Chapter 151
The re-birth of a severed limb is obviously extremely painful, and Li Bu Yu was in so much pain that his whole face became twisted. Blood dripped from his broken arm, and the eerie sound of tendons and flesh tangling with each other made people shudder. He kept gasping for breath, his blue-grey lips chattered slowly, "Would you believe me if I said that I did all this because of you?"
Zong Zi Heng said fiercely, "Because, of, me?
"If you don't believe me, then ask that magical treasure of yours if this statement of mine is true or not."
"Cut the crap! Where is Zong Ming He's corpse, and why did you swap it!?"
Li Bu Yu laughed bitterly, "I did it for you, so that I could be near you, so that I could avenge you, so that you could get what you wanted ..."
"Shut up!" With a cold flash, the sword in Zong Zi Heng's hand was pressed against Li Bu Yu's throat. He was itching to cut Li Bu Yu alive, "Shameless, a pack of lies! For my sake, you destroyed my family, for my sake, you shattered my mother's soul, for my sake, you made me into a sinner who killed my father the emperor for eternity!"
"Am I the one who harmed you?" Li Bu Yu growled, "Was it me? Without me, would you have a loving father, a virtuous mother, and respectful brothers?!"
Zong Zi Heng was stunned.
"How did Zong Ming He treat you? Do you want me to help you recall? I used to visit my cousin and aunt at Wuji Palace when I was young. I watched you from one side. As the eldest prince, did anyone in the palace look up to you? Did anyone take you seriously? Even Zong Ming He, your own father, didn't he raise you for the sake of that core in your belly?!"
Zong Zi Heng staggered back a step: "You, how did you ..."
"You want to ask me how I know?" Li Bu Yu laughed hideously and morbidly, "He told me personally. That beast begged me before he died, just like he begged you not to kill him on the Eight Trigrams Platform. He begged me not to take his core. He asked me to take yours. He said you have an imperial destiny, and your core can make the best immortal core in the world called the 'Absolute Human Emperor ', hahahahaha ---- no wonder, no wonder you turned against each other and even fought against each other. If I don't kill him, will he be able to spare you when he heals?!"
Zong Zi Heng said with a shuddering voice, "You killed Zong Ming He for the sake of your Li family, for the sake of Wuliang Sect."
"That's right. That sinful beast, Zong Ming He, humiliated and fooled my aunt in every way, used and suppressed my Wuliang Sect, and my Li family was as if carrying a mountain on its shoulders for all these years. I thought everything would be fine until my cousin inherited the throne, but he was afraid of the power of Wuliang Sect, and wanted Zong Zi Xiao to succeed for fear that the state power would change hands. After what happened to both my cousin and Zong Zi Xiao, I thought he had no choice but to help you succeed, not realizing that he only wanted to dig up your core, so I had to kill him. For your sake, and for the sake of my Wuliang Sect."
"And Shen Shi Yao, was she really doing it for you? She did it so that she could strive for vindication and get back at Zong Ming He and my aunt! You used to be so gentle and modest that you had no intention for the throne at all, yet she did whatever she could to force you to go up, step by step. You were willing to carry the evil she did, was it caused by me?!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Li Bu Yu's words gouged his heart like the death by a thousand cuts, Zong Zi Heng's eyes were bloodshot and the hand holding the sword trembled beyond recognition, "She was guilty, but sinners have the chance to redeem themselves, yet you scattered her soul."
"She deserved it." Li Bu Yu laughed sinisterly, "And also Zong Zi Xiao. He is the one who deserves to die the most. When I was young, he always gave me a supercilious look. How he humiliated me at the Jiaolong Assembly back then, and how he has humiliated you now, what I regret most is that I didn't send someone to kill him at the beginning!"
"You're so insane that you'd put him to death just for a disagreement you had as a teenager."
"Didn't he deserve to die? As a younger brother, he had lewd thoughts of his big brother, and he played with you, the dignified Human Emperor, like a prostitute. Doesn't he deserve to die?" Li Bu Yu growled, "I did lie to you, but without me, you probably would have ended up no better than you are now."
Zong Zi Heng was seized by his Qi and blood, and darkness appeared before his eyes immediately. The confrontation with Li Bu Yu had uncovered all the scars he had accumulated over the years. All the pain and despair and all the wounds that had already scabbed over were bloodily peeled away in the sunlight once again, baked by the scorching sun and battered by the wind and rain. He looked back and examined every stage of his life, shrouded in either clear or indescribable gloom, and realized that he was never expected, never loved, never had a choice, and never had freedom. His life was counted from the moment he was born. Until today, he was utterly isolated, and his family was destroyed. Whatever he did, or whatever he didn't do, will be against his wishes. He has nothing.
Li Bu Yu was right. Without Li Bu Yu, he could not have escaped from that kind of father and mother, and his and Xiao Jiu's fate was doomed to become a tragedy long ago.
He had done no evil, so why had fate treated him so harshly?
Zong Zi Heng's eyes were like two pools of stagnant water, distressed to the extreme, as if all that remained was numbness.
Li Bu Yu looked at Zong Zi Heng's ashen face, his voice already choked: "I lied to you, but I never thought of harming you. From the moment you saved me, I was willing to follow you for a lifetime, to embrace you as the Human Emperor, and to clear all obstacles for you."
Zong Zi Heng said grimly, "You are doing this for your own sake and you still try to use me to justify the evil you have done."
"It is true that I have a selfish heart, but my feelings for you are also true." Li Bu Yu said with tears in his eyes, "I have mediocre qualifications, and I have tried desperately to catch up with you, yet I am not half as good as Zong Zi Xiao. If I didn't use the human core to transform, I probably will not have the confidence to stand by your side for the rest of my life."
Zong Zi Heng was disgusted to the extreme, "You are extremely shameless."
"Yes, I am shameless. Who isn't shameless? Who doesn't have a selfish heart?" Li Bu Yu laughed twice in a low voice, "Xu Zhi Nan, do you trust Xu Zhi Nan so much that you even went up to Mount Shu with him to question me? Back then in the underground palace, he and Qi Meng Sheng clearly knew that I was there, knew that I had heard the secret of Zong Zi Xiao's birth, but which one of them told you, huh?"
Zong Zi Heng's body shook again.
"If you don't believe me, take your magical weapon and test him properly. Is he not selfish?"
Zong Zi Heng remembered that Xu Zhi Nan, at that time, had advised him more than once to fight for the crown prince's position and the throne, and he had never agreed to do so, could it be...
Li Bu Yu mocked, "Emperor, which one person around you doesn't have selfish motives? Is it not selfish that Xu Zhi Nan and Qi Meng Sheng want to prop you up to the throne? The supreme immortal core that Zong Zi Xiao has gone to great lengths to refine is in your belly, does he have this selfishness?"
Zong Zi Heng gritted his teeth and said, "You still want to stir up trouble when you're on the verge of death? Say, where exactly is Zong Ming He's corpse?"
"You still want to bury him in the ground?"
"I want to know exactly what you have done."
"What I have done?" Li Bu Yu said with hatred, "I made him suffer like hell for eternity."
"What have you done?"
Li Bu Yu smiled grimly, "If the Emperor really wants to know that much, why don't you let me go first?"
"You think I will let you go?" Zong Zi Heng shook the stick tube in his hand and the spiritual sticks clattered, "If you don't tell me, I'll ask myself."
----
PS: some people think LBY is disgusting, but what he said is actually true too. IMO, I don't really hate him. He really has genuine feelings for SZH (he didn't eye on SZH's core but SZX did), though the things he did are evil & ruthless. He really didn't think of harming SZH intentionally, but he didn't think that what he did will hurt him. So what you guys think of him? ╮(╯3╰)╭
Chapter 152
"Diancang Peak ... Song Ming He's body is at Diancang Peak?" Song Zi Heng used the Zhou Hou Spiritual Sticks several times to narrow down the area and actually got a result that shocked him.
Li Bu Yu had switched Song Ming He's corpse with a fake one and buried him in the place where the Wuliang Sect was located?
"Song Ming He treated you like that, and you still care about how his corpse is. Emperor is really a great filial son." Li Bu Yu said sarcastically.
"Even if he was nasty and unpleasant, he was still Emperor Song. It is not your turn to insult the dignity of the Song Clan." Song Zi Heng suddenly recalled what Li Bu Yu had said not long ago. He paused, "Just now, you said 'did you still want to bury him in the ground', so he was not buried ... What exactly did you do?"
Li Bu Yu said smugly and straightforwardly, "It won’t hurt if I tell you. I suppressed his corpse at Diancang Peak with the Big Dipper Zhengji Binding Demon Formation, so that he would experience the pain and despair of that moment he died forever, and never be able to reincarnate forever!"
Song Zi Heng gasped.
Li Bu Yu had truly gone mad. The Big Dipper Zhengji Binding Demon Formation is such an evil art that reverses yin and yang, violates the Dao of heaven and creates evil karmas, and he himself would also suffer karmic retribution. His hatred towards Song Ming He had actually reached this stage.
Song Zi Heng had mixed feelings in his heart. He knew he had to protect the honor of his clan, but when he thought of the sins Song Ming He had committed, he felt hatred again.
The brief loss of concentration caused him not to notice that Li Bu Yu's arm had been completely reborn. The newly grown arm suddenly went around the back and tore off the fixing talisman.
The spiritual power of the fixing talisman was bound to diminish over time, and with the huge spiritual power of the reborn severed limb, it broke the talisman at once.
The silvery sword flew towards Song Zi Heng. Song Zi Heng raised his sword to block, and was shaken back several steps by the sword energy.
Li Bu Yu held his sword in one hand and an ancient scroll in the other, which was the Wuliang Sect's treasure that the world had come to fear -----
the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant.
Among the Four Great Divine Treasures, the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant was undoubtedly one of the most powerful magical treasures in the immortal cultivation world. Li Bu Yu knew that in a sword fight, he was no match for Song Zi Heng.
This magical treasure really made Song Zi Heng as if facing a great enemy. He said in a cold voice, "Whether you want to silence me or escape, you cannot escape your own cumulative crimes."
A pained look appeared on Li Bu Yu's face, "Emperor ah Emperor, what do you want me to do to you? How good it would be if you knew nothing."
Song Zi Heng said in a stern voice, "Li Bu Yu, hand over Song Ming He's corpse and admit the sins you have committed." "If Song Zi Xiao knows this, Wuliang Sect would be destroyed, and thousands of cultivators would have their guts cut open and die without a complete body, is this what the Emperor wants to see?"
Song Zi Heng was stunned for a moment. Li Bu Yu was not trying to frighten him with words. This was what happened to the Wuyun Sect back then. Li Bu Yu deserved to die, but most of the cultivators in Wuliang Sect were orthodox and famous and were the tower of strength of the immortal cultivation world. How could he allow Song Zi Xiao to kill the innocent indiscriminately? He gritted his teeth, "Hand over Song Ming He's corpse, and you will go to Zhangyang with me, and apologize for your offense with your death in front of my mother's grave; in this way, you can preserve your Wuliang Sect."
“Hahahahaha-----” Li Bu Yu let out a deranged laugh, and his eyes were almost crying with blood, "I have admired the Emperor for many years. I have never dared to hope that you would look at me properly, and I am already satisfied to receive a few compliments and to follow you, but you and I have to come to this point after all." The scroll in his hand showed a great spiritual light, which slowly spread out.
Song Zi Heng mobilized his spiritual energy and condensed it into his sword, preparing for a great battle.
A man suddenly flew over from the sky. Although he was so small that they could not see his face at all, they immediately recognized that it was Xu Zhi Nan. All swordsmen will fly with their swords, however those from Chunyang Sect did not use swords and would often use objects at their fingertips, such as a leaf or a piece of paper to fly in the wind.
Xu Zhi Nan looked at Li Bu Yu's broken arm on the ground, and the two men were at war. He knew that his previous guess was right, but there were more important matters at hand. He said: “Emperor, Song Zi Xiao has come to Mount Shu.”
Both of them were as if struck by lightning. Li Bu Yu looked at Song Zi Heng warily, and Song Zi Heng looked at Li Bu Yu strugglingly. Xu Zhi Nan's gaze darted back and forth between them, and the scene was comical and sinister for a while.
After a few struggles, Song Zi Heng put away his sword and stared grimly at Li Bu Yu: "You will pay the price."
Li Bu Yu also put away his sword and magical treasure. He took a deep breath and said bitterly, "As long as the Emperor spares Wuliang Sect, Bu Yu is willing to die to apologize for my offense."
Song Zi Heng rose with his sword and flew towards Yunding’s Mountain Gate.
---
Song Zi Xiao was standing on the Eight Trigrams Platform, surveying the pale clouds and bluish-green peaks of Mount Shu from an elevated position. The crowd of cultivators from Wuliang Sect was as if facing a great enemy, not even daring to make a sound when they breathed.
There was a soft sound behind him. Song Zi Xiao turned around to see his big brother just landed on the ground, looking terrified and with bloodshot eyes, as if he had been through something, and he frowned.
Song Zi Heng's heart rumbled and his right hand subconsciously clenched the hilt of his sword.
Song Zi Xiao's gaze was gloomy and bone-chilling: "You took advantage of my departure from the palace, sent Song Zhong Ming away, and fled to Wuliang Sect. Who gave you the guts?"
