Chapter 29#
An Wuxue had dared to strike Xie Zhefeng and take advantage of his sealed spiritual power to lock him in the room because Xie Zhefeng was having a heart-demon flare-up. Most likely, he would forget everything once he woke up.
At that time, An Wuxue could just make up some excuse, saying the injuries on Xie Zhefeng’s body were self-inflicted to suppress the heart-demon.
Even if Xie Zhefeng were to become suspicious, An Wuxue already had too many suspicious points on him; one more wouldn’t hurt.
In any case, Xie Zhefeng had already tested him repeatedly.
Xie Zhefeng had been searching for a way to bring the dead back to life but had failed. He was the only eternal immortal in the two realms today, and since even he hadn’t succeeded, it was even less likely for anyone else.
So, the fact that he had been resurrected after a thousand years in a body identical to his own, Su Xue, without any apparent help, was something Xie Zhefeng considered impossible. Paradoxically, this made Xie Zhefeng less likely to reach the answer that was right in front of him.
But Qin Wei was different.
Regarding the matter of Su Xue, Qin Wei, as an outsider, was more prone to suspicion.
An Wuxue hurriedly called out to Qin Wei: “Elder Qin!”
Qin Wei’s footsteps paused.
He turned his head and looked at An Wuxue searchingly: “We only met today. How do you know I am an elder and not a peak master or a disciple?”
Luoyue was the number one sect in the cultivation world. Because it produced a Sword Venerable in every generation, it did not have the position of a sect leader; the master of Luoyue was the sovereign of the two realms.
Within a generation, the outstanding individuals were the Chiefs, while others managed the various peaks of Luoyue and were honored as Peak Masters. If they were Tribulation-stage experts with more seniority, they would no longer be Peak Masters but would remain at Luoyue as Elders.
When An Wuxue fell, Qin Wei was already the Peak Master of Silu Peak. Now, being addressed as an elder was perfectly normal.
He said, “When I went up to the Frost Sea, I inquired about some matters of Luoyue Peak, which is how I learned of Elder Qin.”
Qin Wei raised an eyebrow: “You are quite frank. What did you find out?”
“I found out that I have the face of someone Elder Qin dislikes,” An Wuxue sighed. “I’m truly sorry.”
“You—” Qin Wei was choked.
He glanced at An Wuxue again, his expression changing slightly, but the rising anger was suddenly suppressed.
He said, “This temperament of yours is also quite like his. He used to like talking back to me too…”
An Wuxue gave a low laugh.
Qin Wei collected his thoughts and changed the subject: “Xie Chuhan is in the room, right?”
“Is Elder Qin looking for the Immortal Venerable?” He made a sound of realization. “Unfortunately, the Immortal Venerable has just sealed his divine sense and is meditating. That’s why I came out—the Immortal Venerable said he has injuries and needs to recuperate, and must not be disturbed.”
Qin Wei’s expression immediately became complex.
An Wuxue knew he was thinking of Xie Zhefeng’s heart-demon flare-up. A thought struck him: Qin Wei was clearly aware of the existence of Xie Zhefeng’s heart-demon, so Qin Wei should know where it came from, when it appeared, and how serious it was now.
The heart-demon was mostly because of him; he didn’t have much to ask about that. But he was indeed worried about just how far the heart-demon had progressed.
For Xie Zhefeng to develop a heart-demon in the immortal realm… if anything went slightly wrong, it could lead to a calamity for the two realms.
He put on a look of extreme worry for Xie Zhefeng and said, “But I saw the Immortal Venerable fighting the Mirror Demon and Yun Zhou today with ease. Even the turbid energy of the monsters couldn’t come near him at all. Why does he suddenly have injuries?”
“You are quite worried.”
“Elder Qin must be joking. I am the Immortal Venerable’s furnace. It would be strange if I weren’t worried.”
Qin Wei said, “His injury had originally healed, but it has flared up again recently.”
Flared up?
Xie Zhefeng had actually developed a heart-demon twice?
