The disheveled old Taoist coughed several times in a low voice, then drank a cup of tea to suppress the bloody sweetness rising in his throat.
"That's not necessarily so. Heaven's laws take from those who have too much and make up for those who have too little. Nothing is absolute; there will always be a sliver of hope. Now it depends on whether we can find that hope.
"The old Taoist calculated just now as well. That hope has already appeared in Longshan, but what exactly it is... I can't calculate it, I can't..."
He shook his head and looked at the monk. "That bald monk, stop chanting and tell us quickly. Do you have any good ideas or not?"
"Amitabha."
The monk opened his eyes. His calm gaze passed through the open window, though no one knew what he was looking at.
Zhu Xie spoke at that moment. "Taoist Master Wu Weizi said something before he died."
"What did he say?"
"He said that the gate of life he had divined was actually the Heart of the Human Emperor—the Heart of the Human Emperor that Benefactor Jiang brought back."
"The Heart of the Human Emperor... Right, there's still the Heart of the Human Emperor!"
"But who knows how to use it?"
"It's useless. Not to mention that we don't know how to use that heart, even if we did, we couldn't find it! I heard that heart has already left Longshan. Who knows who took it away!"
Someone looked at Zhu Xie, but he shook his head regretfully. "This humble monk does not know. Taoist Master Wu Weizi never said."
Everyone looked out the window.
The enormous full moon and the sun looked bizarre beyond words.
The glaring sunlight poured over these black mountains and dark waters, completely