Chapter 110 Ascend Wentian Peak again
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Pei Jing looked up and his vision cleared.
The thick mist and the faint early snow melted away, revealing a person descending with a half-smile on his face.
Chu Junyu’s eyes, crimson in color, now reflected the morning light. His long black hair, like snow, was a real person standing before him.
Pei Jing’s eyes turned red. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. The pain of his fallen sect and the deaths of hus loved ones were still trapped inside him, causing intense agony.
However, as soon as he saw him, it felt like all his suffering had come to an end.
Chu Junyu smiled briefly and calmly asked, “So, do you still need me to comfort you?”
Pei Jing clenched his teeth, feeling burdened, and took a step forward, embracing him.
Chu Junyu was surprised.
The young man buried his head in his chest, breathing softly, his body trembling.
Chu Junyu noticed that something seemed off with Pei Jing’s emotions. He frowned and placed his hand on his back.
Pei Jing whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Chu Junyu lowered his gaze, quietly observing him.
Pei Jing felt overwhelmingly sad, as if he were being suffocated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about your pain, about your past… If I had known earlier, I would have…”
Chu Junyu let out a soft laugh, realizing he should interrupt him.
“No need.”
He placed his hand on Pei Jing’s shoulder, urging him to lift his head.
Pei Jing looked at him, somewhat confused.
Chu Junyu used his fingers to wipe away the tears on Pei Jing’s eyelashes. In his calm gaze, there was a hint of gentleness as he said, “Even if you had known earlier, nothing would have changed. It would have been troublesome for both of us.”
Pei Jing was momentarily speechless.
Chu Junyu said, “In this life, Ji Wuyou hasn’t been corrupted, hasn’t made any mistakes, and even the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Once you know about my hatred, it becomes a complicated and difficult situation.”
Pei Jing had an instinctive urge to argue back but didn’t know how to express it.
“Pei Yuzhi,” Chu Junyu said with a smile, “You are nothing like me. I have long forgotten what it feels like at your age. But I understand you so well, I understand every aspect of you.”
Your sincerity, your bravery, the sense of justice in your heart.
I once thought about destroying these qualities and changing you.
But in the end, it was you who changed me.
These unspoken words calmly swept through his mind.
“Between you and me, it’s not so much about this life or past lives. It’s more like two strangers who once shared the same name and a period of memories.”
His expression seemed distant, like the gentle and distant snow of Yunxiao in that year, but his tone was gentle. “So, you don’t have to bear the burden of my past, and you don’t have to be so heartbroken about it. Understand?”
Pei Jing hadn’t fully recovered from the recent events. His heart felt empty and bleeding. He wiped his eyes with his hand, closed them, then opened them again. Everything appeared blood-red. In a cold voice, he said, “Understand, my foot.”
Chu Junyu’s gaze remained silent as he looked at him.
Pei Jing’s hatred was so intense that it made his teeth ache. “Why do you think I’m crying? I’ve seen the exact same things in the Futo Tower, but back then, I treated them as inner demons, as illusions. I even wondered if this was my own future. All I felt was sadness and regret. Why am I crying—because it’s my past life? Do you think I’m projecting myself into it?”
The death of the master, the death of dear friends, the decline of the sect—these were all like blunt stabs on his body, but they felt unreal, as if separated by a hazy veil of time and years.
Perhaps deep down, he never truly disbelieved. He didn’t believe that their fates would be so tragic. So, after the heart-wrenching grief, there was only emptiness.
What truly pierced his heart and brought him to tears was the realization that it was Chu Junyu’s memory.
Just the thought of it made him collapse and shed tears.
Pei Jing said, “Chu Junyu… I feel sad, I feel shattered, simply because I like you.”
He trembled as he added, “Because it’s your past, it breaks my heart.”
Chu Junyu was taken aback, but after a while, he burst into laughter.
Pei Jing: “……” How infuriating! It feels like my sincere confession is nothing but a joke to Chu Junyu? Is it really that funny?
Chu Junyu noticed the fierce expression on his face and slightly restrained himself. Changing the subject, he said to Pei Jing, “Let’s cross the suspension bridge first. The Heavenly Dao won’t let you see the end, but won’t let you leave either.”
Pei Jing’s mind followed his words, and he felt a sense of fear and trepidation. “See the end…?”
Chu Junyu said, “Hmm.”
Pei Jing became upset again and said, “Afterward, you had a duel with Ji Wuyou on Wentian Peak. You lost, and he destroyed your spiritual roots, sending you into hell, right?”
Chu Junyu: “Hmm, but I didn’t die. Don’t be sad.”
Having witnessed such a gruesome scene in the Futo Tower, Pei Jing’s heart turned cold.
It was no longer a matter of whether he felt sad or not.
Chu Junyu looked around, taking in the dim sky and the grayish mountains.
The sound of the wind whispered around them. He picked up a snowflake, his expression calm as he softly said, “So, that’s how it was back then.”
Pei Jing immediately felt a pang of distress, not knowing what to do, as he recalled the scene of Chu Junyu in agony before the welcoming stone. Anxiously, he said, “It’s not your fault. Ever since Ji Wuyou entered Yunxiao, his descent into madness was inevitable due to his demonic transformation. It’s a calamity for all living beings, a calamity for the world. The blame does not lie with you. No one in Yunxiao blames you. It’s not because you couldn’t protect Yunxiao, and it’s not because you let the enemy in. Even if you didn’t take him as your disciple, if he faced any mistreatment or was directly driven out of the Outer Peaks by Yunxiao, he would have harbored deep hatred that would drive him insane. The Heavenly Dao devised various means to awaken the Son of the Demon Lord.”
Chu Junyu appeared somewhat dazed. “It’s not my fault…”
The snowflake melted away in his fingertips.
