Chapter 84
Xie Wen couldn't remember what happened that day, how the leak in the sky reappeared, how the heavenly order collapsed, how the human world descended into chaos, and how everyone lost control.
She vaguely remembered falling into an embrace, warm and reassuring. She opened her eyes groggily and saw him holding her tightly in his arms as the world was about to collapse. Ignoring her blood and filth, he pressed his cheek against hers and whispered, "Let's go, let's go back."
Before Xie Wen could even ask him, "Go back where?" the question arose. The world was in chaos; where could they possibly go back to? Before he could even voice the question, Xie Wen's consciousness sank.
When Xie Wen regained consciousness, her mind was still hazy, and she thought she had returned to the small bamboo house in Youzhou, back to the moment she first woke up there. Chu Xianyue was still walking steadily towards her, carrying medicine. This time, her chest was still injured, wrapped in layers of gauze.
In that instant, Xie Wen recalled the moments she shared with Chu Xianyue in the bamboo house; those brief years constituted one of the few sweet moments in her life.
Now, Xie Wen is gradually realizing that they may never have such a leisurely and peaceful time again.
Xie Wen stared blankly as Chu Xianyue walked towards her. Chu Xianyue sat down by her bedside with the medicine in his hand. It was already late autumn and early winter. Chu Xianyue closed the window tightly and added another layer of quilt. The howling north wind outside kept hitting the window paper, while the room was warm and cozy.
He remained silent, feeding Xie Wen her medicine. Xie Wen kept her pale, chapped lips tightly closed, staring at Chu Xianyue with lifeless eyes. Chu Xianyue knew Xie Wen was suffering; her pain was indescribable, contradictory, and sharp. As long as she lived in this world with the blood of the Feather Clan, she would suffer every day.
Jin Huaran jumped to his death in order to find liberation.
Only Xie Wen, a member of the Feather Clan, remained alone in this world.
Should she hate the human race or hate herself for having the blood of the Winged Race flowing through her veins? As a member of the Winged Race, she had never done anything for her people; she even protected the humans who harmed them. But had all humans harmed them? If she didn't protect them, should she, like Jin Huaran, also exterminate the human race? But that's how the human race had treated the Winged Race in the past.
Xie Wen suddenly looked up and stared at Chu Xianyue, "Where are the Feather Clan now? Did they come out of the Boundless Sea? Before Jin Huaran died, he asked me to take them to a place that could protect them for life. I have to take them there now, or people will not let them go."
Xie Wen threw back the covers and tried to get up. She was in a hurry, thinking about her father, who was trapped under the Boundless Sea, her mother, and her other relatives: Da Douzi from the Wang family, Er Gouzi from the Li family, the little sister from the Zhang family and her old mother-in-law, and...
Midway through, Chu Xianyue helped Xie Wen and stopped her from moving.
Xie Wen stared at Chu Xianyue, her gaze slowly shifting from a mixture of joy and sorrow to suspicion and scrutiny. She looked at Chu Xianyue as if trying to discern some clues or signs from his expression.
Chu Xianyue lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes obscuring the expression in them, making it difficult for Xie Wen to see clearly. Chu Xianyue finally spoke, his throat hoarse and strained, with a deep nasal tone, as if he had been crying and was trying his best to calm himself down, "The Feather Clan has successfully left the Boundless Sea. However, due to the cumulative corrosion of the Boundless Sea over the years, their bodies have long since become one with the seawater, and when they came out, their bodies had all dissipated."
Chu Xianyue didn't elaborate. In truth, it didn't dissipate, but rather transformed into a pool of dark, bloody liquid, flowing on the ground, no longer resembling human form. Over the years, the Feathered Clan had been corroded beyond recognition by the seawater. They had only managed to survive until now thanks to Jin Huaran's parting words, "Don't go living this life without sunlight." They believed that one day, they would finally see the light of day after the storm. They believed they would eventually live normal lives, good lives. Even if it was just for one day.
However, the reality is that it didn't even last a moment.
That day, after Jin Huaran leaped into the sacrificial lock, dark clouds surged, the river waters churned, and the Netherworld opened wide. Countless evil spirits and creatures crashed into the black hole, and a black beam of light shot from the black hole towards the Canglan River, causing the Canglan River to churn and roar to the heavens. The Netherworld opened wide, the sky reappeared, and countless evil creatures roared as they rushed into the mortal realm.
