Chapter 71#
Xie Zhefeng’s body swayed.
Kun Kun flew up silently, clinging to An Wuxue’s arm and gently rubbing its head against his wrist.
An Wuxue used his other hand to stroke the little creature’s head, signaling that he was alright, before turning back to Xie Zhefeng. “Things that have already happened cannot be erased, no matter how many times you promise they won’t happen again. It’s useless.”
“I have died once. These days, you live in constant fear that I will leave you—is that not the same thing? I died once because of you. Even if you say you won’t kill me or doubt me, can I truly set my mind at ease? If I say I won’t leave, can you truly be indifferent?”
Xie Zhefeng remained deathly silent.
This time, An Wuxue waited with unexpected patience for a moment.
But Xie Zhefeng’s gaze was heavy and dim, his face devoid of color, as if he might at any moment tumble into the boundless void behind him.
He was in pain, yet he couldn’t cry out.
He was completely unable to speak.
An Wuxue continued to smooth Kun Kun’s fur, stroking the head of the little creature in his arms. His expression was calm, and his voice was tinged with a layer of gentleness. “Junior Brother, do you still remember Master?”
Confusion flickered on Xie Zhefeng’s face, but he replied immediately, “Of course.”
“I remember him too. In those years toward the end of the Immortal Calamity, when no immortals remained in the world, every time I heard people mention Long-Life Immortals, I would think of Master. I would think of the past—how he taught me swordplay and passed on the Dao to me. I would miss his kindness and the expectations he had for me.”
“But in truth, Master was just like you; he cultivated the detached and distant Way of Heartless. He was Immortal Venerable Nan He, the one who could suppress all the experts of both realms even when the other immortals were still present. He was cold-hearted and cold-natured, his actions dictated only by the welfare of all living beings. His expectations for me and his teachings for you were only because we were his disciples, because we would one day bear the heavy responsibility of the common people.”
“If I look back carefully, when he taught us swordplay in our youth, though there were moments of affection, it was mostly day after day of harsh discipline. I grew up without father or mother and was new to the world, so I naturally regarded Master as my parent. But Master never reciprocated my feelings of respect and dependence; instead, he would rebuke me for being too soft-hearted.”
“Yet even now, I still miss those few moments of patience and warmth he showed me—because he is dead.”
“Senior Brother—”
“Junior Brother,” An Wuxue responded to the address.
Instead of being upset, he smiled.
“Life and death can cause one to lose their ordinary state of mind. I have experienced this all too many times.”
In his previous life, he was always passively competing with the dead, and in the end, he was always the one who lost.
“Because Master is dead, I only remember the good things he brought us. Now that I have died, are you certain you can truly distinguish between love and hatred versus guilt and debt?”
Xie Zhefeng’s voice was hoarse. “I can!”
“That is the answer you believe in right now, but it doesn’t matter to me because I am afraid.”
Perhaps Xie Zhefeng truly believed his heart was sincere at this moment.
The man before him had red-rimmed eyes, and the few words he had managed to speak were filled with agitation. Yet An Wuxue remained calm from beginning to end, as if he were stating ordinary facts.
He said, “As for the dual cultivation… that happened before the North Abyss Sword Array was completed. You were poisoned by a charm toxin. You say you don’t remember; perhaps the charm toxin of a shark demon can muddle one’s consciousness. At that time, it was indeed I who failed to restrain myself. As your Senior Brother, regardless of the circumstances, the fault lies with me. It is just as well that you’ve forgotten it.”
The two Life and Death Gates before them began to tremble again.
This time, it wasn’t Xie Zhefeng’s doing; rather, the final patch of ground in this void was truly beginning to vanish.
An Wuxue felt that he had said a lot. He had spoken things he hadn’t originally intended to say, and things he didn’t need to say.
He placed Kun Kun on Xie Zhefeng’s shoulder and said, “Though your inner demons are temporarily suppressed, they haven’t been rooted out. Let Kun Kun stay with you.”
With a normal expression, he turned around. Without waiting for Xie Zhefeng’s reply, he stepped into the gate on the right.
He seemed to hear the person behind him say softly yet firmly, “I truly can distinguish between them…”
An Wuxue simply continued walking forward.
As the darkness of the void faded, the scene before his eyes became clear again.
Pei Qian and Jiang Qing were right beside him.
Jiang Qing’s serious injuries had not yet healed, and he was currently regulating his breathing with closed eyes. Pei Qian, on the other hand, was forming a hand seal to maintain a barrier.
Seeing An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng appear one after the other, Pei Qian let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while. I thought something had happened in the previous illusion.”
Jiang Qing slowly opened his eyes, a look of confusion on his face. “Fellow Daoist Xie looks so pale. Are you injured as well?”
Pei Qian: “Ahem.”
