Chapter 124 The Stars Shattered, Unstoppable.
On Guyu Peak, the drizzle is as gentle as butter, and the cold winter outside has never penetrated this place.
Tang Huairou returned from teaching and had just stepped onto the bluestone path when he saw a figure standing in the distance through the rain. The rain was like smoke, and the soft mist blurred the outline, making the figure appear particularly desolate.
She hurriedly grabbed an umbrella and walked quickly toward the person. When she reached him, Tang Huairou opened the umbrella and carefully moved closer to him, stopping with a measured distance when their shoulders were still a fraction apart.
"Master?" she called softly.
Ruan Luoying neither used an umbrella nor her spiritual power to dispel the dampness. Her soft, light blue dress was already soaked with water, revealing a clear, emerald-green hue.
Master usually dislikes the stickiness after being rained on, but now he is standing in the rain, he must have something on his mind.
Tang Huairou pondered the recent events, and before she knew it, she had tilted the umbrella. The oil-paper umbrella was very narrow, not enough for two people to share, and if they wanted to keep out the rain, one person's shoulder would inevitably get wet.
Amidst the sound of rain, the two stood side by side in silence. Ruan Luoying remained silent, while Tang Huairou stood beside her, holding the umbrella. As soon as the woman took a step, she followed closely behind.
After a long while, Ruan Luoying finally called out to her, "Jinyu." Her voice contained a barely perceptible weariness.
But Tang Huairou was used to reading her every word and action, so she couldn't possibly ignore this weariness. She responded, and the next moment her hands were covered in warmth, and the umbrella handle tilted from one side to the other.
“You couldn’t stand getting wet in the rain when you were little, you’d get sick if you did,” Ruan Luoying said with a smile. “Don’t just hold the umbrella for me.”
Tang Huairou sighed, "Master, I've grown up now." She will no longer get sick from getting caught in the rain, nor will she cry over parting. In this world, her only family member is her master.
Her master did not answer her. They walked side by side for a while, and the rain gradually intensified.
Ruan Luoying stopped in her tracks and suddenly said, "The constellation is shattered."
That day, because of the abnormality of the spiritual veins under her sect, she went to Si Changxi Chen Ming to request the use of the Si Xingtai to observe the stars.
The Star-Suppressing Platform is a sacred object guarded by the sect, said to be a relic passed down from the ancient times. Since the sect's founding, it has stood on the top floor of the library, guarded by the spirit beast Star Dragon. It is equipped with a special formation, and the entrance will not be opened unless the sect leader himself comes.
Its sole purpose is to observe the stars in the three realms and establish a connection between them and the observer.
However, this observation did not bring any good omens. The Star Gazetteer connected their divine senses with the upper realm, only to find a desolate wasteland, with nameless stars dimmed and shattered into countless tiny stars, some of which were lifeless and had lost their former glory.
The stars shattered, their power dissipated, causing an imbalance in the upper realm. Naturally, the lower realm would not fare well, and there might even be calamities.
The depletion of spiritual veins may only be the beginning; who knows what dangers await in the future, and another three-race war may break out again.
Thinking of this, Ruan Luoying couldn't help but frown. The sound of rain was like boiling water, only increasing her worries.
Having cultivated in the sect for many years, Tang Huairou was naturally well aware of what the shattering of the stars signified. Seeing the anxiety in the other person's eyes, she moved closer to comfort him, and as she shifted her position, the umbrella tilted again, casting a shadow into those pale-colored eyes.
Tang Huairou bit her lower lip lightly, carefully choosing her words. After a moment, she said softly, "Jinyu will cultivate diligently and always stay by Master's side to share your burdens. If any calamity comes in the future, please allow me... to face it together with Master."
Saying I want to protect her is too far-fetched. But my feelings for her remain unchanged, and she should work even harder from now on.
Ruan Luoying gazed at her for a long time, her eyes, usually brimming with tenderness, now flashed with a complex mix of emotions.
She couldn't articulate her unease. Having lived through two major wars, she had seen and experienced too much; the trauma wasn't superficial, but the scars in her heart could never be erased.
The emotions she had never shared with anyone, not even her classmates, blossomed into sharp thorns from the words of the young man before her, as if transforming into vines that tightly entwined her.
As the fledglings grew stronger, she watched her children grow up, and now they were able to shoulder heavy responsibilities.
Ruan Luoying already possessed a pair of eyes that were full of affection, and now, with her heart fluttering, they were even more moist.
This was the first time Tang Huairou had seen her master with such an expression. She was stunned, but her hands moved quickly. She habitually raised her hand, wanting to touch Ruan Luoying's eye, but then stopped in mid-air.
It's as if the distance between the two of them when they stand side by side is just right, neither too much nor too little, in accordance with the proper relationship between master and disciple; a little more would be awkward, and a little less would be presumptuous.
Tang Huairou always respected his teachers and valued their teachings. While the latter might be questionable, the former was beyond reproach.
Just as she hesitated, Ruan Luoying suddenly raised her hand. In the misty smoke, the soft sound of the ribbon rubbing was drowned out by the sound of rain, just as all transgressions were concealed, known only to the two people in the rain.
She untied Tang Huairou's hair ribbon and slowly and patiently tied it around the young man's wrist.
The moment the oil-paper umbrella slipped from her hand and fell to the ground, Tang Huairou closed her eyes. She offered no resistance; a low whimper escaped her throat from the warm, bittersweet pain, which was then soothed by the woman's kiss on her neck. Rain quickly soaked her hair, trickling down her brows and eyes, dripping into her collar, bringing a chill.
