Chapter 5 (Part 2) of Book 4: A Heart with a Thousand Knots

  Tulufan was silent for a long time, then suddenly said: "Young man, come with me for a walk." He jumped out of the dry well and slowly walked to the top of the hill, staring blankly at the swirling locusts in the sky.

  In mid-air, the miasma is like clouds and mist steaming upwards, extremely beautiful.

  "Does the life of a silkworm have any meaning?" Turpan muttered, the golden autumn sunlight shining on his face, which was pale to the point of being almost transparent. In just a few days, his arms had completely transformed into slender, hairless limbs covered in short, grey downy fur. The antennae on his forehead were over a foot long and curved slightly forward, and he had lost nearly all his hair.

  "Of course it's meaningless, what's the point of just living for a day?"

  Tulufan shook his head, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes: "Six thousand years ago, I thought the same as you. Why can only aphids live for one day? Why can't aphids live longer? But now that the doomsday is approaching, I'm confused again. What's it like to wear colorful clothes? At this moment of sunset, are aphids living more brilliantly than me? Six thousand years and one day, which one has more meaning?"

  I stared blankly at his appearance, and then carefully looked at the flying locusts, trembling and saying: "Is your original form...?"

  "Do you know why the aphids can only live for one day?" Turpan turned around, and the sunlight made his shadow look thin and long, as if it was trembling in the cold autumn wind: "Because they absorb the miasma of the mountain valley, by dusk, the toxicity of the miasma takes effect, and the aphids die. Nevertheless, the aphids still fly towards the miasma like moths to a flame, and precisely because they absorbed the miasma, the ugly aphids become colorful."

  He smiled wryly and coughed violently: "For a moment of beauty, one has to pay the price for a lifetime. In fact, as long as the cicada can resist the temptation of the miasma, it can live for a very, very long time. For example... six thousand years." He loosened his hand covering his mouth, which was full of blood.

  I gazed into Turpan's bright yellow eyes and understood everything.

  "Remember, the incantation to undo the curse of the thousand knots, I'll only say it once, listen carefully." Turpan lowered his voice, enunciating each word clearly, his soft antennae swaying gently in the wind. On the hillside, the ash-gray aphids fluttered about like waves, and amidst the vibrant wildflowers that covered the entire mountain, they seemed almost inconspicuous.

  When Turpan finished reciting the incantation, the sun had already begun to set in the west, like a tangerine-colored egg yolk hanging on the slope, emitting soft light. Turpan gazed blankly at the swarm of locusts, his thin clothes blown by the wind like flying wings.

  "It's easy to tie a knot, but hard to untie it. Just relying on oral formulas for cultivation may not be useful after all. Unfortunately, I myself have not mastered the untying spell, so I can't give you any guidance. Everything depends on your own exploration." When Tuerban turned his head back to look at me again, his expression had become very calm.

  I looked at him anxiously, feeling like Turpan was making a last confession, and I didn't know how to comfort him. Turpan's face suddenly changed, he raised his head and stared straight at the sky.

  The miasma in the air suddenly stopped floating and became completely still, as if it had been frozen. The surrounding air also stopped flowing, and even the wind disappeared.

  The entire valley was as quiet as a tomb, with swarms of midges dancing around the mist, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't fly in. The miasma had solidified into a copper wall and an iron fortress.

  "What's going on?" I exclaimed in surprise.

  "At last, he has found me." Turpan muttered to himself, his expression restored to its usual calm. He turned to me and said, "My enemy is at the door, you quickly hide, don't show yourself under any circumstances. Hurry up, what are you staring at?"

  I hastily said: "In the mountain valley I still have a companion with profound magical powers, if we three join hands, perhaps we can defeat your enemy."

  "Daydreaming!" Turpan shouted in anger: "His magical powers have reached the realm of heaven and man, profound and immeasurable. Even if you come a few dozen times, you won't be his match. Look at him yourself, he's using the ultimate magic to break through the poisonous air and show off to me. Can you even do this one move?"

  In mid-air, the condensed miasma began to churn and slowly revolve like a top, forming a whirlpool. The power of the whirlpool's rotation was terrifyingly strong, and the trees and flowers on the ground seemed to be pulled up by an invisible hand, one after another, and were crushed into powder. In the end, the whirlpool emitted a sharp whistling sound, and in the midst of the miasma, a hollow hole suddenly appeared, like a ring of colored light.

  "Who is he?" I felt a chill all over, this kind of sorcery that manipulates the miasma with such ease was unimaginable, even if Laozi were to rush here on horseback.

  Turpan urged repeatedly: "What are you mumbling? Get out! I don't want to waste my heart and soul teaching you, only for you to throw your life away!"

