Chapter 51
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Yes, for the sake of the safety and security of the cultivation world, I should draw my sword…
But Qiu Wanyou knew from the beginning to the end that when he agreed to let the Yaozheng Bell be the eye of the Fushen Formation, it was not because of the so-called righteousness of the cultivation world, it was his own selfishness.
His own actions not only let down Fuyue, but also brought shame upon the entire world of cultivation.
“I…I don’t want to kill you.” Qiu Wanyou instinctively said this softly, but as soon as the words came out, he immediately reacted: If Fuyue misunderstood him, that he did it because of righteousness for the cultivation world, he might hate himself. But if Fuyue knew the real purpose of those small calculations he made back then, Fuyue would only look down on him completely.
Thinking of this, Qiu Wanyou’s heart was full of panic.
He looked at the Ji Jiang sword in his hand, and slowly closed his eyes.
“I can’t do it…” Qiu Wanyou slowly closed his eyes, and he said in a hoarse voice, “You…you were not wrong.”
“I am not wrong?” Li Fuyue’s tone was also raised at this moment.
After rebirth, when he suddenly heard these words, he only felt ridiculous.
And Qiu Wanyou never felt that Ji Jiang sword was so heavy that he couldn’t even lift it.
Admit his own selfishness? Or face Li Fuyue with his sword drawn.
He can’t do either.
Before accepting Li Fuyue as his disciple, Qiu Wanyou was not tainted by karma and was as gentle as water, with the posture of a luan and a phoenix. However, at this time, his heart was full of greed, hatred and ignorance, and he no longer had the heart of a mirror.
…For Qiu Wanyou, it may be a very normal thing for him to have unreasonable thoughts about his disciple.
Qiu Wanyou, who was born in a cultivation family, hated vulgar people and vulgarity the most. And Li Fuyue seemed to be sent to him by heaven according to his preferences.
Li Fuyue was once a young master of a prominent family in the mortal world. His seventeen years of immersion in poetry and books made him see that even the cultivators who resided in Tianmian Palace had no experience with the world. Li Fuyue did not understand worldly manners and was simple-minded. Even though his family had been destroyed and he had lost loved ones, he was influenced by the concept of propriety, loyalty, and the relationship between monarch and subjects, so even his hatred was faint.
Li Fuyue would only stare at a clump of yellow soil when he was sad.
Perhaps from the moment he first met Li Fuyue, Qiu Wanyou had already fallen in love with this young man.
At this time, Li Fuyue, who was ignorant of the ways of the world, perfectly matched the image of a “fairy” in his heart.
Qiu Wanyou didn’t want Li Fuyue to change. In the more than three hundred years that followed, he didn’t want Li Fuyue to have contact with the outside world, and even used time to erode Li Fuyue’s feelings for his family.
Three hundred years of time is enough to completely imprison a person’s soul.
Li Fuyue’s state of mind seemed to be forever frozen at the age of seventeen, even showing a bit of detachment from worldly happiness and sorrow.
Li Fuyue had transcended the mortal world, but Qiu Wanyou himself had been unintentionally dragged into the mortal world by his disciple.
Until now, he was firmly trapped here by ten feet of soft red.
At this moment, a thick cloud of calamity suddenly appeared above the Sword Forest, and for a while, the wind howled, and the flying swords lying on the ground whimpered once again.
Qiu Wanyou hugged his Ji Jiang sword tightly, and the piece of white jade between his foreheads slowly split open.
A tribulation thunder rumbled down and struck in the sword forest.
It was as bright as day in here.
“Ah—” Qiu Wanyou let out a suppressed cry of pain.
And the Ji Jiang Sword in his arms also emitted a faint purple light.
In the end, Qiu Wanyou finally opened his eyes again. He slowly stretched out his hand, and stroked the broken jade on his forehead.
This was Heaven punishing thunder.
As a cultivator who had ascended to the immortal realm, Qiu Wanyou not only couldn’t return to the mortal world, but even at that moment, his Dao heart was swaying due to his obsession.
If this were the Qiu Wanyou of the past, he would never have imagined it.
