Chapter 313: Father and Son
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
The beams that shot out from the eye pictures on the flesh membranes behind Saturn Sovereign's head suppressed the lignification of the man in the tree. Once the wooden nature in the body was suppressed, the eyes would be able to see.
The face of the man in the tree broke free from the tree bit by bit, and the wooden nature of his tongue also gradually faded.
Swoosh.
The picture of the eyes on the flesh membrane behind Saturn Sovereign's brain closed, and she said, "Qin Hanzhen, you should be able to see your son now, right?"
She was very careful and knew that the man in the tree was extremely powerful. He was no inferior to her at his peak, so she didn't completely undo the forbidden technique on his body. She only allowed his eyes to be able to clearly see what's in front of them.
The man in the tree shut his eyes closed and opened his mouth; however, there were still no sounds.
Qin Mu tilted his ears to listen and nodded repeatedly. After a moment, he said, "What he meant is that Saturn Sovereign had guessed something wrong."
Saturn Sovereign tilted her head and sneered, "What did I guess wrong?"
The man in the tree opened his eyes. They still couldn't see anything, and the skin on his face was rapidly lignifying; however, the roots of the divine tree were trembling!
Qin Mu's expression regained its composure. "What Saturn Sovereign guessed wrongly is that he didn't want to see me and fulfill the Pact of Earth Count. For it to happen, he's willing to never see me. His aim was just to have Saturn Sovereign help him suppress part of the wooden nature so he could regain a portion of his mobility."
Saturn Sovereign sneered, and the flesh membranes behind her head trembled. "Is this what Qin Hanzhen wants to say or what you want to say? Boy Fengqing, are you too conceited and overestimate your own abilities? So what if Qin Hanzhen regains a fraction of his movement? His divine sword has already broke, and when relying on just a small body part, he is absolutely not my opponent!"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "This is what I want to say, but also want he wants to say. Even gods and devils can't control everything. There will always be some life forms which are unwilling to accept their fate and try to jump out. He isn't totally unable to fight back. Because…
"Because, I've brought him his sword!"
Behind Qin Mu's back, snow bright sword light rushed into the sky!
Carefree Sword had shattered the wooden sword sheath, and a huge wooden hand grew out from the divine tree. Sword light instantly filled the entire hall, and everywhere in front of Qin Mu's eyes became snow white. He couldn't see anything at all!
This was a sword skill that was close to the path. It surpassed his understanding and was beyond his scope.
The sword exploded with world-shaking power and rays. The broad and powerful divine lights shone as sword lights and mercury flooded the ground. They then flooded the sky and in an instant, what Qin Mu saw was no longer the sword. Instead, he saw the sorrows, joys, partings and reunions of a person, their lifetime pursuits and the will with no regrets!
The sword and path had fused into one!
Village Chief's Sword Picture, Dao Sect's Dao Sword—all these legendary sword skills lost their color in front of this.
Within the sword light, Saturn Sovereign's cry of astonishment rang out, and Qin Mu could feel the overflowing divine power. Intense heat waves came sweeping over, followed by boundless pressure as if he was being crushed by the vast and incomparably thick land!
He saw a huge orange-yellow star that possessed vast and mighty power looking like it was going to crush everything in sight. Saturn Sovereign stood in front of that huge star, overflowing with imposing might.
Qin Mu's eyes began to burn then, and he immediately shut them closed. He felt the overflowing divine power weaken rapidly as Saturn Sovereign quickly went away. After that, there was the sound of the door slamming.
"Qin Hanzhen, Qin Fengqing, I'll definitely come back to find you, father and son!" the weird voice of Saturn Sovereign echoed from farther and farther away. With a loud bang, the treasured ship swayed violently. Saturn Sovereign had to have escaped.
Zhnng.
There was a humming sound, and Qin Mu secretly opened his eyes. The sword lights that had filled the space just then had vanished, and Carefree Sword was stabbed right in front of him with the hilt of the sword still vibrating.
Below the sword was a pool of god blood which was giving off multicolored divine lights that were very astonishing.
Qin Mu turned around and saw the face of the man in the tree. The lignification gradually faded away, but he still kept his eyes shut tight. He wasn't willing to open them.
If he did that, the Pact of Earth Count would be activated. Earth Count would then take his soul, and Carefree Village would be revealed. His kin would all die because of it.
Qin Mu stared blankly. Could he never open his eyes to see him?
"Am I called Qin Fengqing?" Qin Mu asked in a low voice while looking at the man in the tree. "Village Chief gave me a name of Mu. Qin Mu, the cowherd boy with the surname Qin."
He leaned against the tree and said in a low voice, "From that moment onwards, I've always been called Qin Mu. Only now did I learn that my parents had already given a name to me, Fengqing… It's a little unfamiliar. You, are you my father?"
The man still kept his eyes shut, but a branch grew out from the tree. A tender leaf took form on it and gently stroked Qin Mu's head.
He leaned against the tree in silence as hundreds of emotions burst forth in his heart.
No one had ever touched him like this before. Apothecary wouldn't as he didn't like kids. When he was concocting his medicine, he would either grab the young Qin Mu to put him in the medicinal cauldron by a hand or a leg.
Blind wouldn't as well. Even if Qin Mu executed the best staff skill, Blind would only nod and give a look of praise, but he would never spoil him.
Granny Si had never brought up a child before, being forced to wash and change his diapers every day. Only when Qin Mu had grown up a bit and helped her do the chores and tailoring that she sometimes praised him.
Old Ma who was the strictest never praised anyone. When he saw Qin Mu, he was always reminded of his dead children, so his face was always very grim, thus he never even smiled.
Deaf, on the other hand, would always find him annoying, in all shapes and forms. When he was painting, he would always chase Qin Mu out. Even when he was teaching Qin Mu how to read, write, and paint, he would mostly smack his hands and seldom praise him.
Mute was always naughty and found all kinds of methods to play tricks on him, entertaining himself with this.
Cripple would usually bring him along to steal stuff or just steal from him. He had a childish heart and treated Qin Mu as a partner.
As for Village Chief, he had no arms or legs, and he was also a gloomy fellow. Even though he smiled frequently, he was plagued with lots of matters of the heart.
No one had ever touched Qin Mu's head like this, not even a cold and dead branch.
This was a feeling he had never felt before.
Qin Mu tilted his head up to look at the sky at an angle, trying to not let his tears cover his vision. In the past, he always wanted to be like an adult as the adults in the village were his role models. He learned from their characters and followed them in how they handled affairs. However, at this moment, he felt like he was a little child that should have been used to being by his parents.
The divine tree he was leaning against was very durable, and although it bark was slightly painful to press on, his heart was at peace, as tranquil as it had ever been. It was as if he had returned to the safe bay called home.
The old man from the painting came out from nowhere and looked around before sneaking into the tree. Raising his head to look, he didn't know why was this place so quiet.
"You are very good…"
A hoarse voice came from the divine tree as if the wooden man had opened his mouth to speak. Each word was said with difficulty and no emotions could be heard from them, yet Qin Mu's body shuddered.
"You are very good."
This was the voice of the man in the tree, and he seemed like he only knew this phrase. He seemed like he hadn't praised a child before and couldn't think of anything else to say.
The reason he said that was because Qin Mu had understood his intentions.
The father and son were interlinked, and Qin Mu could understand what he was saying; however, at that point in time he couldn't even make a sound, so how could he have said anything?
Yet Qin Mu had guessed his intentions and lured Saturn Sovereign into making a move, suppressing part of his wooden nature and allowing him to execute his magic power.
Qin Mu had then leaned over to give him a chance to grab the sword, using words at the same time to mess up the mental state of Saturn Sovereign. This created another chance, and this one was to strike.
Qin Mu revealed a smile and said in a low voice, "We are father and son, and even though we have never met before, I feel like there are ways in which we are similar. I have made the Pact of Earth Count with others before and know the shenanigans of it."
The man in the tree gave a sound of acknowledgment.
Qin Mu lay there and enjoyed the rare tranquility. After a long time, a flower bloomed on the tree and a fruit was bore. It dropped off the tree and landed in his hand, its fragrance assaulting his nostrils. Parents were all like this, always worrying that their children wouldn't have enough to eat or would not be warm.
Qin Mu lifted the fruit up and suddenly asked, "Where did mother go? Is she still alive? I will go find her."
The man in the tree said in a difficult to understand voice, "She brought you and the clansmen to Youdu."
Qin Mu was stunned. Granny Si had found him at the side of Surging River outside Disabled Elderly Village that was in Great Ruins. She didn't find him in Youdu.
So how did he get to Great Ruins?
What had happened back then?
"How do I go back to Carefree Village?" Qin Mu then asked.
The man in the tree continued to keep his eyes shut while replying in a cryptic voice, "Elder Painting will bring you to the study room, there's something inside that I've left for you. Go, we shall never meet again." Every word he said was uttered with difficulty, and each one was like a stab to the throat.
Qin Mu's heart tightened and crumbled.
Father and son will never meet again?
The old man from the painting waved at him and signaled for him to pull out Carefree Sword.
Qin Mu composed himself and went forward to pull out Carefree Sword which was stuck in the ground. The old man in the painting then waved at him again and motioned for him to follow him.
Qin Mu turned his head back, but the eyes of the man in the tree were still shut; he didn't open his eyes.
Elder Painting had to have some sort of connection with the man in the tree. As for what kind of connection it was, Qin Mu had no idea. Maybe it was the man in the tree that had bestowed life to him.
"Can't father and son meet again?" Qin Mu asked loudly.
The man in the tree still had his eyes tightly shut, and his voice sounded a bit heartless when he said "No."
"I will save you!" Qin Mu turned around and went after the old man from the painting while shouting in a loud voice, "Isn't it just Earth Count? I'll get rid of him, so wait for me!"
The divine tree remained motionless, but after a while, the man in the tree slowly opened his eyes and tears rolled down from them.
He heard Qin Mu's footsteps outside the room. This youth was saying to the old man from the painting in a low voice, "Elder Painting, after I leave, help me take care of him."
In the study room of the treasured ship, Elder Painting moved and came to the front of the bookshelf. The books there had all been taken by someone, leaving only a clean bookshelf.
"Pangong Tso, this scoundrel, coming to rob my house?" Qin Mu was furious.
Suddenly, Elder Painting tunneled into a painting and waved toward him from inside. Qin Mu hesitated for a moment before walking over. What followed was something marvelous. He discovered that he actually walked into the painting and became a man in the painting!
There, a man in white stood as if waiting for him to arrive.