“Chang An!” Rong Su kicked aside the Liu Bo disciple guarding the gate, keeping A Wu protected behind him. “Come out at once!”
“Brother Rong Su…”
“Don’t panic.” Rong Su reassured A Wu, “Today’s Liu Bo, after the natural disasters, is no longer the Liu Bo of old. They’re just a bunch of old Daoists and some newly recruited youngsters who still smell of milk. With me here, they won’t dare harm you.”
A Wu wanted to persuade him further, but the heavy Liu Bo gates at the top of the stairs creaked open with a “squeak.” Five elders emerged from behind the doors, their expressions solemn and concentrated, glaring at Rong Su and A Wu with hatred as if they couldn’t wait to eliminate them immediately.
“I called for Chang An, what are you old fossils coming out for?” Rong Su gave a cold snort, sweeping his wide sleeve to release dense demonic energy that whirled into a great wind, sending the disciples who had followed the elders tumbling repeatedly.
The elders were furious: “Audacious demon, how dare you speak so disrespectfully before Liu Bo’s immortal gate!”
“Hmph, what’s there to fear about today’s Liu Bo? My visit to claim someone already gives you face.”
“Insolent!” One of them could no longer contain his anger and summoned his magical weapon, charging over in rage.
Rong Su laughed arrogantly: “Insolent? Well, there was a fart—here, have a smell.” With these words, he gathered his robes, releasing surging demon energy that howled toward his attacker, forcing him to withdraw and defend. The remaining force of the demon energy swept into the sect grounds, causing the disciples with lower cultivation to cough up blood.
The elders were all shocked. They hadn’t expected A Wu’s helper to be so overwhelmingly powerful.
Seeing that Rong Su had intimidated the Liu Bo crowd, A Wu immediately grabbed him and called out to the Liu Bo elders, “We don’t want to hurt anyone! I just want to see Chang An, I have something to tell him.”
“Now demons dare to openly challenge our immortal sect Liu Bo, there must be a greater conspiracy behind this. We absolutely cannot let her see Chang An again.”
“These stubborn old oxen!” Rong Su became enraged upon hearing this and stepped forward. Sensing the killing intent rising from Rong Su, A Wu turned pale with shock and hurriedly pulled him back with all her strength. “Brother Rong Su! Chang An cares most about the sect’s safety, please don’t kill any Liu Bo members.”
“Demon, stop pretending to be merciful! Today, Liu Bo will eliminate you demons on behalf of the world, removing this calamity!” The lead elder shouted, “Form the formation!”
Watching the five elders chanting and arranging their formation, Rong Su could no longer suppress his killing intent, his black pupils turning blood-red: “Sister, look carefully at who wants to kill whom today.”
A Wu’s face turned white as she silently clutched her belly.
It was a life-or-death situation. Even Er Sheng could see that the formation these Liu Bo elders had arranged wasn’t easy to deal with—the killing intent was thick, clearly no ordinary demon-subduing formation. She was also anxious for A Wu. Where was the Sect Master at a time like this, and more importantly, where was Chang An?
At that moment, the force guiding Er Sheng appeared again. It seemed to want to answer all of Er Sheng’s questions. She wanted to know where the Sect Master and Chang An were, and it truly led her to them—
In Liu Bo’s Ten Thousand Isolation Tower.
Chang Wu was trapped at the bottom of the tower, surrounded by white talismans forming a solid cage. The elders had learned about him helping A Wu escape and imprisoned him here to prevent him from interfering further. Meanwhile, Chang An was in closed cultivation at the top of the tower, still unaware of everything happening outside.
Er Sheng felt anxious, wanting to rush forward and knock some sense into his head—your wife and child are being bullied, and you’re still focused on your damned immortal cultivation! But Er Sheng could only think these thoughts; as an observer, she was powerless to intervene in anything.
Suddenly, a tremendous boom came from the direction of Liu Bo’s main gate, making the earth itself tremble.
