Chapter 631: The Sun Also Rises

Chapter 631: The Sun Rises as Usual

"Truly no chance of advancement?"

Li Jun gazed at Yuan Mingfei with a heavy expression, worry brimming in his eyes.

"The body on Sangyan Divine Mountain retains remnants of Yin Ji's Jichang and Lin Jiapo's partial wisdom roots. Though both are now dead, the loophole in this technique can never be patched again. Since it is not a leakless body, one cannot become a Ten-Direction Bodhisattva of the Buddhist Sequence Two."

Yuan Mingfei's tone was calm: "But it matters not. From the moment I chose to ascend Sangyan Divine Mountain, I already foresaw this outcome. It is not difficult to accept."

A fist-sized figure leapt from atop Li Jun's head, clinging to Yuan Mingfei's chest, tiny hands clutching her lapel, little face already streaked with tears.

"Aunt, can't you stay?"

Yuan Mingfei lowered her eyes, her gaze gentle as she looked at Li Hua, raising a hand to softly stroke the top of her head.

Clearly both were illusory forms, yet the emotions flowing from their eyes were genuinely, undeniably real.

Yuan Mingfei teased softly: "It's our little Hua, long time no see. How are you still only this big?"

"I'll grow up, Aunt. Just wait for me."

Li Hua answered loudly at those words. At once, crisscrossing light flared on that Spring Embroidery Saber, instantly enlarging Li Hua's form to the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old. She slid from Yuan Mingfei's chest and plopped onto the muddy ground, hugging her legs tightly.

"Aunt look, I really grew up. Everyone says good children must remember to be filial to elders when they grow up, or they'll be struck by five thunders from heaven. I'm most afraid of thunder, so you stay and let me be filial to you, okay?"

"Truly just a fool."

Yuan Mingfei gazed at the girl crying with snot all over her face with tender affection.

"I can't bear to leave you either."

"Heaven leaves no path untrodden. Your current state bears some resemblance to the Ming Ghosts of the Ink Sequence. The Eastern Branch under Zhao Qingxia and the others surely has a way to reconstruct a body for you."

Li Jun's face was iron-dark as he spoke in a deep voice: "Even if they can't, there are others! Right, there's Zhang Fengyue. I'll take Zhang Siyuan to find his father right now!"

"Different paths, no shared counsel. At this Sequence Two step, even that Prime Minister Zhang would likely be powerless."

Yuan Mingfei shook her head, voice light: "This much you should know well."

"If he's powerless, then find someone who can! Beneath the vast heaven, is there truly no one who can save you?"

Li Jun's words were sonorous, each striking the ground.

"I don't believe it!"

Yuan Mingfei persuaded: "Even if someone truly could do it, they'd demand an exorbitant price, conditions harder than ascending to heaven. Who knows how many more would die. If I did that, what difference would there be between me and Lin Jiapo and the rest?"

"So what?"

Murderous intent surged in Li Jun's brow: "You once said in Chongqing Prefecture that you feared death most in this life. Why give up so easily now?"

"When not facing death, one fears it greatly. Now that I've truly reached this step, it's not so frightening."

Yuan Mingfei fixed her gaze on Li Jun, her words suddenly turning: "Don't you have anything else you want to say to me?"

"I—"

Long after the rolling thunder echoing through the village dissipated, the terrified villagers finally mustered courage to step out their doors.

The youths led by Jiqing clenched their fists, faces flushed red, eyes blazing like fire as they watched Li Jun.

The elders, the moment they saw Yuan Mingfei, had tears welling in their eyes. Supporting one another, they surged forward, kneeling around Yuan Mingfei, chanting "Bodhisattva" in worship, prostrating as if beholding a deity.

Amidst the rising and falling sounds of veneration, a clear breeze came.

It lifted the disordered sutra streamers under the eaves, stirred the copper bells fallen on the ground. The thin mist of the winter dawn rose like curling incense, lingering above those white heads, refusing to disperse for a long time.

