Chapter 65: Ten Million Miles of Companionship, The Little Monk of the Past
Chapter 65: Ten Million Miles of Companionship, The Little Monk of the Past
Chen Changsheng departed. He left behind the imposing Kunlun Holy Land and the prosperous Middle Heavens.
He took with him the young woman who had originally followed him out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Over the agonizing span of centuries, Chen Changsheng had crossed paths with countless living beings.
There were heaven-favored prodigies whose talent eclipsed their generation, noble-born scions dripping with karmic fortune, and terrifying existences whose might defied description…
Yet, among this myriad of lives, only that solitary girl from the Hundred Thousand Mountains was willing to burn away her entire mortal lifespan in exchange for a fleeting moment by his side.
……
The Kunlun Holy Land did not tremble or shift due to Chen Changsheng’s departure.
The grand tapestry of the world remained entirely indifferent to his absence; if anything truly changed at all,
it was merely the addition of two inseparable figures wandering the mortal coil.
The physical chasm separating the Middle Heavens from the Eastern Wasteland spans over ten million miles. To ordinary cultivators, it was a brutal trek that could exhaust an entire lifetime.
But to certain existences, a span of ten million miles was nothing more than a passing breath.
No scholar had ever precisely measured the sheer distance dividing the Middle Heavens from the Eastern Wasteland.
Yet Chen Changsheng, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with A-Man, measured it inch by grueling inch.
The distance from the Kunlun Holy Land to the Daqian Dynasty was exactly thirteen million, two hundred and eighty thousand miles.
To traverse those thirteen million miles, Chen Changsheng and A-Man walked for a full two hundred and forty years.
In certain quiet moments, Chen Changsheng experienced a profound, irrational desire for the road between the Kunlun Holy Land and the Eastern Wasteland to stretch on forever.
But all paths beneath the Heavenly Dao eventually meet their terminus, just like the fragile span of mortal life.
“Brother Changsheng, is this the very place where your path began?”
A-Man swept her curious gaze across the desolate wilderness, seemingly attempting to reconstruct its ancient glory in her mind’s eye.
Time was a merciless blade; the mortal town that once stood here had been thoroughly erased from existence.
Even Chen Changsheng could only deduce its approximate location.
Watching A-Man’s vibrant smile, Chen Changsheng spoke with an eerie, flat calm. “A-Man, what kind of coffin do you desire?”
Hearing this morbid question, A-Man turned and beamed brightly at him. “I want the absolute best coffin Brother Changsheng possesses.”
“Furthermore, Brother Changsheng must dress me beautifully. I refuse to leave a withered, decaying image in your memories.”
Faced with her dying plea, Chen Changsheng offered a faint, gentle smile.
“Very well. Everything shall be exactly as you wish.”
Her feigned pride melting away, A-Man reached up, her trembling fingers tenderly tracing the contours of Chen Changsheng’s face.
“Brother Changsheng, you must not succumb to grief. Promise me.”
“I know you cannot bear to watch me wither. Otherwise, how could a mortal like A-Man have clung to life for so long?”
“From the moment our karmic threads intertwined, I have stolen three full centuries of life.”
“I am merely a fragile Foundation Establishment cultivator. Forcing my meridians to sustain me for an extra hundred years was already defying the heavens.”
“Three hundred years is more than enough. My life has been overflowing with joy.”
“Without you, even if I was granted three thousand years, my soul would only know barren sorrow.”
Clasping A-Man’s fading hand, Chen Changsheng whispered. “My answer remains the same. Everything as you wish. I will not grieve.”
“Is there anything else your heart yearns to see?”
“I wish to witness the dawn.”
“It is done.”
Without another word, Chen Changsheng carried A-Man to the apex of the highest neighboring peak, where the two leaned silently against one another.
Watching the faint, pale light bleed into the eastern horizon, A-Man weakly pouted her lips.
“Brother Changsheng, A-Man is actually deeply selfish.”
“I know forcing you to witness this brings you endless torment, but it is the only way to ensure you never forget me.”
“Please… do not harbor resentment toward your A-Man.”
Tightening his grip around her frail shoulders, Chen Changsheng spoke softly. “I am your Brother Changsheng. How could I ever blame my A-Man?”
