Chapter 986: They Are Not You
Qin Mu gazed at the endless expanse of burial mounds, a bizarre feeling rising in his heart.
As he traveled along, the thirty-three heavens of Carefree Village seemed like three different worlds: the old ministers of the Kaishu era were full of complaints and self-abandonment, while the new generation indulged in pleasure and dissipation.
And yet, the Qin clan was fighting tooth and nail, shedding blood and sacrificing their lives for the peace of Carefree Village.
This was too absurd.
"Carefree Village has become deformed. Or rather, Carefree Village has split apart," Qin Mu sighed inwardly.
A fractured Carefree Village: the older generation, having abandoned the people they had once sworn to protect, suffered a collapse of their Dao hearts; the new generation sank into the carefree idleness of having whatever they wished for.
The Qin family, feeling guilty toward both the people and the older generation, yet determined to uphold the glory of Kaishu and maintain the peace of Carefree Village, defended it with a near-self-destructive devotion.
"You wouldn't let me return to Carefree Village because you were afraid I'd end up like the Qin ancestors buried here?"
Qin Mu shook his head. In truth, the Carefree Village in his heart had long since crumbled, disintegrated, and ceased to exist. He only felt that the sacrifices made by the Qin ancestors to protect Carefree Village and uphold Kaishu's glory were not worth it.
"Back then, Kaishu split half of the Other Shore Realm to create Carefree Village, offending the Creators. And now, it was a child of the Qin family who established the Netherworld of the Other Shore, bringing peace between the two races."
Qin Mu said to Qin Hanzhen, "From now on, there's no need for the descendants of the Qin family to fight the Creators to the death just to protect Kaishu's glory."
Qin Hanzhen shook his head and walked forward. "In the future, the descendants of the Qin family will still fight and die for Kaishu's glory and for the wars to come. This is Carefree Village, but once you leave it, isn't the outside world just another Carefree Village?"
Qin Mu followed Qin Hanzhen, walking past one burial mound after another, his heart calm and empty. The deaths of generation after generation of ancestors, the war with the Creators—it made him want to laugh but couldn't, want to cry but couldn't.
He could only shake his head.
Since he had come to understand the world, the Carefree Village he had searched for so painstakingly was, in the end, just a flower in the mist, a moon in the water.
Unless one stood in his position, it was hard to understand his feelings and state of mind at this moment.
The Zhen Prince's manor was not far ahead. The burial mounds gradually thinned out, and some young men and women were training hard.
They should be the younger generation of the Qin family, around Qin Mu's age. Some were older than him, but not by much; some were younger.
There weren't many Qin family disciples, only about a dozen. They trained even harder than people elsewhere in Carefree Village, almost like ascetics, tempering their bodies, refining their primal energies, and consolidating their divine consciousness.
In the current Carefree Village, where many of the new generation prioritized pleasure, it was rare to see such diligent cultivation.
Qin Mu stopped to watch and asked Qin Hanzhen, "Is this all that's left of the Qin family?"
Qin Hanzhen nodded. "This is all that's left. After a hundred generations, who still thinks of you as royalty? Only you yourself believe that. Only you still hold on to that pride. If you don't work hard, when the Creators attack, you'll die horribly. We only breathed a sigh of relief after Fengqing returned."
Qin Mu watched for a while. Qin Hanzhen called over a little girl and said, "Siying, this is your cousin."
The girl, drenched in sweat, used her primal energy to evaporate it cleanly. She looked at Qin Mu curiously and laughed, "He's the Holy Infant of the Creator race, really fierce! He scared a lot of people to tears! I was scared to tears too back then."
Qin Mu smiled, took out a drop of Primordial Origin Liquid, visualized it into a pearl, sealed the liquid inside, and gave it to her. "Wear this around your neck. It will be very beneficial for your daily cultivation."
The girl took it and ran off to train again.
"Siying is the youngest in the Qin family. She's your eldest uncle's posthumous child, not yet ten years old. I'm teaching her now."
Qin Hanzhen said, "Let's go home. I'll take you to the ancestral hall to pay respects."
Qin Mu nodded. The Zhen Prince's manor wasn't large, nothing like Long Biansky's extravagant residence, but the ancestral hall was quite spacious. The Zhen Princess and Shu Jun waited outside as Qin Hanzhen led Qin Mu inside. There, rows of memorial tablets were neatly arranged, piled together like a grand altar.
It was very solemn here, the atmosphere heavy.
Qin Mu followed behind Qin Hanzhen, kowtowing and offering incense.
Qin Hanzhen took out the Qin family genealogy and asked, "Should I add your name?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm going to fight Kaishu. Before I fight Kaishu, I can't be on the genealogy. After I fight Kaishu, I also can't appear on the genealogy."
Qin Hanzhen was stunned.
