"We can't beat him." Shangguan Tou said painfully, gripping Xuezhi's hand tightly. "Even if we join forces, we can't beat this person..."
Xuezhi suddenly looked up and shouted, "Sect Leader Feng, please, release him!"
"You shameless woman," the man in black said coldly. "Don't think you're above the law just because some people in the martial arts world have a few kind words about you." With that, he grabbed Xuezhi by the collar and lifted her up. "You've already given birth to a child, and you still don't live a virtuous life. Look at your increasingly haggard and aging face, do you still think you can bewitch men?"
Hearing these words, Xuezhi naturally felt very uncomfortable. But she no longer had the strength to argue with this man, so she bit his hand. The man in black cried out in pain and let go, and she immediately ran towards the cliff.
"Zhi'er!" Shangguan Tou tried to stand up, but could no longer move.
The man in black pointed his sword at his throat.
But Xuezhi didn't have time to get close at all.
It was just a dozen or so steps away.
Feng Cheng also picked up Feng She, threw him on the ground, and stabbed him in the chest with his sword.
"Xiao She—!!!"
Accompanying Xuezhi's calls was Feng She's desperate roar. After that, every few steps Xuezhi took, Feng Cheng would deliver a fatal blow to Feng She.
Finally, she knelt softly before Feng She.
In the gaps between the shadows of ancient trees.
Silver moonlight, greyish-white rocks. Dark red blood meandered into a small river, staining Xuezhi's white clothes.
"Xiao She—" Xue Zhi wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to carry him on her back, but the boy in front of her was already riddled with wounds. She didn't even know where to begin to avoid touching his wounds.
Feng She looked pained, glancing at Xue Zhi with his head turned to the side, as if he were about to exhaust all his life force.
"Zhizhi... I still couldn't avenge my parents."
"What's the meaning?"
“Fengcheng…” Feng She pointed to Fengcheng, who was standing behind Xue Zhi wiping his sword, “He killed my parents, Feng Ye and his wife.”
"You knew you couldn't beat him, so why did you come?"
"I could never beat him in my entire life."
"Nonsense, nonsense! You're so young and smart, you'll become a genius someday... The way you're doing now, you're just throwing your life away!"
"The Gu poison that the Holy Mother administered to me is only enough to sustain me until I'm twenty-nine. And... after I turn eighteen, my body will only get weaker and weaker." Feng She gently moved his fingers. "I... am already twenty years old."
Xuezhi covered his mouth and closed her eyes: "Don't say anything. I'll take you to get treatment."
She carried him on her back. Blood quickly soaked through her clothes.
Feng Cheng glanced at them, then gripped his longsword tighter. The man in black, however, said:
"Let them go."
"But she heard it all."
"No one will believe it." The androgynous voice of the man in black became exceptionally deep. "Let them go."
Feng Cheng had no choice but to sit down to the side and smile at Xue Zhi: "Do you really want him to die on you? That's very unlucky."
Xuezhi looked at him viciously: "Fengcheng, you've never thought about your own fate, have you?"
Feng Cheng scoffed, "No, not at all."
I'll tell you later.
Xuezhi carried Fengshe on her back, helped up the seriously injured Shangguan Tou, and struggled to walk down the mountain.
As soon as they stepped out of West Peak and mounted their horses, Xuezhi turned her head slightly and said, "Xiao She, I don't care how long you live, but at least you can't give up your life so easily."
“I don’t regret it at all. Really,” Feng She said weakly. “This is the first time since I was born that I feel great, the first time that I feel a responsibility on my shoulders…”
He was half a head taller than Xuezhi, but at this moment he looked like a baby, helplessly pressing his cheek against the back of Xuezhi's head.
"Actually, to tell you a secret, I'm still reluctant to leave. Reluctant to leave this world..."
This cruel yet exhilarating world.
This world that abandoned me, and which I also abandoned.
This world has you.
155
When the three reached the foot of the mountain, they were met by people from the Xuan Tian Hong Ling Temple. Man Feiyue got out of the car and saw Feng She lying on Xue Zhi's lap, letting go of her hand, her face like that of a sleeping baby.
Xuezhi swallowed hard, leaning on Shangguan Tou's shoulder, her eyes and even the tip of her nose turning red: "It's all my fault. If I had come sooner, Xiao She wouldn't be in this situation. It's all my fault..."
Shangguan Tou remained silent, only gently embracing her.
"Feng She." Manyeyue knelt down abruptly. For a moment, she seemed unable to accept the reality before her. She knew he wouldn't live much longer, but she never imagined he would do something so reckless so soon, and leave this world so quickly.
She gently stroked the broken hair at his right temple; the little braid was no longer there.
When Feng She was little, she loved to braid his hair. At first, he thought it looked quite cute, but after a trip to the capital with her, he refused to have it braided anymore, saying that only girls braided their hair. She lied to him, saying that boys also braided their hair, but when they grew up, they would cut it off and give it to the girl they liked so that she would marry them. "Look," she said, "you have so many braids; you can marry many wives in the future." Little Feng She counted his braids and excitedly said, "Then, Holy Mother, please braid a few more for me!" When he grew up, Feng She saw through her lie and dated many girls, but he never gave away a single braid. Man Feiyue thought that he had probably gotten used to that hairstyle, so she didn't ask any further questions.
At this moment, his braid was gone, his purple silk ribbon was undone, and his hair was loose, framing his handsome and young face, making him look as if he were fast asleep. Man Feiyue could no longer control her grief, stretched out her short arms, hugged him tightly, and burst into tears.
But halfway through her crying, she stopped.
Shangguan Tou pressed her pressure points.
"Excuse me." Shangguan Tou hoisted her up and threw her onto the horse's back, then said to the Hongling Temple disciples behind her, "I'm borrowing your Holy Mother for a while, I'll return her soon."
