Mountains, waterfall, a sun overhead, and overall just a beautiful scenery.
After entering the small wooden hut this was what Xi Shen saw. It seemed as if he had been transported to another world entirely.
Xi Shen step forward, but suddenly thought of something and then looked behind him. The door he had just entered was nowhere to be seen.
Xi Shen stood where he was not moving, he gaze at the surroundings with narrowed eyes that held a glint in them.
The blessings of the heavens gave him the ability to see as well as comprehend the various Laws in the universe.
But until he fully comprehends the Six Basic Laws then he couldn’t utilize this ability to its limit. Meaning he could only see the Six Elements and vaguely see the others.
The view of in environment in Xi Shen's eyes shifted and a world completely different from before appeared before him. He saw the Laws of the Six Elements swirling around the everywhere in this world, but he also sense an abstruse force within the sky.
Xi Shen moved his gaze upward and saw that stars were visible despite the sun still being in the sky. Xi Shen couldn’t put his finger on it but this place feels neither like a separate pocket dimension nor did he get the feeling of being teleported after passing through the door.
As Xi Shen's gaze roam around his surroundings, the voice that he heard in his mind spoke aloud, “Disciple Li Shen, are you done sightseeing?”
Xi Shen followed this voice and moved in that direction. Even though the voice sounded like it was right next to his ear, it had traveled through the air from a good distance away.
Xi Shen used his Spectral Steps and his figure disappear in a puff of black smoke. He drifted at extreme speeds towards a valley between two small mountains. When he reached the entrance his body materialized and he continue forward at a leisurely pace.
Needless to say, he was curious about Dongmei and what Ye Fei meant by she knew everything. Everything is a vague way to describe something, like what exactly does she knows everything about?
Xi Shen’s light steps ruffled the grass, and he took pleasure in the grass beneath his bare feet giving him a comforting massage.
Xi Shen fully entered the valley to see a medium-sized lake in the center. It was extremely beautiful, filled with an otherworld vibe, however, his gaze landed on the back of a woman that was seated in a chair around a small table near the banking.
“Disciple Li Shen, please have a seat.”
Xi Shen once again heard her voice and it tickled his ears from how smooth and pleasant it sounded.
Xi Shen walked forward, approaching the woman from her back before walking past her and then taking a seat in front of her with the beautiful lake to his back.
Xi Shen look at Dongmei’s face, but he couldn’t see it. She had covered it in a veil. But even though Xi Shen couldn’t see her facial features, he could tell that she looking directly at him.
“Don’t mind what little Fei Fei said, I surely don’t know everything as he claimed.”
Hearing that, Xi Shen’s expression suddenly twitched a bit and he resist the urge to chuckle in amusement at her name for Ye Fei.
After, Xi Shen asked curiously, “Head Master, why did you request to see me?”
After a period of silence, Dongmei said, “Let’s save that discussion for later, for now, I want to know how you have been lately.”
Hearing that, Xi Shen was extremely taken aback, and his face wore a confused expression. However, he still said, “Um… well… I’m fine, as far as I can tell.”
Xi Shen didn’t know how he should answer her bizarre question, and he gave her a puzzled look.
As if she didn’t take note of his expression, Dongmei skillfully took a sip from her cup of tea while the veil remain in place, before she asked again, “And how is your time in the Celestial Academy, have you made any friends?”
Xi Shen once again wore an even more dumbfounded look on his face, but for some reason he still found himself responding, “Ah, yes I have, to a certain extent.”
“Oh? And what are their names?”
“Fei Yin, Fang Chen, Bai Xiaofung, my disciple Yang Su, and recently I met a weird girl by the name of Lihua.”
“Your disciple?”
Dongmei said in a questioning tone.
Xi Shen nodded and said, “Yes, my disciple.”
Seeing Xi Shen’s serious expression, Dongmei chuckled, and Xi Shen swore he thought he heard the sound of celestial bells ringing above the nine heavens. It was a really pleasant sound.
After chuckling Dongmei said, “And Bai Xiaofung if I’m not mistaken is the second son of the Bai Clan Leader. Are you really willing to make such a person your friend considering your identity as well as his own?”
