Ch.240: Humming Smile as Red Robes Fade
Mu Qing muttered, “How is this possible? How can there be so much…???”
That anyone could burst and shatter cursed shackles on spiritual powers alone was entirely unheard of?!
Hua Cheng pulled up Xie Lian who was slumped on the ground, “Gege, try fighting again!”
Right at the same time, Jun Wu came lunging wielding the sword, and Xie Lian unconsciously raised his hand to slap it away. CLUNG–! Zhu Xin was almost sent flying!
This strike was completely different than before!
Xie Lian looked at his own hands, feeling a little dazed. It’s been hundreds of years since he felt this feeling, he’d almost forgotten, that this was him.
Indomitable to the point he couldn’t control his own powers, each step would shake the mountains. One step to go a thousand miles, one step to ascend to the heavens!
He clenched his hand, and violently punched at Jun Wu’s face!
Ever since the battle’s begun, Jun Wu’s face had always remained untouched. This punch landed, and finally, a drop of blood flowed from the corners of his lips. He thumbed it away, and glanced at this bit of blood.
The next second, he tossed his hand and threw Zhu Xin aside.
It seemed, he was going to fight XIe Lian with bare fists!
Xie Lian threw another fist, but Jun Wu caught his punch, twisting it around. Intense agony spread, and Xie Lian’s arm broke with a crack. However, he instantly righted it again himself, and sent out another blow, but it was seized by Jun Wu. Xie Lian saw things weren’t going well and thought to snatch Fang Xin that was tossed away by Jun Wu earlier. Naturally, Jun Wu also thought he’d take this step, and blocked his way.
However, he had forgotten there was still Feng Xin and Mu Qing behind him. Although the two were half crippled, they both planned to sneak around and pull out the sword Fang Xin. Their actions were already exceedingly light, yet it was as if Jun Wu had grown eyes on his back, and he moved his hand back and blasted. The bridge under their feet instantly cracked, and both fell, plunging down to the lava stream!
In the last second, a hand caught Feng Xin’s boot, and Feng Xin caught Mu Qing’s boot. When he looked up, he cried, “WHAT THE FUCK!!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!! Guoshi OLD SIR, PLEASE DON’T EVER LET GO, ALRIGHT!!!”
The one who caught them was indeed Guoshi. Veins were violently popping on his forehead, “SO YOU DO KNOW I’M A SENIOR! WELL HURRY UP AND CLIMB UP THEN!”
While that part of the bridge was broken by Jun Wu, Xie Lian raised a hand to latch on to it, forcefully keeping it suspended in midair. He had wanted to pull it further upwards, but Jun Wu wouldn’t give him that space. The three were mere twenty, thirty feet away from the rolling lava, even flesh ears could hear the bubbling sound of air bubbles tumbling. Mu Qing was hanging at the very bottom, and it had to be in a position where his head is facing down, his feet up, rather terrifying, and if they weren’t careful, lava was going to wash his head. The steam was boiling, his face red like hot coal, Mu Qing cried, “QUICK, PULL ME UP!”
Yet unexpectedly, the two above didn’t yank twice before he shouted again, “WAIT! DON’T PULL ME UP!”
Guoshi was exasperated, “WHAT DO YOU WANT!”
Feng Xin yelled, “ARE YOU FOR REAL? FINE, I’M LETTING GO!”
Mu Qing cursed, “WHAT THE FUCK, FUCKING LET GO FOR REAL, I DARE YOU. LOOK DOWN! LOOK, THE SWORD!”
The other two looked to where he was pointing, and saw right below them was a black jaded long sword that was sticking in the heart of the lava stream, slowly sinking. It was the Fang Xin they were going to steal earlier but was shaken off the bridge by Jun Wu!
Mu Qing reached out and tried crazily swinging his arms at the sword, like he’d desperately wished he was a gibbon, but he couldn’t reach it no matter what, “LOWER ME DOWN A BIT MORE, JUST A BIT MORE AND I CAN GET IT!!!”
The veins on Guoshi’s forehead were throbbing even harder now, “YOU TWO YOUNG MEN, DON’T OVERDO IT, I’M ONLY A SACK OF OLD BONES!”
He said as he dipped the boot in his hand, and Mu Qing’s face came closer to the surface of the lava stream by another notch. His hair slipped down, and the tips of the strands caught on fire.
Feng Xin exclaimed, “FUCKING HELL, YOUR HAIR CAUGHT ON FIRE!!! IT’S ALL GONNA BURN!!!”
