Pursuit of the Truth

A man would not cry easily.

Su Ming remembered that he rarely cried in his life, but on this day, he cried. His tears trickled down his cheeks. He looked at the damaged ninth summit, and the faces of people who had chosen to self-destruct to protect him during this battle appeared in his head.

There was also Bai Su’s face, as well as Yu Xuan’s.

All of these had turned to ashes and smoke, blown away by the sea breeze. He hated the Immortals, hated Morning Dao Sect, and hated that Yin Death’s Fragmented Worlds who had let all of this happen just so that they could turn him into Yin Death’s Child.

Su Ming stood at the cave abode outside the damaged ninth summit and looked at his second senior brother, who had his eyes closed, at Hu Zi, who was snoring, and at his eldest senior brother, whose entire body had turned into stone. As he looked at them silently in the cave, Su Ming wept.

He knew that this might be the last time he saw them. Perhaps he would never be able to see his senior brothers and the ninth summit again in his life, because he was about to leave and go to a place that were very, very far away.

Because at that time, he would no longer have the ability to love, and he would feel no pain.

Su Ming stood outside the cave, and after a long time, he slowly knelt down and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the cave abode.

”Eldest senior brother, second senior brother, Hu Zi… I will have to leave it to you to search for Master… Master, Su Ming is an unfilial student…” Su Ming wept and kowtowed.

After some time, he stood up, and the bald crane quietly handed him a white piece of fabric.

It was the only remnant of Bai Su after she had died. Su Ming had seized it with his right hand after his body crumbled, and it was kept safe by the bald crane so that wind would not blow it away.

Su Ming took the white piece of fabric and looked at it quietly.

A day later, he left the ninth summit. Lying behind him at the bottom of the sea was his cave abode from all those years ago. Right outside it was a grave that had been buried at the depths of the sea.

A white piece of fabric was buried in that grave. It was… Bai Su’s grave.

Su Ming left. With the promise made to the old voice from Yin Death Vortex, Su Ming knew that there was no longer any power that could disturb his senior brothers in the land of Berserkers.

He left. By his side was the bald crane that refused to let him leave alone. No matter what Su Ming did, it would follow him silently and keep him company by staying at his side.

Qian Chen cried as he stood at the top of the ninth summit and watched Su Ming leave. At that moment, he swore in his heart to become stronger, to absolutely become stronger.

He could never forget Su Ming, could never forget the days that had seemed depressing and bleak, but had turned into incredibly precious memories once he lost them.

Now, all of these things were gone.

Qian Chen cried and sat down on the mountain.

Su Ming walked through the world. He charged forward in madness and desperation, moving at his fastest speed. He used three days, and had even burned his own cultivation base, to cross the Dead Sea and reach the Alliance of the Western Region from South Morning.

He did not have much time left. He had to return to the Alliance of the Western Region before he left to see whether Dark Mountain truly existed. He had to see whether there were any old friends remaining there.

The land in the Alliance of the Western Region was covered in black earth. There was a mountain at the edges of the continent. That mountain looked like a hand that had four fingers and stood towering over the world. At the foot of the mountain, there was a forest whose end could not be seen.

It was winter in the Alliance of the Western Region. Snow floated down from the sky, making the forest look as if it was dressed in a white wedding dress. The white-covered ground seemed to be preparing for a wedding, yet at the same time, it looked to be getting ready for a funeral.

As the snow floated down, Su Ming came to this place, the hometown upon remembering which he’d always get lost in revery - Dark Mountain.

He did not manage to find Lei Chen, and neither did he find any old acquaintances, but he managed to find the mountain, the place that contained the beautiful moments in his memories.

As Su Ming looked at Dark mountain, tears started flowing down his eyes once again. He walked on Dark Mountain and touched the mountain rocks. Snow landed on his body, and he could not bring himself to sweep it away. He walked past the forest at the foot of the mountain and stepped on the snow. This path was the one he took when he was walking in circles as he carried Bai Ling on his back.

