Chapter 752: 14.28 Last Violet Star – Finally Asleep
Seeing the face of the Sect Master of Lu Weifeng Sect (Green Wind Breeze Sect) distorted with anger, Zhi Yang, the target of the fierceness, doesn’t care about him at all.
Zhi Yang spoke, “My report is finished. I shall take my leave.”
“Ah, wait. You... Do you know someone called Zhi Yue?” asked Yun Huaxia.
Zhi Yang who was about to leave paused his step and looked at Yun Huaxia. He answered honestly as this man happened to be Lord God Ye’s brother in this world.
“Yue’er is my other half. My alter ego. In your world’s words, he is my Dao companion.”
“Senior Yue serves that person, does that mean you serve him as well? Why have you become my brother’s subordinate?” asked Yun Huaxia.
Zhi Yang answered, “Indeed. I am originally Lord Hei’s subordinate and Yue’er is Lord Ye... I mean Lord Yun’s subordinate. But some things happen and I have to serve Lord Yun. Either way, there is no difference in which we serve. They are both our Lords after all. Please excuse me. I still need to report to my lord.”
.....
After saying those words, Zhi Yang disappeared from the hall like before but he left the memory orb that contains a part of his memory. Only the part which showed what he had seen in the Ancestral Mound of Lu.
Sect Master Jin couldn’t help but complain in his heart. He is a current Sect Master of one of the Great Sects in the Mortal Realm. But he had been treated as nothing by a man with unknown origins. As soon as Zhi Yang disappeared he started his act as if he was wronged.
Jin Baihua says, “Why... Why is he looking at me with such hate? Did I do something wrong, Brother Yun?”
He was trying to squeeze some fake tears but when he looked up he saw Yun Huaxia pulling his Dao companion, Bai Qiyin, and his sworn brother, Lu Yi to sit at the same table. Jin Baihua was ignored before he could complete his act.
Yun Huaxia said, “Dage, let’s talk about the plan and formation which of us would be standing to. We need to lead groups to avoid any of those monsters from escaping or else the Luan City would be in danger.”
“Good idea. Take a seat,” said Lu Yi.
“Brother Yun?” calls Sect Master Jin.
Jin Baihua tries to call for Yun Huaxia’s name with an endearing tone but the man turned coldly at his call and didn’t even give him a single glance.
The crown prince walked past Sect Master Jin and whispered, “Stop all these fa?ades. Right now, we don’t even have time to waste just to accommodate your acting.”
“You are so annoying! I’m not even acting for you!” Jin Baihua whispered back.
Lu Er noticed that Chun Hongyun-Jun wasn’t around and asked, “What about Chun Hongyun-Jun?”
“Don’t worry about Jieye. He says he would follow after us once he finished his business,” said Yun Huaxia while grinning.
Lu Yi who knows about his sworn brother’s little abacus didn’t stop his brother from moving to Yun Xiajie’s courtyard right beside Hei Anjing’s place. When he heard that Bai Qiyin and Yun Huaxia met Hei Anjing this afternoon, he knew that like Lu Er and him, they both recognized Hei Anjing as Bai Wuan.
Lu Yi said, “Don’t worry about him. Let’s designate each other’s tasks and duties. We had to make sure that no monster would be able to escape from the city. But just in case, let’s station some disciples if things have gotten worse.”
“Please leave it to me. I will leave behind some of my royal soldiers to protect the city,” said Crown Prince Hong.
Lu Er gratefully said, “Thank you, your highness!”
“It’s my duty as a royal to protect the civilians,” said Crown Prince Hong.
Jin Baihua didn’t forget to resume his act and said, “You would become a great Emperor, Your highness.”
“Um. I will,” said Crown Prince though his tone is obviously from how he responded to Sect Master Lu.
Jin Baihua retained his smile but the hand within his sleeve robes were tightened into fist enough to bleed.
—
On the other hand, at the courtyards far away from the main building, Yun Xiajie had just finished his meal in complete silence. Zhi Yang had returned just by the time he placed down his utensils.
Zhi Yang appeared before Yun Xiajie with his head lowered and one knee on the ground. His right hand is placed at the top of his heart and his left is on his back.
“Zhi Yang had completed the task of the Lord!”
“Good work. Continue to scout. Inform me right away if the alliance Sect Coalition group is in danger,” said Chun Hongyun-Jun.
Zhi Yang responded, “All will be as you wish, my lord.” Then he once again faded into the darkness and disappeared from the courtyard.
At this moment, Yun Xiajie had walked out of his courtyard and sat on the patio of his place carrying a black guqin with him. He carefully placed his musical instrument before him as he took a seat to start playing a certain tune.
His long and slender hands were placed above the guqin’s strings preparing to start plucking a certain tune. He couldn’t ignore what his elder brother had asked him to do. Every time he saw his big brother smile meaningfully, it was harder to ignore his requests.
To complete Yun Huaxia’s request, he brought out his favorite guqin and started playing a sound. The soft tones of strings plucking within a certain rhythm give out a feeling of relaxation and tranquility. It was like a lullaby to put one to sleep. The mellow and hypnotic sound spreads within the courtyard even reaching the ears of the people who live next door.
—
A few moments ago...
Some disciples from the Lu Weifeng Sect had sent his dinner in his courtyard as usual. But unexpectedly, Hei Anjing at this time was not even in the mood to eat. He just decided to pass his time reading a gardening book about planting flowers. Despite the peaceful atmosphere coming from this otherworldly immortal, the traces of black circles under his eyes had increased in volume. Now that he even skipped dinner, Zhi Yue was extremely worried.
