Chapter 690: My Past is Your....
Xu Qing clearly remembered how the statues of Crimson Mother always had hands covering the eyes, with blood flowing down from those spots. And now, as Xu Qing saw a huge eye in the secret trove of the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son, and sensed the strong aura of Crimson Mother, his heart started pounding.
Thinking back to the nursery rhyme, which mentioned ‘fourth dolly’ being lost, he recalled the Heir Apparent talking about how his fourth brother became Crimson Mother’s godchild. And he also thought about the ancient scene he had witnessed during the events at the God Decapitation Altar, and the first thing Li Zihua said to Crimson Mother.
“The song you were singing was just too unpleasant to hear. It interrupted my fourth son’s dream.” [1]
It seemed everything was backed up by history.
Perhaps Crimson Mother’s song didn’t just interrupt the dream of Li Zihua’s fourth son. Perhaps it had implanted an eye into that dream.
Perhaps this was that eye, and it was the reason why shē could be resurrected after being beheaded before reaching godly ascension.
Perhaps Li Zihua knew all of that, yet for some unknown reason didn’t tell anyone, and also didn’t stop it from happening....
Perhaps that was why Li Zihua’s fourth son, who was born before his father reached godly ascension only to extinguish his own godfire, had ultimately become the godchild.
The Moonrite Region was the place where Crimson Mother grew hēr food. It was hēr Spirit Garden. And the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son was also Crimson Mother’s Spirit Garden. He was growing an eye for hēr.
Xu Qing had no way of knowing whether any of his speculations were correct or not. They made sense, logically speaking. And because of how logical they seemed, Xu Qing was deeply shaken.
Eventually, the secret trove worlds faded away into nothing....
Xu Qing’s secret trove had crushed the fourth son’s secret trove. It had wiped out everything. And then the river of time swept away all the pieces. In the end, Crimson Mother’s eye didn’t release any special power. It wasn’t a huge surprise to Xu Qing. After all, in this time period, Crimson Mother still hadn’t reached godly ascension. Besides, shē was only a projection that lacked any familiar karma.
However, in the outside world, the godchild presumably has a fully matured eye in him.... I’m sure the others have realized this.
Xu Qing let himself be swept along by the river, until he eventually vanished. The river continued flowing off into the distance. It left the time period, and then returned to where it had started on the island.
As Xu Qing appeared, thunder rumbled overhead, and he heard a familiar voice teasing him from behind.
“What took you so long, little Ah Qing?”
Xu Qing turned to see the Captain sitting on the waves of the river of time, fiddling with the nine artificial suns, which had been shrunk down to the size of pearls. He was smiling enigmatically.
“The grandmas and grandpas obviously weren’t taking me very seriously,” the Captain said. “They arranged for me to go back to when the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son broke through from Gold Core to Nascent Soul. All I had to do was wave a finger to wipe out that arrogant brat. I even had time to remove one of my seals.”
The Captain looked very pleased with himself as he pulsed with a wave of energy, and a black secret trove appeared behind him.
Xu Qing wasn’t very surprised that his Eldest Brother had experienced a cultivation base breakthrough. Back when the two of them had been blessed by the Moonrebel Congregation, he had been able to tell that his Eldest Brother was ready for a breakthrough but was holding back.
“Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing suddenly said, “did you intend all along to go to the fourth son’s Nascent Soul time period?”
The Captain grinned and was about to reply when the waves surged and Madam Godfinch appeared in the froth. As soon as she was out in the open, her body withered significantly.
“The Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son is now dead in the time period I went to,” she said. “My mission is complete. This clone of mine... won’t last for much longer. Going forward, it’s all up to you two.”
Madam Godfinch’s clone had not shown any emotion at all up to this point, not even now, when she was fading into nothing. That was the price she had paid to leave this clone behind. And it was also a manifestation of her determination and her mission. She was a former Archbishop of Moonrebel, and when she failed to lead the people of her era into freedom, she had sighed in sorrow and then defiantly created this clone. Now, though she still sighed in sorrow, she had reached the end of the line.
After looking around one last time, she sighed and closed her eyes. The wind blew, and she faded away, turning into ash that blew out into heaven and earth, leaving behind only the sound of her echoing sigh.
Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed.
The Captain said nothing. He also bowed.
Before long, the waves surged again, and Fifth Sister appeared. She was staggering, and she kept coughing up mouthfuls of blood. She looked older than before. After noticing Xu Qing and the Captain, her eyes flickered with gratitude, and she nodded. Not speaking a word, she settled down cross-legged, whereupon motes of white light drifted off her and into the river. She was sacrificing her own life force in order to help her brothers and sisters.
As the white motes of light entered the river, the water seethed with greater intensity, and Eighth Sib emerged from the waves. He was missing his lower half, but the white motes of light were already gathering to heal him. As he dragged himself out of the water, he spat out some phlegm and then grinned.
“I never liked Fourth Sib. Always wanted to give him a good thrashing. It felt great!” He waved his hand, and the white motes of light surrounding his missing lower half moved away and returned to Fifth Sister. “You don’t have much longevity. Don’t waste it on me. I’ll be fine!”
Fifth Sister looked at him but didn’t object.
“Erniu,” he said, “are you really looking at your Eighth Grandpa in this state and not offering some help?” He looked at the Captain and laughed heartily.
