Estranged - Chapter 96

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Changming and Yun Weisi were staring at each other.

When their eyes met, Changming saw madness and impatience in Yun Weisi’s eyes.

But not a trace of his past impassiveness.

“Do you still remember my name?” he asked Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi’s finger moved slightly. Sticky, pungent blood was dripping down from his hand, yet he did not mind it.

“You think I’ve lost my memories?” Yun Weisi smiled faintly, “I’m pretty sober now, Shizun.”

“I remember everything that has happened to me since I was little, including how my enemies tried to hunt me down, and how I ran all the way to the Yuhuang Temple, pleading with you to take me as a disciple by kneeling in the rain for a long time. I remember all of this.”

His memories were even clearer than before, so he could even recall the cracks on the green slabstone where he had kneeled, and remembered rain blowing the leaves off trees so that they would fall on him. Yun Weisi’s existence was similar to these leaves—lonely and desolate. He did not know how today would end, and what awaited him tomorrow. His country had already been left far behind, and his only support could be the Yuhuang Temple, which was infinitely large in his eyes.

Had the Yuhuang Temple refused to accept him back then, he could have only bled to death, turning into one of the countless souls of the dead. Even if his life experience seemed disturbing and horrifying to him, it was not even worth mentioning when speaking of the fate of the entire world.

“Also, I remember that on the winter solstice one year, I went to the kitchen to cook dumplings for you with my own hands. You said that the people of the Yuhuang Temple had always drunk lamb soup during the winter solstice, but in the end, you still ate that bowl of dumplings. While eating, you criticized my cooking skills, saying that the skin of some of the dumplings had broken, so the meat had fallen out and ruined the soup.”

His eyes did not express a will to attack Changming, and were incomparably clear.

His scorching heart was still beating in his chest, and the memories had not been lost. He just did not want to hide his thoughts anymore.

Just like now. The soft, bloody pieces of flesh that had stuck to his fingers brought him comfort, and Yun Weisi had no intention to cleanse his heart and limit his desires by calmly meditating. Only one obsession was exciting to him. He absolutely had to get to the person in front of his eyes, and only this could quench the fire in his heart.

Otherwise, the fire would only burn more fiercely, perhaps incinerating him from the inside.

“I remember,” Changming slowly opened his mouth.

“Not only the dumplings. The next year, you also made soup with lamb. But your skills are indeed poor, so the lamb was too tough, and there was no way to chew or digest it. Also, you didn’t drain its blood, so I could only drink it while holding my nose.”

Changming tried to use a light tone when speaking to bring back Yun Weisi’s warmheartedness, but this was in vain. Yun Weisi looked as if he was listening to someone else’s past, and his eyes were still filled with the same insoluble blood-red color. If one stared at them for too long, they would easily let their mind wander, drowning in the surging waves of the sea of blood.

“Zhou Keyi’s corporeal body has been destroyed, but his spiritual soul remains, which is his last sliver of hope. You want to take this last sliver away from him?”

Yun Weisi’s expression was indifferent: “Zhou Keyi’s karma weighs heavily due to all the killing he’s done. He used to misuse cultivation furnaces and cut people down like one would blades of grass, which makes him no different from a demon. What has happened to him today is simply him paying off the sins he has committed. Cultivators are concerned about the chain of cause and effect, and believe that everything is predestined. That is what you used to preach to me, yet you are incredibly forgiving of him now.”

Changming said: “He is steeped in crime, and has suffered a lot for it. He has even lost his life, leaving nothing but his fleeting soul behind. Even if I preserve it, I’ll need to guard it carefully to find a way to maintain his existence. There is really no difference now whether he has died or not. I don’t want your hands to be stained with his bad karma. Is this reason enough for you?”

Yun Weisi stared at him for a moment, as if pondering, but quickly sneered.

“Zhou Keyi’s spiritual soul, or your life. Choose one.”

Changming had been wounded, severely.

It had happened while he was cutting his way through to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple. The wound was not fatal, but his cultivation had reached a bottleneck, plus he had been injured in the past. All these factors combined had driven him to the limits of what he could endure, so he was like a pile of eggs that could collapse at any time. A single push from one hand could send him to a bottomless chasm.

A bottomless chasm: unfavorable position

He did not know whether Yun Weisi had noticed this.

While talking, they were also playing a game of chess.

Using their feelings as chess pieces, they were trying to figure out each other’s intentions.