"Zhong Ming is my son, and there is nothing wrong for me to pass him on to my fifth brother to raise. I came to Wuliang Sect to pay my respects to my mother and will return to the palace in a few days, so where does the word 'flee' come in?" "Do you think that after sending Song Zhong Ming away, you can be free of worries? I can get him back any time."
"Song Zi Xiao, he is only a seven-year-old child, you should let him go." Song Zi Heng said in a deep voice, "With or without Zhong Ming, I can't even escape from your hands. What are you afraid of?"
Song Zi Xiao glared angrily. He already had some subtle thoughts about the existence of Song Zhong Ming. Although he disliked that brat, he couldn't help imagining that it was his and his big brother's child, but Song Zi Heng just secretly sent that brat away, so where was he placed?!
On the contrary, he couldn't say the reason for his anger outright, so he could only relent and say, "That poisonous woman Shen Shi Yao is buried in Mount Shu? I will have her ..."
"If you dare to touch her, you will have to step over my corpse." Song Zi Heng growled.
Song Zi Xiao took a few steps to Song Zi Heng, pinched his cheek and said in a vicious voice, "Threatening me with yourself? How much weight do you think you have*?"
"Emperor, Your Holiness."
Song Zi Xiao let go of his hand and stared grimly at Li Bu Yu.
Li Bu Yu had already changed his clothes, even his sideburns had been re-combed, and his outstanding, handsome face wore an appropriately pleasing smile, as if a terrifying confrontation on Yunlai Peak had never happened: "It is indeed a supreme honor for my Wuliang Sect that the Emperor and Your Holiness are touring in Yunding one after the other. I hope that the Emperor and Your Holiness will forgive Wuliang Sect if we have been inconsiderate."
Song Zi Xiao felt fed up when he saw Li Bu Yu, especially that flattering look, but it happened that this person's words and actions were beyond reproach. He needed the Wuliang Sect, so he could only put up with his impatience. He said coldly, "I just brought back the ice crystal from Fenglin Continent, so I do need to tour around and to discuss alchemy with you."
Song Zi Heng's heart tightened.
Xu Zhi Nan took a few steps forward and said urgently, "Your Holiness, Immortal Lord Qi..."
"She's not dead yet." Song Zi Xiao sneered, "Even though she overestimated her own abilities, I still need the Ice crystal and Shen Nong Ding, so I spared her life for now."
Xu Zhi Nan let out a breath, only his fingertips were still trembling slightly.
"Your Holiness has obtained the Ice crystal ..." Li Bu Yu's eyes rolled, "And now the alchemy will be more effective."
"That’s right, I don’t want to practice on paper anymore*. I'm going to go to Kunlun and directly using Shen Nong Ding to refine the core." Song Zi Xiao looked arrogantly at the people present, as if they were prey beside his mouth, "Thus, you will also need to offer more materials and treasures."
Li Bu Yu and Xu Zhi Nan's hands hidden under their sleeves were clenched tightly, the muscles on their faces squirming strangely, obviously both of them were holding back.
Song Zi Heng's face had even less color. Song Zi Xiao is going to use the Shen Nong Ding to refine the core? To refine cores with Shen Nong Ding, it takes a lot of consumption to open the furnace once. This was not like blowing up one or two core furnaces in the core rooms. Song Zi Xiao is doing it for real this time. He thought back to when he was forced to go to Kunlun by Song Ming He. If he hadn't gone all out and escaped, his golden core would have entered the Shen Nong Ding and gone into Song Ming He's belly. Today was like back then, it was as if a nightmare was repeating itself. Is Song Zi Xiao going to turn into a second Song Ming He and take him to Kunlun to dig up his core?!
How much weight do you think
you have*[你以为你⼏⽄⼏两]----aka “how capable do you think you are”
practice on paper anymore*[ 纸上练兵]---similar to 纸上谈兵 --- idle theorizing
Chapter 153
When he returned to the guest room, Song Zi Xiao hugged his big brother and kissed him solidly, and then rested his face on the crook of his big brother's neck, and said unhappily, "Kunlun is really too cold."
He knew that Kunlun was really cold.
Song Zi Xiao said indignantly, "That demonic girl Qi Meng Sheng, their Cangyu Sect's magical treasure is really powerful. That kind of cold is hard to withstand even with spiritual power, no wonder they can develop and grow without interference outside the Pass. Who would want to go to that damn place?"
"You still went anyway."
"I went, and I made sure to make the trip worthwhile, so I took a lot of ice crystals with me." Song Zi Xiao curled his lips into a smile, "Ice crystals are really good things. They contain a huge amount of spiritual energy left behind by the celestial beings back then. If there were enough of them, they could even create another cave."
Song Zi Heng lowered his head, looking distracted. After all, he felt that he had died once today. Below this numb expression is a howling fierce wind.
"What's wrong with you?" Song Zi Xiao touched his face, "Looking so listless. I haven't punished you yet, and you already got scared?" Song Zi Heng swept him a faint glance, his eyes were waveless like stagnant water.
Song Zi Xiao frowned, "What's wrong with you?" "Nothing."
"Xu Zhi Nan and Li Bu You said something to you, right?" Song Zi Xiao mocked, "Like persuading you to join forces against me?"
"No."
"Do you really think I don't know those shenanigans are feigning compliance?" Song Zi Xiao smiled coldly, "Big brother don't be confused. We are a family. With me around, you can sit firmly on the Song Clan's kingdom."
Song Zi Heng felt ridiculous, what's so valuable about being a puppet emperor and living without dignity?
"You sent Song Zhong Ming away and left the palace without permission, I can not argue with you." Looking at his big brother's dazed expression, Song Zi Xiao felt really uncomfortable in his heart. It was only a few days since they had seen each other, yet his big brother seemed to have aged. Not in appearance, but in his eyes, which were even more dejected and dull than before. Ever since he returned to Daming, his big brother only seemed to smile briefly when he was with Song Zhong Ming, and no matter how jealous and envious he was, he could not change that fact, so there was a need for Song Zhong Ming to stay by their side, "When we return, fetch Song Zhong Ming back."
Song Zi Heng quickly looked at Song Zi Xiao, "What do you want to do?"
Song Zi Xiao said impatiently, "What can I do? Since he is your son, of course he should stay by your side." "I have decided to hand him over to my fifth brother to raise. The sea and the sky are boundless outside the palace, he will have more freedom."
"When he grows up he can naturally go out and travel, how can he be willing to leave you now?" Song Zi Xiao said forcefully, "Pick him up or I'll take action."
"What the hell do you want to do?" Song Zi Heng said in a deep voice.
Song Zi Xiao was very tired of his big brother, looking as if facing an enemy to everything he did. He was also annoyed, "If he is your son, he is my son too. I want him to be our son."
Song Zi Heng looked stunned at Song Zi Xiao.
Song Zi Xiao pursed his lips in annoyance and said with some awkwardness, "Last time I said I want to do this and that to him, but this was just to scare you. Do I still need to blackmail you with a little kid? Pick him up and we can raise him well."
"... Don't indulge in fantasy. You clearly hated him before and said he was the seed of the Hua family. You are willing to raise a son for the Hua family?"
"Why can't I raise him if you can? Didn't you like that brat? Why do you have to send him away? I already said I won't do anything to him."
Song Zi Heng was silent for a moment, "He shouldn't be trapped in the Wuji Palace too."
Song Zi Xiao smiled instead of being angry: "'too'? Does that mean that I trapped you in Wuji Palace? That is the Wuji Palace that you did whatever it took to become the master of. If I were to say 'trapped', it was you who trapped yourself."
"You're right, it was me who trapped myself." Song Zi Heng murmured softly in a low voice. "Don't talk to me about such useless things. If you refuse to bring him back, I will send someone to look for him. If Song Zi Yun refuses to let him go, don't blame me for being ungracious."
Song Zi Heng clenched his fist.
"Big brother, you and I will never have an heir of our own in our lifetime." Song Zi Xiao gently turned his brother's face, his jade-like skin was unnaturally pale. He was clearly a man of great strength, yet he had a unique fragility that could be shattered at the slightest touch, which fascinated him extremely, "So, Song Zhong Ming is our son. In future, we'll be a family."
The word "family" made Song Zi Heng's heart tremble. This was different from the family Song Zi Xiao had spoken of before, which referred to the Song clan, but this family was talking about the three of them. A "family" like the closest direct blood family members in the world, the Song Zi Heng and Song Zi Xiao in the past. These three words made Song Zi Heng inexplicably sad. He concealed his expression by turning his face away, "You can't find them, I can't find them either." Although Song Zi Yun's cultivation was not as good as theirs, the sky and land were so big that hiding for a period of time was not a difficult task.
"I can find them." Song Zi Xiao snorted coldly, "I will definitely get him back."
Song Zi Heng pursed his lips, feeling vaguely worried.
"When he returns, I can personally teach him swordplay and lead him in cultivation." Song Zi Xiao poked the corner of his big brother's mouth with his fingertip, "Be happy. I know you want him to stay in the palace. You and I will raise him together. If he falls short, I will certainly admonish him a little. If he feels aggrieved, he might go to you to complain tearfully, and you cannot spoil him." As he spoke, a picture of a "family of three" sharing a family bond came to his mind, and a warmth suddenly flooded his heart. He was so ashamed to say the plot of his fantasy out loud, but that's what he wanted. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with his big brother like that. His lips couldn't help but bring a smile to the corners, "You and I would probably make a 'strict father and loving mother' pair."
"Don't talk nonsense." Song Zi Heng rebuked.
Song Zi Xiao gave a flirtatious evil smile, "But you are my woman." "Get lost." Song Zi Heng pushed him away.
Song Zi Xiao pulled him into his arms again, "What are you angry about?
You haven't seen me for many days. Big brother didn't miss me at all?" Song Zi Heng did not even look at him.
"But I miss big brother." Song Zi Xiao lowered his head, gave a shallow kiss on his big brother's hair and chuckled, "Kunlun is so cold, I just want to hug big brother and sleep together at night. Did big brother feel cold and want me to hug you too when you are alone in Wuji Palace?"
"But I didn't expect you weren't even waiting for me at Wuji Palace, instead you ran to Mount Shu, but no matter where you go, big brother's body will always think of me, right?" Song Zi Xiao pushed his big brother into his arms, and their two lower halves were pressed tightly together.
Song Zi Heng's body immediately tensed up.
"Kunlun is so cold. I really want to plunge my baby into big brother's body to warm it up too."
"That's enough of you." Song Zi Heng said angrily, "Speaking these filthy words all day long, it's simply ..."
Song Zi Xiao chuckled non-stop, "I like to see big brother being shy." "Let go of me."
"I won't let go." Song Zi Xiao clamped down on his struggle, "If you move again, are you trying to provoke me to fuck you in the middle of the day at Wuliang Sect?" Immediately, Song Zi Heng stopped moving.
"I'd like to, but I'm afraid you're too thin-skinned and will be too angry to eat anything." Song Zi Xiao pinched his big brother's cheeks, "It's been difficult to plumpen you up, hasn't it?"
"You know it's broad daylight. Whatever you want to say, let go of me first before talking." Song Zi Heng endured and said in a tone of negotiation. Song Zi Xiao was used to being unreasonable and wilful. He was really afraid that if he clung to him like this, and a fire sparked, Song Zi Xiao would change his mind.
"I will hug big brother and say it." Song Zi Xiao got the ice crystal and was in a good mood, even Song Zi Heng's disobedience and indifference didn't really make him angry, "You know, this time when I went to Kunlun, I did one more thing."
"..."
"Ask me what it was." Song Zi Xiao gently nibbled on his big brother's neck.
"What was it?"
"I left Wuya* in Fenglin Continent."
Song Zi Heng became really curious at this point, "Why?" Wherever Song Zi Xiao appeared, the demon foal was always with him.
Song Zi Heng became really curious at this point, "Why?" Wherever Song Zi Xiao appeared, the demon foal was always with him.
"To say the least, it's because of you." "What do you mean?"
"When I fought with Qi Meng Sheng, Wuya fell to the bottom of Fengming Lake. Later I went to the bottom of the lake to look for it. It said that the lake water had brought back some of its memories and reminded it of Wujiang. It had accompanied me all the way and now it wanted to return to Wujiang to protect its old master. I wanted to grant its wish, but I received a report that you had disappeared from Wuji Palace, so I had to rush back."
"What does that have to do with you leaving it at the bottom of Fengming Lake?"
"Fengming Lake is the cave of Cangyu Sect, where spiritual energy is abundant. Its cultivation can be greatly enhanced there. I will return to Kunlun soon to refine a core at Shen Nong Ding, so it is not too late to take it away then."
Song Zi Heng pondered for a moment, "Opening the Shen Nong Ding once is laborious and costly. How sure are you that you dare to venture out and open the furnace?"
"It was true last time, but if the fire is quenched with an ice crystal, the furnace fire will burn very well, and it will also shorten the time for the alchemy considerably. In the past, when all the great sects wanted to go to Shen Nong Ding to quench something, they had to be charged a fee by the Cangyu Sect. Cangyu Sect only sent a few elders and brought a few ice crystals to help, but those ice crystals did work wonders. Now that I have brought so many ice crystals from the bottom of Fengming Lake, there is no reason not to try it."
"Even if you can shorten the time for refining, you can't recover the base material that you put into the furnace. If it doesn't work the first few times, are you going to empty the immortal cultivation world of its hidden treasures?"
