chapter 57

Jiang Xunyi was a little surprised. “You have been undercover for 20 years? Then your father…”

Zhuo Zhengfan nodded with a bitter smile. “Father knows this. However, I didn’t go back to see him even when I knew that he had passed away. I truly am unfilial.”

Jiang Xunyi squeezed his shoulder hard, and Yun Xie’s eyes glanced at the two of them. “However, the Flame Gate is not well known. I’m curious: what about it is worth you going undercover like this?”

Zhuo Zhengfan suddenly felt that his shoulder was slightly itchy. When Jiang Xunyi withdrew his hand, he couldn’t help rubbing it before he said, “It’s called the Flame Gate now, so it’s not surprising that you haven’t heard of it. However, Brother Yun should know of the Shui Yan Palace, which was besieged by the Eight Great Sects thirty years ago, right? That’s the real predecessor of the Flame Gate!”

The situation was getting increasingly unexpected: back in the day, everyone knew the Shui Yan Palace and there was no one who did not laugh at it. It was a very well-known cult. Jiang Xunyi’s impression of it was that it was similar to the Falun Gong[1]. The disciples in the sect were all crazy, committing □□[2] and murder. When they went insane, even the government did not dare to provoke them. And the most notorious part of Shui Yan Palace was that they conducted human experiments, studied various biological and chemical weapons, and especially liked to mess with corpses. Therefore, the Immortal Cultivation Realm could not tolerate this. This was the reason for the siege, and after paying a heavy price, it was finally scorched to the ground.

Unexpectedly, there were still remnants of the Shui Yan Palace around today, and even more unexpectedly, they had run into them.

However, what was most unexpected for Jiang Xunyi was that, disregarding the integrity, it had once been one of the largest sects. Yet, they were so poor today.

He had to use a big shared cot, damn.

The Zhuo family’s intelligence system has always been well-developed, and Yun Xie felt no need to ask Zhuo Zhengfan how he knew the information. Instead, he said, “Since even the powerful Shui Yan Palace can be destroyed, it’ll be even easier to clean up this small group of people. If you had mentioned this to me and A’Xun earlier, the Solar Envy Sect and Hidden Spirit Sect would have definitely contributed. Isn’t it too overly cautious to act so secretly? You should know this, so since you spared so much effort to go undercover, could it be that there is something else that happened?”

Zhuo Zhengfan said, “Brother Yun guessed right; I did this because as we were investigating, we found that the Marrow-Washing Jade was here.”

Jiang Xunyi wondered aloud, “Marrow-Washing Jade? Is the Flame Gate actually linked to the Demon Race?”

He became more alert and soon thought of another thing. He turned to Yun Xie. “I heard that Shui Yan Palace was the best at refining corpses. Do you think that the bodies who had thirteen orifices opened were created by them? And… the revived Xuan Li? “

Zhuo Zhengfan anxiously said, “Are you serious?!”

Yun Xie’s voice was calm as he said slowly, “A’Xun’s guess is indeed possible, but the two of you shouldn’t worry. Zhengfan, we are all here and we must not let you fight alone. Tell us about all the developments here. I originally came here with A’Xun to try and figure out some things. We coincidentally can work with you.”

Jiang Xunyi was not dissatisfied with what Yun Xie decided on his behalf and smiled. “Exactly. Let me guess. Seeing Zhengfan today, I suddenly remembered that there have been many people who have disappeared for no reason for all over these few years. Ren Tianqi, who was with you that year, Shang Cheng, Zhu Xu, who disappeared inexplicably from a cliff 15 years ago… Do we have a chance to meet everyone again?”

He had a very good memory and said the names in a series without any omission.

Zhuo Zhengfan sighed. “Xunyi, you are really a god. Among these people, except for Brother Zhang who didn’t arrive, likely because of an unexpected encounter, all the other people were sent here by father in secret.”

He had been in contact with these two for many years and knew that Jiang Xunyi was satisfied now, but Yun Xie required more explanation or else he would be suspicious. Zhengfan continued, “There were many people coming, but they did not notify the two of you because my father told us ‘Yun Xie and Jiang Xunyi are the leaders of your generation. They will go further than you in the future. You shouldn’t do such a thing.’ You also know that my father has always valued you very much. He actually wanted to protect you…”

At this, not only did Jiang Xunyi sigh, but even Yun Xie was a little moved. “We are indebted to Senior Zhuo for his affection. The fact that I had never known anything is shameful. You can rest assured that I will do my best to help you this time. It’s my responsibility to eliminate the demons. How can I let you bear it alone?”

Zhuo Zhengfan sighed. “Good brother, thank you. But there are no more deployments anymore – a total of 17 young heroes came here over the past two decades, but now… only I am left.”

“What do you mean?” Jiang Xunyi said.

“You have come here, so you should have seen that the Flame Gate is divided into an outer sect and an inner sect. Generally, people like us who have only entered at this age will not get much trust, so we can only stay in the outer sect first and work our way up step by step. This process encourages the disciples to fight with each other. There is no punishment for killing, and you are rewarded if you win. Naturally, everyone has to anxiously scramble to survive. Sometimes, if they do not have a suitable corpse, they just choose someone from among the outside disciples… Alas, in this manner, they were killed one by one. It really causes heartache. In addition, the sect master here is a mysterious figure. Even though I finally made it into the inner sect, I haven’t even seen his face yet.”

Jiang Xunyi intended to say something, but he swallowed the words that were about to spill out back into his stomach. “Well, I understand now. Since the situation is like this, let’s plan slowly.”

He heard a noise from nearby and added, “Zhengfan, you have already spoken to us for so long. If you still don’t go out, I’m afraid it will cause others to be suspicious.”

