Chapter 88: Because I love you, I gave her a peaceful Kyushu. ...
It was an ordinary day.
The lantern awoke against the man's chest. Sensing he was about to leave, she unconsciously looked up and kissed his chin. The man stopped, touched her face, whispered something, tucked her in, and left.
But the next second, he turned back.
He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, saying, "I love you."
The streetlights were dim, and he suddenly realized what he had said. He snapped out of it, sat up, and opened his eyes wide.
Shen Zhou was no longer in the hall.
She stood there for a while before reaching up to cover her burning cheeks, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
Ugh, how annoying, what are you doing so early in the morning!
It took a while for the fever on her face to subside. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the rabbit lamp hanging above her bed. She flicked it in the air, and the lamp began to sway and twinkle.
She smiled, pursed her lips, and began to get up and change her clothes. The slight dizziness left over from last night's spiritual encounter gradually dissipated.
Since Shen Zhou underwent his tribulation, the environment of his consciousness palace has become much better. The sword energy that caused him headaches day and night has disappeared, and the pervasive black mist has transformed into a vast ocean, clear as a mirror.
Even so, he still preferred to let his primordial spirit reside in her sea of consciousness. Sometimes, as he did so, spiritual communion would occur unconsciously. Hua Deng wished he could erect a sign outside her sea of consciousness that read, "No entry for Chen Zhou or dogs."
She got out of bed, first cuddling with the pillow she had crawled into the room for a while, then went out to water the young seedlings of the Zhu Luo fruit planted outside the palace.
The environment of Ziyang Palace is not suitable for the growth of Zhu Luo fruit. This is the third batch, and it looks like they still won't survive.
Hua Deng squatted down and observed for a while, then regretfully sent a message to Su Yiqing: "This batch won't work either, you should send it to me instead."
I had just sent it out when I heard the sound of fighting behind me.
Yesterday, the Left Protector brought back her old friend, Brother Mule. To show off, Pillow attacked him, and sure enough, they started fighting again today.
Hua Deng turned away helplessly, pausing their battle of wits.
Speaking of Brother Mule's history, it's been quite a journey. Although Shen Zhou didn't actually kill it to make roast meat, he gave it to the Left Protector to work as a laborer in the mines in the south. The Brother Mule that Hua Deng sees now looks much more weathered than before.
The meat is firmer now.
The thought popped into Hua Deng's head without his noticing, and he felt even more guilty when he met Mule's deep gaze. He took out a few spirit stones from his Qiankun Ring to compensate Mule.
The pillow cried out in pain, so Hua Deng had no choice but to feed it a few pieces as well.
Just as I finished feeding them, the communication disc lit up.
Hua Deng has two communication discs. In addition to the ordinary model, there is a special one that Shen Zhou made for her, Su Yiqing, and Pei Jianming.
The communication discs originally produced in the cultivation world generally have mediocre performance, while the Shenzhou version, based on her description, was made with a structure that is almost identical to a mobile phone.
Not only can it support voice and video calls, but it can also read novels, watch live streams, and even has several games to help them connect and pass the time.
Hua Deng initially thought it was Su Yiqing replying to her message, but when she picked it up, she realized it was from Pei Jianming.
He sent several messages in a row, sounding very anxious.
"Hua Deng, can you see my message?"
"I'm locked up, so this is the only way I can talk. There's something very important I have to tell you."
"Pei Duyun is not my biological brother at all; he is one of the mission takers in this world!"
"They want to kill Shen Zhou. Stop Shen Zhou and don't let him leave!"
"I'm sorry about what happened to Master last time. Consider this my way of repaying your favor."
After quickly scanning a few messages, Hua Deng gasped for breath and instantly turned to run outside. After a few steps, she suddenly stopped, looked down at her ring, and said, "Lie Tian, take me to him!"
...
At this moment, Pei Duyun stood on the ground where the clouds had solidified, looking solemnly at the man in front of him.
The man, dressed in white, stood in the center of the encirclement, his posture casual and contemptuous, as if he were dealing with a group of ants rather than an enemy.
Without a doubt, this was the most dangerous mission target he had ever encountered.
