Chapter 89: Chapter 87: Past Cause, Present Effect, Debating the Dao with a Celestial Pride Across the Void

In Cave Abode Huang-163, Song Ciwan picked up the goose feather from the ground and gently placed it in front of the Big White Goose.

She smiled and said, "Reflections in a mirror, the moon on the water—all things arise from emptiness. When you can’t make sense of it, why not pause? Wait quietly, and perhaps the flower will bloom."

The Big White Goose spread its wings, tilted its head, and let out a loud "HONK HONK."

It was as if to ask: ’What are you talking about, Wanwan? This goose doesn’t understand!’

Song Ciwan reached out and gently stroked its head and neck.

Meanwhile, on an unnamed mountaintop roughly twenty miles from Pinglan City, Tushan Keji and Duan Xinghun had been debating the Dao for three days straight. Wielding words like swords and their philosophies as weapons, they had clashed for hundreds of rounds. Now, at last, the conflict between their viewpoints reached its zenith.

Tushan Keji said, "In years past, that degenerate of the Human Race, Xiao Hong, used romance as a tool to trick and utterly ruin the East Sea Dragon Maiden, Ao Yun, body and soul. But let’s set aside such a despicable villain for now. I have but one question: in this entire affair, what role did the Human Race’s Three Immortals of Kunlun play?"

Duan Xinghun, sitting cross-legged and perfectly still, replied, "You speak only of Xiao Hong’s despicable methods, but do you know that there was a reason for his actions?"

Tushan Keji said, "Then I must ask, what reason was that?"

Duan Xinghun said, "Years ago, when the Dragon Maiden Ao Yun was young, she slipped out of the Dragon Palace, unable to bear the pain of her Transformation. In her True Dragon form, she swam from the East Sea all the way to Fuyun Bay. But how could such shallow waters contain a True Dragon?"

"The moment she arrived, monstrous waves rose up in the Fuyun Bay harbor. Countless ships were destroyed, and innumerable lives were lost. Among the dead were over a dozen of Xiao Hong’s closest relatives: his father, his elder brother, his clan uncles, his cousins!"

"Ao Yun had no ill intent; she merely swished her tail in that shallow bay. Yet her actions brought life and death, ruin and disaster, upon the mortals there. So many families were wiped out in an instant!"

"And yet, it was right after causing this catastrophe that she finally opened her Demon Spirit Celestial Acupoint and succeeded in her Transformation!"

"After her Transformation, Ao Yun was utterly exhausted. The waves washed her ashore, and she collapsed unconscious on the beaches of Fuyun Bay."

"At that time, Xiao Hong had just returned home from the county Academy for a break when he discovered the massive disaster that had struck Fuyun Bay. He and the other survivors from his village rushed to the beach. At low tide, the bay was a scene of utter devastation."

"There was the wreckage of ships, the bodies of the dead, and Ao Yun, who, in her human form, looked just like a young mortal girl, passed out on the sand."

"Seeing her pale, pitiful state, Xiao Hong rescued her and brought her home."

"Ao Yun had lost all memory of causing the disaster, so she rested and recuperated at Xiao Hong’s home for some time."

"During this time, grieving the loss of his family, Xiao Hong fell into a deep, painful despair. Ao Yun, however, developed a budding affection for him as they spent time together."

"Later, Ao Yun returned to the Dragon Palace to consolidate her Cultivation. The two were separated, not seeing each other again for many years..."

Here, Duan Xinghun paused before continuing, "As for what happened years later, I’m sure you’ve heard the stories, Brother, so I won’t elaborate."

"So tell me, Brother, do you still think Ao Yun was innocent?"

Tushan Keji was silent for a long time. Duan Xinghun’s words left him with a profound sense of shock and terror, as if he were trapped in a web of cause and effect with no escape.

Though he was a Fox Demon, deep down, he deeply admired the culture of the Human Race. He loved to reason, and even more, he loved to get to the very root of a principle, to break it down and examine it from every angle.

After a long pause, Tushan Keji finally found his voice.

He said, "I have heard a saying from the sages of the Human Race: A good deed done with an agenda is not rewarded; an evil deed done by accident is not punished! The Dragon Maiden raising the waves was an accident. But Xiao Hong’s despicable methods were premeditated!"

"And what of the Three Immortals of Kunlun? Brother Duan, I ask you again, what role did the Three Immortals of Kunlun play in this affair?"

Duan Xinghun replied, "How could we of a younger generation possibly know the dealings of our seniors? Besides... a thousand years have passed since then."

’A thousand years is enough time to bury anything, isn’t it?’

Tushan Keji let out a sharp laugh.

He had maintained a gentle, restrained demeanor until now, but that one laugh revealed a hint of untamed madness.

When his laughter died down, Tushan Keji raised his palm and cast a small Illusion Technique beside him.

It was a truly tiny Illusion Technique. The light and shadows it produced formed a shape no bigger than a goose egg.

Yet within this small orb of light, a marvelous, verdant world was revealed.

This world began as a vibrant, sprawling plain...

If Song Ciwan had been present, or if any member of the Escort Team who had witnessed her debate with the Fox Demon had been there, they would have instantly recognized it. The scene conjured by the Fox Demon’s Illusion Technique was an exact replica of the one Song Ciwan had created with her Sun and Moon Transformation Skill.

The two types of Magic were fundamentally different, yet their outward manifestations were strikingly similar.

The illusion also ended with a single tiny grasshopper that multiplied into an entire colony.

The colony devoured the very green plains they relied on for survival. Ultimately, they destroyed their own future, and with no other choice, turned to devouring one another, burying all their former glory and prosperity in the ruined land.

The Illusion Technique ended, and the Fox Demon snuffed out the light in his palm.

This time, however, it was Duan Xinghun who was shocked into a long silence.

He was speechless. Tushan Keji spoke into the silence, "Brother Duan, you must understand that this world has never belonged to a single race or a single group!"

Duan Xinghun raised his eyes, struggling to contain the shock in his heart. "Who was it that enlightened you?"

’He refused to believe such an insight could have come from the Fox Demon before him alone!’

Tushan Keji rose to his feet and gave a carefree laugh. "A master among the people. I don’t even know their name, and I, too, was defeated at their hand. Yet I was too stubborn to admit defeat at the time, and lost my composure..."

"Ah, Brother Duan, you were not defeated by me. But neither have you won!"

"So what if you’re ranked thirty-sixth on the Celestial Pride List?"

"This world is vast! To think there is an unknown master who can leave a Celestial Pride like you utterly speechless!"

"Hahaha!"

He roared with laughter, and in that moment, his entire gentle, scholarly aura completely vanished.

Though he had the head of a fox and the body of a man, this Demon exuded an indescribable aura of spirited, carefree grace.

"’A Daoist’s home, with white clouds and yellow cranes, a zither, a sword, a cup of tea. My feathered robes wear the colors of mist and dusk, unstained by the blossoms of the Mortal World.’ Ah, Brother Duan, Brother Duan, your Mortal World is truly fascinating. I admire it immensely, I truly yearn for it! Hahaha..."

With a single stride, he covered a distance of a thousand zhang in the blink of an eye.

In just a moment, his figure vanished from Duan Xinghun’s line of sight.

He left Duan Xinghun sitting alone and silent on the peak. After a long while, Duan Xinghun suddenly opened his mouth.

A great mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out!

Duan Xinghun raised a hand to gently wipe the blood from the corner of his lips, letting out a long sigh.