Ch65 - Eventual Meeting*

Translator: transcendentwings

CW: mild NSFW, mainly just suggestive sounds and poetic sentences to slide past the actual R-rated stuff

Update 2/2

Xu Xingzhi stared at those few Fengling Mountain disciples and felt as if they had been separated for a century. The faces in front of him seemed extremely foreign, yet were extremely familiar at the same time.

For a moment, he even had the illusion as if cold water had been poured down his back.

These faces gradually flashed before his eyes: he had guided this person to wield a sword, he had wrestled with that person in the water, he had taught the disciple over there who bullied the younger generation in a fit of youth and frivolity a lesson. . .

Xu Xingzhi had always boasted of his photographic memory and was especially good at memorizing people’s names and faces. The names reported by these people were like a rusty copper key which suddenly opened the door that had been collecting dust for many years and countless names came rushing in, layer upon layer forming an echo in Xu Xingzhi’s ears.

—During the evening lesson, he held the Fengling roster and did a roll call. From the first to the three thousand and sixth, it would take a good chunk of two hours to count all it off. Xu Xingzhi always liked to be lazy and would just randomly draw on a few hundred names and call it a day.

—In the middle of the night, he would sometimes guard the gate of the sect to capture disciples who returned late under Guangfu-jun’s orders. If Guangfu-jun wasn’t there then everyone would line up and just receive a slap on the head and the matter would be settled; if Guangfu-jun was also keeping watch with him, these unlucky people would inevitably have to run a dozen laps around the foot of Fengling Mountain and they would start from being under the canopy of the moon and stars then end up running until the morning dew heralded the light of dawn.

Xu Xingzhi always followed alongside them and if anyone lost their strength, he would carry them aside and let them drink a mouthful of wine to rinse their mouth.

Almost every person belonging to Fengling has drunk the wine in his jug.

And these disciples standing in front of him looked at him with eyes as clear and warm as in his memories, full of admiration, their eyes brimming with light.

However it was precisely such a gaze that made Xu Xingzhi feel hot all over, as if something was about to struggle and leap out of his mind, yet at the same time it was locked firmly by a gate, provoking a splitting headache.

A well-timed arm tightened around his waist from behind, preventing him from falling backwards.

Meng Chongguang leaned in close to his ear and softly comforted him: “Shixiong, don’t be agitated, it’s okay.”

Of all the disciples there, who wouldn’t have recognized who the person next to Xu Xingzhi was as the expression on their faces changed slightly.

And how would Meng Chongguang pay any attention to their gazes. In his heart and in his eyes, from beginning to end, there was only Xu Xingzhi alone.

Zhou Beinan, Qu Chi, and the others arrived in succession, and the disciples of the various sects immediately flocked over. There was a Danyang Peak disciple who was even taller than Qu Chi, such a stalwart and strapping young man was actually draped all over Qu Chi sobbing with a wuwu, startling Qu Chi to the extent that even the rims of his eyes turned red, as he worked hard to organize words in order to comfort the other.

Xu Xingzhi covered his forehead, perhaps because he was soaked in water when he descended just now, but he was preoccupied by a pounding pain in his head as if a wire saw was slowly cutting into his brain along the line marker.

Those Fengling disciples all realized that something was wrong: “Shixiong, are you feeling unwell?”

“Shixiong, there is a soft divan in the hall, if you don’t mind, then please enter.”

Several of them led Xu Xingzhi into the palace, one of them wanted to come forth and support him, but because of Meng Chongguang’s terrifying gaze, he could only withdraw his hand.

Xu Xingzhi’s temples throbbed even when he spoke, so he could only whisper to Meng Chongguang in a soft voice: “Tell them not to worry.”

Meng Chongguang ignored him: “Shixiong, let me not be worried first ba.”

He scooped Xu Xingzhi up horizontally causing Xu Xingzhi’s “right hand” to slide out of the sleeve of his robe, laying it bare in front of these disciples. They all stopped in their tracks, stunned.

Just when they were immersed in a daze, Meng Chongguang carried Xu Xingzhi into the palace himself, turned right, walking obliquely as he kicked the door before him open with his foot, and marched right in.

