Chapter 17
Page 1 of 3
The corner of An Wuxue’s mouth twitched.
Xie Zhefeng realized that his hair was somewhat disheveled. With a casual spell, he straightened his robes and asked, “Jiang Qing?”
Yun Zhou froze. Still covering his eyes, he nodded vigorously. “Ah, yes, yes—Jiang Qing, the Embryonic Spirit Clan cultivator from North Nether City. I remembered this morning that I wanted to practice my sword, and just after I went downstairs, I saw Fellow Daoist Jiang get out of his carriage. He told me he was the person we were looking for.”
With his other hand, he gestured casually toward the floor below. “He’s waiting for us in the inn’s main hall.”
Following the direction of his finger, Xie Zhefeng walked straight past him and out the door.
An Wuxue casually cast a cleansing spell, rose to put on his outer robe, and walked to the door.
Still covering his eyes, Yun Zhou opened a slit between his fingers and peered at him with one eye. “I saw something I shouldn’t have. You and Fellow Daoist Xie aren’t going to kill me to silence me, are you? I still want to live long enough to avenge the sect master and my teachers.”
An Wuxue said nothing.
He replied, “Don’t worry. We won’t kill you to silence you.”
“Really?”
“There are many ways to make someone keep quiet. Some are even more reliable than killing them. And there are many reasons to kill someone; it isn’t necessarily to silence them.”
“What you’re saying sounds somewhat reasonable,” Yun Zhou mused. “But it also feels wrong somehow…”
An Wuxue glanced around Yun Zhou and asked, “Where is your senior brother?”
Yun Zhou paused, then slapped his forehead. “He should still be sleeping. I was in such a hurry to find Fellow Daoist Xie that I forgot him. I’ll go wake him.”
With that, he turned and slipped into his own room.
An Wuxue leaned out to look down the corridor, then followed him downstairs.
At the entrance of the inn—
Morning light had only just begun to rise. Zhaoshui City stood beside the Eastern Cang Sea, and the sea breeze carried moisture inland, veiling the city in a faint mist.
The streets were sparsely populated. Only the vendors selling hot food had set up along either side, steam mingling with the fog.
A carriage drawn by spirit horses stood beside a lamppost.
A young man in a long robe patterned with dark bamboo held a sword in one hand. He turned around, clasped his hands over the sword, and bowed.
“Are you Fellow Daoist Xie Chunhua?”
Xie Zhefeng nodded. “Fellow Daoist Jiang.”
“We met briefly at the city lord’s residence yesterday. I never expected our paths to cross again.” Jiang Qing’s gaze fell upon An Wuxue, who had come along behind them. “And this is…?”
As he looked at An Wuxue, the solemn expression he had worn a moment earlier vanished completely, and he even smiled.
Before An Wuxue could speak, Yun Zhou came down with Yun Yao and answered, “His name is Su Xue. My name is Yun Zhou, and this is my senior brother, Yun Yao. We’re all originally from the Cloud Sword Sect, though we later went to Falling Moon Peak!”
Jiang Qing’s gaze did not move away. He merely inclined his head in acknowledgment of Yun Zhou before looking back at An Wuxue.
“I don’t know why, but upon seeing Fellow Daoist Su, I feel as though we’ve known each other for years. Have we met before?”
An Wuxue’s eyelid twitched.
The Embryonic Spirit Clan had been born from karmic fire and was inextricably bound to the many karmic hindrances of the world. They were naturally sensitive to cause and effect.
There truly was a karmic connection between him and Jiang Qing.
Without changing expression, he said, “I came from the mortal world. How could I have met a cultivator like Fellow Daoist Jiang? Perhaps we simply happen to be compatible. I feel the same way upon meeting you.”
Something shifted in Jiang Qing’s eyes. The mark of karmic fire at the corner of his eye resembled a red lotus in bloom, lending a touch of springtime warmth to his smiling face.
Delighted, he said, “In that case, Su Xue, you may call me by my name. If you ever need anything, don’t stand on ceremony with me.”
Xie Zhefeng frowned.
He seemed displeased by Jiang Qing’s failure to distinguish between friend and stranger, and said, “Fellow Daoist Jiang, you have yet to explain what happened to the Cloud Sword Sect.”
