【Imperial City Storm】She thinks these people are too resilient
At this moment, the night was as thick as ink that could not be dissolved, pressing heavily on the dilapidated hilltop of Chengxiandao.
Zhou Suyao curled up in the cold bed of her little house, her eyes wide open.
The wind howled outside the window, blowing through the bamboo forest, making a rustling sound, and the eldest brother's cold, pure golden pupils were like a brand, lingering in her mind.
It's not an illusion. It's not a spiritual disorder.
yes.
The most complete indifference.
She turned over and buried her face deeply in the coarse cloth pillow with a faint scent of soap, trying to block out the ubiquitous golden light and the coldness that was enough to freeze the human soul.
What should she do? Question? Escape? Or... continue to pretend she knows nothing?
At this moment of great confusion, the simple wooden door of the cottage made a very slight creaking sound without any warning.
Not the wind.
Zhou Suyao's whole body stiffened, she held her breath instantly, and all her senses were tensed to the extreme.
She sat up suddenly from the bed like a frightened little animal, and subconsciously formed a defensive spell with her fingertips. A faint light flashed in the darkness.
Looking straight ahead, a tall and slender figure, like a ghost blending into the night, stood silently at the door.
The moonlight was so stingy that it only outlined half of his profile. His dark suit almost blended into the darkness. Only the golden unicorn on his shoulder, embroidered with gold thread but without eyes, reflected a cold and hard gleam in the extremely weak light.
Qi Jie.
How come he is here?
Still in such a late night with heavy cold dew?
Zhou Suyao's heart started beating wildly and she even forgot to speak for a moment. She just stared at the blurry figure at the door with a look of confusion and vigilance.
However, Qi Jie didn't seem to mind her vigilance. He turned his hand and quietly and lightly closed the worn wooden door, completely blocking out the howling wind outside and the possibility of prying eyes.
The small space was instantly shrouded in deeper silence, with only the suppressed breathing of the two people remaining.
"Did I wake you up?" Qi Jie's voice rang out, still with that unique cold texture, like an icy spring hitting jade, exceptionally clear in the silent night, but no apology could be heard in his voice.
He took a step forward, but did not approach the bed. He just leaned casually against the wall beside the door. His posture seemed relaxed, but Zhou Suyao could feel that all the muscles in his body were in a tense state ready to explode.
"Second Young Master Qi," Zhou Suyao finally found her voice, dry and hoarse, "You broke into a woman's bedroom late at night without permission. Aren't you afraid that I won't be able to hold back and will yell and call someone over, thus ruining your innocence for the rest of your life?"
She forced herself to remain calm, digging her nails deep into her palms. There had been too much chaos these days, and Qi Jie in front of her was more like an uninvited guest brought with him an unknown storm.
Qi Jie's eyes fell accurately on her face in the darkness. "In an emergency, we must act decisively. Besides, judging from the performance of the underworld, you won't call for help, but will directly beat me to death."
Then, he said concisely, without any emotion in his tone, "Xuan Yangming is not dead."
These five short words sounded like thunder in Zhou Suyao's ears.
"What?" she cried out in surprise.
The image of Xuan Yangming detonating his inner elixir on the altar suddenly became clear, followed by the confusion of countless resentful demon souls. "How is this possible?! Didn't Rao Tiandao say... to dispose of him...?"
"He abandoned that rotten body and most of his cultivation." Qi Jie interrupted her coldly, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with him. "But a remnant of his soul, carrying with it the last remaining evil energy of the three meridian flowers, escaped."
A chill ran rapidly up Zhou Suyao's spine.
For an old monster like Xuan Yangming, as long as there is a trace of his soul left, it will be like a cancer attached to the bone, causing endless troubles.
She asked anxiously, "Where did he escape to? Didn't Rao Tiandao put him in jail? How could it be..."
As she spoke, she suddenly stopped, a terrible thought coming to her mind, "Did you let him go on purpose?"
Qi Jie was silent for a moment. In the darkness, Zhou Suyao couldn't see his eyes clearly. "No."
He spoke slowly, his voice lowering with an unprecedented solemnity, "The Soul Locking Prison of the Heavenly Path can contain his physical body, but it cannot contain his last evil thoughts that originated from the Pulse Flower. The direction he fled..." He paused, as if weighing his words, as if confirming some extremely important information, "towards the Imperial Capital of the Human Realm."
