Part 2
He coaxed again, “It’s late now. I don’t need to sleep, but can you hold on, Huan-er? Why don’t we rest for the night before searching, okay?”
Su Huan pursed his lips and nodded.
Once his spirit relaxed, the exhaustion hidden under the day’s dangers came flooding back. Not long after closing his eyes, Su Huan fell into a deep sleep.
He actually had a rare dream.
In the dream, thick fog permeated the surroundings. A man dressed in heavy, black, wide-sleeved majestic robes, with a vertical golden mark on his forehead glowing faintly, seemed to be in a magnificent palace.
He was alone in the empty palace. Before him was a chessboard filled with spiritual qi. The pieces on the board were like thousands of stars, emitting a soft glow.
Seeming to sense his gaze, the man with closed eyes opened them, meeting his eyes through the thick fog, indifferent as a deity.
The man let out a sigh. “The hundred and first cycle.”
At this moment, the mist dispersed, and Su Huan finally saw his appearance clearly. His eyes were black as lacquer, with thin lips and a straight nose—identical to Xiao Jianming.
However, it was still slightly different. His appearance seemed somewhat more mature. There was a golden pattern on his forehead and red markings at the tails of his eyes. Looking at this somewhat unfamiliar appearance, Su Huan suddenly remembered that this seemed to be Xiao Jianming’s appearance in the later stages of the original novel.
Xiao Jianming looked at him. A ripple stirred in his indifferent eyes, his voice calm as clouds yet heavy as mountains:
“Cang Xuan, you’re back.”
A youthful Xiao Jianming appeared in front of him. In a trance, his expression turned infinitely painful as he looked at him with grief.
At this time, Su Huan heard himself laugh sorrowfully and say, “Kill me…”
Xiao Jianming’s face was full of pain as he shook his head with difficulty. The vertical golden mark on his forehead began to alternate between gold and red, and tears of blood flowed from his eyes.
Su Huan felt himself sigh lightly. Overwhelming pain surged in his heart but was firmly suppressed. His fingertips touched Xiao Jianming’s sharp, angular face, wiping away the tear tracks, and he sighed softly, “Why do you love crying so much? Don’t cry.”
“You know, as long as you kill me, everything will end…”
…
Su Huan woke with a start; it was already bright daylight.
Upon waking, his first glance was involuntarily at Xiao Jianming.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?” Xiao Jianming looked at him with concern.
Su Huan shook his head.
Cang Xuan was the title of the last god from tens of thousands of years ago.
He asked Xiao Jianming, “Do you know how the Divine Lord Cang Xuan fell tens of thousands of years ago?”
Although Xiao Jianming didn’t know why he asked this, he still said, “That, speaking of which, is somewhat ironic.”
“It is said that in the beginning, a mortal found Divine Lord Cang Xuan and made a bet with him, betting that this world no longer needed the guidance of gods. Later, the Divine Lord lost the bet and, as agreed, dissolved his divine power into the Heavenly Dao, falling as a result.”
“But after that mortal ascended to immortality, he severed the path to heaven and became the sole Golden Immortal in the world, unifying the Seven Continents and Four Seas. During his reign, he was greedy, selfish, and tyrannical, causing unspeakable suffering to the immortal sects.”
“Finally, one day, the last wisp of divine soul left by the Divine Lord appeared in the world, leading the immortal sects to slay him in Yixian Zhou, bringing peace. The Divine Lord also completely dissipated from the world because of this.”
Xiao Jianming played with his fingers and asked with a smile, “Why ask this suddenly?”
Su Huan then described the scene in his dream.
After listening, Xiao Jianming’s black eyes lit up, and he chuckled low. “In that case, Huan-er has the luck of the Heavenly Dao and dreamt of such a scene. Nine out of ten, you are the reincarnation of Divine Lord Cang Xuan. By becoming Dao Companions with you, I have taken a huge advantage.”
Su Huan’s ears turned red. He pulled his fingers out of Xiao Jianming’s palm and stood up. “It’s getting late, let’s set off.”
Xiao Jianming withdrew his hand resentfully. Looking at the youth’s clean earlobes tinged with red, he couldn’t help lowering his eyes and chuckling, deciding to let him off for now and collect the interest later.
