Chapter 69 - Merged
1500 years was too long. The majority of the people that now lived at this place were the descendants of those who had migrated here and survived by a fluke. They too had gradually forgotten what their ancestors had done, as well as the oath that had been made.
Fu Li held up the night pearl and studied the mural from start to end. The last picture was of the divine dragon bursting forth from the water, soaring into the highest of the Heavens as humans knelt on the ground in worship. Perhaps the humans of that time would still remember this divine dragon and prostrate themselves in front of him a thousand years later.
However, to humans, 1500 years was too long, so long that all could be forgotten.
The mural was so ugly that it was laughable. There was no sense of beauty to be said and the body proportions lacked harmony; the heads were big and the bodies small. There was completely no attention paid to how they looked – they looked like child’s graffiti. Fu Li touched the humans kneeling in the mural. A chunk fell off the stone that had already been eroded by wind.
“Southern Liang, Fifteenth Year. Five villages suffered flood damage, but were fortunate to be rescued by the divine dragon. None in the five villages was harmed. The divine dragon pa.s.sed on from exhaustion, saddening all villages. Divine advice was sought – burying the divine dragon in the water and trapping its divine bones would prevent its divine soul from scattering. With this letter, we warn the later generations – our service of the divine dragon must not end. Established Southern Liang, Eighteenth Year.”
The Liang Kingdom of the Southern Dynasties…
Based on the time period, the fifteenth year of Southern Liang should be 516 CE. It had taken three years to completely do up the mural in the cave, which was also to say that these villagers had died at the hands of roving bandits in the second year after the completion of the mural.
There was no heroism, no emotion in the deaths of these two to three hundred people. Their death was a silent one. There were no records of them throughout the long course of history.
Fu Li gently touched the words on the mural. He turned towards Gong Fu. The stifled and sad feeling in his heart couldn’t be expressed in words. If even he was in such a state, how complex was Gong Fu’s emotions?
He had hated these humans for 1500 years, but discovered at the end that they had died for his sake while he had suffered endless imprisonment within the water. ‘He’ had indeed revived, but had not flown into the sky as a divine dragon. Instead, he was an evil cultivator that crawled out of the bottom of the ocean for the purpose of vengeance.
Fate made fools of people.
Fu Li hadn’t understood the meaning contained in these five gentle words. Only today did he finally grasp its meaning. These five words were too somber, so somber that it smothered breath.
Gong Fu stretched out a pale finger and gently touched the divine dragon flying among auspicious clouds in the last image. The stone wall was ice-cold. Under Gong Fu’s touch, the divine dragon turned into fine powder bit by bit, leaving only a sunken vacant s.p.a.ce.
“Gong Fu daren?” Fu Li watched the mural slowly vanish. He wanted to say a few words of persuasion, but was stopped by Zhuang Qing.
Zhuang Qing shook his head at him. n.o.body could differentiate between right and wrong in this intertwining of grat.i.tude and grudges. Outsiders had even less right to interfere.
Image after image vanished under Gong Fu’s hands. Gong Fu moved very slowly. He seemed to be carving these drawings into his heart before slowly eroding it. The humans of this era had long lost the need to be rescued by others. They were capable of saving themselves. Why then did he have to let these things remain only for them to be interpreted as myths by people who were not in the know?
The image in the center was the last one remaining.
The divine dragon had pa.s.sed away. Villagers surrounded the divine dragon on all sides, kneeling in worship. They covered their faces as they wept bitterly.
Gong Fu stared at this image for a very long time. He curled up his fingers, placing his hands behind his back. The divine dragon had already pa.s.sed on. No longer would it soar into the Heavens. It was quite appropriate to let this drawing remain.
He turned to look at the two juniors who had accompanied him into the cave, suddenly letting out a laugh. His jet-black hair had the l.u.s.ter of snow. No longer did he appear to be overflowing with resentment.
“Let’s go,” He stooped over and picked up the jade bone umbrella on the ground. “I should have left long ago.”
He walked out of the cave and looked up at the sky that had already cleared. The bright sun hung up there. The whole world seemed to brim with beauty. He looked down at the mountain and water beneath his feet and told Fu Li, “The world outside is indeed more beautiful than the water.”
