Shen Qingqiu pointed them again towards the seats, saying, "Our shixiong have just left."
As he lifted the teapot from the table, Ming Fan hurried over to help, only to be stopped by a sharp glance telling him not to intervene. As Shen Qingqiu personally poured tea for everyone, Liu Qingge finally sat down, reached for his teacup, and sipped quietly.
Qi Qingqi spoke, "Naturally, our other shixiong have already come by. Liu-shidi, from that face of yours, I thought you were speaking of Luo Binghe."
While words themselves may have no deeper implications when spoken, a listener could easily twist their intentions. Shen Qingqiu's cheeks were already sore as he faked another smile. "Now how could that be possible?"
Qi Qingqi placed her teacup down on the table rather heavily and raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "Of course. How could that be indeed? If Luo Binghe dared to return to Cang Qiong Peak now, you'll see just how we take care of scum like him!"
Mu Qingfang, sitting off to the side with his hands in his sleeves, commented casually, "Well you'd have to be able to take care of him first."
Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but laugh a little at their expense. Qi Qingqi immediately pointed at him. "You've still got the guts to laugh. The most problematic one here is you! Shen Qingqiu, I'm telling you now: it's a good thing you took responsibility and came back with our shixiong and shidi this time. If you left with Luo Binghe again, I'd personally take care of you and expel you from the sect! See if you'd even be able to stand afterward!"
There were obviously supposed to be words of concern, but she was so harsh that it was surprising that she didn't head straight over and seize Shen Qingqiu by the neck.
Mu Qingfang replied. "Well, all is well now."
Although he said it was "all well," he clearly wanted to sigh in exasperation. Qi Qingqi spoke, "If it weren't for shixiong's refusal to pull out his sword until absolutely necessary, and how he was forced to charge in with little information, Luo Binghe would never have been able to take advantage of him and escape. If you had been just a little later, you may have been able to witness our shixiong's Xuan Su sword."
At those words, Shen Qingqiu felt his heart stutter. After all, he had never seen the Xuan Su sword in any scene, whether from the original book or over on this side of things. He didn't know what Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky was thinking either. Would it kill him to write it? All the hints of grandeur, like thunderous roars on a stormy sky without a single drop of rain. All that lengthy, elaborate build-up, and then at the very end, there was nothing but an empty black pit waiting!
With no explanation whatsoever, Yue Qingyuan was just pierced through with a thousand arrows and fell over dead! (bye bye!)
Ning Yingying had been sitting off to the side with her head down the entire time since she walked in. Shen Qingqiu waved her over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ning Yingying came over slowly and looked up with two eyes that were as red as a little bunny's. With a sniffle in her voice, she quietly spoke, "Shizun, now that you're back, don't leave anymore, okay?"
And she was crying again. Shen Qingqiu was left dumbfounded. He wasn't a man prone to crying–at most, they would be rather figurative tears, falling deep in his heart. So why were all his disciples so quick to start sobbing? Her tears fell like an unending storm of raindrops on her pretty, delicate cheeks.
Her words seemed to resonate with Ming Fan as well as he cried along sorrowfully. "Shizun––"
That one was definitely not from the same delicate crying scene!
Qi Qingqi didn't let the opportunity to lecture him slide past. "Look! Look at your disciples. Don't you care about them at all? You have more than the one disciple, but you only care for that one ingrate! Did you forget the rest of them?"
Shen Qingqiu patted Ning Yingying gently on the back, comforting her while defending himself. "Since when have I cared only for the one?"
Liu Qingge finished the remaining third of his tea, closed his eyes, and said, "Come back and stay. Don't leave anymore."
Shen Qingqiu agreed succinctly. "Alright."
Hearing that, Qi Qingqi was finally satisfied. Liu Qingge was just about to speak again when he suddenly froze. Then a murderous aura overcame him.
Everyone in the room noticed his sudden change in demeanor and grasped their swords without hesitation. Suddenly, Liu Qingge rose and dashed towards the windows. Shen Qingqiu felt his heart leap into his throat.
Liu Qingge pushed open the windows. Outside, the sky was clear and the moon shone brightly. Below them were deep forests of bamboo. There wasn't a single human figure in sight.
Of course, Luo Binghe wouldn't just stand there stupidly–he probably left a long time ago. The air inside the room finally seemed to relax a bit. Mu Qingfang spoke, "Liu-shixiong, what did you see?"
Yet Liu Qingge didn't turn around. Instead, he reached a hand out the window as if catching something floating from the skies.
