Giving His Life for Righteousness

Within the Great Void, spiritual energy surged and raged.

Zhao Shouzhi, half-supporting and half-carrying Mo Yan, struggled to emerge from the turbulent current.

Mo Yan's already tattered gray robe was now almost soaked in blood, and a shocking cave-in appeared on his left chest. The aura of the Sacrificial Earth and the aura of the mortal world were fighting each other in his broken body, and with every movement, a line of black blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Shouzhi fared much better. His hempen clothes were neat, and his aura was calm. Apart from a few drops of blood on his sleeves, it was almost impossible to tell that he had just experienced a battle at the Purple Mansion level.

"Old Zhao... slow down."

Mo Yan coughed, his voice hoarse, but he still managed a smile, revealing his uneven, yellow teeth, which looked particularly ferocious now that they were stained with blood.

Zhao Shouzhi didn't speak, but carefully helped him to a relatively stable spot in the void. He took out a small boat, helped him onto it and sat down, and then channeled a gentle aura of mortal energy to temporarily suppress his injuries.

Mo Yan paused for a moment before looking up into the distance.

In the distance, in the direction where Cang Lan fell, that torrent of mortal dust had long since vanished, leaving only a faint, warm yellow lingering glow in the Great Void.

"Young Cang Lan... you should be leaving now."

Mo Yan said in a low voice, his voice not filled with sadness, but rather as if he had expected it.

Zhao Shouzhi sat down beside him, also looking in the same direction.

"He chose the most dangerous path." Zhao Shouzhi's voice was soft. "Su Yao is, after all, from Qixia... Cang Lan knows better than anyone that stopping Su Yao would most likely cost him his life. But he still went."

"Of course he knows." Mo Yan chuckled a few times, then aggravated his injuries, coughing up a mouthful of black blood. "The three of us agreed long ago. In this game of Nanzhao, someone has to stop the abbot, someone has to stop the mountain god, and someone has to stop the prefect. Two out of the three must die. Cang Lan picked the toughest bone, and I picked the second toughest. The rest is for you, because you should live."

Zhao Shouzhi fell silent.

In the distant Great Void, the sea of blood and the radiance of the Wu Earth Qi continued to collide. The heavy celestial light of the Wu Earth Qi and the treacherous Blood Qi devoured each other, each collision silently distorting the Great Void within a thousand miles. It was a contest between True Lord, something the Purple Mansion could not intervene in.

Mo Yan also looked in that direction and chuckled twice, "Supreme True Person Being himself was stopped halfway by the Devil Lord. The waters of Nanzhao run deeper than we thought."

He paused, then coughed twice. "It's a pity that the three of us tried so hard to save the people of Nanzhao, but in the end, Nanzhao still ended up in this wretched state."

He raised his withered, claw-like hand and pointed downwards.

Zhao Shouzhi looked in the direction he was pointing.

Beneath the Great Void, the land of Nanzhao is shrouded in multiple calamities.

The Great Yang's destructive rays, like golden spears, pierced down from the clouds in the sky, scorching everything in their path and drying up rivers.

The plague spread through cities and countryside, colorless and odorless.

The plague of the Geng Wood, green miasma flowed slowly along the ground, causing plants to wither and decay, and animals to fester upon contact.

The Radiant Fire is still burning.

That raging fire of change, which should have brought new life, has instead become wild and unruly due to the failure to achieve its goal. Flames soar into the sky, burning everything old, but no new order is born, leaving only scorched earth.

The sharp energy of Geng Metal, like a knife, shot intermittently from the northern border, like countless invisible flying swords, slicing through the sky and cleaving spiritual energy. It was the lingering aura of another seeker of metal who had failed, his spiritual energy dissipating into the world.

The five calamities, each with its own origin, were intertwined with each other, turning Nanzhao into a living hell.

"They didn't come for gold," Zhao Shouzhi finally spoke, his voice filled with deep anger. "They came to die. Nanzhao is nothing but a chessboard, and the people are nothing but pawns."

Mo Yan grinned. "That's why Cang Lan said, since they don't take Nanzhao seriously, then we'll shut the door on them."

He paused, then his voice suddenly lowered:

But the door, in the end, did not close.

Zhao Shouzhi looked at him.

Mo Yan simply closed his eyes slowly, and then said:

"Old Zhao, do you remember what the three of us said back then?"

Zhao Shouzhi was taken aback, then nodded.

"The king previously said that the three Human Dao cultivators of the Nanzhao were destined to perish together. But we refused to believe it. We investigated for many years and finally discovered that fate is not immutable. As long as one of the three is willing to relinquish his fate, one of them can be spared."

