It’s too late, Gong Wei.
You are going to be late.
Despite being in a daze, Gong Wei’s consciousness seemed to be scorched by flames. He moved uncomfortably in his groggy state, and then, this voice was forcibly suppressed by a stronger consciousness in the depths of his mind.
A distant and familiar voice sounded from within his soul. It became increasingly urgent and loud, until the echo resounded everywhere—
Kill Xu Bai!
Soon it will be too late—
“What’s going to be too late? ” Yuchi Rui asked strangely.
Outside a guest pavilion at the Golden Gate, where a maple tree with red leaves provided shade, there was a gurgling sound of water boiling. Tea was being brewed on a small stove and exuded a refreshing fragrance. Gong Wei suddenly regained his senses, and answered softly, “What?”
“You were just saying that it’s going to be too late to do something.”
Gong Wei didn’t seem to react, and he appeared stunned for a moment before asking, “Did I say that?”
“…Are you okay?” Yuchi Rui frowned and glanced at him for a while, then said, “Why are you talking to yourself? Ying Kai also mentioned that you have been distracted. Have you gone off the rails?”
Gong Wei laughed lazily, “Even if you did, I could never do so!” He stood up and stretched before saying with a smile, “I have something on at the Correctional Palace tonight. I’ll make a move! I’ll come to play again when your pot of black peach blossom tea blooms! ”
Yuchi Rui answered him concisely and sternly, “Begone!”
Gong Wei chuckled and left.
No time to delay.
Not knowing when it started, there seemed to be an hourglass with sand constantly flowing in the void. The sound of falling, fine sand particles echoed in his ears, but Gong Wei didn’t know how much sand was left or what would happen when the time came to an end.
The invisible pressure was accumulating every minute and every second.
He waited for an answer, but he couldn’t tell whether he wanted the destined time to come sooner, or that he hoped this moment would stand still, never to move forward.
In the middle of this early winter night, light from a white moon was cast into the tall windows, along with a wind which gently pushed the gauze veils into the hall. Gong Wei suddenly opened his eyes on the bed as if he just sensed something. He jumped out of the bed, opened the carved window, and went outside.
Barefooted, he stepped into the bamboo forest, making no sound. He didn’t know how far he had walked before he stopped. From where he stood, he saw the beast heads carvings of the palace in the distance. On the corner of the eaves stood a tall, and slender figure. Under the moonlight, he appeared cold and distant and was surveying the area from this height.
The snow from the far north had not yet dissipated from the sleeves of his robe, and the wind carried the faint, yet lingering scent of blood on No Way Out.
Gong Wei laughed, raised his head and asked, “Are you here to play with me, Xu Bai?”
The figure made no response.
“Did you just kill someone?”
The boy’s face looked so innocent. The moonlight, which was reflected on his soft, white satin bedclothes, appeared bleak and dull in comparison to his piercingly translucent skin.
Xu Shuangtze finally spoke, and said softly, “Gong Wei.”
“Yes?”
“No one in the world has ascended in the past millennium. In two months when the prayer ceremony will take place on the Ascension Platform, Ying Kai has prepared to request the gods to reopen the gate of heaven. ”
Xbcu Qfl’r fzqgfrrlbc mtjcufv rilutais. Coafg j ktlif, tf jrxfv, “We Djl, jgf sbe ublcu ab jrmfcv?”
Pc atf kbgiv bo meialnjalbc lc qegrela bo lwwbgajilas, atf Jjcu Tjcu Vfma Zjrafg gflucfv reqgfwf. Po atf gbjv ab jrmfcrlbc mbeiv gfjiis yf bqfcfv, We Vtejcuahf kbeiv mfgajlcis yf atf olgra bcf ab yf jyif ab yfmbwf jc lwwbgaji. Pa kbeiv yf tlw jcv cb bcf firf.
But Xu Shuangtze did not answer him.
At this time, the dissent between the Cang Yang Sect Master and the Chief of the Correctional Palace was already deep. The whole world knew of them as mortal enemies that could not coexist. No one could have imagined that the duo could face each other at close distance, under the moonlight in the middle of the night, and have a peaceful conversation with no hint of offence.
