Rules of Heaven - C19
The sea could not be filled forever without the accumulation of rivers, for it was consumed at every moment by the scorching sun. The deep earth sucked it up, and some day there would be no water left. What’s more, how about tears? Ding Hong was still kneeling, his body unmoving. In his heart, there was only the figure that had always been far away. The figure that had accompanied him during his happiest moments from birth until the time when he was five years old gradually disappeared.
After a long while, he suddenly stood up, but there were no longer any tears in his eyes. He laughed, a heartless laugh. He stopped laughing and looked around.
Maybe everyone else thought that he was crazy, even he himself believed that he was. However, his mind was very clear because the illusion that appeared just now truly made him feel that he no longer had any family in this world, and he was already completely alone.
Only now did he truly begin to fulfill his promise to Ding Tiancheng.
Live well.
Not for his mother, not for his grandfather. It was for himself. For the life his mother had painstakingly given birth to. Earthly Paradise, if it was really worthy of praise, it was probably because of the word ‘great love’.
Ding Hong laughed. Facing the light, facing the hope that lit up in his heart.
He straightened his clothes, raised his head and looked at the Boundless Heaven Stairway, and then continued to climb upwards step by step. Every hundred steps, illusions would appear next to the Heaven Stairway, but he only glanced at them before continuing onwards.
The Penglai Immortal Mountain didn’t just have one mountain, but a mountain range. On the west side of the Wumianzhe Heaven Stairway, there was a relatively tall mountain peak. At this time, there stood an old Daoist with a beard of white hair. The old Daoist was dressed in a Daoist robe, as white as snow.
As he casually stood there, a majestic aura gushed out from him. The old Daoist looked towards the east at the Wumianzhe Heaven Stairway, not moving at all. Then, seeing Ding Hong walk alone on the Heaven Stairway without being affected by the illusion, he suddenly sighed and said, “This child’s dao heart is even higher than your eldest disciple, Mystic One.”
“What a pity. This child just doesn’t have enough Immortal karma!” Suddenly, an old man dressed like a fisherman walked out from the void and stood next to the Daoist. It was unknown if he did this on purpose or not, but the Daoist’s majestic aura was slowly being reduced by half. The Daoist looked at him but did not say anything.
The old man looked at Ding Hong in the distance and sighed, “Does this child have something to do with your Heavenly Palace’s Yun Ziran?”
The old Daoist nodded and replied, “That’s right, but the reason the relationship between Elder Yun and this child and his grandfather is related is because of a member of the Ding family from a long time ago.”
The old man, dressed as a fisherman, chuckled. He was well aware of the situation, but he didn’t go and point it out. He looked to the north and said: “Old friend, I have something to do. Remember to come often.”
The old Daoist wrinkled his eyebrows and said, “Daoist Wu Ling, you are now the most respected person in Penglai. You speak like a child.”
This old fisherman was actually the Penglai Sect Leader. Just by looking at his playful demeanor, he didn’t have the demeanor of a superior at all. He gave off a feeling of familiarity.
Wu Lingdao yawned in boredom and said, “Zimo, aren’t you tired of saying these words for hundreds of years?”
The old Daoist man snorted and ignored him, stepping into the void and disappearing. Seeing him leave, Wu Lingdao did not stay any longer. He stepped on a cloud and leisurely floated towards the north.
As for Ding Hong, it took him close to two hours to finish walking through the Wumianzhe Heaven Stairway. When he came up, he discovered that there was a young daoist standing there. When the young man saw him, he smiled and said, “Little brother, you’re quite calm. Please follow me to the side hall to rest.”
Ding Hong had just climbed such a high Heaven Stairway, so he was obviously too tired to care about the scenery anymore. Hearing the young man’s words, he nodded his head to express his consent. Without another word, the youth brought him from a stone bridge that was over a hundred feet long to another mountain. After walking for a few more incense sticks of time, they passed through a waterfall, a sea of flowers, and finally arrived at a quiet bamboo forest courtyard.
The young man stopped and bowed towards the courtyard, saying in a clear voice, “Martial Uncle Qi, this disciple, Zhong Lei, has brought little Benefactor here.”
A woman’s voice came from the courtyard. “I understand. Go back and take a look.”
Heavy Lightning bowed again and replied loudly, “Yes, Martial Uncle Qi.” Then he turned around, pulled Ding Hong into a secluded corner and whispered, “Little brother, Junior Master Qi looks’ strange ‘and has a short temper. Don’t make him angry after you enter.” “When the time comes, I’ll come look for you.” As he finished speaking, he ignored Ding Hong and ran off as fast as he could, leaving Ding Hong in a daze.
