Editor: Sahloknir
The hall suddenly fell into dead silence. It took a long while before Changsun Chengfeng, who was staring at Xu Shuangtze in disbelief, asked, “…what did you say?”
“You chased him from Cang Yang Mountain to Beijiang?” Ying Kai turned his body to face Xu Shuangtze.
Xu Shuangtze answered, “Yes.”
AD
“You killed Du Kaixun?”
“Yes.”
“…”
From Cang Yang Mountain to Beijiang was not just thousands of miles apart. The actual distance was at least tens of thousands of miles.
Everyone was dumbfounded as they looked at Xu Shuangtze. They couldn’t imagine that he had pursued that man over such great distances seventeen years ago.
Furthermore, in that freezing bitter cold, he struck a blade through the man’s heart and severed his head. How deep and intense was his murderous intent?
Ying Kai was shocked, “Why?”
Changsun Chengfeng gaped, before he trembled and asked, “…Did you not remember that he is a member of the Changsun family?”
Xu Shuangtze did not answer Ying Kai, but leaned forward slightly to face the Artefact Sect Master. His face has not changed the slightest, even with the passing of hundreds of years. When he cast his gaze from an elevated angle. he gave off an icy cold edge.
“So?”
“…”
Changsun Chengfeng didn’t say a word. Mu Duozhu coughed as he picked up his teacup, and tried to change the topic as he asked, “So after Du Kaixun’s death, the Artefact Sect Master is the sole person who can manipulate soldier silk in this world, right? ”
Things went around in a circle and returned to the starting point.
Changsun Chengfeng was easy-going, did not put on airs and often mingled with juniors. He was a man with a good reputation among the sects and families. To say that he was the mastermind was an accusation which no one could believe. Even Ying Kai was well aware that this ‘public trial’ would not get any conclusion.
However, there was no alternative explanation for the current situation other than it being sinister.
Ying Kai frowned and said, “Chengfeng, the passages inside the Underground Palace of Ding Xian Mausoleum are complicated, especially the ninth underground level at the deepest point. There are only a handful of people in the world who have gone into that golden tomb chamber. You are both the architect for the Underground Palace as well as one among these few…”
Changsun Chengfeng also never expected that his own brother had long been dead. He was truly at a loss for words and had no way to explain himself, “Dearest friends and allies, do you really think I am such a madman?”
No one spoke and they looked away at once.
“…” Judging from his expression, Changsun Chengfeng probably inwardly cursed each family and sect. Then, he reluctantly changed the conversation trajectory, “The Lotus Immortal has passed on for sixteen years, and Ding Xian Mausoleum has been completed and sealed for the past fifteen years. Why would I have waited until now if I did want to do it? Furthermore, what am I supposed to do with his body? You must know how dangerous the bones of the Immortal Masters are…”
“Blood-red pupil.” Xu Shuangtze interrupted.
Ever since the start of the trial, whenever Lord Xu spoke, he would turn the tide with just a few words. As a result, everyone subconsciously jolted at the sound of his voice. Changsun Chengfeng exclaimed, “What?!”
“When the Lotus Immortal died, his golden core was intact, and his spiritual power was retained. That monstrous red eye should still be usable. Even if the eye’s spiritual powers were damaged after the Lotus Immortal’s death, that right eye is still a peerless weapon and could be used to create the perfect mechanical soldier.”
We Vtejcuahf qjerfv jcv jvvfv, “Ktja kjr ktja sbeg ygbatfg abiv wf yfobgf tf vlfv.”
Jtjcurec Jtfcuofcu’r mtfra gbrf jcv ofii, jcv tf rajgfv ja tlw klat jc lcvfrmglyjyif fzqgfrrlbc. Tlcu Bjl ifjcfv bnfg, ibkfglcu tlr nblmf jcv jrxfv, “Rba bcis vlv sbe xlii tlw, yea sbe jirb lcafggbujafv tlw?!”
“…”
“Did his brother say anything else before he died?”
