Chapter 45: The Souls of the Four Gentlemen of Zhuoyao
The moonlight was as thin as water, casting the patterns on the window lattice onto the ground.
Ji Lingche gently stroked his hair in the moonlight, then pushed his head aside and said with a smile, "Being too greedy often means you end up with nothing—"
Before she could finish her words, her wrist was suddenly grabbed and pulled hard, and a cold fragrance hit her face.
Qu Wu Ji pinched her chin and bit her lips hard.
She felt only warmth on her lips, followed by a sharp pain. She pushed him away, but he held her tightly in his arms, unable to break free. After a while, the fierce kiss slowly softened, almost like a lick, becoming more cautious bit by bit, as if trying to please her...
Ji Lingche felt inexplicably sad in his heart, and felt a little pity for him. He slowly closed his eyes and let him hold her.
After a long time, she pushed him away and looked into his eyes. His sharp eyes were now stained with lust and slightly blurred. He gently grasped her wrist and tried to pull her over again.
Ji Lingche curled up the corner of his mouth and slapped him in the face.
I slapped him right away to wake him up.
He was stunned for a moment, then raised his moist eyes to look at her. Ji Lingche smiled and said, "Well, now you have got what you wished for."
Qu Wuji said lightly: "Alan, you have such a cruel heart."
Ji Lingche gently stroked his cheek, which was slightly red from being beaten, and said with a smile: "I let you kiss me just now because I was in a good mood to reward you, but you can't have it just because you want it, do you understand?"
"When I'm happy, I'll reward you. When I'm angry, I'll spank you. How about that?"
Qu Wuji laughed and said, "Then I hope you are happy every day."
Ji Lingche thought he would be angry at her meanness, but he didn't expect her to say that. She looked at him with interest, hooked her finger at him, and said, "Come here, I'll give you a reward if you hug me."
Qu Wuji pulled her into his arms, holding her in his embrace. He rested his head on her shoulder, rubbed the side of her face, and said tiredly, "Alan..."
His tone was very heavy, as if mixed with many emotions accumulated over the years, and with a hint of bitterness.
Ji Lingche closed her eyes, the cold aroma lingering in her mind for a long time. She said, "To avoid the cold."
"This flower only blooms in the cold region. How did you get this fragrance?"
Qu Wuji didn't answer, but just said: "Do you like it?"
Ji Lingche smiled and said, "I think this flower suits you very well."
To avoid the cold, it looks like a flower but is not a flower. It does not have ordinary petals, but frost instead. Layers of frost climb up the branches and are eventually tempered by the severe cold into double-petaled ice flowers. They cannot be touched. The moment they come into contact with human body temperature, they will flash with fire and turn into ashes in an instant.
The flowers have a subtle and strong fragrance, which implies a solemn and desolate feeling. They stay on your clothes for years.
Qu Wuji said: "You said you like this kind of flower very much."
"No..." he added, "You said you like it the most."
Ji Lingche laughed and said, "Yes, I like it the most."
She leaned against him. It was quiet all around with only the faint chirping of insects. The moonlight outside the window was as cool as water and a breeze blew in. She was dazed for a moment. Various memories kept flashing through her mind, but they could not be connected. She had a splitting headache for a moment.
She couldn't help but frown and exhaled heavily. Qu Wuji ran his fingertips through her loose hair and whispered, "What's wrong?"
She only said, "I vaguely remember that I had a sword, a very beautiful black sword."
A... a divine sword that can cut through the nine provinces with one sword, an unparalleled sword of brilliance.
"But I can't remember where the sword is now."
Qu Wuji whispered, "Crow Feather Sword."
"That sword..."
He didn't tell her that the sword, as a seal, was stuck in the Demon Lord of the Abyss of Ember. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "I don't know the whereabouts of the sword either."
Ji Lingche chuckled, knowing that he was hiding something from him, so he didn't ask any more questions.
Anyway, it won't be long before she can remember everything.
She stood up, looked at him and said, "Let's go."
