Chapter 133 Justice!
After the travel, Izumo's changes turned from silent to drastic.
The boy's body was rapidly losing weight.
The boy, who was already tall and thin, became even thinner after an autumn and winter. The skeleton supports the muscles in the body, leaving no room for any more muscle.
He seemed to be struggling to maintain his daily routine.
However, the unintentional distraction, the overly hasty actions, and the inexplicably sad and apologetic look are like burning flames in the eyes of others.
New Year's Day came again, and Izumo turned down most of his work and welcome parties, and stayed at home rarely. He didn't see anyone except Tengen, who was receiving his instruction, and Gojo, who occasionally visited him.
Tengen was the person who could most intuitively see his changes, but the first one who couldn't stand it was Gojo, who only came occasionally and every time he came, he would sit coldly opposite Izumo, from noon to night, watching Izumo staring at the blank space in a daze, and then left without saying a word.
In the spring, the cherry blossoms planted by Izumo in the yard bloomed. Gojo brought a few pots of sake and decided to find out what was going on.
He is one year older than Izumo, and now he is already twenty years old.
The alcohol concentration at this time is not high, and the taste is very light. You can drink five bars, but only a small amount. Too much will put a burden on the brain. He was willing to risk his life to accompany a gentleman, but Izumo snatched his wine glass, mixed a glass of honey water, and drank it by himself.
It's time to show down.
They all know about it.
Izumo's pride does not allow him to be trapped in a mystery for too long, and he does not think that his abnormality can be covered up so perfectly.
The sake slid down his throat and the black-haired young man smiled.
"All the wines of the Gojo family are sweet."
"certainly."
Five raised eyebrows, long snow-white hair scattered between the eyebrows, the whole person is as clean and pure as snow:
"Whoever is the head of the family has the final say."
He is indeed outstanding.
The Gojo family did not have a very large population, nor did it have any outstanding people. The reason why Rokugan was chosen as the head of the family was, firstly, because there was indeed no one more qualified than him, and secondly, because Rokugan and the unlimited technique had been thoroughly studied by his family. The Gojo family's unlimited techniques have been passed down in their bloodline several generations ago, and the Gojo family is very clear about what they rely on.
Brainpower, wisdom, observation.
And the Six Eyes is the pinnacle of mental intelligence and combat power. He will not make mistakes because he is the Six Eyes, and he will not fail because he is the Six Eyes.
As if he was a saint sent by God in the family, the Gojo family weighed the pros and cons and quickly selected the future helmsman.
As he was not the eldest son in the family, he was not educated and raised normally since childhood. Even because his mother died soon after giving birth to him, although Liuyan did not suffer any loss, he also encountered a lot of cold treatment. Rokugan had a serious illness when he was a child. When he had not yet mastered his abilities, 'Rokugan' itself was more like a serious illness. A large amount of information was poured into his mind since he was a baby. Rokugan had a fever and was sick for a long time. If there had not been so little fragmented information about the Heian-kyo era, and if the current head of the family had not raised him and had someone take good care of his body, he would not have been so sick. Six Eyes can't survive.
It was because the previous head of the family had done him a favor that Liuyan was able to sit in this position.
He didn't like to fight, but the arrow was on the string and he had to fight.
He liked vigorous fights. If he was displeased with the boy next door, he would challenge him to a fight to the death. No matter whether it was life or death, it was a happy youth.
But he couldn't.
Five years later, he has firmly established himself as the head of the family, and his expression has become increasingly cold. The cuteness he once had has been worn away, leaving only a handful of ice and snow-like coldness.
In comparison, Izumo, who seems to have made no progress in five years, is far behind.
He drank two large pots of wine, which was not enough to make Izumo drunk, but he still spoke.
"How much do you know?"
"I only know that you are doing something big that even Abe Haruaki can't do." The snow-white young man said coldly.
Izumo laughed:
"Did you go to see the teacher?"
“Kicked out.”
"Hahahaha! The teacher is amazing. Have you seen his shikigami? So handsome!"
Although I was kicked out, the whole process was actually quite smooth.
It is difficult for family members to visit the Great Onmyoji. Liuyan went through the five family connections and entered the Great Onmyoji's door. Even if he didn't say anything, there were countless eyes watching and countless ears listening, wanting to know what he asked and what happened.
