Chapter 35

Qin Wei’s thoughts were in turmoil. The spiritual energy he was using to sever the formation’s core wavered, causing a momentary lapse.

Lou Shuiming had just risen to his feet.

Song Wu’s gaze suddenly sharpened, and she burst into laughter. She said nothing; she simply laughed.

From the other formation core, which remained unsevered, turbid energy surged forth like a tide!

An Wuxue snapped back to reality, preparing to strike. But suddenly, a frigid wind swept in from afar. At the site of the churning, murky formation core, a piercing sword light descended from the heavens. Frost spread across the world.

An Wuxue shivered, a sharp chill running through him. Instinctively sensing that *he* had arrived, he immediately withdrew all his projected divine sense.

The Zhaoshui Sword Formation’s tremors ceased abruptly.

That sword light, joining forces with Qin Wei’s spiritual energy, completely severed the turbid energy from both formation cores!

At the same time, Song Wu’s laughter was cut short, as if someone had seized her by the throat. She suddenly lost her strength and let out a startled cry.

Another flash of cold light descended. This time, it was not an intangible sword aura.

The Chuhan Sword pierced through the air without the slightest hesitation, running straight through the center of Song Wu’s spirit and soul!

In an instant, the world seemed to freeze. Song Wu’s expression went blank for a heartbeat. She had not anticipated this moment; she hadn’t even had time to think.

The surrounding turbid energy thinned immediately. The red-clad figure hovered for a moment before collapsing softly.

The remnant soul of Lou Shuiming flickered. He stepped forward and caught her. They seemed to lock eyes for a fleeting second, but Song Wu’s spirit was already obliterated. Before Lou Shuiming’s remnant soul could even touch her, the red robes drifted downward, and her soul dissipated into nothingness, as if carried away by the wind.

Lou Shuiming’s hands were empty.

She had died just like that. To the very end, she never knew that her child had survived, nor that Song Buwang was currently within the sword formation, only a few steps away from her.

Beneath the light of the Chuhan Sword, nothing could survive; spirits were annihilated.

With a sharp whistle, the Chuhan Sword sliced through the gale and flew back to its master. The sword light within the Zhaoshui Sword Formation gradually dimmed, stabilizing.

Xie Zhefeng descended from the sky, raising his hand to catch the sword.

Qin Wei stood dazedly, sheathing his sword and straightening his posture, his eyes fixed on An Wuxue.

Lou Shuiming remained kneeling, his expression wooden, as if he were still staring at his empty hands. Outside the barrier, Zhaoshui City was calm and still.

Lou Shuiming’s remnant soul began to fade. The moment he had used the strength of his soul to link the sword formation and stabilize the barrier, it had been destined that even this lingering wisp of his soul would vanish today.

He lifted his eyes to look into the distance. Sealed within the great sword for over a thousand years, he had never seen Song Wu in the Sword Tomb, nor had he witnessed the的天水祭 (Tianshui Sacrifice) held time and time again.

A breeze blew by, and he seemed to feel the water vapor wafting from the East Cang Sea.

Behind Lou Shuiming, An Wuxue glanced at Xie Zhefeng. The man was still using the avatar that An Wuxue had injured; white sleeves were stained with fresh blood. The Chuhan Sword, having been summoned from Luoyue Peak, now rested quietly in its scabbard.

He did not know when Xie Zhefeng had arrived, nor did he know what Xie Zhefeng was thinking at this moment.

But he had something he needed to do, and despite the thousands of concerns weighing upon him, he did not hesitate.

Under the gaze of Xie Zhefeng and Qin Wei, he walked to Lou Shuiming and slowly knelt. He opened his spirit pouch and took out an object.

"City Lord Lou, when I entered the city a few days ago, I heard the folk songs singing of the past, and I was moved by your sacrifice in establishing the sword formation. This item was given to me by someone on the night I arrived; I am offering it to you as a gesture of respect."

It was the little rabbit lantern that Yun Zhou had bought for him.

When he first entered the mortal world after awakening, he had been dazzled by the prosperity and could not bear to let the light go out, so he had used spiritual energy to preserve the candle flame within his pouch.

Now that the lantern was placed in Lou Shuiming’s hands, deprived of his spiritual protection, the candle flame suddenly flickered to life.

Lou Shuiming held the little rabbit lantern. A remnant soul can only retain the most intense memories; his memory was incomplete, but he vaguely recalled that on the day he and Song Wu were wed, Zhaoshui City could not even muster ten lanterns.

A thousand years seemed to be squeezed into this exquisite little rabbit lantern, burning before his eyes.

Lou Shuiming murmured, "Head..."

"I give you this lantern on behalf of the living beings of Zhaoshui. But—City Lord Lou," he said, "I am not the Head you speak of."

Lou Shuiming froze. His remnant soul was nearly gone, and it seemed he could no longer process complex thoughts. He could only look on in confusion.

An Wuxue lowered his eyes, watching the way Lou Shuiming’s arms were wrapped around nothingness, and said, "I am merely a mediocre person passing through this place a thousand years later. The Head you speak of perished a millennium ago. Therefore..."

His voice faltered. He suppressed the stinging sensation in his eyes and let out a soft laugh.

"Forgive me. I cannot accept your kneeling or your words on behalf of someone who is already dead."

Lou Shuiming’s expression shifted. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but An Wuxue heard no sound.

The soul before him dissipated completely.

The lantern, having lost its support, fell and rolled a few times in the wind. The candle flame caught the lantern, its tongues of fire gradually consuming the entire thing until only ash remained, scattering into the wind.

A wisp of spiritual light silently flowed into An Wuxue’s body. The Zhaoshui Sword returned to stillness.