Fighting Kaishu meant fighting the Qin family's founding ancestor. Qin Mu couldn't use the identity of the 107th-generation descendant to do so—that would be an act of great rebellion.
After fighting Kaishu, Qin Mu would be someone who had betrayed his master and clan. He shouldn't appear on the genealogy. By all reason and sentiment, he should be expelled from it.
"Do you really have to go this far?"
Qin Hanzhen couldn't help asking, "After you fight him, you'll never be able to enter the Qin family ancestral hall again! After you die, your grave can't be placed in the ancestral cemetery. You'll become a lonely ghost, with no one from the Qin family to worship you!"
Qin Mu smiled. "If I don't fight Kaishu, Carefree Village won't wake up. Kaishu also hopes that I will fight him, to drive him out of this Carefree Village. I can't disappoint his expectations."
He laughed. "I am a catfish that Kaishu deliberately placed in Carefree Village. He doesn't want me to stir up muddy water, but to revitalize the stagnant water, to make those disappointed fish start swimming, to wake up those fish who are drunk and dreaming. I need to do my duty as this catfish."
Qin Hanzhen was silent for a moment, then said, "Kaishu is extremely formidable."
"I know. I saw the traces he left behind when he fought Huo Tianzun in the Taixu Land. Huo Tianzun's cultivation was stronger than his, but he was still wounded by Kaishu's sword."
Qin Mu said, "Among the ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court, Huo Tianzun's strength isn't the strongest, but it's not the weakest either. Forcing Huo Tianzun to leave behind a Dao imprint and be wounded—Kaishu's strength is beyond my estimation."
Qin Hanzhen said, "His strength isn't just in the sword Dao. Although the sword Dao is his strongest, his divine abilities are no less impressive."
Qin Mu nodded. "When I met him in the early Longhan era, he was already a master of both sword techniques and divine abilities. When I offended Lady Yuanmu and severely wounded Hao Tianzun, he used his divine abilities to break through the encirclement and save me. The subtlety of his abilities was breathtaking."
Qin Hanzhen was silent for a long time, then said, "I can't keep you here. Go."
Qin Mu bowed deeply, then turned and walked out of the ancestral hall.
Outside, the sunlight was dazzling. Qin Mu raised his hand to shield his eyes and looked back. The Qin family ancestral hall was solemn and dignified, enshrining the ancestors. But he would never be able to enter here again.
He faced the Zhen Princess, bowed to her, and left the Zhen Prince's manor with Shu Jun.
The Zhen Princess watched his retreating figure, opened her mouth, but didn't call out. Qin Hanzhen came to her side and stood with her. The Zhen Princess leaned weakly on his shoulder.
"Mu'er probably won't come back anymore," she said softly.
Qin Mu looked at the Qin family disciples training hard outside and walked past them.
"Cousin—" the little girl named Qin Siying waved at him.
Qin Mu waved back from a distance. There was the warmth of home here, but he couldn't stay.
He left with Shu Jun, passing by those ancestral graves again. Qin Mu scooped up a handful of soil and carefully stored it in the Qin Continent.
Shu Jun was quite puzzled. Qin Mu laughed and said, "If I die in the future, I can't be buried here. But my grave must have soil from my homeland."
They arrived at the thirty-third heaven, which was also the location of Kaishu's Heavenly Court.
Many civil and military officials of Kaishu's Heavenly Court had already arrived ahead of him, quietly waiting for this battle between Heavenly Venerables. One by one, the gods, with their vast physical forms, stood throughout the heavenly palace, silently watching Qin Mu enter the Southern Heavenly Gate, walk through the majestic and solemn divine halls and temples, pass through the Heavenly Street, cross the Jade Terrace and Jade Pool, and head toward the Jade Capital.
Kaishu's Heavenly Court was also arranged like the Longhan Heavenly Court, but it was simpler and not as vast in territory. However, in terms of luxury, it was more than comparable.
After all, this was Carefree Village, part of the Other Shore Realm. Visualizing and creating things here was many times easier than elsewhere.
Qin Mu didn't use any divine abilities. He walked step by step. Although Kaishu's Heavenly Court wasn't vast, walking step by step took an extremely long time.
Yet he was like a devout seeker of the Dao, measuring each step—not measuring Kaishu's Heavenly Court, but the rights and wrongs in his own heart.
Apart from Shu Jun, there were no other Creators here. This was a matter between two Heavenly Venerables; the Creators wouldn't interfere in matters unrelated to them, nor did they need to witness the outcome between the two.
Only the old ministers of Kaishu were here: Su Maiqing, the Dao Lord of Kaishu's Dao Sect; Yan Rinuang, the Sun Guardian; the Four Pillars Fang Youji, Gao Baixun, Zhou Jingmeng, and Zhou Xunfang; as well as the Three Dukes, Six Ministers, Nine Ministers, and other old gods. They all watched Qin Mu walk toward the Jade Capital.