“Master…” Li Fenglan whispered.
No matter what, Qiu Wanyou was the one who led him onto the path of immortality, the one he admired for thousands of years. Seeing his once greatly depended-upon master being punished by the Heavenly Dao in front of him, the millennium spent in Snowy Meizhou seemed to shatter into pieces by the thunderous punishment.
Perhaps Qiu Wanyou was no longer the same person he used to be.
Li Fenglan retreated silently, and Qiu Wanyou saw a tear suddenly fall from the corner of Li Fenglan’s eye without warning.
“Fuyue? Don’t cry, don’t cry…” Qiu Wanyou’s heart raced, and he finally mustered the courage to reach out his hand slowly towards Li Fenglan’s cheek, wanting to wipe away his tears.
But Li Fenglan actually dodged again.
He only saw Li Fenglan turn sideways slightly, take a deep breath and say to Qiu Wanyou: “Master did nothing wrong back then… After all, you didn’t know whether I will go crazy the next day and ruin the entire cultivation world.”
“No, don’t say that—” At this moment, Qiu Wanyou didn’t look like an immortal.
Li Fenglan shook his head lightly and said: “These years, I have been too naive… If Master can’t recognize, then you can’t recognize.”
Although Li Fenglan was speaking words of “forgiveness”, the unease in Qiu Wanyou’s heart was gradually growing.
He didn’t want Li Fenglan to forgive him, and even preferred that the other party hated him.
After saying this sentence, Li Fenglan suddenly looked at Qiu Wanyou, walked forward, and hugged his master tightly in the dark, in the strong wind and under the moonlight.
Qiu Wanyou trembled, and slowly embraced the familiar boy in front of him, his fingertips touching the blood on Li Fenglan’s body.
“Fuyue, master begs you… don’t do this, can we still be the same as before?” Qiu Wanyou finally mustered up the courage to say the most humble and delusional sentence in his life.
But as soon as the words fell, he heard Li Fenglan say in his ear: “Master, go back to the upper realm and continue your life. Li Fuyue has already been expelled from the sect and has nothing to do with you. Even the person has died a thousand years ago. Life and death, we have nothing to do with each other in the future.”
Qiu Wanyou is his master, and he already owed him a karmic debt. And now, that karmic debt has finally been repaid by the formation arranged by Qiu Wanyou’s subordinates just now.
They owed nothing to anyone.
No more involvement.
“Hahaha… Nothing to do with each other?” Qiu Wanyou finally let go of Li Fenglan, and he took two steps back abruptly.
Li Fenglan, who was dressed in blood, clenched his hands and said these words. He seemed to have truly let go of everything from his past life – hatred, resentment, and even the few traces of love.
Yes, he had let go. As the master of Li Fuyue, how could Qiu Wanyou not understand his own disciple?
After hearing these words, he immediately understood.
Not only did Li Fuyue no longer hate him, but he didn’t even want to hold any resentment towards him anymore.
From now on, they were no longer master and disciple, nor were they enemies. They were just strangers.
His disciple had died a thousand years ago, and the person in front of him… was just a stranger who no longer held any resentment towards him.
They were really as Li Fenglan had just said, completely unrelated to each other. But how could Qiu Wanyou be willing to accept this!
However, before Qiu Wanyou could say anything, Li Fenglan spoke again in a soft voice, “Master, I should return my disciple token to you.”
The cultivators of Tianmian Palace all had disciple tokens, which were given to them as a “meeting gift” from their master. Li Fuyue was also given one when he was a disciple. However, according to the rules of Tianmian Palace, after Qiu Wanyou ascended, he no longer needed to wear the token.
After being expelled from the sect by Tianmian Palace, Li Fuyue’s disciple token, which was originally placed in the Snowy Meizhou, was also taken back by the sect.
Now, that disciple token was placed in the main peak of Tianmian Palace.
According to the rules of Tianmian Palace, when the master-disciple relationship is terminated, the master must take back the disciple’s token.
Upon hearing Li Fenglan’s words, Qiu Wanyou immediately realized what he was going to do.
