Chapter 138#
She smiled as she walked toward Xie Zhefeng.
The seawater was calm, the snow lotuses swayed, and the floating ice bypassed them to drift to both sides.
The Snow Demon was the incarnation of wind and snow, the darling of the Guixu Sea. She walked upon the sea surface as if entering uninhabited territory.
All the slaughter from before seemed to be swallowed by the waves, leaving only a pervasive tranquility.
It was as if blood relatives were reuniting after a long separation—no demons, no immortals, no conflict, no struggle.
Only the Chuhan sword sensed its master’s state of mind and hummed incessantly.
Xie Zhefeng remained motionless.
But with every step the Snow Demon took toward him, the demon bone within his body became more restless.
Inside him, a tempest was raging.
Immortal spiritual power surged through his meridians, and the sword bone trembled.
He exhausted all his strength to suppress the demon bone.
But that was his innate demonic obstacle.
He could not suppress it.
The sword mark turned completely black. Xie Zhefeng’s breath hitched, and black blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
The Snow Demon stopped in front of him.
Her eyebrows twitched slightly, her smile faded, and her eyes were filled with sorrow.
She raised her hand, her pure white sleeves fluttering, and they were instantly stained with Xie Zhefeng’s blood.
She gently wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“My child.”
Her voice was melodious and pleasing, every word sounding like a song.
Xie Zhefeng had grown up without a mother. Afterward, whether it was Xie Zhui or Nan He, both were heartless people. The little warmth he had in his youth came only from An Wuxue.
The gentle touch of a blood relative made his mind wander.
He forgot why he was here.
But in the next instant, he heard her give a light chuckle.
“You have become an immortal. You have actually reached the peak that immortal cultivators look up to. You are… a born demon.”
Xie Zhefeng’s whole body shook.
He snapped back to his senses.
No.
That’s not right.
He was here to… kill the Snow Demon.
“Mother,” he said hoarsely.
The Snow Demon’s eyes curved into a smile: “Hmm?”
“You killed many people.”
The Snow Demon was stunned.
Her dark eyes rolled, and her captivating face showed a look of confusion.
She suddenly clutched her stomach and laughed out loud.
“How… haha, how did you really end up living like a human?”
A giant wave suddenly rose!!
Immortal spiritual power agitated in all directions, colliding with the Snow Demon’s demonic power!!!
…
On the other side of the barrier.
The collision of spiritual powers caused the Guixu Sea to vibrate incessantly, and the demons hidden beneath the seawater were injured by the immortal’s spiritual power.
The waves surged, and bubbling blood gushed out like a spring.
An Wuxue’s expression was solemn as he formed a seal with his hands, stabilizing the floating ice beneath his feet.
He cast a Luoyue spiritual talisman.
“I issue a decree on behalf of the Immortal Venerable,” he said. “The Snow Demon is invincible below the Immortal stage. The Immortal Venerable has arrived. Please retreat to Langfeng and block the spiritual power of the battle from spilling onto the land.”
Countless streaks of spiritual light rose into the sky amid the wind and snow, moving away from the vast deep sea and returning to Langfeng.
Only a few people remained behind An Wuxue.
Pei Qian was waiting for Qu Jizhi to take him back.
But Qu Jizhi didn’t move.
“Surnamed Qu,” Pei Qian said helplessly, “even if you want to help Suxue, send me back first. I currently have no strength to fight; staying here only makes me a burden.”
Qu Jizhi held Pei Qian with one hand and condensed spiritual power at his fingertips with the other, ready to act.
His gaze fell on Jiang Qing beside him, and he said: “I want to send you back too. But Mr. Jiang hasn’t moved—won’t you return with us, sir?”
Jiang Qing was startled.
The strong wind of the Guixu Sea never stopped, the falling snow was incessant, and the sea surface was filled with bright red.
In such a perilous situation.
He curled his lips and smiled leisurely: “Why should Young Immortal Master Qu go with me? Although my cultivation isn’t high, I want to stay and help.”
Pei Qian opened his mouth, his brow furrowed slightly.
Even as thick-headed as he was, he felt that Jiang Qing’s response was somewhat strange.
He could only say sheepishly: “Mr. Jiang is truly a good person.”
An Wuxue did not turn around.
He gazed at the vast sea behind the barrier and said word by word: “Indeed he is.”
Jiang Qing turned to look at his back: “Oh?”