No one knew that on the sleeves of Xu Shuangtze’s robe, there was still frost from the glaciers tens of thousands of miles away, mixed with the blood of Du Kaixun’s severed head.
“If one day,” Xu Shuangtze uttered suddenly, and then very abruptly he paused, then continued, “If one day, I am gone…”
Gong Wei looked at him without blinking, as if waiting for his question.
The way in which Gong Wei gazed at the man, anyone would believe that he was paying full attention to his words in wholehearted devotion. He was born this way, like a ball of light, like a bout of the sweetest dreams, capable of casually enveloping and drawing one into an endless and alluring illusion.
But an illusion could only be an illusion.
Xu Shuangtze’s words stopped there. After a long time he suddenly said, “Forget it.”
He turned around to leave, but at this moment Gong Wei’s clear voice came from the ground behind him, “I will cry.”
Xu Shuangtze stopped and looked back.
The young man stood on a tiptoe. He smiled as he cupped his hands around his mouth and raised his head, affirming, “I will cry for real!”
Unexpectedly, Xu Shuangtze gazed back at him for a long time. He did not utter any harsh words, nor raise his blade at the young man. At this moment, the sharp contours of his nose concealed the moonlight from behind. His pupils trembled ever so slightly, but no one could catch his expression. After a long while, the corners of his thin lips were raised into a sneer and said, “It’s just a dream.”
Then, without sparing Gong Wei any opportunity to speak, the man vanished into the vast sky, gone within an instant.
Gong Wei’s smile gradually faded, and his tiptoeing feet lowered to the ground. A blood-red light swirled at the bottom of his pupils like a whirlpool.
It was from that moment that he finally understood the path his fate extended upon from beneath his feet. It would lead him towards the Ascension Platform two months later. That same voice residing within the depths of his primordial spirit would resound over and over —Kill Xu Bai.
That is the only reason you descended into this world.
Kill Xu Bai.
The invisible hourglass which stood in the void abruptly rotated. The sand rushed into the funnel, racing towards the end of time.
Kill Xu Bai, before that irreversible end occurs—
Gong Wei’s eyes sprang open.
The emptiness of the spiritual veins rendered him faint and groggy at the same time. The instant he woke, he was unaware of where he was. He subconsciously sat up and found that he was on a high bed, and then, he felt there was another person lying at his side. Gong Wei spun his head to look. It was Xu Shuangtze!
Moonlight spilled into the Xuanji Palace from the tall windows. In the night sky, peach petals drifted, and the layers of veiled curtains curled up slightly in the wind. Xu Shuangtze was dressed in a black fitted inner robe and laid still near the edge of the bed. Judging from his calm side profile and deep, steady breathing, he should have fallen asleep with his slender and fair hands folded in front of his chest.
“…”
Aren’t I on the golden ship? Why am I back at Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace? Why is Xu Shuangtze lying here?
Gong Wei’s mind alternated between a state of clarity and a daze. Then, his eyes fell on the other party’s throat…and as if bewitched, the killing intent that had not yet dissipated from that dream rose from his heart again. The voice was so clear that it seemed to have been spoke right into his ears—
Kill him.
You failed sixteen years ago. Now, you must kill him as soon as possible—
Gong Wei stretched out his hand like a demonic claw, hovering in the air above that defenceless neck area, his fingertips trembling slightly.
“…Sixteen years ago, Lord Xu travelled tens of thousands of miles to the far North just to kill Du Kaixun, who wanted to poison the Lotus Immortal…”
“Everyone knows that Lotus Immortal was dismembered after his death, and his blood seeped into the grounds of the peach blossom forest. Otherwise, what was sustaining the peach blossoms in front of Xuanji Palace which never withers?”
“Xu Shuangtze personally extracted the soldier silk from you in front of Ding Xian Mausoleum. All of the Immortal Alliance knows of this!…”
An unprecedented and subversive idea suddenly appeared, and occupied almost all of Gong Wei’s mind at the moment of inception.
He thought to himself. “If I don’t kill Xu Shuangtze, what will happen?”
Xu Shuangtze did not die sixteen years ago, but the destined ending of carnage did not arrive as a consequence.
