Chapter 126 - Address to New Beginnings - Draft

Dao of the Web is being professionally edited for Kindle Unlimited. This could not have been possible without your support (literally. I am paying the editor with Patreon money).

Thank you.

[Table of Contents]

Wang Gangbao stared up at the distant sky. It was dark except for that one spot where the heavens seemed to have been painted with a brush, showing moving pictures of a happening from far away.

In the moving picture, the young madlander boy who had the favour of the foxes opened his lips.

“People of Dim Gold City. I am Ziyou Yung, an orphan born of a Youjin maiden and a madlander man, and today I stand before you as a representative of the Su Fox Clan who command the heavens.”

The wind rustled, and it was as though the madlander boy’s words were sounding from beside Wang Gangbao’s ears.

“There’s qi in the wind,” Ding Shi said. She stood beside Gangbao, entwining her fingers with his.

She was a cultivator now. She could see things like qi.

In the moving picture in the sky, the young madlander boy continued.

“With the whole world as witness, the heavens have brought down their wrath today. Justice has been served to those who thought themselves untouchable. To those who play meek in front of the strong and strong in front of the weak. To those who ruled with fear, to those who stole what belonged to another. The heavens saw it all, and in its gracious mercy, have flayed the most nefarious of these sinners with its blinding lightning.”

Ziyou Yung said without a pause in his breath, as if the words had long been written and he only uttered them now.

“But this is not the end. There is more to come,” the madlander boy’s words continued.

Wang Gangbao’s heart pounded hard. He had not forgotten what horrors had happened to his wife. Ding Shi squeezed his hand hard, taking care not to crush it with her qi.

The girl was new at being superhuman. The fox in black, Su Haochen was his name, had told them he would find a master for her.

All around Wang Gangbao, the patrons gasped and whispered. They could have spoken and shouted, but by some unwritten promise, no one even thought about raising their voice, lest it cover up Ziyou Yung’s declaration coming from beyond.

By now, the restaurant should have been long closed, everyone in sleep’s embrace. But today was a special day.

A day the strong fell.

Wang Gangbao waited with bated breath. As did his wife. The coolie, his little sister. The patrons. Merchants. Farmers. Hunters. Smiths.

Every single soul in Dim Gold City waited to hear what the olive-skinned youth had to say.

For they knew, after today, Dim Gold City would never be the same.

***

“What you have seen today is merely the beginning,” Yung said. He stopped again, letting the words sink in.

<Undaunted Darkness: You’re repeating yourself.>

Yung couldn’t even type back a reply because wiggling his finger in midair would not look the most elegant in the Light Transmission Token.

But before the breath was over, Miss Maid came to the rescue.

<Graceful Wind: Perhaps it would be best to talk about reparations? M’lady would be more than happy to claim the throne above all, hence how about telling the masses that every soul is equally inferior to her, hence equally the same to each other in their inferiority? Not that I believe that. I am better.>

Yung waved his hand grandiosely. He had read in books that grand gestures with the upper body would show a man’s charisma.

"The heavens have shown us that no one is above the law," Yung said. "No one is beyond accountability. The cultivators who have oppressed, who have abused their power, have faced their reckoning today for that very reason. Not only have they sinned against the heavens with their shameful conduct, but they have also brought shame upon the great Su who allow us to live like civilized humans in this era of chaos and void.”

Yung looked around. His eyes crossed many who stood around the area of the penitentiary. He saw Youjin Liu, with a strange twinkle in his eyes. He saw Ziyou Maque, crossing his scarred arms, his braided hair rocking in the wind.

Their kin were present. Some showed apprehension, others hate.

As for the thousands of mortals.

There was only one emotion worth mentioning.

Hope.

“In the land of Su, we all live for the Su. We live in the grace, and in return, we honour their name. Under the Su who stand amongst the immortals in the heaven, we are all equal. You, me, the Youjin Clan. The native ren, the madlanders, the Westmoon Xiyue clan. The Free Sparrow gang, the Dawn Dragon Throne. We are all part of their flock.”