The few Fengling disciples looked at each other in blank dismay. Someone asked: “How does he know that that is our dormitory?”

But no one could answer his question.

On the other side, Lu Yujiu asked one by one: “Excuse me, is there anyone from Qingliang Valley?”

“Any disciples from Qingliang Valley?”

“Is there anyone from Qingliang Valley. . .”

Everyone he sought just shook their heads from side to side.

After questioning all fourteen disciples, he found that there were indeed no familiar faces. Lu Yujiu looked disappointed and walked a few steps away with his head down, only to find that Yuan Ruzhou was the same as him, removed from the crowd and remaining silent.

Lu Yujiu was a little puzzled: It’s not like there were no Fengling Mountain disciples present, so why should she be isolated.

Harboring these thoughts, he took two steps towards where she was, but was stopped by a Yingtianchuan disciple, pursing their lips to signal in Yuan Ruzhou’s direction: “Ai, what is that set of bones for? Is that a ghost servant under your control?”

When Zhou Beinan came down earlier, he had played catch up with them, but only talked about the fact that Xu Xingzhi and Qu Chi were still alive, as well as Lu Yujiu and Zhou Wang’s identities, especially emphasizing that they were not allowed to laugh at Lu Yujiu and were not allowed to touch his mask. As for the others, he didn’t say anything, so this disciple didn’t even know who the woman wearing a dried flower hairpin was.

Hearing that someone was talking about her, Yuan Ruzhou turned around, her back facing them.

However, every inch of her body was exposed and at a glance, Lu Yujiu could clearly see each tremble in her spine.

Lu Yujiu pressed his lips in a straight line before answering: “She isn’t. She is our doctor. I don’t know how many times she has saved our lives in these years, we should all be thankful for her presence.”

“Is that so?”

“Naturally.” Lu Yujiu affirmed, “She is our hero.”

“What’s her name?”

Lu Yujiu hardly paused to think: “Fengling.”

“. . . Yi? Fengling Mountain’s ‘Fengling’?”

Lu Yujiu noticed that Yuan Ruzhou’s back stopped shaking, so he showed a warm smile with dimples: “Yes. She is worthy of this name.”

Inside the hall, Xu Xingzhi’s forehead was covered with a wrung out cold towel. He still had a splitting headache, and laid on the divan with a pale face, letting Meng Chongguang gently massage his temples.

The hustle and bustle outside the hall never dissipated. Meng Chongguang rose and wanted to close the door, but Xu Xingzhi waved his hand to stop the other: “Don’t close it, let me listen.”

Meng Chongguang pouted: “It won’t do you any good in hearing it.”

Xu Xingzhi narrowed his eyes, staring at the other wearily: “You knew that they were here?”

Meng Chongguang didn’t answer, just adjusted a cup of water to a warm temperature and brought it to Xu Xingzhi’s mouth.

Xu Xingzhi didn’t go along with his actions to drink from it: “Speak.”

Meng Chongguang begrudgingly replied: “. . . I knew.”

“How did you know?”

“I have my ways.”

“Why are they here?”

“In order to avoid the turmoil in the savage wasteland, they opened up a void at the bottom of the pool. With the aid of formations, the water and mud were repelled and they carved out a space of their own, removing themselves from any contention with the world.”

“How many more disciples of the four sects are still scattered in the wasteland?”

“This I do not know. Though it is very likely that there are more than just the few of them.”

Xu Xingzhi opened his mouth, but failed to ask the following question.

. . . Why were they here?

What happened during the so-called theft of the divine artifacts back then? Why was it that among the four sects, from the head disciple to the disciples of the outer sects, all were implicated and imprisoned?

Which of these disciples even looked like heinous criminals?

Why were the divine artifacts fakes, why would they attempt to steal them, how did Wen Xuechen die, and how did Jiu Zhideng, the leader of the demonic sects, suddenly transform himself into the leader of the four sects including Fengling. . .

Yet, as for all these questions, he couldn’t voice any of them out loud.

The real “Xu Xingzhi” should be aware of everything and he had even pretended to know everything before, making it so that he wouldn’t be able to open his mouth to make these inquiries now.