Er Sheng anxiously wanted to go in that direction, but couldn’t move at all. Not caring whether Chang An could hear her or not, she called out frantically: “Chang An! Something’s wrong! Something terrible is happening!”
Of course, Chang An couldn’t hear her calls, but following that earlier boom, the earth shook again, even more violently than before. Er Sheng saw the furniture at the top of the Ten Thousand Isolation Tower trembling.
Shortly after, Chang An’s eyes suddenly flew open, his expression changing several times before he suddenly “Wah!” spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Er Sheng was startled, suddenly remembering what the teacher had said back at Wu Fang’s academy: when cultivators reach a certain level, they cannot be disturbed during meditation. Otherwise, minor disturbances could harm their heart and lungs, while major ones could lead to cultivation deviation.
Had Chang An injured his heart and lungs, or had his cultivation deviated…
There was no time for Er Sheng to figure this out. After regaining consciousness, Chang An wiped the blood from his lips and strode quickly to the window. After looking toward Liu Bo’s mountain gate for a moment, he immediately soared away on a cloud.
Er Sheng was pulled along by that force to follow Chang An, but when she saw the scene at Liu Bo’s mountain gate, she was stunned.
In just this brief time, the stone steps before the mountain gate had been dyed as if with blood, many young Liu Bo disciples lying on the ground, struggling and moaning. And in the air, that great door—Er Sheng could never forget its appearance—the gate of the Infinite Desolate City.
Er Sheng was shocked. These Liu Bo elders had summoned the gate of the Infinite Desolate City! No wonder that formation’s aura had felt so strange.
Rong Su appeared severely injured, gripping a large blade and kneeling on one knee. A Wu stood before him, holding a folding fan, in a standoff with three elders. A Wu’s face was stained with blood, though it wasn’t clear whether it was hers or the Liu Bo disciples’.
Seeing Chang An arrive on his cloud, A Wu’s eyes brightened, but as if suddenly remembering something, she lowered her gaze.
Taking advantage of A Wu’s distraction, one of the elders facing her suddenly attacked, striking directly at her abdomen. A Wu was shocked and instinctively stepped backward. Rong Su, kneeling behind her, rose in fury: “Liu Bo, you shameless—!” He swung his blade at the elder, seemingly about to cleave half his head off.
A beam of pure immortal energy came from mid-air, deflecting Rong Su’s blade.
“Demon!” Chang An rebuked in extreme anger.
A Wu’s face was pale as she frantically shook her head to explain: “We haven’t killed anyone! I’m preg—”
Without letting her finish, Chang An summoned his magical weapon. With one swing of his long sword, dazzling cyan light carried his fury as it struck heavily toward Rong Su.
He was furious, showing no restraint in this attack. Even a thousand-year-old great demon like Rong Su was sent flying, and naturally, A Wu couldn’t escape either. She tumbled down the stone steps one by one, finally coming to rest on level ground.
Er Sheng covered her mouth in horror. Chang An seemed to be still rebuking something, but Er Sheng could no longer hear it. All she could think of now was the female ghost’s voice heavy with yin energy and her eyes, still as dead water.
No wonder… no wonder…
Rong Su struggled to his feet, his blood-red pupils contracting sharply the moment he found A Wu’s form.
Supporting himself with his great blade, he painfully crawled toward A Wu on his knees, one step at a time.
Seeing his actions, a mysterious killing intent rose in Chang An’s eyes. A severely injured Liu Bo elder was still maintaining the formation with difficulty. Upon seeing Chang An, he became overjoyed and called out: “This demon’s sins are grave. We have summoned the gate of the Infinite Desolate City to send her in, but we still lack one person’s spiritual power to open the gate. Chang An, quickly come help!”
Chang An didn’t move, his gaze fixed on A Wu, who was curled up dependently in Rong Su’s embrace, her body trembling uncontrollably as if crying. His brow furrowed slightly as he descended from his cloud and walked slowly to the elder maintaining the formation.