<Graceful Wind: Perhaps that is a bit too dogmatic. There is talk that you bootlick even in such serious moments, although your reputation as a gigolo precedes such mockery.>

“And in her flock, we are all equals! Yes, the cultivators are stronger than mortals. Yes, the likes of the Dawn Dragon Throne and the Westmoon Xiyue, the Dim Gold Youjin and the Selenosilver Valley wield power that may have us doubt that we cultivators and mortals are equal. But trust me, people of Dim Gold City, and trust in the heavens. We are all equals, and that is the truth.”

A low murmur rose.

Yung saw the Flareful Empress tut, Elder Han Xinglou scowl. Even the plump elder from the Victorious Tide Island and Youjin Gengxin had sombre looks on their faces. Only the flat-faced elder from the Twilight Blood Palace showed no reaction. As always, he was hard to read. And his Empathic Link proved that he found it all troublesome.

“But it’s also true that cultivators are stronger. They live longer. They have more wealth, power, and authority. But all these boons that they use to bully the weak, all these are given to them by the heavens as gifts! They have the talent to soar through the skies, to protect the weak from the threats that lurk beyond it. They live longer, to guide the mortals through dark, uncertain futures by seeing the bigger picture. Cultivators, they are not meant to be our rulers. They are the blade of mortals that slay all foes from the void. They are the torch that drives away darkness. The gate that hides the shadows.”

<Undaunted Darkness: Rude.>

<Graceful Wind: Some personal vulnerability, as the sages say, makes for great bonding catalysts.>

“I… I, do not know my mother. Nor do I know my father. I was raised by my Grandfather, cast out from the Youjin Clan because of the colour of my skin. I could cultivate, but I never had the talent. Stuck in the first stages for years, mocked by my peers. Those who should have been my friends, my family. It was only after meeting my mistress, my saviour, my queen Su Nanya, the Honoured Revived Grace from the South that I learnt I was worthy! Worthy of being loved. Worthy of having a life. Worthy of living like a true ren and worthy of having hopes and dreams for the future. Do you know why? Because I believe in my heart that from what I have seen from the Honoured Su Princess, that even she and her clan who stand at the very peak of this Last Ascension Mortal Plane’s hierarchy think that they are merely the compass that guides mortals in the darkest of nights.”

Yung breathed hard and strong. Exhale out, inhale in. His mind no longer saw the messages sent by Miss Maid. She might have noticed, as she stopped sending more.

It was as though Yung was in the zone. What started as a speech crafted to persuade and manipulate turned into a flood of feelings. True and raw.

Yung gasped, then spoke anew.

“They… They are strong. Stronger, so high above that the likes of the Baishui Clan and Zheng Clan that the latter are nothing but mere dirt under their shoes. As am I, nothing but trash. I should have been nothing but a disposable pawn, an oddity that intrigues, especially to one such magnificent as the Su Princess. But she saw me, the truest of me, and took me in her arms. She nurtured me and told me that I was not nothing. I was Ziyou Yung, and I matter!”

<Undaunted Darkness: Is this a confession? Public show of love?>

<Graceful Wind: Shush. Don’t distract him.>

“We all… we all matter. No matter if you are a chef who runs an old restaurant, a coolie who carries baskets, a courtesan sold to brothels, or a madlander child never knowing respect as a ren. You matter, whether you are a cultivator of the clans, blue blood and privileged, or a rogue hunter of the winds, no home to call your own. You all matter, and you are all gifted in different ways by the heavens. All that heavens want in return, is for you to use that gift in a responsible way.”

But look at what has been happening! Cultivators use the gifts of the heaven to oppress, to take. To plunder and rape! The heavens saw the wrongs, and the heavens judged the sins. That is why today, the lightning fell from the skies to take away the gifts from the unworthy. The sinners have been punished. And in this land marked as a Sanctified Enclave, a reward from the heavens to the Honoured Revived Grace From the South for slaying a

 horrid Evil Wraith, I pray from today that let the heavens keep a watchful eye for future sins too. I do not know if it will—”

<Undaunted Darkness: Liar.>

<Graceful Wind: Lying is bad.>

“But I hope that it does… But what about those who have lived in fear? What about those who have suffered in silence? The heavens have punished the guilty. Yet such punishment does not wash away the tragedies of the past.”

At those words, the crowds shifted once more. Murmurs rippled through them like waves, and as though coming from everywhere in the universe, worship flooded Yung like a gentle but unstoppable tsunami.