While he was pondering, Qin Wei spoke again: “This has nothing to do with you. You’d better not pry too much. I know Xie Chuhan’s temper. Although I deliberately stung him about keeping you, I know very well that he couldn’t possibly do anything to you. He probably kept you because he loves the house and its crows, and just wants to give you a good place to stay.”
“With this face of yours, cultivate diligently and don’t ask about things you shouldn’t. In the future, you might even manage to become a Peak Master at Luoyue Peak…”
He paused before continuing, “Don’t be like him and walk down a path of no return.”
A path of no return.
What a path of no return.
“Elder Qin… is overthinking,” he said with his eyes curved in a smile. “I have no great ambitions. I have no interest in being a Peak Master. I just want to stay in a quiet corner and do nothing.”
Qin Wei huffed coldly: “A furnace is still a furnace. Why did I think just now that you were like him in other ways besides your face… Xie Chuhan is in the next room, right?”
He still wanted to find Xie Zhefeng.
An Wuxue’s expression faltered, and he avoided answering directly, only saying: “The Immortal Venerable sealed his five senses and divine sense while healing. Unless someone directly awakens the Immortal Venerable’s soul, or the Immortal Venerable wants to wake up himself, no one can call him awake. If Elder Qin has an urgent matter, you can return to Luoyue Peak and call his main body.”
Qin Wei pondered for a moment.
An Wuxue’s made-up words were based on Xie Zhefeng’s appearance when he had locked his senses before. Qin Wei had likely seen it and had no doubts.
The one in Zhaoshui City was just an incarnation whose death wouldn’t significantly affect the main body. If the incarnation couldn’t be awakened, going to find the main body was an option.
It was just that going back and forth between Luoyue and Zhaoshui would take too much time.
Qin Wei clearly didn’t even want to spend that much time and stood there hesitating.
At this point, An Wuxue pretended to suddenly remember something and said “Ah,” before saying, “I have a ‘Heavens and Seas Talisman’ given to me by the Immortal Venerable. It can directly transmit a voice to the Immortal Venerable’s soul. If Elder Qin doesn’t mind, you can tell me.”
Qin Wei grumbled, “Why wasn’t I given such a talisman?”
An Wuxue: “…”
“It’s not something that can’t be said,” Qin Wei said. “I originally planned to take Buwang to clear the turbid energy at the Yunjian Sect, but after cleaning up the corpses of those monsters and searching through the ruins of the sect, we didn’t find much turbid energy.”
An Wuxue’s heart tightened, and his casual expression vanished instantly.
So many cultivators had died at the Yunjian Sect, and there were so many monsters; the turbid energy should have been enough to affect the entire Zhaoshui City.
That’s why as soon as the Yunjian illusion broke, Xie Zhefeng had Qin Wei and Song Buwang lead the disciples to deal with it.
How could there not be much turbid energy?
Qin Wei voiced exactly what was on his mind: “…Turbid energy cannot disappear for no reason. With an extermination of this scale, the overwhelming resentment alone could draw people into demonhood. How could it have vanished silently?”
“I couldn’t find any clues in the Yunjian Sect. The person who committed the extermination had his soul extinguished, and those monsters were all cut into pieces by our good Immortal Venerable. I could only search the souls of a few monsters whose souls were still relatively intact, and found that they had been frequently visiting Zhaoshui City over the past two months… But monsters have incomplete souls, and some don’t even have fully developed intelligence. I couldn’t find out what they were doing, it’s just…”
An Wuxue blurted out: “All that turbid energy has likely been sent to Zhaoshui City!?”
Qin Wei was somewhat surprised: “You are not stupid.”
He said, frowning deeply, “But I can’t figure it out. If someone with ill intentions wanted to cause chaos in Zhaoshui City and used these monsters to secretly send turbid energy to Zhaoshui, but now Zhaoshui is calm and peaceful, where is all that turbid energy?”
Thoughts flashed through An Wuxue’s mind, and a dangerous guess vaguely rose in his heart.
Could it be…
What Qin Wei said was getting closer and closer to his biggest worry: “Even if those turbid energies were truly hidden in Zhaoshui City, what does the person who did this want to do? Do they want to imitate the method of Immortal Venerable Beiming back then, drawing turbid energy into the city to turn all the cultivators and mortals in the city into demons?”
