Chapter 113 Qishan Fengshan (End) Truth 2
The Crown Prince called out, and a palace attendant opened the door and entered, handing over a box. It was the box containing the elixir of immortality that had been returned to His Majesty that day. The Crown Prince placed the box on the square table between him and the Imperial Preceptor, opened the lid, and pushed it forward a few inches. "This is the elixir of immortality that the young Taoist priest brought back to the capital."
The Imperial Master lowered his eyes and stared at the box in front of him that contained the bottle of the elixir of immortality, without moving for a long while.
This elixir was taken away by His Majesty that day and regarded as a treasure. Now it appears here. Some things are self-evident.
The wax seal on the medicine bottle had not yet been opened. The Imperial Master picked up the bottle, held it in his hand, and said in a trembling voice, "Is that young Taoist priest yours?"
The Crown Prince didn't answer directly. "The demon fish you fed with human flesh was long ago slaughtered as a tribute to those who lost their lives. I've always been curious. If this demon fish were truly raised, and the elixir made from human lives were truly cultivated, would the Imperial Master truly believe it would grant immortality? And would it be safe to consume?"
"Their ability to sacrifice themselves for the cause of immortality is a blessing they've earned through countless lifetimes! When I attain immortality, I will build a shrine to commemorate the souls who sacrificed for the elixir, ensuring their worship continues for generations to come!" The Imperial Master's chest heaved, a confident, yet strange smile playing at the corners of his lips. "If it weren't for me, how could they possibly endure such worship? Just because they don't treat them as human beings, their parents and relatives?"
The prince sighed, "Master, you are possessed by a demon."
The Imperial Preceptor clutched the porcelain bottle tightly in his hand, then suddenly, like a madman, flung it to the ground. The bottle shattered, pieces scattered, and the elixir inside rolled across the golden bricks, stopping only at the door. The Imperial Preceptor suddenly looked up at Xun Shu and asked the same question: "Why do the people in the Sitian Pavilion live for hundreds of years? Is there really an elixir of immortality?"
Li Xuanhe leaned forward, blocking the Imperial Preceptor's view of Xun Shu. Chi Xiao and Yu Chang, standing by, rested their hands on their swords, alert to the Imperial Preceptor, ready to draw their weapons at any moment. Xun Shu, however, looked at the nearly madman not far away and said calmly, "The disciples of the Si Tian Pavilion are no different from ordinary people. Some even have shorter lifespans than ordinary people because they revealed Heaven's secrets and defied fate. I don't know where you heard that the people of the Si Tian Pavilion can achieve immortality, but it's false. There's no such thing as an elixir of life, which goes against the laws of nature. What you seek is but a fleeting reflection in the mirror and a flower in the water."
Li Xuanhe suddenly turned around and looked at Xun Shu beside him. Xun Shu pretended not to notice and continued, "So, the rumors circulating in the Jianghu market about the Sitian Pavilion's treasured mirror and treasures are all lies you fabricated. You spread them to get more people to help you find the people in the Sitian Pavilion and force them to reveal the formula for the elixir of immortality."
The Imperial Master stared at her intently, his body suddenly relaxing. "It's not a fabricated lie or unfounded talk. Little girl, have you ever heard the rumor that the man who founded the Hall of Eternal Life decades ago was once a disciple of the Sitian Pavilion, but was later expelled?"
Xun Shu nodded slightly. "Yes, I have heard of it. But once a disciple of Si Tian Pavilion leaves the mountain, he is expelled from the sect. From then on, he has no connection with the sect. There will be no trace of them in Si Tian Pavilion, so I have no way to tell whether it is true or not."
"It's true." The Imperial Master gave her a positive answer. "The person who founded the Hall of Eternal Life was my master, the former Hall Master. He lived in the Sitian Pavilion for a period of time when he was young, and after coming down the mountain, he established the Hall of Eternal Life. The snakehead fish in Ningyuan Village was also discovered by him by chance during his travels."
Xun Shu frowned, "What does this have to do with the immortality of the people in the Sitian Pavilion?"
"The connection is that I, too, am an abandoned disciple of the Sitian Pavilion," the Imperial Master said slowly. "I entered the Sitian Pavilion over thirty years ago and stayed on the mountain for over a year before being driven down by the Pavilion Master. The old Palace Master and I entered the sect nearly a decade apart, yet we both had the same master. And in all these long years, his appearance hasn't changed at all. Little girl, if I'm not mistaken, the master you're talking about is the same person as mine and the old Palace Master's. How could someone remain unchanged in appearance over nearly a hundred years? There's absolutely no other explanation except that the Pavilion Master has attained immortality!"
