The nightmare of the cultivation world had become even more insolent in the recent days. Zhenlong Chess spread like a plague through the world. The person behind the scenes was like a lunatic, not fussing over the host's identity at all. Be it an old man or a young child, they were all in the books.
No one could guess what he was trying to do by spreading the net so wide.
Someone mourned for help from the Tianyin Pavilion, but the Pavilion master suddenly declared that she would not be able to leave. Even if someone fled to starve to death in front of the pavilion, the door would not open. Gradually, these people understood with great unwillingness — perhaps from the beginning…
They were wrong.
But it was too late. Mo-zongshi was dead, Chu Wanning's whereabouts were unknown, and the Sisheng Peak was destroyed. The various sects were busy with their own affairs, and more and more Zhenlong Chess pieces that had lost their consciousness wandered around the mortal world, killing and arson.
It had already spread throughout the cultivation world at an alarming rate.
Jiang Du, Yang Zhou, Shi Zhong, Lei Zhou… The sculptures and paintings of the buildings and the snow on the deck all emitted a dull lament under the scorching and scorching flames. The walls collapsed and the countless wind and moon were solemnly blown away under the tribulation of these flames.
On the Star Observation Platform of the Tianyin Pavilion, Shi Mei was staring at the chaos near the mountains and rivers. He stood alone for a while before the faint sound of footsteps came from behind him.
The woman's silk shoes stepped on the thin snow and covered it with his hands.
"What about Taxian-Jun?"
"He left this morning."
"… You've sent him to do it? Why are you so fast?"
"There is nothing to wait for. I have already done all the preparations that I needed to do. It depends on him."
After saying this sentence, after a long while, he opened his mouth again. His usually calm voice had a slight tremble to it.
"Elder sister." He whispered to Mu Yanli, "After so many years, after two lifetimes, I finally managed to do it…"
Mu Yanli turned her head to the side, and saw that his peach blossom eyes were glistening with moisture. He seemed extremely excited, but also extremely aggrieved.
The man closed his eyes and trembled uncontrollably. "Let's go."
He said in a low voice, "The Portal is about to open. We'll take all the pieces we made and send them over there."
"All the chess pieces?"
"All of them."
"But so many people…" Mu Yanli's face was a bit pale, but when she saw the pained and excited expression on Shi Mei's face, she still firmly said, "… Good. I understand."
She turned around and left. Just as she was about to step off the edge of the Star Observation Platform, Shi Mei suddenly called out to her.
"Wait!"
She turned her head and saw that Shi Mei had turned sideways under the dim yellow sky. The strong wind was blowing against his cloak. He looked at Mu Yanli as if he wanted to say something, but his eyes were red and he did not.
Mu Yanli looked at him for a while and then she said, "Don't worry. Even if it's cruel, I won't betray you."
Shi Mei suddenly closed his eyes. It seemed that he was always so sensitive and weak in critical moments.
His voice trembled slightly. "I have betrayed myself in this life…"
"He didn't betray you. He betrayed the entire clan, all of us. His hands are bloodless— but he has condemned us to hell ever since."
"…"
"I understand your helplessness. No matter what people say about you in this world," said Mu Yanli to Shi Mingjing. "In the clan of the Butterfly-Boned Beauty, you are a well-deserved hero."
He left.
Shi Mei watched as her back gradually disappeared into the distance. Then, he turned around and placed his bony hand on the jade ornament. The cold feeling spread to his heart.
"Hero?" Shi Mei raised his head and looked at the dark clouds in the sky. After a long sigh, he said, "It's impossible for me to become one. There's no hero that carries such a heavy burden on their life."
There seemed to be a moment of disappointment in his eyes, before it turned into ice.
"I, Hua Binan, have spent two lifetimes in this struggle against heaven and earth. I do not believe that the heavens cannot be changed — now that the Gate of Life and Death, the most Zhenlong Chess pieces, these forbidden techniques are all in my hands, I would like to see who in this world can stop me."
His knuckles were the color of jade.
"Forget about heroes. I just want a way out."
His words scattered into the wind.
"For us."
In the vast Snow Region of Mount Kunlun, a black silhouette swiftly swept past.
The wind was blowing like a knife across his cheek, but he could not seem to feel the cold in his narrowed, purplish eyes.