At the moment Li Fenglan turned around, Qiu Wanyou suddenly grabbed his arm and said through gritted teeth, “No! You don’t have to! If you… really don’t want to have any connection with me, then, there won’t be any connection.”
Li Fenglan had only one way to retrieve the disciple token, and that was to break into the main peak of Tianmian Palace.
In Qiu Wanyou’s heart, his disciple had always been someone without a temper. He had never seen the other party so determined and full of life.
Li Fuyue had really changed, and even his determination was for himself…
Li Fenglan slowly shook his head and broke free from Qiu Wanyou’s grasp. He left on his sword with injuries all over his body, under Qiu Wanyou’s gaze.
On this night, everyone in Tianmian Palace was awakened by the spiritual power fluctuations from the sword forest. And now, more than half of them saw that Li Fenglan, the little cultivator who had crossed two tribulations recently in the lower realm and had a good relationship with the fierce beast Chong Huang, was covered in blood and riding his sword towards the main peak of the sect.
Li Fenglan’s movements were too fast, completely unlike the speed he should have had with his cultivation.
But this was not the most shocking thing. They saw that Li Fenglan was followed closely by Qiu Wanyou, the immortal master!
At this moment, in the sky, Li Fenglan could feel the fierce wind blowing past him like a knife. He was still losing blood and body heat from his injuries, but Li Fenglan had no intention of stopping.
He continued until he stood on the main peak of the sect.
“Junior Brother Li, what are you doing here on the main peak in the middle of the night?” Zhuang Zhixia, the head disciple, stood in front of the other disciples, holding a long sword and asking Li Fenglan sternly.
Li Fenglan did not answer her question, instead saying, “Senior Sister, please forgive me.” After saying this, Li Fenglan went straight to the Yuling Hall, which was usually deserted, passing dozens of disciples on the main peak.
Just as Zhuang Zhixia hesitated and was about to lead people to follow him, Jiang Yichang suddenly appeared.
“Wait!” Jiang Yichang looked at Li Fenglan’s departing back and said to the main peak disciples, “Everyone, please step back.”
“Yes, Master.” Zhuang Zhixia gritted her teeth and waved her hand to lead the people away. The disciples on the main peak of the Tianmian Palace all unconsciously cast fearful glances at Yuling Hall.
Had Li Fenglan gone crazy, to barge into the main peak of the sect like this?
After the main peak disciples stepped back, Jiang Yichang didn’t hesitate for a moment and went straight to Yuling Hall.
At that moment, Qiu Wanyou, who had been following Li Fenglan closely, suddenly appeared in Yuling Hall.
So when Jiang Yichang pushed open the door, he saw this scene: Li Fenglan took down the disciple token made of white jade that was hung at the top of the Yuling Hall, while Qiu Wanyou stood several meters away, reaching out to grab him.
The appearance of these two people…was really strange.
In the moment that he pushed open the door, Jiang Yichang realized that he perhaps shouldn’t have come here.
Li Fenglan fondly touched the disciple token in his hand and slowly walked towards Qiu Wanyou as if he hadn’t seen Jiang Yichang here, and then he placed the disciple token in Qiu Wanyou’s hand step by step.
The walls of the Yuling Hall were inset with thousands of night pearls, so even in the middle of the night, the hall was bright as day. It wasn’t until this moment that Jiang Yichang finally saw clearly what Li Fenglan was holding in his hand…
“Snowy Meizhou, Fuyue.”
“This is…” Jiang Yichang widened his eyes, seemingly unable to believe what he was seeing, “Li Fuyue’s disciple token?”
As the head of the Tianmian Palace, he naturally knew better than anyone else that there were only two people in this world who could remove the disciple token from the offering position – Qiu Wanyou and Li Fuyue.
And at this moment, Li Fenglan was walking down from the high platform holding the disciple token.
The answer was already in front of Jiang Yichang…
Li Fenglan was the second person in the world to remove the disciple token from the offering position, he was Li Fuyue!
At the moment when the three words “Li Fuyue” appeared in Jiang Yichang’s mind, even the headmaster standing here felt a slight tingling in his fingertips.
