Chapter 84 The Death of Spring Breeze (Part Two)

I am afraid the mountains and rivers will give an answer that cannot be undone.

"Half an hour! A masked man! No magical artifacts!" Mountains and Rivers cried out in anguish.

"The masked man! It's Mingzhong! Luckily the hour hasn't passed yet! Luckily he didn't use the Jade Dragon Goblet! There's still time!" My heart found a bit of comfort.

But seeing Spring Wind's exhausted, wounded state, my heart felt as if it were being cut by knives, and yet I could not shed a single tear, no matter how hard I tried.

"I want to avenge the High God!" Mountains and Rivers clung tightly to Spring Wind, screaming like a madman.

I feigned calmness to comfort the nearly deranged Mountains and Rivers. "Mountains and Rivers, let's bring the High God to the Cave of Dawn, not here. Granny can save him. Trust me." Mountains and Rivers had finally cultivated to become half-beast, and was close to taking human form; if she lost her temper and reverted to her beast nature, all would be lost.

Mountains and Rivers carried Spring Wind into the Cave of Dawn. I conjured a soft couch and let Mountains and Rivers lay him down.

"The High God likes cleanliness. Mountains and Rivers will prepare clean clothes for him, fetch water... scatter fragrant petals... when he wakes, he'll want a bath..." I sent Mountains and Rivers away.

"Alright!" Mountains and Rivers ran off.

I sealed the cave entrance with an immortal screen, barring everyone.

Why does Mingzhong always oppose me? He seeks to harm every loved one I have! Regret gnaws at me—if only I hadn’t hesitated, if only I had stabbed Mingzhong's heart without a second thought!

Inside the cave, anxiety consumed me. Less than half an hour remained. I could not cry! Why couldn’t I cry? Clearly, seeing Spring Wind in such a state hurt me deeply; there were tears in my heart, so why not in my eyes?

Spring Wind lay quietly on the couch, his handsome face pale and haggard, looking as he did in the Thirty-three Heavens. I stood guard... Time slipped away... No tears!

Soon the hour would be up. He was my master's elder brother, my kin. I could not watch him die.

"Spring Wind... you’re so quiet, it’s unsettling. Take care of Little White for me!" After speaking, I summoned the Xuanjing Sword, transforming it into a sharp dagger, aiming it at my own heart... If the rebirth tears in my heart would not flow, I would cut them out myself!

The dagger plunged downward, but Spring Wind on the couch grabbed my hand!

"Shh! Shh! Little Crow! I’m not dead, not dead. Don’t panic!" Spring Wind climbed off the couch, grinning and whispering to me.

I held the dagger, watching him joke as usual, alive right before me. So he was playing tricks again—I felt both joy and anger!

"Little Crow, if I died you wouldn't shed a single tear, so heartless! But seeing you do this, I'm touched, so I won't hold it against you." Spring Wind held my hand gripping the dagger.

"My tears are only for those wronged and lost; you’re neither hurt nor dead, so how could I cry? I won't let you off so easily!" Angered, I wanted to stab him.

"I didn’t want to, but that simpleton came again, wanting me to delight her, so I had no choice but to act dead. Just pretend I’m gone. And don’t let her hug me again—with such strength, she almost broke my waist." Spring Wind finished and lay back on the couch.

Furious, I conjured a ball of crimson flame. "Spring Wind! Get up! Or I’ll throw fire on your face and ruin your looks!"

Spring Wind begged, "Little Crow... have mercy! I've been exhausted lately—look at me, I don’t even need makeup to fake death. I want to sleep and restore my beauty..."

Seeing Spring Wind so pitiful, my heart softened. I extinguished the fire and collapsed onto the couch. "Spring Wind... who will pity Mountains and Rivers? You disdain her, yet toy with her so cruelly. Even as a half-beast, she has a heart, she feels pain. Did you consider if your trick might unleash her beast nature and cause harm? Did you think she might rush to the Netherworld seeking vengeance? Do you know what it feels like to hope someone stays alive..."

"I do know that feeling. I’ve experienced it..." Spring Wind gazed into my eyes, suddenly serious.

"If she misbehaves you can scold or teach her, why torment her this way?" He truly frightened me.

"She can’t be persuaded, won’t leave, ignores scolding, can’t be beaten, can’t be killed. I really don’t know what to do with her. So many beauties come to me, but I ignore them, and a hideous creature clings relentlessly... Do you know how I feel inside..." Spring Wind sighed helplessly.

"You're famous for being difficult; others always fear you, but now you have one to fear yourself. Go apologize to her, I’ll take her back to Jade Bamboo Mountain." I told Spring Wind.

"No! After putting on such a grand act, I have my pride! She should apologize to me—she ruined so much of my stuff and hasn’t settled accounts!" Spring Wind refused outright.

I dragged Spring Wind out of the Cave of Dawn to find Mountains and Rivers. The flower and tree immortals saw Spring Wind come out, disgruntled, and knew his plot had failed; they covered their mouths, laughing as they dispersed.

They were all Spring Wind’s accomplices. These immortals have truly been corrupted by him.

Mountains and Rivers was fetching water by the mountain spring, a basket of fragrant flowers beside her, each blossom carefully picked, not a single petal fallen. She cautiously filled a bucket, spotted a leaf floating in it, poured it out, and started again. She repeated this process tirelessly until she had a bucket she was satisfied with. Using a new silk cloth, she filtered the spring water into another bucket. Clumsy as she was, when serious, Mountains and Rivers became a meticulous and deft “maiden.”

