Estranged - Chapter 102

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Sun Buku stopped, turned back, and looked at her with an inscrutable expression.

“If what I have observed isn’t wrong, daoyou Xu’s level of cultivation is that of a master. Of course, there are many unreasonable cultivators in this world, but the Wanlian Buddhist Temple has almost been destroyed, and few people have strength left after this great battle. No powerful enemies will appear out of thin air either. With your level of cultivation, everything will be fine.”

Xu Jingxian had probably forgotten about that time when she had fought against someone who wanted to use a poison against her. This spring poison was especially effective against demonic cultivators, and would have made her go mad with lust to the point she would have surrendered her weapons and given herself up to that person. However, in the end, this plan had been discovered by Xu Jingxian. Instead of killing that person to vent her hatred, she had let them live albeit just barely, tortured them until they wished they were dead, before dragging them naked to the doors of a brothel and slapping them, ultimately leaving them crushed and miserable. Sun Buku had happened to witness the whole process.

Spring poison: smth like aphrodisiac

Yet she was still calling herself a weak and timid woman?

Xu Jingxian did not get flustered in the slightest, and only adopted an even more pitiful appearance. She even rolled up her sleeves to show Sun Buku the scratches on her arm.

“This girl has no weapon now. I’m bare-handed and defenseless, and was even injured like this! If an enemy actually comes, I’m afraid that the first attack will deprive the world of this girl! And if this girl is gone, there’ll be no one capable of fighting here. Senior Jiufang… Ah, right… Even Shizun will be in trouble!”

Sun Buku: “Then what’s your plan?”

Xu Jingxian gave him a bewitching smile, and said affectionately: “Shixiong Sun is the master of the Qingyun School, so you must have countless spiritual treasures on your person. Just give one to your little sister! That way, this little sister will have a weapon, and shixiong Sun will be able to look for Shizun’s souls with your heart at ease. This little sister will definitely do her best, even sacrificing her life if necessary, and won’t let Shizun’s precious body suffer the slightest abuse!”

Like a snake, she was slithering up a stick that she had been struck with, calling them shizun and shixiong in every breath. She positioned herself as Jiufang Changming’s talented yet unnoticed bastard daughter he had had while studying at a Demonic sect.

Snake that slithers up a stick it had been struck with: use the gaps in your enemy’s defense to attack them effectively

Just as Sun Buku was going to answer her, he saw black clouds gathering in the sky. It was already the shichen of sunrise, and there should have been sunshine breaking through the darkness, but instead a peculiar red color had ignited the clouds. It was a strange omen.

He leapt up to the roof to look at the redness condensing at the horizon. The light was piercing through the clouds, overflowing and staining everything, as if someone had received a wound and was bleeding incessantly, and their blood had reached the sky, accumulating there.

Sun Buku lowered his head as he thought about it. As if he had come to a realization about something, his expression darkened.

Xu Jingxian had been cultivating for quite a number of years, but she had never seen something like this. She stared at the sky, dumbfounded.

“What is that?”

“The passage has already been opened.”

“What passage?”

“On the Third Breaking Day, the Sun and the Moon will align with Sirius, and the Liuhe Zhutian Formation will be completed.”

Third Breaking Day: unfavorable day

Sirius: lit. heavenly wolf. Just like in many other countries, Sirius is considered a bad omen in China

Changming had already mentioned the danger of the Liuhe Zhutian Formation in Xu Jingxian’s presence, but at that time, she had felt that it was detached from her life. In her greed-filled heart, a chance of obtaining the muslin or some other formidable treasure was far more vivid. However, when the news of Zhou Keyi’s death had reached her ears, she suddenly realized that the danger was already hanging right above her brows and eyelashes, and the wind was raging in her house, heralding the storm. Gloomy clouds had gathered above their heads, and the tempest was on the verge of rising, threatening to drench her clothes. At that moment, she could no longer convince herself that she could remain a bystander and live in peace.

Above her brows and eyelashes: imminent

The wind was raging in her house, heralding the storm: portent

“But I remember that Senior Jiufang… Shizun said that the Wanlian Buddhist Temple was supposed to be one of the corners of the new Liuhe Zhutian Formation. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple collapsed today, so the formation should have been broken as well, isn’t that the case?”

