Shi Wuduan followed behind the old man at a wary distance. He hadn’t actually interacted with the Dasheng Sect before, all of their clandestine communications were handled by Xia Duanfang and his underlings. He guessed that if this person wasn’t one of the Dasheng Sect’s three elders, then he was the sect leader, Great Master Zhiye.
All kinds of thoughts whirled around in his head. The rabbit corpse in his arms seemed to… become heavier and heavier.
The old man didn’t prattle at him. Once they got on the road, he practically ignored him. Every once in a while, he’d kowtow in obeisance, as if he really did respect the mountains, waters, and deities. When they passed a mountain, he’d kowtow to the mountain. When they came across water, he’d kowtow to the water. Even when they passed by some particularly protruding rocks, he’d properly kneel, arrange the pebbles at his feet into a triangle, and start prostrating.
Along the way, he kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times, but he paid obeisance to the valleys and trees, not to the mortal emperor.
Their pace was exceedingly slow. The old man didn’t seem at all afraid that Shi Wuduan would leave him in the dust. Shi Wuduan himself didn’t know what he was doing. Every time the old man stopped, he’d silently curse, yet he never went ahead alone. He’d always wait by the side.
While he waited, he’d sometimes stare at the prostrating old man’s back. Sometimes he’d stare at his toes, lost in thought.
After who knew how many miles and kowtows — now, Shi Wuduan realized why the old man’s robes were so florid — they finally stopped at the base of a large tree.
The tree looked to be hundreds or thousands of years old. Its species was unclear. Though it was winter, its wild, tangled branches were green with astonishingly lush leaves. Contrasted by the snowy expanse around it, it was especially eye-catching. It stood there alone, alone from the world, as if it was the only tree in all the heavens and earth.
After the old man kowtowed piously, he told Shi Wuduan, “This is the great bodhi tree. It’s seed came from beyond this world. The gods and deities nurtured it with spiritual wine; it took an entire three thousand three hundred years before it broke through the soil, three thousand three hundred years before it sprouted, three thousand three hundred years before it grew branches and grew in height, and another three thousand three hundred years before its leaves grew full; one leaf can reach the heavens.”
He cupped a fallen leaf in both hands, curled it into a tube, and put it by Shi Wuduan’s ear, “When rolled into a tube, one can hear heavenly music.”
Shi Wuduan eyed him expressively, and actually listened for a while. Afterward, he said, “I didn’t hear anything.”
The old man sighed, “That’s right. Who else, born in the dust of the mortal realm, faithless in the existence of deities, could stand before the great bodhi tree and not hear a sound, but the master of the Ghoulish Astrolabe himself?”
Shi Wuduan raised his head slightly to look at him. He saw the old man bend down and return the leaf to the earth and say, “The astrolabe is the most spiritual object in the world. It can descry heaven’s machinations, peer into the fates of man. Twenty years ago, an astrolabe capable of devouring a malevolent ghost the moment it came into use arrived into this world. It was recorded in my sect’s holy book, ‘Dasheng’s Book of Revelation,’ five thousand years ago. Named the ‘Ghoulish Astrolabe,’ its appearance heralds the beginning of the end.”
“Ah.” Shi Wuduan nodded at his words, then said, exaggeratedly slowly, “No wonder. So it seems your sect has known of this prophecy for some time. No wonder the Dasheng Sect was so yielding, so decisive as they distanced themselves from this affair and escaped the attack on Dazhou Mountain. How admirable.”
The old man glanced at him and sighed, “Your suffering doesn’t mean that you must do evil unto others. If you cannot calm your heart, how can you distinguish what is right and wrong, crooked and straight?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Shi Wuduan scoffed, “I am right, those who oppose me are wrong; what’s so hard to distinguish about that?”
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The old man turned and beckoned Shi Wuduan, “Come.”
Puzzled, Shi Wuduan raised an eyebrow as he walked over. The old man took the rabbit corpse from his arms and wrapped the thin branch round and round its body. The branch covered the rabbit’s entire body, save for its head, like it was clothing.
