728 The Heavenly Daos Calamity! (1/2)

To live one's youth carefree and without worries. 'Tis the happiness one felt that made one young!

The saying was where the name of the Green Forest Lake in Ethereal Dao College had come from. The lake had been witness to the rise of the Ethereal Dao College in the Spirit Inception Era. It had also been witness to Wang Baole's growth, from when he had been a mere youth to where he was today.

It remained an observer even to this day, observing the changing of the seasons, as autumn crept gradually over these lands and as he grew from a teen to a young man. It observed even now, as he stood, back against the lake, staring at his senior brother Chen Qing's silhouette.

His hair was flying, astray in the autumn wind. Gone with the chilly breeze was his youth as well. What remained were the scars that time had left behind, in place of what had been a youth's carefree thoughts.

Even his reflection on the surface of the lake looked dark and unfathomable. A lotus leaf drifted past in the next moment, stirring ripples that unsettled the stillness of his image. It seemed like a mirror of Wang Baole's inner thoughts, how he too wasn't as calm as he seemed.

He took the gourd from his senior brother, taking a huge gulp from it without even examining what he was drinking.

The alcohol was strong, and a single gulp could intoxicate one slightly. Wang Baole finished half a gourd full of alcohol, then handed it back to his senior brother. He stared at his senior, then started speaking very softly.

”Senior Brother, I've wanted to ask you this for a long time. What I saw in the Dark Dream, what happened to you—is that really true?”

The moon flooded the scene with its cold light. It was quiet, disturbed only by the autumn breeze, whose chill seemed to intoxicate Wang Baole further. His question seemed to conceal beneath it something that a stranger would have found difficult to discern.

The lotus leaves in the lake swayed slightly in the autumn breeze while someone gazed out into the lake, sleep escaping him. That someone was Wang Baole. Something was weighing heavily on his mind!

Everything started with the last battle with Daoist You Ran. It had persisted when Wang Baole had returned to Ethereal City, remaining on his mind while he was in his parents' company and while he was whiling his time away peacefully, and it hadn't gone away. He hadn't been able to let it go. What he had done had been to set it aside, burying it deep and trying not to think about it at all. If not for Chen Qing broaching the topic, Wang Baole might have left it buried in the deepest recesses of his mind… and never spoken about it.

During the last battle with Daoist You Ran, Zi Yue's sudden change of mind had been too abrupt. It had shocked Wang Baole and pushed him into unleashing his full potential, to the point of exhausting himself completely. That had resulted in his establishing a firm connection with the coffin on Pluto. Everything… had happened so naturally, so coincidentally, it had seemed too good to be true!

Any misstep during that battle could have resulted in the extermination of the Federation civilization and the deaths of his family and friends. Perhaps everything that had happened had indeed been a fortunate series of coincidences. But there was also the possibility… of someone influencing the turn of events secretly!

Wang Baole had no idea how that could have been done. He wasn't surprised at all that his senior brother Chen Qing had broached this topic, and he wasn't going to use this as evidence to argue that Chen Qing had been the mastermind behind everything.

He had only asked one question. He believed Chen Qing knew what he was trying to say.

Chen Qing did. The young woman who had been destined to become his Dao partner had her fate changed due to someone's interference. As a result, she had been destroyed in both form and spirit. Who could claim that he hadn't suffered as well? He might seem without worries, but the truth was that he was still struggling with his loss.

He didn't want this pain, and he wasn't going to inflict something like this on another person.

Chen Qing took the gourd wordlessly, then finished the rest of the drink in a single gulp. He shut his eyes. After a long moment, he opened them, then looked straight into Wang Baole's eyes and said softly, ”Dear Junior Brother, I didn't do it. But I will admit that… my intention to make Zi Yue become a source of nourishment for you caused this. Give me some time. I will find out who… is secretly trying to pit us against each other!”

Wang Baole eyed Chen Qing, then laughed. The heaviness in his heart still lingered. But now, he was sure that what had happened was either a coincidence or… some mysterious power had indeed instigated the entire thing and pushed things into motion for reasons beyond his knowledge.

”Senior Brother, you still have wine?” Wang Baole asked with a smile, ease entering his heart.

Chen Qing watched as Wang Baole returned to his normal cheerful self and laughed. He pulled out two gourds, and the both of them sat by the lake sparkling under the light of the autumn moon and began drinking.

This was meant… to be a beautiful scene. Moonlit, next to a lake rippling gently in the breeze. Two men dressed in robes, young and handsome, like deities who weren't of this world.

The autumn breeze was chilly, but they were warmed by the wine in their bellies. Then, Chen Qing told Wang Baole his purpose for his current trip to the Federation. It was to take Wang Baole away. Wang Baole blinked, and his lips started smacking. He pulled out a few bags of snacks and began eating noisily. Chen Qing watched in a daze as Wang Baole handed a few bags of snacks over to him before pulling out a soy egg from his storage bag.

Chen Qing took the sticky, gooey soy egg from Wang Baole and bit into it instinctively. He was about to say something when Wang Baole raised his gourd up into the air and knocked it against his own.