During the silence that stretched out between the two, Zhou Beinan rushed into the hall excitedly, but upon seeing Xu Xingzhi lying on the cot, he restrained his joy a bit: “It can’t be ba, you just dived into the water and made yourself like this, are you made of tofu ah.”

Xu Xingzhi glanced at him: “Headache.”

Zhou Beinan’s expression changed: “You’re actually under the weather ah.”

Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to waste any more words: “What do you think ne.”

Zhou Beinan became a little anxious and directed at Meng Chongguang: “His face is so pale and you still haven’t rubbed it for him ah.”

Meng Chongguang didn’t even spare Zhou Beinan a look and just meticulously massaged the various acupoints on Xu Xingzhi’s skull.

After feeling a little more comfortable, Xu Xingzhi opened his eyes, only to find that Zhou Beinan was still leaning against the side of the cot and looking down at him: “. . . Why haven’t you left yet? It couldn’t be that you want Qu Chi to entertain those disciples ba.”

Zhou Beinan spat at him: “What, you think that the great I, am willing to see this face of yours ah. It’s so d*mned annoying to see it so much. It’s just that I have something to show you.”

He loosened his clenched palm slightly, flicked his thumb upwards and a thin streak of light swirled and flew up before he captured it again.

Zhou Beinan couldn’t hide his flush of pride: “Guess what this is?”

Xu Xingzhi snorted: “Do you think I’m as stupid as you?”

These disciples have lived in this great barren swamp for more than ten years and when they had nothing to do, they would make trips to other places. One reason was to seek food, the other was to investigate whether there were any threatening monsters from the wasteland invading this Huawai Territory. Therefore, it wasn’t unimaginable that they would be able to obtain a fragment of the wasteland key.

What’s more, Meng Chongguang had brought them straight here. With his confident look alone, Xu Xingzhi was able to determine the whereabouts of the third key shard.

Zhou Beinan was in a great mood. He plopped his ass down on the end of the bed, kicked one foot up and fiddled with the third key fragment. It seemed lovely to him no matter how he looked at it: “Seeing that you aren’t feeling well, I’ll give you a free pass.”

Xu Xingzhi questioned: “How have the disciples decided to proceed?”

“The few in Fengling have no opinions, they just opened their mouths to ask when Xu-shixiong will take them away; those couple from Yingtianchuan, of course, naturally wanted to follow me.” Zhou Beinan answered, “Qu Chi ba. . . Although he is in that state now, but those of Danyang Peak are still unquestionably devoted to him.”

Xu Xingzhi continued: “I heard from Tao Xian that the Danyang Peak disciples weren’t involved in this matter at all right? Then they. . .”

“Hai, the hearts of those kids are too honest.” Zhou Beinan lamented, “They wanted to save Qu Chi so they fought with Jiu Zhideng in order to steal the wasteland key, but were caught by Jiu Zhideng and thrown in.”

Xu Xingzhi let out a breath: “When are we leaving?”

Before Zhou Beinan could speak, Meng Chongguang interjected: “Depart tomorrow.”

Zhou Beinan was taken aback for a moment: “So fast?”

Xu Xingzhi closed his eyes, went along with Meng Chongguang’s words and added on: “There’s no time to lose. We already possess three of the key fragments in our hands, so it’s only justified to strike while the iron is still hot, and retrieve the last shard from Wutou Sea, capturing them all in one go.”

Those words conformed perfectly to Zhou Beinan’s impatient temperament as he nodded repeatedly: “What you’ve said is correct, that’s right. I’ll go out and tell them immediately, we’ll go on our way tomorrow!”

The moment Zhou Beinan left, Xu Xingzhi felt a warm forehead stick gently to his near the bridge of his nose, nuzzling him affectionately: “Thank you Shixiong for speaking up for me.”

Xu Xingzhi opened his eyes, and his eyelashes, which were as thick as cicada wings, brushed against him: “One day, you have to confess to me everything you know.”

“En.” Meng Chongguang slowly shifted down, finally finding Xu Xingzhi’s lips accurately, and kissed them slowly, just that it wasn’t as deep as all the times before, only tenderly pressing a chaste kiss against his lips, savoring the taste of it.

