Ch. 20 The Sword Of Destiny

Tssss— schwing—

Wei Liang drew his sword out deftly and cleaved the viewing platform above him apart. Demolished copper, iron and its ruins clashed against the wall and landed at the foot of the fortress.

The fallen platform, now balancing on the tip of his sword, kept the demons at bay. Like a cloud, he drifted to the center of the fortress.

He spun his sword swiftly, and with a mighty “swish” brought it down like a colossal hammer; the demons that weren’t able retreat in time were smashed like a meatloaf beneath its weight.

This huge commotion quickly attracted the attention of all demons.

“Now’s the time!” Qing Yun Xi cried, and he and three others who were waiting in the shadow of the stone wall pulled on their swords and flew out of Qian Qi Pass from the side.

Liu Qing Yin gritted her teeth. Just as she flew across the city wall, she whirled around and charged towards the opposite direction.

“Big Brother, Fourth Brother, go first! I will return with Master!”

“Liu Qing Yin!” Qin Yun Xi yelled, his eyes wide as he reached out to pull her back, but Mu Rong Chun grabbed his arm.

“Let’s go! We’re not in the best condition now, and staying will only be a burden to the rest. Little Sister can sense the spiritual medicine, and she is good at assisting. If Master has her by his side, they will make it,” Mu Rong Chun said.

“But! But…” Qing Yun Xi protested and he clenched his fists.

“Brother, please relax,” Mu Rong Chun reassured him, his voice steady. “There is no denying the dangers that exist along the way, which is why it’ll be safer for Little Sister and Master to be together. The Master will never let anything happen to her.”

Qing Yun Xi hesitated, when a wave of dizziness hit and almost knocked him out.

He bit his lips hard. He closed his eyes and finally relented. The two of them dashed for the clouds before the demons could surround them.

At the foot of the fortress, Wei Liang spotted Liu Qing Yin returning. For a quick second, his eyes glinted tauntingly at her.

He kept his cool demeanor as he walked on the demon-blood-stained ground. He retreated to the entrance of the underground fortress. With a swing of his sword, he threw the platform down, sealing the entryway temporarily.

He grabbed Lin Jiu’s waist and made his way down the stone steps into the humid darkness of the underground.

“Master, I haven’t detected where the spiritual medicine may be yet.” Liu Qing Yin rushed to Wei Liang’s side and continued. “Though there are clues indicating that the Head of the Wu Family, Wu Meng Xia, guards the Qian Qi Pass and keeps the seed, he has never openly admitted it. The Wang Family has been trying to obtain it from him for the past few years, but all their efforts ended in vain.”

Wei Liang kept walking, flicking his fingers as he did so to freeze the demons lurking in the dark waiting for an opening to attack. “Oh? So Wu Meng Xia is a descendant of Wu Ni Shui,” he answered nonchalantly. His cool voice echoed off the walls of the dim passageway, adding another element of creepiness.

Liu Qing Yin didn’t know why he brought up Wu Ni Shui, but she was overflowing with joy. This was the first time since his wedding that he was actually talking to her. She quickly continued.

“Yes, it is Wu Ni Shui, the commander who led the most brutal counterattack in the first war against the demons a thousand years ago, who stood his ground and waited 81 days for reinforcement. Wu Meng Xia is indeed the descendant of Wu Ni Shui! This time, Wu Meng Xia led the Wu Clan, just like his predecessor, to protect and guard the Qian Qi Pass. But unlike before, he did not wait for the Wang’s reinforcements. The guards were completely wiped out!”

Upon bringing up the Wang Clan, she couldn’t help but feel the need to bash Lin Jiu. She gritted her teeth. “If someone wasn’t such a lazy beggar who deceived her way into Thousand Divine Swords Clan, she would have only been worthy to be with those scumbags of the Wang’s!”

Wei Liang footsteps halted.

He turned and looked at Lin Jiu.

Lin Jiu didn’t mind whatever Liu Qing Yin said. Ever since she has entered this dark secluded passageway that led to places unknown, she felt something strange tugging at her. There were a mix of morose and intense emotions resonating in her chest, as if she heard a heroic and grand war song.

Only fools would bicker in a moment like this.

Lin Jiu took hold of Wei Liang’s wrist, barely looking back, and led him forward.

Wei Liang cocked his brow. There were no more sounds being made. He noticed Lin Jiu’s fierce concentration and found it heartless to disturb it.

Liu Qing Yin still wanted to speak, but she could feel a cold sharp spirit blade drift past her lips. A warning. She shuddered, and slowed her footsteps and got on her guard.

Seconds later, Lin Jiu stopped abruptly. She turned her head questioningly to Wei Liang. “These past few days, Wu Meng Xia guarded the Qian Qi Pass but did not wait for backup from the Wang’s clan and were all obliterated, right?”

“Yes.” Wei Liang’s voice was deep and gentle.

“He did not retreat because his ancestor, Wu Ni Shui, successfully guarded the pass and became a legend passed down for centuries. As his descendant, he cannot forsake the glory of his ancestors.”

“Not bad,” Wei Liang said. “He had many opportunities to abandon the barricade and escape.”

“If I were Wu Meng Xia, I most certainly would keep my most treasured possessions near the place where my ancestors are.”

“The underground tomb,” Wei Liang said. “Great minds think alike. I feel the same way too.”

“Do you know the way?” Lin Jiu asked. Wei Liang gave her a cocky smile.