Mo Yan opened one eye and looked at Zhao Shouzhi: "At that time, Cang Lan was the first to stand up. He said that he was the most resolute, and the adults might not tolerate him. If he was destined to die, he was willing to give his life in exchange for Nanzhao having one more person willing to speak up for the people."

"And then it's you," Zhao Shouzhi continued, his voice a little hoarse. "You said you'd had enough of life. In this life, you've been a Daoist priest and a beggar; you've long seen through the ways of the world. So you're willing to give up your life."

Mo Yan laughed, "So you're the one who survived. Because you believed there was still hope in this world. The two of us, one too arrogant and the other too crazy, were going to die sooner or later anyway. Might as well die in a worthwhile way."

He paused, looked up at Zhao Shouzhi, and the cloudiness in his eyes slowly dissipated, revealing a pair of unusually clear old eyes.

"The reason I asked you to stop Yang Xuanye is because he cultivates the path of Human Dao official, while you cultivate the Human Dao a righteous commoner. You don't need to kill him at all; just standing in front of him will allow your path to suppress his. By stopping him, you will have a legitimate reason to do so. Even if the emperor and the court investigate later, they will spare your life because you intended to persuade officials through the people, thus giving you the opportunity to seek gold."

"The ruler is inherently good," Zhao Shouzhi replied softly.

"Yes." Mo Yan nodded. "The reason the King can tolerate your disrespect is because although you came to stop people, you never intended to cause a major upheaval. Cang Lan and I, one wants to overturn the chessboard, and the other wants to close the door, are both too extreme. The King cannot tolerate us, the court cannot tolerate us, and the Immortal Dao cannot tolerate us either."

He suddenly started coughing again, this time coughing violently, his whole body hunched over, and he vomited out black blood mixed with several pieces of broken internal organs. Zhao Shouzhi was shocked and quickly reached out to press his back, channeling more worldly energy into his body.

Mo Yan simply waved his hand.

"Don't waste your energy. Xue Min has lived two lives, and he has more trump cards up his sleeve than both of us combined. I risked my life to hold him off for a few days, which is enough. At least he didn't have time to help Su Yao. Cang Lan will need at least ten years to heal Su Yao, slowing down the progress of the Immortal Dao and delaying the fall of Proclaiming Earth, thus buying you enough time."

Zhao Shouzhi's eyes were slightly red.

Mo Yan looked up at him, a forced smile appearing on his withered old face. The smile lacked its former madness and mockery. He then placed his hand above Zhao Shouzhi's hand, patting it lightly twice, and said:

"The three of us, first for the people of Nanzhao, then for our own Dao Path." Mo Yan's voice grew softer and softer, like a candle flickering in the wind. "Now, the people are still here, but the Dao Path... that's it."

He slowly raised his hand, pointing to the present world.

"Old Zhao, you're on your own from here on out. Cang Lan isn't coming back, and I'll be soon too. Don't let Nanzhao really become a pawn for those bastards. Go, stop the people you should stop, do what you should do. I'll be down here with that kid Cang Lan, waiting to see what happens."

Zhao Shouzhi's tears finally fell.

"Mo Yan..."

Mo Yan did not respond to him.

His body began to transform into specks of yellowish-brown light.

Unlike the Cang Lan, there was no surging torrent of Human Dao, no scattered phantoms of countless people; only an old, dilapidated body, like incense ash burned to its end, quietly dissipated.

Those points of light were extremely faint, like the wisp of smoke rising from the rooftops of the Nanzhao people that he had seen most often in his life.

The point of light slowly rose and descended towards the land of Nanzhao.

Mo Yan was utterly destroyed, both in body and spirit.

Zhao Shouzhi stood in the Great Void for a long time.

Only when the last speck of dust had dissipated did he raise his hand and wipe the tears from his face with his sleeve.

He straightened his clothes, faced the direction where Cang Lan and Mo Yan had gone, and bowed to each of them.

Then he turned around, his gaze passing through the chaotic spiritual energy, through the aftershocks of the collision between the sea of blood and the radiance of the Wu Earth, and looking down at the land of Nanzhao.

There was the destructive light of the Great Yang, the plague of witchcraft, the miasma of Geng Wood, the rampant Radiant Fire, and the sharp energy of Geng Metal. Countless people struggled to survive amidst the disasters.

"First, consider the people of Nanzhao; then, consider your own Dao Path."

He whispered and repeated Mo Yan's last words.

Then he straightened up and descended towards the land of Nanzhao.

His figure gradually disappeared into the mortal world.