Pursuit of the Truth

There was once…

“Su Ming, I succeeded in my Berserkers’ Initiation! Haha! I can now practice the ways of a Berserker! From now on, I am a Berserker! So? Am I good or am I good?”

There was once…

“Su Ming, don’t worry, whoever bullies you in the future, I will beat them up for you!”

There was once…

“Haha! I, Lei Chen, am going to be the man who will become the tribe leader! Su Ming, you have to work hard and become the Elder. Then, in the future, Dark Mountain Tribe will belong to the two of us.”

“Bei Ling is such a jerk! Su Ming, do you want to beat him up tonight if we get the chance? But we might not be able to win against him…”

“Su Ming, I think I like someone… It’s the person I talked to you about yesterday. Didn’t we see Bai Ling? There was a girl beside her. She’s also from Dark Dragon Tribe. She’s really busty and she looks way prettier than Bai Ling…”

“Su Ming, I’m TIRED… Don’t walk so quickly… Say, let me tell you something. Did you know that when you were off picking herbs, that what’s-his-name’s house caught on fire? His house was right next to yours— Hey! Are you listening to me? I’m telling you…”

There was once…

“Su Ming, I’m not going back… I heard that there is another tribe on the other side of the plains and over the mountains. That tribe is located very far away, but it’s much stronger than Wind Stream… I’m going to go there, and no matter what price I have to pay, I will become stronger! Even if I have to become a Fallen Berserker, I’ll do it!”

The voice long lost in the passage of time appeared in Su Ming’s mind at that moment. He stared at the black butterfly and fell silent.

‘Are we… going to change?’ With the complicated feelings in his heart, Su Ming stared at the black butterfly with a blank expression. He found an old friend of his in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, but could not find any traces of him in Arid Triad.

He was a childhood companion, and he could be said to be Su Ming’s first best friend, a companion who was a chatterbox but swore that he would protect him in the future, a friend who had the goal of becoming the tribe leader… a childhood friend who valued friendship and who had grown up with him.

But this person was not him.

The most unforgettable familial love from Dark Mountain came from the elder, the most unforgettable romantic love was Bai Ling, and the most unforgettable friendship… that with Lei Chen.

One thousand something years had passed since then. Once a lot of time passes, there is no longer a way to go back. The childhood friend had already become a stranger. But the memory in the depths of Su Ming’s heart still remained. He did not want to forget and cast it aside. He always retrieved it when no one watched him, but it was a memory… only a memory.

Within it was one particular fragment of memory that recorded a shrill, pained scream Su Ming had heard when he was on Han Mountain City’s Chains of Han Mountain…

“That’s impossible… I buried you with my own hands… Is this an illusion? Is this another one of those illusions that are part of my training?”

There was also another fragment. It was the scene depicting the murmurs of the Phantom Equal of Phantom Dais Tribe, who searched for the next Phantom Equal. It was something that shone in his memories for all eternity.

The last fragment was from the Heavenly Incense Rune. The scene within the secrets of the universe had allowed Su Ming to see a face filled with remorse when he died.

Besides silence, Su Ming had no idea how to express the complicated feelings and anguish in his heart. Everything seemed to verify the truth of the concept of life they spoke about by pure coincidence on a day some one thousand years ago on the snow-covered ground of Dark Mountain.

“Are we… going to change?”

This topic had been too heavy for two children, so heavy that they had only thought about it at random, and even when they did, they only touched on it lightly, because they did not understand the future and did not know how many times the paths of their lives would intersect in the fog that was the future. They did not know whether they would stand together side by side when their paths intersected… or whether they would go their separate ways.

While Su Ming remained silent, the black butterfly too did not speak. After a long while though, it chose to open its mouth. His voice still contained the same complicated tone. “I do not want to become your enemy. Your enemy… is not me. He is already on his way.”

Perhaps as the Child of Morus Alba in this True World, he knew of more things than any other person. He knew of Arid Triad’s existence and knew that there was another version of himself over there. Perhaps it was because his other self had transformed him in an imperceptible manner… which was why he had memories regarding Su Ming, though no one knew how many.

No matter what, Su Ming could sense the complicated tone in his voice, and he did not try to hide it either.

In silence, the butterfly flapped its wings and swept up the Jade Emperor to gradually leave into the distance…

“Lei Chen…” Su Ming mumbled.

The butterfly in the distance did not stop. It gradually faded away, as if it wanted to disappear into space.

“Lei Chen!”

Su Ming looked up swiftly. His voice echoed in space like thunder as he cried out his best friend’s name and the name of the person with whom he had formed the most unforgettable friendship in Dark Mountain Tribe.

At the moment the black butterfly was about to fuse with space, it stopped abruptly…

“You asked me in the past whether we would change, and my answer was… no! You didn’t answer me at that time, so now, can you tell me your answer?”

Su Ming stared at the butterfly. That was his very first friend.

The black butterfly did not speak for a long time. When about ten breaths had passed, it still did not utter a sound. Instead, it fused with space and disappeared without a trace.

