Su Zhuyi didn’t know how long she had been unconscious.
When she woke up, she found herself lying in a water bubble together with Luo Ying.
They were surrounded by cold spring water, and they were inside a circular water bubble, isolated from the external cold. What surprised her most was that there were tables and chairs inside this water bubble. On the table was a sword hilt and a rectangular stone paperweight, with a yellowed, withered leaf pressed underneath.
The essence of this spring water was the Longquan Sword’s sword energy. How could there be such a place within the sword energy? Su Zhuyi subconsciously looked at Luo Ying. As soon as she moved, Luo Ying opened her eyes and quietly glanced at her. Luo Ying said, “The Longquan Sword is an evil sword that has harmed countless living beings. The seven demonic cultivators outside suppress the sword body, using evil to counter evil. But the sword intent inside is suppressed by a righteous sword cultivator who sacrificed himself to seal the Longquan Sword’s sword intent.”
Her left arm was severed at the shoulder. Normally, if a cultivator lost an arm or leg, it wouldn’t be considered a serious injury—muscle-regenerating pills could regrow severed bones. But Luo Ying had voluntarily sacrificed her arm, and what she sacrificed it to was the legendary evil sword Longquan. Therefore, her left arm would probably never grow back. Unless the Longquan Sword was destroyed, there would be no possibility of her arm recovering. Even if she used pills to regrow it, it would be directly devoured by the Longquan Sword.
As long as the Longquan Sword existed, Luo Ying would not have had her left arm. But her expression remained calm, her face still showing no emotion. After speaking, she gazed deeply at Su Zhuyi for a moment, then said: “When that leaf completely turns yellow, it will be when the seal breaks and the Longquan Sword sees the light of day again.”
She had said so much, but hadn’t gotten to the crucial point.
Su Zhuyi stood up and looked around, then walked to the table, wanting to pick up the sword hilt to see if she could find any clues. She believed Luo Ying’s words. Since this was the sword hilt left by that righteous great power who sacrificed himself to seal the Longquan Sword, it basically wouldn’t harm people.
Unexpectedly, before her hand even touched the sword hilt, she heard Luo Ying say: “Those with evil intentions will be hurt if they touch that sword hilt.”
Su Zhuyi’s hand paused slightly, then she turned back to look at Luo Ying. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and smiled: “What are you saying, Senior Luo?” She was still so young, and just now above, she had at least pulled Qin Chuan along, getting her hand cut bloody by the sword intent. Yet this Luo Ying said she had evil intentions.
Luo Ying didn’t respond, but quietly looked at her. Those eyes were particularly clear and cold, like snow filling the sky. Any stain would have nowhere to hide in that pure white world of ice and snow.
Su Zhuyi didn’t know where she had given herself away. Luo Ying had spoken up for her before. But now, seeing the look in Luo Ying’s eyes, she understood that she indeed knew something. So she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and smiled: “I have evil intentions, but Senior is the most renowned good person in the world. Why don’t you be a good person to the end and send Buddha to the west—think of a way to send me out?”
If Luo Ying wanted to kill her, she would have acted long ago. When she fell, Luo Ying wouldn’t have saved her at all. This showed that Luo Ying was a soft-hearted, good person who would still save her even knowing Su Zhuyi had evil intentions. Since that was the case, she didn’t worry about Luo Ying wanting her life. She continued shamelessly: “Sword intent—as long as a person is still alive, their primordial spirit hasn’t collapsed, and they have a bit of spiritual energy in their body, they can use it. Why don’t you create another silver dragon and send me out of this deep abyss, Senior? After I get out, I’ll set up a longevity tablet for you, wash my heart and reform myself, be as righteous as possible.”
Her expression was sincere, just short of crying tears, and she said she would mend her ways.
Luo Ying still didn’t speak, continuing to look at her with those clear eyes.
Su Zhuyi: “…”
Damn, could Luo Ying’s eyes attack one’s primordial spirit? She always felt uncomfortable being stared at by her. Even with her thick skin, she now felt strangely flushed. Su Zhuyi’s eyes rolled, tears overflowing from her eye sockets as she choked out: “Senior, I’m still young, I’m so small, I… I don’t want to die…”
Luo Ying gently closed her eyes and said flatly: “You have sword energy on you.”