Xu Shuangtze still did not answer, leaning back on the armchair, the winds gusting in from the distance outside the window roared, sweeping across his unwavering face.
Just like the biting cold wind on the glacier seventeen years ago, the voice of Du Kaixun as he was about to die sounded similarly choppy, “Don’t you… hate that Gong Zhiyu? The world speaks of the dignified Cang Yang Sect Master who looks down on Chief Gong. Do they know…know that you came all this way to the frozen lands for him…know what is hidden behind your facade?”
The second son of the Changsun family was only nineteen years old at the time. His features were handsome and sharp like his brother, but he was born both sinister and mad, like a beast trapped in a cage, full of hostility, always waiting to pounce. His bloodthirsty nature could not be suppressed.
Xu Shuangtze stood condescendingly in front of him, holding No Way Out in one hand. Blood trickled along the blade and dripped onto the snow.
“You are a monster, Xu Shuangtze.” The young man clutched his bloodied wound, leaned forward and gasped viciously in the snow, “Your true desire is trapped under that skin. You can never get rid of it, you can never dream of getting rid of it…”
The wind and snow hid Xu Shuangtze’s expression in the shadows. After a long time, he raised his right hand and with a splatter of blood into the sky, a human head flew from down the cliff.
…
Everyone in the hall looked different, and Yuchi Rui was no longer munching his peanuts, he leaned forward and asked the Artefact Sect Master in all seriousness, “You are behind it, right?”
Changsun Chengfeng responded helplessly, “Can you stop messing around now?”
Ying Kai raised his chin to the plate of ice beside him, and said, “You must find a way to prove your innocence, Chengfeng. Either you prove that you cannot manipulate this piece of soldier silk extracted from the bones of the Lotus Immortal, or you show that the soldier silk is related to your brother…”
Changsun Chengfeng cried in amazement, “Brother Ying, aren’t you making it difficult for me? I can only prove that I have the ability to manipulate my own soldier silk, but how can I prove that I can’t control another person’s soldier’s silk? How about I call it and see if it responds?”
Ying Kai said indifferently, “Then I can only invite you back to the Correctional Palace at Dai Mountain. Stay there for a while until Lord Xu and I find out the truth, and return you your innocence.”
Changsun Chengfeng couldn’t believe his ears, and immediately pointed to Xu Shuangtze, asking Ying Kai in disbelief, “He wants to return my innocence? Why do I feel that he just wants to pin the blame on me?”
Mu Duozhu looked at Xu Shuangtze’s unresponsive face and couldn’t help coughing, “Dear friends, fighting is strictly forbidden on the Golden Ship. Later, if Lord Xu draws his sword against the Artefact Sect Master, please be sure to stop him.”
…
“Report!” Just as the Masters were in discussion, a medical disciple wearing a light purple gauze robe arrived at the door. First, he paid respects to Ying Kai, Mu Duozhu and Xu Shuangtze, and then to Yuchi Rui and Changsun Chengfeng. He bowed his head and reported, “Disciple Bai Xian from the Changsun family is flying on his sword Bu Qi outside the boat. He seeks an audience with Lord Ying and Lord Xu!”
“What? “Unexpectedly, when he heard this, Changsun Chengfeng suddenly turned his head, “Don’t let him come up!”
He sounded so stern that everyone looked at him in amazement, and Mu Duozhu hesitated before adding, “Artefact Sect Master, he is not here to see you…”
Changsun Chengfeng said flatly, “I am his cultivation partner, why can’t I stop him? Bai Xian has nothing to do with this matter, so why drag him in?”
Xu Shuangtze’s flat voice came again, “You are not his cultivation partner yet.”
“…”
Mu Duozhu glanced at the Artefact Sect Master and couldn’t help but put in a word seeing his expression, “Immortal friends, fighting is strictly prohibited on the Golden Boat. Later, if the Artefact Sect Master draws his sword against Lord Xu, please stop him. ”
“And Bai Xian is not irrelevant to this matter. He is your brother’s servant, which was why he was sent together with him to the Disciplinary Court.” Xu Shuangtze paused and couldn’t be bothered with the Artefact Sect Master’s increasingly anxious expression, and said, “He is the closest person to your brother during his lifetime.”
