Chapter 496 — When It Is Written Into the Annals of History

" Ban Gongcuo gave a cold snort and burrowed back under the chest, grumbling: "Call me when the enemy comes! " Bai Qu'er stayed outside as well. She and Shen Mu sat on the chest; the Dragon Qilin jumped up too, lay down quietly, and was soon asleep.

"Why does the Great Venerable like to be under the chest? " Bai Qu'er wondered. Shen Mu explained, "He is keeping us safe from divine abilities that strike from below the ground.

" Bai Qu'er understood, and said, "The Great Venerable is thoughtful. " The chest stepped briskly along, heading east.

Shen Mu looked at the girl beside him.

Bai Qu'er had just lived through the upheaval of her family's ruin and her kin's death; this girl had been somewhat green and tender, but overnight a firm resolve had entered her brow, her gaze had grown bright and clear, and she had cast off her former frailty. Only now did Shen Mu notice that Bai Qu'er was not exactly like a human; she carried certain traits of the dragon race.

Hidden in her hair were two small dragon horns, concealed by two buns she had pinned up with her lovely hair.

The first time he met her he had even held her face in his hands, yet he had not noticed that pair of little horns.

Some sorrow still lingered in her brow; she wanted someone to lean on, yet she forced herself to be strong.

She was not the type of girl Shen Mu liked. From childhood the Nine Elders of Yincan Village had drummed into him that a woman's beauty lay in plumpness; the village headman, the pill master, and the cook had all told him that a girl should have a round face, a thick waist, and a big bottom. Bai Qu'er did not fit that at all. And yet, Shen Mu now felt that the way Bai Qu'er was strong within her frailty struck his heart deeply. "Are you tired?

" Shen Mu pressed down his strange feelings and said, "If you are tired, lean on me and rest a while. " Bai Qu'er murmured assent and leaned lightly against his shoulder. The Dragon Qilin's faint snoring reached her ear.

Yet she could not sleep. The moment she closed her eyes she saw the devastation of Bailong City, the figures of her mother and her uncles and elders meeting the demons from beyond the heavens in battle, the slaughter in the dark, countless people dying miserably, and her brother and sister-in-law looking back with a smile as they went to face the demons; and now and then the hideous faces of monsters in the darkness burst suddenly out of her nightmares.

"By the way, I never asked you—when we first met, you said you came here through time. " Bai Qu'er opened her eyes, leaning on Shen Mu's shoulder, and said softly, "Is it true?

" Shen Mu nodded. "Where do you come from? The past, or the future?

Is it peaceful there?

" "A very long time from now. Thirty or forty thousand years, perhaps.

Where I come from, things are peaceful enough for now—but who can say for the future.

" "Thirty or forty thousand years from now? " The girl on his shoulder was silent a moment, then murmured, "I do not know whether I can live to see that time.

Life here is too bitter—so bitter that a person cannot go on living. .

. " "You must live. The people in the chest still need you. " Shen Mu smiled and said gently, "You are stronger than I imagined. Many people—not just girls, but men too—would have broken down long ago in the face of this.

I know living is hard, but you still bear their hopes, and the hopes of your brother and your sister-in-law, and their child.

" Bai Qu'er's body trembled slightly.

She nodded.

"Will you walk on with me?

" she asked. Shen Mu was silent a moment.

"It will be light soon.

" He looked east. His voice was hoarse from a night of slaughter, yet carried a peculiar resonance: "After dawn, I will most likely disappear. I came here through a strange twist of fate—a fate I cannot see through.

The road ahead may be one you must lead them down alone.

Live. . . " Bai Qu'er lifted her head and looked at the sky paling in the east. Shen Mu stood and smiled: "Good sister, I fear I can escort you no farther.

From here you must walk alone.

" Bai Qu'er's heart was in utter turmoil.

She rose, at a loss, still holding Bai Qingfu's son in her arms, tears wetting her cheeks without her knowing.

Shen Mu cupped her face in his hands and encouraged her with his most innocent smile: "Live.

You must live! " Bai Qu'er's heart was torn. One arm held him tight, her body trembling: "Do not go—I am afraid I cannot hold on. . .

" "Perhaps every trace of me in this prehistoric world will be erased, and nothing I brought here will remain.

But I can leave behind one sentence that moved me. " The sky was gradually brightening.

The first ray of sunlight spilled over the eastern horizon, falling across the mountains and rivers; the darkness around them fled swiftly away. With one arm around the girl, Shen Mu pointed with the other at the cliff they were passing.

The Carefree Sword flew out, its strokes like dragons and serpents, and left his words carved on the face of the cliff. The sword flew back.

Before the sunlight reached them, Shen Mu held the girl—who was about to face the peril alone—tightly in his arms. Bai Qu'er clung to him desperately, as though by doing so she could keep a support to lean on.

A thread of sunlight fell upon them, and Shen Mu in her arms dispersed like green smoke. The chest vanished too, leaving behind a ground full of bewildered people. Bai Qu'er stood dazed.

Suddenly she turned her head to look at the cliff, where the words left by Shen Mu's Carefree Sword stood carved. Human life weighs more than heaven!

Bai Qu'er suddenly felt how utterly weighty that sentence was. The hopes of the people below pressed down on her shoulders all at once; their yearning gazes became a terrible pressure and a driving force. "Follow me!

" She held her brother's child and raised her arm, her voice full of power: "I will lead you out of this dead end and find a place where we can live! " Hope rekindled in the people, and they followed her in a winding line, walking into the distance. "Did you come from thirty or forty thousand years from now?

" Bai Qu'er turned back to look at the cliff where Shen Mu had left his words, then turned her head again and led the people toward the place where the sun rose: "I will live.

I will come find you!

You must wait for me! I will be here.

.

. " "To meet you again—" A reunion across ten thousand ages. Wait for me.

When you left, I never spoke my fondness aloud.

When we meet again, I hope no regret will remain.