Chapter 031: Me and My Enemy Father and Brother (Thirty-one)
“…”
The wind was very strong on the mountain, making their clothes flutter and rustle. The dust they raised swept past Chen Yunli's eyes, and he couldn't help but want to frown and avoid it.
But Chen Wenjian's hand pinched his chin, so he could only roll his eyes. His gaze wandered for a long time before finally falling back on his face.
There was still no emotion in Chen Wenjian's eyes. He was like an empty shell with a set program, coldly carrying out the appearance settings.
But Chen Yunli sometimes - like now - feels that this kind of coldness and indifference is his perfect disguise to deceive the world.
Chen Yunli pondered for a moment, then reached out and stroked Chen Wenjian's eyelashes. He closed his eyes and tilted his head into Chen Yunli's palm, like a large dog responding to its owner's caress.
His fingertips touched the cool and soft skin. Chen Yunli applied a little force and pressed a dent in the corner of his eye. In a trance, he seemed to touch the mask that had grown into his flesh and blood. With a little force, he could take it off.
So he pinched as he wished, leaving a red mark below Chen Wenjian's cheekbone.
"Hmm." Chen Wenjian muttered, "You don't have to pinch me if you don't agree, right?"
Although he said so, he did not hear Chen Yunli's refusal. He still stubbornly maintained this posture and refused to retreat.
Chen Yunli realized something from Chen Wenjian's attitude, something that subverted his sexual orientation but did not make him reject or dislike it.
"Chen Wenjian, do you like me?"
Chen Wenjian's pupils shrank slightly, and he asked almost reflexively, "What does it feel like to like someone?"
Chen Yunli realized what he had asked, and when he heard his answer, his ears felt hot and he couldn't help but hold his forehead.
He thought for a moment, then pried open Chen Wenjian's fingers that were clamped around his chin, brought them to his lips, and kissed the bend of his index finger.
The warm and soft touch exploded on his fingertips. Chen Wenjian shuddered all over as if he had been electrocuted. He suddenly retracted his hand and looked at him in surprise.
Having managed to pull one back in this inexplicable struggle, Chen Yunli narrowed his eyes and said, "You didn't say where you wanted to kiss. Kissing your fingers is also a kiss. Okay, now you have to promise me one thing."
"...playing tricks." Chen Wenjian curled his fingers. He should have been annoyed by his opportunism, but seeing his smile, he couldn't get angry at all. "Forget it, what do you want me to promise you?"
Chen Yunli pushed him back to lie down. Most of the sun had already sunk into the horizon, and only a line of golden color engraved with floating clouds remained on the horizon, reflecting his joyful eyes.
"Give this world a little more time. At least don't let it be destroyed in your lifetime. What do you say?"
"...Nothing, but I never break my promises." Chen Wenjian held the straw-woven orange cat high in the air, tilted its head and leaned it against his temples. Suddenly, he asked out of nowhere, "Do you believe me?"
“…”
Chen Yunli understood what he meant - he had really pushed this world to the edge of the abyss, and even today, he still had this ability.
So, should I believe him? Should I believe that his promise wasn't a spur-of-the-moment promise, that he wouldn't go back on his word, that he was willing to sacrifice his body and his entire life's work to save the world he still harbored the desire to destroy?
Chen Yunli let out a long breath: "You know, it's foolish to pin your hopes on someone you're unsure of."
"Um."
"But people always make stupid mistakes, especially when there's no other way to go."
“…”
"I believe you. None of us get a second chance, so... please don't let my trust go unfulfilled."
…
A cold wind was howling above the deep Demonic Abyss. The sword energy that Chen Qiaoyun had nailed above was already covered with cracks. Although it could still stop its erosion, it was obvious to the naked eye that it could not last much longer.
Qian Yuejiu's cultivation level was far inferior to his, not to mention the Tianzong disciples. The only help they could provide was to transfer their magic power to him, allowing him to hold on a little longer.
Unfortunately, this is just a drop in the bucket and is no different from doing useless work.
On the third day, Chen Qiaoyun refused their help and sat alone in the wooden house for the entire day, under the pretext of regulating his breathing, until night fell.
When the moon was at its zenith, the door of the wooden house creaked open and Chen Qiaoyun walked out slowly. His cheeks were becoming paler and paler. The loose clothes hung on his thin bones, making him look thin, as if he was a wisp of smoke that was about to dissipate in the wind.
Qian Yuejiu knocked out several practitioners who were bewitched by the Demon Abyss, turned back to follow the sound, and waved to the Tianzong disciples around him to tie them up and take them away.
"Mr. Qiaoyun." He stepped forward, carefully examining Chen Qiaoyun's expression, and made a decision in his mind, "Have you made a decision?"
Chen Qiaoyun looked at the intertwined sword energy on the ground. The mottled cracks reflected in his eyes were so sharp that they were frightening.
