Chapter 579: The Wind Picks Up In Moonrite; Sparks Seek to Start a Wildfire (part 1)

Chapter 579: The Wind Picks Up In Moonrite; Sparks Seek to Start a Wildfire (part 1)

“Gods have dreams, sacrifice to them with dance; the living are paper cutouts, all beings are art.

“The skilled please gods, and are blessed forever; the unskilled are hated by the gods, and are destroyed eternally.”

That was the sacrificial dance.

As the old man in the twin peaks was destroyed via backlash, he faded from existence along with all of the failed dancing butterflies. After eating their fill of his flesh, they merged back into heaven and earth, leaving behind no trace of their existence. As a result, all living beings were able to see clearly again.

That said, to the beings in the Unfinished Mountains, being awake... wasn’t necessarily a blessing. Those for whom no special arrangements were made ended up extremely confused. The confusion started in the cities in the foothills, and spread rapidly from there. Mortals and cultivators alike suddenly regained clarity, and then looked around silently.

Husbands and wives. Friends. Loved ones. Masters and apprentices. In many cases, mixed emotions replaced the confusion on their faces as they struggled to reconcile the mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity. The unfamiliarity came because they didn’t know the other person. They had been assigned these roles regardless of their real identity. The familiarity came because they still had all their recent memories. Upon awakening, such people weren’t sure what to do with their lives.

The cities were like that, and it was the same with the sects and clans. A storm of confusion swept through the Unfinished Mountains, filling them completely. Some people chose to leave and never return to a place they now viewed with terror and incredulity. Most of those were outsiders.

However, the majority of people in the Unfinished Mountains had been born and raised there. From the moment they were born, their fates could be altered on a whim. In fact, if you went back in history, all of their ancestors had lived like this. Their lives were arranged for them. The tracks were all laid out. And thus, living in that manner had become an instinct for most such people. After all, before they woke up, they had no idea what was really happening. In that state, everything looked exactly the same as it always had to them. Normal. They were like pets in a cage. Even if that cage was somehow opened one day, they... would still choose to live in the cage.

Many of them, deep in their hearts, would foster the suspicion that the talk about the ‘dream’ was a sham. By doing that, they could reinforce the belief that they were always ‘awake.’ It was part blessing, part sorrow.

Xu Qing stood there in silence.

With the help of the ice coffin occupied by the Captain's past-life body, plus the scepter, he was able to send his divine will throughout the Unfinished Mountains. As a result, he could sense what the living beings there were thinking.

In the end, Xu Qing and the Captain chose to leave. Before departing, the Captain sensed everything and sighed.

“For the people who have lived here from generation to generation, is there really a difference between being in the dream and being awake? They’ll keep on living, and things won’t be much different than before. Let’s go, little Ah Qing.... Perhaps to them, our presence really is an interruption.”

Shaking his head, he collected the ice coffin, then floated up into the air. A moment later, he stopped and looked back down at Xu Qing. Xu Qing took a deep breath, retracted his senses, and then followed the Captain. As they flew through the sky, they stopped to look down at the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect.

Wu Jianwu was there.

The sect was largely empty. Many of the mountains in the sect had collapsed, and the spirit spring was choked with dust and sludge. More than half of the disciples had departed upon awakening. Local cultivators who had been born in the area sat around looking at the chaos and rubble, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.

However, there were far too few pills to supply all living beings with them. As a result, they were exceedingly precious, to the point where you usually couldn’t even buy them with spirit stones. Even just one such pill could be considered a rare commodity worth hoarding. After all, the patriarchs of the Twofold Alliance had been hoping to turn Xu Qing over to the Red Moon Cathedral and get a reward of a painquelling lozenge. From that alone it was possible to imagine how enticing a bounty reward with painquelling lozenges could be. [1]

Meanwhile, Xu Qing and the others were long gone from the Unfinished Mountains, and were now nearing the western part of the region. The Captain planned to lie low there until the fuss died down. And he had some work to do in that area anyway.

Xu Qing wasn’t planning to go with him. There was something else he needed to work on. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Duanmu Zang and his city of fireflies. There were over 100,000 humans from that city who were affected by the curse. He wanted to help them. However, it was going to take a lot of research, study, and hard work to figure out how to dispel the curse. And that meant he needed a quiet and peaceful location to work for a while.

Given the Captain’s frisky personality, it seemed better to part ways. What was more, there was a specific location that Xu Qing wanted to investigate. Eventually, he explained his plan to the Captain.

“You want to study the curse?” The Captain’s eyes lit up. Producing a peach, he took a bite. “Hahaha! This idea of yours is actually eighth on my list of tasks to handle. If you want to get to work now, it’ll save me a lot of time and effort down the road. I think that’s a great idea!”

Eyes shining with determination, the Captain handed Xu Qing an apple, then threw his arm around his neck and lowered his voice. “If you’re going to go off alone, little Ah Qing, just keep in mind to avoid the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect. As for me, I have a small job to handle that shouldn’t take me more than about half a year.”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. “What do you mean by ‘small’ job? How small?”

“Hahaha! Very small. Very, very small!” He put his thumb and index finger very close together to illustrate how small of a job he was talking about.

Xu Qing smiled. “In that case, take care of yourself.”

He wasn’t inclined to press for details.

The Captain laughed again and then looked off into the distance. “Alright, then. We’ll part here, and meet back up in half a year in the Bitter Life Mountains. Sound good? You listen to me, little Ah Qing. Don’t be late. In fact, it would be better to show up early. In half a year, your Eldest Brother is going to introduce you to a very badass organization! And that organization is going to play a very important role in dealing with the red moon!”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. He had first heard of the Bitter Life Mountains from Duanmu Zang, which was also when he learned that those mountains were related to the Moonrebel Congregation. [2]

Xu Qing didn’t know much beyond that, but he had planned to go there at some point.

As Duanmu Zang had mentioned, the Moonrebel Congregation had done a lot of research into the curse. If he could get some good information from them, it might save a lot of time in his own study. Or he might even be able to take existing ideas and expand them in different directions.

Nodding, he discussed a few more details with the Captain. Then he stood to leave.

1. The patriarchs of the Twofold Alliance pondered the reward of a painquelling lozenge in chapter 565.2. ☜

2. Duanmu Zang told Xu Qing about the Bitter Life Mountains and the Moonrebel Congregation in chapter 567.1. ☜