“If you don’t show your true body, you should be careful because I will cut you.” Li Qiye hugged his ancient zither, and revealed a comfortable smile.
“Hahahaha...” The monster sinisterly laughed. The sound was hard to hear and deafening to the ears, causing others to shiver: “You will never be able to kill me! No one can kill me!”
“Is that so? Wait until I dig up the Yearning Lunar Peak beneath the bones of the dead; can you say no one could kill you then?!”
“Bang... Bang... Bang...” After hearing Li Qiye’s words, the monster was frightened and retreated to the back.
“Show me your true body now; don’t pretend to be Gods and Devils in front of me.” Li Qiye sat in a meditative posture on the floor, staring at the monster. He gently wiped the dust off his ancient zither.
“Zheng... Zheng... Zheng...” The zither started to play again. It was as smooth as the flow of water, it flowed inside the Ghost Pavilion. From the flow of the zither came the harmony of the melodic patterns, soft and smooth.
Inside the zither tunes, it was as if others could see that inside the blue mountain over yonder was a small bridge to cross the river. Through that, there would be a courtyard filled with the chickens’ crows in the morning; a small and tranquil village was appearing in front of their eyes.
This unfathomable monster, hearing this tune, noisily backed away. At this point, the layers of fogs dissipated from its body. In the end, the gigantic monster ultimately disappeared, and a shadowy figure appeared. It was only a slim and graceful figure; it was only a shadow of her back, but it was enough to topple the spirit of all living things. Just the shadow of her back was enough to cause all living things to unconditionally turned their heads for another look. This was a beauty capable of causing the downfall of nations; this was a beauty with incomparable and absolute peerlessness.
Who would have thought that a monster causing other people to be frightened would have such a peerless beauty as its true body?
“Flowing Water Mortal Home!” The blurred shadow unfathomably stared at Li Qiye, and she murmured: “Yo-you... How did you know this melody?!”
“Xiao He, it really is you.” Li Qiye stopped playing, and comfortably laughed while he stared at this peerless beauty’s shadow. [1]
The peerless beauty, having heard Li Qiye’s words, immediately became frightened, and she continuously stepped backward. She frighteningly asked: “Wh-who, who are you!?”
Li Qiye opened with a smile, and he said: “That year, under the wutong tree, digging out the bones for you; besides little brat Min Ren, you tell me who else was there?”
“Yo-you, you are Your Excellency Divine Crow?!” The peerless shadow, astonished, asked with her eyes wide opened.
“With the exception of that little brat Min Ren and I, who else would know what was under the wutong tree and Yearning Lunar Peak? Who else would know about the Flowing Water Mortal Home? This melody, ‘Flowing Water Mortal Home’, I was the one who taught it to that little brat Min Ren.”
“It truly is you! Your Excellency Divine Crow!” This peerless shadow was extremely ecstatic; she quickly stepped forward, and she surprisingly said: “Your Excellency Divine Crow, you are truly still alive.”
Li Qiye smiled and emotionally reminisced: “I am eternal since the ancient past, this is nothing strange.”
The peerless figure drew closer; her shadow was transparent and unclear, but from the shape, one could tell that she was a peerless beauty.
Li Qiye finally looked at her, shook his head, and he said: “You have not dissipated. What sins did you commit to suffer like this? Turning yourself into something that isn’t human nor ghost. You have to remember, that year I told you that you are not Su Yu He; you are not a ghost, but you are also not human. You are only a strand of yearning sentiments, not wanting to dissipate.”
The peerless figure heard Li Qiye words, and she bowed her head in silence.
“I know.” Li Qiye shook his head, and he continued: “You liked that little brat Min Ren, but you could not forget. Even that year, that little brat Min Ren couldn’t recreate you. You are a dead person in the end; plus, your souls and spirits have dissipated along with any hateful sentiments. You are not a ghost, you are not a hateful sentiment, and you are especially not Su Yu He’s soul, wandering in this world. In reality, you and Su Yu He no longer have any relations! You are just a yearning sentiment; a strand of yearning sentiment towards Min Ren, not willing to depart.”
The peerless shadow’s head remained in a bow; she didn’t say another word.
Li Qiye gravely said: “Little brat Min Ren’s biggest flaw was being too gentle. That year, I had told him to use a melody to transcend your soul for it to find peace, but he couldn’t do it!”
The peerless shadow quietly whispered: “Your Excellency, don’t blame Immortal Emperor Min Ren. This was because I, I was not willing to transcend. I, I only wanted to leave behind, behind a strand of yearning sentiment!”
Li Qiye shook his head, and he said: “Little brat Min Ren is no longer here, do you feel like there is any meaning in leaving behind a strand of yearning sentiment? When little brat Min Ren was still in this world, he was too gentle and merciful; often, he came to play a melody for you! However, you know as well, this was not because of you. Little brat Min Ren passed away, so why do you still remain in this place?”
Hearing Li Qiye’s words, the shadow called Xiao He became sad, bowed her head really low, and finally she gently said: “After he left, I hoped that one day I could be buried along with him under the peach tree, but it was impossible. I had no choice but to remain within this zither. Later, the zither sank into the ground by itself, and I fell into a deep slumber.”
Seeing this poor woman in front of him, Li Qiye gently sighed; in the end, he had to say: “Fine, after I accomplish everything, I will go to Yearning Lunar Peak and dig out your remains. I will bury you together under the peach tree, to fulfill your last wish.”
