Chapter 165 - Illusory Moon

“Senior, senior, what happened to you? What has happened?...”

Lin JingYu rushed to Wan JianYi, kneeled down, both of his hands trembling and trying to support him up but where his hands touched, were all softness, a chill went through his heart, Lin JingYu, like in a bottomless ice pit, felt not a single area on this elder’s body where his bones were whole.

“Who is it, who is it?” Lin JingYu's voice suddenly turned hoarse, his teeth biting down hard on his lips, blood flowed instantly, even his eyes were cracking with anger and despair.

“Senior, senior…”

He cried out softly, choking, and finally cried. He never knew that he could cry, before this weak old man, the despair ten years old seemed to envelop him once again.

Wan JianYi weakly looked at the young man, looking at him in despair and in grief, to the extent where it could not be fake, maybe, after all there was still someone who was sincere to me, Wan JianYi thought to himself.

His fingers moved and then, as if the gods took pity on him, he raised his hand shakily.

Lin JingYu was shocked, grabbed his hand, anxiously said, “Senior, senior, do you have something to say, who made you like this, I, I will seek revenge for you, who, who is it?”

Wan JianYi’s face turned more and more pale, even his breathing slowly turned low but for some reason, his eyes turned sharper, his hand in Lin JingYu’s palm, his finger slightly moving...

Lin JingYu was startled for a moment, looked down, in the centre of his palm, that weak old finger, stained with blood, gently scrawled to sketch out the strokes: “Be...careful…”

Suddenly, behind Lin JingYu, in the stretch of mist, a black shadow flashed, Mr Ghost with his eyes glowing, stared over. Lin JingYu was back-facing Mr Ghost and fully concentrating on Wan JianYi’s finger, sensed nothing at all. However, Wan JianYi saw, his gaze silently met Mr Ghost’s across the distance, as if a hundred years of time had passed by.

The vicissitudes of life that once…

Wan JianYi suddenly smiled, a smile of blood, facing Mr Ghost, then he shook his head.

Lin JingYu waited for a long time but Wan JianYi did not continue, he lifted his head in shock, Wan JianYi’s head drooped to the side, he had already stopped breathing. Lin JingYu’s body shook, both of his hands trembled, staring disbelievingly at the face which had lost its life, after a long while, he cried out loudly, “Senior…”'

The anguish cries, were heard from him who had thrown himself on the old man.

Mr Ghost stood quietly behind him, staring at the aged old face of Wan JianYi, after a long time, quietly retreated, disappeared into the mist, from a far distance, a faint sigh was heard.

Wolves howled from the foot of the mountain, carried by the wind, sharp, vicious roars continued unceasingly.

At the summit of Qing Yun mountain, the crowd of human heads and shoulders stirred, the Good Faction members had gathered at TongTian Peak summit, standing at the forefront was Reverend DaoXuan, PuHong Master and Yun YiLan etc, their faces solemn, frowning tightly, gazing down towards the foot of Qing Yun mountain.

The faint smell of blood, could be detected indistinctly in the wind, invoking thoughts of the innumerable cruel and vicious demon beasts below the mountain. Nobody knew, after this calamity, what would be the result?

At the public square outside Crystal Hall, the crowd stirred but was silent, everyone looked solemn.

It was also at this quiet moment, suddenly, a long whistle rushing to the sky was heard from a distance, like a wolf howl, like a ghost wail, sharp and piercing the sky, pressing from afar.

Following the source of the sound, it seemed to be from the foot of the mountain but the the sharp cry penetrated into the clouds, for a moment everyone turned pale. The sharp cry circled and reverberated around, made a few turns at the precipitous summit in the white clouds, then slowly lowered. But when it was about to cease, abruptly below the mountain, ten thousands of the beasts roared in unison, the numerous roars towards the sky, converged as one like an avalanche, Heaven and Earth changed countenance, rumbling over.

The clouds with a rumble dispersed, the steep mountain peak, a mass of black gas rose from the foot of the mountain, gathering more and more, turning denser and denser, accumulated at the sky opposite TongTian Peak, until it blocked out the sunlight. The black clouds gradually drifted to this paradise-like place.

Not sure who was the first to shout out, everyone turned over, deep inside the dark clouds, in the whipping wind, a young man dressed in bright silk clothing, stood standing with his hands clasped behind, his face expressionless, indifferently watching the people at this mountain.

In the eyes of the Heaven and Earth, what is this thing called human?

He waved gently, his stare seemed to pass through this mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, the thousands of beasts roared, the bloody smell came in waves, the miserable cries, finally arrived…

As if he had sensed something, Ghost Li paused, frowned slightly and turned, facing towards the mountain before TongTian Peak, heavy dark clouds in the horizon, the violent winds howled, although not very far away but the weather was completely different from the mountain behind him.

The warm sunlight, spilled down from the sky, shone onto his clothes.