Rokugan didn't want to tell fortunes or speak official language, he was just worried about his friend and wanted to ask the great Onmyoji if he knew anything.
However, he and his family members were invited into the reception room. The Shikigami brought them tea and snacks, and told them that the Great Onmyoji was not feeling well and had to rest first. They were asked to rest for a while and then leave on their own.
After finishing a pot of tea and a plate of snacks, Rokugan finally realized that the Great Onmyoji understood what he wanted to ask, but he couldn't say it. He even saved their family's face by letting them stay for a while longer, pretending that they had indeed talked about something, before letting them leave.
However, in this sense, it is no different from being kicked out.
Izumo laughed for a while, then lay down on the table and stopped laughing.
"Gojo... If you knew that the world would be a mess a thousand years from now, and that you might be able to save that future, would you do it?"
"No." Gojo answered simply.
"Eh... no hesitation at all?"
"What does it have to do with me?" The white-haired man sneered, "I am willing to be the head of this family for the rest of my life, that's enough. Why should I work for others?"
"But, after a thousand years, the Gojo family might disappear, right?"
"That has nothing to do with me."
Gojo raised his glass, his tone cold and decisive:
"After I die, even if the world is destroyed, it has nothing to do with me."
"As expected of you..." Izumo chuckled, staring at the table with wet eyes.
Sensing his emotions, the clever Liuyan put down the cup and said calmly:
"But you will."
The black-haired young man showed his purple fox eyes from the gap and looked at him without blinking.
"You can, Izumo, only you can. You are born with a gift that is rare in a million years, and you regard all living things in the world as your responsibility. You don't like the desolation of the world, you hate the current emperor's rule, and you can't tolerate any unexpected events in the future.
Because you can, I will treat you as a friend. So, I don’t care what choice you made, it’s just…”
Just like a cold and elegant young man standing on the top of a snowy mountain, he blinked his snow-white eyelashes, his eyes were clear and bright, he looked at Izumo, and said in a light tone:
"What can I do? I will help you with anything that the Gojo family can do. I will also help you with anything that goes against the principles of the world."
"We've been busy for so long, but we're not the ones enjoying it. Whether it's the head of the Gojo family or Rokugan, you should put profits first." Izumo blinked, his tone sullen.
"'Meaningful things' are boring." The white-haired young man threw the cloth covering his eyes at Izumo. The wide white cloth covered Izumo's eyes. He did not see the overly unscrupulous smile on the young man's face.
"I've had enough of being the head of a family. I want to be a 'Gojo' who doesn't care about his worthiness and is a rebel who turns the world upside down."
"I'm strong, I can do it."
As the white cloth fell, the black-haired young man's eyes gradually cooled from helpless softness. He looked at the water stains on the table, and that tenderness was slowly swallowed up. The young man slowly blinked.
“…Give me some more time.”
**
Saving lives is hard work.
It is hard to save one person, and it is also hard to save an entire village.
It's harder to save everything after a thousand years.
In 997, Izumo (20 years old) moved out of Abe Haruaki's courtyard and found a small courtyard in a corner of Heian-kyo.
It was big enough for two people, easy to maintain, and close to Gojo's house.
Although Izumo still frequently appears in the social circles of the nobility, his traces are obviously much less frequent than when he was a teenager. He rarely goes out and stays at home, and if someone visits him, nine out of ten times they won't be able to find him.
He delved into the art of barrier creation, and especially studied the book "Zhanshi Luejue" by the Great Onmyoji. Gradually, his focus of study shifted to divination or barrier creation, and three years later (in 1000), with his teacher's permission, he created an extremely difficult barrier creation.
However, creating the barrier was not Izumo's original intention. He was still searching day and night for a way to crack everything after a thousand years. To some extent, his behavior had violated the biggest taboo of the Onmyoji - prying too much into destiny.
In 1001, Abe Haruaki was forbidden to eat too much miscellaneous food due to his old age, and was taken care of by shikigami in turn. There is something wrong with Izumo's eyes.
Hazy, blurry, and unclear.
Soon after, my lungs started to have problems, and I started coughing up blood and having difficulty breathing.
There was nothing wrong with his body. This was the backlash of trying too hard to understand destiny, the price of trying to control the world as a human being.