"And how do you know it won't work?" Song Zi Xiao hummed lightly, "Ran Xing Wen said that he had already found a way to refine the core. If he could use the Shen Nong Ding, he would be seventy or eighty percent sure."
Song Zi Heng's heart trembled slightly as he lowered his brows to hide the pain in his eyes, "So, did you find that base material that he wanted for him?"
Song Zi Xiao froze for a moment, remembering the horn of some foreign beast he had casually made up on New Year's Eve.
"Can that rare base material really treat all the worldly treasures as common things, and can help you refine a supreme immortal core?" Song Zi Heng's eyes stared vacantly into the void, the white kernels of his eyes gradually crawling with trails of blood vessels.
"Hm." Song Zi Xiao gave a perfunctory response and his gaze sank. If he couldn't refine the core he wanted with the ice crystal added to the Shen Nong Ding, what should he do? His hand rested unconsciously on his big brother's abdomen. The thing that would help him attain the Great Dao was just a thin layer of skin and flesh away, but he dared not think about it.
He couldn't bear to. He wanted the white flesh to be the same as before, his big brother to be the same as before.
Song Zi Heng also felt that hand, which seemed to have a will of its own, measuring the depth of his skin and flesh, which was the exact location of his dantian, just waiting for the right moment to gut him and dig away his lifelong cultivation alive.
Despair engulfed him.
Wuya* ---- SQC finally changed to Wuzhui [乌骓] instead of Wuya [乌鸦], idk if I should continue calling Wuya or Wuzhui LOL. I'll stick to Wuya okay? SQC FINALLY notice her mistake after so many chapters... But I'm too lazy to go through all the past chapters and change them.
Chapter 154
Li Bu Yu hosted a banquet for Song Zi Xiao, and all the high-ranking cultivators of the entire Wuliang Sect were present. Watching the Demon Supreme sitting on the main seat dedicated to the Sect Master and giving orders, everyone felt indignant but dared not to speak.
At the end of the banquet, Song Zi Xiao proposed to see the treasure trove of the Wuliang Sect.
Even Li Bu Yu, who was so smooth and slick, changed his expression on the spot when he heard this. What dignity was there in "welcoming" an outsider into one's own treasure trove to pick and choose and plunder it?
Song Zi Xiao took in their embarrassment and humiliation, but was only more pleased with himself as he said coolly, "Sect Leader Li, lead the way."
Li Bu Yu glanced at the expressionless Song Zi Heng, gritted his teeth and forced out a smile, "Your Holiness, please."
Song Zi Xiao took two steps before stopping and looking back at Song Zi Heng, "Big brother?"
"I am not going." Song Zi Heng said coldly, "The treasure trove is an important place in the sect, how can you go in and out as you wish?"
Song Zi Xiao snorted, "Fine."
After they left, Song Zi Heng and Xu Zhi Nan had a chance to be alone. A serious congeal look on Xu Zhi Nan's face, "Emperor, did Li Bu Yu admit it? His arm ..."
Song Zi Heng said in a cold voice: "This man is hypocritical, murderous and very sinister. He has confessed to everything."
Xu Zhi Nan narrowed his eyes, "The late Emperor and Consort Shen were both killed by him, and Yan Zhi's lifelong cultivation actually ended up in his hands."
"If it wasn't for the sudden arrival of Song Zi Xiao, at this point, Li Bu Yu and I would have battled it out."
"Emperor must not let your emotions affect your decisions. We are still at Mount Shu. If it was just Li Bu Yu, there’s nothing to fear, but with thousands of cultivators in Wuliang Sect, there is almost no power in this world that can fight against them." Xu Zhi Nan paused, "Unless ..."
Song Zi Heng stared at Xu Zhi Nan, "Unless what? Unless you use Song Zi Xiao's Yin soldiers?"
Xu Zhi Nan frowned and said nothing. He too was caught up in the difficult problem of not knowing what to do with Li Bu Yu.
"About Song Zi Xiao, Li Bu Yu also admitted another thing." "What is it?"
"When my mother was alive, I asked several times who had revealed Song Zi Xiao's birth to her, but she refused to say." Song Zi Heng looked at Xu Zhi Nan deeply and darkly, his gaze like a firefly in the forest, glowing stubbornly in the darkness, "I think she was afraid that I would clash with the Wuliang Sect when its foundation was unstable, because the person who told on her was none other than Li Bu Yu."
Xu Zhi Nan's lips pursed up gently.
"Li Bu Yu told her about this matter in order to let her do the dirty work for him and eradicate Song Zi Xiao." Song Zi Heng took a few steps towards Xu Zhi Nan and said softly, "Then, Brother Xu, what about you?" Xu Zhi Nan was stunned, "Emperor ..."
"That day in the underground palace, Li Bu Yu likewise heard my conversation with Lu Zhao Feng. You and Qi Meng Sheng both knew about it, right"
Xu Zhi Nan sighed tersely, "Yes."
"I asked you guys to swear not to reveal this secret, and you guys allowed Li Bu Yu to use it as a weapon, keeping me in the dark from start to finish." Song Zi Heng once again came closer, his eyes wide with anger, and his voice already dripping with murderous energy.
"Emperor, listen to my explanation ..."
Song Zi Heng grabbed Xu Zhi Nan's collar and growled, "I trusted you so much, yet you deceived me. You knew how important Xiao Jiu was to me, and you allowed Li Bu Yu to harm him!"
"I already regret it!" Xu Zhi Nan was a man who rarely had mood swings. Even if he did, it was hard to see it on the surface, as if he was always at ease with whatever he faced, but at this moment his face was full of struggle, "In my heart and Meng Sheng's, there is no one more suitable than you to be the Human Emperor. We do have selfish intentions, but I regret it. Everything that has happened, I regret it all."
"Regret?" Song Zi Heng said sternly, "What's the use of regretting? My Xiao Jiu has turned into the Demon Supreme, and his ambition is to swallow up everyone, including you, including your Chunyang Sect!"
Xu Zhi Nan said painfully, "It's my fault, I'm sorry."
Song Zi Heng viciously pushed Xu Zhi Nan away. He staggered back a few steps, his voice sounded tired after anger: "I have always believed in you and regarded you as my elder brother. I have always believed in you ..." Perhaps it was because he had accumulated too many disappointments. At this moment, his greatest realization is no realization and numbness. Angry nerves that have been pulled for a long time become relaxed. Looking at the people around one after another to remove their mask of hypocrisy, it was as if it should be.
It turned out that no one really treated him with sincerity, not a single one.
Parents, brothers, friends, followers, everyone was using him for their own purposes and deceived him.
Why had he come here and why did he exist? Why should he spend his life caught in this mire from which he could not escape?
"Zi Heng, I'm sorry." Xu Zhi Nan said remorsefully, "I only wanted to help you become Emperor Song. I did have considerations for the Chunyang Sect, but I was also really unjust for you. I didn't expect things to turn out like this. Everything got out of hand. I'm too late to repent, I'm sorry."
Song Zi Heng looked at Xu Zhi Nan with a vacant gaze, "Do you really have remorse? When I first begged you to find Xiao Jiu, the Chunyang Sect disciples were all over the world, yet you couldn't find him. If Xiao Jiu could have been protected, he wouldn't have gone astray, he wouldn't have fallen into the demonic path, and he wouldn't have become the Song Zi Xiao he is today. Do you know that you are eating your own bitter fruit*?!"
"I really did search. I didn't dare to make a big fanfare of it, but I sent countless people to search for him privately, yet there were never any clues, and because of ..." Xu Zhi Nan gritted his teeth.
"Because what?"
"Because of me. My body would have problems. Every once in a while, problems will arise, and I need to go into seclusion to recuperate. This matter was delayed several times, and eventually he was not found." Song Zi Heng recalled that Li Bu Yu had complained that sometimes Xu Zhi Nan had a change in temperament when he was in seclusion. He did not understand the Chunyang Technique, but martial arts cultivation refined the physical body, which had a great impact on the body and the mind. He had no intention of knowing what exactly was "wrong" with Xu Zhi Nan as it was too late.
Xu Zhi Nan let out a bitter laugh, "You're right, I've eaten my own bitter fruit. Now the whole immortal cultivation world is keeping quiet out of fear. He took the ice crystal from Cangyu Sect yesterday, he entered the treasure trove of the Wuliang Sect today, he will go to Chunyang Sect tomorrow, and no one can resist."
Song Zi Heng was silent for a long time: "This is exactly why I have spared Li Bu Yu for the time being. If he knew the truth, the fate of the Wuyun Sect would be the history that mirrors the Wuliang Sect."
"Li Bu Yu cannot escape from his responsibility for such an offense, but so many cultivators of the Wuliang Sect are indeed innocent."
"He said that if I could spare Wuliang Sect, he would follow me to my mother's grave and apologize for his offense with his death."
"Li Bu Yu is guilty, and so am I." Xu Zhi Nan looked at Song Zi Heng with pain and trepidation in his eyes, "I have no complaints about how Emperor will punish me. I owe it to Emperor."
Song Zi Heng said indifferently, "I want you to promise me one thing. I want you to swear."
"Okay."
"We are all waiting for an opportunity to join forces against Song Zi Xiao. If one day we do turn against him, you will join me and save his life."
Xu Zhi Nan was stunned: "Emperor, you have treated him ..." "I have a guilty conscience towards him." No matter how much he hated Song Zi Xiao, no matter how much he separated Xiao Jiu from that cold and ruthless Demon Supreme, he could not watch Song Zi Xiao die. Perhaps it was because Song Zi Xiao still remembered their past in his dreams, or perhaps it was because Song Zi Xiao hugged him and called out "big brother", which always touched his heart.
Xu Zhi Nan sighed, "I swear."
---
After returning from the treasure trove, Song Zi Xiao seemed to have a lot of harvest. As if he had treated the centuries of wealth accumulated by the Wuliang Sect as his own qiankun bag, which he could access as he wished.
After spreading out a few of the top alchemy base materials, he saw Song Zi Heng still looking preoccupied. He squeezed Song Zi Heng's waist: "What's wrong with you these days? You haven’t been quite right ever since you arrived at Wuliang Sect."
Song Zi Heng swept him a faint glance, "How can I be considered 'right'?"
"Are you deliberately getting angry at me? Because of Song Zhong Ming?"
"No."
"Then what is it?" Song Zi Xiao frowned, "Stop saying it's alright, it’s nothing. I don't put up with you a lot just so you can spend all day looking at me with a sad face."
"I want to go and pay my respects to my mother." Song Zi Heng's voice volume unconsciously became smaller, "... is it okay?"
Song Zi Xiao narrowed his eyes, "What have you been doing for the past two days?" "There are rules to follow when paying respect. Tomorrow is an auspicious day." Song Zi Heng whispered, "It will only take a few hours."
Song Zi Xiao did not reply, and he sat up on the bed, facing Song Zi Heng with a stiff back.
"... Pretend I didn't mention it. Let's go back to Daming." Song Zi Heng did not want to let Li Bu Yu continue to live, but he could not risk upsetting Song Zi Xiao either, so he could only find another opportunity to take revenge.
After a long time, Song Zi Xiao said in a deep voice, "Yes."
Astonishment flashed in Song Zi Heng's eyes. Did Song Zi Xiao really agree to him paying respect to his mother?
Song Zi Xiao turned back around, "I promise you this request, and you have to return one to me."
"What do you want?" Song Zi Heng's heart suddenly jumped a few times.
Song Zi Xiao didn't think properly for a moment, whether to ask him to immediately reveal Song Zhong Ming's whereabouts, or ask him to open his mouth and call him Xiao Jiu, or to ask for something else. He thought he was in control of this man, only to find out the reverse, that he couldn't hold anything, or even see a genuine smile. Can he ask his big brother to give him back his big brother?
This silence only made Song Zi Heng imagine a worse direction.
"I'll tell you when I've thought about it." Song Zi Xiao smoothed out Song Zi Heng's thick black hair and tugged the man into his arms again, "After this is over, we won’t go back to Daming, just go straight to Kunlun."
Song Zi Heng's body stiffened, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I don't want to waste time." Song Zi Xiao's kiss fell on the hair that smelled faintly of fragrant orchids. "I don't want to go. Wuji Palace must not be left without a master."
"You must go." Song Zi Xiao said as he tugged at his lapel, "I've only been away for a few days and you've come to Mount Shu. This trip to Kunlun to refine a core will be months long. I can't go so long without seeing you."
"What about the Wuji Palace?"
"As long as I'm still alive, Wuji Palace won't dare to get messed up. What are you worried about?" Song Zi Xiao's big hand caressed his brother's waist and belly, the warm and delicate texture of his palm "attracting" him in turn, making him linger.
"Wait ..."
"I can't wait." Song Zi Xiao pinned him down.
The long, dull night could not hide the erotic sight of this room.
eating your own bitter
fruit*[⾃⾷恶果]--- to suffer the consequences of one's own actions / to stew in one's own juice
Chapter 155
Li Bu Yu had suppressed Zong Ming He's corpse at Diancang Peak, making Zong Zi Heng feel mad and disgusted. But after calming down and thinking carefully, many suspicions sprang to the surface.