Qu Wuji was slightly surprised: "Where are you going?"
Ji Lingche pointed outside and said, "Think about it."
There is a cliff at the place where Guangyao Peak is covered with lush vegetation. In front of the cliff is a huge rock. It was originally formed by nature, but after years of wind and sun, it gradually cracked. Slowly, words appeared on the cracks, which looked very much like the word "Siguo".
Standing in front of the cliff, it looks like a huge monument.
People in the world say that this character was bestowed by the Nine Heavens Immortals to warn the younger generations to reflect on their own mistakes, encourage themselves, and not let the path to immortality be tarnished.
Standing in front of the cliff in the dark, there is nothing in front of me but a vast abyss. Looking up, I see the silver moon hanging high in the sky, illuminating the tiny dust particles in the air, almost like flowing frost.
Ji Lingche said, "I remember I once had a sword fight with you here."
"The moon that day was as bright as it is today."
Qu Wuji stood behind her, facing the breeze. The cool night wind rustled his clothes, and his white robe melted into the moonlight. He said calmly, "Do you remember?"
Ji Lingche said, "A little bit, I remember that I seemed to have cheated to barely beat you."
Qu Wuji chuckled and said, "Yes."
But he said nothing more, just staring at the hill opposite. After a long moment, he said, "When I was young, I often came here to practice swordplay."
"None of my fellow disciples wanted to come here. They said the atmosphere here was too murderous and they had to repent. It was like being scrutinized by a god. There was no room for error."
"But I think, if I am afraid of even the vague gaze, how can I continue on this path?"
"No one comes here for months, and there are countless moonlit nights like this. Every time I look up, it's like I'm looking into the eyes of a god in heaven."
"However," Qu Wuji said, "I haven't been here for a long time."
"When I was young, I had a clear conscience. Standing under the bright moon, I felt no shame. But now, there are so many things that make me regret that I can no longer tell whether I have done anything wrong or not."
"I don't think about anything anymore, I just look forward."
Ji Lingche turned his head and looked at him, chuckling softly: "I have a clear conscience about everything. It turns out you have such high standards for yourself."
She couldn't help but complain in her heart: Why didn't you even draft a plan when you lied to me?
Ji Lingche looked up at the clear moonlight, spread out her palm, and the moonlight slid down into her palm. She lowered her eyes and said, "Why isn't moonlight considered spiritual energy?"
"As long as it's spiritual energy, I can definitely use it."
Her mind raced as she slowly clenched her palms, as if she had really grasped something. Then she pulled it out gently, and actually pulled out a silver sword from the void!
"Borrow the moon..." Qu Wu Ji was slightly stunned.
She was seen standing on the top of the cliff, holding the long sword transformed from moonlight across her chest. The wind blew her moon-white robe, and the sword was like a phantom, but it was shining with silver light, and was suddenly held by her.
What is brighter than the moon is the sword in the hand, and what is brighter than the sword in the hand is her eyes with clear black and white.
She looked at the man opposite her and smiled coldly: "It's the middle of the night, why are you being so sentimental?"
"If you don't remonstrate with the past, the past can be reviewed. If you reflect on your past, what is there to reflect on?"
"Those gods in heaven are rotten themselves, and they have many requirements for their descendants. When I ascend to heaven, the first thing I will do is smash this stone tablet."
She pointed the tip of her sword forward and smiled faintly: "Draw your sword, Qu Wuji, I have forgotten your ability."
Qu Wu Ji looked at her and saw that she was full of vigor and high spirits, with that arrogant look on her face, which had not changed at all compared to the past.
He couldn't help but feel dazed, as if nothing had changed over the years.
Ji Lingche said again: "Draw your sword."
"Let me see the peerless sword I gave you."
With a sound of sword ringing, the Qinghun Sword was unsheathed, and a long sword appeared in his hand. The sword was dark blue all over, and covered with twisted patterns on it, like a sealing magic circle, and there seemed to be something sealed in the sword.
