I buried Xing Gui at the back of Zong Tian Shrine whereby the hill was covered with cherry blossom flowers and iris flowers. Liao Jian used his sword to dig Xing Gui’s tomb. Although he didn’t say a word, I could see his tear dropping one after another into the black soil. When the tomb was done, Liao Jian’s sword has lots of chipped edges on it because of the rocks in the soil. He carried Xing Gui up and put her into the hole gently, then he used his hands to scoop the black soil to cover Xing Gui’s body. Looking at the soil burying Xing Gui’s thin body, my heart seemed to have a big hole, falling indefinitely, my mind was in pain; my temple seemed to have a thin and bright ray of light poking it, aching.
Yue Shen stood the furthest away, under a cherry blossom tree; the wind was blowing her hair and robe; Huang Tuo was standing next to her, not saying a word; Chao Ya was sitting in front of Xing Gui’s tomb, playing the requiem music. I knew this was the greatest piece of music from the music sorcery tribe; only the past emperors were eligible to have this piece of requiem music being playing during the funeral, because the requiem music depleted a lot of the spiritual power of the musicians, and people who listened to this music could have an immortal soul after death.
That night I heard Liao Jian’s desolation and forceful voice again, it sounded so broken as it hovered around the sky above the shrine. Many astrologers came out and they were all standing at the various towers of Zong Tian shrine, looking at us not saying a word. I knew them; they were the astrologers that came to Huan Xue Shen Shan for seclusion. They stood high up in the sky, their robes flattering in the wind like beautiful white lotuses. No one talked except Liao Jian’s voice and Chao Ya’s music hovering in the clouds above.
That night just when I was about to sleep, I thought of Xing Jiu all of a sudden, I wondered if he was reading the stars at Ren Xue Cheng and knew about his sister’s death, or he was still unaware of it and praying for her safety, looking at the direction of Huan Xue Shen Shan everyday, missing Xing Gui’s quiet smile. I suddenly felt very sad, but I couldn’t say it out. I could only fall into a deep sleep, waiting for the dusk to come.
I indulged myself in the darkness, not wanting to wake up. I wasn’t sure if I cried that night, I just knew I felt repressed in my dream, sadness gushed inch by inch out from deep down my throat; Xing Gui was lying on the ground before my eyes, lying in a pool of white blood.
I’ve finally known the reason behind both Xing Zhou and Xing Gui’s deaths. Pian Feng didn’t kill Xing Zhou; the person who killed her was actually the weak Xing Gui. Pian Feng said when he entered the centre of the shrine, he heard Xing Gui talking to her. She said. “Pian Feng, while you are trying to protect your spiritual power, please act like you are unable to resist Xing Zhou and wait till I created the icicles in the air, then please use the fastest wind to pierce it through her chest. It’s because she will think that I’m still under her control and have no strength to fight against her, so she won’t waste her strength to predict my moves and she will only know about Yue Shen and king’s moves. Pian Feng, you must help me because this is our last chance of getting out Zong Tian Shrine.”
Pian Feng told me, “That moment I didn’t know when Xing Gui said the only chance to get out was to sacrifice herself, because Xing Gui couldn’t have any strength to resist Xing Zhou’s control. She has to make sure of her spiritual power and her attack would deplete majority of her spiritual power because she would be using the illusion attack skills that astrologer tribe didn’t specialize in. I got too excited with the idea of defeating Xing Zhou, but I have totally forgotten about Xing Gui. When I saw ice sword pierced through Xing Zhou’s chest with multiple spines growing out from it, I was so happy. I smiled and looked towards Xing Gui, then I saw her lying in a pool of blood, two eyes staring at the sky without any expression like she has infinite words to speak. I only felt the wind in my hand has no longer listening to me, going all over the place and dispersed away. I opened up my palms and shed a tear.”
I gripped tightly on my phoenix robe, and snowflakes kept falling onto my head. Ever since my brother died, I have never used the magical protection barrier to shield myself from the snowflakes, snowflakes felt umpteen times onto my body but this time I could feel the coldness of the snowflakes that fell onto my body. I didn’t’ want to talk and grip onto my robe tightly, just like a stubborn kid.
