Chapter 11#
Exterminated.
If that were truly the case, the nature of this matter would be entirely different.
The disciple was shaken a few times by Yun Zhou but didn’t dare speak, only sighing and saying, “I dare not make a final conclusion. It’s better to let the Immortal Venerable decide.”
The room fell into silence.
Yun Zhou glanced at Xie Zhefeng but didn’t dare look directly, immediately withdrawing his gaze.
Xie Zhefeng, however, just lightly tapped the tea table with his fingertip, silent.
An Wuxue had remained still with his head slightly lowered from beginning to end.
He listened intently, and a conclusion had already formed in his mind.
The Yunjian Sect might have been like this for a long time.
When others came to visit, they were treated coldly on the first day and might not persist, so it had gone undiscovered.
If Xie Zhefeng hadn’t happened to want to investigate the “source” of An Wuxue’s talisman paper and this disciple hadn’t persevered for three days, who knows how long this abnormality would have remained unnoticed.
But Su Xue was precisely what the Yunjian Sect had offered to Zangshuanghai; the earliest this could have happened was when he appeared at Luoyue Peak.
So it must have been within these few months.
“…You seem to have thoughts.” Xie Zhefeng’s voice floated over slowly.
An Wuxue thought Xie Zhefeng was asking that disciple and continued to lower his head in thought.
But after a long while, he didn’t hear the disciple speak. Confused, he looked up and happened to meet Xie Zhefeng’s gaze.
Yun Yao was perhaps struck by the sudden disaster of his sect, his expression dazed. The disciple and Yun Zhou were both looking at him; Yun Zhou was even waiting anxiously for him to speak.
“This matter—”
He almost said what he was thinking, but suddenly paused.
“…I don’t have any thoughts,” he said. “It’s just that I’ve never heard of such a bizarre thing and am a bit startled…”
Yun Zhou took a step forward first and fell to his knees with a “thud.”
“Immortal Venerable, Su Xue has never cultivated in the Yunjian Sect; he doesn’t know. I grew up in the Yunjian Sect and can be certain that my master, martial uncles, and the sect master couldn’t possibly reply for three consecutive days and not receive guests. Furthermore, the aura of living people is gone from the sect; someone must have exterminated the sect and then created such an illusion to deceive outsiders.”
Yun Zhou lowered his head while holding his sword, his voice trembling: “I’ve heard that the Soul-Nourishing Tree spirit can reflect a person’s life and death. Yun Zhou is bold enough to ask for Luoyue’s help, to borrow the Soul-Nourishing Tree spirit and bring it back to the sect to thoroughly investigate this matter!”
The Soul-Nourishing Tree spirit again.
An Wuxue’s head ached now whenever he heard those four words.
Why did everyone, one after another, want to use this thing?
But it was reasonable for Yun Zhou to suggest it.
For such a major event as a sect extermination, Luoyue would not stand by.
Xie Zhefeng said to the disciple, “Inform the various peaks of Luoyue and the various sects about the matter of the Yunjian Sect. If there is any news related to the Yunjian Sect, send a message to me.”
He made the decision: “The Yunjian Sect still has matters I need to investigate. I will send someone to the Yunjian Sect with the Soul-Nourishing Tree spirit.”
Sending someone to investigate?
Su Xue had a slight connection with the Yunjian Sect. Could he take this opportunity to go out?
If he could find a reason to follow and investigate the Yunjian Sect’s affairs, he wouldn’t need to take the risk of using the Soul Bell. At the very least, he could leave Zangshuanghai…
An Wuxue was just about to find a reason to propose going himself when, unexpectedly, Xie Zhefeng said, “Since you three are survivors of the Yunjian Sect, you will all leave the mountain together tomorrow.”
It actually coincided with his wishes!
Beside him, Yun Zhou came to his senses and was about to say something, but Xie Zhefeng stood up, picked up Kun Kun, and left.
The disciple naturally didn’t dare stay long either. He offered a few words of comfort to Yun Zhou and Yun Yao and hurried to follow.
With everyone gone, the matter was naturally settled.
An Wuxue hadn’t expected that after all the twists and turns, he could actually leave Luoyue Peak tomorrow.
He raised his hand to rub his forehead and walked to Yun Zhou’s side: “You…”
Yun Zhou shook his head: “Senior brother and I need some quiet.”
An Wuxue nodded silently, walked out of the room alone, turned back, and closed the door.
He stood in front of the door, lost in thought for a long while.
He looked at the closed door and couldn’t hear any movement inside.
