Chapter 15 : Female Priest
Chapter 15: Female Priest
On her way up Mount Kunlun, the Female Priest saw the scene at the foot of the mountain, even seeing the Ximu Clan’s Great Roc clutching Nüjue’s head, proclaiming the defeat of the Hanhuang Clan.
“Nüjue!”
She already had no way back. Nüjue had exhausted every possible means to push her toward the summit of Mount Kunlun, cutting off all her retreats and thoughts of escape.
Ever since Nüjue returned, she had gone completely mad.
She had touched that peach tree, seen that Divine Stone and the shadow of the Emperor.
And then she had fallen into madness.
But the Female Priest could not place all the blame onto Nüjue. Was it truly the other who forced her to come? Perhaps she too had been longing to ascend Mount Kunlun.
If Nüjue’s madness had been caused by that peach tree, then perhaps she herself had already been enchanted from the very beginning.
“Emperor!”
The Female Priest thought of that first glimpse of the Emperor’s shadow, and her steps no longer held a trace of hesitation as she hurried quickly up the mountain.
At this moment, a bird’s cry came from the heavens, as if it were calling out her name.
“Female Priest!”
The Female Priest turned her head and saw the Ximu Clan’s Great Roc flying toward her ferociously, as if to stop her.
But just then, a great wind arose.
The dense fog from the mountain poured down.
Under the gaze of the Great Roc, the Female Priest was passively swallowed into the mist.
“Chirp!”
The Great Roc was both hateful and anxious, circling Mount Kunlun again and again, unwilling to depart.
When the fog receded, a portion of the mountain path was revealed, but the figure of the Female Priest was long gone.
On the other side.
Once she stepped into the fog, everything outside vanished from the Female Priest’s sight. Unknowingly, it was as if her eyes had lost their function, replaced by another sense.
Her five senses became strange—she could see nothing, and there was no fog around her.
But she could see glowing figures.
Especially that Divine Stone upon the mountain, which had replaced the Great Sun in the sky, becoming the brightest source of light in her vision.
The Female Priest walked toward the nearest glowing figure.
Only when she approached did she realize that it was Nüjue.
The other stood motionless on the path like a tree, her hands stretched upward like flowers toward the sky.
Her head rested on her own arm, eyes slightly narrowed.
As if she were asleep.
And in fact, in the perspective of mortal eyes, she truly was nothing but a tree.
Female Priest: “Weren’t you already dead?”
Not long ago, the Female Priest had personally seen the Ximu Clan’s Great Roc carry Nüjue’s head high in the air.
The peach tree that Nüjue had become swayed gently on the mountain path, and in the Female Priest’s eyes, Nüjue slightly opened her eyes, speaking in a voice faint to the point of inaudibility.
“I have already become one with this place. That body outside… is only a part of me.”
“Go, complete the ritual, become the Great Shaman.”
“And then, touch the Divine Stone.”
Nüjue seemed to have completely turned into a tree, her human side almost entirely gone, murmuring endlessly.
“Go, complete the ritual, become the Peach Shaman.”
“…Touch the Divine Stone… that feeling is so wonderful.”
“Emperor…”
The Female Priest quietly looked at Nüjue. The other seemed to be lost in a beautiful dream, though from the perspective of an outsider, it was utterly terrifying.
She walked past the peach tree that Nüjue had become, then continued climbing higher.
Walking along the mountain road.
Her form gradually began to change as well, losing her human shape.
Fine vines stretched out from her hair, and tender peach blossoms bloomed upon her body.
This appearance was not ugly.
It was even beautiful.
Only, it was a beauty that was eerie, a beauty that chilled the soul.
On the road, she also saw many figures lost within the fog.
Of course, from her perspective they were human figures, but in reality, these people’s bodies too had begun to show signs of transformation.
Finally, she stood beneath that first-born Divine Peach Tree, its vast trunk and crown blotting out the sky.
The first time, it had been the sight of this Divine Tree from afar that had drawn her here. Yet now, in the eyes of the Female Priest, its radiance could not compare to the dazzling brilliance of the Divine Stone and the Emperor’s shadow behind it, from which she could not pull her gaze away.
The Female Priest stripped off her clothes and began to dance beneath the Divine Peach Tree, imitating the ritual by which the Great Roc had once become a shaman.
She waved the peach branch in her hand, the blossoms upon it blooming layer upon layer, before falling endlessly.
In a trance, she too saw the visions that Nüjue had seen before.
She stood beneath the stars, atop the peaks of ten thousand mountains.
Her hand pressed against the Divine Stone.
From above, a pair of eyes gazed upon her, and she met the Emperor’s shadow within the Divine Stone.
“The Emperor is watching me.”
At that moment, her face seemed to overlap with Nüjue’s, and she felt a tranquility that transcended all things of Heaven and Earth.
She felt she was no longer mortal, but had merged with Heaven, Earth, Sun, and Moon.
This sensation instantly intoxicated her.
Irresistibly so.
And not only this—the Female Priest felt the power of the peach tree pouring endlessly into her body. She could control everything here.
The mountain’s fog, the rugged paths, even the clouds above the sky.
