But when he thought of it, the only elder he had not seen in a long time seemed to be Theresa... His sense of respect vanished in an instant.
Letting out a soft breath, Kaino stepped forward to meet the Immortal.
There were some things that were best asked now.
"Red—"
"Kevin?"
Before Kaino could finish, the Immortal's slightly astonished voice interrupted him.
Kaino:?
Immortal Chi Yuan
Kaino confirmed that he had not misheard. She had indeed called him by the English name Kevin.
But who was Kevin?
Did he look a lot like him?
"Ah, my apologies. I mistook you for someone else. You look very much like a... friend I once had."
After pausing for a moment, the Immortal came back to her senses and apologized to Kaino.
"Kaslana?"
After thinking for a moment, Kaino asked tentatively.
"Yes, Kaslana."
The Immortal nodded.
So it really was...
Kaino was a little surprised.
In his view, someone who had been friends with an Immortal who had lived for at least several thousand years should never have been an unknown figure.
Yet Kaino had never heard that name. He clearly knew the names of every Kaslana who had made outstanding contributions in the fight against the Honkai.
...Come to think of it, had the Kaslana family even existed thousands of years ago? He had never heard of it.
Was this world different from his own, like eighteen-year-old Theresa?
But this was not the time to think about that.
"Anyway, you're the Red Sparrow Immortal, right?"
Although her appearance matched perfectly, Kaino still felt that he should ask in order to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings and an awkward situation where they were talking past each other.
"Yes, I am."
The Red Sparrow Immortal smiled gently.
"My name is Kaino. Kaino Kaslana. My master is Cheng Lingshuang, your fifth disciple."
The smile on the Immortal's face gradually disappeared.
"You are Ling Shuang's disciple? But there are no traces of Sword Heart Sutra cultivation on you."
After carefully examining Kaino for a while, the Immortal shook her head.
"For some reason, my body can't cultivate the Sword Heart Sutra. My master couldn't find a solution either. I had originally planned to ask you about it, but then I received news that Yi Xin Mountain Villa had been destroyed."
"...I am sorry about what happened to Yi Xin Mountain Villa."
At the mention of Yi Xin Mountain Villa, the Immortal lowered her head slightly.
"You weren't the one who burned it down?"
Hearing that something was off in the Immortal's tone, Kaino's eyes brightened as he hurriedly asked.
"Although I was not unrelated to Yi Xin Mountain Villa's destruction, I was indeed not the one who burned it down."
Fu Hua shook her head.
"Also, there is no need for honorifics. Just call me Fu Hua."
"Then... Fu Hua, do you know how Yi Xin Mountain Villa was burned down?"
Kaino asked urgently.
"Why should I tell you?"
Fu Hua asked in return.
"You claim to be Ling Shuang's disciple, but that is only your side of the story. You have neither the Xuanyuan Sword nor any training in the Sword Heart Sutra. You have no proof that you are Ling Shuang's disciple."
"And this is our first meeting. I have no reason to tell you such things."
"...That does seem right."
After thinking briefly, Kaino nodded. If someone suddenly got in his face and started asking questions, he would find it annoying too. The reason she had been so friendly toward him was probably because she saw him as being of the same clan as that Kevin person.
"Then I'll take you to see my master. Is that alright?"
"I will follow you. I also have some things I need to ask Ling Shuang."
Fu Hua said.
Kaino turned around and activated the authority of the Wind Traveler. Their figures gradually vanished.
It was better not to let the Tai Xu Sword Sect know about Fu Hua's arrival just yet.
"The authority of the Herrscher of Wind? Yet you have not been corrupted by the Honkai, nor do you possess a Herrscher Core."
Fu Hua's voice came from behind Kaino.
Kaino, walking ahead, froze slightly.
"You know about it?"
Sirin had been the first to use this Herrscher ability during the Second Honkai War. How did an Immortal from five hundred years ago know about it?
And weren't people in Shenzhou supposed to call Honkai energy True Qi? Why was this Immortal different?
"I know a little about it, that's all."
Fu Hua said.
"So how are you using it?"
"Just a Stigmata."
"A Stigmata? I see."
A trace of reminiscence appeared in Fu Hua's eyes.
"Kaino, you just brought Master here?"
With one hand stopping the emotional Li Sushang from drawing her sword, Cheng Lingshuang looked at Kaino and Fu Hua and asked calmly.