With the opening of the Netherworld, the evil creatures and demons in the Boundless Sea rushed out and towards the human world. Without the evil creatures, the Boundless Sea's confinement collapsed on its own, and the Feathered Clan truly emerged from there. This was the destruction of the human world, but for the Feathered Clan, it was a rebirth.
Chu Xianyue would never forget that day of chaos in the human world, when the white-haired winged people rushed out of the Boundless Sea. In that instant, their smiles melted away, along with their beautiful faces, tall figures, and long white hair, all turning into a pool of black blood. It then slowly flowed back into the Boundless Sea.
Chu Xianyue couldn't bear to tell Xie Wen in detail what he had seen that day.
After he finished speaking, the room remained silent for a long time.
The spoon Chu Xianyue handed over hung in mid-air for a long time, and the steaming pale yellow medicine cooled down completely. Xie Wen, like the medicine, slowly cooled down.
She slumped down on the edge of the bed, slowly sliding down, her eyes fixed on the roof beams, as if she too had melted into a puddle of mud, a pool of black water.
Chu Xianyue's heart trembled violently. He couldn't imagine Xie Wen turning into black water and disappearing before his eyes like those winged people. He couldn't breathe and leaned over to hug Xie Wen tightly, as if hugging a lifeless pool of stagnant water.
He held her tightly, leaving no gap whatsoever. His arms trembled like flames in the cold wind, his gaze fixed on something, a sense of powerlessness tinged with a mixture of love and hate flickering in his eyes.
After a long silence, Xie Wen asked Chu Xianyue weakly, "How is the situation outside now?"
Has chaos descended upon the world? Evil spirits have enveloped humanity, and malevolent beings run rampant? Have people been infected by these evil spirits and turned into demons? Is humanity once again plunged into carnage? Is it truly a tragedy for everyone this time? Will everything ultimately spiral out of control, leading to the world's destruction?
But if that's really the case, then why is she sitting here so calmly, and why is Chu Xianyue standing calmly in front of her, holding her tightly as if he's terrified of losing her at any moment?
The room was very hot, and as they embraced, their body temperatures rose even higher. He was holding her so tightly that Xie Wen could hardly breathe. She tried to push Chu Xianyue away, but Chu Xianyue seemed slightly aggrieved, his eyes reddening. Xie Wen's pale face flushed slightly from the heat, though her lips remained pale. She said helplessly, "You're making it hard for me to breathe. Do you think I've lived too long?"
Even at this moment, she still managed a joke, but Chu Xianyue couldn't laugh. He knew Xie Wen wanted him to stop being so upset because of her. Even though she herself was suffering so much, both physically and emotionally, she still managed a forced smile at Chu Xianyue, wanting to tell him that she was fine and that he shouldn't be sad.
He felt even more heartbroken. He wanted to tell Xie Wen that if he couldn't smile, he shouldn't force himself; it would be better to cry.
But when the time came, his throat felt dry, as if it were blocked by a stone, and he couldn't say anything.
After a long silence, Xie Wen repeated, "What's the situation outside now?"
Chu Xianyue said with difficulty, "When the celestial leak reappeared, the people from all the major immortal sects worked together below to set up an array, combining everyone's spiritual power to create a barrier above the Canglan River. The evil creatures were temporarily blocked inside and could not come out. However, that day will come sooner or later, and the barrier will not last long. At most half a month."
As he recalled the scene, he described how the world was in turmoil, with dark clouds covering the entire sky. The Canglan River surged and swirled towards the center of the black hole, and strong winds blew fiercely. Houses and boats were reduced to piles of rubble, and people and all sorts of debris were swept into the sky. Everyone screamed and fled in all directions, and the world was shrouded in the shadow of destruction.
After settling Xie Wen in, Chu Xianyue returned to the lower reaches of the Canglan River. He stood calm and composed, unshaken by anything. He was also the first to rush up to the bottom of the black hole. He took a black beam of light leaking from the bottom of the black hole, composed of various evil energies and demons, and shot it straight towards the Canglan River. An ordinary person would be turned to ashes if they got close for even an instant.
He went against the tide without hesitation. He was the first to rush forward. When everyone was panicked, at a loss, and unable to protect themselves, it was Chu Xianyue who stood up.
He didn't know how he managed to endure the pain of his body and soul being swept away by intense evil energy and torn apart by evil creatures, and how he managed to set up the rudimentary form of an array below. Yun Yan followed him forward.
