Outside the Sword Sect's mountain gate, two figures appeared.
One man and one woman.
The man wore a dark red daoist robe, carrying an otherworldly bearing, like an immortal exiled from the heavens.
The woman was also very beautiful, but not in an alluring or seductive way. Instead, she gave off a warm and radiant feeling, somewhat like a sunflower.
Especially when the woman smiled and the two dimples appeared on her cheeks, she became even more beautiful and heartwarming.
Yun Jianyue looked somewhat helplessly at the woman beside him. At this moment, his thoughts were heavy, and he did not know how he should explain things to the young martial artist they were about to meet. Both of them were clever people, and both were Zhu Xia's friends. Yun Jianyue also understood Zhu Xia's temperament very well.
But just as Chen Chao had expected, Zhu Xia had threatened him with her death back at Mount Xi, forcing Yun Jianyue to bring her to the Sword Sect.
"A'Yue, do you think he'll be happy when he sees me later?"
Zhu Xia looked eagerly toward the suspended Sword Sect ahead of them, wishing she could fly in immediately and throw herself into the young martial artist's arms.
Yun Jianyue sighed inwardly, thinking that if that fellow saw you right now, he would probably only be overwhelmed with worry.
But despite thinking this, Yun Jianyue still did not say it aloud, only nodding. "Probably."
Zhu Xia smiled. "That's good then!"
But after the two waited for several minutes, a streak of sword light swept out from the Sword Sect and landed not far away. It was a sword immortal in green robes.
Yun Jianyue looked at Yu Xiyi, blinked at him, and asked, "Great Sword Immortal Yu, where is Lord Warden Commander?"
Yu Xiyi noticed Yun Jianyue's hint, but did not care. He merely said sullenly, "He's not in the Sword Sect."
Yun Jianyue froze, then inwardly nodded. This Yu Xiyi really did know what he was doing.
But Zhu Xia frowned. "Impossible. He's clearly in the Sword Sect!"
Looking at the woman before him, even Yu Xiyi could not help but sigh emotionally. Just what kind of thing was that damned Chen Chao exactly? Why the hell were all the women in this world who could not forget him all this beautiful?!
Yun Jianyue chimed in, "Isn't Lord Warden Commander in the Sword Sect? Could it be that something major happened in the Divine Capital, so he had to leave?"
Although he knew that if Zhu Xia learned Chen Chao was in the divine capital, she would definitely travel thousands upon thousands of miles to find him there too, when it came to this sort of matter, delaying things for even a moment was worthwhile.
It was not as though Yu Xiyi failed to understand the meaning behind Yun Jianyue's words, but he still said irritably, "That fellow didn't go to the Divine Capital."
Yun Jianyue feigned surprise. "Then where did he go? With so many matters in Great Liang, being busy is only normal."
But right after saying this, Yun Jianyue felt somewhat guilty. Joining together with someone else to deceive a little girl really was hard to justify.
Yu Xiyi rubbed his forehead. "Sage Yun, Temple Master Yun, stop playing these games here. That brat just went down the mountain. Even I don't know where he is right now. Nobody can find him!"
Yun Jianyue was stunned, only then realizing the seriousness of the matter. He said solemnly, "Yu Xiyi, is what you said true?"
Before Yu Xiyi could speak, Zhu Xia quickly interrupted, "Don't put on this act here to fool me. He's seriously injured and should be staying in the Sword Sect to recover. Where could he possibly go?"
She was simple, but not truly foolish enough to be easily fooled.
Yu Xiyi narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhu Xia, asking directly, "Zhu Xia, did you come to the Sword Sect this time to heal his injuries? As long as his injuries can be healed, you'd even be willing to die for it?"
Zhu Xia could not answer. She fell silent.
That was indeed what she thought, and she had already made up her mind to do exactly that.
Yu Xiyi looked into Zhu Xia's eyes and said in a low voice, "Answer me!"
Only then did Zhu Xia raise her head, look at Yu Xiyi before her, and nod. "Yes."
Yu Xiyi sighed and looked at Zhu Xia. "So tell me, would he still dare to see you? If he sees you, you would be certain to die. But he has never wanted you to die."
Zhu Xia opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"I can tell you responsibly that he left the mountain before you came up. He did not tell anyone where he was going. Not just me, right now, in this world, no one knows where he is."
Yu Xiyi was somewhat helpless. Earlier on the mountain, when Chen Chao proposed this idea, he had objected, because Chen Chao was seriously injured at this moment. Against ordinary cultivators, there would probably be no problem, but what if some existence at the end of Nepenthe came to kill him?
What then?
But Chen Chao still refused him.
Bringing Yu Xiyi along would still be too conspicuous.
Zhu Xia’s eyes quickly welled up with tears. She asked, "If something happens to him in this condition, what will we do?"
