Chapter 2303: The Obsession of Shenyin the Great
After the Great Emperor let out a sigh, there were no other sounds. He plucked the strings again, playing that sorrowful Divine Requiem.
The sound of the music lingered, but the endless sadness remained. Those who were drawn into it were unable to extricate themselves, and even Ye Futian’s soul felt that tremendous sadness. However, but he gradually perceived a feeling in all of that sadness, which was exactly what he had been seeking in the sound of the guqin.
He was an expert in music and understood that the rhythm of the music was originated from the heart. Behind every rhythm, there was a story, a feeling it tried to convey. When he plunged himself into this, it was with the intent to feel, to discover what was hidden in the Divine Requiem.
What exactly did Shenyin the Great experience to compel him to compose such despondent music? Even when it was lost, it was still remembered by later generations and included in the roster of divine compositions.
With the sound of the music, Ye Futian seemed to be getting many bits and pieces of information. What he saw in his mind’s eye did not seem to be too clear. It was somewhat elusive, like a story intertwined with many scenes that were now projected in his mind.
Ye Futian didn’t do anything deliberately but continued to immerse himself in the sound of the music to feel. He already knew that he perceived the mood. He was almost able to see the origin of the Divine Requiem.
The picture in his head gradually became clearer. With the sound of the guqin, Ye Futian’s consciousness seemed to have entered into another time and space, as if he no longer had any consciousness of the self but was now completely immersed in the mood.
With clarity, Ye Futian could see two people. One was an elegant scholar, sophisticated and handsome. The other was a woman, beautiful and sunny, with a charming smile and a gorgeous face.
Although this scholar was very young, one could vaguely discern vaguely Shenyin the Great as a young man. At that time, he was not yet so authoritative or majestic, and he did not have a strong aura. He was more like an innocent young master who exuded a delightful temperament.
In these pictures, Ye Futian saw the two learning to play guqin together from the same master, who seemed to be a very powerful individual in music. The two of them learned guqin together. Gradually, they got to know each other and fell in love.
Where they were, there was a peach tree grove that was exceptionally beautiful. The peach blossoms covered the ground just like something from a dream. They played music together and composed guqin music. This particular scene felt extraordinarily wonderful. The two were like a golden couple, and their master was very kind to them. He instructed them in cultivation and witnessed their growth and their love.
Pieces of their lives were played out quickly, jumping here and there, and they sailed in front of Ye Futian’s eyes. The two had experienced many things together, falling in love, loving each other, experienced separation, frustration, and reunion; they had gone through a lot together. In some of the scenes, the two had also experienced many major events. Ye Futian saw the continuous growth of the young scholar in white. He saw that he had caused bloodshed within an entire clan for the sake of his beloved and that his lethal music had slaughtered thousands. In the wake of the pile of bones that had accumulated, he left with the woman.
Many similar scenes ensued. During their times together, there were too many stories. Gradually, both of them had cultivated to a very high level, and their musical attainments were getting stronger as their status elevated with it. However, every few years, they would return to where they cultivated and play music together under the peach blossoms. They would take a pot of wine to visit their master, drink with him, and view the peach blossoms together.
Among those countless events, this one seemed to be repeating the most, as if it was the most important thing in his life. No matter what realm he cultivated to and no matter how many difficulties he had been through in life, he would always return to the place he was from.
Finally, the world changed, and it became heavy and oppressive. The scholar in white was no longer the same scholar in white of yesteryears but a world-renowned existence. Countless people wanted to cultivate under his tutelage. He had reached the top and became a supreme existence himself.
In that era, it seemed a bit easier to cultivate, and there were many supreme existences.
When the world was going through great changes in those years, he went through many tremendous wars, but there were not many scenes of these wars. Most of what’s been revealed were still those of him with his beloved. Until one day, there was something about the battle of the gods.
In that battle, heaven and earth disintegrated, and the world collapsed. The entire world began to fragment as the Great Path fractured. Everything was on the verge of total destruction. It was a disaster for the entire world.
And the scholar in white didn’t seem to have participated in the battle until the clan he belonged to was shattered. The peach tree grove turned into scorched earth, and his most respected master also perished. Out of anger, he finally joined the war.
However, this battle resulted in the death of his beloved woman. In his extreme pain and sorrow, he cast a white sarcophagus for her. However, in the coffin, the woman turned into a guqin, wanting to accompany him forever, fighting with him in every battle.
So, with the help of this guqin, he composed that stunning music, the Divine Requiem.
When the Divine Requiem was heard, the whole world grieved.
But in the end, he still couldn’t alter fate. The heavenly path collapsed, the world was shattered, and Shenyin the Great himself almost died in the battle. Before his demise, he incorporated his life force into the guqin and turned it into the soul of the guqin. It seemed to him that the two of them would be together forever, entombed within that white sarcophagus.
When all these scenes disappeared from his head, Ye Futian finally understood where the guqin came from. It turned out that this guqin was the final resting place of two supreme cultivators, Shenyin the Great and his beloved girl. He finally understood why this Dragon Turtle was pulling a sarcophagus moving aimlessly in the void. And he finally understood why the Dragon Turtle was making those sad bellowing.
Everything was because of that guqin.
The teacher said that they were looking for a way home. However, the heavenly path had collapsed, and the old world, destroyed. How could they find the way home?
Ye Futian couldn’t help but be reminded of that peach tree grove. The teacher of Shenyin the Great and the happy times Shenyin the Great spent with his beloved while learning the guqin together in the peach tree grove. The beautiful times he spent together with his teacher drinking, chatting, and playing music.
Even when he had reached the top, his original intention never changed. He returned often and did the same thing. He was, indeed, someone who was true to his heart. Perhaps it was because of this that he proved the supremacy of the Way and became the Great Emperor—the first man of music.
Ye Futian knew where the home was referred to by the Dragon Turtle—it was the peach tree grove. This, too, was the obsession of Shenyin the Great. He wanted to take his beloved to return to the peach tree grove once again.
However, this seemed to be an impossible dream that was destined never to be fulfilled. The world before the collapse of the heavenly path and the world today were no longer the same.