Pursuit of the Truth

The sun could not be seen in the sky. It was dark above, as if it was the night when ghosts roamed. If ghosts wanted to wander on the face of the Earth, they required darkness, not daylight.

Under that dark sky, Su Ming approached the city gate, but then, he turned his head around and cast a glance at the palace. He could still somewhat feel Di Tian’s presence there.

It spoke of a farewell to Su Ming and filled the surroundings to slowly fuse with the ancient city that had died an unknown number of years ago. Di Tian would live in his own world and lie to himself so that he would come to believe that all of it was real.

Su Ming sighed softly. He understood Di Tian’s resolve, which came from the resolve to resurrect the corpses he had placed in the Rune beside the throne.

‘Only when you believe that all of this is real will the resurrected people not think that this place is fake. Di Tian…’

Su Ming did not speak. He felt as if he had come to know the other again, after they had been entangled in hate for thousands of years in Harmonious Morus Alba.

‘For the people he wants to resurrect, he chose to get lost, to immerse himself in this place… Where is my path, I wonder.’

In silence, Su Ming walked out of the city. When he stepped through the gates, he turned his head around the second time and looked at the headless man who was sitting above and meditating like a statue.

‘Eldest senior brother…’ Su Ming stared at the man for a time. After a long while, the boy in his arms opened his eyes, and Su Ming turned around to walk into the distance.

The boy lying in Su Ming’s arms lifted his head and looked at the city before speaking softly. “Big brother, do you know the person above the city?”

Su Ming did not turn his head around. He only answered quietly. “He is my senior brother.”

The boy did not continue speaking. He just stare at the headless figure above the city…

Su Ming did not interrupt his eldest senior brother’s training, because his choice was different from Di Tian’s. He wanted to take another path and no longer be lost. Instead, he would shatter all veils of illusion and open his eyes to search for the real world.

If he chose to willingly lose his way, then was sure that he would see the headless figure open its eyes. He would see his eldest senior brother from his memories. Su Ming was even sure that he would have a way to find all the familiar faces in the world around him. He would get to see all of them before him.

However… all of those things would still be fake, and Su Ming did not want to choose that path. He wanted to walk down a different path from Di Tian’s.

That road would be even more difficult and longer, which was maybe why Di Tian did not manage to finish walking it. He chose to lose his way.

While walking into the distance under the dark sky, Su Ming was surrounded by a presence of determination within the desolate atmosphere that hung in the air. He… would absolutely not give up on his path.

Su Ming could understand why Di Tian did not continue to walk down this path, but he himself would definitely continue to the end of his road!

In silence, Su Ming continued walking further and further away until he disappeared from the horizon. He left the area around the ancient city… and went into the distance.

“I saw the tears at the corners of your senior brother’s eyes…” the boy lying on Su Ming’s shoulder said softly.

Su Ming’s feet came to a swift halt. When he turned his head around, he stared in the direction of the city he could no longer see, then sighed softly.

Time passed, and ten years, twenty years went by… And then, one hundred years were gone.

Su Ming had already walked through three hundred springs in the once glorious world. Year by year, day by day, he walked past the wasteland, the mountains and rivers, the deserts, and the continents.

When he arrived at the sixth continent, Su Ming quietly stopped before a mountain. He closed his eyes. Beneath the night sky adorned by glittering stars, he chose to meditate.

His meditation lasted for ten years.

When Su Ming opened his eyes from his ten-year-long meditation, the entire world seemed to have become different. He did not care to practice his cultivation, and neither did he attempt to check just what level of cultivation he had reached. It seemed as if they were no longer important to him.

What he cared about was not his level of cultivation, but his epiphany. His cultivation and his combat abilities were just mere attachments in the process of gaining his epiphany. They were not his main focus.

“Let’s go.”

When Su Ming stood up, the boy tugged at his sleeves. Together, they walked into the distance.

The passing of time would not change due to a person’s will. Gradually, another ninety years went by them.

It was the four hundredth year since Su Ming had come to the new world when he arrived at the seventh continent. It soil was black, and no end to it could be seen. Yet there were no mountains, no rivers, nor plants around them. The only thing there was endless darkness as if the continent had been cursed.

From a distance, the black land with no mountains was like a black ocean. However, there were no waves on it, and it was just like the Dead Sea…

Perhaps there was an old ship swimming for eternity in that ocean, and sitting on that ship was Old Man Extermination from Su Ming’s memories.

“He’s there.”

At the moment Su Ming stepped on the continent, he said those words softly. He did not intentionally try to search for the first prince’s presence on the continent. Instead, he naturally sensed it, or rather… he detected Lin Dong Dong’s presence.

