The Heart-Pan

Hearing the Imperial Teacher’s words, the fire that Li Huowang had been suppressing in his heart erupted instantly.

“You think I’m suspicious! Well, I think you’re the one who’s off! It’s one thing that you didn’t catch Ji Lin’s problem before, but you didn’t catch Gao Zhijian’s either! Is the Imperial Teacher just a clay decoration? Or was what the Dice said before true? That he’s actually the mole the Dice buried in the palace!”

Zhuge Yuan’s plan was originally fine! Gao Zhijian, as the Emperor of Great Qi, could have helped everything in Great Liang continue.

If the Imperial Teacher hadn’t repeatedly made mistakes, almost as if he were helping the Dice, the situation shouldn’t have ended up like this!

Hearing Li Huowang’s words, Huangfu Tiangang was furiously livid. He abruptly stood up and reached for his sleeve, but the Director of the Astrological Institute reached out and pressed a hand against his chest. The wound that had just pierced through his body reappeared once more.

Huangfu Tiangang, who had been about to deal with Li Huowang, suddenly seemed to have his soul sucked out. He clutched his wound in pain and collapsed directly back into the Grand Master’s chair.

“Enough. Let’s put an end to this. I’ll vouch for both of you. Neither of you colluded with the Zuowandao. This wasn’t just the work of one Dice. The Dices of both Great Qi and Great Liang were working the same abacus. It’s no surprise the Imperial Teacher couldn’t see through it. Judge the act, not the heart.”

Feeling the tense atmosphere ease somewhat, Li Huowang wisely said no more.

This wasn’t the time to argue with the Imperial Teacher. The real problem was the escaping Dice. The Dragon Vein affected the entire world of Great Liang. If the Dice planned to do something with the Dragon Vein, the whole realm would be plunged into misery.

“Speak. After I left, what happened?” The Director’s overlapping voice slowly sounded.

Li Huowang glanced at the Great Liang Imperial Teacher, whose face was ashen and silent, and then calmly recounted the entire sequence of events to the Director.

As he spoke slowly, more people began to enter the hall. Bai Lingmiao and Zu Yi all came in, accompanied by a gaunt, bamboo-pole-thin Daoist with a dark face, holding a horsetail whisk in his hand.

After Li Huowang had finished explaining everything that had happened, the hall fell silent. No one spoke.

Li Huowang looked at the Director, at the blurry black shadow inside his wide robe. At that moment, he suddenly felt as though there was nothing inside it at all.

Just then, the Director stood up. “Now that the Dice has seized Great Liang’s Dragon Vein, I’ll be brief. You all understand the significance of the Dragon Vein. Our goal is to take it back.”

“So, for the time being, you will all follow my orders. How about it?” Though phrased as a question, it sounded more like a command.

Any endeavor requires a leader, and the Director, by both status and power, had the right to say this.

“Director, I have no problem following your orders. But before we set out, can you tell me, what exactly does the Dice intend to do by taking over the Dragon Vein? We can’t just go in blind, can we?”

The words the Dice had shouted to the sky felt to Li Huowang like they contained a lot of useful information, but he just couldn’t parse them.

The Director did not speak. He silently stared at Li Huowang, studying him intently. Suddenly, his gaze flicked to Bai Lingmiao, who stood silently behind Li Huowang, and the silent Ao-Jing Sect members beside her.

“He wants to escape his fate of becoming Doumu’s Heart-Pan. By using Great Liang’s fate, he forcibly severed his connection with Yin-Yang Doumu.” The overlapping voice came from within the red robe.

“Then what exactly is a Heart-Pan?”

Li Huowang couldn’t help but ask. This was a question he had wanted to ask for a long time. Everything in this world was always foggy in his mind, and it was extremely frustrating.

“A Heart-Pan is a Siming’s causal connection,” the tall, gaunt Daoist who had been silently listening interjected.

“Causal connection?”

“Indeed. A causal connection. A Siming must have a causal connection to have cause and effect. If a Siming had no causal connection, they would cease to exist.”

“Then what is a causal connection? Can we stop talking in riddles and be straightforward?”

“Anything that has a cause must have an effect. The same goes for Siming. The causal connection is the past. The Heart-Pan is a Siming’s past. If the Siming who govern the Heavenly Dao are great trees, then the Heart-Pan is the seed.”

“I am a Heart-Pan… This character ‘Pan’ means that my life is destined to be entwined with the Three-Body Old One, in life and in death.” The words of his conversation with Zhuge Yuan on Apricot Island instantly sprang into Li Huowang’s mind.

“The Heart-Pan is the Siming’s seed? So the seed and the grown tree exist at the same time? Then the Three-Body Old One is Zhuge Yuan?!” Li Huowang’s body shuddered violently.

“No! If Zhuge Yuan is the Heart-Pan of the Three-Body Old One, and you say a Heart-Pan is a Siming’s past, then Zhuge Yuan is already dead! Doesn’t that mean the Three-Body Old One doesn’t exist anymore either?” A slightly agitated Li Huowang pointed at the roof beam.

“Heh heh heh. The world is vast. Who told you they only have one Heart-Pan? To be safe, they carefully cultivate many Heart-Pans. Sometimes, the Siming even take these Heart-Pans for their own use.”

“A Heart-Pan is a Siming’s past, but it is also affected by the Siming. That’s why the Dice was so desperate to shed his identity as a Heart-Pan. So, I suspect Zhuge Yuan helping the Dice was no accident. It wasn’t just him being fooled, nor was it solely because he was a gentleman. The Three Pure Ones above him wanted to help…”

“Ahem~” A light cough from the Director cut the Daoist off. “This is Zheng Boqiao, the Director of the Four Qi Astrological Institute.”

Seeing everyone looking at him, Zheng Boqiao nodded with a faint air of indifference and flicked his whisk. “I studied under the Fangxian Dao. Peace to all.”

Hearing Zheng Boqiao’s explanation, Li Huowang’s mind became even more chaotic. He really hadn’t expected that the so-called ‘Heart-Pan’ was actually this.

This world was truly insane. The Siming who governed the Heavenly Dao had no past! They had to go out and find one!

“Nonsense! How could the Heart-Pan be a Siming’s causal connection? This is just something your Supervisory Heavenly Office made up to fool the people!” The speaker was a follower of the Ao-Jing Sect, the front of his wide robe soaked with blood forming a ghastly skull-like stain. “The Siming are simply those born from the beginning of heaven and earth, the ones appointed to govern the Dao!”

“Heh heh heh.” Zheng Boqiao’s laughter was hoarse and grating. “Of course. Every Siming has a different way of finding a Heart-Pan, and their names are different. Take your Bashe, for example. It uses the Ao-Jing Ascension technique to choose a Heart-Pan. In your terms, the chosen one is called the Great Elder.”

Li Huowang’s heart jolted. This meant that since he had completed the third stage of the ascension, he had already become Bashe’s Heart-Pan?