Yang Qing sighed as he made his way down to an area filled with rich verdant vegetation. It was lush with green shrubs, grass, and trees, giving the area a tranquil, relaxing, and vibrant look which was in contrast to the state of the scant buildings in the area.
"It seems only three people left.." Yang Qing absentmindedly muttered to himself as he made his way through the run-down gate at the entrance of the area.
The gates were made of wood and looked to be on their last legs as they were bent over, and it didn't look like it would need much effort to topple them over.
Yang Qing bent over and picked up a rectangular smoothly carved wooden board. He turned it and removed the grass and dirt covering it, revealing the words 'Clear Sword River Sect'
The Calligraphy was beautiful, and the craftsmanship of the wood showed it had been done with great care.
Yang Qing sighed and walked with the board toward the area that had the densest vegetation in the area.
The grass was greener, while the trees were taller with wide canopies between them. They produce a refreshing scent in the area. The glow from the sun gently cascaded down, accompanied by the melodious chirps of birds and insects that had made those trees their home.
Despite the area lacking human presence, it seemed more alive than when Yang Qing was last here.
He walked into the lone building in the area. It was a two-storey courtyard, that had leaves all over, with vines growing around it.
It had ceased to be a courtyard and had melded perfectly with its surroundings.
"The Yin Yang jade bones and the universal indulgent of the myriad worlds are truly wonderous.." Yang Qing softly said as he took in his surroundings.
The vegetation that had grown in the area was a consequence of his actions when he was healing Wang Yi, the sect master of the Clear Sword River Sect, whose body had been damaged from cultivating dubious incomplete arts.
As he healed him, his qi had an inadvertent effect on the surroundings. Yang Qing could have controlled it at the time, but he decided to let it flow outward on a whim, which resulted in the dense forest and vegetation around the area.
After he left, the area seemed to have continued growing as he saw more trees and variety in vegetation, and now there were even animals that had started making the place their own. He wondered how much his little whimsical action would affect the area in the times to come.
"Maybe I can come to cultivate here every once in a while..." he mused as he walked into the courtyard.
Inside was the same as he had left it albeit dusty, and at the center of it, was the same person he had met when he first came here to do a sect demotion. However, unlike before the person at the center no longer had any life to him, but ironically, even though he was dead, to Yang Qing he seemed much more alive than he was when he came here.
Yang Qing sighed once more when he saw the elderly person at the center of the room. It was an elderly man with old grey robes seated in a lotus position with a peaceful smile on his face.
Before him was a desk with neatly arranged parchment and scrolls, and at the center of it, there were two objects.
One was a wine jar, and the other was a painting of a man's back fishing by the river during a starry night.
If it wasn't for the lack of life aura around him, one could easily mistake the elderly man to be savoring the taste of wine with his eyes closed, or he was in silent meditation.
But Yang Qing knew the person was dead beyond beyond doubt, and had been for at least a week.
"You went earlier than expected Sect Master Wang Yi.." Yang Qing said as he waved his sleeves producing a green wind that cleared the dust out of the area while adding a refreshing spring scent to the room.
The elderly man before him was Wang Yi, the sect master of the Clear Sword River Sect, which had been a rank 5 sect slotted for demotion into a rankless sect since Wang Yi was the only foundation establishment cultivator in the sect, and he didn't have long to live.
When Yang Qing did the evaluation with the heart stone, it had given him 63 days, and by Yang Qing's count, he still had about two weeks left.
"Seems like you made your peace with it, in the end.." Yang Qing thought to himself as he looked at his peaceful look.
Yang Qing was rather envious of it. With the complex emotions running through him, he didn't even know why he decided to stop by there.
Was it to delay delivering the news that would more than likely break Ma Yuan? So he wanted to delay that inevitability as much as he could?
Was it to seek the advice of someone with a few days to live who had experienced all that life could throw at him?
He had heard people at the cusp of death had some of the greatest clarity one could have, and maybe some part of him hoped maybe he could borrow that, especially from someone like Wang Yi, who had seen his sect fall from glory to where it was.
His company and insight would have proved invaluable for Yang Qing. At least he hoped he would.
But alas, Wang Yi was already gone.
"I hope your next life is easier Sect Master Wang Yi.." Yang Qing said as he took the wine jar from the table in front of the deceased Sect Master.
Yang Qing took out a bamboo cup and poured the wine that still remained in that jar onto his cup. The wine was misty, and chilly and had a fruity scent to it. It was the wine he had left with Sect Master Wang Yi after he had made the demotion official.
The wine was the snow peak ginseng wine. One of the few wines to come out of Jiang Fu's hands.
The wine left behind was only enough to fill half the cup.
"This scene must have left an impact on you.."
Yang Qing recognized the painting before him on the desk matched the same painting Wang Yi had given him as they were parting.
With a thought Yang Qing took out the painting he had gotten from Wang Yi, and unrolled it as he went on to compare the two.
To Yang Qing, on surface level, they seemed identical, however, the painting on the desk, despite having only been recently painted and been done with cheaper materials, it had an ephemeral quality to it when compared to the painting Yang Qing was given.
It had a quality to it, like an homage, a clarity, something Yang Qing could sense but couldn't describe.
"If you don't mind it, sect master, please let me have this one too.." Yang Qing said as he gently rolled the painting and put it in his storage ring.
He then went on to drink in silence, with countless thoughts flooding his mind as he constantly replayed today's events wondering if there was anything he could have done differently.
Some part of him even thought of the scenario in which he avoided the lake where he found Ma Yuan. If he did, then the heaviness and the guilt he felt would have been avoided altogether.
However, the lives lost, Ma Yuan's face when he said he would pick up the case, Tang Wenyan's face when he heard his great great grandfather's long-standing will could be realized, all flashed before his eyes.
"The good, the bad, this is mine now I guess.." he thought as he gulped down the final contents of his cup.
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