Gong Fu moved the umbrella over his head away, exposing his jade-like hand to the sun.
“You can have the umbrella back,” Gong Fu smiled. “I don’t need it anymore.” Just like how the humans no longer needed a divine dragon to save them.
Gong Fu’s body gradually turned transparent. Fu Li exclaimed anxiously, “Gong Fu daren!”
“I’m not Gong Fu, just the resentment he left behind. The reason for this resentment is gone now, so there is no need for me to continue remaining in this world.” Gong Fu couldn’t have smiled more gently than the way he was now. He was good-natured and handsome, just like the Gong Fu when he was still alive.
“No, that child needs you!” Fu Li opened the jade bone umbrella and covered Gong Fu’s head with it. “In the future, he will make offerings to you every single year. Your disappearance will definitely sadden him.”
“Children won’t stay young forever. Naturally, they will one day also forget the innocence of their childhood,” Gong Fu said. “I should be grateful to that child. If not for him, I wouldn’t have been able to break the iron chains shackling me, nor would I be able to see the sun, mountains, and water outside. This much is fine.”
“But we need you!” Fu Li said anxiously. “We need you. Zhuang Qing, isn’t that right?!” He turned towards Zhuang Qing urgently, wanting him to say something as well.
“Fu Li is right,” Zhuang Qing responded. “Our management bureau has many little yao and also many interesting humans. The cultivation world is in need of yao cultivators to maintain order. I hope Gong Fu will be able to lend us a helping hand.”
“It’s too late,” Gong Fu shook his head. “I am just an incarnation of resentment. I don’t have a real body.”
He would cease to be the moment he moved the jade bone umbrella aside.
From the clouds came the sound of a dragon hissing. In a split second, golden light filled with auspicious qi burst forth.
Fu Li and Gong Fu looked up simultaneously. A divine beast that somewhat resembled a dragon pierced through the layers of clouds, flying above them in a spiral.
“That is…” Gong Fu looked up in a daze, seemingly not daring to believe his own eyes.
“That is Gong Fu’s true body, the stone statue that abruptly disappeared from the research facility.” Zhuang Qing leaped into the clouds, transformed into a golden dragon, and intertwined with Gong Fu in flight. Following that, Gong Fu’s true body flew straight down and merged with the body of resentment that was on the verge of dissipating.
Fu Li watched blankly as the golden light merged with the resentment before gradually condensing into the actual Gong Fu. He felt like he had watched a genuine miracle. Those humans 1500 years ago had done it. They had truly enabled Gong Fu to rise from the dead and once again soar into the highest of Heavens.
In the air, golden dragon Zhuang Qing let out a shrill hiss before landing on the ground and transforming into his human form. He walked over to Fu Li and rapped Fu Li on the head. “Close your mouth.”
“I remember where I saw you,” Gong Fu turned into his human form. With a slender build and elegant demeanor, he couldn’t be any more beautiful. He slowly opened his eyes. Looking at Zhuang Qing, he said, “1800 years ago, that baby dragon?”
“Senior,” Zhuang Qing bowed respectfully to Gong Fu.
“This little partner you found is quite cute,” Gong Fu took a few careful glances at Fu Li. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Fu Li asked blankly.
“To the management bureau you spoke of, of course. I like cute little yao and interesting human cultivators,” Gong Fu manifested a jade flute and fiddled with it. “The human cultivators don’t capture yao now?”
“They can’t do so at will, otherwise they’ll be punished,” Fu Li kept his jade bone umbrella in his Qiankun pouch. “The current society is harmonious, and the peaceful coexistence of humans and yao is promoted so they can build a harmonious and beautiful home together.”
“That makes it even more interesting,” Gong Fu laughed lightly. He turned and gazed at the cave behind him. His eyes remained fixed on it for a very long time before his smile was restored. “Let’s go.”
A mural suddenly appeared on the stone walls of the cave. In the mural, a divine dragon was circling the peak of the mountain while humans lived and worked peacefully at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was pleasing to the eyes and the waters were clean, but the most beautiful of them all was the humans.
Qing Xu and Chao Yun were still dealing with the resentment on the surface of the river. Unexpectedly, the sun appeared and the resentment vanished in a blink of an eye, leaving only a blank-faced man gradually waking from his slumber on the opposite bank of the river, as well as an enamel cup-toting child who was laughing foolishly.
