「 Moonlight Emperor ‘Ming Yahui’, I was known. They say that my heart was colder than the glacier, darker than the night, and that I knew no love and compassion. All of these, I do not reject. After all, even I think I was a horrible person.
Yet, I do not feel guilty, only a semblance of sorrow remained within me, of things I could have achieved, of things I failed to achieve. My death was well deserved, there was no denying it. The shattering of my soul sang to the heaven so high above and the lands so far beyond, mortals and immortals alike rejoiced in glee and euphoria. Let them be, I said then.
But now I return, from my century of wandering as a fragmented soul. Alas, I have attained a body of my own. Let the moon reverse the sun, let the sun reverse the moon. From this day forth, I shall become the manifestation of sun and moon.
When I wakened, hydrangea blue flickered briefly in my eyes until they turned dull to that of mundane brown, and soon I was greeted to a scene of dreadfulness. Before me stood a man, probably in the last summer of his prime, his face was obese, and his expression unkindly. He was looking down on me with inhumane eyes, and he held a disdainful whip in his burly hand. Tied to a wooden post, red lashes tainted my slender body, and I merely gave the man a glance, as I calmly observed the first life form which entered my sight.
“How dare you look me in the eyes!!!” Li Jinguang attacked me viciously, his leather whip lashing across my delicate body, my eyes narrowed feebly and my expression softened. Of course I know the name of my tormentor. After I had possessed this fragile shell, the memory of the previous owner still lingered in one abandoned corner of my mind.
This body is known as ‘Li Xueyan’, an illegitimate son of Li household, born to be subservient to the whim of his so-called family members.
As a flight of sparrows ruefully escorted the waning dusk, my tormentor was no more, though he was still dissatisfied of the punishments he had laid out on me, apparently he was too tired to continue, too tired to unleash his rage, and so he left me, alone by the wooden post, only the silence of the growing night accompanied me.
My eyes wandered solemnly on the leaving silhouettes, my expression very mild. If I so willed it, I could have stilled the life out of them, but I chose to not do so. An entire life spent of vengeance, an entire life spent of slaughter, I did not even realise when I had lost my passions then. If only I could turn back the time, my actions would not change, but my ways would have changed.
“Hah…” I let out a painful sigh, as my consciousness drifted into the spirit air.
This body is far too weak, far too frail, compared to what I was a hundred years ago. But beggars cannot be choosers, and surely, a fragmented soul like me cannot be picky. So, I inhaled a gasp of air, into the depth of my being. A tender power filled my body, my hunger sated, and my pain gone.
Just like this, I breathed for a while, until the ropes that had mercilessly bound me loosened, as if they no longer held the strength to restrain this frail shell of mine. In unhurried footsteps, I leisurely walked away into the courtyard. Although Li family had many members, not many people liked to wander around the mansion at night, except for a few seldom patrolmen, and my senses were still sharp enough to avoid them.
Thus, I left the past of Li behind, under the gentle grace of moonlight. From now on, I would be content with just being ‘Xueyan’.
In my past life, I had strayed from my intended path. Immersed in the power of the ‘Immeasurable Yin Scripture’, I was consumed by the allure of my very own creation. There is no regret in what I had done. Back then, the power of yin was a necessity, I needed the cold, I needed the night, to do what was meant to be. Yet, because of that, all my passions eventually vanished. All that remained in me were my sufferings. I slaughtered those who did deserve my wrath, and I slaughtered those who did not. I was always aware of my vile actions, but somehow I could not stop myself. I had truly strayed then.
“Hah…” I let out a mournful sigh, as I inhaled yet another gasp of spirit air. I have been doing this for hours, walking by myself on this deserted road, in the middle of the night.
In this life, should I live by the ‘Boundless Yang Scripture’? No… I was a ruthless murderer when I was immersed solely in Immeasurable Yin Scripture, so if I were to solely immerse in Boundless Yang Scripture this time, I might become a capricious martyr. For some reasons, that frightened me.
