Chapter 135: Stone Stairs to Heaven
Jiaoran's face turned cold, and he murmured, "He's right. I can't treat you the same way I treat ordinary people, because you don't even have the compassion that normal people have."
"Yes, it's not too late for you to understand now."
There was an indescribable disgust on Jiaoran's face, as if she didn't want to listen to him anymore and was afraid of offending her eyes by just looking at him.
"Thin dragon!"
He summoned his weapon and struck out with the sword in his hand in an instant.
This was a shocking battle. The sword in Jiaoran's hand suddenly brightened the dim sky and earth in the dark night.
He was not at all confused, and instead he enjoyed her anger.
He summoned his divine weapon, a pitch-black sword. From the blade to the hilt, everything was pitch black. This pitch-blackness seemed to be able to swallow up all light.
Under the moonlight, two swords fought like dragons.
Two figures flew up and down in the sword light. Xu Mengchou stood on one side and could not tell who was the Phoenix Chick and who was Jiaoran. They were as fast as two whirlwinds.
Every time the two swords collided, there was a thunderous sound.
It was a perfectly quiet night, but because of them, the sky was suddenly covered with dark clouds, and lightning flashed continuously in the clouds.
Xu Mengchou was frightened and found a place to hide. The fight between the two men was not like a fight between mortals at all. The wind was howling around them.
Sand and stones were flying everywhere. Xu Mengchou coughed twice and was blinded by the dust.
This is a battle of wits, she whispered.
The two swords made sounds like dragon roars and tiger howls. Xu Mengchou finally opened his eyes in the flying sand and saw that there was a cloud behind Fenghuang Chu and Jiaoran. Fenghuang Chu was a giant dragon with four claws, and behind Jiaoran was a dragon with only one horn.
After a burst of frantic sword strikes.
The dazzling sword light suddenly disappeared.
All the winds and clouds between heaven and earth were silent, and two long swords were raised high, with the tips of the swords touching each other.
They were like two burning flames.
But when he saw the indifferent faces of Jiaoran and Fenghuangchu, Xu Mengchou felt that they were two pieces of ice on the top of a snowy mountain.
Jiaoran's eyes were like the eyes of a ferocious beast, fierce and bloodthirsty, as if he couldn't wait to tear the enemy apart.
But the Phoenix Chick remained indifferent, as if he didn't care at all how much she hated him.
Jiaoran felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife, and her chest seemed to be splitting open. She thought of her mother lying on the cold ground, and then looked at the disgusting face of the man in front of her. She wanted to send him to hell immediately.
I don't know how long it took, but the sky was about to brighten. The young phoenix stepped forward, and Jiaoran's swordsmanship was suppressed by him.
Suddenly, Jiaoran took a step back like lightning and formed a strange seal in the air. As she swung her sword, a gust of wind carrying a beam of fire went straight towards the phoenix chick.
Xu Mengchou was shocked. He had never seen such a sword technique before...
But what surprised her even more was that the Phoenix Chick just stood there, and the sword didn't seem to be able to fight back.
The sword flashed, and suddenly a phoenix chick flew out from the ball of wind and fire. A trickle of blood shot out along with the sword light.
Jiaoran's body was frozen in place. Xu Mengchou hurried to see and saw that Fenghuangchu's sword had pierced Jiaoran's chest.
The Phoenix Cub laughed wildly, looking up at the sky. "Your swordsmanship is indeed unrivaled in the world, but do you think you can be my opponent? I almost exhausted half of my cultivation to extend your life. You fought with me before, and you were able to defeat me. And that loser Chai Yu dared to threaten me, but it was only because I was too concerned about my own life. I still wanted to keep my life and fight back to the Fish Dragon Wonderland. But now it seems that there are more interesting things than making a comeback."
Jiaoran fell down amidst wild laughter.
The phoenix chick took Jiaoran away. In this open space, there was only the sound of wind blowing the grass and there was no sound of insects. It was as silent as death.
Xu Mengchou looked at Zhou Zhi's body on the ground, and thought about how Jiaoran had just been defeated by the Phoenix Chick and fell down. She didn't feel happy, but something in her heart was suffocating her.
Above the earth, a towering tree stood dead, its branches spreading sadly in the wind.
He placed Jiaoran in front of the sacred tree.
Jiaoran lay quietly under the tree, her chest rising and falling slightly. She was not dead yet, but was knocked unconscious by the powerful spell of the Phoenix Chick.
The phoenix cub looked up at the mulberry tree in front of it. The tree failed to extend Wuxia's life, but instead brought about a heavenly calamity, which destroyed his cultivation of more than 500 years. Such a demonic tree was really useless. Over the past hundred years, he tried various methods to destroy it.
