The Teacher’s Grace Is Like Heaven

28 – The Exit Ticket (2)

The old man looked at Bi Yan without saying a word. She was saying nothing, only shedding tears. The old man closed his eyes.

It was true that the …… sinner deserves the punishment he deserves, and that’s how it was done. However, this case was a bit special.

In more ways than one. Organizing his thoughts in his mind, the old man sighed, a sigh as deep as his wrinkles.

Before his eyes, the man known as Tianbi Yan had committed a sin worthy of the name demon. There was no denying it, but there was something covering it up. “Sometimes, once a thing goes, it never comes back.” “I know, and that’s why I can’t help but grieve, can I?” “……A person’s life is like a thread.” “The threads unwound from the skein are woven together with a needle to make a garment. And the finished garment depends on the use and type of thread.

Importantly, once the yarn is in the garment, it never returns to the skein. That was life. But…… if given a second chance?

How many people, indeed, would be able to catch it again? The old man slowly rose to his feet, avoiding his knees. Then he looked at Bi Yan and said, “I’m sorry.

“Follow me.”

“Old man, it’s time for you to let me go.”

“I’m willing to give you a chance.”

“……!!!”

It felt as if a thunderbolt had struck. For a moment, I thought I’d misheard. An illusion created by desperation.

But Bi Yan saw clearly. Something indescribable, flowing from the old man’s eyes. It was definitely not human.

So, she quickly followed the old man. As if possessed by a ghost. Curiously, the otherwise clear day suddenly became foggy.

It was so thick that she could barely see the old man in front of her.

Despite the difficulty of seeing, Bi Yan gritted her teeth and continued to follow. But even Bi Yan, who was said to be the best in the world, found it difficult to walk. It was a very difficult mountain path.

“Everyone loses something in life. Family, lovers, friends…… isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“But some people get a chance. It’s not fair that some don’t.”

“…….”

“Besides, if everyone gets a chance, it’s not fair.”

He wasn’t wrong. If everyone got a chance to get their loved ones back, just for crying out loud, that was a problem in itself.

But Bi Yan didn’t dare reply. Her heart was stifled, for she knew that it was she who had taken something precious from him.

She didn’t dare let any words escape her lips. Bi Yan remained silent, allowing the old man to continue speaking on his own.

“The laws of the world are immutable. Nothing can be an exception to them.”

“…….”

“However, every once in a while. There are those who break the law.”

There was once a filial pupil who, in the dead of winter, stripped naked to melt the thick ice of a lake in order to bring fish to her sickly old mother.

Naturally, she was unable to break the ice, and the warmth only chilled her. Still, she didn’t give up.

The heavens must have been impressed by her diligence, because the thick ice cracked, and dozens of carp inside came out to meet her.

“But…… isn’t that just a story?”

“If it’s not a story, what did you think it was?”

“……!!!”

“There are three reasons why you made the heavens move.”

One is that you carried the karma of a thousand deaths, and you realized your mistake in hindsight and tried to correct it.

The karma of a thousand deaths has always been there, and each time, the Great Garden has been strewn with countless corpses and blood. By comparison, the murder you committed was the blood of a bird’s foot.

But you suppressed that killing in yourself, which I dare say you were proud of, and secondly, you repented and reflected on your sins,

and the hellish torments you have endured.

Your tears have been heard by the sages of heaven themselves, for in the eyes of the sages, your sufferings are comparable to the deepest hells. And, finally, the third. Your grace, I dare say, is heavenly. Your willingness to sacrifice your own life for the sake of your student, even in the afterlife, touched the hearts of the sages. Bi Yan, who had listened to the old man until the end, was stunned. The old man looked at her and spoke.

“Your master himself knelt before the ancients and apologized to them, searching for those you killed in the afterlife.”

“……!!!”

“Of course, he didn’t hear anything nice. He was cursed at, spat upon, and even beaten.”

Nevertheless, your master knelt down and bowed his head, a sight that moved the heavy hearts of the adepts.

I couldn’t hear the rest of it. The hot iron was a raging pain in my stomach. Alas, Master. My Master.

Like a burst dike, the tears continued to flow, unstoppable, but it wasn’t all over yet. The old man looked at Bi Yan and said.

“There are two paths for you. One is to reincarnate as you are and choose a new life.”

“…… What is the other?”

“What do you think is the deepest hell in the world?”

The old man was silent for a moment, and then he sighed. “What do you think is the deepest hell in the world?” he asked. She shook her head and answered.

“I don’t know.”

“The deepest hell is the Netherworld, where nothing exists.”

“……?!”

There is no light, no space to move your body, even your arms and legs, and you can’t even breathe.

There, you will resent having limbs on your body, and you will feel the urge to put your hands in your mouth and squeeze your lungs.

That is the netherworld to which the worst sinners go, just by hearing the words. Bi Yan shuddered in horror.

“If you choose the second path, you will fall there.”

“How long is the time limit?”

“One hundred years.”

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“……!!!”

“That one hundred years will wash away your remaining sins. And…….”

“Master, is it possible for us to meet again?”

The old man nodded heavily. However, this was not a path he dared to recommend. Rather, the old man tried to talk her out of it.

“The path is far more painful than you realize,” he said, “for no infernal sinner has ever endured it, not even the Netherworld.”

“Your mind will be ravaged, and your memories will be deposited and scattered.”

“…….”

“In the end, you will not know what you are, only that you suffer.”

“Suffering without purpose is nothing more than torture.

Of course, one could not endure such excruciating pain if one forgot what one had chosen to suffer for.

Biyun knows this. Nevertheless, she answered right away. There was no hesitation on her moving lips. How could I have passed up the opportunity to meet you, a genius?

“I have yet to say anything to you, Master.”

“…….”

“Therefore, there is only one path for me to take.”

“Even if it is a path of hardship. Never hesitate, never regret,

only move forward, steadfastly,

just as the Master did for me.

* * *

I don’t know how much time has passed.

His chest felt like a boulder. My immobile arms and legs were nothing more than nuggets of lead, but my mind was still intact.

If only I could sleep, if only I could lose consciousness, but I can’t even do that. It’s an unimaginable agony.

However, Bi Yan was keeping her wits about her. She continued to think.

And every time she did, she regretted it: why hadn’t she been better, why hadn’t she been more honest, why hadn’t she been with him more.

It didn’t matter that the darkness had fallen before her eyes. Already, since the day she lost her Master. She had been living in darkness.

But in the infernal darkness that had always been with her. Slowly, a ray of light began to shine through. Biyun sat up, eyes wide.

Everything was the same as it had been the day before. The sun had sunk into the night sky, the cold spring breeze blew in, and…… the house she had seen again and again.

“……What’s up?”

I heard a familiar voice. A voice I’d heard over and over again in my head, more times than I could count, a voice I could never forget.

Something indescribable stirred deep in my chest. His body was already moving, and it was still moving.

I wondered if my unconscious master was dying, if he was dying because of me again. Everything was like night.

I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I was back in that hell. However, the darkness is slowly lifting.

“……Similar?”

Just like that day, the tears came again. It was as if I was back then. I thought I was grown up now, but the tears kept coming.

In the end, she cried like a child and fell into her Master’s arms again, just like that day. The words she hadn’t gotten to say escaped her lips.

Thank you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

And I love you, I love you more than anything.

So, please, don’t leave me alone.

My sun, my light, my sky.