Chapter 129#

An Wuxue had just finished speaking.

A Tianya Haijiao talisman bearing the Luoyue seal drifted into the courtyard and stopped before Xie Zhefeng.

Immortal Venerable Xie listened for a moment and understood what had happened today.

He stood up: “If Senior Brother wanted to vent his anger, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Vent my anger?” An Wuxue’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “Someone pretended to be pitiful last night to get me to open the door; I actually haven’t settled that debt yet.”

Xie Zhefeng’s eyes flashed.

Not only did he not show any panic at being caught, but he instead asked proactively: “How does Senior Brother want to vent his anger?”

An Wuxue: “…”

That was just a joke.

How could he possibly vent his anger on Xie Zhefeng now?

He only paused for a moment before his Junior Brother said hurriedly: “…Or if you want to hit someone, you can just let me go. I alone can drag them all out and beat them once.”

An Wuxue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He walked up to his Junior Brother and looked up.

Xie Zhefeng was quite a bit taller than him.

In their youth, An Wuxue could look down at his Junior Brother and even reach out to touch his hair.

But after his little Junior Brother grew up, from some day onwards, he suddenly found that he could no longer reach the other’s head with a casual hand, and he even had to look up to meet the other’s gaze.

Until this moment, he thought in a daze—this new body of his was actually as tall as his previous one.

He just looked up.

An Wuxue thought back to his previous life, when he had stood before the Luoyue mountain gates and looked up at the “Xie Zhefeng” controlled by his inner demon.

He suddenly didn’t want to look at him like that and simply reached out, pressing Xie Zhefeng back down into his seat.

“…Senior Brother?”

This time it was Xie Zhefeng’s turn to look up at him.

Even so.

Even in a posture of looking up, even being pressed down without a word.

Immortal Venerable Chuhan still didn’t have the solemn appearance he showed before outsiders. Instead, his eyes shimmered as if covered by a layer of misty vapor, hazy and blurred.

The world and its people were at his beck and call, but he only let An Wuxue have his way with him.

As this thought rose in his heart, An Wuxue’s train of thought broke.

—What am I thinking?

Xie Zhefeng was still looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

The other clearly couldn’t hear his thoughts, yet An Wuxue felt somewhat guilty.

He had no choice but to pretend to be serious and said: “If I had told you my plans, you would have helped me beat those people? Then if I wanted to kill some other unrelated person, would the Immortal Venerable also break the Thirteen Rules of Demon Slaying and act without a word?”

Xie Zhefeng said without hesitation: “But if Senior Brother wanted to kill someone, that person must deserve to die; of course I would act.”

An Wuxue: “…”

He didn’t know whether to say his Junior Brother’s answer was too blunt, or the feeling he gave his Junior Brother was too blunt.

“How can matters of the world be certain? Didn’t I… also because of being stained with turbid energy, find things unclear and difficult to explain?”

“You would not fall into demonhood. If you were forced to, I would only exhaust all my strength to help you escape the turbid energy. Even if you were to enter demonhood voluntarily,” Xie Zhefeng said word by word, “I cannot watch you bring disaster to the world, nor can I act against you for the sake of the world, so I will stand before you until you kill me.”

An Wuxue was speechless for a long time.

Something seemed to lightly scratch his heart; it was the same as before, an indescribable tingling and numb feeling, but it wasn’t sadness.

So… when he had fought his way back to Luoyue Peak a thousand years ago, if he had met his true Junior Brother before the mountain gates instead of an inner demon, would this have been the answer he received?

An Wuxue’s eyes grew slightly moist.

He didn’t know if he was moved by the words in his ears or if his heart ached for his Junior Brother who had divided his soul and cut himself back then.

Seeing him silent, Xie Zhefeng’s expression gradually changed, and pain flashed in his eyes.

Xie Zhefeng also remembered that moment before the mountain gates in his memory.

But it wasn’t only that moment he remembered.

He said in a low voice: “I once told you that if you were in pain, you had to tell me, but I—”

Senior Brother never said it hurt.