But it still stands here.
The roots go deep into the mountain, and the entire mountain is covered with its roots.
If you continue digging deeper, you may not be able to reach its deepest roots.
Even the phoenix chick didn't know how this sacred tree appeared in the human world.
It was as if it had been waiting for people like them.
Those who seek it.
A hundred years ago, when Wuxia and he were still husband and wife, they lived and worked happily on this mountain. He and Wuxia each wrote down their wishes on red silk and hung them on the sacred tree.
At that time, he made a wish to stay with Wuxia forever in this life.
He thought that he would never die or get hurt, and that he would only have one life. However, when he made the wish, he forgot that Wuxia was just a mortal, and she would have countless reincarnations through life and death.
As for Wuxia, he didn't know what wish she made. Later, when he secretly went to see her in the middle of the night, he saw the same words on the red silk she hung.
So when she gave him the sachet before she died, he didn't suspect it was some other wish.
But Wuxia actually betrayed him.
The sachet did not contain any token related to him.
For the first time, the woman he loved made him taste the taste of betrayal.
But Wuxia is already dead. How can he collect debts from a dead person?
So a hundred years of love turned into a hundred years of hatred in an instant. Love was too vague, and as time passed, it was faded by the years, but the new hatred was bright and shocking.
Suddenly, Jiaoran opened his eyes, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. "Why did you bring me here? If you want to kill me, you can do it now."
An inexplicable smile appeared on the corner of Phoenix Chick's mouth. "Kill you?" He lowered his head and looked at Jiaoran, sighing, "How boring that would be." As he spoke, he looked up at the first ray of sunlight shining on the branches of the sacred tree and said slowly, "It has been too long. I have lived in this world, and no matter where I am, I am extremely lonely... Wuxia, I want to forgive you, as long as you love me like before."
"Okay." Jiaoran said.
"really?"
A hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the Phoenix chick.
She nodded, "Give me back my mother, and give me back the peaceful days I want."
"How can you ask me for your mother's life? Chai Ying was killed by Zhou Zhi. If you want Chai Ying's life, you should ask Zhou Zhi. Oh, Zhou Zhi is dead, you can't take it. As for Zhou Zhi, didn't you kill her with your own hands? What do you ask me for?"
Jiao Ran snorted, "I'll fuck your grandpa!"
"You are really not well behaved. Wuxia is not that aggressive. You should learn from her."
Jiao Ran said, "Learn from your mother."
His eyes darkened, "I remembered it now. It's because you have one more eye than Wuxia. So, maybe you will be more obedient if you have one less eye."
His sharp knife was cold, and the morning glow on the top of the mountain dyed Jiaoran's eyes red.
Mu Jin rushed over and saw a corpse on the ground with Jiaoran's coat covering the face of the corpse.
He walked slowly towards the corpse, step by step.
Zhou Zhi lifted her clothes with great sadness. Her face had turned gray, but there was a smile on the corner of her mouth, as if she was very satisfied with the result.
He looked down at her palms and saw sword wounds on her fingertips, which were left by grasping the sword blade.
Closing his eyes, he could almost imagine what the scene was like.
Looking around, I didn't see Jiaoran.
Mu Jin bent down and was about to pick up the body when he heard someone talking behind him.
"You can't take her away."
Mu Jin had already held Zhou Zhi in his arms. "She's already dead, so why wouldn't he even allow her to be buried?"
"Don't you want to know where Jiaoran is now?"
"But will you tell me?"
Xu Mengchou shook his head, "Fenghuangchu said that you can only choose one between Jiaoran and Zhou Zhi."
"I choose—my mother."
Xu Mengchou burst out laughing, "It turns out that she and I are not alike, because you don't care about her life or death at all, but the person I love cares about me very much and would never choose anyone other than me."
Mu Jin said, "I've already chosen her, can I leave now?"
Xu Mengchou nodded, "You made a very smart decision. Because she is a disaster. Look how many people died for her. She even killed your mother with her own hands. I saw it with my own eyes. She killed Zhou Zhi. From now on, she is your mother's murderer."
Mu Jin hugged Zhou Zhi tightly. After growing up, he had never hugged his mother. Everyone has a mother, but he doesn't.
Unexpectedly, the first time he hugged her after he grew up, he would be holding her corpse.
Mu Jin raised her head slightly and forced the tears back into her eyes.
"Mother, I'll take you back. You must really want to go back to Ying Inn. I'll take you back, and from now on, you won't have to be afraid anymore."
When Xu Mengchou heard his words, her eyes became hot and she was about to cry, because she remembered that from now on in this world, she would be a child without a mother.
