Chapter 984: White Sun

Chapter 984: White Sun

"Infected by the miasma?!" Scholar Lu scanned the chaos erupting around him, watching as the villagers, consumed by the malevolent aura, underwent grotesque transformations of temperament.

The mere thought of such a fate befalling his wife or his friends sent a cold, paralyzing sweat cascading down his spine.

Driven by a frantic, heart-wrenching urgency, he abandoned all caution, yanking the carriage around and charging back toward Niuxin Village.

The journey out had been swift, but the return was agonizingly slow. Uncertain if he could arrive in time, he pushed himself and his beasts to the absolute limit.

To hasten their progress, he cast aside his theater trunks and luggage, leaving nothing behind but the old man and the young boy.

On the rutted, frantic road, he spotted a man standing by the wayside. He looked like a common farmer, yet his demeanor was anything but ordinary.

He clutched a butcher’s knife, his mouth and clothes drenched in blood—whether his own or another’s, it was impossible to tell.

He stood there, eyes brimming with a savage, murderous intent as he watched the carriage pass. Clearly, fueled by this miasma, he was committing atrocities he had never dared dream of before.

Though the carriage swept past him in a blur, the man’s gaze remained seared into the scholar’s mind.

He realized this was not an isolated incident; it was happening everywhere across the Great Liang. The entire empire had descended into madness.

"Gao Zhijian, what are you trying to do! Open your eyes! Look at the ruin you have wrought! You are a tyrant! A wretched, blind tyrant!"

"Faster! Go faster!" Scholar Lu screamed internally, lashing the horse’s flanks until the beast foamed at the mouth, yet he refused to let it falter.

He could not save the world, but he had to save Niuxin Village. They were his friends.

Through desperate, grueling travel, he reached the village just before dawn. The horse collapsed, spent and dying, the moment they arrived.

Standing at the village entrance, gazing at the mist-shrouded hamlet, Scholar Lu hesitated. He feared witnessing the nightmare he dreaded most—that the horrors of the town would be mirrored here.

With a deathly pale face, he forced himself to remain calm and stepped into the morning fog.

But as he felt the faint, creeping tendrils of miasma permeating the mist, his heart plummeted. "No... no, no...!"

Panic seized him, and he abandoned all caution, rushing blindly into the heart of Niuxin Village.

When he finally broke through the fog, he froze. A massive Mo-dao blade stood embedded in the earth, radiating a towering crimson light and exuding a thick, suffocating miasma.

Yet, the blade had not entered the village; it stood quietly in the dirt beside Bai Lingmiao.

Clad in white, Bai Lingmiao sat with her legs tucked neatly upon a stone, a stark contrast to the crimson blade. She watched in silence as Niuxin Village began to stir, awakening to the sound of roosters.

"It is alright," she said, her voice soft and gentle. "I knew today was the day, so I came to hold them back."

She lowered her head, her expression twisting in conflict. "By rights, I should not have done this. All the White Lotus followers have been infected under my call, yet I have used my authority to spare my brothers and sisters from this ordeal."

"I should have been selfless, but I could not bear to see them become soldiers, only to be sacrificed in the end. Even if we are destined to lose, I wanted them to live a little longer. I truly could not bear it..."

Scholar Lu stepped forward. "Mistress, I do not know what others might say, but I know you did the right thing."

"Why concern yourself with grand principles? When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. In the face of catastrophe, we must ensure our own family is safe before thinking of anything else."

Bai Lingmiao tilted her head, sensing the scholar before her. "Is that so? But what if you are the one who is tall?"

Scholar Lu had no answer; he stood there, struck dumb by the question.

Bai Lingmiao rose. The Second God emerged from behind her, reaching out to grasp the crimson blade, wrapping it tightly in a white sleeve.

Seeing her prepare to leave, Lu hurried to follow, but before he could go far, his wife threw herself upon him in a fit of joy. "I knew you couldn't bear to leave me! I knew it!"

Bai Lingmiao paid no heed to the scene behind her. She walked with a leisurely grace through the place where she had grown up. It had been a long time, and the once-empty village was now teeming with people, as if the bustling Niuxin Village of old had returned.

She eventually reached the Bai family ancestral hall. Gazing at the wall of spirit tablets, she drew three sticks of incense from the altar, lit them with care, and performed the three bows and nine kowtows.

She knelt on the cushion, staring at the tablets for a long time before reaching out to reclaim the white-silk-wrapped blade.

"I can be selfish and spare my brothers, but I cannot be a hypocrite who demands others do what I myself cannot. That would be too shameful."

The white silk was slowly unwound, and the surging miasma caused the wall of tablets to tremble violently. "My heart is too soft. But if I am to avenge Sui Sui, I cannot afford to be soft."

As Bai Lingmiao gripped the blade with both hands, the conflict and sorrow vanished from her face, replaced by a gathering, ruthless malice.

When the malice took hold of her, the Second God’s expression softened, but as all four hands gripped the blade together, the same cruelty bloomed on both their faces.

They smiled in unison—a cold, merciless grin.

The massive blade, held by two right hands, swung with force, severing the candle wicks and spilling molten wax onto the incense.

As the incense ignited, the flames caught the altar table, and the spreading fire soon engulfed the entire wall of spirit tablets. By the time Bai Lingmiao stepped out of the hall, thick smoke was already billowing from within.

"Fire! Come and put out the fire! Our grain is stored in there! Enough to feed us for decades!" Gou Wa shrieked, frantic, as he led the villagers to fight the blaze.

As Bai Lingmiao emerged from the village, White Lotus followers—some with white donkeys tattooed on their skin, others aged lamas—began to gather behind her, growing in number until they formed a vast, imposing procession.

Bai Lingmiao held the crimson Mo-dao in her two right hands, a drum in her left, and a spine-sword in her final hand—the spine-sword of Li Huowai, which he no longer had use for.

Sensing the blade, which bridged the gap between the Great Qi and the Great Liang, she spoke with two voices at once: "Prepare the sect. We must ensure the entire Tianchen Kingdom is infected with the miasma as soon as possible!"

"The Tianchen Kingdom is now without a master. We must assist the Unborn Mother in reclaiming the Vacuum Hometown!"

"By your command, Holy Maiden! The Red Sun era ends; the White Sun shall rise!" the White Donkeys responded in unison.