Even if Li Bu Yu hated Zong Ming He to the core, the person whose core had been dug up will have deep resentment and would most certainly come back to haunt. Who would place such an ominous object at their doorstep? Not to mention that thousands of cultivators living on Diancang Peak, wouldn't Li Bu Yu be afraid that someone would find it by mistake?
With such doubts, Zong Zi Heng made up an excuse to ask Zong Zi Xiao about the Big Dipper Zhengji Demon Binding Formation. After all, there would be no one in this world who knew more about the ‘Yellow Emperor's Yin Fu Heavenly Secret Scripture’ than Zong Zi Xiao. If he had not studied this book intensely during his ten years of wandering the world, he would not have been able to find the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman that had been buried for millions of years.
"Why are you asking about this formation?" Zong Zi Xiao asked suspiciously.
"I remembered the last time I talked with Lao Wu, he said he had seen it in folklore when he was out traveling. Such an evil formation, and that cultivator had placed it in the backyard of his house, it really boggles my mind." Zong Zi Heng said in an indifferent manner, "Wouldn't that formation reduce the blessings of the person who cast it and increase his karma?"
"Yes and no. The world doesn't know enough about this formation."
"What does that mean?"
"Is the one being suppressed a person of great wealth or profound cultivation?"
Zong Zi Heng was shocked, "I didn't ask about that. I was just chatting with Lao Wu, so he probably doesn't know either."
"The most vicious thing about that formation is not only does it torture the people in the formation, but it can also suck the fate of the people in the formation, causing feng shui to flourish and people to prosper in the place where the formation is located." Zong Zi Xiao played with his big brother's hair, "However, prices have to be paid for all evil arts. Ordinary people dare not to try them."
Zong Zi Heng clenched his fist secretly.
"It seems that this person who cast the spell is an expert and has studied the Heavenly Secret Scripture quite well." Zong Zi Xiao sneered, "Unfortunately, he is not destined to end up well, it only depends on whether he will pay in this life or the next."
Zong Zi Heng gazed at Zong Zi Xiao, "What about you?"
Zong Zi Xiao raised his eyebrows.
"That spell caster only used one of the formations and had to suffer karmic retribution. You know the evil spells in that forbidden book like the back of your hand and even used the Heavenly Secret Talisman. Have you ever thought about what price you will have to pay?" At the end of his speech, Zong Zi Heng's breathing was already unstable. The killings Zong Zi Xiao had made and the disobedience to the Heavenly Dao, he probably would not be able to pay it back in this life or the next.
Zong Zi Xiao hooked his lips into a smile, but there was only coldness in his eyes, "Is big brother concerned about me?"
"I want to advise you to stop ..."
"It's too late." Zong Zi Xiao revealed a wicked smile, "I mobilized the Yin soldiers and acted against the heavens. I slaughtered Wuyun Sect and did thousands of killings, what good ending can I have? That's why I need that immortal core that can help me break the boundary. Only by cultivating the Great Dao and transcending reincarnation can I be free from the bondage of karma."
Zong Zi Heng laughed mockingly, "So you are also afraid of going to hell."
"I'm not afraid of going to hell, I just want to stay wherever you are."
Zong Zi Heng's heart choked. Zong Zi Xiao looked at him with a deep and burning gaze, as if there was inexhaustible love. How could there be a look in the world that was mixed with male desire and childish dependence at the same time, like a fierce beast asking cruelly and innocently, "Can I eat you up?"
Zong Zi Heng slowly turned his face away, yet Zong Zi Xiao grabbed his chin and turned it back: "Big brother, we are destined to live and die together. Wherever you go, I will go."
That frank vow, and the lust that seemed to pour out of his eyes made Zong Zi Heng realize that perhaps Zong Zi Xiao was about to say something to him, something more intense, more undisguised, more blunt. The imagined confession that was to come made him so flurried that he didn't know how to face it. Even though he had understood exactly what this twisted desire of Zong Zi Xiao for him was since long ago, but as long as no one said it, they could still pretend.
A strong urge came to his lips, but it was hard to spit it out. Zong Zi Xiao opened his mouth, his throat dry as if it was sealed by some spell. The words he wanted to say were the words he didn't want to say. The face he loved so much reflected in his eyes, yet he remembered the blood spurting from his mother's tragic death in front of him.
He bit his lip and his eyes became red.
The stirring in Zong Zi Heng's heart had not yet ceased, but the words he waited for were like a bucket of cold water poured down on him.
"If you want to sit firmly on your throne, you should help me to reign over the immortal cultivation world for a long time." Zong Zi Xiao said in a coarse voice, "We too will be together for a long time." A long time, that would be enough.
Zong Zi Heng lowered his eyes and suddenly felt his heart ache extremely.
---
Before sunset, Zong Zi Heng saw Zong Ming He's corpse in an extremely hidden natural cave at Diancang Peak.
In the center of the ancient and evil formation, a half-decayed corpse lay flat on its back, and each point in the formation was connected to the stone wall by a wrist-thick iron chain, creating a crisscrossing net trap. Only a formation like this could suppress a patriarch-level cultivator with deep resentment.
Zong Zi Heng gasped as his body trembled.
It had been ten years. He had never thought that after ten years, he would see his own father again in this way. The man he had hated most in his life, but now that he had watched this man turn into an evil spirit, he did not know what he felt in his heart. He had neither father-son love nor pity for Zong Ming He, but as a descendant of the Zong Clan and as Emperor Zong, he had to defend the dignity of his family.
Li Bu Yu stood aside and looked coldly at the evil formation he had laid with his own hands.
"How do you undo this formation?"
"You have to cut the iron chain first, and then unseal it." Li Bu Yu said indifferently, "Emperor, releasing him at this time will definitely alert Zong Zi Xiao."
Zong Zi Heng furrowed his brows.
In a holy place of spiritual cultivation like Mount Shu, where thousands of cultivators had gathered, the Yang energy was so strong that no evil spirits would dare to come near in a ten-mile radius, and if there were, they would simply be collected before they could stay and cause trouble. Once Zong Ming He was released, with his cultivation level and the accumulation of grievances during these ten years, he would soon be detected. At that time, how would he explain Zong Ming He's identity? And what would Zong Zi Xiao do if he knew the truth? He said, "A spell can be cast to suppress his resentment."
"But with his cultivation, the two of us can't ensure that everything is foolproof. If we leak a little bit, others can muddle through, but I'm afraid that Zong Zi Xiao ..."
Zong Zi Xiao not only had a high cultivation level, but he was also holding the Heavenly Secret Talisman in his hand and was extremely sensitive to Yin energy and grievance. If he had sensed an evil spirit at Mount Shu, he would definitely not ignore such a bizarre matter.
Zong Zi Heng said in a cold voice, "Then what should we do?"
"We can only wait until Zong Zi Xiao has left ..."
"You still want to fool me?" Zong Zi Heng looked at Li Bu Yu with eyes hardened with ice, "When we return to Daming, you will be able to get away with your crimes in this huge world!"
"Bu Yu does not dare to think so." Li Bu Yu said gloomily, "I have promised the Emperor. As long as the Emperor does not tell Zong Zi Xiao the truth and spare Wuliang Sect, I am willing to go to Consort Shen's tomb to apologize for my offense with my death."
Zong Zi Heng was silent for a moment, "Leave it to your uncle. After the seal is lifted, I will arrange for someone to escort his body back to the Zong Clan's imperial cemetery."
"My uncle doesn't know about it. It's best if this matter is left to me ..."
"You don't have time for that."
Li Bu Yu froze, "What the Emperor means is ..."
"You are to go with me to Zhangyang and fulfill your promise."
"... When."
Zong Zi Heng looked at him coldly: "Now."
Li Bu Yu paled abruptly, "Emperor, if I ... you go to Zhangyang, how will you explain it to Zong Zi Xiao?"
"There’s no need to explain to him." Zong Zi Heng's gaze was hollow as he looked ahead, with only a barely pieced together and glued soul left beneath his intact shell. He couldn't hold on much longer. He couldn't let Zong Zi Xiao dig up his golden core, so all he could do was run away, like he had done when he escaped from Zong Ming He.
Before he left Daming, he had already had this plan in mind. Zong Zhong Ming will be the heir from the Fifth Prince, and all the clansmen had made their arrangements, and their subordinates had been disbanded where they should be. Now that he had moved his mother's tomb to a safe place, he did not feel worried anymore. Jiuzhou is vast. If he deliberately hid, perhaps Zong Zi Xiao wouldn't be able to find him forever.
Even if he was to die, he would not let Zong Zi Xiao have his core. He did not want Zong Zi Xiao to become Zong Ming He, nor did he want Zong Zi Xiao to have infinitely inflated ambition and power.
Li Bu Yu instantly understood Zong Zi Heng's intention. A fine sweat seeped out from his forehead, and his eyes quickly rolled as he hid his trembling hands in his sleeves, "Since the Emperor has already made up his mind, Bu Yu does not dare to disobey."
"You don't dare to disobey?" Zong Zi Heng sneered, "If Zong Zi Xiao had not come that day, I probably would have lost at Mount Shu."
Li Bu Yu could not hide his sadness as he let out a bitter laugh, "The Emperor has really overestimated me. Even though the Emperor wants me dead, I couldn't bear to kill you."
Zong Zi Heng did not believe him at all and only said, "I will give you your last decency."
There was sadness and hatred in Li Bu Yu's eyes as he bowed deeply, "Many thanks to the Emperor."
Chapter 156
In front of Zong Zi Heng, Li Bu Yu sent a sound transmission flower to his third uncle, asking him to unseal the corpse from the Demon Binding Formation and hand it over to the Zong Clan's emissary after Zong Zi Xiao had left.
After Zong Zi Heng had planned to settle down, he intended to try to inform Zong Zi Yun or the elders to come and escort Zong Ming He's corpse back to Daming. Although he was not too sure whether he would be able to escape Zong Zi Xiao's pursuit, he had no other choice but to escape.
Fluttering like a butterfly, the transmitting flower waved its wings and swooped into the light, escaping the eerie and evil cave in the blink of an eye.
Zong Zi Heng let out a sigh secretly, his gaze faintly looking towards Li Bu Yu.
Li Bu Yu said in a deep voice, "Does the Emperor really want to choose today and at this time now? I am not clinging to life, I am just worried that provoking Zong Zi Xiao will be unfavorable to the Emperor."
"'Unfavorable'? Why do you think I want to run away?" If he couldn't stop Zong Zi Xiao from being unfavorable to him, the immortal cultivation world would probably never see the light of day again.
Zong Zi Heng took out a talisman from his qiankun pouch.
Li Bu Yu took a step back and pleaded, "The Emperor promises to give me one last act of decency." He pulled out the qiankun pouch from his arms and placed it on the ground, "My sword lives and dies with me, but I’ll leave the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant behind for Wuliang Sect."
What Zong Zi Heng feared most was the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant. Seeing this, he thought for a moment and put away the talisman, "The life and death of the Wuliang Sect is at the tip of your tongue."
"Don't worry, Emperor, I have committed an unforgivable sin and have already treated life and death indifferently. Besides, I am no match for the Emperor."
"Let's go."
Zong Zi Heng gave Zong Ming He one last look. There was no joy or sorrow in his eyes, only indifference.
The two of them lowered their spiritual breath to a minimum, and without anyone noticing, they flew away from Mount Shu on their swords.
It was twilight, the time when morning and evening were alternated. Zong Zi Heng used paying his respects as an excuse to act alone. Zong Zi Xiao would not realize he was no longer on Mount Shu until the evening. A few hours will be enough for him to fly to Zhangyang.
As the clouds swirled, Mount Shu faded into the background. Zong Zi Heng took one last look back, really wanting to see Zong Zi Xiao again ---- if this was the last time.
---
Zhangyang was a small city in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Zhangyang Shen Clan was his mother's clan back then. Later, they suffered a reversal of fortune, and his mother had no choice but to join a distant relative from the Daming Zong Clan, and because of her intelligence and beauty, she was chosen by the Empress Dowager* and was taught in the palace. She and Zong Ming He were childhood sweethearts and innocent playmates.
Everything was just fate.
A few days ago, they had been here to move a grave, but they had been in a hurry that day and had not taken a good look at the place. Currently, it’s in the middle of the night, and nothing could even be seen. Zong Zi Heng found Shen Shi Yao's tomb with the spirit breath he left behind.
Shen Shi Yao's soul had already been dispersed by the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant. Within the three realms, among the reincarnations, she was only left with these dried bones. Thinking of this, Zong Zi Heng felt extremely sad and his grief surfaced.
With a thud, Li Bu Yu knelt in front of Shen Shi Yao's tomb.
Zong Zi Heng whispered, "You have done much evil, yet you still have a chance to redeem yourself. My mother has nothing left, and one day when I am gone, no one in this world will even remember her anymore."
Li Bu Yu remained silent.
"You claim to be seeking revenge, but in fact revenge is just an excuse for your evil deeds. You killed in order to get Zong Ming He's core. You used the evil formation to suppress Zong Ming He at Diancang Peak in order to suck his rich destiny for the Wuliang Sect to prosper. You said you felt sorry for me, but you brutalized all the people I cared about, including me, who is also just a pawn for you to use." Zong Zi Heng's tone sounded peaceful, which appeared extraordinarily gloomy and cold in the dark valley.
