Part Two: Separation of Life and Death
Having witnessed the devastation at Yanyu Tower, and after leaving the cypress forest, a similar situation had occurred. When Xiang Wu returned to the dilapidated Taoist temple outside the city where the two were staying after buying medicine, he discovered that Lin Zhenna had been besieged.
After the fierce battle, Xiang Wu immediately began packing his luggage. Lin Zhenna, who was wiping the blood off her longsword, suddenly asked, "Do you know what people outside are calling me now?"
"What?"
“They call us the Twin Demons of Misty Rain Pavilion.” Lin Zhenna paused. “If Master were still here, he would definitely take action himself to get rid of these people who are ruining the reputation of Misty Rain Pavilion.”
Xiang Wu stopped what he was doing, looked at the exhausted-looking Lin Zhenna, and said nothing. He didn't know what Lin Zhenna was feeling when she said those words.
After wiping Xiang Wu's sword clean, Nana picked up her own sword.
"I said..."
"Um?"
"How about you stop using your martial arts skills in the future?"
"My martial arts?"
"It's the martial arts you brought from Senluo Temple."
“Okay.” Xiang Wu agreed immediately without thinking too much. He felt that since Lin Zhenna said so, she must have her reasons.
After packing his belongings, Xiang Wu began scavenging the scattered corpses of the swordsmen. He could usually find some money, enough to support himself and Lin Zhenna, and some left over to buy medicine. With good luck, he could even find high-quality healing pills.
"I want to pass on the poem about misty rain to you."
"ah?"
“Since Master is no longer here, I will take charge for her.” Lin Zhenna smiled wearily. “Since the reputation of the Misty Rain Duo has already spread, we might as well make it official.”
"But your sect rules..."
“The Misty Rain Pavilion no longer exists. Survival has become a problem, and those dogmas are meaningless now.” Lin Zhenna carefully sheathed the two newly polished longswords and said, “I’ve been seriously thinking about ways to keep us alive. I had you hide your martial arts skills because I wanted to leave us a trump card. Perhaps one day, this trump card can save our lives.”
*
The attacks came like a storm, but Xiang Wu stood motionless in the center. He carefully sensed each attack; most of them were just compressed air blades, not real swords. Li Najiong launched several rounds of attacks in succession, but Xiang Wu remained unmoved, showing no intention of resisting or counterattacking.
Until the sixty-ninth strike. It was a completely different sensation from the previous sixty-eight air blade strikes; it was the icy coldness of a real longsword's edge. Xiang Wu aimed precisely at "Li Najiong" who was unleashing this strike and struck back with a palm.
This was the first time tonight that Xiangwu had seen Lee Na-kyung attempt to dodge.
Lee Na-kyung stared in astonishment as she watched the space fold and the palm strike pierce her heart. All the "Lee Na-kyung" figures coughed up blood and staggered backward.
Xiang Wu unleashed a series of palm strikes, folding space repeatedly. The first floor of the restaurant was filled with the tinkling sound of breaking glass.
After being struck twice more, Lee Na-kyung's face turned pale.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiang Wu slammed his palm upwards, blasting a hole in the roof, from which a shattering sound could be heard. Moonlight poured down from the hole, swirling around Xiang Wu's longsword and illuminating the entire restaurant.
The first floor of the restaurant was lined with mirrors as tall as a person. Some were broken, only half or a third of their height. Each seemingly unbroken illusion was merely a reflection in the mirror. As the old illusion and the broken mirror appeared, new mirrors appeared in different positions with different angles, which is why Lee Na-kyung's position changed subtly each time she was "reborn."
"It really is a mirror." Xiang Wu lowered his center of gravity and swooped down; this time it was his turn to attack.
Their longswords clashed, sending sparks flying. Half the night had passed, and this was the first real confrontation between the two.
How could that be?
“I already told you, I’ve seen through your tricks.” Xiang Wu continued to bluff, “You can’t break my golden body, I’m sure to win.”
The scales of victory were indeed tipping towards Xiang Wu little by little.
"It's still too slow. If I had more time to calm down and practice the Misty Rain Song, I should have already won this battle." Xiang Wu thought to himself, feeling a little impatient.
After thirty rounds, Lee Na-kyung suddenly abandoned her attack and held her longsword horizontally in front of her chest in a defensive stance.
"Damn it!" Seeing the rows of mirrors behind Lee Na-kyung, Xiang Wu quickly realized the other party's intention, but it was too late to sheathe his sword.