It couldn’t be… Li Fuyue was already dead, he died in the Fushen Formation and disappeared without a trace. How could he appear here?! And how could he become Li Fenglan?
Jiang Yichang’s hand clenched tightly on the door frame, causing his knuckles to turn white.
He stood there, watching Li Fenglan walking down step by step.
“Master, I will return the disciple token to you today.” Li Fenglan’s expression was plain, forming a great contrast with his clothes soaked in blood.
After saying this, he let go of his hand, and Qiu Wanyou could only instinctively take the disciple token.
When Jiang Yichang heard it, the bell hanging on the white jade disciple token trembled lightly with Qiu Wanyou’s hand, breaking the suffocating silence in the room.
Who else could it be in front of Qiu Wanyou, calling out those words except Li Fuyue?
…
Qiu Wanyou couldn’t say a word today.
After a thousand years, he finally realized that his disciple was no longer the “immortal” who didn’t know anything in his heart, but had become a “human” who had gone through the world of mortals and purgatory.
Li Fenglan didn’t say a word to Qiu Wanyou anymore. He walked straight to Jiang Yichang’s side and said calmly: “Sect Leader, the thing that just happened, you saw it all, didn’t you?”
“Ah… yes.” Li Fenglan suddenly spoke to himself, while Jiang Yichang was still immersed in memories from thousands of years ago, and for a moment he didn’t even react, even losing a bit of his composure.
Li Fenglan was standing in front of him at the moment, with thousands of night pearls in the Yuling Hall behind him, making even the moonlight a bit dim. Li Fenglan’s facial features and hair were complemented by the lights, making Jiang Yichang mistakenly think that he was about to ascend to immortality.
From his perspective, the cultivator named “Li Fenglan” in front of him was more than seventy to eighty percent similar to the previous Li Fuyue.
“According to the sect’s regulations, I should be imprisoned and await investigation.” He had almost become the head of the Tianmian Palace in his previous life, so he naturally knew these things well.
It was also thanks to Li Fenglan’s reminder that Jiang Yichang, who was usually impartial and stern, finally remembered that Li Fenglan had trespassed into the main peak of the sect, the Yuling Hall, and should be imprisoned.
After speaking, Li Fenglan walked straight out.
Watching his back, Jiang Yichang couldn’t help but think of the past–when Li Fuyue wasn’t expelled from the sect, he was always the one standing at the forefront of the Tianmian Palace whenever something major happened in the cultivation world.
And he himself had long been accustomed to watching the other’s back.
At this moment, the back in front of him overlapped with the events of thousands of years ago.
“Yes.” Even like a thousand years ago, Jiang Yichang couldn’t help but say this word to Li Fenglan’s back.
Outside Yuling Hall, Li Fenglan walked towards the direction of the prison as if he didn’t care about being known of his identity, without even looking back.
Inside Yuling Hall, after the doors were closed, the cultivator who always demanded others to act like immortals finally couldn’t help but sit on the ground with his hands holding the cold disciple token…
Jiang Yichang recognized Li Fenglan, but he didn’t tell anyone about it.
After personally sending Li Fenglan to the prison, he only said one sentence before leaving: “Before the Sect Leader passed away, he wanted the Three Realms to kill Li Fuyue… If you want to be Li Fenglan from now on, I’ll let all the past be forgotten.”
On that night, Li Fenglan’s emotions were always stirring until Jiang Yichang finished speaking and walked out of the prison, only then did he slowly shift his gaze to the figure that was gradually moving away.
Li Fenglan didn’t expect that Jiang Yichang, who was always known for his impartiality and fairness, would choose to spare him.
Just like Jiang Yichang didn’t expect that after leaving the dark prison of Tianmian Palace, he would meditate in the hall all night, with images of the day when Li Fuyue went insane constantly flashing in his mind.
…
The events of that night were witnessed by almost half of the sect. Before dawn, news of Li Fenglan’s imprisonment had spread throughout the entire sect.
If there was one person who was most excited upon hearing about this, it was none other than Meng Linzhou.