In their initial encounters, neither he nor headquarters realized the man's special abilities. What truly caught their attention was when he used the sword named Lietian in the Xiashan Secret Realm, a moment that happened to be recorded by Hua Deng and Su Yiqing's system.
After analysis, they were surprised to find that the energy contained within was enough to form the Heavenly Dao of an ordinary world.
But it was merely a sword belonging to this person.
For twenty thousand years, the headquarters has had only one ultimate goal—to find the power to repair the main god. To achieve this goal, they have tried every means to infiltrate the closed world of Kyushu.
A golden opportunity presented itself when they encountered an extraordinary being. If they could seize his power and that of the Heavenly Dao, they could revive the Supreme God and end the catastrophe that ravaged the myriad realms.
He was just more difficult to deal with than I had imagined.
For months, he had killed wave after wave of mission takers, leaving headquarters in a state of chaos. Pei Duyun had no choice but to personally intervene and directly connect with headquarters' resources, hoping to gain the strength to fight back.
He looked at the man in front of him, but the man didn't even bother to glance at him, appearing absent-minded and completely disregarding them.
Pei Duyun had dealt with many rebels before, and they were all arrogant and conceited in the same way. But only this person in front of him had such an arrogant and disdainful attitude that he seemed to take it all for granted.
Because he truly has the ability.
Pei Duyun led dozens of experts from the Immortal Alliance to attack him. Shen Zhou stood there, casually waving a sword—a worn-out longsword.
Before Pei Duyun could react, he was shocked to find that everyone around him had collapsed.
Even he was momentarily stunned. Then he saw Shen Zhou lower his head slightly, seemingly looking at the sword at his waist, or more precisely, at the tassel hanging from the hilt.
The once spotless sword tassel was now stained with a drop of blood. Shen Zhou wiped it away with a flick of his hand, and the tassel was clean again.
But when he looked up again, a calm yet surging aura of malevolence emanated from him.
Overwhelmed by the oppressive aura, Pei Duyun knelt down with a thud.
He didn't understand why the sword was displayed if it wasn't being used.
But he didn't have time to think about that right away. Shen Zhou walked up to him, grabbed his neck from a distance, and asked him, "How many mission takers are here?"
Pei Duyun blurted out the truth: "Five, five hundred."
There were only a few at first, but the more Shen Zhou killed, the more people they sent out.
Shen Zhou ordered, "Call them all over here."
Pei Duyun was forced to issue an emergency call to action.
Five hundred people arrived upon hearing the news, forming a new encirclement and trapping Shen Zhou.
He suddenly felt more confident: "These are all outstanding individuals who have experienced countless worlds. Do you think you can emerge unscathed?"
His response was a sword that flew out casually from Shen Zhou.
The outstanding individuals he mentioned each displayed their unique talents, and although headquarters provided substantial support, it was to no avail.
It simply increased Shen Zhou's swords from one to three.
How many swords does he still have? Pei Duyun had no idea; no one had ever witnessed his true strength.
They didn't even get to see the legendary Blazing Sky Sword!
In the last moment before Pei Duyun collapsed and closed his eyes, he heard a familiar voice: "Chen Zhou!"
It's her.
He vaguely saw the girl appear behind Shen Zhou, her bright yellow clothes burning like fire.
She threw herself into the man's arms, and the murderous aura and killing intent emanating from him vanished instantly.
"So that's how it is," he suddenly realized. "The real weapon against Shen Zhou is right here."
Unfortunately, he was already dead.
...
Hua Deng rushed over and quickly looked Chen Zhou over to make sure he was alright before letting out a sigh of relief.
Shen Zhou spread his arms as she examined him, and asked with a smile, "Why are you here?"
Hua Deng said angrily, "Why didn't you tell me something was wrong! You made me so worried!"
Shen Zhou guessed that Pei Jianming had told her, but she didn't ask any further questions and casually said, "Dealing with a bunch of trash is too much of a hassle for you."
Hua Deng pursed her lips and paused, still worried: "Are you really alright?"
Shen Zhou: "Why do you think something's wrong with me?"
Hua Deng lowered her head and said, "When you suddenly confessed this morning, I thought it was because you were going to die."
"It's because I love you," Shen Zhou said.