After a while, he brought his hand back in and turned towards them as he replied, "It's snowing."
Shen Qingqiu lay in his bed with his eyes wide open that entire night. On the next day, as soon as he heard the alarm bells, he rushed out of his bamboo house.
The ringing of the bells seemed to grow more urgent by the second, every toll landing deep and heavy as it echoed throughout Cang Qiong Peak. The disciples from each peak gathered, from the Rainbow Bridge to Qing Jing Peak. All flocked and gathered outside Qiong Ding Palace, yet even in the crowd, all were completely silent.
Shen Qingqiu settled things quickly on Cang Qiong Peak before heading for the palace. On one side of the palace was a tall white crystal mirror that stood over ten feet high1. Other than An Ding Peak's stand-in disciple, all the other Peak Lords had gathered here, standing forwards in a picture of dignified grace.
Reflected in the mirror was a wide, flowing river surrounded by tall mountains, green fields, and a few sparse rows of white roofs.
Yue Qingyuan said, "The middle reaches of the Luochuan River. Look to the sky."
Above the scene, an ominous darkness was gathering–black, cavernous mountains began to rise from behind the rolling clouds. It looked almost like a massive inverted, pitted skull, as it began creeping out of the dark clouds, the empty holes staring down upon the world below.
That was the demonic Maigu Mountains.
Yue Qingyuan spoke. "We received news that this began last night. At first, only a few scattered boulders appeared. But within the hour, it became clear that they were forming mountains."
One of the peak lords was shocked and exclaimed, "Within an hour? This...it's much too fast!"
No. This was a perfectly normal speed of merging. Tianlang-Jun really did choose the "best place" after all, just as he had said. Without interference, scenes like this one would be visible across within the day. Within the next two days, the two worlds would be fully merged━just like shredding apart two beautiful paintings, then stitching the pieces together into a blotchy, muddled new picture.
Liu Qingge crossed his arms as he stood, holding the Cheng Luan sword in his grasp. "Then we need to move faster."
Yue Qingyuan spoke. "Each Peak Lord will bring two-thirds of the disciples from their peak with them. We will arrive at the midpoint of the Luochuan River within half an hour."
At the Sect Leader's command, the Peak Lords immediately scattered. Arriving in half an hour would give them each less than ten minutes to prepare, so they had to move quickly. Shen Qingqiu was also preparing to head back to gather his own men when Yue Qingyuan called out to stop him. "You will stay here."
Shen Qingqiu turned around. "Shixiong, you know that I must go."
Yue Qingyuan replied, "Shidi, other than the first snowfall and Luochuan River, what else do you know?"
Shen Qingqiu slowly replied, "In order to stop the merger, we must first pull out the Heart Devil Sword. It currently stands in a skull in the Maigu Mountains, and Tianlang-Jun must be there as well to feed strength into it."
Meaning the solution was: 1) Destroy the Heart Devil Sword, 2) Kill Tianlang-Jun
Yue Qingyuan insisted, "You will stay behind."
Shen Qingqiu was just about to speak again when Yue Qingyuan raised his hand in a sealing motion, as if he was about to cast a barrier to lock Shen Qingqiu directly inside the Qiong Ding Palace.
The Sect Leader's about to lay down the law!
Shen Qingqiu straightened, his back going completely rigid as he tried to decide whether he should reach for his Xiu Ya Sword. Right at that moment, a frayed voice cried out in alarm from outside the palace. Both men dashed out immediately and looked to the direction that the disciples outside were pointing towards. Shen Qingqiu gasped quietly under his breath.
They could only watch as the clouds rolled in like massive tides in the vast sea of sky above Cang Qiong Peak, a bleeding red color. A beam of red light cut through the sky and colossal, flaming boulders began to appear one by one like meteors falling straight towards Cang Qiong Peak.
Yue Qingyuan's expression didn't waver. He held out his hand and whistled; Xuan Su━sword, scabbard, and all━flew immediately into his outstretched hand. Shen Qingqiu watched as each boulder was crushed into tiny particles, like thousands of glowing embers floating down after an explosion of fireworks lit up the sky.
The red clouds swirled about a massive crater, like the top of an erupting volcano. Within, they could see countless pairs of arms and screaming human heads, rolling about in pain, as if trapped in purgatory.
F**k, the Endless Abyss–Cang Qiong Peak sure drew the grand prize on this one!!!
In his mind, Shen Qingqiu cursed relentlessly: god**** Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky!