“After all, the Fellow Daoist Jiang I know used to untiringly tell stories of the immortal disaster to his juniors, and he also stood up to defend me when I was questioned by Qu Wenxin.”
“It was just a small effort.”
An Wuxue continued: “He also advised me on the principles of how the white is easily blackened and how the stained love goodness. A single Wintersweet flower given to him by another, he could treasure for many years. With such a temperament, he is indeed a good person—”
“…He truly was once a good person.”
Jiang Qing shook his head: “Am I not one now?”
An Wuxue sneered: “Since Fellow Daoist Jiang is still standing here, you must be prepared to speak openly with us. Why are you still putting on an act? Have you worn the mask so long that you’re reluctant to take it off?”
Jiang Qing squinted his eyes and smiled, the karmic fire mark at the corner of his eye dancing as if it were truly a lively flame.
Qu Jizhi showed no sign of surprise. With a solemn expression, he pulled Pei Qian behind him, spiritual power surging at his fingertips.
Pei Qian suddenly coughed a few more times and said in shock: “What are you talking about? What act? Mr. Jiang, you…”
Jiang Qing gave a long, leisurely sigh.
He replied: “Sometimes when one is in a role for too long, one naturally hopes the script truly exists. If you hadn’t forced me to take this final step, perhaps I would have always treated you as the Suxue I knew.”
“In the chaos of the Snow Demon, the Head Disciple doesn’t suspect that the Snow Demon is the root of all trouble, but instead looks at me—when did you find out?”
“Just now.”
“…Just now?” Jiang Qing finally showed a hint of surprise.
“The suspicion was actually from when we were in Beiming, but the confirmation was just now.”
Half a month ago.
The time An Wuxue visited the Qu clan.
He handed an object to Qu Jizhi and said: “I’d like Young Immortal Master Qu to help me with a favor using the Qu clan’s divination method.”
“Please speak, Head Disciple.”
Qu Jizhi looked down and picked up the object An Wuxue handed him.
It was a broken Luoyue Peak disciple token with the words “Qu Wendao” written on it.
An Wuxue said deeply: “Divination can trace the root of a bloodline. Master was from the Qu clan. Although thousands of years have passed, he and Young Immortal Master Qu share the same origin. You should be able to confirm if this token belonged to Master, right?”
Qu Jizhi’s eyes shifted slightly.
“The Head Disciple… is still suspecting Jiang Qing?”
An Wuxue smiled but did not speak.
Qu Jizhi waved his sleeve and took the jade token, saying: “I can do it, but the jade token is just an object, and the bloodline between me and Immortal Venerable Nan He has been separated by too long. I can’t confirm it quickly. I’ll need some time.”
“Then I will await your reply, Young Immortal Master.”
Afterward, An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng returned to Luoyue Peak, sealing the mountain and secluding themselves on the Frost Sea for half a month.
Qu Jizhi’s answer never came.
But seeing Qu Jizhi’s wariness toward Jiang Qing just now, An Wuxue already knew the answer without Qu Jizhi saying a word.
He turned back to look at Jiang Qing.
“That broken disciple token is a forgery. You never picked up any spiritual pouch in the heart of the Merman tribe, did you?”
“Ah,” Jiang Qing sighed, “yes. Back then, you went to interrogate Qu Wenxin but insisted on bringing me along—someone with low cultivation who doesn’t belong to Luoyue Peak. What could it be other than suspicion? The Head Disciple is too clever; explanations and self-justification are useless to you.”
Jiang Qing spread his hands and said calmly: “I might as well confirm that I indeed know some things. To push these matters onto Qu Wendao, I hurriedly made that broken jade token and proactively gave you information about Qu Wendao. Unfortunately, in the end, it was because of this jade token that I missed the mark by a hair.”
The strong wind carried Jiang Qing’s calm and clear voice into An Wuxue’s ears. His robes rustled in the wind and snow, and stray hairs hit his forehead, blurring the scene before him.
He looked back in the direction Xie Zhefeng had gone.
The Snow Demon’s song had stopped. On the other side of the barrier, the wind and snow had suddenly ceased, and the fluctuations of spiritual power had also abruptly subsided.
It was as if there were no great demon causing trouble there, nor any Immortal Venerable slaying demons.
I wonder how Junior Brother is doing…
“The Head Disciple is waiting for the Immortal Venerable to return after killing the Snow Demon, right?” Jiang Qing suddenly spoke. “The one inside has been sleeping in the deep sea for over a thousand years and was only just awakened by me. After all, she is Immortal Venerable Xie’s biological mother whom he has never met; how could he strike his sword so quickly?”
