âIâm sure you donât only want to know about this unknown world, but youâre certainly not the only one in history. However, few could do it, regardless of their power.â The girl said.
âItâs true that I want to go there. A rumor alone isnât worth my time to research.â Li Qiye said flatly.
âWhat is your goal? Treasures, escaping, or other purposes?â She looked at him in response: âYou donât look like youâre running for your life because you wouldnât wait till now.â
âI could ask the same about your father.â He smiled: âHe didnât do it to escape either, then why did he go to that world? Thatâs an arduous task and your father, powerful he may be, must have paid a great price. Across the long trek of history, very few people could truly go there. For our epoch, some of the beings called dark overlords canât do it either.â
The girl pondered for a bit before replying: âI donât know what my father was thinking, but since he came back, it should be out of love for the living beings.â
âThat makes sense.â Li Qiye agreed: âThose with other intents wouldnât come back at all, since returning was death.â
âWell, if you are doing this to save your epoch, Iâm afraid you will be disappointed. That place wonât be like your imagination and wonât have the things that you want. Otherwise, my father wouldnât have come back empty-handed and my world destroyed!â
âThatâs your father, not me. Plus, who says Iâm doing it to save my world and the living beings?â He shook his head.
âThen for what?â She didnât think he was doing it to escape since there were other ways.
âFor myself.â Li Qiye said with a pensive tone: âI am only an ordinary man with no great ambitions. I fight for myself because I am me, not a savior or a devil! I fight in order to find the answer to the question looming in my mind.â
âAn answer to what?â She asked.
He smiled without answering, continuing to stare at the horizon.
âIf you want something like immortality, hmph, you should just drop that thought.â She speculated.
âImmortality?â Li Qiye shook his head: âIâm not the bravest man in the world, but death is not scary at all. Many things are much worse.â
He sighed and continued: âOne day, I will pierce through the sky and fight to the very end without looking back.â
âThe end of the world is beyond your imagination.â The girl said coldly. Her father was at the very apex of his epoch so she knew many things.
âI have experienced worse, it wonât be that special.â He chuckled.
âThen what do you think is scary? The final battle, or the Ancient Ming?â She asked.
âThatâs an interesting comment. The Ancient Ming probably wasnât there in your epoch but you know about them and even bring them up in this conversation.â He couldnât help but smile.
âI know their origin.â She uttered.
âYou didnât meet them during your epoch and you were sealed in the cloth after. I donât know what happened then.â He said.
âRight, I still know of them. The Ancient Ming wasnât the one who told me.âThe girl said.
âYour father then, or some people who relied on the darkness and came to you?â Li Qiye said flatly.
She didnât answer the question, not wanting to bring it up.
âLooks like itâs complicated.â Li Qiye said: âIâm guessing there was a traitor to your father or you, this being convinced you to join the darkness and revealed terrifying matters to you. Or, he told you that your father was hiding shocking facts from you in order to change your mind, but you remained staunch.â
He virtually knew what happened even if she didnât tell him.
âIf you think the Ancient Ming is scary, then youâre completely wrong. Theyâre only the beginning.â The girl said: âAncient Ming, darkness, even the high heaven, all arenât that scary. There are worse things going on in the background.â
âI know.â Li Qiye said: âI have traced back many sources. This will require more time and in order to understand completely, I need to go to that world for another source of reference.â
âAnd then what? Even if you could participate in and win the final battle, you might not obtain your goal. When you think you are ruling everything, the terror will begin. The Ancient Ming is only a tiny part of the terrible fog, not worth mentioning.â
âYou have only heard about it but donât really know the truth. It is still limited to speculation, a faint outline.â He smiled.
âSo what? My father knew even more but he didnât wish to tell the rest of the world.â
Li Qiye was right again. The girl didnât know all the details but after that being tried to persuade her, she went to question her father.
âSo, you donât know the real terror.â Li Qiye shook his head: âI can tell you that it is not the Ancient Ming, or the villainous heaven. The things youâre imagining arenât that scary. The real terror is the human heart. If people are pure, then nothing is scary in the world. The heart and mind are the sources of everything.â
She was moved by this statement. Perhaps the scariest thing wasnât much compared to the heart of men. Her experience was the perfect example!
Li Qiye continued with a gaze full of determination: âRegardless of the outcome of the fight, I will bravely tread forward to whichever location. Even if there is nothing at the end of the world, I will fight at the end of the end of the world!â
âYou think you can win?â She asked after a brief lull.
âTerror starts from the heart, but so does courage. As long as my heart is fine, I will be the last one smiling.â He gave her the best answer.
âMaybe you are right.â Her voice turned softer: âBut my father says, if the judgment of the high heaven isnât around, some other, worse judgments will take its place.â
âSo your father wavered.â He calmly said.
âHe would never!â She shouted with a changed expression.
âYou misunderstood me.â He explained: âIâm not saying that he stopped believing in his ideals and beliefs, but more of himself. He thought that even if he could make it to the final battle, he still wouldnât be able to save his world because like you said, there are scarier things afterward. Thatâs why your father didnât tell you the real secrets.â
She gently sighed and said: âYouâre right, thatâs why he wanted me to hide up above.â
âThat might not be useful either.â He chuckled.
âAt least there is still hope. He knew that things were much more serious than his expectation.â
âThatâs why he gave up in the end. He knew that even if he could continue fighting, it wouldnât change anything. This is also why those closest to you also chose the darkness!â Li Qiye deduced.
She fell into silence.