Uncanny Immortal 112

Chapter 112

October, the orthodox Xuanmen sects of the cultivation world formed an alliance to jointly attack the demonic cult. In the same month, the rebel army, with unstoppable momentum, pressed on to the capital.

The sound of horns filled the frosty sky, and the banners were half-rolled before the Yi River. A change of dynasty was imminent.

The chaos in the mortal world was about to end, and the great battle between the righteous and demonic paths in the cultivation world was on the verge of breaking out.

In the dead of night, Xie Qingzheng sat at her desk, copying scriptures to calm her mind. Occasionally, she would look up and, through the window, she saw a figure with long, flowing sleeves standing on the mountaintop, looking up at the stars.

For a moment, she wished that the person she saw was her master.

Unfortunately, it was not.

Her master had given her a concise “no” during the day and had then left her, leaving her in a daze, at a loss.

Her master had said no, so she really did not see her as an outsider—Xie Qingzheng believed this.

After her master had left, she had planted the peach tree by herself and had slapped the life-and-death talisman, with only her own blood on it, into the tree.

Her master was unwilling to form a contract with her on this peach tree, and she would not force her. In a few years, when this peach tree bore fruit, she still wanted to pick a few peaches and bring them to her master to taste.

Although she did not mind her master’s refusal, Xie Qingzheng keenly sensed that her master was hiding something from her.

She was used to being honest, but whether it was Sect Master Xie or Sect Master Xiao, they both had something to hide from her. Now, even her master was no exception.

She was a little strange. Her master had always been indifferent and had granted her every wish. Why was she so abnormal today?

Was she afraid of life and death? But her master had always been indifferent to life and death.

Then was it that she didn’t want to have any bond with her?

This realization was really hard to bear.

Xie Qingzheng’s thoughts were in a turmoil, and her heart was in a knot.

Her chest was full of frustration. She put down the brush she was using to copy the scriptures, looked at the ethereal figure on the mountaintop, and after a while, she jumped out of the window and flew to the person’s side on her sword. “Sect Master Xie, what are you doing?”

She wanted to talk to someone so that her mood would not be so bad.

Xie Youke turned her head to look at Xie Qingzheng, then at the night sky. “Divining the fortune of the dynasty.”

Xie Qingzheng also looked up, at the starry sky, and asked, “And the result?”

Xie Youke said calmly, “The fate of the Great Yan Dynasty is exhausted. The Jing clan’s great fortune is about to be accomplished.”

The Tianshu Sect was skilled in divination, and observing the stars and divining was not a problem. The sect’s treasured artifact, the Tianshu Mirror, could even divine life and death.

Xie Youke was from the imperial family, but once she had entered the Xuanmen, she had to sever her worldly ties. Even if she knew that a change of dynasty was imminent, she could not interfere. Otherwise, if she disturbed the fixed number, she would surely suffer a heavenly punishment.

Xie Qingzheng asked curiously, “Sect Master, do you think there have been people from the cultivation world who have tried to interfere in the past?”

“There have been. A hundred years ago, a cultivator from the imperial family had interfered.”

“And the result?”

“At that time, the dynasty’s fate was exhausted, and the common people were in misery, and they rose up in rebellion. In order to maintain the rule of the imperial family, he had killed many rebel armies.”

“Did he succeed?”

“No. There is a fixed number in the dark. The dynasty’s fate was exhausted. Even if all the rebel armies were killed, the heavens would send natural disasters such as plagues and droughts. Once the common people had no way to live, they would naturally rise up in rebellion again. They could not be all killed.”

“And then?”

“Later, that cultivator was beaten until his soul was scattered by the ghosts of the rebel army, and the imperial family was also completely wiped out. If he had not interfered, he could have left one or two bloodlines.”

When Xie Youke talked about these things, her tone was peaceful, as if she were telling a bedtime story to coax a child to sleep.

Xie Qingzheng had a thought, and some images suddenly flashed in her mind: the cold wind howled, a small hut, two adults and a child were squeezed on a bed. The child in the middle was pestering them to tell a story, and the two adults, helpless, took turns to make up stories for her…

Was it her memory?

Her heart warmed. Xie Qingzheng looked at Xie Youke and asked tentatively, “Sect Master Xie, do you want to go back to the imperial palace for a look? I’ll go with you.”

Xie Youke was silent.

That night, the capital fell, and the reigning emperor hanged himself.

The carved beams and painted rafters of the palace were engulfed in a raging fire. In the rolling smoke, the princes and nobles who had once been dressed in splendid clothes either died or fled. The palace, the streets, the palace maids and the common people were in a wretched state, running around in a frenzy. The soldiers held the jewels from the palace tightly in their arms and no longer cared about defending their homes and country.

Above the imperial palace, two figures stood on their longswords, quietly looking down.

