Chapter 4238: Once

Yes, Hong’er’s repeated glances and the question that she had posed to him in the Frightened Sparrow Terrace had been etched into his heart. They were also why his mental state had faltered.

Lu Yin had seen the truth behind many things, including the secrets of the Tianyuan, Spirit Nidus, and Nine Odysseys megaverses. He had found many answers, and yet Hong'er’s question had continued to linger in his heart, needing to be resolved.

But was this all there was to it?

“Are you from the Crimson Starshade civilization?” Lu Yin asked in a low voice.

Hong'er coughed a few times and then slowly rose to her feet. There was a bitter expression on her face as she looked at Lu Yin. “He did not tell you because he doesn’t dare. I am from Crimson Starshade, a human civilization that your own abandoned. A civilization destined to perish, which should have been saved. That is Crimson Starshade. Are you satisfied with my answer?”

Lu Yin stared at the woman blankly. “Abandoned in what way?”

“Humanity does not consist of just the three megaverses that you are aware of. There was also us. He found us long ago, but because of an old hatred, he abandoned my megaverse, leaving my civilization to die on its own. If not for the coincidence of one of Qi Xu’s seven emotions passing by us as it fled, I would have never been brought here. I would have perished along with the rest of my civilization.

“Are Immortals truly heartless? He watched an entire human civilization die without so much as raising a hand. Lu Yin, can you answer me now? Are those who live forever truly devoid of emotions?” Hong'er’s voice ripped out from her very soul, harsh and filled with sorrow.

She wept, shedding tears for her lost civilization.

Lu Yin did not believe her. He refused to believe that Greater Sancte Green Lotus would just watch as an entire human civilization perished when he had the power to save it.

Lu Yin understood just how kind Greater Sancte Green Lotus had been to him.

How could the man be such a heartless person?

“Greater Sancte Green Lotus is not like that.”

Hong'er bitterly replied, “You just haven’t seen his other side.”

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. “If this is true, why would he allow you to tell me? He could have stopped you.”

Hong'er closed her eyes. “I don’t know, but what I said is true. Ask him yourself.”

Lu Yin turned around and left, teleporting a short distance away to Green Lotus. From there, Lu Yin stared at the man.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus stood with his back to Lu Yin, gazing across the Sea of Karma.

Neither spoke. They stood there in silence. After a long while, Greater Sancte Green Lotus finally turned to look at Lu Yin. “What she told you is true.”

Lu Yin stared intently at the man. “Why?”

The answer was calm. “There is no why. Abandoning is abandoning. No reason is needed.”

“Hong'er that said you did it because of an old hatred. What hatred could cause you to abandon an entire human civilization? Most of those people were innocent, and yet you let them perish. That isn’t something you would do,” Lu Yin said.

Green Lotus smiled. “Do not ignore human nature just because someone has treated you well. I am also human. I have my own resentments, hatreds, and grudges. I am the one who treated you well, and I am also the one who abandoned that civilization. There is no contradiction.

“Go back. I am entering seclusion.”

Lu Yin wanted to say something more, but Greater Sancte Green Lotus had already left.

It was a day that shattered everything he had previously believed. If Greater Sancte Green Lotus had not personally admitted to it, Lu Yin would have never believed anyone who claimed that the Immortal had done such a thing.

According to Hong'er, abandoning the Crimson Starshade civilization made the destruction of the human civilization inevitable. By the time Hong'er had been brought to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, her native civilization might have already been destroyed.

Leaving an entire human civilization to perish while having the means to save it was not something that Green Lotus should have done.

Lu Yin was not one to force others to speak, unless they were his enemies. Even so, Greater Sancte Green Lotus was an exception. He was not an enemy, and yet Lu Yin was determined to force the man to speak.

Upon seeing Lu Yin reappear before him, Green Lotus helplessly said, “I do not want to say anything further. Go back.”

Lu Yin replied in a low voice, “Please tell me, Senior.”

“Lu Yin, have I ever wronged you or the Tianyuan Megaverse?” the Greater Sancte asked.

“Never.”

“Then whatever I have done has nothing to do with you. Do not ask me again.”

“Please tell me, Senior.”

Frowning, Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked at the younger man. “I have done nothing to wrong you.”

Lu Yin said, “I don’t believe that you did anything to wrong the Crimson Starshade civilization, either, so please tell me.”

Clasping his hands behind his back, Green Lotus said, “Do not speak for me. Abandonment is abandonment. I could have saved them, and yet I chose not to. I left them to die alone. You may find this hard to accept, but it is the truth.”

Lu Yin stared at him. “If I cannot find a reasonable explanation, my mental state won’t be able to recover. Humanity will lose an Immortal.”

“This matter has nothing to do with you. Why drag your mental state into things?” Green Lotus asked.

“If it truly has nothing to do with me, why did you not stop Hong'er from telling me?” Lu Yin countered.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus opened his mouth as if to reply, and yet no words emerged. In the end, he could only let out a sigh.

Lu Yin simply stared at the man.

After a long silence, Greater Sancte Green Lotus took out an ancient piece of jade and tossed it to Lu Yin. “See for yourself.”

Lu Yin studied the jade. His expression shifted repeatedly: anger, sorrow, and despair. When he finished, he nearly crushed the jade in his hand.

“Is this real?”

Again staring out across the Sea of Karma, Greater Sancte Green Lotus replied, “That is the only record that our portion of human civilization has retained.”