“Taking all of them to Wutou Sea would create too much of a disturbance. Wu—” Xu Xingzhi couldn’t catch him breath from his lips being captured and twisted his body aside impatiently, “Why not, why don’t we bring them back to the tower first, settle Tao Xian and the other disciples down, and then head to Wutou Sea after. This way we can, we can save some effort so that Tao Xian wouldn’t become injured. . . Enheng~”

Once the body was awakened, a simple kiss would inevitably arouse him physically.

Xu Xingzhi turned his head away, his lips and teeth biting on the newly replaced thin, woven blanket: “Stop kissing me.”

Meng Chongguang had already creeped up to Xu Xingzhi, one hand reaching down to comfort the other, while he gently teased the tear mole at the corner of Xu Xingzhi’s eye with his other hand, empathetically suggesting: “Shixiong, let me relieve it for you.”

Xu Xingzhi paused for a moment: “Ease it my. . . Little b*stard, what’s this situation with you blocking it?”

Meng Chongguang looked innocent and ignorant, but his fingertips slid across and teased the opening, causing Xu Xingzhi’s long legs to squirm and buck unbearably on the divan. Irate and amused at the same time: “Didn’t we decide to head out tomorrow. . .”

“Shixiong has been feeling unwell recently, so it’s reasonable for me to carry him when we set out tomorrow.” Meng Chongguang sucked on Xu Xingzhi’s lips like a puppy, “Besides, Shixiong has a low grade fever, so I’ll help Shixiong sweat it out now, isn’t that good?”

Xu Xingzhi scolded with a snort of laughter: “Little rascal. Wait for me to leave this place, I’ll report you to the authorities and have them arrest you.”

Meng Chonggaung had already begun to undress the two of them: “Which time was Shixiong not captured by Chongguang firmly? Otherwise. . .” He sat on his calves and then leaned over, “Shixiong just use it to imprison Chongguang for a lifetime, how’s that?”

Xu Xingzhi was provoked into laughter: “You wish.”

Meng Chongguang followed Xu Xingzhi’s mermaid line, using his mouth and lips to strip Xu Xingzhi completely little by little, letting Xu Xingzhi dig red scratch marks onto his back with his round and thin nails.

While peeling off his clothes, he murmured vaguely: “Shixiong, promise me something. Once we exit this place, you have to stay by my side always, not leaving for even a step. . . . Not a single step away.”

How could Xu Xingzhi be able to concern himself with this now as he grunted indiscriminately in agreement. He swept his gaze around and goosebumps rose instantly.

The palace doors weren’t closed!

Xu Xingzhi exclaimed in surprise: “. . . Door, the door.”

Meng Chongguang tilted his head slightly and inquired knowingly: “Shut the door for what?”

Xu Xingzhi saw three Danyang Peak disciples approaching together from a distance, seeming like they had come to visit him. Then after taking in Meng Chongguang’s calm appearance, how would he still be unable to catch on that the other was just teasing him. He relaxed his tense shoulders and after a few simple movements, he took the initiative to slip the remaining material off, revealing his well-proportioned shoulders and his crescent-shaped clavicle.

Now it was Meng Chongguang’s turn to be stunned.

The look in his eyes turned sharp as he lifted his hand abruptly, waving the palace doors closed and then covered it with layers of spiritual energy, segregating all sounds outside.

Xu Xingzhi countered lazily in a knowing manner: “Shut the door for what?”

Meng Chongguang gritted his teeth: “Could it be that Shixiong wants everyone to see this disheveled look of yours?”

Xu Xingzhi felt his headache ease a little, the corners of his lips turning up: “What? Is that such a bad thing?”

Meng Chongguang seemed to have been triggered and swiftly cut into Xu Xingzhi’s personal space. He placed his elbow against the other’s chest, as a fist came down and landed beside Xu Xingzhi’s face, hitting home with a hong. Xu Xingzhi heard the sound of the wooden headboard cracking open and couldn’t help turning his head towards it in shock.

Meng Chongguang stared fixedly at him and warned coldly: “Mine, they aren’t allowed to see.”