In truth, Yun Yan and Chu Xianyue hadn't been apart for very long, but it felt like years had passed. Upon their reunion, all the prepared remarks and countless words Yun Yan had wanted to say to Chu Xianyue vanished without a trace. His throat tightened, and a thousand words were condensed into a single "Master."
But this sound quickly dissipated amidst the deafening roar that filled the sky and earth, never reaching Chu Xianyue's ears, leaving only Yun Yan with a sense of heartache and helplessness.
Yun Yan wiped away her tears and flew over again to help Chu Xianyue.
Later, Pei Xuan arrived, not alone, but with a group of volunteer Kunlun Ruins disciples, also heading against the tide of evil. At this moment, even if Yun Yan had many grudges against Pei Xuan, they would vanish like smoke. Yun Yan wouldn't hold a grudge against Pei Xuan at this time, no matter how much he resented him. Besides, during the time Chu Xianyue and Xie Wen were away, Yun Yan had begun to learn about the affairs of his Dali Sword Sect, and his temperament had indeed matured a lot. However, for some reason, whenever he was in front of Chu Xianyue, Yun Yan was still like a child.
He hoped that Chu Xianyue would pat his head like he did when he was a child and say, "Long time no see, you've grown up a bit more."
But now, the past is gone.
After evacuating some residents, Li Jingyuan and Li Zhun arrived to help. Li Jingyuan kept asking where Xie Wen was. He had seen Chu Xianyue catch Xie Wen, but later, due to the chaos downstream of the Canglan River, Xie Wen disappeared in the blink of an eye. Now, Chu Xianyue had reappeared, but Xie Wen was still nowhere to be seen.
Li Jingyuan did not receive an answer to this question, leaving him alone to grieve in silence.
No one knew where Xie Wen was. Li Jingyuan wasn't the only one who wanted to know the answer to this question; Pei Xuan and Yun Yan also wanted to know. However, only Chu Xianyue knew the answer.
Everyone could see that Chu Xianyue desperately wanted to hide Xie Wen, making her impossible for anyone to find. How could he possibly tell them where Xie Wen was? Yun Yan had seen that Senior Sister Xie Wen was already on the verge of death, and he couldn't help but worry that she would die. But Yun Yan ultimately didn't voice this worry, fearing that his master would lose control.
Gradually, more and more cultivators surged forward, and the spiritual energy bursting forth from various spiritual lights converged together. The black pillar of light clashed with the colorful light of spiritual energy, and the two powerful forces collided with each other. Finally, the colorful light became stronger than the dark pillar of light, and inch by inch, it was pushed back into the bottomless black hole on the horizon.
Immediately afterwards, the cultivators who had set up the formation below worked together to condense a powerful, semi-transparent barrier, which slowly covered the black hole until it was completely enveloped.
The celestial realm gradually calmed down. Evil energy and malevolent forces were rampaging within the semi-transparent barrier, and black energy accumulated, hanging in the sky like a huge black tumor, its face hideous and grotesque.
When no one was paying attention, Chu Xianyue staggered back to find Xie Wen.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Yun Yan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. At this moment, however, he was unaware that he had lost his master once again, but Yun Yan had not yet had a chance to truly convey the word "master" to Chu Xianyue's ears.
In the dimly lit hut, Chu Xianyue knelt before Xie Wen, his arms around her waist. After saying these words, he urged Xie Wen to drink at least some medicine, as her injuries had worsened. If he hadn't been sending her spiritual energy day and night, Xie Wen would have passed away once the effects of the life-extending pill wore off.
Xie Wen had to take the medicine; she needed to live. She couldn't be irresponsible with her own life; she still had people she cared about. Therefore, she also had to be responsible for Chu Xianyue.
She gulped it down in one go, no longer feeling the bitterness of the medicine. Compared to the bitterness in Xie Wen's heart, this was nothing. While drinking the medicine, Xie Wen thought about how seriously she had been treated, yet Jin Huaran, on his deathbed, was so certain that she could still live. So he told Xie Wen to live well, to live a good life, and to take his people to the South China Sea for him.
He was so convinced that if he handed her over to someone else, she would definitely survive.
Xie Wen looked at Chu Xianyue. Perhaps he really was the one who, as long as he was there, would ensure her safety.
As darkness fell, the room grew gloomy. Chu Xianyue got up, intending to light a candle, when he heard a knocking sound at the door, each knock striking his heart.
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