85: Chapter 85 Kunlun Envoy
The night was heavy, and two figures were traveling through the white poplar forest.
Lu Mingyuan followed behind the woman in white, limping with every step.
Although that Medicinal Pill had stanched the bleeding and healed the wounds, the shattered bones had not yet fully knit together, and every step was agonizing.
Yet he gritted his teeth and did not stop.
The woman in white did not walk fast, seemingly intending to wait for him.
She carried that long sword, the moon-like radiance on its blade having already faded, leaving only an ordinary sword with a white scabbard, looking like an accessory a mortal woman might carry casually.
Walking out of the white poplar forest, passing through that slope of wild grass, and crossing two more mountain ridges.
Lu Mingyuan did not know how long he had walked, only feeling that the red light on the horizon was growing further away, and the night was growing deeper.
Finally, the woman stopped.
"We have arrived."
Lu Mingyuan looked up; ahead was an open space, empty of anything, with only moonlight shining on the wild grass, which swayed gently in the night breeze.
"This is..." he asked in confusion.
The woman did not answer, merely raising her right hand and lightly drawing a line across the Void Realm.
A streak of golden light overflowed from her fingertips, like a brush, drawing an arc in the air.
As the arc fell, the Void Realm suddenly split open, golden light surging within the opening, faintly revealing another world.
"Go in," the woman said.
Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath and stepped into that golden rift.
His vision blurred, and when he opened his eyes again, he was already in another world.
Under his feet was a long staircase paved with jade, with clouds and mist swirling below, obscuring the bottom.
The stairs extended into the distance, and at the end, a towering palace was faintly visible.
The sky was a pale gold; there was no sun, yet light fell from all directions.
That light shone on his body, feeling warm, carrying an indescribable, sweet fragrance.
Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath, feeling the wound on his chest heal a little more.
"Is this Kunlun?" he asked.
The woman nodded and stepped onto the long staircase.
"Follow me."
Lu Mingyuan followed behind, looking around as he walked.
On both sides of the long staircase, every hundred steps there was a jade pillar, carved with various exotic beasts—Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin, Baize, Yingzhao, Lu Wu... Each one was lifelike, as if it might leap down from the pillar at any moment.
Between the jade pillars, exotic flowers and herbs were planted.
Some flowers bloomed like flames, with tiny sparks dancing on their petals; some blades of grass were like jasper, with silver sap flowing through their veins; there was also a tree with a trunk transparent as crystal, hanging seven fruits from its branches, each radiating light of a different color.
Lu Mingyuan was dazzled, and suddenly remembered the records in the classic of mountains and seas—
"The Hill of Kunlun is the lower capital of the Emperor, overseen by the deity Lu Wu. This deity has the body of a tiger and nine tails, a human face and tiger claws. There is a beast there, shaped like a sheep with four horns, named Tulu, which eats humans. There is a bird there, shaped like a bee, as big as a mandarin duck, named Qinyuan; if it stings a bird or beast, it dies, if it stings a tree, it withers."
As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt as if something was staring at him.
He looked up, and at the end of the long staircase, a huge tiger shadow sat crouching; its nine tails swayed gently, and on its human face, a pair of eyes were fixed on him.
Lu Mingyuan paused his steps.
Lu Wu.
The god of Kunlun, overseer of the nine divisions of heaven.
The tiger shadow glanced at him, its gaze calm and waveless, then moved away, looking elsewhere.
The woman did not turn her head, continuing to walk upward.
"The god Lu Wu will not trouble you. Her Ladyship has commanded that you may enter Kunlun."
Lu Mingyuan nodded and quickened his pace to catch up.
Walking past the long staircase and through the palace gate, his view suddenly opened up.
A great lake lay across the world.
The lake water was azure blue, clear to the bottom, yet the bottom could not be seen—because it was too deep, so deep it seemed to lead straight to the center of the earth.
The surface of the lake was shrouded in faint mist, and within the mist, small islands were vaguely visible, with pavilions and towers, exotic flowers and trees, dancing cranes, and white deer drinking water.
The lakeshore was planted with peach trees, and it was the season for them to bloom; the trees were full of lush flowers like clouds and sunset glow, petals falling into the lake, drifting with the waves, not knowing where they were floating.
"Yaochi," the woman said. "Her Ladyship is waiting for you over there."
She raised her hand and pointed to the largest island in the center of the lake.
On the island, palaces stretched continuously, and atop the highest hall stood a golden Phoenix, wings spread as if about to fly.
Lu Mingyuan gazed at the lake, the island, and the palaces, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed.
This was Yaochi.
The residence of the Queen Mother of the West.
Legend has it that King Mu of Zhou once drove his eight steeds on a western tour, met with the Queen Mother of the West here, exchanged songs and responses, and passed it down as a celebrated story.
Legend has it that Emperor Wu of Han once sought the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West; the Queen Mother sent her attendant Dong Shuangcheng to bestow four immortal peaches upon him. Emperor Wu ate them and kept the pits to plant, but the Queen Mother said this peach bears fruit only once every three thousand years, and the land of the Middle Kingdom is too thin, so they would not grow.
Those legends, he had read in books when he was a child, merely taking them as mythological stories.
He had not expected that one day, he would personally stand here.
The woman took out a jade leaf and threw it into the lake. The jade leaf entered the water and transformed into a small boat, drifting to the shore.