It was clearly very quiet.
Yet in his ears echoed the words the female disciple had said to him on the snow-filled corridor the night he moved into the Frost Sea: “…But he actually destroyed the spiritual vein of the Lihuo Sect, causing the turbid energy suppressed under the spiritual vein to scatter, and the entire Lihuo Sect perished in the calamity.”
The entire sect perished.
After the incident at the Lihuo Sect, did Qi Xun also sit in his room like this all night? And then, when An Wuxue was being hunted and killed, did he come out with his sword and say to him from afar: “An Wuxue, from now on, you and I are through; it’s either you die or I live.”
Past events were like drifting willow catkins, unending and fragmented. He was a bit tired and didn’t want to think more, yet his thoughts couldn’t help but wander.
He leaned his forehead against the door and let out a silent sigh.
That oath had indeed come true.
Qi Xun could be considered to have gotten his wish.
He hadn’t survived that night.
That night.
An Wuxue had given the Soul-Nourishing Tree leaf to Shangguan Liaoliao, and as expected, he couldn’t sleep once night fell.
He simply got up to meditate, continuing to empty the spiritual energy in Su Xue’s body and reshaping his bones and muscles.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard a “wuu wuu” sound in his ear.
He opened his eyes to see Kun Kun lying by the bed, its front paws and teeth tugging at his robe, seemingly trying to pull him outside.
His heart softened.
“Did you sneak here to find me again?” An Wuxue reached out with both hands to pick it up and said in a low voice, “Sorry, I gave the leaf you gave me to someone else. She needed it more than I did.”
Kun Kun, however, shook its head and its legs kicked, as if wanting An Wuxue to put it down.
“Wuu wuu…”
“Hmm?”
An Wuxue stood up and gently placed it on the ground.
Kun Kun continued to tug at the hem of his robe and drag him forward.
“Where are you taking me?”
Kun Kun nodded.
An Wuxue hesitated for a moment.
This was Zangshuanghai…
Forget it.
Anyway, Kun Kun couldn’t possibly harm him.
He walked in the direction Kun Kun was pulling him, and Kun Kun immediately ran ahead to lead the way.
An Wuxue followed all the way and found himself walking toward the depths of the pine forest in the heart of Zangshuanghai.
There should have been a barrier blocking the way, but the person who set it seemed to have given Kun Kun permission to come and go at will. The barrier didn’t stop An Wuxue, who appeared with Kun Kun.
They went all the way in. An Wuxue passed through a thick fog and saw a golden light suddenly appear ahead.
The cold wind howled, the golden light flickered, and the fog was blown away.
An Wuxue saw clearly.
It was a large tree, shaped like a mushroom, with a trunk as wide as three people and a height of about two people, glowing with golden light.
The golden light was slightly fainter on the outside of the tree and grew denser closer to the trunk.
Even though An Wuxue had only seen its leaves, he recognized what it was at a glance.
This was the only Soul-Nourishing Tree in the two realms and four seas.
So that was it.
Kun Kun knew he didn’t have the Soul-Nourishing Tree leaf and wanted to take him directly under the tree to recuperate.
But…
An Wuxue saw the figure leaning under the tree and immediately stopped.
That person sat leaning against the trunk, with several empty jars of immortal wine beside him. His head was lowered, and his expression was buried in the light fog, making it impossible to tell whether he was asleep or awake.
In any case, it was impossible for him to be drunk.
Xie Zhefeng wouldn’t get drunk; even if the minds of all living beings in the four seas were added together, they wouldn’t be as clear as this person’s.
He saw Xie Zhefeng tilt his head slightly toward him, so he simply picked up Kun Kun and walked straight up.
“I ran into Kun Kun tonight and saw it kept wanting to run this way. I was a bit worried about it, so I followed,” he said neither humbly nor arrogantly. “I didn’t expect to disturb the Immortal Venerable. Please forgive me.”
Kun Kun let out a low, aggrieved “wuu.”
An Wuxue didn’t want to stay for even a moment longer. Having spoken, he turned to leave.
The man’s raspy voice suddenly sounded, his tone full of urgency: “A-Xue!”
His footsteps came to an abrupt halt, his whole body stiffening, and he became completely tense.
What did Xie Zhefeng call him?
Had Xie Zhefeng recognized him?
Where had he been exposed—
In the moment his thoughts were in disarray, that person spoke again.
This time the voice was very soft, without the urgency, but rather somewhat disappointed: “A-Xue, you’re leaving again.”