Su Ming lowered his head. A hint of grief appeared on his face. He knew that the person before him was not Lei Chen, but he still asked, because he cared. He cared about Lei Chen, his one true childhood friend, whom he had never been able to find.

This was friendship. It was different from familial love, which was a form of love that would never change, since it would not last as long. However, when it manifested, it would be like familial love.

It was different from romantic love as well. There was no need for them to face each other every single day, but when it was required, the existence of friendship would make a person feel that having it… was enough to last them for a life, and that feeling would be even stronger than romantic love.

When being children, friendship was playing with mud, running together, playing around, watching the sun rise and set, and chattering nonstop into the friend’s ears when the other was sad to cheer them up.

It was a person with whom Su Ming could thump chests, with whom he could laugh loud and long… and whom he would spend his entire life remembering.

Friendship was a feeling that would only grow stronger as time passed and create companions who would brag about their younger days with you when the both of you grew old.

Su Ming quietly lifted his head and stared into space. After a long while, he sighed softly. He had avoided the Lei Chen he saw in the secrets of the universe and chose to avoid that gaze filled with great remorse. He did not want to think too much about it. In fact, he did not even want to think of the reason behind it, just like how he had not wanted to think about the matters regarding Su Xuan Yi even though he had guessed them, and just like how he did not want to face his understanding regarding the changes in his emotions related to Bai Ling.

Su Ming valued his relationships.

For all of them, he could overturn the world. For Qian Chen, who was his old friend, he would wipe off a True World. He was not a good person, and neither was he a person who walked down the path of righteousness. Sometimes, he was like a despicable person, and sometimes, he was a little too calculative, but for the people who had formed ties with him, he could give up his everything.

Su Ming’s enemies had to face death, and his friends were the people who he could entrust his back. They were people he could trust.

Familial love, friendship, romantic love—Su Ming used his life to treasure these three types of relationships.

Silent, Su Ming sat in the empty galaxy with his eyes closed. No one could see nor sense the loneliness in his heart because the only thing they were allowed to observe was the cold-heartedness and the slaughter. They hid away the value Su Ming placed on his relationships and his persistence towards them.

When an unknown amount of time passed, Su Ming lifted his head and stared into the distant galaxy. He had been waiting for a long time… and the person had finally arrived.

A purple butterfly that was so huge that no end of it could be seen was before him. The souls of the ten Mourning Deads spread out as if they were the wings, lifting the young man before them. There was resolve and killing intent in the young man’s eyes.

This was… the moment of destiny!

“When you learn who you are, you are no longer you…

“When you no longer know who you are, you will be you…”

As Su Ming mumbled to himself, he forced down the anguish in his heart, kindled the fighting spirit in his eyes, and met the gaze of his other self coming towards him.

…..

At that moment, with the Jade Emperor in tow, the black butterfly appeared on a meteor not too far away from the huge golden planet in True Sky Hill World. The meteor floated in space and moved based in some trajectory. On it was a very ordinary looking house.

The black butterfly disappeared next to the house, turning into a man dressed in a black robe. His face could not be seen clearly, but he was big and incredibly built. He stood silently with his head lifted to stare at the sky. Not a single sound left his mouth

Behind him, the Jade Emperor wiped off the blood at the corners of his lips and stood up.

After a long while, the Jade Emperor hesitated for a moment before he asked softly, “Your Grace, he is not the Child of Morus Alba from True Victory Colony World… Who is he?”

“He is an old friend. More accurately speaking, he is an old friend of my other self,” the Child of Morus Alba dressed in the black robe mumbled hoarsely.

The Jade Emperor seemed to want to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he did not speak.

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you… but this person isn’t someone I can attack. The only person who has the right to attack him is that person who is in Victory Colony.

“Go back and train. I will help you mend the damages Jade Palace suffered…” The black-robed Child of Morus Alba shook his head. As he spoke with a faint tone, he turned around and walked into his house.

On the side, the Jade Emperor bowed silently. There was a slightly complicated look on his face. Hidden it within it was fear from having just escaped death. Once the Child of Morus Alba from True Sky Hill World returned to his house, he chose to leave.

The Child of Morus Alba of this True World pulled away the hood from his head to reveal the face of a middle-aged man. It had an ancient air to it, and there were more signs of time on this Lei Chen’s face compared to the Lei Chen in Su Ming’s memories. However, all those who saw him could still tell that he… was Lei Chen.

He sat down quietly, and a complicated look appeared on his face. He sighed softly, and a hint of regret appeared on his face. If Su Ming was there and could see it, he would definitely be able to recognize that the Lei Chen he saw in the secrets of the universe… was this person!

“Father, Su Ming… has come here.”

Lei Chen quietly lifted his right hand and seized the air. In his hand, a jade slip with dashes of black and white intersecting with each other as if Yin and Yang had fused together appeared. They gathered together perfectly to form a… communicative jade slip that could move between Harmonious Morus Alba and Arid Triad.

As he stared at the jade slip quietly, a hint of conflict appeared on Lei Chen’s face. In the end, it turned into resolve. He did not send his message. Instead… he put away the jade slip.

“Are we going to change?” Lei Chen mumbled, and his expression betrayed his feeling of being lost.