Chapter 175 Burning Soul "Let's break the contract."
Upon hearing this long-unheard name, "Li Ziying's" dark pupils narrowed slightly, revealing surprise. He shrank back and vanished in an instant, avoiding the slash filled with hatred.
The next moment, a ghostly figure appeared behind Jiang Yuhuo. Li Ziying smiled and said, "Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"
His response was an even fiercer attack. Sword shadows descended from all directions like lightning, and the light of blades and fire intertwined into a dense net, giving him no chance to argue or escape, determined to ensure his survival.
The gleaming sword light and the blazing firelight reflected on the face of the sharp-looking woman.
Two eyes that set fires, a heart that wants to kill.
Such intense killing intent caused his fingers to tremble slightly, a sign of extreme excitement.
The souls that he didn't refine back then have become even stronger.
This time, he won't let her go.
Faced with countless blades thrusting towards him, "this time, Li Ziying" did not dodge; the blades stopped just before they touched him.
Jiang Yuhuo felt an invisible force blocking her way, preventing her sword from advancing any further.
"Li Ziying" smiled slowly at her, "How rude of you to treat your future elder like this? I was originally planning to attend your and Mengbai's wedding."
He walked towards Jiang Yuhuo step by step, and with each step he took, the invisible force grew stronger.
Upon seeing this, Wen Yizhan immediately placed Wen Ruoxin by the door, formed a protective spiritual barrier, and, ignoring the blood still flowing from her shoulder, picked up her sword and protected Jiang Yuhuo.
Jiang Yuhuo took a few steps back and saw that "Li Ziying's" remaining arm had its five fingers bent and its nails growing wildly into sharp blades, aimed straight at her heart.
Jiang Yu's sword shone brightly, and the sword energy condensed into a huge sword of light. At the same time, Wen Yizhan beside her also used the same sword move. The two black shadows moved in sync as if copied, and the two equally powerful "Emperor's Gate" swords slashed at "Li Ziying" at the same time.
The sword energy shattered the barrier, sliced through the tomb's rocks, and left "Li Ziying's" body a bloody mess, almost to the point of being shattered.
Jiang Yu pointed his sword at the blood-soaked figure not far away and said sternly, "Jia Qianyang, how long are you going to keep up this pretense?"
The mass of flesh straightened its tattered clothes and, as if a person, looked at Jiang Yuhuo with a composed and gentle expression. "Long time no see, it's a pleasure to see you again." He gestured in the air with his hand, "Back then, you were only this tall. I didn't expect you to have changed so much; I almost didn't recognize you."
He still dares to bring up those days!
Jiang Yuhuo felt an uncontrollable rage in his heart and once again drew his sword and charged towards the mass of flesh and blood.
Flesh and blood, or rather, Jia Qianyang, finally unleashed his weapon. He lightly tapped the ground with his black dove-shaped staff, and a dark blue light emanated from him. The power was so strong that it extinguished the flames on the ground, and the people on the ground were about to be shattered by the light.
Jiang Yuhuo dodged away, but Wen Yizhan was terrified.
Just as the dark blue light was about to reach Wen Ruoxin's soul, he flew over and stood behind her soul, using his own body to take the blow for her.
"Senior brother!" Jiang Yuhuo exclaimed.
Beneath the tomb entrance, Wen Yizhan groaned and knelt down, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Still unable to recover her memories, Wen Ruoxin stared blankly at the unfamiliar young man, wanting to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, but the invisible hand dispersed when it touched his face.
The young man, weak and powerless, forced a smile and called her "Mother".
Jiang Yuhuo wanted to treat Wen Yizhan, but Jia Qianyang's relentless attacks left her no time to spare.
A beam of light struck her sword-wielding hand, and she used the momentum to plunge her sword into the fleshy mass between the eyebrows.
The two stepped back, and Jiang Yuhuo, clutching her arm, asked, "You didn't recognize me, so you deliberately led me to that main hall to confirm my identity, right?"
