Under the gazes of Zhou Ping, Shen Qingzhu and Lin Qiye, An Qingyu maintained that posture for several seconds before slowly retracting his hand.

He placed his chopsticks on the lunch box, his expression returning to its usual calm state:

"Then let's do it."

silence.

The howling cold wind of the desert passed by the sword hut like a roaring beast, sweeping wildly in the darkness.

Beside the swaying stove, four figures stood like clay sculptures, silent.

Zhou Ping looked at An Qingyu beside him. He could not see the slightest sign of hesitation on the latter's face, as if he had already accepted his fate.

Lin Qiye and Shen Qingzhu sat there, feeling a little lost, a little angry, and a little puzzled... But in this sword pavilion, it was not up to them to decide An Qingyu's life or death.

Here, the only one who can decide An Qingyu's life or death is Zhou Ping.

When the sword is out, An Qingyu dies; when the sword is put away, An Qingyu lives... Everything depends on Zhou Ping's heart.

Zhou Ping looked into An Qingyu's eyes, and those eyes, as pure as clear water, revealed unprecedented disappointment... At this moment, Zhou Ping, the sword immortal who could even kill the Supreme with one sword, suddenly looked much more haggard.

He silently picked up two broken wooden chopsticks of different lengths and put two mouthfuls of rice into his mouth. As he chewed, his eyes could not help but turn red.

After an unknown amount of time, he spoke vaguely:

"…Let's eat."

The sword intent that was floating around An Qingyu's neck gradually dissipated.

At this time, An Qingyu's back was soaked with cold sweat, and his tense body finally relaxed.

He picked up the chopsticks and empty lunch box in front of him again, his fingertips still trembling slightly. Just as he was about to get up and get rice from the rice cooker on the other side of the stove, a hand stretched out in front of him.

"Let me help you serve it." Lin Qiye said slowly.

An Qingyu was stunned, but still handed over the lunch box. Not long after, a bowl of steaming white rice was returned to him.

"……Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Qingzhu, did you buy some wine?" Zhou Ping suddenly asked.

"Yes...but teacher, is your body capable of drinking it?"

"I can withstand the supreme law, so why can't I drink wine?" Zhou Ping took the bottle of white wine, directly filled the small cup in front of him, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp!

"Puff, cough, cough..." The hot wine flowed down the esophagus into the stomach, choking Zhou Ping, who had never tasted wine before. He frowned and started coughing continuously.

"Please go slowly... This is not the way to drink this wine."

"Teacher, let's drink with you..."

"Qingyu, hand me your cup."

“…”

As the night deepened, the light from the stove made the four people's faces red in the howling cold wind.

The wine glasses collided with each other, making a clinking sound. The four men did not chat, but just faced each other and drank the wine in silence... The wine in their glasses carried the spiciness and pain, as well as the past that could only remain in memory forever.

That night, the Red Dust Sword Immortal fell drunk in the sword hut.

The flames in the furnace burned out.

The originally fiery atmosphere gradually fell into coldness and darkness.

Lin Qiye slowly stood up beside the stove, which was still warm. He looked at An Qingyu and spoke calmly:

"It's time to go."

An Qingyu stood up from the ground silently and followed Lin Qiye.

Except for Zhou Ping, Lin Qiye, An Qingyu and Shen Qingzhu were not drunk...or rather, they did not let themselves get drunk.

An Qingyu did not make any unnecessary movements, nor did he try to escape. He just followed Lin Qiye, opened the door of the sword pavilion, and walked out.

At this moment, Zhou Ping's drunken voice rang out from the sword room:

"An Qingyu..."

An Qingyu stopped suddenly.

"You used to be my student... Today... I won't kill you... But next time... My sword will show no mercy..." Zhou Ping lowered his head, sitting cross-legged alone in the center of the sword pavilion. Under the dim starlight, his expression could not be seen clearly.

An Qingyu turned around and looked at him deeply, without answering, turned around and followed Lin Qiye's figure, gradually disappearing without a trace.

…

Daxia.

In the silent night, a mountain peak nestled in an uninhabited mountain range suddenly began to tremble!

The earth roared, and birds flew up.

boom--!!

A deafening roar suddenly resounded through the sky.

The mountain peak was visibly split in the middle, colorful lights illuminated half of the sky, and phantom shadows rose into the sky from the mountain!

“Hahahaha!! It’s out! It’s finally out!!”

"Seventeen years!! Seventeen whole years! I can't stay in this cave for even one more day!"

"Sky! Earth! Pineapple bun! I'm back!!"

"After seventeen years of seclusion, from entering the 'Zhan' realm to reaching the half-step human ceiling... we should be almost invincible, right?"

"Where's Brother Fang Mo? I couldn't beat him before, but now I think I can do it again!"

“…”

These figures fell from the sky, crying and laughing, hugging each other excitedly.

They all looked to be around 25 or 26 years old, tall and strong, with eyes as bright as stars, and messy long hair tangled together, like a group of wild people walking out of Shennongjia.

There were exactly eleven figures in total, no more and no less.

"Don't get excited! Listen to me!" One of the voices sounded, instantly suppressing all the voices. Judging from his appearance, he was the oldest among the group.

"Have you forgotten what the Heavenly Venerable said twelve years ago? He told us to cultivate ourselves diligently and improve our strength as quickly as possible... If I'm not mistaken, some serious changes must have happened in the outside world, forcing the Heavenly Venerable to extend the time limit for us to come out of seclusion, because only in this way can we be able to protect ourselves and go find Master Qiye.

Seventeen years had passed in the mountains, which was equivalent to more than five years in the outside world. A lot of things could happen in five years...

Now that we don't know the situation outside, we can't act rashly, understand?"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded:

"Brother, what do you say?"

Luan Lie pondered for a moment and said, "Well, Old Four, Old Seven, and Old Eight, you are carrying the souls of Jingwei, Blue Bird, and Bifang, and you are the most agile. You should fly out of these mountains first and go to the cities and villages on the edge to inquire about the situation. The rest of you should stay where you are."

"clear!"

Among the crowd, three figures stepped out, and with a flash of their bodies, they transformed into three divine birds of different shapes, flying away in different directions.

"Second brother, I'm so hungry..." A round fat man squeezed next to Luan Lie and said pitifully.

“Old Five, please bear with it for a while... When we find Lord Qiye or Brother Fang Mo, they will definitely treat us to a meal.” Luan Lie said seriously.

"Really? Can I eat enough?"

"..." Luan Lie's mouth twitched, "Old Five, by the time you're full, the whole of Da Xia will probably be out of food..."

"Oh well."

Luan Lie was about to say something else when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the sky and he froze in place.

"What's wrong with you, brother?"

“Damn… Have I stayed in the cave for too long? My eyes are blurry.” Luan Lie looked at the starry sky above his head and muttered to himself, “Where’s the moon???”