When it’s time for us to leave the Northern territory, Huang Tuo gave me a dream and told me that Xing Gui had left a total of four dreams; the first one could only be given to me when I left the Northern territory; the second one would be when we were in the Western territory; the third one would be when we have no clue and direction on where to advance, and lastly the forth one would be when I met the West Guardian.
The first dream was gorgeous and beautiful; it’s beyond all my imagination, just like the most spectacular fireworks blooming in the deep blue sky.
In the dream, Xing Gui has been running freely, though she has never been able to run so freely in her life before, her smile filled every single cherry blossom petals on the snow ground. Xing Gui just kept running with flower petals flying behind her slowly…
“My king, forgive me for not being able to continue this journey with all of you even though I’m very reluctant. My birth has been a mistake; I have been a problematic child since young when my family has to worry about me; my parents would always cry for me, and when I saw their faces, I would always feel sad deep down in my heart. And there’s my brother, Xing Jiu, he’s the greatest astrologer; he has a great mind and gentle smile, and he would shower endless indulgence and pampering on me. But it has been fated for my star sign to be interrupted; my life would end in the morning at somewhere filled with the scent of cherry blossom or in the night at somewhere encompa.s.sed in the moonlight. So I want to die without any regrets. I always needed all your care and concern throughout the journey; I needed Liao Jian to carry me; I needed Huang Tuo to create the protection enchantments that deplete his spiritual energy; I needed Pian Feng to control the wind to disperse the dark clouds in the sky. For umpteen times, I wanted to become more powerful so that all of you wouldn’t have to worry about me but I have no choice because I couldn’t even have the strength to walk properly.”
“My king, I have been staying at the bottom of Huan Xing Palace since birth to predict fortune for the entire family. I have never seen the quiet desolation of the withering cherry blossom and moonset. I have never heard the weak sound of a blooming flower. I really want to go out to take a look of the world; I want to feel the wind out there blowing my hair and robe. My king, I am grateful that you let me out of the darkness of the altar, giving me a chance to stand under the sun. I see the majestic wall of Mie Tian Shrine; I heard Chao Ya’s music that touched the heart of the wall of sigh; I saw Xing Zhou, the G.o.d of astrologer; I have no regret despite dying in her hands.”
“My king, I could understand your feelings towards your brother, Li Luo and Lan Sang, so strong and deep; when you gave those dreams to Chao Ya at Die Che’s palace, I can totally feel the surging emotion within you. My king, I hope you can follow your wish to live happily and freely. I hope for one day, the resurrection of Shi could kiss your eyebrow, and call you brother just like what I used to do to my brother, Xing Jiu. It’s just that I could no longer kiss my brother anymore. My king, please take care of him for me.”
“My king, for the road ahead, I can no longer read the stars for you, please walk the road bravely. In fact, the time when I was in Die Che’s palace, I’ve already known that I would die in Zong Tian shrine and I didn’t tell any of you about it because fate could not be changed and I could only accept it with a smile.”
“My king, I have read the stars about the west guardian’s territory for you before entering Zong Xing shrine, but the star sign was something I’ve never seen before; I don’t know is it because of the strong powers of the West Guardian or the uniqueness of the west territory; I could only tell you the west territory is an independent enchantment out of Huan Xue Shen Shan, the entire enchantment was supported by the illusion power of the West Guardian. I couldn’t predict how that world look like, may be it has the majestic palace like the other guardians; maybe it’s a piece of ice land or even the world of the fire tribe. Before you kill the West Guardian, his spiritual power would be dissipated and the world would disappear along with him then you would see Yuan Ji, the ruler of Huan Xue Shen Shan.”
“My king, I have to go now. All of you must continue to live well and I love every single one of you. My king, please don’t tell my brother about my death because he loves me too much and I don’t want him to be sad. The moment I think of his sword-liked eyebrows, my heart is in pain like it has been cut off inch by inch.”
“Just like what your brother said, my king, please fly freely…”