What was this?
“There seems to be dragon qi in the sky,” Chao Yun gazed up at the sky. The clouds today seemed to be abnormally strange – golden light was actually emanating from them.
“Let’s search for Fu ge and the boss right now,” Chao Yun kept her hairpin. Finding Qing Xu’s flying speed too slow, she picked him up with one grab and flew out.
“Ahhhhh!” Qing Xu screeched. “Chao Yun daoyou, you’re a female yao, can you be a bit gentler?”
“Being a female yao means I have to be gentler? I think you’re being s.e.xist,” Chao Yun grinned. “Daoyou, that isn’t good.”
The next moment, she flew even faster.
Qing Xu’s ‘ahhhhh’ also very quickly turned into ‘ah!’.
“There seems to be two little friends heading towards us,” Gong Fu was standing on a cloud. He saw a pretty woman carrying a man in the distance as she made her way over. With a swing of her arm, the man fell at their feet.
“Little friend, you’re being too polite. There is no need to be so courteous when meeting me,” Gong Fu beamed as he stooped over to look at Qing Xu. “How can I not feel embarra.s.sed when met with such enthusiasm?”
Qing Xu climbed up from the cloud. He was just about to retort when he realized that there was an exceedingly handsome man standing in front of him. His anger instantly weakened by half. “I’ve let this daoyou see my unsightly side. This is just an accident.”
“Boss, have you identified the source of the resentment?” Chao Yun landed in front of Fu Li and Zhuang Qing. Seeing that there was even a yao cultivator with immeasurably deep cultivation at their side, she placed her hands together and bowed towards him. “This one greets senior.”
“No need for such courtesy,” Gong Fu had always been gentle and considerate to beauties.
“The issue has already been dealt with,” Zhuang Qing told Chao Yun. “Reply headquarters that the flood crisis has been resolved.”
“Okay,” Chao Yun took out her phone and started sending a work email to the other end. The security headquarters replied very swiftly with an enquiry on the stone statue.
“Just say that the stone statue turned into a yaoguai and flew off,” Zhuang Qing glanced at Gong Fu. “It’s within our range of control.”
“What is this that every one of you has? Even the yinchai has it. Is it something recently trending in the cultivation world?” Gong Fu was very curious about the phone Chao Yun was holding. “It has a very interesting look.”
As a result, Fu Li launched into an explanation about what a phone was and how it should be used, even handing his own phone to Gong Fu for him to operate. Not long after, these two yao who hadn’t seen much of the world started gasping in surprise as they played tetris over and over again, as if it was an incomparably thrilling game.
Zhuang Qing: …
Chao Yun, Qing Xu: Why did all these yao appearing out of nowhere always click particularly well with Fu ge? Was it because birds of a feather flocked together?
“Ai, junior, it should be my turn this round.”
“Didn’t you just play? How can juniors not respect their seniors?”
“Relying on age won’t work, we agreed just now that every person will play one round!”
Zhuang Qing took his phone from his pocket and pa.s.sed it to Fu Li. “Take mine.” A stately, highly-ranked employee of the management bureau was squabbling because of a phone, wasn’t this throwing the face of all yao?
Online rumors concerning the stone statue were very quickly buried under all sorts of media gossip. Although, the local weather bureau was once again taken to weibo and given a scolding by netizens.
Villager Big Dog w.a.n.g: Can the weather bureau be a bit more reliable? You said something about floods and got us to drag our families out of our houses in the middle of the night. But in the end, after waiting two to three days, there was no flood and the sun came out. These f*ckers cheerily told me that the flood warning has been terminated and everyone can happily return home. Who wouldn’t be unhappy from the torture of all this back-and-forth?
It was fortunate that the local weather bureau didn’t have weibo. No matter how harshly the netizens scolded them, they wouldn’t see it. Even if they did, they could feign ignorance and not reply.
With constant weather changes, an infallible weather bureau never on the receiving end of criticism would not be a good and dedicated weather bureau.