Li Bu Yu walked towards Zong Zi Heng with his knees, tilted his head to look at him, and said in a trembling voice, "Emperor, I may be wicked beyond redemption, but my feelings for you are true."
Zong Zi Heng looked at Li Bu Yu condescendingly.
“I…” Li Bu Yu’s eyes gradually reddened and said while holding back his tears, "I adored you from the moment you saved me. I have always wanted to catch up with you. I went to Wuji Palace every now and then, not for my aunt, but to see you. But I am slow-witted in nature. If I were not the heir to the Wuliang Sect, you would probably disdain me."
"Say no more." Zong Zi Heng said coldly.
"There are factional disputes within the Wuliang Sect, and the immortal families outside have ill intentions. With my roots alone, it is not possible to support a large family. I had no choice ah.” Li Bu Yu cried, "Emperor, how I wish we had never grown up. That you were still the smiling Highness, and I were still the young master of the Li family under the protection of my father. I would be satisfied if I could ask you for some advice and a few words."
"Say no more!" Zong Zi Heng said in a stern voice, "What is the use of talking about this now?" He had never forgotten his youth, the best youth of his life. At that time, although he was not respected by his father, his mother was gentle and loving, and his younger brother was smart and cute. He was so determined to cultivate immortality that his only worry was whether he could gain face for the Zong Clan at the Jiaolong Assembly. Yet the man in front of him was not the hated sect leader of the Wuliang Sect or the murderer who had ruined his family, but just a young friend who liked to play with him.
Li Bu Yu choked out, "Does the Emperor even find my last few words annoying?"
Zong Zi Heng clenched his fist.
"Actually, when you say you are satisfied, how can you really be satisfied?" Li Bu Yu grabbed Zong Zi Heng's robe, his eyes tinged with madness, "I have taken one step wrong and one step closer to you at the same time, so I couldn't stop ... I am not willing ah. If I were Zong Zi Xiao, I would never dare to curse you."
Zong Zi Heng swatted away Li Bu Yu's hand and took a few steps back, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, "That's enough."
Li Bu Yu laughed bitterly twice and drew a dagger from his boot and placed it against his chest. He looked miserable and desperate. His hazy, teary eyes still struggling to see Zong Zi Heng clearly: "Emperor, please don't forget me. If there is an afterlife, I wish to be with you as a couple."
With a ‘puchi’, the dagger penetrated Li Bu Yu's heart, and blood gushed out wildly.
Zong Zi Heng closed his eyes. He felt very sad, and he didn't know because of who.
---
Zong Zi Heng buried Li Bu Yu properly and talked to his mother again. After finishing all these, it was already dawn.
He took out a thick, casual suit from his qiankun pouch and put it on, put on his bamboo hat and went down the mountain.
A new day had begun in Zhangyang City. Although it was only a small and insignificant place, the people were busy, each rushing about to make a living, and this delicate and simple earthly atmosphere was full of life.
When he was young, he often heard his mother talk about her hometown, but both times he went to Jiangnan, he did not come due to unexpected turns of events, so he thought that one day he would come back to see it on behalf of his mother. But he never expected that the tricky and inconstant hand of fate, after taking away everything from him, would hold him down in the cold and lonely Wuji Palace.
Today his wish came true, but his mental state will never return.
He stood in the crowd of people, yet he felt panicked and confused. Knowing that no one would recognize him, yet he didn’t dare to look up. He escaped from Zong Zi Xiao, yet fear followed him like a shadow.
It’s hard to imagine, as a young boy, it was his dream to travel the world. He loved the local conditions and customs, good wine and delicious food, and was always excited to buy new and interesting things to take back to his mother and younger brother. He saw the vast world and learned how to be compassionate. Whenever he blends into the great wide world, he will then be relieved from the mental knot of his unaccomplished ambitions for a while.
At that time, he had great ambition, he had a great spirit, he had unlimited hopes for the future, but now, just walking through a street, he already feels physically and mentally exhausted. He just wants to find a place where no one knows about him and hide himself deep, deep down. A good man's ambition lies everywhere, and he does not have to trap himself in a square-inch palace.
At that time, he had lofty sentiments and high aspirations, he was high-spirited and vigorous, with boundless hopes for the future, but now, just walking along the street, he already felt physically and mentally exhausted, and he wanted to find a place where no one knows about and hide deep, deep down.
He was standing in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar crowd, not knowing where to go.
---
Zong Zi Heng originally wanted to hide in Zhangyang for a while, and then find a more secluded place to hide. The only one who could guess where he was now was Xu Zhi Nan. Although he no longer trusted him, he did not think Xu Zhi Nan would betray him, which was not in anyone's interest.
In fact, even if Xu Zhi Nan did not say anything, sooner or later, Zong Zi Xiao would find this place by his own means, so he would not stay for long.
However, he never expected that the escape he thought he had made would only last for two days. When he felt Zong Zi Xiao's overwhelming spiritual pressure, the last spark of hope in his heart was silently extinguished.
Zong Zi Xiao was in the air with his sword. His black hair and clothes were dancing wildly. His body was surrounded by a black death aura. His anger and killing intent were intertwined, boiling towards the sky, with the momentum of devouring the sky and destroying the earth.
On the other hand, Zong Zi Heng's handsome, glazed white face is plain and indifferent. His pupils seem to be covered with a layer of grey mist, no longer able to transmit light.
In the small city of Zhangyang, there had never been such a battle before, and the people on the ground pointed up to the sky, watching the two immortals, one black and one white, confronting each other.
"Zong, Zi, Heng!" Zong Zi Xiao's eyes were wide with anger, "How dare you!"
Zong Zi Heng looked calmly at the man in front of him, "How did you find me?"
"Is that all you have to say?"
"Forget it, it doesn't matter."
"You're looking for death." Zong Zi Xiao said viciously, "Haven't I treated you leniently and well enough? I even allowed you to pay respect to the poisonous woman who killed my mother, and you? You dare to leave without a word!" He waited for hours, until it was dark, until late at night, waiting for his big brother to return, but his big brother didn't come back. When he was finally sure that the man had anxiously fled from him, his heart felt like it had been fully crushed. He gave in again and again, his guilt for his mother tormenting him day and night as he loved his enemy helplessly, but all he got was an unforgiving abandonment. Just like ten years ago.
Who does he think he is? He was nothing. Even if he had the greatest power in the world, in his big brother's eyes, he was still the same dog that could be fooled, trampled and thrown away at will from ten years ago!
Zong Zi Heng's heart ached as if his heart had been wrung, and he said, trembling and slowly, "Zong Zi Xiao, I will not let you have my golden core."
Zong Zi Xiao's body shook greatly.
----
Empress Dowager*[太皇太后]---aka the mother of the emperor. In this case she’s Zong Zi Heng’s grandma, and Zong Ming He’s mother.
Chapter 157
"What, what are you talking about?"
"How long do you plan to pretend?"
Zong Zi Xiao glared, "Who told you?"
"Does it matter? Don't you want my golden core?" Zong Zi Heng said bitterly, "Imperial destiny, Absolute Human Emperor, the only core you want that can help you cultivate the Great Dao is this one."
"It's Ran Xing Wen, isn't it? Or that old man? Or ..." Zong Zi Xiao thought of Huang Dao Zi, and regretted that he hadn't killed that divine man who was full of nonsense.
"Do you want my core?" Zong Zi Heng looked Zong Zi Xiao straight in the eyes, slowly but caustically questioned him with pressure.
Zong Zi Xiao's face changed again and again, "I want to refine the core from the Heavenly Secret Scripture, not your core."
"The Ran family's father and son are the best core masters in the immortal cultivation world, and they failed countless times to refine it."
"So using the Shen Nong Ding..."
"Using the Shen Nong Ding to refine a core is more difficult than any other furnaces in the world, and the slightest mistake will be a foregone conclusion. What if it fails this time too? What if the core in the Heavenly Secret Scripture can't be refined anyhow, will you dig out my core?" Zong Zi Heng stared deadly into Zong Zi Xiao eyes that were intent on dodging, "Did you take me to Kunlun because of my core? When do you plan to dig up my core?"
When facing this aggressive interrogation, from shock, to weakness, to irritation, the instantaneous changes in Zong Zi Xiao's eyes were all seen by Zong Zi Heng.
"When did I ever say I would take your core? Is this your excuse for daring to run away from me?!"
"You didn't say it, but hadn't you thought about it?" Zong Zi Heng endured the extreme pain in his heart and lungs to say the cruel truth that he simply could not bear.
Zong Zi Xiao's jaw dropped. His fists clenched until they shook. His thin lips mumbled, but he didn't retort.
Yes, he had thought about it, he had hesitated repeatedly. If he could, he wished he had never known anything about the Absolute Human Emperor, but he knew it.
He needs this core. Sooner or later, the entire immortal cultivation world would unite against him. Even though he had two ancient divine treasures, he was still alone after all. Even if he could wipe out the entire immortal cultivation world, the killing he carried would cause him to suffer the insane backlash of karma, and he would fall into the infernal hell and suffer the extreme punishment of sin, never to be reborn. Only by cultivating the Great Dao could he transcend the cycle of reincarnation and truly be free to lie within the three realms without restraint. With the divine power of the Great Perfection, he would be able to let his big brother live as long as he can, and they could live forever and ever together.
If it were any other person, he would have opened the other person's guts without hesitation, but this person was Zong Zi Heng. He could not do it. He couldn’t bear to. He was afraid that his big brother would hate him.
The look on Zong Zi Xiao's face said it all. The deepest despair was like a huge wave that extinguished Zong Zi Heng in a matter of seconds. He looked at the familiar and unfamiliar face in front of him. In a trance, Zong Ming He's face overlapped with it. He could never forget that face distorted by greed. His biological father, whom he had worked half his life to gain his approval, had always coveted his golden core, and eventually they fought each other with their blades.
He thought it would be over when Zong Ming He died, but to his surprise, he never got out of this boundless nightmare. He suddenly felt that what he had in his belly was not the ultimate human core that everyone coveted, but a poisonous parasite that fed on ambition and kept bloating and swelling, which would eventually tear open his abdomen and break out of his flesh, and then provoke an endless bloody fight that would turn earth into a purgatory.
From the depths of his soul, he complained desperately, "You said you didn't bother to eat human cores. You said you hated Lu Zhao Feng the most, but in the end, what's the difference between you and Lu Zhao Feng? You are indeed your biological father's son. You have the same cruel and despicable blood in your bones!"
The three words 'Lu Zhao Feng' deeply stung Zong Zi Xiao. He did not hesitate to kill Lu Zhao Feng personally, just to break his ties with the person he hated and despised the most. The greatest shame and suffering of his life came from this sinful bloodline, but Zong Zi Heng ripped open his wounds and hit him where it hurts the most without mercy!
Zong Zi Xiao's evil, hanging fox eyes turned scarlet, and he was furious: "That's right, I have cruel and despicable blood in my veins. I am of the same bloodline as that demonic cultivator who stole cores. Serves me right for being a bastard who got abandoned after you finished using me! You killed my mother, you ruined my life, you owe me a debt that can never be repaired by death, so isn't it only right that I want your core?"
Zong Zi Heng's jaw dropped. His body trembled and he could not speak.
"You owe me heaps of blood debt, and I still let you sit on the Emperor throne, and I still let you pay respect to that poisonous woman, and I still keep compromising with you. Not only did you not remember that gratitude, you, betrayed, me." Zong Zi Xiao's anger was like a stream of fire on the surface of the water, not wild and rash, yet unceasing. He revealed a bloodthirsty and fierce smile, "I was the one who was cheap. I treated you so good that I made you forget that you were just a prisoner who failed utterly. You only deserve to open your legs and be fucked by me. I control everything about you. If I want to take your core, you can only present it respectfully to me with both hands."
Zong Zi Heng felt his heart burning fiercely with the fire of karma.
"Now, I'll show you what happens if you dare to disobey me." Zong Zi Xiao suddenly flew towards the back mountain of Zhangyang City with his sword.
Zong Zi Heng froze for a moment, then suddenly understood what was going on about and flew after him.
Zong Zi Xiao hovered above the Shen family's cemetery. As he looked out, stone monuments stood here one by one, and he sensed a trace of Zong Zi Heng's spiritual breath left on Shen Shi Yao's grave.
"Zong Zi Xiao!"
Zong Zi Xiao smiled coldly. He spread his palm and a scroll appeared on it. A golden silk embedded with a handle made of divine mulberry wood was shining with a brilliant light.
Zong Zi Heng recognized this object. It was the treasure of their Daming Clan, one of the Four Great Treasures of the Ancient World, the Shanhe Sheji Map. Legend has it that only their ancestor, who founded the clan, used this treasure to a limited extent, but failed to exert 1/11 of its power. After that, it was passed down from generation to generation, and no one was able to use it again. After it was stolen by Zong Zi Xiao, no one thought that an immature and inexperienced boy could do anything with it until Zong Zi Xiao, armed with the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman, single-handedly slaughtered the Wuyun Sect, which several sects couldn’t attack.
No one knows how much power the Shanhe Sheji Map has and whether Zong Zi Xiao is capable of controlling it.
Zong Zi Heng was stunned by the spiritual pressure of the divine treasure: "What, what do you want to do?"
"Zhangyang is the homeland of that poisonous woman, and this area below my feet is the Shen Clan's cemetery." The gloominess of Zong Zi Xiao's expression was unsettling, "You moved her grave back. What a great filial son ah."
