The Word of Heaven

Chapter 317 Heaven
The Taoist temple was completely silent.

I don’t know when the sound of rain gradually became lighter, as if it was still midsummer.

Xuan Shu stood in the candlelight.

In his world, Yu Sheng does not exist at all. Gu Zhuo is the only reality that those eyes can see.

He was silent for a long time, until the remaining rain began to drip from the eaves onto the steps, and then the sound was heard again.

"Always being the second worst is second only to death. I am not as unrestrained as you, Junior Brother, so I cannot agree with your opinion. Besides, I have a lot to say to you. I need to tell you."

Yu Sheng wondered why these words sounded more and more confusing?
If she was not very sure about what kind of person Gu Zhuo was, she would inevitably have some doubts. After all, the words "I like you" were still ringing in her ears.

Gu Zhuo's reaction was very calm: "Then tell me."

Xuan Shu looked at Yu Sheng and said sorry.

Yu Sheng thought about it and decided to avoid it.

Of course Gu Zhuo did not agree with this decision.

"You are my wife, not an outsider."

"I know you are my husband, but this is a matter of the Dao Sect, and I have no interest in getting involved."

Yu Sheng explained very seriously and was naturally determined to leave.

She turned and walked out of the Taoist temple. Sure enough, the rainstorm had disappeared, and everything that happened not long ago seemed like an illusion.

The night sky cleared silently, leaving only a few drops of old rain on the eaves, which would probably last until dawn.

Yu Sheng closed his eyes and rested.

There was still silence in the Taoist temple.

No one knows what these two brothers are talking about.

……

……

"Will the next thing I hear be his last words?"

Gu Zhuo looked at the young Taoist quietly, his voice extremely cold.

This was the first sentence spoken in the Taoist Temple after Yu Sheng left.

Xuan Shu smiled, looked at his junior fellow apprentice with gentle eyes, and said, "This will certainly not be my last words."

Gu Zhuo said: "I'm very sorry."

Xuan Shu's expression remained the same as before, with no trace of anger on his face. He said with emotion, "Junior brother, you are still the same as you were back then."

Then he looked into Gu Zhuo's eyes and suddenly changed the subject, asking, "Since you are still the same person you were back then, why don't you feel any indignation or revenge when you see this land that gave birth to you, raised you, and witnessed your rise to the top, now overgrown with weeds, desolate and dilapidated?"

"Don't tell me that you have willingly given up. I am the person who knows you best in this world. It was like this a hundred years ago, and it will be like this a hundred years from now. You are definitely not that kind of person."

Xuan Shu's voice was particularly serious, and he asked word by word: "I want to know why you are like this now, is it because of her standing outside the palace?"

"It has nothing to do with her, and it's not an admission of defeat."

Gu Zhuo shook his head and said, "Besides, I am the same person now as I was in the past. This has never changed."

Xuan Shu asked in silence.

The lights in the Taoist temple no longer flickered, and it was as quiet as the brushstrokes in an oil painting, which made people inexplicably frightened.

"I have already given you the answer back then. I do not agree with all the decisions made by you and the ancestors of all generations. And you also know that is my true thought. Why ask again?"

“I believe in the power of time to change your mind.”

"It's meaningless. No matter if a hundred years or a thousand years pass, I still don't agree with and won't bear this so-called responsibility that is so absurd, and I don't think you need to bear it either."

"What about hatred?"

"You just said it. I am a very gentle person. I can forgive the whole world, and of course I don't care about this hatred."

The two people's voices lingered in the Taoist temple. They were both casual and no seriousness could be heard in them.

Xuan Shu looked at Gu Zhuo, sighed deeply, and said, "You are ruthless, and you are also affectionate."

Gu Zhuo said without changing his expression: "Why bother telling me such boring and uninteresting words about the world of love and hate?"

Xuan Shu asked seriously: "Junior brother, do you hate our sect?"

Gu Zhuo did not answer.

After Xuan Shu was silent for a while, he thought of what he had just said and a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Gu Zhuo said: "You can't get anything you want from this conversation."

"This is the clear answer I give you, brother."

He paused and added, "I don't have any hatred towards the Tiandao Sect, but I started liking it when I was young."

Xuan Shu watched him turn around and walk out of the Taoist temple. His eyes became extremely complicated, filled with disappointment and sadness.

"But this is your home after all. Otherwise, why would you bring your wife back here? This is a fact you cannot deny."

Gu Zhuo stopped and said, "Brother, you made a mistake again."

