Chapter 62 The Secret

He felt a pang of sympathy for the already predetermined ending.

These peaceful days were so short-lived that the day they captured the Xie family was the last time Mu Yuan and Shen Guisong met.

This was the second to last meeting between Qing Jiujie and Shen Guisong.

On the eve of the destruction of Yuanmuyuan.

The restrictions on Shuofeng wavered, and Shen Guisong used his entire soul to suppress the demonic beast, completely sealing himself within the formation.

The method of suppressing the scattered souls that he taught Qing Jiujie was not used, but that doesn't mean it's safe.

Qing Jiujie and Mu Yuan are a line of defense. If such a death leads to the absence of another mountain guardian, then the task will have to be handed over to them.

Then, there is the scene where Yuanmuyuan, which left a deep impression on Qingjue, was destroyed, and where Qingjiujie and Muyuan made their final farewell.

"Look at me again. I, Qing Jiujie, have only one secret in my life."

Qing Jiujie: "I just want to say that I really did not betray anything here. I don't ask you to believe me. I just want to tell you that if you want to kill me to vent your anger, I have no complaints. But before that, I need to settle the people of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou and the Qing family... Also... I still need to fulfill the things that Shen Guisong entrusted to me."

“Is that so… Gui Song is already…” After calming down, Mu Yuan realized that Shen Gui Song was dead, but he was powerless to do anything about it. He could only say, “I also need to go back underground, back to the place where the ancient tree took root, otherwise this place will collapse completely before long.”

"..."

"There's no need to grieve for us. This is our destiny. We were born there, and we should return there. Otherwise, once these two mountains collapse, the surrounding people will suffer, and those living in Yuanmuyuan will be homeless again. They will only have me left."

From Qing Jiujie's perspective, Qing Jue saw Mu Yuan's determined gaze again: "And you, too, have a mission to complete."

"Yes, we must protect them."

"I will not let you down."

In order to give Muyuan hope and something to look forward to, he ultimately did not reveal his promise to Shen Guisong.

Qingjue always thought that his only secret would be an unspoken confession, or that he wanted to hide the existence of Yuanmuyuan.

But only now did he realize that love and protection were never unspeakable secrets.

The secret of Qing Jiujie lies solely in this one thing: the willingness to sacrifice one's life at any time.

All the words related to Shen Guisong, including the "men" after the title, have completely disappeared from Muyuan's memory.

A living, breathing creature... why is there not a trace of it?

Finally, fate brought them to their end.

The last bit of spiritual power that Shen Guisong had used to suppress the demon beast was forcibly extracted.

Qingjue saw Jieyou's foolish face through Qingjiujie's eyes.

Qing Jiujie exerted all her strength to deploy the barrier, trapping the demon fire and Jieyou's actions. Exhausted, she used her sword to support herself on the ground.

That's how I met Shinki Matsu for the last time.

"...What did you do..."

Jieyou pointed to her eyes with a smug look: "Qing Jiujie, do you recognize this?"

His eyes had an inhuman quality, subtly reflecting light.

Fragments of a compass.

It shattered when Mu Yuan single-handedly supported Yuan Mu Yuan.

I never expected that this bastard would take some of the fragments with him.

“It wasn’t just fragments of the mind-stabilizing mirror,” Jieyou said, “I also ate something else.”

"Heaven, Eye".

"...!"

"I led the people to activate the restrictions on Shuofeng, I released the demonic beasts, and I also saw the secret of the mountain guardian."

Swallowing an eyeball whole; a lens embedded in the eye.

Qingjue thought he was really crazy.

The Tianyan clan had been wiped out for many years, and Qing Jiujie never imagined that Jieyou had been involved in the tragedy of that year.

Qingjue cursed him inwardly: "You utterly wicked beast."

“Do you know the rules of the guardians of Shuofeng Mountain?” Jieyou looked at him with a merciful expression, “I will let you die knowing why.”

The guardian of the mountain is an identity that only the dead can remember.

The guardians of the mountain, who protect the demons from harming the people, are replaced every hundred years. After their powers are transferred, their souls cannot enter the cycle of reincarnation. When a new guardian appears, the powers bestow a name upon them. Generations of guardians are destined to be forgotten by the world, leaving no trace.

If this last bit of spiritual power is destroyed by human intervention, there will be no new guardians of the mountain.

“In other words,” Jieyou said, “if I just gently crush this fragile spiritual power in my hand, Shen Guisong will cease to exist in the world.”

The monsters in Shuofeng will be freed from their restraints, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

"……stop!"

“Also, I was very curious before, since the Yuanmuyuan Divine Tree has been destroyed, what makes that mountain still stand tall?” His eyes, as he thought, reflected a picture in Qing Jiujie’s mind, “So it was that damned demon that kept it up.”

The artificial sky eye is utterly devoid of human ethics.

"...You dare...!"

Jieyou mocked, "Qing Jiujie, you have so many secrets, always trying to hide them, but in the end you didn't keep anything."

How does it feel to lose a close friend and be separated from a lover forever?

This is truly a welcome sight.

“The mountain guardian can’t be remembered by the dead,” Jieyou laughed. “I’ll kill you, then refine that dead demon into something good! The three of you can reunite in the underworld.”

Qing Jiujie was panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the fierce demonic fire in Jieyou's hand. They seemed to be of vastly different strengths.

Demonic fire...

It was cultivated by a demon beast...

fire……

The technique of scattering souls is a powerful weapon against demonic beasts.

right……

It turns out it came in handy here.