Jia Qianyang had a large hole in his forehead, but he smiled and nodded, saying, "Not bad. After all, you've changed your appearance. I should let Li Yi's Thousand Blood Heart-Binding Seal see it to confirm whether it's really that little winged person from back then who has come looking for me." He narrowed his eyes slightly, "But I'm very curious, how did you find out it was Li Ziying?"
Jiang Yuhuo took out Li Yanluo's dove-shaped staff and stared intently at the bloodied and mangled body. "I found this on Li Yanluo. In the Li family, besides Li Shichuan, only you and she were the closest. I also saw you on the day we were trapped in the main hall. However, what finally confirmed my suspicions..." Jiang Yuhuo glanced at the winged figure still sleeping in the tomb, "...was her."
“That day in the main hall, someone said something to me that made me think she was calling for help. It wasn’t until I entered this tomb and saw her condition with my own eyes that I finally realized the person who spoke was just trying to lure me here. And the one who kept trying to get me in was you. You deliberately lured me in, so that I would be sealed here forever, just like her, to become nourishment for the Li family, didn’t you?”
Jia Qianyang just smiled and didn't answer.
Jiang Yuhu smeared the blood from her arm onto her sword and said coldly, "Jia Qianyang, all these years, I've been searching for you. I never imagined you would be lurking in the Li family. You slaughtered my entire clan and stole my spiritual veins back then. Have you lived with a clear conscience all these years?"
A gaping hole appeared in the mangled face as he burst into laughter. "So that's how it is. You've certainly improved a lot over the years." An eerie light flashed where the blood-soaked man's eyes were. "But, it's still not enough."
He waved his tattered sleeve, and Jiang Yuhuo, thinking he was about to attack, immediately unleashed a sword aura to block it. The sword aura struck Jia Qianyang without any hindrance.
The tattered, mangled mass of flesh finally collapsed under the strain, its human form completely slumped together. And after the body shattered, the soul of a pale, gloomy young man appeared.
This is Jia Qianyang's true nature.
Jiang Yuhuo stared intently at that face. She was certain that Li Ziying was Jia Qianyang, but how could that face be so similar to that of a member of the Li family?
She had never seen Jia Qianyang's spirit and did not know what he truly looked like. In Liyue Village, she saw a withered and emaciated old man, but that was only one of Jia Qianyang's physical forms. She knew nothing about Jia Qianyang's true identity.
"Who exactly are you?"
The pale soul calmly emerged from a pile of minced flesh, shook its head with a smile, and said, "I told you from the beginning that I am your future elder, but you didn't believe me."
Jiang Yuhu frowned. "So you were originally from the Li family?"
The spirit stretched out his arms slightly and smiled at Jiang Yuhuo, "Of course, I originally thought we would be family in the future. But you just wouldn't stay put and insisted on investigating to the end." He raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled, "It's kind of you to still remember that fragrance after all these years."
Jiang Yuhuo was startled and her eyes widened abruptly. "How do you know about fragrance?"
She had only mentioned this to Li Mengbai not long ago.
At that time, she followed the scent on the magical beast, hoping to find Jia Qianyang's whereabouts. She told Li Mengbai that the person with this fragrance was the enemy she was looking for.
Jia Qianyang lowered his head and chuckled, "What do you think? You don't really think you're the only one who knows I exist, do you? This is the Li family, and they are all my clansmen. I'm not afraid to tell you, you're not the only one who knows the fragrance, and I'm not the only one whose blood flows with that fragrance."
Jiang Yuhuo's hand gripping the sword trembled slightly. She didn't use her spiritual power to heal her wounds; the harder she tried, the more blood gushed from the wounds on her arm.
This pain is nothing compared to the anger of being betrayed.
She once again trusted the wrong person.
"You think he betrayed us?" Seeing the rising resentment in the man's eyes, Jia Qianyang raised an eyebrow, smiled, and shook his head. "It's truly disheartening..."
"That day, the boy suddenly ran back and cleaned up everything that had been tainted by the fragrance, burning some and destroying others. Why would he suddenly do such a thing? Oh, it turns out his fiancée was coming. He was so nervous that I noticed something was amiss. Later, I released my aura to test him, and sure enough, he came to me on his own."