They showed looks of anticipation, rubbing their hands together. Yan Rinuang was even sharpening his sword, the rust gradually falling away.
Besides them, there were also new gods. They were in the Jade Capital, the most splendid part of the city. They also watched Qin Mu approaching, some gloating, some restless, and some whistling.
Qin Mu saw nothing and heard nothing.
Qin Hanzhen and the Zhen Princess also brought the few remaining Qin family members to the Jade Capital, watching with complex expressions as Qin Mu walked through the streets of the Jade Capital, from the Vermilion Bird Gate to the Chengtian Gate.
The Chengtian Gate stood tall and imposing. Ahead was the Miluo Palace's Lingxiao Hall, the Imperial Supreme Hall, symbolizing the unparalleled authority of the Heavenly Emperor.
At the Chengtian Gate, Qin Mu stopped, turned around, and bowed to Shu Jun. "Divine King, please stop here."
Shu Jun returned the bow, stopped, and stood under the Chengtian Gate, watching him ascend the steps, climbing one by one toward the Lingxiao Hall.
Qin Mu walked step by step. After an unknown amount of time, he finally arrived before the Lingxiao Hall.
Inside the Lingxiao Hall, an emperor sat on the throne. Seeing him arrive, he stood up.
Kaishu took off his imperial robe, folded it neatly, and placed it on the throne. Then he removed his imperial crown and set it on top of the robe.
He drew the Carefree Sword from his waist. With a *clang*, the sword left its sheath. He lightly flicked the scabbard, embedding it into one of the pillars of the Lingxiao Hall.
The sword light was bright, illuminating the hall, filling it with shifting sword shadows.
He looked at Qin Mu, who was entering the Lingxiao Hall, quietly waiting for him to approach. His figure stood there, giving an impression of eternity, an unmoving Dao heart.
Though the years had passed, his original intention had never changed.
Qin Mu arrived before him, revealing a smile. "Qin Kai, long time no see."
Kaishu also smiled. "Mu Qing, it's been a million years since we last met. You came from Taihuang Heaven. What did you see along the way?"
"I saw your Heavenly Court in decay."
Qin Mu took out his sword orb, gently shook it, and it transformed into a divine sword that hummed in his hand. Qin Mu plucked the string, the tip and body of the sword vibrating continuously. He said calmly, "Your original intention in migrating to Carefree Village was good, but only you could hold on to that original intention. Your old subordinates couldn't bear the failure and fell into the pain and desolation of a collapsed Dao heart. They couldn't carry the heavy burden like you did. They would only blame you and hate you. They are not you."
Kaishu nodded. "It was I who overruled all objections and insisted on migrating to Carefree Village. The fault lies with me. What else did you see?"
Qin Mu said, "I also saw that your Kaishu Reformation has failed, and people's hearts are divided and scattered. The moment you decided to migrate to Carefree Village, the Kaishu Reformation had already failed, leaving only some superficial things."
Kaishu nodded. "In the Kaishu era, the foundation of the nation was the use of gods for the people. I abandoned this foundation, causing the gods of Kaishu to fail in protecting the people and all living beings, thus interrupting the reformation. The fault lies with me. What else did you see?"
Qin Mu said, "I saw that the new generation lacks the spirit of reformation. They are content with a corner, indulging in the sea of desire. They have no blood, no ability to fight, no initiative to create. The rift between the old and new generations is deep. They are not you."
Kaishu said, "The fault lies with me."
"I also saw that the bloodline of the Qin family died for your decisions back then, generation after generation, one after another."
Qin Mu said with a sigh, "They are not you. They couldn't grow into another Kaishu. They could only use their lives to make up for your mistakes."
Kaishu was dejected. "The fault lies with me."
"I also saw that you want to leave, but you can't. The only one who can leave is Kaishu. The ones who can't leave are all the people of Carefree Village. They can't leave Carefree Village, and you are burdened by them, so you can't leave either."
Qin Mu flicked his wrist, making a sword flourish, then let the sword tip droop diagonally, pointing at the ground. He said flatly, "Qin Kai, let me shatter the Carefree Village in your heart."
*Boom!*
The Miluo Palace's Lingxiao Hall of Kaishu's Heavenly Court split apart. The massive building slid down diagonally, collapsing step by step. Pillars and boulders rolled, carved beams and painted rafters shattered in the dust!
On the Lingxiao Platform, Kaishu's sword tip pointed diagonally at the ground. He smiled and said, "Mu Qing, I've been waiting for you for a long time. Please—"
Qin Mu's pupils contracted sharply. "Please."
——Three thousand nine hundred words, almost four thousand. Considered a big chapter, right?