It turned out that this young Taoist was injured after being counterattacked by the Illusory Profound Formation earlier, yet when he was recuperating, he discovered that he did not have enough medicinal pellets. However, he knew that if he wanted to obtain pills, he would have to toil for half a month for his uncle master Qi, who was in charge of pill concocting. During this time, he would even be scolded. Just as his eyebrows were about to scrunch together, his master suddenly sent him a message saying that he didn’t need to let Ding Hong find the Sect Leader today. Hearing this message, he immediately had the idea of letting Ding Hong work in his place. And so, it happened.
After seeing that young Taoist run away, Ding Hong did not know what to do. Suddenly, the old woman’s voice rang out again. “Come in.”
When Ding Hong heard this, he hastily saluted and replied, “Yes, Immortal Elder.”
The outside of the small courtyard was surrounded by green and purple bamboo sticks. In the middle of the courtyard, there was a small door. When he pushed the door open and entered, he found that the scenery had suddenly changed. Originally, what he saw outside was just an ordinary courtyard, but after entering, Ding Hong found that this was a completely different world. He knew this was an immortal spell, so he didn’t mind.
In front of him was a small bluestone path filled with crisp bamboo plants, but it was different from the bamboo plants outside. After calming himself down, he continued to walk along the bluestone path. After going up a small hill and turning two corners, Ding Hong saw a strange bamboo building. At this moment, there was an old woman in front of the bamboo tower, fiddling with the medicinal herbs on a ten Zhang long and one foot wide table.
When she saw Ding Hong, she said without stopping, “The Sect Leader said that you should stay here for the next few days. Your room is the first room on the third floor around the corner of the bamboo building. “After you go and rest, come and help me move the herbs.”
“What?” Ding Hong was taken aback. He did not understand.
The old woman turned around and said impatiently, “I told you to rest for a bit before you came to help me move the medicinal plants into the storeroom. Don’t you understand?”
Only now did Ding Hong realize why the young man said that his Martial Uncle Qi’s appearance was a little ‘peculiar’ and that he had a short temper. This was because the woman had a fiery red birthmark on her right cheek. It really did look a little strange. As for his temper …
“Are you still not going? Are you waiting foolishly for me to carry you there?” The old woman was slightly angry.
Ding Hong was shocked and hurriedly ran towards the bamboo building.
The ladder of the bamboo building was not the usual one, but it was a winding one. He even saw the rope bridge in the middle. When Ding Hong arrived at the third floor from the ladder, he saw a turn at the corner that should be his room.
Thinking that the old woman’s temper was not good, he knew that if he dawdled any longer, he would definitely be scolded again. He hurriedly headed to his room. However, just as he turned the corner, a girl ran out from the other side. The two of them did not expect to see someone on the opposite side. They were stunned for a moment before they heard a “Ya” sound. The young girl was knocked down by Ding Hong.
Ding Hong was stunned and hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
After the girl was knocked to the ground, she felt a pain in her buttocks, and it was not easy for her to rub his eyes as he looked at her. She felt a pang of frustration in her heart and said hatefully, “Why are you still apologizing, pull me up!”
Ding Hong regained his senses and hurriedly stretched out his hand to pull the young lady up. At this moment, he had a good look at the young girl. Ding Hong felt that her watery eyes were very beautiful, and now, when she was angry, she pouted her lips, while the dimples on her cheeks were very pleasing to the eye.
The young girl was even more furious when she saw Ding Hong looking at her with malicious intentions, and from time to time, she would even reveal a ‘this girl is very good’ expression. The moment she stood up, she formed a spell sign and pointed it at Ding Hong’s chest. Unexpectedly, just as she moved, Ding Hong’s right hand followed and directly grabbed her wrist. As for the girl, her finger stopped a few inches away from Ding Hong’s chest, unable to move any further.
The young girl exerted all her strength, but her arm was still unable to move forward. She could only clench her teeth in anger. Seeing that Ding Hong was still not releasing his hand, she shouted, “You’re still not letting go!”
Ding Hong frowned, not knowing what she wanted to do. Furthermore, the fact that he had gone through the Siren and the Wumianzhe Heaven Stairway was something that no one could have imagined from time to time. However, it wasn’t too good for him to hold someone else’s hand, so he loosened his grip and prepared to let her pass.
