Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The color drained from Zhao Fanhua’s face in an instant. His pupils contracted sharply, as if someone had seized his heart in a ruthless grip.

“I didn’t know… I didn’t know any of it…”

For the past forty years, he had lived in happiness and contentment. Even the occasional friction with his family had been its own kind of joy in life.

Yet in another corner of the world, one he knew nothing about, his hometown had been brutally slaughtered. His teachers, elders, relatives, and friends had died tragic deaths. Even the fiancée of his youth had been imprisoned until the day she died.

In the instant the truth crashed down on him, all the happiness of those forty years turned into sharp blades, cutting inch by inch into his heart.

Zhao Fanhua lost all strength, and no longer had the courage to look at Mu Yunshu’s face. His body swayed, and he dropped to his knees in the dust.

“It was all me… all my fault… You have every right to hate me, to resent me… Kill me. Yunshu, kill me…”

“Zhao Fanhua, get up!” Song Zhenzhu screamed. She could not allow the hero she revered to kneel so humbly in the dirt. It hurt her more than killing her would have.

Song Zhenzhu said, “I did all of it. It had nothing to do with you. You’re still the great hero admired by all. You can’t kneel to her. Get up! Get up!”

Zhao Fanhua did not move, as though his soul had left him and only an empty shell remained.

But Mu Yunshu still did not feel satisfied. “Zhao Fanhua, if I simply killed you, how boring would that be? The pain you’re feeling now isn’t even a tenth of what I tasted.”

She reached out, and the blood-red bead flew into her hand.

“Since you refuse to choose, then you no longer get the chance to choose. Your wife, and those foolish people who call you a great hero, can all die with you.”

Zhao Fanhua finally regained a shred of clarity. “No. Those commoners are innocent!”

His panic only delighted Mu Yunshu further.

“You’re already a candle guttering in the wind. Even if you don’t want this, what can you possibly do?”

Zhao Fanhua rose with his sword in hand. “Stop!”

Mu Yunshu had already followed a pool of blood on the ground and appeared on his other side. Smiling, she slowly closed her hand around the bead. By the time Zhao Fanhua turned back, it was already too late to stop her.

Suddenly, a violent crash rang out.

The earth shook and the mountains trembled. The stone wall collapsed, bursting into flying rubble as dust and mist billowed everywhere. Amid the haze, a figure in blue robes with white hair appeared and vanished by turns.

The young man leaned on his Blind Staff, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. “Looks like we’ve arrived just in time for a good show.”

He lowered his other hand. His long sleeve fell away, revealing the girl who had been huddled behind it to avoid the dust.

Qiao Ying opened her round eyes wide and looked curiously at the scene before her.

“Master! Master’s Wife!”

Xue Heting called out, then saw a familiar figure emerge from the corner. He said, “Zhiyi, I’ll help Master. You go save Master’s Wife!”

The instant the Qingshuang Sword left its sheath, the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out with particular clarity.

Xue Heting looked down at the sword thrust into his chest, then up at the expressionless Zhao Zhiyi. Bewilderment filled his face.

Ming Caihua arrived a step too late and abruptly shouted, “Zhao Zhiyi, are you insane?”

He struck Zhao Zhiyi back with a palm. As the long sword was pulled free, blood poured from the wound in Xue Heting’s chest. Ming Caihua quickly supported Xue Heting and pressed a hand over the injury.

Qiao Ying did not hesitate to take out the wound medicine she carried with her and hurriedly handed it to Ming Caihua so he could apply it.

Zhao Zhiyi’s stab had been cold and merciless, but whether from some subconscious instinct or not, it had avoided Xue Heting’s vitals. Xue Heting had never guarded against him in the first place. If that sword had shifted even a little higher, it would have pierced his heart.

Zhao Zhiyi walked behind Mu Yunshu, like a puppet, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Zhao Fanhua said, “What did you do to him?”

Mu Yunshu gave a soft laugh. “He loves me. He is willing to offer me both his life and his soul. What else would I need to do to him?”

“Zhiyi… Zhiyi!” Song Zhenzhu tried to wake Zhao Zhiyi, only to see that he still had no reaction at all. At last, she felt true fear. Tears spilled from her eyes as she cried anxiously, “Mu Yunshu, Zhiyi is innocent. He has never done anything to wrong you. Whatever hatred or resentment you have, you can take it out on me. Let him go!”