There was silence all around.
Ying Kai took a deep breath, leaned forward to Mu Duozhu, and instructed in a low voice, “Invite Bai Xian in.”
The medical disciple immediately did that. After a while, the tall gate was pushed open.
A slender figure with a calm expression and soft eyebrows walked in steadily. He was dressed in the Changsun family’s ink black robes with a white satin lining. The man’s long black hair was bound by a piece of white ribbon and positioned to the side of his neck. His attire was in colours of black and white with the exception of the lining of his hair ribbon that had an embroidery of a small golden laurel leaf.
It was Bai Xian.
Ying Kai was not one who enjoyed being paid respects to. Before Bai Xian saluted, he waved his hand and gestured for it to be exempted, and said at once, “Bai Xian, you are here at the right time. Let me say something first. Seventeen years ago, Lord Xu killed Du Kaixun in the glaciers of Beijiang. I already know and acknowledge this. Do you have anything else to say to me?”
Bai Xian seemed startled.
But he only paused momentarily before he whispered, “Ah” and added, “Is that so?”
Everyone thought the young man had nothing more to say. Yet, no one guessed that in the next moment Bai Xian turned to Xu Shuangtze and gave a deep bow before saying, “Second Young Master has done a lot of evil deeds, so many that it is impossible to list them. Lord Xu pursued the man to the glaciers tens of thousands of miles away and beheaded him with your sword. That was a noble act of justice and this junior is grateful.”
He bowed deeply and then continued with a changed tone, “But I am afraid Du Kaixun is not dead.”
Xu Shuangtze squinted his eyes slightly, “—Oh?”
Ying Kai couldn’t help but turn his head to glance at Xu Shuangtze, then turned to Bai Xian and asked, “Do you have any evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Bai Xian took a deep breath and straightened up, in full view of all the great masters in the hall, “Here.”
His voice was not high-pitched, but he had an inexplicable crispness similar to hitting gold and breaking jade. At that moment, Changsun Chengfeng seemed to have suddenly realised something, he got up and yelled, “Don’t—”
Before he completed his sentence, Bai Xian moved his fingertips and a cold light of a dagger flashed, slicing off his right hand!
It was a lightning-fast and decisive movement. Mu Duozhu, who was the closest to him, didn’t even have time to react. His right hand was severed and fell onto the ground with a thud.
The scene froze and there was no sound.
Everyone stared at his wrist simultaneously and saw that there was no trace of blood coming out from that wrist. There was only a white glow, and a glowing thread connected from the surface of the wound to the pale lifeless hand at his foot. It was soldier silk!
Changsun Chengfeng closed his eyes, stopped speaking, and slowly sat back in the armchair.
“This junior is a mechanical soldier. My master’s name is Du Kaixun, not the current Artefact Sect Master.”
Although the pain was not as severe as would have been to ordinary people, the damage was serious enough to make Bai Xian’s face pale. He gritted his teeth tightly, and pointed his other finger at the ice block on the table—the dark red soldier silk that was frozen suddenly began to move and writhe, as if suddenly being injected with life. The block of ice began to crack inch by inch, making a crisp sound heard by everyone present.
“The soldier silk that was used to make me, and the soldier silk from the Dingxian Mausoleum, are created by the same master, so they can echo each other.”
Bai Xian tried his best to stand up straight and gasped between words, “This is proof that Du Kaixun is still alive in this world.”
…
Lying on the bed, Gong Wei slowly opened his eyes.
The sharp pain due to the shattering of his spiritual vein had now become a dull ache. An unfamiliar spiritual power circulated within his limbs and body, calming his damaged primordial spirit. However, he could not recall what had happened.
Did someone save me?
