Chapter 37#
Kill That Emperor (37)#
Shen Jue crouched down and extended his finger under Murong Xiu’s nose.
No breath.
He frowned and carefully reconsidered the matter of the Chiyan Ancestor. He had already made Murong Xiu willingly die by his hand—why had he still not broken free from the realm? Could it be that Murong Xiu was not the master of this realm?
No, in his previous life, the moment he killed Murong Xiu, the realm was destroyed.
Shen Jue thought it over and suddenly recalled a remark Murong Xiu had made earlier. Murong Xiu had asked him to agree to two conditions, the second being that after Murong Xiu’s death, Shen Jue could not be with Ni Xinyan. Could it be that fulfilling this condition was the key to breaking the realm?
He thought back to his previous life again. Ni Xinyan had died first, and then he killed Murong Xiu, and the realm shattered. In this life, Ni Xinyan was still alive and well. Shen Jue’s eyes widened slightly. Perhaps he needed to kill Ni Xinyan.
With that in mind, Shen Jue flipped Murong Xiu over and resolutely pulled the dagger from the other’s chest.
Blood splattered onto his face. Shen Jue wiped it off casually with the back of his hand, then went to the washroom to clean the blood off the dagger. He took Murong Xiu’s waist token, searched Murong Xiu’s study, found a map inside, and then headed out. At the entrance of the manor, he saw a horse. The horse was stained with quite a bit of blood—likely the one Murong Xiu had ridden over.
Shen Jue mounted the horse and rode toward the city gate.
At that moment, Yongle City was in chaos. The common folk had already caught wind that Murong Xiu had lost the battle, so they were sneaking out of the city in the dead of night with their bundles. The shadow of the previous city’s massacre was still fresh in their minds.
Shen Jue blended in with the fleeing populace, not drawing much attention. At the city gate, he dismounted and merged into the crowd. By now, the guards of Yongle City were extremely lax—everyone wanted to escape, who had time to care about others?
After passing through the city gate, Shen Jue spurred his horse toward the territory of Yongguo.
With the map in hand, Shen Jue did not lose his way. After traveling for just one day, he arrived outside the town that had been massacred. This town was now within Yongguo’s borders, guarded by Yongguo soldiers.
Shen Jue had once heard Murong Xiu say that Ni Xinyan’s main army was stationed here.
Shen Jue rode alone toward the city, immediately drawing the attention of the soldiers at the city gate.
They aimed their bows and arrows at Shen Jue and shouted, “Who goes there?”
Shen Jue held the reins with one hand and raised Murong Xiu’s waist token with the other. “I have urgent business to see your General Ni. This is my token. Please deliver it.”
The soldiers looked at Shen Jue suspiciously. One of them stepped forward, scrutinized Shen Jue carefully, then muttered a few words to the soldier beside him.
That soldier nodded and immediately ran down.
Before long, the city gate opened, and a soldier ran out. He took the waist token from Shen Jue’s hand and said, “Wait here,” then ran back.
The soldier delivered the token to the man who had scrutinized Shen Jue earlier. The man’s eyes lit up when he saw the token—he recognized it. This was the general’s waist token of Murong Kingdom; seeing it was like seeing the man himself.
“What is your relationship to Murong Xiu?” the man shouted to Shen Jue.
Shen Jue replied, “You don’t need to know who I am. Just tell your General Ni that an old acquaintance named Shen has come to see him with a major piece of news.”
The man hesitated for a moment, then turned and descended from the city gate.
Shen Jue waited outside the city gate for a while until he heard the sound of hoofbeats approaching.
The city gate opened from inside, and a man rode out on a large black horse at full speed.
That man was Ni Xinyan.
Ni Xinyan wore a dark mask. He galloped up to Shen Jue and abruptly reined in his horse. He gazed at Shen Jue silently for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Why are you here?”
“Murong Xiu is dead,” Shen Jue said.
Ni Xinyan seemed startled. “Dead? Killed by whom?” He paused. “You killed him?”
Shen Jue nodded.
Upon hearing this, Ni Xinyan immediately dismounted. He walked over to Shen Jue’s horse and suddenly pulled Shen Jue down from the saddle. He forcibly held Shen Jue in his arms, his eyes burning. “Did you really kill him?”
“His corpse is still in Yongle City. If you don’t believe me, you can send men to check,” Shen Jue said calmly.
Ni Xinyan let out a light laugh, clearly pleased. “No, I believe you, Shen Jue. I knew it—last time, you were just pretending to win his trust. But why did you have to do it yourself? What if he had hurt you?”
As he spoke, he began checking Shen Jue for injuries.
Shen Jue reached out to stop him. “I’m not hurt. Stop looking.”
“Alright, alright,” Ni Xinyan said. “You must be tired from the journey. Come into the city with me.”
