Volume One: A Boy Meets Fate in Humble Beginnings Chapter Ninety: Parting While Still Alive, One

That breakfast was the least appetizing meal Li Yu had ever eaten. At the table, the Shen parents did their best to keep the two children from being too heartbroken, trying to make light conversation and laughter, yet anyone could still feel the sorrow hidden beneath their words.

A bowl of water caltrop and reed-grain porridge that would ordinarily be finished in no time took Li Yu the better part of half an hour to eat. The pickles and dried fish laid out on the table went untouched.

And yet he had to conceal his own feelings as well. By the time the meal was over, everyone had eaten with heavy minds and worried hearts. After all, before life and death, who could truly see through anything?

After breakfast, Li Yu and Shen Tang went out for a walk to clear their heads. When they reached the bank of the Falling Sunset River, where she had once brought him before, Shen Tang suddenly crouched down and burst into tears without warning.

Li Yu saw it all and felt miserable too, but there was nothing he could do. He could only squat down beside her and cry with her.

After Shen Tang had cried for a while, Li Yu took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and handed it to her, his voice choked as he comforted her. “Sister, don’t cry. You still have me. I won’t leave Clear Heaven Town.”

Shen Tang took the handkerchief, wet it, and wiped her face. “Tell me, why are those people like this? Is that so-called Heaven Gate really that important to them? More important than our lives?”

Li Yu did not know how to answer. In truth, he faintly felt that his master’s shadow must be behind this affair. Only, he did not know what his master truly intended to do.

“Perhaps, to them, their own interests come before everything else. Besides, in their eyes, mortals are nothing but ants. How could they possibly compare to them?”

After hearing this, Shen Tang’s eyes revealed, for the first time, an expression of hatred. “Are all cultivators like this? Even the old Daoist uncle?”

Li Yu truly did not know how to answer that either.

Was his master like this? He supposed not.

Emotionally, Li Yu did not want to think that way of his master. Yet rationally, he could not help but doubt what kind of attitude his master actually held toward the people of Clear Heaven Town.

Judging only by the way his master behaved normally, he had always gotten along well with them before. So why, in this matter, had he remained unmoved and allowed those people to strike at the town?

Could it be that everything his master had shown before was merely an act?

In his master’s heart, were those people also expendable? If so, then what about him? What place did he truly hold in his master’s heart?

There were some things that could not be dwelled upon. To think too deeply only risked cutting at the heart.

After a long while, Li Yu finally said, “Actually, I don’t know either.” He sounded weak and unsteady, without the slightest confidence. Shen Tang could hear the dejection in him, and the resentment that had just risen in her heart faded the moment she looked at him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that. After all, he is your master, and he was also an elder who once cared deeply for me.” Shen Tang said, somewhat dazed as well.

Both of them were burdened with thoughts of the future. The feeling of being unable to control one’s own fate was something Li Yu hated with all his heart.

The townspeople of Clear Heaven Town were all radiating joy. Even though they stood far away by the Falling Sunset River, they could still hear the sounds of celebration drifting from the town.

“Should we tell them?” Shen Tang asked.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yu suddenly understood a little of Lu Ming’s intent. He said, “Being offered up as sacrifices is their only end. If they can have even a brief moment of happiness before death, why drag them into the mire of fear before facing it?”

Shen Tang’s voice was touched with sorrow. “But is that fair to them? Not even knowing the truth behind their own deaths.”

Li Yu replied, “And what good would knowing do? Apart from deepening the pain and helplessness in their hearts, what real benefit could it bring? Before they know the truth, letting them live inside the dream of their own imagining may not be a kind of happiness after all.”

So the two of them stayed by the Falling Sunset River for the whole day. They dared not, did not want to, and were unwilling to become involved in the joy of the townspeople. In the end, they could only remain by the river, thinking about the future and letting their minds wander.

By the time Shen Xun came looking for them, it was already noon.

When Shen Xun saw them, he found them each staring blankly at the horizon. He walked up quietly, meaning to startle them, but failed to do so. Instead, when the two of them saw him, they each looked momentarily lost. “What’s wrong with you two? What are you standing around here daydreaming for?” Shen Xun asked.

“Nothing. Did school end early today?” Li Yu quickly changed the subject.

Shen Xun looked at Li Yu’s expression and said, “Yes. The teacher said we don’t have to attend classes for the next few days. As for when lessons will start again, we’ll be notified later.”

Li Yu thought to himself that it seemed the two teachers also knew what this so-called selection ceremony was really about. For now, suspending school was probably meant to give everyone more time together.

Then he suddenly remembered: weren’t the teachers going to leave? What about Shen Xun?

“Brother Xun, are the teachers leaving?” Li Yu asked.

Shen Xun was not foolish. He knew why Li Yu would ask that. In these last two days, the events in Clear Heaven Town had already surpassed anything unusual that had happened in all these years. With a little thought, one could guess that a great upheaval was probably coming.

