Chapter 134: I Simply Won't
"Why?"
"Six hundred seventy-seven years, three hundred sixty-four days ago, you secretly left the Hundred Herbs Garden to meet with Senior Brother and me. At that time, you said that if we could help the late Emperor ascend the throne, you would do such and such. Two hundred fourteen years, sixty-nine days ago, the late Emperor's eye ailment worsened, leaving him unable to see. He decided to have you review and approve memorials on his behalf, and asked for Senior Brother's and my opinion. At that time, you said it was only temporary. That 'temporary' lasted two hundred fourteen years and sixty-nine days. Twenty years ago, before the late Emperor returned to the sea of stars, you told him you would only rule behind the curtain for one year before returning the throne to the Chen clan. However..."
"You mean I should follow my original promise and pass the throne to... one of these wastes?"
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress looked at the fifteen palanquins that had already entered the capital, at the princes of the Chen imperial clan seated upon them, and a mocking smile appeared on her face.
"That is a fine reason. The so-called greater good of the people does indeed seem more important than a personal promise. Moreover, you would say that you must consider the continued survival of the Heavenly Sea clan."
The Daoist stood in the rain, gazing at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, and said calmly: "But these reasons could be used twenty years ago; they cannot be used now. Because I have already considered it for you."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress withdrew her gaze, looking at the scene within the night, and said: "Then in your opinion, to whom should I pass the throne?"
That Daoist was within the scene, presumably on a street in the southern part of the capital, yet he also seemed to appear elsewhere simultaneously.
No one could determine his true current location, because he had no true location. He was like a swallow in the drizzling rain, seemingly within the rain, or perhaps above it.
He said: "The throne of the Great Zhou should naturally be passed to the only son of Her Majesty and the late Emperor."
Chen Changsheng was right behind the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress, but she did not turn around. She said calmly: "Pass it to this little one who is about to die?"
"The late Emperor had many sons, but Your Majesty has only this one son. He is the natural Crown Prince. Within his body flows not only the blood of the Chen imperial clan but also the blood of the Heavenly Sea clan. After he ascends the throne, he will naturally look after his maternal family. For him to inherit the great treasure, I believe the imperial clan will have no objection, and the Heavenly Sea clan will have no objection. Wouldn't that be perfect?"
The Daoist said: "The union of north and south has already succeeded. The Great Zhou dynasty will surely last for ten thousand generations. The only thing that needs to be done is for Your Majesty to abdicate."
Abdicate. Just two words.
Just that.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress gazed quietly at the Daoist in the rain.
That Daoist stood silently in the rain, no longer speaking, because what he needed to say was almost finished. Moreover, this conversation between him and her, he believed, the entire continent had already heard.
For some unknown reason, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress suddenly laughed. Her laughter was extremely carefree, yet also carried a strong sense of mockery.
"From over two years ago when you sent him to the capital until now, you seem to have been doing one thing: making me see him."
Chen Changsheng sat on the ground, looking at her tall back, and listening to these words, he realized that it did indeed seem so.
Whether it was the engagement with the Eastern Imperial Divine General's Manor, or the new student of the National Academy, the Ivy Banquet, and the declaration on the Divine Path—many things that had happened in the past period of time now seemed to be for the purpose of making him grow faster and, at the same time, appear before Her Majesty the Holy Empress as early as possible.
Many things were pushed forward by Archbishop Melisandre, but behind him, there must have been the shadow of that Daoist.
"Seeing him brings curiosity, a desire to investigate, and suspicion."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress clasped her hands behind her back, speaking slowly to the Daoist in the rain, to the world in the rain: "He is like an unripe fruit, cultivated and ripened by you, watched quietly by me, until finally, he is almost ripe, emitting a fruity fragrance, smelled by people, giving birth to the desire to eat him."
"To the entire world, this fruit is extremely tempting. To me, even more so."
Heavenly Sea turned her head and glanced at Chen Changsheng, saying: "If I eat him, it would be the most perfect cycle of Heavenly Dao, the most perfect conclusion to this cause and effect."
She turned back to face the entire world in the night rain, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips: "But... I simply won't eat."
The entire world was silent. Whether at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum or in the capital, only the sound of the fine rain falling on the ground could be heard.
She continued: "This Longevity Fruit might help mortals become immortals, but I think it would only harm me."
Finally, with a hint of regret, she sighed and said: "An immortal bestowed upon me a Longevity Fruit... unfortunately, you are not immortals. You are only humans."
Only humans.
Just that.
...
...
Within the Divine Kingdom, there was a garden. In the garden, there was a tree. On the tree, there was a fruit.
That fruit contained incredibly abundant life. Eating it would allow one to transcend the mundane and gain unimaginable spiritual experiences and rewards.
This was a legend, a legend from the Holy Light Continent.
The people of this world probably had not heard of it, but he had.