Hua Deng was taken aback and looked up at him. Their eyes met, and the wind and clouds flowed silently. His expression remained calm, as if he were simply stating a fact.
Hua Deng suddenly chuckled: "Looks like I was worrying for nothing."
Shen Zhou kneaded her fingers and curled the corners of his lips: "Don't worry, if I die, I will definitely take you with me."
Hua Deng: "..." Well, thank you very much.
Just then, she heard a slight noise behind her, and realized that there was not only a corpse at the scene, but also a survivor.
The man was badly injured, his entire body covered in blood. She struggled to make out who he was before remembering that he seemed to be Xue Zifei's sworn brother, one of the elders of the Beidou Hall, named Xu Ke. Shen Zhou had let him go once, but she hadn't expected him to come a second time.
“Chen, Zhou…” he opened his mouth hoarsely, his voice filled with resentment.
Shen Zhou mentioned him from afar, then turned to Hua Deng and said, "I'm going to take him to the East China Sea."
Hua Deng immediately replied, "I'll go with you!"
Shen Zhou nodded and led her away. With Lie Tian leading the way, they quickly crossed the Qilin Prison and arrived at the depths of the East Sea.
The familiar wooden house still stands there, carrying Xue Zifei's memories from his lifetime.
Shen Zhou carried Xu Ke, passing through scenes of memories, finally stopping in front of a locked wooden door.
"Didn't you want to know what happened?" He pulled open the chains and pushed Xu Ke inside. "Go and see."
Xu Ke fell into it.
Shen Zhou's voice came from behind, light and ethereal: "The Beidou Palace is famous for its deductive skills. Its previous palace master and ancestor spent thousands of years deducing the whereabouts of the Ascension Ladder. Finally, a few years ago, the clues pointed to the Wanjian Sect."
"There is a famous disciple in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect who may know about the Ascension Ladder. This is the result of their deduction."
Xu Ke suddenly turned around and had already guessed what would happen next.
In those years, Shen Zhou's growth was too rapid, to an alarming degree. Xu Ke could imagine how they had targeted him.
Unfortunately, before the Myriad Swords Sect could make a move against him, he grew stronger and, in order to avoid implicating the Myriad Swords Sect in his own karma, he voluntarily defected from the sect.
A year later, Xue Zifei found him on the east coast.
This was exactly what Xu Ke witnessed.
They chatted happily, drank freely, and drank until they were drunk. The young man was unaware that Xue Zifei had come at the request of his master.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect deceived Xue Zifei, claiming they could help the boy find his real family and teach him not to be homeless, all he needed to do was know his real name.
“Xue Zifei is the sect leader’s direct junior brother. He has a kind personality and has always been well-liked by the sect members,” Shen Zhou continued, his voice indifferent.
Xu Ke certainly knew all this.
According to the rules, only those at the Nascent Soul stage or above can serve as elders. Xue Zifei, who is merely a Nascent Soul cultivator, was able to take the position, which shows how indulgent the sect leader and others are.
"So he didn't expect that the Myriad Swords Sect would use him to harm me, and neither did I," Shen Zhou said calmly.
At that time, he had not yet broken through to the Fusion stage, and his memories were incomplete. If he could remember more, he would discover that to deduce a person's life story, three things are needed:
The first is the birth date and time, the second is the ritual implement that has received the essence and blood of the person, and the third is the name.
His birth date and time were accurately recorded by the Wanjian Sect based on his bone age, not to mention the magical artifacts he left behind.
The only thing that matters is his name. He was abandoned by his parents after birth, and the name Xue Zifei gave him is insufficient to serve as a basis for deduction.
Therefore, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect needs Xue Zifei's help.
Xue Zifei believed the sect leader and the others, and brought wine to find him.
On that very day, he got drunk and uttered what he might have been the most regrettable thing he would ever say in his life—
"My real name is Shen Zhou."
That is the origin of the tragedy.
They deduced that he was a reincarnated being and possessed the power to restart the Ascension Ladder.
In an instant, the upper echelons of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were in an uproar.
Unable to find him, they imprisoned Xue Zifei and even used a soul-searching technique on him in order to find more clues about him.
The last thing Xu Ke saw was Xue Zifei kneeling before his most trusted senior brother, the sect leader, pleading desperately.