He could fully accept the weakening of his body, but he could not accept that at this moment, he still could not find the ideas to accomplish his goals.
- Sacrifice yourself, or add some insignificant things, in short, it is to find the most correct path with the least effort.
Tianyuan was the first one to notice his abnormality. Tianyuan was already a woman in her late twenties. She was elegant and aloof, and had many suitors in Kyoto.
She asked:
"When will you stop, Izumo?"
Izumo smiled:
"It's too late to stop now."
"I still don't understand you..."
Tianyuan shook her head, and her unusual blood-red eyes fell on Izumo. Her eyes were clean and gentle, with a hint of sadness:
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Izumo. I don't want to lose you so soon."
"Just need to ask the heavens one last time."
Izumo smiled pleadingly:
"Let me ask you again, just one more time."
At the beginning of 1002, Izumo performed the most grand divination of his life on a low hill west of Heian-kyo. All the key points were arranged by him personally, and the only people watching the ceremony were Gojo and Tengen.
This was the most spectacular sight these two people had ever seen in their lives.
Strands of golden light floated up, like feathers condensed in the air. The young man in the center had unfocused pupils. The golden light condensed, and part of it poured into the young man's eyes. As the golden light poured in, tears of blood gradually flowed from the young man's eyes, dripping from his chin.
The other part involved several interconnected golden threads. The thickest ones bound several people tightly. And above everyone's head, the familiar golden threads spread infinitely into the nothingness in the air.
Izumo, with tears of blood streaming down his face, looked paler than ever before.
A strong wind blew, and the boy's figure fell like a leaf in the wind.
Tianyuan was not as fast as Gojo, but when she rushed over, what she saw was Izumo's pale face, his eyes stubbornly looking in her direction, but his eyes were completely unable to focus.
He was completely blind.
"I'm sorry, Tianyuan... I'm sorry."
Tianyuan looked at the golden thread that had not dissipated for a long time, and then laughed.
"It's okay, huh?"
She lifted up Izumo's hand and placed it on her head, then she lowered her head obediently and said softly:
"If we can help Izumo, the future of the Immortal Tengen will no longer be an eternal wandering and aimless circling."
"Tianyuan is very happy." She said, "It turns out that even if you are 'immortal', you can still do good things. Tianyuan is really happy."
**
Izumo paused in his thoughts for a moment.
Thousand years, Tianyuan, he can contact him in an instant. The only one who can live beyond a thousand years is Tianyuan.
But how could he bear to let Tianyuan live alone for thousands of years?
Everyone will die, leaving only her. She was originally a girl traveling outside the world. If even this connection is gone, Tianyuan will be blown to the other side of fate by just a gust of wind.
He can use Wu Tiao. He and Wu Tiao no longer need to care about gains and losses. After death, people are just a handful of bones. At most, he can use his ashes to pave the way for Wu Tiao.
But Tianyuan is just a young and bright girl.
He couldn't get over the choice in his mind. Even though he knew that sooner or later he would pass away, he just couldn't make a decision at the moment.
So, it was Tengen and Gojo who forced him to make up his mind.
Tianyuan said:
"Since you can't see it anymore, let's just keep doing it this way?"
"I won't die. We've discussed this, haven't we? In the future, I will most likely become a cursed spirit and die at the hands of someone... Izumo, if possible, I'd rather die at your hands."
...That's not a good thing.
Five said:
"I don't care what you want to do, just do it."
"I support you."
"Are you going to scold me again for not being a human being?"
...You are like a god, a snow god.
Izumo gritted his teeth and continued to work. Using his two best friends in this life as clues, he groped in the darkness, thinking about how to solve the problem.
“At this point, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
When he smelled the snow-like scent on Gojo, Izumo suddenly realized that it was winter again. Gojo poured him tea and reached out to drive something away.
"Don't hit my cursed spirit, okay?"
“So ugly.”
"I'm so sorry, I can't see it."
The two of them teased each other and then sat down. Only then did Gojo remember to reply to his previous words.
"If you don't want to do it, stop."
"That's not what you said before."
"That's because you can't let go. If you can really let go, I can support you until you die."
“…”
Izumo smiled, bent his index finger and tapped his forehead twice.
