Chapter 38: The Return of The Undertaker; the Vigil of Old Friends
Chapter 38 – The Return of The Undertaker; the Vigil of Old Friends
A warship the size of a mountain slowly ascended into the clouds. Chen Changsheng stood upon the deck, his gaze fixed in the direction of the Daqian Dynasty.
Half a century had slipped by in the blink of an eye. The faces of old acquaintances flickered through Chen Changsheng’s mind once more.
The timid, kind-hearted little monk; the Ninth Senior Brother who constantly trailed behind him like a shadow; the crippled Third Senior Brother.
And that little girl who always loved to call him “Brother Changsheng.”
A myriad of memories surfaced. An indescribable weight settled in Chen Changsheng’s ancient eyes.
At that moment, Zuo Xinghe approached.
“Sir, what are you looking at?”
Zuo Xinghe’s voice pulled Chen Changsheng back from the dusty past.
“Merely looking at some old friends.”
“But we are a full thirty thousand miles away from the Daqian Dynasty. Can you truly see them from here, Sir?”
“Old friends reside in the heart. Naturally, there is no need to seek them with mortal eyes.”
Zuo Xinghe pondered this for a moment, yet he ultimately failed to comprehend the heavy sentiment in Chen Changsheng’s words.
Seeing this, Chen Changsheng smiled faintly and patted the prince’s shoulder.
“Do not force it. At this point in your life, you lack the capacity to understand such things.”
“When you have waded through long rivers of time and finally look back, you will understand this weight.”
“You are a decent lad, and your mind is adequately sharp.”
“Since fate brought us together, I will grant you a twelve percent discount. When your final day arrives, I shall personally conduct your funeral.”
Zuo Xinghe’s face instantly darkened.
He was only a century old. Strictly speaking, he had barely reached adulthood.
Chen Changsheng possessed such bottomless experience; a conservative estimate placed his age at over two hundred. By any logical measure of time, the undertaker should enter the earth long before him!
Suppressing his inward complaints, Zuo Xinghe forced a stiff smile.
“Xinghe thanks Sir for his kind intentions. But as for the matter of coffins… let us delay that conversation.”
Meeting Zuo Xinghe’s strained expression, Chen Changsheng offered a fleeting glance before turning back toward his cabin.
Even an existence as formidable as Emperor Zuo was bound by the limits of his lifespan. Naturally, Zuo Xinghe would not escape the grave either.
To him, time was merely an inconsequential river.
…
Shangqing Temple.
Cough, cough, cough!
Li Jinshui coughed violently, his frame shaking before eight solemn burial mounds.
These eight graves housed his departed master and his fallen martial brothers.
The once elegant and refined Shangqing Temple had crumbled into desolate ruin. The couplet Chen Changsheng had penned was now faded and weathered by the years.
“Third Senior Brother, why have you come here again?”
Looking upon Li Jinshui’s swaying, fragile figure, Song Yuanshan could not hold back his reproach.
Li Jinshui offered a weak smile. “I should be asking you that question.”
“You are now the Abbot of the Shangqing Temple, the renowned Invincible Daoist. Holding the line against the Night Moon Country’s offensive falls entirely upon your shoulders.”
“If you fall, what will become of the others?”
“As for me, I am merely a man standing at the edge of the grave. Even if the Night Moon Country discovers me, they can take nothing of value.”
Hearing this, Song Yuanshan fell into a heavy silence.
Back then, Chen Changsheng had left the Shangqing Temple, vowing to retrieve the bodies of their masters.
Decades had bled away. Just as Song Yuanshan was prepared to abandon all hope, the long-missing Zen Master Yixiu had finally returned.
He brought back not only the princess of the Night Moon Country, but also the physical remains of their masters.
However, he did not bring back Chen Changsheng.
After a long pause, Song Yuanshan spoke. “Third Senior Brother, do you believe Big Brother Changsheng will ever return?”
“Of course he will. He must return to collect my bones and conduct my funeral rites.”
“Our Junior Brother is a man who binds himself to his word. Whatever he promises, he executes without fail.”
“Since my death is imminent, it means his return is at hand.”
Li Jinshui lifted his head toward the horizon, as though he could already discern that dusty, familiar silhouette.
A moment later, Li Jinshui leaned his exhausted frame against Master Yuanshen’s tombstone and waved his hand dismissively.
“Leave. You carry too many burdens to waste your days lingering beside a dying man.”
“I will soon go to meet Master. I have many grievances I must air to him.”
“As for the truth of what transpired within the Night Moon Country’s forbidden grounds… sever those thoughts.”
“Zen Master Yixiu will never speak of it, and neither will Princess Wanyan.”
“We swore a blood pact to drag this secret down into our graves.”
Faced with his Third Senior Brother’s decree, Song Yuanshan swallowed his questions, no longer pressing for the truth as he once had.
He was no longer a child. He understood that unearthing certain truths only brought damnation.
Once Song Yuanshan departed, Li Jinshui gently traced the cold grooves of Master Yuanshen’s tombstone and whispered.
“Master… how did our vibrant Shangqing Temple rot into this desolate state?”
“Do power and lifespan truly outweigh all else?”
A bottomless sorrow flooded Li Jinshui’s gaze.
Upon his return, Zen Master Yixiu had bared the complete truth to him.
Hearing the revelation, Li Jinshui’s mind had shattered against the reality.
He could not accept that their benevolent grandmaster had engineered the slaughter of his master and his martial brothers.
Yet, the cold laws of reality did not bend merely because a mortal heart refused to accept them.
Left with no alternative, Li Jinshui and Yixiu forged their pact: to seal this dark secret for eternity.
As for the Ascension True Person of the Shangqing Temple…
He had already Perished shortly after the great war between the nations commenced.
…
Aboard the warship.
The leviathan vessel had sailed the skies for an entire month. By now, Chen Changsheng and his retinue were drawing ever closer to the Daqian Dynasty.
As the distance narrowed, Chen Changsheng began intercepting scattered reports from the Daqian Dynasty.
The Daqian Dynasty had been entirely subjugated by the Night Moon Country. Only fractured remnants of resistance remained, clinging desperately to life.
Beyond the geopolitical shifts, Chen Changsheng caught wind of more specific rumors.
Such as the assassination of a Night Moon Country Demon King at the hands of The Undertaker. Or that the new Abbot of the Shangqing Temple wielded unparalleled fist arts, earning him the worldly title of Invincible Daoist.
“Sir, is this ‘Undertaker’ truly so formidable?”
“He managed to silently sever the head of a demon king deep within their own territory. You hail from the Daqian Dynasty.”
“The Night Moon Country shares borders with your homeland. Have you ever heard whispers of this man?”
Zuo Xinghe poured over the intelligence reports, attempting to gauge the threat level of this potential adversary.
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng clicked his tongue.
“The Undertaker… I am familiar with him. Rest assured, he will not stand in the path of the Xuanwu Kingdom.”
Zuo Xinghe immediately voiced his dissent.
“Sir, that might be a dangerous assumption. This man’s movements are like shadows, and his temperament is completely unfathomable.”
“He might very well be a capricious, bloodthirsty maniac. Why else would he adopt a title as deeply ominous as ‘The Undertaker’?”
“It is imperative that we establish wards and precautions against him.”
“The Undertaker happens to be my alias. When did I become a capricious, bloodthirsty maniac?”
Zuo Xinghe: ???