Xun Shu lowered his eyelashes, thinking of what his senior sister Chu Miao had said.
The master may have lived for hundreds of years.
But if the master really lived for hundreds of years, why did he die in that fire?
Although he harbored doubts, Xun Shu remained silent. He spoke calmly, "Master has passed away, killed in the fire five years ago. What you said can no longer be verified, and there are no answers. I'm curious about another thing. According to your original plan, if Prince Chen hadn't died, what would you have done?"
Years of persistence had been shattered into nothingness, and the Imperial Master felt as if he had been completely drained of energy. He slumped in his chair, his breath fading. "How about you guys guess?"
Xun Shu pursed his lips and said nothing. Li Xuanhe beside him spoke up, "Let me guess. If Prince Chen is not dead, the people from the Sitian Pavilion have not arrived, and the elixir has not been replaced, and the Imperial Preceptor presents the elixir to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty immediately takes it, there will be two situations. The first is that Your Majesty really gains immortality after taking the elixir, and your dragon body does not feel any discomfort. If so, the Imperial Preceptor will take the other hidden elixir. In this way, as long as Your Majesty is there, the status of the Imperial Preceptor and the Changsheng Palace will not be threatened. Afterwards, the Imperial Preceptor will tell Your Majesty that Prince Chen has hidden his troops in the nearby mountains and forests. With Your Majesty's action, Prince Chen will be silenced forever, and the secret will be buried with his bones in the ground, never to see the light of day again.
"Second, the elixir not only has no immortality effect, but is also harmful to the dragon body. In this scenario, His Majesty dies and the Crown Prince ascends the throne. The Crown Prince and the Imperial Preceptor have different ideologies. The Imperial Preceptor is worried that the Crown Prince will attack the Hall of Eternal Life after ascending the throne, so he makes a backup plan. He collaborates with Prince Chen in advance, hiding 10,000 troops in the nearby mountains and forests. The Zhai Palace's guards are currently undernumbered and cannot defeat Prince Chen's 10,000 troops. Prince Chen seizes power, and the Imperial Preceptor, having served as his advisor, will naturally receive preferential treatment from him. From this point on, the Hall of Eternal Life will be secure. However, your plan is flawed from the outset, with too many omissions."
Li Xuanhe finished speaking, but did not wait for the response from the national teacher.
Candlelight flickered in the hall, and the Imperial Master sat with his back to the light, his face hidden in the shadows. Everyone's attention was focused on what Li Xuanhe was saying. They hadn't looked at him closely for a long time, and now they were surprised to find that he sat quietly, his eyes unfocused.
The attendant beside the Crown Prince took a half step forward, felt his breath, and then said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Preceptor has left."
Li Xuanhe frowned, pursed his lips, and stared at the person in front of him who seemed to be in deep thought.
A hint of surprise crossed the Crown Prince's face, and after a moment he sighed, "Tomorrow is the Fengshan Ceremony. Qishan's spiritual energy is currently flourishing. Father and the Imperial Preceptor have been summoned by the gods. Years of arduous cultivation have finally borne fruit, and they have ascended to heaven. Tomorrow, the Imperial Palace will announce this to Heaven and Earth during the ceremony. It can be considered a perfect ending."
-
How the Imperial Preceptor died, whether it was a sudden death or a premature death by poison, remained unknown. Xun Shu, though curious, understood that not everything in this world could be answered. Regardless of the cause of his death, the Crown Prince, as the new Emperor, had spoken at the Fengshan Ceremony, establishing the facts of the matter, a fact no one dared to dispute.
The ban on the Zhai Palace was lifted in the early morning of the Fengshan Ceremony. Xun Shu did not go to join in the fun of the ceremony, but hurried back to the small courtyard in Liangqiu.
The fields surrounding the yard were mostly empty, the old vegetables already pulled out and new ones not yet planted in. On the distant hillside, the grain had begun to grow, swaying in the morning breeze, signaling the impending harvest.
The yard was quiet, without a sound. Xun Shu trotted and pushed open the door. The house was empty, with no one in sight.
The matter was settled, and the brothers and sisters had quietly left without a word. The courtyard that had been bustling with activity just a few days ago was now deserted, like a fleeting dream.
Xun Shu felt a sense of emptiness within him, yet he also felt that this was as it should be. Everyone in the Sitian Pavilion had their own futures, gathering together for a celestial phenomenon, and then, once the event was concluded, they retreated back into the crowd, dispersing across the world. Perhaps they would meet again when the next Mars in the Heart appeared.
