CH 104

The battle at the hillside terrace at Jun Hua Island’s suspension bridge was deadlocked for a long time. Seeing that the moon had risen to the middle of the sky, half the night had already passed.

Just when both sides were feeling a little exhausted, bright flames lit up at the base of Jun Hua Island and then, something exploded with a tremendous noise, streaking across the night sky to scare everyone present.

Feng Lin rushed from a distance in disarray, his clothes were all torn and disheveled, as if he’d endured a great battle.

He alone stormed into the Devil Sect battlefield, but didn’t join the fight, instead directly returned to the Tengyun Pavilion troops and shouted: “There’s a trap on Jun Hua Island, it’s piled high with oil barrels. The Devil Sect Leader intends to perish together with everyone……Alliance Leader Gu is attempting to deter him and has ordered us……to retreat from Jun Hua Island.”

Everyone was appalled when they heard this.

Just then, several more tremendous blasts sounded from somewhere near the summit of Jun Hua Island and a burning wine barrel plummeted down from high up, smashing right in front of everyone. Flames burst out and spread all over the large area. Everyone was alarmed and couldn’t help taking a step back.

“The suspension bridges here are all bamboo and wood. The Wasteland is arid and highly ignitable.” Feng Lin said impatiently, “If we don’t withdraw now, it’ll be too late!”

Once he’d spoken, he gave a wave. Tengyun Pavilion’s and Qianfeng Villa’s troops instantly received the order and began to retreat.

Xuanji Temple’s leader asked anxiously: “Where’s Alliance Leader Gu?” 

Before Feng Lin could reply, the sound of clashing swords from high above caught everyone’s attention.

On the summit platform where the raging flames and moonlight overlapped, two silhouettes could be seen trading blows with each other.

Gu Ruohai was all dressed in blue and his sword strikes were extremely precise, as if he was a beast on a hunt and his moves were deadly.

Su Huaizhu wore a pure white robe and he was holding a wooden box as he whirled around on his footwork. His thin sword resembled a meandering vine, appearing weak and boneless, but it was actually sufficient to throttle whatever that fell into its trap.

They went back and forth attacking with extreme vehemence, without any mercy and there wasn’t the slightest inkling of deep sentiment from bygone days.

As he witnessed the battle between the two of them, Su Yang abruptly experienced a type of delusion. He merely thought that this scene ought to have been precipitated by him and Gu Feidi, instead of Alliance Leader Gu and the Devil Sect Leader.

——At least, in the original script, the battle atop the Devil Sect summit should’ve been them: this pair of young arch-rivals.

However, when he recalled the inconsistencies between the script and the people of this world, the Devil Sect Leader wasn’t a shriveled up old fogey and it was impossible for him to be instantly dispatched once he came on the scene based on his striking martial arts skills. Su Yang was relieved.

The blaze gradually began to engulf the buildings around Jun Hua Island, but the Devil Sect flower aides didn’t seem agitated and continued to unite and struggled to force the Central Plains martial artists back to the other side of the suspension bridge.

Feng Lin swung his sword at Gu Feidi and pretended that he wanted to capture him. He transmitted over his low voice, “Pavilion Master asked me to remind Young Pavilion Master that no matter what happens, Young Pavilion Master must not be separated from Su Yang.”

Gu Feidi was stunned and before he could respond, he heard Mei Shisan cry out in alarm from not too far away: “SECT LEADER——!”

Immediately after that, he broke away from the battlefront and rushed up the summit without a backward glance.

The Devil Sect flower aides who were still fighting and even the Central Plains troops who were organizing their retreat, all went into an uproar and their gazes now congregated in the direction of the summit.

Su Yang impetuously sensed something and raised his head to glance up at the summit platform where Gu Ruohai and Su Huaizhu were fighting.

All he saw at this moment was the white-robed Devil Sect Leader arch his body up slightly and grab hold of Gu Ruohai’s wrist in front of him——Gu Ruohai was wielding a long sword and the blade pierced through Su Huaizhu’s chest and all the way out his back. The blood stains on the blade reflected the moonlight and flames, gradually pooled together and trickled down silently.

Everyone at the scene seemed to hear a heart-wrenching reverberation.