He was flying like a hawk over a cliff. Jumping on top of the jumbo, light footstep, quick and agile. There were so many patrolling experts in the Taxue Palace on Mount Kunlun that no one noticed his arrival. The snow that he walked on didn't have a single trace.
Very quickly, this man arrived at the highest point of the Taxue Palace. From here, he could see the snow-covered Heaven Lake. It was misty and tranquil, filled with mist.
The lightning fast black figure stopped.
The man stood at the summit of Mount Kunlun, straight as a bayonet, his dark eyes fixed on the surface of the lake. The wind picked up, blowing away his cloak, revealing a handsome face that was pale and devoid of blood.
It was Taxian-Jun.
After going through the second tempering, he now had Mo-zongshi's spiritual core, and had regained his strength as strong as it was in the past and will no longer disobey the orders of the "master".
He finally became the killing blade and spiritual energy source that made Shi Mei completely satisfied.
However, ever since the Tianyin Pavilion awakened, Taxian-Jun's mind would be filled with scattered fragments — previously, he had always thought that he hated Chu Wanning, that he loved Shi Mei and that his feelings for him were related to these two.
However, he vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Recently, he would often hear a vague voice and see some vague images.
He saw Chu Wanning carefully wrapping the wontons in Mengpo Hall and heard himself say to Chu Wanning, "Shizun, let's start over again, okay? Please, pay attention to me, won't you…"
He saw a crescent moon hanging over the sea cliff, shining only on the two of them. He held Chu Wanning's hand tightly while Chu Wanning kept his head down. His usually fierce eyes were moist and red. He heard Chu Wanning say to him, "I'm not good. I've never been loved by anyone before…"
He saw him and Chu Wanning sleeping on the bed of the inn. The weather outside was heavy, and it had nothing to do with them.
He saw Chu Wanning lift up the curtain of his eyelashes and look at him —
Suddenly, his heart palpitated.
Taxian-Jun suddenly opened his eyes.
What are these?
He saw Chu Wanning looking at him so gently, the kind of look in his eyes that never came back after he had tortured him with an aphrodisiac, humiliated and imprisoned him.
Taxian-Jun felt his head hurt. He raised his hand, and the light of day shone upon the cold spikes on his wrists. He rubbed his forehead and cursed softly, "What nonsense is this?"
He stood on the roof for a moment, stunned. It was snowing heavily in Kunlun, and soon, it was covered in frost. He was slightly surprised, because deep in his heart, he felt that this was also good. It was like a good dream, and yet he felt at peace because of the gentle gaze Chu Wanning gave him.
"… This Venerable one has gone crazy."
He blinked his eyes, pushed these ridiculous thoughts to the back of his mind, and moved on.
Shi Mei's order was for him to go to Kunlun, where the spirit energy was most concentrated, and completely open the gate to his previous life. So he should go north. However, when he saw the heavenly lake, he couldn't help but circle around it.
That was the place where he would forever lose Chu Wanning.
Taxian-Jun stood in place for a while, but in the end, he couldn't help but walk in that direction in a daze. However, just as he was passing by a nearby veranda, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Father… Mother…"
This voice was very familiar. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and hid himself in the shadows, revealing a pair of pitch black eyes as he looked down.
Then he saw it clearly and couldn't help but sneer. "I was wondering who it was. So it was you."
In that courtyard, there was only Xue Meng. Xue Meng was holding a jug of wine as he leaned against the table. He was already drunk.
"This time, your parents weren't killed by me." Taxian-Jun enjoyed Xue Meng's drunken state with great interest as he stroked his chin. "But when you are sad, I am very happy. I haven't forgotten who made a hole in my chest earlier."
"How is it? Isn't the feeling of heartache great?"
The courtyard was quiet, and no one else was present.
Taxian-Jun stared down at the ground for a while. Suddenly, he made up his mind. With a flash of his black shadow, he arrived in front of Xue Meng.
The drunk phoenix did not notice his arrival and continued to caress the pot of wine, wanting to drink the nectar within it again.
Suddenly, a cold hand reached out and grabbed the red clay teapot, stopping his movements.
"You… Who…?"
"Guess."
Xue Meng forced open one of his eyes that was swollen from crying and sleepily looked up along that hand. His handsome face was filled with mockery.