Before long, a group of soldiers entered the imperial palace. The leading female general was in a red dress on a green horse, her long eyebrows slanting into her temples, with an indescribable heroic and valiant air, but there was a bit of an unconcealable weariness between her brows—it was Jing Zhao.

Xie Qingzheng looked at her and remembered that in Qingjia Town, her master had once divined a hexagram and had said that when the morning star appeared in the daytime, a female emperor would rise.

It seemed that it would be fulfilled in Jing Zhao.

It was just that her father, Duke Jing, was still alive, and she had heard that her older brother was about to be made the crown prince. How could it be her turn to be the emperor? Could it be that she was going to stage a coup?

Xie Youke’s voice interrupted Xie Qingzheng’s thoughts. “I left the palace at the age of six. At that time, my empress mother sent many palace maids with me to the Xuanmen to cultivate. When my fellow disciples saw this, they all said that I was not there to cultivate, but to act tyrannically.”

Xie Qingzheng naturally chose to defend her. “They were talking nonsense.”

“I don’t care what they say. They can’t beat me anyway.”

Xie Qingzheng touched her nose.

Oh, only those who could beat her could enter her eyes.

Xie Youke: “Four years ago, when I had you stay at the Xuanji Sect, I suddenly thought of my empress mother. For a moment, I wanted to imitate her and send someone to the Xuanji Sect to cultivate with you.”

Xie Qingzheng was taken aback, her nose tingled, and her vision became blurry.

A person of a cold temperament, to suddenly say a few heartwarming words, really made one not know what to say.

After Xie Youke had said that, she said no more and did not look at the imperial palace again. She turned her sword and flew away.

She had seen enough. It was time to go back.

Xie Qingzheng rubbed her eyes and followed Xie Youke back on her sword.

After a trip out, much of the frustration in her heart had dissipated. She was no longer completely focused on her master. But the moment she landed, she saw her master leaning against the window under the moonlight.

Mo Jiangxue’s gaze was cool and indifferent, like a pool of calm spring water. The moment she saw Xie Qingzheng, a few ripples spread.

Xie Qingzheng’s heart was moved. She called out, “Master, I’m back.”

Her tone was exceptionally gentle.

Mo Jiangxue nodded slightly.

Xie Qingzheng smiled faintly, instantly forgetting the unpleasantness of the day. She wanted to go over and tell her master what she had seen and heard tonight.

But Xie Youke grabbed her by the back of her collar. “You come with me.”

Xie Qingzheng stopped.

Where to?

Mo Jiangxue raised an eyebrow slightly, said nothing, and nodded to her to go with Sect Master Xie.

She was impolitely dragged into the room by Sect Master Xie.

The two of them were in the same room. Sect Master Xie had her hands behind her back and was pacing in the room, hesitating to speak. Xie Qingzheng stood in the room, with an obedient look of listening, but her mind was still on her master’s appearance.

After a long while without hearing Sect Master Xie speak, Xie Qingzheng looked up and looked around.

Sect Master Xie’s bedchamber was in the same style as her, noble and elegant, and the furnishings were quite exquisite: a golden beast-shaped incense burner, a jade inkstone, and a simple painting hanging on the west wall—

Eh, that painting was a bit too simple and did not match the gold and jade. It was neither a famous masterpiece nor a rare treasure.

It was just a simple sketch of a woman’s portrait. The woman’s clothes were luxurious, her figure was slender, and she had an air of aloofness. Beside it was also a Dian Jiang Chun—it was the same painting that Xie Fuyun had made back then.

Xie Qingzheng’s heart was moved. She thought to herself: Sect Master Xie’s feelings for Xie Fuyun are really complicated. At first, I thought she hated Xie Fuyun to the bone and kept saying that that person deserved to die. Who would have thought that behind her back, she would hang the painting that Xie Fuyun had made in her room…

Xie Youke suddenly coughed lightly.

Xie Qingzheng’s gaze moved from the painting. She blinked, looked at Xie Youke, and continued to listen.

Xie Youke still said nothing.

They were silent, but it was not awkward. A gentle warmth arose in Xie Qingzheng’s heart. Her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a mirror on the desk.

She thought of how her master had uncharacteristically refused her today, and she vaguely felt that something was not right.

Xie Qingzheng said, “Sect Master Xie, I heard that the Tianshu Mirror can divine fortune and misfortune, and can also divine life and death. Can you let me take a look?”

She wanted to see her master’s future.

Xie Youke paced to her, looked at her directly, and asked, “Do you want to see yourself? Or do you want to see someone else?”

“Um… can I see both?”

“You can, but it’s not a good thing to know the future in advance.”

Just as she had long since divined the outcome of the dynasty’s destruction but was powerless to change it.

Before Xie Qingzheng could speak, Xie Youke refused directly, “Countless seniors of the Tianshu Sect have seen their own fortune and misfortune, life and death through the Tianshu Mirror, but no one has been able to change their fate. You are still young, and your Dao heart is not stable. It’s better not to look.”