Meanwhile, Liu Qing Yin was completely excluded from their conversation. “…”

For Wei Liang, nothing was an obstacle. When he was met with a stone wall, he carved a new passage.

Eerie gusts of wind and phantom shadows drifted in the passageway, and the distant howls of the demons could be heard. The underground tunnel filled their nostrils with its distinct odor of mildew and a metallic stench from military equipment.

Lin Jiu couldn’t help but feel like she was committing a grave robbery, and that there were imaginary vampires chasing after them. She didn’t even notice when her hands tightened around Wei Liang’s arm, her pair of pearl-black eyes gleaming in the dark.

Wei Liang’s chest heaved with a silent laugh. He pulled his arm out of her grip and looped it over her shoulder, shielding her petite built with his.

Liu Qing Yin turned away and gritted her teeth. She could faintly taste blood in her mouth.

An hour or two had passed with them wandering in the labyrinth of underground tunnels when finally Wei Liang tore down the final wall.

Suddenly they could see!

Lights on all four walls were burning bright. Coffins were packed together in this cavernous underground chamber.

The original passage that led to this underground tomb was sealed. The demons were not a race that excelled in exploration, and they only knew to sweep by like locusts, destroying everything in sight. It was the reason why the Wu’s underground tomb was still intact.

Niches lined neatly on the stone wall, displaying memorial tablets of the Wu’s ancestors.  Below them, the bronze statue of the heroic antecedent, Wu Ni Shui, stood. An orange and red light intertwined in the palms of the statue pulsed slowly.

The seed really was here.

Even Lin Jiu, an inexperienced verse-traveller, knew that the spirit medicine before her was unlike any other.

It was incredible.

Its shape resembled an orchid, suspended in midair between the bronze hand of Wu Ni Shui. It was enveloped in a warm orange glow that added a coat of luster to the century-old war hero.

Beaming with joy, Liu Qing Yin rushed forward. She stopped underneath the seed and glanced backward at Wei Liang. “Master! We found it!”

She wanted to reach out for it, but her expression changed all of a sudden.

“This…this is…”

Other than the orange glow illuminating the seed, there was a layer of light red as blood. It was smothering the orange light the seed emitted.

Surprise surfaced on the planes of Wei Liang’s face, a rare look. He held Lin Jiu and together they stepped forward and observed.

“The grudge of the undead.”

Lin Jiu looked as if she heard the majestic war song again. She fixed her stare at the red light, and a sword erratically flashed across her vision.

Sword? What sword?

She blinked, and the illusions vanished, leaving only a faint buzz in her ears.

“Master, I can sense the spirit medicine and it is expecting that I will free it from its bind! Or, should I try to obtain it by force?” Liu Qing Yin raised her left hand, a small crescent moon appeared at her fingertip.

Lin Jiu couldn’t help raising her brows slightly.

Not bad, not bad at all. Liu Qing Yin’s strategy of forcibly recognizing the Master was superb.

Wei Liang’s thin lips twitched and his pitched black eyes gleamed with mockery. “Once it merges with the grudges of the undead, it will turn poisonous.”

“Then what should be done?” Liu Qing Yin frowned. “No one knows how long it will take for the grudges of the undead to dissipate, as it depends on how deep their grudges went. We can’t wait here forever, can we? Huh. If this is the Wu’s underground tomb, and all the heroes of every generation are here, why would there be any resentments?”

She pondered for a moment. “That’s not right either. Wu Meng Xia would not have been oblivious to the grudges if they existed from the start. Why would he hide the seed here then?”

The warsong started again in Lin Jiu’s ear. Something strange was calling out for her.

“Can I try?” Lin Jiu said. She looked up at Wei Liang. “If there’s something wrong, save me as soon as possible.”

Wei Liang wanted to laugh. He couldn’t help but raised his hand and patted her head. Liu Qing Yin looked away furiously.

She’s acting all weak again! She’s acting all weak again! Not one bit of arrogance is showing! And the Master buys it!

Lin Jiu raised her hands and warily approached the red light.

The moment her fingertip made first contact, a sharp buzz filled her head. A peculiar pull tugged against Lin Jiu and engulfed her whole, sending her crashing to another dimension!

Her entire vision turned red.

The sky, the earth, and the sea of skeletons were red.

Lin Jiu gasped, and took a few steps back.

Crack—ka

A white bone was crushed beneath her foot.

Her scalp went numb. She stared straight ahead. Around a meter before her, a few skeletons had their backs to her. To her relief, they were focused on charging forward and didn’t notice the unexpected guest behind them.

Lin Jiu lifted her head, and looked towards the direction where the skeletons were rushing.

She could only make out a snow-white mountain standing out like a sore thumb in this crimson world.

Atop the peak of the snow-white mountain, there was a slender ray of bright red light, just like the light filtered through stained glass.

Her heart skipped a beat—the sword! This was the sword she saw ebbing in and out of her vision in the underground tomb!

Could this be her destined magical weapon?

She could feel her soul burning.

But…as she looked towards the body of red skeletons bolting towards the sword, she felt a wave of confusion.

She was just a foundation cultivator, a useless nobody who didn’t have any skills. For her to fight a million of these skeletons to get the sword? She couldn’t afford it. She couldn’t. Her best option was to leave.

She took another step back and her shoulder was met with a strong chest.

Wei Liang?!

Lin Jiu was filled with joy and turned to look back—

Only to see a pair hallowed burgundy eyes socket staring back down at her.