Chapter 722 – Chang “White Lotus” Sheng

　　Feng Jingyu almost jumped out of his skin. “Why would this kind of thing appear now? Didn’t evil Qi cultivators and evil spirits all get killed off or sealed ten thousand years ago?”

　　You Ming smiled. “I thought you’d be somewhat happy upon hearing this. After all, these monsters first appeared in the northern border. Even if they start killing people, they’ll start with King Zhen’s subordinates, who are stationed in Northern Liang City.”

　　It was a well-known fact that the relationship between Feng Jingyu and Yan Huaizhen was extremely poor.

　　Feng Jingyu took a deep breath and said with a grave expression, “No, you have no idea how terrifying it truly is for evil spirits to make a comeback. In my Wutong mountain range, there is a wall of records. On that wall, there’s the remnant of a scene from ten thousand years ago, when the evil spirit army attacked cities.”

　　“At that time, the sky was filled with purple cracks, and purplish-black Qi continuously leaked from an outside world and entered the Nine Lands. The evil Qi cultivators had a boundless supply of evil Qi to transform into evil spirits. Evil spirits are created from the most filthy and vile Qi in the world; they’re mindless creatures whose only purpose is to destroy the world. They are extremely terrifying. Wherever the evil spirit army went, the land became scorched earth, and no vegetation could grow within a hundred years. Not even an insect survived. Needless to say, humans… can’t survive either.”

　　None of them had ever experienced the Great Immortal-Demon War ten thousand years ago. Moreover, the survivors of that war deliberately erased the existence of evil Qi cultivators and evil spirits from historical records. Thus, the vast majority of people believed that it was a demon invasion that incited this war. Only a few descendants of the Divine Clans understood the truth.

　　The Rong family had the sealed scroll, the dragon family had the Dragon Tomb, and the phoenix clan had a wall of records. The past seen by Feng Jingyu was the most objective and faithful representation of the past. Therefore, he always held a dread of evil spirits in his heart, unlike You Ming and the others, who had never seen those records before.

　　After he heard the speech, You Ming frowned. “They’re this powerful?”

　　Feng Jingyu nodded seriously. “That’s right. Back in those days, there were four great venerables from Spirit Sect — Chang Sheng Sword Venerable, Xi He Great Venerable, Lian Hua Talisman Venerable, and Cang Rong Spirit Venerable. With their joint efforts, they finally managed to destroy that evil Qi cultivator leader. At that time, every single one of them had already reached Sky Realm. But now, with the decline of Daoism, where can we find Sky Realm powerhouses?”

　　You Ming asked, “Don’t tell me that those evil Qi cultivators can reach Sky Realm?”

　　Feng Jingyu’s expression was complicated. “I’m not sure either. I don’t know much about evil Qi cultivators. If you really want to know, you need to visit Fuyao Sect and ask your Shixiong.”

　　Esteemed Lan Yue was known for his strategies. He was naturally erudite and well-informed, knowledgeable about everything in the past and present.

　　Yan Zhonghua said, “If you fight an evil Qi cultivator in a direct confrontation, how confident are you about escaping unscathed?”

　　Feng Jingyu answered, “A phoenix’s divine flames are flames that burn evil Qi. Naturally, I’m not afraid of ordinary evil Qi cultivators and evil spirits. Those things can only flee when they meet me. But if the evil Qi cultivator’s cultivation is too high, then I’m afraid they won’t fear my flames anymore.”

　　You Ming stared unblinkingly at Feng Jingyu.

　　Yan Zhonghua also looked at Feng Jingyu meaningfully.

　　Feng Jingyu felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He had a bad feeling about this. “You guys aren’t planning to screw me over, are you?”

　　You Ming’s complexion seemed to hold deep sorrow as he revealed, “I just received a message from my family’s Ah Hen that an evil Qi cultivator who had been sealed ten thousand years ago is currently heading for the northern border together with half of the evil Qi in the entire North Land, and they’ll arrive in about a few hours.”

　　“But Ling Chigu is still at the northern border,” Yan Zhonghua stopped Feng Jingyu’s tirade with a single sentence.

　　Feng Jingyu spluttered for a moment and was about to counter that argument when he saw something out of the corner of his eyes. He pointed to the rolling mass of purplish-black Qi that was gradually spreading north. “What’s that?”

　　Yan Zhonghua and You Ming naturally also heard the loud noise that sounded like a landslide. Both their expressions changed. News about the Longyao family’s run-in with Heaven’s Wail had already spread all over the Nine Lands, let alone Yan Zhonghua and You Ming, who received the news first-hand. That thing’s identity was self-evident.

　　“Heaven’s Wail,” Yan Zhonghua said with a heavy heart.

　　Feng Jingyu’s face was bewildered and shocked. He gazed at the sinking sky and the dimming light, then stared at the rolling evil Qi that was spreading like a stampede of ten thousand horses. The words he just spoke seemed to have already been flung to the back of his mind.

　　“It’s heading towards Northern Liang,” Feng Jingyu commented.

　　“It hasn’t formed into evil spirits yet.” You Ming narrowed his eyes.

　　“Places where spiritual Qi gather are the evil spirits’ favorite locations.” Feng Jingyu said, “So they’ll occupy the human cities first, then spread towards the surrounding mountains and rivers.”

　　You Ming asked, “Do we stop it?”

　　Yan Zhonghua decided after some thought, “Let’s not stop it for the time being.”

　　You Ming frowned and glanced at Yan Zhonghua.

　　Yan Zhonghua explained, “If we stop it now, then how can I make that ambitious younger brother of mine understand what he should be doing right now?”

　　You Ming said, “The price is too high.”

　　Yan Zhonghua responded nonchalantly, “If we don’t pay the price now, there will be a more painful price to pay in the future.”