Li Jun, his words interrupted, suddenly stirred. He saw Yuan Mingfei's originally semi-transparent form growing several degrees more solid amidst the villagers' prayers.

White robes whiter than snow, brows and eyes holding bright light.

"My Aunt!!!"

This scene, in Li Hua's eyes, was clearly the final rally before death. She couldn't help but wail aloud, crying until it tore heart and lungs.

"Stupid girl, what are you bawling for? Shut your trap quick."

Li Jun closely examined the changes occurring on Yuan Mingfei's body, unable to help asking in shock: "You this—"

Yuan Mingfei could hold back no longer, bursting into laughter with a *pu-chi* sound. A pair of phoenix eyes, now devoid of any seductive charm, curved like the waning moon about to hide in the sky, starlight flashing in their depths.

"I only said I couldn't advance. I never said I would definitely die."

Yuan Mingfei smiled: "She Lin Jiapo is no simpleton. I, Yuan Mingfei, am no fool either. Sequences based primarily on faith and spirit, once reaching high positions, already possess the ability to survive apart from the body. It's just that without a physical golden body's nourishment, I likely can never advance again. The intricacies here, a martial sequence like you wouldn't understand."

"Then that's good."

Li Jun instantly let out a long breath.

"Only, from now on I fear I can never leave this plateau."

Hearing this, the smile just about to bloom on Li Jun's face instantly froze.

"Why?"

"Heaven has unpredictable storms; man has morning and evening misfortunes. People have no high or low, but luck has good and bad. Those who fare well want to leave this plateau, to see vaster heavens. Those who fare poorly can only entrust themselves to ethereal gods and Buddhas, yearning for a lifetime of salvation. Faith has no good or bad; it should remain in heaven as sustenance, not fall to earth and become shackles."

Yuan Mingfei's gaze swept over each kneeling villager.

"Because they still need me, I can continue to exist. They gave me a path to life, so I am destined to stay here and shelter them. This is the cause they bestowed upon me, and the effect I must repay."

These words left Li Jun in a fog. He only knew Yuan Mingfei would be trapped in the fan district, quite possibly forever.

"As long as your life is saved, the rest I'll find a way to solve—"

"Don't spout your killing methods again. This old lady has no interest listening to your nagging."

Having shed the gorgeous cheongsam for holy white robes, Yuan Mingfei's bones still retained her former fierceness and bluntness.

With that one opening, Li Jun suddenly felt returned to Chongqing Prefecture. Before him was still that familiar rebellious celestial maiden, that gambling Rumor General.

"I'll give you one more chance. Finish what you didn't say just now."

Li Jun froze: "What words?"

Li Hua rolled her eyes, muttering things like 'no prospects' and 'old coward'.

"So this is the Solitary Martial Sequence? Fine."

Before Yuan Mingfei's words fell, Li Jun casually waved a hand. The unique aura of "Overcoming Enemies" settled on that Spring Embroidery Saber.

"Old Li, that's not loyal—"

Li Hua, just calculating how to help her uncle, suffered a backstab. Her face instantly changed, her projected figure vanishing.

"I'm not a spineless scoundrel. But for things like this, I generally don't use my mouth."

Li Jun strode forward, leaning close to Yuan Mingfei's ear and speaking softly.

Scorching breath passed through her body. Yuan Mingfei seemed unable to parry, retreating a step.

Coupled with those villagers' faces, each exaggerated with admiration nearly to the point of prostration, Yuan Mingfei couldn't help but raise a brow.

"I recall you once bragged to Zou Sijiu and them, saying you only ever play for real? I don't meet your conditions right now, though."

Which son of a bitch sold me out?!

Li Jun cursed incessantly in his heart, but his face remained righteous: "That was youthful ignorance and recklessness."

I once served as a heavenly maiden—do you still hold it against me?

Yuan Mingfei bit her lip, the hands hidden in her sleeves suddenly clenching tight.

From the moment I entered this world, I’ve been a wicked troublemaker—don’t you despise me?

