Chapter 97 "Victorious in a Hundred Battles, Returning in Triumph"
The candlelight on the wall was lit again, and Zhao Yi's vision became clearer, revealing a look of inquiry, fear, and uncertainty.
For some reason, Jiang Rusheng avoided his eyes and whispered, "You've got it wrong, I'm not her."
“Okay,” Zhao Yi chuckled, “maybe it really isn’t.”
After a long and eerie silence, Jiang Rusheng finally tried to speak, asking, "After all these years, she should have entered reincarnation long ago. Haven't you tried to find her?"
Zhao Yi nodded: "I tried, but it was too late."
Jiang Rusheng asked in confusion, "What do you mean by 'a step too late'?"
“When I found her, she was already married and had her own family. I kidnapped her without thinking. I thought that as long as I could make her remember, we could go back to the way things were before... But no matter how much I tried to please her or beg her, she wouldn’t even glance at me.”
“Until that day,” Zhao Yi paused for a moment, “I killed her husband to make her give up her thoughts, but she did not hesitate at all and followed me to her death by crashing into the pillar… I will never forget the look of hatred in her eyes before she died.”
A-Zhao would never see me like that. I understand, she's not A-Zhao. No matter how many times I reincarnate, my A-Zhao will never come back.
Jiang Rusheng lowered her eyes, not understanding why he was telling her all this now. Perhaps, she really was Qiao Azhao's reincarnation?
But just as Zhao Yi said, she didn't consider herself Qiao Azhao. Even if there was reincarnation, the only similarity would be in appearance; even their personalities would be different. In this life, she was simply Jiang Rusheng.
"So why did you capture me? To reenact the previous scene, or to make amends for your past mistakes?"
Zhao Yi rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with a somewhat lazy expression: "It's just that no one has listened to my stories for many years. I don't know if you'll like them?"
Jiang Rusheng said coldly, "The story is over. It's time to die."
A fleeting, unreadable emotion crossed Zhao Yi's eyes before he regained his nonchalant air: "No rush, I still have many stories to tell, Sect Leader Jiang, please be patient."
Jiang Rusheng turned her head away, not intending to listen to his nonsense, but she didn't reply either.
In terms of strength, she was no match for Zhao Yi. Even with Qiao Azhao's appearance, there was no guarantee he wouldn't make a move against her. For now, she should just keep quiet.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Zhao Yi asked.
Jiang Rusheng took a deep breath: "I can't argue with you. I'll just tell you a story today and another tomorrow. I might as well become a storyteller for the rest of my life, and I won't have to kill you in this lifetime."
Zhao Yi feigned sudden realization: "What a great idea!"
"……you!"
"Sect Leader Jiang, don't be angry," Zhao Yi said, "It's just not the right time yet. Your uncle and the others haven't arrived yet."
He raised his hand, and a Binding Immortal Lock materialized, tightly binding Jiang Rusheng. After struggling for a couple of times to no avail, she gave up and didn't exert any more effort.
Zhao Yi took out the fox mask again, looked at it quietly for a while, and then gently placed it on Jiang Rusheng's face.
Jiang Rusheng was not short, but her face was small. Zhao Yi's well-defined hand easily covered Jiang Rusheng's cheek through the mask.
As if realizing something, she held her breath and didn't dare to speak.
Sure enough, Zhao Yi seemed stunned, staring intently into her eyes through the mask, and murmured softly as if he had lost his mind: "So...so similar."
"Ah Zhao..." Zhao Yi slowly approached her, wanting to stroke her face: "It's you who's back, isn't it?"
Jiang Rusheng abruptly turned her head, avoiding his touch, and gasped for breath.
This person... is becoming more and more like a mentally unstable madman.
Zhao Yi whispered in her ear, wanting to touch her yet reluctant to get too close, coaxing her gently, "Call me by my name, okay?"
Jiang Rusheng coldly replied, "Zhao Yi."
"Not this one." Zhao Yi's breath hit the back of her ear, instantly causing a shiver to run through her.
Jiang Rusheng felt a little nauseous. She knew what he wanted to hear, but she just couldn't bring herself to call him "Ayi" in such an intimate way.