Hearing that, Xi Shen thought for a moment then said, “Whether or not the Bai Clan or any of the Seven Major Clan would rebel is still undecided. I don’t see why relations with them should become immediately hostile if that’s the case. Well, this is not the same for the Ming Clan as they have made several attempts over the past few years to go against my Li Clan.”
As if she accepted his answer, she didn’t question Xi Shen further on it and instead move on to ask him more mundane questions. Questions that made Xi Shen stare at her more confused, and others that made him think as no one had asked him things like whether he was feeling stressed or pressured.
Just random questions about his health and well-being that baffled him.
After an hour or so of this, Dongmei then asked, “Your birthday is coming up, are you excited about it?”
Sometime ago Xi Shen had taken back out his gourd of wine and would occasionally take sips between answering Dongmei’s questions. He was in a casual position with his left elbow on the table propping up his chin.
After taking a sip from his gourd he answered Dongmei’s question, “Not particularly, my mother wants me to perform a song in front of a bunch of Noble Families but I don’t like to be the center of attention. It makes me feel conscious of people watching me like I’m always being scrutinized under judgmental stares. As if I was back in… ah, it’s just a bad feeling I wish not to experience.”
After almost saying something he would regret, Xi Shen fully sat up and after swallowing the last contents of his wine gourd, he placed it back into his storage ring and said to Dongmei, “Head Master, I really appreciate our chat as it allowed me to get rid of some of my bottled up emotions I didn’t know I had, but why exactly am I here? Is it only for you to ask me these questions?”
Dongmei, after hearing Xi Shen’s question stayed silent for a moment before she released a sigh.
She then said, “It must be weird for me to be asking these questions. It’s just that something happened recently that piqued my interest in you.”
“By recently do you mean after I entered the Academy? Is that why you promoted me to an Inner Disciple and have me join the Sword Pavilion?” Xi Shen asked.
“That was partly the case. The other part was what I saw after reading your future, or rather lack thereof.”
“...Huh?”
Xi Shen blinked before he asked dumbfounded, “My future? What do you mean by my future, is it possible for Head Master to see the future?”
Xi Shen was surprised, he never heard of someone being capable of something like this. Even the cultivators in his past life weren’t able to do something so profound. The heavens forbid anyone from interfering with its predetermined timeline.
If someone could see the future, they could manipulate it to their heart's desires. If Dongmei could indeed see into the future, then that would explain why Ye Fei said she knew everything.
But Xi Shen suddenly thought about Ye Fei’s follow-up words, which mentioned that consequences would occur if she divulge what she saw.
‘So there are limitations to her ability. But wait, if she could see the future then doesn’t that mean she probably knows all of my secrets? That I can cultivate, and about my Heavenly Laws comprehension? Or even more shockingly that I reincarnated into this Era from the God Era?!!’
Xi Shen looked at Dongmei in shock.
Dongmei seeing this shook her head and said, “Don’t be so surprised, being able to see the future isn’t that amazing. It’s more of a curse than a blessing as even if I see something horrific and try to prevent it to save countless lives I can’t. I have to endure knowing how someone dies but not being able to stop it or tell anyone of it. If I do it’ll open up numerous other parallel paths that could lead to an even bigger catastrophe than just that person dying.”
Dongmei then let out a long, long sigh after she said that.
Xi Shen could hear the burden in her voice.
Dongmei then said again, “As for seeing your future that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s the fact that I couldn’t even perform my ability without immediately suffering a backlash so strong it felt as the heavens themselves were enraged at my actions.”
Dongmei lifted her slender jade-like hand in front of her and then slowly lift her left sleeve to reveal her forearm.
Xi Shen’s eyes narrowed as he saw a dark spot the size of an adult’s fist on her forearm, her skin also showed signs of aging. Xi Shen’s heart trembled when he recognized the malicious aura wafting from it.
‘The Curse of Heaven’s Mandate. This curse only occurs when the heavens deemed what a person has done to be unforgivable. It can come in many forms, in my case, it was to seal my emotions. But to think I would come upon it again in this life on someone else. But how did reading my future trigger such a massive repercussion? This type of punishment is worse than a Heavenly Tribulation occurring.’
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Word Count: 1743
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