Eh? What did this non-sequitur mean?
“Earlier outside, sword energy emanated from your body, so I could push that child out of the seal, but I couldn’t save you.”
Luo Ying paused: “The Longquan Sword’s favorite sacrificial offerings are naturally sword intent.” Her eyes opened again, glancing lightly at Su Zhuyi. This glance made her gaze much more alluring. Su Zhuyi’s mind went a bit blank, and she subconsciously thought that this Luo Ying was indeed extremely beautiful. With her expression slightly more lively, she became considerably more attractive.
“Your sword intent is vibrant green and can pierce through anything. The Longquan Sword likes it very much.” Luo Ying continued: “So earlier I could only send that child out, and now it’s the same.”
Su Zhuyi was an evil person, so she only trusted herself. She was happy when Luo Ying saved her, but she wouldn’t be grateful. If Luo Ying didn’t save her, she wouldn’t feel hatred either.
She did evil and didn’t save people, so naturally, she wouldn’t think others should save her. So when Qin Chuan got out and she fell, she never thought to ask why.
She didn’t expect to get an answer from Luo Ying.
Su Zhuyi wasn’t stupid.
She had just been dazzled by beauty and her thoughts had wandered, but now that she reacted, she only wanted to curse.
“Old Dog Qin! Old Dog Qin! Old Dog Qin!” She shouted this name eighteen times in her heart, gritting her teeth in hatred, clenching both hands into fists.
He was born to be her nemesis. She had wasted time thinking about his face when she fell earlier.
If not for the Songfeng Sword intent from the Zhuxin Curse, she would have escaped by now, going out of the seal together with those Feihong Sect disciples. How would she have ended up here? Even Luo Ying died here in the end without getting out. Did she still have a chance to survive?
Su Zhuyi took a deep breath, barely calming herself down, and asked in a trembling voice: “Is there no other way out?” As she asked, she looked around, then gritted her teeth and endured the pain to extend her divine sense. The moment her divine sense was released, the Longquan Sword’s dragon roar appeared again, shaking her until she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, then reached up and picked up the paperweight from the table.
She couldn’t tell with the naked eye, but when her divine sense swept over it, she discovered this paperweight wasn’t ordinary stone—it contained array formations. The moment she picked up the paperweight, she heard a mellow voice emerge from the stone.
“The Longquan Sword is a greatly inauspicious sword that must never be allowed to emerge into the world. If you can hear this voice, it proves your sword intent is excellent and your heart harbors righteousness. Please, for the sake of all living beings under heaven, suppress this evil sword.”
Qin Jianglan was a righteous great power, and his Songfeng Sword intent was also righteously upright and unyielding. What kind of person one was determined what kind of sword intent they would have. Because she had manifested such sword intent, she attracted the Longquan Sword, fell into the abyss again, rolled into the Longquan Sword’s sword intent deep pool, entered this righteous great power’s water bubble, and now was being told to sacrifice herself to suppress the Longquan Sword?
What the hell!
She had thought she could find a way out, but unexpectedly, it was just this one sentence. Displeased, she threw the paperweight back on the table. At that moment, the voice sounded again: “The Longquan Sword is a greatly inauspicious sword that must never be allowed to emerge into the world. If you can hear this voice, it proves your sword intent is excellent and your heart harbors righteousness. Please, for the sake of all living beings under heaven, suppress this evil sword…”
Couldn’t it say something else?
“That senior sacrificed himself to suppress the Longquan Sword. His physical body and primordial spirit both turned to ash and smoke, with not a trace of remnant soul left behind. So he could only use a voice-preserving array to retain a bit of sound. Unable to leave even a wisp of remnant soul, he had no way to communicate with later generations.”
Luo Ying spoke again: “He only left behind this one sentence.”
Su Zhuyi was anxious and didn’t pay attention to Luo Ying, sitting down alone in a corner.
In her previous life, Luo Ying had died.