"Hey, Gojo."
"Um?"
"Do you think there is reincarnation in this world?"
"Maybe it exists, but what does it have to do with me?" said the white-haired young man.
"If I die, I'm dead. Even if I come back to life, it won't be me."
**
In 1004, Izumo visited the Great Onmyoji.
At this time, the Great Onmyoji was already very old. Time flew by, and the long time that once troubled him was no longer a problem.
He has experienced a lot over the years. Although Izumo did not participate in it, he has heard about those thrilling ups and downs.
However, when the two men stood together, the old Abe Haruaki and the young Izumo, it was Izumo who looked thinner.
"I heard that you drew the talisman of Ryomen Sukuna."
Even though he is already 27 years old, Izumo is still a little embarrassed in front of his teacher. However, the Great Onmyoji is still kind, even a little childish.
“…It’s me…”
A few years ago, I heard that a monster with two heads and four arms appeared in the West. However, at that time, Izumo had health problems, so he did not show up, and other Onmyoji and sorcerers went instead.
Later I found out that it was not a monster, but a person, a powerful person who liked human flesh.
However, the Onmyoji coveted the spiritual body and wanted to go further, or to research something from this strange man; while the sorcerer coveted the cursed power of this monster and wanted to refine him into a cursed tool.
They killed people, but not all of them, and they all left some behind. However, it was precisely because of this that the curse master Ryomen Sukuna was transformed into a spirit on the spot and wiped out the entire Onmyoji curse master group.
The status of Onmyoji is still higher within Heian-kyo. None of them are willing to admit that it is their fault, and they all say it is the sorcerer's problem. They say that this group of thugs are cursed by heaven and earth, and they should only be fit to deal with those cursed spirits, so that if they fail to handle them well, they will not have to clean up the sorcerer's mess.
This matter was widely spread. It was said that the cursed spirit was very powerful and loved to eat people. The emperor ordered that the curse be resolved as soon as possible. At this point the Onmyoji was embarrassed. After all, dealing with cursed spirits was indeed the job of the curse master. It would be wrong for them to invite the curse master now.
Izumo also joked with Gojo, asking him to guess when they would find Gojo.
Gojo sneered and didn't comment.
However, Gojo did not receive a request to defeat the cursed king Ryomen Sukuna, but Izumo received help from the Onmyoji.
The Onmyoji in Heian-kyo are of mixed quality. The Onmyoji of the generation of the Great Onmyoji who were extremely talented are now old or dead. As for the young sorcerers, their strength is actually not even as good as Tengen. The Onmyojis were in a dilemma. Someone remembered Izumo who had disappeared recently and came to ask for help.
Izumo was not feeling well and could not go, so after thinking for a while, he prepared a sealing talisman for them.
As long as it is attached, Ryomen Sukuna will never be able to escape. As long as no one provokes Ryomen Sukuna, it will be fine even if he is sealed for a thousand years.
The only one who could create a talisman that could last for a thousand years was Izumo.
Those Onmyojis took the talismans and left respectfully. A large group of people went to capture the two-sided Sukuna, but several of them died. Fortunately, the talisman paper was used. Although the team had not returned to Kyoto yet, the good news reached Kyoto.
"Your ability is almost better than mine." said the teacher.
"How is that possible!"
Izumo has studied with his teacher for such a long time, and even though he is so talented, he is always learning new things. The Great Onmyoji is also incredibly talented, and has experienced many more ups and downs than him. Izumo thinks that he will never be as good as his teacher.
"I don't dare to do such a thing as a supernatural power." said the teacher with a smile.
Izumo fell silent.
"I'm not blaming you. I knew this day would come from the first time I saw you."
The great Onmyoji is very calm:
"Now, I'm asking you once, just this once. Have you really made up your mind?"
"It's decided."
"Is it worth it for you to sacrifice other people's lives to control the fate of the future?"
"worth."
"But sacrificing others for an unnecessary future is not the right way."
“…”
"What are you doing this for? For people? For the future? For justice?"
“…”
Izumo suddenly realized what was wrong with his thinking.
He was too indecisive to let anyone down for something, but he couldn't accomplish those things without letting anyone down.
"Why did you sacrifice them?" the teacher continued to ask, his voice neither sad nor happy.
