Chapter 55#
The twenty-seventh city of Beiming was located in the west. Most of the cultivators passing through were from the open and fierce Langfeng City, along with some cultivators entering Beiming from various places.
Compared to other outer cities, the strength of the twenty-seventh city was quite formidable.
Before Zhao Duan was born, the twenty-seventh city possessed two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators at the same time.
One was the previous City Lord, Qiao Gou, whom Qiao Yin had mentioned was killed by Zhao Duan after he entered the demonic path.
The other was the woman in extravagant dress who had been made into a puppet by Zhao Duan—Zhao Qiuran.
Qiao Gou and Zhao Qiuran belonged to the two great immortal clans of the twenty-seventh city. In their youth, both were strong candidates for the next City Lord.
When the position changed, Qiao Gou, with his middle-stage Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and superior comprehension of the sword path, easily defeated Zhao Qiuran, who had then just entered the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
The two families were accustomed to conflict and were originally like fire and water. But after the battle, Zhao Qiuran admired Qiao Gou’s character and cultivation, and she actually developed feelings for him, wanting to become Dao companions with him.
The Qiao and Zhao families learned of this and, after some discussion, were quite happy to see it happen—if they united, the two families would become one, equivalent to a sect possessing two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, leaving nothing left to fight over.
But everything started with the fact that Qiao Gou was unwilling.
Not only was he unwilling, but his beloved was actually a mortal woman from an ordinary merchant family in the twenty-seventh city.
That mortal woman was walking along the long street when she was nineteen years old and happened to encounter Qiao Gou, who had transformed into a mortal and was dazed in the middle of the road.
At that time, something had gone wrong with Qiao Gou’s comprehension of the Dao. He couldn’t understand why the myriad living beings in the mortal world—be they plants, ephemerae, poor refugees, or those in high positions—all lived for only a hundred years. Time passed in a flash, not even equivalent to a single moment of a cultivator’s seclusion. What exactly was the meaning of such a life?
Was it possible that being born was simply waiting to die?
He couldn’t figure it out and had fallen into a delusion.
He wandered in a daze through the middle of the long street, occasionally bumping into pedestrians. He was cursed at countless times but showed no reaction, staring blankly.
Someone passed by in a sedan chair. The woman lifted the curtain and happened to see the porter scolding him: “Why don’t you look where you’re going? We have such a big sedan chair and you just rush at us? Don’t you dare try to extort our lady if you get hit!”
Qiao Gou said absently, “I didn’t mean to intrude, my apologies.”
With that, he intended to detour and walk away.
The woman’s elegant eyebrows moved slightly, her brow furrowed, and she called out to him: “Sir!”
Qiao Gou turned back despondently: “Did I disturb your carriage, miss?”
He lowered his head, reaching into his spiritual pouch—which had been transformed into the appearance of a mortal sachet—to take out some gold and silver. “I can make amends…”
His movements were practiced, showing that he didn’t know how many people he had bumped into before or how much money he had paid in compensation.
The woman couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Her slender, jade-like hand reached out from the sedan curtain, actually offering a bunch of flowers.
“I only saw that you looked despondent, sir, and didn’t know what was troubling you so much. These flowers were picked by me while outing in the outskirts. If you don’t mind, I will gift them to you.”
“Plants and flowers have spirits. If you observe them, sir, perhaps they can dissolve some of your sorrow.”
Qiao Gou looked up. The bouquet was held before his eyes; they were just common wildflowers found everywhere.
Beiming was about to enter early winter, the season when vegetation withers. Those wildflowers were already declining, their petals drooping and turning yellow and black. If they hadn’t been picked, they would have withered as soon as the wind blew.
Qiao Gou was surprised: “They are about to wither.”
The woman smiled: “Flowers bloom and flowers wither naturally. I only picked them to see them bloom for a few more days. It’s good if someone observes them.”
Qiao Gou stood frozen and silent.
After a long while, seeing that he neither took the flowers nor spoke, the woman thought he was unwilling and intended to withdraw her hand.
Qiao Gou suddenly reached out and took the bouquet, smiling: “Thank you, miss. I understand.”
“Eh? What did you understand, sir?”
Amidst the woman’s confusion, Qiao Gou’s figure had already vanished.
The porter rubbed his eyes: “Where’s the person?”
Qiao Gou had gone to make a breakthrough.
The following year, with his middle-stage Tribulation Transcendence cultivation, he defeated Zhao Qiuran and succeeded to the position of City Lord. Ignoring the wishes of both families, he went to the home of that mortal woman to propose marriage.
The woman stepped out of her room to receive the guest in the hall, only to find that the visitor was the very gentleman who had suddenly vanished on the long street that day.
