Amidst the roar of firecrackers, a year passes; the spring breeze brings warmth and Tusu wine.
As the Lunar New Year approached, Su Bai and Bai Changsheng strolled through the market together, busy purchasing goods for the festival. Following behind them was a Taoist carrying a sword—Gu Wanqing, who had recently been tasked with guarding Su Bai.
“Wow! What a cute doll.”
“Look, it’s a Nian beast mask!”
“And sugar paintings! I wonder if they can draw a giant dragon.”
Bai Changsheng was instantly captivated by the trinkets. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, shining like a cluster of stars. She picked up a mask and gestured playfully toward the stall owner, her laughter clear and bright.
Su Bai was much quieter. She lowered her graceful body and lightly brushed her fingertips against a chubby little Nian beast doll. Parting her crimson lips, she softly inquired about the price, the corners of her mouth turning up in a gentle smile.
Gu Wanqing, watching over the two from behind, was quite perplexed.
To a cultivator, the New Year celebrations that mortals were so passionate about seemed “illusory and ethereal.” Any cultivator with even a bit of skill would often spend six months or longer in a single session of secluded meditation.
Furthermore, rather than exhausting one’s energy on New Year preparations, wouldn’t that time be better spent on cultivation?
‘Not understanding, not knowing, not asking, and not comprehending… perhaps this is a different version of the saying: a mushroom of a morning knows not the alternation of day and night, and a cicada knows not the spring and autumn.’
Gu Wanqing held his longsword and followed the two women in silence, watching the scenes unfold. If it were not for Mr. Bai’s orders, he would never have protected the Azure Sun Zenith.
‘In my past life, thirty thousand comrades died. That grudge and that hatred can never be forgotten!’
Although the Azure Sun Zenith had emphasized many times that she was not the one who acted—that it was the Xuantian Zenith who used her name to carry out those deeds—the fact remained. ‘Though the disciple may be innocent, the teacher bears the fault.’ As the one who had taught and passed on the path, how could the Azure Sun Zenith be completely blameless?
It seemed unlikely.
Among those who fought their way out of the era of the Five Realms War, not a single one was a simple character.
Thinking of this, Gu Wanqing could not help but think of the “remnant elders and young lords” within [Sun Extinguishing], and his head began to ache again.
***
“Soup dumplings are ready—we have meat filling and sesame filling—”
“Which kind do you like, Fellow Cultivator Gu?”
Bai Changsheng and Su Bai, wearing aprons, brought out the cooked soup dumplings. As night deepened, moonlight spilled into the small courtyard. Gu Wanqing sat alone, sipping a cup of sake. He did not respond to the two but continued to drink in small sips.
Seeing this, Su Bai served several meat and sesame dumplings and pushed the bowl in front of Gu Wanqing. Gu Wanqing looked up at her indifferently before going back to his drink.
Bai Changsheng leaned in and whispered a few words into Su Bai’s ear. Upon receiving permission, she also scooped a few soup dumplings into a bowl and carried it out the door.
She turned left and right along the winding path. The moonlight was chopped into fragments by the overgrown vegetation on both sides, spilling onto the ground like mottled silver frost.
About fifteen minutes later, she arrived at a secret underground branch.
The surroundings were so quiet that she could only hear her own footsteps. She gently pushed open the door to a certain room. Inside, a tall, burly man was fully concentrated on swinging a long halberd, sweating profusely.
“Brother Wu, Happy New Year! Come and try the soup dumplings I made.”
The young girl’s lips curled up into a flower-like smile as she handed the steaming, fragrant bowl of dumplings to him.
***
Back in the small courtyard, the moonlight was at its peak.
Seeing that Gu Wanqing had no intention of responding, Su Bai did not take offense. She scooped up a plump dumpling and put it into her mouth. The meat juices burst forth with a rich aroma; it was delicious.
This action caused the solitary Taoist’s eyes to flicker, and the wine in his cup rippled slightly.
“Are you surprised?” Su Bai noticed this and raised an eyebrow with a half-smile. “That the dignified Azure Sun Zenith would be so fond of such common food, just like an ordinary citizen?”
“Perhaps in your heart, a person like me should enjoy the rootless water that falls from the heavens, watch the sunrise in the morning and the moon in the evening, and travel through the high heavens in search of immortality, enjoying the carefree life of the immortal path.”
“Tsk… just like my wicked disciple, you love to judge people by your own standards. He worships power and strength, believing only in might, while you, Fellow Cultivator Gu, follow the rules and restrictions of the cultivation world. You are too rigid, afraid to break through.”
Gu Wanqing acted as if he had not heard her, continuing to drink his sake in silence.
Cup after cup, the flask seemed to contain an endless supply of wine. No matter how much he poured, it never ran dry.
