Chapter 692: A Promise to Keep (1/2)
Chapter 692: A Promise to Keep
Far away in the Great Tang of the Eastern Lands, in a random village, a somewhat sloppily-dressed painter was looking askance at a rich man who fawned over him with endless words.
“Immortal, sir, I beg of you to paint me. I’m willing to pay any price.”
“My paintings are very expensive,” was the response.
The rich man nodded enthusiastically, then waved to his retainers to carry over several large chests.
The old painter glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, then cleared his throat. “Well, it seems that the two of us are connected by destiny. Because of that, I’ll paint something for you.”
He was just about to begin painting when a frown appeared on his face.
“Something just came up,” he said. “I need to take a mental journey. Please wait for a moment.” With that, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
The rich man didn’t dare to disturb him, and simply stood there off to the side, waiting.
Back in the Southern Domain, in the Rebirth Cave, Da Nu looked off into the nothingness, lost in her memories.
She was a lily that had bloomed with seven colors. On the day of vicissitudes, she had reached Immortal Ascension. However, she mistakenly fell in love with her host. When she reached Immortal Ascension, she severed her goodness and buried it at the bottom of the Milky Way Sea.
On that day, her tears had merged into the Milky Way Sea, and she became… the Dawn Immortal.
As for her goodness, it remained at the bottom of the Milky Way Sea, the same Da Nu as before.
Many years later, she emerged from the coffin and entered into the body of the fish. When she splashed out from the water, she became a roc that flew toward the Rebirth Cave, emanating an intense aura of death. [1. A fish turning into a bird-like creature is a common part of Chinese mythology. I've seen a few comments that I should translate ”roc” as ”peng.” Sorry to say, that would only be partly correct. Er Gen consistently uses the full term ”鲲鹏,” which combines the fish character ”kun” and the bird character ”peng.” If I were going transliterate it, the most accurate term would be ”kunpeng,” not simply ”peng.” Also, in ISSTH, unlike the ”kunpung” mythology, it is never described as a ”kun” which transforms into a ”peng.” It's described as a fish ”yu” that transforms into a ”kunpeng.”]
That aura of death came from her dead heart.
In the Rebirth Cave, she had hoped to experience a baptism, a rebirth, to become new. But no matter how she searched, there was no rebirth to be found in the Rebirth Cave. It was then that she understood. The Rebirth Cave was nothing more than a fantasy.
She could not achieve rebirth, so she remained there, submerged in her memories. No one in the world could understand her pain. But then she saw Xu Qing, and when she did, she realized that Xu Qing was just like herself all those years ago.
She sighed. The memories flashing in her mind’s eye seemed to grow more beautiful. In contrast, her body was already more than half withered up, like a dying flower.
The hand that touched Meng Hao’s forehead was visibly draining as her boundless life force poured into his body. He was now completely recovered, and didn't look old at all.
Inside of him, glowing motes of light appeared. They packed together densely, interlocking to form into the shape of an arched bridge.
However… the bridge was incomplete. In the very middle, there was a broken section, making it impossible for the bridge to be whole.
Those motes of light were the life force that Da Nu was sending into Meng Hao, and that bridge was none other than the Bridge of Life!
“I don’t blame you….” murmured Da Nu softly. Her eyes were blank, her mind submerged into memories that no one could see.
Her entire arm was now dried up. The withering spread to her neck. It looked almost like tendrils, climbing up to her forehead, and eventually covering her entire head. When the tendrils reached her eyes, she was thinking about the first time she had met her host.
In that moment, he had looked at her, and she him. It was a moment that seemed as if it would last an eternity.
“I have never blamed you….” When the withering took Da Nu’s eyes, two teardrops fell. They rolled down her withered face and then landed on the ground with a soft patter.
Her eyes grew listless, and she closed them. Then she lifted up the hand that was pushing down onto Meng Hao’s forehead. After a moment, she softly struck his head.
The blow seemed light, but the force hit him like lightning. He trembled violently, and roaring filled his mind.
The countless nodes of light inside of him that formed the Bridge of Life suddenly vibrated and then expanded. In that moment, the two sides of the bridge linked together, and it was whole.
When the Bridge of Life was complete, Meng Hao’s body spasmed in unprecedented fashion. He suddenly breathed again. His previously still heart began to emit a thumping sound.
When his heart started beating, the powder Da Nu had created from the Ninth Mountain and Sea lodestone swept toward his chest and fused into his heart.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump!
His heart continued to beat, and the sound of it echoed throughout the Rebirth Cave. Suddenly, an incredible gravitation force exploded out inside of his heart.
At the same time, his soul, which had been wrapped up by the Eyeless Larva silk, was caught up by the gravitational force. It merged into his heart, and then was superimposed over his body.
In this moment, the Bridge of Life was thoroughly linked and whole. Blinding light shone out to fill the Rebirth Cave, dispelling all of the darkness. The resplendent light was dazzling to the extreme.
Meng Hao’s blood began to flow. His life force was vigorous! His soul was back in place! He had returned to life!
His eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw was Da Nu. He saw her withered body, and felt his own surging life force. He could immediately sense the connection between it and the woman.
His mind trembled. If by this point he couldn’t understand what had happened, then his over two hundred years of life would have been lived in vain. It was obvious that this woman had given him her own life force.
“Senior….”
Da Nu looked at him, and her eyes suddenly flickered open. “I gave you life, not for you, but for her.”
An image suddenly appeared in his mind.