“You’ve all come.”
His expression was gentle and his tone soft, full of composure and tranquility from having everything under control, as if facing not enemies from various positions and levels, but dear friends who had traveled mountains and rivers from afar. And he wasn’t confronting them with murderous qin music, but rather brewing tea about to boil, having swept the couch in welcome.
In the night wind, a leaf suddenly broke from a treetop and drifted down toward the qin, but when it was still a person’s distance from the instrument, it suddenly vanished.
Complete disappearance – no fragments, no powder, no ash, no veins – nothing at all.
Qin Chang Ge’s pupils contracted – Shui Jingchen’s power had indeed advanced beyond what it was at Shi family village.
Her eyes rolled around his face. Shui Jingchen’s gaze was moist and crystalline, bright and clear as the moon. His internal energy had reached its peak, and moreover, showed no signs of poisoning.
Qin Chang Ge sighed in frustration. How was this fellow so fortunate? How had he practiced that Caifu sword technique and become immune to poisons? She had thought the poison she’d applied at Shi family village and her earlier tricks in the dense forest would have some effect on him, but now it seemed he was perfectly fine.
Gazing resentfully at the sky, Qin Chang Ge secretly cursed why heaven hadn’t given her an omnipotent, invincible beautiful girl’s body. Her looks being merely passable was one thing, but her constitution and bones were far inferior to her past life. Though she had managed to achieve a breakthrough by borrowing Young Master Shui’s cup poison, she had ultimately missed the optimal time for foundation building and vital cultivation, never able to reach her past life’s standards. She was now considered a master, but compared to these top-tier experts, she still fell short.
In truth, when Qin Chang Ge fought enemies, she rarely relied on genuine martial arts. She preferred using mysterious methods, vicious dirty tricks, and unpredictable, ever-changing ways to kill.
But tonight… Qin Chang Ge frowned, always feeling something was wrong… Where were the other Shui family members? Why hadn’t any appeared until now? Even with the rule against going out after nightfall, with such commotion, they should at least poke their heads out to look, right?
No matter how formidable Shui Jingchen was, facing Su Xuan, Ban Yan, plus Xiao Jue and herself – could he survive?
“I want to kill you.” Ban Yan always spoke with that slow intonation and blunt words, creating a strange combination.
“What a coincidence, so do I.” Shui Jingchen smiled unhurriedly, glancing at Su Xuan and the three others. “And everyone else – today’s a good day to settle old accounts together.”
“Boom!”
Most straightforward was Emperor Xiao – without warning or discussion, he struck!
His figure was like an angry dragon soaring, flashing to above Shui Jingchen’s head. Where he passed, rolling dust and smoke rose with overwhelming momentum.
Simultaneously Ban Yan’s long hair coiled, her half-ghostly face appearing grotesquely in the night. Eighteen serpent-like long braids split into eight directions, covering them like a net from heaven and earth!
Shui Jingchen’s body didn’t move, then suddenly shifted flatly sideways. Without any flashy postures, he casually escaped the two masters’ attacks and still maintained his original pose as he landed on the tip of a tree growing diagonally from the cliff. The treetop faced the deep valley, swaying precariously. He smiled down from the tip, leisurely plucking strings.
“I didn’t say I wanted to fight – you two are truly impatient.” In the ringing sounds Shui Jingchen harmonized, “If I can easily send you all to the Yellow Springs, why would I need to exert effort fighting? I advise you all to save your strength. Whether seeking revenge, investigating my father’s death, or stealing corpses to announce to the world – for those about to die, it’s all truly unnecessary.”
Xiao Jue frowned, extending his long arm. The ordinary blue steel sword in his palm was pointed out with the bearing of a famous blade that looked down on the world. “Shui Jingchen, whatever tricks you play, when I die, I’ll definitely drag you with me.”
Ban Yan slowly began looking around in all directions.
“But I’m not patient enough to accompany you.” Shui Jingchen said gently, “The new Yilan still has much to do – I’m very busy.”
“New Yilan?”
“Mm,” smiling lightly, Shui Jingchen said indifferently, “So I say, none of you need to be busy, because after tonight, this Yilan will no longer exist.”
Ban Yan’s eyes widened. Though urgent as sparks, her questions were still asked slowly, “You want to destroy Yilan!”
“Wrong. I want to destroy you, while Yilan will exist forever.”
Meeting everyone’s gaze, Shui Jingchen smiled broadly, his features bright and clear. “Yilan has always been a worldly family, a hidden wealthy clan. In all the martial world, how many people know where Yilan actually is? So if Yilan exists in a different place, it’s naturally still Yilan. The noble family was never Yilan Valley, but the Shui clan, which is me. As long as I exist, I can build a new Yilan at any time.”
Everyone was shocked!
He actually intended to use the entire Yilan – built from ancestors’ hundred years of effort, mysterious and vast, possessing unique ancient formations – without hesitation as a destructive weapon to kill enemies!
This wasn’t a stone or a sword – this was the entire Yilan Valley that dominated the Nanmin lands!