He rubbed his chin and shook his head: “But that wouldn’t achieve anything. Although there is a lot of turbid energy, under the protection of the Zhaoshui Sword Array, it cannot shake the foundation of Zhaoshui City at all—unless there is even more turbid energy…”
“Where would there be more turbid energy? Isn’t that also impossible?”
An Wuxue’s hands unconsciously gripped his sleeves.
No, there was.
It was possible!
Right here in Zhaoshui City.
Adding the turbid energy from the Yunjian Sect to the turbid energy hidden in that place in Zhaoshui City, it would be just enough to shake the Zhaoshui Sword Array!!
“…Why am I telling you this?” Qin Wei slapped his forehead. “You aren’t him. What reaction could you have hearing this? I truly… Hey, Su Xue?”
“…Hmm?”
An Wuxue was absent-minded.
“Take out that talisman of yours. After Xie Chuhan broke the Yunjian illusion, the last of the turbid energy was actually quietly moved away while you were dealing with Yun Zhou. Now that all the turbid energy is hidden in Zhaoshui City, this matter shouldn’t be delayed—”
Qin Wei paused, somewhat displeased: “Why are you ignoring me? Are you playing with me? Forget it, I’ll go call him myself…”
An Wuxue stood there dazed, forgetting to stop Qin Wei as he bypassed him.
“I’m afraid it’s already too late…” he murmured.
If the person doing this was waiting for today’s last portion of turbid energy, whatever they were going to do must be today.
Xie Zhefeng was plagued by a heart-demon. Even if the Heavens and Seas Talisman could wake him, he might not be able to immediately head out to resolve the crisis in Zhaoshui.
Qin Wei was unaware of the turbid energy that had been hidden in Zhaoshui City for thousands of years. Although he knew there was something strange, he couldn’t imagine how serious the situation was.
Only An Wuxue, the Chief of Luoyue Peak who had personally established the sword array here, could speak of the secret beneath the array.
That was a promise he had kept until now, and he was the only living person who knew of it.
If he were to speak it aloud…
He bit his lower lip hard, looking blankly at the cultivators and mortals coming and going in the inn’s lobby below the high stairs.
A few days ago, when he and Xie Zhefeng entered the city at night, the floats were fragrant, the voices of mortal singers drifted by, and the flower lanterns were like the stars of a prosperous age, dazzling and bright.
And the next morning, the steamers of roadside vendors were emitting hot air, and a little girl clutching a candied hawthorn had bumped into him…
“An Wuxue” had been dead for a thousand years.
With or without him, the two realms had still reached their current prosperity.
He had clearly just told Qin Wei that he had no great ambitions and only wanted to do nothing in this life.
But he remembered back then, in front of the giant Zhaoshui sword, Lou Shuiming told him before he died: “Chief, I don’t want to see piles of white bones anymore.”
He tasted a hint of blood.
He suddenly came back to his senses and realized he had bitten his lower lip.
In a split second, Qin Wei had reached the door of Xie Zhefeng’s room and was about to wave his hand to break the restriction.
An Wuxue suddenly turned around and dashed to his side, grabbing his arm to stop his movement.
“You—”
“Qin Wei.” He called the other by name.
Qin Wei was stunned.
At the same time.
From afar, seemingly at the very center of Zhaoshui City, a massive roar erupted.
The screams of mortals immediately sounded from all directions.
Cultivators shouted: “What happened?”
“It’s the Zhaoshui Sword! The Zhaoshui Sword is trembling!!”
Qin Wei looked at him, his eyes wide with shock, confusion, and bewilderment.
“Trust me one more time,” An Wuxue said urgently. “Qin Wei, I beg you, trust me one more time. You must go to the Zhaoshui Sword right now. The turbid energy from the Yunjian Sect’s destruction is enough to shake the Zhaoshui Sword, because suppressed under the Zhaoshui Sword is a Great Demon at the peak of the Tribulation stage!”