"Master, wait for me!"
Deep in the clouds, the sound of a camel bell rang.
The young man ran barefoot up the sand dune and stopped behind the young man who had his back facing him. He held his knees and panted for a while before he stood up curiously.
"Master, what are you looking at?"
The wind swept the golden sand into the sky. The young man's eyes reflected the blue sky in the distance.
After a while, he said softly, "Homeland …"
The young man was at a loss. The young man held his shoulder with one hand and pointed to the east with the other. It was the end of the mountains, rivers, and thousands of miles of desert. It was the direction of the rising sun on the horizon.
"There is a huge capital there. It is surrounded by eight rivers. Thousands of countries pay homage to it. It is a place of lasting peace …"
"… That is your homeland, the place where you were born."
At the edge of the cliff of She Shou Mountain, the killing intent in the air suddenly condensed.
Shan Chao gasped for breath and retreated. He closed and opened his eyes forcefully, trying to see the figure in front of him. However, no matter how blurred his vision was, he could not focus.
In this strange world, the only thing he could see was the Tai Ah Sword slowly raised in Xie Yun's hand.
— — Thousands of countries pay homage to it. It is a place of lasting peace …
Where you were born.
The wooden door was knocked open with a bang. The moonlight and the cold wind whistled into the dark house at the same time.
The young man Shan Chao was in a sorry state. Xie Yun grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the house. He fell heavily on the floor.
"What do you want?"
The young man staggered up and turned to grab his master's cold hand. He was like a drowning man grasping at a straw. "Tell me what you want. I can give it to you!
No matter what it is, I can return it to you!
Everything about me is … "
"Your life," Xie Yun said.
Shan Chao suddenly paused. His pupils trembled slightly in his eye sockets.
"I saved your life. What if I want to take it back now?"
The young man finally let go of his hand and staggered back. Tears quickly filled his eyes.
"Why do you have to do this …" he said in despair. He finally said the secret that he had hidden in his heart for a long time.
"I … I love you, Master …"
"I love you …"
However, Xie Yun's handsome face did not show any emotion. Even the ending of her words seemed to be frozen. Every word gently smashed into the air.
"I don't love you."
With a muffled thud, the young man's back hit the wall.
The hut surrounded by four earthen walls was once his warmest and most concerned shelter. It was the place where he grew up in this boundless desert. The faintly visible scratches on the walls were all traces of his growth over countless days and nights.
The young man's back slid across the wall, as if the last trace of hope and eagerness in his heart had been sucked away. He fell to his knees.
"Is it those messenger eagles …" he said hoarsely. "Someone told you to kill me … right?"
Silence answered him.
The air froze into ice, filling each other's throats.
"I beg you, Master, please tell me who that person is." The young man raised his head from the darkness, tears rolling down his bloodstained face. He choked with sobs and said, "I will kill that person. Even if I have to risk my life, I will kill that person. Then you will be free.
We can go back to yesterday, go back to the time when everything was normal, and live together in this desert forever … Okay? "
"Let's pretend that none of this ever happened. You are still my master, and I am still your disciple, okay?"
The mournful sobs covered the sky and the earth, sweeping past the sand dunes, trees, and underground rivers shrouded in silver light.
The cold stars in the distance were faintly discernible. All the noise in the world faded away, leaving only this lonely wooden hut standing at the end of the unchanging horizon.
After a long time, Xie Yun finally stepped forward and stopped in front of the young man. She looked down at his pleading eyes from above.
"You said that you can do anything … then can you stand at the top of the world again for me?"
The young man was stunned.
"If you take back the greatest power and the highest position in this world, when you sit on the throne and rule the world, we can go back to before when nothing happened. But can you do it?"
"…" The young man's lips trembled slightly. After a while, he shook his head in disbelief and asked, "What do you mean … by again?"
"Wait a minute, Xie Yun."
Shan Chao barely managed to stop himself from continuously retreating. He used the Long Yuan to block the crack in the rock under his feet and said in a daze, "You just said that you mean … you …"
Xie Yun's lips opened and closed, as if she was saying something. However, Shan Chao's ears were buzzing. The combination of dizziness and pain continued to burn his mind that was gradually on the verge of collapse.
He only saw Xie Yun raise her wrist and wave Tai Ah towards him.
Bang!
The Long Yuan and Tai Ah collided, emitting a lingering sound.
"Let go of me!"
In the desert, Xie Yun suddenly shook off the young man's hand and pointed to a line of dust rising from the depths of the sea of sand in the distance. She said angrily, "They are already here, can't you see?
I have to go!
