When Wenren Ying brought his blade down, the last thing he saw was his master’s eyes—Perfected Yan Shouyi’s, filled with venom and hatred.
He calmly looked at the severed head. With a turn of his wrist, he sent it flying without the slightest hesitation, striking it away with the flat of his blade.
He knew Yan Shouyi would die unresigned…but what right did he have to die unresigned?
Only those who had died in Donghua City had the right to die unresigned.
And…himself.
Whenever he thought of what had happened that rainy night, his heart would suddenly clench, sending sharp spasms of pain through him.
He would never forget that feeling of unwillingness.
…That feeling of dying with unfinished business.
As for whether he had ever felt anything resembling a teacher-and-student bond with Yan Shouyi…in truth, he had.
Two hundred years ago, when he left the Profound Heaven Sect, Perfected Renhua had treated him extremely well. In the two centuries since, almost every time he thought of the Profound Heaven Sect, he had felt…deeply guilty.
And two hundred years later, when he met his master again…before he had even understood what was happening, Yan Shouyi had completely taken control of him. He had then fallen into a deep sleep, remaining there until Little Yue awakened him.
He had not been given much time to adjust to the fact that “his master was an evil man.”
But…he understood an even more important principle: opportunity comes but once.
If he wasted all his time wrestling with sorrow and indecision, wouldn’t that be letting Little Yue down?
Wenren Ying had always looked down on people who wasted their time on those who had wronged them, while ignoring the people who truly loved them.
He would never, ever ignore Little Yue. And he would never, ever betray her.
He had awakened because Little Yue had defeated Yan Shouyi. That had been no easy feat, and he absolutely could not waste the fruits of her victory. If Yan Shouyi truly survived the heavenly lightning tribulation, then with the Verdant Cloud Grotto-Heaven and the Profound Heaven Sect joining the battle, the life or death of that vile dog would no longer be theirs to decide.
Wenren Ying was rational to the point of cruelty. Not a trace of hesitation touched his movements, nor was there the slightest bit of compassion in his heart.
In that instant, heaven and earth seemed to stand still.
The person undergoing the tribulation had already died, so naturally, the remaining heavenly lightning would not descend. When the deafening rumble of thunder abruptly ceased, the only sound anyone could hear was the buzzing in their own ears.
Wu Guanyue blinked, looking somewhat dazed.
Wenren Ying turned his head toward her. Seeing her twin ponytails hanging crookedly in opposite directions, he could not help reaching out…wanting to straighten them for her.
Wu Guanyue looked up at him, still somewhat dazed.
“It… It’s over?”
“Mm. It’s over.”
“Mm… Br-Brother Ying!”
Wu Guanyue threw herself into Wenren Ying’s arms once more, burying her head against his chest. She rubbed herself against him as if reluctant to let go, then pressed her head to his heart and listened to its strong, steady beating…and, and…!
“Brother Ying…talk to me. Talk to me a lot!”
She wanted to hear Brother Ying’s voice!
Wu Guanyue did not like seeing him asleep. In that state, he was…like a living puppet. He was alive, but the soul she loved so deeply could no longer respond to her.
She…she hated seeing him like that.
Wenren Ying’s heart ached. From those words, he could feel how deeply she had been hurt.
“All right…What does Little Yue want to hear?”
His voice was so gentle it seemed capable of melting into water.
The thunderclouds that had hung over Meishan City slowly dispersed. Strands of golden sunlight shone across the rooftops of Meishan, the streets, the courtyards…and the ruins.
Everyone who had survived was still shaken to the core. Even Verdant Cloud Adept, normally the most dignified and unfeeling of them all, looked battered and dusty. Half his beard was gone, and the dirt smeared across his face made him look like…an elderly calico cat.
The heavenly lightning…had stopped?
It had not even reached eighty-one bolts—not even forty-six. The fact that the lightning had stopped now meant that old thief Yan Shouyi was dead?
He…he had failed to withstand the heavenly lightning tribulation?
Heaven truly had eyes! This really was heaven’s justice. The power of the heavenly lightning grew stronger with every bolt. If it had truly continued until the seventieth or eightieth strike, the entire Meishan City might have been reduced to ashes.
Fortunately…fortunately, he had not lasted that long.
Verdant Cloud Adept raised his eyes and looked toward the very center of the crater.
The smoke and dust at the crater’s center had also slowly, slowly begun to clear. Verdant Cloud Adept’s brows twitched, and an astonished expression appeared on his face.
At the center of the crater, a pair of lovers embraced before a headless corpse.
The white Daoist robe covering the headless body had been torn into strips and tatters, all of it caked with mud and dust. Where the ruined clothing could no longer conceal the body, a charred-black thigh was exposed.
That was Yan Shouyi’s corpse.
Before his death, he had endured inhuman torment…but in the end, he had still died at the hands of these two lovers. His head had been completely severed, and in an instant, he had died beyond any possibility of death.
So that was how it was. So that was how it was.
Hmph…if he were asked, that vile dog had still died far too easily!
But every additional moment he lived meant one more bolt of heavenly lightning. Even as an elder of the Profound Heaven Sect, his life was absolutely not worth the lives of so many people.
Thus…this pair of lovers had saved Meishan City. They had saved the lives of tens of thousands of its citizens.