Flying for another half day, they finally saw figures.
When Su Huan and Xiao Jianming arrived, Hua Wuyou was holding dual swords, holding one against his own neck to force the master and disciple with words.
The youth, who had a rather lazy personality in the Heart Tribulation Illusion, now had red eyes, threatening viciously, “Cut the crap! If you don’t wake my Senior Sister up, heads will roll!”
The old man had a stubborn temper. He sat on the ground with his arms folded, motionless, and huffed angrily, “It’s useless even if you kill me! If I say I can’t cure it, I can’t cure it! Didn’t you see that the demonic qi has already invaded her internal organs? Being able to breathe right now is already the pity of the Heavenly Dao!”
Wen Huai also said helplessly from the side, “Fellow Daoist, your Senior Sister is injured too heavily; we are truly powerless…”
Hua Wuyou was about to speak but sensed two unfamiliar auras and immediately became alert. “Who is it!”
Xiao Jianming landed with Su Huan and glanced at him. “People here to save this old man.”
Hua Wuyou looked up to size up the two.
One had clear eyes and looked easy to dismiss; the other looked deep and scheming, not easy to deal with.
But no matter how he looked, they didn’t look like disciples of Yaowang Valley.
Hua Wuyou became wary. Could they be demons in disguise?
Seeing Xiao Jianming, the old man’s eyes immediately shone with a shrewd light. He pointed his finger and said, “Although I can’t save her, he can. Go ask him!”
Hua Wuyou was stunned. “Him?”
Su Huan was also stunned. He looked at Xiao Jianming and asked in a whisper, “You know medicine too?”
Xiao Jianming: “No.”
However, the old man wasn’t wrong. His Lingxi Clan was the nemesis of all evil in the world. Mere demonic qi might leave others helpless, but for him, it was effortless.
Hua Wuyou also heard their conversation and glared at the old man. “Don’t try to divert attention!”
The old man stroked his beard and hummed, “Who said one can’t save people without knowing medicine? As long as he disperses the demonic qi, I have my own ways to save your Senior Sister’s life.”
Hua Wuyou looked at Xiao Jianming. “You can disperse demonic qi?”
Xiao Jianming: “I can.”
Hua Wuyou’s eyes lit up. He looked at Xiao Jianming, only to hear him say, “But why should I save her.”
Hua Wuyou gritted his teeth. “My father is the Sect Master of the Wanxiang Sect. If you can really save my Senior Sister, I will definitely reward you heavily.”
Xiao Jianming: “Not enough.”
Hua Wuyou became anxious. “Then what will it take for you to save my Senior Sister?”
The corners of Xiao Jianming’s lips hooked up slightly. With his palm facing up, a spiritual contract appeared and he tossed it to him, saying, “Sign this.”
Hua Wuyou took it with a tense expression. He thought it was some contract to enslave people or demand an exorbitant price. Unexpectedly, it stated that the people of Cang Xuan Zhou must not harm the Boundless Sea (Wuwang Hai), and when necessary, must protect the safety of the Boundless Sea, for a term of one thousand years. His eyes widened involuntarily as he looked up at Xiao Jianming. “You are actually…”
Meeting his cold gaze, he couldn’t help swallowing his words and lowered his head to sign the spiritual contract.
“Is this acceptable now?”
Xiao Jianming put away the spiritual contract. “Naturally.”
Hua Wuyou instantly breathed a sigh of relief. He led him to a large tree. Lying under the tree was a young girl with her eyes covered by a silk ribbon, her face pale. He said, “This is my Senior Sister.”
After helping the old man and his disciple up from the ground, Su Huan also followed. The girl’s appearance was indeed identical to Meng Qinghui in the illusion.
At this moment, Meng Qinghui was covered in wounds, her spiritual qi weak. Black qi was still emitting from her wounds. Even though spirit medicine had been applied, they wouldn’t heal for a long time, and one could even faintly see the black qi gradually corroding the flesh. Su Huan couldn’t help looking worried.
Xiao Jianming crouched down and fed Meng Qinghui a drop of blood.
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