Jun Wuwei looked entirely unchanged.
His robes were pristine as snow; his features finely drawn.
Those calm, desolate eyes were like an autumn lake strewn with fallen leaves.
Xue Cuo recognised him at once. A numbness swept over his whole body; for a moment he could neither speak nor move.
As a child he had only reached Jun Wuwei’s waist, yet now he stood almost as tall as his father.
One had broader shoulders, the other was slighter.
Their eyes, however, were strikingly alike. Both were beautiful, both carried a natural hint of a smile, making them seem mild and approachable.
Only upon meeting him did one realise the truth: the man was like a towering, untouchable snow-capped mountain.
Jun Wuwei stood suspended in mid-air.
He too had noticed the young cultivator breaking through the river’s surface. He gave him a glance, looked away, then paused with a soft sound of surprise, lowering his gaze once more to study the youth.
He was a handsome young man.
Tall and slender, his features fine as a brush-and-ink painting.
His blue robes were stained with yellow mud, leaving him dishevelled and injured. Nothing about him especially remarkable.
Except for those eyes.
That shape, faintly familiar yet profoundly strange. Those brows, that gaze… they stirred a memory.
He thought for a moment, then understood. Without the slightest astonishment, he said, “Xue Cuo.”
The young man in blue jolted, lifting his head with a dark, steady gaze.
Jun Wuwei felt no doubt, no guilt, no avoidance. His composure was complete. It was as though he had not reunited with a son after twelve years, but merely caught sight of some wild roadside flowers in the mountains.
He was not surprised the boy had grown, nor curious about the life he had lived.
Nothing about him mattered.
Truthfully, their fate should have ended the moment the child fell into the mortal world.
A severed bond. How could it meet again? Jun Wuwei said with quiet indifference, “Your mother turned Wendao Palace upside down searching for you, and still didn’t find a trace.”
“I had no intention of seeing you. I simply wandered, and happened to run into you.”
Indeed, it was a karmic entanglement. A fated child born solely to grind others down.
His gaze swept over Xue Cuo, and at last the depths of his ancient, still eyes revealed a flicker of weariness. “The Xianghuo Divine Dao?”
“Your mother taught you for so many years, and you chose the Xianghuo Divine Dao?”
Jun Wuwei wished Xue Zhenzhen could see for herself that rotten wood remained rotten.
Even thrown into the mortal world, even if his experiences were made to mirror Gu Ruhui’s exactly, Xue Cuo would still never grasp the sword.
He felt it was a waste of Xue Zhenzhen’s devotion.
Such a stubborn, unshaped stone. How could it ever be worth her efforts?
Xue Cuo wiped the mud from his face, ignited the talisman [As Good As New], restoring himself to a clean and tidy state. After a brief thought, he burned two more talismans: [Great Fortune] and [Banish Evil].
The lingering ash drifted into the wet earth.
He turned on his heel to leave.
“You truly have no regard for your mother.”
Upon hearing she was searching everywhere for him, he showed no reaction, not even the courtesy of a single question.
Jun Wuwei felt him ever more undeserving.
Undeserving of the Dragon Might Swordmaster’s sincere heart.
Xue Cuo halted, his brows lifting slightly, then turned back. Jun Wuwei descended, step by measured step, like mountains collapsing and a storm gathering. “Why did you cultivate the Xianghuo Divine Dao?”
“Your spirit platform is damaged, your foundation broken. By reason, you are already a mortal. Why defy the heavens and force your way back onto the immortal path?”
“I remember, as a child, you had no desire to become immortal.”
Xue Cuo looked genuinely startled. “So you weren’t deaf back then.”
Jun Wuwei frowned. “Deaf?”
Their gazes met, father and son, yet facing one another like enemies.
Time had turned; seas had become fields.
There was nothing left for Xue Cuo and Jun Wuwei to say. Their paths had diverged entirely. “Those who hurt me were immortals. Those who raised me and cast me aside were my family.”
“Today, whether I cultivate immortality, demonic arts, or the divine path… it is not for longevity, and it has nothing to do with family. I simply refuse to submit.”
