1043 Sacred Flame Roaring, My Body Burning (2/2)
Upon hearing the name of Jun Mo, Ye Su smiled and said, ”Eventually we are doing the same thing. I am proud of it. I guess he will be too.”
He said it proudly. He was proud because Jun Mo used to be his match, and because he had surpassed himself and stood at a higher level, therefore being able to see the scenes further afar. Or probably because he was standing on top of the firewood in the courtyard. He was tied up on the cross, not too tight or too loose. He could not flee but could see further from there.
Long Qing stood in front of the firewood and said to him, ”I will set the fire.”
Ye Su looked back at him and squinted because of the dazzling sunlight, ”What I don't understand is why you are still doing this even though you know what exactly is happening.”
Long Qing slightly frowned and said, ”I have to obey the master's order.”
They stood on the top and the foot of the huge pile of firewood. They shared the same master. Ye Su looked at the broken Arcane Tome hanging on Long Qing's waist and said, ”I suppose the master should know it too. Why would he waste the Tome?”
Long Qing said after a pause, ”Since human beings are able to write books, we won't need these Arcane Tomes in the future.”
Ye Su seemed have realized something upon these words. He and Long Qing were not aware of the Abbey Dean's conversation with the middle-aged priest on the plateau of Peach Mountain. But they were students of the Abbey Dean and most powerful figures of Taoism. They had been very familiar with the teaching ever since childhood. Therefore upon some very simple discussion they realized what the Abbey Dean actually wanted. It was irritating.
Ye Su looked afar toward either at the Zhishou Abbey or Linkang. He recited gently, ”To know the strong and to guard the weak, one would become the stream of the world. To become the stream of the world, virtue would stay, hence one would become as innocent as an infant.”
Long Qing listened to the verse and followed after a long pause, ”To know the bright and to guard the dark, one would become the model. To become the model, virtue would not depart, hence one would become eternal.”
Ye Su said, ”We are what we are. That is the path, the truth and the life. If we follow ourselves, we will eventually get out of the dark valley and achieve ultimate happiness… That is to know and to guard.”
Long Qing kept his head lowered. He was either looking at the horrifying hole beneath his gown or the firm ground, and his voice came out of his lips naturally, ”We could be ourselves, and we could also be Haotian.”
Ye Su smiled and said, ”So it has been like this ever since the beginning.”
Long Qing raised his head toward Ye Su under the sunlight and said, ”You are right.”
Ye Su said, ”There is no right or wrong.”
”If the master thinks you are right, then you are right.” Long Qing paused there. He thought he should be jealous but could only feel calm instead. He sighed, ”In the end you are the one who made him proudest.”
Ye Su thought for a while and said, ”Whether it is right or wrong, we won't be able to tell until the end.”
Long Qing said, ”As for what you did and what the Abbey Dean and Headmaster did, there won't be any destined ends.”
Ye Su said, ”Indeed, without Haotian, there won't be destiny.”
Long Qing looked afar and said, ”We've waited for too long.”
Ye Su said, ”The people you've been waiting for didn't come, and probably would never come.”
Long Qing took the torch from a divine priest and came to the pile of firewood. He paused for a while but said nothing further. He left the torch at the edge of the pile and stepped backward.
Fire was one of the most marvelous phenomenon in nature. It could be spread and copied. It could be started from sparkles and form prairie fires. While water could never do so.
The flame on the torch climbed onto the firewood next to it, and immediately burned the edge of the firewood. Blue smoke and bright flame were formed and spread out.
The pile of firewood was made by Long Qing. He made it extremely carefully and picked the most suitable ones for burning in terms of length and thickness. The fire built up quickly.
The walls around the courtyard were already destroyed in the battle previously. Now they collapsed completely in the crackling flame and unveiled the scene to everyone outside.
Grief caught tens of thousands of followers of the New Stream as well as the Song people who were ordered to witness the punishment. They felt pity and could not help from crying.
Ye Su's clothes caught on fire. Bright yellow flames climbed up to his knees and devoured him completely.
Someone kneeled down. It was probably a follower of the New Stream. Despite seeing the scary cavalrymen of the Divine Halls, he kneeled down and kowtowed toward Ye Su. More people kneeled down immediately. Even the tens of thousands of people from Song were stunned by the solemn figure in the flame and fell on their knees. The screaming and crying became louder and louder as if they were turned into sky-reaching surge.
Ye Su said all of a sudden, ”When the Ever Night comes, when the sun becomes blocked and the Heaven and Earth sinks into complete darkness, people will hail in joy. Because they will live for real.”
Right then he was baptized in flame and pain. He repeated his prophecy calmly because he did not want his followers to cry. He did not want people to grief for him.
Followers of the New Stream outside the courtyard tried to break in to save him, but were chopped down by the cavalrymen of the Divine Halls. They fell with wounds and blood. But upon hearing his voice, they instinctively followed and recited.
The followers of the New Stream who stood further afar also heard him and started reciting. Because they will always follow him. Other people from Song felt pity for him. They listened quietly at the beginning but somehow became attracted by his words, and eventually started reciting together.
”When the Ever Night comes…”
”When the Heaven and Earth sinks into complete darkness…”
”… we will live for real.”
The reciting of tens of thousands of people resounded above the square. It was the same crying and screaming that had soared previously. And now the sky was indeed trembling. The clouds that were previously dispelled by the sunlight came back in trembling, like fresh water poured into a bowl.
However it was extremely tranquil. Like when Ye Su said so, people's devoted and pious reciting was awe-inspiring as waterfalls in the storm or chirping of cicadas in the forest. The entire world was stunned.
Long Qing did nothing. He did not ask the cavalrymen to suppress and stop the crowd, even if the reciting was clearly a praise of the New Stream and an offense to Taoism.
He looked silently at Ye Su who was on top of the firewood pile. There was a mix of emotions that he was not expecting. He tried to figure out what he was sensing and wondered if he could really obtain peacefulness through what he realized.
Tens of thousands of people were reciting together even more loudly. It was like thundering war drums, not only stimulating but awe-inspiring. It enveloped the city and spread to the entire world.
Ye Su's voice became weaker and fragmented. When he spoke the third time, his words were already scattered and hard to be caught because the ruthless flames already went beyond his knees and reached his chest. His body was being burned in the golden flames and he was suffering from the most painful punishment or baptism.
Long Qing stared at the person in the flame and seemed to have heard him say, ”You see, they are not praying.”
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