Chapter 23

An Wuxue sighed again.

His expression grew increasingly disappointed.

"No, you performed very well," he said. "Too well. So well that even just now, I was hoping you would refute me once more."

He had once envied Yun Zhou.

Back when the three of them lived above the Frost-Burial Sea, he would often gaze out the window at dawn to see Yun Yao standing with his sword under the long pines, while Yun Zhou practiced his swordsmanship in the courtyard.

The young man’s sword would dance, its tip kissing the wind and frost, and amidst the rustling sound, Yun Yao’s words of guidance would occasionally ring out.

At that time, a fleeting thought had crossed his mind: if he and Xie Zhefeng had been born a thousand years after the Great Calamity in these two realms, might they too have been like Yun Zhou and Yun Yao—ordinary disciples of small sects, watching one another practice, living out a peaceful life in such a steady, quiet way?

Those days above the Frost Sea had shown him a life he had never experienced.

That was why, even though he had long suspected something was amiss, he had held back a sliver of doubt until this very moment.

He had hoped he was wrong.

Unfortunately, he was not.

"Where is Jiang Qing?" he asked.

"He didn't have what I wanted, and he’s a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage; how could I possibly dare to let him in?" Yun Zhou laughed. "I had the Mirror Demon pull him in for a split second, then immediately sent him back out."

It seemed Jiang Qing was safe, then.

High above, the Mirror Demon was faltering, shards of the bronze mirror falling in endless succession.

Yun Zhou showed no embarrassment at being exposed. His accomplice strolled leisurely toward An Wuxue, looked at him from the side, and chuckled, "Since my acting was so good, when did you figure it out? Was it because my excuse for sending you away earlier didn't hold up?"

An Wuxue shook his head.

"Oh? Was it when I arrived yesterday? Did I give myself away then?"

"..."

Yun Zhou became even more curious. "Don't tell me it was back in Zhaoshui City, when I disguised myself as a Tribulation-stage cultivator to attack Xie Chunhua just to cast suspicion on Jiang Qing?"

"..."

"Still no? Then it must have been the night of the Heavenly Water Festival, when I gave you that lantern and told you about my time at the Cloud Sword Sect. Did I let something slip? If so, I’ve been wronged—everything I said then was the truth."

"..."

Yun Zhou’s expression finally shifted. "It couldn't have been on the spirit boat ride here, could it?"

Only then did An Wuxue say in a low voice, "It was the morning we left Falling Moon Peak. Your performance was too perfect—unnaturally so. I..."

He knew what it looked like when someone had lost everything.

"Your grief always came fast and fierce, and departed just as quickly. But true grief is not like that; it is a sudden, hollow emptiness in the heart, as if you aren't truly in pain, but whenever you remember it later, it feels like a dull blade slicing through flesh—you can neither lift the weight nor let it go."

Yun Zhou gave a cold snort. "Then that was indeed my oversight."

"And—from beginning to end, it has only ever been you, hasn't it?"

An Wuxue looked back at Yun Yao, who was still leaning against the tree as if asleep.

He said, "Yun Yao has been dead for a long time. The Yun Yao I saw from the very start was nothing but a puppet controlled by you."

A puppet.

Those who lose their souls either possess another's body or become a vessel for others.

Both he and Yun Yao were people whose souls had been displaced.

That was why Yun Yao was always taciturn, or would only speak after Yun Zhou had finished; he had never heard them speak at the same time.

Though Yun Zhou tried to mask it, he would often forget Yun Yao’s existence while speaking.

That was also why, whenever they traveled, Yun Yao always seemed distracted and quiet.

And that was why, even now, Yun Yao sat beside them without a sound, as if he were merely asleep.

From start to finish, the one who slaughtered the sect was Yun Zhou alone, and the one who infiltrated Falling Moon Peak was also Yun Zhou alone.

After saying this, An Wuxue glanced unnoticeably toward the dark clouds above.

Xie Zhefeng’s avatar was only at the early stage of Tribulation Transcendence, but the Heartless Dao was invincible at the same level, and with the divine sense of an Immortal, even ten Mirror Demons would not last three moves against him.

Why were they still fighting?

He suppressed his thoughts and said with an unruffled expression, "I have watched you practice; your swordsmanship is identical to that of Yun Wan and the others. You did come from the Cloud Sword Sect, but in these past few hundred years, you have never once returned."

"Two months ago, on the day Jiang Qing visited, you took advantage of the fact that the sect leader and elders had no defenses against you, killed them, and then collaborated with the Mirror Demon to create a recursive illusion, concealing the news of the sect's destruction."

"After that, you went to the mortal realm to find me and sent me to Falling Moon Peak in the name of the Cloud Sword Sect—in truth, you needed to infiltrate it yourself. You had designs on something at Falling Moon Peak."

Yun Zhou clapped his hands repeatedly. "Clever!"

This time, it was Yun Zhou’s turn to sigh. "Actually, I have no grudge against you. You even helped me reach the Frost Sea. I didn't want to kill you, which is why I specifically sent you away. But you are so smart, yet so foolishly stubborn. Since you had figured it out, you should have continued to pretend you hadn't. If you had just stayed here, once I dealt with the others, I naturally would have spared your life—why did you have to expose me?"

An Wuxue sneered.

"If I hadn't exposed you, what were you planning to do once you got inside?"

"Yun Zhou, you told me that back when you brought them down the mountain, the bustle of Zhaoshui City was dazzling. Your juniors were clamoring for lanterns; you spent your spirit stones, and to please them, you swept the sect’s steps for a month. The day of the slaughter, Yun Wan and the others didn't escape by luck, did they? It was your own soft heart; you turned a blind eye and left them here, sparing their lives."

"But just now, fearing they might reveal that the Cloud Sword Sect had never sent any 'furnaces' to Falling Moon Peak, you were going to go back and kill them."