When the world collapsed, senses distorted, and despair overwhelmed him to the point where he wished he hadn’t existed in this world.
Blaming his own powerlessness, resenting his naivety, the downfall of Yunxiao weighed on his heart like a towering mountain. He knelt before the green stone, an eternal sinner.
And after a thousand years, someone told him, “It’s not your fault.”
Chu Junyu smiled, a glimmer in his eyes, and said, “No wonder you said it’s not my fault.”
Pei Jing said, “When I saw this scene in Futo Tower, I always wanted to tell you these words. I never expected to have the opportunity.”
In the Futo Tower’s Chamber of Inner Demons, he saw the youthful vigor reduced to desolation and coldness. He looked at the silent green stone, resembling a tombstone for the past. He had wanted to say these words all along.
Chu Junyu’s gaze fell upon his bloodshot eyes that hadn’t yet cleared. He laughed and said, “Hmm, I understand now. It’s not my fault.”
He whispered by his ear, “So, Madam, don’t be sad anymore.”
Pei Jing: “……”
Damn it. Why did it feel like, in the end, Chu Junyu was the one coming to console him?
However, “……Madam?”
Chu Junyu: “Didn’t we just perform the ceremony of tying the hair?”
Pei Jing: “……Alright.”
Passing the suspension bridge led to Wentian Peak. The tallest peak in the world, where the Trial of Challenging the Heavens took place every five hundred years. Each time was marked by bloodshed and captured the attention of the world. Even though it wasn’t the time for the Trial of Challenging the Heavens to commence, the place remained crowded and bustling, rivaling its peak grandeur.
With its steep cliffs, peculiar cypresses, and birds unable to travel, Wentian Peak revealed its majesty under a faint sunlight. The path was covered in snow, narrow and treacherous. A slight misstep could result in a tragic fall and shattered bones. However, people flocked here eagerly, one after another, undeterred.
They said, “We thought Ziyang Daoren would despise Pei Yuzhi so much that when he came out, he would kill him directly, skin him alive, and tear him apart. But unexpectedly, it’s Pei Yuzhi who has to come to Wentian Peak and have a showdown with him.”
“What’s the big deal? Last time, the top-ranked on the Wentian Rankings clashed with the previous top-ranked, didn’t they?”
“Hahaha, it’s not that simple. I think Ziyang Daoren wants to humiliate him in front of the entire world.”
“Do you remember how Pei Yuzhi gained his fame? Let me think… He caused a sensation when he was born and joined Tianqian Peak. Then, he made a name for himself by slaying an entire demonic sect at Wuwang Peak. After that, he secured the top spot on the Wentian Rankings, establishing his title as the number one cultivator. It seems that Ziyang Daoren harbors deep-seated hatred and wants Pei Yuzhi to be humiliated in the place where he was once most proud.”
“Haha, that will truly be a great spectacle!”
Everyone’s eyes were filled with mockery and amusement. Their expressions seemed crazed, as if their long-suppressed jealousy had finally found an outlet.
Pei Jing turned his head to look at Chu Junyu, only to meet his cold gaze, which also glanced in his direction simultaneously.
Pei Jing’s mind was in chaos, but he spoke up, “Don’t listen.”
Chu Junyu was amused by his clumsy attempt at comfort and said, “Alright, I won’t listen.”
The hatred and aura of slaughter on him had diminished considerably, as if his heart had become still water. In a place unseen by Pei Jing, his blood-red eyes were chilling and bottomless.
Pei Jing looked up as fine snowflakes fell on the top of Wentian Peak.
Wentian Peak, the Trial of Challenging the Heavens…
The first time he came here was with Chen Xu. The most outstanding talents from various places gathered together.
Chen Xu glanced back and forth, then quietly asked him, “What are your chances of success in this Wentian Rankings?”
Pei Jing, with a piece of candy in his mouth, nonchalantly smiled and said, “Chances of success? Well, let’s round it up to a hundred percent.”
Chen Xu: “Why are you so arrogant? Can’t you take it seriously?”
Tossing the candy wrapper behind him, the young man in white said, “Why are you so agitated? Just watch me be handsome.”
Chen Xu felt embarrassed on his behalf.
Coincidentally, the candy wrapper hit Yu Qinglian’s face behind him. The girl was stringing flowers she had casually picked onto a bell. Suddenly, her eyes were obstructed by something. The air seemed to freeze in an instant.
Ji Wuduan, who heard his words loud and clear, sneered and said, “Just don’t let us see you cry.”
Pei Jing wanted to retort, but he saw a whip suddenly flying towards him, intimidating him. When he noticed the dirt on Yu Qinglian’s face, Pei Jing swallowed hard, laughed, and left Chen Xu behind as he ran away. He wasn’t afraid of Yu Qinglian, but he didn’t dare provoke her when he was in the wrong because she was a tattletale. He ran ahead and took shelter beside Wu Sheng. Wu Sheng laughed and asked, “Who did you provoke this time?” Pei Jing blurted out, “Yu Qinglian. That woman can’t stand me being prettier than her, so she wants to ruin my looks.” Feng Jin, who was nearby, laughed, “You’re just a speck of dust in terms of looks.”
As a result, he ended up fighting with Feng Jin on the road. Their swords clashed in the empty sky, leaving no trace on the snowy ground. Wu Sheng couldn’t even stop them, and the other passersby were terrified.
I bet on a hundred years to become the first on the Wentian Rankings.
Pei Jing wondered, how did Pei Yuzhi feel when he stepped onto Wentian Peak this time?
He didn’t dare to dwell on the thought, as it would only bring bitterness.
Suddenly feeling grateful, he realized that Chu Junyu appeared in this world. It gave him the courage to move forward and face what was to come.
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