“Nope. Another person from the Juhe Sect died…We already suggested not to go and search alone in the desert, to prevent that devil from defeating each person individually, but those folks from the big sects are just so high and mighty.”
Shi Feng stood on the sand dune, surveying the lifeless brownish-yellow seas of sand. His acute hearing caught the whispers and snickers of the two cultivators passing by.
“Look, there’s another one there, and he’s wearing such eye-catching red clothes!” Clearly, they had spotted Shi Feng as well.
“Are you mad? We have go!” The other cultivator was terribly shocked, hauling his companion away quickly. “Don’t you know who that is? How could you mess with someone from the Beixuan Sect?”
“Didn’t the Beixuan Sect get wiped out?”
“Everyone except for one died, what do you think?”
“Ah!” The person drew a sharp breath, then lowered his voice and asked, timidly, “Why did the Blood Demon come here, aren’t there rumours that he went into Black Depths Valley? How could anyone go into Black Depths Valley and still come out alive?”
“Who knows…”
Gradually, the voices became more distant. Trapped in the fantasy, Shi Feng lowered his head, looking at the youth who was curled up by his feet.
—with Shi Feng’s abilities, there was no person who would be able to escape from right under his nose once he captured them.
The scarlet flames leaped about, refusing to yield. The youth was covered in sand, curled up drowsily as he was baked by the harsh heat of the sun. Thanks to the flames surrounding his body, he did not suffer sunburn, but the various injuries on his body were still as clear as day.
Some looked like scratches from tree branches, while others looked like cuts from stones. Still others had been caused by blades.
The most severe of these injuries were the purplish bruises on his wrist and lower back. Only continuous months and years of pinching from others could have resulted in such severe bruises that covered such large areas.
“What do you want?” the Stone-borne Flame said severely, though it was terrified inside. “Kill this fool, wipe out my conscience, and obtain the True Samadhi Fires?”
Despite having become the version of himself in the fantasy, Shi Feng maintained a rational control over his emotions. He did not speak or move, allowing the fantasy to move on its own.
Everything was an illusion. His junior brother was perfectly fine and did not have any of these injuries!
“Stop pretending, I know all you humans are equally shameless. You said I destroyed Yunzhou City, but I’m just a spiritual being born in Nature, and I’ve been slumbering for countless years. Who brought me to Yunzhou City, and who caused me to acknowledge a master while I was muddled? Ptooey, it was a fool on top of that, and so I got trapped in the Chens’ pond for ten-odd years!”
The Stone-borne Flame’s immense aura of ruthlessness and tyranny was partly due to its nature. Being trapped in the water for this long had reinforced this quality.
—which spiritual being was this unlucky?
“I know what you call me,” the youth laughed coldly, his eyes bright red due to being controlled by the Stone-borne Flame, “Devil, hehe, that’s interesting. Is it because I burned thousands of Yunzhou citizens to death? And went from Yunzhou to the forests deep in the mountain, escaping till the Redwinds Desert, and destroyed countless living beings on the way? Because I caused many cultivators to die while pursuing me?”
Shi Feng could not help but frown along with the fantasy’s version of himself.
“Then who let me out? This silly master?” The youth laughed oddly, pointing at himself; the gaze he directed towards Shi Feng was filled with provocation. “No, no, it was a bunch of demonic cultivators who sneaked into the Chen family residence in the middle of the night and slaughtered the entire Chen family! I asked Master if he wanted to burn them to death, and Master agreed…As for the inextinguishable flames that implicated all of Yunzhou City, isn’t that you humans getting what you deserve?”
Shi Feng’s heart trembled, then he saw that the fantasy version of himself was one step ahead.
With his palm, he struck the youth’s forehead—
“Aa!” the Stone-borne Flame cried shrilly.
The youth slumped over. When he opened his eyes again, he was like a startled rabbit. After glancing around a few times, he scrabbled across the sand with all limbs, fleeing in a panic.
Shi Feng stood silently.
After fleeing for a certain distance, the youth turned around only to find that Shi Feng was not giving any chase. Secretly exhaling, he slid down the sand dune and hid himself in the shade, trembling.
Normal people would at least escape from the line of vision. Someone who hid his head and naively believed that he could not be seen by others…was as good as a three-year-old child.
Slowly, Shi Feng made his way over—he could no longer tell if this was intended by himself or his fantasy self—and silently bent down to look at the youth. He gently prised the youth’s curled arms away and saw that his face was covered in tears, dirt and sand.