Li Jun stepped forward, smiling softly: “You are now a Buddha who saves the suffering, while I remain a demon who kills—whether you mind or not, it’s for me to ask.”

If I don’t ferry you across, how can this old woman become a Buddha?

The anxiety and worry in Yuan Mingfei’s eyes vanished completely in that instant; she lunged forward, throwing herself into that warm embrace.

Li Jun, no matter what you truly think in your heart, I don’t care—I only need you to remember that the borderlands will always be your refuge.

Li Jun’s lips twitched slightly, but in the end he remained silent.

His arms simply wrapped around her, just right—neither too much nor too little.

This moment ought to be silent rather than spoken.

The unwittingly maintained “Subdue the Foe” relinquished its grip on the trembling longsword.

The small‑bodied but big‑spirited Li Hua emerged slowly from the sword’s hilt, arms crossed over her chest, watching the scene with a face full of relief.

Tsk, tsk—see, we’ve got good eyesight; we started calling her ‘auntie’ right away.

Suddenly, Li Hua seemed to recall something, her gaze sweeping over the kneeling elders and clenched‑fist youths around her.

“My uncle is the greatest martial chieftain, and my aunt is the sole Buddha of the borderlands!”

“So from now on, won’t this borderland become my turf?”

Li Hua flashed a grin of white teeth, her eyes brimming with longing and yearning.

“Look, those mountains over there—how beautiful they are.”

Yuan Mingfei leaned against Li Jun’s chest, her gaze dreamily fixed on the horizon as she murmured.

At this moment the brightening dawn suddenly pierced the outline of the distant mountains.

And so night gave way to day.

The rising sun spilled a sheet of gold, lighting the felt‑house’s windowpanes.

Jixiang slowly stepped out of the door, gazing at the tall stack of firewood piled in the corner, at the water tubs brimming in the courtyard, and inhaling the sweet milk fragrance drifting from within.

Her face bore a satisfied smile as she lifted her hand to gently caress her belly.

She wasn’t talking to herself; she was speaking to the child who had not yet entered this world.

“Baby, don’t be afraid—this place is wonderful; come quickly.”

The spreading golden light carried this good news far away, traveling an unknown distance until it fell upon Danzhu’s body.

He scrubbed the blood from his face with snow that had not yet melted, then bent to pluck from the withered yellow grass a blossom out of season—a delicate snow‑lotus—cradling it like a jewel in his palm before bursting into laughter.

“Let’s go—home!”

The morning light likewise climbed the high peaks, illuminating the body of the Ink‑Riding Whale.

Zhao Qingxia stood beneath the wings, glaring at the floating obsidian‑armor core before her.

“Fire? You’re joking—what cannon would a close‑combat ink‑armor that merely chops with a blade even need? Impossible—if the elders of the Southern Institute found out, they’d flay me alive!”

The core hummed and vibrated, like a person chattering on without cease.

“Enough, quit the chatter.”

Exasperated, Zhao Qingxia flicked her hand and snapped, “I’ll help you steal it, but I can’t guarantee we’ll actually get it.”

“Junior brother.”

A faint voice drifted down from the sky; the Ink‑Riding Whale lowered its head to regard the ill‑humored youth, “Actually, I’ve always had a dream.”

Zhao Qingxia gritted her teeth and said, “Speak!”

“I want to play with a blade.”

“Get lost, get lost, get lost—I think you’re just trying to mess with me!”

Having heard that joke, the red light continued on its way, silently arriving at the edge of the cliff.

Zou Jiujiu stood here, gazing out over the vast expanse, and asked, “Old Chen, do you think we’ve done something good?”

“I suppose so.”

Chen Qisheng’s movements mirrored his own, watching the plateau grow brighter, he replied offhandedly.

“Perhaps it’s an act of kindness and merit?”

“I’d say it counts.”

Zou Jiujiu flushed with frustration, turning his head to snap, “You old ox‑nose, can’t you stop being so perfunctory?”

“Then what do you want me to say?”