The smile vanished from Mu Yunshu’s face. “Did the people of Phoenix Town have any hatred or resentment against you? They all died. Did you ever feel even a shred of guilt?”
Song Zhenzhu had no answer.

Shen Qingyu truly seemed to be there only to watch the show. He smiled without a word, evidently not intending to do anything unnecessary.

Qiao Ying edged closer to him again and asked, “Was Zhao Zhiyi’s soul sucked into that bead too?”

Shen Qingyu smiled. “Perhaps.”

Qiao Ying asked again, “You’re not going to interfere?”

“Someone harmed her, so she wants revenge. That’s perfectly normal. Why should I interfere?”

For a moment, Qiao Ying could find no words to refute him.

Zhao Fanhua looked at Mu Yunshu and said with difficulty, “Zhiyi was sincere toward you.”

Mu Yunshu toyed with the bead in her hand, her brows and eyes lowered. Slowly, she said, “When I left this cavern, I forgot many things. But some force in the unseen kept reminding me that I had to find Zhao family members. I met Zhao Zhiyi. He treated me very well. But fate made me see that skeleton, made me remember all of this, and as it happened, his surname was Zhao.”

Cracks appeared in the red bead as she squeezed it.

“Forty years ago, I wanted to kill every last one of you. Forty years later, using the souls of those you care about as offerings to the people who died back then is only fitting.”

“Wait. Did Mu Yunshu forty years ago really want to kill everyone in Fangcun City?”

Qiao Ying stepped forward, drawing everyone’s attention.

Mu Yunshu’s hand paused slightly, and she looked over as well.

Qiao Ying promptly lost her nerve again. She took a step back and grabbed a corner of a cyan sleeve, finding a little sense of security.

Shen Qingyu let out a soft laugh, clearly mocking her for being all bluster and no courage. Yet with a small movement of his hand, he hooked her pinky. Very quickly, she took advantage and grabbed his entire hand instead.

With that, Qiao Ying gained some confidence. She said, “The first time we came to this underground cavern, we noticed blue patterns flowing across the stone walls. Now, you’re relying on that same power to support this cavern, which had already collapsed, and keep it from falling apart completely.”

Qiao Ying continued, “Think about it. Back then, that power flowed out from the bones, then spread in every direction until it covered the entire cavern. After someone accidentally touched the corpse, that power vanished, and the cavern was instantly destroyed by the flood. At that time, all of Fangcun City was affected. If Shen Qingyu hadn’t kindly intervened, Fangcun City would have collapsed along with the cavern, and the common people in the city likely would not have survived for long.”

The kindly Shen Qingyu seemed even more delighted, his aura turning visibly more pleased.

Qiao Ying pressed her lips together, then voiced the conjecture in her heart.

“So I think that forty years ago, many people used a great deal of power to trap one person. That power must have affected the territory of Fangcun City long before now.”

“And that trapped person could not communicate with the outside world, nor could she find any help. She could have chosen to wait until the town collapsed, which might have given her a chance to escape.”

“But when she sensed that the town was in danger of collapsing, she chose to use all her strength to hold up the town and protect all the people within it.”

When Qiao Ying finished speaking, only silence remained in the dim, damp space.

She grew a little timid and instinctively looked at the person beside her.

The corners of Shen Qingyu’s lips lifted slightly, and there seemed to be a hint of encouragement in his smile. “Go on.”

Qiao Ying found her courage again. She raised her face and looked straight at the young woman in the prime of her years.

“The real Mu Yunshu was thinking about how to save more people even at the moment of her death. She had righteousness in her heart and was never bound by romantic attachment. She deserves to be called a hero. And you-”

Qiao Ying said, “What you’re doing now is only turning all her sacrifices back then into nothing.”

Ming Caihua looked completely bewildered. “What does that mean? She’s not the real Mu Yunshu?”

Xue Heting’s face was deathly pale. He coughed, then let go of the hand gripping his sword.

The Qingshuang Sword flew out of its scabbard on its own, drawing a beautiful arc through the air before finally hovering in front of the woman. It seemed both attached to her and overjoyed at a reunion after a long separation.

The woman’s expression went blank. Instinctively, she reached out and stroked Qingshuang, confused and at a loss.

Xue Heting said, “She is Bai Xue.”

It was just that she had forgotten that name of hers.