If I continue down the path of my destiny to the last second, what kind of fate will be ushered in?
No one saw the scattered spots of scarlet light in Gong Wei’s eyes gather into one. In this quiet and clandestine night, every moment was endlessly long. After an unknown period of time, he retracted his sharp fingertips.
But at this moment, as if he was pierced by a cold needle, Gong Wei realised the abnormalities of his surroundings. The bed he was on was not the same as in the Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace.
This was an illusion!
Gong Wei’s mind whirled swiftly like electricity, and the hand that he was retracting backward gripped the edge of the quilt. Then, he smoothly tucked it at Xu Shuangtze’s chest as if nothing had happened.
And at the same moment when he was tucked under the covers, Xu Shuangtze opened his eyes and looked straight into Gong Wei’s with a calm gaze.
—At the moment when the two looked at each other, a sea of peach blossoms outside the window was swept away by the howling wind. The layers of veiled curtains were rolled up and faded into nothingness. The illusion around them washed out like a tide, finally revealing reality.
They were not in the Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace, but in a large room at an inn. Through the lattice window, the blue-grey light of the dawn sky emerged.
Xu Shuangtze sat up and said coolly, “Beloved disciple, what are you doing?”
“Greetings to Shizun!” Gong Wei got on his knees and knelt on the bed. He bowed with a serious expression, “This disciple noticed Shizun’s thin clothing and was afraid that Shizun might catch a cold in the night. Therefore, this disciple brazenly tucked the quilt for Shizun. Please forgive me!”
One side of the bed was pushed against the wall and concealed the back of Gong Wei’s bedclothes that had long been soaked in cold sweat.
It seemed that a few long hours had passed, but in reality it was merely a few breaths. Gong Wei finally felt a hand lifting up his cold chin. Xu Shuangtze’s dimmed eyes seemed to carry a hint of a smile, “Oh really?”
Being forced to raise his head, Gong Wei replied sincerely, “The disciple is guilty for waking up Shizun.”
This scene was simply too strange. The soft light of the early morning created an ambiguous, intimate ambience surrounding the wide bed. Gong Wei was kneeling with his back against the wall, dressed only in his bedclothes. Xu Shuangtze was laying on the outer edge of the bed, facing inwards, towards Gong Wei.
Perhaps it was because he did not have his outer robe on, from Gong Wei’s perspective, Xu Shuangtze had broad shoulders and a slender waist. His fitted inner robes outlined the perfect structure of his upper body and it faintly exuded an unspeakable sense of oppression.
Gong Wei lowered his eyelashes hastily.
“My beloved disciple came into contact with soldier silk and had every inch of his spiritual veins broken. You need to be infused with a large amount of spiritual energy into the sea of Qi every day to be healed.” Xu Shuangtze leaned forward slightly and whispered softly in Gong Wei’s ear, “My beloved disciple should not fool around so much and get more rest…understand?”
Gong Wei replied hoarsely, “The disciple understands.”
Xu Shuangtze smiled slightly, turned around and got off the bed.
There were inns all over the Immortal Alliance just for cultivators. Although this room they were in looked more elegant and spacious, there were no exceptional differences from the rooms of regular inns.
The robes of Cang Yang Sect Master were hung on a rack by the window. Xu Shuangtze casually stepped forward and put on his outer robe, only to hear Gong Wei behind him tremblingly asked, “Shizun, where are you…”
Xu Shuangtze cut him off, “We’re heading to Tianmen Pass.”
Gong Wei obviously missed this piece of information from the Golden Ship, “Huh?”
Tianmen Pass was the most remote and difficult place to reach among the three possible locations predicted by Ying Kai. It was close to the northern glacier and its climate was treacherous and unpredictable. Located further down than Yan Chun Tai, the surrounding spiritual energies were thin, and the journey could no longer be continued by sword flight.
According to Gong Wei’s understanding of Xu Shuangtze, the man would not even be bothered to look for a Golden Immortal buried within the earth, let alone a world-annihilating soldier.