Chen Qisheng sighed, “How about we cast a divination?”

“Better not—when we’re this happy, we shouldn’t go looking for discomfort.”

Though he said that, Zou Jiujiu still produced those few copper coins from his trouser pocket.

The copper coins flipped and turned in the light and shadow, seized tightly by the hands already prepared.

*Pop.*

His palm slowly opened inch by inch, and Zou Jiujiu’s eyes flew wide, shooting forth an incredulous gleam.

“Ultra‑auspicious?!”

“You see? It’s man’s doing, heaven’s watching!”

The two locked eyes, then burst into loud laughter that tore through the clouds.

The light shifted its gaze elsewhere, striking the obsidian turtle’s carapace and spilling a sheet of gold.

“Wang Qi.”

The obsidian turtle spoke with guilt and struggle, “Some things I did wrong—I shouldn’t have deceived you; actually, this world…”

“Damn it, at last this damned storyline is over—good thing here I only walked through as a cameo, watched the play, and wasn’t forced to fight myself; otherwise keeping this little life would be a problem.”

Wang Qi suddenly let out a sigh, cutting the turtle off mid‑sentence.

After he finished his own soliloquy, he turned as if just noticing the turtle and laughed, “Aotiger, we agreed earlier that once this is settled you’d give me a suit of armor—don’t you dare forget, or I’ll never let you off the hook!”

“That’s certainly no problem, but…”

Wang Qi seized the moment to interject, “No problem’s fine, the rest doesn’t matter—wait, there’s still something important: with Tianque now like this, where are we headed?”

Aotiger gave Wang Qi a deep look, seeming to grasp his meaning, then asked, “I’ll probably follow him—what about you?”

Wang Qi hesitated a moment, not rushing to reply, merely following the direction indicated by the ink‑armor and gazing at the lone figure far off.

“A bunch of old fogeys—you couldn’t even kill them with the world’s dividing martial arts, yet you stumble over this little scene?”

Bearded Shen Li squatted on the cliff’s edge, muttering to himself.

“I’ve told you before, old man, there’s no sense in guarding against thieves for a thousand days when you only steal for a thousand—hiding does no good; better to meet those bastards head‑on with real blades, for fate decides life and death, wealth rests with heaven—if we win we keep riding roughshod, if we lose we just lie there where we fell.”

The outcome is that each of you refuses to heed, speaking of the old generation's debts that cannot be bequeathed to the next; your words are honeyed, yet now so many burdens crush my solitary frame—what am I to do?

Shen Ka let out a long sigh, "Very well, I will not quarrel with you; in consideration of the years you have sheltered me, I have taken on this debt—yet let us agree, if fewer are sent down in the future, you must not nitpick nor brand me useless."

Shen Ka's lifted head slowly sank, his hand reaching from beside his feet to grasp a handful of floating earth, scattering it into the clouds.

"Young lords, there is neither smoke nor wine here, and I cannot offer you tribute; yet rest assured, I am present and the Heavenly Gate stands with me. Across eight thousand li of cloud and moon, you go first, and I shall follow bearing those scattered skulls!"

The dust cast down scatters on the wind, descending toward that long, winding mountain path.

Zhang Siyuan, clad in a soiled blue robe, hands clasped behind his back, wanders leisurely, softly humming a melody he once heard and now has etched forever.

"The snowfield is Buddha’s hall, three divine peaks shining; melted snow becomes nectar, and the wind carries the scent of butter; I have deciphered the scripture’s tale, found my life's direction, and must follow the elders' footprints to the Buddha's realm."

"The bowl holds tea that never empties, the mouth sings songs that never cease, a belly swollen full, never destined to wither; when life thrives, after my death let my soul follow the Buddha’s smoke toward Ling Shan." "Remember to tell Father and Mother that this world still holds hope."

Zhang Siyuan halted, lifted his gaze to the dusk‑fading lands, and laughed aloud!

"The sun rises as usual; truly, this world still holds hope!"

【End of the Banzhong Section】