Chuckling, the Captain hurried over, offered Eighth Sib an arm, and sighed admiringly.
“Grandpa Eighth, you’re extraordinarily valorous. I previously believed that I was the only person in this world who had your level of determination and boldness. How could I have ever guessed that there would be another heroic individual around such as you, Grandpa Eighth!”
Eighth Sib looked very pleased, and was about to say something when the river of time rumbled loudly. The Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom emerged, followed a moment later by Ninth Sib.
Ninth Sib arrived with astonishing grandeur. Most noteworthy was that the sharp blade he wielded dripped with golden blood. Of the nine who had gone to different time eras, he had gone to the one when the godchild was strongest.
“He’s been executed,” Ninth Sib said, his face expressionless.
The Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom breathed sighs of relief. Clearly, they had also succeeded.
Everyone was back with one exception.
Li Xiaoshan.
“He perished, but succeeded in the process,” Princess Brightblossom said, looking at the river of time. She waved her hand, and the river of time faded away.
The statue of the Imperial Sovereign appeared once again. A figure knelt on the head of the statue.
As the waters receded, the cultivators from the Red Moon Cathedral and the Moonrebel Congregation slowly opened their eyes. At first, they looked confused, then amazed. All of them were looking up at Xu Qing and the others, as well as the figure on the head of the statue.
That figure was the godchild’s true form. His vicious expression and terrifying body were no different than before. But his aura was unstable. Shivering, he opened his eyes. Golden fire burned in his eyes as he looked into the canopy of heaven.
The Heir Apparent and everyone else looked down at him.
Xu Qing and the Captain backed up a few steps. The battle was clearly nearing an end. If their success didn’t stop the godchild from reaching godly ascension, then it didn’t matter what they did next. Eventually, the godchild slowly got to his feet and spoke in a smoky, hoarse voice.
“To other people, our father was the Imperial Sovereign who safeguarded heaven here. He was completely loyal to the Ancient Emperor, and took pity on all living beings. But the reality is that he was a very contradictory person. And also ruthless.”
The Heir Apparent shook his head. “It sounds like you don’t understand our father.”
The godchild was silent for a moment. Looking at the Heir Apparent, he quietly continued, “Big brother, you and I don’t see our father in the same way. When you were born, you saw him as an Imperial Sovereign. When I was born... I saw hīm as a god.”
The Heir Apparent seemed like he had more he wanted to say, yet was unable to find the words.
Princess Brightblossom’s eyes glittered coldly as she said, “That’s not why you chose to betray and torture your own relatives.”
The godchild turned to look at Princess Brightblossom. Then he looked at Fifth Sister and Eighth Sib. Finally, his gaze fell onto Ninth Sib.
“Third Sister. Fifth Sister. Eight Brother. Ninth Brother.... I want to ask all of you a question. What’s more tragic, to be the only one sober while everyone else is drunk... or to be the only one drunk while everyone else is sober?”[2] [3]
There was no right or wrong answer to the question.
The godchild laughed self-deprecatingly. Then, golden fire spread from his eyes, covering his face, then flowing down over his entire body. Flames scorched the lands and illuminated the dome of heaven. The holy sensation coming off the godchild grew even more intense.
It was... godfire.
The fact that the fire was ignited didn’t indicate that the godchild had succeeded in his ceremony. Instead, it was a backlash.... As the flames spread, he looked at the Heir Apparent and the others. And he looked at the Captain, a profound look in his eyes.
The Captain met his gaze, and a crazy expression appeared on his face as he suddenly extended his right hand. All of a sudden, the nine artificial suns he had been playing with shot forward and surrounded the godchild. Streams of golden godfire seeped off the godfire and into the nine suns.
The Heir Apparent and others looked on with serious expressions. As the godfire entered the nine artificial suns, they experienced a heaven-shaking, earth-toppling transformation. They turned golden.
“Little Ah Qing, this is why your Eldest Brother worked so hard to recover these artificial suns here in the Moonrite Region. With godfire in them, tell me, do these nine suns remind you of the Dawning Suns? With nine mini-Dawning Suns, that shrew Crimson Mother’s big ceremony is going to be rocked to the core!”
Xu Qing wasn’t surprised by the Captain’s crazy words. Right now, his focus wasn’t on the nine suns, but rather, on the godchild.
That was because, as the godchild burned away, the last thing he looked at was Xu Qing.
“All of this happened because you showed up,” the godchild said. “You’re the reason for it all. There are far too many similarities between you and me. Could that really be a coincidence? Could it be that my past is actually your future...?”
The flames roared, and the godchild vanished from the head of his father’s statue.
Heaven and earth trembled. Wind screamed. The clouds seethed. The red moon loomed on the horizon, sending out a blood-colored light that formed into the face of Crimson Mother.
A god was coming.
1. Li Zihua spoke those words inchapter 639 . ☜
2. As you all know, Chinese distinguishes between older and younger brothers. For the sake of pithiness, I generally just translate them as brother and sister. In this case, the more accurate (and longer) translations are: “Third Elder Sister, Fifth Younger Sister, Eighth Younger Brother, Ninth Younger Brother....” ☜
3. The drunk/sober question is based on a relatively common saying which is “Everyone else is drunk, and I am the only sober one,” which is a somewhat arrogant way of proclaiming one’s superiority. ☜