Chapter 55: Can You Take Responsibility?

Thunder rumbled and rolled down from the heavens. Although the yellow sand swept across the sky, it was not as terrifying as the previous times. This time, the power borrowed depended entirely on the blood on the talisman paper.

Lu Wei opened his umbrella, gazing at the thunderstorm above. His face, illuminated by lightning, was pale as paper. The teleportation had drained much of his strength; he would need to rest for a while. Thinking of this, he hurried to return the body to Qiao Yu. “Don’t get soaked.”

“I don’t understand.” Qiao Yu stared into the distance, where his junior brother was being buried. “Grandmaster, what kind of person is my master truly?”

Lu Wei found it amusing. “You don’t want to share her burdens, do you!”

“Yuan was a human life! There was only a ten percent chance in that matter.” He sniffed, his hand trembling as he gripped the umbrella. “We gave him such deep despair, that taste is bitter—I’ve tasted it myself.”

“Do you know how many cultivators have died for that ten percent?”

“…”

“If you feel it’s not worth it, you can go back. If I die following you, it would be a relief.”

Lu Wei smiled helplessly. Qiao Yu was still so young.

Ten thousand years ago, competition among the Celestial sects was far fiercer than now. It was a time of flourishing—sword cultivators, martial cultivators, medicine, ghost, demon, blood cultivators… whether reputable or not, all existed.

Murder for treasure, raising people as poison, refining demons… each act was a hundred times more cruel than anything Wen Jinge had done.

It was a world where only the strong stood undefeated. If not for the chaos of order, that catastrophe would never have happened, nor would the gods have vanished.

“…I…”

“Senior brother, finally found you.” Wang Xi wore a cloak, looking at the distant lightning. “Master wants you to go back and pack.”

“Pack?” Yang Wen Nan stroked the head of the snow lion beside him, wiping water from its mane. “Yes, are you feeling sorry, or do you think Master was wrong?”

“I just don’t believe Master could be so indifferent!”

“Master isn’t indifferent. Success depends on fate, but we must act. Yuan begged to enter the sect back then.

If not for a fleeting encounter in the illusion, do you think Master would have agreed to let him in?

A man of seventy who hasn’t reached grade six—what is he if not a failure?

Xuan Yun Sect, a thousand-year-old great sect, taking a failure as the peak lord’s last disciple—don’t you find your thinking laughable?”

Qiao Yu simply looked at him. In the curtain of rain, the faces of his juniors and sisters blurred. It felt like he’d returned to that strange circle, a world belonging only to himself.

Yang Wen Nan blocked his way, knowing Qiao Yu’s impulsive nature; he couldn’t endure any longer.

Taking the opportunity, he flipped Qiao Yu onto the ground, pinning his hand. Wang Xi understood, pressing a burning immobilization talisman onto him.

“Senior brother, if Master were truly indifferent, do you think you’d still be alive?” Yang Wen Nan gripped Qiao Yu’s jaw, feeling himself resemble a villain in a story at this moment.

Qiao Yu’s eyes were full of panic, dodging in confusion. “W-what do you mean?”

“Brother Liang told me to watch you.” His fingers pressed firmly on Qiao Yu’s chest, producing a dull sound. “Today he asked me what attitude Master had toward you, specifically you—not the Grandmaster. Do you understand what I mean?”

“What are you trying to do?”

Lu Wei had fallen asleep, and now Qiao Yu had to face things himself. At this moment, he panicked.

“Me? Naturally, I’m helping Senior Brother Yang restrain you!” Wang Xi saw the pleading in his gaze and thought a moment before saying, “Master is the benefactor of our Thousand Swallow Kingdom. My heart belongs only to Master; I can’t let you ruin her dream.”

“That dream…” He stopped resisting, finally understanding.

Despair washed over him. “It’s that dream, isn’t it? Brother Liang told you about it, the dream where, hahahaha, I would kill our Master.”

“It’s the dream.” The two siblings together lifted Qiao Yu onto the snow lion’s back. “Brother Liang said that according to Master’s old character, someone like you—a threat—would have died at the foot of the mountain, even if you did nothing.”

Yet, not only did he not die, Wen Jinge brought him back to Ten-Thousand-Fathom Peak in full view.

Not only that, she protected him secretly.

Even went out of her way for him.

And every time, it wasn’t without cost; the last time, two heavenly tribulations struck, both because of him.

“So… you…”

He didn’t know if it was tears or rain mingling on his face. Suddenly, he felt exhausted.

His eyes hurt, his face hurt, his heart hurt even more…

Why, why would this sky never tolerate him?

Yang Wen Nan snorted coldly. “What does it have to do with us?”

“Exactly.” Wang Xi was angry. “When Master took me as her disciple, she said she wished you were dead. I didn’t understand then, but now I do.”

“What happened?” Yang Wen Nan hadn’t been with them at the time and didn’t know.

“What else could it be?” Wang Xi replied sarcastically, “Someone had too many schemes in their heart, and Master couldn’t be bothered to deal with it!”

“…” Yang Wen Nan glanced at him, his face falling as if the words struck home.

“If I were Master, you’d drive me mad with annoyance.” She suddenly chuckled. “No wonder Master likes me. Whatever I want, whatever I do, if I can’t get it, I tell her. Master likes straightforward people.”

Yang Wen Nan nodded thoughtfully, then glared more fiercely at Qiao Yu. “Only those whose hearts aren’t pure imagine others are just as bad. If you could stay, why wouldn’t Master tolerate a pitiful soul who only wants to cultivate?

You think cleansing the marrow is easy? Even if I don’t know how far Master can go, I’m sure it’s far beyond what ordinary cleansing pills can achieve. Saying there’s a ten percent chance—what she really means is a ten percent chance of failure.

After all, our Master is incredible.”

“You’ve never tried it, so how—” Qiao Yu suddenly froze.

Yes, Master had said it inadvertently.

“Do you remember Jian Ting and Jian Shu Jie?” A bitter smile touched his lips, the old ache rising again. “Because of them, I was expelled from the sect, my meridians destroyed, my cultivation abolished, and slandered as a thief. I was utterly hopeless then, thought I would die.

I didn’t want to live anymore, but by chance, I gave my last bun to a beggar.

That person was crazed, ate the bun, and wanted more. Since I wished for death, I let him torment me. Eventually, my limbs were broken.

I wondered then why even dying was so difficult. After fainting with pain several times, he fiddled with my body in all sorts of ways.

When I woke, I was lying in the rain and found I could gather qi again.

He told me, too, that Xuan Yun Sect held great fortune for me.”

“Could it have been Master?”

In the whole Xuan Yun Sect, only their Master was so mercurial and had the leisure to meddle in such things.

Above, thunderclouds still descended.

Their direction was where Yuan Qingling lay.

They had orders; that side would have to wait until tomorrow.

“I don’t know who he was. He said my fate was good, and she happened to need someone to borrow qi from. So I appeared.” Yang Wen Nan spread his cloak over Qiao Yu, holding his own umbrella. “Senior brother, if you ruin her destiny, can you bear the consequences?”

Qiao Yu fell silent.