Who knew that as soon as he let go, the girl would sneakily smile, and her arm would suddenly poke fiercely at his chest. Ding Hong was shocked, it was too late to grab her arm. Just as he was about to admit his defeat, the Heavenly Talisman in his right arm suddenly shook and released many Yin Yang talismans. The Yin and Yang talismans gathered together, forming a Yin and Yang diagram that slowly rotated where the girl’s finger was.
The young girl was secretly feeling pleased with herself. Unexpectedly, the next moment, she suddenly discovered that the Fa Li she had gathered at the tip of her fingers had been sucked into the strange force from the youth’s chest. She had never seen such a situation before and couldn’t help but be shocked.
However, as she stared blankly, Ding Hong’s hand grabbed over.
He grabbed her wrist and asked, “What are you trying to do?”
The young girl came back to her senses and said unhappily, “What can you do to me if I’m like this?”
Ding Hong had already apologized when he knocked her down. She hit him again and again before letting him go, but now she was still as unruly and unruly as before. Ding Hong knew that this kind of person was the most difficult to deal with. After glaring at her and shaking off her arm, he went to his room.
Who would have thought that even though he had already given way, the girl still did not let him go. She turned around and shouted at Ding Hong, “Hey, you …”
Ding Hong suddenly turned his head and coldly looked at her.
The girl’s words were swallowed back down her throat after he glared at her. Having been stared at by Ding Hong, her back felt cold. She coldly harrumphed and turned around to leave.
After Ding Hong saw the girl leave, he suddenly heaved a sigh of relief and said with emotion, “This technique sure is useful. I didn’t expect that the tricks I used to deal with the girls in the village would still work on me now. ” He shook his head, no longer lamenting. He knew he had wasted too much time. He pushed the door open and entered his house.
His room was not large, and the length of one bed was the width of a house. But there was a window on the bamboo wall just beside the bed. At this moment, the window was open, and he could see the scenery outside with a single glance. The green bamboo was like an ocean, and the sound of waves crashing against each other was extremely refreshing. In front of the bed was a table with two chairs.
As he glanced at the table, he was surprised to see a clean set of clothes on it. He had been wandering in the sea for a day and his clothes had long been stained with the smell of the sea water. It was just that he did not know what materials were added to the clothes, so the smell was not too obvious.
After hesitating for a moment, he closed the door and changed into the set of clothes on the table. However, the clothes made him feel as if they were custom-made. Although he wasn’t sure whether or not the old woman had given him the clothes, he still felt a sense of warmth. Although the old woman had a strange appearance and a short temper, her heart was still better than most people’s.
His father was rarely at home when Ding Hong was young. For the past few years, his mother accompanied him by his side, playing with him every day. For almost an entire day, they never left each other. Even after he had become sensible, Ding Tian Chou had told him that his mother had fed him with milk since childhood and had not hired a wet nurse like the other rich families.
As he thought about it, he couldn’t help but smile. A warm feeling that he hadn’t felt in a long time quietly blossomed in his heart.
After staying in the house for a while and drinking some tea, he went downstairs. The old woman was still tidying up the herbs on the long table. When she saw Ding Hong come down and look at his clothes that had just fit him, she couldn’t help but nod her head.
With this nod, Ding Hong was even more certain that she was the one who made the clothes. However, he didn’t know how she knew he was tall and had to come here.
The old woman tidied up the herbs and said, “You are not considered a Penglai disciple, you can call me Old Lady Qi when you see me in the future.” These herbs that have just been dried have to be placed in a cave behind the bamboo forest. Today, I only dried one herb, so you just have to move all of them over. Sit down first, I’ll call for you after I’m done. ” As the old woman spoke, the matter was clear, and Ding Hong did not inquire further.
After hearing what the old woman had said, he went to sit on a nearby stool. Just as he sat down, the old woman suddenly turned her head and asked, “Have you eaten?”
Only after hearing his words did Ding Hong remember that he had not eaten breakfast. Moreover, it was now noon and it was time for lunch. Just as he was about to speak, the old woman said, “I am confused. You have spent the entire morning on the Heaven Stairway, and you have been wandering around the ocean for a long time. To the right of the bamboo house’s hall is the kitchen. You should go find something to eat. ” With that, she ignored him.
When Ding Hong heard this, he stood up and looked at the old woman, smiling, “Thank you, Grandma Qi.” Then she ran straight to the kitchen the old woman had pointed to.
When the old woman heard Ding Hong’s words, she couldn’t help but pause for a moment before continuing to sort out the herbs.