The only time, and the last time, he said “it hurts so much” to “him,” what he waited for was the cold sword light.

Xie Zhefeng wanted to just shamelessly cling to An Wuxue and directly ask if he still had a chance.

But thinking of these past events, he had no face to mention anything else.

As he hesitated to speak, he heard An Wuxue say: “Are you brooding over the past again? Did I scold you in vain yesterday?”

“I…”

“Even before knowing the truth, I told you that I don’t hate you. Much less now?”

An Wuxue didn’t want Xie Zhefeng to blame himself any further and hurried to change the subject: “Back to the point, I know you probably wanted to help me…”

When he spoke to Xie Zhefeng before, he would always first clear the air.

Now… he wouldn’t.

“If it were something else, I would have sought your help. But this matter I must do myself; I cannot let anyone else handle it.”

Xie Zhefeng heard this, but didn’t notice what had changed.

In his heart, it was only natural for him to do anything for An Wuxue. If Senior Brother didn’t seek his help, it would instead make him sad.

He listened carefully and asked: “Senior Brother wants to use this to deter the two worlds and curb the speculations about your resurrection?”

An Wuxue nodded.

“Although you didn’t tell me what the Chuhan sword light did yesterday, I can guess it. If it were before… perhaps I would feel that the immortal disaster is long over, and I didn’t plan to continue being some Head Disciple after my return anyway. I’d just end this matter quickly and retire to the mountains, and it wouldn’t matter what others guessed.”

“But now I feel that since I’ve come back, I should come back completely. The perpetrators want the two worlds to think I was resurrected by puppet techniques; I’ll simply make an example of them in broad daylight.”

An Wuxue had been wondering why the perpetrators, since they knew so much and wanted to frame him, also revealed the past.

If the past hadn’t been cleared up, and he was still the An Wuxue who had strayed into demonhood by cultivating turbid energy, wouldn’t it be easier to frame him?

But the spread of the puppet technique made An Wuxue understand.

He said: “I can roughly guess the perpetrator’s scheme. In fact, after you came out of seclusion two hundred years ago, you had been investigating the past and even found the Soul-Nourishing Tree. Even if it couldn’t be found in one or two hundred years, it would eventually be found in one or two thousand years, or even several thousand years.

“That person knew everything would eventually come to light, so they simply struck first. By creating disasters, they revealed the past that seemingly only I could know, making others feel that I have returned from the dead wanting to clear everything. This way, the two worlds would be convinced that ‘An Wuxue was resurrected by puppet techniques’—and might even come to believe I’m not clean after long speculation.”

The two worlds had wronged him once a thousand years ago; naturally, it was possible they would do it again a thousand years later.

That person had succeeded like this a thousand years ago, and doing it again, they had the same confidence.

When the time came, if the people of the two worlds wanted An Wuxue to prove himself, and An Wuxue rolled up his sleeves, he could only reveal the puppet mark.

Wouldn’t that be as difficult to explain as being possessed by turbid energy a thousand years ago?

“My guess is similar to Senior Brother’s…” Xie Zhefeng said. “That person is using Senior Brother’s identity to exploit your resurrection and the immense temptation of returning from the dead to spread the puppet technique throughout the two worlds.”

In that case, the perpetrator’s goal was still to return to the immortal disaster, making puppets ubiquitous, letting demonic cultivators run rampant, and pitting immortals against demons.

The puppet technique and that person’s goal of reviving the demonic path were definitely connected.

An Wuxue continued: “In a few days, the news of me challenging more than half of Beiming’s immortal sects will spread across the two worlds. That person wants to make it impossible for me to escape my connection with the puppet technique; why should I sit and wait for them to succeed?

“I’ll just openly let everyone know that whoever talks about me behind my back, I will come to their door.

“In my previous life, I already fell into the predicament of having my belly cut open for powder; this time, it’s impossible for me to fall again. It’s fine to suspect me, but don’t ask me for evidence. If those who suspect me can’t produce evidence, then they can’t blame me for acting.”

He smiled and raised his hand to stroke Kunkun, who had come over.