“Is Little Pei injured too?”
“Yes, an internal injury.” From holding it in.
An Wuxue: “…”
He glanced around and finally understood why Pei Qian was maintaining a barrier to hide their presence.
They were within the First City, yet behind them, the North Abyss Sword that had stood for a thousand years was nowhere to be seen.
Could this be…
Jiang Qing spoke up, “The good news is that we’ve entered a Life Gate. The bad news is that the past in this Life Gate seems to be a time before the North Abyss Sword Array was completed.”
Pei Qian clicked his tongue. “Before the sword array was finished? Wouldn’t that be during the Immortal Calamity of a thousand years ago? When I stepped out and didn’t see the North Abyss Sword, I almost collapsed from fright—what if this is the North Abyss First City before the fall of the immortals?”
Back then, North Abyss was teeming with experts and immortals!!
What would they do if they were treated as suspicious characters of unknown origin?
Xie Zhefeng said in a hoarse voice, “Even if there are such people, they wouldn’t be completely invincible. An array is, after all, created by people. The creator wasn’t a Long-Life Immortal, so no matter how powerful the phantoms in the array are, they can’t truly reach the Immortal Realm. As long as they aren’t in the Immortal Realm…”
With him there, they wouldn’t truly be in mortal danger.
Even in the worst-case scenario where there was a Long-Life Immortal, Xie Zhefeng possessed a heaven-given sword mark, had entered the Dao through heartlessness, reached the Tribulation-Transcending stage within a century, and ascended at a young age. There were likely few Long-Life Immortals from the time of the Immortal Calamity who could rival him.
An Wuxue understood this as well and wasn’t worried.
However, he frowned slightly and said, “It’s unlikely there will be any Long-Life Immortals. If Fellow Daoist Pei and Fellow Daoist Jiang extend their divine sense beneath our feet, they can sense the presence of the Sword Tomb. The Sword Tomb was the first step in establishing the North Abyss Sword Array—this point in time is midway through its creation. At that time, there were no immortals in the world, and City Lord Shangguan might not even be in the city…”
A thousand years ago, they were constantly traveling among the forty-nine cities of North Abyss to set up the sword array. Shangguan Liaoliao wasn’t in the First City every day.
Jiang Qing said, “Su Xue really knows a lot about the Four Seas Ten Thousand Swords Array. If that’s the case, it might actually be a good thing. At that time, the City Lord hadn’t yet reached the half-step ascension stage, right? If we can find her here, it will be much easier to kill her.”
“There are too many Tribulation-Transcending auras in the First City of a thousand years ago; we can’t confirm the City Lord’s location. It would be too easy to get exposed and too slow if all four of us look together. Why don’t we split into two groups?”
Pei Qian hurried to agree. “Exactly what I was thinking! Then it’ll be Mr. Jiang and me in one group, and Su Xue and Fellow Daoist Xie in the other.”
That way, he wouldn’t have to stay with the Immortal Venerable!!!
He quickly pulled two extremely rare talismans from his spiritual pouch.
Pei Qian used the tip of his sword to prick his finger and drew runes on the talismans with his own blood.
“These are teleportation talismans that work within a certain distance. They come as a pair; tearing one will transport you to where the other is located.” Pei Qian handed one to An Wuxue. “If we fail to find the City Lord and someone breaks this illusion, the others can use these talismans to regroup and enter the next set of gates together.”
An Wuxue took it and said, “Alright. However, Fellow Daoist Jiang’s serious injuries haven’t healed, and Fellow Daoist Pei is more skilled in arrays than combat. It’s not very safe for the two of you to be together.”
“It would be better for me and Fellow Daoist Jiang to search for people in the city.”
“In the time of the Immortal Calamity, demon cultivators often infiltrated the edges of the First City. There are many protective barriers and arrays, and no shortage of guarding Tribulation-Transcending experts. It’s full of danger. Fellow Daoist Xie has the highest cultivation, so it’s more appropriate for him to search the outer area. Fellow Daoist Pei can go with him to assist him.”
As he finished speaking, Pei Qian’s face immediately fell, though he didn’t dare say anything. Xie Zhefeng’s gaze turned cold as he looked at Jiang Qing.
Only Jiang Qing chuckled and said warmly, “Su Xue is truly considerate.”
Xie Zhefeng just looked at An Wuxue.
But An Wuxue didn’t look at him. Xie Zhefeng reached out, wanting to pull An Wuxue to face him, but just before he made contact, he remembered how much his Senior Brother repelled his touch.
His movement faltered. In the end, he only dared to grab An Wuxue’s sleeve and asked in a low voice, “Why? Jiang Qing is still injured right now; he can’t protect you—”
“Why do I need someone else to protect me? If he can’t protect me, I’ll protect him. Besides, it’s not like he’s going to kill me.”