　　……

　　“Dage.” Yan Tianhen stood in front of the door and knocked gently. Whenever he entered the room before, he used to directly kick open the door. However, ever since Lin Xuanzhi took away that sword without another word, Yan Tianhen never dared to be as presumptuous as before again.

　　There was no sound from inside the room.

　　Yan Tianhen rubbed his nose and whispered, “That, well, I’ve come to say goodbye to you.”

　　There was still no response.

　　Yan Tianhen continued, “I’m going to the northern border. I’m afraid Maomao and my parents don’t have any experience dealing with evil Qi cultivators, so they must be in a mess right now. I’ll try to capture Cangdi Fenglang and that fake alive and bring them back for interrogation. After thinking about it, what I saw and heard might not be the truth. Maybe Cangdi Fenglang really was a scapegoat who had been framed by someone else back then.”

　　Yan Tianhen sighed and pressed one hand on the door.

　　“Dage, even if you’re angry, don’t stay angry for too long. If you really can’t accept what I’ve done, then can you… can you think of Lord Yuxu as Lingyu, and think of me as… as just me…?” He asked very cautiously, stumbling over his words for fear that he would make Lin Xuanzhi even angrier.

　　Just when Yan Tianhen was feeling very uneasy and anxious, he suddenly heard a faint voice from inside the room, “You dared to act, but you don’t dare to take responsibility? Ah Hen, is that what I taught you?”

　　Yan Tianhen: “…”

　　The door opened from the inside. Just when Yan Tianhen was about to enter, he was forced out by a thrown sword whose hilt he caught. Before Yan Tianhen could respond, the door closed from the inside again with a Bam.

　　Yan Tianhen touched his nose and said a little awkwardly, “Dage, don’t tell me that you’re really planning to… to sever all ties with me? Look at us–we’ve already slept together, confessed, and even met each other’s parents. If you talk about breaking up after that, then… then how should I explain to my father and them?”

　　There was still no sound from the room.

　　Yan Tianhen felt a trace of despair. As he hugged the sword refined from Chang Sheng’s rib, his little heart almost shattered into tiny pieces. He suddenly felt wronged, but he also felt regretful. After going through thousands of hardships and dangers, he was finally able to be together with Lin Xuanzhi and have the other party reciprocate those feelings. But who would’ve expected that just when he was on the verge of success, the trigger that he was most afraid of finally exploded with a bang, blowing up right in his face.

　　Yan Tianhen wiped his red eyes and turned around. “I’m leaving.”

　　Bang!

　　Something broke out of the door and flew towards him. Yan Tianhen reflexively tilted his head and caught a slender item in his hand. When he looked, he saw that it was actually a scabbard.

　　While Yan Tianhen was still in a daze, Lin Xuanzhi walked out from the room behind him with a dark expression. He said slowly, “I was just refining a scabbard, but your brain was already filled with wild thoughts. Don’t tell me that in your eyes, I’m the kind of trash who doesn’t finish what he starts and doesn’t dare take responsibility for his own actions?”

　　Yan Tianhen froze. He suddenly turned around and looked at the face that he loved the most in this world.

　　“Even if you forced me, you still suffered so much. I’m not angry with you, but with myself,” Lin Xuanzhi said.

　　Yan Tianhen hesitated, feeling like his brain couldn’t quite keep up with this development. “Why, why would you be angry with yourself?”

　　“Because at that time, I clearly liked you in my heart, but I just had to be blinded by anger and shame. Even until the end, I still thought about getting revenge on you and making you miserable. Now, whenever I think about your expression when you received this sword, I feel extremely pained.”

　　Yan Tianhen opened his mouth slightly. His thoughts felt a little chaotic. He never could’ve imagined this kind of development. “No, it’s wrong for you to think this way. I was clearly the one who forced you. You should hate me and blame me.”

　　“If I wholeheartedly wanted to leave, did you really think that your Phoenix Terrace could stop me?” Lin Xuanzhi gently held Yan Tianhen’s chin. His lowered eyes showed a meaningful smile. “Ah Hen, I’ve never been a saint who didn’t have any desire. I also have someone I want, and I also have times where I want to indulge. But because of my identity, Chang Sheng cannot voluntarily have an illicit affair with the Demon Emperor, but if I was forced to serve the demon with my body, then what can people say about it?”

　　Yan Tianhen: “…”

　　Dumbstruck, Yan Tianhen stared in disbelief at this man who seemed a little unfamiliar to him but nevertheless made his heart beat faster. He swallowed with difficulty, and his brain was blank. He blurted out, “Dage, how can you say that was an illicit affair? That’s called rolling around the sheets, having a mutual affinity, making love, holding two kids three years later…” After saying that, Yan Tianhen suddenly turned red under Lin Xuanzhi’s smiling gaze.

　　Bah, what nonsense am I even talking about? It’s all Lin Zhan’s fault, leading my childhood education astray and making me say such strange words.

　　“I’m afraid holding two kids in three years won’t be possible.” Lin Xuanzhi loosened his hand. “The timing is not good. We have to remove some irksome presences first before resolving our personal matters.”

　　Yan Tianhen suddenly felt even more embarrassed.

　　He always felt that there was something strange about Lin Xuanzhi’s words.

　　“No, wait!” Yan Tianhen suddenly realized something and stared at Lin Xuanzhi. Originally, he wanted to question loudly, but he ended up speaking cautiously once the words reached his mouth, as though he was afraid of waking up from a beautiful dream.

　　Yan Tianhen asked carefully, “Dage, just now, d-did you say you… like me?”

　　He said he clearly likes me.

　　He said like — not loathing, hatred, or contempt.

　　Their entanglement on the Phoenix Terrace didn’t only contain painful memories. There were also… mutual feelings. Even if they didn’t know each other’s feelings, it was still mutual.