Yun Zhou hurriedly said, “Right! Fellow Daoist Jiang, what happened to our sect? You just said that the person we asked the city lord to find was you. What does that mean? What did you see?”
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Jiang Qing’s expression turned solemn.
He sighed. “I know nothing.”
All four of them, including An Wuxue, showed faint surprise.
Jiang Qing continued, “I did indeed visit the Cloud Sword Sect two months ago.
“Recently, Zhaoshui City has been holding its once-in-a-decade Heavenly Water Rite. According to custom, North Nether City always sends a spiritual treasure as a congratulatory gift. City Lord Shangguan has been restless lately and unable to sleep at night, so she could not make the journey. I went in her place.
“On my way here, I passed by the Cloud Sword Sect. Since it was located near Zhaoshui City, I thought the two should have a good relationship. I decided that I might as well pay the sect a visit on behalf of North Nether City. So, at the gates of Cloud Sword Mountain, I presented a formal letter from North Nether City.”
Although North Nether City was one of the cities bordering the Four Seas, its strength placed it among the foremost powers of both realms.
A cultivator from North Nether City was indeed a distinguished guest worthy of the Cloud Sword Sect’s master.
Xie Zhefeng asked, “You weren’t able to enter?”
Jiang Qing nodded. “The Cloud Sword Sect replied, ‘Please wait a moment, honored guest. We will be with you shortly.’ But I was carrying out an important mission, and visiting the Cloud Sword Sect was merely incidental. I did not wish to delay, so I left at once. I had intended to visit again when I departed Zhaoshui City. I never expected that yesterday, the city lord would tell me that people from Falling Moon Peak had come to investigate the destruction of the Cloud Sword Sect…”
It matched perfectly with the information obtained by the disciple Xie Zhefeng had sent to investigate.
Yun Zhou ground his teeth. “But someone slaughtered every member of the Cloud Sword Sect that day! Didn’t you sense that something was wrong? Or detect any trace of demons, evil spirits, or some other sinister presence?”
Jiang Qing was startled. “It happened that very day? I noticed nothing at all. If someone truly massacred every disciple of the Cloud Sword Sect, why didn’t the sect send me a plea for help? Had I discovered even the slightest clue that day, I would certainly have offered assistance. Then the Cloud Sword Sect would not have…”
Xie Zhefeng suddenly asked, “What is your cultivation level, Fellow Daoist Jiang?”
“Early Tribulation Transcendence.”
An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng instinctively glanced at each other.
At the moment their eyes met, An Wuxue froze.
In the past, when they had traveled together through the two realms, there had often been strange matters they could not discuss aloud. They would simply exchange such a glance, silently reading each other’s thoughts from the other’s expression.
As An Wuxue lost himself in the memory, Xie Zhefeng seemed to falter as well.
He immediately looked away.
Xie Zhefeng said, “I heard the city lord say that Fellow Daoist Jiang has cultivated for only a few hundred years, yet has already reached Tribulation Transcendence. Your talent must be extraordinary.”
An Wuxue thought, “You reached Tribulation Transcendence in less than a hundred years, and you’re still complimenting him.”
Jiang Qing waved his hands. “No, no. Didn’t you hear the city lord explain my origins? Although I have only taken human form for a few hundred years, I actually descended into this world a thousand years ago. I simply accumulated power over time before making my breakthrough. It can hardly be called talent…”
Xie Zhefeng asked several more questions about the Cloud Sword Sect.
An Wuxue listened with his head bowed when, all at once, a small figure ran into him.
It was a little girl who had not yet reached his waist.
She had been holding a half-eaten skewer of candied fruit. The skewer struck An Wuxue along with her.
The impact sent the candied fruit tumbling to the ground, while a streak of syrup stained the hem of his robe.
She must have been running too fast to see clearly. Now that she realized An Wuxue and the others were standing there and that she had caused trouble, she timidly took a step backward.
An Wuxue smiled.
He raised a hand and used a spell to remove the stain. Then he bent down and said gently, “Look, it’s gone. Where are your family?”
The little girl blinked, apparently realizing that An Wuxue was not angry.
She looked at the candied fruit lying on the ground, and her eyes reddened.