Thankfully Mu Qing had also finally pulled out the sword, and as he slapped away the small flames on his hair, he threw his arm, sending the sword flying with splashes of lava towards Xie Lian, “XIE LIAN, CATCH!”
Xie Lian also swung his arm up and caught the hilt of Fang Xin!
As for Guoshi, he was at his limit, “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE, BOTH OF YOU, COME UP NOW!”
Feng Xin saw that the Guoshi was shuddering and realized things were going bad, so he yanked Mu Qing up and threw him forcefully, “ENOUGH WITH ALL YOUR YAMMERING AND MOSEYING!”
To be thrown like this, Mu Qing was about to throw a major fit when just below in the lava pool, some dozens of molten resentful spirits suddenly came leaping out!
Those resentful spirits were like fish jumping out of water, and they leapt up, catching hold on Feng Xin’s chest. If it wasn’t for spiritual light shielding his body, Feng Xin would’ve probably been burnt through. They were scared away by Feng Xin’s arrows earlier, and grudge was buried in their hearts. They sneakily dived and hid within the lava, following them all the way here, and now they’ve captured this chance to drag him down. Without warning, Guoshi was also dragged forward by this sudden increase in weight, slipping downwards. This time, it was Mu Qing’s turn to be at the very top, and caught Guoshi by his boots.
Feng Xin was already injured, and there were even several arrows on his person he forgot to pull out. He fought with those resentful spirits with bare fists but at the same time was mindful that the people above might loosen their grips if he fought too hard, so it was a very passive bout. More and more molten resentful spirits were gathering down below, layering over one another as they clung onto him, like they were having a tug of war against Guoshi and Mu Qing.
The strength of both sides were significant, and if this continued, Feng Xin would be split into two for sure!
Feng Xin roared, “CAN WE JUST GET THIS OVER AND DONE WITH??”
Mu Qing yelled back, “SHUT UP!” Suddenly, he felt the weight in his hands lighten, and it appeared those resentful spirits had finally let go, so he quickly pulled the other two up.
Once they were up and safe, Feng Xin panted harshly, still visibly shaken. Shrieking and roaring of the resentful spirits came from down below, and the group looked down. Mu Qing and Guoshi said simultaneously, “Feng Xin, it’s your son!”
“…”
Sure enough, among the red hot molten resentful spirits, there was a blanched creature hopping around, crazily tearing at them with its teeth.
Those molten resentful spirits were all aged ghosts of at least two thousand years old, plus they had banded into groups, so why would they be afraid of some little minion that couldn’t even be considered a baby? Scratching and biting, that fetus spirit’s body used to be chillingly white, but now it was burnt and bloody all over, crimson red covering it from head to toe, and it was howling in a ghastly voice, not a single bit pitiful, and only made one feel horror. Feng Xin however, exploded.
He roared in outrage, “HOW FUCKING SHAMELESS, A GROUP OF ADULTS BULLYING A CHILD!!! CUO CUO! COME OVER HERE!”
That fetus spirit couldn’t defeat so many resentful spirits and fear had already sprouted in its heart. Hearing that someone was going to stand up for it, it let out a strange cry and jumped onto Feng Xin’s shoulder. Feng Xin took off his longbow and yanked out the arrows from his own chest, shooting them out round after round, sending the lava stream turning and rolling in explosions. That fetus spirit on the other hand, was hopping and screeching on his shoulder, like it was gloating and cheering. On the other side, Xie Lian saw they had escaped danger and finally relaxed. Just as he was about to focus on fighting Jun Wu again, he suddenly felt his chest tighten.
Jun Wu had seized him in a lockhold from behind, “Haven’t I said this before? Where did you think you learned all your skills? I know everything about your moves!”
With this lockhold, if Xie Lian couldn’t struggle out of it then he was going to be trapped dead.
But, any moves he could think of to break free, Jun Wu must be able to think of them too!
Just then, he heard Hua Cheng call out, “Gege, don’t be afraid! You must know moves he doesn’t! A move only you can use that he can’t!”
Suddenly, light turned on in Xie Lian’s mind.
Did he have one?
Yes!
If he couldn’t break free, then he won’t!
He turned around in Jun Wu’s hold, facing the enemy, and reverse locked Jun Wu in his hold, enunciating each word, “I bet you don’t know this move!”
With Jun Wu in his grip, he carried both their bodies and forcefully slammed into the incomparably solid rock wall!
He used all of his power in this smash, and in the rumbling crashing of rocks, he also heard the sound of something breaking.
That sound came from Jun Wu.
His white armour had completely shattered!
