Chapter 251 Mountains and Rivers Interrupted (Part 5)
Jiang Gu withdrew his hand and looked at him indifferently.
Wei Feng smiled sweetly and leaned in to kiss him, but Jiang Gu turned around first and flew to the top of the vine umbrella. He awkwardly touched his nose and also jumped up.
The rain continued, the sky was gloomy, and drifting clouds surrounded them. Wei Feng's ghostly markings transformed into white mist, almost completely enveloping the vine umbrella. After examining it for a moment, a look of doubt appeared on his face: "Master, if this vine umbrella is Wen Hanjiu's true form, yet it shows no spiritual power and doesn't seem to possess any intelligence, and there are many sealing formations around it. Furthermore, Wen Xiuji is Yu Sanlang's master; would he let us find our memories?"
Jiang Gu looked down at the motionless vine in his palm.
“And if our previous speculation is true, Wen Xiuji was there when I ascended last time, so why didn’t he recognize me?” Wei Feng stared at Jiang Gu in the rain, not letting go of any of his reactions.
"So?" Jiang Gu looked at him.
“So maybe this is all just a lie made up by Yu Sanlang to lure us here, and there’s no hidden memory at all.” Wei Feng grabbed his hand, his voice carrying a chill. “Master, let’s go back. Let’s leave this place tomorrow.”
He was afraid.
Wei Feng's thoughts were too easy for him to guess. The memory of the upper realm made Wei Feng feel like he was facing a formidable enemy. He was afraid of getting involved with Yao Yan again, especially since this vine umbrella was very similar to the vine umbrella that was thrown down to the lower realm back then.
He was even more afraid of not being able to ascend again.
He knew he couldn't hide it from Jiang Gu, so he simply stopped trying to conceal it and looked at Jiang Gu pleadingly. Jiang Gu didn't want to indulge him too much, but Wei Feng's pitiful appearance inevitably disturbed his thoughts—undeniably, he also didn't want Wei Feng to be involved with Yao Yan.
Unfortunately, this reason failed to convince Jiang Gu.
The green vines in their palms shimmered in the rain, and a vortex of spiritual energy appeared before them. The magic seal that Jiang Gu had set up earlier had finally taken effect. This was the magic seal that Feng Wuyou had memorized while closely following Yu Sanlang during the day.
Wei Feng gripped his hand tightly, his expression cold: "Master."
“If Yu Sanlang really saw you fail to ascend, this is actually a very important clue.” Jiang Gu squeezed his palm imperceptibly, held the back of his neck and kissed his ear, his gaze piercing through the rain and landing on a certain void, and transmitted his voice, “The people around are all half-immortals. No matter what you see in your memories, after you’ve seen it, go into the void seal and find me.”
Wei Feng's ears twitched slightly: "Can't we just leave?"
"This clue is very important." Jiang Gu looked up and met his gaze. Wei Feng hadn't even had time to look away.
His resolute and ruthless nature prevented him from immediately reverting to his pitiful appearance. He froze for a moment, his distorted expression making him look somewhat out of place.
Jiang Gu didn't react to this. Of course, he knew what kind of person his disciple was. If Wei Feng were really so obedient and kind, he wouldn't have been chosen as his tribulation jade. However, he was still confident that he could control Wei Feng. Whether it was Xiao Dan, the Half-Immortal Clan, or the Heavenly Dao, Wei Feng had intricate connections with them. If he wanted to ascend, Wei Feng's role in the game was crucial.
But now that he no longer wants to kill Wei Feng to prove his Dao, no one can make him follow the established path.
His memories of the upper realm, which were sealed away at the time, were already vague. He cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness, took on disciples, and killed his wife to prove his Dao. As Wei Feng's memories of the upper realm gradually unfolded and Yu Sanlang hid his memories, he began to doubt the authenticity of his own memories. Memories can be sealed and hidden, and naturally they can also be altered and fabricated.
The fact that the path of killing one's wife to attain enlightenment is no longer viable means that the path itself is problematic.
There are countless paths to ascension, and he should have countless ways to achieve it. The origin of the ruthless path is nothing more than the word "path." Replacing the two prefixes "ruthless" with any other word would not affect the origin of his Dao heart.
He can kill whomever he wants; the decision should be his own, not a vague and indistinguishable memory.
