INE Chapter 96: Chang Li

The day before the great battle, Yue Qianqiu had many dreams.

She dreamt of Qingluan Peak, shrouded in mist, with red maple leaves swaying in the wind.

Red leaves spiraled down from the treetops, floating on the green waves, drifting along the stream toward the Sword Practice Courtyard.

The sound of reading echoed through the courtyard, crisp and pleasant, like the old songs woven by children in times long past.

A crane’s cry pierced the sky.

The woman in red, sitting at the head of the table, closed the book, and the lively reading stopped for a moment.

She stood up and told her disciples, “That’s enough for today.”

The dream ended. Yue Qianqiu donned her plain robes and placed the Mountains and Rivers Chessboard on the table.

In a hundred years, Mei He would place the Chixiao Sword on the chessboard and hand it to Kongji.

This was the last thing she had to do.

Before stepping out of the room, Yue Qianqiu picked up the Qingshuang Sword, glancing at the pile of red lanterns in the corner.

Year after year, the paper covering them had faded.

She stared at them for a long while, then walked out without looking back.

Last night, Yue City had been breached by demon cultivators. The people fled in all directions, scattering in panic. Now, the city was devoid of any living souls.

The leader of the invasion was Bai Yushuang, the Left Protector of the Demon Sect. She stood, holding her sword, impassively watching the elderly man kneeling at her feet, pleading for his life.

The man, his hair white as snow, pulled out several silver notes from his official robes, tears streaming down his face.

“My lord, I will give you anything you want, just please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me…”

Bai Yushuang smiled and asked, “When you slandered my father for plotting treason all those years ago, did you ever think that one day, I would come to collect your life?”

With those words, she drew her sword and severed his head.

The people fled toward the outskirts of the city, but the demon cultivators relentlessly pursued them.

Just as they neared Tianshui County, the river below surged violently, and there was no escape.

At their wits' end, the people hugged their children, raised their weapons, and cried out, “Let’s fight them!”

“Right! What are we afraid of? We’re all going to die anyway! Let’s fight them!”

Although the Demon Lord and the Left Protector had ordered that no harm befall the women, children, and elderly, these demon cultivators were merely the lowest servants of the Demon Sect and had no regard for their superiors' commands.

They thought that these commoners, born in prosperous cities, spent their days in idleness and pleasure, never knowing the hunger and desperation of those who lived in the West Mountain.

Jealous and resentful, they sought to release their anger through slaughter.

The demon servants raised their swords and charged at the defenseless mortals.

Black flames surged toward the crowd, only to be stopped by a pure sword aura.

The sword aura formed a barrier, enveloping thousands of people.

The commoners looked up, watching the petals fluttering outside the barrier.

Peach blossoms fell like a blood-red rain.

Seeing this dreamlike peach blossom rain, the people almost wept with joy.

“The Sword Saint! It’s the Sword Saint!”

“The Sword Saint has come to save us! We have hope!”

But to their surprise, after the peach blossoms fell, Yue Qianqiu did not appear.

In the end, it was the disciples of the Tianyin Division who saved them.

The disciples of the Tianyin Division stood outside Tianshui County, holding jade flutes and playing the tune Jinse.

The melody was soft and distant, and over the rolling river, they built a bridge that seemed as solid as reality.

Meanwhile, the Sword Saint, whom the people had been hoping for, stood at the border of Yue City and Xichuan.

Before her stood the leader of the demons, the Demon Lord Chu Changli.

Chu Changli looked at Yue Qianqiu as she raised her sword and struck it down toward the distant horizon.

She did not interfere, standing still with a smile and saying, “Master is truly compassionate toward the people.”

Yue Qianqiu sheathed her sword and said coldly, “If I hadn’t struck just now, would you have stood by and done nothing?”

Chu Changli chuckled and replied, “Indeed, even if you had not acted, I would still have cleared the Demon Sect’s path.”

Yue Qianqiu did not know what would happen next, but she knew that the battle between her and Chu Changli was unavoidable.

She repeatedly told herself that after this fight, she would finally close this chapter.

So, she lifted her sword and unleashed a sword move.

In a flash of white light, thousands of flaming feathers appeared, floating in the air.

It was a phoenix.

The divine bird’s body was taller than the white tower of Bodhi Sect. It spread its wings and flew, arrogantly gazing at Chu Changli.

Then it moved its enormous beak and released a flame capable of burning everything in its path.

Silent Mountains and Rivers’s third move: Nirvana.

Unlike before, when she sparred with Dou Weiyi in the practice yard, this strike was far more powerful.

The phoenix’s rebirth looked down on the mortal world.

This was the true power of the third move.

The fiery storm surged toward Chu Changli, but she remained smiling, seemingly unconcerned, and made no move to draw her sword.

When the flames neared her, she finally raised a flute, placed it to her lips, and played Jinse.

It was well known that the Demon Sect’s Left Protector was skilled with the flute, with the sword being her second choice.

The Demon Lord was adept with the sword, and the flute was her secondary skill.

At this moment, instead of drawing her sword, Chu Changli arrogantly played the flute.

And this melody was not even her own.

Yue Qianqiu, hearing the melancholic and distant flute music, was inexplicably reminded of the background music she had once heard in a game, Jinse, and suddenly understood why it felt so familiar.

If Yan Haiyao could hear this in the secret realm, he would likely wake up in a fit of rage.

Outside Tianshui County, the disciples of the Tianyin Division were taken aback upon hearing the Jinse melody, their flute music faltering.

Everyone knew that Master Yan only played the flute, not the xiao.

Furthermore, the sound of this flute was filled with an eerie, demonic aura, something their own master would never produce.

Jinse was Yan Haiyao’s unique skill, known only to his wife, Meng Ruo, and a few others.