Zhuo Zhengfan’s face showed that he was deep in thought before he nodded. “What you say is correct. You go out with me so you can go back and rest early.”

Once Jiang Xunyi thought of the smelly room, his scalp felt numb. He would rather sleep outside and drink the wind and eat the soil. In a rush, he said, “No, no, no. Let’s make it seem like Yun Xie and I were disciplined by you. We will hide here for a while.”

Jiang Xunyi’s problem was known by all his old friends. Zhuo Zhengfan’s eyes lit up with laughter and he reached over to smack Jiang Xunyi’s shoulders. “Why are you still like a girl? Brother, I’ve lived here for ten years!”

Before Jiang Xunyi’s shoulders were hit, and his hand was intercepted by Yun Xie halfway. Zhuo Zhengfan was stunned, but Yun Xie clenched his hand sincerely. “Zhengfan, why don’t you go quickly!”

“…” Zhuo Zhengfan froze for a long time before he realized that his move was rejected. His eyes swept over Jiang Xunyi, and he immediately yelled, “Yun Xie, I haven’t seen you for so many years. Why do you still have bad morals!”

He saw that Yun Xie leaned on Jiang Xunyi before he grinned. He really wanted to paste the characters “dog male” on his face, but faced with Jiang Xunyi’s unknowing face, he couldn’t torment him. He had no choice but to scold this one weak line before he left with the fragrance of a single dog.

Yun Xie yawned and said, “Zhengfan is too noisy, even my ears hurt.”

Jiang Xunyi was just saying that Zhuo Zhengfan did not have it easy for so many years, but he threw the words away once he saw that the other had left. “Zhengfan acted too cautiously and missed a good opportunity. If it were me, I think that it would be better to show your abilities as soon as possible to attract the attention of the Flame Gate sect master. Maybe they could still seize the opportunity. This would be more effective than their method of slowly dying.”

After complaining a bit, he remembered the many sacrifices and couldn’t bear it. At this time, the plot has been messed up, so there was no mention of the matter that took place here in Rising Clouds, Billowing Skies. Zhuo Zhengfan has never played a role since his disappearance. It is estimated that he ended with failure. Jiang Xunyi’s investigation has basically led him to understood that the system’s task must be inseparable from the Demon Clan. Now that he had already delayed completing the task for a long time, he had to speed up. If he could let Zhuo Zhengfan escape whole, it must be an opportunity to reduce the energy of the system.

He couldn’t help but whisper, “I have to find a way… I have to enter the inner sect.”

When Yun Xie heard that he wanted to find a way, he shuddered with fear. However, he didn’t feel that it was a bad suggestion, so he immediately warned, “The two of us must cooperate with one on the inside and one on the outside, so we won’t be able to act together. The one going will be me, you shouldn’t take risks.”

Jiang Xunyi laughed and rose abruptly. He volleyed over to lie on the branch of a big tree. He leaned on his arms and said, “You really like to unnecessarily worry these days. Why does it matter who goes? Do you think I have no power and need to hide behind you?”

Yun Xie was speechless for a moment, his heart ill at ease, but he knew that the other party was right, so he did not continue to argue. He leaned on the thick trunk of the big tree where Jiang Xunyi was lying.

Jiang Xunyi elegantly lay on the tree, his white robes fluttering in the wind. As the night wind continued to lightly blow, the shadow formed by the moonlight danced around Yun Xie’s cuffs, appearing as if it could be touched as long as you reached out your hand.

He raised his hand subconsciously, but there was nothing between his fingers, nothing in his control.

When they first met, they were two small playmates. As they interacted with each other more, they became the closest of brothers. However, he did not know when the deep and heavy yearning love entangled his heart. He worried about him and wanted him, but he couldn’t overcome his own fear, the fear that he would be ruining that proud body, destroying their friendship.

The relationship between the two was like this, poisoned. No matter how close the distance seemed, what he longed for was at the horizon.

The willow branch Yun Xie was playing around with morphed into a flute with one twist. He held it up to his lips to play.

Yun Xie has always been elegant, and his flute skills matched his image. As the rumor goes, his playing can attract birds and spring flowers. It’s just that these days, he really enjoyed playing solemn songs, and tonight’s melody was filled with bitterness. The sweet notes were low, and countless notes seem to fall to the ground with the silver moonlight. In the silence of the night, the song clearly showed a broken heart.

Jiang Xunyi gradually smiled listening to this flute melody. He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly, staring silently into the distance.

At this time, the night was deep, and the autumn wind rustled. Brilliant lights came from the houses on the mountainside in the distance, hidden behind the whirling trees and flickering like neon lights.

Jiang Xunyi looked at the lights and was startled.

He hadn’t seen real neon lights in a long time. The events of his past life felt far away as if it were a fantasy dream that has never happened. However, he always saw his present world as the fantasy setting of a book, not reality.

Did Jiang Xunyi of modern society traverse into a book, or did the Jiang Xunyi of the book only dream that he has been to such a high-tech country?

Thousands of years ago, a mad philosopher whose wife had died and wanted to sing a song once suspected that he was actually a butterfly dreaming of being a man[3]. On this silent late autumn night, Jiang Xunyi suddenly felt the same confusion in his heart.

He sighed along with the flute. “One cannot do nothing forever. It is indeed necessary to save the Milky Way and to clear the skies. Because of his outstanding meritorious deeds, he wanted to leave a portrait of him on the Kirin Pavilion as a reward, but he laughed and walked away with a flick of his clothes… The temples are sparse, gray hair can be found easily, and the good things are consumed in vain by mistake…”[4]

When he thought about it like this, he felt awkward again.