Su Yang was shocked on the spot by the sight and only felt that his heart had stopped beating.

He was well-acquainted with this stab of Gu Ruohai’s, so well-acquainted that even his chest seemed throb and ache.

——Because this stab should’ve been performed by Gu Feidi on him.

A cold gleam streaked onto Su Yang’s side and Gu Feidi sped out with his sword to help Su Yang deflect a strike from Tongyun Temple’s fighter before bringing him to withdraw outside the battleline.

“Shixiong!” Gu Feidi gripped Su Yang’s wrist and called out worriedly, trying to drag him back from his stupor, “Xiao xiao……this matter, this matter……my father, he isn’t……”

But in the end, he was unable to utter anything more and held onto Su Yang’s ice-cold hands in silence.

On the summit, the wooden box that Su Huaizhu had been hanging onto tumbled to the edge of the platform and suddenly smashed, raining down pieces of paper, rustling and scattering into the raging blaze at the base of the mountain before being completely swallowed up by the flames.

Immediately after that, Gu Ruohai slowly drew out his long sword from Su Huaizhu’s chest.

Su Huaizhu fell a step back, with half a foot on the edge of the summit platform. He bent his waist, held his hands on his chest and slowly raised his head. He cast a smile at Gu Ruohai’s direction and said something to him in a low voice.

Gu Ruohai stood still with a blank expression and gave no response.

Su Huaizhu’s figure swayed a little and at last, he could no longer stand firmly. He toppled from the edge of the summit platform and plummeted straight into the midst of the fiery blaze.

Meanwhile, a profusion of explosions erupted from all around Jun Hua Island and the entire island was enveloped in flames.

Right now, most of the fighters of the Central Plains allied troops had already withdrawn to the mid section of the suspension bridge. Seeing that Alliance Leader Gu had killed the Devil Sect Leader, they all clapped and cheered, but some couldn’t help sighing, wondering if Alliance Leader Gu had managed to obtain the legendary Sword Sage Legacy.

Gu Ruohai quickly took advantage of the mountain’s terrain to return to the middle section of the Jun Hua Island’s suspension bridge. He looked up at the two young men who seemed to be terror-struck.

His gaze fell on Su Yang for a long while before turning to his son and asking, “Have you thought about what you’re going to do next?”

Gu Feidi opened his mouth, but was at a loss of how to answer for a while. He could only grip Su Yang’s hand a little tighter.

Su Yang was awoken by the pain and he abruptly shuddered.

Gu Feidi immediately turned to him.

It seemed like Su Yang hadn’t noticed Gu Ruohai’s arrival at all. His gaze was apprehensive as he looked in the direction where Su Huaizhu had fallen, his frown becoming deeper and deeper.

All of a sudden, he flung off Gu Feidi’s hand, activated the Prized Flower Steps and sped towards the blazing cliff.

Gu Feidi had no time to consider anything. He turned back to glance at his father before promptly chasing after Su Yang’s retreating figure without hesitation.

Feng Lin held back the impulse to retrieve Gu Feidi, turned around to look at Gu Ruohai and asked uncertainly: “Pavilion Master, why did you kill him……”

Gu Ruohai released a faint sigh, “Don’t worry, how could I have the heart to kill him?”

……

Su Yang was terribly anxious and he dashed all the way in the direction where Su Huaizhu had fallen from the cliff, but his path was obstructed by the raging flames from all around.

He didn’t understand why he was so worried for Su Huaizhu. He hadn’t had much association with the Devil Sect Leader prior to this and he didn’t have much feelings either. Perhaps it was because today, he had been overwrought and felt that the other party resembled himself; or maybe it was a sense of absurdity that the other party had undertaken his fate by being pierced through the chest by a sword just now.

Su Yang wasn’t sure why he’d rushed over to find him. Did he want to ascertain the Devil Sect Leader’s death? Or did he want to see an implausible miracle?

Gu Feidi caught up with him and saw Su Yang standing in the midst of the blaze with a puzzled expression, like he was at a loss of what to do.

“Shixiong…” He called out as he walked over to Su Yang’s side, “…I’m sorry.”

Su Yang looked at Gu Feidi in surprise, “What are you apologising for?”