Could anyone in the world be so mad, so bold, so contemptuous, so indifferent!
“You want all these people buried here! Most of Nanmin’s martial arts peak figures are here – how will you explain to the world!”
“Explain what?” Shui Jingchen smiled. “Yilan Valley never received any martial artists coming to pay respects. Jingchen sent people to wait outside the valley for many days but couldn’t see a single person… I hear the Mysterious Altar’s Grand Priest has been practicing Nine Nether Yin arts recently, and young people often disappear around Xuan Chi Palace… Speaking of which, the Mysterious Altar’s relationship with the noble family isn’t very good. For Great Envoy Ban Yan to come from so far away – what’s the real reason?… However, since you all came for the Shui family, the Shui family will certainly take responsibility. Your vengeance will be shouldered entirely by the Shui family.”
He smiled without a speck of dust, elegant and compassionate. “As for whether the Grand Priest Yin can produce the already missing Heavenly Envoy Ban Yan – that’s beyond my concern.”
Ban Yan stared at him as if looking at a madman – the most refined and gentle madman in the world.
Qin Chang Ge gasped and murmured, “This is a true madman… Good temperament? Great philanthropist? The whole world is blind – he’s more ruthless than Hitler!”
Su Xuan had already shot out like an arrow!
Everyone was a master. So far they hadn’t discovered anything abnormal about Yilan Valley – this was after all such a vast area, how could it be destroyed at will? Yet everyone knew Shui Jingchen was never one for empty boasts. Believing him would end badly, not believing him would end even worse!
Su Xuan moved like a shooting star. Still in mid-air he drew forth light bright as the moon, a magnificent seven-colored rainbow appearing from his palm – startling rainbow feathers chasing that pale shadow!
Shui Jingchen smiled, floating up gracefully. His brows showed peace and serenity. This beautiful man who hid a cruel and mad soul beneath his composed, gentle exterior cast a regretful glance at each person in the scene, then leaped down the high cliff!
Su Xuan didn’t hesitate and jumped down too!
“Boom!”
As if a giant dragon sleeping underground had suddenly awakened and groggily turned over, or as if a giant had lifted a heaven-opening axe and viciously split the innocent earth, deep rumbling sounds continuously emerged from the mountain’s depths. Like the earth-shaking war drums Chiyou beat in primordial times, the ground began convulsing and trembling, tearing and spasming in unbearable pain, violently shaking off everything attached to it!
Around the mountains, the white round-domed building at the peak suddenly showed black cracks. Then all those layered buildings constructed along the mountain began dancing. Ground folds opened like grinning, savage mouths, dark and menacing, ready to devour all things attached to them!
Qin Chang Ge sprang up and rushed toward where Shui Jingchen and Su Xuan had run down, but before her eyes flashed white light and robes billowed – Su Xuan had already tumbled up in a somersault. Immediately a massive airflow surged up with overwhelming force, the savage power of heaven and earth rolling back viciously, pushing the two hard away!
That mountain-collapsing, sea-overturning force carried countless flying stone fragments with power like gods drawing wind and thunder strong bows, chasing stars and moon with no escape. With a bang, Qin Chang Ge’s right arm had already dropped limply!
She hissed in pain, struggling to steady herself, but was pushed by the massive force to roll on the ground, colliding with Su Xuan who had just waved his palm to push away a huge stone flying toward her face in the contrary wind.
At this time the cliff face on the other side had already tilted, cracking open another deep valley. With this collision both were immediately pushed toward the deep valley!
The ground was continuously slippery from mist, without even a crack to grab onto.
“Chang Ge!”
Xiao Jue, who had been standing close to Qin Chang Ge but was now suddenly on the opposite shore due to the valley’s collapse and splitting force, rushed over like an enraged dragon regardless of everything!
His voice was drowned by the thunderous sounds. As the earth shook and mountains moved, after flying several steps he slipped. The mountain was retreating while he struggled forward, stubbornly fighting against the forces of heaven and earth. With a bang his strength failed and Xiao Jue tumbled to the ground. He immediately rolled over and slid forward rapidly among the flying, rolling sand and stones, desperately reaching out trying to grab Qin Chang Ge.
But he could no longer reach her.
Su Xuan shouted loudly in mid-air and reached out to grab Qin Chang Ge. His white sleeves flew like steel blades, slashing deep cracks in the ground with a swish. He immediately threw Qin Chang Ge upward with force!
Falling into the stone cracks, Qin Chang Ge reached out and tightly grasped a protruding rock. Feeling heavy black shadows about to press down from above, she pressed her lips tight. Without looking, she flicked her long hair and black silk shot up. With a whoosh of cold black lightning, she caught Su Xuan who was falling rapidly after throwing her up with great force.
The moment Su Xuan caught the black silk he immediately flipped upward. His lightness skill was already unmatched in the world, and in an instant he was back on the cliff face. After standing steady and turning around, the scene before him immediately shocked him into darkness.