Moreover, this journey had to be undertaken on foot. Just as he was wondering if Ying Kai had used the Alliance Master’s seal to compel Xu Shuangtze to submit, Xu Shuangtze spoke, “As to who planted the soldier silk in your body, there have been some preliminary clues. It may be the younger brother of the Artefact Sect Master, Du Kaixun.”
Although Gong Wei already gotten Yuchi Rui’s recount of the interrogation in the Sky Pavilion, he made sure to react in astonishment, “What?”
“The Artefact Sect Master used the primordial spirit of Ying Kai to pave the way, and materialised the memory which the mastermind imbued in the Lotus Immortal. It was a world-destroying mechanical giant slaughtering the people in a city.”
“I don’t know which previous generation of Artefact Sect Master he was, but he self-destructed his own primordial spirit on the battlefield with the goal of perishing together with that mechanical soldier.”
“Because of his self-sacrifice and the merits of salvation, the Artefact Sect Master ushered in a heavenly tribulation. But just before the thunder and lightning disintegrated his souls, a mirror suddenly descended from the heavens and shielded him. That mirror helped him obstruct the vile nine-fold evil tribulation.”
Standing in front of the window, Xu Shuangtze explained and turned his head to look at Gong Wei steadily.
In that illusion, Gong Wei was afraid of being discovered so he hid far away. However, he still vaguely saw that mirror that blocked the lightning tribulation. Gong Wei could only respond blankly, “Huh?”
Xu Shuangtze’s next words were almost like a hallucination as the man locked his gaze on Gong Wei’s face. It was as if he was determined to capture every expression in detail—and as if he was peering into Gong Wei’s thoughts.
“But just as the mirror was carrying the primordial spirit of that grandmaster and soared to the heavens, a man in black suddenly appeared. He was wielding a divine sword and was in a rage as he attempted to piece through the mirror and tear up the spirit of the grandmaster.”
“…”
Xu Shuangtze asked slowly, uttering word by word, “What does my beloved disciple think of this?”
Gong Wei thought to himself, “What can I think of it? That heavenly being in black robes abruptly descended from the heavenly gate, but the illusion came to an end just before that man stabbed the mirror. How the hell would I know if that unlucky Artefact Sect Master successfully ascended or not?”
—Xu Shuangtze watched him closely, but did not see the slightest surprise on the youth’s face.
His expression changed slightly.
“The disciple is stupid,” Gong Wei pondered, then decided to bite the bullet and said, “Then…why did that Heavenly Entity stop the Artefact Sect Master from ascending?”
Xu Shuangtze seemed to want to be certain, and deepened his tone, “Do you have any thoughts on that being?”
Gong Wei was a little intimidated by his line of questioning and involuntarily uttered, “Ah”, and added, “The disciple is lowly and dare not arbitrarily speak of the heavenly beings of the upper realm. Shizun, please forgive me!”
The room was terribly quiet. For some reason there was no sound coming from the man towering over Gong Wei’s head for a long time.
Gong Wei was still sitting on the bed and boldly looked up. He saw Xu Shuangtze’s back facing the inn’s window and could not decipher his expression in the backlight.
“…That’s fair.” Then, after a long pause, he finally broke the silence and uttered every word in an unusual stillness, “Although I don’t know what the others think, but when I saw the Heavenly Being appear in that illusion, my heart was very worried and uneasy.”
Did Lord Xu just say that he was worried and uneasy?
Gong Wei didn’t know whether it was ridiculous or funny. Hugging the quilt, he inched towards the corner of the bed and cautiously answered, “Since it’s an illusion, Shizun doesn’t have to worry. Maybe the scene was made up and never happened in all of history!”
Surprisingly, Xu Shuangtze said, “No, it should have happened in reality.”
The tone was too firm, and Gong Wei did not react in time as he asked, “Why do you say so?”
“To have defeated mighty fighters on the battlefield and ascend to immortality right after. There was indeed such a person mentioned in the legends. It’s just that with the passing of countless years, the truth became rumours, where the details passed down were deviated and distorted.”
Xu Shuangtze paused and added, “This character came up in the first chapter of the Daoist enlightenment story, ‘The Ghost Prince Welcomes His Bride’.”
It’s too late, Gong Wei.
