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

His palm gripped the hilt of his divine sword until his knuckles whitened. His will to fight mounted, his mind free of all distraction, his eyes fixed upon Celestial Venerable Fire's every move.

The great mountains of the Ancestral Court were towering and magnificent, yet no peak, however lofty, could suppress the force of their presence!

Celestial Venerable Yun smiled. "When did it begin? Was it the moment you became one of the Ten Celestial Venerables? From the time you grasped supreme power, you no longer shed tears when you killed your own kind, is that not so?"

Celestial Venerable Fire was silent. Between the two divine mountains the Dao fire howled, sweeping from the gorge out to either side.

The two great mountains melted away in the flames; the ground grew soft and loose, magma churned beneath, and the earth floated, crumbled, and dissolved upon the molten rock.

"In the Longhan Era we deliberated together many times. I understand your choice."

Celestial Venerable Yun said, "There was once a country whose people lived in misery. A strategist had two sons, and they set out to make their way in the world. The elder son said: I will go and lend my strength to the powerful, and overthrow the court. The powerful have strength and influence; when the powerful man becomes the Yellow Emperor, and I become one of the powerful, the people may live the better for it."

"The younger son said: I do not trust the powerful. I will strike out on my own, build my own force, overthrow the court, and let the people live the better for it. So they made a pact: should the younger son fail, then, to spare the land from endless war, the elder son must kill him."

Celestial Venerable Fire listened with a blank face, his head tilted.

"In time the wicked court was overthrown. The powerful man the elder son had backed became emperor, and the younger son became a rebel. The elder brother killed his own brother with tears in his eyes, and the war ceased."

Celestial Venerable Yun asked, "Was this not what we thought in those days?"

Celestial Venerable Fire did not answer.

Celestial Venerable Yun said, "For his merit in backing the emperor, the elder son became a powerful minister. Yet the country's people still lived in want and hardship. By then the elder son no longer entertained any thought of overthrowing the new court, because..."

He said mildly, "Because he was himself a part of that court, the most powerful man in it. How could he overthrow himself? And so, whenever someone could bear the oppression no longer and rose in revolt, the elder son was always the first to leap forth and destroy the rebel army. For he had lived through the Longhan Era when the realm was split three ways, had lived through all those things, and he knew he could not let these rebels strike down his own power and position. He was no longer the elder son who had set out for the sake of his own family."

"Yun, you have changed."

Celestial Venerable Fire sighed bleakly and shook his head. "You are no longer the Yun of those days, no longer the Yun who understood me."

The face upon his mask contorted, showing at once the expressions of weeping and of laughter. "You are the same as Mu, as Shen. You too wish me dead?"

Celestial Venerable Yun, hands clasped behind his back, gazed at the sky behind him, warped by the Dao fire, and said unhurriedly: "Boldly I sang in the market of Yan; / calmly I play the prisoner of Chu. / One stroke of the blade, and all is joy, / no shame upon this young man's head!"

He gave a scoffing laugh. "Had he but died back then, who would know the truth or falsehood of a life? Fire, you still have a way out."

He turned and faced Celestial Venerable Fire directly. "Fire, if you were to go and assassinate Celestial Venerable Hao, if by the bond between you, you were to cut him down, then the human race could win a great and total victory, could overthrow the present Heavenly Court! Every merit would be yours alone to claim! Neither I, nor Celestial Venerable Ling, nor Celestial Venerable Yue, nor Founding Emperor, nor Celestial Venerable Mu, none of our deeds could compare with your glory! You would have accomplished what we could not in a million years!"

He said loudly, "All that you have done before, I can bury for you! Before the eyes of the world you will be a radiant being who endured humiliation, bore infamy, and in one stroke won the final victory! Countless people will praise your sacrifice; countless generations to come will revere your deeds, and never know what you did in the past! Your past will be erased! All you need do is assassinate Celestial Venerable Hao!"

Celestial Venerable Fire stood motionless. Then suddenly he began to laugh.

Celestial Venerable Yun frowned. Celestial Venerable Fire's laughter grew louder and louder, shaking the gorge, until the two great mountains collapsed in the Dao fire and became rolling magma.

"Yun, it cannot be denied, you are more beguiling than Celestial Venerable Mu."

Celestial Venerable Fire turned and looked him straight in the face, yet his voice seemed to hold no warmth at all, growing colder and colder. "But you can never contend with Celestial Venerable Hao, never contend with the Heavenly Court! Were I to go and assassinate Celestial Venerable Hao, even if I killed him, his deathblow would take me with him! A fine scheme of yours, one stone, two birds, ridding you of us both at a stroke!"

He said mockingly, "And after that, you could level the Heavenly Court at a stroke, and then deal with Founding Emperor, deal with Celestial Venerable Mu, and be rid of them too, and hold all power in your own hands! How could those hotheaded fools ever be your match? A fine plan, truly fine: rid of me, rid of Celestial Venerable Hao, and then rid of Celestial Venerable Mu and Founding Emperor."

Celestial Venerable Yun gave a long sigh and said bleakly, "You truly have changed. You have betrayed your original heart..."

"Wrong!"

The Dao fire around Celestial Venerable Fire suddenly blazed with incomparable fury, wrath burning all things, unleashing the rage in his heart like a beast that devours everything: "It is you who betrayed me!"