Chapter 88 Hmm...
“I’ve already gone completely astray,” Zhao Yi said. “Chu Jianshan, I’m not like you. I have no way back.”
Chu Jianshan looked at him and said, "I didn't mean to change you. I just remember that Zhao Ming said you weren't born inherently wicked."
Upon suddenly mentioning this person, Zhao Yi paused, "I do feel guilty towards him."
Zhao Ming had been by his side for over twenty years. With his carefree and unrestrained nature, how could he betray his brother for the position of sect leader? He should have realized this long ago.
Chu Jianshan asked, "Do you understand the misunderstanding from back then?"
Zhao Yi nodded and then asked, "You've seen him in the spirit world, haven't you? Does he blame me?"
Chu Jianshan shook his head: "It's not that it's strange or not strange, but from what I've seen, he's really not like the carefree and unrestrained person you described."
"Zhao Yi, going against the will of Heaven will surely bring back a bad reputation," Chu Jianshan said as his final piece of advice.
Zhao Yi sighed: "Do you think I haven't thought about it? But whether my soul is scattered or I am no longer reincarnated, I still have to do something for A-Zhao."
Chu Jianshan: "What you did may not be what she wanted."
Zhao Yi shook his head. "I don't care."
Chu Jianshan: "Just like you don't care about his corpse?"
Back in the Water City tomb, there was a woman in red who looked exactly like Jiang Rusheng. Her coffin was different from the others, and her appearance was perfectly preserved. Unfortunately, a great flood destroyed everything.
Zhao Yi said, "The person is already dead, so is their body still that important?"
“At first, I did try everything to keep him, but later I realized that a woman is just a shell. When I met her, she always covered her face with a veil, and I never saw her face clearly. I only caught a glimpse of her at her wedding. So as long as her soul returns, I don’t care what she looks like. I can get her any woman she wants.”
Chu Jianshan frowned, his voice trembling slightly: "Madman..."
Zhao Yi: "A madman? I'm not the only one who's mad."
He walked up to Chu Jianshan and said, "Cheng Yuan has done just as many crazy things as I have over the years."
Mentioning Cheng Yuan, Chu Jianshan could hardly contain his physical reaction. He suppressed his anger and questioned him, "What did you force him to do?"
Zhao Yi raised an eyebrow: "Forcing him? I don't have that kind of hobby. It was all his own choice, and he never said a word of no."
He continued, "I do know puppetry, but I wasn't the founder of this kind of evil art. That old scoundrel used it to break through and become the sect leader. If he could learn it, why can't I?"
"It's a pity that this thing only recognizes the bloodline of Linyi Sect. I think it's really not easy to control. I can only rely on Cheng Yuan's blood."
"In the past two years, with the help of these puppets, the Linyi Sect has been revived. The number of people killed is not exactly mountains of corpses and seas of blood, but it is still tens of thousands. Your good disciple has really contributed a lot to this."
Chu Jianshan's breathing became increasingly heavy, and his eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at Zhao Yi.
He swung his palm toward Zhao Yi, but before it reached him, Chu Jianshan couldn't help but kneel on the ground.
Zhao Yi advised him, "It's best not to move rashly; your body can't withstand many more blows."
He looked out of the courtyard: "I can give you a chance to see him, but you'd better not reveal your identity, otherwise I can't guarantee what I might do to Cheng Yuan."
...
Inside the stone chamber, layers of red silk obscured most of the space. Dim candlelight flickered with movement, and heavy breathing could be heard occasionally. The candles burned intermittently, but no one dared to light them.
After a long while, when the sound stopped, a maid walked over shakily, but she only stood outside the silk curtain, not daring to raise her head: "Your...Your Majesty, people from Changjin Mountain have come."
A loud shattering sound of porcelain rang in her ears, and the maid suddenly knelt down, her body trembling uncontrollably.
A deep voice rang out: "Well, I haven't even settled accounts with them yet, and they've already come knocking on my door."
When Cheng Yuan forcibly took Chu Jianshan's body away before, Changjin Mountain did send people, but most of the time they were blocked at the door and never reached Cheng Yuan's ears. This time, they probably came prepared.
Cheng Yuan got out of bed, his clothes disheveled. He tugged at his clothes a couple of times, revealing large patches of honey-colored skin with his white undergarment not fully fastened. His tall figure was cast on the curtain by the candlelight.
"Where are they?" Cheng Yuan asked.
The maidservant glanced up furtively, then quickly lowered her head: "Reporting to Your Majesty, they brought quite a few men and have already reached the outside of the stone chamber. Our people are currently fighting them."
As soon as Cheng Yuan stepped out of the stone chamber, a sword came straight at his neck.
He slightly turned his head to dodge, and the rocks behind him exploded.
“Ji, Shi,” Cheng Yuan said softly, looking at the person standing in front of him.
"What should I say?" Ji Shi recalled the nameless sword and slung it behind his back. "How have you been?"
Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "I thought you would make me die first."
“That’s a story for later,” Ji Shi said. “I need to take Chu Xianzun’s body back first, and then I’ll come back to kill you.”
Cheng Yuan laughed cruelly, "Then let's make our move now."
Before the figure could be clearly seen, Ji Shi was already sent flying by a gust of palm wind. He used his sword to slash the ground, regained his balance, and turned to strike Cheng Yuan with a palm.
