Chapter 163 – Standing Tall Between Heaven and Earth
Old Heavenly Craftsman’s face had completely darkened. The past actions of the Beast Taming Sect, their insistence on their course despite the turmoil in the world, suddenly made sense! It wasn’t that they were unaware that insisting on the blood contract would push the conflict between immortals and demons to an extreme, nor were they ignorant of the chaos that a rift between them would bring. On the contrary, they knew it all too well!
Because that was exactly what they wanted!
They wanted a war bloody enough to provide the sacrifice needed to move the Heavenly Wedge!
“Are they insane?!” Zuo Yuesheng roared. “Even if they don’t care about the citizens of the West Continent, do they not care about the lives of their own sect’s disciples either?!”
The number of refugees crammed inside Plum City and huddled outside its walls totaled a million strong! Even from their perch on Heavenly Lake Mountain, they could clearly hear the wails and terrified cries of the million refugees at the mountain’s base.
“Perhaps they think it’s the only way to save the West Continent,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said.
Zuo Yuesheng pointed to the light of the refugees’ torches at the foot of the mountain and sneered, “This is how you save the West Continent?”
Bei Ge Zi Jin remained silent. This was the most absurd and tragic part of it all. The bloody catastrophe that had befallen the thirty-six cities, the displacement of a million refugees, the endless war between immortals and demons—all of it was, astonishingly, the only path found a thousand years ago to save the West Continent. Yet this very path had brought about the current, seemingly apocalyptic, human tragedy.
The peak of Heavenly Lake Mountain was deathly still.
Zuo Yuesheng cursed, then suddenly turned and stared hard into Bei Ge Zi Jin’s eyes. “This has something to do with you Hundred Clans of Kongsang, doesn’t it?”
Lightning split the sky. In the sudden, intense light that illuminated the land, Bei Ge Zi Jin’s face was deathly pale.
“A plan of this magnitude could never have been completed in just twelve years. And with the Beast Taming Sect’s level of research into astronomy and calendrical science, it’s absolutely impossible for them to have figured out the specific method for moving the Heavenly Wedge. Not unless they had help from someone proficient in calendrical arts and skilled in using the geography of heaven and earth.” Zuo Yuesheng gave a humorless smile. “And a thousand years ago, besides you Hundred Clans of Kongsang, who else had this kind of ability?!”
He almost applauded, almost gritted his teeth in fury.
“Kongsang has fallen, but its poison lingers for ten thousand years. I really wish I could just kill all of you sons of bitches.”
“Yuesheng!” Old Heavenly Craftsman said in a deep voice. “Now is not the time to be investigating this.”
“Fine, fine, fine, I know, I know…” Zuo Yuesheng turned away, nodding, then suddenly spun back and threw a punch. “Fuck your grandpa’s ‘not the time’!”
The fist rushed toward him, but Bei Ge Zi Jin didn’t dodge. His pale, chapped lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t get the words out. The karma had been planted ten thousand years ago, brewed for a thousand years, and finally erupted today into a million white bones, a million displaced people, a million blood feuds, a million slaughters.
At this point, for him, a remnant of Kongsang, anything he said would be too ironic. Too pale.
Bang.
A crack appeared in the stone pavilion’s pillar.
The muscles on Zuo Yuesheng’s face twitched and contorted. He withdrew his hand, his voice having returned to calm. “Continue.”
“…A thousand years ago, the sect master of the Beast Taming Sect secretly visited Kongsang,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said. “I’ve checked the celestial records of the Bei Ge Clan. Due to the Heaven Beyond Heavens absorbing the mortal realm’s destiny and the Hundred Clans’ repeated private alterations of the sun and moon, the celestial orbit showed its first signs of chaos at that time. If my calculations are correct, the place affected by the collapse of the four seasons’ winds should have been the West Continent, the northwest corner.”
“A thousand years ago… the northwest corner…” Zuo Yuesheng repeated. “So Gu Qingshui of the Beast Taming Sect killing Shi Yi was instigated by Kongsang?”
“Shi Yi was under the Divine Lord’s command to guard the Wind Cavern. The celestial orbit affects the earthly wind, so when the orbit fell into chaos, the earthly wind became erratic. Although Shi Yi, as an ancient god and great demon, had the power to suppress the wind, he did not understand the changes in calendrical phenomena and only obeyed the Divine Lord’s commands.” Bei Ge Zi Jin paused, not shying away from what the Hundred Clans had done. “For the Beast Taming Sect, killing Shi Yi was much easier than getting Kongsang to correct the celestial orbit. After the Divine Lord’s death, only the Hundred Clans of Kongsang knew the full details of how the Heavenly Wedges were established to fix the Heavenly Pillars and support the heavens… In the thousand years after Gu Qingshui killed Shi Yi, the Hundred Clans sent calendrical masters to the West Continent every year. Ostensibly, they were there to preside over the rituals for the four seasons’ winds. In reality, the location of the Beast Taming Sect’s main sect, Dragon Head Thousand Peaks, is where the Heavenly Wedge is located, just like the Mountain Sea Pavilion’s nine cities of Zhunan.”