“No.” Sun Buku shook his head with a grave expression. While he had been trying to track down the Golden Glass Beads Staff and Bei Shu, he had visited a lot of places, and uncovered a lot of obscure secrets. At first, his suspicions had been more or less the same as Jiufang Changming’s. He knew that their hidden enemy was going to build a Liuhe Zhutian Formation that would encompass the whole world. The six corners of it should be situated at either strategic, yet convenient or difficult to access places. These locations could also be places that were endowed with fine spirits, were suppressing spiritual beasts or weapons, or a place with a high concentration of spiritual power that flowed there ceaselessly to support the constant need for spiritual power of the huge formation.

Since the Wanlian Buddhist Temple had been using ghosts as spirits to nurture itself, it could definitely refine a Soul Gathering Pearl that the Liuhe Formation desperately required. Surely, it could have been the most unshakeable corner of the formation. But Chunchi was dead, and the Wanlian Buddhist Temple was destroyed, so Sun Buku had started to doubt his theory. Why had the enemies that were hiding behind the scenes remained calm and not shown themselves, despite something of this scale happening here?

He mulled it over, and found only one possible answer. The existence of the Wanlian Buddhist Temple was itself just a cover. Although Chunchi had known too much and contributed to the plan of destroying the world whole-heartedly, he was not a person to take on such a great responsibility. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple had never been a corner of the formation. Moreover, it had actually meant nothing, and was only good for distracting Sun Buku and the others, buying their enemies some time to finish setting up the formation elsewhere.

Shesheng Peak, the Nine Layers of the Abyss, the Wanxiang Palace, the Yellow Springs, the Jianxue Clan. The Liuhe Zhutian Formation was missing one corner. If it was neither the Luo Capital, nor the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, what was that place?

No matter where it was, the formation had already been set into motion, and the passage on the Sacred Mountain Wan had already been opened. In the end, the world had come to this point.

“I’ll go first. Stand guard here, and don’t take a single step away from here!”

He turned his hand, and threw the Golden Glass Beads Staff towards Xu Jingxian. She caught it subconsciously, and saw Sun Buku fold his hands into a seal immediately, before disappearing right in front of her eyes.

Xu Jingxian: …

She looked at the Buddhist cane in her hands, thinking to herself, Could it be that this person surnamed Sun wants me to go over to the Buddhist sects? There was no need to even think about such a possibility. In this life, even if she turned into a demon, she would never join the ranks of Buddhist nuns.

Surely, the Golden Glass Beads Staff was a rare valuable item, but it was incompatible with her cultivation path as it was a natural enemy for those of Demonic sects. Xu Jingxian honestly could not picture herself waving the cane in front of her enemies.

The blood-red color on the edges of the sky was getting even darker, and the cane in her hands started to glow red as well. She raised her head, looked at the sky, and suddenly frowned.

Wasn’t the source of the red glow in the sky coming from—

The Sacred Mountain Wan?

…

Jiufang Changming noticed that his souls had left his body and had attached themselves to the Chunzhao Sword when Yun Weisi reached the foot of the mountains of the Wanjian Immortal Clan.

As soon as Yun Weisi had “killed” Changming, a voice started ringing inside his head, urging him to go to the Wanjian Immortal Clan quickly.

Yun Weisi let his Demonic heart wander in his body as it wished, sealing his original heart in the depths of the dwelling place of his soul. But his clear-headedness was fleeting, and the voice that was giving him orders was getting louder. With that, he started to feel bloodthirstiness. When he was passing through a village, he almost could not stop himself from massacring the village.

His desire to see blood spilled got even more urgent over time. He especially yearned to strangle someone to death with his own hands; he wanted to see them cry and beg for mercy right in front of him. Such thoughts created a kind of turbulent pleasure in his heart. Yun Weisi knew that these thoughts were born from his Demonic heart, but he could not tell how long he would be able to resist it. He could lose control at any moment and start killing everyone in sight.

“Come to the Wanjian Buddhist Temple, and I’ll answer everything.”

When Yun Weisi had pierced Jiufang Changming with demonic flames at the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, a voice had resounded in his head and said these words.

So, he had to find Jiang Li before losing control completely.

However, when he arrived at the foot of the Xianlai Mountain of the Wanjian Immortal Clan, his Demonic heart was tormenting his body, his consciousness was in turmoil, and he could barely cope with all this. Even the steps he took were unsteady. He had even waded into a turbulent river, but it was still difficult to quench the desire to kill in his heart.

Want to kill, to see blood, and to devour souls!