Wei Feng stared at the tribulation lightning gradually gathering in the sky, then looked at Jiang Gu in astonishment: "Master, why are you suddenly about to break through?"
"It's alright, I've just figured out a few things." Jiang Gu drew a concentration talisman between his eyebrows and said coldly, "Remember, memories are just memories. Whether they are true or false, they are all in the past for you. They have no right to affect your Dao heart, understand?"
Wei Feng nodded as if he understood. Since he was a disciple of Jiang Gu who had attained enlightenment, he naturally had some understanding of Jiang Gu's insights. He could vaguely sense Jiang Gu's stable and even somewhat fierce Dao heart. Even though Shen Yao's heavenly lightning was friendly to Jiang Gu, it was now tinged with anger, which was the dissatisfaction of having his authority challenged.
Jiang Gu ignored the lightning tribulation above and jumped into the vortex of memories with Wei Feng.
After the two figures disappeared, Wen Xiuji and Wen Hanjiu emerged from the shadows.
“I knew Jiang Gu was so smart, he would definitely understand the hints you gave him to see this memory.” Wen Xiuji watched the memory vortex close with great interest, and said to the trembling Wen Hanjiu beside him, “Ajiu, why are you so afraid of me? I am a vine demon, and you are a vine umbrella spirit. We should be closer to each other.”
Wen Hanjiu lowered her head and said, "You are the Holy Son of the Half-Immortal Clan, Hanjiu dares not be rude."
Wen Xiuji found him boring: "Do you think Jiang Gu will still keep Wei Feng by his side after he sees the memories? If he insists on keeping him, should I gently persuade him, or help him eliminate the threat completely?"
Wen Hanjiu dared not answer the question.
Wen Xiuji didn't expect him to answer. He hummed a strange little tune to himself, his light green eyes filled with a relaxed and happy smile.
As Wen Hanjiu listened to the melody, her face turned deathly pale, and she clenched her fists tightly in her sleeves.
May Heaven protect Jiang Gu and ensure his safety so that he can bring Wei Feng out safely.
——
The lightning in reality intertwined with the thunder in his memory. Jiang Gu stood in the drizzling rain, his feet on soft soil, with the vine demons coming and going around him.
This is still the Vine Demon City, but it is much more lively than the real Vine Demon City. A huge vine umbrella stands in the center of the city, and many young vine demons are climbing up and down, and even swinging on the vines with laughter.
"What a massive tribulation!" A vine spirit nearby stopped and looked up, asking its companion, "Who is undergoing tribulation in the mountains?"
"I don't know. This tribulation lightning looks fierce. I guess it's from some demonic cultivator." His companion sighed. "Alas, the young master failed his tribulation a few days ago and has now become a half-immortal. I heard that Shen Yaobo has already sent people to pick him up."
"Which young master?"
"Of course it's Wen Xiuji. Oh, I almost forgot, the clan leader has chosen a new young master."
"It's such a pity about Young Master Xiu Ji."
“We advised our young master against undergoing the tribulation to ascend, but his aptitude is exceptional. In just a hundred years, he has cultivated to the Great Perfection of the Dao Ancestor Realm. How many such geniuses can be found in the entire cultivation world? No wonder the people of Shenyaobo rushed to pick him up as soon as they heard the news…”
Jiang Gu listened quietly to the side. Feng Wuyou had previously mentioned that Wen Xiuji had failed to ascend two thousand years ago. Counting the years, the extermination of the Tengyao City also occurred more than two thousand years ago. He just didn't know if these things had anything to do with Wei Feng.
He had no interest in these vine demons and headed straight for the direction where the tribulation lightning was located.
As soon as he entered the deep mountains, the rain intensified. Jiang Gu had to use his spiritual energy shield to block the rain, and the Concealment Array slowed him down. By the time he arrived, the first lightning tribulation had already struck down with a deafening roar.
Jiang Gu stood on the thick branches of an ancient tree, looking towards Wei Feng, who was undergoing tribulation two thousand years ago, in the distance.
The reason he was certain that the other party was Wei Feng was entirely due to his familiarity with the ghost patterns. After all, half an hour ago, those transparent ghost patterns were still unrestrained and unobstructed wrapped around his body. The aura and touch of these things were still with him. However, the ghost patterns in front of him were much thicker and stronger than the ghost patterns he was familiar with, and they presented an eerie semi-transparent black color in the rain.
