Chapter 27#

Qin Wei was choked by An Wuxue’s words, and his look of astonishment slightly subsided.

After a moment of surprise, he also immediately understood—“An Wuxue” had already passed away a thousand years ago.

He knew perfectly well that he could never see An Wuxue again.

It was just… too similar.

The youth before him wore a light green long robe, his hair tied with a ribbon and no hairpin, even simpler than the newly admitted disciples of Luoyue Peak. But standing amidst the mess, with scattered branches and mud everywhere, his sleeves and hem were somewhat dirty and disheveled, yet none of it seemed to touch his inner being.

At first glance, he looked submissive, but another look revealed that it was merely a thornless detachment.

Appearance is but skin; what was similar was the inseparable bone.

But this person named Su Xue was only at the Fasting stage, his mundane air not yet dissipated—a mortal who had just stepped onto the path of immortality.

How could he be the one who had passed away?

That blurted “An Wuxue” was not truly taking the person before him for An Wuxue.

Rather, it was a kind of expectation that he himself hadn’t even noticed.

He was clearly the one who thought Xie Zhefeng and Qi Xun were performing a futile task, and for a thousand years, he had firmly believed that the past was beyond reproach—regrettable, lamentable, pitiable, and detestable.

Only now, caught off guard by the sight of the person before him, did Qin Wei suddenly realize that he wasn’t quite so steadfast.

He also wanted…

He also wanted to see Ah Xue again.

Xie Zhefeng remained silent. Su Xue wasn’t looking at him, but Qin Wei felt as if an invisible pair of eyes from a thousand years ago was looking through him on An Wuxue’s behalf.

He shouldn’t be like this.

He paused for a moment before composing his expression, sheathing his sword, and giving a mocking laugh: “Xie Chuhan, what kind of act is this?”

He was naturally referring to the matter of Su Xue.

Xie Zhefeng was enveloped in a profound gloom, his spiritual energy surging under his lack of control, causing the wind in the mountains to howl fiercely.

He was still looking at Yun Zhou’s corpse, appearing somewhat dazed.

Although the case of the Yunjian Sect’s extermination was no small matter, if Luoyue Peak wanted to handle it, they could have sent a Tribulation-stage elder or peak master. He had come here personally, first for the matter of Yun Yao’s puppet, and second for the source of the talismans in Su Xue’s hand.

But the clues for both matters ended here.

Even the hope of finding a remnant soul to bring the dead back to life had become a proven delusion the moment Yun Yao’s remnant soul dissipated.

He ignored Qin Wei’s words and asked absentmindedly, “Where is Jiang Qing?”

“You mean that Tribulation-stage cultivator named Jiang?” Qin Wei raised an eyebrow. “He was worried about you, but I knew you were here and nothing major would happen, so I had him stay in Zhaoshui City.”

“You came alone?”

Qin Wei shook his head: “Of course not.”

Just as he finished speaking, another person came flying on a sword from among the mountains.

This person wore the disciple uniform of Luoyue Peak meticulously; even the spiritual pouch hanging at his waist was the standard issue given to disciples by Luoyue Peak. Not a trace of sloppiness could be found from head to toe.

He rode his natal spiritual sword, and spiritual energy rippled with his every move—he was actually a Great Success-stage cultivator with excellent potential.

The youth did not recognize Xie Zhefeng’s incarnation, nor did he know Su Xue. He walked a few steps directly to Qin Wei: “Master, the disciples I brought will arrive immediately.”

An Wuxue had never seen this disciple, but looking closely, he felt a sense of familiarity in the youth’s features.

Based on what this disciple said… was he the apprentice of Qin Wei who was expected to seize the position of Chief?

In this brief moment, Xie Zhefeng had suppressed all his stray thoughts and said with a stern face: “The cultivators of the Yunjian Sect have almost all perished. If the resentment is not dispersed for a long time, it will turn into turbid energy. This place has been occupied by the Mirror Demon for over two months, so a large amount of turbid energy must have condensed. Now that the barrier is broken, since you are here, work with Buwang to clear the turbid energy from the Yunjian Sect and its vicinity as soon as possible.”

Song Buwang was startled: “Does this senior know me?”

“Buwang,” Qin Wei simply said, “go lead the disciples to seal off the area first, lest mortals and cultivators wander in here before the turbid energy is cleared.”

Song Buwang looked puzzled. He glanced at Xie Zhefeng and An Wuxue, hesitated to speak, but finally held his sword in a salute: “Yes.”

The more An Wuxue looked at Song Buwang’s features, the more he felt he had seen them before. But his memories from a thousand years ago were jumbled, and he couldn’t grasp the thread. Moreover, judging by Song Buwang’s age, the child hadn’t even been born a thousand years ago; it was impossible for him to have had dealings with him.

For a moment, he couldn’t think of why he felt that sense of familiarity.

He watched Song Buwang fly away on his sword again, withdrew his gaze, and stuffed the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit back into his spiritual pouch.

It was just something useless to both him and Yun Yao. Xie Zhefeng and Yun Zhou had been searching and fighting for it; what was the point?