Su Bai shook her head with a light laugh, then suddenly shifted the topic to the various things she had seen while handling affairs within [Sun Extinguishing] over the past year.
She spoke of witnessing Nascent Soul juniors bullying the weak and using their influence to oppress others; she spoke of the fierce conflicts caused by the unequal distribution of resources; she even spoke of the interest entanglements between newly joined cultivators and veteran members. She had personally seen serious offenses being “picked up high and put down lightly,” where the offender merely penalized themselves with three cups of wine to end the matter.
Su Bai recounted these events one by one, and Gu Wanqing listened in silence the entire time, offering no opinion.
It was only when Su Bai finished speaking that Gu Wanqing spoke with a cold expression. “What is the Azure Sun Zenith’s intent with this? Do you think [Sun Extinguishing] is rife with corruption and oppression, and that the building is about to collapse? Or do you want to prove that everyone in your Azure Emperor Divine Palace is clean and honest, that there is no hierarchy among cultivators, and that no conflict exists at all?”
“That is not the case.” Su Bai waved her hand slightly and grabbed the wine flask from in front of Gu Wanqing to pour herself a cup.
“Corruption and oppression are things that no regime can avoid, and the Azure Emperor Divine Palace is no exception. After all, humans are not plants; who can be truly emotionless?”
“Although I cannot create an absolutely clean and honest regime, I have the ability to build a place that is relatively clear and just. However, in the [Sun Extinguishing] led by you, Fellow Cultivator Gu, there are some things that could clearly be avoided, yet you chose to remain indifferent.”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “Not long ago, True Lord Flame Soul forcibly married his forty-eighth concubine to use her as a cultivation vessel. That woman was the biological sister of a genius cultivator within [Sun Extinguishing]. And what was the final result? That genius was forced into a corner and defected to the Azure Emperor Divine Palace.”
Gu Wanqing could not help but frown. He had heard of this incident, but…
“Of course, I am not trying to deny the many brilliant achievements [Sun Extinguishing] has made. I only want to say…”
Su Bai stared at Gu Wanqing with a deep and focused gaze. “Fellow Cultivator Gu, what exactly are you hesitating for?”
“Currently, the Azure Emperor Divine Palace watches from the outside while those stubborn remnant elders and young lords pull strings from within. The contradictions are complex. Why not simply cut the Gordian knot and completely eliminate those restless elements in one fell swoop?”
“Since ancient times, those who achieve great things do not sweat the small stuff. If you continue to delay and hesitate like this, I fear it will breed even greater disasters in the future, making it difficult to achieve your grand ambitions!”
Gu Wanqing subconsciously tightened his grip on his wine cup. He slowly turned his head to meet those deep, bright eyes. For a moment, she seemed to overlap with the green-robed figure in his heart. A question escaped his lips: “Do you really want to know?”
Su Bai nodded gently.
Gu Wanqing drained the wine in his cup in one gulp. His gaze dimmed slightly as he let out a long sigh.
“I am lost.”
“The founding philosophy of [Sun Extinguishing] was to give cultivators the chance to pursue immortality freely, to give mortals the right to look up at the stars freely, and to give the living beings of the Five Realms and Two Heavens the hope to pursue a happy future freely.”
“However, these things—the things we have fought for our entire lives—the Azure Emperor Divine Palace and the Xuantian Zenith have actually achieved them in this lifetime.”
“Under the shroud of the [Heavenly Sovereign Spirit-Locking Array], there are no more natural or man-made disasters in the Central Continent, and mortals live and work in peace. Cultivators in this era are not being raised like livestock; they have the right to pursue the Union of Dao and immortality. The beings of the Five Realms and Two Heavens seem to have a better future, and they do not need our help.”
“Meanwhile, our [Sun Extinguishing] has accepted too many remnants from the old era. They want to return to the times of the past, where families are judged by bloodlines and sects are dominated by factions.”
“I often wonder… if we successfully overthrow the Azure Emperor Divine Palace one day, will [Sun Extinguishing] merely decline into a cruel and tyrannical organization?”
“If so, wouldn’t that be a betrayal of the thirty thousand comrades who died in battle, a betrayal of Mr. Bai’s teachings, and a betrayal of the cultivators who have silently supported our cause?”
“But I cannot let go. If I let go, I would also be failing the cultivators who have followed me faithfully, and failing the fellow Daoists who have sacrificed themselves so far.”
As he spoke, Gu Wanqing took another large gulp of wine and looked into the distance. Two lines of silent tears marked his face.
The helmsman of [Sun Extinguishing], who had struggled for a thousand years and fought for the ideals of his past life, had never been this undignified or this lost.
“Azure Sun Zenith, you tell me.”
He looked at Su Bai in her simple white robe. His gaze seemed to travel through layers of time and space, falling upon her with a sigh of confusion and hesitation.
“What should I do?”
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