Xie Zhefeng looked at his Senior Brother.

The setting sun in the west finally vanished completely, night fell, and the lanterns in the courtyard were lit by spells, shining like points of light, as if the starry night were netted into this small space.

His Senior Brother was in the early night, under the lanterns, stroking Kunkun’s fur again and again.

Only at this moment did it seem that the storms of the two worlds had disappeared.

If he could have done better back then, perhaps Senior Brother could have lived through the thousand years in such tranquility and peace.

“Senior Brother.”

“Mm?”

“Rest well tonight. Tomorrow I will take you back to Luoyue Peak on the wind.”

“Oh… okay.”

Xie Zhefeng stood up again and summoned Chuhan.

“I’m going to settle the aftermath of the Beiming matters.”

An Wuxue was waiting for Xie Zhefeng to say something more.

After all, this person had used everything from pretending to be aggrieved to acting pitiful just to enter his bedroom last night.

Yet now, he wasn’t being persistent?

“Senior Brother,” Xie Zhefeng said suddenly.

An Wuxue thought he was going to stay.

But Xie Zhefeng asked him: “The illusion essence condensed by the Soul-Nourishing Tree spirit… did you feed it to Kunkun?”

Kunkun tilted its head: “Wu?”

“No.”

If Xie Zhefeng hadn’t asked, he would have forgotten that illusion was still in his spiritual pouch.

“Perhaps Senior Brother should give it to me; no need for you to keep it in mind.”

An Wuxue didn’t understand.

“It’s a small matter. I’ll feed it to it tonight.”

“…Okay.”

Xie Zhefeng left.

An Wuxue sat in the courtyard for a while before getting up, planning to return to his room to continue reading the jade slips to look for clues about the double bones.

But just as he pushed open the door and heard the movement of Kunkun playing in the courtyard, he looked back at Kunkun.

Something seemed wrong.

The little guy wasn’t greedy.

Compared to illusion essence and natural treasures, Kunkun preferred to eat human food.

He suddenly realized what was wrong.

Why was his Junior Brother so anxious to feed that illusion to Kunkun?

What if it stayed in his hands?

It was just an illusion; only a miasma beast like Kunkun would eat it. If left there, it had no use other than being seen by people.

Why did Xie Zhefeng care so much?

It was like… he was afraid he would see it.

His thoughts paused.

—Could it be that he really was afraid of him seeing it!?

He hurriedly took the illusion out of his spiritual pouch.

This was Xie Zhefeng’s thousand years after death.

What could be in there that Xie Zhefeng was afraid of him seeing?

“Kunkun,” he called the little guy over, “I want to see this illusion, but a thousand years is too long. I don’t know how long it will take in reality. If the night passes and I haven’t woken up, pull my soul out.”

This was what miasma beasts were best at, so Kunkun naturally nodded in agreement.

Eager to know the answer, An Wuxue waved his hand to set up a barrier, sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and immediately sent his divine sense into the light ball in his hand.

The scenery on all sides changed abruptly.

He saw the Frost Burial Sea from a thousand years ago again.

Last time, he had just seen Xie Zhefeng return from killing demons, his inner demon relapsing, revealing his skeletal body on the Frost Burial Sea.

Then, he had been pulled out of the illusion by Xie Zhefeng.

Now that he had entered again, the illusion continued from that moment.

Could it be that his Junior Brother had been affected by the Ruthless Curse back then and said something unpleasant or done something he wouldn’t be happy about, and therefore didn’t want him to see it?

But that was nothing to worry about—it wasn’t something his Junior Brother had done intentionally.

What else could it be?

Before An Wuxue’s eyes, Xie Zhefeng had already dragged his injured body back to the Frost Sea pine forest and begun seclusion.

He was even more stunned.

—Xie Zhefeng had been in seclusion to suppress his inner demon for eight hundred years, and it actually started from the day he killed all the demons in the world!?

He only saw his Junior Brother sitting on the lotus platform, the snowy lotus sword mark on his forehead flickering with blackness, his body appearing and disappearing like a skeleton.