From childhood to adulthood, she only had a master, who was just like her mother, but she killed her with her own hands.
"I want to ask you for something."
Xu Mengchou said, "You have already chosen your mother. I cannot tell you where Jiaoran is. This is the rule of the Phoenix Young. If I disobey it, I will die."
“It’s just a medicine.”
"What?"
"Rhino horn."
"What do you want this for?"
"Didn't Phoenix Chick say you couldn't give me this?"
Xu Mengchou shook his head. "No, this is a medicinal ingredient for removing some poisons. It's very precious. If you want it, I'll give you some."
"It doesn't need to be a lot, just a little bit will do."
At the top of the mountain, the rocks are a strange red.
The mountain is not high, but when Mu Jin walked to the top of the mountain, he could overlook the tops of all the mountains.
A mist covered the road ahead of him, passing through the forest.
There are countless stone steps in front of me.
Even if you try your best to look, the stone steps seem to have no end.
The fog is gloomy and the smoke is thick.
The stone steps seem to be the road leading to the legendary nine heavens.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a dome-shaped gate came into view.
There were huge trees on both sides, and crows bigger than humans stood in a black mass on the treetops.
Seeing him coming, several crows flapped their wings and landed.
As soon as he landed on the ground, he transformed into a man in a black robe.
Mu Jin said calmly, "I'm here to look for someone."
The man said, "This is not a place for mortals. Leave now. The person you are looking for is not here."
If they went up the stone steps, they might be able to find him, but Mu Jin thought they would not let him in.
So he drew his sword among the green grass and fragrant flowers.
The guardian of the wonderful realm stepped forward and held down his sword, and Mu Jin sensed a terrifying power.
He began to shiver with cold.
The cold penetrates into the bone marrow.
The black-robed man said, "Do you realize how insignificant you are? Don't move rashly, or you will die faster."
Mu Jin still insisted, "I came here to find someone..."
He interrupted him and said, "You came here by mistake. We don't want to be killed. Go back. Although we don't know how you got here, if you still want to live, go back as soon as possible."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard someone say, "You're here."
As soon as he appeared.
The crows immediately transformed into their original forms and flew back to the tree.
There was no one around except Mu Jin and Zhu Su.
Zhu Su said slowly, "Why did you come here?"
At the foot of countless ladders, Mu Jin's voice was as cold as the stone steps beneath her feet. "You guided me here, didn't you? Otherwise, how could I have come here with just a wisp of rhinoceros smoke? You were waiting for me too, and you couldn't wait for me to come."
There was no awe towards Zhu Su on his face.
In the misty clouds, Zhu Su saw him frowning sadly, "If you came here for Jiao Ran, then go back."
"Why? You can't save her either?"
He questioned him, and the echo of his voice echoed in the mountains and forests, but there was no response.
After a long moment, Zhu Su's voice finally rang out, "Let's go! Neither you nor I can save her. Only she can get through this stage on her own."
When Mu Jin heard his words, she immediately became as angry as a wounded beast, "Didn't you cause her to end up like this?"
Zhu Su said, "It is fate that we have come to this point, not my own will. If she dies, that is also fate."
"I don't believe in God's will, I only believe in myself."
"what you up to?"
"Find her."
"Even if she's a corpse?"
"yes."
"Is it so important for you to find her?"
"I have nothing else to worry about in this world. She is the only one I have."
"Do you hate her, then?"
"Hate? Why?"
"She killed your mother."
"It was Phoenix Young who killed her. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have died. Jiaoran must have been in great pain too, so I can't hate her. If even I hate her for killing my mother, then she will never forgive herself. She is also her mother. If she killed her with her own hands, her pain will not be any less than mine."
"You are an extraordinary mortal." Zhu Su said.
"Although I can't help you, there is a place that can tell you all the answers you want."
Zhu Su waved his hand, and Mu Jin looked up and saw another stone door further up the stone steps.
"What is that place?"
"Some mortals spend their entire lives searching for a place that can answer all your questions and fulfill all your wishes."
Behind the stone gate, there is a beautiful colorful light.
Mu Jin quickly ascended the stone steps and heard Zhu Su's voice behind her, "Every deal has a price. What you have to pay will be much more than what you will get."
There are words engraved on both sides of the stone gate.
"Greed eats away at one's bones; there is gain in loss."
Zhu Su said, "Look carefully before going in."
Mu Jin turned around and said to him, "I am willing."
He sighed and said, "I hope you don't regret it."
Mu Jin didn't say anything else and strode forward. He didn't know what was behind this door, but even if it cost him his life, he would find Jiaoran.
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