Cheng Yuan received the palm strike and was somewhat surprised by his progress: "Senior brother, your skill has improved quite a bit."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Ji Shi swung his sword at him.
Cheng Yuan didn't rush to hide. Instead, he looked at the people behind him. At first glance, they were all blustering but cowardly.
With a sudden flick of his sleeve, he sent dozens of people in the front row flying through the air, causing them to fall to the ground and never get up.
Only Ji Shi faced the wind without stopping, and Cheng Yuan seized the opportunity to grab his wrist and throw him out with one hand, sending him crashing into the stone chamber door.
Ji Shi propped himself up and spat out a mouthful of blood, but then laughed. He turned to look into the stone chamber, which was his true target.
Before Cheng Yuan could stop him, Ji Shi rushed in. Countless bright red veils were lifted up, and beneath the layers, Chu Jianshan was leaning against the bed, his white robe half-draped, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.
Everyone present was stunned.
Ji Shi trembled with rage, his sword gleaming with murderous intent as he forced out the name through clenched teeth: "Cheng Yuan!"
Cheng Yuan only asked two words: "How?"
The next instant, several red ribbons that were closest to the target were all cut off by a single sword flash.
Cheng Yuan and Ji Shi fought in this cramped room, neither of them able to unleash their full power. Cheng Yuan was afraid of harming Chu Jianshan's corpse, so he dared not use his spiritual power recklessly. For a time, the two were evenly matched.
Chu Jianshan arrived at this moment. He took advantage of the chaos to sneak in, and well, as soon as he entered, he saw a room full of surprises.
He repeatedly confirmed that the person lying on the bed with disheveled hair, unkempt clothes, and limp limbs, as if half-dead, was indeed him.
No, he is dead.
Even the dead have their pride, you know! What's going on here??
He had no spiritual power now, so he could only squat down and slowly move over to them as they fought. He wasn't trying to break up the fight; he just wanted to cover them with his clothes and leave himself with a little dignity.
Just as Chu Jianshan's hand touched his collar, he saw Cheng Yuan glance over out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't touch him!!"
A palm strike came, and Chu Jianshan couldn't dodge it at all. He was sent flying, and instantly felt as if his internal organs had shifted, causing him to gasp for breath in pain.
“This traitor…” Chu Jianshan struggled to his feet, but knelt down again due to the pain.
He looked up and saw that Cheng Yuan didn't seem to be stopping. He was slowly walking towards him with a not-so-pleasant expression on his face.
But the moment they saw their own faces, he and Ji Shi were both stunned.
It seems Zhao Yi was right; this body does indeed look remarkably like his.
No matter how similar it was, it couldn't stop Cheng Yuan's killing intent. He summoned the Xuan Tie Sword, which instantly split into five, with black energy swirling around him.
"It can't be that bad..." Chu Jianshan felt bitter and had nowhere to express his feelings. It was just that he looked a little similar, but this was a capital offense punishable by being torn apart by five horses.
The Xuan Tie sword whistled as it flew towards him. Chu Jianshan rolled away, dodging two swords, but the remaining three were blocked by a beam of sword light. He looked at Ji Shi, and tears instantly streamed down his face.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Ji Shi snatched his body. Seeing his own corpse being held by someone, an indescribable sense of unease enveloped his heart.
He then looked at Cheng Yuan, who was clearly enraged. The black aura around him grew stronger and stronger, like venomous snakes poised to strike.
But Ji Shi wasn't panicked much; Chu Jianshan was in his arms, and Cheng Yuan didn't dare to make a move.
Cheng Yuan's eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was filled with ruthlessness: "Ji Shi, I have spared you time and time again, but you chose to die yourself, so you can't blame me for that."
Ji Shi dragged Chu Jianshan back slowly, his expression unchanged: "From the day I learned the truth, I was already prepared to die. Do you think I'm afraid?"
"The truth?" Cheng Yuan sneered, "You still believe that I did all of this?"
“Otherwise,” Ji Shi’s breathing became heavy. “I didn’t believe it before either, but one by one, how can you escape involvement in any of these incidents! Over the years, how many people have you killed? Can you even count them yourself?”
Cheng Yuan's face was as cold as ice. "Ji Shi, you are truly patheticly stupid."
Almost instantly, Cheng Yuan was next to Ji Shi. He grabbed Ji Shi's forearm and pulled hard, and Chu Jianshan heard the sound of bones breaking.
Even so, Ji Shi didn't let go of him.
Chu Jianshan couldn't stand it anymore. The worst that could happen was that he would die again!
The moment Cheng Yuan made his move again, he grabbed Ji Shi, turned him around, and pulled him into his arms. Although the scene was strange, it at least gave Ji Shi some time to deal with Cheng Yuan.
The nameless sword was drawn again. Cheng Yuan was about to block it when he suddenly froze on the spot. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, as if he was enduring some great pain.
The sword was aimed at his heart. Although he managed to avoid the vital spot in time, the sword still pierced through his left shoulder, and blood flowed incessantly in an instant.
"Cheng..." Chu Jianshan swallowed the name that was about to come out, because no matter how reluctant he was, he couldn't reveal his identity like that.
Seeing that he had gained the upper hand, Ji Shi turned around and shouted, "Retreat!"
Chu Jianshan was also taken back with him, and the two of them didn't say a word the whole way. For the first time, he realized how long two years was, long enough to change a person like this.
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