“No wonder you brought the Taiyu Clan’s son to the West Continent after Kongsang was overthrown,” Zuo Yuesheng said coldly. “The Beast Taming Sect has provided you remnants with quite a bit of shelter, haven’t they?”
Not long after Kongsang’s fall, once the main figures in power among the Hundred Clans had been mostly purged, the Immortal Sects jointly issued a proclamation forbidding the killing of Hundred Clans remnants who had not directly participated in the Heaven-Herding conspiracy. However, the proclamation’s effect was limited. Outside the territory of the Taiyi Sect, which had the strongest control over its continent’s cities, incidents of Hundred Clans remnants being killed by resentful citizens and cultivators were still rampant.
Although the Immortal Sects had also issued notices about this, it didn’t have much effect. Those who killed the remnants of the Hundred Clans were often hailed as heroes. If the Immortal Sects arrested and punished these people, it would instead provoke public outrage.
Medicine Valley had once arrested a rogue cultivator. He had used extremely cruel methods to kill a side branch of the Taiyin Clan, a total of thirty-six people. When Medicine Valley disciples escorted him through the streets, he shouted loudly, “…My Dao companion died because of their tyranny, why should I be asked to forgive them?” Before his words had faded, the street was blocked by wilderness wanderers and cultivators who had long been dissatisfied. The situation spiraled out of control, and in the end, Medicine Valley released the rogue cultivator.
He became a hero, an avenging knight.
…No one thought it was a big deal!
Zuo Yuesheng, taking a rare moment of leisure, was drinking with Lu Jing, who had suddenly come to find him. The lightweight drinker, Lu, downed jar after jar of strong liquor before suddenly erupting, smashing the jars furiously on the ground.
…Her surname was Taiyin, so she deserved to be raped! Deserved to be stripped naked on the main road? …Because their surname was Taiyin! Because Kongsang ruined the mortal realm! Because the Hundred Clans threw the sun and moon into chaos! They all deserve to die! A horrible death!
…She was guilty. Her crime was her surname, her name, her fate.
…She deserved it.
…But she was only seven years old.
A wine jar smashed heavily against a stone pillar, and the clear liquor splashed all over the ground, reflecting the cold moonlight. Lu Jing, who valued his composure above all else, stood amidst the shattered pottery, his sleeves torn and his cap askew, clearer than he had ever been, and drunker than he had ever been.
To hell with heroes.
He kicked aside the broken jars, staggered, and headed west with his blade.
Behind him, Zuo Yuesheng silently raised his cup.
The next month, the Medicine Valley traitor, Lu Jing, poisoned a newly famous righteous swordsman in Cangzhou. Curses erupted from all corners. From then on, there was no more Eleventh Master of Medicine Valley, only the controversial and widely feared white-robed life-reaper, Lu Wuchang.
There was only one Lu Wuchang, but there were countless people in the Twelve Continents who had suffered because of Heaven Beyond Heavens and the Hundred Clans. Compared to the frequent massacres of Hundred Clans remnants in other continents, fleeing to the West Continent and hiding under the surveillance of the Beast Taming Sect’s officials, even if it meant living at their beck and call, was a highly sought-after privilege.
“Yes.” Bei Ge Zi Jin took out another register from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Zuo Yuesheng. “This is the list of Hundred Clans members who entered the West Continent that I’ve found… Excluding those who have passed away, about forty percent of the calendrical officials from Kongsang have moved to the West Continent.”
Compared to the list of calendrical officials he had hoped to pass to the Divine Lord through Lu Jing, this one was many times thicker.
Zuo Yuesheng picked it up and flipped through it cursorily. As expected, the records for the Taiyu and Bei Ge clans were the most detailed.
“Twelve years ago, I was already a traitor to the Hundred Clans,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said, his face as pale as a lone ghost wandering the desolate calamity. “What difference is there between betraying them once and betraying them twice? From the moment the Beast Taming Sect killed Shi Yi, they could not turn back and could only continue down the path of moving the Heavenly Wedge. The same is true for me.”
“If you didn’t side with the Beast Taming Sect, how could you stay safely in Plum City?” Zuo Yuesheng asked coldly.
“I did side with the Beast Taming Sect.” Bei Ge Zi Jin replied calmly, meeting Old Heavenly Craftsman’s suddenly sharp gaze. “They were probably wary of me, so they only had me perform some calculations for them. If my deductions are correct, Heavenly Lake Mountain should be one of the key points of the three earth veins in the West Continent. Whether the Beast Taming Sect wants to move the Heavenly Wedge, or the Divine Lord wants to do something, this place is extremely critical.”
Zuo Yuesheng closed the register and looked at Bei Ge Zi Jin coldly, saying nothing.
“The Divine Lord indeed possesses heaven-defying abilities. The concept of using the breath of the continents’ cities as anchors and the destiny of the mortal realm to support the heavens is something Zi Jin had never imagined. And Heavenly Lake,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said, “is not enough. There isn’t nearly enough time. The impact of the refugees is only the first wave… If I’m not mistaken, the Divine Lord must have left something behind to guide you in setting up the formation, fixing the anchors, and raising the chart.”
Zuo Yuesheng neither confirmed nor denied it.