That presence was jumbled up. It had Old Man Extermination’s presence as well as that of… Su Ming’s childhood best friend, Su Xuan Yi’s son, Lei Chen.

“Will we meet?” the boy asked softly while tugging at Su Ming’s sleeve.

“He will meet us.”

Su Ming lowered his head and patted the boy’s hair, then walked into the distance. When their fourteenth winter on the seventh continent arrived, Su Ming did not stop moving while the snow fell from the sky. He just continued walking.

Gradually, when the ground turned white, Su Ming saw the first mountain on that continent. It rose into the clouds while looking like a person’s palm.

It was… the Dark Mountain of Su Ming’s memories.It might have never existed there before, but someone had created it to stand tall in the world. Under that mountain, Su Ming saw a house, and outside it, a person was sitting.

At first glance, that person appeared to be the first prince, but when Su Ming cast a second glance at him, he became Lei Chen. When Su Ming approached him, Lei Chen opened his eyes.

“You’re here.” A smile appeared on Lei Chen’s lips.

Su Ming stood where he was. After a long while, a smile appeared on his face as well, and he went to sit down beside Lei Chen.

“Where are they?” Su Ming asked.

“After we came to this place, we were separated. I too… have no idea where they went.” Lei Chen swung his right arm, and a few pots of wine appeared between him and Su Ming.

“It’s been… a long time since we last drank together, right? I still remember us stealing the elder’s wine while we were in Dark Mountain Tribe and drinking at the foot of the mountain,” Lei Chensaid softly. There was a nostalgic look in his eyes.

Su Ming was quiet. A moment later, he picked up a pot of wine and placed it beside his lips, but he did not say that the pots were empty… since for Lei Chen, they were clearly full. There was wine spilling from his lips had falling on the snow.

This scene caused a hint of sadness to appear on Su Ming’s face, and he slowly put down his pot of wine.

“Why aren’t you drinking? Do you know… that for us to drink together like this again… I’ve waited for you for four hundred years?” Lei Chen looked at Su Ming with a smile, but a weary look slowly made its way onto his face.

Su Ming looked at Lei Chen and asked softly, “Why?”

“I’m tired… I’m exhausted from the bottom of my heart. It’s been many years, and I’m tired, so tired…” Anguish showed up on Lei Chen’s face. Once he took a big swig from his pot, he let out a deep breath.

“This place is good. I’m very satisfied with it. You’re here, the elder is here, father is here, and all our people of Dark Mountain Tribe are here. This is my world.” Lei Chen smiled with great satisfaction.

“The only thing I regret is that it’s been a long time since I drank with you… In our previous life, we were brothers… In this life, are you willing to accompany me and finish this pot of wine with me?” Lei Chen asked and looked at Su Ming. His eyes were clear while waiting for Su Ming’s choice.

Su Ming was silent, but the boy beside him had become nervous. He tugged Su Ming’s sleeves as if his choice was incredibly important to him as well.

“Big brother… don’t do this…” Hao Hao was staring at Su Ming.

When he spoke, Su Ming had already picked up his pot.

While holding it, Su Ming slowly closed his eyes in silence. Time passed without any sign. Only the snow falling from the sky seemed to not bother with the coming and going of time. It continued falling to the ground…

When Su Ming opened his eyes again, he saw the snow on the ground, the Dark Mountain, Lei Chen, and he could vaguely see the familiar tribe around the house. Not too far away from the tribe was their elder, who was staring in their direction. There was also Bei Ling, Chen Xin, and the faces of the past all staring at him.

Su Ming then lowered his head. The pot of wine in his hand was no longer empty, but wine had appeared in it. However, the boy beside him was no longer around.

He stared at Lei Chen, then drank the wine from his pot. A smile appeared on his face. It seemed to have taken away his fatigue and made his dispiritedness disappear when he drank with Lei Chen, his first friend, his brother, under Dark Mountain and in his tribe.

From morning till night, Lei Chen and Su Ming continued drinking wine while laughter echoed in the air. They spoke of the past and the beautiful moments they had once shared together.

“I still remember how you looked like when you first saw Bai Ling. Haha, speaking of which, if we hadn’t gone to the square between the tribes, I reckon you wouldn’t have run into Bai Ling.” Lei Chen put down the pot of wine with a smile.

“I still remember that you fell in love with a girl at that time, but I’ve never agreed to your tastes in women…” Su Ming’s smile was very beautiful. It was as pure as it had been in the past, untainted.

When Lei Chen heard those words, he immediately laughed as well. When he shook his head, he appeared to be filled with sentiment.

“At that time, I was still young. When I saw how close you were to Bai Ling, I thought that I should have someone close to me as well. For some reason, I thought she was good, but now, when I look back, I can no longer remember her name.”