"Yeah. Fu Hua said she wasn't the one who burned down Yi Xin Mountain Villa, which matches what you said, Master, so I brought her here directly."
Kaino shrugged.
He was not worried that Fu Hua would suddenly attack Cheng Lingshuang.
Kaino had analyzed Fu Hua's body—although a body closer to a Honkai Beast than a human had left him rather confused, it was also a fact that she had many old wounds. In other words, Fu Hua was definitely weaker now than she had been when the Seven Disciples ambushed her.
And although it might have been a little arrogant to think so, Kaino believed he could match the combined strength of the six other disciples besides Cheng Lingshuang among the Seven Disciples. With Cheng Lingshuang and Li Sushang added in, there was no reason the three of them could not win.
Of course, Cheng Lingshuang, who did not know Kaino's true combat strength, might not have thought the same way.
Cheng Lingshuang gave Kaino a helpless glance, then looked at Fu Hua, who was staring at her with complicated eyes, and said softly:
"Come inside, Master."
Fu Hua glanced at Li Sushang beside Cheng Lingshuang, then nodded.
"Alright."
Seeing Fu Hua follow Cheng Lingshuang inside, Kaino hurried in as well and closed the door. Taking Cheng Lingshuang's hand, he helped restrain Li Sushang.
Then he met Li Sushang's accusing look, as if he had deceived her.
"What?"
Kaino was confused, and a little stunned.
"Raiken, you said you wouldn't stop me from killing Ancestor Chi Yuan."
Li Sushang said anxiously.
Fu Hua looked over from nearby.
"...Calm down first. Fu Hua is the last person who knows anything about the destruction of Yi Xin Mountain Villa. It won't be too late to decide what to do after she finishes speaking."
"What if there's something here that we don't know about?"
Caught between the gazes in front of and behind him, Kaino said with a headache.
Li Sushang glared at Kaino, then fixed her eyes on Fu Hua. Her right hand still rested on the Xuanyuan Sword, but at least she no longer tried to draw it.
"Then, Master, can you tell us about Yi Xin Mountain Villa and Su Yi?"
Cheng Lingshuang asked.
"I can... but before that, Ling Shuang, hand over Xuanyuan and tell me the reason for what happened back then."
"The reason you betrayed me and chose to join the others in killing me."
Cheng Lingshuang shook her head.
"Of course I can tell you, Master, but the Xuanyuan Sword was destroyed back then. I have no way of returning it to you now."
Fu Hua looked expressionlessly at the Xuanyuan hanging at Cheng Lingshuang's waist.
"This Xuanyuan is not the one you gave me back then. I have no right to dispose of it."
"Then whose is it? I should have only given out seven Xuanyuan Swords."
Fu Hua pressed.
"Uh, that one's mine."
Kaino raised his hand from the side, regretting once again that he had recreated the Xuanyuan Sword.
So much trouble.
"Yours? I understand."
To Kaino's surprise, after learning that the Xuanyuan came from him, Fu Hua merely thought for a while. She did not press further or express any suspicion.
"Then, Ling Shuang, tell me everything about what happened back then."
This time, Cheng Lingshuang nodded.
"Certainly."
The Immortal Protects the Common People
After hearing Cheng Lingshuang repeat the explanation she had once given Kaino, Fu Hua nodded with a complicated expression.
"I roughly understand the situation."
Though she said she understood, Fu Hua's expression clearly showed that she had not let it go. And that was understandable. Anyone who could let something like this go would be insane.
No matter what, Fu Hua had walked right along the edge of death.
"Did Su Yi not explain it to you?"
Cheng Lingshuang asked.
"No. Su Yi... perhaps because she was the first to see me, she had been completely unprepared and was extremely flustered. No matter what I asked, she would not answer me. She only kept apologizing."
Fu Hua shook her head.
"Afterward, I asked her where the Xuanyuan Sword I had given her was, because I wanted to take it back. Yet she seemed to be provoked by something and decisively killed herself."
"The truth of that year could not be uncovered, and I received no news of Xuanyuan, so I left. But not long after I departed, I discovered that Yi Xin Mountain Villa had suddenly caught fire. I wanted to stop it, but I was too late."
At that, Fu Hua looked at Li Sushang, who was biting her lip with a conflicted expression, and at the Xuanyuan in her hand.
"This is Su Yi's child."
Before you continue