The Path Toward Heaven

Jing Jiu didn’t wear the white cloth. He wore a common cotton robe and put on the conical hat as he usually did.

The broad and large conical hat covered his entire face, and he also employed the Sword Force to protect his appearance. Even if someone looked at his face from under the conical hat, they wouldn’t even recognize him.

The reason State Duke Lu could recognize Jing Jiu right away was because he had been thinking about Jing Jiu all this time, and also it was because Jing Jiu had an outstanding aura.

All of a sudden, Jing Jiu disappeared in front of his eyes. State Duke Lu’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if his eyes had deceived him because he missed Jing Jiu so much that he became delusional.

He hurriedly dipped his finger in the teacup and then rubbed his eyes with a wet finger. As he looked again, he found Jing Jiu was already standing on the grass a few hundred feet away. He thought in surprise that this immortal master must have learned some kind of marvelous magic over the last three years, allowing him to drift around like a man of the fae.

The project of rebuilding Zhaoge City proceeded very quickly. Taichang Temple was among the first ones rebuilt. The principle of rebuilding was to rebuild the old buildings as they once were, and so a patch of bamboo forest was still in the deep end of Taichang Temple.

There was a slant and long passageway in the deep end of the bamboo forest leading to the underground, and there, many workmen were busy working in the passageway, and many items were carried out from it.

The living Old Dragon was obviously different from his remains. Though it was suitable to use the large and strong body of the dead dragon as a prison, many facilities had to be added inside.

Jing Jiu walked to a remote corner.

There was a bunch of purple wild flowers in that corner, swaying in the wind.

Jing Jiu reached out his hand and took out a bell from the midst of the flowers, and brought out a white cat from his sleeve. He tied the bell onto the cat’s neck.

Liu Ada felt awkward to have the bell on his neck, so he twisted his neck a few times. The bell gave out a crisp sound, drawing quite a few butterflies to it.

The cat raised his front paw to drive them away, his face full of unhappiness and resentment.

He wasn’t unhappy about the bell, but about what Jing Jiu had done.

He wasn’t resentful about being tied to a bell, but about the fact that he didn’t get the chance to fight the Old Dragon in the end.

Jing Jiu said, “He was already injured at the time. Even if you went over to bite him into pieces, you would still win unfairly.”

Liu Ada glanced at Jing Jiu, thinking there wasn’t such a thing in the world as winning unfairly.

Jing Jiu said again, “You two had been fighting with each other for thousands of years. In the end, he is dead, and you are still alive. It means you have won the fight between a dragon and a tiger.”

Liu Ada thought about it a bit, and found it was indeed the case.

He looked at the underground, his eyes revealing some nostalgia…and twice as much revulsion.

The nostalgia didn’t mean that he missed the Old Dragon.

He and the Old Dragon had no affection toward each other. And they didn’t even have any affection aroused by their fight. His nostalgia was the years he spent traveling on the clouds during his youth.

But his revulsion was real. The Principal Guard of Green Mountain disliked those two animals of the Cloud-Dream Mountain who pretended to be formidable, especially the Old Dragon. He was greedy and stupid. The worst part was that he showed his greediness in a very ugly manner.

Jing Jiu looked at the bunch of flowers with some reminiscence.

He had few friends, but the Underworld Emperor was one of them.

He spent most of his time in the trance during his three years in the Fiend Prison. He only had about thirty days in total talking to the Underworld Emperor; but it was enough.

“My friend had a naïve but honest heart. He was quiet and amicable, like the Underworld River.”

Thinking of the words his Big Brother had written in his diary, Jing Jiu fell silent for a long time.

His Big Brother had few friends as well, but the Underworld Emperor was definitely one of them.

Otherwise, his Big Brother wouldn’t have done that much preparation back then.

In fact, both his Big Brother and he were fully aware that the Underworld Emperor had no chance of leaving the Fiend Prison alive after he was hit by the fairy book.

It was the best result he could get, because he had gotten out of the Fiend Prison, in a sense.

…

…

At the Fruit Formation Temple. The twilight was in the distance.

Yin San sat on the stone steps in front of the White Mountain meditation room, reading a Buddhist script in his hand.

The setting sunlight fell on him. He looked beautiful in the twilight, though the scene was a bit lonely.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect looked at Yin San’s back and showed an admirable expression on his face.

The significant event that had occurred in the Fiend Prison of Zhaoge City must be arranged by the Immortal.

All he did was send a letter to the Fiend Prison, but how come so much had happened ever since?

“The Immortal…is indeed a godly man.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect walked to the rear of Yin San and commented honestly.

Yin San stood up and looked at the Pagoda Forest under the sunset, asking, “Do you know why I’m so happy?”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect replied, “It’s because the Immortal has finally avenged his humiliation.”

Back when Yin San brought the Underworld Emperor to the human world, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect was his height, so he must know this secret.