He finished, “But you wouldn’t understand.”
“My mother’s affairs, whether you speak of them or not, have nothing to do with me.”
“That bond is already severed. I need not kneel before either of you. Tell me, why isn’t that considered my good fortune?”
Jun Wuwei listened, then gave a soft sigh. “You truly are the calamity in her fate.”
The words struck Xue Cuo like a blade. Jun Wuwei continued, “Go. Your mother’s tribulation is best resolved by herself.”
With that, he vanished.
Xue Cuo stood for a long time. Cold rain streaked his cheeks, dripping from his chin.
He didn’t know how much time passed before the rain ceased. Sunlight broke through the clouds, scattering golden brilliance across the sky.
Heaven and earth seemed to lighten.
…
Gu Ruhui flew back to where they had parted, but Xue Cuo was nowhere to be seen. The towering trees around him had collapsed as if felled by some tremendous force.
Si Wuxie, summoned by his master, darted out from the trees, buzzing loudly with complaints. A closer look showed his blade was visibly dimmed.
A white-furred tiger with a beast’s head and a human body burst out next, hefting a black blade, ferocity blazing. “That bastard Xue Cuo!”
There was no need for words. Gu Ruhui and Yin Feixue traded a glance. Everything was self-evident. Yin Feixue flicked his ears, shaking the rain wildly from his fur, grumbling, “I’ll go to the city and look for him.”
Gu Ruhui hummed in agreement, and the two were about to depart when a streak of light descended from the sky, landing on a tree. Who else could it be but Xue Cuo?
Seeing him unharmed, Gu Ruhui frowned. “Little shixiong, the city is full of danger. How could you rush in alone?”
Xue Cuo rubbed the back of his neck. “There wasn’t time.”
Yin Feixue refused to let it go, seizing him firmly. “Come on, speak up. What do you mean there wasn’t time? Planning to leave me behind as your decoy?”
Xue Cuo slipped from his grasp like an eel. The two immediately exchanged blows. After a few bouts, Yin Feixue revealed half his original form, opened his jaws, and tackled him to the ground with one great pounce, letting out a thunderous roar.
Xue Cuo rolled across the ground, unable to escape. Furious, he slapped the earth in surrender. Yin Feixue taunted him mercilessly. Xue Cuo retorted by yanking his whiskers.
Yin Feixue roared, “Let go! What are you, a tigress? Pulling whiskers. Have you no shame on behalf of the human race?”
Xue Cuo shot back, “You’re always pouncing on me! I’ve endured you long enough!”
Xue Cuo spoke off-handedly, not noticing the flicker of guilt on Yin Feixue’s face. He kept his mouth shut, allowing him to tug at the two whiskers on either side of his muzzle.
Neither would yield. They wrestled stubbornly until both grew tired and finally stopped.
Gu Ruhui sat off to the side, silently waiting for the scuffle to end.
When the three of them finally sat down together, Gu Ruhui gave a concise account of what had happened above the clouds. “The elders of the Eastern Lands’ immortal sects have already stepped in.”
Xue Cuo considered this for a moment before realising, “They’re waiting for the entire city to die, aren’t they? Then they’ll swoop in and ‘cleanse’ the evil spirit?”
Gu Ruhui replied, “Highly likely.”
Yin Feixue stroked his chin. “Not ‘likely’. Definitely.”
“A month ago, I captured… cough, invited… a few cultivators back to the city. From them I learned that merit is tied to living beings. The greater the catastrophe, the more merit one earns from slaying demons.”
In other words, the more deaths, the more merit.
Gu Ruhui nodded. It was entirely plausible. With the onset of a great heavenly calamity, the immortal road would soon open; cultivators were on the cusp of ascension. Only with accumulated merit could one attain true immortality.
He said, “This matter requires careful planning. The elders and the Four Evil Gods are both extremely difficult opponents.”
Xue Cuo sighed. “Exactly.”
The way things had unfolded was wholly unexpected. One could only say the Four Gods were far too good at making enemies, as though someone were undermining them from within.