He handed it to Xie Zhefeng: “This item is too precious. I ask the Immortal Venerable to take it back sooner.”

This time Xie Zhefeng finally said nothing. With a wave of his sleeve, An Wuxue’s palm was empty.

A wind carrying Xie Zhefeng’s spiritual energy blew past An Wuxue. He shuddered, yet he didn’t feel cold, only hot.

After the previous series of entanglements, he had external injuries and had exhausted his spiritual energy. The furnace mark actually showed signs of acting up again within just a single day.

Xie Zhefeng frowned, brought his fingers together, and placed them over the mark on An Wuxue’s arm through his sleeve.

The restlessness was suppressed, and An Wuxue hurriedly backed away.

Qin Wei watched silently from the side and suddenly sneered: “I’ve heard these past few days that you’re keeping a furnace in the Frost-Burial Sea. I thought it was just disciples speaking out of turn and spreading rumors, but I didn’t expect it to be true.”

As he spoke, his gaze landed on An Wuxue’s face again. Meeting An Wuxue’s unruffled expression, his voice faltered, and the sharp words about to burst out were cut short.

Qin Wei huffed coldly, looked away, and then said to Xie Zhefeng: “Can you and Qi Xun stop being so obsessed?”

Xie Zhefeng said coldly: “Last time you wanted to remove Senior Brother’s name, I already stated my position to you—do you think your recovery time wasn’t long enough?”

“If you find my words unpleasant, just kill me.” Qin Wei laughed twice. “Xie Chuhan, since you uphold justice and have been the Immortal Venerable for a thousand years, don’t you know better than I? The mouths of the people in the world are the same as mine. Without an explanation, what An Wuxue did back then is set in stone.

“You’re obsessed and can’t let go, fine. Qi Xun can’t let go of what happened back then, that’s fine too. Sometimes when I stand before the sword-grinding stone of Luoyue Peak and look at the sword marks he left, I also remember some things from the past and think, ‘How did it turn into this in the blink of an eye?’

“Yes, you and Qi Xun used the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit to examine the ruins of the Li-Fire Sect and probed the spiritual swords left by the deceased, and you couldn’t find a trace of resentment—that only proves that no one in the entire Li-Fire Sect held a grudge against An Wuxue! The spiritual vein guarded by the Li-Fire Sect was indeed destroyed, and the entire sect did indeed sacrifice themselves in the calamity. Only An Wuxue had been to the Li-Fire Sect at that time. If it wasn’t him, can you find a second person?”

Xie Zhefeng’s eyes narrowed, his voice laced with killing intent: “Do you truly think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”

“How many people in the two realms think the same as me? Even I cannot be convinced. If you kill me, what can that change? You feel there must be more to the Li-Fire Sect matter, feel there must be something strange about his fall into demonhood, but when he killed Shangguan Ran, he personally admitted to the crime of murdering a fellow cultivator.

“During the crisis of the Zhaoshui Sword Array back then, I saw with my own eyes Lou Shuiming commit suicide before him. He stood by and did nothing!”

Qin Wei choked.

These words seemed to hit his own unresolved knot. He had been aggressive just now, but at the end, he suddenly stalled, turned his head aside, and stopped talking.

Xie Zhefeng remained silent for a while with an almost expressionless face. Suddenly, he used his spiritual energy to command Chunhua. Chunhua did not leave its scabbard; it went straight toward Qin Wei, sword and scabbard together.

Qin Wei immediately raised his hand to block.

But this strike came through the wind, sharp and ruthless, knocking Qin Wei backward!

Chunhua flew back into Xie Zhefeng’s hand. Qin Wei flipped over, covered in dust, before steadying himself.

The spiritual energy of these two Tribulation-stage cultivators collided, the fluctuations causing dust to roll in all directions once again.

An Wuxue stood to the side, numbly listening to the two of them going back and forth. His mind was a blank, yet he was suddenly shaken to his core by the fluctuations.

He coughed a few times and said in a low voice, “You two, I’m still here.”

I’m still here; why are you two arguing about my past life in front of me?

He didn’t even want to argue anymore.

He had already used his life to fill the void; why couldn’t they just let him go?

His words seemed to have an effect. Whether it was out of consideration for him being an outsider or simply not wanting to make a scene anymore, Xie Zhefeng withdrew his hand and spiritual energy, slowly closing his eyes as if suppressing something. Qin Wei used his sword to help him stand up and gave him—or rather, gave his face—a complex look.

After a moment, Xie Zhefeng slowly opened his eyes, staring at Chunhua in his arms, his words solemn: “His remnant soul cannot be found in the Thorny River, and the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit is not a thing that brings the dead back to life. But the two realms are vast, and there is always a way out; there will be other methods.”

“Qin Wei,” he said, “you firmly believe that Lou Shuiming committed suicide, but what you see… may not be the truth.”

He was about to leave after saying that.

Qin Wei’s expression flickered, and he stopped him again to ask: “Your heart—” How has your heart-demon been so unstable lately?

He wanted to ask but realized that the furnace who looked like An Wuxue was still nearby. He swallowed the word “heart” and changed his question: “How is your injury?”

An Wuxue was startled—Injury?