But after so many years of conflict with Chu Changli, Yan Haiyao had surely exhausted all his skills, especially Jinse.

Who would have thought that Chu Changli’s insight was so deep that she could remember the music just by hearing the flute melody?

Chu Changli closed her eyes, holding the flute in her hands.

The sound of the flute summoned the ghost serpents from the underworld. They spiraled and danced, their mournful cries causing the ghosts to wail in unison.

The ghost serpents and the phoenix collided.

In an instant, the mountains and rivers split apart.

When the smoke cleared, the earth was left with a deep, bottomless chasm.

Between Yue Qianqiu and Chu Changli stood a vast abyss.

Both of them lowered their flutes and swords.

Chu Changli gazed at the abyss and shook her head. "Master, you didn't give it your all."

Yue Qianqiu stared at Chu Changli, not responding to her words, but instead asked, "Doesn't your Demon Sect have your own music?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Changli couldn't help but chuckle. "It’s been years, Master, but you still manage to make me quite happy."

However, Yue Qianqiu had completely lost interest in Chu Changli.

Heaven knows how much she had wished that Chu Changli had drawn not the Lotus Flute, but the Chixiao Sword, and killed her with a single strike. That would have been better for both of them.

The abyss stretched thousands of feet between them, but Chu Changli took a step closer.

She looked at Yue Qianqiu and smiled, saying, "But Master, I actually hoped that your sword just now had no mercy. That way, I could die in peace."

Yue Qianqiu remained silent.

She felt that all the coincidences in the world had collided upon her alone. This life would never be this coincidental again.

Chu Changli smiled as she looked at Yue Qianqiu, her gaze greedier than ever.

"Master." she said, "the world places its hopes on you, hoping that you will kill me. How can you disappoint them?"

Yue Qianqiu replied, "The expectations of the world are not my will. Any wish that has nothing to do with my heart is an extravagant hope, and thus has nothing to do with me."

Chu Changli smiled lightly. "Then what is Master’s wish?"

Yue Qianqiu thought to herself, My wish is to end all of this as quickly as possible. But when the words came to her lips, she instead said, "I wish... I would never become anyone's wish."

Chu Changli was taken aback.

Then she smiled, a smile so gentle, just like those years ago.

"Unfortunately, Master, your wish is likely to be unfulfilled, because I have many, many expectations of you."

Yue Qianqiu silently looked at Chu Changli.

After a while, Chu Changli put down the flute, then tossed aside the Chixiao Sword, as if now she could finally feel at ease.

But even without their weapons, the abyss still stretched between them like an insurmountable chasm.

"When I was a child, I wished that Master would look at me more, care about me more. So, I always caused trouble, making things difficult for you, never letting you be satisfied."

"As I grew up, I started to understand, and I hoped that Master wouldn't be so burdened. I wanted to do something for you."

At this point, Chu Changli chuckled, "I never imagined that in the end, the one who would trouble Master so much... would be me."

Yue Qianqiu looked at Chu Changli and shook her head. "I never blamed you, because I’ve made many mistakes as well. Besides, people often can't control their own fate."

Chu Changli smiled. "What Master calls ‘not being able to control oneself’, I’ve truly experienced it in this life."

"Looking back, I don't even know where I came from, or what I’ve done in this world. People admire me, insult me, fear me, and all think I am beyond saving, a madman."

"I too feel that I've stumbled through this life in a daze, never once clear-headed."

"Until now, I finally understood."

Peach blossoms drifted from the city and into Xichuan.

Chu Changli said, "Master, when I was younger, I didn’t understand why I was born. Now I do, I came here to see you."

"But it’s laughable. I said I was born for you, but in the end, I only made things difficult for you. But from now on, I won’t trouble you anymore."

Chu Changli stood at the edge of the abyss, giving Yue Qianqiu a soft smile.

"Master, you said the world isn’t just black and white, so you don’t wish to follow the worldly ways. But how can I bear to let you carry the world's scorn?"

Yue Qianqiu saw her disciple smile at her.

Then, with a smile on her lips, the disciple jumped into the abyss amidst a shower of falling petals.

At that moment, she forgot who she was. All she knew was that she ran to the edge, stretched out her hand, but grasped nothing.

Yue Qianqiu heard a heart-wrenching cry.

She didn’t even have time to think about whether that sound was her own, for her actions were faster than her thoughts.

She followed Chu Changli and jumped down.

Yue Qianqiu watched the figure fall into the abyss, where a sea of fire surged like a tide below.

Before the flames could consume her, Chu Changli stretched out her hand, gathering a ball of spiritual energy at her fingertips.

If the world saw this, they would surely not believe their eyes. The Demon Lord, who had killed countless, now displayed such pure, clear spiritual energy.

A wisp of spiritual energy flew into Yue Qianqiu's brow.

It spread like wings, blocking the surrounding inferno.

Another wisp of spiritual energy floated above, wrapping around the divine feather that accompanied Yue Qianqiu as she jumped, propelling her out of the abyss.

Ji Rong had always thought of herself as cold-hearted, that she would never shed a tear for anyone.

But when that figure disappeared into the sea of fire, she looked at the pure white feather, and the pain overwhelmed her. She couldn’t even cry out, tears streaming down her face.

Her disciple was dead.

Her disciple, having fulfilled everyone's wish, had died.

Just as Ji Rong felt herself at the edge of despair, wishing to give up, a pair of hands gently cupped her face.

The hands were cool like spring water, wiping away her tears.

Ji Rong looked up in surprise, only to see a half-transparent spirit standing before her.

The person had ink-black hair, wearing purple clothes, and smiled as they said, "Master, good Master. Don't cry anymore."

Ji Rong was stunned. "Who are you?"

The spirit smiled and replied, "Senior Sister, my surname is Gu. Gu Baiyi."