Gong Wei sat up dizzily, feeling that something was off with his body. He lowered his head and looked intently. The familiar silk-woven, gold-inlaid black outer robe instantly came into view.
“!”
Gong Wei’s first reaction was, I stripped off Xu Shuangtze’s clothes?
Then am I still alive?
He was awake in an instant, and he quickly touched up and down to make sure that he had his hands and feet, and then the last memory before he fell into a coma slowly recovered from the depths of his mind. The excruciating pain of the soldier silk snaking through his entire body’s spiritual veins, the shock and anger of having his former corpse made into a puppet, the fear, and trance of being held hostage…Until a familiar torrent of spiritual energy descended from the sky in the nick of time, melting the deadly soldier silk into flying ash, and the weightlessness of his rapid descent came to an abrupt end when he entered that embrace.
“Don’t be afraid,” he felt Xu Shuangtze’s hand pressing tightly on the side of his bleeding neck, his voice calm and powerful.
He said, “Sleep, you’ll be fine when you wake up.”
…
What happened next?
Gong Wei involuntarily touched his lower lip.
He felt as if he had forgotten some important details. Trembling and subtle ripples emerged within his heart again, but no matter how hard he tried, Gong Wei couldn’t remember the origins of this oddity.
The severe injuries and exhaustion, like a tug of war, made his brain hurt. He seemed to have gone through many dreams, but when he woke up he couldn’t remember anything except sadness.
Gong Wei pursed the corners of his lips at a loss, as if this could allow him to escape the strange feeling which lingered on his lips. After a long while, he sluggishly lifted the curtain of his bed and looked around. Gong Wed frozen for a moment for he recognised what this place was—the Golden Ship.
The current Medical Sect Master Mu Duozhu had particular medical skills and behaviour. Of them, the most famous one, was that he had a huge golden and wooden ship that soared in the sky, travelling all over the world.
When Gong Wei had just been picked up by Ying Kai from the Peach Forest and brought to the Immortal Alliance, the Golden Ship passed by Dai Mountain. Ying Kai took him onboard the ship and asked the Medical Sect Master to examine his body. Ying Kai wanted to know if Gong Wei was born with mental incapacity, or if his soul had been damaged. Mu Duozhu had never seen such a miraculous case as Gong Wei. He personally inserted an acupuncture needle into his head, which caused Gong Wei to cry and left him with a deep psychological trauma ever since.
Later, midsummer of a certain year, Gong Wei dragged Xu Shuangtze out to play with him in the Xuan Bing Pond of the Correctional Palace. Ignorant of the fact that sudden fluctuations in temperature can be detrimental to health. The temptation of cooling down the summer heat in the icy pond meant Gong Wei developed a fever in the middle of the night. Xu Shuangtze had to carry him in one hand to look for the Medical Sect Master. As a result, the dazed Gong Wei was scared out of his wits when he saw the golden ship. When his kicking and stomping was to no avail, he cried out and bit Xu Shuangtze hard on the neck.
Gong Wei tended to remember beatings inflicted on him but not food he just ate, and places he feared left a deep impression within him. Even before the ship was within the proximity of more than ten miles or eight villages, Gong Wei could detect the unique smell of medicine that came from it when downwind.
If the soldier silk had entered his spiritual vein, he would have been seriously injured. Xu Shuangtze must have sent him up here.
So was Xu Shuangtze also on this golden boat now? How about Yuchi Rui, who was hit with an illusionary art, and the injured Ying Kai?
Were his remains also stored in the morgue on this golden ship?
Gong Wei thought of the thing which was hidden within the bones of his remains, and his heart trembled.
The giant ship cruised forward steadily, and the furnishings within the quarters did not move at all. Only the carved jade curtains swayed slightly in the wind that crept in from the window lattices. The corridor outside the room was very quiet, and no one could be heard.
Gong Wei took a deep breath, finally got out of bed. He stepped gently and barefooted on the paulownia floor, opened the door, and looked out.