Meng Linzhou arrived at the dark prison at the hour of the Dragon.
At this time, Li Fenglan was leaning weakly against the wall of the prison due to excessive blood loss, looking as if he didn’t want to say a word.
Only Meng Linzhou’s voice echoed throughout the cell.
“…Indeed, you are master. In my previous life, I only went to the Mengxin Cliff for making mistakes. I’ve never been to a place like the dark prison before.” Meng Linzhou’s tone was filled with deep reverence.
If it were anyone else who said this, Li Fenglan would have thought they were mocking him.
But Meng Linzhou…
He believed that Meng Linzhou was truly admiring himself as a master who could enter the dark prison because of his mistakes.
Sure enough, Meng Linzhou didn’t care at all about what had happened to Li Fenglan last night, or why he was acting so strange. He continued to talk to himself, “I really am not as good as my master.”
Li Fenglan: “…”
My disciple’s brain really isn’t that good.
After what happened last night, Li Fenglan appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he spent the whole night going over the memories of his time in Snowy Meizhou. He should really thank Meng Linzhou, the rebellious disciple, for helping him get out of that emotional state, or he wouldn’t have known when he would have been able to get over it.
Due to excessive blood loss, Li Fenglan was still leaning weakly against the wall, while Meng Linzhou continued with his sighs.
At this moment, a crisp bell sound came from outside the dark cell, indicating that someone had come to see Li Fenglan.
The person sitting on the ground reflexively looked up and saw Ling Buyan, dressed in black, passing through the light screen and appearing before him.
“Fenglan.” Ling Buyan called his name softly, then walked straight to Li Fenglan’s side, passing through the next layer of spiritual barriers in the dark cell.
Once inside the Tianmian Palace’s dark cell, the healing speed of the captive’s wounds would be no different from that of an ordinary person. Therefore, even after a night had passed, Li Fenglan still looked like he did a few hours ago, with messy hair and covered in blood.
Only Ling Buyan knew that, so at the moment he saw Li Fenglan, his heart ached sharply.
He realized that he cared more about the person in front of him than he had imagined.
Every small wound on Li Fenglan’s body was so dazzling in his eyes.
Ling Buyan slowly half-knelt on the ground and carefully held Li Fenglan’s hand, gently stroking over the small wounds. In an instant, the wounds cut open by the qi were healed.
It wasn’t until this moment that Meng Linzhou realized that not only had he failed to detect his master’s wounds, he had even disturbed him from resting.
“I…am too unfilial!”
However, at this moment, neither Li Fenglan nor Ling Buyan had any spare energy to deal with Meng Linzhou.
After Li Fenglan’s wound on his hand healed, Ling Buyan’s gaze moved up to his arm.
“Is it still painful?” Ling Buyan asked softly while using his spiritual power to treat the wounds.
Last night, Li Fenglan was too stimulated to remember the pain. But when Ling Buyan mentioned it, he felt his numb nerves suddenly become active. The grievances and resentment of that night also rushed over him.
Li Fenglan’s words, spoken with a nasal voice, reached Ling Buyan’s ears: “It hurts a bit…”
Meng Linzhou: !!!
Is this still my master? Has he been possessed by someone else?
But what surprised Meng Linzhou even more was yet to come. Ling Buyan slowly lowered Li Fenglan’s arm and then… carefully held him in his arms.
Li Fenglan was already half a head shorter than Ling Buyan, and now sitting against the wall, suddenly his vision went dark. When he realized what was happening, he found himself completely wrapped in Ling Buyan’s embrace.
Ling Buyan’s hand was even carefully supporting the back of Li Fenglan’s head, separating him from the cold wall.
Li Fenglan was completely immersed in a warm embrace, and a fragrance wafted through his clothes, calming him down.
“This won’t happen again in the future…” Ling Buyan said softly in Li Fenglan’s ear as he held him.
His tone was extremely gentle.
This sentence was meant for Li Fenglan, but also for himself.
And Li Fenglan felt that Ling Buyan’s voice had never sounded so sad before.
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