The Tale Never Ends Chapter 120 Three Centuries Ago

Despite now being able to turn into humans, G.o.dmother still retained much of her animalistic disposition. The notion of Murong Hai leaving frightened her that she blurted suddenly that she wished to be his wife. Murong Hai said nothing. He merely smiled at her and shook his head. But the snowy-white fox that had been draping over his shoulder opened its eyes at that very moment, sending a fierce and piercing glare at her.

Fools do often rush in where angels fear to tread; ignoring the snowy-white fox, who undoubtedly wielded greater power and magic, the young G.o.dmother pestered Murong Hai, begging him to bring her with him. Murong Hai declined at first, but in the end, he relented. Murong Hai kept her in his magical gourd and took into the air, riding on his sword. For long after that, he released her from his gourd. They had arrived at a bustling town. It was a busy settlement with a very strange name, although she no longer remembered it after so many years. A wide river, filled with merchant vessels and barges, intersected the river port city, hence everywhere in the town was noises and crowds with plenty of things sold at the local markets, including Western merchandise as well. Thus giving the town another name: Yanghuoqiao (literally, the Bridge of Western Goods). Young G.o.dmother roamed around the markets with awe and amazement, taking in the sights and scenes of the city life she had never experienced before.

Just as she was sauntering about in the marketplace, she caught sight of a group of angry-looking people that even the locals gave them a wide berth. The crowds of people kept away from them like how the flows of a river parted around stones. It was a group of Taoist priests. Each of them looked old and gnarly in their Taoist robes, carrying swords over their shoulders and looking grim and somber like soldiers preparing for war. But the young G.o.dmother did not expect to see her elder sister following closely behind them!

She darted forward through the thronging mob of pa.s.sers-by and pulled her elder sister aside. Her sister was also shocked to see her there. But she quickly placed a finger over her lips, gesturing for silence. She led her sister into a quiet corner of the streets and bade her warn Murong Hai that the duel tomorrow was a trap. He must never come, she cautioned and she promptly left to catch up with her companions.

G.o.dmother immediately hastened back to the inn. She related to Murong Hai about her meeting with her elder sibling and conveyed the warning to him. However, Murong Hai merely giggled. "I must not go? Then for what reason have I come here? Fear not! None of them will escape my fingers tomorrow!" The young and naive G.o.dmother could only behold with consternation at Murong Hai's indifference to the impending danger. She suddenly remembered that her sister was part of the group who had wished ill upon Murong Hai. "What in the world is going on," she asked him. Murong Hai smiled thinly. "Many covet to gain from the transition of power whenever an empire withers. Little did they realize that everything is written in Destiny. No one alters or overrules Destiny, that is the Law. I was bidden to guard a relic while your sister and her cohorts wish to gain possession of it. My duty is to prevent them from committing a grave mistake. But they have been so persistent in their pursuit of this relic that eliminating them permanently is the best way to remove loose ends!"

Murong Hai's cryptic message merely left G.o.dmother confused. But she knew enough to understand that Murong Hai wanted to kill the entire group. Realizing finally that there was no way she could change his mind, she relented, knowing that her sister's relationship with Murong Hai would never be able to stay his hand. Even if she had truly loved him too, Murong Hai, when duty called, would never waver. She collapsed to the ground and begged for Murong Hai to show leniency to her sister. "We'll leave it to Fate," he simply said, his head shaking like a dreadful premonition.

Just then, something began to dawn upon me: Father would never be at the cave in the first place without reason. He must have been there to better get to know the sisters; and by taking them both with him in his endeavors to spread goodness by helping victims of natural disasters, he was trying to enlighten G.o.dmother's elder sister about the wrongdoings of her actions. Father had tried to save her, although she still had not realized it...

The duel between Murong Hai and the band of Taoist priests whom G.o.dmother's elder sister was in league with was held on a boat. The devious priest, in a bid to gain an edge against the great Murong Hai, had set an ambush underwater where some of them would be hiding under the waterline to drag him down into the water when the battle began.

