Chapter 1080 — Tidings of That Expert's Death

Wei Suifeng had endured more, and a plain sediment had settled in his heart of dao, so that he was no longer as wild and unrestrained as before.

"Junior brother, where do you want to go next? " he asked.

"Next?

" Shen Mu's gaze was deep, his face calm: "I want to seek the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird.

I still have not met her, and still must find her.

Can this ship go to more ancient ages?

I want to go to the early years of Longhan and see her. " "It cannot.

" Wei Suifeng said: "Matter does not change; at the farthest we can go only to the age when this ship was built. Ages before that are beyond reach, because before that there was no such ship.

The same holds for Heavenly Venerable Ling's ability: the mist of the Heavenly River can at most carry you to ages after Heavenly Venerable Ling's birth; for more ancient ages even she is powerless.

The ghost ship was built about a thousand years after the first years of Longhan; the most ancient age is the one you went to last time. " Shen Mu nodded slightly and said: "Then let us remain in the Longhan age.

" Wei Suifeng looked at him and asked doubtfully: "I look at you, junior brother, and there is always some melancholy in you. Why is that?

" "I made the acquaintance of a brother.

He is simple and honest, and treats people with true sincerity, yet I cannot save him. " Shen Mu said gloomily: "I know his ending full well, and again and again I tried to change his fate, yet again and again I found that he was fated for that ending.

I wonder where he is now, and what perils he faces.

I wonder too whether, when he meets me again in the future, he will go mad, and hate me for deceiving him. .

.

" The ghost ship drifted on the river, about to sail out of the mist.

Wei Suifeng urged: "You should set off. Raise your spirits — you are Heavenly Venerable Mu! " Shen Mu rallied and stepped onto the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot.

Wei Suifeng came forward, took up the reins, looked up at him and said: "You have rushed and toiled all the way; I ought to keep you on the ship to rest, but I cannot keep you.

These officers and soldiers and I have already become one with the ghost ship; we have become unchanging matter. The longer you stay on the ghost ship, the more likely you are to be assimilated. By then you will be unable to leave the ghost ship, and in the end you will become like us — a wild ghost of time and space. " Shen Mu's gaze rested on his face, and he said calmly: "Then how many more times can I borrow the ghost ship? " "No more than five times. " Wei Suifeng said: "On the sixth you will be assimilated by the ghost ship into unchanging matter.

Then we shall all be beyond redemption!

Junior brother, treasure these five chances.

After the five, I will send you back to Jingping.

" Shen Mu nodded. The Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot drove out of the ghost ship and into the mist. Near the altar outside the Ancestral Court, Luo Xiao passed through countless slaughters; amid the encirclement and suppression of the divine soldiers and generals of the Heavenly River Navy and the Nanluo Sect, he escaped again and again. "How is brother Mu?

" He fled onto the Heavenly River, muddled and dazed, his oil spent and his lamp dry; he could hold on no longer.

His mortal body was about to die, and by his last conviction he had fled to this place.

He wanted to return to Taixu and tell the three prophecies to the clansmen of Taixu.

He lay upon the void beast's back and sensed death descending step by step, drawing closer step by step. "I must return alive; this is the last hope of the creators of Taixu. . . " His vision was hazy; the death of his mortal body was turning his eyes blind, though he could still observe his surroundings with the vertical eye at the center of his brow — only, everything he saw was dim.

The young creator sensed once more that his enemies were pursuing, and could only drive the void beast onward with the last of his divine consciousness.

At last he vaguely saw a ship on the Heavenly River sailing toward him; the void beast too had spent its strength, and collapsed upon the water.

The ship stopped, and a young man walked out from it. "Who are you? " Luo Xiao heard his own voice ask.

"My name is Yun; others call me Heavenly Venerable Yun.

" The young man said: "Your wounds are grave; I cannot save you now.

Brother, what last wish have you? " "Heavenly Venerable Yun!

" Luo Xiao felt his cold hand seize the young man's wrist; two lines of tears slid from his eye sockets, and the tears too were icy cold.

His heart had already stopped beating, his body already cold. But he thought of the first prophecy.

"Heavenly Venerable Yun, I will tell you where Taixu is.

Carry me to Taixu and let me see my clansmen.

My divine consciousness is about to sink into silence; there I will awaken!

" Luo Xiao glared, yet his pupils had already gone ash-gray: "I will gouge out the eye at the center of my brow and give it to you. It is a divine stone, a token of my clansmen.

When they see this divine stone, they will believe you! " "And your corpse?

" Heavenly Venerable Yun asked. "The Heavenly River Navy and the Nanluo Sect are hunting me; they will not rest until they see my corpse.

" Luo Xiao struggled to his feet, raised his palm, gathered the last of his divine consciousness, and dug the vertical eye from his brow alive, holding it in his palms.

He told him the location of Taixu, then bowed and said: "I entrust it to you, Heavenly Venerable Yun!

" His breath was gone, yet still he stood upon the Heavenly River.

Heavenly Venerable Yun stared at him blankly, and at last accepted the Taichu Divine Stone: "I promise you, brave man.

" Luo Xiao smiled, and fell backward, his corpse carried downstream by the waters of the Heavenly River.

Heavenly Venerable Yun returned to the ship with that divine stone; the void beast followed him onto the ship, and crouched down quietly and peaceably. Heavenly Venerable Yun glanced at the void beast, shook his head, and took it merely for Luo Xiao's mount.

Several years later, Heavenly Venerable Yun finally found Taixu.

He entered Taixu and met some simple, honest creators.

He took out the Taichu Divine Stone from Luo Xiao's brow and gave it to the clan chief there. The creators received him with great warmth; they held a great sacrifice, and let Luo Xiao's divine consciousness become an ancestral spirit.

"He was a hero. " Heavenly Venerable Yun met a girl lovely as ice and snow; she too was a creator, and she worshipped Luo Xiao greatly, and worshipped Heavenly Venerable Yun greatly as well. "Only a hero among creators can subdue such a giant void beast!

" Though the girl was young, she was taller even than Heavenly Venerable Yun.

Looking at the giant void beast that had come with him to Taixu, she said in a crisp, clear voice: "When I grow up, I too will become a creator like the ancestral spirit Luo Xiao.

" "What is your name? " Heavenly Venerable Yun looked at her delicate, pretty face and was lost for a moment. "Langwan!

" "You are truly beautiful.

" "Yes, everyone says so!

"