You are going to be late.
Despite being in a daze, Gong Wei’s consciousness seemed to be scorched by flames. He moved uncomfortably in his groggy state, and then, this voice was forcibly suppressed by a stronger consciousness in the depths of his mind.
A distant and familiar voice sounded from within his soul. It became increasingly urgent and loud, until the echo resounded everywhere—
Kill Xu Bai!
Soon it will be too late—
“What’s going to be too late? ” Yuchi Rui asked strangely.
Outside a guest pavilion at the Golden Gate, where a maple tree with red leaves provided shade, there was a gurgling sound of water boiling. Tea was being brewed on a small stove and exuded a refreshing fragrance. Gong Wei suddenly regained his senses, and answered softly, “What?”
“You were just saying that it’s going to be too late to do something.”
Gong Wei didn’t seem to react, and he appeared stunned for a moment before asking, “Did I say that?”
“…Are you okay?” Yuchi Rui frowned and glanced at him for a while, then said, “Why are you talking to yourself? Ying Kai also mentioned that you have been distracted. Have you gone off the rails?”
Gong Wei laughed lazily, “Even if you did, I could never do so!” He stood up and stretched before saying with a smile, “I have something on at the Correctional Palace tonight. I’ll make a move! I’ll come to play again when your pot of black peach blossom tea blooms! ”
Yuchi Rui answered him concisely and sternly, “Begone!”
Gong Wei chuckled and left.
No time to delay.
Not knowing when it started, there seemed to be an hourglass with sand constantly flowing in the void. The sound of falling, fine sand particles echoed in his ears, but Gong Wei didn’t know how much sand was left or what would happen when the time came to an end.
The invisible pressure was accumulating every minute and every second.
He waited for an answer, but he couldn’t tell whether he wanted the destined time to come sooner, or that he hoped this moment would stand still, never to move forward.
In the middle of this early winter night, light from a white moon was cast into the tall windows, along with a wind which gently pushed the gauze veils into the hall. Gong Wei suddenly opened his eyes on the bed as if he just sensed something. He jumped out of the bed, opened the carved window, and went outside.
Barefooted, he stepped into the bamboo forest, making no sound. He didn’t know how far he had walked before he stopped. From where he stood, he saw the beast heads carvings of the palace in the distance. On the corner of the eaves stood a tall, and slender figure. Under the moonlight, he appeared cold and distant and was surveying the area from this height.
The snow from the far north had not yet dissipated from the sleeves of his robe, and the wind carried the faint, yet lingering scent of blood on No Way Out.
Gong Wei laughed, raised his head and asked, “Are you here to play with me, Xu Bai?”
The figure made no response.
“Did you just kill someone?”
The boy’s face looked so innocent. The moonlight, which was reflected on his soft, white satin bedclothes, appeared bleak and dull in comparison to his piercingly translucent skin.
Xu Shuangtze finally spoke, and said softly, “Gong Wei.”
“Yes?”
“No one in the world has ascended in the past millennium. In two months when the prayer ceremony will take place on the Ascension Platform, Ying Kai has prepared to request the gods to reopen the gate of heaven. ”
Xbcu Qfl’r fzqgfrrlbc mtjcufv rilutais. Coafg j ktlif, tf jrxfv, “We Djl, jgf sbe ublcu ab jrmfcv?”
Pc atf kbgiv bo meialnjalbc lc qegrela bo lwwbgajilas, atf Jjcu Tjcu Vfma Zjrafg gflucfv reqgfwf. Po atf gbjv ab jrmfcrlbc mbeiv gfjiis yf bqfcfv, We Vtejcuahf kbeiv mfgajlcis yf atf olgra bcf ab yf jyif ab yfmbwf jc lwwbgaji. Pa kbeiv yf tlw jcv cb bcf firf.
But Xu Shuangtze did not answer him.
At this time, the dissent between the Cang Yang Sect Master and the Chief of the Correctional Palace was already deep. The whole world knew of them as mortal enemies that could not coexist. No one could have imagined that the duo could face each other at close distance, under the moonlight in the middle of the night, and have a peaceful conversation with no hint of offence.