I wish for knowledge, and I long for power. I would love peace when I could afford it. Even so, I am still fond of being myself.
Yes… I must practice both scriptures together in this life, or else, I would become a machine yet again.
With such thoughts deeply entrenched in my mind, I moved through the endlessness of the night, crossing over vast plains, leaving large banyan trees that wailed loudly when the winds occasionally disturbed them.
It was then that I heard, the familiar chants of an exorcism. At first, my expression was neutral, but slowly it turned to that of a grin. I feel so young again, to regain my passions, my curious heart was roused, so I childishly puffed up my tender cheeks and I eagerly dashed toward where I heard the sounds originate from.
Scurrying over the sandy main road, I only took ten breaths or so, before arriving at the exorcism formation, which glowed mystically underneath the large banyan trees. Within the formation lied a gang of wandering ghouls, their eyes full of whiteness, their mouths drooping in hunger, their dry and pale bodies, covered in ragged clothes, they seemed awfully infuriated, and without the formation stood a group of neatly dressed cultivators, their tell-tale robes finely made of silk revealed the sects they belonged to, two of them were from the Peerless Sky Sect, and the three others were from the White Jade Sect, Benign Mountain Sect and Humble Spring Sect.
Seeing these young males from varying backgrounds, I calmly deduced them to be in the midst of their Coming of Age Journey. It was a sacred ceremony a disciple of an orthodox sect must go through, for them to be accepted as a full-fledged disciple. If things had not changed, according to my understanding, the disciples of Benign Mountain and Humble Spring sects must be accompanying their liege-lords, Peerless Sky and White Jade sects. It was a custom that they must attain a decent amount of the appreciation tokens from the locals who were plighted by the creatures of yin and yang, such as the ghouls and the spectres, or the ogres and the numens.
Standing from a high-ground, I calmly observed their performance. The wandering ghouls were low-level corpses, so these children should not have troubles exorcising them. Looking at the formation, I realised that they were trying to appease the ghouls so that their corrupted souls would peacefully enter the reincarnation cycle, and I nodded my head in approval. After all, I spent my past life near the creatures of yin, and so I have a soft spot toward them. Even after death, although my memory as a fragmented soul was indeed fragmented and most times I was without a mind of my own, my sense of kinship became only stronger as I became an existence similar to that of a creature of yin.
But these children, I thought gloomily, they lack experience. A moment after, like I speculated, their exorcism formation attracted masses of ghouls that were hiding deep in the forest. In a desolate place such as this, it was to be expected. The children looked scared, when they saw the newly-arrived ghouls rush toward them in hectic movements. The two leaders of their group, the older one of gentle disposition from the Peerless Sky Sect, and the other one of haughty demeanour from the White Jade Sect, were still immersed in maintaining the formation, and so the rest of the three, being the weaker members of the group they are, panicked miserably.
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Seeing their predicament, I could only let out a low humming sound. “Hm… Hmm…… Hm.. Hmm… Hm. Hm… Hmm……”
The wandering ghouls were confused, as they heard the sound of my ‘Lonely Night Lullaby’, and they stood unmoving where they are. When the children saw my action, the leading member from the Peerless Sky Sect gave me an embarrassed but appreciative look, while the one from the White Jade Sect retained his impassive expression, and the other three maintained their guard, their expression filled with relief and joy. I payed them no heed, as I continued to hum, until they could appease all the ghouls through their exorcism formation. When they were finally done, the boys collected the yin core remains of the former ghouls in a space-sealing pouch and happily walked over to me.
“Fellow cultivator!” That gentle youth addressed to me. “You have our gratitude for your benevolent act! If not for you, it is unimaginable what our situation would become.”
“No need to be polite.” Having a good impression of them, I spoke mildly. “I am merely a passing independent cultivator.” It meant that I was not affiliated with any sect.
“Still… That tune from earlier… Is it the Lonely Night Lullaby?!” The younger one from the Peerless Sky Sect interrupted excitedly. When he did that, the other cultivators also expressed discomfort on their face. Despite my eerily composed exterior, I felt very alarmed inside. How could these youngsters recognise my spell?