"Zong Zi Xiao, don't ..." Zong Zi Heng's voice shook beyond belief.
"Yeah, if she hadn't eradicated the obstacles for you, me and Second Brother, the throne to the Human Emperor that you dreamed of would not have been yours even in the next life. Mother's kindness and son's filial piety, so wonderful." The scroll in Zong Zi Xiao's hand slowly unfolded, but it was a blank canvas.
The scroll seemed to stretch endlessly, changing from a palm-sized object to a huge object, and the canvas gradually revealed the landscape and the city. Zong Zi Heng realized that the picture was clearly Zhangyang City!
"As Emperor Zong, you have never even seen the treasures left behind by your ancestors, so today I’ll let you see." Zong Zi Xiao's spiritual pressure soared and his black death aura burned like a flame as he growled, "First ancestor of heaven and earth, a painting opens the sky------"
Zong Zi Xiao merely moved his long and slender fingertips, and on the canvas, the back mountain of Zhangyang City abruptly bulged out as if it was about to be sucked out of the picture.
The earth rumbled with a loud sound, and the location of the Shen family’s cemetery crumbled down. Stones were pulled out from the ground, and the earth quaked. Hundreds of stone monuments flew off the ground like broken stones, and coffins spurted out one by one, either chiseled by stones or fell from a great height. All of them ended up in pieces. Most of the gold, silver and precious stones which were buried in the ground all turned into worthless straw among the dust. Those aged corpses were exposed to the sun without dignity, worse than the wild dogs on the roadside.
Zong Zi Heng saw all of these stiffly, and his mind went blank.
Not yet relieved from hatred, Zong Zi Xiao pointed at the landscape with the divine treasure. The earth and rocks rising out of the ground incessantly. The gently sloping hills became rugged with steep gorges. Countless white bones were battered and crushed, unable to even piece together a complete set of corpses, let alone distinguish whom the broken limbs belonged to.
A massacre was staged here, the slaughter of the dead.
"Stop ..." Zong Zi Heng thought he was shouting to stop, but his voice was hoarse and faint, as if he had been drained of his strength.
Stop it, stop it, stop it.
Zong Zi Xiao, stop.
Don't make me hate you, stop ...
The scroll changed again, and everything in the mountains also followed the unusual change. The rocks, the grass and trees, even those tombstones, coffins and white bones, all became playthings in Zong Zi Xiao's hands. They rose and floated in mid-air, as if they were demonstrating for Zong Zi Heng.
This ghastly power could make everyone who witnessed this scene go weak in the knees. How could the image before them be considered the human realm?
Zong Zi Xiao smiled faintly. His appearance was no match in the world, but his smile was shaped like an evil ghost: "From now on, there will be no Zhangyang Shen Clan again."
"Stop -----" Zong Zi Heng let out a shrilling roar.
The scene on the canvas dissipated like a drop of ink in water. Millions of things in front of him turned to dust, not even experiencing a gust of wind before they vanished in a puff of smoke.
It was as if Zong Zi Heng's heart had also shattered into powder.
"The Shanhe Sheji Map can manipulate everything on the canvas except living things. The generations after generations of trash in the Zong Clan, yet no one could control it. No wonder its state power couldn’t be protected.” Zong Zi Xiao's black death aura rendered almost the entire sky. The majestic spiritual pressure like an ocean made it seem as if one was raising one's head to look at the mountains. At the center of this sole power, in the depths of his pitch-black pupils, there were no three realms, no earth, only a small, painful human figure was reflected.
The scroll was put away. All the bizarre landscapes were obediently restored to their original form, but destroyed, forever destroyed.
Zong Zi Heng drew his sword and his spiritual pressure poured into it with a burst of energy. All the hatred, all the pain, all the humiliation and despair turned into a thunderous fury struck towards Zong Zi Xiao with lightning.
With his sword sheathed, Zong Zi Xiao laughed wildly, "I want you to pay for every betrayal, my big brother."
Chapter 158
"Huuu…uhhh…no ..."
In the deep cave, a faint yellow light was dimly lit. The thick, heavy sound of panting, and the sound of skin and flesh slamming were continuous, interspersed with sobbing moans and pleas, as if the mountain was haunted by a promiscuous evil spirit.
In the glowing firelight, two huge shadows were cast on the dark and gloomy stone walls. A man was crouching on the ground, with his hips deliberately raised high, and his sunken waist forming a figure which makes people feel excited. A much taller figure was riding him hard, thrusting fast, heavily and fiercely. That thick and long object, which was inserted and pulled out in between his butt continuously, was like a huge murderous weapon, attacking repeatedly with the intention of piercing the body through.
The other half of Zong Zi Heng’s body was weak and limp on the ground. Only his hips were stuck up high, taking the stormy assault of Zong Zi Xiao. That slapping sound was mixed with a wet sound, and the lewd fluid became a wet and soft mire from smearing in the meaty hole where they were connected. It even flowed down along his long, slender and snow-white thighs, and trickled onto the fur coat. There were some stained spots that had already been solidified.
Zong Zi Heng’s long hair was disheveled, and wisps were clinging to his cheeks and back. His red eyes were slightly closed, his pink-flushed cheeks were streaked with tears, his eyelashes were stained with moist droplets of water, his lips were slightly swollen from kissing and were panting strenuously. His white porcelain body was covered in purplish bruises from being sucked. His legs were trembling non-stop from the unbearable impact and his fingers gripped the fur beneath him helplessly. The picture of being thoroughly violated was seductive, bewitching and promiscuous, making people take pity, yet getting even more aroused from animalistic desire.
The punishment had lasted all night since Zong Zi Heng had again lost the battle.
At first, Zong Zi Heng fought back, but in the end, he lost the strength to even beg for mercy. Zong Zi Xiao possessed every inch of his body, forcing him to use every humiliating way to accept his conquest, cumming inside his intestinal walls again and again, and also fucking him until Zong Zi Heng cummed again and again. Their thick fluids were spurted everywhere, and the air was diffusing with the smell of lust. His slumping member was hanging in between his thighs, yet Zong Zi Xiao’s meat blade was still terrifyingly hot and hard, thrusting crazily in that wet and hot tunnel.
After being violated for the whole night, the meaty hole was already utterly red and swollen, and his body was extremely sensitive after orgasm. Every one of Zong Zi Xiao’s thrusts will lead to a frenzied excitement, as if there were countless small insects gnawing at his nerves, pushing him into the abyss of death. The ultimate pleasure forced him to go crazy. All the senses and dignity followed the semen that he ejaculated until not even a drop was left. He wailed and begged. He racked his brain for a solution, gathered his little bit of energy and crawled forward helplessly.
Zong Zi Xiao grabbed him by the hair and leaned down to nibble on his ear, "Where do you want to escape to, big brother?"
Zong Zi Heng's eyes widened as tears slipped silently down his face.
"Don't ever think of leaving me. If you dare to run away from me once again, I'll make you remember this lesson." Zong Zi Xiao gripped his big brother's hair, as if holding the reins of Wuya, fixed the seductive body firmly in place, and slammed it relentlessly.
Zong Zi Heng was being thrust until his body couldn’t stop moving forward, yet he was still like an animal being squeezed in Zong Zi Xiao’s hands, unable to move. Each stroke was inserted deep into the meaty tract's core, as if his internal organs were also shifting their positions. He had a fear of being punctured alive.
"No ... ahhh…no…enough ... let me go ..." Zong Zi Heng cried unconsciously. His voice already hoarse and indistinguishable.
"I won't let you go." Zong Zi Xiao suddenly pulled out his sticky member, made Zong Zi Heng flip over, lying facing up, spread out those weak legs and thrust in face to face.
Zong Zi Heng's two hands resisted helplessly against Zong Zi Xiao's hard, hot chest. He tried to push Zong Zi Xiao away, but could not exert any strength.
Zong Zi Xiao grabbed both of his big brother's hands, wrapped them around his neck and laid on top of him. His meat stick was buried and thrust in that deep tunnel’s width. Although the speed slowed down, the strength did not reduce a single bit.
"Do you still dare to run away?" Zong Zi Xiao caressed his brother's sweaty face and thrust fiercely once, “Speak.”
Zong Zi Heng shook his head deliriously, "No ... no ..."
"With a licentious body like big brother's, where can you escape to?" Zong Zi Xiao stroked the messy hair away from his face and kissed his sweaty eyelids and lips, "Being fucked by me for one whole night, yet you’re still sucking. Even if I don’t touch you in front, you can cum from being fucked. Your body can't leave me anymore, right?"
"Wuuuu ..." Zong Zi Heng burst into tears.
"Right?" Zong Zi Xiao hit hard again.
Zong Zi Heng had lost his judgment to the sounds of the outside world. He just instinctively obeyed his abuser. He shook his head and nodded again. He was confused. He was no longer himself.
Zong Zi Xiao kissed his big brother's lips, blocking all the moans in his mouth, and once again thrusting crazily and fiercely.
Zong Zi Heng’s two legs couldn’t close up anymore. He allowed Zong Zi Xiao's meat baton to thrust fiercely into the core as he pleases, ruthlessly extracting out even more insane pleasure, even if it means emptying him out.
When Zong Zi Xiao’s impact became shallow and heavy, and his throat let out a beasty low roar, Zong Zi Heng, who was already on the verge of fainting, was forced to light up a trace of his consciousness. He called out in fear: “No…not inside…”
His abdomen was already filled with Zong Zi Xiao’s body fluid inside, and was being squeezed and spilled out by the meat blade continuously. It was double torture to the body and the mind, which made him feel unbearable.
Zong Zi Xiao’s eyes, which were soaked in lust, were full of evil desires. They were clearly not a pair of human eyes. After hearing his words, he really did pull out his meat stick bit by bit, which was dripping wet, purplish-red, big and incomparably fierce, creating a huge contrast to his extraordinarily seductive, handsome face.
“Always shooting inside, it seems like big brother is also sick of it.” Zong Zi Xiao rode across Zong Zi Heng’s waist and jerked his hand twice. The semen gates opened, and the thick, white and musky body fluid was spurted on his big brother’s face, hair and chest instantly.
Zong Zi Heng's body went limp and was unable to move. He closed his eyes, and tears of humiliation flowed uncontrollably.
Zong Zi Xiao lay wearily beside his big brother and cradled his limp body into his arms. The calm after the frenzy made them feel unadaptable, but the wretched filth on the two of them still bore witness to this incomparably licentious and obscene night.
"Don't leave me." Zong Zi Xiao’s voice was like a devil's whisper. It’s an invisible shackle, "Never ever leave me."
"Because I can't leave you." The tone of his voice when he said this clearly caused pain and aggravation to seep out of Zong Zi Xiao's arrogance, "You must be very proud of yourself. You spent fourteen years carving yourself into my three immortal souls and seven mortal forms such that I couldn't give up. I hated you but couldn't bear to kill you, that's why you had nothing to fear because of a strong backing."
"That's right, I can't leave you. I've thought of you every day for the past ten years. What kind of poison do you have on me? I hate you so much." Zong Zi Xiao tightened his arms around the person in his arms. His two eyes were bloodshot with a watery glint, "Since that's the case, don’t you ever think of separating from me for the rest of your life. Wherever you flee, I will catch you back. You ruined me. You caused the death of my mother. You will pay me for the rest of your life."
Zong Zi Xiao buried his face into the warm nook of Zong Zi Heng's neck and choked out a cry of "Big Brother".
Zong Zi Heng's eyes looked blankly ahead of him. His mind sometimes in turmoil, sometimes empty. He was clearly being held in Zong Zi Xiao’s arms, but it was as if he could not feel his own body, nor could he feel himself.
He wanted Zong Zi Xiao to stop calling him "big brother" in Xiao Jiu's tone. It was a kind of blasphemy and he felt disgusted.
He wondered why he was here. Why was he going through all this? And even when he padded his feet and looked ahead, all that was left was endless darkness. He and Zong Zi Xiao, it didn't matter who had dragged who down into the abyss. He just wanted to be freed.
He wanted to take the last bit of memories of Xiao Jiu and go to a place where Zong Zi Xiao would never find him.
----
When Zong Zi Heng woke up, he found that his chakra had once again been sealed and was surrounded by the boundaries laid by Zong Zi Xiao. His body had been cleaned and replaced with dry, soft clothes. Even his hair had been washed and smelled faintly of orchids, but the soreness and pain that spread throughout his body told him: that night of absurdity was not a dream. Everything that had happened since Zong Zi Xiao had returned to Wuji Palace was not a dream.
In fact, from the moment he reunited with Zong Zi Xiao, he understood that Xiao Jiu was long gone, but he was still touched by the sound of "big brother" and was enticed by Zong Zi Xiao's occasional expressions of pain and grievance. However, no matter how much he missed their past relationship, it had been almost eroded completely by the repeated hurts and torments. It was difficult to return back to their past relationship.
He never wanted to hate Zong Zi Xiao. He had already hated the people closest to him in this world ---- his father and mother. He had no room to hate his younger brother whom he had loved so much. That would be too pathetic, as if he was not worthy of love in this life, and in the end, all that was left was hate, so he always made many excuses for Zong Zi Xiao, always wanted to use the mind of a big brother to admonish, forgive and pity. When he heard with his own ears that Zong Zi Xiao wanted to dig up his core, when he watched Zong Zi Xiao destroy the Shen Clan's ancestral tombs, he just couldn't hold on any longer.