  "I also can't just watch you die in vain!" I gritted my teeth, and with a fierce blow of air, I wrapped my arms around Turfan and flew towards the Tangerine Islet. His enemies were formidable, but I couldn't bear to abandon him to death. Turfan struggled to break free, but I had already employed the Xuanji Secret Method, binding him tightly with iron-like chains formed from my arms, and his injuries seemed even more severe than before, so he couldn't escape for the time being.

  I passed through the mountain gap and found Haiji on Tangerine Island. She was very surprised to see me and Tulufan, but I didn't have time to explain, so I dragged her into a thicket of reeds by the lake. The silver-white reeds were over ten feet tall, dense and continuous, making it an ideal hiding place.

  "There's a mountain between here and the outside, it's very secluded, he won't be able to find his way here." I said to Tulufan, parting the reeds to take a stealthy look outside.

  "It's useless, he chased and killed me for three whole months, from the Demon Realm to the Red Dust Heaven, I couldn't escape his grasp." Tuerban sighed.

  "Hai Ji frowned and said: 'You little scoundrel, who is this person? From your tone, are you saying there's someone else coming here? Why are you so afraid?'"

  "Shh," I put my finger to my lips: "Don't speak yet, I'll tell you later." My heart was racing with anxiety, I knew it in my gut that if we were discovered by that person, the three of us would be in grave danger.

  After a while, there was still no movement outside, and I gradually put down my guard, letting out a sigh of relief: "Looks like we're safe."

  A loud rumble, the ground shook, and the entire lake suddenly jumped. I was stunned, staring blankly at the mountain peaks by the lake rising bit by bit, then getting closer to us bit by bit, until they fell onto the surface of the lake.

  The mountain is actually moving! A man in green clothes held the peak of the mountain with his left hand, just like holding a light feather, strolling leisurely, stepping over the clear lake water, and kicking up ripples.

  My goodness! Can he still walk on the lake with a mountain in his hand? I almost couldn't believe my eyes, and Hai Ji was so shocked that she couldn't speak. Tulufan silently smiled wryly, his lips moving in silence, as more than ten curse threads suddenly bound my hands and feet, and he nodded kindly at Hai Ji, making a gesture to be quiet. My heart sank instantly, knowing that he would expose himself to save us.

  He glanced at me and then sprang out of the reeds with a sudden bound.

  "Those with the surname Chu, I'm over here!" Turfan shouted loudly by the lake.

  A man in a blue robe stood quietly on the lake's surface, elegant and refined. His wide sleeves fluttered gently in the wind. He didn't look at Turpan, but instead lowered his head to gaze at the inverted reflection of the green mountains in the emerald water, as if the ripples were reflected onto his eyelids.

  Then he waved his hand, and the mountain flew out, crashing down on the orange grove. A deafening roar shook my eardrums, the earth trembled, rocks tumbled, and tens of thousands of orange trees were crushed into pulp by the mountain peak in an instant. The surrounding area cracked open with deep gorges. My heart felt a chill, the beautiful orange grove was destroyed in a light and casual manner, revealing the indifference of the man in green.

  "Who would have thought that there was another scenic spot here. Turpan, we meet again." The man in green slowly raised his head, his eyes deep and vast like the starry sky, clear and calm like a lake in July, without any trace of time.

  "Cut the crap!" Turpan hastily recited his secret incantation, and the man in green was surrounded by a constant splashing of colorful starlight, making the lake water flicker restlessly.

  The man in blue's lips moved slightly, and the light star approached his body, immediately turning into a wisp of cyan smoke that dispersed, easily breaking through Turfan's secret spell. In the intense battle, Turfan suddenly let out a stifled groan, covering his chest with his hand as he retreated, panting heavily. My heart tightened, knowing that Turfan was originally severely injured and hadn't recovered yet, plus the man in blue's superior magic skills over Turfan, the outcome of the battle was already predictable.

  The man in blue didn't take advantage of his victory to attack, but instead slowly raised two crystal-like fingers as white as jade and said calmly: "You have two paths to choose from. First, become my subordinate." He bent down one finger and continued: "Second, hand over the incantation for the Thousand Knots Curse." His tone was calm yet left no room for doubt, like a haughty king looking down on his subjects.

  Turpan burst into laughter while coughing: "Put away this set, three months ago I already told you, Turpan has been dominating the Devil's Sky for thousands of years, and has always chosen his own path!"

  "The man in blue seemed to let out a soft sigh: 'Since that's the case, I'll have to invite you to the Yellow Springs Heaven then.'"

  Turban let out a loud roar, his lips moving silently as hundreds of crystal threads flashed by, like a shiny spider web that instantly trapped the man in green. The latter's expression remained calm, with the air behind him rippling like water waves, revealing a rhombus-shaped mirror. A hand emerged from the mirror, slicing through the crystal threads with a sharp blade-like motion, causing the net to break apart inch by inch. The hand didn't stop, and in an instant it reached Turban's face, with the thumb and index finger forming a ring shape aimed at his forehead, lightly tapping it.