When the old man let go, the branch wrapped around the rabbit slowly returned to its original, near-vertical state, as if the weight of a rabbit was nothing at all. Even the rabbit’s position shifted upright as well. As its exposed head faced the clear sky, it seemed a soul emerged from its head and ascended straight into the heavens.
The old man clasped his hands in prayer and, one by one, tapped his head, mouth, and chest as he murmured to himself. Who knew what he was doing.
A cold gust carrying snowflakes in its currents blew from afar, rustling the leaves of the great tree. The sound of wind blowing through the tree was oddly harmonious with the sound of the old man’s chanting.
For a moment, Shi Wuduan felt an indescribable peace wash over him. When the tranquility passed, a pang of bitterness nearly brought him to tears.
He hurriedly turned away, suddenly flustered for no reason. He was like a child who’d been hiding behind a suit of armor, thinking himself invincible, when his shell was suddenly peeled off, and his true form revealed.
The old man said quietly, “This is known as ‘tree burial.’ The ancients used to say that if a child younger than three passed away, to tie them to the great tree, so that their souls may leave along with the spirits of nature. A child so young can hardly be counted as a person of the mortal world. They hadn’t the time to do any good or any evil. A soul without good or evil, cause or effect is the purest kind of soul; they can’t be buried within the earth, lest they be corrupted by evil spirits.”
He turned and said to Shi Wuduan, his eyes especially tranquil and warm, as if he wasn’t looking at a heretical rebel, but an intimate, kindly, rule-abiding youngster. He continued, “I’ve heard that if a radical change in circumstances happens to someone who harbors too deep an obsession, they’ll leave a piece of their soul behind, which latches onto the object of that obsession forevermore, until parted by death.”
Shi Wuduan’s jaw was tightly clenched, as if in endurance, making the lines of his somewhat soft face seem unusually sharp.
The old man sighed, “It’s just too bad that the heavens play us all for fools. Once they’ve lost a piece of their soul, no matter how many times they enter the cycle, they’ll never reincarnate into the upper three paths again. In their next life, they can only be an ignorant animal. If they do return to the human realm, their natures will be vastly changed: they’ll split hairs about everything, and become so obstinate they can’t be reasoned with. It only ever drives them further from what they desire.”
Shi Wuduan startled.
The old man shook his head, “In the end, it’s always ‘man proposes, heaven disposes.’ You don’t respect the heavens or earth, don’t believe in ghosts or gods, but do you really not know the power of Nature? You’re a master of divination and calculations, shouldn’t you know fate can’t be denied?”
A few moments later, Shi Wuduan’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, slowly clenched into a fist. His nails dug into his flesh. Some time later, he said hoarsely, “I… don’t believe.”
The old man sighed, clasped his hands, and fell silent.
Shi Wuduan looked up at the rabbit ensconced by branches and leaves. He said so very quietly, “I don’t believe; what is fate? What is Nature? I’ve never seen it, and even if I have… what of it?”
Then, he chuckled lowly, “I’ll cleave it and crush it beneath my feet, that’s all there is to it.”
The old man looked up at him and saw that though his face was deathly white, his expression was already calm. Shi Wuduan tucked his hands into his sleeves and said, “Today, I came to ask you a few words, Great Master Zhiye.”
The old man’s face twitched as he looked at him — this was the sect leader of the Dasheng Sect, Great Master Zhiye.
Shi Wuduan chuckled, “I know you want to cultivate in peace, Great Master Zhiye, and that you masters of the Dasheng Sect wouldn’t get involved unless your hand was forced. I just want you to promise me something — don’t help either side.”
After a moment of silence, Zhiye asked, “What, are you not satisfied with the extent we’ve already withdrawn?”
Shi Wuduan sighed, “I’m afraid… you’ll sway whichever way the wind blows.”
