Chapter 27: The Grand Wedding Part 4

Jiang Wan turned and lowered her head, kissing Shen Sheng’s brow. Shen Sheng’s heart trembled. She took the initiative to embrace her.

Jiang Wan’s tenderness melted into this kiss, lingering and gentle.

Shen Sheng didn’t let her go. She swept the small table off the bed, carefully laid Jiang Wan on the mattress, and looked down at her, her face flushing.

The doors of the chamber had closed, she didn’t know when. A silent heat began to build inside.

Shen Sheng kissed her passionately, from her brow to her chest.

Delicate and lingering.

And Jiang Wan actively responded to her, wrapping her in her own tender affection.

The warmth inside the hall dispelled the coldness Jiang Wan usually projected, perfectly keeping that deep, inner passion here.

Her dark hair cascaded down, draping over the edge of the bed. Shen Sheng’s palm stroked the smooth locks, her eyes blazing with suppressed emotions.

Jiang Wan reached out, hooked her arms around Shen Sheng’s neck, and drew close to her ear. Overcoming her shyness, she kissed Shen Sheng’s fair earlobe.

This small gesture completely unleashed the desire Shen Sheng had been holding back. She pinned Jiang Wan’s hands, the tips of her brows reddening.

In her eyes, there was only Jiang Wan’s shy yet unresisting expression. That composure, carved deep into her bones, was absolutely captivating.

Jiang Wan’s beauty caused Shen Sheng to lose all sense of reason. She forgot the original purpose that had brought her here.

She wanted to speak in detail about the future, but Jiang Wan showed she already knew everything.

Jiang Wan was Anu’s past. If that was so, why had Anu sent her here?

To uncover the origins of Buyan and Buyu?

Shen Sheng gave up her desperate pondering. The whispers in her ear turned her eyes a bloodshot red.

Like the gentle murmur of a mountain stream.

Like the faint fragrance of an orchid in a secluded valley.

As her heart raced faster, she could no longer control her thoughts.

A fight broke out outside. Jiang Wan had already fallen into a deep sleep. Hearing the commotion, Shen Sheng got up, wrapped her clothes around herself, and carefully got out of bed.

Pushing open the chamber doors, a maidservant hurriedly explained. “The Grand Elder came back and started fighting with Sect Leader Hua! We can’t pull them apart.”

“Have you sent for the other Elders?” Shen Sheng adjusted her collar. Near her fair skin at the collar, a kiss mark was visible. The maidservant, seeing it, lowered her head immediately.

“Yes, but they haven’t arrived yet.”

Shen Sheng properly dressed and rushed over.

When she arrived, the two were locked in a fierce battle. No one else dared intervene. Hua Ciyan might not be a god, but her strength was not to be underestimated.

By the time Shen Sheng got there, Fu Kong was striking ruthlessly, while Hua Ciyan fought while retreating, showing no intention of a life-or-death struggle.

“Stop fighting! Fu Kong, Sect Leader Hua, calm down!” Shen Sheng tried to step forward, but a massive shockwave of energy sent her flying backward.

Neither of them paid her any mind. Sang Xuan had just arrived and squinted at the scene. “What are they fighting over?”

“Fruit. Hua Ciyan stripped all the fruit from the mountain,” Shen Sheng whispered.

Instead of going to pull them apart, Sang Xuan laughed so hard she doubled over. “Fruit… she stole them all bare…”

Shen Sheng was frantic. “Stop laughing! Hurry and stop them! If this keeps up, something’s going to happen.”

“What’s the rush? Where’s the Clan Leader?” Sang Xuan asked. She wanted to mock these two for fighting over mere fruit. What happened to all that talk of friendship?

“She’s asleep,” Shen Sheng replied awkwardly.

Sang Xuan blinked and leaned close to Shen Sheng, scrutinizing her from head to toe. “Why is she asleep, but you’re not?”

“Because she’s tired, and I’m not,” Shen Sheng answered tactfully, praying this fool wouldn’t ask any more questions.

Any further questions would be mortifying.

Sang Xuan was still confused. Meanwhile, beaten back step by step by Fu Kong, Hua Ciyan brandished her fly whisk a few times and then swiftly dodged behind Shen Sheng.

Shen Sheng had a foreboding feeling. Hua Ciyan shouted, “They stole first! Why aren’t you going after them!”

“We traded a red fruit for them. That’s not stealing,” Shen Sheng neatly jumped out of the way.

As soon as her feet landed, a deep fissure blasted open right where she’d been standing, demonstrating Fu Kong’s fury.

Shen Sheng was baffled and hid behind Sang Xuan. Watching other people fight was more tiring than fighting herself.

“Why did you have to steal her fruit? Couldn’t you steal from someone else?”

“That’s the only patch of land like it! No one else has one! Those are the red-orange-yellow-green-blue-violet fruits that Wu Qi personally cultivated!” Hua Ciyan dodged the spells while tilting her head to answer.

The rarity was what made it valuable. Wu Qi was the only target.

Now Shen Sheng understood Fu Kong’s rage. One of a kind, and someone had stolen it clean, not even leaving anything to eat.

Hua Ciyan was about to flee. She didn’t forget to say goodbye to Shen Sheng. “Madam Shen, until we meet again. I’m off now.”