“But it’s not enough,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said, looking him straight in the eye without a hint of retreat. “You know Plum City is the key, the Beast Taming Sect knows, and the Great Wilderness knows too! Don’t forget, the demons in the Great Wilderness were once heavenly gods! The Heaven Beyond Heavens’ understanding of the mortal realm’s celestial phenomena is not much less than the Hundred Clans’. They, like the demon race, were the ones who followed the Divine Lord for the longest time.”
“So?” Zuo Yuesheng asked in a low voice.
“You are not familiar with celestial phenomena and calendrical science. Even with the Divine Lord’s guidance and the Heavenly Works Mansion’s expertise in formations, your speed in completing the Divine Lord’s command to fix the anchors and erect the pillar is far too slow! There are refugees in the city, spies from the Beast Taming Sect, and outside the city, there is the Great Wilderness and the tide of demons.”
Bei Ge Zi Jin’s voice suddenly became firm, like the clash of metal.
“None of them will give you this time!”
“What are you trying to say?” Zuo Yuesheng’s face was devoid of expression. He stood in the stone pavilion like Zuo Liangshi had stood on the cliffs of Zhunan’s sea twelve years ago.
“You are not familiar with celestial phenomena and calendrical science, but I am. Besides the Divine Lord himself, there is no one in this world more familiar with it than the Hundred Clans of Kongsang.” Bei Ge Zi Jin dropped to his knees, his forehead hitting the cold stone surface with a heavy thud. “The guidance the Divine Lord left, you are not familiar with it, but I am. The things the Divine Lord left, you cannot control them, but I can.”
“I beg you.”
“I beg you to let me do my part for the mortal realm. I beg you to let me atone for a fraction of the Hundred Clans’ sins.”
The wind blew through the stone pavilion, carrying with it icy snow.
“I beg you.”
He said in a low voice.
“In the late Primeval Era, the Hundred Clans betrayed the Divine Lord, leading to his death. After the Primeval Era, the Hundred Clans betrayed the mortal realm, colluding with Heaven Beyond Heavens to steal the mortal realm’s destiny, tamper with the sun and moon, and create needless grievances. Twelve years ago, the Hundred Clans betrayed again. And you, you served the Beast Taming Sect and received their protection for twelve years.”
Zuo Yuesheng finally spoke.
He asked, “How are we supposed to trust you? Trust that you are not an inside agent sent by the Beast Taming Sect. What should we use to trust you? The lives of the million people in Plum City? The lives of the tens of millions in the West Continent? Or the lives of the countless people in the mortal realm?”
Bei Ge Zi Jin knelt ramrod straight on the ground.
“Tai Yu Cen was my brother-in-law,” snow fell on his hair, and this man, who might have once been a prodigy of Kongsang, seemed to have aged and wearied until he was nothing but a bag of bones. “Though my surname is Bei Ge, I was raised by my sister. My sister wove my clothes, and my brother-in-law found the best calendrical masters to be my teachers. An elder sister is like a mother, an elder brother-in-law like a father.”
Bei Ge Zi Jin finally showed his first expression of the night. A deathly pale smile.
“The old servant sweeping the floor in the academy was a spy sent by the Beast Taming Sect to watch me.”
Zuo Yuesheng suddenly realized something and blurted out, “Your nephew…”
“Is dead,” Bei Ge Zi Jin said numbly. “His surname was Taiyu, mine is Bei Ge. This is fate.”
Zuo Yuesheng slammed his fist into the face of this calendrical master, a man driven mad by conscience and kinship.
“Bastard!”
He cursed, not knowing if he was cursing Zi Jin or himself.
Bei Ge Zi Jin grunted and fell to the ground, blood immediately spilling from his mouth and nose. As he struggled to get up, the three of them heard a tremendous roar. They turned to see a massive fire erupting from the southeast corner of Plum City—the area where the most refugees had been settled.
“Pavilion Master, there’s not much time left.”
Bei Ge Zi Jin coughed, covering his mouth and nose. Blood seeped through his fingers and dripped to the ground.
Zuo Yuesheng pulled the Heavenly Soldier Blood Axe from Old Heavenly Craftsman’s waist and gritted his teeth. “This world is a fucking mess, and I’m sick to death of it. Fine, I’ll gamble this once! If we fail, we all die together! Fuck it!” He pointed the axe blade at Bei Ge Zi Jin and said sharply to Old Heavenly Craftsman, “If this really is the end, remember to chop this guy’s head off!”
“I’ll kick his head like a ball on the road to the underworld!”
With that, he tossed the blood axe back to Old Heavenly Craftsman and turned to head down the mountain.
“Thank you.”
Bei Ge Zi Jin said in a low voice.
“This has nothing to do with you,” Zuo Yuesheng said without looking back. “I just can’t fucking be an animal!”
Old Heavenly Craftsman held the axe and stood on Heavenly Lake Mountain, watching him stride toward the chaotic, riotous city below, drawing two dark, gold-inlaid Mo Sabers as he went.
The wind billowed his sleeves. His silhouette overlapped with that of Zuo Liangshi from twelve years ago.
Both stood tall between heaven and earth.