However, the gentle boy soothed the souring atmosphere.
“Yungfeng Taoming, have some respect. It is not our place to dictate others on their path of cultivation.” He scolded his junior brother, who gave a confused look toward both his senior brother and me. “My apology, fellow cultivator, I am called ‘Yunfeng Lifang’ and this is my friend ‘Yu Qiangjun’.” He gestured toward the quiet young male, who nodded toward me in acknowledgement. Like this, he also introduced the remaining cultivators, and then he asked. “If I may ask, fellow cultivator, what is your esteemed name?”
“Xueyan is my name.” I spoke mildly, the earlier anxiety slowly calming in my heart. “It has not been long since I came out of seclusion. Would it be possible for me to join your future night hunts?”
When he heard my offer, Lifang took a quick glance at me, he noticed that not only did I lack the luggage and space-sealing pouch, there were even some tears in my clothes, and through them he saw my half-healed wounds. “It would be our pleasure.” With a sympathetic look, he made some adjustments to the contents inside one of his space-sealing pouches and extended it to me. “Please. It is my gift to you.” I raised my eyebrow as I took the pouch. Not only was it a luxurious object, it was even filled with some useful contents, and this child was generous enough to bestow it upon a stranger. I have a favourable impression of him, so I smiled kindly in turn. “Then, I will be in your care, Fellow Lifang.”
Since it was very late in the night and this isolated area was too dangerous, the children no longer continued their night hunt and headed straight for the nearest ‘Water Moon’ village, with Qiangjun holding a spirit diversion lamp in the lead, lest they attract the attention of spectres, such ghostly existences were usually far more cunning and devastating than the ghouls. Being one of such likeness, I knew well. Nevertheless, there was no point in hurrying, as it would only encourage the creatures of yin to prey on our fear, so Lifang would frequently initiate the conversation, gently prying into my background, yet I would subtly divert my questions back at him, inquiring about the current state of affairs.
In accordance with my suspicion, it appeared after my death, one of my three disciples ‘Zhou Xinlei’ had leaked the portions of Immeasurable Yin Scripture to the cultivation world, only by doing so could he shake off the righteous cultivators that were pursuing him. Still, I wondered how was it that he survived when his two martial brothers could not, especially when I had poisoned the three of them with my ‘cold moon torment’, as I did to all those who swore fealty to me. Even my own blood was no exception. But now that I am in my right mind, I felt very remorseful toward my brother ‘Ming Yuhao’. It was my chain of cruelty that eventually forced him to betray me, I sighed wretchedly.
“Who reigns supreme in Tianyun now, can you tell me?” My question was mild, there was a serene wave of idleness in my tone. Tianyun was the name of our continent, and to reign supreme was to reach the pinnacle of cultivation, either as a second step cultivator in perfection, or as a third step cultivator, the summit that I reached in my past life.
When they heard my question, Qiangjun paused momentarily as he threw a quick glance at me, his posture full of wariness, it appeared to me that the quiet youth was beginning to wonder if I am not of their generation, and truthfully speaking, he is correct. Although I do not want to say it out loud, I do not have any reason to deflect his suspicion, so I let him on chew on the thought, as my eyes fell flatly on Lifang. The gentle boy sweated uncomfortably, he seemed to have caught on Qiangjun’s suspicion, but still he pretended that nothing was amiss.
“Wang Yongliu in the Central.”
“Yunfeng Zheng in the North.”
“Ming Yuhao in the South.”
“Sun Botai in the East.”
“Yu Guiying in the West.”
“These are the current Cardinal Lords of Righteous Sects, with Wang Yongliu at its head.” Lifang replied to me poetically with a smile.