Shen Jue glanced at the soldiers eyeing him warily from atop the city gate, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose not to act at that time. He obediently followed Ni Xinyan into the city. When Ni Xinyan saw the horse Shen Jue had ridden, he curled his lip in disdain and told Shen Jue to ride with him on his horse instead.
Ni Xinyan wanted Shen Jue to sit in front, but Shen Jue shook his head. “I don’t like sitting in front. If I have to, then I won’t ride at all.”
“Then I’ll sit in front,” Ni Xinyan said accommodatingly as he mounted the horse first. He turned to look at Shen Jue. “Come on up.”
He extended his hand to Shen Jue.
Shen Jue grabbed his hand, used a bit of force to boost himself up, and sat behind him.
Ni Xinyan took the reins with one hand and grasped Shen Jue’s hand with the other, guiding it to wrap around his waist. “Hold on tight. This horse runs fast. Be careful you don’t fall off.”
“Mm,” Shen Jue replied.
“When the men below said someone was looking for me, I didn’t think it was you at first. When I saw the waist token, I thought it was Murong Xiu coming to surrender. I was just about to tell him it was too late, haha.” In the night, Ni Xinyan’s figure was bathed in moonlight, and his voice sounded gentler than ever before. “You should have seen it. Just two days ago, I routed his army and sent them fleeing in disarray—they didn’t stand a chance against me. I never got to hear him admit defeat, and now he’s dead. He got off easy.”
Shen Jue stared unblinkingly at the man in front of him.
Ni Xinyan rambled on for a while. When he noticed Shen Jue hadn’t said a word, he turned his head slightly. “What’s wrong? Are you scared? Why did you have to do this yourself? Next time, leave this kind of thing to me.”
“Ni Xinyan,” Shen Jue called out softly.
“Hm?” Ni Xinyan turned around.
The next moment, he let out a muffled grunt. He looked down at the dagger embedded in his body and froze.
“Xiaojue?” Ni Xinyan said, stunned.
Shen Jue pushed the dagger in a little deeper. Ni Xinyan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Trembling, he pressed his hand against the wound on his side and stared at Shen Jue in disbelief. “Xiaojue, why… why are you killing me?”
Shen Jue did not look at Ni Xinyan. Instead, his eyes turned to the distant sky. Sure enough, the realm began to fade.
So killing Murong Xiu alone wasn’t enough—he also had to kill Ni Xinyan. Could it be that Ni Xinyan was also a master of this realm?
Shen Jue recalled how Murong Xiu and Ni Xinyan sometimes displayed an uncanny alignment in their thoughts and actions, as if they were the same person. Could it be that Murong Xiu and Ni Xinyan were actually one and the same?
But this was merely Shen Jue’s conjecture. Perhaps it was because Murong Xiu had seen him kill Ni Xinyan that he had willingly let the realm dissolve.
Ni Xinyan seemed not to notice that everything around him was disintegrating. He just stared at Shen Jue. After a long pause, he said, “Are you killing me for his sake? Was what you said earlier about killing Murong Xiu all a lie?”
Shen Jue’s gaze shifted slightly, resting on Ni Xinyan. Since he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Ni Xinyan was also a master of the realm, for the first time, Shen Jue offered an explanation. “No. I truly killed Murong Xiu. But I have to kill you too, Ni Xinyan. Do you know that this is the realm of you and Murong Xiu? I’ve been trapped in this realm for several lifetimes. In every single one, I died by your hand.
“I can only break the realm by killing you.”
Ni Xinyan seemed to find this preposterous. He let out a helpless laugh, then slowly reached out to touch Shen Jue’s face, his gaze earnest. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. But if you’re really killing me for Murong Xiu, there’s nothing I can do. Xiaojue, back when you pulled me out of that pile of corpses, I owed you a life. Now I’m giving it back to you. From now on, remember to smile more often. And if you don’t want to smile, then don’t force it—you look awful when you fake it…”
His voice trailed off as he slumped against Shen Jue.
Shen Jue glanced at him, then looked up at the sky, where the realm continued to recede.
…
In the past, Shen Jue’s fellow senior disciple once said to him: “Junior Brother, with how unfeeling you are, if anyone ever falls in love with you, they’ll only be asking for trouble.”
Back then, Shen Jue’s expression didn’t even flicker.
“Why should immortals concern themselves with love? Isn’t that just a mortal’s affliction? Anything tainted by love and affection only brings needless suffering. Only cultivation is the true path. Master says that if we practice diligently, we can comprehend the supreme scripture.”
The senior disciple grimaced in pain. “How did you end up with such a disposition? You were so adorable when you were little…”
Shen Jue couldn’t be bothered to listen any longer. He took his sword and walked away.
Love and affection—a self-inflicted plague.
Only by being without love can one be without fear.
Shen Jue had always reminded himself of this.
[Volume Two: The Hero and the Demon Lord Fight Over Me]