“Why…? Why does cultivation have to be all about fighting and killing…?” It was the same question he had been asking himself from the moment he entered the cultivation world.
After everything he had seen and experienced, you would think he would have found an answer already. But… he hadn’t.
Eventually, he left, thinking about how there were still so many things he didn’t understand. Although the sect had won a great victory, it came with many tears. As he walked along, he sent his divine sense out to examine the home he had been away from for so long.
One of the first people he noticed was Beihan Lie….
In a remote location in the sect was a huge graveyard, within which were buried countless heroic souls who had fallen in battle…. That was where Beihan Lie stood, in front of a gravestone that he had personally carved.
There was no name on the gravestone. There was only a carving…. Of a big, black dog.
Beihan Lie held an alcohol flagon in his hand. The passage of years was clearly visible on his face. The hair at his temples was white, and he seemed much older. The aroma of alcohol surrounded him as he looked at the grave, mixed emotions playing out on his face.
That big black dog had died saving his life.
Bai Xiaochun’s heart yet again filled with complex emotions. He suddenly realized that many things had happened of which he wasn’t aware. Although the fact that the black dog was dead filled his heart with grief, he decided not to interrupt Beihan Lie. Instead, he sent his divine sense sweeping over the countless other graves in the area.
Some of the names were familiar, others were not, but they all caused him to tremble.
It was around this time that Gongsun Wan’er’s brother, Gongsun Yun, happened to find Bai Xiaochun. Gongsun Yun was visibly older than before. He had reached Core Formation, but only the early stage. By now, he was no longer the famous person he had been back during the chosen battles between the north and south banks of the Spirit Stream Sect.
Both Beihan Lie and Ghostfang had long since left him behind. However, he never lost his dignity, nor his pride because of his little sister.
Although his sister had become very cold and distant after returning from the Fallen Sword Abyss, and had seemed very different, the fact that she ended up being taken away to the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect proved how incredible she was. Unfortunately, she had ended up being teleported out into the Wildlands, to parts unknown. That had been a heavy blow to Gongsun Yun, and a source of constant anxiety.
Gongsun Yun was trembling with nervousness, and yet he braced himself, clasped hands, and said, “P-Patriarch Bai… you’re back, sir. Song Que and Master God-Diviner too. Um… do you have any news about my sister?”
Bai Xiaochun stood there quietly, complex emotions flickering in his eyes as he looked at Gongsun Yun. After a moment of hesitation, he decided not to tell him the truth.
“Wan'er died in battle at the Great Wall… She gave her life to save a friend….”
Gongsun Yun stood there stiffly for a long moment, tears welling up in his eyes before they poured down his cheeks. Although he had long since suspected that this was what had happened, he had still held out hope. But not anymore. Clasping hands, he walked off, tears streaming down his face.
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Chapter
878: Eternity
Even after seeing Gongsun Yun’s sorrow, Bai Xiaochun still didn’t tell him the truth. There was no way he could. How could he possibly explain that Gongsun Wan’er had actually been killed long ago in the Fallen Sword Abyss?
It would be too cruel to tell Gongsun Yun that the little sister he had seen afterward was really that bizarre girl. Bai Xiaochun simply couldn’t bear to deliver such a bitter blow.
Instead, he told Gongsun Yun a story in which his sister sacrificed her life as a hero.
The story he told wasn’t without its flaws, and apparently Gongsun Yun realized that. But he didn’t ask any follow-up questions….
“Little sis, was that really you who came back to the sect…?” he thought. The truth was that he had asked himself that same question on many occasions, and didn’t really want to know the answer….
After Gongsun Yun left, Bai Xiaochun felt even worse than before. He didn’t like feeling like this. He liked being happy and having fun. However, as he grew up, he realized that such emotions were inescapable.
Oftentimes in the past, he was able to bury such feelings, but right now, all the graves he had seen caused Zhou Xinqi’s face to float in his mind even more clearly than before, as well as many other familiar faces. They were images he simply couldn’t dispel.
**
At the moment, no other patriarch in the sect had a better chance of becoming a deva than Patriarch Spirit Stream. He was in a better position than even Patriarch Blood Stream.
Patriarch Spirit Stream could sense the bleakness of Bai Xiaochun’s mood. As he looked at him from a distance, he could tell from the fluctuations of his divine sense how sorrowful he was. Although he didn’t understand Bai Xiaochun as well as Li Qinghou did, he had been there to watch him grow into the person he was.
At some indefinite point, he appeared next to Bai Xiaochun, although he didn’t interrupt him. He just stood there, looking at all of the graves of the River-Defying Sect.
Eventually, when the time was right, he spoke in a hoarse voice filled with age.
“Xiaochun, look around…. Can you tell what’s different about the sect…?”
Bai Xiaochun had long since become aware that Patriarch Spirit Stream had come to stand next to him. However, he was in too bad of a mood to say anything. In response to the patriarchs words, he looked around.
The sect was filled with a buzz of noise as all sorts of repair work went underway. Everyone was toiling away. Although nothing dramatic was happening, close examination revealed that the sect was rapidly returning to its previous state. It wouldn’t be long before it thrummed with just as much life as before.
As for all of the disciples of the three sects who had been captured, they were important bargaining chips that could either be absorbed into the sect as new disciples, or traded with the three sects for remuneration.
“Do you know what’s different?” Patriarch Spirit Stream asked again. “Do you know why all of the disciples are working so hard? Do you know why they are all so focused…? Because this isn’t just their sect. It’s their home!
“Spirit Stream Sect. River-Defying Sect. It doesn’t matter. They’re the same. The good fortune of the disciples is the good fortune of the sect. That’s the most important thing. As long as the disciples have enough faith and trust in the sect, then… the sect will be their home!
“And the truth is that our sect… is a home to all of us, patriarchs included!” Patriarch Spirit Stream was very, very old, and in fact, if it weren’t for the fact that he relied on a special secret magic, he would have long since perished. Perhaps because of that secret magic, or perhaps because of the dramatic events that the River-Defying Sect had seen in recent years, his face was covered with even more wrinkles than ever, making him seem even more ancient.
At this point, Bai Xiaochun’s mood stopped sinking. However, there was still something gnawing at his mind. Slowly but surely, he looked over at the patriarch.
“Patriarch… don’t we cultivators practice cultivation so that we can live forever? Why do we have to go around fighting and killing all the time? As long as we're alive, there are endless possiblities! But once we die… then what’s the point of it all…?” This question had been lodged deep in Bai Xiaochun’s heart for many years, and would not go away.