Swords clashed once more, and Lee Na-kyung was sent flying backward, crashing into a cluster of long mirrors. In the blink of an eye, towering mirrors sprang up again like mushrooms after rain, arranged in a staggered pattern, covering every corner of the restaurant's first floor.
Lee Na-kyung started running, her figure appearing and disappearing on different mirror surfaces. Once again, Lee Na-kyung vanished right under his nose.
In the mirror directly in front of him, Xiang Wu saw Lee Na Kyung, surrounded by a pink halo, appear behind him, raising her long sword high.
Xiang Wu turned around and unleashed a sword intent, only to find that there was no one in front of him, but a long mirror reflecting their figures.
The long mirror instantly transformed into a pale pink, and Lee Na-kyung's figure vanished from its reflection. The sword intent, seemingly unleashed, struck her own chest reflected in the mirror.
The long mirror shattered with a crack, and the sword intent reappeared perfectly on Xiang Wu's chest. Xiang Wu staggered back two steps, and worse, he discovered that the golden protective layer had begun to crack. It started from the sword mark he himself had made.
*
The vast, boundless sea of sand continues to be scorched by the sun. The relentless heat has nearly wiped out all life.
Even such a blazing sun has its untouchables. Deep in the desert, the sand shimmers with a reddish glow. The unimaginable heat is so intense that even the sunlight retreats, and from afar, the air appears distorted beyond recognition.
If you look closely, you'll also notice that this strange red area is slowly moving. At the center of the area, there's a moving ball of flame. That's the source of the high temperature—a humanoid monster engulfed in fire.
A whooshing sound suddenly echoed through the desert, heading straight for the Fire Man.
The fire-man raised his sword, his movements strange yet precise, and blocked the attack. It was a sharp arrow. The arrow, halted in mid-air by the impact, immediately burst into flames and burned to ash. The fire-man was slightly thrown back by the collision, his arm and sword propelled even higher by the impact.
A burly man stood atop the sand dune, his gaze piercing. He held a seven-foot longbow in his hand, staring at the Fire Man as if examining prey, his face showing no fear.
The man drew his bow and fired a second, a third, a fourth arrow… each one striking the longsword in the fire-man's hand. The arrows grew denser, gradually pushing the fire-man's arm and sword higher into the air. The fire-man roared, struggling desperately to regain control of the sword. But in the end, the sword slipped from his grasp and flew into the distance.
More people rose from behind the sand dunes on all sides. They wore the same distinctive clothing as the men, but their bows were much smaller.
Draw the bow and shoot the arrow.
These arrows did not aim at the fire spirit; each arrow flew close to its side. What was special about these arrows was that each arrow had an iron chain attached to its tail.
Other men with spears slid down from the top of the dune, standing in a position that the arrows attached to the chains could reach.
The arrow pierced through the intense heat surrounding the fire-man, its shaft completely incinerated by the time it reached the men wielding spears. The iron chain at the arrow's fletching shimmered with a reddish light, similar to the sand around the fire-man, due to the intense heat. The men assumed their stances, turned sideways, and thrust their spears forward, the spearheads wedging precisely into the rings at the ends of the iron chains.
The men, wielding spears, ran around the fire-man, pulling on the chains. After circling three times, the fire-man was firmly bound in the center of the group, unable to move.
"Truly remarkable, such martial arts are no longer seen in the Central Plains." Perhaps due to dehydration, Pei Jiangxi's lips were pale.
Beside Pei Jiangxi stood a beautiful Hu woman and an exceptionally tall man. The Hu woman, named Ayinur, was as tall as Pei Jiangxi and held a crescent-shaped scimitar. She stared intently at the fire-man, who was temporarily bound by chains. The Hu man was called Kurban. Even on tiptoe, Pei Jiangxi and Ayinur couldn't reach his shoulder. He carried no weapons, only a shield that looked like it was woven from withered grass.
“I didn’t expect you to actually find him,” Aynur said.
Pei Jiangxi held a sword, still sheathed. Behind her, she carried another sword. She patted the sword on her back and said, "The swords of malice attract each other. I know how to use them; finding him won't be difficult."
As they were talking, the fireman opened his mouth. A perfectly round fireball hurtled straight toward Pei Jiangxi with lightning speed.
Kurban took a step forward and held the straw shield in front of him. The fireball exploded as if it had encountered an insurmountable barrier in front of the straw shield, with bursts of flame flying to the sides and into the sky. Pei Jiangxi and the other two were not only unaffected by the shockwave of the explosion, but also unaffected by the high temperature. On the contrary, standing behind the shield, they could even feel a cool breeze on their faces.
