The purpose of this first step was to turn the “truth” into “ironclad evidence.”
The second step was to break the dual shackles of the “array” and the “legend.”
With the inspiration provided by Yun Heng, Du Ruolan and the others performed a “Surgical Array Re-editing.” They forcibly unbundled the soul of the Mochou groom from the Origin Qi, finally setting him free.
Following that, an Integration Stage expert skilled in soul-based Daoist arts — whom Yun Heng had contacted — allowed the soul of the Mochou groom to speak with everyone present.
The Mochou groom was not like Yun Heng; he did not possess the blessing of such unique providence.
Therefore, he was left with only two paths: to fade into nothingness or to become a “Guardian Deity” of Mochou village, watching over the land as a heroic spirit until his spirit form eventually dissipated.
There was no option for reincarnation.
“… Fellow Daoist, what do you think? What do you think I will choose?”
Upon learning that everything had originated from this outsider, Yun Heng, the Mochou groom gave him a brilliant smile.
Though he was merely a spirit form and they had only met once, he could tell clearly with a single glance — they were very much alike.
“I understand.”
Yun Heng nodded and returned the smile.
Thus, Mochou village lost its Mochou groom but gained a “Guardian Deity.”
***
Step three: Cut out the tumor and rebuild the foundation.
In front of all the villagers, Du Ruolan submitted the evidence of Master Fang and “Wan’er’s” crimes. This included their collusion, their corruption of the Great Exam, and their theft of local providence.
She presented everything, along with the details of the thousand-year-old case, to the Heavenly Way Academy and the highest authorities of the upper three provinces.
She demanded not only the punishment of the current criminals but also a historical characterization and accountability for the ancient case.
Even if the original parties were dead, their family honors and historical evaluations deserved to be objectively corrected.
At this point, the Emperor of the Zhao dynasty finally arrived. Realizing he was in the wrong, he offered a formal apology to seek forgiveness.
Du Ruolan ignored King Zhao’s apology and instead handed the power of decision to the people of Mochou village.
The villagers elected a young man to judge whether King Zhao should be executed.
Coincidentally, this young man was the same shop assistant who had told the legend that day.
He pondered for a long time. Instead of answering immediately, he first asked the Heavenly Way Academy if there was a chance to promote a multi-party “Research Society.”
Could the pure spiritual energy and research value produced by the modified lake array be used openly and fairly?
Could it fund truly talented and virtuous students from humble backgrounds — including those from Mochou village — or support array research that aligned with the Mochou groom’s philosophy of “guided symbiosis”?
He said he hoped to transform these “dividends” into “public welfare” under the sun.
Yun Heng was impressed by this.
After learning the man’s name from the neighbors and searching his memories, he was startled to realize that this man was actually the ancestor of the person who would solve the Mochou village incident five thousand years later.
‘History really does move in a spiral,’ Yun Heng mused.
After the shop assistant finished his negotiations with the Heavenly Way Academy, King Zhao’s sentence was decided: he would be executed in 50 years.
Meanwhile, the current General of the Kingdom of Zhao promised to train a better king within those 50 years.
Finally, Mochou village was officially renamed “Cuiwei.”
***
Step four: Erect a monument.
“Everyone insisted you be the one to set the monument. I couldn’t stop them.”
Du Ruolan walked up to Yun Heng and shrugged.
Under the intense gaze of the crowd, Yun Heng could no longer retreat behind the scenes. He stepped forward helplessly.
“If I must, I must. My calligraphy is actually quite decent.”
The youth chuckled. He lifted his brush and personally composed a new inscription for the monument standing by the Gathering Greenery Pool.
The front, facing the lake:
[Mochou is not sorrow; the source flows as it chooses.]
[The spiritual hub is open; all things thrive.]
The back, facing the people:
[A soul was once trapped here, named Mochou. His will was to guide; his way was to embrace. Yet, the world repaid him with shackles.
Now that the shackles are removed and the Origin Qi returns to its flow, let those who come after know: the secrets of heaven and earth are not the private property of one clan or one name.
The path of the Great Dao should accommodate ten thousand methods and a thousand paths.
If you see injustice, think of breaking the shackles; if you encounter differing views, listen to their voice.]
— Inscribed by the traveler, Yun Heng, upon being moved.
The inscription was carved in the youth’s unique style — slightly casual yet hiding a sharp edge.
Under the moonlight, the handwriting faintly shimmered with a pale golden glow, as if resonating with the residual spiritual rhythm in the lake.
As he finished the final stroke, spiritual energy suddenly surged from his limbs and bones, rising upward.
There was no tremor of insight, nor the clamor of breaking through a bottleneck. There was only a soft sound, as natural as water forming a channel — like a door that had been locked for a long time being carelessly pushed open.
Qi Refining Level 9 Great Perfection.
He looked down at his palm and raised an eyebrow slightly. He seemed a bit surprised by this sudden progress, but he quickly felt at ease.
His expression didn’t look like someone who had just broken through a realm; it looked like someone who had found a small item that belonged to him but had been temporarily forgotten.
In just an instant, a Level 1 rookie had broken through to Qi Refining Level 9 Great Perfection.
Forget the local cultivators — even the members of the academy, who were well-versed in the world, nearly had their eyes pop out of their heads.
‘Is this kid… even human?’
“…… Elder Lan was right after all.”
Du Ruolan stood beside Jiang Keke, whose jaw had nearly hit the ground, and sighed with emotion. “This brat… really is a freak.”
Even though Yun Heng did not possess an Innate Dao Bone Saint Body, his cultivation speed was simply inconceivable.
