Chapter 1622 — Had He Died Then, Who Would Know Truth from Falsehood

The Village Headman watched Celestial Venerable Fire with wary eyes, his heart ill at ease.

Celestial Venerable Yun's fleshly body had been stripped of all cultivation by Shen Mu; only the cultivation of his primordial spirit remained at his disposal. Mighty though that primordial spirit was, whether it could match Celestial Venerable Fire was another matter altogether.

Since his return from the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, Celestial Venerable Fire's cultivation and strength had grown by leaps and bounds. That he should appear so abruptly in the Ancestral Court, blocking their path as though he had foreseen all things, gave one an uneasy feeling.

How had he known that Celestial Venerable Yun was bound for the Ancestral Court? How had he placed himself so precisely upon the road they must take?

Celestial Venerable Yun remained perfectly composed. Celestial Venerable Fire spread his arms wide, but Yun did not step forward to embrace him. Instead he smiled and said, "To meet an old friend again gladdens my heart greatly. Fire, you seem to harbor some doubts; you speak rather sourly of Celestial Venerable Yu and Celestial Venerable Mu. Might you tell me of it?"

Celestial Venerable Fire lowered his arms, seeming somewhat disappointed that his old friend had not embraced him at their reunion, and said with a smile, "I would rather not speak of such painful matters. I have labored tirelessly for the safety of the human race, yet I am forever misunderstood. Heh heh. In all the years since you left, it was I who preserved the human race, who kept it from the peril of extinction. And yet whether it be Celestial Venerable Ling or Celestial Venerable Yue, Founding Emperor or Celestial Venerable You, all of them do nothing but mock and sneer at me!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he grew. He said with a cold laugh, "Celestial Venerable Mu above all! In those years I respected him for avenging Brother Yu, for being a man of hot blood. Yet none has misunderstood me more deeply than he! I have swallowed humiliation and borne heavy burdens for the human race, even willing to shoulder the infamy of destroying my own kind, but I preserved the human race, and in Southern Heaven I built a world of my ideals! And what has he ever done for the human race? Nothing but lead them in rebellion and chaos! Nothing but wreck the grand order I had built! And he has the gall to call me a traitor to the human race!"

He looked at Celestial Venerable Yun, his gaze fervent. "They do not understand me. Yun, you surely understand me, do you not?"

Celestial Venerable Yun was silent a long while. Then he raised his head and smiled. "I understand you."

Celestial Venerable Fire's spirits soared. He laughed aloud. "I knew you would understand me! In the days of the Longhan Era you and I spoke at length more than once, each laying bare our ideals. Our ideals may have differed, but you know what manner of man I am!"

Celestial Venerable Yun nodded. "In the Longhan Era the human race was feeble, merely one of the more conspicuous among the countless races of the heavens and the myriad worlds, and yet we gave birth to the Nine Celestial Venerables of Longhan. But in those days the strength of the human race was negligible. Even we, the Nine Celestial Venerables of Longhan, were but meat upon the ancient gods' chopping block, to be carved as they pleased. It was not until Celestial Venerable Mu slew the five ancient gods of the Five Luminaries upon the Heavenly River that the world was shaken by the power of the human race."

Celestial Venerable Fire's expression darkened slightly; the mention of Shen Mu's exploits displeased him.

Celestial Venerable Yun went on, "Even so, the strength of the human race was far too weak. Despair shrouded me at every hour. Feeling keenly the insufficiency of my own power, I came to you again and again, begging your aid. And you said you would seek another path for the human race."

Celestial Venerable Fire cast his mind back. "In those days we talked long in secret. You thought the human race could scarcely prevail, that we had not the strength to contend with the ancient gods and the demigods, that at any moment we might be plunged into irrevocable ruin. You wished me to help you."

Celestial Venerable Yun sighed. "You said that all one's eggs must not be put in a single basket, that there must be two plans. Plan one: I would continue to resist, to fight on for the human race."

Celestial Venerable Fire said, "Plan two: I would lead a portion of the human race to throw in our lot with the demigods, and with them stand against the ancient gods. Should you fail, the human race would not be extinguished; the portion that followed me would survive."

Celestial Venerable Yun nodded. "So I raised no objection to your siding with Celestial Venerable Hao. And the facts have proven that your vision was exceedingly far-sighted, your judgment of men unerring. Celestial Venerable Hao was indeed incomparably formidable: he defeated the ancient gods, defeated me, and seized the final victory of the Longhan Era."

Celestial Venerable Fire said in a low voice, "And we agreed then that if you led the human race in rebellion and failed, I, to prove my loyalty to the demigods, would have to kill you. And I did go."

His voice choked. "I went to kill you with tears in my eyes. When you died, my heart suffered most of all! And yet for it I bore the name of traitor! Yun, do you blame me for killing you?"

Celestial Venerable Yun shook his head. "I never blamed you for that."

Celestial Venerable Fire laughed heartily, his voice brimming with relief. "I knew it, only Yun is a true hero, only Yun understands me best! What Celestial Venerable Shen, what Celestial Venerable Mu, they are not fit to carry Yun's shoes!"

"Later, in the Chiming Revolution, Fire, you also went to kill Emperor Ming with tears in your eyes, did you not?" Celestial Venerable Yun asked.

The brows upon Celestial Venerable Fire's mask knitted slightly. "Emperor Ming was not even your equal. He could hardly accomplish anything; he was only an obstacle."

"In the Shanghuang Era, you must likewise have gone with tears in your eyes to kill Celestial Venerable Yue, to kill Celestial Venerable Ling."

Celestial Venerable Yun walked to his side and gazed at the sky behind him, burned red by flame and grown somewhat distorted, and said with feeling, "In the Kaihuang Era, you went with tears in your eyes to kill Celestial Venerable Shen. In the Jingping Era, you went with tears in your eyes to kill Celestial Venerable Mu..."

The brows upon Celestial Venerable Fire's mask drew tighter. He looked at the sky behind Celestial Venerable Yun.

Suddenly he cut Celestial Venerable Yun short. "Yun, in strategy, in statecraft, neither Emperor Chi nor Emperor Ming could match you. Celestial Venerable Yue and Celestial Venerable Ling were two remarkable women, but their methods were far inferior to yours; they could never have contended with Celestial Venerable Hao, never have contended with the Ten Celestial Venerables! As for Celestial Venerable Shen, Shen Ye, by the time he rose, the great order of the universe was already fixed; the Ten Celestial Venerables ruled all under heaven, and no one else had any hope of turning the tide! And Celestial Venerable Mu was nothing but a child's mischief. Yun, you must understand this."

Celestial Venerable Yun smiled. "Then tell me, when did it begin? When did you stop killing them with tears in your eyes?"

Celestial Venerable Fire whipped his head around.

The two of them, four legs, stood almost upon a single line, only one faced east, the other west.

As Celestial Venerable Fire turned his head, so too did Celestial Venerable Yun.

The Village Headman felt the flames between the two great mountains suddenly blaze hotter still; the Dao fire rolled and surged, and a dry, searing wind struck his face, carrying to his nostrils a smell of scorching.