But when G.o.dmother rushed to the river, the duel had ended, and she saw only the corpse of her sister. A few of the boatmen who had witnessed the combat told her what happened: a young man had hopped onto the boat and began fighting with the bunch of elderly Taoist priests. The young lad had thrown something into the air during the fight and strange wraith-like shadows began emerging from the water. They were drawn into the instrument that the young man had toss above his head. After that, the young man merely chuckled and the priests fell off the boat. Every one of them was dead, with a huge grisly wound on them as if a sword had driven through them. But their corpses vanished after falling into the water, save for the corpse of the girl, G.o.dmother's elder sister, which was magically retrieved from the water by the young man with a wave of his arm.

Since then, for three centuries, Murong Hai vanished from G.o.dmother's life. She never saw him again. But through the countless years, she loved him deeply although she begrudged him too for his slaying of her beloved sister.

At the end of G.o.dmother's tale, Lin Feng was the first to speak. "Err... Senior," he asked, "You mentioned the town that Shiyan's father had brought you to has another name, Yanghuoqiao, is it not? There's a river in the town, you say?" G.o.dmother nodded. "Do you remember in which direction was the river flowing to?" "All rivers flow from West to East. That goes without saying," quipped Yuan Chongxi just then. But G.o.dmother was stunned. "No..." Her voice came suddenly, "The river... I remember now... It flows to the South." Lin Feng breathed heavily, cold puffs of air escaping his nostrils. "This was three centuries ago?" He confirmed with her and G.o.dmother nodded again. Filled with revelation, Lin Feng stared strangely at Yuan Chongxi and me.

"You still don't know, do you, Shiyan?" Lin Feng uttered, "A town, which also bears the name Yanghuoqiao. There's also a river that flows towards South! That's where I used to live! Yahong Bridge!" The news struck me like a bolt from the blue. Indeed! Lin Feng was right! But why the awe? "All right. That is remarkable. But what does it mean?" I asked. Lin Feng slapped hard on his own knee. "Do you still not understand! This was three centuries ago! Your father explicitly mentioned 'an empire withers'! And the fight was a contest of a relic! Three hundred years ago was during the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty!"

The strange and surrealistic sensation of the dawning comprehension surged into me as I began to remember the details of a memory long dormant in my mind! Chen Yixuan, Master Six, the graves of the Bian Clan and Bian Dashou!

"The Dragon-slaying Blade!" I blurted at once, "So G.o.dmother's elder sisters and her companions were after the Dragon-slaying Blade!" Lin Feng gave another breath, followed by a curt nod. Yuan Chongxi dropped the meat he was chewing on and finally realized. "So Uncle Hai was guarding the relic of the Qing Dynasty!"

This was indeed an astounding epiphany! We had earlier found out about Master Six's involvement in sealing off the dragon leys of the former monarchs of China, effectively putting an absolute end to any hopes of reviving it. This would explain the bitterness between Father and Master Six! It was the latter's attempt to permanently sealing off the dragon leys to eliminate any use of the Dragon-slaying Blade which had been the crux of their enmity! This also explained Father's dogged refusal to ascend into Heaven! It was all because of the Blade which was lost! Master Six had once mentioned to me that the sword was lost after it was last heard to be in the possession of Puyi, the last emperor of China. Father must have been terribly shaken by the failure of his charge to protect the sword and voluntarily relinquished his chance to ascend!

I sighed heavily, pondering on Father's decision, then something bugged me again. "But, Mother," I asked my G.o.dmother, "What about the snowy-white fox who had been with Father centuries ago? I have never heard of it before."

G.o.dmother turned to me and breathed wearily. "Do you not understand yet, my boy? There has only been one fox... No. It's a person now... A person who has, for centuries, never left your father's side. Do you not see it?" I was shocked, my mouth immediately fell open as I finally understood.