Xie Qingzheng was not very convinced. “If you won’t let me look, can you hold back from looking yourself?”

Xie Youke said righteously, “Of course I can’t.”

Xie Qingzheng: “…”

Xie Youke: “But I have never used it to divine my own personal life and death. I have only used it to divine the fortune of the Ten Directions Domain.” She tried her best to suppress a smile on her lips, and a trace of joy appeared on her usually cool and noble face. “The demonic cult’s fate is exhausted.”

Since they had met, Xie Qingzheng had never seen such a complicated expression on her face, a mix of pride, pleasure, and excitement, mixed with a gnashing hatred and the joy of having avenged a great wrong.

She must have hated the demonic cult to the bone.

After a moment of being stunned, Xie Qingzheng came to her senses and asked, “Alright, then I’ll ask another question—has my master ever borrowed the Tianshu Mirror from you to look?”

Xie Youke’s complicated expression faded. She was silent for a moment and then said coolly, “No.”

Xie Qingzheng asked again, “Are you really not willing to let me look?”

Xie Youke: “I am not.”

Xie Qingzheng was disappointed and said, “Alright then. If you won’t, you won’t.”

But in her heart, she thought: When you’re not paying attention, I’ll ‘take’ it for a look.

Xie Youke said, “It’s late. You should go back.”

“Then you should rest early, Sect Master.” Xie Qingzheng saluted and took her leave.

When she came out of Xie Youke’s room and returned to her own residence, Mo Jiangxue had already closed the window. The room was dark, and it seemed she had already rested.

She stood outside Mo Jiangxue’s hut, her heart in a turmoil. She stood for a long while before she went back to her own hut to sleep.

At the end of October, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the Jing clan changed the dynasty and the temple, and revered Daoism as the supreme.

In November, after Xie Youke had led the crowd to offer sacrifices to the seven ancestors, she led the major orthodox Xuanmen sects in a grand procession, and they sped west to surround and annihilate the Ten Directions Domain.

In the severe cold of deep winter, heavy snow fell, and the wildlands were a vast expanse of white.

The master and disciple followed by Xie Youke’s side. Xie Youke did not need Mo Jiangxue to go into battle and kill the enemy, only having her help to arrange the troops and command from the rear.

This afternoon, they came to a great desert. The snow on the ground had melted, and several thousand demonic cultivators were ambushing here. They leaped out of the sand and fought with them from noon to evening. The sound of weapons was incessant, and the cries of battle shook the heavens and the earth.

At sunset, Xie Qingzheng stood on a sand dune, smelling the thick scent of blood, and looked into the distance.

The clouds on the horizon were like a fire, and the crimson clouds were as if they had been soaked in blood. The carrion-eating vultures circled in the sky, their cries hair-raising.

The clouds gradually dimmed, and dusk fell. The battlefield was littered with bodies. As far as the eye could see, there were the bodies of evil cultivators.

The first battle was a victory, and the morale of the righteous path was greatly boosted.

She felt neither joy nor sorrow in her heart. She took the initiative to stay behind to clean up the battlefield and carefully searched through the bodies of the evil cultivators. She did not find Tanluan, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.

According to the Sect Master’s divination, the fate of the Ten Directions Domain was exhausted. This siege, there was a great hope of annihilating them in one fell swoop.

She was not very willing to meet Tanluan on the battlefield, but if they continued to fight like this, perhaps one day, she would see Tanluan on the battlefield…

With Xie Fuyun’s lesson before her, she naturally did not dare to have any private relationship with Tanluan. But if Tanluan were to come looking for her, would she kill her?

It was very likely that she would not be able to do it.

Tanluan, Tanluan, I hope you don’t appear. Go and hide in the Miao region.

Sigh, forget it. She wouldn’t think about these things for now.

Since they could annihilate the Ten Directions Domain in one fell swoop this time, then retrieving the Yuheng Cauldron should also be an easy matter. This was a great joyous occasion.

Xie Qingzheng composed herself, and in the dusk, she walked towards the rear.

Xie Youke was discussing tomorrow’s marching route with Mo Jiangxue in front of the sand table in the felt tent. The two of them were not on guard against Xie Qingzheng. Xie Qingzheng walked in without a care, sat to the side, and wanted to wait for them to finish their business before she chatted with them.

At this time, she suddenly saw a mirror on the desk.

In the secular world, before a general went out to battle, they liked to divine fortune and misfortune. The cultivation world was no exception. The ambush of the Ten Directions Domain today had been divined by Xie Youke with the Tianshu Mirror.

This time, Xie Qingzheng did not plan to “borrow” it. She wanted to go and see what that mirror looked like directly.

She walked over and looked at the surface of the mirror.

The fluorescent light on the surface of the mirror flickered, reflecting a beautiful face.

She suddenly widened her eyes and cried out in surprise.

The fluorescent light flickered, and what appeared on the surface of the mirror was not her face, but Xie Fuyun’s!