Dispel the Clouds and See the Sun

6. The Wrong Path

In Mount Tong'Lu, three gods and one ghost are welcomed with guqin music and fresh tea

They walked for half an incense time, and reached some stairs, roughly cut on the rock, but as they climbed on, the craftmanship got better and at the top it was of a smooth, black polished rock. They reached a wide hall with furnishing, comfortable rather than luxurious; hanging lanterns, low tables, chairs and at its very end a divan and a wide chair.

Someone was playing a guqin somewhere, its soft melody echoing in that cave; they couldn't see who it was, and kept looking on, lost in the music for a moment. Just then, The Guoshi appeared from out of nowhere, wearing simple black robes, looking truly a respectable master.

"Your Highness! It was you activating the array then. Welcome, welcome", he said with a smile.

"Master!", Xie Lian replied, happy they had found who they came looking for after the ordeal of those hellish traps! And it was always good to see that familiar face from his youth too.

Feng Xin couldn't help saying, "We almost died in that fucking array – "

"Feng Xin you brat", The Guoshi replied, frowning at him, "That you're an ascended heaven official with these manners, the Heavens must be truly blind".

Turning to Xie Lian, he then said, "My apologies. There's this misunderstanding Mount Tong'Lu Ghost Festival is still on, we were getting too many callers, and I had to setup that array", and seeing the others with Xie Lian, he greeted them, "Crimson Rain Sought Flower, Mu Qing."

Mu Qing replied, "Sir". Hua Cheng, surprisingly, bowed respectfully, "Sir, Guoshi sir".

Jun Wu then appeared from behind The Guoshi; with his poise and regal manners, even at wearing those simple white robes no one would mistake him for anything but a prince. The silence gave away it was him playing the guqin.

"XianLe, you've come", he greeted Xie Lian, who bowed and replied, "My lord".

"Crimson Rain Sought Flower. General Nan Yang. General Xuan Zhen", he greeted the rest of Xie Lian's party.

Both Feng Xin and Mu Qing bowed, replying the greeting; only Hua Cheng didn't say anything.

"Please come in, make yourselves at home", Jun Wu said warmly, while The Guoshi went off to fetch some tea; both of them were clearly delighted at finally having proper guests.

While they were walking inside, Xie Lian asked politely, "And how have you been my lord?"

Jun Wu gestured at large, "As you can see. A quiet domestic life, enjoying retirement. Reading, playing the guqin, playing go with Mei Nianqing", here he lowered his voice, "He's always insisting to play cards, but I draw the line at that". He sighed, and Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Jun Wu continued, "He managed to put quite a few of old WuYong scrolls away before the city was destroyed, so now I'm dedicating myself at transcribing and translating them", and he smiled.

He walked on to the wide chair, while Xie Lian and Hua Cheng sat side by side on the divan, Feng Xin and Mu Qing sitting on other chairs. After bringing a tray with tea, placing it on a small table nearby, The Guoshi sat down, ready to hear some news of the world outside.

Xie Lian cleared his throat, "My lord. Apologies, but we came on a heavenly business, looking for my Master. We're investigating some strange occurrences and thought, maybe he could enlighten us on certain matters we couldn't find answers anywhere".

Jun Wu sipped his tea and smiled, saying gently, "Why of course. Please go ahead, don't mind me. I'll just sit here quietly, hearing you young men going about your business", then closing his eyes softly.

Turning to The Guoshi, Xie Lian asked, "Master. Have you ever heard of a 'dark spiritual energy'?", and, fishing inside his sleeves, handed the obsidian black spirit stone over, "Like this?"

The Guoshi, hearing that and looking at the stone, raised his brows and paled, visibly shocked.

"I-I've only heard of it, but never seen it. Honestly, I never thought it was even possible", he replied.

"What is it?", Mu Qing asked nervously; The Guoshi's expression in itself was a bad omen.

"It's called Heavenly Demonic Cultivation; a powerful one that rules all others, strong enough to oppose the Heavens. I've always thought it was just nonsense, something impossible to achieve".

Xie Lian asked again, "But, what is it exactly? And this black spiritual energy – "

"It consists of nurturing a heart demon", The Guoshi explained, "You know, a heart demon – "

"It's an obsession, trauma, desire; anyway it's negativity that slows down cultivation", Mu Qing answered, "And if a heart demon gets strong enough, it can take a life of his own and – "

"That's right. In this case the heart demon not only takes a life of its own, but takes over, making the qi flow in reverse, the result of that being this black spiritual energy, more powerful, resilient, destructive. It can turn heaven and earth upside down", The Guoshi concluded.

"Wait", Feng Xin said, "If the flow of qi is slightly interrupted it causes qi deviation, so how can one make the qi flow in reverse? They'd die within months!"

"Yes, and no", The Guoshi replied, "Strong emotions cause qi deviation. In this case the heart demon comes from cold hate, unshakable and steady as the mountains. Hating for centuries..."

"Fuck!", Feng Xin replied, and this time The Guoshi didn't scold him. They were all feeling like that!

"And, according to what you heard, Master, what's the drawback of this technique, what would be the weaknesses of such an evil cultivator?", Xie Lian asked.

The Guoshi gave Xie Lian a look, "There's none! Your Highness, didn't you hear what I said? It's powerful enough to oppose the Heavens, it can topple mountains and overturn seas! Can I, can I ask, where you found this?", he asked, holding the spirit stone in front of him.

Xie Lian told him briefly of their encounter with the black cloud at the Royal Holy Pavilion, with Feng Xin and Mu Qing adding details here and there, how the fighting went, and how they came to the remains of that black energy trapped within the stone. The Guoshi half-closed his eyes, hearing every word, just nodding gravely.

Suddenly, Hua Cheng's deep voice was heard, "Guoshi sir. Where does this dark spiritual energy come from, what's its source?"

"In this context", The Guoshi replied, "It's from the attacked heaven officials themselves. From negative emotions, meaning frustrated devotees, being let down by such gods".

"Hmm. This means the whole system is flawed", Hua Cheng commented. They all turned to look at him, and he smiled, "Are these gods willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then they're not omnipotent. Are they able, but not willing? Then they're evil. Are they both able and willing? Then where does evil come from? Are they neither able nor willing? Then why call then gods?"

Xie Lian then said, "Yes. This evil cultivator and the heaven officials cannot live under the same sky! But, Master, for your description of this Heavenly Demonic Cultivation, one must be incredibly talented, have an iron will and great resolve to begin with. And they must have been cultivating for centuries. Such individual couldn't go unnoticed. I wonder who could this person even be – "

The Guoshi kept a sullen silence; he was clearly thinking of Jun Wu, when, surprisingly, Jun Wu himself opened his obsidian black, clear eyes, and sighed,

"Alas! I can think of such a person".

This Heavenly Demonic Cultivation sounds like trouble. 😱😱😱

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