Today, let this old man go wild

Yun Xi watched the scene quietly.

The light that had long since faded from her eyes, the desire for death that had risen in her heart, was instantly replaced by a surge of warmth.

If Su Ji were there at that moment, he would surely be shouting in excitement.

Because he would realize he was no longer the ignorant illiterate he used to be.

At the very least, he would understand that Elder Yao had taken a Spirit Awakening Pill.

A pill that forcibly elevated one’s cultivation level in a short time.

Half an hour.

Win or lose, he would fall an entire major realm, and he would never advance another step in this lifetime.

He was… gambling his own future, his own prospects, for her, for the Yin Yang Sect, on a faint and fleeting glimmer of hope.

Yun Xi’s eyes inexplicably stung.

This old man, usually so stubborn and ill-tempered, so selfish and stingy, like a miser…

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, wanting to persuade him to stop.

But the words caught in her throat. Looking at the fierce determination burning in Elder Yao’s eyes, she couldn’t utter a single word.

Because she knew it would be useless.

This old man had a terrible temper, and he was as stubborn as a mule.

And at that very moment.

The memories she had buried for sixteen years, the ones she never dared to touch, surged forth like a dam bursting, flooding her mind.

…

“Are you really leaving?”

Back then, she was not yet the Young Sect Leader of the Thousand Illusion Sect.

And he was not an elder of the Blade Sect, just a young man who would carry a jug of strong liquor and clumsily practice his blade beneath the peach blossom tree.

In those days, he always said, “When I achieve the Great Dao, I will come back and marry you.”

…

Even when she later learned he was a disciple of the Heart-Cutting Blade Sect, sent down from the mountain for training.

She believed in the starlight in his eyes, believed in the warmth of his palm, believed every sweet word he spoke.

She naively thought he was different.

She thought her love could change him, could make him set down that bloodstained blade.

She didn’t believe in fate.

She only believed that human will could triumph over destiny.

She accompanied him through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They traveled across mountains, rivers, and seas.

She poured all her tenderness, all her love, into trying to melt the heart that grew colder with every stroke of the blade’s intent.

She even naively believed she had succeeded.

Because the way he looked at her grew gentler and gentler, and his blade was drawn less and less often.

He even promised to give up the blade and switch to the sword.

Until… that rainy night.

The rain fell heavily, as if it wanted to drown the entire world.

He came.

Without an umbrella. Without his blade.

But with that silver longsword he had so often danced before her.

“I…”

He stood in the rain. Rain streamed down his handsome face, indistinguishable from tears.

“I’m stuck at a bottleneck.”

“The sect says that to break through, I must… sever my emotions.”

At that moment, Yun Xi’s heart felt as if it were crushed by an invisible hand, the pain squeezing her until she could barely breathe.

But she forced herself to hold on, squeezing out a pale, bitter smile.

“You… you wouldn’t do that, would you?”

He didn’t answer.

He simply raised his sword slowly.

The blade glinted with a cold, sinister light in the gloom of the rainy night.

It also reflected her face, a face filled with utter despair and disbelief.

“Why…”

She didn’t understand.

She really didn’t understand.

Were all those vows of eternal love, all that tender affection, just lies?”

“I’m sorry.”

His voice in the rain sounded so faint, so unreal.

“If I don’t sever my feelings through you, my Dao Heart will never be complete.”

“If I cannot attain the Dao, how can I protect you forever?”

“If you die by my hand… you will become part of my cultivation, and we will be together forever.”

What a ridiculous reason.

Yun Xi laughed, laughed until tears streamed down her face.

She finally understood.

A man’s love was the sharpest blade in this world.

It could give you the most exquisite tenderness, and it could also give you the most lethal wound.

She shouldn’t have believed. From the very beginning, she shouldn’t have believed.

The light of the sword fell.

But what it cut with was blade qi…

He had never changed, after all.

She had just been too naive.

It tore through the rain, and it tore through all her illusions.

Using the last secret technique of the Thousand Illusion Sect, at a great cost to herself, she barely dodged that lethal strike.

But that insidious wisp of blade qi remained forever inside her body.

A constant reminder of how fragile and pathetic that ridiculous, deep affection had been.

But…

The disciples who rushed over from the Thousand Illusion Sect, drawn by the commotion, weren’t so lucky…

She didn’t want to abandon her sect mates and run.

But her father said that if she stayed here and was slain by him, the Thousand Illusion Sect would be wiped out that very day.

Her father was right.

The Thousand Illusion Sect was not wiped out.

Only she survived.

…

But still, the situation was far from optimistic.

Because the sword that pierced through his chest then withdrew… had no blood on it.

Elder Yao’s body was forced back by a blade strike, like some heavy weight, stumbling to stand beside Yun Xi.

“Old as you are… and still trying to play the hero rescuing a beauty?”

“Fine, then.”

“Let me send you two star-crossed lovers on your way together.”

Feeling the movement beside her.

Yun Xi’s memories retreated like the tide.

When she opened her eyes again, all the fragility in them had vanished.

Since there was no escape.

Since there was no way out.

Then there would be no more dodging, no more running.

Sixteen years.

It was time to… end it.

Yun Xi turned her head.

She stood shoulder to shoulder with Elder Yao, who looked as fierce as a demon.

“Elder Yao, you shouldn’t have come.”

Her voice had returned to its usual coolness.

Elder Yao’s body trembled violently at her words.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the woman in plain clothes beside him.

From her, he saw something he had never seen before.

Elder Yao grinned.

He laughed until tears streamed down his face.

“But I came anyway.”

He threw his head back and roared to the heavens, his voice shaking the earth and even halting the falling snow and wind.

“Today, let this old man go wild!”

“Let’s see how sharp the Blade Sect’s blade really is!”

“Let’s see if it’s faster than this old man’s… alchemy fire!”

As his words fell, the dark red aura around Elder Yao’s body exploded outward!

…

And at the same time.

On the mountain path of Kongxuan Mountain.

A black shadow, swift as a phantom, silently closed in on the two figures trudging through the snow.

In his hand, he, too, held a blade.