Chapter 152: And Rivers Are but a Mere Creek

The girl stared at the ‘beggar’s’ delicate features and froze for a moment.

“He’s rather good-looking…”

Just then, the ‘beggar’ on the bed suddenly trembled. His eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.

The girl drew a sharp breath. “Awake?” She quickly asked.

Seeing the girl before him, he mumbled, “Why am I…”

“You almost died. I was by the river…” The girl recounted everything that happened in detail.

The ‘beggar’ seemed lost in thought for a long moment before asking a series of questions.

“Where… is this place?”

“My home.”

“No. I mean… the location. Um… What county?”

The girl looked puzzled but answered, “County? What’s that? This is Nan Commandery.”

The ‘beggar’ blinked, seeming as if he finally understood something.

Noticing his daze, the girl didn’t dwell on it much. “My name is Yu Xuan,” she asked directly. “What’s yours?”

The beggar seemed still dazed and didn’t reply.

The girl frowned slightly in displeasure. “Hey, I asked you a question.”

“Huh?”

“Your name.”

The ‘beggar’ snapped back to attention. “Chen Changsheng.”

The girl giggled. “Almost died like that? My mother says too grand a name isn’t good. Brings suffering.”

The ‘beggar’ sighed. “Sickly as a child. Nearly died from illness. The elders changed it hoping it would help.”

“What’s your original name then?”

“Chen Fan.”

“That sounds fine to me.”

“Perhaps…”

The ‘beggar’s’ mind didn’t seem focused on the girl. He desperately wanted to figure out his current situation.

But the scene abruptly ended right there.

Chen Changsheng’s consciousness froze. In an instant, the scene before him shattered, dissolving like scattered sand vanishing before his eyes.

“Gone?”

He paused, startled to see the vanishing sand swirling back together.

The gathering sand formed small characters right before his eyes.

[[The Mayfly Seeks Long Life, Dawn-Born, Dusk-Dead, Dies at Thirty-Three.

Wash Away Past Dusts, Reincarnation Unceasing, Long Life Endures.]]

“Bang!”

Instantly, those little characters exploded into dust.

Chen Changsheng felt dizzy. When he opened his eyes again, his sight had returned to the Tianji Tower.

The azure light within the Fate Stone had completely faded. It lost all spirituality, turning into an ordinary rock, utterly unresponsive.

Seeing Chen Changsheng wake, Zhong Zhengyuan immediately called out, “Mr. Chen!”

Chen Changsheng was dazed and confused.

_’What did that mean…’_

Chen Changsheng frowned, seeming oblivious to Zhong Zhengyuan’s call.

He pondered the visions he just witnessed, and that final line.

_Dies at thirty-three…_

That young man in the vision… that was undeniably him.

The name “Changsheng” (Long Life) came from a devastating childhood illness. After a fate-reader was consulted, the elders changed his name as a desperate wish, replacing his original name: Chen Fan.

_Nan Commandery? What era was that?_

_Yu Xuan…_

_That Yu Xuan?_

Zhong Zhengyuan stepped closer, standing beside Chen Changsheng. Seeing him still entranced, Zhong, visibly anxious, called again, “Mr. Chen?”

Chen Changsheng jolted back to awareness. He turned and looked at Zhong Zhengyuan, paused, and said, “I’m fine…”

Zhong Zhengyuan exhaled in relief, and so did many others in the hall.

Chen Changsheng lowered his gaze to the stone in his hands. “Only… this Fate Stone…”

He could feel it; the stone was completely devoid of any spiritual essence, now truly just an ordinary rock.

Staring at the stone, Chen Daoqiu looked numb.

“Destroyed…”

Eyes in the room fixed on the stone, filled with regretful loss.

Zhong Zhengyuan shook his head helplessly, as though he’d expected this outcome.

“It truly was its destiny…”

Sighs echoed through the hall. Everyone present bowed their heads.

…

After the events concluded, Chen Daoqiu instructed the disciples to clean up the scene. Zhong Zhengyuan, still injured, did not participate further.

Chen Changsheng had no desire to get involved in the Tianji Mountain’s affairs. He followed Zhong Zhengyuan to a quiet spot for tea. Besides, he had questions.

Chen Changsheng asked, “Earlier you mentioned destiny… did you foresee the Fate Stone’s destruction?”

Zhong Zhengyuan nodded. “The Fate Stone wasn’t powered by external forces. Its energy came solely from itself.”

Chen Changsheng understood. “Power exhausted, the stone destroyed?”

“Exactly.”

Zhong Zhengyuan confirmed. “The Tianji Mountain sect has safeguarded this stone for over 8,000 years. Predecessors discovered 4,000 years ago its energy was gradually depleting. They tirelessly sought solutions, yet none understood its workings.”

“Thus, for millennia, we only activated it for crucial matters. Still… we could not halt its fading fate.”

Chen Changsheng paused. “Your near-fatal incident… was it also for this?”

Zhong Zhengyuan nodded again. “Yes.”

A jolt went through Chen Changsheng. “Did you… see anything?”

Zhong Zhengyuan hesitated for a moment… then shook his head. “Only darkness.”

Chen Changsheng studied him. Zhong Zhengyuan seemed to be holding something back.

But he didn’t press. Perhaps it was linked to what he himself saw within the stone.

Chen Changsheng remarked, “I recall you’re not known for self-sacrifice. This ordeal cost you at least five centuries of cultivation. Your accumulated Merit is nearly gone too.”

Zhong Zhengyuan managed a faint smile. “This matter…”

He thought back, then suddenly said,

“Mr. Chen, do you recall Junior Minister Chang from the end of the Jing era?”

Chen Changsheng looked up at him, realization dawning.

Zhong Zhengyuan chuckled softly. “Everyone must play the fool once or twice. Seeking immortality for so long… one learns a few truths. You shouldn’t regress as you live, right Mr. Chen?”

Chen Changsheng sighed, filled with a complex, indescribable feeling. It was Chang Shan’s decisive action in the North that reignited Zhong Zhengyuan’s youthful spirit.

Call it impulsiveness. Call it foolishness. But… unquestionably right.

If two things conflict… sacrifice oneself for what is right.

Chen Changsheng stated with certainty, “The Great Dao is vast and clear. Though you’ve lost power and Merit, Master Zhong, you’ve truly set foot upon that path.”

Zhong Zhengyuan merely shook his head. “Through a vast sea of life and mountains of fate, rivers stand as a mere creek. Zhong treads only a narrow path. The Great Dao’s vastness remains beyond me. Gaining a modest path… is satisfaction enough.”

Chen Changsheng looked at him… and suddenly laughed.

Sometimes he found Zhong Zhengyuan rigidly old-fashioned. Other times… he saw profound clarity.

When the perpetual observer leaps into the fray, the Great Dao suddenly stands revealed before him.