"The Imperial Capital?" Zhou Suyao was stunned. This answer was completely unexpected for her. "What was he going to do in the Imperial Capital? Could it be..."
Suddenly, she remembered Xuan Yangming’s crazy declaration on the altar - to unify the three paths.
A horrifying thought seized her.
"Perhaps," Qi Jie affirmed. His voice dropped even lower, almost to a whisper, yet each word carried a weight of weight. "The new emperor of the Human Realm has only recently ascended the throne, and his foundation is unstable. Undercurrents are surging within the court. Xuan Yangming...perhaps he had already planted a stake in the Human Realm palace a long time ago. His target this time is most likely the young Human Emperor."
Zhou Suyao gasped and felt as if all the blood in her body was freezing.
She had thought of many possibilities, but she never imagined that Xuan Yangming's ambition was so big!
If he succeeds and uses evil magic to control or replace the Human Emperor, the destiny of humanity will be engulfed by him, causing unimaginable conflict and distortion with the Way of Heaven and the Way of Spirits.
If the three paths are out of balance, the world will inevitably be in chaos.
The candlelight danced in Qi Jie's bottomless pupils, casting a dark shadow like the abyss, as if reflecting the impending tidal wave. "He needs the Human Emperor's Dragon Vein of Luck as the final stepping stone to re-refining the Three Paths and ascending to the pinnacle of 'True God'."
A stepping stone... another stepping stone! Ning Qinggui was one, Ming Luo was one, Zhou Suyao was one, and now even the supreme emperor of the human world was nothing more than a tool to achieve his ambitions in his eyes!
Extreme anger and chillness mixed together and rushed to the top of Zhou Suyao's head, and her body trembled slightly uncontrollably.
"So," she forced herself to remain calm, her voice sharp from the tension, "you came here late at night just to tell me that Xuan Yangming went to harm the emperor of the human world? What does this have to do with my immortal path, or with me, Zhou Suyao? Your Raotian Dao family is so great, with so many masters, can't you take down an old ghost who is only a remnant of his soul?"
There was a clear sense of sarcasm and alienation in her words. The secret of the eldest brother weighed on her heart like a heavy mountain, making her distrust everyone.
Qi Jie was not angry at her questioning, but just looked at her quietly, his eyes so sharp that they seemed to be able to penetrate her forced indifference.
His voice remained steady. "The three meridian flowers eventually lost control due to your blood and soul. Although Xuan Yangming fled, the secret connection between the flower and you has not been completely severed. Therefore, I believe that Xuan Yangming's actions in the human world's imperial capital will most likely lead to the remnant power of the meridian flowers. When that happens, you, as the core 'vessel', will inevitably be affected, and may even become the coordinate for him to locate and draw power once again."
"Besides, the bigwigs of Raotiandao don't want to get involved in this matter."
coordinate……
Zhou Suyao's face paled instantly. Painful memories of being hung upside down on the altar and drained of blood, the resentful energy of the demons forcefully poured into her, flooded back like a tide, making her stomach churn. She bit her lower lip tightly, tasting the faint scent of blood.
"Besides," Qi Jie's eyes swept across her pale face, his tone still flat, but inexplicably there was a hint of... emotion,
"Xuan Yangming has been dormant for a century, with great ambitions. His involvement with certain members of the Xincong Sect may even date back much further. The waters of the Human Realm Imperial Palace are deeper and more murky than you imagine. Simply relying on the Circumvention of Heaven may not be enough to eliminate the root of the problem. I need you...to help me."
"I don't know!" She almost screamed, her voice sounding extremely harsh in the small space, trembling with the edge of collapse, "I know nothing! Everything about Xuan Yangming! Go ask him yourselves! Don't ask me!"
She was like a little beast that was forced into a desperate situation, with all her thorns standing up.
Qi Jie frowned slightly, as if he hadn't expected her to react so violently. He looked at the fear, anger, and bottomless confusion surging in Zhou Suyao's eyes and remained silent for a moment. In this suffocating stalemate -
“Buzz——!!!”
An extremely abrupt, sharp and piercing beeping sound suddenly rang out, instantly tearing the silence in the hut.
The sound came from a jade pendant hanging from Qi Jie's waist. Originally gentle and reserved, the jade pendant now erupted with a fiery red light, like a block of ice being dropped into a red-hot iron.