“Where do you think you’re running!” Fu Kong roared and flew after her.

Shen Sheng frowned. The two figures disappeared from sight. That phrase, ‘until we meet again,’ sounded like a farewell.

But hadn’t Hua Ciyan come to stay?

Her heart began to feel chaotic. A chilling night breeze blew against her face, and her heart turned cold with it. She grabbed Sang Xuan’s sleeve. “Follow Hua Ciyan! Something’s going to happen.”

Sang Xuan didn’t take it seriously. “Fu Kong won’t go too far. They’re just messing around.”

“No, she’s heading to the South River,” Shen Sheng said and ran urgently towards the outside.

Sang Xuan’s body trembled. She instinctively looked toward the others who were rushing over. “Notify the Clan Leader! I’ll go first.”

One after another, they jumped down from Prajna City. Hua Ciyan plunged into the South River, with Fu Kong in pursuit.

In the darkness, the water surface shimmered. Sang Xuan’s face paled slightly. Perhaps realizing something, she immediately dove into the water after them.

They tracked all the way to the Seal. Hua Ciyan stood before the black abyss. For some reason, something seemed to move behind her.

The black water curtain rippled gently like a beaded curtain. Then, a faint, eerie green light refracted out. Shen Sheng’s feet moved involuntarily.

Fu Kong immediately cast a spell to stabilize the Seal. Hua Ciyan mocked her, “The Seal you all joined forces to set only lasted three to five days before cracking. And you think you alone can hold it?”

“Stop joking around, come help!” Fu Kong shouted angrily.

Shen Sheng stared at the trembling ‘darkness’, her heart pounding like a drum. But Hua Ciyan coldly raised her hand. Talismans flew from her palm, then several drops of blood were scattered on the Talisman Papers.

Hua Ciyan leaped into the air, her expression solemn. She chanted in a loud voice, “With my own body, in exchange for your Great Dao, accept!”

Underwater, a whirlpool stirred violently, waves surging thousands of feet high. Shen Sheng was caught by the Tide. Sang Xuan, beside her, grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

Only with utmost effort could they stabilize themselves amidst the whirlpool. The Tide lifted Hua Ciyan, revering her as if she were a god being presented to Buddha.

At that moment, the others arrived, looking in shock at Hua Ciyan.

Shen Sheng desperately clung to Sang Xuan’s hand. “What is she doing…”

“Sacrificing her own body, as an offering to the South River.” Sang Xuan struggled to hold Shen Sheng, who was being pulled upwards by the force. A faint sorrow gathered between her brows, and she gave a bitter smile. “So this is the Dao of Ruthlessness.”

Shen Sheng stared blankly at the woman within the whirlpool and suddenly understood Anu’s loneliness.

“Why make a sacrifice?”

“To offer oneself to the South River, to stimulate the South River’s latent power. The South River is like an ancient Divine Artifact. Sacrificing oneself activates its divine force and reinforces the Seal.” Sang Xuan stood rooted to the spot like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to interfere, not daring to stop them.

Those who cultivate the Dao of Ruthlessness have no emotions, no desires, only the Great Dao.

Hua Ciyan had truly done it.

Shen Sheng retorted, “But what if the Evil Devil has merged with the South River? Won’t her sacrifice just add to the Devil’s power instead?”

“How could that be…” Sang Xuan refused to believe it.

Hua Ciyan’s form gradually faded away. Fu Kong cried out her name in desperation.

For the sake of the Great Dao, she had offered up her own life.

The raging Tide subsided into calm water.

Everyone was silent. Shen Sheng stared at the still, black screen. Had the Seal been reinforced?

She groped her way forward, staring at the black screen. Her heart remained uneasy. If the Seal was reinforced… what would happen later?

She frowned deeply. Sang Xuan came over and pulled her back. “Careful you don’t get infected by the Devil Qi.”

Their earlier skirmish, their laughter and jokes, now seemed like a dream. A dream to deceive all the world’s creatures. Hua Ciyan had given them her most beautiful, most final moments.

Before dying, one last uproarious fight, one final playful jest.

Jiang Wan arrived, landing softly beside Shen Sheng. She took her hand, a silent comfort.

The South River returned to calm. The gods, gathered above on the surface, witnessed the scene below.

Hua Ciyan, on the verge of ascending to godhood, had sacrificed herself to the South River, reinforcing the Seal.

For the Great Dao, for all living beings, she had done it.

Jiang Wan pressed her lips together. Her dark eyes, like black obsidian, gleamed with a cold, emotionless light. She told Shen Sheng, “This was what Hua Ciyan wanted most.”

“Didn’t she want to live?”

“The Great Dao is her life.”

Shen Sheng nodded. It was the same principle as them fighting on the battlefield and dying there.

Shen Sheng’s brows held a faint, shallow helplessness. Stealing fruit and causing a huge ruckus moments before sacrificing herself… playfulness and the Great Dao could coexist.

“Let’s go back,” Jiang Wan said.

But Shen Sheng didn’t leave. Instead, she warned Jiang Wan, “The Evil Devil might be deceiving us.”

“Deceiving us about what?” Jiang Wan coldly stared at the black screen.