Lu Yin’s expression grew increasingly complicated as he stared at the jade. It contained words left by human ancestors from an era so far back that it was impossible to guess its age. There were only a few broken lines, yet their meaning remained understandable.

They were an abandoned part of the ancient human civilization.

“So much hatred. Why was it us? We should not have died. It should not have been us.”

“We carried out countless missions for the Ramparts, and you deceived us.”

“Let everyone die. Let us all die together.”

“You deserve death. More than they ever did.”

The jade inheritance was unimaginably ancient. The ancestors who left these words were so old that they could be traced back to the era of the Nine Ramparts civilization. The Nine Ramparts were mentioned, but the numeral had already blurred away, leaving only a single, indistinct “Rampart.”

Before seeing this, Lu Yin had thought that Greater Sancte Green Lotus might have previously not known about the Nine Ramparts, but this made it clear that he had.

The Nine Ramparts had risen to power at the peak of human civilization, yet they had eventually fallen, overwhelmed by enemies. At that time, the Nine Ramparts had used portions of humanity as bait, abandoning them to allow most who belonged to the Nine Ramparts to escape.

“If the decision had been agreed upon, it would have meant little, but do the words of our ancestors sound like they agreed to anything? They were deceived and abandoned, and the Crimson Starshade civilization was one of those who abandoned us,” Green Lotus explained in a low voice. “I do not know how much of human civilization ultimately survived, but the only possibility is that our ancestors fought, carving out a path in blood as the Nine Ramparts collapsed. Crimson Starshade may have been strong, but so what? Eventually, they were similarly abandoned by me.”

The man turned to Lu Yin. “Along with this jade, there was a mural passed down. It was a record of countless predecessors dying in battle. It was a monument to their hatred, their resentment, their frustration. You can no longer see it, as the mural was unable to survive the passing of the ages. I only saw it once, and my consciousness merged into it.”

Lu Yin trembled. No wonder. If only the jade had been preserved, it would not have been enough to push Greater Sancte Green Lotus to abandon Crimson Starshade. His true hatred had originated from that mural.

Lu Yin had similarly merged with a wall from the Sea of Karma, experiencing Green Lotus’s innocent affection from his youth and gaining insight into how to build a karmic wall. Lu Yin knew all too well how painful the emotions within such a mural could be.

The fact that Green Lotus had merged his consciousness into that ancient mural meant that he had felt the exact hatred as their ancestors who had been deceived and abandoned.

It had not been Greater Sancte Green Lotus who had abandoned Crimson Starshade, but rather their ancestors.

Their hatred had been passed down through the mural.

No one had the right to forgive on behalf of their ancestors. Lu Yin also lacked any such right, for he was also a descendant of the abandoned portion of humanity.

Neither spoke. The silence stretched on.

“Do you regret it, Senior?” Lu Yin suddenly asked.

Green Lotus closed his eyes, not answering.

Silence was the truest answer. He had once abandoned Crimson Starshade because of the hatred that he had inherited, and he had come to regret it.

“I am also human, and being human means that one cannot truly cast aside their emotions. Whether I regret it or not, it is all in the past. The human Crimson Starshade civilization has completely vanished. I searched for it once, but it was gone.”

Lu Yin said, “I would also like to search for them.”

The Greater Sancte shook his head. “You may have the ability to teleport, but you must first see your destination. If it were possible for you to see it, I would have found it long ago. That human civilization should already be completely gone.”

There was a sharp crack. The jade had shattered.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus looked down at Lu Yin’s hand as the fingers unclenched to release the jade dust.

Green Lotus said nothing. The past grudges had already been erased. The Nine Ramparts had abandoned them, and he had abandoned Crimson Starshade. The ledger was closed.

“What else do you know about the Nine Ramparts?”

“Nothing. I learned of the Third Rampart’s existence from you. Your master’s megaverse was the Ninth Rampart, which I also learned through you. Crimson Starshade was part of the Second Rampart. The Seven Treasure Anuras’ Ancestor Shan mentioned the Seventh Rampart, as well as another described as a massive candle, which should also be one of the Ramparts. Beyond that, I know nothing.”

Lu Yin looked into the distance. “And Hong'er?”

“Do not concern yourself with her. For all these years, she has resented me. I am aware of it.”

“You didn’t keep her because of Qi Xu’s emotion, but because-”

“Lu Yin, have you ever felt enough hatred to want to utterly destroy an entire region or clan?”

Lu Yin nodded without hesitation. “Yes.”

“Did you do so?”

Lu Yin did not answer. Not only had he done so, but he had also taken absolute control of his enemies. He had done so to the sylvan dragons and to the Daynight clan. Too many factions had perished by his hand. He had no right to judge Greater Sancte Green Lotus, nor did he intend to.

What gave everything such incredible weight was the fact that it had been an entire human civilization which had been abandoned, an entire megaverse.

Yet, to speak of right or wrong, once a civilization fell, judgment could no longer be clearly determined.

Greater Sancte Green Lotus might believe himself to have done wrong, and yet Lu Yin had no right to condemn the man. If Lu Yin had been forced to choose between abandoning the Spirit Nidus and abandoning the Tianyuan Megaverse, he would have abandoned the Spirit Nidus. When a person was forced to choose, right and wrong lost all meaning.

It could only be said that, in the past, Greater Sancte Green Lotus had not acted as himself, but as the heir of the hatred held against the Nine Ramparts.

The hatred of a past era was not something that the current generation had the right to forgive.

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