Taxian-Jun had never seen Xue Meng in such a depressed state. Although he was convinced that Xue Meng in his previous life also secretly collapsed many times behind him, this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. He licked his lips and felt very excited.
He bent over and stared at Xue Meng as if he was staring at a prey. "Interesting. It turns out that the disciple that Chu Wanning was most proud of would get drunk and turn into a pile of mud."
As he spoke, he sat diagonally on the edge of the stone table and then raised Xue Meng's chin.
"It's been a long time since I've seen you when you were young. After staying in the mortal world for so long, I have almost forgotten what kind of domineering face you had when you were a youth."
His fingertips gently caressed it.
He brushed his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, and the space between his eyebrows, then poked his forehead in a manner that was neither light nor heavy.
"Xue Meng, do you know? There is one thing that I am actually quite regretful about." He looked at Xue Meng's startled eyes, and gradually revealed a smile that would cause chills, "In my previous life, I was kind enough to let you live, but you wanted to kill me instead. Sometimes I think. Shouldn't I have killed you in the first place?"
"Humans are supposed to be comfortable living, but those who die might not be in pain." Taxian-Jun's voice was low and gloomy. "Xue Meng, do you want to accompany your parents?"
As he spoke, he bent down.
His cold breath brushed against Xue Meng's cheek, and his two cold fingers even touched the artery on the side of Xue Meng's neck— All this time, he had been staring into Xue Meng's eyes.
He looked at his reflection in those hazy, teary eyes, like a ghost that had descended into the world.
"In truth, everyone living in this world will die in the end. You and I are brothers for half our lives, after all. Since I met you here, why don't I send you off first to help you escape."
He exerted force with his fingers and was about to kill.
"Brother…"
Suddenly, a whisper, like a sprout breaking through the earth, could be heard.
Taxian-Jun was startled.
As Xue Meng looked at him, he seemed to be able to distinguish the appearance of the person in front of him amidst his drunkenness. His teary clothes made him stagger to his feet as he choked with sobs.
"Brother…", he called to him.
He only knew that the person in front of him was Mo Ran, his elder brother, that his family, that his most carefree days of youth, had finally returned.
This time, Taxian-Jun heard it clearly, and he was sure that he didn't hear wrongly. Thus, he was somewhat astonished, and his face unexpectedly did not know what sort of expression to wear.
The brain was in chaos again.
In a blur, an image flashed past Taxian-Jun through his eyes. He saw himself and Xue Meng sitting in the Red Lotus Pavilion, brewing tea and brewing wine. Under the moonlight, they clinked cups.
…Was this what that Mo-zongshi did again?
"Brother." At first, he was still trying his best to hold back his sobs, but in the end, he sobbed and choked on his words, which eventually turned into a wail of grief, "Don't go… Don't leave me behind…"
After a while, he seemed to have thought of something else, and his entire body suddenly started to tremble. His lips were green and white, "Don't kill my father, don't force them… I was the one who killed those people. Don't hurt my parents, just come at me…" Large teardrops rolled down, dampening Taxian-Jun's chest, "Don't… Don't dig out my brother's heart…"
Amidst this heaving sob, Taxian-Jun slowly lowered his hand. He stood there stiffly for a moment, wanting to push Xue Meng away. But Xue Meng held him so tightly that his hands and feet were full of blood.
Gradually, the area closest to his heart was soaked with tears.
In the end, Taxian-Jun ran like the wind and dashed up the roof rafters. He lowered his body on the porch and looked at Xue Meng, who was hugging his knees and crying in the snow.
The Xue Meng in his memory had always been fierce, arrogant, aggressive, sharp, and harsh. However, the child that was left in the snow and wind was the one who could no longer find his brother.
He looked at Xue Meng standing there, crying for a very long time. Afterwards, Xue Meng stood up, either because he had woken up from his drinking or because he was tired from crying. He stood blankly in the courtyard for a while, then carried the wine jug towards the depths of the Plum Blossom. The young man walked aimlessly, his mind in a trance, slowly walking away —
Taxian-Jun looked at the snowy ground. There were two lines of twisted footprints, but he no longer turned his head back. He continued to travel deeper into the snowstorm until he could no longer see Xue Meng's back.
In the wind, there was a sudden and powerful singing. It was a short song Xue Zhengyong had sung before he died. Now, it flowed out of Xue Meng's throat and echoed through the Taxue Palace in Mount Kunlun.