If you want to die, don't drag me down with you! "
Days of trekking had already exhausted the young man. Xie Yun's shake was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing him to collapse onto the sand in exhaustion.
The scorching sun above their heads and the reddish-gold waves hit their faces. As long as they came into contact with the rough sand, blisters would appear on their skin.
Xie Yun left in large strides. After more than ten steps, the young man staggered and supported his body with an unknown source of strength. He rolled and crawled as he chased after her and grabbed Xie Yun's wrist from behind!
"Mas … Master," the young man's cracked lips moved and blood flowed out. Because of the lack of water, the blood was thick and had seeped into the dark dust on his chin, "Tell me, Master … Do you have to go back?
You really can't … "
Xie Yun suddenly turned her head and met the young man's desperate gaze. He was like a wounded lone wolf in a desperate situation.
"Apart from the things you pursued … money and power … those, have you ever had any feelings for me?"
"Master's feelings for her disciple, no matter what kind of feelings … any kind of love is fine?"
The smoke on the horizon was getting closer and closer. Xie Yun impatiently exhaled and grabbed the young man's hand that was grasping hers with the last of his strength. She resolutely pried his hand away and repeated for the last time, "Go back if you don't want to die.
Get lost! "
The young man staggered and knelt on the sand.
Xie Yun turned around and left. He didn't even look back.
Her resolute back view overlapped with the young man's memory of lifting the curtain, walking into the tent, and looking at his scarred childhood self. The young man once fervently thought that that moment was the beginning of all the love and hope in his life. However, it was only at this moment that he realized what a ridiculous joke it was.
He was not loved, and he did not have any hope.
All the beautiful past was a lie filled with benefits and calculations.
"Xie Yun …" The young man painfully clawed at the ground. The yellow sand caused large and small blisters to appear on his palms. The intense pain made every syllable hoarse and convulsive.
"Xie Yun … Xie Yun …"
The two bloody words were engraved in his heart over and over again. Not far away, Xie Yun seemed to have been provoked by the call. She suddenly turned around and sternly said, "Shut up!"
The young man shook his head in despair.
"I'm using you!
I want the greatest power in the world and the highest position in the world!
You have no value anymore. You're useless!
Go back! "
"If you don't want to die, stand up and get lost!"
— — Clang!
The two swords collided again. Dust fell from the rocks on both sides and sprinkled on Shan Chao's rapidly heaving shoulders.
"Are you ready?" Xie Yun said expressionlessly. She turned her wrist and drew the Tai-Ah Sword in an arc.
Shan Chao subconsciously frowned. His pupils were dilated and his mind was in a trance. The violent flame of hatred swallowed and burned every inch of his nerve endings, causing him to be unable to see or hear anything around him.
Beside the ruins of the high platform, the soldiers who had fled in all directions gathered again. Further away, Ma Xin led a large group of Imperial Guards and hurried over.
"Are you ready?" Xie Yun asked again.
Shan Chao's gaze finally landed in front of him. There was a slight scarlet color in the depths of his pupils. He stared at Xie Yun's eyes.
The Tai-Ah Sword was tilted at a very strange angle. From top to bottom, it went straight for the heart. It was a sword move that suddenly made Shan Chao feel inexplicably familiar.
"The people of the Jin Dynasty said that the Fighting Bull Constellation often has a purple aura. It is the will of the two swords that penetrate the sky. One is called Tai-Ah, the other is called Long Yuan …"
The most profound scene in his memory appeared again. It came from the vast void and smashed towards him from all directions.
"The one who is going to kill you today is Long Yuan."
At that moment, the heart-wrenching sword in his nightmares for two years overlapped with the scene of Tai-Ah Sword coming at him with a gust of wind. It turned into Xie Yun's bone-chilling eyes in the illusion.
The one who is going to kill you today is — —
Long Yuan — — —
Bang!
Shan Chao held the hilt of his sword tightly. Under the blood-red scorching sun, he split the raging yellow sand and waved his sword towards the fatal sword move from two years ago.
Not far away, Ma Xin cried out in alarm.
"No — —!"
Puchi!
Blood burst and splashed under the hazy sky. All the noise on the cliff turned into a grayish-white silent background. Together with the disordered illusion and memory, it suddenly went far away at that moment.
Time was stretched infinitely and even frozen. Tai-Ah fell from Xie Yun's hand and flew into the air while spinning.
— — The Long Yuan pierced Xie Yun's left rib. It pierced through the side of her heart and revealed a blood-stained sword tip from her back.
Shan Chao's whole body shook violently. He shouted involuntarily, "Xie Yun!"
But it was all too late.
Xie Yun knelt on the ground. She gasped in pain and astonishment and slowly fell down.