken teacup yesterday, it broke and emotions overwhelmed him. How was he supposed to handle this?
Shěn Lí, Shěn Lí. . . you are really something.
He suddenly remembered it wasn’t that long ago that she teased him, saying since she’d met him, she’d been seriously injured and that sooner or later, he would be the death of her. How did he answer again? He seemed to have said something along the lines of... if that happened, then he would compensate her for the loss. Shěn Lí would want him to keep his promise.
Even though Xíng Zhǐ was drenched after the wave passed, there was a slight smile on his lips. He raised his arms and touched the water lightly with his fingertips. A white light flashed and the thunderclouds in the sky suddenly dropped as the temperature dramatically lowered. He murmured softly a single word: expand. Frigid light swept across the air and sea, and within a matter of moments, the vast expanse around him froze. Thousands of miles of water turned to ice.
The sea Xíng Zhǐ stood on top of became an unmoving bluestone slab of ice.
Waves still had their peaks and crests, but they no longer flowed. Rain fell as hail before thunderclouds scattered away.
Silence reverberated between the sea and sky.
Xíng Zhǐ walked on the ice, and with every step he took, a golden light flashed and the waves swayed. He was focused on his feet as if he was looking for something.
Even if Shěn Lí was reduced to ashes, he would find every grain. He moved forward one step at a time, intent and focused on a sea that seemed to go on forever. He lost track of time and the days, but no matter how far he walked, all he saw was frozen sea.
“High God.”
Someone stood in front of him blocking his path, so he looked up. “What is it?”
Yōu Lán knelt down quietly on the ice. “I hope High God understands the sufferings of the people. The East sea has been frozen for ten days and ten nights. The creatures of the East sea are suffering unspeakably. High God. . . ” Yōu Lán saw that his eyes were red and his lips pale. He hadn’t rested in a long time. Yōu Lán looked down and spoke softly, “High God is mourning.”
Some things weren’t meant to be spoken. Emotions and gods, they were two things that weren’t meant to be together. But without emotion, without sorrow, how could there be grief?
Xíng Zhǐ looked off into the distance at the endless sea and smiled. “Is it obvious?”
Yōu Lán bowed her head, not daring to answer.
Xíng Zhǐ took another two steps forward. “I never felt the immensity of the three realms before. As a god, it didn’t matter the location, I only needed to think it and I would be there. But now I know the realms are vast, so big I can’t find a single person in a sea.“ He smiled. “This is Heaven’s will.”
Then he waved his hand and withdrew the Water-Stop spell. The atmosphere changed dramatically as the ice slowly melted.
With the spell withdrawn, Xíng Zhǐ felt a deep pain in his chest. Freezing the sea had gone against Heaven and he was suffering the backlash. . .
A mouthful of blood burped out of his mouth, shocking Yōu Lán. She rushed forward to support him. “Is High God all right?”
Xíng Zhǐ shook his head and wanted to say, “I am fine,” but when he opened his mouth, another mouthful of hot blood rolled out and landed on the thawing ice. He grinned and wiped the blood away. To think he’d end up in such a sorry state. What a mess!
So, this was the power of the Heavenly Dao’s backlash. He had been so careful, dodged it so well, but in the end, he still got hit. If he had known, he would have treated Shěn Lí better; at least he would have been able to protect her from all those serious injuries. . .
He was. . . He really liked her.
A pity, he would never be able to say it to her, and she would never be able to hear it.
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