Chapter 38#

Kill That Gentleman (1)#

“Jue? Jue? Wake up!”

Shen Jue felt his body alternating between hot and cold, but someone kept speaking in his ear. Irritated, he forced his eyes open.

The person saw him awake and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Jue, you’re finally awake. The doctor said if you couldn’t wake up today, you might…” The person before him wiped away tears, then broke into a smile through the tears. “Thank goodness you’re awake. Are you hungry? There’s still hot porridge on the stove. I’ll bring you some.”

As the person rambled on, Shen Jue furrowed his brow slightly. He closed his eyes again and said after a long pause, “I… I’ll lie down a bit longer.”

When he spoke, his voice was terribly hoarse.

The person wanted to say more, but seeing Shen Jue’s tired and pale expression, they hesitated, then sat by the bed and helped him pull up the blanket.

Having just arrived in this new realm, Shen Jue’s memories were all jumbled. He lay there for a while before gradually remembering who he was now and which realm he was in.

This realm was far removed from the imperial court, having entered the world of martial arts.

The martial world was divided into righteous sects and evil cults. The sect Shen Jue belonged to was part of the evil factions, though it was only a minor one. Their sect was declining day by day, and in order to survive, the sect leader wanted to merge under the banner of the current number one demonic sect—the Ten Extremities Island. However, simply wanting to join wasn’t enough. So the sect leader sent Shen Jue and another person named Liu Xuan to the island.

The reason they were chosen was because Shen Jue and Liu Xuan were Heavenly Net Constitutions.

Those with the Heavenly Net Constitution cultivated martial arts extremely quickly, and their inner energy was far deeper than ordinary people’s. But this constitution was also very dangerous. They were like vessels, storing inner energy. Once they turned eighteen, if anyone had intercourse with them, that person would absorb all their inner energy. Over time, anyone who was with a Heavenly Net Constitution wielder would find their cultivation speed increasing rapidly.

However, not everyone could possess a Heavenly Net Constitution wielder, because a Heavenly Net wielder was bound to only one person for life—the first person they had intercourse with, regardless of gender. Even if someone else later tried to forcibly take the Heavenly Net wielder, they couldn’t obtain the inner energy they had cultivated. Therefore, some in the martial world would specifically kill their enemies’ Heavenly Net Constitution bearers.

Heavenly Net Constitution bearers were extremely rare in the martial world, and there was even a black market where they were secretly auctioned. To some extent, they were treated as objects. It was also very difficult for them to hide their constitution, because they were naturally beautiful. Regardless of gender, they all had skin as white as snow that dazzled the eyes, not to mention a pair of sapphire-blue eyes.

Even if one could hide the skin color, they couldn’t hide those blue eyes.

But the Heavenly Net Constitution bearers, so coveted in the martial world, were nothing rare on Ten Extremities Island. Too many people wanted to curry favor with the island master, and they would send the Heavenly Net Constitution bearers from their families or sects to the island, seeking protection.

It was said that there were already over twenty Heavenly Net Constitution bearers on the island.

When Shen Jue and Liu Xuan arrived on the island, they weren’t treated favorably. Instead, they were thrown into a small house in the far northern corner. In this same corner, many other Heavenly Net Constitution bearers were housed. Before receiving clear orders, they were not allowed to wander freely around the island.

In this realm, Shen Jue’s fate was no better than in his previous life.

Although the island master kept these Heavenly Net Constitution bearers, he didn’t treat them as human. What he truly loved was Sang Xinghe, the senior disciple of the Tianluo Nunnery. Sang Xinghe was a well-known gentleman in the martial world, admired by countless people. He remained completely unmoved by the island master’s affection, politely declining. But this angered the island master, who actually crippled Sang Xinghe’s martial arts and forcibly brought him onto the island.

As a result, Sang Xinghe, who had felt nothing for the island master before, began to hate him. He not only refused to speak with the island master but wouldn’t even see him. The island master had offered Sang Xinghe the Moon-Viewing Pavilion, the best scenic spot on the island, but Sang Xinghe insisted on living in the most remote Yishui Pavilion. The Yishui Pavilion was located at the highest point of the island, freezingly cold all year round. Even someone with martial arts could barely endure it, let alone Sang Xinghe, whose martial arts had been crippled. But Sang Xinghe insisted, and the island master had no choice but to send more warm supplies. Even so, Sang Xinghe’s health deteriorated further.

It was at this time that Shen Jue was sent to Ten Extremities Island.

The sect that had kept Shen Jue and Liu Xuan originally intended them for the sect leader and his son. But unexpectedly, the sect leader’s son, who was reckless by nature, forced himself on a disciple of Meihua Gu.

This caused a huge disaster.

All the disciples of Meihua Gu were women, and the sect was well-regarded in the martial world. Suddenly, Shen Jue’s sect was denounced by everyone. Already in decline, they were nearly destroyed.