Gong Fu’s arrival was welcomed by all the women in the management bureau. The men felt that Gong Fu was putting on an act when he played the bamboo flute and wrote calligraphy at random, but to the women, this was the beauty of literature and art. The men felt that Gong Fu’s upright, rule-abiding behavior when he was freeloading off them was pretentious, but to the women, this was elegance.
Within three days, Gong Fu succeeded in becoming the public enemy of the men and was awarded the t.i.tle of ‘true love’ by the women. For the time being, no one was able to supersede him.
Gong Fu gave himself a human name – Fu Kong. To outsiders, he claimed to be Fu Li’s distant cousin, although no one believed him. He had even suggested living together with Fu Li, to which Zhuang Qing rejected. His room was arranged on the floor above Fu Li’s.
“Little Fu Li, come play tetris with cousin…” Gong Fu pushed open the door and saw the Kunpeng seated in Fu Li’s living room. The Kunpeng turned to look at him as well.
“Kunpeng?” Gong Fu closed the door, amazement filling his face. “You’re actually not dead?”
“Narcissistic tortoise?” The Kunpeng was even more amazed than Gong Fu. He had thought that divine beasts like Gong Fu had long faded away.
“Get lost, weirdo that’s neither fish nor bird, I’m a dragon,” Gong Fu kicked the Kunpeng off the couch. “You’re so heavy and you still have the cheek to sit on the couch. Aren’t you scared you’ll damage it?”
“What did you call yourself just now? Cousin?” Kunpeng side-eyed Gong Fu. “Shouldn’t you have a bit of face? You’ve lived for tens of thousands of years, and you still have the cheek to call yourself the cousin of someone who’s only four thousand years old. Even if your face doesn’t redden, I feel awkward just listening to it.”
“The crux is the face,” Gong Fu leaned against the couch lazily. “It doesn’t matter if the elder brother is a handsome yao. Self-awareness is the only thing left for ugly yao.”
Kunpeng: “Who are you calling ugly?”
Gong Fu sneered. “Anyone who responds to this is ugly.”
Fu Li had guessed very early on that these two people didn’t get along very well. Gong Fu’s birth father was a divine dragon while the Kunpeng was fond of eating dragons; how could there be no grievances in such a situation? But he hadn’t expected these two great yao who were tens of thousands of years old to argue… at a kindergartener’s level.
He sat down on the carpet cross-legged and allowed the two people to squabble. While he was at it, he grabbed a bag of melon seeds and started cracking them with gusto.
“Such bad posture when sitting and standing, are the juniors nowadays all so lacking in etiquette?” Gong Fu, who was vigorously arguing with the Kunpeng, suddenly turned towards Fu Li. “Can a junior eat at the side while the seniors are talking?”
He s.n.a.t.c.hed the melon seeds from Fu Li. “Caramel flavor. Melon seeds can even be sweet?” He grabbed a handful and started crunching on them.
Fu Li: …
What was this?
The Kunpeng snickered as he grabbed a handful of melon seeds from Gong Fu. He told Gong Fu, “Have some shame, how can you s.n.a.t.c.h melon seeds from a junior?”
“If you’re so capable, don’t eat them,” Gong Fu snorted coldly.
“I s.n.a.t.c.hed yours, not the junior’s,” The Kunpeng stated boldly. “I am a yao with a baseline.”
Fu Li saw that these two had once again started bickering, so he simply patted his b.u.t.tocks and went off in search of Zhuang Qing. A difference of three years represented a generation gap. The generation gap between him and these two seniors was too large; he had no way of comprehending their thoughts and brain circuits.
On his way down, he just happened to b.u.mp into the Suanyu, who was sneaking out. Fu Li laughed, “Suanyu, what are you doing.”
“Shh, don’t let Gong Fu daren hear you,” Song Yu looked around, panic-stricken. “Gong Fu daren is a famed ancient auspicious beast. He’s the natural enemy of us fiends.”
“Not us, you,” Fu Li instantly cast their relationship aside. “You didn’t do anything evil, why are you so scared?”
“You don’t know how powerful Gong Fu daren is,” Song Yu muttered in a low voice. “Other than the four great divine beasts, us fiends are most fearful of the divine dragon’s son.”
Who asked the divine dragon to be so good at having children? The humans were fond of saying that the nine offspring of the Dragon each had their good points. However, the number nine was made up; the divine dragon had more than nine children!