一一[Sky Burial]

  **Chapter 1

  The sun had just risen, and the rooster crowed loudly. The morning dew still clung to the branches as the birds busily searched for food. Cang Yue rubbed her drowsy eyes, vaguely recalling a dream of a white-bearded old man with an impossibly long beard.

  "Where do you come from, and where are you going, White-Bearded Grandpa?" young Cang Yue asked. At this time, she was in the bloom of her youth. From her parents, she learned that she was thirteen this year. The other brothers and sisters in the village had already married, and her parents planned to find her a husband in a couple of years so she could settle down early. But Cang Yue strongly opposed this—she didn’t want to be tied down by marriage. She hadn’t even had the chance to see the world beyond.

  "From the wind I come, to the rain I go. A single flower holds a world; a drop of rain transforms the universe," the white-bearded old man replied.

  "From the wind, to the rain... Grandpa, your words are too profound. I don’t understand! Your beard is so long—are you a god?"

  "In the distant Divine Ancient Era, the blood of demons was sealed, the Devouring Evil Demon Gods existed, and the Buddha’s forsaken body remained. The epochs have shifted, and the world will soon fall into chaos!" the old man murmured. "I truly hope you can find hope."

  "Grandpa, what are you talking about? I don’t understand at all. Can you explain it more clearly?"

  "Time does not wait. If you wish, you may seek me at Mount Taishang," the white-haired elder said before dissolving into a wisp of smoke and vanishing.

  Cang Yue felt she hadn’t even had the chance to ask anything before he disappeared. Then, strangely, the dream ended, and she woke up.

  "Xiao Yue, get up and feed your Qilin!" a voice called from outside the window.

  "Yes, yes, it won’t starve to death even if it goes hungry for three days," Cang Yue grumbled in response. The voice belonged to her grandmother. The so-called "Qilin" was actually a short, chubby little reddish-brown horse, not a mythical beast at all.

  "Grandma, where are my big brother and second brother?" Cang Yue asked, looking around.

  "They went hunting with your father and uncles," her grandmother replied.

  "And my mother and aunts? Why don’t I see them either?"

  "They went to the market early to buy fabric. You were sleeping so soundly, they didn’t want to disturb you," her grandmother answered unhurriedly.

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  "Dad and Mom promised to take me out with them. How could they leave without me? Xiao Yue isn’t a little kid anymore!"

  Her grandmother chuckled. "Xiao Yue, if you’re not little, then why does everyone call you Xiao Yue? Go check on your little Qilin and see if it finished last night’s hay."

  "Hmph! That glutton? No need to check—I already know the trough is empty," Cang Yue huffed.

  "Grandma, tell me something—do gods and ghosts exist in this world?" Cang Yue tugged at her grandmother’s sleeve.

  "Don’t talk nonsense. There are no ghosts in this world."

  "What about gods?" Cang Yue pressed.

  Her grandmother touched Cang Yue’s forehead. "Child, you don’t have a fever, so why are you spouting such nonsense? Maybe we should call a doctor to drive away the delusions in your head."

  "Grandma, I’m not sick at all! I’m perfectly healthy!" Cang Yue continued to plead, shaking her grandmother’s arm. "Good Grandma, the best grandma in the world, just tell me—are there gods or not?"

  "No, there aren’t. What’s gotten into you today? You’re never like this!"

  With no other choice, Cang Yue walked away dejectedly and headed toward the stable to check on her little horse, Qilin. The creature stood no taller than three feet, with stubby legs no longer than a foot. Its entire body was covered in red mane, and its tail stuck up high, wagging left and right. It seemed overjoyed to see its little mistress coming to feed it, hopping around excitedly.

  "Everyone says you’re fat, and it’s true. A three-foot waistline, a round belly—no wonder you can’t run fast," Cang Yue muttered.

  Just then, a voice came from behind her. "Maybe you should ask your grandfather."

  Cang Yue suddenly realized. "Oh, right! I forgot about Grandpa! He’s traveled so many places—maybe he really knows something!"

  "Grandpa! Grandpa! Where are you?" Cang Yue ran toward the backyard, where an old man was bent over, chopping firewood. He wore simple blue clothes, his beard half-black, half-white, his eyes filled with an indescribable depth—perhaps the mark of a man who had seen much of the world.

  "Have you fed your little horse yet, Xiao Yue?" her grandfather asked, pausing with the axe in his hand.

  "That thing doesn’t need feeding. I bet it could go hungry for three days—no, ten days—and still be fine," Cang Yue muttered under her breath.

  "Take good care of it. It might prove useful someday," her grandfather said.

  "Useful? It eats the most, poops the most, and can’t even run fast. Looks like I won’t be joining the October Festival this year," Cang Yue complained.

  "Ah, don’t be impatient. You must build a bond with it. The fate of this world lies in the unpredictable..."

  "What did you come to ask me? If it’s about your brothers, they left long ago," said her grandfather, Hu Yizong. In his younger years, he had traveled to the sacred mountains, the border deserts, and the snowy lands of the north, gaining vast experience.

  "Grandpa, I have a question for you—but you can’t hit me for asking!" Cang Yue said, acting coy.

  "What is it?" Hu Yizong asked.

  "Grandpa, do gods and demons exist in this world?"

  "Who told you to ask such a thing?" Hu Yizong frowned.

  "No one! I just wanted to ask myself," she said, not daring to mention her dream.

  Her grandfather gazed toward the distant cosmos. Cang Yue followed his gaze, but all she saw were dark, oppressive clouds—nothing else. After a long silence, Hu Yizong slowly murmured to himself:

  "Legend says that in the ancient, ancient past, when the heavens and earth first separated and chaos still reigned, there was a Divine Ancient Era. Demon Monarchs, Divine Lords, Immortal Envoys, Demon Kings, and Buddha Emperors coexisted... But as the epochs shifted, everything was buried, and all souls returned to the Nine Netherworlds."