No one knew that on the sleeves of Xu Shuangtze’s robe, there was still frost from the glaciers tens of thousands of miles away, mixed with the blood of Du Kaixun’s severed head.
“If one day,” Xu Shuangtze uttered suddenly, and then very abruptly he paused, then continued, “If one day, I am gone…”
Gong Wei looked at him without blinking, as if waiting for his question.
The way in which Gong Wei gazed at the man, anyone would believe that he was paying full attention to his words in wholehearted devotion. He was born this way, like a ball of light, like a bout of the sweetest dreams, capable of casually enveloping and drawing one into an endless and alluring illusion.
But an illusion could only be an illusion.
Xu Shuangtze’s words stopped there. After a long time he suddenly said, “Forget it.”
He turned around to leave, but at this moment Gong Wei’s clear voice came from the ground behind him, “I will cry.”
Xu Shuangtze stopped and looked back.
The young man stood on a tiptoe. He smiled as he cupped his hands around his mouth and raised his head, affirming, “I will cry for real!”
Unexpectedly, Xu Shuangtze gazed back at him for a long time. He did not utter any harsh words, nor raise his blade at the young man. At this moment, the sharp contours of his nose concealed the moonlight from behind. His pupils trembled ever so slightly, but no one could catch his expression. After a long while, the corners of his thin lips were raised into a sneer and said, “It’s just a dream.”
Then, without sparing Gong Wei any opportunity to speak, the man vanished into the vast sky, gone within an instant.
Gong Wei’s smile gradually faded, and his tiptoeing feet lowered to the ground. A blood-red light swirled at the bottom of his pupils like a whirlpool.
It was from that moment that he finally understood the path his fate extended upon from beneath his feet. It would lead him towards the Ascension Platform two months later. That same voice residing within the depths of his primordial spirit would resound over and over —Kill Xu Bai.
That is the only reason you descended into this world.
Kill Xu Bai.
The invisible hourglass which stood in the void abruptly rotated. The sand rushed into the funnel, racing towards the end of time.
Kill Xu Bai, before that irreversible end occurs—
Gong Wei’s eyes sprang open.
The emptiness of the spiritual veins rendered him faint and groggy at the same time. The instant he woke, he was unaware of where he was. He subconsciously sat up and found that he was on a high bed, and then, he felt there was another person lying at his side. Gong Wei spun his head to look. It was Xu Shuangtze!
Moonlight spilled into the Xuanji Palace from the tall windows. In the night sky, peach petals drifted, and the layers of veiled curtains curled up slightly in the wind. Xu Shuangtze was dressed in a black fitted inner robe and laid still near the edge of the bed. Judging from his calm side profile and deep, steady breathing, he should have fallen asleep with his slender and fair hands folded in front of his chest.
“…”
Aren’t I on the golden ship? Why am I back at Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace? Why is Xu Shuangtze lying here?
Gong Wei’s mind alternated between a state of clarity and a daze. Then, his eyes fell on the other party’s throat…and as if bewitched, the killing intent that had not yet dissipated from that dream rose from his heart again. The voice was so clear that it seemed to have been spoke right into his ears—
Kill him.
You failed sixteen years ago. Now, you must kill him as soon as possible—
Gong Wei stretched out his hand like a demonic claw, hovering in the air above that defenceless neck area, his fingertips trembling slightly.
“…Sixteen years ago, Lord Xu travelled tens of thousands of miles to the far North just to kill Du Kaixun, who wanted to poison the Lotus Immortal…”
“Everyone knows that Lotus Immortal was dismembered after his death, and his blood seeped into the grounds of the peach blossom forest. Otherwise, what was sustaining the peach blossoms in front of Xuanji Palace which never withers?”
“Xu Shuangtze personally extracted the soldier silk from you in front of Ding Xian Mausoleum. All of the Immortal Alliance knows of this!…”
An unprecedented and subversive idea suddenly appeared, and occupied almost all of Gong Wei’s mind at the moment of inception.
He thought to himself. “If I don’t kill Xu Shuangtze, what will happen?”
Xu Shuangtze did not die sixteen years ago, but the destined ending of carnage did not arrive as a consequence.
