The day I was made the Master of North Mountain was the day she got married off in a splendorous wedding. I thought our relations would end there.
We were childhood sweethearts from a young age. I had once thought I would take her as my wife. We would have adorable children and spend our entire lives together, until our lifespans ended.
What a pity that reality gave me a cruel blow. At some point, she had begun to grow distant from me. No, more accurately, she was distancing herself from me.
Even when we met there was only ever one name on her lips. It was a completely foreign name.
When she spoke about that person, her expression was one I hadn’t seen on her before – tentative yet sweet…
I had once wondered if I told her I liked her, would she give me a chance?
But my reason told me I mustn’t say it for it I did, perhaps we might not even be able to remain friends.
Her love was passionate, like a moth flying into flames. If she knew about my feelings for her, she would completely distance herself from me. That wasn’t what I wanted. So I didn’t say anything.
The day I became master of North Mountain, I stood at its peak and sent her off with my gaze as she married into the North Sea. Standing there, I was able to watch the place where she had gone to. That way, I would be able to be closer to her.
I had never thought there would come a day when she would climb the North Mountain covered in blood. Seeing her like that, I wished I could’ve slapped myself for choosing a dangerously steep place like the North Mountain. The North Mountain was the tallest mountain in the Celestial World!
I couldn’t imagine how much effort it must’ve taken for her, who had lost all her cultivation and bearing grievous wounds, to climb all the way up. The Dragon Clan of the North Sea had been wiped out. That she was able to survive was due to her husband’s sacrifice. It was for the sake of protecting their last bloodline.
It was a tiny infant. But when that infant was handed to me, I lifted the bloodstained cloak to find her ashen green face. She was already dead.
“Please save her, Brother Shang.”
I hugged the cold body of the infant, not knowing how to react.
“Brother Shang… please… she’s my final hope. Please save her…”
I wanted to save her but she told me she had used a blood sacrifice technique. She wouldn’t be able to reincarnate and I wouldn’t be able to save her. She begged me to save her child.
I had to watch as she scattered into nothingness. At that moment, I knew what a dead heart felt like. But I couldn’t die. I had to save the child because it was her last wish.
I buried her clothes at the peak of the North Mountain. There, she would be able to look out at the North Sea where her husband remained in eternal slumber.
I went to the Underworld and used half my lifespan to exchange for the child’s soul. But she was too weak; she wasn’t able to return to her original body. I had no choice but to use soul-nourishing techniques to help her recuperate.
In the meantime, I investigated on the truth behind the eradication of the North Sea Dragon Clan yet I never found out who was behind it…
I didn’t wish for the child to seek vengeance so I had never told her about this matter before. I made another body for her and brought her to the Cultivation World, where I joined the Misty Sect.
The Sect Master had told me she had an inauspicious fate and wouldn’t have a good end. I knew it was because of me. It was because I had forcibly tried to change her destiny so she wouldn’t have a good end.
I gave her the name Shang Shu. I hoped she would be a unique1 existence. I taught her spells and techniques, as well as how to act. But I didn’t dare to interact with her too much for fear of seeing her mother’s shadow in her.
As the years passed and she grew up, I found that she didn’t look much like her mother. I had once wondered whether it was because of some mistake I had made when creating this body for her. But this was good too. At least… I wouldn’t find it so hard to face her.
One day, I discovered something about her was different. Her destiny was changing. Until, she brought a man to me.
I recognised him. He was a famous monster in the Celestial World. Yet he turned out to be her only hope at life. I didn’t know whether I should be happy or worried.
I didn’t know much about Feng Ci. I had not left the North Mountain for a long time by the time he was born. Afterwards I heard rumours about him when I was searching for soul-nourishing techniques.
He managed to become famous in one battle where before he had been in dire straits. His name rang throughout the Celestial World; even I had heard of it. Back then, I had thought this Feng Ci must not be normal.
I encountered him once, at the edge of the North Sea. Those unrestrained flames around him allowed me to confirm his identity rather quickly.
All he did was cast me a calm look and continued standing there quietly after he had made sure I had no intention of attacking. His head was slightly raised as he looked at the stone tablet which reached into the heavens. The clan rules of the North Sea Dragon Clan were carved into the stone.
“What are you looking at?” I asked curiously.
Feng Ci seemed surprised I was talking to him. Only after a while did he point to the top of the pillar, and with a slightly endearing expression, he spoke, “There’s something… up there.”
I furrowed my brows and looked up but didn’t see anything. He suddenly flew up and his figure was concealed in the surrounding mist at the top. After a good while, he finally came back down, a transparent crystal lying silently on his palm.
It was a memory crystal. My heart seemed to be thumping exceptionally hard then. Only a dragon could have placed the object there. And Feng Ci… was a hybrid with dragon and phoenix blood.
I asked him for the memory crystal, to which he very calmly placed it to the side before turning to leave. From the memory crystal, I learned who was behind the massacre of the North Sea Dragon Clan, yet the reason remained unclear.
I wanted to avenge my love at that time, but it was a crucial period for Xiaoshu and I had no way of splitting my attention from her, so this matter could only wait.
I didn’t expect to meet Feng Ci again, and that too under such circumstances. But since he was Xiaoshu’s only hope at living, I pleaded with him. I hadn’t thought he would agree so easily. I asked him, “Why?”
His reply was simple, “She can get close to me. I like her.”
Perhaps this was heaven’s will. Later when Xiaoshu broke off our master-disciple relationship, I was worried but knew she’d be safest with Feng Ci, so I didn’t stop her.
I heard she had gone missing but since her soul tablet didn’t break, I knew she was alive. And I didn’t have much time left. I had to finish one last thing: get revenge.
It wasn’t easy but I avenged her. I managed to extract the reason behind the extinction. Their clan’s young master had taken a liking to her and failing to abduct her, plotted to destroy the entire North Sea Dragon Clan.
After taking revenge, I returned to the North Mountain to await death. I wouldn’t be able to reincarnate either – just like her.
In that trance-like state as I started to disappear, I seemed to be able to see her, wearing her wedding robes and walking towards me with a smile.
I wasn’t able to accompany you when you were alive. Now, I can accompany you in death. I have no regrets.
-Yu Xiao