That monk from afar slowly raised his head by the stream, gazing towards the distant capital. In his clear, azure eyes, a hint of gravity appeared.
...
...
The Daoist stood in the night rain, still very calm, but no one knew his true emotions at that moment.
The surrounding streets and alleys were quiet. In this deep night, people were still asleep. Only he was awake, but was he clear-headed?
Since he had appeared out of thin air in the night rain, not a single strand of the falling rain had been able to land on his Daoist robe. But now, there were water droplets in his hair, crystal clear.
Yes, that Longevity Fruit was a conspiracy, or rather, a trap.
Aside from the Western Flow Scripture hidden behind the entire affair, there wasn't much that was profound. It was simple, not complicated.
From the moment he set this trap twenty years ago, he had been very clear-headed about this.
This trap couldn't be too complicated from the start, because it involved the subtle intent of the Heavenly Dao. Moreover, the more complicated a trap, the more likely it was to arouse the vigilance of someone at the level of Heavenly Sea.
But he believed that, aside from certain deities on that distant continent, no one could see through it, the problem with the Longevity Fruit. Not even Heavenly Sea could.
And he believed that the Longevity Fruit was an irresistible temptation for anyone, especially for Heavenly Sea.
This was a killing trap that aligned with the Heavenly Dao. There was no reason for it not to succeed.
However, Heavenly Sea did not fall into the trap.
She hadn't seen through the problem with the Longevity Fruit; she was simply acting according to her own will.
Did she want to eat that Longevity Fruit? Of course.
But she understood: those people had spent countless efforts, used twenty years, brought him before her, superficially using the Western Flow Scripture to cut three years from his age, seemingly not wanting her to know who he was. But how could those people not know that she would definitely know who he was? So those people wanted her to eat him.
The entire world was quietly waiting for her to eat him.
The entire world was prepared to watch her eat her own biological son.
So she would not eat.
Even if this fruit might have no problems, even if eating this fruit might truly allow her to transcend life and death and enter a state of true freedom, she still would not eat.
Not because of vigilance or caution, but because of loyalty to her own will.
She was her will.
Her will was: when the entire world wanted her to do something, she absolutely would not do it.
...
...
Behind the old temple in Xining Town.
That monk vaguely understood something. He turned his head slightly, looking upstream of the small stream.
The night was deep. The desolate town had no lights. All around was pitch black.
But in his eyes, the surrounding scenery was still bright as day. He could see the fish quietly floating in the crevices of the rocks, could see petals drifting slowly with the current.
The petals drifted to his bare feet, slowly swirling.
He smiled and sighed.
There was some regret, but no disappointment.
...
...
"Either live forever, or fall into the eternal abyss. This is a gamble. Not eating him doesn't mean your vision can see through the supreme Heavenly Dao; it only means you are afraid."
The Daoist standing in the night rain was not disappointed either, because this was just the beginning.
He said: "You know this is a trap of the Heavenly Dao. Your opponent is not me, but the Heavenly Dao itself. So you simply dare not enter the game."
Hearing this, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress raised her eyebrows slightly, like a phoenix about to take flight.
"Since you fear the Heavenly Dao, are you not afraid of its backlash?"
The Daoist looked at her calmly and said: "Don't forget that when you swore a blood oath to the starry sky back then, I was also present."
"Even if the Heavenly Dao descends, the one who will die is him."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress said calmly: "I will watch him die with my own eyes, ensuring no accidents occur."
The Daoist sighed with emotion: "You truly are still the most cold-blooded and heartless person in the world."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress said: "Likewise."
The two seemed to be speaking face to face, but in reality, they were separated by dozens of li. Sometimes it felt as if they were separated by thousands of li.
Because the Daoist's position in this world was still ethereal and impossible to determine.
Chen Changsheng also did not know his own position in this world.
He had once thought he was the young Daoist boy from the old temple in Xining Town, the student of his master. But now he discovered that he was merely a fruit.
If he could be eaten, he had some value. If not, he would be ignored, waiting only to ripen, fall, and turn to mud.
He was the biological son of the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress, yet she was watching him die so calmly.
Logically speaking, the two people speaking before the entire world at this moment should have been his closest relatives.
One was his biological mother. The other was his master who had raised him.
Yet when they spoke, they did not even glance at him.
Speaking of cold-bloodedness and heartlessness, who could feel it more truly and deeply than he did tonight?
That feeling of indifference, of desolation, and of something almost laughable—what was that feeling?
It was bone-piercing.
A bone-piercing pain erupted from everywhere in his body in a very short time.
With a few faint sounds of breaking air, the golden needles at his neck were blasted out, deeply embedding themselves into the stone slabs.
Blood containing infinite energy surged like a flood through his internal organs.
The remaining true qi rampaged wildly through his severed meridians, constantly attacking his bones and flesh.
Cracks like spiderwebs began to appear on his internal organs.
His face was pale.
He was in agony.
He was dying.