Yin San said, “You’re right. I’m indeed happy because of this.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect remarked, “And the Green Mountain is nevertheless yours. It is of course a good thing that the Center Sect is suppressed this time.”

Yin San patted his shoulder with a smile.

It was unclear when Yin San stopped rubbing the head of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect like he would do to a dog.

Yin San was naturally unwilling to let Jing Xin become the emperor, because it was the choice of the Center Sect. More importantly, that prince was the inheritance of the Bai Family, which made him feel ill at ease.

That was why he used the assassination attempt that Jing Xin asked the Old Ones to carry out as a way to bring Jing Xin into the event of the Fiend Prison.

The news of what happened in Zhaoge City reached the Fruit Formation Temple.

Most of what he was told was well within his expectations.

He was well aware of the Old Dragon’s greed and Jing Jiu’s ability. The only unexpected part was that the Underworld Emperor somehow managed to escape from Taichang Prison.

Thinking on it, this must have had something to do with Jing Jiu.

The outcome was perfect nevertheless.

He had sent a letter to the Fiend Prison, and the Fiend Prison was destroyed as a result.

The Center Sect suffered a serious setback, and as a result, it was now more difficult for Jing Xin to inherit the throne now.

The only regret was that Jing Jiu was still alive. It seemed quite troublesome to kill Jing Jiu. Did it mean that he had to do it himself?

Then, Yin San remembered…the Underworld Emperor was dead.

He was not sad. It was because he knew what the Underworld Emperor had in mind: If death meant freedom, he would plunge headfirst, even if it were into a sea of fire.

Yin San walked down the stone steps and came to the Pagoda Forest. He placed the Buddhist script in one of the stone pagoda and took out the bone flute, bringing it to his lips.

His long and steady fingers moved along the blood red line on the flute, playing a piece of music.

It was a flat tune, except that it was long and had an echo to it.

The waves of the pine trees not far away died down; the setting sun became redder.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect fixed his gaze on the bone flute. The expression in his eyes was rather complicated, but it returned to calmness after the flute music started. He sat on the stone steps, letting out a half smile.

…

…

After having left Taichang Temple, Jing Jiu returned to the Jing house. He knocked on the door and saw a youth open the door.

It was still the day time. Jing Shang was at work in Taichang Temple as usual; his wife went back to her parents’ house to help out; his father went outside to take a walk on the street. Jing Li was the only one remaining in the house at the moment.

Jing Li looked at him blankly, asking, “Whom are you looking for?”

Jing Jiu took off the conical hat and dismantled the Sword Force.

Seeing his face, Jing Li was startled, exclaiming, “Little Uncle, you are back!”

Jing Jiu thought about it a little bit, and said, “Your name is…Jing Li.”

Jing Li was surprised that his little uncle could remember his name after all, and then he was truly happy about it. Jing Li led Jing Jiu in the courtyard with a wide smile.

Jing Jiu walked in the courtyard and took a look around. He found that the yard was three times bigger than it had been three years ago; and Jing Jiu was of course three years older now.

After exchanging a few words with Jing Li, Jing Jiu went to his own room. He found the Go pieces on the Go board had seemingly been moved by someone. He realized, after the initial bewilderment, that the Jing House was very close to the Fiend Prison and should have been destroyed in the turmoil of the Fiend Prison a few days earlier.

Everything here was new, even though they looked familiar.

Jing Jiu was deep in thought.

The white cat climbed out from his sleeve and jumped onto the windowsill, looking at the courtyard while half crouching on it.

Jing Jiu took a look at the cat.

He could tell that Jing Li had started his Cultivation practice.

Back when he was in the small village, the first thing he taught Liu Shisui was the Method of Yumen Breathing.

Liu Ada didn’t pay attention to Jing Jiu, as he thought that he had a very long life and that he didn’t want Jing Jiu to interfere with his decision of taking on a personal disciple.

His ears suddenly quivered. It seemed that he had heard something. He jumped off the window and disappeared in the grass, the ringing of the bell following behind.

Jing Jiu walked to the window and looked at the begonia resembling the previous one, thinking that the project of rebuilding the Jing House must be handled by State Duke Lu personally, so that the underground tunnel should be still there.

As he was thinking of all this, a gust of wind suddenly blew over, knocking down the begonia flowers, looking like pink snowfall as they fell.

Amid the begonia flowers, a young woman arrived elegantly, her white dress fluttering.

The scene seemed like what had happened before.

The expression on Bai Zao’s face changed a bit when she looked at him.

Jing Jiu thought she wanted to ask him about the matter of the Fiend Prison.

He was prepared as to how to answer the question.

He would say that he had no idea what had happened in the Fiend Prison.

And he had been cultivating in a secretive place in the Royal Palace in the last three years; he came out from his behind doors practice only when the violent earthquakes disturbed him; but his Cultivation state was still…

“How come you seem…to be more handsome now?!” Bai Zao remarked blankly.