The red light flickered wildly, illuminating the dim hut with a blood-red color, full of ominous meaning.
Qi Jie's face changed drastically.
He stretched out his hand and pressed the restless jade pendant, pouring spiritual power into his fingertips in an attempt to suppress it, but the red light not only did not weaken, but became more violent, almost breaking free from Yu Cui's restraints.
At the moment when the red light flashed to its peak, a man's shrill and distorted roar suddenly exploded from the jade pendant and slammed into Zhou Suyao and Qi Jie's eardrums.
"Qi Jie—! Ming Luo was captured by Xuan Yangming and taken to the palace...! His life or death is still unknown!"
It was Qi Shuobei's voice.
The sound suddenly stopped, as if it was cut off by an invisible hand, leaving only the creepy aftertaste echoing in the blood-red room.
The red light on the jade pendant suddenly went out as the scream stopped, as if it had exhausted its last bit of strength, and turned into a dull and stubborn stone. It slipped from Qi Jie's waist and fell to the cold ground with a "click".
Dead silence.
A deathly silence, deeper and thicker than before, once again enveloped the hut. Only the shrill sound of "Ming Luo" and the vague "Imperial Palace" continued to echo madly in their ears, every word drenched in despair.
Zhou Suyao froze in place, her blood draining away at the moment she heard the cry for help, leaving only a bone-chilling coldness. She stared at the shattered jade pendant on the ground, then suddenly looked up at Qi Jie.
Qi Jie remained motionless, his hand stretched out to press. He lowered his head, most of his face hidden in the thick shadow cast by the door frame, making it impossible to see his expression.
But Zhou Suyao clearly saw that the knuckles of his hand, which was pressed in the air, had turned white due to excessive force, and was trembling slightly and uncontrollably.
A violent and terrifying aura was emanating from his body. The temperature in the cabin dropped sharply, and the air seemed to have solidified into heavy ice.
Xuan Yangming!
Qi Shuobei's final broken cry for help was like a poisoned dagger, which not only confirmed the terrible news brought by Qi Jie, but also pushed Xuan Yangming's madness to the peak.
He actually attacked Ming Luo at this very moment, in the heart of the human world - the imperial palace.
"only……"
She thought about it, but still didn't express her doubts.
Qi Jie very slowly withdrew his trembling hand. He raised his head, and a shadow slid across his angular jaw.
He didn't say a word, just stared at Zhou Suyao intently. But the weight of that gaze was heavier and colder than any roar or questioning, carrying an unquestionable determination and pressure.
All the suspicions, resistance, and fear of the eldest brother's secret seemed so pale and ridiculous in the face of this gaze and Qi Shuobei's abrupt cry for help.
Zhou Suyao's lips moved a few times, but her throat was so dry that she couldn't make any sound.
She looked at the blazing flames in Qi Jie's eyes that could burn everything, and seemed to see the glaring Tongsheng Seal beneath Ming Luo's collarbone on the altar, saw Ning Qinggui's tearful face accusing him, and saw Xuan Yangming's mad claws pointing at the Human Emperor's Dragon Throne...
She took a deep breath, then met Qi Jie's gaze and nodded very slowly but firmly.
All hesitation and self-protection were completely crushed at this moment.
"Let's go." Her voice was hoarse, yet remarkably clear, with a desperate determination, "Let's go to the Imperial Capital."
Between the water and the clouds, the night was as dark as ink. The cold wind suddenly rushed in, blowing Zhou Suyao's thin clothes tightly against her body, making her feel bitterly cold.
She took one last look at her little house, which, though dilapidated, had still held her brief moment of peace, and turned away without a trace of nostalgia. Gazing out into the chaos between heaven and earth, she gritted her teeth and mobilized her no longer pure spiritual power.
In an instant, a crimson bird gathered at her feet.
She tiptoed onto the unicorn. The tiny red bird chirped softly and dashed off into the all-consuming darkness outside the doorway. Following Qi Jie's direction, it raced towards the towering imperial city, a symbol of human order, yet about to become the epicenter of the storm.
The wind whistled mournfully in my ears, the icy air scraping across my face like a knife. The mountains, rivers, and land beneath my feet rapidly receded in the darkness, blurring into a chaotic, inky black.
Lingdao finally tore off its last disguise and revealed its ferocious fangs.
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