Chapter 1114 — Merit and Fame Have Their Own Meeting with Wind and Cloud

Chi set his feet in motion. Behind him, his primal spirit of three heads and six arms unleashed battle might and dharma power beyond all measure, bearing up his clansmen on high; his mortal body grew taller and taller, his strength greater and greater, until he became a giant who crossed mountains and forded rivers, striding toward the land where the sun rises. Out of these ruins, the Chiming Era rises!

That giant, hair loose and unkempt, will lead the human race of the ruins and compose another magnificent epic.

The Longhan Revolution has not yet succeeded. The Chiming Revolution has only just sprouted.

The Heavenly River races on, the years slip away; there is no changing of time itself, only people coming and going, only matter transforming.

The brave men in the front have fallen, and still the brave men behind pick up the banner and press bravely on.

The ghost ship sails on through history; beyond its hull it is now blazing bright, now dark, and one turn from light to dark is a single year.

Shen Mu circulated the Mystic Body Three Cinnabar Art, and his heart felt light; he looked bright and radiant indeed.

"Junior brother, you seem to have set down a whole heap of worries and grown cheerful now," Wei Suifeng said with a smile.

Shen Mu laughed.

"I have always been cheerful.

" Wei Suifeng shook his head.

"When you boarded the ghost ship, I saw it at once: your cheerfulness was a cheerfulness you put on deliberately. In truth your heart held anxiety, held sorrow, and held the desolation of never being understood by others, like a great black cloud shrouding your dao heart. Only now are you truly cheerful. " He smiled faintly.

"Your eldest senior brother may have no particular talents to speak of, but he reads people accurately.

" Shen Mu laughed heartily, then after a moment said quietly: "I used to feel that no one understood me, that no one knew me or comprehended me, that no one could spur me on, and so I gave myself over to a little self-pity. But now I know that someone does understand me, knows me and comprehends me, supports me and spurs me on. " He shook his head and laughed. "Even if that person lives in the past, even if that person is already dead, even if death and life stand between us, he is still my friend on the Way.

To have one true friend in a lifetime is enough! " Wei Suifeng clapped his hands in admiration, then changed tack.

"You still have two chances to return to the past. Where do you intend to go?

" Shen Mu rose to his feet and said with a smile: "Nowhere at all! I intend to set both chances aside and go back to Jingping first. I cannot live forever in the past; I should fix my eyes on the future!

Eldest senior brother, once I have decided where I want to go, I will come find you again. " Wei Suifeng gave a muffled snort and muttered: "I am not your boatman, to come at your call and be waved off at your whim.

. .

" Then, gathering himself, he hurriedly summoned Long Qilin and Yan'er, and said in haste: "Quick, bring out the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner. Before you leave, let me look at it a few more times! " Yan'er fetched the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner and set it upright on the deck. Wei Suifeng paced back and forth around it, examining it over and over, praising it without end, then suddenly burst into tears; stroking the treasure gently, he choked out: "Parting today, who knows when we shall meet again?

My lovely treasure.

. .

" And with that he hugged it and kissed it. Long Qilin and Yan'er exchanged a glance and shuddered in unison. Wei Suifeng was utterly infatuated with the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner, murmuring to himself at the treasure, and for a long while showed no intention of sending Shen Mu and the others back to Jingping. Shen Mu could not help reminding him several times, and only then did Wei Suifeng come to his senses; he kissed the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner a few more times before handing it back, his gaze still unable to leave the treasure, and said: "Junior brother, if in the future we ever break free of the Immutable Divine Power, could you lend me this treasure for a few days?

" Shen Mu shook his head. "This is the Northern Emperor's treasure.

We have only borrowed it for a time, and it must be returned in the end.

" "It has to be returned too? " Wei Suifeng's eyes went wide, his eyeballs rolling this way and that. Shen Mu knew at once that he had hatched some crooked scheme again, and thought: "Eldest senior brother is most likely plotting to swindle this treasure out of Crown Prince Youming.

" The ghost ship sped on; the afterglow of history flew past. In the mist on either side of the ship countless scenes flashed and vanished, and before long the mist scattered, and the ship emerged upon the Yong River of Jingping. Shen Mu looked at the two banks of the Yong River, spirit mountains towering, grass and trees lush green; since the day they boarded the ship, who knew how many winters and summers had passed in Jingping.

He led Long Qilin, Yan'er, and the six heavenly dragons down from the ship; the six heavenly dragons dragged a battered, tattered treasure chariot, its canopy askew upon it. This chariot too was a rare treasure, but how could it withstand such rough handling?

It had long since fallen apart, and Wei Suifeng and the Feathered Forest soldiers aboard the ghost ship had patched it together as best they could, but their craftsmanship was poor and they could not restore it to its perfect form. Some of the ghost ship's soldiers, seeing the mist disperse, grew restless and flew one after another toward the shore; yet the moment they left the ship, mist welled up around them, and the next instant the mist vanished and their figures vanished with it, appearing once more aboard the ghost ship.

Wei Suifeng did not stop them, letting them try as they pleased, and waved his hand: "Junior brother, do not forget your promise to me, and to the soldiers of the ghost ship!

Follow the map and come save me soon! " Shen Mu and the others stepped onto the riverbank, waved to the ghost ship, and said with a smile: "I will surely follow the map and save you!

" "A parting from Yujing nigh on ten years past, my heart has not one day been at ease. " Wei Suifeng stood at the bow, drinking deep of fine wine, and chanted aloud, his voice loud and bold: "Sniffing the plum I find a natural line; with wine I open my heart, and the place is remote of itself. The iron inkstone needs no army of a hundred thousand; the bronze platter, what use three thousand guests?

" The ghost ship gradually drew away, mist surging up to fold the vessel into its depths. Shen Mu's ears caught the soldiers on the ghost ship laughing and talking, singing with abandon, answering and matching Wei Suifeng, singing: "Merit and fame have their own meeting with wind and cloud; if the wind and cloud do not come, do not torment yourself!

" Shen Mu laughed heartily, turned, and walked toward Jingping, shaking his head: "Such sentimentality!

But then, have we truly been gone from Jingping five years?

Does that make me ten years old this year? " He shook his head, somewhat displeased at heart: "When I transmigrated, I was clearly only five, just at the age for losing my milk teeth! " Yan'er set foot on Jingping's soil and could not help cheering; she took out the Southern Emperor's Vermilion Bird plume and said: "Young master, please, I beg you to summon the soul of my mother!

" Shen Mu took the Vermilion Bird plume and glanced at Long Qilin, who was carrying the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner on his shoulder.

"This treasure draws far too much attention. Pi, hand it to me; I will keep it safe for you both for now.

" Long Qilin hastily handed him the Glazed Azure Heaven Banner, and Shen Mu tucked the treasure away into the Shen Continent, wholly satisfied. Yan'er whispered a complaint in Long Qilin's ear: "Why did you just hand it over?