“…”
"explain."
"Great justice."
"Great justice?"
"To do what justice I can, to put everything I have on the line, is not justice, it is not a high-sounding ideal."
Izumo raised his head, his words revealing the fanaticism and concentration of a madman:
"I don't need others to understand. Everything I do is for the future of mankind, for people's happy lives and the continuation of the future, and for creating an environment where people can grow old, get sick and die normally. To this end, I accept any means necessary, even betrayal."
"Teacher, this is my righteousness!"
Abe Haruaki looked at him for a while, then lowered his eyes and smiled.
"You are a troublesome fellow."
He waved his hand, like when he was a child, and called him over:
"Come here, I will teach you the last spell."
"…What technique?"
"What you need," Abe said, "is a barrier technique that can engrave a mark on the soul and cause it to reincarnate for a thousand years."
**
In 1005, Abe no Haruaki died.
I heard that he was still smiling before he died, so it was a happy funeral.
Izumo was unable to attend his funeral in time, but that made sense since he never performed the apprenticeship ceremony.
However, Abe Haruaki never openly said that he was his disciple.
The reason why Izumo didn't go was because his body could no longer support him to move for a long time.
Last year, he digested and modified the knowledge his teacher taught him. After using it on a large scale, the backlash on his body became more severe.
He couldn't go out, so he kept Tianyuan with him and taught her the art of barrier with all his heart.
"A thousand years is a long time. In order for you to live a more peaceful life, you must not get involved in anything. If you see my reincarnation, or Gojo's reincarnation, no matter what happens, don't interfere until the end."
Izumo developed a barrier technique that stores memories, a bit like a book that can be read about real situations. Later, he modified and improved it and passed it to Tengen in its entirety.
The book contains most of Izumo's memories.
"Write down your past so you won't forget it in the future, right?"
"…Is your reincarnation still you?"
"...That can't be it? Maybe it's another person who looks very much like me."
"I want to remember you..." She said, "I don't want to forget you."
While Tengen studied barrier techniques day and night and comprehended the books left by Izumo, Gojo also increased the frequency of his visits to Izumo's residence.
"What's this?"
"The blueprints of Hongxing Palace..."
Izumo said:
"Only a dead Tian Yuan would not be feared by the heaven and earth. Only in this way could she live for a thousand years without any external interference."
The white-haired young man is already in his thirties. His sons are already married and have children. Time has not left a single mark on his face, except for the vertical lines between his eyebrows which have become increasingly deep.
However, Izumo could not see the young man's face.
After Izumo became blind, the white-haired young man was too lazy to tear off the cloth strips on his eyes. The two of them sat opposite each other with cloth strips tied around their eyes, like a tea party for the blind.
"What are you going to do to me?"
"I want to transform the six eyes."
Behind the strip of cloth, the white-haired young man widened his eyes slightly, and then for the first time in decades, he chuckled heartily.
"madman."
"Thanks for the compliment."
**
In 1006, Izumo was finally ready.
He had done everything he could, he had done his best.
In August, in the height of summer, Izumo suddenly remembered the time when Abe Haruaki died.
It was autumn.
Complete this task before the teacher's first anniversary, and when it is over, go find the teacher.
He thought that the teacher might scold him for doing a lot of unnecessary things.
He thought that he might have to wait a very long time before Gojo came down to meet him. As for Tianyuan, that will take even longer.
He found a deep forest, found the five stripes, and drew the final symbol with blood.
Using the barrier technique taught by the Great Onmyoji, he engraved the barrier technique on the six eyes in the five bloodlines.
"Absorb the spiritual power of heaven and earth, divide it equally into two parts, and seal it in the six eyes..."
He calculated that the appearance of Six Eyes would occur once every five hundred years. Six Eyes was nearly invincible, and as long as the spiritual power was sealed in Six Eyes, it would become a complete spiritual power replenishment container for Tian Yuan.
A thousand years later, the deadline he calculated would only take two cycles to be completely over.
All these actions are so shocking, and he can manipulate the world with ease.
His talent is so high that it's terrifying just to hear about it.
The moment the seal gesture was formed, the leaves in this deep mountain forest suddenly turned yellow and withered. Leaves fell within a radius of dozens of miles, and the midsummer season felt as bleak as autumn.