Her body was no longer important. Her consciousness transcended above the body, floating in a higher realm beyond all things and the void.
From this moment.
The Female Priest completed what was described in Lu Gang’s report: the parasitic stage, the transformation stage.
Finally, she reached the third stage—possession.
She had already become like Tao Yougen of the past, a shaman of this place. And because the Divine Peach Tree had no will of its own, she was able to command and control part of its power.
As she danced gracefully, the Female Priest’s body completely dissipated, transforming into a cloud of peach blossoms.
The wind lifted the petals, the clouds carried them.
At last.
She rode the wind and clouds to the Ritual Altar, once again standing before the Divine Stone and the Emperor’s shadow.
And this was the third time she had come here.
As soon as she landed, she could not wait to speak.
“Emperor!”
“I understand now. I finally understand what Your words meant.”
“The first time I came, You said I wished to worship the strongest one. At that time, what I wanted was to revere the mightiest existence. It was the Female Priest who was wrong.”
“How could other beings compare to You? That I even compared You with others was utterly, gravely wrong.”
On the Female Priest’s face was intense guilt, as if she had committed an unforgivable sin. She even shed tears.
As soon as she finished, she began recounting what happened the second time she met the Emperor.
“The second time, I came for strength. I wished to become Your shaman.”
“I was even more mistaken.”
“I was wrong, Emperor!”
At last, the Female Priest raised her head.
At this moment.
Her gaze was utterly deranged. Her lost body and lost self only magnified her obsession and desire layer upon layer, until at last they became uncontrollable, irrepressible.
She said: “This time, the Female Priest wants nothing. I only wish to touch You once, and that will be enough!”
She forgot herself. She abandoned everything outside. She abandoned even her body and her will.
Entrusting everything upon a void faith and the Emperor’s shadow.
The summit of Kunlun.
On the level of reality’s perception.
Li Jun watched as peach blossoms drifted in and transformed into the form of the Female Priest.
The first two times he saw her, Li Jun had not paid much attention.
But the third time he saw her, through the divination of the Ximu Clan’s Great Roc, he had already seen the outcome.
From then on, he waited here for the Female Priest to come before him.
And then, Li Jun heard the words the Female Priest spoke.
He told her—
Emperor: “The first time I saw you, I saw that you would die before me. I prevented you from speaking, and you could only turn and leave.”
Female Priest: “The first time I came… the Female Priest was wrong.”
Emperor: “The second time, you spoke aloud that you wished to become a shaman. I saw your end was miserable, so I refused you.”
Female Priest: “The second time, I came for strength…”
Emperor: “And now, you come here again. Now, you can never again be human. No matter what I say, it is useless.”
The more the Female Priest spoke, the more frenzied she became. She fixed all her attention upon the Emperor’s shadow high above, moved to tears by herself, trembling uncontrollably.
The more Li Jun spoke, the calmer he became, until in the end he seemed devoid of all emotion.
The two of them seemed to dwell in two entirely parallel worlds, each speaking only to themselves.
Each gazing at the other as they saw them.
No matter what Li Jun said, she could no longer hear anything. At this time, the Female Priest was completely immersed in her own world.
The Emperor’s gaze looked down upon the Female Priest, speaking loftily to her.
“You are bringing about your own destruction.”
The Female Priest looked up at the Emperor, slowly extending her arm.
“This time, the Female Priest wants nothing. I only wish to touch You once, and that will be enough!”
Without hesitation, the Female Priest pressed her hand upon the Divine Stone, finishing her last word.
The two touched.
Brilliant radiance burst forth, surging out in all directions.
“Boom—!”
The massive commotion caused the battling Hanhuang Clan and Ximu Clan at the mountain’s foot to halt everything, all raising their eyes to the main peak of Mount Kunlun.
And then, one by one, their pupils dilated, and they froze in place.
The pursuers forgot their chase. The fleeing forgot their lives. For beneath that sight, the rivers and mountains became mere backdrop, while they themselves were nothing but insects and fish clinging to rivers and mountains.
From the summit of Kunlun, light erupted in a circle, dispersing the clouds in the heavens.
Afterward.
Atop the mountain, an even greater Divine Peach Tree was born.
Its growth was unbelievably fast, pushing the original peach tree aside, directly occupying the Ritual Altar and the place where the Divine Stone stood.
Then the clouds and mist of Kunlun’s peak grew even stronger, multiplying severalfold in an instant.
What was worse—
The mist spread downward from the main peak, as if to engulf the entire land. In the blink of an eye, it was about to cover the battlefield where the Ximu Clan and Hanhuang Clan fought.
At that moment, the shock on the faces of the Hanhuang Clan and Ximu Clan people turned to dread.
For they were not ignorant—every one of them had once seen the strangeness of Kunlun’s peak mist.
“Run!”
“It’s coming, the fog is descending!”
“It’s over.”
Everyone ran for their lives.
Some turned over onto their horses, galloping madly.
Some who could not run in time jumped straight into the river, hiding beneath the waters, or hiding within caves.
That terrifying mist continued to spread, flooding the entire mountain’s foot.
At this moment.