Ji Lingche looked at the sword and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart. She could hardly breathe. The Moon-Borrowing Sword that appeared in her hand dissipated in an instant and her head began to ache severely.
Qu Wuji was startled and quickly grabbed her wrist, saying in surprise: "What's wrong with you?!"
In an instant, thousands of memories came flooding back, and she felt as if her sea of consciousness was about to explode.
The pain made her tears fall, and her heart ached with emptiness. She tightly grasped Qu Wuji's hand and murmured, "This sword belongs to, Senior Brother Tan..."
He suddenly remembered many people, including his master and fellow disciples.
Then she saw how they died.
…
When it comes to gentlemen in the world, Ji Lingche thought, she probably only recognized one person.
Ji Lingche originally had great contempt for the word "gentleman". She thought that those people were just seeking fame and reputation and were all show and no substance.
It was not until she met Tan Yigu that she realized there was someone truly worthy of these two words.
Man is like a sword; a gentleman is not a tool.
Tan Yigu almost never smiled, as if he was born without the ability to laugh. He always sat quietly aside, rarely looking up, and was always polishing one long sword after another.
Everyone says that this man is a rare genius, a sword prodigy who was delayed by a curse.
Swordsmiths are common, but those who can forge a sword with a weapon soul are rare.
Ji Lingche has never liked the term "genius".
People always attribute other people's success to talent.
She knew that among the thousand swords made by Tan Yigu, only one was usable.
Among millions of swords, there may be a magic sword.
Ji Lingche always said, Senior Brother, you love swords so much, but you can't even draw them. Don't you think it's a pity?
Tan Yi Gu brushed away the iron ash on the sword and said, "It's not a pity."
"I love the sword, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the sword will be unsheathed for me."
Tan Yigu was very frugal with words and rarely spoke. He would only say a few more words when talking about swords.
He slowly separated the seven emotions and six desires and forged different swords.
He stripped away his anger, forging the Killing Turbulence Sword, and stripped away his indifference, becoming Crow Feather...
Every sword of Zhu had his shadow, and he gradually seemed to become one with the sword, neither angry nor resentful.
Everyone praises the power of the sword, but in fact they are only praising the soul of the swordsman.
"Junior sister," Tan Yigu said one day, "If I die, please build my soul into the last sword."
Ji Lingche didn't take it seriously and just smiled and said, "Brother, you are alive and well, how could you die?"
Yeah, how could he die?
Although Tan Yi Gu is a man of few words, he is a very affectionate person. Senior Brother Tan is very good to her, and he is also very good to everyone.
Including Yan Jinchen.
Ji Lingche couldn't understand why Yan Jinchen wanted to kill him.
Why.
Yan Jinchen hated him.
Hate him very much.
Her junior brother has been learning sword-making from Tan Yigu since he came to Xiaoyao Sect.
Having been with him day and night for several years, Tan Yigu was almost like a father, a teacher and a friend to him. But for some reason, in the end, Yan Jinchen hated him so much that he wanted to cut out all his internal organs, leaving only a body, and make him into a puppet.
When Ji Lingche rushed back, he only captured the last wisp of Tan Yigu's soul. He ran into Yan Jinchen who was holding the corpse of his senior brother and slowly implanting the puppet thread into his body.
The Immortal Alliance launched an uprising, and all of her fellow disciples were slaughtered, wiping out her master's sect with blood. Her only surviving junior brother killed her senior brother.
She stood in a sea of corpses and blood, staring blankly at Yan Jinchen, just asking him why.
But Yan Jinchen said nothing.
She was busy looking for the Immortal Alliance to settle accounts, and only cut off Yan Jinchen's arm. She thought he couldn't run far, so she wanted to settle accounts with him after dealing with the Immortal Alliance. But who knew that he ran away and she never found him again.
The scene of Yan Jinchen's head rolling to her feet appeared in her sea of consciousness again.
It was pitch black in the ghost town, and the faint light illuminated his wide-open eyes.
Until her death, she never found out why he wanted to kill Tan Yigu.