It was as if by doing so, they could pretend that her trembling stemmed from the cold, rather than from the emotion she felt when kissed by her master. The more she moved, the tighter the restraints on her hands became.
She obediently let Ruan Luoying's kisses gradually move downwards, from her lips to her neck, and finally to her collarbone, gently caressing it with a slight dampness.
Her life was inextricably linked to the person before her; her joys and sorrows were bestowed upon her by Ruan Luoying, and everything she possessed was a gift from her, including love. The only, or perhaps the only, moment of attraction in her life was also caused by her.
She could bear all the anxiety, unease, and even sharper emotions revealed in the kiss.
The scalding fire had barely touched her skin before it was stopped before it could penetrate her bones. Ruan Luoying nestled her head in the crook of her shoulder and sighed softly. Then she reached out to straighten her clothes and untie the ribbon.
She made a hand gesture to remove the rainwater clinging to the two of them, and ignoring the bewilderment in the young man's eyes, said, "Let's go back."
Tang Huairou lowered her head, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes.
But she didn't hesitate for long. When she looked up again, she had returned to normal, gently replied "Yes," picked up the oil-paper umbrella, and followed Ruan Luoying's footsteps.
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"Stars..."
Although he knew that constellations were the source of power for cultivators, Wu Zhuyue still didn't quite understand it.
However, it's irrelevant; cultivating the Tao doesn't necessarily require understanding the origin of spiritual energy. It's just that the letter in her hand mentioned something that even someone like her, who doesn't understand it, finds worrying.
"The Azure Dragon constellation, one of the Four Symbols constellations, has been shattered. Now, the spiritual energy in the human world is gradually drying up, and there are fewer and fewer people with spiritual roots. Calamities and chaos are all related to this."
The method to repair it is to collect enough cultivators' souls and pour them into it, so that the scattered power returns to the shattered star.
Although this requires an extremely large quantity, many things are built up little by little. We are now close to our goal, but I need to borrow the Astronomical Observatory to observe the positions and states of the constellations before heading to the Upper Realm.
This was the first time her master had explained to her why she had killed so many cultivators.
Si Liuhua is not a liar. Her teachings and promises to Wu Zhuyue were all true, but she never finished saying them.
It wasn't a lie, but rather that he only said half of it.
"If the Three Realms collapse and the world ceases to exist, how will the justice you yearn for be realized? I know your heart is steadfast, and therefore you should understand how important what I am doing is. Every month, choices are difficult, but those who make the right choices are rare. You are a good child, and I believe you know what you should choose."
Wu Zhuyue's fingertips paused at the end of that sentence.
"Sometimes, we have to sacrifice some people. Besides, ordinary people live for several hundred years, and cultivators live for at least two hundred years—that's enough. We borrow the power of heaven and earth to live forever, but in the end, we should return it to heaven and earth."
Therefore, help me break the seal on the Star-Rising Terrace, Zhu Yue.
yes.
After reading the last words, Wu Zhuyue felt a mix of emotions. Her already wavering heart trembled even more at Si Liuhua's words about "sacrifice."
Sacrifice is necessary. Just as when she was a refugee, some sick and elderly people would give up their meager food and peacefully await death so that young people and children could survive.
Some people even steal and eat corpses that have been left to rot in the wilderness, justifying it as "not letting down the sacrifices of others."
The mother also sacrificed herself to send her out of the cemetery where refugees were buried.
She was always witnessing sacrifice, surviving in pain, and being lifted up by the departure of others, thus knowing how heavy the word "sacrifice" was, yet how indispensable it was.
—It's okay.
Even if they die, they will only return to their constellations and have the chance to be reborn, but it will take several years, at most a hundred years.
If the stars are not repaired, it is only a matter of time before the human world falls into ruin. When that happens, countless lives will be lost and there will be no way to save the situation. Wouldn't that be even more painful?
Her thoughts were in turmoil, and the more she thought about it, the more her head ached. Just then, Lu Changqing's clear eyes flashed by, and the young man's figure, like her, irrationally cut off Wu Zhuyue's attempt to convince herself.
Wu Zhuyue thought that perhaps she could persuade her master to let Lu Changqing go. After all, there were always others. The one thing this world has in abundance is cultivators.
But would Lu Changqing be happy? His sect was destroyed, his fellow disciples were killed or wounded, and familiar places were massacred…
What should I do? The boy's pen trembled, the ink spreading across the paper.
She hadn't actually expected the responsibility to fall on her shoulders so quickly. The goal of "changing the world's injustices" kept rising and falling, sometimes blurring in the laughter of the boy and his fellow disciples, and sometimes as hard as a knife, carefully carving into her heart, making sure that Wu Zhuyue always remembered it clearly.
Something slightly cool was always pressed against the skin. Wu took it out and gently rubbed it.
Peace and safety.
"I'm sorry, Lu Changqing."
Wu Zhuyue silently vowed in her heart—she would definitely let her live. She would just have to plead with her master.
This peace pendant ultimately couldn't hold her back. Wu Zhuyue closed her eyes, and when she opened them again a moment later, her resolve was firm. She picked up her pen and replied:
"Master, please teach me a way to break the seal. Tell me what I should do to help you break the seal?" Fearing that others would discover it, Wu Zhuyue added another page, and after concealing it, she sealed the letter and called the messenger.
She tied the letter to the coin, watched the bird spread its wings, and unconsciously her fingers touched the peace pendant again.
Again and again. But the peace pendant was ultimately an inanimate object, unable to relieve her sorrow or awaken her emotions.
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Author's Note: There were too many supporting characters, but this chapter is indeed a very important part of the main storyline. I'm just explaining things out and letting the master and disciple share a kiss...
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