"This situation is urgent. There's only one way out. Even if it means taking risks, I can't afford to worry about this."
Qian Yuejiu didn't know about Chen Wenjian's resurrection, and found it difficult to understand his cautiousness. "Logically speaking, his soul has dissipated and disappeared, and his body, while still there, is just an empty shell, perfect for use as a vessel to seal the Demon Abyss. Sir... why are you so cautious?"
Chen Qiaoyun glanced at him. "Father... he was born with an immortal constitution, and later achieved a breakthrough to the Heavenly Demon Realm. Treating such an enemy requires extreme caution. Besides, how can you be sure his soul won't reassemble and return to the mortal world?"
Qian Yuejiu was speechless, and then she felt a chill creeping into her heart.
"Then..." He asked hesitantly, "What is your decision, sir?"
"This is dangerous, but we have no choice." Chen Qiaoyun looked away, his expression indifferent. "If we release him, we can survive for a little longer. If we don't release him, this world will perish in a way even more horrible than destruction."
Everyone becomes a demon and devours each other.
The world will be no different from purgatory.
"You stay here, tell all the disciples to be on guard, and stay away from the Demonic Abyss."
"I'll be back soon."
Without waiting for Qianyuejiu to answer, Chen Qiaoyun flew away on the wind.
The long night wind struck the broken sword blade. Someone opened his eyes in the moonlight, as if he had just escaped from a beautiful dream, with a blank look in his eyes.
He leaned against a blank stone tablet, with his legs bent and his head lowered, holding a long sword as white as frost in his arms.
Dust quietly fell to the ground, the breeze around her dissipated, and the lifted hem of her clothes hung at her feet, casting a light shadow.
"Ning Bufan." Chen Qiaoyun called out to the person in front of the stone tablet, "Long time no see."
"Hmm..." Ning Bufan frowned, pressing his stinging forehead with one hand while tightly holding his sword with the other. He hissed softly, "Chen Wenjian's...eldest son?"
"It's me, Chen Qiaoyun." Chen Qiaoyun looked at the stone tablet behind him. "Thank you for guarding my father's tomb all these years."
Ning Bufan blinked, the confusion dissipated from his eyes, his expression like a cold and hard reef exposed after the tide receded: "It doesn't matter, I owe him this anyway."
At this point, he rubbed his fingers on the scabbard twice: "He avenged my Shao Tu. Unfortunately, I couldn't clear his name from the false charges many years ago, and later I couldn't save him from your sword."
Ning Bufan's words compressed hundreds of years into a fleeting moment. The wind was filled with a solemn and bloody smell, and the moonlight was like a knife, cutting through their common wound.
Chen Qiaoyun's brows twitched slightly, but Ning Bufan turned away. "You're afraid that outsiders will know Chen Wenjian's hiding place and use his immortal body to do evil, so you've never seen him before. Why are you here today?"
Chen Qiaoyun took a deep breath and calmly stated his purpose.
He is not good at speaking, so when he tells stories he usually narrates the facts in a straightforward manner without any excessive exaggeration or agitation.
Ning Bufan also listened calmly. Finally, he raised an eyebrow and sneered, "The human world is so fragile. Even those who seek the great Dao and think they are extraordinary and above the mundane world are nothing more than tiny mayflies that can be manipulated at will by the huge waves of fate."
"Last time, you killed your father for the sake of all living beings. This time, you will use his body for the sake of all living beings. He has indeed taught you, a pillar of righteousness, well."
Ning Bufan did not hide his mockery and sadness. He was satirizing Chen Qiaoyun, but not just Chen Qiaoyun.
"I'm just trying to save myself." Chen Qiaoyun remained unmoved. "Even if I'm a mayfly, it doesn't mean I have to let fate control me without any resistance."
Ning Bufan lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes, his fingertips stroking the cold and hard scabbard. The long sword hummed in the scabbard, like the tide hitting the reef under the moonlight, gentle and long.
Chen Qiaoyun almost heard a hint of persuasion in the roar, as if a gentle and kind soul lived in the weapon that had drunk countless blood.
Ning Bufan sighed: "Forget it."
He stepped aside, making way for the pale, towering stone tablet behind him. Powder fell from the tablet, revealing large, intricate patterns and a faint glow.
Chen Qiaoyun bowed deeply to him, stepped forward, drew his sword, cut his palm, and pressed it on the pattern in the middle of the stone tablet.
The stone tablet suddenly shook, like an intense heartbeat or breath, greedily absorbing the blood flowing from his hand and crawling all over the stone tablet along the fine lines.
“Ka-ka-ka—”
The sound of jade shattering grew louder and louder, gradually reverberating between heaven and earth. Dark clouds obscured the moon, and silver-blue lightning danced and flickered through the clouds, accompanied by bursts of dull thunder, pressing down overhead, almost right next to my ears.
The stone tablet suddenly cracked, and the smooth cross-section fell to the sides like a door that suddenly collapsed.