If you were going to write a merger, you could've at least stated clearly somewhere that Cang Qiong Peak was located in the same location as the Endless Abyss!
After this tide rolled past them, they didn't know when the next wave would be coming in. They didn't know how long it would be until the Twelve Peaks were completely merged with the Endless Abyss, becoming a sea of fire and lava, a hell on earth. Cang Qiong Peak couldn't be saved now.
Yue Qingyuan turned to the stand-in disciple of An Ding Peak. "Please call for aid from the masters of Zhao Hua Temple." Then he turned and raised his voice. "All disciples remaining here, you are to follow your orders. As soon as the boundary is broken, leave all belongings behind and immediately retreat from the mountain!"
All the disciples gathered in the square before them answered at once. "Understood!"
Yue Qingyuan turned and said, "Qingqiu-shidi, you will also go to Luochuan."
Liu Qingge, who had returned after gathering his disciples from Bai Zhan Peak, said, "Then what about you, Sect Master?"
Yue Qingyuan replied, "I will hold this back for as long as I can until the master of Zhao Hua arrives. Then I will join you."
Shen Qingqiu spoke, "Sect Leader-shixiong, will you be alright alone? How about I stay here...."
Yue Qingyuan actually laughed a bit at that. "I tell you to stay, and you want to go. I tell you to go, and now you want to stay. Little...shidi, what will I do with you?"
Liu Qingge pulled him along and started to leave, and spoke tersely. "Time to leave. If he says he will join us later, then he will join us later."
Finally, in the face of disaster, Cang Qiong Peak had the self-respect expected of the top sect in a cultivation novel. There were no more leisurely carriages or boats rolling casually along. Thousands of swords flew across the skies faster than a flash of lightning. If anyone below glanced up, they would only see streaks of light speeding past, like a moving stream of stars.
How spectacular that scene must be. It was a pity that the menacing mountains appearing on the horizon took away any possible awe such a magnificent sight would bring.
An Ding Peak really was the master of logistics, and they were extremely efficient. Support from Zhao Hua Temple arrived very quickly and helped support the boundary. Yue Qingyuan quickly left and caught up with them. Not half an hour later, he arrived at the middle reaches of the Luochuan River.
Because there were so many of them, they were forced to land in groups, a few at a time. Both banks of the Luochuan River were already crowded with people: those who heard of it through passing news, those gifted with extraordinary visions, and cultivators from all clans and sects who had arrived to investigate, donning uniforms of every color. The cultivators were all busy evacuating the civilians from the area. Wu Wang and Wu Chen led a group from the Zhao Hua Temple over to join them.
Yue Qingyuan joined his hands together in a bow. "My deepest gratitude to you, Masters, for sending your disciples to aid us. Otherwise, I fear the thousand years of history that stand behind the Cang Qiong Peak would have been destroyed in an instant."
Wu Wang was a monk that usually had plenty to say, yet today his face remained grave and he didn't speak a single word. In fact, it was the Great Master Wu Chen who finally replied after wiping the sweat from his brow. "Amitabha. The thousand years of history that were about to destroyed were not only your own– Zhao Hua Temple was nearly caught in the same devastating dilemma."
Yue Qingyuan was slightly surprised. "Such a thing was happening? Masters, you have sent hundreds of disciples out to Cang Qiong Peak━are there enough remaining to protect the temple?"
Shen Qingqiu was also confused. Was it possible that the Zhao Hua Temple had reached the point of sacrificing even their own wellbeing for the sake of aiding other sects?
Wu Wang's face continued growing paler, and the Great Master Wu Chen, seeing his continued silence, could only reply and explain. "This...it's really too difficult to speak of. It was not our own strength that saved us, but rather that which we borrowed from another who lent us their aid."
Yue Qingyuan asked curiously, "Could it have been Tian Yi Monastery?" Tian Yi Monastery had always been known for being unfettered and leisurely, a sect with little organization or discipline. They just went with the flow and made little contribution of their own. If they were the ones who managed to support the temple, it would be quick a shock.
The Great Master Wu Chen shook his head. "It was the Huan Hua Palace."
Shen Qingqiu's fan froze as the words slipped from his tongue. "Huan Hua Palace? Isn't that..."
Wu Wang's face was completely ashen as he spoke. "Correct. It was indeed Luo Binghe."
Suddenly, they heard two small sounds of chortling laughter from the side. A light, clear voice spoke in a perfectly mannered tone. "This one wouldn't dare accept any gratitude for that which we have provided. If anything must be said of the matter, I was only trying to help Shizun."