—The Shixiong that they respect, admire, could see but be unable to touch, was mine.

The grin on Xu Xingzhi’s face faded.

This d*mned brat drank vinegar every day, isn’t he afraid of becoming bloated.

Yet after mulling it over, he, Xu Xingzhi, was now at the point where he needed to rely on seeking joys in order to relieve his sorrows and pain, so where would he go to obtain reason.

. . . Although fortunately, at least it felt comfortable.

On the second day, Xu Xingzhi was shamelessly sprawled on Meng Chongguang’s back and had the other carry him on the road.

Seeing Xu Xingzhi being carried on the other’s back for two days and refusing to let his feet touch the ground an iota, Zhou Beinan couldn’t hold back and scolded: “Have you become freaking disabled ah. Are your long legs just for display?”

Xu Xingzhi replied indolently: “It’s pretty comfortable, you will know it when you carry your family’s Xiao-Lu on your back.”

Zhou Beinan frowned, unable to figure out how the topic looped back to Lu Yujiu: “. . . Ah?”

“You have to be more caring of others.” Xu Xingzhi encouraged him, “Xiao-Lu is a ghostly cultivator, specialized in mental skills, but not physical skills. He has walked with us all day long, how many blisters have formed on his feet?”

Hearing the last sentence, Zhou Beinan’s complexion changed slightly: “Really?”

Xu Xingzhi stated: “Why would I play you for a fool.”

After hearing what he said, Zhou Beinan immediately turned around to look for Lu Yujiu.

Xu Xingzhi could tell that Lu Yujiu was really heartbroken by not being able to find any Qingliang Valley disciples this time.

Among them, Zhou Beinan and Zhou Wang were both from Yingtianchuan, Tao Xian and Qu Chi were disciples of Danyang Peak, even Meng Chongguang was accompanied by Yuan Ruzhou, while he was the sole disciple from Qingliang Valley.

If it weren’t for Zhou Beinan’s presence, he might’ve really been the only one out of place.

Xu Xingzhi spurred Zhou Beinan on to coax him in this way, and also to make him a little bit happier.

The two of them drew close to one another to whisper and then Lu Yujiu suddenly became so ashamed and annoyed to the extent that even the back of his neck flushed crimson. He pushed Zhou Beinan away several times, yet was still scooped up by Zhou Beinan unceremoniously. Using the cushiony muscles on his shoulder to support the other’s waist, he completely disregarded Lu Yujiu’s futile struggles and marched ahead causing more than a dozen of the following disciples become rowdy with good-willed teasing and twittering with laughter.

With the addition of these people, the originally withdrawn team came alive.

Xu Xingzhi also murmured with a smile: “This dumb dog, how did he manage to make it seem as if a brute was forcing himself on a common maiden.”

Meng Chongguang captured the back of Xu Xingzhi’s hand, pressing a light chaste kiss on it: “I won’t treat Shixiong this way.”

Xu Xingzhi grinned: “Do you dare?”

“Don’t dare.” Meng Chongguang nuzzled the back of Xu Xingzhi’s hand affectionately, “. . . Can’t bear to.”

After a three-day trek, the group discussed whether they would call it a night under the cover of the rocky cove or whether they should continue for a bit and see if they could find a large enough cave for everyone to rest in. It was unknown who looked back, but they were nearly unable to hold the sword at their waist stably due to their astonishment: “Look! Xu-shixiong, Qu-shixiong, you guys quickly take a look na!”

Peering in the direction the disciple was pointing in, Xu Xingzhi’s eyes also widened.

Bringing along this band of people while also taking into account the fact that Xu Xingzhi’s body couldn’t withstand too many bumps in the road, they had simply traversed on foot so their speed was slow, and they didn’t travel as efficiently. As such, after three days, they had only reached a place about five hundred meters away from the swampy waters of Huawai Territory.

The crowd watched as an Origin Giant, whose hulking mass could be made out, appear in the vicinity of the swap and step into it in one stride, slowly invading.

. . . And the spot in which it entered was precisely their starting point.

