Chapter 116 - Secrets of the Painting
As she spoke, her words hit Su Ming directly. Her quiet explanation of someone lying to themselves to avoid facing the reality of their choices triggered a trace of his own guilt. He had died on Earth alone and woken up in this dangerous world, leaving behind everyone he had ever known.
Even though no one was waiting for him back there, the longing was there.
He often told himself he only cared about survival and about climbing the cultivation ladder. But deep down, was he also lying to himself? Was he trying to pretend he was detached, when in reality he had already begun to care for the disciples and the allies on this peak?
The study fell silent. Su Ming stared at her, his breath audible. The quiet weight in her voice resonated with his own buried thoughts, while her eyes mirrored the silent grief of her own losses. Her parents, the elders and junior disciples of Medicine Valley who had been left behind.
He let the silence stretch between them, his eyes drifting back to the yellowed paper.
For a moment, the study felt as vast as the sky depicted in the canvas.
He did not speak. He could not speak. He did not want to voice a truth he was not ready to admit.
Then a sudden, warm hum came from the desk.
The yellowed paper of the scroll began to glow. The faded ink lines of the mountains shifted and began to flow like water. Under their eyes, the dust-like star markings expanded, transforming into a swirling sky of gold and blue starlight that seemed to pull the eyes into its depths.
The Sorrow Intent had recognized their comprehension of the sorrow, and it cracked open.
The painting was now alive, starlight swirling across the canvas, as the mountains stretched up to the horizon. The glowing light spilled over the edges of the table, bathing the quiet study with an ethereal illumination.
Bai Qingxian let out a trembling breath, her shoulders tensed and then slowly relaxed. She stared at the glowing canvas, her eyes reflecting the swirling gold and blue starlight like two deep pools of water.
A melancholic expression settled over her face. The sight of the swirling stars brought back the quiet nights she had spent in Medicine Valley before the disaster, the nights when the sky was clear, and her family was whole.
A sharp ache rose deep within her chest as she took in the enchanting canvas.
"It is beautiful," she whispered, her voice carrying a trace of a crack that she could not entirely hide. "It feels... so alive, yet so distant. It is like looking at a memory you can never touch again."
Su Ming watched the starlight reflect on her face. For the first time, he saw past the professional mask of the Senior Physician, catching a glimpse of the vulnerable girl underneath. His own chest tightened.
The swirling blue and gold patterns looked more familiar. Mentally, he let out a silent chuckle.
’Wang Go, Starry Night, I get it now...’ But he was not going to speculate on that.
But now, he found a deeper meaning to the painting. Perhaps the creator’s sorrow was his inability to find his home after all.
A home that was now lost to him as well. He felt that reminder again that he did not truly belong here.
Yet, as he looked at Bai Qingxian standing beside him, the isolation felt slightly less loud. He realized they were both reminders of their lost worlds, clinging to the memory of their pasts.
"It is indeed a memory," Su Ming said, his voice quiet but steady.
Bai Qingxian turned her head to look at him, the starlight reflecting in the dampness at the corners of her eyes. She did not wipe it away, allowing the silent vulnerability to remain between them.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke, letting the quiet light of the painting fill the room.
After a few minutes, Bai Qingxian let out a soft breath, her eyes widening as she focused back on the scroll. "The true form of the painting is out."
Su Ming, however, did not move. He activated his Essence Sight, staring at the canvas.
Through his vision, the swirling starlight faded, resolving into a dense grid of complex coordinate energy lines that still held the canvas closed. Beneath the complex outer layer, he saw several hidden runes pulsing with a grey light. They were the true anchor points of the barrier, completely hidden beneath the surface.
"Wait," Su Ming said, his eyes fixed on the painting. "There is a secondary seal underneath."
Bai Qingxian blinked, her brow furrowing as she scanned the scroll. "A secondary seal? I do not feel anything else. The painting is active. If there is a barrier, it must be hidden beyond standard spiritual senses. Is this some sort of hidden array seal?"
"Yes," Su Ming replied. "It looks complex, something space-related, and time as well."
Su Ming did not explain much. He had a simpler way.
"Let me try," Su Ming said.
Activating the Halo of Insight to sharpen his comprehension and using his Essence Sight, Su Ming guided his spiritual energy past the complex pathways, targeting the hidden runes directly.
Bai Qingxian watched him with confusion, her tensed posture showing her rising worry. "Wait, Su Ming? What are you doing? If you are not careful enough, you will ruin the painting. We will need an expert to help us."
To her, he was simply staring blankly at the active starlight, his hand hovering over the paper. She could not see the invisible lines of energy he was tracing, nor could she feel them.
Suddenly, Su Ming raised his hand and pressed his finger directly onto a blank spot on the canvas. To Bai Qingxian, it looked like a reckless injection of raw energy into an empty space for no apparent reason. She opened her mouth to warn him, but the words died in her throat.
Under his finger, the invisible rune shattered under the direct pressure of his Qi. With a cracking sound like breaking ice, the secondary seal shattered.
At that instant, Su Ming felt a sharp resonance directly in his soul, a sudden sensation of weightlessness that made his head spin.
Before Bai Qingxian could even ask what he had done, the swirling starlight on the canvas expanded, rising off the canvas like a tidal wave. The glowing blue and gold light swallowed both Su Ming and Bai Qingxian, pulling them into the painting.
The study fell silent once more, leaving only the glowing scroll resting open on the wooden desk.