Kun Kun: “Wuu wuu…”
This sound immediately pulled back An Wuxue’s chaotic thoughts.
He let out a long breath.
What did he mean by “leaving again”?
If Xie Zhefeng had truly recognized him, the Chuhan sword would likely have already been unsheathed. How could he have such a tone?
He was calling Su Xue.
He didn’t turn around, only saying, “You’re drunk.”
He didn’t want to stay for another second and walked quickly back the way he came.
Kun Kun “whooshed” up the Soul-Nourishing Tree, plucked three or four leaves directly from above, and immediately flew after An Wuxue.
Xie Zhefeng sat under the tree from beginning to end, watching the direction An Wuxue left, without moving.
He couldn’t move.
If An Wuxue had taken a few more steps closer, he would have seen the snow lotus sword vein at the man’s brow surface again, tinged with black energy.
That black energy was suppressed from time to time, yet it would surface again.
When An Wuxue had approached just now, that black energy had become even more intense.
It wasn’t until a full hour after An Wuxue left that the black on the snow lotus gradually faded.
Another person arrived by the Soul-Nourishing Tree.
That person was wearing a short-sleeved green robe embroidered with the Luoyue Peak pattern, and his black hair was tied with an exquisitely carved spiritual wood hairpin; his entire appearance was exceptionally refined.
Only the spirit pouch hanging at his waist was made in a particularly distorted way, even the stitching was crooked and messy, showing no discernible pattern.
The newcomer said in surprise, “I just went into seclusion to recover from my injuries for a while. How did the Immortal Venerable get himself into this state?”
Xie Zhefeng opened his eyes, stood up, and glanced at him.
Qin Wei immediately said, “I received a letter from Qi Xun saying that because something happened at Jingji Stream, your heart demon has resurfaced, and he wanted me to keep an eye on things so that nothing major happens. What on earth are you two doing?”
“You’ve come at just the right time.”
“…What!?”
“I am going into seclusion to suppress my heart demon, but I will separate a strand of my cultivation as an avatar to walk outside for me. The avatar leaves the mountain tomorrow. Xuan Fang has other matters to handle for me, so I’m temporarily leaving Luoyue Peak to you.”
Qin Wei: “…”
If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.
The next morning.
An Wuxue woke up especially early this time.
Last night, with the extra Soul-Nourishing Tree leaves Kun Kun had plucked for him, as soon as he returned to his room, he completely forgot about Xie Zhefeng’s strange behavior, which was like he’d had too much to drink, and slept dreamlessly until dawn.
But Yun Zhou and Yun Yao were up even earlier than him.
When he went out, the two of them were already standing at the edge of the mountain peak, waiting for the spirit boat to pick them up.
An Wuxue walked forward intending to offer some comfort, but Yun Zhou shook his head: “No need, I already thought it through last night. Every wrong has its source and every debt its debtor. Any grudge should find its rightful person. At other times, senior brother and I should live well and not worry. Right, the Immortal Venerable said yesterday he would send someone to go with us to the Yunjian Sect to investigate. Where is that person?”
Just as Yun Zhou finished speaking, a spirit boat slowly approached and stopped at the edge of the cliff.
An ordinary-looking man wearing the attire of a Luoyue Peak disciple walked out.
The man descended from the spirit boat through the air; he was clearly at least in the Great Achievement stage.
An Wuxue: “…”
His head ached.
He recognized him at a glance.
When he and Xie Zhefeng were still disciples, they often received orders to leave the mountain to exterminate demons. Sometimes, to avoid alerting the enemy, they frequently changed their appearance or even used avatars to act.
At that time, not many people had heard of the Chuhan sword, so Xie Zhefeng would often use the name of his natal sword as an alias, calling himself Xie Chuhan, and use this unremarkable face to walk outside—it was just that after the nickname Xie Chuhan was used more often, people like Qi Xun gradually got used to calling him that.
So…
This wasn’t some Luoyue Peak disciple in the Great Achievement stage at all.
This was Xie Zhefeng himself!!!
He recognized him, but Yun Zhou and Yun Yao did not.
Yun Yao stepped forward and clasped his hands: “Is this fellow Daoist going back to the Yunjian Sect with us? May I ask how to address you?”
It couldn’t possibly still be Xie Chuhan.
Who in the four seas didn’t know the prestigious name of Immortal Venerable Chuhan now?
The man pondered for a moment and said, “My surname is Xie. Xie Chunhua.”
Yun Yao: “Then we will trouble Fellow Daoist Xie.”
An Wuxue: “???”
Are you out of your mind?