After locking eyes for a while, the latter could no longer resist, and said, in a tiny voice, “Hungry, uuu, I’m hungry.”
Shi Feng froze.
The youth grabbed Shi Feng’s sleeve and hung on, terrified but still pleading earnestly, “Hungry, I…want to go home.”
Flames suddenly surged from Chen He’s body, lunging towards Shi Feng like ferocious claws.
They spread along the youth’s fingers to Shi Feng’s body; with the unquenchable nature of the True Samadhi Fires, any other cultivator would have been doomed.
But the youth leaned back abruptly, falling hard into the sand.
“You idiot, why are you hiding? He’s come to kill us!” the Stone-borne Flame scolded furiously.
The youth stared in horror at the flames emerging from his palm, his eyes blank, as if remembering something.
A sea of fire, blood, corpses everywhere—there were times when confoundment improved; for example, when one encountered a certain shock and had that scene firmly imprinted in their mind, they might remember it when they received the same shock.
“Aaa—” The crying that began without warning was shrill and twisted.
His cries alerted other cultivators. Lifting his head, Shi Feng saw the silhouettes riding swords in the wind; with a sweep of his sleeve, he struck the youth with an invisible gust. The latter swayed before falling soundlessly into the sand.
In the vast desert, the wind swept up red flame sand, and Shi Feng, clad in red, stood with hands behind his back.
The passing cultivators stayed far away upon seeing Shi Feng, and they completely missed what was in the sand below.
After the surroundings were peaceful again, Shi Feng brushed the sand away and felt for the youth’s pulse and forehead.
His breaths were weak, and he was a mortal without any cultivation base. His inner body had suffered severe damage due to the Stone-borne Flame. If prompt action was not taken, he would not live much longer.
Shi Feng strove to maintain the stability of his conscience. He watched as his fantasy self wiped away the tears and dirt on the youth’s face, revealing the familiar contours and features. It was unmistakably Chen He, especially the three tiny red moles near his left temple.
The fantasy rendition of Shi Feng could not help but reach up to his own left forehead, which had been covered by long bangs.
—Shi Feng had these three red moles as well.
A physique suitable for cultivation, the fate of three tribulations and nine troubles; destined to be betrayed by family, abandoned by friends, suffering in love; the left brow was broken by moles denoting multiple tribulations[1].
If the fantasy was real, this discovery would shake Shi Feng to the core.
Despite being hunted down by numerous members of the cultivation world, with even the denizens of Black Depths Valley being requested to subdue it, this devil was only a mentally handicapped child. Shi Feng could turn a thousand square li of sand to nothing, but he could not use his All-Destroying Essence to kill this ‘devil’ who had turned Yunzhou into a forsaken land and burned countless living beings to death.
Unable to control himself, he felt for Chen He’s bones, at the same time getting a clearer picture of Chen He’s injuries.
Many of them were injuries sustained while fleeing, but the other bruises and unseen injuries were quite old.
It was not difficult to guess. In this world, fools were often kicked or beaten by others, and no one believed the words of a fool anyway. And Shi Feng was no stranger to the finger-shaped bruises on the arms, shoulders and back; as a child, Shi Feng himself was never well-liked in the family, and the old servants would often pinch his arms as well. If anything was off even by a little, they would pinch him furiously in secret to stop him from speaking, lest the master became angry.
Shi Feng lowered his gaze, the fury making him nearly unable to suppress his conscience.
This fury was his; at the same time it came from his fantasy self as well.
The result of feeling the bones was precise; he had the same physique and fate as Shi Feng. Except that this Chen He, judging by the bones, was already nineteen, but was skinnier and scrawnier than a fifteen-year-old boy.
So it would seem that the Chen household had not exactly mistreated Chen He. However, his three-year-old mind would seem all the sillier as he grew older, and no one in the Chen household took him seriously. The ones in charge of purchasing food would reduce the daily supply by a little, the kitchen staff would reduce some as well, and even the maids and page boys would keep the snacks for themselves. What did a fool know? Even if someone gave Chen He a few kicks, he would remember nothing the following day.
During Chen He’s earlier years, the servants were probably still wary of the master of the household. Since the master was not returning home, and the old madam was bedridden with illness, the entire household was lorded over by Chen He’s cousin’s branch of the family. They, who lived in abundance, did not have to say anything for the servants to take this opportunity to turn harsh. Who would care how well a fool was living?
