"Sushang, you must live well." Qin Suyi gently stroked Li Sushang's face and said softly, "You must become the greatest swordswoman under heaven and live freely."
Li Sushang wanted to say something. She wanted to ask her mother why she was saying this, wanted to know why she was here, but she found that she could not make a sound.
She watched her mother gaze at her tenderly, then gradually fade away. Li Sushang instinctively reached out to grab her sleeve, but grasped only empty air.
She suddenly came back to herself. When she opened her eyes again, her master, Cheng Lingshuang, was sitting quietly beside her, watching her.
Before she could speak, Cheng Lingshuang said, "Sushang, Ma Feima just brought news. Your parents are no longer in this world. The one who killed them was our master—your grandmaster, Immortal Yuan."
Li Sushang's mind buzzed. She recalled the dream just now. She did not know what she ought to feel; it was as though a fog had shrouded her heart, leaving her unable to see clearly.
There was no overwhelming grief like in the operas when someone learned of their parents' deaths. On the contrary, she felt that her reaction was overly calm.
She should have burst into tears, yet she did not want to cry, nor did she particularly miss her parents. After all, ever since childhood, her mother had made her memorize Yixin Swordplay and practice the sword. At the age of four, she had been sent to the northern desert to train under Cheng Lingshuang. That parting had lasted more than a decade.
The only thing that had accompanied her was the Xuanyuan Sword her mother had made her bring with her.
"Immortal Yuan... wasn't she the immortal who protected Shenzhou? Why would she kill my parents? And hadn't she already ascended?" Once she processed it, she asked Cheng Lingshuang this. At the same time, she wondered if she was being too cold. In the operas, those who heard of their parents' deaths would ask again and again for confirmation, then break down in tears.
The storytellers' tales were the same.
But she felt none of that.
More than the sorrow of learning that her parents had died, the fact that Immortal Yuan had killed them shocked her even more. In every opera or storyteller's tale that mentioned Immortal Yuan, she had always been portrayed as a radiant and great figure.
She truly could not understand why such an immortal would kill her parents. Besides, she knew that her mother had been one of Immortal Yuan's seven disciples.
That made Immortal Yuan's actions even more senseless.
What was more, Immortal Yuan had supposedly ascended long ago.
Cheng Lingshuang glanced at her and said stiffly, "It was merely karmic retribution... Sushang, what you know about our master... Immortal Yuan, is not the truth. In reality, she did not ascend. Rather... the seven of us disciples joined forces and killed her."
Li Sushang's pupils suddenly widened. "But why..."
Cheng Lingshuang slightly raised her head, her gaze passing over Li Sushang as though she were looking at someone else. She said, "You need not know the exact reason. This is a matter for our generation. You need only know that although Immortal Yuan was the hero who protected Shenzhou, she was far more ruthless than you imagined. This time... not only us, but everyone in Shenzhou connected to us will likely be purged by her."
Li Sushang stared blankly at Cheng Lingshuang, not knowing how to answer. She could only listen as Cheng Lingshuang continued, "Sushang, you still have a chance to flee. You can leave Shenzhou with that Raksha man. Immortal Yuan will not leave Shenzhou."
"I..." Li Sushang opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but only one word came out. The rest lodged in her throat, impossible to say and impossible to leave unsaid.
This was a grudge from the previous generation and should have had nothing to do with her. Seven disciples murdering their master was wrong beyond measure, no matter how she looked at it. But could the hatred of an entire family being slaughtered truly be so easily set aside?
"Speaking of that Raksha man," Cheng Lingshuang said calmly, "he should be awake by now. If you intend to leave with him, you might as well go speak with him now."
Elsewhere.
Pardo and Yuan looked at the two puppets they had jointly smashed to pieces. Pardo said, "Hua, you seemed to know them? I remember you called them 'Wanxi' and 'Wanru' at first... right?"
Yuan fell silent. She picked up the two Xuanyuan Swords from the ground. Flames enveloped the puppets' remains, their light dancing in her crimson eyes. She watched the puppets turn to ash before saying, "Two... former disciples, that's all."
"So when we met last time, I really did hear you mention that you were planning to take disciples." Pardo looked thoughtfully at Yuan. "Although everything those puppets said was controlled by Sister Mostima... no, the Twelfth Herrscher, Midrash, Midrash couldn't have made up their words on the spot, could she? Hua, were your injuries inflicted by the disciples you took in?"
"Hah..." Yuan let out a long sigh. "That matter... is already in the past. There is no need to ask further, Pardo. This time, Midrash has likely begun stirring up those traitorous disciples again, just as those two puppets said, intending to kill me once more."
Pardo's pupils contracted, and fierce killing intent shone from her heterochromatic eyes. "If you hadn't been injured in your battle with Sister Sakura, then with only people of this era—even with Midrash added in—there's no way they could have wounded you this badly! Those disciples of yours really have gone too far."
Yuan fell silent, then said, "Perhaps... it was because I was not a qualified master..."
"That's not true!" Pardo said fiercely. "Didn't Brother Yu Feng say you were well suited to being a teacher? This... this only means you misjudged them and took in a pack of ungrateful wolves! At a time like this, you should do as Brother Yu Feng said: when facing enemies, you must pull them out by the roots!"
"Pull them out by the roots..." Yuan looked up at the gloomy sky and murmured, "Yes. Feng was always right. If he were still here... I'm sorry, Pardo. I made you think of something painful again..."
"Oh, it's nothing. So much time has passed. No matter how unwilling we are to accept it, we cannot change what has already happened, can we?" Pardo did her best to smile at Yuan. "Hua, what matters is that we are both still alive. We must both live well, and in Brother Yu Feng's stead, see and protect this world, right?"
Yuan looked at Pardo, nodded, then said, "You are right, Pardo. Some matters truly need to be brought to an end."
"Mm, that's more like it! Pull yourself together, Hua." Pardo gave Yuan a hug. "Where are we going next?"
With a resolute expression and an even tone, Yuan said, "Pardo, go rendezvous with Sakura first. The Twelfth Herrscher is likely too much for the two of us to defeat alone. As for me, I will go to Sky Peak and settle things with my eldest disciple."
"But that could be a trap!" Pardo said anxiously. "What if Midrash is waiting for you there? In your current condition, I'm afraid..."
"It will be fine, Pardo." Yuan's tone softened. "Last time, I lost because I was caught off guard. This time, even if Midrash is there, I can use Feather Dust to escape unscathed."
Pardo bit her lip, drew a deep breath, and said, "Then you must be extra careful, Hua. I'll find Sister Sakura as quickly as I can, then come meet up with you!"
"Mm." Yuan smiled, and the two parted ways.
Watching her old comrade depart, Yuan once again turned her gaze toward Sky Peak and said quietly, "Chaoyu... this is the last dignity I can grant you as your master."
Then she set off as well, racing toward Sky Peak at tremendous speed.