If I continue down the path of my destiny to the last second, what kind of fate will be ushered in?
No one saw the scattered spots of scarlet light in Gong Wei’s eyes gather into one. In this quiet and clandestine night, every moment was endlessly long. After an unknown period of time, he retracted his sharp fingertips.
But at this moment, as if he was pierced by a cold needle, Gong Wei realised the abnormalities of his surroundings. The bed he was on was not the same as in the Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace.
This was an illusion!
Gong Wei’s mind whirled swiftly like electricity, and the hand that he was retracting backward gripped the edge of the quilt. Then, he smoothly tucked it at Xu Shuangtze’s chest as if nothing had happened.
And at the same moment when he was tucked under the covers, Xu Shuangtze opened his eyes and looked straight into Gong Wei’s with a calm gaze.
—At the moment when the two looked at each other, a sea of peach blossoms outside the window was swept away by the howling wind. The layers of veiled curtains were rolled up and faded into nothingness. The illusion around them washed out like a tide, finally revealing reality.
They were not in the Cang Yang Sect’s Xuanji Palace, but in a large room at an inn. Through the lattice window, the blue-grey light of the dawn sky emerged.
Xu Shuangtze sat up and said coolly, “Beloved disciple, what are you doing?”
“Greetings to Shizun!” Gong Wei got on his knees and knelt on the bed. He bowed with a serious expression, “This disciple noticed Shizun’s thin clothing and was afraid that Shizun might catch a cold in the night. Therefore, this disciple brazenly tucked the quilt for Shizun. Please forgive me!”
One side of the bed was pushed against the wall and concealed the back of Gong Wei’s bedclothes that had long been soaked in cold sweat.
It seemed that a few long hours had passed, but in reality it was merely a few breaths. Gong Wei finally felt a hand lifting up his cold chin. Xu Shuangtze’s dimmed eyes seemed to carry a hint of a smile, “Oh really?”
Being forced to raise his head, Gong Wei replied sincerely, “The disciple is guilty for waking up Shizun.”
This scene was simply too strange. The soft light of the early morning created an ambiguous, intimate ambience surrounding the wide bed. Gong Wei was kneeling with his back against the wall, dressed only in his bedclothes. Xu Shuangtze was laying on the outer edge of the bed, facing inwards, towards Gong Wei.
Perhaps it was because he did not have his outer robe on, from Gong Wei’s perspective, Xu Shuangtze had broad shoulders and a slender waist. His fitted inner robes outlined the perfect structure of his upper body and it faintly exuded an unspeakable sense of oppression.
Gong Wei lowered his eyelashes hastily.
“My beloved disciple came into contact with soldier silk and had every inch of his spiritual veins broken. You need to be infused with a large amount of spiritual energy into the sea of Qi every day to be healed.” Xu Shuangtze leaned forward slightly and whispered softly in Gong Wei’s ear, “My beloved disciple should not fool around so much and get more rest…understand?”
Gong Wei replied hoarsely, “The disciple understands.”
Xu Shuangtze smiled slightly, turned around and got off the bed.
There were inns all over the Immortal Alliance just for cultivators. Although this room they were in looked more elegant and spacious, there were no exceptional differences from the rooms of regular inns.
The robes of Cang Yang Sect Master were hung on a rack by the window. Xu Shuangtze casually stepped forward and put on his outer robe, only to hear Gong Wei behind him tremblingly asked, “Shizun, where are you…”
Xu Shuangtze cut him off, “We’re heading to Tianmen Pass.”
Gong Wei obviously missed this piece of information from the Golden Ship, “Huh?”
Tianmen Pass was the most remote and difficult place to reach among the three possible locations predicted by Ying Kai. It was close to the northern glacier and its climate was treacherous and unpredictable. Located further down than Yan Chun Tai, the surrounding spiritual energies were thin, and the journey could no longer be continued by sword flight.
According to Gong Wei’s understanding of Xu Shuangtze, the man would not even be bothered to look for a Golden Immortal buried within the earth, let alone a world-annihilating soldier.