“Do you know why I dare to hope? Because I know it in my bones, and have heard it in the words of the world itself when it rained down thunder on behalf of the damned,” Yung said, his voice softer but no less powerful.

“The heavens demand more than just punishment. They demand reparation. They demand a future where such atrocities cannot happen again. And it starts with us. It starts with each and every one of you.”

He raised his hand, and the azure gusts swirled, lifting the bandages from the carts of wounded evildoers, revealing their broken forms. Charred like husks, wrapped like corpses.

Groaning with pus and pain.

The sight elicited gasps and cries from all over the city. Many had heard of this scene, and many had seen them whilst Yung made his round in the caravan of carts. But many more hadn’t, and to watch it now in the mirror in the sky was too surreal an experience to put into coherent words.

These were the people who had terrorized them, now reduced to helplessness.

"Look at them," Yung said. "Let this be a reminder. Let this be a warning. But also, let this be a call to action. We must rebuild our city as the heavens deem it. We must create a society where justice is not a rare occurrence but a constant presence. Where everyone, cultivator and mortal alike, is held to the same standard."

Far away, Wang Gangbao felt tears prick his eyes.

Many felt the same. And for the longest time, what was uttered by Yung was more than any mortal in the city had dared to hope for. A future where children could grow up without fear, where all could dream without limits. The young chef looked around and saw the same hope reflected in the faces of those around him. His wife, the coolie, the patrons too.

"The Youjin Clan and the Free Sparrow Gang, and the Zheng and Xiyue clan too,” Yung continued, "have much to answer for. But they also have much to offer. They have resources, knowledge, and power. You have all seen this, when under the Su clan’s demand and the princess’s guidance, these resources were used to better the city. To clean the Dirt Stream, to build houses for the poor. To set up clinics for the ill, and schools for the young. After all, was it not because of these very actions that the heavens in the first place thought it worthy to grant the Revived Grace From the South a Sanctified Enclave as a reward for slaying the Evil Wraith?”

<Graceful Wind: … It would perhaps make me happier if you didn’t only sing song of the mis—…the Matriarch calls me. Wrap it up soon. I have to recall my Azure Gale Vulpines.>

“These resources, knowledge, and strength must never again be used not for oppression, but for the betterment of all. These talents must never again be a blade pointed at mortals, but the enemies of ren and yao who wish to take our lives from us!"

Yung turned to Patriarch Youjin Liu, who stood impassively by the gates. "Patriarch, do you accept this responsibility on behalf of all cultivators in Dim Gold City?"

Youjin Liu stepped forward, his face calm. "I do," he said. “Let it be known today and forevermore, under the gracious Su and the supreme heavens, we Youjin will follow their will if it means we can make up for our past wrongs.”

Yung nodded, then looked at the sky. "The heavens have spoken. Now it is up to us to listen. To act. To build a future where we are all free from fear, where we all have the chance to thrive. Let this day be the first of many steps towards that future."

The azure gusts swirled once more, taking Yung’s voice higher and higher.

“People of Dim Gold City. Today for you is a day you will never forget. We have conquered the gate to a Lost plane, and the heavens reward every one of us with the Sanctified Enclave. It is a day of happiness. Today marks a new beginning. So, from dawn henceforth and in nine short but auspicious days, we shall pray and prepare.”

The Light Transmission Token's image began to fade. In nine days, two weeks would be up.

Coincidentally, in nine days, it would also mark the beginning of the ninth month of the year.

“I am Ziyou Yung. I am madlander, and I am a mere renyao like you.” Yung stopped. He had no plans for ending today’s good fortune with just a speech, “And as a servant of the Su, I call forth a celebration! The month of new beginnings, the month of redemption. With food, fairs, and football, let us wash away the tears of the past and hope with opened eyes, we do better in the future.”

Yung was done. He was tired. He needed a nap. But on a whim, he decided to add one more thing, “The Sects and Clans will foot the bill. So come with me and let us make merry.”

The Light Transmission faded, as did his voice. For a few short moments, no sound was uttered throughout the whole city.

But all at once, that was broken by a thunderous roar of joy and happiness of hundreds of thousands of souls all throughout the city, scaring the emerging daylight out of all the fiends that lived in the forest around.