Xie Zhefeng used an incarnation and hadn’t used his full strength when fighting the Mirror Demon and Yun Zhou; was it all because of this so-called injury?

Come to think of it, ever since that night when he had secretly gone to the Frost Sea and accidentally touched Chunhua, Xie Zhefeng had been a bit strange.

Who could injure Xie Zhefeng, who was already the number one in the world?

The peace of the two realms relied entirely on this single eternal immortal to sustain it…

He couldn’t help but worry about the situation of the two realms. Just as the thought arose, he shuddered—how had he fallen into the same old habit?

The situation of the two realms and four seas was no longer for him to manage.

He quickly shook his head.

Xie Zhefeng said, “I need to go back to Zhaoshui City and sit quietly for a while.”

Qin Wei gave a slight nod and said nothing.

As Xie Zhefeng was about to disappear from the spot, An Wuxue called out to him: “Immortal Venerable, I am useless here and cannot help, and I would only be a bother to Elder Qin. Since the Immortal Venerable is going back to Zhaoshui City, why not let me go back and rest as well?”

He knew that Xie Zhefeng would not easily dismiss his suspicions about him. If he and Xie Zhefeng were alone, he would have to find a way to deal with it—but this was bound to happen sooner or later, and there was no point in hiding. He just needed to think of an explanation early on.

He just didn’t want to stay.

Staying would mean being with Qin Wei. Compared to the relatively silent Xie Zhefeng, he even less wanted to face Qin Wei, who might keep prying.

Everything Qin Wei had just said was correct.

A thousand years ago, Xie Zhefeng had just succeeded to the position of Immortal Venerable and was busy traveling everywhere to seal demons. An Wuxue, on the other hand, had constructed the Four Seas Ten Thousand Sword Array, traveling through every coastal city.

The first place where the sword array was established was Zhaoshui City. The ones who had established the array with him were Qin Wei and Lou Shuiming. Although Lou Shuiming was from Zhaoshui City, he had also practiced at Luoyue Peak and only returned to Zhaoshui City after reaching the Tribulation stage. Thus, the three of them were close friends at the time.

To the point that Qin Wei, seeing Lou Shuiming commit suicide to sacrifice himself to the array, had questioned him in disappointment: “Ah Xue, why did you let Shuiming sacrifice himself to the array?”

He had lowered his head, not knowing what to say, and unable to say anything.

The Zhaoshui Sword Array was established, and a corner of the Four Seas Ten Thousand Sword Array was successfully set. He had returned to Luoyue and tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep.

He had gotten up in the middle of the night, gone to the door of Qin Wei’s cave dwelling at Silu Peak, and rang Qin Wei’s soul bell for a long time.

Qin Wei had ignored him.

He had waited at the door until the next day, when he finally saw him.

Qin Wei had come out, seen him, and cold-facedly tried to bypass him.

He had hurriedly stopped him, rarely being humble: “Qin Wei, I’m also very sad about Shuiming’s matter. But I really had no choice—”

“No choice?” Qin Wei had suddenly looked at him. “The source of the sword array’s spiritual energy was managed by you and Shuiming together. Since there was a lack of spiritual energy, why was it him who sacrificed himself and not you?”

At those words, An Wuxue’s expression went blank.

He had already been having nightmares for days because of Lou Shuiming’s death, and at that moment, he felt as if his internal organs were burning.

Qin Wei had also immediately shut his mouth.

He seemed to know how sharp those words were. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but in the end, he said nothing and quickly bypassed An Wuxue and left.

That time, An Wuxue stood dazed on the spot, not stopping him.

Afterward, when he was besieged by ten thousand sects and used his last breath to return to the Luoyue mountain gate, Qin Wei had neither stopped him nor helped him, only saying to him: “An Wuxue, whether you live or die from now on has nothing to do with me.”

Since it had nothing to do with him, why provoke Qin Wei in this life?

Seeing that Xie Zhefeng had already nodded and summoned a spiritual boat to wait for him, he said to Qin Wei: “Then I will go back with the Immortal Venerable and will not trouble Elder Qin further.”

He didn’t wait for Qin Wei to say anything, turning and boarding the spiritual boat in a few steps.

Xie Zhefeng performed a hand seal, and the spiritual boat rose into the air, instantly entering the clouds.

An Wuxue let out a long breath.

Today… he was truly too tired.

The wind whistled on both sides, and the spiritual boat was exceptionally silent.

No words were spoken along the way.

This time, when Xie Zhefeng reached Zhaoshui City, he didn’t descend. The guards of Zhaoshui City already recognized him as a Luoyue “disciple” and saw that he had at least a Tribulation-level cultivation, so no one dared to stop him.

He steered the spiritual boat directly to the inn where they were staying.

An Wuxue was about to go back to his room to rest when Xie Zhefeng suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room.

“Immortal Venerable—”

With a “clang,” the door was closed by spiritual energy, bringing a light breeze.

The man’s voice was carried into his ears by the wind: “You’ve been listening to the conversation between Qin Wei and me, and from beginning to end, you never showed any surprise.”

“I can tentatively believe other explanations, but what do you have to say about this?”