"I pay my respects to an old friend like a ghost. Only in this drunken state do I have a chance to get along with each other." A voice rang out. It was still young, but it had already become ancient. "Under the main horn of the mountain, it has already decayed."
The snow had dyed the young man's black hair.
That hoarse voice, mixed with the sound of the wind and snow, was filled with desolation.
"Heaven's Light Dream shatters everything in the distance…" It was getting further and further away. Or perhaps it was not Xue Meng who had walked far away, but the young man finally sobbed, each word choked with sobs. "Abandon my old body."
Give up my old body.
He was only twenty-two years old, but only in his drunken dreams could he see his old friends laughing and seeing each other again. He was only in his prime, but he could only see a pot of Du Kang, Gao Tang's love, and two or three old friends.
Xue Meng raised his head, as if he was trying to hold back the tears in the corner of his eyes. However, he did not know whether he had held back. The snowstorm had already blinded him.
He closed his eyes and let out a long howl, trying to stop Xingyun. It was as if he was kowtowing to the heavens and crying out to the earth.
"We are willing to extend our lifespan to Duke Zhou. Let him carry the wine, and we will return it!"
As the clouds gathered, he dropped the wine jar in his hand.
Spreading his hands, Xue Meng fell straight into the snow. He didn't want to go any further. What was in front of him? Everywhere was a world of ice and snow. There were no more familiar figures, no more homes.
Even though he had dreamt of Mo Ran just now, it was all fake. It was all just a reflection of the moon in the water, fading away in the blink of an eye.
Xue Meng lay in the snow. After a while, he raised his hand and covered his eyes.
His thin, blood-red lips slightly parted as hot tears flowed down his cheeks.
"Why did you all leave? Leave me alone."
Xue Meng suddenly choked and lost his tone.
"Why is that… Why did you leave me alone…"
In fact, he had lived two lifetimes, and in the end, he was the only one left.
Taxian-Jun listened to the lingering sound of the howling wind as it swallowed him up. He looked towards the direction where Xue Meng had disappeared to. He stood there motionlessly on the roof while the wind blew against his cloak, fluttering it. He raised his hand and touched his chest, not knowing what to feel.
I worship half of my old friend as a ghost.
This was true for Xue Meng, but it was also true for Taxian-Jun?
In his previous life, Wushan Hall was completely empty. In the end, he was the only one left, and no one else was present. He did not know where the incense burner in his room had once been, nor did he wear the clothes he had worn as a teenager. Sometimes he would blurt out a joke when he was trying to study, but everyone around him was respectful and tense.
No one knew what he was talking about, no one understood him.
Those who knew him were either in the underworld or at the ends of the earth.
Taxian-Jun slowly came to the edge of the celestial pond. The weather was bad, the distant fog was thick, and the snow seeds on the pond were flowing rapidly. He stood there without a sound, like a heartless, unfeeling statue of wood.
He allowed the frost to cover him.
"Chu Wanning…" He sighed softly, "If only…"
What if it was back then?
He did not continue. His eyelashes were folded and his eyes were closed.
In the past, there had never been anything like this. If he was the Immortal Emperor, then no one in the cultivation world would have been able to compare to him. He did not know what regret was, what turning back was.
What happened happened.
He did not regret it, and he did not admit defeat.
Even if it was a mess of flesh and blood, even if he had to abandon the traitors, this was the path he had chosen. Even if it was filled with thorns, he would still force himself to continue walking.
However, in the vast sky, in the middle of the snowy sky, in a place that no one would ever be able to see or know about. After standing there with his hands behind his back for a long time, he finally did something unexpected — he knelt down.
At the place where Chu Wanning died in battle, he kowtowed for a long time.
He bowed.
Second bow.
He kowtowed three times.
Taxian-Jun raised his head. Under his hat, his eyelashes were frosted over, and his expression was solemn. No one knew what he was thinking about. He then stood up, as if he had fulfilled a wish he had for many years. Without a word, he moved his cloak and robe, heading towards the most abundant spiritual energy in Mount Kunlun.
Since the Emperor was out, no one in the world could stop him. Shi Mingjing had chosen the right one. He possessed the strongest and most powerful spirit energy in the world and a formidable cultivation base that was unrivaled.
The Gates of Life and Death were about to open.