Zhi Yue asked worriedly, “Lord Hei, do you now feel well? Is the food not to your liking? I can prepare anything the Lord wishes to eat. Please give the orders.”
“No need. Just eat my dinner for me. I am... Not in the mood to eat due to the fact that my vessel is unable to sleep. Leave it be. This King wouldn’t be dying for missing a few meals and sleep... Don’t bother me. I’m reading my book, Yue,” said Hei Anjing as the latter had no other choice but to follow his lord’s order and keep himself silent.
Suddenly, they heard the sounds of the guqin coming somewhere not far from them. Even Hei Anjing felt that the sounds were not bad to his ears. He stopped reading his book and laid his arms and head at the edge of the window near his bedside and looked out of the cold scene of the red crescent moon within the blackened sky. The sound lingers for at most half an hour and Hei Anjing enjoys listening to it quietly.
Zhi Yue mumbled, “This is... the sounds of guqin?”
“The tunes... It wasn’t... bad at... all...”
Hei Anjing didn’t even notice his eyes slowly closing as if he was affected by sleepiness. Zhi Yue also noticed that and didn’t speak a word afraid he would halt his lord’s sleepiness. This is a man who hasn’t had a long and nice sleep for days. He was so insomniac that the under of his were filled with dark circles and his skin was pale with a detrimental health state.
He waited for a while until Lord Hei completely closed his eyes and his breathing turned stable. Finally, he had fallen asleep, unlike those times when even if he closed his eyes for a whole day, his eye bags would only expand making him look like a handsome panda man.
Low tones and snores echo in the room as Zhi Yue covers Lord Hei with a blanket after helping him properly lay on the wooden bed with the thick mattress he had prepared for the lord.
Zhi Yue mumbled, “Finally... Lord Hei had fallen asleep. But... The owner of that sound... who would play guqin in the middle of the night?” He faded from the room and wanted to investigate the one who played that guqin piece that had allowed his Lord Hei to finally enter a normal sleep after all those days he had to stay awake.
He suddenly appeared next door and bumps into Zhi Yang who had just returned from his scouting mission. Zhi Yue immediately understood who was the one living next door.
“A’Yang...? Then the one who lives here is...”
“Lord God Ye. But like Lord Hei, he also didn’t have any memories outside this world. All he remembers is his life in this little star, also the past life of the original before lord Hei took over the current vessel,” said Zhi Yang.
Zhi Yue responded, “We entered this world late and Lord Hei had been here for a certain time we aren’t sure of. Did Lord Hei just take over his current body in Purgatory as we were told or... Had he already lived a lifetime in this world even before we arrived?”
This question of Zhi Yue stunned Zhi Yang, this possibility is minimal but there is indeed a chance that Lord Hei who had left the last world early had also arrived in this world and lived the life of his mortal self which is what he is called Bai Wuan. But right now, Lord Hei had no memories of this life as this is a punishment he received for failing his mission and at the same time, he had also activated his bloodline’s curse which resulted in him losing his emotions and feelings. He is now expressionless and emotionless which made it harder to read him.
Zhi Yang said, “This possibility cannot be ignored. Sigh! According to what I’ve heard this world is supposed to be the last world for the second stage of the Trial of Resurrection. No wonder there are so many variables in this world and even our strengths were greatly restricted. It wasn’t the heavenly laws of this world, the ones restraining our cultivation but something or someone from our original world instead.”
“The Origin?” asked Zhi Yue.
Zhi Yang replied, “Yes, and maybe not only this Venerable.”
“Are you talking about the End as well? Sometimes I’m not sure whether they are helping the Lords in the trial or just making it harder. Is there any reason why they are trying to make these trials harder to complete?” complained Zhi Yue.
Zhi Yang said, “Apostles... The Origin already has its own apostles but the End doesn’t... I learned during my investigation while being with Gui Xiajun that... The one who caused Lord God Ye’s first reincarnation to have an error and ended up having his soul core and soul fragment split is because of his doing. I do not know what he plans to do.”
“I can understand Lord Ye being a candidate as his apostle as he is born from the Abyss and rules the darkness. But what about Lord Hei... he is a sovereign of ice... If there is something that might involve the dark side, it can only be his element of destruction,” said Zhi Yue.
Zhi Yang spoke, “I do not feel that is everything. There might be a story about Lord Hei and Lord God Ye that we do not know about.”
“Yue’er, how is Lord Hei?” asked Zhi Yang.
Zhi Yue answers, “Lord Hei had a hard time sleeping. He also would usually suffer some headaches at random times but... for some reason, his missing memories of his forgotten life as Bai Wuan slowly returned to him. He recognized Bai Qiyin a bit. But I am not sure to what extent it was.”
“A’Yang, do you know what happened to the life of Bai Wuan? This man seems to be related to Lord Hei himself.”
Zhi Yang, who had been living in the mortal realm for years and served Yun Xiajie as his subordinate, learned lots of things about the painful past of Yun Xiajie. The past that involves Yun Xiajie and the man called Bai Wuan can only be called tragic. They loved each other so much only for the Devil’s race to destroy that happiness.
But learning everything about that past, Zhi Yang couldn’t help but think of the past of Lord Hei and Lord God Ye. Their past itself was also a tragedy that he and Zhi Yue witnessed all this time.
Zhi Yang looked at the red crescent moon above their heads and mumbled,
“I hope that they get the happy ending they deserve in the end...”