Behind a smooth, black, resilient stone, its gnarled body leaned against a person.
A violent headache swept through Liu Jiang Fusheng’s head, as if someone was drilling into his temples with a sharp hammer, and a sour burning sensation in his stomach began to spread to his blood vessels and limbs. A numb and vacant feeling drenched his thoughts, making them swell and become dull.
A memory, sealed in the deepest part of his mind, churned once more. It should have been mottled yellow, but now it was vivid and clear.
“Gu Junshi, my name.”
On a damp and drizzly dusk, a dim oil lamp burned in a corner of the room. She stood by the window, serene as the setting sun, her body exposed to the light.
“Gu Yi is what others call me; Junshi is my true name.”
Liu Jiang Fusheng’s heart was filled with frantic confusion and bewilderment, but his pleading face was marked by a greater sense of broken fragility.
Don't say it anymore…
He didn't want to recall these things anymore.
“Because there’s no time left… Remember this name. If there’s an afterlife, don't look for the wrong person.”
She said she wasn't Gu Yi, but "Gu Junshi."
Who was that "Gu Junshi?"
The dusk had faded, and the night had long spread. A misty bloodstain seeped from his chest. His eyes, hollow and lost, were left in darkness. Drip… drip… Cold, needle-like water droplets fell one after another, like the eternally gloomy color of a heart that would never see clear skies, spreading cold and dampness…
“That woman’s soul was replaced long ago. Do you know who you married?”
That authoritative and mysterious voice always appeared in his mind whenever he was weak and lost.
“I married her.”
“You were supposed to marry someone else. This person is a soul from another world. She disrupted everything. Her only goal is to kill her husband to achieve enlightenment. You must never let her lead you by the nose!”
Kill husband to achieve enlightenment?
What was that?
Liu Jiang Fusheng’s mind was in a storm of chaos. He was like a calm madman, his soul as if split in two by a very sharp blade; one half was extreme, collapsing madness, and the other was numbly indifferent tranquility.
“Then what about you? Who are you?”
It always dodged his questions, only constantly urging, supervising, and forcing him to remember. It would also provoke, speculate, remind, and entice him to stay away from "Gu Yi."
“After you recover your memory, you will remember what you need to do. Go see Lang Ci; he will help you fully recover your memory.”
“Remember! She is a variable. She will only lie to you—”
“Kill you—”
“Deceive you—”
“Abandon you—”
Its voice echoed like thunder in the utter silence of the universe.
Hah—
Liu Jiang Fusheng’s eyes suddenly snapped open, his pupils constricting uncontrollably. He gasped for air as if he had just crawled out of a suffocating mire.
Awakening from a deep dream.
Liu Jiang Fusheng slightly turned his head. Beneath his half-closed eyelids, his gaze gradually transformed, becoming malicious, resentful, and sorrowful, like a mixture of fragmented distortions hard-pressed into a heap of unbearable filth, finally turning into a pool of sinking, rotten, pitch-black mud.
His skin was as white as piled snow, his lips as red as blood. A hint of a sickly and playfully cunning smile appeared on his usually cold and indifferent face.
“Very well. Whether I can recover my memory or not, let’s see who wins this time, my beloved wife—Gu Junshi.”
—
On the other side, Yan Tianjiao, struck by the "Purple Talisman" lightning, felt a surge of electric current course through his body. He trembled, his pupils painfully contracting to pinpricks, his lips pressed so tightly they were almost bleeding. His back seared with a tearing pain, as if flesh had been ripped open. The smell of cooked meat even filled the air.
Even with his thick skin and the spiritual energy he used for defense, this strike still inflicted a significant injury.
Gu Junshi tilted her head up. She had transformed into a tiny treasure-seeking mouse and squatted on the ground. The shadow cast from above was from another youth’s full protection.
No beast fears lightning strikes. Even a nine-tailed fox, with its formidable bloodline, would tremble in its soul when encountering thunder. Thus, the treasure-seeking mouse Gu Junshi inhabited would naturally flinch from the lightning strike activated by the "Purple Talisman."
The soft white tail of the fox instinctively curled into a ball, protecting its body. It felt a drop of blood fall onto its face. Due to the spirit beast’s innate habit of licking its fur, it extended its tongue, swept the liquid sliding by its mouth, and tasted a腥 sweet, rich flavor.
…It was the blood seeping from Yan Tianjiao’s lips.
Gu Ruoshi stiffened.