Moreover, this journey had to be undertaken on foot. Just as he was wondering if Ying Kai had used the Alliance Master’s seal to compel Xu Shuangtze to submit, Xu Shuangtze spoke, “As to who planted the soldier silk in your body, there have been some preliminary clues. It may be the younger brother of the Artefact Sect Master, Du Kaixun.”
Although Gong Wei already gotten Yuchi Rui’s recount of the interrogation in the Sky Pavilion, he made sure to react in astonishment, “What?”
“The Artefact Sect Master used the primordial spirit of Ying Kai to pave the way, and materialised the memory which the mastermind imbued in the Lotus Immortal. It was a world-destroying mechanical giant slaughtering the people in a city.”
“I don’t know which previous generation of Artefact Sect Master he was, but he self-destructed his own primordial spirit on the battlefield with the goal of perishing together with that mechanical soldier.”
“Because of his self-sacrifice and the merits of salvation, the Artefact Sect Master ushered in a heavenly tribulation. But just before the thunder and lightning disintegrated his souls, a mirror suddenly descended from the heavens and shielded him. That mirror helped him obstruct the vile nine-fold evil tribulation.”
Standing in front of the window, Xu Shuangtze explained and turned his head to look at Gong Wei steadily.
In that illusion, Gong Wei was afraid of being discovered so he hid far away. However, he still vaguely saw that mirror that blocked the lightning tribulation. Gong Wei could only respond blankly, “Huh?”
Xu Shuangtze’s next words were almost like a hallucination as the man locked his gaze on Gong Wei’s face. It was as if he was determined to capture every expression in detail—and as if he was peering into Gong Wei’s thoughts.
“But just as the mirror was carrying the primordial spirit of that grandmaster and soared to the heavens, a man in black suddenly appeared. He was wielding a divine sword and was in a rage as he attempted to piece through the mirror and tear up the spirit of the grandmaster.”
“…”
Xu Shuangtze asked slowly, uttering word by word, “What does my beloved disciple think of this?”
Gong Wei thought to himself, “What can I think of it? That heavenly being in black robes abruptly descended from the heavenly gate, but the illusion came to an end just before that man stabbed the mirror. How the hell would I know if that unlucky Artefact Sect Master successfully ascended or not?”
—Xu Shuangtze watched him closely, but did not see the slightest surprise on the youth’s face.
His expression changed slightly.
“The disciple is stupid,” Gong Wei pondered, then decided to bite the bullet and said, “Then…why did that Heavenly Entity stop the Artefact Sect Master from ascending?”
Xu Shuangtze seemed to want to be certain, and deepened his tone, “Do you have any thoughts on that being?”
Gong Wei was a little intimidated by his line of questioning and involuntarily uttered, “Ah”, and added, “The disciple is lowly and dare not arbitrarily speak of the heavenly beings of the upper realm. Shizun, please forgive me!”
The room was terribly quiet. For some reason there was no sound coming from the man towering over Gong Wei’s head for a long time.
Gong Wei was still sitting on the bed and boldly looked up. He saw Xu Shuangtze’s back facing the inn’s window and could not decipher his expression in the backlight.
“…That’s fair.” Then, after a long pause, he finally broke the silence and uttered every word in an unusual stillness, “Although I don’t know what the others think, but when I saw the Heavenly Being appear in that illusion, my heart was very worried and uneasy.”
Did Lord Xu just say that he was worried and uneasy?
Gong Wei didn’t know whether it was ridiculous or funny. Hugging the quilt, he inched towards the corner of the bed and cautiously answered, “Since it’s an illusion, Shizun doesn’t have to worry. Maybe the scene was made up and never happened in all of history!”
Surprisingly, Xu Shuangtze said, “No, it should have happened in reality.”
The tone was too firm, and Gong Wei did not react in time as he asked, “Why do you say so?”
“To have defeated mighty fighters on the battlefield and ascend to immortality right after. There was indeed such a person mentioned in the legends. It’s just that with the passing of countless years, the truth became rumours, where the details passed down were deviated and distorted.”
Xu Shuangtze paused and added, “This character came up in the first chapter of the Daoist enlightenment story, ‘The Ghost Prince Welcomes His Bride’.”