Unfortunately, past experience told her that there was no benefit in getting entangled with a madman... Just like now, Zhao Yi's hand was digging into her wrist tightly, with increasing force.
"Ah... Ah Yi!" Jiang Rusheng cried out in pain.
Zhao Yi stopped what he was doing and turned to look into her eyes: "Why are you afraid? You shouldn't be afraid of me."
Jiang Rusheng forced a smile and replied, "Is Lord Zhao perhaps getting old and blind, unable to distinguish between fear and hatred?"
Zhao Yi's gaze instantly turned cold: "You hate me too."
"Otherwise what?" Jiang Rusheng retorted, "My mother and uncle have been harmed like this by you, and you still expect me to be grateful to you?"
Zhao Yi seemed to have calmed down and said, "You're right, you should hate me."
He didn't press the matter further and turned to leave.
“Your Azhao is not coming back! She is completely dead!” Jiang Rusheng suddenly shouted.
Zhao Yi stopped abruptly, his fingers clenching tighter and tighter.
Jiang Rusheng was panting heavily, her heart pounding, not understanding why she had suddenly provoked him like this.
Just thinking about it, this madman, who wants to drag the whole world down with him because of the death of a woman, is pathetically stupid and laughably foolish.
Zhao Yi's figure moved so fast that only a shadow could be seen. Then, with a loud bang, Jiang Rusheng was slammed against the stone wall by the neck, and the rubble around her fell down.
Zhao Yi's eyes were bloodshot, and he almost gritted his teeth: "No one knows this fact better than me, so there's no need for Sect Leader Jiang to remind me again."
With her neck being choked so tightly, Jiang Rusheng could barely make a sound, only managing a few indistinct syllables: "Five hundred years... I don't believe you haven't researched the art of rebirth, but now it seems... you've failed, haven't you?"
Zhao Yi released his grip, and the Immortal Binding Lock disappeared along with it. Jiang Rusheng collapsed to her knees, coughing violently.
She looked at Zhao Yi and continued, "Since you know that the dead cannot be brought back to life, and you do not accept her reincarnation, why do you still stay in this world as a menace?"
"...Go die sooner rather than later! Wouldn't it be better to go down there and join her?!"
Jiang Rusheng snatched the dagger from Zhao Yi's waist and stabbed it fiercely into his heart.
Zhao Yi stared blankly at the fox mask on Jiang Rusheng's face and failed to dodge the attack.
The blade pierced deep into the skin, and blood flowed down the cut.
Jiang Rusheng was stunned. She had prepared herself for a counterattack, but she didn't expect the person in front of her to not dodge at all.
Zhao Yi glanced at her calmly, then pulled out his dagger without changing his expression. The wound healed slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the scar disappeared along with it, as if it had never existed.
Jiang Rusheng's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that Qiao Azhao's wood spirit core had been nurtured so well. With such a fast healing speed, it seemed that nothing could hurt him anymore.
“Her spiritual core is inside me,” Zhao Yi said. “It’s the only thing she has left. If I die too, no one in this world will remember her.”
He glanced at Jiang Rusheng, then slowly turned and left, while the shadow puppet by the stone wall continued to replay the scene of their first meeting.
“Master,” Cheng Yuan walked lightly to Chu Jianshan’s side and pulled his cloak over him, “The night is deep and cold, don’t hurt yourself.”
Chu Jianshan turned around and smiled at him: "I'm not that delicate. I just couldn't sleep and wanted to come out and see the snow. Unfortunately, the snow stopped a long time ago, and it's all dark, so I can't see anything."
Cheng Yuan advised him, "There will be plenty of time to see it later, there's no need to rush."
"Cheng Yuan," Chu Jianshan suddenly called out to him.
"What's wrong?"
"Cheng Yuan," Chu Jianshan called out again.
Cheng Yuan smiled and replied, "I'm here."
Cheng Yuan
"Um"
"Cheng Yuan, Cheng Yuan, Cheng Yuan... Ugh!"
Chu Jianshan's mouth was covered, and the gentle, soothing scent of pine resin lingered around his nose—a reassuring aroma.
After a while, Cheng Yuan, panting, released Chu Jianshan: "I used to call you Master like this. How come you've even learned my usual tricks?"