Right at the same time, Jun Wu released him, and roared in outrage, “GET LOST! GET LOST ALL OF YOU!!!”
Xie Lian looked up and a chill went down his spine. What entered his vision, what made Jun Wu go mad, were faces.
Those three faces had come out again!
Xie Lian raised his sword again, and pierced through Jun Wu’s heart, nailing him onto the rock wall!
Blood spurted from Jun Wu’s mouth.
Xie Lian had injected as much spiritual power as he could muster in this strike, and the instant Jun Wu was pierced spiritual power exploded. No matter how strong the ability was to self-recover, it’d be impossible to recover from this blow!
The mountain collapsed.
Jun Wu was nailed to hang upon the rocky wall at first, but once the rocky mountain had collapsed he was now lying on the ground.
Yet still he hadn’t given up. He turned his hand and gripped the hilt of Fang Xin, seeming to want to write words upon the blade. It was naturally a spell that must be stopped. However, just as Xie Lian was raising his hand, Guoshi rushed over, “Your Highness! Let it go, let it go!”
Xie Lian stopped, not knowing which one he was calling for, or who he was asking to let it go.
Jun Wu coughed out another mouthful of blood, raging, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”
Guoshi knelt next to his side and said, “Your Highness, let it go. Really, let it all go. There’s no meaning to continuing the fight.”
“What do you understand?! SCRAM!” Jun Wu yelled.
“You’re right, I don’t understand.” Guoshi said, “It’s been so many years; you’ve been a god and you’ve been a ghost king. All that should be killed are dead, all that you’ve wanted are in your hands, so why are you doing this to yourself? What exactly do you want? What do you want to prove?”
Hearing this, a flash of confusion appeared on Jun Wu’s face.
But he wasn’t in a daze for long before he violently choked Guoshi’s neck, yelling, “STOP TRYING TO LECTURE ME! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME! NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT!”
The current Jun Wu didn’t have sufficient power, so this stranglehold wasn’t hard to break free from. Xie Lian was about to save Guoshi when instead, Guoshi waved his hand, signalling for him not to move, and continued, “My dear Highness.”
Jun Wu glared at him coldly but his hand didn’t loosen.
Even if he didn’t have sufficient powers right now, wringing Guoshi’s neck was still an easy task, very dangerous. However, Guoshi just let him choke himself like this, and said, “My teaching His Royal Highness was never intended to nurture a you who had never walked the wrong path, then use him to humiliate you. He’s his own person, you are you. You were different people all along, with different paths, and that’s the most natural thing. I’ve said this before in the past, but you wouldn’t believe me. How about now?”
Jun Wu stared at him, not speaking a word.
“I just genuinely really miss Your Highness.” Guoshi said, “I miss the once Kingdom of WuYong, I miss our people, and I miss the days before we ascended. That’s all.”
“…”
Guoshi then added, “It’s been so many years, Your Highness. Just watching you makes me tired. Very tired. How about you? Are you not exhausted?”
As the number one martial god of the three realms, Jun Wu’s appearance and demeanour had always been perfect, untainted by filth. Yet now, only with all the light faded did Xie Lian notice that even with the three faces gone, Jun Wu’s complexion was overly pale.
His contours were much too cold and hard, dark circles shaded below his eyes, looking inexplicably gloomy; there was none of the gentle kindness he emanated when light was illuminating his form.
But, the him now, finally looked alive. Even if he appeared sickly.
Guoshi said gently, “Your Highness, you’ve lost. Now free yourself.”
“…”
“Have I been defeated?” Jun Wu sounded a little lost.
The overly powerful wave of spiritual powers broke through the dome of the rocky cave, and faint rays of sunshine came scattering from above.
There seemed to be small wisps of rain drifting down in the air. Jun Wu laid sprawled on the ground while Xie Lian stood, watching him from above, and he actually noticed a trace of relief on Jun Wu’s face, as if a heavy burden was let go.
He couldn’t help but wonder, perhaps, to be defeated by someone to end these relentless days of brokeness and madness was possibly Jun Wu’s wish deep down.
A moment later, Jun Wu suddenly asked, “That move. What is it called?”
“…”
Xie Lian raised his sleeve and wiped away the blood on the side of his face, “Shattering boulders on the chest.”
Jun Wu was taken aback, then as if he thought of something, he snickered, then sighed, closing his eyes, “Beautiful.”
He didn’t utter another word, but everyone could tell an inconcealable fatigue had overtaken him.