  A deep blood mark burst out on Turfan's forehead, he let out a miserable cry and fell down with a thud. The hand withdrew back into the rhombus-shaped mirror, and the mirror vanished like a ghost. The man in green walked up to Turfan, inserted his fingers into his abdomen, pulled out a bright yellow internal elixir, and crushed it into powder that flew away.

  My whole body trembled, my heart was both angry and fearful. I had never seen anyone with such terrifying magical powers, who could kill Turpan with just a wave of his hand. Even the old lady Shifu was far inferior to him. Haiji's face turned pale, silently staring at me.

  "He doesn't know how to appreciate kindness." The man in green robes glanced indifferently at the corpse of Tulufan, his sleeves fluttering open like white clouds emerging from a mountain peak. He floated lightly over the surface of the lake, like an autumn leaf blown away by the wind without any intention, and vanished into the sky in the blink of an eye. My scalp felt numb; this was the Feathered Dao technique, and the man in green robes had already reached the pinnacle of mastery, with not a single hint of smoke or fire.

  At this moment, I suddenly felt a relaxation all over my body, and the binding curse thread loosened. My heart was filled with sorrow, knowing that this was because the caster of the spell was going to die, causing the spell to lose its effect. I ran out of the reed thicket, lifted up Tulufan, his eyes were tightly closed, his whole body covered in blood, and his breathing was so weak that it could hardly be felt.

  Hai Ji walked over, examined Tuluban's injuries and said: "His internal elixir has been dug out, he can't be saved. That person is really terrifying, just the divine power to hold up a mountain peak is enough to shock the world."

  "That's the Dragon-Tiger Secret Path Technique!" I exclaimed in shock, "If the Dragon-Tiger Secret Path Technique is practiced to its peak, it can indeed produce a powerful force like a dragon and a tiger, capable of overturning mountains and seas." As I said this, I suddenly remembered the calm and composed way the man in green clothes walked on the surface of the lake - that was the most profound water-crossing technique! The hand holding the rhombus-shaped mirror seemed to also have a hint of the Shadow Armor Technique. And the opponent's manipulation of the miasma vortex perfectly matched the essence of the Xuanji Secret Path Technique!

  Who is he, after all? I'm sweating profusely on my forehead, both shocked and suspicious. Why does he also know the magic that I do? And every single one of them has been practiced to perfection? Turpan just mentioned earlier that his surname is Chu, could it be...

  "What's wrong?" Hai Ji gently grasped my icy hand and comforted me, "That person's magical powers are unparalleled, probably no one in the entire Northern Territory can be his match. You can't save your friend, it's not your fault, don't be too sad."

  Tulufan suddenly moved, slowly opening his eyes. I was overjoyed and tightly grasped him: "Old slippery head, it turns out you didn't die!"

  Tuluban stared at me without saying a word, his eyes rolling wildly as if he didn't recognize me at all. Short fluff sprouted from his face, and his skin was covered with layers of grayish-white webbing. His body slowly swelled up like an olive, and his limbs transformed into long, thin, spindly legs.

  "What's wrong? Is your friend a demon?" Haiji stared at Tulufan, who was constantly shrinking, and shook her head in disbelief. I felt a pang of sorrow in my heart. Before he died, Tulufan couldn't speak or recognize me anymore. He had been completely transformed back to his original form, and six thousand years of cultivation were all for naught.

  Transparent wings sprouted from Turpan's two sides, gently flapping, he took off, his double wings generating wind, flying higher and higher, soaring into the half-air colorful mist.

  The sun sets in the west, and the afterglow spills all over the earth. The mountains that separate Tangerine Island have been moved by the Green Robed Men, now standing on the lakeside, one can see the golden red valleys outside, one can see the colorful mantises flying all over the sky.

  They are no longer pale and ugly, but like colorful waves, surging in the evening breeze. They show off their dazzling neon coats, shining brightly, more beautiful than the sky's aurora, more vibrant than the wildflowers blooming in the valley, more passionate, more proud!

  This is the color of life!

  I suddenly felt a lump in my throat and wanted to cry.

  "Many years ago, among the countless aphids, there was one that refused to accept its fate of living only for a day. It resisted the temptation of the beautiful aura and survived. But from then on, it never had the chance to wear the colorful clothes again, nor did it have that dazzling moment." I whispered to Haiji: "Six thousand years or an instant, which one is truly life?"

  Haiji couldn't answer me either, the dusk gradually turned cool and calm like water, the cicadas in the sky fell one by one, withering like colorful falling flowers. As soon as a cicada touched the mud, it disappeared without a trace, I knew that among them was Turpan.

  "When you're alive, a year seems like a long time. It's only when you're about to die that you realize 6,000 years and one day are no different." I suddenly remembered something Tulufan had once said to me, and silently shook my head: "That's different."

  "Because in any case, you have conquered your own destiny." I said to the mud under my feet. There, a unique aphid was buried.