“After the the Sorrow and Joy of All Beings?”
Veiled in distant mist lay Peng Lai, where boundless winds swept through the sky.
Waves crashed against the rocks in relentless rhythm, sprayed foam like pearls that danced and gleamed.
The old man said in a steady tone, “After that, it’s something I can’t teach you.”
“Why?”
“Because the third move of Supreme Path of Forgetting Emotions requires your own enlightenment.”
Chewing on candy, the youth asked in confusion, “Me?”
“Yes,” replied the old man while fishing. “That’s your Nie Nie.”
The youth almost choked on his saliva, “Nie Nie? What kind of thing is that, still doubling up words, isn’t that gross?”
The old man glanced at him, “The words you said yourself, don’t you know what they mean?”
The youth finally realized, feeling embarrassed and angry, “Are you guys going to laugh about that childhood stuff forever?”
The old man hummed, “Laugh as long as we want.”
When Xia Qing woke up, he still felt uncomfortable.
His soul burned like flames, yet his blood was icy cold. With his mind in turmoil, he stared blankly ahead for a long time.
This was an inn, clean and bright, with luxurious furnishings.
Outside was noisy, probably located in a bustling area.
Song Guichen only brought back the soul of the Ananda Sword from the Sea of Heaven, its physical form nowhere to be found. Currently, the soul of the Ananda Sword merged into the meridians of his palm, in temporary slumber.
Xia Qing eased his pain and looked down at his palm, where every line seemed to be penetrated by a cold light. He hadn’t expected that recovering his strength would entail such agonizing soul tearing, and the aftermath was severe. He estimated he would need to rest for over half a month.
The village was ultimately destroyed in a big fire; the soldiers were all dead, and so were the villagers.
He drew his sword, but couldn’t save anyone.
Xia Qing’s mind was now in turmoil, only able to think of very simple things, like the line from Lou Guan Xue, “Still enjoy watching the excitement?”
—So Lou Guan Xue knew, knew that from the moment soldiers burst into the village with swords, the outcome would only be utter chaos.
The whole village was made up of wandering souls with no attachments, and under extreme hatred and anger, transformation into monsters was inevitable.
At the end of the road, they all perished together.
But why did he know?
Lou Guan Xue said the god was awakening, but where is the god?
What about Lingxi?
Lingxi hasn’t transformed; what will he do?
What will Xue Fuguang feel when she comes back and sees everything?
A sharp pain shot through his temple, causing Xia Qing to bend over in agony.
He inherited the cultivation, yet still hadn’t regained his memories.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Before long, there was a knock on the door, and the waiter came to bring him food. Xia Qing was in pain all over, but still intended to eat something first. After getting out of bed and drinking some soup, he noticed the waiter standing by, not leaving. Puzzled, he asked, “Does your inn have a rule that staff have to wait for guests to finish eating before leaving?”
The waiter shook his head. “No. This is what the young master who’s with you instructed, saying to wait until you finish eating.”
Xia Qing: “?”
By the time he finished eating, Xia Qing understood the reason.
One bowl of soup was so bitter that he felt like vomiting. However, he didn’t want to embarrass himself by spitting it out in front of strangers, so he swallowed it back silently.
Immediately after finishing, Xia Qing poured himself a jug of water, suspecting that Lou Guan Xue had poisoned him.
The waiter began to tidy up the table.
Xia Qing looked around and asked, “Where is he? Do you know where he went?”
The waiter replied, “The young master probably went to gather information.”
Xia Qing looked puzzled. “Gathering information?”
The waiter smiled and said, “Well, judging by your demeanor, you should both be cultivators, right? Nowadays, when cultivators come to the capital, aren’t they all here for the matter of the Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Tomb? Your companion should have gone to inquire about the tomb’s information.”
“The Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Tomb?”
Xia Qing was even more puzzled.
He had been staying in an isolated village for some time, cut off from news, completely unaware of what had happened outside in the past half month. He could understand cultivators gathering at Ling Guang, but what was the matter with going to the Liang Kingdom?
“Could you tell me?”
Seeing his confused expression, the waiter cautiously said, “Does the young master know about the collapse of the Glazed Tile Tower during the Ling Guang’s lantern banquet?”
Xia Qing: “…I know.”
