A cold wind blew from the north, seemingly indifferent to life, filling heaven with frost. That wind drifted through the forest seven days away from the Eight Sect Coalition. Winter had finally come. Dead leaves fell, taking what little moisture remained in them and adding it to the mud in which they landed. The mud grew thicker. It was nighttime, so the cold was particularly harsh.
Xu Qing crouched down, a dagger in his hand, ready to take action. He wasn’t sure if he could stay hidden from these people. All he could do was remain calm and quiet and hope not to disturb them. Of course, he couldn’t help wondering what it meant about the sect that Master Shengyun and his father were here, safe and sound.
The other two people in the group, those with the black cloaks, emanated terrifying pressure, and made Xu Qing’s flesh and blood quiver with a sense of deadly crisis. That was especially true of the one in the lead position. Even just the air around him rippled and distorted as he passed. The second cloaked figure made Xu Qing’s heart sink. He recognized that person’s aura; it was the very same person who had attacked him back in Seven Blood Eyes.
Xu Qing’s guard went up even further.
Just then, the group stopped walking. As the cold wind blew, the cloaked figures, as well as Master Shengyun and his father, all turned to look toward Xu Qing’s hiding spot.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He knew that he had been spotted, but before he could decide what to do, the lead figure laughed softly, then kept walking.
However, the candied fruit shot out of his hand toward Xu Qing, along with a jade slip. They landed in the vegetation in front of him.
Xu Qing watched as the group disappeared into the darkness. He frowned. He had obviously been spotted, yet the group hadn’t done anything to him. Instead, they dropped two items. The entire thing seemed absolutely bizarre. After a very long moment of thought, he looked down at the skewer of candied fruit and the jade slip. He studied them closely.
He ignored the candied fruit and instead studied the jade slip. After confirming that it seemed safe, he slipped a glove onto his hand before picking it up.
After examining it further, his eyes shone with determination. However strange this whole situation seemed, he got the feeling the explanation was in the jade slip. He cast his senses inside and heard a message.
“Long time no see, lil’ bro.”
Those six words struck Xu Qing to the core, causing his eyes to fill with disbelief. Heart thumping, he continued listening to the message. .𝒐𝙧𝒈
“You probably know who I am. Truth be told, I really cherish the memories of our youth together.
“In my previous life, I had a lot of brothers and sisters, but I never really experienced much love and warmth. Everyone was cold and calculating. Whether it was my father the emperor, or all my brothers and sisters. They were all like that.
“But in this life, I cherish memories of dad and mom. And of course, you…. I especially love the memories of your cute little sniveling.”
Xu Qing was shaking, and he could hardly control his breathing. His fingers tightened around the jade slip, and his ears buzzed. He looked up in the direction where the group of people had disappeared, and thought about that cloaked person with the mask that resembled the broken face of the god. The message from the jade slip continued to pour into his mind.
“But then I awakened the memories of my previous life. I knew immediately that I had to sacrifice everything. If I didn’t complete the ceremony to the living god, then I couldn’t truly be born again. I would wither away into death.
“Back then, I stood in the blood rain and looked at you sitting in the bloody sludge and the corpses, weeping helplessly, crying out for dad and mom. Truth be told, I was glad you were lucky enough to survive. I wanted to walk over to you, pat your head and say, ‘Don’t cry, lil’ bro.’
“I saw that candied fruit while I was walking along earlier, and remember how much you liked it, so I bought it for you. Seven Blood Eyes is fine. The peaklord from the Sixth Peak killed Bai Li, so I had Night Dove take his life. A life for a life. It’s completely reasonable.
“I left this message for you to let you know that I buried dad and mom on Mount Daybreak in Sea-Sealing County. If you have time, you can go pay them a visit.
“Goodbye, Xu Qing. I won’t be seeing you again.”
Xu Qing’s mind spun and his chest heaved as his mind went blank.
“Dad. Mom…. Master Sixth….”
The information in the jade slip came too suddenly, and didn’t seem real. Waves of shock battered his mind relentlessly. At the same time, a pain bored into his heart that was difficult to put into words. Slowly but surely, it filled him.
He didn’t want to believe that it was true. But the contents seemed real. As for Master Sixth, he would know the truth about his life or death upon returning to the sect. As for matters relating to his dad and mom, he had never spoken about that to anyone. The truth was that he knew full well that there was no way his parents could have survived the catastrophe which struck thirteen years ago. He had always held hope that he was wrong about that. But now he couldn’t fool himself any longer.
When Xu Qing thought about Master Sixth… he could envision the old man hefting his jug of alcohol. His son and wife had both died, dashing his hopes and dreams. And yet, Xu Qing couldn’t forget how the man had watched out for him. Master Sixth had cared for Xu Qing just as Master Seventh had.
Master Seventh had made a huge deal about Xu Qing becoming his apprentice. That itself was a threat to anyone in the world who had it out for Xu Qing. It made Master Seventh like a long, sharp spear.
But Master Sixth’s personality and experiences were different. He had helped out quietly and without fanfare, like a sturdy shield protecting Xu Qing from behind. In such a cold and brutal world, quiet help like that was something Xu Qing valued greatly.
There weren’t very many people who had helped him out during cold nights, who had cared about him, provided him warmth and protection. And he cherished each and every one of those people. Sadly, Sergeant Thunder was gone. Grandmaster Bai was gone. And now Master Sixth was gone.
Thinking about his dad and mom filled Xu Qing’s heart with pain, so much so that he trembled physically. The icy cold chilled him inside and out, from his soul to his skin. The jade slip in his hand shattered, and the sharp edges pierced into his palm, drawing blood. Drops of crimson and shards of jade dropped onto the dried grass at his feet. The wind blew again, and snowflakes drifted onto him, filling him with even more coldness. Then a lightning bolt crashed down, illuminating him as he stood there shaking. When the lightning bolt vanished, everything went dark again. Xu Qing stood there in the gloom. After some more time passed, another lightning bolt illuminated the area, revealing him.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, which mixed with the snowflakes to fall to the ground. Unable to remain standing, he dropped to his knees. Rain and snow fell onto his hair, his shoulders, his face, making it impossible to tell that the liquid that fell to the ground was tears.
Xu Qing again looked in the direction where the black-cloaked figures had disappeared. A long time passed. Finally, he opened his bag of holding and took out a bamboo slip. It was covered with a host of names, most of them scratched out.
Every scratched-out name indicated someone that was dead.
As the cold raindrops fell like pearls, smashing into the ground, Xu Qing took out his iron skewer and carved another name onto the slip.
Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan.