Chapter 109:
Taking His Place
“MY THIRD QUESTION is this,” Li Jinglong said. “If I acquire the six artifacts of Acalanatha and use them to kill Mara, is that equivalent to destroying the demon seed?”
Yuan Kun remained silent for a long time, looking up at the thousands of beads rolling around in the sky-spanning cube. Li Jinglong hadn’t asked about the future, so he wouldn’t offer an answer about it. Yuan Kun—or rather, this luminescent manifestation of his soul—narrowed his eyes, watching the movements of the beads.
Hongjun held his breath. He knew this question would determine whether he lived or died. Li Jinglong had worded his question very cleverly: He hadn’t asked about their future, nor if his future self would kill Hongjun or An Lushan.
“Perhaps,” Yuan Kun answered.
“Perhaps?” Li Jinglong echoed.
“Perhaps.” Yuan Kun nodded.
“So the remaining five artifacts are…”
“I don’t know,” Yuan Kun said. “I cannot see them. There’s a dark cloud in the future, blocking my sight. The furthest I can see is a certain ending that may or may not come to pass. But believe me, it will arrive faster than you can imagine.”
Li Jinglong lapsed into silence. Hongjun asked, anxiously, “Then…what about me?”
“I know you fear for your future,” Yuan Kun said. “Would you like to see it? Or, if you prefer, you can ask me three questions as well.”
Hongjun thought for a while. Li Jinglong looked like he had something to say, but after a moment of hesitation, he seemed to change his mind. He said to Hongjun, “Follow your heart.”
Hongjun turned back to Yuan Kun. “I want to see our future.”
“How far?” Yuan Kun asked, pacific.
“Hm… Ten years from now, maybe?” Hongjun reckoned ten years should be enough for everything to be resolved.
Yuan Kun raised a hand, and the beads whirred again. Yet just a second later, they froze in midair. “I can’t say for sure,” Yuan Kun murmured. “The future I see isn’t so far off…”
Hongjun was about to ask what he meant when Yuan Kun turned and pressed a palm to his brow.
White light exploded in his vision, bright as the first stars that shone in the night after the creation of heaven and earth. Time became a river and surged toward him. Countless images flitted past—
Hongjun was kneeling on a battlefield, holding a dying man in his arms. Yet it wasn’t Li Jinglong, but Qiu Yongsi.
He shouted in desperation as Qiu Yongsi vomited up a mouthful of blood, but he couldn’t hear his own voice. When he looked up from the sea of red surrounding him, he saw Xie Yu coiling across the sky, enveloped in obsidian fire.
The scene shifted. He saw the city of Chang’an engulfed in flames. In the wilderness beyond the walls, Yang Yuhuan rose into the sky, radiating a golden glow. Hongjun wanted to scream but could make no sound.
A divine figure haloed in pentacolor sacred light dove from the sky, magnificent tail feathers trailing behind him, and whispered something to Hongjun as a glowing giant in golden armor wielding a golden sword pursued him through the air. The true manifestation of the previous Mahamayuri arced toward the horizon, battling the armored giant in the sky.
As Hongjun looked up to follow his flight, everything vanished. A spring breeze wound past him in a sun-splashed city full of willow trees.
Hongjun found himself in a narrow alley. Peach blossoms borne on the breeze chased each other across the clear azure sky as he floated upward to view the scene from above. Basking in the warm sunlight, Hongjun suddenly felt overcome with drowsiness. Here, the heavenly and earthly meridians met and flowed into each other, and the Divine Land was washed clean of malign energies.
A boy ran into the alley. He raised the door curtains of a house and peered inside, yelling, “Daddy!”
Li Jinglong stepped outside and crouched to whisper in the boy’s ear, and the boy pointed down the alley with a smile. “Mommy wants you to bring some money.”
Nodding, Li Jinglong wrapped his arm around the child and kissed his cheek. Father and son chattered quietly until the child, parched, ran to fetch his cup from under the eaves. Li Jinglong called out a question Hongjun couldn’t hear, his brows tightly knotted.
Hongjun watched the boy quietly throughout this interaction. A few moments later, Li Jinglong bent to pick up his son, and the two left together.
Behind Hongjun, a gust of wind blew, and willow catkins danced through the air, turning into bright stars before winking out.
“Hongjun?” Li Jinglong’s gentle voice drifted into Hongjun’s ear.
When Hongjun opened his eyes, he found himself lying in Li Jinglong’s arms under a tree on the wide plains outside Chang’an.