That severed cliff section was sharp-pointed like a massive sword thrust diagonally, extending straight out. Unable to bear the violent ground tremors, it was shaken toward the other side. At an extremely close distance on the other side was an even more jagged massive cliff, and Qin Chang Ge was on the tip of this giant sword, about to collide!
Once they collided, Qin Chang Ge would definitely be crushed to pulp!
Su Xuan swayed – she must have seen this situation just now. If she had immediately flipped up then, she definitely would have made it in time, but in that instant she chose to pull him up first, preventing him from falling into the deep valley or being crushed between the peaks. In just that moment, the two peaks had already met!
She seemed to have broken an arm and now couldn’t dodge in time!
Su Xuan flew in desperation.
“Boom!”
Black mist rose up, and within the black mist a dark shadow seemed to flash.
That was Xiao Jue.
Xiao Jue had been rushing over since the moment they nearly fell into the valley. Seeing that reaching across to pull Qin Chang Ge from the slightly lower opposite position was impossible, at the instant the “boom” began, he gave a long shout and swiftly drew his sword from his waist. Blue light flashed, radiance exploded, and he fiercely slashed at the cliff below where he stood!
“Crash!”
Instantly a diagonally growing tree on the cliff was cut at the roots along with a large patch of earth, thunderously falling. The cliff immediately showed a person-sized earthen hollow!
This slash had the might of heaven and earth!
“Bang!”
The two cliffs collided.
In the dust filling the sky, Su Xuan’s heart suddenly trembled, and for a moment he didn’t dare open his eyes.
If he opened them and saw her bloody and mangled between the colliding cliffs…
In the dust-filled sky, Xiao Jue ignored the choking dirt hitting his face and tightly gripped the cliff edge, staring wide-eyed as he searched desperately in the gray-yellow haze. Rather than avoiding a mouthful of dirt, he hoarsely coughed continuously while calling low, rolling that name between his teeth, “Chang… Ge… cough cough… Chang Ge… cough… Chang Ge!”
He suddenly stopped speaking, fingers tightly gripping the cliff face, unaware his nails had cracked.
Su Xuan let out a long sigh.
Below the cliff, on the opposite side.
Qin Chang Ge clung to the sharp cliff top with one hand, curled up in the earthen hollow Xiao Jue had created, dirt-covered and disheveled, raising her head to smile wearily at the two.
She said softly, “A’Jue… you’re truly clever…”
In the moment of collapse, amid the chaos, Xiao Jue never lost his composure. When he confirmed he couldn’t pull Qin Chang Ge up from the cliff tip in time, he instantly chose to cut down the giant tree to create space, allowing Qin Chang Ge, who should have collided with the opposite cliff and been crushed to death, to accurately crash into the hollow left by the severed tree, escaping the fate of being crushed. This action seemed simple to describe, but such sharp vision, calm thinking, accurate judgment and swift reaction was rarely found in the world.
Su Xuan’s sigh was full of joy and emotion. His eyes bright, he carefully pulled Qin Chang Ge out, praising, “His Majesty is truly divine – in that urgent moment he saw the different soil quality of the opposite cliff and cut out a large hole for shelter. How did he even think of it?”
How did he think of it? Xiao Jue himself didn’t know. In that moment inspiration flashed and he acted regardless of everything. In that moment of thunderous strike he gave his all. Now his palms were full of sweat, his fingers trembling, unable even to grip his sword… Just now… if he hadn’t seen that tree… if the tree hadn’t been completely severed… if he’d been a moment later… what would the result have been?
Xiao Jue didn’t dare think, had no time to think. In that instant he couldn’t hear the mountain wind howling, couldn’t see the black clouds rolling angrily, couldn’t care about flying stones. He only saw her about to crash into the cliff, only knew he absolutely couldn’t let her die, only knew – save her! With all his strength, save her!
Love makes people burst forth with shocking miraculous potential. Love makes one’s wisdom earth-shaking while all things stand aside with folded sleeves.
Love raises the sound of wind and thunder, forcing back the world’s gray darkness and human disasters, crackling like lightning crossing the firmament, illuminating in a flash all the reluctance, heartbeats and entanglements of past and future lives.
A slight cracking sound – the blue steel sword suddenly shattered, hundreds of bright fragments falling glittering to the ground.
This ordinary long sword ultimately couldn’t withstand such full exertion. After completing its life-saving mission, it completely crumbled.
Xiao Jue looked down and smiled. “Good thing it didn’t break at that moment. I should thank it.”
He never took Qin Chang Ge from Su Xuan’s hands.
Even after Su Xuan gently set Qin Chang Ge down and stepped back slightly with an emotional expression, he still didn’t approach Qin Chang Ge.
His hands were behind his back, his entire arm continuously trembling slightly – from using excessive force regardless of consequences earlier, his joints had dislocated. The slightest movement brought waves of stabbing pain, and his meridians were probably also damaged.
He only lowered his head with grateful and joyful expression, amid the still continuously collapsing cliff stones, amid the pale misty mountain fog, amid the gradually rising distant pale red daylight, bright and clear, he smiled.
He said:
“Chang Ge, that you’re alive is truly wonderful.”