If—
If he had sent Chen He back to the Chen household back then, this could have been reality instead of a fantasy.
Shi Feng’s conscience became drowsy, his breathing becoming laboured. Knowing this was bad, he quickly attempted to focus and adjust his breaths.
The ravenous youth awoke rather quickly. Timidly, he raised his head to look at Shi Feng, not daring to move or speak.
The Shi Feng in the fantasy was silent for a moment. Then he brought out a Qi-Replenishing Pill and crushed it, only daring to give the youth a tenth of it.
There were various pills and elixirs in the cultivation world, but regular mortals would die upon consuming them.
Qi-Replenishing Pills were one of the most benign types. Pills were not hollow things that would lose their effects simply because they were crushed.
Any regular mortal with a Stone-borne Flame residing in him would have his meridians in a mess. Having his meridians explode due to excess spiritual energy would be the least of his concerns then.
Shi Feng knew from the Stone-borne Flame’s earlier words that the youth had not eaten anything for four days. However, the Redwinds Desert covered a vast area, and although they were not in the heart of the desert, they were at least two hundred li into the desert. Where was he to find something to eat?
The youth’s eyes lit up. When he reached out to receive the pill, the Stone-borne Flame, which had awoken along with him, rushed out impatiently to attack.
This time, Shi Feng did not hold back. With a flash of the cold white flames, the Stone-borne Flame let out a pained cry of disbelief.
The youth froze, retreating in fear again.
The Shi Feng in the fantasy slowly placed half the pill in his mouth, purposely chewing to indicate that it was edible, and motioned for the youth to take the remains of the pill.
After a brief stalemate, there came a tiny, hoarse voice:
“There’s fire, it’s dangerous…don’t come over.”
Shi Feng, who had been regulating his breaths, felt another jolt. Just like the previous fury, he could not tell whether this heartrending ache was from the fantasy or himself. Cultivators, who no longer held the seven emotions, were not supposed to have such twinges.
Any human would have long since lost their sense of reason after being hungry for four days, without anything but water. However, the fact that Chen He could still restrain himself and remember that his possessing fire was a dangerous thing only proved two things. Firstly, Chen He’s body often suffered from hunger; in addition, he could never remember how many days he had gone without eating, thus he was still able to manage at this point. Secondly of course was the fact that too many people had burned to ashes after coming close to Chen He, which forced Chen He, who had confoundment, to remember it every time he saw fire.
The fantasy version of Shi Feng wrapped the broken bits of pill in spiritual energy, letting it drift over slowly.
The youth poked it out of curiosity, and the bits fell into his hand. He looked hesitantly towards Shi Feng, seeming to have believed him, and immediately shoved the bits of pill into his mouth.
“You idiot, who said you could just eat random things!” The Stone-borne Flame had only just recovered, and was instantly frantic upon discovering this sight. “What did I tell you? He’s here to kill us, all those people want nothing better than to kill us and snatch me away from you! Even if my spiritual sense is wiped, I’ll at least be alive, but what about you?”
The Stone-borne Flame was willful by nature, and was very impatient with this foolish master.
It could not teach Chen He any cultivation methods, and could not help, but it had a spiritual sense, and it had some feelings towards Chen He.
“We burned Yunzhou down; to the divine order, our crimes are already immeasurable, and killing us is a greatly virtuous deed. Do you know that you won’t be able to pay off all this karmic debt even if you go to hell[2] a thousand times over?”
After nagging furiously, the Stone-borne Flame cried out in surprise; so the pill had not been poison after all?
At the same time, Shi Feng’s self-regulation seemed to have worked. The surroundings darkened rapidly; the fantasy changed continuously before settling at the edge of the Redwinds Desert.
The moon was out. Chen He, covered in Shi Feng’s coat, lay fast asleep at the side of a sand dune.
“There are so many people in Black Depths Valley; if we knew about this earlier, us old fellows would have made the trip, and we wouldn’t have let you come all this way!” Elder Long-Brows sighed as he stroked his beard, staring at Shi Feng. “If not for the fire burning from Yunzhou all the way to Sky-High Cliff, we wouldn’t have…Aye! We only considered that you had a Wood-borne Flame and wouldn’t fear this devil, but who knew—”
Shi Feng frowned, his aura becoming frigid.