The sound of footsteps came from outside the cave. Zong Zi Heng knew exactly who was coming, but he was so numb that he did not even want to raise his head.
A pair of black-clad and black-booted feet appeared in Zong Zi Heng's line of sight. The visitor crouched down and gently lifted his chin. He looked indifferently into that pair of extremely beautiful, extremely charming hanging fox eyes.
"You must be hungry. I've gone to town to buy some food." Zong Zi Xiao's heart couldn't help but tense up as he looked at Zong Zi Heng's pale, frail and disoriented appearance.
Zong Zi Heng looked at him in a daze, and his gaze again seemed to pierce through him to look into the void of the distance.
Zong Zi Xiao ran his fingers over his dry, cracked lips and picked up a water bottle and brought it to his mouth, "Drink some water." After waiting for some time and not seeing him open his mouth, Zong Zi Xiao simply poured a mouthful of water into his own mouth, and blocked his lips, forcing the water in.
Seeing his big brother swallow slowly, Zong Zi Xiao's heart choked uncomfortably. He let his big brother lean in his arms and broke a piece of pastry: "This is delicious. Open your mouth and eat a little ... Do you want to make me feed you one bite at a time?"
After hearing his words, Zong Zi Heng opened his mouth and took a bite. A small bulge slowly sliding under his right cheek, which Zong Zi Xiao found cute and couldn't help but suck on it.
Zong Zi Heng's body immediately stiffened from wariness.
"You eat." Zong Zi Xiao shoved another piece into his mouth, "Is this tasty?"
Zong Zi Heng had originally eaten it without tasting, but after the sweet stuff melted in his mouth, it actually tasted familiar, and he froze for a moment.
"Salted crispy candy, we used to eat it a lot when we were young. I didn't expect them to have it here." Zong Zi Xiao seemed to remember something, and his eyes unconsciously became gentle, "You were afraid that I would get a toothache, and you would give me a piece a day at most, and if I acted shamelessly, I could still ask for another half, do you remember?"
"Of course I remember." Zong Zi Heng spoke up. His voice as clear and cold as the spring chill in February, "Salted crispy candies are a specialty of Zhangyang, only my mother knows how to make them."
This time it was Zong Zi Xiao's turn to freeze, and he threw the rest of the candies back into the paper bag.
After a long silence, Zong Zi Xiao said, "You brought this on yourself."
Yeah, he had brought this on himself.
"You shouldn't have left me. You shouldn't have even thought about it. Whichever corner of Jiuzhou you flee to, I would still be able to find you. By doing this, there’s no benefit other than angering me." Zong Zi Xiao smoothed his big brother's hair, "That's why I'm going to lock you up. I want your body to always carry around my spiritual scent. I have to see you all the time."
Zong Zi Heng looked at Zong Zi Xiao calmly, "When do you plan to take my core?"
"... You're acting like you can't wait." Zong Zi Xiao was annoyed and said in a cold voice, "Perhaps it would be good for both of us if you gave me your golden core. Anyway, I won't unlock your chakra again to give you the possibility of escaping."
Zong Zi Heng's emotion was surprisingly calm.
"As long as I am here, no one will dare to shake your throne, and no one will dare to do you any harm. When I cultivate the Great Dao, I will be able to let you live forever with me. This is something you may not be able to achieve even after a lifetime of hard work, right?" Zong Zi Xiao didn't know whether he was convincing Zong Zi Heng or himself. A faint but firm voice in his heart repeatedly kept telling him that he must not do it, absolutely not. He would regret it, he wants his big brother intact, and not that core. But the voice of ambition was so loud it was deafening.
Zong Zi Heng just looked at him. After looking for quite a while, he suddenly said softly, "Zong Zi Xiao, I have never harmed you. I do not want to be the Human Emperor." If only you could believe me.
Zong Zi Xiao was stunned and frowned, "You're still saying this even until now?" He stared at his big brother's miserable white face, his heart gripping in pain, and was about to say something when suddenly, he felt a huge spiritual pressure approaching Zhangyang from several directions.
Zong Zi Xiao draped his leather cloak over Zong Zi Heng, "I'll go out and take a look." He paused, then lowered his head and kissed those lips again, "Big brother, wait for me to return."
Chapter 159
Zong Zi Heng could feel the spiritual pressure rushing in from all directions, like a monstrous wave rising from the sea, swiftly approaching the shore. Such spiritual pressure could not have come from one person, but many, many people.
Zhangyang was only a small and unknown city, and the reason why it could attract so many cultivators to come was self-evident.
Zong Zi Heng rose from the ground. His sore and weak legs were barely able to support his weight. Holding onto the stone wall, he endured the pain, straightened up and walked towards the outside of the cave.
A blinding white light came in through the cave entrance and Zong Zi Heng used the back of his hand to shield his eyes. By the time he had barely adjusted to the light, he was fully under the light of the sky.
Standing on the lonely boulder in the mountain, he saw countless cultivators flying above Mount Zhangyang. There was the green crow* of Wuliang Sect, the light gold of Chunyang Sect, the icy grey of Cangyu Sect, and other various colors of cultivator uniforms of the immortal cultivation world from large and small sects. Thousands of cultivators were standing in the void in the boundless blue sky, almost hiding the sky and covering the earth.
The entire immortal cultivation world had never seen such a magnificent sight, and at this moment they were all looking at one person, like facing a great enemy.
Zong Zi Heng also looked at Zong Zi Xiao, looking at his cold and gloomy face, his taut jaw, and his hand, which was holding his sword, white at the joints due to excessive force.
"Zong Zi Xiao!"
A stern shout came from the sky. That voice resounding in the clouds must have come from someone of profound cultivation, but sounded very young.
Zong Zi Heng was startled and looked towards a distant patch of green crow. His chakra was sealed, so the amount of spiritual energy he could transfer is very limited. After enhancing his vision, he saw with astonishment that the person is the head of Wuliang Sect. He was none other than Li Bu Yu, who had already killed himself at Shen Shi Yao's grave!
Li Bu Yu was dressed in a green Daoist robe, with a purple-gold jade belt around his waist. He was standing on top of his sword, with a steely figure, and a proper, handsome face that showed a solemn expression. His feet were lingering with propitious vapors and his clothes were fluttering. He actually looked like an immortal.
How could this be? He had seen Li Bu Yu die in front of him. He had checked Li Bu Yu's pulse and later buried him. How is this possible!?
He first suspected that this Li Bu Yu was a fake, but then immediately dismissed it. Even if the Chunyang Sect's bone disguising technique could be used to disguise the real thing, what can be changed is only the appearance. Not to mention that anyone with Li Bu Yu's cultivation level had been known in the immortal cultivation world for a long time. Even if he could really find someone to disguise as himself, how could he exert the Wuliang Sword Technique, control the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant, and speak and act in a way that would conceal him from all the Wuliang Sect's cultivators?
So there was only one possibility left; Li Bu Yu had faked his death.
Since the Chunyang Sect's flesh forging had reached the point where it could regenerate limbs, then faking death might not be impossible either. Li Bu Yu, who had seized the cultivation of both Cheng Yan Zhi and Zong Ming He, had finally achieved an excellent set of roots and bones, and had at least 20 to 30 years of additional cultivation without doing anything. This young sect leader, who had not yet reached his prime, was transformed into one of the representatives of great natural talent.
Li Bu Yu also noticed Zong Zi Heng's gaze, and the moment their eyes met, Zong Zi Heng was certain that this man was Li Bu Yu. Li Bu Yu lied to him once again!
Li Bu Yu's eyes flickered, and returned to Zong Zi Xiao again. He said in a loud voice: "Zong Zi Xiao, you have twisted the Sacred Will, falsely transmitted the imperial order and plundered the heavenly treasures of the immortal families, this is your first crime. You kidnapped and imprisoned the Human Emperor, intending to usurp the throne, this is your second crime. You destroyed the Zhangyang Shen’s family cemetery with such an outrageous act, this is your third crime. Even if you have made merit in destroying the evil Wuyun Sect, your merit cannot offset these great crimes, so why don't you quickly be executed!
As if he had heard a big joke, Zong Zi Xiao laughed wildly, "Li Bu Yu, you change your face faster than flipping a page in a book. Just a few days ago, you were still calling me 'Your Holiness', and now I am a sinner?"
Li Bu Yu said without changing his expression, "It is only a precautionary measure. As long as I can get rid of you, the devil, so what if I, Li Bu Yu, show some respect?”
Zong Zi Xiao doubled over with laughter*, but his voice was cold and sharp: "Just you guys?"
Xu Zhi Nan said in a deep voice: "Zong Zi Xiao, you used the Shanhe Sheji Map yesterday, your huge loss of spiritual power cannot be recovered in such a short amount of time. Even though you have two ancient divine treasures, in the end, you are outnumbered. If you tie your hands and be captured ..." he glanced at Zong Zi Heng. "The Emperor, remembering his brotherly love with you, may be lenient to you and keep you alive."
Zong Zi Xiao inclined his head and looked at Zong Zi Heng behind him.
Zong Zi Heng was also staring at him. His eyes dark, gloomy and hard to understand.
Zong Zi Xiao suddenly formed a seal with both hands and struck a black spirit spell at his big brother.
Zong Zi Heng was instantly subdued by a strong spiritual force, and a fence filled with black miasma was erected around him. These fences eventually converged into a net in the air before completely dissipating and disappearing, but he knew that he had become a caged bird.
Li Bu Yu's irritation was by no means pretentious: "Zong Zi Xiao, you still won’t let go of the Emperor!"
"Big brother, as you can see, it is they who do not know how to differentiate good from bad, and are seeking death stubbornly." Zong Zi Xiao gazed at his big brother, "Don't you dare plead for them."
Zong Zi Heng estimated the victory and defeat between the two sides in his mind. The immortal cultivation world has suffered for a long time under the Supreme Demon. This day will come sooner or later, but he thought the immortal cultivation world would wait until the time was ripe, but no one knew when the time was "ripe". Perhaps, as Xu Zhi Nan had said, Zong Zi Xiao had just expended a lot of spiritual energy on the Shanhe Sheji Map, and the time is now.
Today would be a bloody battle, and he could only watch it from here?
Zong Zi Heng clenched his fists, forcing himself to strike the blockade of his chakra.
Xu Zhi Nan's gaze was as sharp as a blade. He shouted with a magnificent manner, "Zong Zi Xiao, you will die if you do more injustice. Go and die." In his hand was a soft armor of gold and jade chains, shining brightly, and the moment he put it on, it glowed with a golden light, as if it was a divine object descending from the world.
That was indeed the treasure of Chunyang Sect --- the Golden Carved Jade Suit. This armor gives the wearer immense strength and makes him invulnerable to swords and spears. If a high-ranking cultivator of the Chunyang Sect, who already has extraordinary strength and an indestructible body, wears this armor, he will explode with astonishing power.
Qi Meng Sheng also took out Cangyu Sect’s treasure, the Ice and Snow Jade. The two jades merged together to form a gem mounted together. The Ice Jade can control rain, ice, snow and the weather, while the Snow Jade can summon the mount of Qingnü, the Goddess of Ice and Snow----the ancient beast snow owl.
Li Bu Yu's Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant was already waiting to take action.
After the annihilation of Wuyun Sect, the Chasing Mountain Whip, which was obtained by Li Bu Yu, is now in the hands of a Wuliang Sect elder.
The Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant, the Golden Carved Jade Suit, the Chasing Mountain Whip and the Ice and Snow Jade were the top magical treasures in the immortal cultivation world, second only to the Four Great Treasures of the Ancient World. Today's gathering was unprecedented in a thousand years, and the hearts of everyone present tremble wildly.
A treacherous military talisman encircled with a black death aura hovered in Zong Zi Xiao's palm. This talisman was green with glittering jade with red blood as the text. The scarlet talisman faintly shining on the jade body, emitting a creepy Yin energy.
The Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman!
The mountains were silent. The beasts and birds in the forest had fled long ago. The black clouds covered the sun, the sky suddenly darkened, and a gust of wind swirled by, bringing an eerie aura of gloom.
A pair of eyes reflected on the tiny jade talisman.
Many of those present had seen with their own eyes the apocalyptic scene of the Wuyun Sect being slaughtered by thousands of Yin soldiers. They could not help but feel their teeth tense at this moment. Those who were not present had also heard the graphic descriptions. What they were about to face, are undead warriors.
Xu Zhi Nan took the first step. His spiritual pressure leaking out wildly. His body wrapped in gold and jade clothing strengthened abruptly, and the golden jade soft chains turned into pieces of hard, heavy armor, covering Xu Zhi Nan's flesh like dragon scales, transforming him into a giant with a golden jade armor body!
A mournful howl pierced the sky as a giant snow-white bird hovered above Mount Zhangyang, snow falling as it spread its wings.