Qing Jiujie laughed along.

"Now that you know my secret—"

Qingjue felt pain.

As a spectator, his pain had lessened considerably, but it was still excruciating.

"Then let's go down to the earth together and become nourishment for the mountains."

Qing Jiujie and Jieyou perished together, their souls scattered to suppress the demonic fire, their spirits torn apart so they could no longer enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Before the last wisp of spiritual power of Shenguisong is exhausted, it will seek a new guardian of the mountain.

But Shuofeng no longer needs a mountain guardian.

Because the new patriarch of the Qing family, Wu Qingxianjun, used a single tea leaf to kill over a hundred demonic beasts on Shuofeng Peak.

In pure slaughter, this immortal lord used a single tea leaf to pierce the throats of over a hundred demonic beasts.

That's a story for another time.

Qingjue felt like he had returned to reality, but his body was still not used to it.

I even felt like gagging, and my whole body was numb with pain.

The last scene was just...too exciting...his entire nervous system was still throbbing.

It's hard to imagine how much suffering Qing Jiujie actually endured during all of that.

These three... one sacrificed himself to extinguish his existence, one tore his soul apart to suppress the demonic fire, and one turned into a withered tree to struggle for a hundred years.

Admirable and awe-inspiring.

Unfortunately, some died and others forgot. If it weren't for my intervention, Mu Yuan's ending wouldn't have been good either.

To relieve worries... one's death is not a pity.

"Master!"

Seeing Qingjue kneeling on the ground in pain inside the room, several disciples rushed in and quickly helped him up.

“Master, are you alright?” Aju said, “Sister Muyuan is in the small reception room. You…you’ve finished reading? What happened back then?”

"...It's nothing," Qingjue paused, steadied himself, and said, "I know almost everything that happened back then. Let's go to the reception room now, and I'll tell you everything."

Qing Jiujie's shattered soul was placed in a small jar, and Mu Yuan sat opposite him and listened to the whole process.

Shen Guisong...

She had no memory of that name.

It turned out that she had completely forgotten.

"The identity of the mountain guardian is a secret. Throughout history, the mountain guardians have tried their best not to associate with others," Qingjue said. "Perhaps it is because even if there is a connection, it will be completely forgotten."

This is a way to protect the prohibition; they were created for this purpose.

Today, the name Shuofeng is no longer mentioned, and the once dangerous place has become just an ordinary mountain forest.

It turns out that Immortal Lord Wu Qing was originally killing that kind of demonic beast, no wonder he killed so many at once.

...Qingjue was a little curious about how he knew, but he figured he wouldn't easily go back to the modern world.

“…But,” Ruan Linglai said, “the contributions of Senior Qing Jiujie and Senior Shen Guisong have been so lightly mentioned that no one has ever mentioned them.”

The former is something no one knows what happened, and the latter is something no one remembers.

Mu Yuan felt overwhelmed with sadness.

What's the point of leaving her alone in the world when her friends and loved ones have both passed away in such tragic ways?

How could this be? How could this happen...?

She never imagined she would have friends she had forgotten, nor did she imagine Qing Jiujie's death would be so painful. Their three-way relationship was so short-lived, and now knowing the whole story is useless.

She was only in pain, wondering why she had survived.

What is the significance of this?

“No,” Ruan Linglai said, “You are the meaning, Sister Muyuan. Live on with their share.”

Wen Tianyu: "It is said that everyone has a tree in their life with which they have a deep connection. There are many ancient and beautiful legends associated with it, and thus the name 'Wood Fate' was born. It is a beautiful blessing. Even if the connection is limited, the bond between us will take root with the tree and continue with it."

Aju: "I didn't understand much of what Senior Brother Wen said..."

“What I mean is…” Wen Tian explained succinctly, “same as Ling Lai.”

Yan Shiqun also expressed a rare moment of regret: "The three sacrificial envoys... it's truly a pity, but given the situation at the time, there was really no solution."

Qingjue said, "I do have some good news..."

Everyone looked at him.

"Among the treasures retrieved from the Li family, there were also some spellbooks. Because no one could understand the principles, no one learned them. After hearing the story of Tianyu, I can roughly understand it," Qingjue said. "Back then, the Immortal of the Distant Mountain used the token as a medium, and Tianyu transformed into a clivia to reshape the soul and body. I can learn it and modify it. If Qing Jiujie's soul can be reshaped, it can be considered as fulfilling the promise I made to the girl back then."

“…But this is not easy,” Wen Tianyu said worriedly, “My mother exhausted all her inner strength to send me away…I’m afraid…”

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan also agreed that it was indeed inappropriate.

Qingjue had nothing to do with this matter. He had already helped a lot, and it would be really unfair to waste so much of his cultivation and inner strength.

"It's alright, I've already thought it through. The principle isn't difficult," Qingjue quickly grasped the concept. Seeing that they were all quite nervous, he said, "My role is simply to lay a foundation and stabilize his soul. In theory, we can nurture him properly, and the young lady can collect the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth while she's traveling."

The situation was urgent, and given that the Immortal of the Distant Mountains was already seriously injured, she probably didn't want to live, which is why she resorted to this desperate measure.

His method sounded quite safe, and the group reluctantly put away their worries.

“However, I need to seek the Pavilion Master’s consent,” Qingjue said, glancing at Wen Tianyu. “This is your property, and you have the right to decide. What does the Pavilion Master think?”