Her parents asked him: “Kind sir, if you intend to marry our daughter, what is the betrothal gift?”
The gentleman reached out, palm upward. A bouquet of wildflowers that were on the verge of withering was encased in spiritual energy, surprisingly looking exactly as they did when they first met.
The mortals around them, seeing an immortal master reveal his power, all knelt down.
But he withdrew the spiritual energy. The bouquet was exposed to the outside world, and as the wind blew, the petals drifted down.
The flowers withered.
He said: “This is my betrothal gift.”
The woman was dazed: “You’ve kept them for a year, why did you let them wither?”
“It is enough that they once bloomed.”
The woman smiled and nodded, agreeing to the marriage herself.
When these events of the past occurred, Zhao Duan had not yet been born, and what he knew came from what his elders told him.
Therefore, in the memory images, whether it was Qiao Gou, the woman, or everything in the twenty-seventh city, they were all hazy and blurred; only shadow-like outlines could be seen.
An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng stood together amidst these clinging blurs, watching quietly.
He was worried about missing clues related to the puppet technique and the chaos in Beiming, so he carefully observed these past events related to Zhao Duan.
But as he watched, he suddenly felt something was a bit strange.
Turning his head slightly, he bumped into Xie Zhefeng’s gaze. Only then did he realize that Xie Zhefeng wasn’t looking at what was before him, but was instead looking at him.
He felt somewhat displeased and frowned: “Why is the Immortal looking at me?”
Hadn’t he just said he wouldn’t “misidentify” him?
Xie Zhefeng hurriedly looked away, his tone momentarily appearing a bit panicked: “No, I…”
His voice paused, then he regained his composure, saying in a low voice: “I only saw that Qiao Gou and his wife merely met by chance in the mortal world. With just one meeting, his wife unintentionally broke his karmic obstacle, and he could be so moved—it’s somewhat unusual.”
His junior brother instantly returned to a cold expression. “I only wanted to tell you this confusion just now; it was just a coincidence.”
“Oh.”
An Wuxue didn’t think it was unusual.
He said: “Some people’s love stems from a long time together, some people’s love starts in an instant, or a combination of both—born in a single moment during a long time together.”
As for his junior brother and him—wasn’t the moment he slew the inner demon for him in their youth also a single moment within a long time together?
He gave a bitter smile: “It’s just that everything is relative. Disappointment can also stem from a long time together and start in an instant.”
His feelings being moved started with the slaying of the inner demon; the death of his heart started with the sword light entering his heart.
After he finished speaking, Xie Zhefeng became silent.
He looked at the flowing and changing scenes before him, not looking at Xie Zhefeng, not knowing what this man’s thoughts were, and not having anything he wanted to know.
In the past events Zhao Duan had heard, Qiao Gou used mortal rites—three letters and six rites, and ten miles of red dowry—to marry that mortal woman.
He was already the person with the highest cultivation in the twenty-seventh city and was also the City Lord. No one could interfere with whom he loved.
But no matter how much Qiao Gou loved her, it couldn’t change the fact that she was a mortal.
This woman was even born without immortal bones and couldn’t enter the path of cultivation. Even with the help of immortal pills and wondrous medicines, she could at most live for only a hundred years or so.
After the Immortal Calamity, there was only one Eternal Immortal in the world, Xie Zhefeng, and below him was the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
A cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage would be a guest of the highest honor even at Luoyue Peak.
How could Zhao Qiuran bear being surpassed by a mortal woman?
Indignation filled her heart, but the immortal cultivators in her clan advised her: “The City Lord’s wife’s lifespan is limited. Isn’t a hundred years just a blink of an eye for you? Just wait. Mortals lose their beauty in just a few decades. At that time, the City Lord will still be a handsome young man. Perhaps you won’t even need to wait for her to pass away before he turns back to look at you.”
Zhao Qiuran also felt that what others said made sense.
Just a few decades, merely a moment in seclusion.
She dropped the matter for the time being. A year after Qiao Gou married, Qiao Yin was born.
A few more years passed, and when the child was only five years old, she showed some talent.
Her mother was a mortal without immortal bones, yet she unexpectedly possessed excellent talent and skeletal structure.
Everyone in the City Lord’s Mansion said that in the Zhao family, apart from Zhao Qiuran, none of the younger generation was outstanding. This little girl’s structure was excellent; perhaps in the future, she could directly become the Young City Lord.
When Zhao Qiuran heard this, she became even more defiant.
On what basis?
Why was it that not only could she not compare to a mortal woman, but the child this woman bore could also be a genius?
She couldn’t help but say: “What does it matter how much of a genius she is? In a few decades, she might even have to call someone else mother. This child is born with immortal bones; several decades are too young for her. It’s not even certain whether she will remember this mortal mother in the future!”