Xuan Shu asked: "Where did I go wrong?"

"Brother, you should remember that we actually separated once many years ago. This mountain is indeed above Xuandu, but it no longer belongs to the Tiandao Sect."

Gu Zhuo continued to walk out, and said without turning his head: "Outsiders have always called me Daozhu, not Tiandao Sect's headmaster. I hope you, senior brother, will never forget this fact."

……

……

Xuan Shu watched Gu Zhuo leave.

The lights in the Taoist temple began to flicker again, no longer stagnant, and the night wind came again.

The young Taoist stood there, thinking about the previous conversation, and remained silent.

The emotions were all real, otherwise the rainstorm would not have existed, and he would not even have appeared in this old Taoist temple.

The moment he realized that his fellow apprentice had truly returned, he was extremely happy and delighted, yet he was also angry because of the appearance of that woman.

Anger is the emotion that should be abandoned most on the path of spiritual practice. This is the truth he realized on the first day of his enlightenment. However, there are always times in life when one cannot help but feel helpless, such as tonight.

My junior brother's talent is unprecedented. Even in the Tiandao Sect, where there are endless geniuses, he is at the forefront. Perhaps only the founder of the sect is qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

That year, after realizing this fact, Xuan Shu decided to give way without hesitation.

Because he firmly believed that only his junior fellow apprentice could fulfill the unfulfilled wish of Tiandao Sect since its establishment.

This was also the common view of the Tiandao Sect’s top leaders a hundred years ago.

However, no one expected that when the junior fellow heard that grand wish, the answer he gave was a rejection.

At that time, Junior Brother was not far from enlightenment, and no one could make him a puppet obeying the will of others. Moreover... the elders of Tiandao Sect all believed that time was long, and there would always be a day when he would change his mind.

Therefore, this matter was never recorded on paper and only the parties involved knew about it.

Today, a hundred years later, the Tiandao Sect is no different from ruins. Xuan Shu thought that after witnessing this scene, Gu Zhuo would be willing to change his mind slightly, but he didn't expect that the answer remained the same.

Then how could he not feel extremely disgusted with that woman?

……

……

"Are you curious?"

"There is no way not to be curious, but judging from your senior brother's attitude, no matter how you think about it, this is the biggest secret of the Tiandao Sect since its establishment, so you don't have to tell me."

Yu Sheng's decisive refusal left Gu Zhuo speechless. Then she turned her head and said, "But I am your wife. Since you are unhappy, I think I need to be the one you can confide in."

Gu Zhuo asked: "Am I unhappy?"

Yu Sheng stopped, put his index finger on the tip of his eyebrow and rubbed it slowly, and said softly: "It's too obvious."

Gu Zhuo was silent for a moment.

At this time, the two of them had already walked away from the Taoist temple and arrived somewhere in the mountains. The faint morning light penetrated through the dense gaps in the forest, casting a light that could not penetrate the gloom.

There was a faint sound of water coming from the distance, that should be a waterfall in the mountains.

"It's unpleasant."

Gu Zhuo said: "What I said before was from the heart. I was referring to the sentence about letting him die."

Yu Sheng put down his hand and suddenly said, "I'm very curious about the stories between you and your senior brother, because he said he liked you, and these three words made me feel extremely uncomfortable."

When she said this, her expression was very serious and her tone was particularly solemn.

Gu Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

This smile is happy, warm and relaxed.

“The story is not complicated, it’s simple, but long.”

"It's just getting light now. I still have a lot of scenery to see on this mountain. I just need a story to tell."

"The Tiandao Sect is regarded by the whole world as a Taoist sect, but this has always been the view of the outside world. Silence is not acquiescence, but a disguise."

"It sounds a bit hypocritical."

"That's what I said back then, and I'm sure you can guess the explanation they gave me."

"It's all necessary to forbear... so why do this?"

Yu Sheng asked with great sincerity, without any hint of perfunctoriness.

Gu Zhuo raised his head, looking towards the faint morning light in the east, imagining the sun that had not yet jumped out of the horizon, and uttered those two words: "Heaven."

Yu Sheng was stunned.

It started raining again, drizzling, regardless of the bright moon still hanging in the sky.

Her calmness was truly gone, and her expression became extremely complicated, difficult to describe in words.

Then, she recalled what happened a hundred years ago, and countless real scenes from the past emerged in her sea of ​​consciousness in a very short period of time. These scenes were then intertwined with each other, trying to reproduce the truth hidden in them.

And then... nothing.