Verdant Cloud Adept silently gazed at the embracing lovers. They were far away, but that did not stop him from hearing their conversation.
“When I first saw Little Yue, I probably already felt that there was something special about her.”
“Probably? Something special? Why are you being so vague… Could it be that Brother Ying didn’t fall in love with me at first sight and decide that I was the only one for him?”
“Those things people say are all lies…Of course I love Little Yue for her soul, not for what I could see on the surface at first glance. Do you really think I’m that shallow?”
They were actually flirting shamelessly in public!
But if one listened closely, it was easy to hear the faint tremor in the girl’s voice. The man’s voice was just as hoarse and dry.
…They were comforting each other. They were using words to recall their sweetest moments, washing away the pain Yan Shouyi had inflicted upon them.
So that was how it was.
So that was how it was.
As Verdant Cloud Adept watched the embracing lovers, he suddenly bowed deeply and solemnly to them both.
Behind him, the disciples of the grotto-heaven also bowed to the pair one after another.
“Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!”
A black mass resembling seaweed raced across the ground, all four paws flying so quickly that they left afterimages.
It was Wuyun! A wondrous creature like this could only be Wuyun!
With tears in its eyes, Wuyun sprinted toward the center of the crater. It leaped high into the air and landed directly in the arms of Little Shopkeeper Wu!
“Ah! Wuyun, are you all right? Were you hurt?”
Little Shopkeeper Wu hugged her cat and asked it this.
“M-Meow…meow…”
Wuyun’s big eyes turned into two trembling fried eggs, and tiny little cries came from her mouth.
The two of them and the cat huddled together, quietly savoring this moment of victory.
***
Unlike the Donghua Blood Moon incident, Yan Shouyi’s summoning of heavenly thunder within Meishan City, which had resulted in such terrible casualties, was impossible to conceal.
Although Verdant Cloud Adept’s Verdant Cloud Grotto-Heaven acknowledged the Profound Heaven Sect as its foremost authority, that did not mean the people at the top could simply do whatever they pleased. Trying to protect Yan Shouyi… would be far too difficult.
…And besides, no one wanted to protect him.
After the Donghua Blood Moon incident, Yan Shouyi had been completely sidelined by the Profound Heaven Sect. Over the years, he had made friends with no one and taken part in none of the sect’s important affairs. Whether he was there or not… made no difference whatsoever to the sect’s operations.
So who would be willing to risk everything to protect him?
As for their reputation… the Yuntai Yan Clan and the Profound Heaven Sect had indeed suffered a blow to their prestige, but that was all it was—a blow to their prestige. They had received a severe reprimand from the Divine Firmament Sect, and even those members of the Yuntai Yan Clan who held high positions in the Lingshu Council were having a difficult time.
But… but “having a difficult time” was all that had happened to them.
If, three hundred years ago, they had not concealed the truth and had dealt with Yan Shouyi then and there, Meishan City would not be covered in white mourning banners today, hanging from every household.
They had given Yan Shouyi the cold shoulder for three hundred years, but was that punishment really enough?
Tens of thousands of lives… and all they had suffered was being treated coldly? Did they truly think that was justice?
Wu Guanyue did not agree.
So she handed all the evidence Wu Guizhen had left her over to Bai Yunsheng.
The Bai Clan of Yunmeng, to which Bai Yunsheng belonged, had always been at odds with the Yuntai Yan Clan. Wu Guanyue therefore believed that Primordial Lord Qingming would certainly be capable of making this evidence stir up a storm at a time like this—after all, when kicking someone who was already down, the harder the better.
Of course, Primordial Lord Qingming could not possibly be doing this out of any desire to uphold justice, but… in any case, the ones who had provoked her were the Yuntai Yan Clan and the Profound Heaven Sect. The enemy of one’s enemy was a friend!
As for Wu Guanyue herself…
Wu Guanyue curled up in Wenren Ying’s arms like a little cat, her head resting against his chest and both arms wrapped around his lean, powerful waist.
By now, the moon had reached the middle of the sky.
The two of them were lying on the bed, having just finished being intimate… Of course, they were not at the inn, but in Wenren Ying’s little house. Even the bed in there was rather cramped.
But that meant they could sleep pressed tightly together, one on top of the other~~~~
Wu Guanyue: (*^▽^*)
Wu Guanyue stroked Wenren Ying’s chest and said, “Brother Ying… where do you think we should rebuild the inn?”
She wanted to keep running an inn!
To run a brand-new inn together with Brother Ying—mm, this time they had to remember to choose a prettier name. Having everyone say it aloud and feel embarrassed was bad for business~
Still, Flagflower Road really was a little too remote… It had been a terrible choice of location.
Luckily, by selling the evidence to Bai Yunsheng, she had made a considerable sum of money. She could now choose a proper location and build an entirely new inn!
Wenren Ying said lazily, “Hmm… Let me think… Where would Little Yue like to go?”
“…I was the one asking you, Brother Ying. Why did you toss the question back to me again? Besides, I’ve never been anywhere outside Meishan. I don’t know either!”
“I see… Then how about we travel around first? If there’s a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters that you like best, we’ll stay there and settle down. How does that sound?”
“Mm~ Sounds wonderful!”
She was going to travel the world with Brother Ying~