“Ah…” I laughed awkwardly when I heard their names. Back then, they were my nemesis, except for the little Yuhao, and I was too lacking in expression whenever I faced them. But now that I am free, I could indeed laugh wryly in nostalgia. Hearing that they now hold the land of Tianyun within their palm, I felt somewhat touched. Though my body tortured, though my honour stained, though my soul broken, I do not hold them any grudge. After all, had I not killed their elders and relatives in my quest to vengeance, they would not have done what they did to me. What was done was done, and it was too late for otherwise.
“Yunfeng Zheng… Has he entered the third step of cultivation?” I asked with a trace of sentimentality, that mountainous man was one of the two who I could not defeat through fair means, though his cultivation was the lowest among my peers, his sabre art was nothing to laugh about, I had to ambush him repeatedly to wound him into retreat using full advantage of my extreme yin spells, or else my ‘myriad night march’ would have been broken before it even started.
This time though, the youngsters were somewhat startled, there was a look of confusion on their face, since I suddenly mentioned Yunfeng Zheng, who must now be the ancestor of Peerless Sky Sect.
Unexpectedly, it was not Lifang but Taoming who responded to me, he spoke with hesitation in his voice. “My father…is stuck at a bottleneck in second step cultivation. Only Wang Yongliu and Ming Yuhao have become a third step cultivator.”
I was very surprised when I heard the words, I even felt like someone slapped me over and over. Yunfeng Zheng could not break through, when others have already done so? Moreover, what did this child say? His father??? That mountainous century-old man Yunfeng Zheng is his father???!!! Although I knew that stallion of a man certainly had the charm and charisma to entangle the racing hearts of glamorous maidens whenever he graced his presence, I never would have considered he would settle down!!!
Even more so, he settled down way too late!!! This child is surely in the middle of his teen, cultivator or what not!!! And he looks so slender and white, people would believe me if I say he is my child, be it in this life or the previous!!! But for him to be the son of that dark-skinned hunk??? Impossible, nothing…nothing about him looks like he who was known as ‘Handsome Dream Beast’!!!
On second thought…perhaps, he did inherit his father’s stature.
My beautiful eyelashes fluttered curiously, only now did I notice that the boy stood a head taller than any of his martial brothers.
Hah… A hundred years… How things have changed. 」
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= Glossary =
Yang-yue Junwang (阳月 君王) = Sun Moon Sovereign (title)
Yueliang Huangdi (月亮 皇帝) = Moonlight Emperor (title)
Jun Mengshou (俊 梦獸) = Handsome Dream Beast (title)
Ming Yahui (明 雅惠) = Radiance Elegance Kindness (name)
Ming Yuhao (明愉豪) = Radiance Pleasant Chivalry (name)
Li Xueyan (李 雪艳) = Plum Snow Glamour (name)
Li Jinguang (李 金光) = Plum Gold Light (name)
Zhou Xinlei (周 心蕾) = Cycle Heart Bud (name)
Wang Yongliu (旺 永流 ) = Properity Eternity Flow (name)
Yunfeng Zheng (云峰 正) = Sky Righteousness (name)
Yunfeng Lifang (云峰 黎芳) = Sky Dawn Virtue (name)
Yunfeng Taoming (云峰 涛明) = Sky Wave Radiance (name)
Sun Botai (荪 柏泰) = Grass Cypress Peace (name)
Yu Guiying (玉 桂英) = Jade Cassia Petal (name)
Yu Qiangjun (玉 强军) = Jade Strong Army (name)
Tongjian Ming (通见 明) = All-Seeing Radiance (sect)
Wei Wang (威旺) = Mighty Prosperity (sect)
Wudi Yunfeng (无敌 云峰) = Peerless Sky (sect)
Bai Yu (白 玉) = White Jade (sect)
Gao Sun (高荪) = Noble Grass (sect)
Liang Shan (良 山) = Benign Mountain (sect)
Qian Quan (谦 泉) = Humble Spring (sect)
Tianyun (天云) = Heaven Cloud (continent)
Gang = 10+ (army count)
Score = 20+ (army count)
Throng = 100+ (army count)
Band = 500+ (army count)
Legion = 1,000+ (army count)
Horde = 10,000+ (army count)
Written by Lulin