"It's ridiculous. He went to great lengths to sever ties with me, but that's what drew my attention to you. You thought you could find me with that aura, but it turned out I was the one who used it to lure you in."
Jiang Yuhuo didn't regret following the scent into that hall. If she hadn't gone through that ordeal, she wouldn't have been able to find Jia Qianyang. What she cared about was being deceived.
She asked, "You mean, Li Mengbai himself also has that kind of aura?"
Jia Qianyang nodded. "Of course." He raised an eyebrow and smiled, looking at Jiang Yuhuo with a playful expression. "Haven't you noticed? He never bleeds in front of you."
Jiang Yuhuo was startled. She thought back carefully and realized that she had never seen Li Mengbai bleed since she said those words at the foot of Qingwu Mountain. He was even careful with all sharp weapons and never touched her sword. When they were slaying the demonic beasts at the foot of Qingwu Mountain, he just watched from the sidelines.
Thinking of those magical beasts, Jiang Yuhuo asked again, "So, those magical beasts were actually raised by him too?"
“That’s right.” Jia Qianyang didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. “Shichuan is biased towards Yanluo, so of course he needs to constantly strengthen his own power.”
Upon hearing this answer, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but sneer through gritted teeth.
Yes, given how sworn enemies Li Yanluo and Li Mengbai were, her initial suspicion was that of Li Mengbai, yet she was easily fooled by his few words.
“But from now on, he won’t have to worry about bleeding anymore.” Jia Qianyang’s voice rang out again, with a sinister smile, “because you will become my slave.”
A pair of cold hands silently rested on the back of Jiang Yuhuo's neck, and the icy fingertips pressed on the scar on the back of her head. As soon as they pressed, there was a "clang" and Jiang Yuhuo's sword fell to the ground.
Jia Qianyang laughed happily, his voice tinged with smugness, "Is this the place? The exit point for your soul that you created in this body when you changed bodies."
Pressed down here, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't answer him at all. Such a wound would never truly heal; pressing on it would cause excruciating pain. But similarly, the soul could emerge from this opening again, as long as the healed scab was broken.
The hand that Wen Yizhan had severed was still intact. He pressed it up and down at the entrance and exit of the soul, and sure enough, Jiang Yuhuo's face turned pale instantly.
Jia Qianyang said, "Your innate talent is good, which has given you a better body. However, it is still just a mortal body, not comparable to your original innate spiritual body."
A pale, gloomy soul approached Jiang Yuhuo. The young man smiled and raised his dove-like staff. "I find your spiritual veins quite useful, so I'll take your soul as well. Hate me, Jiang Yuhuo. We are destined to hate each other, the more the better. You feathered people created me, and I will eventually replace you. Come with me, I will use your hatred to burn down this entire world."
Jia Qianyang's gloomy expression grew increasingly crazed, while Jiang Yuhuo remained indifferent, watching him intently. Just as he pressed the wound, about to forcibly extract the soul, a cold yet scorching sword pierced through his brow, its pure golden flames burning upon the soul. The soul was like a sheet of paper; the flames began to burn and expand from the hole in his brow…
Jia Qianyang's face became even more ferocious in the flames. He did not hesitate to cut off the piece of soul that was being burned, but suddenly he discovered that a soul-condensing thread had been wrapped around his body at some point, freezing his entire soul and preventing him from cutting it off. He could only be burned completely in the flames.
He looked in the direction of the Soul-Gathering Silk.
At the end, the young swordsman who should have been lying in the corner on the verge of death twitched the corner of his mouth at him and then tugged at the thread in his hand, as if to greet him or to mock him.
He heard Jiang Yuhuo's voice, "I've been searching for you for seven years, thinking about you for seven years. For seven years, I've been thinking about how to kill you, what methods to use, and where to begin?"
She said calmly, "You've changed so many bodies, I know the body is nothing to you. Only the soul is your true form. Soul wounds can be repaired, but if the soul is burned, it's gone forever. How cunning you are, you'll run away at the slightest disturbance. It's thanks to your respect for my soul that I had the opportunity to lure the enemy in..."
She always carried the Soul-Gathering Silk with her. Before opening the tomb door, she handed it to Wen Yizhan and whispered her suspicions and the opportunity to him.