The current situation was very clear. After saving the Feihong Sect cultivators, Luo Ying had also come here. Then, for the sake of all living beings under heaven, she learned from that righteous great power and sacrificed herself to the Longquan Sword.
But Su Zhuyi didn’t want to die.
She also had no intention to sacrifice to the sword.
But there was no way out of here. A sealed bubble, with the Longquan Sword’s sword intent forming a deep pool outside the bubble, and fire dragons swimming in the deep pool, seeming ready to burst through this bubble at any moment. Her situation was dire, and she couldn’t think of any way to turn danger into safety.
Even in her previous life at her peak, trapped in here, she couldn’t have gotten out alive.
Luo Ying couldn’t get out. Even if Qin Jianglan came, he couldn’t get out either.
Much less than the current her with only third-level Qi Refining.
Su Zhuyi was very agitated, evil fire burning in her heart, her violent energy becoming much heavier. But just then, a familiar Heart-Calming Mantra sounded, making her pause slightly, then actually smile. She found a place to sit down and said: “Do all you righteous great powers like to recite this mantra?”
The Heart-Calming Mantra that Luo Ying recited was the same one Qin Jianglan recited. Their intonations were extremely similar. Both their voices were very pleasant to hear—Qin Jianglan’s voice was clear, cold, and magnetic, while Luo Ying’s voice was slightly hoarse. If it were a bit softer and more gentle, it would be very alluring, but she spoke in a flat tone without any inflection, the same as Qin Jianglan.
Seeing this little girl quickly calm down, Luo Ying stopped reciting the mantra. She answered: “I have a disciple. Despite his young age, he harbored violent energy, just like you. I often recited mantras for him to hear.”
Qinghe?
That Qinghe, who was as famous as Qin Jianglan—she had thought he only went astray after growing up, but he had a black heart from childhood. However, this Luo Ying was intelligent, seeming to have eyes that could see through people’s hearts. Could it be that when she originally chose Qinghe as her disciple, it was because she saw that Qinghe was black-hearted?
Su Zhuyi was curious and asked directly.
Unexpectedly, Luo Ying nodded: “Yes.”
“I thought I had taught him well, because in his heart, I could no longer sense the former ferocity and darkness.” When she spoke of Qinghe, her tone remained calm. Even when mentioning that Qinghe ultimately stole the Sword Heart Stone and betrayed the sect, Luo Ying showed no emotional fluctuation.
She was very calm.
So calm that even Su Zhuyi felt something was wrong. Qinghe was her only disciple, the only disciple she had carefully nurtured, and when he betrayed the sect, she spoke of it without a trace of emotion, as if she didn’t care at all. But if she were a cold person, how could she have saved so many people and sacrificed herself to save others?
“You don’t seem to care much about that disciple of yours,” Su Zhuyi probed.
Unexpectedly, Luo Ying suddenly raised her head and said blankly: “He said I have no heart, that I treat everyone the same.”
These words were quite thought-provoking.
Su Zhuyi was someone who had seen much romance and love. In an instant, she had a guess. Could it be that little villain Qinghe had been influenced by Luo Ying and fallen in love with his master? But his master was good to everyone, saved anyone, had great love, but no small love. Unable to win her love, he angrily released the evil from his childhood heart. Or perhaps wanting to get his master’s attention and lure her out of the mountains, he stole the Sword Heart Stone and went out to do evil?
Just then, Luo Ying said again: “I indeed have no heart.”
“Back then, to practice the sword, Master made me offer my heart to the Sword Heart Stone.” For that instant, her eyes finally showed a trace of confusion: “How did he see through it?”
Luo Ying…
She was not that old either.
Moreover, in the early years of her life, she had only practiced swordsmanship in the mountains, spending day and night with her only master. After that, she had only faced her only disciple Qinghe day and night. She was still a very simple person.
So simple that Su Zhuyi wanted to laugh a little. How did he see through it?
Su Zhuyi laughed out loud. Oh my, Qinghe, if you like this girl, then you’re finished for this lifetime.
Your master—she has no heart…
Call her emotional, yet she’s also heartless.