“Sister…” Rong Su brushed away the hair sticking to A Wu’s face, hearing her say hoarsely through trembling lips: “My belly hurts… Brother Rong Su… he doesn’t know, he still doesn’t know.”
Chang An’s voice was ice-cold as he spoke quietly from atop the high steps: “Demon, surrender now.”
Rong Su gritted his teeth in hatred: “Why do you still care about such a bastard?”
A Wu’s tears fell like broken strings of pearls, unstoppable, as she mumbled repeatedly “He doesn’t know.” As if trying to convince Rong Su, or more likely, herself.
Chang An’s brows knitted together, his fist clenching tighter and tighter within his wide sleeve. He closed his eyes and said flatly: “This demon should enter the Desolate City.” As his words fell, immortal power poured into the formation. The failing formation suddenly blazed with brilliant light, and the Desolate City’s gate in the sky began to open with a heavy “clunk.”
Rong Su looked at the slowly opening gate above, his expression darkening. He carefully settled A Wu down and struggled to his feet, facing Chang An with neither servility nor arrogance: “I, Rong Su, was born a demon. Though my actions may not be righteous, I have never betrayed my conscience nor violated heaven’s principles. How can you send me to a place of sin like the Desolate City?” Rong Su laughed arrogantly, filled with mockery. “If you have the ability, take my life—anything else is out of the question.”
Chang An stared at Rong Su, his dark eyes unreadable.
Rong Su imperiously thrust his blade into the stone steps and laughed boldly: “Today’s battle has come to this point—even if you don’t take my life, I’ll stake everything I have to make your Liu Bo sect suffer, at least to seek justice for my sister.”
“Don’t fight to the death…” A Wu grabbed his wide robe, refusing to let go.
“Sister.” Rong Su raised his blade and strode forward, his robe slipping from A Wu’s grasp. He sighed softly, “How can you still not see? Now if I don’t die, Liu Bo must perish.”
Rong Su had been gravely wounded, each step leaving a bloody footprint, yet he seemed to feel no pain. Each step he took made the earth tremble: “Achieving immortality three times?” Rong Su swung his blade and laughed, “Let me see just how formidable you are.”
A Wu curled up, tightly closing her eyes, but she couldn’t block her ears from the piercing sounds of the blade meeting the sword.
The outcome was predictable—how could the heavily wounded Rong Su match Chang An? Within ten moves, Chang An had him by the throat.
“Don’t kill him!” A Wu screamed hoarsely, “Chang An, Rong Su is my only family left. I beg you, I only beg this once, for the sake of the chi—”
“I have no intention of taking his life,” Chang An interrupted A Wu’s words. “Those with sins naturally belong in the Infinite Desolate City.”
“He has no sins. It was me… all me…”
“Hahaha, when you want to condemn someone, any excuse will do! Sister, say no more. Today I couldn’t protect you—it’s my failure. Liu Bo can take this life as they please, but I will never enter a place like the Desolate City.”
Chang An gripped his throat, forcing Rong Su step by step toward the Desolate City’s gate: “That’s not for you to decide.”
Rong Su sneered: “My life may not be mine to control, but isn’t my death at least mine to choose?”
Chang An’s heart jumped in alarm, but before he could react, he felt Rong Su’s body suddenly stiffen. A trail of fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth—he had severed his heart meridian.
Chang An’s hand loosened, and Rong Su collapsed to the ground, only his unwilling eyes remained open, seemingly still coldly mocking how Liu Bo’s glory days were gone, having to mobilize their entire sect just to deal with one demon. Or perhaps sneering at that dark jealousy in his own heart.
An inexplicable fear grew in his heart. He turned to look at A Wu, who was staring blankly at Rong Su on the ground. She crawled over, almost on her knees, checking Rong Su’s breathing for a long time before finally closing his eyes.