Looking at Zhu Xia like this, Yu Xiyi, who had originally been somewhat angry, no longer wished to blame this girl. Instead, he said softly, "Zhu Xia, you must understand this. You wanting to do something for him is not wrong. But if you want to trade your life for his, he would never agree to it. Not you, and not anyone else. Do you not understand what kind of person he is? If someone else wrongs him, he will chase that person to the ends of the earth and beat them to death. If someone treats him even a little well, he will never do anything to let that person down. "You, Zhu Xia, now want to die for him. How could he accept that? If he could accept that, would he still be Chen Chao?"
Yu Xiyi rarely spoke so seriously. In the eyes of this great sword immortal, he usually settled things with a single strike of his sword.
Yun Jianyue nodded and said softly, "Indeed."
Zhu Xia remained silent the entire time.
After a long while, she finally asked, "Then can I wait for him in the Sword Sect?"
Yu Xiyi did not refuse. He only said, "You can wait. But you must think carefully about this. If you continue to think this way, then perhaps you will never be able to see him again in your entire life."
Zhu Xia said nothing, and simply walked toward the Sword Sect.
Yun Jianyue walked to Yu Xiyi’s side, looked at Zhu Xia’s back view, then patted Yu Xiyi on the shoulder and smiled. “Didn’t expect you to actually act it out quite well.”
Yu Xiyi immediately cursed, “A'Yue, are you stupid? I’m acting your damn head!”
Only then did Yun Jianyue truly furrow his brows, his expression turning somewhat solemn.
Chen Chao really had left alone.
This guy... wasn’t he afraid something might happen?
......
......
In front of the immortal sea outside Ying Prefecture, countless islands were scattered like stars. In recent years, both the foreign cultivators and the imperial court had been sending people in and out of these regions.
The reason was simple: many rare materials that were difficult to find on the mainland could actually be found on the seabed or on these unremarkable islands.
For example, the Thousand Year Glacial Stone that the Great Liang Emperor once gave Chen Chao to repair his broken saber was found in this very sea area. However, in recent years, the number of laborers the court sent out to sea had been steadily reduced, with most of them replaced by cultivators. The reason was simple, laborers had a much higher chance of dying at sea, whereas cultivators fared far better. Although this increased the cost, the court still decisively made the change.
At present, on one of the islands, a white-robed girl was sitting on a reef by the sea, cleaning the wound on her calf. Blood flowed down her leg into the seawater, where quite a few fish were swimming nearby.
On the other side stood a tall middle-aged martial artist still wearing an emperor robe, looking into the distance with a somewhat pleased expression on his face.
The white-robed girl turned to glance at him. “Chen Che, you look so happy seeing me injured?”
The Great Liang Emperor, who had left the country, did not respond. He had no interest in engaging with her idle chatter.
The white-robed girl splashed her feet in the seawater a couple of times, then held her head and said curiously, “Chen Che, you seem different now?”
Only then did the Great Liang Emperor turn to look at this girl in white and asked, “How so?”
The white-robed girl smiled. “If you had known those people out at sea were sending people to trouble your nephew again, you would’ve definitely been furious and killed a bunch of people again. Why are you not showing any anger this time?”
The Great Liang Emperor said indifferently, “The child has grown up. Those who went to trouble him were instead killed by him. If there is any settling of accounts to be done later, he will handle it himself. As his imperial uncle, there is no need for Us to interfere unnecessarily and risk incurring that young man's revulsion.”
The white-robed girl clicked her tongue. “So you’re saying revenge still gets taken, just by letting that kid do it himself?”
“Of course. Since they struck without reason, their deaths are no one else’s concern. The Chen Family has never had a precedent of enduring a beating without striking back.”
The Great Liang Emperor’s emperor robe fluttered in the sea wind, making him appear even more imposing.
“What about the Demon Emperor? He’s beaten your nephew like this, you're not going to make a move either?”
The white-robed girl pulled her feet out of the sea and stood on the uneven reef, though she seemed completely unconcerned about it.
The Great Liang Emperor said, “Wanting to intervene is one thing, but being unable to is another. But it doesn’t matter. Since he has grown up, this matter can be left to him. In future history books, it can be recorded as such, so that generations to come will know of it and pass it down through the ages.”
The white-robed girl frowned. “You’re surprisingly open-minded. Aren’t emperors like yourself supposed to strive for great achievements? You’re willing to let someone else take it?”
If the Great Liang Emperor accomplished such a feat himself, he would undoubtedly stand unmatched in history, with no other emperor able to compare.
A true sovereign of the ages, without peer.
Every future ruler, upon mentioning this Great Liang Emperor, would do so with reverence.
The Great Liang Emperor shook his head, the sea wind blowing across him as he smiled. “But We never thought about being an emperor in the first place.”
Being an emperor had always been something he merely did out of necessity.
It was never his true ambition.
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