Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 353 - 221: Dao and Heaven Together (Volume One Complete)_2

Chapter 353: Chapter 221: Dao and Heaven Together (Volume One Complete)_2

Seeing this, Immortal Sword said, "Your nature never needed any tempering or teaching."

Between life and death lies great terror, not just for oneself but also for one’s friends and family. To accept the death of those around you is to understand half of life and death.

He had once thought about taking Gu Wen as his disciple, but because of Qingcang, he had to give up. As time passed, Immortal Sword realized he had no room to teach Gu Wen; rather, sometimes Gu Wen even inspired him.

It’s a pity that without leaving the Immortal Land, even a True Dragon is merely a frog in a well.

"She probably won’t be able to enter the Immortal Land again, and you might never see her again. If I’m not mistaken, that piece of Xuanbing can preserve life for a thousand years."

The words of Immortal Sword were as sharp as he was, cutting through all embellished vocabulary and laying the bare facts in front of Gu Wen.

"What does a thousand years have to do with you?"

"Being alive is good enough."

Gu Wen responded without hesitation, his eyes not even wavering.

Immortal Sword was silent for a few moments and then said, "Do your best and leave the rest to fate. If it’s your destiny, I’ll sever the Jianmu for you. I need to return to Broken Sword Mountain soon to prepare for the battle with Jianmu."

"When the time comes, please cut a section of Jianmu and burn it for me; I hope by then I still have a grave."

Gu Wen joked and turned to push open the courtyard door, only to find the wooden door decayed beyond repair, with the right side completely missing.

"It’s time to fix this."

Gu Wen turned and used Flying Escape to leave; he had not stepped out of his small courtyard in decades, but today, he casually walked out to buy a set of carpentry tools and a door in a nearby town.

After fixing the door, he noticed many weeds had grown in the yard, and it took him half a day to clear them. The family treasure mimicked him, biting a small weed and frantically shaking its head.

After the weeds were gone, the ground was still muddy, the original bluestone slabs pushed up by plant roots, looking very messy.

Gu Wen rearranged the stone slabs and rushed the mud with well water.

The yard was revitalized, making the dilapidated house even more conspicuous.

Gu Wen had to go out again, traveling a hundred miles to another town to buy materials. Carrying the wood along the road, an eunuch emerged from nowhere, cautiously approaching and asking:

"If you need anything, just command me, your servant."

Gu Wen stopped in his tracks and replied, "The roads in the town need some repair."

The eunuch was stunned by such an unrelated response, but Gu Wen paid him no heed and continued home.

After fixing the house, neither sunlight nor rain could enter again. He sat on a chair, and everything quieted down.

Then he saw a chair missing a leg, tea set broken by a cat, peeling wall paint...

Past trivial matters flooded in like a tide, seeming to demand he compensate for the years of neglected duties.

Immortal Sword unsheathed, mentally inquired, "Perhaps I should take back my previous praise; are you alright?"

"Me? I’m fine."

Gu Wen picked up a dust-covered teacup, his gaze falling on its chipped rim.

"I need to buy some new teacups and some furniture. And you, cat, stop chewing on the table legs."

"Oh."

The cat stopped its tap-tapping chewing of the table leg, climbed onto Gu Wen’s shoulder, rubbed against his cheek, and asked, "Immortal master, can we go out and play? There are so many people outside; the cat likes places with many people."

"Shall I take you to a place with many people?"

"Yes, please!"

Gu Wen placed the cat on Immortal Sword, which transformed into a streak of light and flew away, adding another shooting star to the night sky.

In the Immortal Land, all classes turn into ordinary beings, and the family treasure still in its juvenile phase could cause problems if it stayed too long.

-----------------

Daxia year sixty.

In the days that followed, Gu Wen became very busy. He did not know what he was busy with, but whenever he finished one thing, there was another that needed his attention.

He went to buy a teacup, encountered road construction blocking the way, so Gu Wen simply fixed the road himself. He was then revered as an immortal, and an old man came running to kneel before him, decrying the local government’s injustice and pleading for his intervention.

Thus, Gu Wen took up the cause of justice, executed a county official, and more people came forth with grievances. As he went along, he didn’t know how many corrupt officials or abusive gentry he had killed; he simply eliminated whoever he disliked.

This way of resolving one issue after another was addictive to him.

Finally, he entered Bianjing again, and the Emperor came to greet him from a hundred miles away.

Inside the imperial palace, the vast hall contained only the aging Jiang Jucai, Gu Wen, and a vibrant young man in a python robe.

The old Emperor supported him as he ascended the throne and sat on the dragon chair.

The old Emperor smiled and said, "Father often mentioned that it was you who forced him onto the dragon chair back then."

"Really?"

Gu Wen barely remembered; he didn’t like to reminisce, as memories were always too sharp.

"That’s the Crown Prince down there, right?"

"Yes. What do you think about him?"

The Crown Prince, with his eyes wide and tense, dared not speak out of turn.

Gu Wen looked at the noble young man and said, smiling, "He resembles someone I knew; I don’t like him much."

In an instant, the Crown Prince’s face turned ashen, and he weakly collapsed on the ground, only to be lifted by an unseen force.

"Don’t be afraid, child; I haven’t finished yet."

Gu Wen’s calm face broke into a small smile, and the Crown Prince also managed a slight smile, reminding himself not to make a mistake.

"Do you have a merchant servant?"

The Crown Prince was confused but did not dare lie and nodded slightly.

It was common to use merchant servants for accumulating wealth.