Yu Shengmo frowned, then relaxed his brows and asked directly, "What do the two words 'Heaven' mean in detail?"

"That's what you're imagining."

Gu Zhuo's voice was as calm as the water in an ancient well: "The long-cherished wish of the Tiandao Sect is to establish a heavenly court, high above the sky, overlooking all living beings."

Yu Sheng didn't know what to say.

This idea undoubtedly sounded extremely absurd, countless times more absurd than what her brother asked for.

If the latter has the possibility of being realized, the former is only a pipe dream.

But when she thought of Xuan Shu's attitude before, she felt an almost uncontrollable anger and realized that this dream from a hundred years ago was not far from becoming reality... maybe it was only one step away.

Gu Zhuo held Yu Sheng's hand and walked into the depths of the forest, following the sound of water.

"The founder of the Tiandao Sect believes that reaching the immortal realm is too difficult, and it is rare to see it even after a thousand years. As the end of the path of cultivation, it is too far away and unattainable. After all, there are always countless troubles in life, and no one can be sure that they can live forever."

Yu Sheng understood vaguely, but was not sure of his own inference, so he asked seriously: "What does this have to do with the establishment of the Heavenly Palace?"

“That was my problem back then.”

Gu Zhuo spoke softly, recalling the scenes when he talked with those elders of Tiandao Sect.

Inside the Patriarch Hall, countless portraits moved with the wind.

Just like a Taoist robe facing the wind.

The sages and ancestors of the Tiandao Sect standing in the painting are all lifelike, with compassion and gentleness on their faces, giving him heavy expectations and attention.

The encouragement hidden in those eyes is so blazing.

Gu Zhuo's tone suddenly changed.

"The establishment of the Heavenly Palace is not the end, but a brand new starting point."

He repeated the words of the dead: "The sages of the Tiandao Sect will step out of history, shake off the dust on their bodies, become true gods in the heavens, and rule the world from high above the clouds."

Yu Sheng remained silent.

"Ruling the world is not the ultimate goal either. It is just a process of cultivation, a process for those who have ascended to heaven."

Gu Zhuo said: "Whether before or after death, as long as they are willing, they can enter the heavens and become gods, continue their unfinished path of cultivation, and use a long time to wear away the stubborn stones in front of them until they take the step of ascending to heaven."

Yu Sheng suddenly asked, "The existence of heaven is to allow the gods to be immortal?"

Gu Zhuo hummed.

Thinking about the heaven high above the clouds, thinking about the gods overlooking all living beings, thinking about what the world will be like at that time... Yu Sheng's eyes became extremely cold.

Cultivation is an extremely personal matter; it is never something that can be done by one person alone.

Under the same sky, in that remote wilderness there must be people who are willing to risk their lives in order to fill their stomachs, exchanging their blood, limbs and even lives for the Taoist materials needed by the people in the Central Plains.

Those materials will eventually be sent to various forces, picked up by those with the highest level among them, and then dispersed layer by layer.

If the Heavenly Palace is established, with dozens of reincarnated gods, how many people will be needed to provide for their cultivation? How many people will have to sacrifice their lives for this?

One day, the people living on earth could no longer endure it, and what they had to face and defeat were the immortal gods who relied on heaven.

More importantly, why would a practitioner with such extraordinary talent that he could enter the state of Nirvana risk his life to become an enemy?

Wouldn't it be a better choice to stand side by side?
Even if there are a few people with independent personalities over thousands of years, what can they do?

Moreover, the ultimate goal of achieving a divine body is to ascend to heaven and achieve transcendence, rather than staying in the sky forever and eventually becoming a decaying statue.

This is a long-term solution.

Running water never rots, and door hinges never rot.

This is the reason why the Tiandao Sect has never considered itself as a part of Taoism.

The heaven should encompass everything.

……

……

At some point, Gu Zhuo and Yu Sheng arrived in front of the waterfall.

The splashing water brings a chill, and the light from the sky is refracted in the thin mist, which is as beautiful as a painting.

"I don't like this idea." Yu Sheng said to him seriously.

"I dont like it either."

Gu Zhuo said: "I really like your dislike."

Yu Sheng was quiet for a while, then said softly, "My dislike is due to my background, but your dislike is much more pure than mine."

Gu Zhuo thought that since everyone disliked it, how could there be any difference between them?
"I have one more question."

Yu Sheng turned her head, looked into his eyes, and asked, "What kind of promise did you get back then? I mean, if the Heavenly Palace exists, what role will you play in it?"

(End of this chapter)