Before Gu Feidi could answer, he was interrupted by a voice.

“Young Saint.”

Mei Shisan came out from behind a rock nearby, his tone was urgent: “Please follow this subordinate to the Forbidden Area and slip out of the headquarters with Sect Leader.”

Su Yang was shocked for a second: “Sect Leader?”

Mei Shisan nodded: “Sect Leader is alright, kindly follow this subordinate.” 

Although he didn’t quite comprehend how the Sect Leader could be alright, Su Yang instantly followed Mei Shisan, evading the flames and moving behind the rocks.

Once he noticed that Gu Feidi hadn’t caught up, he turned round, instinctively grabbed Gu Feidi’s hand tightly and tugged him along.

Su Yang and Gu Feidi followed Mei Shisan, avoiding the blaze and heading straight down into the Forbidden Area’s cave beneath Jun Hua Island.

At this moment, many flower aides had gathered in the Forbidden Area and in the center of the crowd was Su Huaizhu, who was still completely dressed in white and not in dire straits at all.

Su Huaizhu didn’t seem to be injured in the least. Su Yang couldn’t help being startled when he saw this. He approached and mumbled, “……You’re alright?”

Su Huaizhu threw him a glance, didn’t reply to him and continued to instruct the flower aides around him. When they vacated from the third stone monument room in groups, only then did he turn to face Su Yang.

“You’re worried about me?” He asked with a smile, “I never expected that you’d be worried about me……”

Su Yang was silent for a moment and then asked: “That sword……truly stabbed you?”

Su Huaizhu said: “Penetrated through the chest, but didn’t hit any crucial points……Half Withered Red can be used to stanch the bleeding, so there’s no harm.”

Su Yang couldn’t believe it and frowned: “Truly?”

Su Huaizhu stared at Su Yang, eyeing him all over for sometime, the corners of his mouth curved up and he said: “If it was the real Su Yang, he definitely wouldn’t be asking me like this right now.”

He’d spoken calmly, but when Su Yang heard these words, it was tantamount to a loud blast and he couldn’t relax no matter what he did. Su Yang chewed his lip, not daring to look directly at Su Huaizhu and his fingers that were being by Gu Feidi couldn’t help tightening a little.

Gu Feidi stepped forward and stood side-by-side with Su Yang, holding his cold fingers within his palm.

Su Huaizhu took in both of their movements and emitted a light laugh: “You don’t need to be skittish, I won’t do anything to you. His fate was doomed to be a calamity, I knew it and he, himself knew it too, which was why he behaved so perversely……if it weren’t for the obsession with the techniques, he might’ve been even more abominable.”

After speaking, he eyed Su Yang with interest: “You seem to be brooding on my being stabbed. Can you tell me why?”

“I……”

Su Yang contemplated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to omit the truth about another world, and only said: “I’ve dreamt about it, ng, a lot…….Gu Feidi had led a team to annihilate and met me on the summit platform……In the end, I was stabbed by him with a sword, just like you……”

Su Huaizhu was stunned.

Gu Feidi abruptly turned and asked in shock: “This is the scene that you often dreamt of, of me wanting to kill you?”

Su Yang nodded and glanced at Su Huaizhu: “That’s why……I’ve invariably supposed that you’ve suffered that stab on my behalf……”

Su Huaizhu couldn’t help raising his eyebrows after hearing that.

“Your disposition is novel.” He smiled and sighed, “But, if your origins weren’t unusual, I wouldn’t have concealed the truth of this annihilation from you. This fake death and stealth plan may have been informed to you in advance. Who knows, perhaps at that time, the both of you would indeed have a fight.”

“Fake death……” Su Yang repeatedly mumbled, “So it was all planned.”

“Of course it was planned.” Su Huaizhu said, “If Eluo Ghost Tent is to believe that my Sect has collapsed and fallen apart, they won’t be at ease if I didn’t die. Therefore, at any rate, my ‘death’ at the hands of Gu Ruohai was inevitable. There’s no need for you to reproach yourself on the account of such fantastical dreams.”

Su Yang was clearly very much relieved.

Su Huaizhu shook his head and sighed, “……childish.”