Thinking of how the two teachers had previously wanted to take him away, it seemed the day of their departure was also drawing near.

“Actually, I’m not sure either, but I’m guessing it probably won’t be long,” Shen Xun said as he sat down beside them.

Li Yu knew clearly that today was the final day of the selection ceremony. Once the forty-to-sixty age group had been chosen, they would be walking toward death at the earliest tomorrow, or at the latest within these next few days.

When the three of them returned to the Shen household, Li Yu had originally intended to eat and then head back to the monastery. But after lunch, Shen’s father and mother insisted that he stay for dinner as well.

They even told Li Yu to bring Xu Kaijiang over too.

Shen Xun was clever. Since the day before, when his parents had been found to possess talent, he had known that they and Clear Heaven Town would one day part ways. Inviting Li Yu and Xu Kaijiang over was probably just so they could have a few more meals together before leaving.

What he had not expected was that he had only guessed half of it. The other half had to do with death.

Shen Xun had originally wanted to go with Shen Tang and Li Yu to find Xu Kaijiang, but before they set out, Li Yu said to him, “Brother Xun, why don’t you go buy vegetables with Uncle Shen and the others? Sister Tang and I can go find Xu Kaijiang.”

Shen Xun did not quite understand why Li Yu would say that, but seeing the expectant looks on his parents’ faces, he still agreed. Shen Xun did not notice that at the moment he turned away, the Shen couple smiled at Li Yu with gratitude.

On the way, Li Yu asked Shen Tang, “Sister, do you really not want to leave? If you want to go, I can ask Brother Lu to take you away.”

Shen Tang tightened her grip on the corner of her clothes and said, with a trace of disappointment, “No. I just want to stay with my father and mother, even if they...” She paused there, then continued, “I don’t want to leave Clear Heaven Town either. After all, this is where I have lived for thirteen years.”

Seeing this, Li Yu did not try to persuade her further. He only said, “Don’t worry. You still have me. I’ll stay with you too.”

Hearing this, Shen Tang smiled at him. “Do you remember when I first saw you seven years ago? You were such a tiny little thing then, and now you’re almost as tall as I am.” Then she went on, “Don’t worry. No matter where I am or when it is, I’ll live well. I won’t make the people who care about me worry.”

The two of them walked toward Xu Kaijiang’s home. The sunset stretched their shadows endlessly long, making them look especially lonely, yet also warm with mutual dependence.

Xu Kaijiang had also just returned from outside, and just happened to meet Li Yu and the others outside the courtyard. He called out to them, and after they greeted one another, he led them inside.

Li Yu explained why they had come, and Xu Kaijiang naturally agreed. After thinking for a moment, he went into the kitchen and brought out the wild chicken and hare he had caught that morning.

In return, Li Yu did not refuse.

On the way back, Li Yu asked Xu Kaijiang, “Has anyone from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect caused you trouble these past few days?”

“No. Oddly enough, I thought they’d keep coming after me, but I didn’t expect them to let me off for the time being.”

Li Yu said with some concern, “They haven’t made a move these last few days because so many people are watching Clear Heaven Town. Once today is over and you still haven’t been found to have any talent, I think they’ll turn on you.”

Xu Kaijiang was not very afraid. In his view, the fact that he was still alive now was thanks to Li Yu. If Li Yu truly could not keep protecting him, he would not drag Li Yu down. It was only death, after all. Since he had already lost all ties and burdens, what was there to fear?

That was what he thought, but unexpectedly Li Yu said, “Tonight, come back to the monastery with me and stay there. As long as you don’t go out, they won’t be able to do anything to you.”

Xu Kaijiang had not expected Li Yu to invite him back to stay at the monastery. He asked a little uncertainly, “Is that all right? Won’t your master say anything?”

Li Yu shook his head. “Don’t worry. I still have the authority to make this decision. I believe even if he knew, he wouldn’t object.”

At first, Shen Tang had not understood why Li Yu was so kind to Xu Kaijiang, but after spending time with him later, she realized that Xu Kaijiang was really just a spoiled child. After the upheaval in his family, his mind had matured; the petulance and arrogance of his childhood had fallen away, replaced by a restrained and steady bearing.

Especially after learning that the so-called selection ceremony was actually a sacrificial rite, she understood even more clearly why Li Yu would act this way. The reason was simple, and it came down to four words: put yourself in another’s place.

Those who have been drenched by rain will always want to hold an umbrella for others. What they seek, in truth, is only this: that when they themselves were once standing in the rain, someone might have held an umbrella over them.

Fortunately, Li Yu had encountered that. And Shen Tang had, too.

Li Yu was like a small flame. Though still faint at present, he would still think of ways to warm the people around him.

Perhaps it was precisely this way of warming others that gave Shen Tang the courage to face the future. She knew that no matter what the future held, there would be a little fish beside her, accompanying her through all the wind and cold rain to come.

When she finally understood this, she was still saddened that her parents were about to leave her, but when she faced the future, she no longer felt so lost or adrift.