Sharing consciousness did not mean erasing the treasure-seeking mouse’s consciousness. So, while she was present, it was also present, though the dominant consciousness and control of the body were temporarily with her.
Yan Tianjiao, struck by this lightning, his knees buckled, and he knelt. Fearing he would crush the little creature, he gritted his teeth and supported himself with one arm, gasping for breath, his forehead slick with sweat.
He saw the little creature lick his blood into its mouth, was somewhat stunned, and his eyes flickered. He used his other hand, his rough fingers gently wiping the lingering blood from its lips, and whispered disapprovingly, “Dirty…”
Why did it… why did it lick his blood… The hard man’s shy mind conjured up all sorts of fantasies.
The "Purple Talisman" that had split open in the sky finally exhausted its power, shattering into ashes and scattering with the wind.
Seeing this, seeing Yan Tianjiao willing to endure a lightning strike to protect that spirit beast… Gu Ruo’s fair face seemed to be overcast with dark clouds, devoid of any light, and her lips lost all color.
She wanted to laugh.
She also wanted to cry.
Seeing that Yan Tianjiao had not fallen, but was merely injured by the "Purple Talisman," Gu Ruo breathed a sigh of relief, yet mockingly thought, as expected of the son of that physically trained woman; his body could withstand far greater damage than ordinary people.
Gu Ruo scoffed and turned to run, but she had clearly underestimated Yan Tianjiao and acted too late.
Yan Tianjiao sensed movement ahead. He raised his eyes, his light brown irises now dark and deep. In his sharp gaze, a beast with a bloodthirsty ferocity had bared its sharp, cold fangs.
Snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
It was very cold.
The sudden drop in temperature made the surrounding air constricting, making breathing difficult. The biting cold wind blew as if one were standing barefoot in a blizzard, shivering.
It seemed Gu Ruo had thoroughly angered Yan Tianjiao this time, forcing him to unleash his signature move, Frost Heaven Seal, with his injured body.
Gu Ruo forgot, this was not outdoors, but within the Illusion Peaks.
Within the Illusion Peaks, one was not allowed to fly through the air, nor could one use teleportation artifacts and techniques.
Running solely on her two short legs, how far could she get in such a short time?
When she felt the cold touch falling on her face melt into water, her heart pounded violently. At the same time, the freezing spiritual chill invaded her body, and the pervasive cold made her limbs stiff and numb.
She realized with horror that the ice on the ground was like an ice dragon, mercilessly coiling and swallowing towards her. She couldn't help but let out a sharp scream of "Ah—" and then watched helplessly as the ice on the ground crawled upwards from her feet, freezing her feet solid.
She gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with ferocity. She tried to pull her legs free, struggling hard, desperately wanting to shatter these ice blocks…
No, don't go higher, don't—
Don't panic, she still had talismans!
She immediately took out more than ten yellow talismans, all related to fire-based techniques. She rubbed her fingers and threw them at her feet.
The talismans flashed, and bright flames ignited. However, they couldn’t melt the sturdy ice that had climbed up to her knees. This was because the power of these flames was insufficient, at least not enough to counteract the speed at which the ice solidified.
The talismans she drew couldn't deal with Yan Tianjiao’s techniques.
She couldn't defeat him anyway. If she hadn't used the "Purple Talisman" gifted by her master for protection, how could she have injured him?
“Try taking out some more…”
As she panicked, a cold, sinister voice like a devil’s suddenly sounded in her ear. A black shadow crawled onto her back.
Gu Ruo’s spine chilled.
She spun around abruptly and saw Yan Tianjiao smirking at her.
There was no warmth in that smile, only the malice to eradicate her.
He extended his hand. It was a clean, fair hand, like a beautiful work of art, yet it also radiated coldness, like a drawn, sharpened blade ready for blood, chilling people to the bone.
He placed it on Gu Ruo’s arm. This was the first time he had touched her, but Gu Ruo felt no joy; instead, she shivered violently.
The arm he touched froze, inch by inch, into ice. Then, with a cruel flick of his fingertips, with a "crack," it shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
All of this happened very quickly, yet very slowly. At least every frame and every scene unfolded extremely slowly in Gu Ruo’s wide-open pupils.
Gu Ruo’s eyes, bloodshot and wide open, seemed as if she had gone completely numb.
Her shoulder-length arm had been cut off cleanly. Because the flesh was frozen purple, no blood flowed. Gu Ruo was like a broken doll at this moment, watching a most important part of her body so easily destroyed by Yan Tianjiao.
He showed her no mercy.