An Wuxue’s pupils shook.
Xie Zhefeng’s biological mother…
The Snow Demon…
This tribe grew up in Langfeng’s Guixu. They were born with demon bones and naturally practiced the Path of Floating Life. Their appearances captivated all beings, and they were skilled in human love, often pretending to be ordinary male or female cultivators to have romances with mortals or immortals, using this to supplement their practice.
During the immortal disaster, this tribe was at its peak until the various immortals fell. Even then, the Snow Demon tribe still had several great demons, all of whom finally died under the Chuhan sword on the day the Langfeng sword fell.
Xie Zhefeng’s excellent root for the Path of Floating Life and that inseparable demon bone…
Junior Brother…
He suppressed the panic in his heart and asked: “How do you know so much!?”
Jiang Qing tilted his head.
As if he were just chatting casually with An Wuxue, he said: “Where is the Head Disciple’s Chunhua?”
An Wuxue’s face suddenly darkened.
“You haven’t used Chunhua these days. You’ve already guessed why I know so much, haven’t you?”
Jiang Qing seemed somewhat helpless instead. “Your divine sense hasn’t connected with Chunhua for a long time, so I didn’t know your and Xie Zhefeng’s recent plans and had to hurry to awaken the Snow Demon. Otherwise, I might have been able to keep playing this role with you for a while longer.”
An Wuxue gritted his teeth: “It really was because of Chunhua!”
Everything the person behind the scenes knew had happened while Chunhua was by his side.
He used Chunhua to fight the demonic Song Wu, and he also used Chunhua to pierce the heart of “Shangguan Ran.” When burying the true Shangguan Ran’s body, he also used his divine sense to move Chunhua to dig the burial site.
Only during the days Qi Xun had taken Chunhua away did his divine sense not connect with it.
That’s why the person behind the scenes knew everything but didn’t know that Chunhua was the fiftieth sword of the Beiming sword array.
The root of everything was this famous sword that had followed him for two lifetimes!
An Wuxue’s mind stirred.
The famous sword hummed and appeared between him and Jiang Qing.
Chunhua lay quietly in the wind and snow.
This sword was Nan He’s sidearm when he was young, later gifted to him. For the next thousand years, he had never changed his life-bound sword.
At this moment, Jiang Qing lightly raised his hand, and spiritual power appeared in his palm.
Before the eyes of An Wuxue, the sword’s master, he easily drew this famous sword, as gentle as water, into his hand!
An Wuxue was stunned and murmured: “…Why?”
“Why?”
Jiang Qing toyed with Chunhua, drawing it from its sheath. The heavy wind and snow of the Guixu Sea immediately hit the blade, piling snow upon it.
He didn’t look at An Wuxue; his gaze fell upon the blade of Chunhua, yet it seemed as if he wasn’t looking at it.
He reminisced: “This sword was the first spiritual sword I forged with my fetal stone body. Although there was no spirit in it, it could communicate with divine sense. I gave this sword to him, hoping he would treasure it well. But at that time, our goal was for me to become his sword. I thought he would never use Chunhua in his life, so I didn’t tell him that as long as the sword master’s divine sense entered the sword, I could feel everything along with him.”
An Wuxue’s mind was greatly shaken: “You… it’s you…?”
Jiang Qing’s fingertips gently brushed over the cold blade, wiping away the ice and snow, his gaze affectionate.
“Who knew that in the end, he would break his sword and abandon his path, yet return to using this sword and pass it on to his disciple?”
As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly remember something very funny, laughed several times, and then continued, “When I was in the depths of the Underworld Sea, suffering more than death, I could always feel him holding Chunhua to slay demons and eliminate evil, walking the world with carefree ease. Later, he achieved the peak of the Path of Ruthlessness and ascended, suppressing all immortals, governing the world’s creatures, and looking down upon all living beings.”
“Qu Wendao…” Jiang Qing’s finger stopped on the two words “Chunhua” on the blade. “Qu, Wen, Dao… Everyone said he had the air of an immortal and was peerlessly handsome, with eyes that held only justice for all living beings—but have you ever seen the look of those eyes when they were blooming with desire?”
His voice grew softer and softer, gradually swallowed by the bone-scraping wind and snow.
“I have seen it…”