The Heavenly Secret Talisman was suspended in between Zong Zi Xiao's brows. In his burning eyes, there was no sky, no earth, and no thousands of raging enemies, only this one talisman. His thin lips lightly exhaled the incantation, "The sky sends out a killing intention, shifting the stars, the earth sends out a killing intention, the dragon and the snake rise and land, man sends out a murderous spirit, heaven and earth are reversed, heaven and man are united in sending out a killing intention, and the foundation of all things is set* -----"
Like a blazing flame bursting out, the black death aura burnt through half of the sky and swallowed up all the light. In the darkness of the unseen sky, a cluster of human forms gradually emerged. In a few moments, countless Yin soldiers crawled out from the shadows. They are either dismembered, armed with swords and armor, or mounted on horses. They were in human form but didn’t have a human appearance. Each one looked like a doppelganger pinched out of the black aura, but they moved with extreme agility, rushing towards the enemy in an overwhelming manner.
These Yin soldiers will not feel pain, will not retreat, are not scared and will not die. They were like locusts in transit, like a siege chariot, like a hurricane sweeping through the earth, charging madly into the enemy line.
The cultivators showed their magical powers. Their weapons and magical treasures shone brightly, and their Qi was expansive in between sky and earth.
Trapped in the formation, Zong Zi Heng shivered as he watched the scene before him, feeling that the hell of Asura was no better than this.
Previously, he had only seen the Yin soldiers once during a duel to the death with Zong Zi Xiao. At that time, both of them had used the eighth Chongtian of the Zongxuan Sword - the Return of the Ten Thousand Swords. That duel generated a huge amount of energy that crushed half of the Wuji Palace. After his defeat, he was ready to meet his death, but it was Zong Zi Xiao who used a huge foreign beast to block that blow for him, and he was saved from being pulverized. And that foreign beast was beaten to death with its soul scattered on the spot.
Today, he finally saw the true power of the legendary Heavenly Secret Talisman that had slaughtered the Wuyun Sect. The uncountable and inexhaustible Yin soldiers were like bloodthirsty demons, stark red everywhere they went.
Even the most highly trained and battle-experienced cultivators had never faced so many evil spirits before, and were soon heavily injured.
Yin soldiers cannot be killed completely, but Zong Zi Xiao’s spiritual power has a limit. He was fighting with Li Bu Yu and Xu Zhi Nan while using the Heavenly Secret Talisman to control the thousands of Yin soldiers. With his spiritual energy draining like a flood, he could not possibly last long, and everyone was waiting for the moment when he ran out of energy.
But he seemed to be fighting harder and harder, with no sign of declining, and his eyes were getting redder and redder, even faintly going black.
Zong Zi Heng's heart was burning with anxiety as he fought to strike the seal of the chakra. Previously it had taken him at least a few hours to break the spell Zong Zi Xiao had cast on him, but now he could not afford to delay. He had to stop Zong Zi Xiao from killing more innocent people!
The consequence of forcibly attacking his chakra was that his internal organs were in severe pain and blood was escaping from his mouth and nose.
Suddenly, a figure landed in front of Zong Zi Heng. When he focused, it was Qi Meng Sheng. He called out, "Undo this formation."
Qi Meng Sheng stretched out her hand and felt with her palm towards the empty front. Suddenly, the black cage net flashed into view and with a hiss, a burnt smell wafted into the air. With a stifled grunt, Qi Meng Sheng retracted her hand, which had been burned with two black scorch marks. With fury on her face, she grabbed the cage net, and with a sound, the frost spread through the net with her hand as the center, quickly freezing the entire net. Her face was fierce as she secretly fought against the spell left behind by Zong Zi Xiao.
Zong Zi Xiao spotted Qi Meng Sheng and turned his head towards them. A white blaze descended from the sky and thunderclaps rang out. The heavenly lightning induced by the Thunder Ancestor Treasure Grant was so powerful that even he dared not to take the blow directly and could only dodge. The golden-armored giant that Xu Zhi Nan had transformed into chased him, blocking his path.
With a crunching sound, the cage net was reduced to a field of broken ice.
Zong Zi Heng, who had regained his freedom, turned to Qi Meng Sheng and said urgently, "He has sealed my chakra, help me to unblock them."
Chapter 160
"Qi Meng Sheng-----" Zong Zi Xiao's angry roar pierced through the valley where the killing was rampant and reached straight into the two's ears. He was being attacked from two sides by Li Bu Yu and Xu Zhi Nan and was so distracted that he had to manipulate a group of Yin soldiers to turn around and rush in their direction.
"Go in first." Qi Meng Sheng and Zong Zi Heng retreated into the cave. She waved her hand to seal the entrance with ice. Behind the half-permeable ice were dark figures gathering, like ghosts in a thick fog.
Zong Zi Heng looked horrified: "Why hasn't his spiritual energy dried up? Is he absorbing spiritual energy from the ice crystals?" Zong Zi Xiao, no matter how gifted he was, had not reached the Mahayana stage after all. His cultivation might have been first place on earth, but as long as he was still a physical mortal, he could not possibly afford to supply the consumption of the ancient divine treasure for a long period of time. It took the cooperation of a hundred high-ranking cultivators to open the furnace of Shen Nong Ding once, Zong Zi Xiao should not be powerful to this extent, unless ...
"The ice crystal isn't that powerful, otherwise it should be the Cangyu Sect uniting Jiuzhou. He's absorbing spiritual energy from the Yin soldiers." Qi Meng Sheng said with an expressionless face.
Zong Zi Heng's face was ashen and his body was like falling into a cold kiln.
When he saw Zong Zi Xiao's state, he actually already had this guess in his mind.
Zong Zi Xiao had used his spiritual power to control the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman to summon the Yin soldiers, and he also absorbed spiritual power from them, so his spiritual power was incessant, and he alone has the power of a magnificent army with thousands of men and horses. However, Yin soldiers are Yin cultivators, and the human body is balanced with Yin and Yang. Absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy from Yin cultivators will lead to an imbalance of Yin and Yang, which may lead to going off the rails at least, or a complete breakdown at worst. Even the soul will be scattered due to the backlash of Yin energy. After his return, Zong Zi Xiao's gloomy, cold, violent and evil temperament is certainly related to what he has experienced, but it is inextricably linked to his demonization. It is only his profound cultivation and foundation of more than twenty years of orthodox sword cultivation that he is able to suppress his Yin energy for the time being. But at this moment he is absorbing a large amount of Yin soldiers' spiritual energy, seemingly gaining supreme power for a short time, but in fact he is intensifying his own destruction.
If this continues, either Zong Zi Xiao would slaughter the immortal cultivation world, or he would go off the rails, lose his sanity and finally die a violent death.
Zong Zi Heng said in a deep voice, "Help me unseal the chakra, I am going to stop him."
"How does the Emperor intend to stop him?" Qi Meng Sheng said indifferently, "He might die from the Yin energy backlash, but before that happens, he might kill everyone."
"... I will kill him with my own hands." The heart that had been repeatedly cut a thousand times could no longer feel the pain. The world in his eyes was like a sky covered by Yin soldiers, which no more light could penetrate. He only had one thought now, and that is to stop Zong Zi Xiao from doing evil, no matter what method he used. Even if the two of them died together.
"If the Emperor wants to stop him, the most important thing you should do is not fight in close quarters." Qi Meng Sheng's gaze glittered with an unintelligible chill.
"What do you mean?"
Qi Meng Sheng gripped the ice-crystal longbow in her hand and said slowly, "Please, Emperor, give me your golden core."
Zong Zi Heng gazed at her motionlessly and said indifferently, "You also want my core."
"Right." Qi Meng Sheng was cold, proud and aloof in nature, and had never faced Zong Zi Heng without being obsequious nor supercilious. Even when her words were offensive, she would never be perfunctory, but at this moment a hint of uneasiness flashed across her face, yet her eyes were stern and determined.
"You want this core, then why didn't you take it back then in Kunlun, when I was seriously injured and totally powerless to fight back?"
"This is one situation and that was another."
Zong Zi Heng asked calmly, "Take this core, and then what? Will you be able to stop Zong Zi Xiao by eating the Absolute Human Emperor?"
"I don't eat human cores." Qi Meng Sheng looked straight into Zong Zi Heng's eyes that seemed to see through everything, "This core of the Emperor must not fall into the hands of Zong Zi Xiao, but he has already forced Cangyu Sect to open the furnace for Shen Nong Ding, so he will soon be able to refine the Absolute Human Emperor after taking your core. At that time, there will be no possibility for us to stop him."
"Are you really just trying to prevent Zong Zi Xiao from getting this core?" Zong Zi Heng always forced his eyes on Qi Meng Sheng, and he thought: with Qi Meng Sheng's pride, she probably would not bother to lie.
Under that sharp gaze, Qi Meng Sheng lowered her phoenix eyes slightly, and her cherry lips mumbled slightly, "Your core can save one person."
"Who?"
"Cheng Yan Zhi."
"What?" This long ago and familiar name, Zong Zi Heng momentarily thought he had heard it wrong.
"Cheng Yan Zhi. He is still alive." Qi Meng Sheng said.
Zong Zi Heng still remembered when Xu Zhi Nan had used the Seven Star Life-Sustaining Lamp to hang onto Cheng Yan Zhi's life, even though it had long been declared to the public that Cheng Yan Zhi had been killed by the core stealing Demonic Cultivator and had died of serious injuries. More than ten years had passed, but he never expected that Cheng Yan Zhi was still alive!
Qi Meng Sheng's expression was like the surface of a river that was about to freeze. The cracks revealing her desperately suppressed emotions: "Yes, he is still alive, but he can't leave the Seven Star Life-Sustaining Lamp. He is just a living dead man. After eating the Absolute Human Emperor, he can truly come back to life."
"You and Cheng Yan Zhi have never known each other, why do you want to save him? Or should I say..." Zong Zi Heng's emotion did not undulate at all, "It was Xu Zhi Nan who sent you." The mere thought of this possibility made people shiver, but Zong Zi Heng had no surges. In this world, perhaps everyone covets his core. His existence is meaningless. His purpose was to be a flesh and blood vessel for this core.
"No, Yan Zhi and I are not strangers to each other either." Qi Meng Sheng said in a hoarse voice, "Apart from being able to suspend the lives of people on the verge of death, the Seven Star Life-Sustaining Lamp also has an unknown ability, which is to allow people to swap souls."
"..."
"Over the years, Xu Zhi Nan and Cheng Yan Zhi were sharing a body, taking turns to be 'alive'." Qi Meng Sheng calmly revealed the shocking secret.
Zong Zi Heng was momentarily speechless. Only after a long time did he say, "So you and Xu Zhi Nan are, in fact, ..."
"The person I love is Yan Zhi."
Zong Zi Heng gasped and only felt a chill run down his back. It turned out that in this matter, Li Bu Yu did not tell tales. Xu Zhi Nan and Cheng Yan Zhi occasionally switched bodies, which was why they had different temperaments or did things inconsistently. It turned out that Xu Zhi Nan's claim that he had to go into seclusion every now and then because of his health was also true.
During these ten years or so, in Xu Zhi Nan's body, there were two people living alternatively, and he had never noticed because he had only met Xu Zhi Nan a few times, but Qi Meng Sheng had developed feelings for that host spirit?
How absurd.
Qi Meng Sheng took a step closer and said coldly, "Emperor, your core must not be obtained by Zong Zi Xiao, so it cannot remain in your belly. Give it to me, at least it can still save one person."
Zong Zi Heng took a step back, his face cold and grim.
"I will only take the core. I will not harm the Emperor's life."
Zong Zi Heng asked in reply, "Does Xu Zhi Nan know?"
Qi Meng Sheng pursed her lips and said nothing.
Zong Zi Heng's back was against the stone wall, and he could no longer retreat. He looked at Qi Meng Sheng, who was glaring at him, and suddenly chuckled.
Qi Meng Sheng looked at Zong Zi Heng warily.
The muffled laughter grew louder and louder, and finally, Zong Zi Heng simply could not stop laughing. His mournful laughter echoed in the cave, and the lingering sound was long-lasting.
"Hahahahaha, the golden core, my golden core." Zong Zi Heng laughed till his tears fell. As he laughed, he said viciously, "There is no Zong Zi Heng in this world, everyone wants to dig out my core."
His biological father, the younger brother he had painstakingly brought up, the friends he thought he was close with, the followers he had thought were loyal, everyone had once cajoled him with a genuine look, while behind his back, they were thinking of opening his guts up.
Yet he thought that this supreme talent was a gift, which is the world’s largest amusement. It was clearly the evil karma of his destiny implanted by the reincarnation from heaven, which now bore the most poisonous fruit.
He was cursed. His origin, his destiny, everything about him was dripping with bloody evil karma. It was because of this core that he and Xiao Jiu had fallen to the state they were in today.
Evil, he saw boundless evil.
Qi Meng Sheng's palm condensed out an ice spell and struck towards Zong Zi Heng.
The Zongxuan sword was unsheathed, cutting down the strike, and Zong Zi Heng ran towards the cave entrance.
Zong Zi Heng, whose chakra was only half unlocked, was no match for Qi Meng Sheng. The killing intent behind him was like a blade licking across his throat, and he did not need to look back to know that Qi Meng Sheng was drawing her bow.
He poured his limited spiritual energy into his sword. With a few streaks of sword energy flying out, he slashed at the cave entrance.
The Yin soldiers outside were still chiseling the ice wall left by Qi Meng Sheng, and with the combined attack from inside and outside, the ice wall shattered with a bang, and Zong Zi Heng*
----
PS: *may the readers continue the story xD SQC didn't complete the sentence, anyway I'm pretty sure he ran out of the cave...? (SQC's version of suspense I guess xD)