The whole foot of Mount Kunlun seemed to have become a boundless sea of clouds, while that Jade Mountain seemed like a divine mountain fairyland above the sea of clouds.
When the fog finally receded, many from the Ximu Clan and the Hanhuang Clan had vanished, likely becoming part of the mist, though most still managed to escape alive.
And those who remained ran out in despair, looking back again at Kunlun’s Jade Peak.
Only then did they realize—
The entire summit of Mount Kunlun had disappeared along with the fog, never to be seen again.
“Ah!”
“Where is Mount Kunlun?”
“What’s going on, why is it gone?”
“Where did it go?”
The others were so frightened by this sight it was as if their very souls had fled. That was no ordinary mountain, but Kunlun, the mountain at the center of all mountains.
Such a vast peak suddenly missing as though it had been cut away.
For mortals, such a scene before their eyes was unimaginable. All the more since the Divine Stone and the Emperor’s shadow were upon that mountain, and now both had vanished with it.
How could they not be terrified—especially the Ximu Clan.
And through this chaos, the great war between the Ximu Clan and the Hanhuang Clan had ended.
No one cared about the battle any longer.
This time, both sides could be said to have suffered equally.
Each retreated in panic and disarray, licking their wounds.
The pastures of the Ximu Clan.
The Great Roc, after checking their numbers, was furious. Especially since this war with the Hanhuang Clan had not been part of her plan at all.
Merely because the entire tribe had delayed migration for two days, such a disaster had occurred, colliding headlong into calamity.
Fortunately, most of the tribe’s women, children, and cattle and sheep had already migrated ahead of time, so their losses were not as great.
“I told you all.”
“It was time to leave, time to leave! Why did you not listen?”
“Dragging and delaying, even starting a war with the Hanhuang Clan, dragging our entire clan into ruin, dooming my Ximu Clan forever.”
“The Emperor’s decree had been given. It was you—all of you—who brought this calamity upon my Ximu Clan.”
Those below trembled, burying their heads into the sand like ostriches, ashamed to face the Great Roc.
The Great Roc was rarely so enraged. Fear also lingered in her eyes.
Perhaps not only because of the losses the clan had suffered, but also because of the changes upon Mount Kunlun, which she could not comprehend.
Just then, someone spoke cautiously.
“Should we go up the mountain to see?”
After what she had just experienced, the Great Roc no longer dared question or delay the Emperor’s decree.
Since the Emperor told them to leave, and told them when to leave, then they had to leave.
Two days of delay had brought this.
If they delayed further, who knew what else would come.
The Great Roc’s gaze fell upon the one who had spoken, and that look alone caused the person to collapse to the ground, unable to breathe from fear.
“Go up Kunlun again? Do you want our clan to perish?”
“Go! Every last one of the tribe must migrate away from Kunlun’s foot.”
“We will return next year.”
The Ximu Clan had witnessed the Hanhuang Clan and the Female Priest bring about their own destruction. They had seen that endless mist cover countless miles. At last, they understood what it meant for Heaven to bring calamity.
It had nothing to do with them.
Even just a leak of that power from Kunlun Mountain was already an unbearable disaster for them.
North of Kunlun.
When the Ximu Clan departed as one.
The Great Roc could not ascend Kunlun to see the Emperor, but instead performed feather-divination upon the riverbank to ask the Emperor.
This time, no one in the Ximu Clan questioned her. Everyone trusted the Great Roc’s feather-divination without doubt. Especially since they could no longer ascend Kunlun Mountain, the Great Roc was, in their eyes, completely equal to the Emperor—the spokesperson of Heaven and Earth.
Only this time, the Emperor did not appear directly to her.
But He did respond indirectly—the feathers formed a special pattern, delivering a message.
“All is well, go!”
Thus, the entire Ximu Clan, half relieved and half fearful, left while gazing back at the remaining half of Kunlun’s Jade Peak.
The Great Roc rode on horseback, unwillingly looking back.
“We will return.”
And on the other side.
The southern slopes of Mount Kunlun.
This time, the Hanhuang Clan had suffered heavy losses. Two important leaders had vanished, and groups of tribesmen had disappeared into the strange mist or into the chaotic war with the Ximu Clan.
But for this land—their “sorrowful place”—the Hanhuang Clan felt no hatred or rejection.
As the surviving Hanhuang tribesmen drove their wooden carts and oxen away, they too looked back at Mount Kunlun with deep unwillingness in their eyes.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted loudly.
“We will return.”
“We must return in the future.”
“The hatred against the Ximu Clan must be avenged.”
“Nüjue and the Female Priest must still be on Mount Kunlun. They must still be alive—I can feel it.”
“They are no longer mortals, but have become the Emperor’s shamans of Mount Kunlun.”
The entire Hanhuang Clan cried out together, firmly etching the shadow of this place and all that had happened here into their hearts.
They too would one day return.
Having witnessed such a divine place, having once touched true transcendent power, having experienced such unbelievable events—
They could never return to how they were before.
Kunlun, shamans, Divine Wood, and the Blue Bird above the clouds, the immortal Wood Guests.
Each had taken root in the hearts of the Hanhuang tribesmen.