Chapter 29 Heaven Beyond The Heaven

Thunder broke through the dark sky, and heavy rain poured down mercilessly. A ray of light passed over Yongzheng and Xue Horan. Xue Horan felt so disappointed he feel he want to hold onto something to help he realized that he is still alive. He fell forward into Yongzheng's arms and hugged him tightly. He started sobbing. They don't know how long they have been kneeling and hugging, the heavy rain has passed. Yongzheng picked up Xue Horan, and they sat next to a tree. Xue Horan, who was still crying, leaned on Yongzheng's left shoulder and continued to cry bitterly.

In the middle of the night, Xue Horan stopped crying, but his head was still resting on Yongzheng's left shoulder. Xue Horan's arm was tightly wrapped around Yongzheng's left arm.

After a long silence, Xue Horan said with a broken heart, "I always thought that life in this world is always as beautiful as life in Butterfly Island. Where there is no heartaches. Where love always remains the same." He sniffed. "I'm too stupid, my mother is right, I'm too stupid and naive, not suitable for Central Plans. I think…I think as soon as I found Zhen ge, I will prove to my mother that she is wrong…I…"

Yongzheng said, "It's not your fault. If the environment is good, life is always good; if the environment is not good, you will see the dark side of human nature, which cannot be described in words."

Xue Horan said, "Yongzheng, have you ever liked someone so much and you are willing to allow the person to be with someone else?"

Yongzheng said, "Not yet." He looked at Xue Horan. "I'm covered with scars, but I chose to stand up instead of being defeated by something beyond my reach."

Xue Horan repeated, "Not be defeat by something beyond my reach…." He thought he was a good match for Rao Zhengsheng, but he didn't expect him to guess wrong. He thought he had touched Rao Zhengsheng wholeheartedly, but he took his credibility too high. Now he asked himself, does Rao Zhengsheng love him like the way he love Rao Zhengsheng, the kind of love that transcends brotherhood, friendship, and sibling? Then he remembered that night of the full moon, Rao Zhengsheng and Yuan Xiurong were standing in the moonlight, making them look like a secret meeting between Chang'e and You Yi under the moonlight. "Yongzheng, would you mind if I rest my heartaches on your shoulder tonight?" Before Yongzheng could react, he leaned on Yongzheng's left shoulder and closed his eyes.

Yongzheng stared at the innocent Xue Horan. He let Xue Horan rest Xue Horan's heartaches onto his shoulder, who would want him to put his heartache on their shoulders. He has done too many heartache things in the past, and one shoulder may not be able to bear all the heartaches.

Yongzheng thought about it, if he hadn't met his shifu, he would still be a person without a name, a merciless person who didn't know the mercy of the world. His hands would still be smear of blood, and the lives taken by his sword will still continue to accumulate.

The rain that day was as heavy as the night rain tonight. The woman desperately carried the child and ran away from Yongzheng, but her right calf was severely injured by his sword, and blood spewed out heavily. The woman didn't know, her calf was bleeding, leaving a very good blood trail for Yongzheng. He is not in a hurry. He followed the woman slowly, waiting for the woman to get tired and give him her life.

After an hour of cat and mouse, Yongzheng followed the woman's blood and entered a tall stone shire. He walked inside the stone shire. Right in front of him, he saw the woman holding the child, begging the Taoist to help her child. Then she fainted from exhaustion and blood loss.

Yongzheng's sword pointed at the old Taoist. He said, "Just leave if you don't want to die."

Liang daoshi smiled and said to Yongzheng, "My life is given by my parents, and I rest my fate inside the will of heaven. My life is not for you to take. Only heaven can take my life based on my karma."

Yongzheng said, "Don't stick your nose into other's problem, it might cause you your life."

Liang daoshi clasped his hand together, "You cannot decide life or death, only heaven hold that right." He looked at Yongzheng. "If you want my life, come and take it, but if you lose to me, you have to be my disciple and a Taoist. Within three hundreds moves, if you can't defeat me, then you can be my disciple for three years. After three years, you can leave. If you decide to stay, you must follow the Way of Tao."

Yongzheng unleashed his sword. He flew over and began to attack Liang daoshi. He knew that his sword was very fast, but the old Taoist blocked Yongzheng's attacks. Throughout Yongzheng's life, no one can withstand more than a hundred moves, but the old Taoist who can easily block his attacks.

On the last two hundred ninety-nine moves, Liang daoshi grabbed the tip of Yongzheng's sword. He said, "Every single moves is aiming for my life. You are not worthy of this lightening sword. This sword is used to protect the innocent and weak. You shamed your shifu's name." He broke the lightening sword in half and the broken piece of the lightening sword pointed at Yongzheng's throat. "This is the three hundredth moves, and you are unable to defeat me."

From that day forward, the number one assassin of Men Of Thousand Faces vanished from the face of the Earth. The organization's assassins never really knew how each other look like, so if they met on the road on a non-missionary day, they would not know that they belonged to the same organization.

When Yongzheng became a disciple of Liang daoshi, he was given the name Yongzheng. This name was given to him to remind him that he should always be upright and never betray the innocent people whom many martial artists swore to protect. As far as he can remember, he has no name. He is called Number One because he is the best assassin out of every single assassins and also the chief of the organization.

During the years that Yongzheng and Liang daoshi spent together, he finally understood that people don't need much possessions to make them happy. A person's life is three meals a day, a straw bed, a pillow, and a blanket. If a person no longer seeks, the simplest things in life can actually make him happy. After the three-years agreement was over, Yongzheng decided not to go back to his old way of life. Those assassins who escaped from the organization knew it was best to keep their mouths close and never reveal their identity. So, from then until now, he has buried those shameful memories in his head, and until tonight, in order to protect Xue Horan, he had to picked up the sword and killed those men in black.

Yongzheng murmured quietly, "I want to tell you that you are someone that beyond my reach." He paused for a while. "But you may not want to listen to what I have to say."