"Well said. If I hadn't been foolish enough to be soft-hearted earlier, why would I need to do this now?"

Yun Zhou’s gaze darkened abruptly. "Are you stalling for time, waiting for Xie Chunhua to break free?" His eyes landed on the spirit pouch at An Wuxue’s waist, and seeing An Wuxue clutching it tightly, he asked, "The Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit is still with you?"

An Wuxue suddenly understood. "Everything you have done was for this singular treasure of the soul, found nowhere else in heaven or earth."

"Give it to me!"

"Why should I?"

"We both have secrets, Su Xue. We have been together day and night on this journey; if you could see through my problem, don't you think I could see through yours?" Yun Zhou spread his hands. "I could kill you and take the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit anyway. You’d be better off giving it to me voluntarily. I won't pursue your anomalies, and I’ll let you go. It would be a happy ending for both of us."

"Fine." He agreed with unusual readiness, gesturing as if to open the spirit pouch.

Yun Zhou looked at him searchingly.

The next instant—

The spirit sword hidden within the pouch unsheathed, striking directly at Yun Zhou’s vital point!

The opponent had never expected him to dare strike a Tribulation-stage expert with only Bigu-stage cultivation. Caught off guard, he instinctively retreated, sidestepped the blade, and grabbed at the steel with his bare hand.

But An Wuxue did not follow up. Instead, he withdrew his sword and retreated to Yun Yao’s side, pressing the tip of the blade against the center of Yun Yao’s brow.

He panted, "Even at a time like this, this puppet remains spotlessly clean—your senior brother must be very important to you, right?"

Yun Zhou’s face turned dark. He said heavily, "I think you are courting death!!!"

The pressure of a Tribulation-stage cultivator crashed down.

An Wuxue was forced to spit out a mouthful of blood, the hand holding the sword trembling.

Spirit power surged in Yun Zhou’s palm, and in the blink of an eye, he lunged at An Wuxue!

In that split second—

Chunhua descended from the sky, its blade carrying no spirit power, simply cleaving through the incoming force like a cold bolt of lightning, instantly shattering Yun Zhou’s attack!

A man in white descended from the air, his attire immaculate. With a flick of his finger, the sword rose from the ground, returned to its sheath, and flew back into Xie Zhefeng’s hand.

Just as Xie Zhefeng landed, a fragmented bronze mirror plummeted from the high sky. The Mirror Demon shrieked incessantly, as if the pain had driven it to madness.

The moment the mirror crashed down, the Mirror Demon’s voice was silenced forever.

Yun Zhou’s expression flickered, and even An Wuxue’s look changed.

Xie Zhefeng had not only slain the Mirror Demon, he had torn its soul apart!

Blocked by Xie Zhefeng, Yun Zhou still stared fixedly at the sword An Wuxue held against Yun Yao, though he spoke to Xie Zhefeng. "A disciple of the greatest sect of righteous cultivators, actually capable of such a cruel act as tearing a soul apart?"

An Wuxue: "..."

Although he hadn't expected it either.

But hearing it said like that felt strange. After all, he had done it himself.

Xie Zhefeng replied candidly, "It deserved nothing less than a thousand cuts."

"Oh? And what about me?"

"I still have things to ask you. Once I am finished, you and it will share the same fate."

Yun Zhou laughed loudly. "What arrogant words from Daoist Xie! You are only at the Tribulation Transcendence stage; it is yet to be seen if you can even walk out of this place alive."

An Wuxue: "..."

He knew better than anyone that the outcome was settled; the matter was effectively over. He retracted his sword and lowered his eyes to look at the Yun Yao who had his eyes tightly closed.

This was a puppet; it could not count as the real Yun Yao.

But just now, when he had used his spirit power to get close, he felt as though there was a remnant of a soul within Yun Yao’s body.

Yun Zhou was not controlling this body at the moment, so the remnant inside was likely Yun Yao’s own.

Yun Zhou had gone to such great lengths and risks to infiltrate Falling Moon Peak, guarded by the Immortal Chuhan, and orchestrated the destruction of the Cloud Sword Sect, all to seize the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit.

Could it be... that the soul Yun Zhou was trying to nurture was Yun Yao’s remnant?

He put away his spirit sword and took out the pouch containing the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit—it had been with him all along; Xie Zhefeng had never taken it back.

Xie Zhefeng noticed his movement, his brows flickering, but he did not stop him.

Yun Zhou, blocked on the other side, suddenly changed color and urged, "What are you doing? My senior brother only has a remnant of a soul; I did all of this! It has nothing to do with him!"

An Wuxue did not speak.

He wasn't planning to do anything.

He only wanted to use the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit to illuminate Yun Yao’s remnant.

The Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit could discern the grievances of the dead, reveal a person's life and death, and also bring to light the most intense, unforgettable memories lingering within a soul.

A remnant soul was nothing more than an obsession that the deceased could not let go of.

Obsessions were usually found only in those who had experienced great upheaval or were inherently stubborn.

The temperament Yun Zhou had displayed while controlling Yun Yao was vastly different from Yun Zhou’s own; it could only be Yun Yao’s original nature.

What kind of obsession could such a quiet, gentle, and non-contending person have that would persist even after death?

He wanted to see.

He brought out the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit.

Yun Zhou immediately understood his intent. Spirit power erupted around him, and he gripped his long sword, lunging toward Xie Zhefeng.

He wanted to get over there.

But with a mere raise of his hand and a faint ripple of spiritual energy between his fingers, Xie Zhefeng easily deflected the attack.

At the same time.

The moment An Wuxue held the Soul-Nurturing Tree Spirit close to Yun Yao, a brilliant golden light erupted from the branches!

The scene before them suddenly transformed.