"Board the boat."
The two boarded the boat; the small boat had no oars or sculls, sailing toward the center of the lake on its own.
As the boat sailed on the lake, Lu Mingyuan looked at the surrounding scenery and suddenly asked:
"Senior, why does Her Ladyship wish to see me?"
The woman stood at the bow, gazing in the direction of the center of the lake, silent for a moment.
"Because you are the Person of Destiny."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
The Person of Destiny.
This term, Xuanweizi had said it. But that was a private conversation between master and Disciple; how would the Queen Mother of the West know?
The woman seemed to see through his confusion.
"Her Ladyship governs Kunlun and observes the Three Realms. She knew the very first day that The Rift appeared. For these twenty years, she has been waiting for someone—someone who could walk out from the depths of The Rift."
She turned around and looked at Lu Mingyuan.
"Although you did not walk out, you have already walked in. Your Divine Sense touched the core of resentment."
Lu Mingyuan's pupils contracted slightly.
How did she know?
The woman did not explain, merely continuing:
"Within the Three Realms, those who can touch the core of resentment and survive do not exceed ten. For a Junior who has just entered the Earth Immortal realm like you to come out alive, there are only two possibilities—"
"Either you are lucky."
"Or, you were chosen."
Lu Mingyuan was silent.
Chosen? Chosen by whom?
He remembered that core of resentment, remembered the surging resentment, remembered the flickering in those hollow eyes. Those things, would they choose people?
The woman looked at him, her gaze deep.
"When you reach Her Ladyship, she will tell you the answer."
The small boat docked, and the two disembarked, stepping onto the island in the center of the lake.
The island was even more beautiful than it looked from afar.
Pavilions and towers were built against the mountain, arranged in a staggered and orderly fashion. Streams flowed murmuringly in the mountains, gathering into small pools, where koi swam—golden, red, and silver-white, shimmering in the sunlight. At the summit, that hall stood toweringly, the golden Phoenix statue shining brilliantly in the sun.
The woman led Lu Mingyuan, walking upward along the stone steps.
Along the way, they met many female immortals; some were gathering herbs, some were brewing tea, some were playing chess, and some were playing the zither. Seeing Lu Mingyuan, their gazes held curiosity, but they did not step forward to disturb them.
Walking to the front of the hall, the woman stopped.
"We have arrived."
Lu Mingyuan looked up; hanging on the door of the hall was a plaque— "Yaochi Palace"
The three characters were ancient and vigorous, with a distant and profound calligraphic style, as if they were relics left from the ancient era.
The woman pushed open the door.
"Go in. Her Ladyship is waiting for you."
Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath and stepped into the hall door.
The hall was very spacious.
In the center, on a white jade couch, a woman was leaning sideways.
She looked to be in her thirties, her face dignified and beautiful, wearing a Phoenix crown, dressed in golden-threaded garments, with a jade belt tied around her waist, from which hung twelve Jade Pendants, each engraved with different runes. Her left hand rested lightly on the couch, and her right hand held a green fruit, as if it had just been picked from a peach tree.
Her eyes were as deep as the starry sky, as calm as an ancient well.
Seeing Lu Mingyuan enter, she smiled slightly.
"You have come?"
The voice was neither high nor low, neither hurried nor slow, yet it seemed to ring directly in his heart. Lu Mingyuan felt his spirit tremble, and he involuntarily wanted to kneel down.
But he resisted.
He stood there, looking directly into those eyes.
"Junior Lu Mingyuan pays respects to the Queen Mother of the West."
The Queen Mother of the West looked at him, a trace of surprise flashing in her gaze.
"You are the third person who can look directly at me without kneeling."
She put down the fruit and sat up.
"The first was the Grand Supreme's Disciple, Grand Master Xuandu. The second was that monkey who sprang from a stone. The third is you."
She smiled, a meaningful smile.
"Interesting. Of the three who did not kneel, two are related to the Grand Supreme. It seems that old man Grand Supreme truly has a sharp eye for taking in Disciples."
Lu Mingyuan did not know how to respond, so he could only remain silent.
The Queen Mother of the West did not mind, waving her hand.
"Sit. It is tiring to talk while standing."
She pointed to the meditation cushion beside her, and Lu Mingyuan sat down as instructed.
The Queen Mother of the West looked at him, her gaze gradually becoming deep.
"Do you know why I wish to see you?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
The Queen Mother of the West was silent for a moment, then said slowly:
"Because there are some things you should know. About The Rift, about the core of resentment, about the Witch-Demon Calamity, about the Investiture of the Gods and the Journey to the West, and about—the Dharma-Ending Kalpa."
She paused, her gaze looking directly into Lu Mingyuan's eyes.
"And also about why you were chosen."
Lu Mingyuan's heart trembled.
Chosen. Chosen again.
He looked at the Queen Mother of the West, waiting for that answer.
Outside the hall, sunlight shone in through the latticed windows, falling on the ground, mottled and dappled.
In the distance, the cry of a crane could be faintly heard, long and clear.
At this moment, he finally understood—
From the moment he stepped out of Zhongnan Mountain, he had already embarked on a path of no return.
And whether the end of this path was Mending the Heavens or destruction, he did not know.
He only knew that whatever the answer was, he had to keep walking.
Because someone was waiting for him.
Because someone was guarding.
Because—he was Lu Mingyuan.