The three of them closed their eyes and meditated.
Xue Cuo crouched by the stream, chewing on a blade of grass while he mulled over possible solutions.
Suddenly, his nose twitched. A strong, fragrant scent drifted towards him.
“Wine?”
At some point, Yin Feixue had settled beside him. He cracked the mud seal open and teased, “Why are you missing half your soul after a single trip out? Met your beloved? Pining already?”
Xue Cuo accepted the wine jar. “Honestly, you’re unbearably noisy. Leave the wine and clear off.”
Yin Feixue: “…”
Xue Cuo asked, “Why is Ying Xiao so quiet?”
Yin Feixue snapped, “If you like him so much, go drink with him. Give me back the jar.”
Xue Cuo arched a brow and returned his earlier words, word for word. “Such a fickle temper. What’s this, a cat in season?”
Yin Feixue: “…”
Xue Cuo lifted the jar and drank fiercely. Suddenly he stalled. A white tiger’s paw hooked around the jar.
“Stop drinking. Brooding and drinking only makes brooding worse.”
Xue Cuo asked, “Yin Feixue, how many cubs do tigers usually have in one litter?”
Yin Feixue: “…”
Honestly, he should just drink and shut up. But looking at Xue Cuo’s withdrawn, troubled expression, he couldn’t help softening.
“I don’t remember… four or five, perhaps?”
“Four or five? Would your mother still remember you?”
“How should I know? Monsters don’t form Dao companions. We wander. She might still be cultivating somewhere, or she might have died and reincarnated long ago. If I ever bump into her again, and she’s still alive… maybe I’ll ask.”
Xue Cuo murmured, “So every creature has its own path. I am a calamity, and they cross me. They are my calamities, and I cross them.”
Then he simply toppled backwards, landing on Yin Feixue’s belly. His fur was pure white, his aura cool and clean. He sighed. “I’ve worked it out. Take your wine back. Don’t talk. Let me sleep for a bit.”
Yin Feixue: “…”
He raised a paw, paused, and dropped it again.
Forget it.
“Just this once,” he muttered.
Xue Cuo: “Shh.”
The two of them lay by the stream.
The sky was high, the clouds thin and pale. Yin Feixue felt light-hearted; his belly rose and fell beneath Xue Cuo’s weight. He sensed comprehension stirring in his heart… when a faint scent of lotus drifted across.
Xue Cuo lay with his eyes shut.
A tiny blue butterfly appeared from nowhere, fluttering lazily down onto his cheek.
Yin Feixue reached out and caught it. His palm tingled. He slowly opened his hand. The butterfly settled obediently into his palm. For some reason, he stared at it for a long time.
Not far away, Gu Ruhui opened his eyes mid-meditation.
The pair by the stream were sprawled out in the sun. He gave a small smile, closed his eyes once more, and sank back into enlightenment.
After a few breaths, spiritual power surged within him.
Xue Cuo opened his eyes and said to Gu Ruhui and Yin Feixue, “I still want to try saving the people. But this time, I’m heading east to seek a deity. If he’s willing to help me, there’s a chance.”
Yin Feixue asked, “Which deity?”
Xue Cuo shook his head. “I can’t say.”
Gu Ruhui considered for a moment. “I’ll go with you.”
Xue Cuo shook his head even harder. “If you come, he won’t see me. Shidi, I need a favour instead. Three thousand li to the west, in my cave-dwelling, there’s a magical artefact. Please fetch it for me.”
Then he slung an arm over Yin Feixue’s shoulder. “As for you, Your Majesty, I need three things. All materials for drawing talismans.”
The three of them discussed the arrangements. Knowing the urgency of the situation, they set a time to meet again and each departed in a different direction.
Xue Cuo flew eastward towards the East Sea, only to turn back halfway using the Supreme Freedom Technique, returning straight to Qianyun City.
Yin Feixue found one of the required items, but a sudden flash of insight made him pause.
Something wasn’t right.
Could it be… that Xue Cuo had deliberately sent them away?