Colorful light burst out from the door, and a vague figure was outlined in the dazzling light. As soon as it appeared, thunder roared, lightning flashed densely, and black clouds almost connected the four corners of the sky and the earth, surrounding the world into a round empty eggshell. A heavy feeling of depression leaped into my heart.
Chen Qiaoyun rushed towards the figure in the colorful light, but he had expended a lot of energy in trying to stop the expansion of the Deep Demonic Abyss. As soon as he got close, he felt a blow to his chest from a heavy hammer, and his already pale face suddenly became even uglier.
But the next moment, he heard the sounds of dragon roars and phoenix howls rising into the sky beside him.
The long sword in Ning Bufan's hand automatically unsheathed, circled around him and stood in front of him. The grand sword intent turned into thousands of threads, wrapped around the figure like a rope, and forcibly pulled him in front of Chen Qiaoyun.
The colorful light faded, and the surrounding light became dimmer. A figure peeled away from it, revealing a perfect face, a slender figure, and dense black clothes. He had a heavenly appearance, but looked like a demon born from the abyss of hell. He was so evil and ferocious that people dared not look at him directly, but he exuded a bewitching temperament.
This is the body of Chen Wenjian in his prime. Even though he has lost his soul, he is still extremely ferocious and terrifying.
"Let's go." Ning Bufan landed beside the long sword and embraced him with his arms. "We'll go with you."
Chen Qiaoyun swallowed the blood that overflowed into his throat: "Thank you."
…
The disciples of Yuyang Tianzong who were guarding the deep Demonic Abyss retreated hundreds of miles, transferred the people in the area and all the bewitched practitioners to other places, and completely sealed off the place.
Qian Yuejiu was the only one who stayed behind. He looked at the sword energy with more and more cracks and denser cracks, counting the time silently in his heart. When he counted to three quarters of an hour, the sound of gold and jade breaking suddenly rang out all around, merging with the thunder gradually approaching in the distance.
There was a loud bang in his head, and he felt dizzy from the sudden loud noise. His magic power was also affected, stirring chaotically in his body. His seven orifices ached violently, as if he could not bear the burden, and blood slowly oozed out.
Qian Yuejiu raised her hand and wiped it away, not caring about the blood covering her face, her eyes fixed on a certain direction - there were two... no, three figures rushing towards this place quickly, just in time to be immersed in the exploding sword energy in the sky, as if rushing out of an unexpected snowstorm.
The wind and snow howled, and golden-red flames rushed into the sky. The fragile earth's crust expanded and cracked. After being suppressed for three days, the five bodies of the Demon Abyss accumulated enough power and suddenly rushed and spread to the other four states. The merger was completed in almost the blink of an eye, and the fragments gathered into a mighty torrent, and then erupted upward, dyeing the sky of the five states red.
Qian Yuejiu retreated in a hurry and narrowly avoided being swallowed by the Demon Abyss that had erupted at full force. Fortunately, the Demon Abyss that had just merged with him had not yet completely surfaced to the surface, which allowed him to escape.
However, the suddenly strengthened power of bewitchment still affected the people of the Five States, including the disciples of Tianzong who were among them.
Women picked up sickles and slashed at their husbands, children picked up stones and hurled them at their companions, old men grabbed each other's beards and hair and slammed them against doors and the ground, and strong young men grabbed anything they could find as weapons, killing anyone they saw, quickly becoming furious.
Not to mention those practitioners, who stripped off their elegant and refined appearance, followed their magnified desires, and indulged in brutal murderous intent.
Blood flowed in the brilliant light of magic, like a battlefield filled with bones surrounded by stars.
The world fell into hellish chaos in the blink of an eye.
Qian Yuejiu barely managed to control her rationality, and suddenly remembered what Chen Qiaoyun had said not long ago -
"Release him, and we can live a little longer. If we don't release him, this world will perish in a way worse than destruction."
Yes, rather than letting the world become like this, it would be better to let it be destroyed in the hands of Chen Wenjian.
…
The red sky covered all directions, and golden flames rose and fell, like bunches of cruel and beautiful fireworks. Every time they burst in the sky, it represented the suffering of countless people.
Chen Wenjian stood up, his slightly narrowed eyes flashing with excitement, as if this was the world he wanted to see.
"It's time," he said. "I can feel my body calling me..."
As he spoke, Chen Wenjian took a step forward. But just as he took half a step, someone grabbed his sleeve forcefully.
He turned around and saw Chen Yunli standing up. Her white fingers were tugging at his black sleeve, highlighting her bloodless whiteness.
"I'll go with you." Chen Yunli smiled and gently stabbed him in the heart, "If you break your promise, I can die in front of you the first time."
“…”
Chen Wenjian's expression instantly turned cold.
He just felt that this world was interesting, but he lost interest after hearing Chen Yunli's words.
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