Shangguan Tou was struck twice by the man in black and remained bedridden for four days before he could walk normally again. During those four days, Xuezhi took meticulous care of him, feeding him medicine and treating him with the same gentleness he had always shown her. However, she remained silent, rarely smiling even with their two children by her side. Shangguan Tou noticed the few new braids in her hair and the purple silk ribbon, knowing that her heart had been captured by that little gourd, and said nothing more.
What worried him most was the man in black. He couldn't be sure if the man had mastered the "Lotus Wings," but he knew he had never been so passive and vulnerable. He and Xuezhi were both top-tier masters in the martial arts world, but in front of that man, they were nothing more than a grain of sand in the Ganges.
Man Feiyue remained imprisoned in the dungeon of Moonlit Valley. Shangguan Tou ordered his men to take good care of her, but he granted her no freedom whatsoever; even going to the toilet required guarding. No matter how angry or confused Man Feiyue was, he would only say calmly, "I just want to wait for someone." Man Feiyue retorted, "That's called waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump." He offered no reply.
He knew he was waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump, but what he was waiting for was not a rabbit.
He himself didn't know what it was.
How can we fight a war if we don't even know who the enemy is?
Therefore, he had to find this person no matter what.
Sure enough, five days later, Man Feiyue began to panic. He sent messages to Shangguan Tou, saying that he was about to die, that he had developed the Longevity Gu, and that he could teach Shangguan Tou the most powerful poison technique... but Shangguan Tou rejected them all.
On the seventh day, Man Feiyue threw a tantrum in the dungeon, shouting and cursing. Shangguan Tou still did not respond.
On the tenth day, Manyue began to cry, saying that if things continued like this, she would lose her life. There was still no reply.
Ten days later, she stopped struggling and just sat in the cell in a daze, occasionally mentioning Feng She.
The time was almost ripe. Shangguan Tou sent out invitations everywhere, inviting major sects and martial arts heroes to Moonrise Valley to attend the full moon celebration of his two children.
On the day of the full moon celebration, Lin Yuhuang was the first to arrive. He spent the rest of the time playing with his grandson, not paying any attention to what tricks Shangguan Tou and Xuezhi were playing.
The newlyweds had an extraordinary appeal. Of those invited, only three did not attend: Man Feiyue, Shi Yan, and Lin Xuanfeng.
Man Feiyue had naturally arrived long ago.
After the banquet, the two even set up a fighting arena on Chenxing Island in Moon Valley for heroes from various factions to spar. They then carefully observed the martial arts techniques of everyone present. After confirming that everyone appeared normal, they realized the problem lay with Lin Xuanfeng and Shi Yan.
“It couldn’t be Uncle Lin.” Xuezhi shook her head. “He was a good friend of both my fathers. He would never steal martial arts from Chonghuo Palace.”
"You mean, the abbot is more likely to be the one?"
Xuezhi, recalling Shi Yan's graying beard, said, "That seems even less likely. Could it be that we've overlooked someone?"
"No matter what, let's go visit them first."
The next morning, the two entrusted the two children to Qiu Hongxiu's care and called Lin Yuhuang to head southeast to Lingjian Manor. Lin Yuhuang looked at them with a puzzled expression the whole way.
When the three arrived at Lingjian Manor, they were turned away before they could even enter the gate.
Lin Xuanfeng said, "I will not see guests."
Xuezhi and Shangguan Tou's expressions changed drastically.
Could it really be Lin Xuanfeng?
Just as they were about to leave to discuss their next move, Lin Yuhuang burst through the door, her face full of displeasure: "He didn't come to my grandson's one-month celebration, and now he won't even see me when I come to his door. Is Lin Xuanfeng hiding from me? If he doesn't come out, I'll write down his past scandals and sell them everywhere. Make him come out here!"
After his subordinate relayed the message, Lin Xuanfeng finally agreed to meet them in a small reception room.
As soon as Lin Yuhuang entered the room and said a sentence, Lin Xuanfeng choked on his tea.
The saying is: "You've forgotten your mother after marrying a wife."
156
"Cough, cough, Yu Huang, what nonsense are you talking about?" Lin Xuanfeng put down her teacup, not even looking at them, stood up and pointed to the chairs, "Sit down, sit down." Then she picked up the teapot and slowly took a sip.
"Didn't you get involved with Yuan Shuangshuang?"
Lin Xuanfeng was rebuffed again: "That's nonsense. With the younger generation here, you... watch your words."
Lin Yuhuang dragged the chair he pointed to, walked straight to him, and sat down facing him: "Brother Xuanfeng, it's been so many years, your face has gotten paler and paler, and your personality has become more and more pretentious. You can put on an act in front of Xuezhi and the others, but why are you putting on an act in front of me?"
"I didn't." Lin Xuanfeng wiped her lips, shrank back, and said awkwardly, "Yuhuang, you can just ask me whatever you want to know."
Xuezhi and Shangguan Tou were both dumbfounded. This was the first time they had ever seen Lin Xuanfeng like this.
Have you practiced the "Nine Forms of the Lotus Goddess"?
Upon hearing this, Lin Xuanfeng, Xuezhi, and Shangguan Tou were all stunned.
"Second Father, do you know why we've come here..."
"Zhi girl, be quiet." Lin Yuhuang leaned closer to Lin Xuanfeng, looking at him with her big, bright eyes. "Brother Xuanfeng, look me in the eyes and answer me, have you practiced the Nine Forms of the Lotus God?"
"Of course not." Lin Xuanfeng gave him a slight push. "Do I look like I've ever trained?"
"That's good, Second Master trusts you." Lin Yuhuang stood up. "Children, next stop. Let's go."