Xie Zhefeng’s pupils trembled. Those few short words felt like ten thousand arrows piercing his heart and fire burning his body.
To make matters worse, Jiang Qing added from the side, “Fellow Daoist Xie and Su Xue are sect mates. It’s normal for sect mates to look out for each other and worry about each other’s safety. How shameful of me—I was clearly able to protect Su Xue before, but now that his cultivation has progressed so rapidly, I’ve become a burden instead. But please rest assured, Fellow Daoist Xie; if there is danger, I will do my utmost. I will certainly help you take good care of Su Xue.”
Xie Zhefeng’s gaze grew increasingly dark.
Pei Qian took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
Nearby, it seemed like some cultivators were approaching.
As Xie Zhefeng stood frozen there, An Wuxue simply pulled his sleeve away and said, “It’s settled. The priority is to find City Lord Shangguan and then search for a way to break the array. Let’s not get held up by the past karma in the flow of time.”
“Whoever finds City Lord Shangguan, use sound transmission to let the others know.”
Before he had even finished speaking, he and Jiang Qing concealed their auras and left the barrier Pei Qian had set up, their figures vanishing from the sight of Pei Qian and Xie Zhefeng.
Pei Qian didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
Just as the investigating immortal cultivators were about to discover them, Xie Zhefeng waved his sleeve. His spiritual energy created a light breeze that carried Pei Qian and Kun Kun away with him.
They soon reached the outskirts of the First City.
Xie Zhefeng wanted to end this illusion as quickly as possible.
Whether it was by breaking the illusion or killing the Shangguan Liaoliao within it, he didn’t want to wait a single moment longer.
At the thought of An Wuxue being alone for an unknown amount of time with that tactless and inconsiderate Jiang Qing, and what kind of things the two of them might say to each other…
His chest felt as if it were filled with bitter vinegar, with fear wrapped within the bitterness.
He was afraid his Senior Brother truly would… toward that Fetal Spirit…
But he had no standing to speak. He didn’t even have the right to say, “I don’t want him to be with you.”
His sea of consciousness swayed slightly.
The inner demons that had only just been suppressed by the soul-splitting technique were already showing signs of resurfacing!
Xie Zhefeng quickly forced down the stray thoughts. Enduring the pain of his split soul, he spread out his divine sense.
—End this illusion quickly, and Senior Brother won’t have to spend any more time with that Fetal Spirit.
They were currently at the edge of the First City.
As soon as Pei Qian found his footing, he heard Immortal Venerable Chu Han say, “There is a very faint aura of a Tribulation-Transcending immortal cultivator in the place where the First City meets the Black Sea.”
A faint aura actually indicated that the cultivator’s cultivation was solid and profound.
“Could it be City Lord Shangguan? Then let’s—” Go there now.
Before he could finish, Pei Qian was once again picked up by Xie Zhefeng like a sack of grain and whisked away.
Pei Qian: “…”
Judging by the Immortal Venerable’s current motivation, he might find City Lord Shangguan the very next moment and kill her with a single sword strike. So what was he even doing here?
He resigned himself to his role as a useless sack of grain and followed Xie Zhefeng.
After a moment.
Xie Zhefeng, concealing his aura, landed with Pei Qian on the shore of the Black Sea.
Before them lay the deep blue sea, the sound of the waves reaching their ears.
They could clearly see the figure on the shore.
Kun Kun let out a soft, joyful howl. “Whine!?”
Even Pei Qian was momentarily stunned.
Xie Zhefeng said blankly, “…Senior Brother?”
Where the wet sand met the seawater at the edge of the waves, the An Wuxue of a thousand years ago was sitting on a reef. He was gazing at the distant waves with a complex expression, looking worried and somewhat at a loss.
He loved wearing plain cyan. Back then, he was clearly the First Seat of Falling Moon whom the cultivators of both realms looked up to, yet he never showed any signs of luxury. Even so, as he sat among the jagged rocks, he was more eye-catching than the seemingly endless Black Sea behind him.
It was precisely because his Senior Brother’s attire was always so plain that Xie Zhefeng immediately noticed the small red marks peeking out from above the collar on his snowy-white neck.
Those marks didn’t look like injuries. Rather, they looked like…
Xie Zhefeng suddenly remembered what An Wuxue had said earlier.
—“After our dual cultivation at the Black Water Abyss, you returned to Falling Moon Peak alone, and I returned to the North Abyss sword array…”
—“As for the dual cultivation… that happened before the North Abyss Sword Array was completed. You were poisoned by a charm toxin. You say you don’t remember; perhaps the charm toxin of a shark demon can muddle one’s consciousness…”
Could it be…
Could this be exactly after the Black Sea dual cultivation his Senior Brother had mentioned!?