At that time, a huge, intertwined mass of ghostly patterns was still quite large, even from such a distance. In the center of those menacing ghostly patterns, a white-eyed, ram-horned monster was coiled up. He was almost submerged in the ghostly patterns, his scarlet tongue dripping with saliva, emitting a sharp hiss. Another lightning bolt struck, hitting him squarely between the eyebrows. After the blinding white light, Jiang Gu saw sticky blood.
He looked around and sure enough, he found Wen Xiuji's figure nearby—or rather, Wen Xiuji from two thousand years ago. Although he had never seen Wen Xiuji in person, the Yu Sanlang standing next to him was definitely real.
This was just Duan Yusanlang's memory, so Jiang Gu approached them effortlessly.
Wen Xiuji had regular features and looked gentle and refined with his sleeves tucked in, but his voice was not very polite: "This monster has been cultivating in the swamp of Shenyao for thousands of years. It has eaten countless members of our clan. Now it is finally about to undergo its tribulation, and it dares to choose a place so close to Tengyao City."
Yu Sanlang asked cautiously, "Master, should we—"
"Looking for death? Once you get close, the heavenly lightning won't care whether you're undergoing tribulation or not, it'll still strike you down." Wen Xiuji chuckled. "It's not too late to kill it after it fails to ascend."
"Failure?" Tamasaburo muttered to himself, "What if it succeeds?"
Wen Xiuji's face instantly darkened, and he sneered, "I can't even ascend after undergoing tribulation, and you think this monster, which can't even take human form, can? Didn't you see that the lightning tribulation was striking it to death?"
Yu Sanlang swallowed hard: "It ate our people, it deserves to die."
Wen Xiuji pondered for a moment: "However, this thing might be very difficult to kill. If all else fails, you can tame it and make it a spirit pet. Go and set up an array around here first."
Yu Sanlang responded and left.
One lightning bolt after another struck down, and the enormous monster was almost shattered into a pile of mud, its stark white bones exposed in the air. It gasped for breath, but struggled to raise its head. Dark ghost patterns condensed into a hand, stretching it desperately towards the sky, as if trying to grab onto something in the face of the blinding lightning.
Jiang Gu narrowed his eyes and suddenly realized that he had reached the edge of the tribulation, and that one more step would take him into the range of the tribulation.
He looked up following the monster's gaze and saw a blurry red figure in the almost blinding white light.
The figure was fighting with a sword when, in a moment of haste, turned around. The jade-colored hair ribbon with a golden cord drew a smooth arc in the white light. He bent down and stretched out a hand towards the mass of monsters, but then another bolt of lightning struck down, turning the monster's arm into ashes.
In a mere instant, Jiang Gu spotted Wei Feng, entangled and pierced by the sticky ghost patterns amidst the muddy ghost patterns and bones. Ignoring the earth-shattering lightning tribulation behind him, he decisively rushed in.
Two thousand years ago, Wei Feng had not yet cultivated into human form. The one inside was his disciple. Jiang Gu's eyes sharpened, and before the next lightning tribulation struck Wei Feng, he tore the person out of the ghost pattern and held him tightly in his arms.
The lightning bolts from reality and those from his memories intertwined, striking Jiang Gu squarely in the back. The excruciating pain caused his vision to go black for a moment, and then a strange voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
'Now that I've taken him as my disciple, I will protect him completely...'
'Whether he lives or dies, or is undergoing tribulation in the mortal realm, is not for you to decide...'
Wei Feng slowly opened his eyes and saw Jiang Gu Can's golden Dharma form rise up with a roar. The huge Dharma form blocked the sky full of tribulation lightning and firmly protected him and the writhing and struggling monster in its arms.
A glint of gold flashed in Jiang Gu's eyes. He looked down at Wei Feng, his voice still indifferent: "Are you injured?"
Wei Feng stared blankly at him, his heartbeat almost stopping. The cool rain on his face felt hot to him. The resentment and pain that surged up due to the memory almost caused his Dao heart to collapse, but Jiang Gu's gaze firmly held him in place.
"No." He heard his own voice and grabbed Jiang Gu's arm tightly.
But his hands were covered in blood.
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