Ghost Li slowly looked away, subconsciously looked to his shoulder but Xiao Hui was not there. This trip to the Illusory Moon Cave, he deliberately did not bring Xiao Hui, the dangers involved were obvious, he himself was not confident too. The fight with that mysterious old man just now, although Mr Ghost lent a hand but Ghost Li felt an inexplicable feeling towards that old man. The thousands years of Qing Yun sect history, it was really a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

Not long ago, wasn’t he also a part of it?

He pursed his lips with an indifferent expression, again started to walk ahead.

The strips of lands beside the small path were similar to the previous path, dense woods everywhere, evergreen pine and coniferous, thick vegetation, only this mountain trail meandered forward, leading to the unknown mystery.

Deep inside the woods, faint crisp sounds of the birds’ cries could still be heard indistinctly, it seemed that scene of catastrophe at the mountain ahead did not have the slightest impact on this mountain, peaceful atmosphere filled the place, even the air was still permeated with a clear cold taste.

Ghost Li initially had a hint of anxiety, in this tranquil environment, very quickly his emotions became calm, to the extent that when he first lifted his head and saw ‘Illusory Moon Cave’ the four words, facing one of the world’s famous place, he instead did not have any slightest expression, as if looking at an ordinary mountain cave.

And In fact, in front of him, it did look like an ordinary cave.

Taller than half of the average person, the entrance was about seven chi wide, appeared on a gentle hillside, next to it was green vines and thorns, some drooped over the entrance, when the mountain breeze blew over, the vines gently swayed. And underneath the green vines, on the stone above the entrance, engraved with four words:

Illusory Moon Cave.

Other than the meaning of these four words itself, the entire surroundings including these four words, were so unostentatious, could it be that this, was the origin of Qing Yun sect for two thousands years?

The book that contributed to numerous outstanding talents and heroes, including Qing YunZi and Qing Ye Founder’s nameless ancient book, was it just quietly lying in here?

And that world-stunning ancient sword!

Ghost Li silently looked at the four words, the time and weather-battered words seemed to be also silently staring at him.

He did not speak, and did not heave any sigh, the next moment, he walked in, as if, stepping into the past…

It was not as deep and secluded as he had imagined, appearing before him was a simple stone room, one glance and he could clearly see all of the furnishings in the room. A few stones piled at a corner, the slightly damp corners of the walls had indistinct mosses, the only difference with the outside was that, it was especially quiet in here, entering the cave, if was as if everything suddenly turned quiet, like being cut off from the outside.

Looking away from the surroundings, Ghost Li's eyes landed on the stone wall facing the cave entrance. On the flat stone wall, a slabstone of Tai Ji diagram was inlaid, this was the only object which could be associated with Qing Yun sect in this cave.

Ghost Li deeply inhaled, went up, stopped in front of the Tai Ji diagram.There were many marks on the diagram, most of the places had signs of damage, evidently from ages ago. Ghost Li silently looked at this thing, the words of Mr Ghost slowly reverberating in his mind.

The next moment, he gently placed his hand on the Tai Ji diagram, faint dark-green light, emitted from his palm. Ghost Li expressionlessly looked at the light from his hand, felt the familiar TaiJi Xuan Qing Way energy flowing in his body meridians, the energy that once belonged to this mountain!

Like being awakened from a slumber, the peaceful atmosphere in the room was broken by a faint sound, like the entire cave dwelling was softly sighing, something started to rotate, and then, the Tai Ji diagram also started to light up with dark-green light, at the same time, the diagram started to turn.

From left to right exactly one round, the stone walls with a sound of [ka], everything stopped. Ghost Li took back his hand and quietly waited.

The moment of silence disappeared instantly, deep rumbling sounds were heard from the cave, at the right hand side of the diagram, the perfect whole stone walls had cracks forming a ring and then it slowly rotated to the side, opening up, revealing a secret entrance. But this entrance had a greyish-white mist-like thing floating in it, it looked like mist and also seemed to be water ripples, revolving non-stop, in it it looked hazy and surreal.

Ghost Li looked at the water mist, Mr Ghost after all did not lie to him. But in this mysterious water mist, who knows what was in it?

He did not hesitate, like he did not even contemplate, strided in.

Water mist enveloped him, his figure soon disappeared and that two stone walls quietly rotated back this time, gently closed up, revealing not a single mark.

In a trance, in the haze, in the deep firmament, a flash of lightning passed, stunningly struck across the long dark night, turning into a huge lightsaber from Heaven, so dazzling bright, nobody could watch it directly, stabbing deep and straight into the heart.

Then, from the pitch-dark firmament sky, a strange moon glimmering with unusual silver light rose, hung high in the horizon.

At that moment, the mind was blank, everything was forgotten, only the eyes still staring ahead, behind that white light.

There seemed to be sound of deep, hidden bitterness, someone was softly weeping but then there was a familiar laughter, [wa] an immature cry and finally started crying.

For some reason, he held his breath!