Editor: Sahloknir
The hall suddenly fell into dead silence. It took a long while before Changsun Chengfeng, who was staring at Xu Shuangtze in disbelief, asked, “…what did you say?”
“You chased him from Cang Yang Mountain to Beijiang?” Ying Kai turned his body to face Xu Shuangtze.
Xu Shuangtze answered, “Yes.”
AD
“You killed Du Kaixun?”
“Yes.”
“…”
From Cang Yang Mountain to Beijiang was not just thousands of miles apart. The actual distance was at least tens of thousands of miles.
Everyone was dumbfounded as they looked at Xu Shuangtze. They couldn’t imagine that he had pursued that man over such great distances seventeen years ago.
Furthermore, in that freezing bitter cold, he struck a blade through the man’s heart and severed his head. How deep and intense was his murderous intent?
Ying Kai was shocked, “Why?”
Changsun Chengfeng gaped, before he trembled and asked, “…Did you not remember that he is a member of the Changsun family?”
Xu Shuangtze did not answer Ying Kai, but leaned forward slightly to face the Artefact Sect Master. His face has not changed the slightest, even with the passing of hundreds of years. When he cast his gaze from an elevated angle. he gave off an icy cold edge.
“So?”
“…”
Changsun Chengfeng didn’t say a word. Mu Duozhu coughed as he picked up his teacup, and tried to change the topic as he asked, “So after Du Kaixun’s death, the Artefact Sect Master is the sole person who can manipulate soldier silk in this world, right? ”
Things went around in a circle and returned to the starting point.
Changsun Chengfeng was easy-going, did not put on airs and often mingled with juniors. He was a man with a good reputation among the sects and families. To say that he was the mastermind was an accusation which no one could believe. Even Ying Kai was well aware that this ‘public trial’ would not get any conclusion.
However, there was no alternative explanation for the current situation other than it being sinister.
Ying Kai frowned and said, “Chengfeng, the passages inside the Underground Palace of Ding Xian Mausoleum are complicated, especially the ninth underground level at the deepest point. There are only a handful of people in the world who have gone into that golden tomb chamber. You are both the architect for the Underground Palace as well as one among these few…”
Changsun Chengfeng also never expected that his own brother had long been dead. He was truly at a loss for words and had no way to explain himself, “Dearest friends and allies, do you really think I am such a madman?”
No one spoke and they looked away at once.
“…” Judging from his expression, Changsun Chengfeng probably inwardly cursed each family and sect. Then, he reluctantly changed the conversation trajectory, “The Lotus Immortal has passed on for sixteen years, and Ding Xian Mausoleum has been completed and sealed for the past fifteen years. Why would I have waited until now if I did want to do it? Furthermore, what am I supposed to do with his body? You must know how dangerous the bones of the Immortal Masters are…”
“Blood-red pupil.” Xu Shuangtze interrupted.
Ever since the start of the trial, whenever Lord Xu spoke, he would turn the tide with just a few words. As a result, everyone subconsciously jolted at the sound of his voice. Changsun Chengfeng exclaimed, “What?!”
“When the Lotus Immortal died, his golden core was intact, and his spiritual power was retained. That monstrous red eye should still be usable. Even if the eye’s spiritual powers were damaged after the Lotus Immortal’s death, that right eye is still a peerless weapon and could be used to create the perfect mechanical soldier.”
We Vtejcuahf qjerfv jcv jvvfv, “Ktja kjr ktja sbeg ygbatfg abiv wf yfobgf tf vlfv.”
Jtjcurec Jtfcuofcu’r mtfra gbrf jcv ofii, jcv tf rajgfv ja tlw klat jc lcvfrmglyjyif fzqgfrrlbc. Tlcu Bjl ifjcfv bnfg, ibkfglcu tlr nblmf jcv jrxfv, “Rba bcis vlv sbe xlii tlw, yea sbe jirb lcafggbujafv tlw?!”
“…”
“Did his brother say anything else before he died?”