These words, spread intentionally or unintentionally by others, naturally reached Qiao Gou’s ears.
City Lord Qiao’s words were firm: “If she lives for a hundred years, I will not take another Dao companion.”
Zhao Qiuran was furious.
What made it even more difficult for her to remain calm was that a few days later, the City Lord’s wife was pregnant again.
Zhao Qiuran didn’t understand.
Why? To a cultivator, a mortal was tiny and transient. What was so good about that mortal woman that she could surpass even her, an immortal cultivator of the Tribulation Transcendence stage?
Mortals…
Are mortals truly different?
She also hid her identity and entered the mortal wine and smoke alleys, becoming dead drunk and having a brief, casual encounter.
She thought—nothing good about them. Qiao Gou truly had his heart clouded by lard.
Unexpectedly, after returning, in less than a month, she found herself pregnant as well.
It was her child from that casual encounter with a mortal.
The entire twenty-seventh city of Beiming knew that she, Zhao Qiuran, had been surpassed by a mortal woman.
What did it matter whether she bore this child or not?
She originally intended to terminate this pregnancy directly, but when she learned that Qiao Gou’s wife and the child in her own womb were both male, her thoughts shifted. She changed her mind and kept the child.
Weren’t Qiao Gou and that mortal woman very happy? Wasn’t their child gifted with excellent talent? Wasn’t Qiao Gou certain that his child wouldn’t call someone else mother?
She simply wouldn’t let them have their way.
She had a plan.
The more An Wuxue watched, the tighter his brow furrowed.
What Zhao Qiuran did was no longer entirely for Qiao Gou’s sake.
Perhaps at the beginning, she was just slightly indignant because of a setback in a matter of love. But later, this indignation failed to find relief and piled up heavier and heavier, becoming a Tribulation Transcendence stage obsession and delusion.
Crossing the tribulation, crossing the tribulation—the tribulation lies in the body and also in the heart. The obstacles on the path are much more numerous than in other realms, and it’s also much easier for a cultivator to go astray than for those in lower realms.
Just as Qiao Gou had fallen into a delusion and happened to have his wife break it, only then could he reach the next level.
But Zhao Qiuran failed to come out; instead, she fell deeper and deeper, eventually becoming obsessed for the sake of obsession itself.
She might not have been that moved by Qiao Gou at that time; she was just unwilling to accept it.
Xie Zhefeng also said: “She developed a heart of obsession and refused to wake up. She gave birth to an inner demon without realizing it.”
An Wuxue raised an eyebrow: “The Immortal is quite accurate in observing others, yet why did he instead—”
He paused.
“I have been presumptuous again.”
Whether it was truly because the inner demon was suppressed, Xie Zhefeng was much gentler in temper than before and didn’t even get angry. Instead, he said slowly: “Her delusion was an obsession without regret. My inner demon, however, is my own doing.”
An Wuxue blinked and only said: “Oh.”
Xie Zhefeng lowered his head, hiding a look of misery. “You… don’t ask me?”
He was puzzled: “I have no relation to the Immortal; what is there to ask? The last time, the Immortal even warned me.”
If it were before, let alone an inner demon, even if his junior brother had some external injury, he would impatiently seek out the best medicine.
But he had died once and was not the kind of person who forgets the pain once the wound has healed. How could he do such a stupid thing again?
He did indeed care about Xie Zhefeng’s inner demon, but he was worried that the man’s out-of-control inner demon would bring future trouble. But the matters of the two realms were for the people of the two realms to consider now; he was just Su Xue, a nameless and statusless nobody.
He looked at the past events related to Zhao Duan before him. It just so happened that the past was flowing by, and they had not yet seen the memories brought by the next wisp of resentment.
He said at the right time: “By the way.”
“Hm…?”
“Since the Immortal will no longer misidentify me, if there is news related to the puppet technique in Zhao Duan’s memories and I can resolve this mark in the future—then let me leave.”
Xie Zhefeng’s expression was shaken, and he blurted out: “You want to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you want to leave?”
An Wuxue was silent for a moment before saying: “Why should I stay?”
Why?
Xie Zhefeng’s lips moved slightly, wanting to answer.
But what could he answer?
Answer that he hoped his Senior Brother would return to Luoyue Peak and he would clear everything for him? But his Senior Brother didn’t want him to know; if he were exposed, his Senior Brother would only leave even faster.
Answer something else?
He wanted to beg his Senior Brother to stay.
But he didn’t even dare to speak the words of entreaty.
He, Qin Wei, Qi Xun, Luoyue Peak… what was there that was worth his Senior Brother’s attachment?
Nothing.