An Wuxue’s heart suddenly felt hollow.
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
He remembered arriving in Zhaoshui a thousand years ago.
The Zhaoshui Sword had not yet been driven into the ground. Human bones blocked the roads, and desolation stretched in every direction.
He and Qin Wei had brought disciples from Falling Moon Peak there. Lou Shuiming opened the barrier to welcome him into the city and led him through the mortal streets. A child had also run out from a narrow alley, moving too quickly to notice him, and collided with him.
The steaming sweet potato in the child’s arms fell to the ground.
Qin Wei had taken the child’s sudden appearance as a threat. Instantly alert, he pulled An Wuxue behind him, drew his sword, and demanded, “Where did you come from? Are you a mortal or a cultivator?”
The child had intended to pick up the sweet potato and flee, but upon seeing the flash of the sword, he burst into tears.
“Immortal master, spare me! I didn’t mean to… My little sister is still waiting for something to eat, immortal master…”
Qin Wei’s sword hand paused.
An Wuxue crouched down, picked up the sweet potato caked with mud, and wiped away the dirt with the sleeve of his ceremonial robe.
Then, using Qin Wei’s sword, he cut off a piece of his robe, wrapped the steaming sweet potato in it, and stepped forward to return it to the child.
“Go on.”
The child immediately stopped crying, clutched the bundle, and ran away.
Qin Wei asked him, “Fasting pills are far more useful than mortal food. Why didn’t you give him a few?”
An Wuxue shook his head. “He can protect a sweet potato. He cannot protect a fasting pill.”
Qin Wei was speechless.
Later, when something went wrong with the formation and foul energy surged through the city, An Wuxue saw the bones of those siblings amid the chaos.
The child lay at the side of the street, holding his little sister. A piece of cloth torn from An Wuxue’s robe was still clenched in his hand. Neither of them had any breath left.
An Wuxue buried the bones of the mortal siblings together among the countless swords at the foundation of the Zhaoshui Sword formation.
A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.
He reached out and gently stroked the little girl’s head. Then he glanced at the surrounding vendors and spotted a stall selling candied fruit nearby.
He quickly walked over, pulled down a skewer, and was just about to take out a spirit stone to pay when Jiang Qing followed after him in a few quick steps.
Jiang Qing handed the vendor the mortal silver he had prepared and said to An Wuxue, “I was just thinking of buying one for her as well.”
He smiled. An Wuxue did not refuse, and turned back with the candied fruit in hand.
At that moment, the little girl’s father finally caught up with her.
An Wuxue handed the newly purchased skewer to the girl and said, “Don’t pick up the one that fell on the ground.”
The girl’s father hurriedly said, “Thank you, immortal master! Thank you, immortal master!” Then he led his daughter away at a brisk pace.
After finishing, An Wuxue suddenly felt someone watching him.
He turned around and saw Xie Zhefeng gazing at him with a heavy look in his eyes. Perhaps he, too, had remembered something.
An Wuxue blinked quickly and said, “Fellow Daoist Xie, now that we’ve found the person, what do we do next?”
A faint light stirred in Xie Zhefeng’s eyes. Only then did he withdraw from his thoughts.
“Someone used the events of the day the Cloud Sword Sect was destroyed to create an illusion concealing the massacre. Unless it is forcibly broken, only the person who knocked on the sect’s gates that day can easily open the illusion. Since that person is Fellow Daoist Jiang, we should not delay. Fellow Daoist Jiang, please come with us to the Cloud Sword Sect at once.”
Jiang Qing nodded. “Of course. I made preparations before coming, which is why I brought spirit horses. With five of us, traveling by carriage will be faster.”
After some discussion, they decided that Xie Zhefeng would drive while An Wuxue and the others sat inside.
Jiang Qing climbed into the carriage first. An Wuxue was about to follow when Xie Zhefeng suddenly stepped forward and stood beside him, blocking his way.
An Wuxue was startled and immediately moved aside to let Xie Zhefeng enter first.
But Xie Zhefeng turned to him and asked in a low, puzzled voice, “You can accept the lantern Yun Zhou bought for you, and you can let Jiang Qing pay for a skewer of candied fruit. Why won’t you accept a single spirit stone from me?”