His devastated body was howling and shrieking, eager to suppress all rational thought. The river had drenched his clothes, making them stick to him. Yun Weisi did not even remember at what point he had called for the Chunzhao Sword.

This sword had been accompanying Yun Weisi for even longer than Jiufang Changming. The point of the sword pricked his hand unforgivingly, forcing Yun Weisi to tremble. He froze for a moment, and looked at the vague image of himself reflected on the blade. His consciousness suddenly sobered up a bit.

At this moment, Changming noticed that his fleeting souls were stuck to the sword. When it was summoned, his fleeing souls subsequently broke free, and he now stood in front of Yun Weisi.

But it seemed that Yun Weisi could not see him, and Changming had no way of letting himself be seen. He could only affect the Chunzhao Sword.

Its blade trembled, and the sword hummed crisply.

Yun Weisi blinked, looked at the Chunzhao Sword, and suddenly sighed.

“Thank you. It seems that you don’t want me to turn into a demon either.”

Changming waved his sleeve, and the sword flew up abruptly, trembling in the air above the surface of the water.

Yun Weisi laughed, and his expression became more clear-minded at once.

“Have you developed consciousness? If I knew earlier, I’d have left you to him.”

Changming could not help saying: “That’s because I’m here!”

Unfortunately, Yun Weisi could not hear him.

He rested for a bit, and then told the Chunzhao Sword: “I’m going up the mountain to find Jiang Li. There’s no guarantee I’ll succeed, and it’s unknown whether I’ll survive. Even if something happens, I’ll keep you safe, so that you can go back, find him, and defend him in my stead.”

Given Yun Weisi’s cultivation level, if he engaged in mortal combat with Jiang Li now, he was unlikely to lose all that easily. However, the Wanjian Immortal Clan was Jiang Li’s domain, and he had long since been ready for today. Moreover, Yun Weisi was suffering from his Demonic heart, and could lose his mind at any second. This time, he had gone to the enemy’s gates all alone, so his fate was uncertain, and the road ahead of him was unclear. He was prepared for the worst.

The sword suddenly flew high up, swaying from side to side, as if dismissing his order.

It looked so comical that Yun Weisi’s depression scattered away.

“I never knew you were so mischievous. Go back.”

As soon as the order was given, the Chunzhao Sword entered its sheath and disappeared from sight, remaining hidden by Yun Weisi’s side.

Changming was forced to follow the sword, and his vision went dark. He could only hear Yun Weisi get out of water, dry his clothes and continue climbing the mountain.

By using his skills in cultivation, Yun Weisi could have arrived at the Wanjian Immortal Clan’s gates in a split second, but he preferred remaining unnoticed, so he was traveling there by foot.

Obviously, Yun Weisi still needed time to calm down and consider his reaction upon meeting Jiang Li.

Changming, enveloped by darkness, was also lost in thought.

He was not really flustered by the fact that his souls had left his body. After all, he had survived through many fierce storms and raging waves in this life, and had narrowly escaped even the most dangerous perils. Now, he even happened to have Yun Weisi by his side, so he considered himself lucky.

He had a vague guess as to why he had managed to possess the Chunzhao Sword. It was mostly because years ago, Yun Weisi and Changming had interacted a lot, and the Chunzhao Sword had a close relationship with both of them. When Changming’s life was in danger, the sword was somehow attracted to him because of their relationship. As a result, after Changming was wounded, his body weakened, and his souls having left his body, his souls had thus entered the Chunzhao Sword, drawn to the sword by the connection that had been established between Changming and the sword. 

At least, Changming was present at this crucial moment when Yun Weisi was going to confront Jiang Li.

Even if he had no chance of surviving at all, this time, he would not allow Yun Weisi to go against the tempest alone.

Changming had not run into Jiang Li many times. However Jiang Li’s sect, the Wanjian Immortal Clan, was a mountain that cultivators could not easily bypass.

Due to the meticulous care of past generations of masters of the Wanjian Immortal Clan, and thanks to Immortal Luomei’s ascension, the Wanjian Immortal Clan was almost shrouded with a divine halo in the eyes of the public.

But Chunchi had told them that the tales of becoming a deity or an immortal were a trap set by the Great Dao. No one in this world had ever reached immortality, and only impending doom awaited every cultivator.

Since no one had ascended, what had happened to Immortal Luomei? Was it connected to the formation set by Jiang Li?

A thought suddenly dawned on Changming, as he managed to grasp onto a crucial clue!