If Yun Heng put his mind to it, forget reaching the Nascent Soul Stage before 20; it was highly possible he could reach the Deity Transformation Stage by 20.
“Has there ever been a case like this in history?” someone whispered to the slightly older Du Ruolan.
“Never.”
Du Ruolan shook her head, looking at the young man by the Gathering Greenery Pool.
She remembered the way Elder Lan used to hold him as a babbling infant. That image gradually overlapped with the youth before her, who was now setting monuments and stirring the winds of change.
There was a strange sense of contradiction in this child. His face always carried a lazy, indifferent air, as if he couldn’t be bothered by anything.
Yet, his actions were perfectly interconnected, ruthless, and seasoned — nothing like a young man. He clearly held enough power and status to overturn a region, yet he was restrained to the point of being stingy with it.
He only gave a gentle push at the vital joints, then casually tossed the rest to others and retreated to the boundary of light and shadow like an interested spectator.
‘Countless people seek the immortal path, searching for nothing more than to approach the legendary “immortal grace and daoist bones” in form and spirit. But some freaks, even if they don’t cultivate or do anything at all, can easily embody those words just by standing there.’
Du Ruolan murmured to herself, ‘I think whoever sees this scene wouldn’t think he’s just a child in the Qi Refining Stage. They would see an… Immortal King with tens of millions of years of perspective.’
***
A few days after the incident concluded, Yun Heng sat alone by the pool, staring blankly at the ripples under the moonlight.
Jiang Keke was dozing nearby, clutching a half-eaten stick of candied haws.
The Zhao dynasty branch of the Heavenly Way Academy had accumulated hundreds of millions in bribes and embezzled funds.
According to the decision of the highest authorities in the upper three provinces, half was given to the Research Society in a transparent manner.
Of the remaining half, one-third was given to Yun Heng personally, and the rest was distributed per capita to the remaining citizens of Cuiwei village.
Even if it was only one-sixth, Yun Heng had obtained over 3,000,000 high-grade spirit stones.
This was the true “gathering of wealth.”
However, after solving the Mochou village incident, Yun Heng didn’t feel much of the pleasure that comes from “enforcing justice for Heaven.” Instead, a complex sense of melancholy permeated his heart.
He wanted someone to talk to, but who could accompany him in discussing his past and present lives?
Perhaps one demon could, but Yun Heng did not want to see her.
But while he wouldn’t see her as she was now, he could speak to the “her” in his memories.
“Look at this pool… it finally has a spark of life. The wind dares to blow, and the birds dare to land.”
“But do you know? Sitting here, I’m not thinking about ‘justice finally being served.’ I’m thinking about something else.”
“I’m wondering… if the person the Mochou groom met back then wasn’t that group of greedy school officials, but a group of honest people who truly believed that ‘guidance and purification’ was the right path and were willing to do anything for it… would the ending have been different?”
“Probably not. It might have even been worse. Because the evil of ‘honest people’ often wears the sturdiest coat of ‘correctness.’ Even they themselves cannot perceive it, and it cannot be questioned.”
“In this thousand-year scam, the most terrifying thing wasn’t the greed of a few people, but an entire system of ‘rational utilization.'”
“They took a genius’s ‘differing view’ and labeled it a ‘price’ that needed to be sacrificed. They forged a living soul into ‘fuel’ to maintain the status quo, and even wrote soul-stirring songs for it.”
“Those who buried their heads in study and competed to emulate them in those songs… did they know whose bones they were stepping on, or whose pain they were breathing in?”
“The Mochou groom wanted to ‘guide,’ but they only wanted to ‘suppress.’ Because suppression is simple, controllable, and fits the ‘standard answer.’ Guidance, however, requires wisdom, risk-taking, and the admission of the world’s complexity and one’s own ignorance.”
“Do you think he and I are alike? I think we are probably not.”
“Today, I can break the shackles of one man. But in this world, how many similar ‘lakes’ are there? How many ‘Mochou grooms’ are buried by songs of praise?”
“As long as that ‘only path’ remains as narrow as a single-log bridge, as long as the definition of ‘success’ remains singular and cruel, such altars will always have new fuel.”
“Cultivating the truth… what is the Truth? Is it the ‘truth’ of the strong devouring the weak, or the ‘truth’ of all things growing together? Is it the ‘truth’ of reaching the top by stepping on the corpses of one’s kind, or the ‘truth’ of illuminating each other and seeking the Great Dao together?”
“I don’t have the answer. I’m not even sure if I hadn’t experienced that betrayal, if my soul hadn’t been scattered, whether I would still have the leisure today to sit here and think about these ‘useless’ things. Just like with you.”
“Perhaps… I’m just tired. Tired of that singular narrative of ‘it must be so.’ Tired of squeezing living people into symbols and tools.”
“So, erecting that monument was less about commemorating him and more about reminding myself.”
“Reminding myself… that no matter how great my power or how high my position, I must never become the person who creates ‘sorrow’ just for the illusion of ‘Mochou.'”
“There are three thousand six hundred gates to the Dao. There shouldn’t be only one answer.”
Yun Heng withdrew his gaze from the center of the lake. His fingertips unconsciously traced a complex array pattern on his knee.
It was an unfinished deduction draft from his past life, belonging solely to their “Destiny Correction.”
The night breeze brushed past, carrying the fresh scent of new aquatic plants.
In the distance, the lights of Cuiwei village turned on one by one. Faintly, the sounds of children’s laughter could be heard — a stark contrast to the uniform, anxiety-filled sounds of morning reading from before.
He let out a soft breath, which turned into a faint mist in the moonlight before quickly dissipating.
The change might be small, but at least it was a start.