“Wuu…”
Gu Ruo choked out a sob of pain. Because it was numb from the cold, there wasn't the heart-wrenching pain; she merely shed tears miserably.
A talisman cultivator without hands… Hehehe, she was ruined by him.
But clearly, Yan Tianjiao was not satisfied with her losing one arm, because she still had another arm, right?
“Gu Ruo—”
The sound of rapid footsteps approached. From the other end of the path, Ru Lan came running, out of breath. She was clearly anxious.
These two sisters came from the same sect and had ways to contact each other. Perhaps Gu Ruo had asked for her help in advance, or perhaps Ru Lan felt uneasy about her, which was why she rushed to find her.
But Ru Lan never expected to see such a scene upon finding Gu Ruo.
Traces of spiritual energy fluctuations permeated the surroundings, and the ground was scarred from the fight. Facing away from her, Yan Tianjiao’s back was visible to Ru Lan, and she couldn’t help but see the tragic state of his wounds.
Looking at Gu Ruo again, her feet were frozen, one arm was gone, and her small, fair face was covered in tears.
Even so, Yan Tianjiao showed no mercy and did not intend to let Gu Ruo go, wanting to destroy her other arm as well. Ru Lan’s heart leaped into her throat, and she cried out urgently, “Yan Tianjiao, don’t—”
She had arrived in time, at least Gu Ruo was still alive, but clearly not soon enough. If she had arrived even earlier, she could have stopped this absurd battle.
She had always known what Gu Ruo wanted to do. This silly girl was crazy; she always acted extremely, thinking that doing so would make Yan Tianjiao look at her differently. So, upon seeing the current situation, she knew it must have been Gu Ruo who did something that angered the ruthless Yan Tianjiao, leading him to act against her now.
But what could she do? Even if Gu Ruo brought it upon herself, she couldn't just watch Gu Ruo, this silly girl, get killed.
Facing Yan Tianjiao’s near-sadistic violence, Gu Ruo showed neither anger nor intent to beg for mercy.
She simply wept silently and miserably, staring at him as if he were a heartless lover: “Yan Tianjiao, why… why do you never remember me?”
Her soft voice was like the snow falling from the sky, perhaps melting into water and splashing on the ground with a gust of wind.
Yan Tianjiao paused. He looked at her indifferently and tugged at the corner of his thin, cold lips: “Remember what? Remember that you are the child born from my father’s former lover? Or that we met once when we were children, and you stole a hair tie from me and never returned it?”
Gu Ruo choked.
Her eyes, as if washed by water, looked at him, her lips trembling, unable to form coherent words.
He… he remembered.
He clearly remembered her!
“Wh-why?”
She wanted to ask why, despite remembering her, he was so cold and heartless upon their reunion, not even sparing her an extra glance.
His mind was good, his memory was not bad, but what of it?
The memories that were so precious to her were meaningless to Yan Tianjiao. As he grew older, he even felt disgusted by his father taking him to meet his former lover in his youth.
Gu Ruo understood his gaze and finally broke down. She screamed, “If you have the guts, kill me, otherwise…”
Seeing Gu Ruo still provocatively challenging him, Ru Lan angrily scolded her, “Shut up!” Then she said softly to Yan Tianjiao, trying to persuade him, “Yan Tianjiao, you don’t want to be at odds with the Wushuang Realm, do you!”
Yan Tianjiao said proudly, “Do you think I would be afraid of your Wushuang Realm?”
Ru Lan, who was on the weaker side, was truly afraid that Yan Tianjiao would act recklessly and finish Gu Ruo. She hurriedly shouted, “Wait, what do you want to do to let my junior sister go? Even if you don’t worry about the Wushuang Realm seeking revenge, what about my master, Venerable Nan Yuan?”
She cautiously tested his bottom line.
Clearly, he wouldn't even spare her master any face.
“Heh.”
A dismissive cold laugh.
“Good sir! Show mercy!” Ru Lan exclaimed in alarm.
Just as Ru Lan was racking her brains to make Yan Tianjiao put down his butcher knife, a sound of "knife rain" cascaded down within the blade formation again. Yan Tianjiao sensed it, and the next moment his eyes changed. When he saw the treasure-seeking mouse squatting there "stupidly" waiting for him, a flicker of panic, which he himself didn’t notice, flashed in his eyes.
He directly abandoned his intended target of revenge, rushed over, and hugged it, blocking the "knives" for it.
Gu Junshi, who could actually have escaped: “…”
She was completely cornered by a chest-burying move, yet all she wanted to do was sigh.