At that time An Wuxue was dead, and Xie Zhefeng was in utter despair.

Spiritual energy surged around him, and spiritual stones were used up pile after pile.

The inner demon showed no sign of weakening.

The demon bone was still there. Even ascending to immortality couldn’t destroy the innate demonic obstacle in this bone, so how could it be suppressed by seclusion?

But Xie Zhefeng didn’t know the root cause and could only try in vain.

The illusion passed for several months like this.

Xie Zhefeng struggled against the inner demon to no avail.

An Wuxue watched silently.

Sometimes, he would hear his Junior Brother in seclusion call him.

“—Senior Brother.”

He always forgot this was an illusion and would subconsciously answer, wanting to tell his Junior Brother that he was here, that he hadn’t died, and not to be sad anymore.

But his Junior Brother from a thousand years ago couldn’t hear his response.

His Junior Brother from before was powerless.

And he now was also powerless.

Heaven was truly unreasonable.

An Wuxue could only continue watching as a passerby.

After an unknown amount of time.

Xie Zhefeng suddenly opened his eyes.

It was as if he had suddenly made a decision. His soul left his body, and the inner demon was driven to a corner of his soul.

This was…

An Wuxue had seen this!

Xie Zhefeng had once used this method to suppress his inner demon!

Briefly cutting out the inner demon’s turbid energy could indeed suppress the onset of the inner demon, but for the soul, it was like being cut into a thousand pieces.

Back then in the Twenty-Seventh City, An Wuxue had seen with his own eyes Xie Zhefeng in such pain that he couldn’t stop convulsing.

The Xie Zhefeng in the past didn’t hesitate.

The Chuhan sword revealed its light.

In the next instant, the sword light fell, and in an instant, it split the soul!

Xie Zhefeng groaned in pain and fell from the lotus platform!

An Wuxue’s heart skipped a beat.

“Junior Brother!”

He hurriedly reached out.

But he vainly passed through Xie Zhefeng, unable to touch the past.

He could only watch as the man slowly stood up on his own.

His Junior Brother’s face was pale, but his eyes had regained their clarity.

The inner demon was temporarily suppressed.

But not even a quarter of an hour later.

Faint turbid energy rose around Xie Zhefeng again, and the sword mark turned black once more.

—The inner demon had relapsed.

An Wuxue’s heart shook.

Xie Zhefeng, however, showed no emotion.

His expression was wooden, his eyes hollow, as if he had been in pain to the extreme and had grown used to it.

A few more days passed like this.

An Wuxue once again saw Xie Zhefeng’s soul leave his body.

“You’re going to do this again? Doesn’t it hurt?” he cried out.

Xie Zhefeng’s eyes were tightly closed.

The Chuhan sword light didn’t hesitate for a moment, falling once again to cut the inner demon’s turbid energy.

“Junior Brother…”

Xie Zhefeng was in pain.

But he didn’t make a sound anymore.

Not long after, the same thing happened again—the inner demon relapsed, and Xie Zhefeng once again cut his soul to suppress it.

An Wuxue still could only vainly pass through Xie Zhefeng.

He had forgotten before that he couldn’t stop him, but now, knowing it was the past, he still wanted to stop him.

How could this person have cut his own soul once and then a second and third time?

“Junior Brother,” he urged the Xie Zhefeng of the past, “it can’t be suppressed…”

He had shouted himself hoarse.

Xie Zhefeng climbed back up.

Watching his Junior Brother cut his soul three times, An Wuxue’s expression flickered, and his heart was greatly shaken.

His heart already ached for him beyond measure.

The pain of a divided soul was like being drawn and quartered for a mortal, or like falling into a fire pit with flames burning the body.

This was the most terrifying torture in the cultivation world.

Yet Xie Zhefeng had already repeated it three times and was still in seclusion to suppress it…

His Junior Brother said he had been in seclusion for eight hundred years to suppress the inner demon; could it be…

An Wuxue’s eyes slowly widened.

Could it be that this torture, comparable to a slow execution by slicing, was something Xie Zhefeng had repeated for eight hundred years!???