When he moved to where Dark Mountain Tribe was originally located, he found… that there was no tribe there.

Perhaps many years ago, there was a tribe in this place, and its name was Dark Mountain Tribe. Yet now, there was only a white layer of snow and dried up forest before Su Ming’s eyes.

He stood silently in this place. Time passed. A long, long passage of time trickled by…

The bald crane watched everything from the side and kept Su Ming company in silence.

The sun set and rose. Snow floated down from the sky, and Su Ming stood for the entire night. He looked at the forest and the snow before he suddenly took a few steps forward and knelt down on the ground. Then, he started digging through the snow and earth on the ground. He continued digging as if he had gone mad, and gradually, his hands turned into a bloody mess, but he still continued digging, as if he did not know what pain was.

When Su Ming eventually dug out a deep pit, he found some discarded items that were buried at the bottom of the pit. They were some bowls, pots, and a few more scattered items that were made of stone and exuded a presence filled with decay.

As Su Ming looked at these things, his tears fell on the ground. He was familiar with these items. They… belonged to Dark Mountain.

Su Ming did not know how he left Dark Mountain and the mountain. In his anguish, he walked around aimlessly. Once he walked out of the forest, wisps of indistinct chimney smoke appeared before him. They came from a small tribe.

It was a small tribe that had decided to settle down and grow in this place at some unknown point in time. Su Ming looked at the chimney smoke and walked slowly to towards it. Cheerful songs and children’s joyful laughter gradually reached his ears when he approached the tribe.

As Su Ming looked at the tribe, he felt like he was looking at Dark Mountain Tribe. Eventually, he lowered his head, and with a hint of melancholy, he turned around and walked into the distance. A mask appeared in his right hand. Dark light shone on it, making it stand out starkly against the snow.

At the instant Su Ming was about to place the mask on his face, his footsteps suddenly froze. He turned his head around and looked at the forest in the distance. At that moment, there was a young man and woman arguing on the snow.

”You once said that you’ll stay with me for all eternity. You once said that this was a promise…” It was a woman’s voice, and she was crying as she looked at the man before her.

The young man remained silent for a long while before he spoke in anguish. ”I once said that… but…”

”There’re no buts in this! I know you still love me, so why must you leave? We once swore an oath in the snow that we would walk together until our heads turned white. Our hair did indeed turn white from the snow, but must we part way right now? What about our promise..?” The woman wept, and her voice drifted in the wind and snow.

The young man lowered his head in anguish. He had his own troubles.

Su Ming looked at the young man and woman and listened to their words. A girl filled with wild beauty appeared before his eyes. That girl was Bai Ling, but she looked like Bai Su as well.

”Can we walk till our heads turn white in the snow..?”

”That is a promise.”

Su Ming closed his eyes. At the instant he did so, he sent his Atman outwards…

A shudder ran through the young man’s body in the forest. When he lifted his head, a gentle look appeared in his eyes. That gentle gaze made the crying woman standing before him stop crying.

The young man smiled and moved beside the woman. He took off the fang necklace on his neck and the earring on her left ear.

”We will walk till our heads turn white in the snow, and we will do the same thing when it is not snowing. This is a promise!”

The woman hugged the young man, and her weeping was now filled with joy.

At that moment, Su Ming opened his eyes in the distance. He did not turn his head back to look but continued walking further away while welcoming the snow and wind against him. He lifted his right hand and slowly placed the mask on his face.

At the instant he did so, not a single hint of warmth could be sensed from his body anymore. It was instead replaced by heartlessness and mercilessness, and his presence became so chilling even the snow could not match it.

Su Ming moved into the distance. From then on, he could no longer love, could no longer feel pain. He… was no longer himself.

He was like a picture in the snow. The name for that picture… was ’If Only Life Was as Beautiful as It Seemed at First Sight’.

End of Arc Three