Xu Shuangtze still did not answer, leaning back on the armchair, the winds gusting in from the distance outside the window roared, sweeping across his unwavering face.
Just like the biting cold wind on the glacier seventeen years ago, the voice of Du Kaixun as he was about to die sounded similarly choppy, “Don’t you… hate that Gong Zhiyu? The world speaks of the dignified Cang Yang Sect Master who looks down on Chief Gong. Do they know…know that you came all this way to the frozen lands for him…know what is hidden behind your facade?”
The second son of the Changsun family was only nineteen years old at the time. His features were handsome and sharp like his brother, but he was born both sinister and mad, like a beast trapped in a cage, full of hostility, always waiting to pounce. His bloodthirsty nature could not be suppressed.
Xu Shuangtze stood condescendingly in front of him, holding No Way Out in one hand. Blood trickled along the blade and dripped onto the snow.
“You are a monster, Xu Shuangtze.” The young man clutched his bloodied wound, leaned forward and gasped viciously in the snow, “Your true desire is trapped under that skin. You can never get rid of it, you can never dream of getting rid of it…”
The wind and snow hid Xu Shuangtze’s expression in the shadows. After a long time, he raised his right hand and with a splatter of blood into the sky, a human head flew from down the cliff.
…
Everyone in the hall looked different, and Yuchi Rui was no longer munching his peanuts, he leaned forward and asked the Artefact Sect Master in all seriousness, “You are behind it, right?”
Changsun Chengfeng responded helplessly, “Can you stop messing around now?”
Ying Kai raised his chin to the plate of ice beside him, and said, “You must find a way to prove your innocence, Chengfeng. Either you prove that you cannot manipulate this piece of soldier silk extracted from the bones of the Lotus Immortal, or you show that the soldier silk is related to your brother…”
Changsun Chengfeng cried in amazement, “Brother Ying, aren’t you making it difficult for me? I can only prove that I have the ability to manipulate my own soldier silk, but how can I prove that I can’t control another person’s soldier’s silk? How about I call it and see if it responds?”
Ying Kai said indifferently, “Then I can only invite you back to the Correctional Palace at Dai Mountain. Stay there for a while until Lord Xu and I find out the truth, and return you your innocence.”
Changsun Chengfeng couldn’t believe his ears, and immediately pointed to Xu Shuangtze, asking Ying Kai in disbelief, “He wants to return my innocence? Why do I feel that he just wants to pin the blame on me?”
Mu Duozhu looked at Xu Shuangtze’s unresponsive face and couldn’t help coughing, “Dear friends, fighting is strictly forbidden on the Golden Ship. Later, if Lord Xu draws his sword against the Artefact Sect Master, please be sure to stop him.”
…
“Report!” Just as the Masters were in discussion, a medical disciple wearing a light purple gauze robe arrived at the door. First, he paid respects to Ying Kai, Mu Duozhu and Xu Shuangtze, and then to Yuchi Rui and Changsun Chengfeng. He bowed his head and reported, “Disciple Bai Xian from the Changsun family is flying on his sword Bu Qi outside the boat. He seeks an audience with Lord Ying and Lord Xu!”
“What? “Unexpectedly, when he heard this, Changsun Chengfeng suddenly turned his head, “Don’t let him come up!”
He sounded so stern that everyone looked at him in amazement, and Mu Duozhu hesitated before adding, “Artefact Sect Master, he is not here to see you…”
Changsun Chengfeng said flatly, “I am his cultivation partner, why can’t I stop him? Bai Xian has nothing to do with this matter, so why drag him in?”
Xu Shuangtze’s flat voice came again, “You are not his cultivation partner yet.”
“…”
Mu Duozhu glanced at the Artefact Sect Master and couldn’t help but put in a word seeing his expression, “Immortal friends, fighting is strictly prohibited on the Golden Boat. Later, if the Artefact Sect Master draws his sword against Lord Xu, please stop him. ”
“And Bai Xian is not irrelevant to this matter. He is your brother’s servant, which was why he was sent together with him to the Disciplinary Court.” Xu Shuangtze paused and couldn’t be bothered with the Artefact Sect Master’s increasingly anxious expression, and said, “He is the closest person to your brother during his lifetime.”