Yun Weisi, who had turned into a demon, was already another person.

“What if I don’t want to choose either option?” Changming asked him in reply.

Yun Weisi’s pupils darkened with giant waves surging at the bottom of his eyes. The hand that had just crushed the heart suddenly stretched out to Changming.

A single step of his could cover a thousand li, and Yun Weisi appeared in front of his eyes in a moment!

Changming swiftly retreated. His body flew back lightly as if it was weightless. He dodged Yun Weisi’s attack accurately, so it seemed that he had been ready.

But Yun Weisi did not fall behind and quickly leaped forwards. His black robes were like wings covering the sky, so Changming’s line of sight was obstructed.

Black flames were seething in the lotus pond, and the fire reached out to their feet from time to time, trying to find a chance to attack.

Changming had noticed that Yun Weisi’s fighting style had also changed since he became possessed.

No matter how his skills changed in the past, they remained the same in essence. All his sword techniques and skills were, at their core, influenced by Daoism. The Chunzhao Sword would always betray the fact that he had spent years training in the Yuhuang Temple. Yet now, everything was different.

He had not even called for the Chunzhao Sword, attacking randomly as he pleased, like a celestial horse cantering through the sky. The demonic qi around his body had sensed its owner’s will, and part of it had turned into a fierce ghost-like creature lashing out at Changming with its mouth wide open to swallow him. The rest of the qi had split into four parts that surrounded Changming. His spiritual power was completely incompatible with demonic qi, so the qi rushed at him menacingly, eager to gobble him up in one gulp.

Like a celestial horse cantering through the sky: powerful and unstrained

Changming waved his sleeves, and his spiritual power rose up, stopping the demonic qi.

“Sword, come.”

The Sifei Sword flew over with a whistle, glowing dazzlingly, like a giant wave soaring up to the sky. It was so blinding that people could hardly bear to watch it.

He had traveled all over the world with his Sifei Sword, and even though he had once been defeated, he had now returned. The sword’s intention had become even clearer, and the sword had already reached the level where it followed its master’s will without him needing to give direct orders. In other words, whatever Changming wished, the sword would accomplish it. It suddenly split into countless rays, like a huge fan opening wide, and pierced the demonic qi, dashing after Yun Weisi.

The sword’s qi was awe-inspiring, and its killing intent apparent. It was going to pursue Yun Weisi till the end.

“You want to kill me?” Yun Weisi asked.

He did not open his mouth to say it, but instead transmitted the words to Changming’s consciousness.

Yun Weisi’s physical silence overpowered any sound he could have made. However, Changming still heard him as if Yun Weisi was beating drums, heavily hitting his sea of consciousness!

Changming swallowed his blood with difficulty. When Yun Weisi’s hand nearly grabbed him, Changming suddenly vanished.

Yun Weisi sneered coldly, abruptly turning his head!

Jiufang Changming was behind his back indeed!

But his puppet art was old news!

The demonic qi responded to its owner’s fury, and loudly burst out, surging at the opponent with a shrill noise.

Since you’d rather die holding Zhou Keyi’s spiritual soul, then just die! Yun Weisi thought coldly.

Yun Weisi watched indifferently as the demonic qi crushed Jiufang Changming’s barrier, ready to pierce him and tear his body into pieces. Suddenly, an alarming feeling rose in his heart!

Yun Weisi could not tell where this alarm was coming from, and why it had appeared. But his body had long since become accustomed to reacting to impending dangers, and it was telling him that extreme peril was inevitable for him.

Could it be that it was coming from Jiufang Changming?

He restrained his demonic qi subconsciously, but it was already too late. The thread of released demonic qi had stabbed his opponent’s chest, sending Jiufang Changming back!

At the same time, tremendous pressure was put on Yun Weisi!

Yun Weisi raised his head just in time to see a golden glistening Buddhist palm descending from the Heavens to press him down!

The demonic qi naturally felt like fire under water, faced with an attack like this. It was quickly ground into powder.

A white light came, blocking Yun Weisi from the golden light!

In a moment of mortal danger, Jiufang Changming had suddenly returned, pushing Yun Weisi away to face the golden light in his place!

The sword glow was slowly fading away.

The Sifei Sword that had already passed most of its spiritual power to Yun Weisi was finally unable to persist. With a clank, the sword fell into the lotus pond!

Jiufang Changming fell down the same way.

Tn:

I’m super, thanks for asking! All things considered, I couldn’t be better I must say~