Zhou Beinan couldn’t help sucking in a breath of cold air as he reached out to pat Xu Xingzhi’s shoulder heavily twice in succession: “Fortunately you said you wanted to set out immediately. . .”

Xu Xingzhi didn’t speak and only turned his head to scrutinize Meng Chongguang lightly.

Though who would’ve expected that the expression on Meng Chongguang’s face would be bereft of any joy, contrarily, he seemed slightly more nervous than when they had entered Huawai Territory.

This conclusion and feeling grew more obvious after the group got back on the road.

Meng Chongguang refused to advance rashly, yet also refused to pick up their speed. After traveling for six to eight hours, he would request to take a break and didn’t allow Xu Xingzhi to leave his field of vision, including the time the other would wash his hands and take a bath.

This countenance and attitude caused an especially absurd conjecture to emerge in Xu Xingzhi’s head:

. . . It was as if Meng Chongguang had perused a book which documented their adventures and the dangers they would meet in the savage wasteland and was aware of what incidents would occur along the way.

However, he had only flipped halfway through this book.

And now, he was completely in the dark about what they would face after leaving Huawai Territory.

Regardless of Zhou Beinan’s protests, the group’s speed was set back even more. After being on the road in this dry way for nearly a month, everyone finally spotted the tip of the giant tower.

Seeing that they were about to return home, everyone couldn’t help quickening their footsteps, and even Meng Chongguang, who was overly cautious, eased up quite a bit.

The closer they drew to the tower, the happier Zhou Wang became.

In the few days of interaction, she became familiar with several of the Yingtianchuan disciples. At this moment, she was only focused on pulling them forward and meticulously explaining how good her home was. It wasn’t until Zhou Beinan and the others, who were walking in the forefront, abruptly halted his advance. She realized that something went wrong and voiced her confusion: “Uncle, what’s wrong?”

No one responded to her. Qu Chi, Zhou Beinan, Xu Xingzhi, including Lu Yujiu and Yuan Ruzhou, were all staring fixedly at a point before them.

Zhou Wang’s first reaction was to draw her two sabers in defense against an enemy, but when she swept her gaze over, she couldn’t help but be stunned.

—A person with hair as white as snow sat before the tower.

This person currently had their back toward them, a chalcedony jade crown was fixed in their white hair, a lightning-struck jujube wood yin-yang bracelet was being spun around the other’s fingertips, and the ivory hair fluttering in the wild wind. From the crown of their head downwards, that person seemed to have been washed by snow, from the inside to the outside, emanating a heart-penetrating frigidity.

Xu Xingzhi frowned slightly, he didn’t know why, but it seemed as if this person was somewhat familiar to him.

And it was obvious that he wasn’t the only person who thought so.

Qu Chi’s murmurs broke the suffocating and dead silence: “Xuechen? Is that Xuechen?”

Zhou Beinan looked at that silhouette with chaotic feelings and only felt as if the view before his eyes were blurred. He swiped it a few times with force and only came away with a handful of hot tears.

It was unknown as to what thoughts arose that he was possessed to try his best to refute it: “It’s not him, Xuechen’s hair isn’t like this. . .”

That person seemed to pick up on the voices behind him as he maneuvered the wheelchair to rotate around.

Perhaps it was because that it was all too familiar, but he only had to make the action of reaching a hand out to support the wheel of the wheelchair that it seemed more like someone was urging a drawn-cart to make a loop around the hearts of Xu Xingzhi, Qu Chi, and Zhou Beinan instead.

. . . It was him.

It really was him.

Zhou Wang was somewhat puzzled: “That is. . .”

Her sentence wasn’t completed when Zhou Beinan attempted to clutch Zhou Wang’s arm. After making several attempts to grasp it, he still wasn’t able to capture it firmly and only used a shaky and anxious voice to stutter out: “Ah-Wang, your father. . . That’s your father ah.”

The glacial winds were akin to a cutting board, slicing Zhou Beinan’s voice until it fragmented and shattered.

Zhou Wang didn’t understand the meaning behind his words for a moment, but she had never seen such a sorrowful and delighted Zhou Beinan, as if he couldn’t wait to sprint over to that person’s side.

