Chapter 75
Yu Tai’s consciousness drifted in a haze. At some point, the sharp pain that had filled her body abruptly disappeared, replaced by a soft, weightless sensation.
It felt like walking on clouds, so comfortable that she wanted to sigh.
She thought, Am I truly about to die?
Even my senses are beginning to fade…
…
The Zuiyin Sect had held its position as the foremost sect in the Upper Realm for longer than anyone could remember.
The calamity that annihilated the sect came so suddenly that no one was prepared.
Before today, anyone who claimed that the Zuiyin Sect was about to be destroyed would likely have earned only the contempt of its disciples.
How could the foremost sect simply be wiped out?
“Help! Elder, save me!”
A blood-soaked “person,” whose upper body had been devoured by the Black Mist until only his head and heart remained, lunged toward the elder.
The elder’s heart naturally ached to see his own disciple tortured like this.
The only thing he could do was end the disciple’s suffering.
Looking upon the hellish scene before him, the elder sighed. Tears glimmered in the corners of his eyes as he looked up at the sky obscured by Black Mist and wailed, “The heavens mean to destroy the Zuiyin Sect!”
Who could have imagined that after the Chengtian Sect, the Zuiyin Sect would become the second sect targeted for annihilation by a demonic cultivator?
“This is all retribution…”
The instant the Black Mist swallowed him, the elder gave a strange laugh. “Shu Li… Have you come for revenge?”
Perhaps all this sin had become inevitable from the moment they coveted that person’s fortune and plotted their conspiracy.
The Black Mist continued to spread.
Everyone throughout the Three Realms sank into a state known as despair.
No one knew where the Black Mist had come from. By the time they became aware of it, their companions had already dissolved into pools of blood and rotted upon the ground-or perhaps that had always been their true form.
The world seemed to have reached its end.
No living creature remained anywhere the Black Mist enveloped.
Zhang Xiaoxiao already understood this when she placed herself in front of every disciple of the Beast-Taming Sect.
She had watched her Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters enter the mist to rescue others, never to return. To protect the younger disciples, Zhang Xiaoxiao-no longer the youngest in the sect-stepped forward without hesitation.
As the Black Mist climbed over her body, she closed her eyes.
Her life had been fairly happy. Perhaps her only regret was that she had never had the chance to tell her Benefactor in person: Even if you are a demonic cultivator, I don’t care.
The Black Mist was about to reduce the young woman before it to a pool of blood as it had everyone else. But an aura familiar to the Black Mist suddenly emerged from the center of her forehead.
The disciples behind Zhang Xiaoxiao watched the deadly, terrifying substance approach her. Then, to their astonishment, it hesitated and stopped before slowly retreating.
It didn’t harm Zhang Xiaoxiao.
Feeling not the slightest pain, Zhang Xiaoxiao opened her eyes and stared blankly as the Black Mist withdrew. She didn’t know whether it was an illusion, but a very soft voice seemed to cross the distance and enter her mind.
“It is your good fortune to have received her protection.”
Unable to understand, Zhang Xiaoxiao repeated the words. Then inspiration flashed through her mind.
She suddenly understood.
“Benefactor…” Tears spilled uncontrollably from her eyes, and she couldn’t hold back a sob.
The disciples behind her assumed she was crying with joy at surviving the calamity. They all rushed forward and embraced her.
Without anyone noticing, the little girl who had once basked in the affection of her Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters had grown up.
…
Unlike the rest of the world, which teetered on the brink of destruction amid cries of despair, one place was encircled protectively by the Black Mist.
Cicadas sang in the summer heat, and white cranes preened their feathers beside the stream. Compared with the hell outside, this place seemed like a forgotten land where time itself had been suspended.
A black-haired young man with white-tipped hair yawned listlessly. “Shu Li, why hasn’t Yu Tai woken up yet?”
The man sitting cross-legged opposite him held a young woman whose eyes were tightly closed and whose cheeks were rosy, as though she were taking an afternoon nap.
Stroking the young woman’s smooth black hair, the man looked up at the question. “Once we leave, she will naturally wake up.”
Xia Mo blinked and tilted his head. “Leave? Where are we going? Isn’t this our home?”
This was Yu Tai’s cave dwelling, a place he hadn’t returned to in three years.
Shu Li gently shook his head. “This place is no longer suitable.”
“Where we live isn’t important. As long as the three of us are together, that place is home.”
Only half understanding, Xia Mo nodded. “Oh.”
Looking at the innocent young man whose features combined his own and Yu Tai’s, Shu Li’s gaze softened. He extended a hand toward Xia Mo. “Come here. It’s time for you to sleep as well.”
If Xia Mo’s condition wasn’t stabilized, leaving might damage his soul.
Xia Mo crawled over on his knees. First, he touched Yu Tai’s face with some sadness. Then he obediently raised his face and allowed Shu Li to gently tap one finger against the center of his forehead.
He immediately lost consciousness.
Looking at the sleeping young man, Shu Li felt somewhat emotional.
He had casually picked up this demon beast when he first entered this world without his memories.
Later, after recovering his memories in the Bishui Secret Realm, he had treated Xia Mo and Yu Tai as mere diversions to pass the time.
But things were different now.
One had become someone he could no longer live without, like an addict deprived of his drug.
The other was like his own child, someone he had watched slowly grow up.
Home.
Even in the years before he encountered betrayal and conspiracy, no one had ever spoken that word to him.
Shu Li gently laid the young woman in his arms on the bed and kissed her forehead. His gaze tender as water, he said, “Wait for me. I’ll be back soon.”
When he rose, his expression remained gentle. Yet the coldness and distance in his eyes were now displayed without the slightest attempt at concealment.
He walked out the door.
In the courtyard, a mass of Black Mist dragged something wrapped within it before Shu Li.
He waved lightly, and the Black Mist instantly dispersed, revealing a young man dressed in white robes with blue patterns, clearly the uniform of a Qingshan Sword Sect disciple.
The young man’s eyes were filled with terror. Upon seeing Shu Li, that fear reached its peak, and he cried out, “Senior… Senior Brother Shu Li!”
“Impossible! How can it be you?!” Jiang Yibai’s entire face twisted.
He had watched his father and fellow disciples die before his eyes. The terror of not knowing when his own turn would come had nearly driven him insane.
When the Black Mist attacked him, however, it seemed to hesitate over something, giving him a brief chance to breathe.
Just as he tried to seize the opportunity to escape, the Black Mist that had remained motionless suddenly lunged at him. Then, like an animal, he was dragged all the way here by the mist, which wasn’t even human.
And when he opened his eyes again, what did he see?
It was Senior Brother Shu Li-
The man who had long since lost any place in the cultivation world and been forgotten by all. The man buried in history who had left a terrible shadow over Jiang Yibai’s heart.