There was silence all around.
Ying Kai took a deep breath, leaned forward to Mu Duozhu, and instructed in a low voice, “Invite Bai Xian in.”
The medical disciple immediately did that. After a while, the tall gate was pushed open.
A slender figure with a calm expression and soft eyebrows walked in steadily. He was dressed in the Changsun family’s ink black robes with a white satin lining. The man’s long black hair was bound by a piece of white ribbon and positioned to the side of his neck. His attire was in colours of black and white with the exception of the lining of his hair ribbon that had an embroidery of a small golden laurel leaf.
It was Bai Xian.
Ying Kai was not one who enjoyed being paid respects to. Before Bai Xian saluted, he waved his hand and gestured for it to be exempted, and said at once, “Bai Xian, you are here at the right time. Let me say something first. Seventeen years ago, Lord Xu killed Du Kaixun in the glaciers of Beijiang. I already know and acknowledge this. Do you have anything else to say to me?”
Bai Xian seemed startled.
But he only paused momentarily before he whispered, “Ah” and added, “Is that so?”
Everyone thought the young man had nothing more to say. Yet, no one guessed that in the next moment Bai Xian turned to Xu Shuangtze and gave a deep bow before saying, “Second Young Master has done a lot of evil deeds, so many that it is impossible to list them. Lord Xu pursued the man to the glaciers tens of thousands of miles away and beheaded him with your sword. That was a noble act of justice and this junior is grateful.”
He bowed deeply and then continued with a changed tone, “But I am afraid Du Kaixun is not dead.”
Xu Shuangtze squinted his eyes slightly, “—Oh?”
Ying Kai couldn’t help but turn his head to glance at Xu Shuangtze, then turned to Bai Xian and asked, “Do you have any evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Bai Xian took a deep breath and straightened up, in full view of all the great masters in the hall, “Here.”
His voice was not high-pitched, but he had an inexplicable crispness similar to hitting gold and breaking jade. At that moment, Changsun Chengfeng seemed to have suddenly realised something, he got up and yelled, “Don’t—”
Before he completed his sentence, Bai Xian moved his fingertips and a cold light of a dagger flashed, slicing off his right hand!
It was a lightning-fast and decisive movement. Mu Duozhu, who was the closest to him, didn’t even have time to react. His right hand was severed and fell onto the ground with a thud.
The scene froze and there was no sound.
Everyone stared at his wrist simultaneously and saw that there was no trace of blood coming out from that wrist. There was only a white glow, and a glowing thread connected from the surface of the wound to the pale lifeless hand at his foot. It was soldier silk!
Changsun Chengfeng closed his eyes, stopped speaking, and slowly sat back in the armchair.
“This junior is a mechanical soldier. My master’s name is Du Kaixun, not the current Artefact Sect Master.”
Although the pain was not as severe as would have been to ordinary people, the damage was serious enough to make Bai Xian’s face pale. He gritted his teeth tightly, and pointed his other finger at the ice block on the table—the dark red soldier silk that was frozen suddenly began to move and writhe, as if suddenly being injected with life. The block of ice began to crack inch by inch, making a crisp sound heard by everyone present.
“The soldier silk that was used to make me, and the soldier silk from the Dingxian Mausoleum, are created by the same master, so they can echo each other.”
Bai Xian tried his best to stand up straight and gasped between words, “This is proof that Du Kaixun is still alive in this world.”
…
Lying on the bed, Gong Wei slowly opened his eyes.
The sharp pain due to the shattering of his spiritual vein had now become a dull ache. An unfamiliar spiritual power circulated within his limbs and body, calming his damaged primordial spirit. However, he could not recall what had happened.
Did someone save me?