An inexplicable tension, his heart palpitated, wind seemed to blow past his ears but he could not feel his own presence, like a pair of eyes searching for something, finally saw…

That tiny small village, and that dilapidated thatched temple behind the village.

“Delivered yet?” A man's voice asked anxiously.

“Delivered already! Mother and child are safe, it is a boy!” The midwife’s voice carried delight, loudly said, “Congratulations!”

“He he, he he…” The honest man good-naturedly laughed, the genuine feelings had some relief and rejoice. The next moment, he saw the crying infant boy, the infant who was still nestled in the arms of his parents.

“What shall we name him? The father of the child!” The mother, sounding weak but still had a smile of happiness on her face.

The father thought for a while, said, “We are illiterate, I would say the most learned person in this village will be the school teacher, Mr Lin, at the east of the village, whenever the village has a child, isn’t their names given by him, why don’t we go request him to name?”

The mother nodded and the father went out. After a while, he walked back in, carrying a smile on his face, holding a note, said, “Mr Lin said, people like us, the most important thing is to be safe and not to forget our place, and to just live our lives well, so he gave three characters, written on this.”'

The mother joyfully said, “Oh, a learned person is really different, what name did he give our son?”

The father with his rough hands brought the note to the mother and hugged mother and the sound-asleep infant with his arm, lowered his voice, as if he had utmost reverence and tenderness for those three words, quietly said,

“Zhang, Xiao, Fan…”

[Rumble]

A shock of thunder suddenly was heard from the firmament, the sky actually rained, his whole body suddenly shivered, breathing hard!

The rain outside the house, the sky like ink, the Qing Yun mountains in the distant looked savage, in the wailing wind and weeping rain, the father and mother hugged together, their serene faces smiling, gazing at the infant in their arms…

He wanted to shout out loud but he could not make any sound, thousands and thousands of words spinned rapidly in his mind and in the end they only formed two words:

“Father, mother!”

The rain full of sky, all seemed to fall onto his face, the coldness penetrating into the bones.

The illusory moon glimmering with faint light in the horizon.

[Pong!]

A stone thrown from the sky, it seemed to pass through his body and landed behind, the sky had unknowingly turned clear, a group of children was running around the village, playing and laughing out loud.

The ordinary-looking boy was running with his might at the fore, some bigger-looking boys leading a group of kids was chasing him and shouting loudly, “Zhang XiaoFan, stop if you have guts!”

The child at the fore with a sound of [pei], replied while running, “You think I am an idiot!” and instead ran even faster.

Chasing all the way, those children soon approached that thatched dilapidated temple at the east of the village. Looking from the outside, the temple was in ruins, not knowing how many centuries of weather it had bore.

Zhang Xiao Fan was the first to dash in, the rest of the children soon followed in, in that dilapidated small temple, the voices of children were heard.

He stared, his mind suddenly another blank, a feeling of inexplicable fear, its tendrils snaking out buried deep in his heart, filling up his mind.

One step, another step, he quietly approached the thatched temple, went near the nightmare that seemed to have disappeared a long time ago.

A bigger, young boy with delicate features was riding on Zhang Xiao Fan's body, his face showing conceit, smiled and said, “Caught you, this time you have nothing to say right?”

Zhang Xiao Fan rolled his eyes, said, “Doesn’t count, doesn’t count, you made a sneak attack on me, how can that count?”

The boy was surprised, bewilderedly said, “When did I sneak attack you?”

Zhang Xiao Fan said, “Lin JingYu you are good, you dare say this door plank is not placed by you here?”

The boy who was called Lin JingYu loudly said, “There is no such thing!”

Zhang Xiao Fan pursued his lips, cocked his head, a look of determination not to yield, not to submit.

Lin JingYu was angry, with one hand strangled his neck, angrily said, “We agreed that to admit defeat once caught, do you submit?”

Zhang Xiao Fan ignored him.

Lin JingYu with his face red, increased the force in his hands, loudly said, “Submit or not?”

Zhang Xiao Fan’s throat was choked by him, his breathing gradually turned difficult, slowly his face also started to turn red but even at his immature age, he was very obstinate, refused to make a sound.

Lin JingYu became even angrier, increased his force, kept repeating, “Submit or not, submit or not, submit or not?”

Submit or not...submit or not...this voice suddenly like an avalanche, reverberated in his head, the years of heartache, in this incessant shouts, gushed up his heart.

Then, like he had once anticipated, and also like he was unprepared - the hand that quietly stretched out in time, withered and full of wrinkles, so familiar, so intimate but not so long ago, it was that shocking, with boundless hatred!

The old monk, smiling, still that amiable and kind, stood in front. The next moment, his world was completely blank, the rest of it, the village, children, disputes, all suddenly disappeared, only that compassionate and gentle old monk, smiled at him, like a painting that never faded in the distant time.

His entire body trembled, an indescribable grief and indignation deep from within his heart surged up his heart, he could not control and howled long at the sky.

The sky, when did it turn dark again?

There was wind and rain, quietly falling!

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