"It doesn't matter. Just wait a few decades and it will recover."
He fell into Wu Tiao's arms, completely losing the ability to move. He opened his mouth slightly and spat out a mouthful of blood foam.
"How am I doing? Can I consider my life as fulfilling as it is?"
He is too thin.
Izumo's behavior can only be summarized as extreme and crazy. For a certain goal, he completely used his life and flesh and blood as a stepping stone, and even used his friends and teachers, and everything he could use.
Therefore, Izumo should be friends with the sorcerer.
Liuyan thought about it and replied:
“A very, very great life.”
"Wait, Gojo--"
Izumo suddenly groped and grabbed his wrist, pulled out a talisman that he had prepared long ago from his pocket, and stuck it on him and Gojo.
Lines of gold and red fell on each other.
He waved his hand and tied one of the golden strands tightly around the eyes of the five strands.
"I told you about that child. I thought, maybe, you could help him..."
"This is our karma. Because of this, your reincarnation will always find him."
"Why not you?" Gojo asked.
"Because, under your leadership, the Gojo family is really..."
Izumo smiled faintly:
"Really, it's going to be amazing."
...And Izumo is just a poor kid in the countryside with a miserable fate. What can he do?
"It doesn't matter."
Five said:
"That's not me, you don't have to feel guilty about it."
"If you really feel bad, come back and report it after your reincarnation."
“…”
Izumo pursed his lips:
"I'm almost dead, why don't you scold me? I won't hit you this time."
"Oh, I don't curse dead people."
**
Izumo's life has come to an end.
Tianyuan had been waiting for the two of them in the car.
At this moment, she still didn't know how horrible a thousand years was, but even if she really felt it, she would not regret it.
"How are you feeling? Are you still holding up?"
Tianyuan asked.
“I’m sorry…”
Izumo has mixed feelings:
"If I had known, I wouldn't have given you this name. Tianyuan Tianyuan... is not a good name..."
"Didn't you want me to become a thousand-year-old venerable, respected by others, instead of being bullied?" Tian Yuan curved his eyebrows: "You wanted me to be strong and have an absolute position, so you gave me this name, didn't you?"
"..." Izumo was stunned, then smiled: "That's right."
He wondered if there was anything else he hadn't told Tianyuan, and then held Tianyuan's hand.
"Will it hurt?"
The spiritual power is transmitted in Tengen's body, and Izumo's spiritual power is enormous.
Tengen was already used to Izumo renewing her barrier jutsu, but this time, it was all of his spiritual power.
It might hurt more, but her heart hurt more than her body did.
"It doesn't hurt."
"Ah, that guy said the same thing before." Izumo remembered something: "That kid, the spell was obviously painful, but he didn't seem to care... You two might become good friends."
"...Really? I'm really looking forward to it."
Izumo suddenly fell silent for a moment, and then he suddenly grabbed Tianyuan's hand.
"I remember now!" His tone was so anxious for the first time: "So that's it, so that's it, fate is perfect, this is our only way to survive, Tianyuan, Tianyuan, listen to me, listen to me..."
"What?"
"In your 'Channel' you have to make a bet, you have to make a bet with one person."
Just like what the young man said when he left:
【Bet with me, I will win.】 】
His tone gradually became urgent:
"You want to bet with him, on the basis that he can win, you want to bet ..."
***
2006, a thousand years after the year 1006.
Qianjian shuddered suddenly.
The picture gradually blurred, and a black-haired girl looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
She was very cold and indifferent, but her eyes were extremely firm, as if she had inherited some kind of legacy.
The girl whispered in a ethereal tone:
"I have already told you the whole story. I am Tian Yuan, the worst person in this world, and I am making this bet with you."
"I'm betting that you will fail, that the world will be desolate, and that your waiting and patience will eventually fail."
"If you win, from now on, everything I have will be yours to take, including my memories, my life, my future... everything, all at your disposal... If that's not enough..."
As soon as the words fell.
A golden chain fell from the sky.
After a thousand years, this huge gamble finally found another player at the table.
The dazzling chains bound the two people tightly. Qian Jianmu blinked again and saw Tianyuan smiling at him under the chains inside the Hongxing Palace.
"You really won."
She said.
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