“Chang An, do you know what Brother Rong Su was to me? Teacher and father, brother and friend. When we married before, Brother Rong Su couldn’t attend. He said it was one of his life’s greatest regrets. He said when our child reached its first month, he would let the whole world know, he would give the biggest red envelope, the best gifts… But Chang An, look what you’ve done?”
“You forced my father-brother to his death, my good teacher, my dearest friend.” A Wu’s voice grew harsh, “I married you, and you took everything from me—love, chastity, dignity, and now you’ve taken away my family, my child… Yet I still love you so pathetically.”
Chang An froze, his heart suddenly turning cold. He stared blankly at A Wu’s abdomen, only to see a shocking crimson stain spreading across the hem of her clothes.
A Wu seemed like a senseless puppet, one hand covering Rong Su’s eyes, the other covering her own.
“How am I supposed to forgive you… how am I supposed to forgive myself?”
Chang An’s face turned white, silent.
“How I hate you, Chang An, do you know how much I hate you!” A Wu raised her head, a line of bloody tears terrifyingly sliding down from the corner of her eye. Her voice was too hoarse to speak, yet she forced out the sharpest, most broken sound: “The hatred of killing my brother, the pain of losing my child—I wish everyone would accompany me in death!”
This cry of pain and hatred seemed to make heaven and earth mourn. Countless women’s cries and wails swirled above Liu Bo with the sweeping wind, resentful energy gathering rapidly. Those mad and obsessive cries and laughs invaded everyone’s ears, filling their hearts with terror.
A Wu glared viciously at Chang An as the Desolate City’s gate opened fully behind her, a massive suction force sweeping out from within. The Desolate City housed those of grave sins—A Wu had drawn the resentment of women across the world to follow her. Her very existence had become a great sin, so the Desolate City opening its gates to pull her in was only natural.
The sky full of resentful energy followed A Wu’s figure, slowly being drawn into the Desolate City.
Chang An seemed to suddenly come to his senses, reaching out to grab her, but the fierce resentful energy suddenly wrapped around his limbs, pulling him tight as if wanting to drag him straight to hell.
“Chang An, I curse you to never find peace in this life!”
The Desolate City’s gate slammed shut with a boom, cutting off all sound. The entire world seemed to fall deathly silent in that instant. Two drops of fresh blood fell from the sky onto Chang An’s cheeks, making him look defeated and desolate.
Er Sheng had thought Chang An would fall to demon cultivation soon after A Wu entered the Desolate City, but Chang An remained clear-headed.
He still meditated daily, absorbing the world’s spiritual energy, as if he were still a cold immortal with an unbreakable proud spirit. The Liu Bo elders were very satisfied with this situation, believing Chang An had achieved great accomplishment by becoming free of desires and pursuits.
But Er Sheng saw another Chang An, one who never slept at night, who stared at the starry sky, refusing to close his eyes. Because even when he occasionally dozed off, he would wake in a cold sweat.
Chang An’s eyes grew increasingly desolate, not from the settling of great enlightenment, but approaching despair and death. Er Sheng suddenly thought of when she first met Chang An, his eyes completely empty and void—still alive, yet as cold and still as death.
A Wu’s curse of “never finding peace” was like a curse written in blood, ensuring Chang An would never know peace again.
“In the fifteenth year of Yong Zheng, Chang An lost control and fell to demon cultivation.” The dejected scholar’s voice appeared again in Er Sheng’s mind as the scenes she witnessed gradually blurred. Finally, only Chang An remained, the demon mark appearing on his brow as he gazed coldly at the heavens.
“Star-Lord of Fate, Star-Lord of Fate… you wrote my life’s destiny to be so cold, so utterly cold.”
He spoke softly but through gritted teeth as if he wanted to flay and dismember the Star Lord of Fate in the Nine Heavens, eat his flesh, and drink his blood.
Looking at him like this, Er Sheng felt an inexplicable chill in her heart.