The past is gone like smoke, and now when I think about it, there is really no one left in her sect.
…
Ji Lingche returned to her bloody master's sect and found a broken sword, which was Tan Yigu's posthumous work.
She remembered what her senior brother had said to her, hesitated for a moment, and then merged the captured soul into the unfinished sword.
But the moment she merged in, she heard the heart-wrenching scream of the living soul.
As if being burned by endless flames, the patterns on the black sword suddenly lit up, the seal was instantly activated, and the magic sword was formed, imprisoning her senior brother's soul in the sword forever.
She stood there, looking at the long sword that was shining brightly and almost evilly, and heard the soul that had become the sword spirit wailing, knowing that it was suffering endless torture. She suddenly felt so regretful.
She raised her hand and suddenly wanted to smash the sword, but she stopped. If the sword was destroyed and the spirit was dead, she would never be able to release her senior brother.
Ji Lingche placed her hand on the divine sword, wanting to form a pact with it and use her own spiritual veins to soothe the tortured sword spirit. However, she was suddenly repelled by an evil pressure, and her soul was suddenly shaken. She knew that a sword cannot serve two masters, and one person cannot have two swords. She already had the Crow Feather Sword, and this sword refused to form a pact with her.
Ji Lingche thought about it and suddenly thought of someone.
Isn’t it that there is someone whose natal sword is broken?
The natal sword is selected before the elixir is formed, and then accompanies the sword master in the elixir formation. In this way, the sword spirit can merge with the sword master and exert its greatest power.
At that time, the blood of her master had not yet dried, and hatred rose in her heart. She thought to herself, it was just right.
Anyway, the only way to vent my hatred is to destroy him, so I might as well dig out his golden elixir and give him this sword. When he can form his golden elixir again, this sword will become his natal sword, right?
As a sword spirit, his senior brother formed a pact with the Sword Master and was nourished by the Sword Master's spiritual power, so he no longer had to suffer this torment.
What's more, if the forbidden weapon is lost, this person's golden elixir can be used as a replacement.
…
"Alan, what's wrong with you?" She was suddenly shocked by the cold spiritual power and finally broke free from the memory illusion in her sea of consciousness.
She held Qu Wu Ji's arm, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell down dejectedly.
Qu Wuji hugged her, his voice trembling as he said, "Please don't scare me, okay..."
Ji Lingche felt an unprecedented exhaustion. Past events suddenly flooded back into her mind, bringing her back to reality. Worries washed over her, and she wearily closed her eyes, saying, "I'm so tired, Shang Zheng."
She had never felt so tired.
Qu Wuji held her tightly in his arms and whispered, "I know."
Ji Lingche just said: "Let's go, take me back."
…
She fell asleep in his arms. She didn't know how long she slept. When she opened her eyes again, she was the only one around her.
Ji Lingche endured the severe pain, sat up, and was a little dazed. She felt like her head was a pot of paste, with a myriad of thoughts and memories stuck together, difficult to sort out. She was so confused that she almost banged her head against the wall.
She sat quietly for a long time before she finally understood everything and everyone.
After a long time, Ji Lingche suddenly thought of something, raised his hand and looked at the golden contract on his wrist bone.
At this moment, she remembered everything. What Taoist partner? Qu Wu Ji was just a bastard who took the opportunity to take advantage of her.
But somehow, she thought, she no longer hated him.
The sky was bright and the peach blossoms were still flying outside the window. Among the falling petals, she seemed to see a figure in the depths of the peach forest, with his hands behind his back, looking at her from afar.
Although the distance was too far and it was not clear, it vaguely looked like a woman.
Ji Lingche quietly picked up a petal that fell in front of her.
He stared at the figure without blinking, thinking to himself, this is not good.
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The author has something to say: Sorry, sorry, it's even more late. I've been very busy recently, taking exams all the time. I took another exam this morning. I came to review last night and didn't have time to write.
But I'm going to have a holiday soon, so I'm going to update daily during the summer vacation [split]
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