Once they were all gone, Mo Wushuang was left alone in the midst of the formation. She slowly turned her head, her gaze lifting to the sky above.
The bright blue expanse seemed almost mocking in its serenity, a stark contrast to the turmoil within her heart. A tangle of emotions swirled inside her as she reflected on her fate.
Once, she had been a proud Sovereign, surrounded by power and adoration. Now, she was reduced to this, lying in a pitiful state, near death, and helpless.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she thought of the irony. She had once ruled over countless lives, yet now she was nothing more than a dying insect.
The cycle of fate, she realized, was a cruel one. Who does Heaven truly spare? It was a tragic thought, but one she couldn't shake. Time had flown by, and with it, the winds and clouds of her life had shifted unpredictably, leaving her in this pitiful place.
As the night deepened, a sudden thunderclap tore through the sky, followed by a fierce storm. The rain came pouring down, icy and relentless, as though the heavens themselves were weeping for her fall. The blood that had pooled around her began to flow further, carried by the torrent of rain, as Mo Wushuang lay there, feeling her life slipping away.
With each raindrop that hit her face, she could feel herself fading, and the regret consumed her. She wouldn't die gloriously at the hands of her enemies, as she had once dreamed. No, she would quietly fade away in the cold, bitter rain, her life extinguished like a candle in the wind.
How laughable, she thought. A thousand-year dream of glory, reduced to this, her legacy was nothing but a reputation of withered bones and fleeting luck.
As Mo Wushuang closed her eyes in despair, a figure appeared in the distance, a woman in a flowing white dress, holding an umbrella. Her presence seemed almost ethereal as she slowly approached.
The woman paused before Mo Wushuang, her soft voice cutting through the silence.
"What eternal glory? What unparalleled grace?" she asked, her tone carrying a hint of disdain. "In the end, what has it given you, Mo Wushuang? Your high and mighty demeanor has been the very thing that led to your downfall."
After a moment of quiet reflection, the woman in white moved swiftly, vanishing into the heavy downpour with Mo Wushuang cradled on her back.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Mo Wushuang slowly blinked her eyes open, a dullness in her gaze as she tried to process her surroundings. She was alive? The realization hit her like a shockwave. She wasn't dead after all.
As she carefully assessed her condition, she noticed a surprising change. Her internal injuries, the ones that had once threatened her life, had been healed. Even the shattered bones, which had been agonizing just days ago, now only tingled slightly, as though the healing process had begun.
"You're awake?" A soft voice broke the stillness, pulling Mo Wushuang from her thoughts. She turned her head to find Lan Yue sitting nearby, her cultivation interrupted by Mo Wushuang's awakening.
"Thank you for saving me!" Mo Wushuang's voice was hoarse, filled with gratitude she hadn't felt in years. Her eyes studied the beautiful woman before her, and for the first time in a long while, she felt something genuine, something like the warmth of true thankfulness.
"I only brought you back. The one who truly saved you is my master," Lan Yue replied, her expression calm, yet there was a slight hint of reverence in her voice.
The moment Lan Yue spoke of her master, an image instantly flashed in Mo Wushuang's mind. It was of a young man, handsome, with an air of authority.
She could hardly believe it, but the person who had saved her, the one who had healed her body and brought her back from the brink of death, was the same boy she had once dismissed as nothing more than an "ant." How had she not realized the depth of his power?
"Can I meet him?" Mo Wushuang asked, her voice soft but sincere. "I want to thank him in person, and apologize for my earlier recklessness."
Lan Yue's expression softened slightly, though there was a clear restraint in her response. "My master doesn't wish to meet you. But… he did ask me to tell you this: 'When you've understood things for yourself, then you can go meet him.'"
Mo Wushuang felt a strange knot tighten in her chest.
"What did he say?" she asked, her curiosity growing.
Lan Yue's voice grew thoughtful as she recited her master's words,
"'All beings endure suffering; only through one's own awakening can salvation be found. Cultivation is a path walked with one foot in desire, the other in serenity.Life is lived with half the mind clear as still water, and the other half quietly yielding to fate.Even the gods, though they possess boundless rivers and towering peaks,should carry within them the fragile, fleeting soul of a mayfly.'"
The words lingered in the air, heavy with meaning. Mo Wushuang sat in silence, contemplating the depth of the message.
She had spent her entire life as a ruler, as someone who believed she was above everyone else, a sovereign. She had lived two lifetimes, each filled with power, pride, and ambition. And yet, now, it was this very simple, profound wisdom from a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator that pierced through the layers of arrogance she had built around herself.
It was ironic, really. She had been so focused on her own grandeur that she had forgotten she, too, was just a fleeting part of this vast, ever-changing world. The very same world she had once ruled, but had failed to understand.
"Thank you for relaying his words," Mo Wushuang said, her voice quieter now, filled with the weight of her realization. "Please let your master know… Mo Wushuang has learned her lesson."
…
Atop a peak, Xie Ren stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His robes fluttered gently in the mountain wind, and his gaze was cast to the horizon as though pondering.
Until Lan Yue's voice called. "Master, was it necessary to soak her in rain?"
"There are moments in one's journey," he said, voice solemn, "when a person must completely break, in order to be reborn anew. Sometimes… it takes a bit of rain to wash the soul clean."
"So you choose to create that fake rain?" Lan Yue asked.
"Sometimes, it just needs a bit of dramatic effect." Replied Xie Ren.
"Master, how did you do that?"
"It's secret."
Of course, it was one of the features that came with the formation. He could adjust the seasons inside the formation at his will.