If he said that to anyone else, he’d be asking for a beating, but thankfully, Great Master Zhiye’s self-restraint was excellent. He didn’t sink to the level of a black-hearted bastard like Shi Wuduan. He merely replied, after a moment of thought, “What kind of guarantee are you looking for?”
“A secret treaty,” Shi Wuduan replied, “I will set a grand fire array on a ten-kilometer radius surrounding Bodhi Mountain. I hope that when my eldest brother clashes with the imperial court, that your Dasheng Sect will stand solidly in the middle. If you take even a single step out of bound, the secret treaty will flare up and ignite your mountain. Of course, I’m not entirely unreasonable. I’ll promise you all that if I succeed, we won’t make life difficult. Bodhi Mountain will still be honored as the temple of the son of heaven, what do you say?”
Great Master Zhiye thought it over, then said gravely, “Years ago, Grand Mentor Yan used his heart’s blood to light seven mountain lanterns and borrowed seventy years of fortune from the heavens. What if you don’t succeed?”
Shi Wuduan smiled, “Then simply write a memorial to the emperor, saying that I, Shi Wuduan, used an array to trap you on your mountain. You do have proof after all. If anyone’s got the skill to break the array, then let them have a go. But if there isn’t, then from that day on, from every dynasty and generation thereafter, the Dasheng Sect won’t have to participate in politics anymore. Doesn’t that line up with your desire to avoid earthly affairs? Or mayhap… your sect is full of fame-seeking glory hounds?”
Great Master Zhiye wavered for a moment, then saluted, “This matter is too important for me to decide alone. I hope you can give me a few days time to return to the mountain and discuss this with the elders before giving you an answer.”
Shi Wuduan gladly nodded and said, “Then I will await good news from you, great master.”
Great Master Zhiye turned and began leaving for Bodhi Mountain. This time, the one with heavy thoughts on their mind was him.
Shi Wuduan dithered for a second, and suddenly called, “Sect leader, I… still have something to ask your guidance on.”
Great Master Zhiye stopped and said, “Please, ask.”
Shi Wuduan looked down and pursed his lips before he asked quietly, “If someone… has lost part of their soul, willingly threw away their bloodline, excised their flesh and blood, how can they return to the way they were?”
Great Master Zhiye frowned, thought, and replied, “He must first acknowledge the flesh and blood he carved out with his own hands, let go of his obsessions, truly regret, and fully suffer the agony of having his body rent and repaired before he can become whole once more.”
Shi Wuduan remained silent. Great Master Zhiye shook his head, sighed, and left.
Ten days later, in a shabby little tea shop, the sect leader of the Dasheng Sect finalized the secret treaty with the mysterious guest who often lazed about there. Thus, the second lantern was extinguished.
Shi Wuduan left the region around Bodhi Mountain on an oxcart, heading towards his next destination.
At that time, on a small island in the eastern sea, a wisp of white smoke drifted towards Bai Li, managing to form itself into a human shape. The two stared at each other, their features identical as if they were looking into a mirror.
Bai Li said quietly, “It’s you. You returned.”
The Bai Li made of white mist floated in the air, silently watching him.
Bai Li lowered his head. A long while later, he finally said, “I… was wrong.”
The mist person’s face turned into an expression of relief. He floated above his head for a while, then descended and dissipated, completely surrounding Bai Li.
Since times immemorial, those who were most trapped by their emotions, regardless of what it was, whose emotions were most genuine, were always the ones to lower their head first.
Translator-nim. You broke my heart!!😭😭😭😭😭.. Priest…..aaaaaah. i can’t. I’m crying nonstop. This is too painful!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
QAQ waittt- ksjdhdheggdgd- waittt, no-,no wayy, is it what I think is it 😳🥺😶😲😦
😳🥺😢🐇
Thank you so much for sharing this with us 🙏👏❤️💐🧨
💙💙💙
BAI LI DONT DIE ALSO THE RABBIT- I- WHATS THE POINT OF LIVING???????????????????
Why are my eyes sweating? 🥹