Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four: Choice

“Could there be some misunderstanding?” Huangfu Xiu cried out in alarm.

“Do you know this man?” Shui Bing asked.

“This is my brother Zhou Qi, the man who gave me a new lease on life. Bingbing, listen to me—Qiqi is a good man. If he has offended you in any way, let me apologize on his behalf, all right?” Huangfu Xiu pleaded.

“So this is Zhou Qi? He looks quite decent!” Huangfu Rou nodded sagely, as though inspecting a junior.

“Do not interfere. I cannot tell you the reason. He and I are destined to fight to the death.” As Shui Bing spoke, the petals once more gathered into a lotus flower. It began to rotate slowly, fixing its aim on Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi had already begun circulating his cultivation method, and the Immortal-Slaying Sword was in his hand.

Sensing Shui Bing’s surging killing intent, Huangfu Xiu spread his arms and stepped in front of Zhou Qi. “If you insist on killing him, then you will have to step over my corpse first.”

“Very well. You said it yourself.” No emotion could be discerned on Shui Bing’s face. The lotus continued forward, flying straight toward Huangfu Xiu and Zhou Qi.

“Xiu’er, you don’t have to do this. Move aside!”

Greatly alarmed, Zhou Qi activated his Divine Movement Steps and prepared to carry Huangfu Xiu out of the way.

A curtain of water appeared from thin air and blocked the swiftly approaching lotus. Huangfu Rou had made her move.

“You’re utterly heartless!” Huangfu Rou shouted angrily. “How could you strike even at my brother Xiu? He has been sincere toward you all this time!”

“How could you possibly know the truth of this matter? Since you insist on stopping me, you are my enemy as well,” Shui Bing said coldly.

“Fine. Today, I’ll see just how capable the Holy Maiden of the Immortal Radiance Sect truly is.”

Huangfu Rou was not afraid in the slightest. As a prodigy of the Huangfu clan—and one of the three great beauties of the Yellow Profound Domain—she had long wished to test herself against the other two.

A great battle was about to erupt.

“Qiqi, let’s leave first.” Huangfu Xiu looked somewhat dejected. He could not believe that Shui Bing had actually attacked him. At present, he only wanted to uncover the reason and see whether there was any way to resolve the matter.

“Aren’t you worried about your sister?” Zhou Qi asked in astonishment. He understood the struggle in Huangfu Xiu’s heart, but there was no way to resolve this matter. From the moment the Heaven Profound True Lord entered the Sea of Souls, everything had already been destined.

“It’s fine. She’ll be all right.” Huangfu Xiu pulled Zhou Qi onto his sword and flew away. Behind them, the battle between Shui Bing and Huangfu Rou had already begun.

Huangfu Xiu asked Zhou Qi about the grudge between him and Shui Bing, but Zhou Qi naturally could not reveal the truth. He merely said that this was his first meeting with Shui Bing, lest Huangfu Xiu draw any unpleasant conclusions.

“She is an enemy bound to me by fate. Though we met for the first time, we both understood it instinctively: one of us must die,” Zhou Qi explained.

“There’s no way to resolve it?” Huangfu Xiu asked unwillingly.

Zhou Qi slowly shook his head.

Huangfu Xiu fell silent, lost in thought. Zhou Qi said nothing more. The choice was his to make. Whether he helped neither side or chose to aid Shui Bing, Zhou Qi could understand. Anyone would find such a decision difficult.

“We should hurry. Your cultivation is lower than hers, so you’re no match for her right now. We must pass through the Saint’s Secret Realm as soon as possible,” Huangfu Xiu said suddenly, after pondering for a long while.

“How much do you know about the Saint’s Secret Realm?” Zhou Qi asked. As a scion of an eminent clan, Huangfu Xiu naturally knew more than he did.

“Not much. The elders of my clan once told me that from the moment one enters the Saint’s Secret Realm, one is undergoing the Sword Immortal’s trial. Different performances lead to different sword intents in the end. When he entered the realm back then, he was just as bewildered and had no idea what choice to make. He only told Rou’er and me to follow our hearts,” Huangfu Xiu explained.