Xiao He bowed to pay her respect, and she gratefully said: “Thank you, Your Excellency.”
Seeing her, Li Qiye could only sigh. There were no words to describe the feelings in his heart. He could only say, this was mother nature mocking humans.
That year, he brought Immortal Emperor Min Ren onto the road of cultivation. He let Min Ren choose this place to establish the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect for a reason. During the Desolate Era, this place was a mysterious grand ground; many unexplainable things had happened here. In that era, countless races had examined this place.
Straight to the Beginning Era, there was a different race with heavenly piercing talents that rose up in this place; they created an empire without equals. This race, at this place, had a tyrant, and the tyrant was ferocious, just like the rest of his kind. This caused the entire human race, in the Mortal World, to be massacred by him.
Afterward, a Virtuous Paragon of the human race rose up and rebelled against this tyrant. This Virtuous Paragon was an unequaled creation, and he towered over the eight desolates; he was the opponent of the other tyrant.
However, the tyrant used to explore the mysteries of this land. Each time, he and the Virtuous Paragon fought to the death; whenever he was in danger, he would borrow this mysterious land to defeat the Virtuous Paragon.
The Virtuous Paragon was not discouraged; again and again, he raged war against this mysterious land. However, defeat after defeat, from being a young courageous man filled with energy to be a Mortal Emperor with white hair, in the end, this Virtuous Paragon became despaired. Unless he could carry the Heaven’s Will, there was no way he could defeat this tyrant that was borrowing the strength of this mysterious land.
However, he didn’t have this chance; he had given up his opportunity to carry the Heaven’s Will! Before the last war, he came up with a new method!
This Virtuous Paragon had a daughter. His daughter, whether it was her talents or beauty, she was peerless beyond comparison; she was considered the number one beauty of that time! The Virtuous Paragon, wanting to figure out the mysterious land, had let his daughter marry this tyrant in the end.
The tyrant also knew the intentions of his mortal enemy. He lusted for the number one beauty, so he brought her inside his empire.
From then on, the number one beauty, that was admired by all, became the sole possession of the tyrant, and she became his toy. Fallen into his hands, the number one beauty accepted countless degradations and suffered from countless shameless acts, but in the end, she was able to obtain the secret of this land.
The Virtuous Paragon, using the secret found by his daughter, was able to defeat the tyrant in one last battle, and he destroyed his brutal empire.
However, the story didn’t end there. Afterward, the Virtuous Paragon was not able to inherit the secret of this land. He forced his way up to the heavens, wanting to borrow the secret of this land to connect to the Heaven’s Will, to carry the Heaven’s Will, and to become the invincible number one in the Nine Worlds!
However, after the number one beauty suffered humiliations in order to accomplish her task, she died in the dark night curtain from sadness. Her hateful sentiment didn’t disappear; it lingered on top of this land.
The moment when the Virtuous Paragon was trying to attack the Heaven’s Will, the hateful sentiment was suddenly triggered; it went on a crazy rampage. Regarding his daughter, the Virtuous Paragon had always felt guilty. Due to his daughter dying from sadness, the Virtuous Paragon experienced an even greater blow, causing his Dao willpower to give birth to a will devil. [2]
During the crucial moment, the hateful sentiment of his daughter suddenly pierced the high heaven, and it went straight into the Heaven’s Wrath, causing the devil will of the Virtuous Paragon to suddenly go crazy. In the end, he couldn’t overcome the will devil’s devouring, and he died under the power of the Heaven’s Wrath.
In the end, the human race kingdom, established by this Virtuous Paragon, in this place, turned into ruins!
The daughter of this Virtuous Paragon, the number one beauty of that era, was Su Yu He!
Countless years had passed; Li Qiye, as the Dark Crow, led Immortal Emperor Min Ren to this place to establish the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. At that time, this place was still in ruins. However, the hateful sentiments of Su Yu He still existed, and it often caused chaos due to her hatred; the hateful sentiments pierced the heaven, and they turned this place into a Ghost Domain.
Later on, Immortal Emperor Min Ren, under the instruction of Li Qiye, had found the resting place of Su Yu He. He restored her corpse, and he buried her in a beautiful scenic area.
Immortal Emperor Min Ren played matchless tunes for her hateful sentiment in order for it to transcend. After many times, in the end, her hateful sentiment finally dissipated, and she closed her eyes within the burial.
However, after the hateful sentiments dissipated, the moment before closing her eyes and her traveling souls were still in this world, Su Yu He gave birth to a yearning sentiment towards Immortal Emperor Min Ren. Finally, she closed her eyes, and she rested in peace in an unknown location.
However, this yearning sentiment followed the ancient zither back to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. Afterward, when Li Qiye, as the Dark Crow, found out, she had already been staying in the sect.
For such a matter, Li Qiye did not agree. Su Yu He had died with no chance of revival. Plus, this strand of yearning sentiment was not Su Yu He. This was not a person, not a ghost, and especially not an existence; this was merely a strand of yearning sentiment.
A strand of yearning sentiment remaining in this world, this was only a torture to her. She didn’t have a chance of becoming a living existence, so she didn’t have a way of following Immortal Emperor Min Ren; she was but a yearning sentiment in a mist of nothingness.
[1] Xiao means little, it is an affectionate way of calling someone.
[2] Will devil = a flaw in one’s Dao, might cause him to go berserk or lose emotions.