Not only did he know, but he also witnessed everything alongside the perpetrator on a broken bridge.
The waiter continued, “With the collapse of the Glazed Tile Tower, the Regent died, and the whereabouts of the Emperor are unknown. Now, the Great Demon inside the pagoda is stirring, and merfolk from various places have begun to go mad, turning into monsters and harming people, causing chaos throughout the world. Fortunately, the High Priest said that the root of all this chaos lies with the Great Demon inside the pagoda. Once the Great Demon is completely eradicated, peace will be restored.”
Xia Qing: “But what does this have to do with Liang Kingdom?”
As the waiter cleared the table and wiped it, he said, “Because there’s a crucial pearl needed to complete the Demon Suppression Array, and it’s buried in the Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Tomb in the capital.”
Xia Qing was stunned. “A pearl?”
The waiter nodded. “Yes. Does the young master know Madam Han Yue?”
Xia Qing: “I do.” This was the peerlessly beautiful woman who had captured the hearts of twelve cities, her fame widespread.
The waiter continued, “I heard from Ling Guang’s side that Madam Han Yue was a saintess of the merfolk a hundred years ago. The pearl is her personal belonging, containing boundless magical power. With the power of the High Priest alone, it’s not enough to activate the Demon Suppression Array; they need the divine power from the saintess within the pearl. The Queen Mother is too busy looking for the Emperor to focus on arranging this matter, so she had no choice but to advertise it to the world and offer a hefty reward to cultivators, inviting them to enter the Imperial Tomb and search for the pearl.”
The waiter chuckled innocently, running his hand through his hair. “Of course, this is all hearsay, but the search for the pearl is real.”
Xia Qing was silent for a long time, then remembered something and asked, “Wasn’t Madam Han Yue buried alive with the Liang Kingdom royal family?”
The waiter nodded, “That’s correct. However, Madam Han Yue had already prepared her own coffin before the downfall of the Liang Kingdom. Relying on the favor of the Liang Emperor, she directly placed her coffin inside the Imperial Tomb, with the pearl inside.”
Xia Qing: “…” He could almost confirm now that this famous Madam Han Yue was indeed Zhu Ji.
The more he thought about the pearl, the stranger it seemed—
If it contains immense power, why didn’t Zhu Ji use it? As a saintess of the merfolk, would she willingly give up her power to become an emperor’s consort?
The pearl containing divine power, such a precious item, Zhu Ji had prepared her coffin beforehand and placed it in the Imperial Tomb… Could it be because she had foreseen what would happen afterward?
Xia Qing stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the bustling capital outside.
Three years ago, this place was a scene of carnage, with mountains of corpses and blood flowing through the broken city gates as power changed hands.
But in the blink of an eye, peace and prosperity had returned.
The only change seemed to be that the capital had shifted from the Liang Kingdom to a city of the Chu Kingdom.
“Zhu Ji,” Xia Qing softly uttered the name.
Yao Ke, Xuan Jia, Zhu Ji.
The names of the merfolk saintesses were all two characters, and all related to jade.
The names were similar, each carrying a chilling sensation when spoken.
Yao Ke was a contradictory lunatic.
Xuan Jia could gouge out her own eyeballs, indicating she probably wasn’t quite normal either.
As for Zhu Ji, the biggest culprit responsible for the merfolk’s tragedy, a madman daring to covet divine power… How could she have died so simply?
Is Zhu Ji still alive?
His thoughts scattered gently in the wind.
As the waiter carried the food box out, he glanced back slightly at the gray-clad youth standing by the window, finding it hard to look away for a moment.
This young man probably wasn’t in good health. His skin was as pale as paper, and his breath was somewhat weak.
He was extremely handsome, capable of captivating anyone. His features were picturesque, with a complexion as radiant as the dawn. His illness added a fragile beauty to him.
But this fragility was faint, overshadowed by the elusive sharpness of his temperament.
He didn’t seem like a pitiable beauty with an illness, but more like a silent sword.
Leaning against the window, his thick, long eyelashes drooped, and his hand emerged from the oversized gray robe, a crimson thin rope wrapped around his snowy wrist.
—This was the only vivid color on his entire body, and the only hint of vitality.