However, no one expected that Lu Yujiu would be the first person to dash over to Wen Xuechen.

Lu Yujiu forgot that he possessed spiritual energy and used only his own two feet to tramp over to the person seated peacefully. He tripped and fell then climbed to his feet in a staggering manner, his body was covered in dust from the tumble and his hot tears dissipated into the wind.

He seemed to have spent numerous years until he was finally able to approach that person he looked up to and respected. Despite being coated in a layer of dust, as sorry as can be, his heart was still brimming with joy.

When he was no more than ten steps away from Wen Xuechen, he kneeled on the ground with a putong, clenching his teeth until his gums were sore as he paid his respects: “Wen-shixiong, Shixiong. . . Wen-shixiong. . .”

Wen Xuechen’s hoarse and weak voice was delivered to Xu Xingzhi’s ears riding on the wind, the sound was faint, but it still invoked an inexplicably familiar feeling: “Lu Yujiu. Let me ask you, did you sully the reputation of Qingliang Valley?”

Xu Xingzhi’s heart suddenly clenched, skipping a beat as if it were being twisted tightly by a child’s fist.

He couldn’t name the reason why he felt this way.

Lu Yujiu’s eyes glistened with tears as he listened to the lulu rolling sounds of the wheelchair coming closer and just bent over to bow: “This disciple has spent thirteen years in the savage wasteland and has not done any malicious things, has not killed any of the virtuous, and has not brought shame upon Qingliang Valley’s reputation!”

“That so?”

When those two words traveled into Xu Xingzhi’s ears, he was so agitated that his hands and feet felt like ice, and blood rushed into his head directly.

. . . He remembered who this voice belonged to!

—That so-called “Consciousness of the Three Realms”! That feeble-lung ghost!

He couldn’t be bothered to figure out why Wen Xuechen played the role of the “Consciousness of the Three Realms” and cried out in alarm: “Lu Yujiu!!! Get away ah!! He—”

When Xu Xingzhi’s voice rang out, Wen Xuechen had already reached Lu Yujiu, raising the other’s chin in a slow and practiced movement, only that his expression was so apathetic and cold that it caused one’s heart to shiver: “Thirteen years ago, your name had already been removed from Qingliang Valley records. My Qingliang Valley, does not have a disciple the likes of you.”

Before Lu Yujiu could utter a word in response, he only felt a twist of pain in his abdomen.

Looking down, he could only make out that Wen Xuchen held a sharp dagger in his hand and had inserted the blade between two of his ribs and into his stomach. At this time, only the rattan handle remained outside.

Wen Xuechen grasped the hilt of the dagger and rotated it slowly. When the blood splashed on the ground, the stardust on its surface stirred up tens of thousands of flickers of star-like flames and waves of formations spread outwards instantly, the range expanding beyond thousands of meters in the blink of an eye, encircling the group of twenty or so people within.

Wen Xuechen’s frigid voice was like blade, one that was sharper than the one twisting in his guts, piercing straight into Lu Yujiu’s bewildered and panicked heart: “Lu Yujiu, letting you become the sacrifice for my spiritual array, is truly defiling my formation.”

The author has something to say:

Today, the origin of Wen Xuechen, Zhou Beinan, and Lu Yujiu’s names is released:

Experiencing Release•Han Shuxia at a Banquet in the Snow

Author: Xiang Ziyin

Before the small window, under the sparse shadows. Using a makeup mirror to put on makeup. The plum blossoms like snow, the snow akin to a person. Devoid of a speck of dust.

The river is cold at dusk, no one can hear a sound. Under the hazy moonlight. The mountain like jade, the jade akin to a king. Exchanging a glance and warm smile.

Author: Fan Chengda

Facing the south is the Zhuque Gate, to the north is the Xuande Tower, both of which are old imperial roads.

To the north and south of Zhouqiao is Tianjie, where father is waiting for their return home.

Holding back tears he asked the envoy, when will the Sixth Army actually return?

Author’s Chapter Summary:

Setting out, reunion, sacrificial offering

The translator has something to say: the long awaited reunion, what will happen next and sorry to leave you guys on a cliff!