"Senior brother, Xiao Wu is innocent... Senior brother, you watched him grow up... You can't do this..."
His pleas were to no avail. Their pursuit of power and their yearning for immortality had driven them all mad.
The only thing Xue Zifei could do was to self-destruct in order to protect his disciple.
In the very end, the young man stormed into the Hall of Ten Thousand Swords, picked up Xue Zifei's corpse, and went on a killing spree.
The shock of those scenes was too great, and Xu Ke was completely exhausted. He knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf, with cold sweat pouring down his face.
Shen Zhou stood before him, his eyes coldly lowered, devoid of pity or hatred.
"The Immortal Alliance wants my power, but they are not worthy of it."
Upon hearing the sound, Xu Ke looked up in a daze.
"Xue Zifei was indeed killed by me. If you want to avenge him, I will not stop you."
"But you're so weak, you shouldn't even dream about it."
Xu Ke closed his eyes, recalling the years of pursuit and killing him, and felt even more powerless and ashamed.
He bowed and kowtowed, repeating the act over and over again.
I'm sorry.
"The Beidou Palace is sorry."
"I……"
Shen Zhou kicked him away and said with disgust, "Don't make that disgusting face of yours again, or I'll kill you every time I see you."
Xu Ke was speechless.
He got up dejectedly, stood stiffly for a long time, bowed slightly, and staggered away.
Hua Deng watched him fly away, walked to Chen Zhou's side, and silently took his hand.
Power itself is not sinful, but those who possess power become the source of evil—is this not absurd?
Shen Zhou's palm was still warm. She slowly turned her head to look into his eyes. His eyes were like a calm, deep sea as he looked back at her, motionless.
She squeezed his hand and asked softly, "Are you sad?"
Shen Zhou looked at her and said, "It's sad. He shouldn't have met me."
Even when this person is talking about being sad, there is no extra expression on their face.
Hua Deng raised her hand, her fingertips tracing his features, and murmured, "So, in this life, you cultivated so quickly because you wanted to be freed sooner, right?"
Shen Zhou did not deny it; that was indeed what he was thinking at the time: to break through the tribulation as soon as possible, to die quickly, and to end the turmoil of this life.
Hua Deng took a deep breath and solemnly promised, word by word, "If you stay by my side, I will not let you be sad."
Shen Zhou stared at her serious expression, then suddenly smiled: "You said that."
Hua Deng couldn't help but laugh: "When did you say that?"
Shen Zhou ruffled her hair and led her outside: "No matter when you said it, I believe you. If you break your promise, I will punish you by making you reincarnate with me."
Hua Deng initially followed him, but eventually, she quickly caught up with him and walked beside him, saying in a very soft voice, "Okay... I promise you."
*
When Xu Ke returned home, he was still in a weak and confused state.
It wasn't until he pushed open the door and saw a tall, slender figure that he suddenly snapped out of his daze and exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?!"
Shen Zhou turned around. He stood in the shadows and said calmly, "Why do you think I took you to the East China Sea, and why did I explain those things to you?"
Xu Ke said blankly, "For Zifei..."
Shen Zhou said, "No."
Xu Ke was stunned.
He said, "I need you to do something for me."
"……What's up?"
"I assure you, as the leader of Ziyang Palace, that from this day forward, as long as you do not invade, Ziyang Palace will not initiate war. The same applies to the Demon Realm."
"—Do you understand?"
"You want to..." After a long pause, Xu Ke swallowed hard and said with difficulty, "You want the three parties to reach a peace, that's impossible."
“Nothing is impossible,” Shen Zhou said. “You are only responsible for negotiating this matter; I will handle the rest. Remember to tell them that anyone who dares to oppose us will be executed without mercy.”
"Why?" Xu Ke blurted out.
Shen Zhou did not answer his question and left on his own.
The moonlight outside was just right.
Chen Zhou walked in the shadows of the trees and glanced at the moon in the sky.
Why?
It was probably during a spiritual connection that he glimpsed some memories of the city lights from the past.
The place in her memory was completely different from Kyushu. It was more peaceful and serene, and judging from her state of mind, she seemed to prefer that kind of place.
Since that's the case, let's give her a peaceful Kyushu.
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