So, the sect leader, in great pain, sent Shen Jue and Liu Xuan to Ten Extremities Island. The two were now seventeen, only a year away from eighteen.

After being sent to the island, Shen Jue lived like a ghost for a while. Then, seeing Sang Xinghe growing thinner and more haggard, the island master wanted to restore his martial arts. But restoring martial arts was extremely difficult, and the island master had to think of the Heavenly Net Constitution.

In the island master’s eyes, the Heavenly Net Constitution bearers were merely vessels—he himself kept two. So he decided to personally choose a suitable one for Sang Xinghe, and finally settled on Shen Jue because Shen Jue was the least likely to try and please anyone.

Sang Xinghe didn’t like the Heavenly Net Constitution, believing that only those of evil cults would use such cultivation methods.

Seeing Sang Xinghe’s aversion, the island master came up with an extreme solution: he drugged Sang Xinghe. He thought that once Sang Xinghe recovered his martial arts, he would become happy again.

But this act only tortured Sang Xinghe.

Controlled by the drugs, Sang Xinghe had no choice but to be with Shen Jue night after night. The island master, wary that Sang Xinghe might fall in love with Shen Jue, made sure Sang Xinghe never saw Shen Jue’s face. Every time they engaged in that act, Shen Jue had to wear a mask. If the mask fell off, he would be killed the next day.

Not only that, to prevent Shen Jue from speaking with Sang Xinghe, the island master had Shen Jue’s throat poisoned, rendering him mute.

As time passed, Sang Xinghe gradually recovered his martial arts. Seeing this, the island master began to consider how to dispose of Shen Jue. He thought he should handle it carefully, lest Sang Xinghe remain attached to this Heavenly Net Constitution bearer, since they were famously exquisite bed partners.

After much deliberation, the island master summoned Sang Xinghe and told him that if he could kill Shen Jue with his own hands, he would let Sang Xinghe return to Tianluo Nunnery. If not, Sang Xinghe would have to stay on the island forever.

After saying this, the island master added, “I heard your master has been gravely ill recently. Don’t you want to go back and see him?”

Sang Xinghe was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Shen Jue, who was kneeling on the ground.

Shen Jue was still wearing the mask. When he heard the island master ask Sang Xinghe to kill him, his body trembled slightly. As Sang Xinghe approached, Shen Jue shook his head and backed away. He couldn’t speak, so he could only shake his head, begging not to be killed. By the time Sang Xinghe reached him, tears were streaming from his eyes, and he clasped his hands in a plea for mercy. But Sang Xinghe still struck him dead with a single palm strike.

However, as he struck, Sang Xinghe murmured softly, “Sorry.”

The island master was stunned for a moment when Sang Xinghe killed Shen Jue without much hesitation, but then he actually let Sang Xinghe leave the island.

After Sang Xinghe descended from the island and returned to Tianluo Nunnery, he found that his master had been hounded to death by a group of righteous martial artists. There were rumors that Tianluo Nunnery possessed the ultimate martial treasure—the Xuan Yin Technique.

It was said that whoever obtained the Xuan Yin Technique would become the supreme master of the martial world.

After driving Sang Xinghe’s master to death, these people turned their attention to Sang Xinghe himself. They believed that since Sang Xinghe was the most favored disciple of the Tianluo Nunnery’s abbess, he must know where the Xuan Yin Technique was hidden.

Sang Xinghe was captured by a group, interrogated day and night, and tortured. In the end, the island master stepped in to save him. After suffering such a great disaster, Sang Xinghe saw through the so-called righteous sects. He finally let go of everything and chose to be with the island master. To be with Sang Xinghe, the island master even abandoned Ten Extremities Island, taking Sang Xinghe to a nameless island where they lived a secluded, idyllic life.

But they never knew that Shen Jue’s soul had been following Sang Xinghe all along. It wasn’t until Sang Xinghe and the island master grew old and gray that Shen Jue’s soul finally dissipated.

When Shen Jue was alive, he had been quiet and reserved. But as a soul, he became sentimental and weepy, often hiding in corners to cry. He cried when he saw Sang Xinghe being beaten, cried when he saw Sang Xinghe and the island master together—he seemed to be crying all the time. His tears vanished the moment they hit the ground, and no one noticed.

On the day Shen Jue disappeared, Sang Xinghe was leaning on the island master’s shoulder, singing a song.

That song was truly beautiful. Sang Xinghe had once sung it to Shen Jue and said that in the future, he would cure Shen Jue’s throat and teach him to sing it.

Even as an old man, Sang Xinghe’s singing was still lovely, but Shen Jue could no longer appreciate it.

He huddled in a cold, dark corner, touching his own throat. Imitating Sang Xinghe, he opened his mouth. “Ah… ah…”

But no matter how he tried, the most he could produce was a hoarse, grating “ah.”

That day, he didn’t cry. He simply disappeared.

The person who had once promised to teach him to sing had already forgotten him.

No one remembered the little mute who always wore a mask.