Gong Wei sat up dizzily, feeling that something was off with his body. He lowered his head and looked intently. The familiar silk-woven, gold-inlaid black outer robe instantly came into view.
“!”
Gong Wei’s first reaction was, I stripped off Xu Shuangtze’s clothes?
Then am I still alive?
He was awake in an instant, and he quickly touched up and down to make sure that he had his hands and feet, and then the last memory before he fell into a coma slowly recovered from the depths of his mind. The excruciating pain of the soldier silk snaking through his entire body’s spiritual veins, the shock and anger of having his former corpse made into a puppet, the fear, and trance of being held hostage…Until a familiar torrent of spiritual energy descended from the sky in the nick of time, melting the deadly soldier silk into flying ash, and the weightlessness of his rapid descent came to an abrupt end when he entered that embrace.
“Don’t be afraid,” he felt Xu Shuangtze’s hand pressing tightly on the side of his bleeding neck, his voice calm and powerful.
He said, “Sleep, you’ll be fine when you wake up.”
…
What happened next?
Gong Wei involuntarily touched his lower lip.
He felt as if he had forgotten some important details. Trembling and subtle ripples emerged within his heart again, but no matter how hard he tried, Gong Wei couldn’t remember the origins of this oddity.
The severe injuries and exhaustion, like a tug of war, made his brain hurt. He seemed to have gone through many dreams, but when he woke up he couldn’t remember anything except sadness.
Gong Wei pursed the corners of his lips at a loss, as if this could allow him to escape the strange feeling which lingered on his lips. After a long while, he sluggishly lifted the curtain of his bed and looked around. Gong Wed frozen for a moment for he recognised what this place was—the Golden Ship.
The current Medical Sect Master Mu Duozhu had particular medical skills and behaviour. Of them, the most famous one, was that he had a huge golden and wooden ship that soared in the sky, travelling all over the world.
When Gong Wei had just been picked up by Ying Kai from the Peach Forest and brought to the Immortal Alliance, the Golden Ship passed by Dai Mountain. Ying Kai took him onboard the ship and asked the Medical Sect Master to examine his body. Ying Kai wanted to know if Gong Wei was born with mental incapacity, or if his soul had been damaged. Mu Duozhu had never seen such a miraculous case as Gong Wei. He personally inserted an acupuncture needle into his head, which caused Gong Wei to cry and left him with a deep psychological trauma ever since.
Later, midsummer of a certain year, Gong Wei dragged Xu Shuangtze out to play with him in the Xuan Bing Pond of the Correctional Palace. Ignorant of the fact that sudden fluctuations in temperature can be detrimental to health. The temptation of cooling down the summer heat in the icy pond meant Gong Wei developed a fever in the middle of the night. Xu Shuangtze had to carry him in one hand to look for the Medical Sect Master. As a result, the dazed Gong Wei was scared out of his wits when he saw the golden ship. When his kicking and stomping was to no avail, he cried out and bit Xu Shuangtze hard on the neck.
Gong Wei tended to remember beatings inflicted on him but not food he just ate, and places he feared left a deep impression within him. Even before the ship was within the proximity of more than ten miles or eight villages, Gong Wei could detect the unique smell of medicine that came from it when downwind.
If the soldier silk had entered his spiritual vein, he would have been seriously injured. Xu Shuangtze must have sent him up here.
So was Xu Shuangtze also on this golden boat now? How about Yuchi Rui, who was hit with an illusionary art, and the injured Ying Kai?
Were his remains also stored in the morgue on this golden ship?
Gong Wei thought of the thing which was hidden within the bones of his remains, and his heart trembled.
The giant ship cruised forward steadily, and the furnishings within the quarters did not move at all. Only the carved jade curtains swayed slightly in the wind that crept in from the window lattices. The corridor outside the room was very quiet, and no one could be heard.
Gong Wei took a deep breath, finally got out of bed. He stepped gently and barefooted on the paulownia floor, opened the door, and looked out.