Xie Lian finally moved his hand from the hilt of Fang Xin. Now, he had no idea what to do at all for the next step, and so he unconsciously looked over at Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng was still standing at the same spot, that only stretch of the Heaven Crossing Bridge that hadn’t yet collapsed, and had already been quietly waiting for him with his arms crossed for a long time.
Seeing Xie Lian had turned his head back, he met his eyes and smiled.
Guoshi sat unmoving next to Jun Wu and said, “Your Highness, you should all go now.”
He didn’t intend to get up at all, and Xie Lian asked, “Master, are you not coming?”
Guoshi shook his head, “I’ll keep His Highness company. After all, in the past, I didn’t stay by his side.”
The rain was coming down harder, scouring Jun Wu’s resting face, washing away the life and blood flowing from his wounds.
As the rain washed, Xie Lian felt the three human faces on his face seemed to have gradually faded somewhat. Maybe it was his imagination.
After a moment of silence, Xie Lian took off the bamboo hat carried on his back, and tossed it from his hand, covering it over Jun Wu’s face.
The cursed shackle on Mu Qing’s wrist had broken on its own, and he fly-kicked that thing into the lava before that cool and calm demeanour had returned with difficulty. The fetus spirit on Feng Xin’s shoulder however, jumped down, and using all four limbs it crawled by Jun Wu’s face, carefully touching him, his attitude completely different than when it was stomping on Feng Xin’s face, and Feng Xin was stomping his feet in anger.
Xie Lian however, didn’t care for anything else, and dashed straight for Hua Cheng with his battered face, like he had been reborn – in truth, it certainly was a close escape from death, and he pounced at him, “SAN LANG!”
Hua Cheng had only just reached a hand out to Xie Lian before he was immediately pushed back a step by this tackle. He closed his arms around him and smiled happily, “Gege, you see? I already told you you’d win for sure, didn’t I?” Then he lifted Xie Lian’s face and looked over it carefully before sighing, “You’ve made yourself like this again.”
Where his fingers caressed, a tiny silver butterfly fluttered by and the cuts faded. Xie Lian also smiled happily in response, “I won’t next time!”
Hua Cheng arched his brows, pretending to be cold and harsh, “There is no next time.”
After a pause, Xie Lian withdrew his smile and questioned seriously, “San Lang, before in Mount TongLu, I did say after we got out there was something I wanted to tell you, do you still remember?”
Hua Cheng smiled, “Of course I remember. I remember everything gege tells me.”
Xie Lian hung his head, and it was a moment before he finally gathered his courage and spoke with honesty, “Earlier, Jun Wu had divulged some bits and pieces, and they’re related to this. To be honest, I should’ve told you this a long time ago, I just could never resolve myself to, because I was afraid you’d find out…”
Hua Cheng continued for him, “Afraid that I’d find out Your Highness almost became the White Clothed Calamity, right?”
“…”
Xie Lian was bewildered, “You…?”
Hua Cheng didn’t answer him directly, and only bent one knee to the ground before him, raising his head to gaze at him, smiling hummingly, “How’s this? Gege, with this, do you remember now?”
How could he not?
At the time, that nameless ghost also frequently bent down on one knee to the ground in front of him like this!
That pale smiling mask overlapped Hua Cheng’s current smiling face. Xie Lian’s heart shook, his knees buckled, and he slumped to the ground in front of him, mumbling, “…San Lang… it, it was you!”
Hua Cheng let out a small laugh and maintained that posture of one knee to the ground, and that remaining one eye gazed at him deeply, “Your Highness, I’ve always watched you.”
Xie Lian could still only utter one word, “You… you…”
He finally understood what all those seemingly unintentional words from Hua Cheng had meant.
So that was it. He had never imagined that Wu Ming was Hua Cheng!
He had known everything. He had seen everything. He had been there all along!
All of a sudden, thousands of emotions, millions of words swarmed into his head. There was gratefulness, there was shame, there was heartache, there was wild joy, but above all else, there was incurable love.
Xie Lian’s heart was so full it was going to burst, but not a single word to express himself could be squeezed out, so he could only tackle him forcefully, crying, “SAN LANG!”
It was as if that was all he knew to say anymore, and he cried again, “SAN LANG!”
Hua Cheng fell over from the tackle, and sat with him on the ground, embracing him, laughing heartily. All the fears and worries from before were all swept away. Xie Lian circled his arms around Hua Cheng’s neck tightly, laughing and laughing, feeling like he was going to cry.
But before tears had fallen, he abruptly noticed something very wrong.
While Hua Cheng was a ghost, his body had never been different from that of normal people.
Yet, when he was holding Hua Cheng now, those vivid red robes were somewhat transparent.
————
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login