Follow our hearts?

Perhaps the Sword Immortal had never established a correct answer in the first place. A trial without a fixed answer could instead reveal a cultivator’s true thoughts. As for which era the Sword Immortal had belonged to, or whether he still existed, Huangfu Xiu did not know.

The two fell silent for a time. They had intended to reminisce happily upon meeting again, but because of the matter with Shui Bing, neither knew how to proceed. They had nearly reached the outskirts of Wuyang Village when Huangfu Xiu finally made his decision.

“Qiqi, if she tries to kill you, I will never allow it. But if you have a chance to kill her, I will stop you as well. I hope you can understand.”

He gathered his courage to say this. As the saying went, brothers were like hands and feet, while women were like clothes. If he were truly required to harden his heart and attack Shui Bing, he could not do it.

Zhou Qi did not answer. His expression complicated, he patted Huangfu Xiu on the shoulder. He had never expected the usually womanizing Huangfu Xiu to develop genuine feelings. If only the matter were so simple. At least Huangfu Xiu had stood in front of him when Shui Bing attacked. Zhou Qi had not misjudged him after all.

Judging from the Sword Immortal’s arrangements in the Gravity Domain and the Demon Battlefield, the Saint’s Secret Realm should not be a contest of speed. The Gravity Domain tested a cultivator’s backbone, while the Demon Battlefield should test survival and cooperation. Then what would Wuyang Village test?

A stone stele stood by the roadside, three large characters carved into its surface: Wuyang Village.

Zhou Qi’s heart stirred, and he immediately walked toward it. The instant he crossed the stele, he sensed that something was wrong. The spiritual energy in his entire body seemed to have vanished into thin air.

This was different from the suppression of spiritual energy in Burial Dragon Valley. There, he could clearly feel the spiritual energy within him; it was merely difficult to circulate. Here, however, it felt as though all his spiritual energy had disappeared completely, leaving him no different from an ordinary mortal. His physical strength remained, but he could no longer activate the Divine Dragon Transformation.

Zhou Qi was startled. Becoming a mortal here was practically equivalent to courting death. He hurriedly turned back to warn Huangfu Xiu, only to find that Huangfu Xiu, who had been several steps behind him, had vanished. The stone stele bearing the name Wuyang Village had disappeared as well. With that single step, it seemed he had entered another space.

Just as he was about to search in every direction, Huangfu Xiu suddenly appeared beside him.

“Qiqi, you disappeared the moment you crossed the stele. So this is Wuyang Village? Where has my spiritual energy gone?” Huangfu Xiu cried out in alarm. He likewise felt as though he had become an ordinary mortal.

“I don’t know either. It happened the moment I entered.”

They looked around. Numerous fields had been cultivated with extraordinary neatness, and many crops grew across them. In the distance stood a fairly sizable village, with a few wisps of cooking smoke rising into the air.

There truly was a village here, and judging from its appearance, people still lived in it. Zhou Qi wondered whether cultivators lived here as well. If so, would their sudden intrusion be regarded as an invasion?

Zhou Qi and Huangfu Xiu exchanged a glance, then walked toward the village.

Beside the village entrance stood a massive willow tree. A number of children played beneath it, their cheerful laughter ringing out from time to time. Beside the tree, an old man reclined in a rocking chair, leisurely smoking a long-stemmed pipe. His eyes were narrowed as he watched the children, and he looked completely at ease.

The old man was greatly startled by their appearance. He hurriedly sat upright and scrutinized Zhou Qi and Huangfu Xiu, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly in evident terror.

What was going on? Zhou Qi wondered. He quickly stepped forward, bowed to the old man, and said, “Sir, we entered this place by accident. Please forgive us. May I ask you about the circumstances here?”

The old man did not answer. His body trembled faintly, and he kept muttering, “The calamity that comes once every fifty years has returned.”