“Okay, okay, not a devil!” Elder Long-Brows quickly corrected. Patting his head, he said mournfully, “You really want to…pass on the Beixuan Sect’s cultivation methods to him, in order to continue your sect?”
“Or are we to stand by and watch as he dies and descends into Hell?” Upon finishing his sentence, blood trickled from Shi Feng’s mouth.
It happened in the fantasy, and the real Shi Feng was affected as well, the blood boiling in his chest.
“Shi Feng, you, you’re speaking!” Elder Long-Brows screeched, jumping in shock. “Oh my Three Pure Deities, steady yourself, the bunch of us old fellows aren’t dead yet! Don’t you dare think of skipping the queue to the Underworld!”
“My years of covert cultivation were in the hopes that my disciples would enter the cycles of rebirth sooner, without any karma, and regain peace and happiness,” Shi Feng replied coldly, his face pale. “However, were I to join them in the underworld, would it not be better? What need would there be for the Silence Meditation?”
“Shi Feng, you better think this through!” Elder Long-Brows persuaded frantically. “I know you’ve had the intention to die since you came to Black Depths Valley over twenty years ago. Us cultivators have seen past life and death, and we are unwilling to sit back and watch as innocent younglings lost their lives. But even though he is innocent in our eyes, the heavens will not spare him!”
In the fantasy, Shi Feng walked over and brushed Chen He’s hair aside, allowing Elder Long-Brows to see his face.
“This…this is?” Elder Long-Brows was stunned.
“This child has no cultivation base, and the Stone-borne Flame has resided in his body for days. He will not survive more than a few days. His mind is handicapped, and he will be completely unable to cultivate. There is only one way to save him,” Shi Feng said mildly. “He should not die; I have no desire to live; this is just right.”
Elder Long-Brows paced around anxiously in circles, “Don’t say that; you saw this child and remembered the past; if it was someone else, you wouldn’t think like this…Such a coincidence! Damn it, why is it such a coincidence!!”
The fantasy rendition of Shi Feng wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes and began to channel his Qi.
“Shi Feng, stop, let this old man do it!” Elder Long-Brows lunged over in a hurry.
“Sir Long-Brows, you hail from the Heluo Sect, which is an orthodox sect with righteous cultivation practices. How are you to associate with him?”
“Aren’t you also—ah!”
“Beixuan has been wiped out; Shi Feng has no relations nor ties,” Shi Feng said quietly, his expression unmoving. “Should this child wish to cultivate, he can only turn to demonic cultivation. The ways of my sect have been practised by me to an extent similar to demonic practices. My true essence contains a Wood-borne Flame, which can subdue and merge with the Stone-borne Flame…”
Even as he spoke, the white flames blazed; hidden in Chen He’s body, the Stone-borne Flame screeched.
At first it screamed and cursed, then called frantically for Chen He to help him. However, Shi Feng had already put Chen He to sleep, and the latter was now dead to the world. The Stone-borne Flame’s hate grew; it hated cultivators, hated the Chen household, and hated this fool of a master even more.
Not only was its spiritual sense wiped out, it was also merged entirely with the Wood-borne Flame and the accompanying true essence. It no longer existed in this world.
“It hurts, spare me, aaah—” Finally, the Stone-borne Flame’s cries for help became softer, and Shi Feng slowly broke down all of his true essence, sending it into Chen He’s body.
This method of passing on a sect’s teachings, comparable to the Liquor-Wisdom Technique, granted the recipient all of the original cultivator’s knowledge and true essence at the cost of the original cultivator’s life.
In his final, muddled moments, Shi Feng left behind these words in the conscience of Chen He, who was about to wake up:
“If the heavens wish death upon you, and fate brings misfortune for you, then all the more you must live on! Sever the seven emotions away; be heartless, without love. Care for no one, trust no one, then the divine order shall be unable to touch you.”
ಥ_ಥ So, this is stuff from the previous life…past!ML gave up his life so that past!MC could keep living…basically, the ship never sailed… *ugly sobbing* Footnotes are down there, feel free to join me in the corner T_T
[1]: In Chinese face reading, moles in certain positions have certain meanings. I don’t know if MC and ML’s three moles are possible in real life, but at least within the SWIYBR universe, that kind of mole has a meaning.
[2]: I had trouble figuring out what it meant when Stoney said it, but when past!ML said it, I figured they might be referring to Hell, or some other path of eternal suffering.