Anchored by his words, a final, radiant smile bloomed across A-Man’s lips.
“Brother Changsheng is too kind. I truly wished to sit by your side for every sunrise and sunset unto eternity.”
“But my soul is so incredibly weary. I just want to rest my eyes for a moment. I will not be able to watch this dawn with you…”
Before the final syllable left her tongue, her hand slipped from his grasp, hanging lifelessly at her side.
Concurrently, the first piercing ray of dawn crested the horizon, washing over their motionless figures.
Silence.
In the face of A-Man’s passing, Chen Changsheng offered only an abyssal, crushing silence.
For two hundred and forty years, he had ruthlessly plundered the heavens to artificially extend her lifespan. That she had endured until this very dawn was fueled entirely by the monstrous obsession anchored in her heart.
With their journey reaching its physical terminus, that sustaining obsession naturally scattered to the winds.
After an immeasurable void of time, Chen Changsheng slowly rose to his feet, cradling her cooling body.
Extracting an entirely mundane wooden coffin from his spatial ring, he meticulously applied the most exquisite makeup to her pallid features before staring down into the vessel.
“A-Man, I am breaking my promise. I cannot entomb you within my finest coffin.”
“Using such a supreme artifact would tether your corpse to this mortal realm for eons.”
“I refuse to let your soul be denied eternal rest, and I am terrified that my own future actions might one day disturb your peace.”
“So, sleep deeply for now. I will join you in the dark soon enough.”
With chilling finality, Chen Changsheng slid the wooden lid shut.
Gently caressing the rough wood, Chen Changsheng let out a breath. “System, the threshold for my next slumber should be imminent, correct?”
Responding to Chen Changsheng’s inquiry, the electronic voice echoed in his mind.
“Answering the Host: Following your previous awakening cycle, you endured eighteen years within the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.”
“You subsequently spent twenty years within the Hundred Thousand Mountains, devoted forty years to deciphering Spirit Sources and the Patching Heaven Paste, and expended two hundred and forty years walking from the Kunlun Holy Land to this location.”
“Accumulating a total of three hundred and eighteen years of active existence. Precisely two years remain until your next mandated slumber.”
Digesting the System’s cold calculation, Chen Changsheng chuckled dryly.
“When I first crossed paths with A-Man, she was merely eighteen. This means she was birthed into this world the very moment I completed my previous awakening cycle.”
“Tell me, do you believe she manifested in this realm explicitly to accompany me through this specific era?”
“Answering the Host: It is merely an alignment of karmic coincidence. However, if the Host wishes to attribute sentimental providence to this coincidence, this System does not object.”
“Hahaha!”
“System, oh System. You truly lack the slightest grasp of mortal romance.”
“Perhaps, if I rot in this world long enough, my Dao Heart will become as barren as yours.”
“But that decay lies in the distant future. Now, while I still retain a shred of human warmth, I must visit my remaining old acquaintances.”
“This impending slumber will span a far greater epoch. I fear that upon my next awakening, they will have already turned to dust.”
Leaving the lonely peak behind, Chen Changsheng tore through the sky, flying with singular purpose toward a distant horizon.
……
Heavenly Buddha Temple.
“Abbot, what earthly tie do you still refuse to sever?”
Deep within the Heavenly Buddha Temple, a congregation of eminent monks knelt before an ancient elder whose inner fire was reduced to fading embers.
This dying elder was the supreme Abbot of the Heavenly Buddha Temple, Master Yixiu.
Hearing the desperate pleas of his disciples, Yixiu’s clouded, turbid eyes shifted faintly.
“I am waiting for someone.”
“Abbot, whose arrival do you seek? Allow your disciples to retrieve him.”
A senior monk offered the simple solution, yet Yixiu weakly shook his head.
“The Undertaker cannot be summoned by mortal means. When the karmic hour strikes, he will naturally manifest.”
The Abbot’s cryptic words plunged the kneeling monks into profound bewilderment.
Realizing further persuasion was utterly futile, the disciples reluctantly withdrew from the silent meditation chamber.
An indeterminate span of time bled away before the heavy, sealed doors were suddenly pushed open, allowing a solitary silhouette to step to Yixiu’s side.