Xun Shu sat down at the table with his shoulders drooping and his head down. Just as he was feeling sad, laughter came from the doorway: "Junior Sister, gathering and separation are all normal, why be sad? Only separation can bring about gathering, right?"
Xun Shu suddenly looked up, only to see Yuan Zhou carrying a small bag, leaning against the door frame and looking at her with a smile.
Xun Shu stood up and looked behind him. Yuan Zhou knew what she was looking for and waved, "They left before dawn. I was about to leave too, but halfway through, I realized that if we really left like this, without even saying goodbye, you would be heartbroken for a long time, just like you were five years ago."
Xun Shu rubbed his eyes and muttered, "So you guys knew that too."
Yuan Zhou sighed, sat on the threshold, beckoned Xun Shu to sit next to him, and whispered, "I stayed because I wanted to tell you something, but after thinking about it, I felt that some of the truths I had just said didn't make sense. You have to experience it yourself, and be heartbroken a few times, before you can find the answer that belongs to you."
The sun rose, and the chill of the night gradually dissipated. Xun Shu and Yuan Zhou sat in the sun, feeling warm, and unconsciously felt a little tired. Yuan Zhou squinted at the sun and said softly: "The sun you and I see today is the same sun we saw in the Sitian Pavilion many years ago. So, little sister, there is no need to be sad about the separation, nor do you need to feel lonely. The sky, the earth, the sun, and the moon are unchanging. They have always been there, always accompanying you, as well as the mountain breeze and the flowing river. They will guide you and accompany you on the road destined for you, and no one is an exception."
Xun Shu sighed, "Brother Yuanzhou, why are you acting like Brother Liangqiu now? You like beating around the bush."
Yuan Zhou paused, his face showing helplessness: "Then I will say it straight. Junior Sister, I know what you have been obsessed with in the past few years. Not only do I know, Liang Qiu knows, and Chu Miao knows too. They are not as fussy as me. They think you can figure out these things and can handle them well. But I still want to say, have you ever doubted for a moment that the ending of the master was actually chosen by him? He calculated when you would go down the mountain and meet the noble man from the coffin shop, and arranged a place for you. He calculated that there would be a great disaster in the Sitian Pavilion. This disaster concerns the whole world, and it would take his life to resolve it." He scratched his head, worried that if he spoke so vaguely, Xun Shu would not understand, so he added, "Junior Sister, divine power and imperial power seem to be interdependent, but in fact they have been incompatible since ancient times. A hundred years ago, the Changsheng Palace retreated once, and it has been lingering for so long. It should have been-"
Xun Shu didn't want to listen anymore and interrupted him: "What exactly do you want to say?"
Yuan Zhou watched her quietly, suddenly remembering this little girl before him, an orphan, brought back to the mountains by her master and raised personally. Before she was ten, her world consisted only of Sitian Pavilion. At ten, she lost everything overnight: her home and her family.
Sitian Pavilion was her home, her faith, and the only thing she could hold on to and rely on. Therefore, what others could accept and understand, she could not accept for a long time.
She walked half of this journey alone, and she still has to walk the remaining half by herself. No one can do it for her.
Yuan Zhou sighed: "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything." He stood up and stretched, rubbed Xun Shu's head, and said with a smile, just like when he was a child, "Junior Sister, I have said everything I need to say, and I am leaving now!"
"Wait." Xun Shu stopped him, "Have we solved the calamity of Yinghuo guarding the heart?"
Yuan Zhou raised his eyebrows: "How do you think it's solved?"
Xun Shu hesitated for a moment before saying, "The mountains and rivers are peaceful, there are no wars, no disasters, and the people live and work in peace and contentment."
"So what do you think now?"
Xun Shu said softly, "The Crown Prince is legitimate and has successfully inherited the throne. He hasn't suffered from cholera, so his title is legitimate. Prince Chen's troops were trapped ahead of time, so there's no chance of him rebelling... should that be considered the case, right?"
"That's all." Yuan Zhou said with a smile. He took out a sweet-scented osmanthus candy from his sleeve pocket and stuffed it into Xun Shu's hand. "Don't think so much at such a young age. Everything in the world is determined by fate. Do your best and leave the rest to fate. Everything you do is just for peace of mind. Little Junior Sister, see you again if we're lucky!"
"Will we meet again?"
"As long as the mountains, rivers, sun and moon are still here, we will naturally have the possibility of meeting again."
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