Chu Jianshan laughed and said, "I just suddenly realized that this trick is quite useful."
"How come it works?"
Chu Jianshan paused for a moment and said, "For example, it can help people calm down. At least for a while, I can stop thinking about anything."
Cheng Yuan: "Then call me a few more times. I will respond every time Master calls me."
Chu Jianshan asked, "Isn't it troublesome?"
Cheng Yuan smiled and said, "I couldn't be happier."
He kissed him again, pinning him against the pillar, his hand on the back of Chu Jianshan's head. Someone's tears fell, making the kiss salty and wet.
Chu Jianshan wiped away his tears and said, "I'm sorry."
Cheng Yuan said, "Master never needs to apologize to me. I am willing to do anything that Master decides. I would be happy to do one last thing for Master."
Zhao Yi once used Cheng Yuan's blood to nourish those puppets. Although it wasn't Cheng Yuan's doing, it was still somewhat related to him. If it really comes to the end and hundreds of thousands of puppets unleash their power, what will happen then?
Should they sever all of Cheng Yuan's cultivation, or make him suffer the pain of all the puppets' backlash? Or perhaps... take his life? Chu Jianshan dared not think any further.
A gust of north wind blew, and snowflakes began to fall softly.
Cheng Yuan held him close, letting the person in his arms sob uncontrollably.
After a long while, the commotion in his arms gradually subsided. Cheng Yuan went to look at him and saw that his face was covered with tear stains. He couldn't help but laugh out loud: "It's been a long time since I've seen Master lose his composure like this."
Chu Jianshan wiped his face and said, "When I ran into you at the foot of the mountain just now, how many times did I lose my composure? I don't care about that anymore."
Cheng Yuan smiled and lowered his head, wanting to kiss away the tear stains on his face.
"Cough cough cough..." The sound of coughing came from outside the corridor.
Chu Jianshan turned around instantly, his back to them, and wiped his face clean with his sleeve.
"I'm not saying this to be mean, but there should be a limit to how much you can be overly affectionate!"
Bai Qianfan clamored as he stepped over the railing and walked between them, reaching out to separate them: "Quickly separate and calm down."
Cheng Yuan wasn't surprised to see him and said calmly, "There's a road over there."
"Is it that I don't want to leave?" Bai Qianfan said with a mournful expression. "The paths in this lousy place are so winding and twisted. It took me ages to find this shortcut."
Chu Jianshan laughed and asked, "Why are you here?"
Bai Qianfan retorted, "Why can't you come? Revenge isn't just your responsibility. Don't try to shoulder everything yourself again this time!"
Chu Jianshan glanced to the side, feeling guilty, and remained silent.
Cheng Yuan looked behind Bai Qianfan and asked, "That's...?"
A woman dressed in yellow and wearing a veiled hat walked over and said, "Immortal Chu, how have you been?"
Upon hearing the voice, everyone immediately understood.
Chu Jianshan smiled and said, "Lord Lin, it's been a long time."
Lin Mumu removed her veil and looked at everyone: "Brother Bai is right, and I am even more so."
"Back when Immortal Xie was still alive, he helped Qingyao City in every way, and Ji Shi even died for Qingyao City. One of them was kind to me, and the other was loyal to me. I should avenge them both."
These words silenced everyone. Bai Qianfan looked at Chu Jianshan, wanting him to give his opinion.
Chu Jianshan finally nodded and said, "Then let's agree on this beforehand: if we encounter danger, we must prioritize our own safety and not act rashly."
"Do you even need to tell me that?" Bai Qianfan punched him. "Don't I value my life more than you do?"
Lin Mumu laughed: "Then it's settled. Everyone has to take care of themselves, and no one can be left out."
Bai Qianfan exclaimed, "Wow, it's really not easy to get Chu Jianshan to agree with us. Shouldn't we shout a slogan to liven things up?"
Chu Jianshan said somewhat awkwardly, "Do we still have to shout slogans...?"
He took two steps back almost imperceptibly, but Bai Qianfan grabbed him and pulled him back. Cheng Yuan smiled and reached out his hand as well.
The four men formed a circle with their fists close together, feeling each other's warmth.
"Win a hundred battles and return victorious!"
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