After coming back to his senses, the waiter immediately lowered his head, stopping his wandering thoughts. He thought, perhaps another immortal had tied this red string on him.
It was strange; neither of these two looked like they could fall in love, yet strangely, they seemed to fit together.
—-
At the moment the Glazed Tile Tower collapsed, fireworks and screams erupted simultaneously, like a knife tearing apart the false tranquility that had lingered over Ling Guang for a hundred years.
Chu Kingdom imperial palace.
Jing Xin Hall.
Bai He stood silently beside, not daring to speak, her face pale, afraid of catching the Queen Mother’s gaze.
Since the Emperor disappeared, the Queen Mother’s temper became increasingly uncontrollable.
Yan Lan Yu, despite wearing green clothes and living a simple life for many years, her inherent cruelty and violence did not change at all. Tormented by nightmares day and night, her eyes bloodshot, she sat on the wind couch, twisted like a demon devouring souls.
She angrily threw all the jade objects beside her to the ground.
Clattering, the sound was sharp and piercing.
“Can’t find him?! Can’t find a single living person?! Useless, all useless, a bunch of useless people!”
Yan Lan Yu, with eyes bloodshot, continued her rant, “I should have thought of it earlier—Lou Guan Xue is Yao Ke’s child, how could this bastard be so obedient!”
“This damned bastard! Escape? Where can you escape to?! Even if I had to dig three feet into the ground, I would find you!”
Bai He was covered in cold sweat from head to toe.
Countless people had died in Jing Xin Hall these days, and blood could almost flow like a river.
While the Emperor’s mood swings were unpredictable, the Queen Mother was no gentle character either. Everyone in the palace was on edge, afraid of making a wrong move that would cost them their lives.
Fortunately, with the High Priest’s arrival, the Queen Mother suppressed her inherent madness and let everyone leave.
Looking around, the only person who could calm the Queen Mother and evoke fear in her heart should have been the High Priest.
After all, immortals and humans were fundamentally different.
When Bai He left, her palms were sweaty, and her body felt numb.
Passing by the Imperial Garden, she happened to see the High Priest, dressed in purple, strolling among the flowers. Delicate petals fell from his fingers, and there was a gentle worldly aura about him.
At that moment, it seemed like the endless April sunshine had finally brought warmth, dispelling the gloomy and bloody atmosphere of the palace.
“I have seen the High Priest”, Bai He bowed.
“No need for so many formalities.”
Song Guichen smiled at her and continued towards Jing Xin Hall.
Bai He watched his figure, feeling warmth slowly spreading through her limbs.
She sighed inwardly, wishing that all the top figures in the palace could have a good temperament like the High Priest.
But then again, what normal person could exist in the Chu Kingdom palace for long?
Bai He herself was abnormal. Scared and terrified by the Queen Mother, she had vented all her frustrations on her subordinates.
She had recently taken in a young eunuch, thinking he was someone exceptional, someone who could attract the Emperor’s attention. But to her surprise, he turned out to be a useless fool who couldn’t make a decision to save his life.
Now that the Emperor was missing, she had lost all patience with him and reassigned him to the Laundry Bureau, leaving him to fend for himself.
However, the young eunuch was quite an odd person.
Bai He touched the hairpin in her hair, finding it more and more intriguing.
Even the royal children hadn’t developed such traits.
She was increasingly curious about the young eunuch’s mother.
Spoiled, selfish, naive, and malicious—she had never seen anyone blend these qualities so seamlessly.
How had the young eunuch grown up under such boundless indulgence? Had his mother never thought to teach him even a little about how to conduct himself in the world? Bai He imagined that Wen Jiao’s mother was probably an aristocratic woman who was naive and innocent, ignorant of the ways of the world.
Ugh, not this baboon Wen Jiao again 🙄… just as my eyes finally were able to heal and move on…(ノД｀)ノ Thank you for the chapters!!!! ❤️❤️
Wen jiao will be the death of everyone he’s close to thanks to his spoiled selfish nature =_=
hopefully fu chang sheng has run far away
Sooo… that pearl is somehow connected to Wen Jiao. Is he himself the pearl?.. Could it be that his mother didn’t actually love him, but tolerated for some greater purpose? 🤔
I wonder if Wen Jiao’s mother was Zhu Ji, for some purpose..?