“Now it’s your turn,” Aynur said after the flames had died down.
"I know."
Pei Jiangxi stepped forward through the air, and golden leaves appeared beneath her feet and around her. They were fluttering ginkgo leaves.
Upon entering the sandy area, which shimmered red from the intense heat, the ginkgo trees began to burn, appearing from afar as if a fiery rain had fallen on the desert. Where the fiery rain fell, pink and white pansies, pale yellow shrub roses, pale purple plumbago, snow-white geraniums, oxalis, and rock bellflowers sprouted... The flowers had barely appeared when flames ignited, but the flames seemed unable to burn the petals; instead, they became the flowers' attire.
"Pah!" Ayinur spat, laughing and cursing, "These Central Plains people are really damn weird. I will never go to the Central Plains to cause trouble in my life."
Although the distance wasn't far, it took Pei Jiangxi a quarter of an hour to finally reach the top of the fireman.
The fire-man glared at the woman who had approached him, roaring as he tried to break free of the chains that bound him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect it to turn out like this," Pei Jiangxi said softly. She held out her right hand, placing it just above the fireman's forehead. "I'm not very skilled yet, so please behave yourself a little."
A drop of blood fell precisely onto the Fireman's forehead as his thumb traced the pad of his index finger. Pei Jiangxi then spat out another mouthful of blood, flicking it onto the "volcano" beside him.
"The Threefold Purification of Mind Technique".
In the blink of an eye, the flames vanished, and the red color of the sand quickly faded. He Zi'an was no longer human; he was nearly exhausted and dying.
Pei Jiangxi fell from the air and caught He Zi'an, who was falling forward.
"I'm sorry," Pei Jiangxi said again.
He Zi'an, of course, wouldn't reply to her.
"Do me one last favor." Under the clear blue sky, Pei Jiangxi looked into the distance and said, "Consider it helping Rui En."
Seeing He Zian fall, the men holding spears finally breathed a sigh of relief. Having weathered the most tense moment, their hands began to tremble.
"Hey," Ayinur called out from afar, "that way, we'll be even about the matter of you helping me get rid of the Blood Palace, and also..."
Pei Jiangxi took the treacherous sword from her back and threw it over, saying, "This is yours, Ayinur. Thank you for your help."
Aynur didn't reach out; it was clear she was somewhat resistant to the treacherous sword. It was Kurban who caught the longsword Pei Jiangxi threw to him.
“Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies,” Aynur said.
"We probably won't see each other again. Don't worry." Pei Jiangxi's face was pale, and she forced a smile that was anything but pleasant.
*
After Lee Na-kyung adjusted her strategy, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Like a multitude of attempts to attack, she ultimately ended up hurting herself more.
He had long understood that his defeat was inevitable. But deep down, there was still a sliver of hope that he could never shake off—a hope for a miracle, a hope to see Nana again.
Under the moonlight, an eagle circled above the Le Lai Restaurant, calling out rhythmically. It repeated three times.
Lee Na-kyung looked up at the hole that Xiang Wu had blasted open with his palm, then glanced at Xiang Wu, who was kneeling on the stage, supporting himself with his sword. He was no longer protected by his golden body.
"Did you hear that?" Lee Na-kyung, hiding behind the mirror, said, "That's news from the other side: the Bone Woman is dead."
Xiang Wu was clearly taken aback for a moment.
Lee Na-kyung secretly observed this incredibly determined man through the mirror. "Is he finally going to collapse?" Lee Na-kyung thought to herself.
Xiang Wu abandoned his longsword and sat cross-legged. Blood smeared one of Xiang Wu's eyes, and now he closed his other eye as well.
"Be your own protector, be your own refuge. If one can tame them, it is like a charioteer taming a horse." Xiang Wu recited the Buddhist scripture he hadn't spoken in a long time.
He desperately wished that girl could descend from the sky like a hero once more, bringing wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to save him. The girl sternly rebuked him: "I didn't teach you to just wait to die."
Then, with a gentle smile, Hu Niang would tell him, "You still owe me something."
"Hmm." Xiang did not answer.
The elephant has no hands clasped together, and its heart is devoid of sorrow or joy.
"Amitabha."
The phantom of the giant Buddha obscured the sky, its broad palms silently closing. The entire restaurant crumbled into dust from the outside in.
Over a hundred mirrors shattered simultaneously, and the damage was reproduced on Xiang Wu's body exactly as it was. Li Najiong, however, had no chance to escape, and nowhere to run.
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