Spring Wind sighed helplessly as he watched.

Hearing Spring Wind’s voice, Mountains and Rivers sprang up instantly, flinging the bucket onto the ground. The bucket knocked over the flower basket, sending all the blossoms drifting down the stream...

Spring Wind, seeing her, burst out laughing.

Mountains and Rivers had a huge patch of ointment plastered over her mouth, sealing it tightly—making her look utterly ridiculous.

"Little Crow, look at her silly appearance! What am I supposed to say? Don’t come near, don’t hug me again, my bones nearly broke just now." Spring Wind hid behind me, waving his folding fan at Mountains and Rivers.

"Mountains and Rivers, the High God Spring Wind is fine..." I smiled at her.

I expected Mountains and Rivers to throw herself at Spring Wind, ready for her fierce embrace, but instead she stayed silent and flew away in a flash...

"Hey? Where are you going? My flowers... bath water... what now?" Spring Wind called after her. He too expected her to leap at him, but ended up abandoned by the spring.

I glanced at Spring Wind. "Your performance flopped. Fetch your own bath water."

Mountains and Rivers returned to Jade Bamboo Mountain, hiding for days, becoming a "quiet" "maiden" who never left the house, her mouth always covered with ointment.

"Take off the ointment, or your lips will swell and bruise." I said to her.

Mountains and Rivers shook her head.

"Spring Wind isn’t here, you don’t need it. Shout if you want." I told her.

Mountains and Rivers shook her head again and wrote on the ground, "I swore, if the High God came back to life, I would never bother him again."

"Silly girl! Spring Wind tricked you; he’s perfectly fine." I said.

Mountains and Rivers wasn’t angry at all; she smiled and wrote, "Wonderful! He’s alright! So effective!"

"You’re not angry?" I asked.

She shook her head, saying nothing.

"Mountains and Rivers, if taking such a vow could bring back the departed, I’d gladly never speak again. Fate cannot be forced. Don’t torment yourself. Shouldn’t you focus on cultivation now? Only by becoming fully human can you hope for mutual affection with Spring Wind, right?" I said.

Mountains and Rivers nodded.

I peeled off the ointment from her mouth. Her lips were ringed with bruises and redness, making her look even more comical.

Ke Ke, who had come to find me, saw Mountains and Rivers’ silly appearance and giggled non-stop.

"Mountains and Rivers, you’re so lustful! If Spring Wind lost his looks, would you still like him?" Ke Ke asked.

Mountains and Rivers nodded vigorously, writing on the ground, "He’s compassionate, responsible, kind, cheerful, lively, bright as the sun..."

Mountains and Rivers stubbornly believed she had traded her silence for Spring Wind’s life, that the power of voiceless restraint had subdued her yearning and entanglement; even knowing Spring Wind had deceived her, she felt no resentment.

"Fei’er, the Underworld King is old, ugly, cruel, neither kind nor responsible, and Jiang has no proper status—what does she like about the Underworld King?" Ke Ke asked me.

"Perhaps it’s not love, but the habit of being a slave," I replied.

"If you stayed in the Netherworld like her, would you become like her?" Ke Ke continued.

"No," I replied. Because I would never remain in the Netherworld, nor wait for Mingzhong, even if it meant burning myself a thousand times over.

"When I was in the Netherworld, I cursed Mingmo every day. He didn’t understand, but often talked with me. He said Jiang was forced into marriage for her son’s survival, sacrificing much. I began to pity her, but then she captured me, becoming an accomplice of the Underworld King! That old woman is sick! Helping the Netherworld persecute women who suffered as she did. I’ll curse her every time I see her!"

She is ill—heart-sick. In her suffering, not only did she become a slave, she sought to assimilate and trample others like herself, turning her son into a brave coward, an unworthy filial child. Beneath her meek and gentle face is a heart selfish and terrifying.

"Fei’er, is Mingmo good or evil? He’s so filial, obeys his mother’s every word, a model son. Yet he betrayed his sect, killed the master—a traitor. I don’t know whether to pity or hate him," Ke Ke said.

"Filial or not, he must answer for his actions. His mother sees him as her treasure, but I will demand his life!" I told Ke Ke.

In this world, besides Mingzhong and the Underworld King’s pure evil, there is Jiang’s love in name only, Tiande’s hatred born from love, the greed and self-interest of the Five Mounds Emperor and the immortals, harming others and themselves...

After so many years as a healer, I’ve realized heart-sickness is far more dreadful than bodily illness. My rebirth tears can heal wounded flesh, but not a tainted heart. No matter how I try to save some people, if they willingly sink into depravity and dance with greed and evil, even if I shed all my tears, I cannot heal them, nor all those they hurt. Even if Master spent millennia in Kunlun restoring the sky’s breach, and was grievously wounded on the battlefield, his soul scattered—unless the blade strikes their heart, they will never know pain. The light is always there; you must open your own heart to it.

That year’s snow fell across the Nine Provinces, and into my heart as well. Snow in June, heavy with tears, foretold a future full of hope. Master’s soul scattered among the living. The drumbeats of victory and the dances of a flourishing age—I will drum and dance among the people, spreading them wherever he is.

Let each person become their own deity, each able to bless themselves. No longer will he tire himself saving others; I want to see him smile contentedly amidst the myriad of beings...