She felt lucky that Wen Yizhan was by her side when she caught Jia Qianyang. She could entrust many things to him with peace of mind, and the two always cooperated perfectly.
Jia Qianyang's soul had his entire upper limb burned away, yet he remained firmly bound by the Soul-Sealing Silk. He let out a ferocious laugh in the void, "Good, very good. Jiang Yuhuo, you've really improved! But don't think you can kill me completely like this."
The flames silently surged, completely engulfing Jia Qianyang's soul until even the last wisp of his spirit dissipated into the void.
Jiang Yuhuo glanced at the body that Jia Qianyang had used; the pile of things had not yet dissipated.
Wen Yizhan noticed it too. He clutched his chest and slowly walked to the pile of things, finally unable to hold back his curses, "Damn it! He has other clones."
Jiang Yuhuo remained motionless. Wen Yizhan turned around and saw her slumped on the ground, her pale face covered in sweat.
Knowing why, Wen Yizhan felt a pang of heartache and quickly went over to support her, letting her lean against her chest. She cradled the back of her head with her sleeve and wiped the sweat from her face, sobbing softly as she comforted her, "It's alright, it's alright... No one will touch it again, don't be afraid..."
Just then, a loud crash came from the tomb door, and someone violently opened it.
Gravel and dust were scattered all over the ground. A disheveled figure rushed in. Upon seeing the state of the tomb, he almost stumbled and crawled to Jiang Yuhuo's side.
The man who burst in was covered in dust. He shoved Wen Yizhan aside and roughly pulled Jiang Yuhuo into his arms. Tears mingled with the dust, smearing her delicate face into a mess. Li Mengbai's voice trembled, almost breaking into sobs, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I'm late...I'm so sorry..."
He rushed over the moment he discovered Jiang Yuhuo had entered the main tomb, but the tomb door was closed. The seal of the main tomb was an extension of the seal of the ancestral mausoleum. He tried many times, but failed each time. He finally realized that this kind of seal could not be broken from the outside. Just as he was in despair, all the seals of the ancestral mausoleum collapsed, and he finally managed to enter the main tomb, only to find that Jiang Yuhuo was still trapped in a deeper chamber, blocked by an incredibly heavy tomb door.
Seeing Jiang Yuhuo slumped to the ground, his heart broke, but at the same time he was incredibly grateful that she was still alive.
Overwhelmed with grief, Li Mengbai seemed to hear Jiang Yuhuo's voice, faint as a candle flame in the wind, "Yuhuo, what did you say? What do you want?"
"...Give me your hand."
Li Mengbai finally heard him clearly. He obediently extended one hand to her while holding her tightly in his arms with the other.
But then Jiang Yuhuo pressed down on his hand and picked up her sword with the other.
The sword, as white as a rainbow, was heading straight for his hand. Realizing what was happening, Li Mengbai instantly withdrew his hand.
He tried to force a smile, but before the smile could even form, tears streamed down his face. He took a breath and said in a trembling voice, "Fishing Light, you want to hold my hand... Let's go back and hold hands again... okay?"
Jiang Yuhuo repeated the phrase, "...Give me your hand."
He saw the stubbornness in her eyes.
Li Mengbai closed his eyes briefly, then extended his hand. The cold blade sliced into his palm, leaving a small wound that pierced him with excruciating pain. The scent of blood filled the air, and he dared not open his eyes. His heart clenched with agony, like a prisoner awaiting execution.
After a long silence, Jiang Yuhuo finally called out, "Li Mengbai."
Li Mengbai opened his eyes, his gaze filled with tears as he looked at his fiancée in his arms, a glimmer of hope in his hazy, watery eyes.
Jiang Yuhuo sat up from his lap and said calmly, "Let's break the contract."
When those who were isolated outside the Li family ancestral mausoleum rushed to the entrance of the tomb chamber, this was the sentence they heard.
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Author's Note: I can't take it anymore! I was determined to finish the story, but I ended up writing this much longer than I expected. I definitely can't do it tomorrow, so I need to take a break. [crying emoji]
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