Qin Wei’s eyes had been red-rimmed the entire time, and he could no longer hold back his tears. He clasped his sword with both hands and bowed slowly toward the place where Lou Shuiming and Song Wu had vanished.

The barrier faded, and many Luoyue disciples could be seen approaching.

An Wuxue slowly pulled himself back from the memories of a thousand years ago, returning to the present as "Su Xue." He looked up at the sky, which had cleared once more, his expression vacant.

Song Buwang rushed over: "Master! There were no issues in the southeast. You—"

He paused.

He only saw Xie Zhefeng, his white robes soaked in blood, holding the peerless Chuhan Sword. An Wuxue, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, looked as if he had been rolling on the ground, covered in dirt and seemingly injured. His master was currently retracting his spiritual energy and rushing to An Wuxue’s side.

He had not seen the red-clad figure that had vanished a moment ago, nor the remnant soul of Lou Shuiming that had turned to ash along with the lantern.

Everything seemed to have ended before he returned.

Xie Zhefeng’s cold voice rang out. He was asking Qin Wei, "A great demon was sealed beneath the Zhaoshui Sword. Why did you never mention this to me?"

"I only discovered it today when I saw the Zhaoshui Sword acting erratically."

"When I arrived, both formation cores had already been marked, waiting only to be severed. I recall you are not skilled in formations. How were you able to find the flaws so quickly?"

"And furthermore," Xie Zhefeng lowered his voice, glancing at An Wuxue, "with such a major disruption to the sword formation, why did you bring Su Xue, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, here?"

An Wuxue paused, his aching body tensing.

He could not escape it. Qin Wei already knew his true identity. The moment he had spoken of Song Wu’s existence, he had been prepared for the fact that there was no turning back.

Qin Wei had told him earlier that he "wasn't afraid of killing him," and the fact that he hadn't done so yet was only because of the crisis at the sword formation. Now...

He closed his eyes and turned his head away, not wanting to see Qin Wei’s expression, nor did he want to see Xie Zhefeng’s reaction once he knew the truth.

He heard Qin Wei say, "Of course I marked them myself so that I wouldn't make a mistake when I struck."

An Wuxue was startled and opened his eyes to look.

Qin Wei was sheathing his sword leisurely, using a spell to clean the dust from his clothes. His expression was indifferent, showing not a single flaw.

He said, "I am not skilled in formations, but I have stayed in this place for over a decade with An Wuxue; I still remember the ins and outs of the Zhaoshui Sword Formation."

He glanced at An Wuxue, his gaze appearing flustered for a fleeting moment before he suppressed it with a seemingly calm demeanor. "You weren't awake when the trouble started, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find you in the heat of the moment, so I had no choice but to bring Su Xue—doesn't he have the 'Heavenly End of the Earth' talisman that you gave him?"

"Why, what is the Immortal Venerable Xie asking these boring questions for? Is there something wrong with this?"

Every word was a direct response to Xie Zhefeng’s questions, yet not a single mention was made of An Wuxue’s identity. In Qin Wei’s response, An Wuxue seemed to truly be nothing more than "Su Xue."

An Wuxue had not expected this reaction, and he frowned, deeply puzzled. He could not fathom what Qin Wei’s purpose was. Did he not want to reveal all this in front of Song Buwang? Or...

His thoughts were suddenly cut short.

A wave of dizziness washed over him like a tidal wave. He had been exhausted from dealing with the past, his spiritual energy was depleted after clashing with Song Wu, and his furnace seal was showing signs of acting up. Having held on until now, he suddenly lost all his strength.

The world went black before his eyes, and his body went limp.

Song Buwang seemed to be shouting: "Young Master Su! Young Master Su, what is wrong?"

***

An Wuxue had a very long dream.

He knew he was deep in a dream, but he was too tired—too tired to open his eyes, too tired to wake up.

He watched the past of Zhaoshui City once more. But in his dream, Lou Wushang did not die at the age of eight; at ten, he began his cultivation, joined Luoyue, and became his disciple. He grew into a young man as elegant as jade and bamboo.

Song Wu’s second child was not born with a dead pulse; the child was born with a steady temperament, neither crying nor causing trouble, and was instead stubbornly taken in as a disciple by Qin Wei, who even boasted that he would compete with his older brother for the position of Head.

The Zhaoshui Sword fell steadily, never lacking spiritual energy, so there was no need to undergo the ordeal of sacrificing the sword.

Afterward, the Four Seas Ten Thousand Sword Formation was established successfully. Shangguan Liaoliao successfully found her brother, Qi Xun’s sect remained safe, his junior brother Dao Cheng ascended to immortality, and the two realms were purged of evil.

It was so beautiful that even though he knew it was a dream, he only wished to never wake up.

But as the sweet dream reached its end, he suddenly remembered that he was not An Wuxue, but Su Xue.

Qin Wei knew his identity but had not exposed him because Song Buwang was present.

Now... Xie Zhefeng must know, right? Luoyue Peak must know, right?

He suddenly felt a chill wash over him.

*Where am I? Did they discover my identity and throw me into the Canggu Tower?*

He gave a start and opened his eyes, only to see a familiar set of bed curtains.

It was not the Canggu Tower.

This was... the room he lived in on Mount Zhanshuang?

He looked down and realized that his movements in his dream had been too frantic, tossing the silk quilt aside. The cool morning breeze drifted in through the slightly ajar window, bringing with it a chill.

He was dazed for a moment before turning to get out of bed and throwing on an outer robe.

Someone heard him wake up and called from the doorway: "Young Master Su is awake?"

That voice...

He pushed the door open and, sure enough, saw Yun Wan.

After the incident at the Yun Sword Sect, hadn't Yun Wan stayed at the ruins to bury Yun Yao and the others who had died?

"Why are you here? I..." *How did I get back?*