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Chapter Twenty: Still The Past
writer:无罪      update:2022-07-21 15:26
  “He likes to forgive so much?”


  Deep in the Xia Family courtyard, there was a lotus pond. In front of the lotus pond stood a man in indigo robes. This man clearly had been living in Nanquan Commanderies for a long time, and had the accent. But his clothing looked the same as Changling’s people. More accurately, his clothing, and some of his adornments, including the ribbon for his hair were the styles of Changling more than a decade ago.

  His face was also similar to Changling’s people, slightly square, upright in posture like a sword, wide shoulders, slightly yellow skin. He did not look as elegant as the people in the middle of Chu. But his presence was different from ordinary Changling cultivators.

  When he opened his lips to speak, some of the lotus flowers in front of him withered, the life presence turning into indigo energy streams that then turned into light black dark yin energy which gathered in his palm. This silent method of devouring the energy of others, even in the Qi Dynasty, was thought of as an evil method by many cultivators.

  When cultivating such a method, what was affected the most was lifespan. In simpler words, when one stole too much energy of different kinds into the body, it was easy to die earlier than other people.

  “Since he used this method to take Ba Mountain Sword Field back into the world, since he likes being public so much, then I will meet him publicly.”


  The man who seemed to have locked himself in the time of a decade ago slowly turned around. He looked at the numerous Xia Family members who could not endure the pressure and said coolly, “Deliver me to meet him.”


  These words were a release to the Xia Family.

  A carriage quickly arrived in front of the indigo-robed man. The inside of the carriage was very fine, but the outside was very shabby.

  The indigo-robed man knew why the Xia Family did this. Because Ding Ning had ridden a very ordinary carriage to reach Nanquan. Now, his identity was undoubted. Since he was going to meet Ding Ning, the Xia Family did not dare to let his carriage be fancier than his.

  The Xia Family had submitted long ago, unable to withstand the pressure. The indigo-robed man did not care. But when he closed his eyes in the carriage, there was faint scorn in the corners of his mouth. After all of this, the people who were stuck in the entanglement were still the same people as back then. In the end, it was that the conflict between those people back then was still continuing. In the next moment, grief and fury appeared on his face, but quickly disappeared into indifference.

  As the carriage wheels crushed over the road, the green grass quickly turned yellow, and the energies which turned indigo and then black wrapped around the wheels of the carriage.

  At the start, the blackness on the carriage wheels were not eye-catching, but they slowly grew like black vines. On the gullies on the two sides of the path, bubbles formed. While the indigo-robed man appeared cold and calm, the natural reactions of the energies could not conceal his chaotic emotions.

  Seeing these stunning signs, the cultivators who had gathered in Nanquan were certain that the cultivator within was very powerful but could not guess this person’s identity.

  Was this a cultivator of the Qi Dynasty?

  Why was such a cultivator hiding in the Xia Family, and also standing firmly in opposition to the Ba Mountain Sword Field?

  Even more importantly, the presence he gave off showed no signs of submitting to Ding Ning.

  “Condensed Anger Energy. More difficult than I imagined, because I owe him. You do not have to come out.”


  When Ding Ning saw the carriage from the Xia Family, his expression grew heavy. He walked out of the Zhou Estate alone, to the outermost bridge, and greeted the carriage.

  The Xia cultivator driving the carriage saw Ding Ning appear on the bridge and reined in the horse, wanting to stop the carriage a long ways off. But the moment his hands pulled, he was sent flying from the carriage by an irresistible force, landing behind the carriage.

  Gasps sounded.

  The carriage did not slow down, rushing towards the bridge. When many people were thinking that the carriage was going to crash towards Ding Ning on the carriage, the carriage stopped.

  Ding Ning’s expression did not change. He bowed solemnly, greeting the person in the carriage first.

  The people who saw this scene were silently shocked.

  What kind of person was worthy of him bowing first?

  “It seems that you have already guessed who I am.”


  The indigo-robed man’s voice sounded. He appeared out of the carriage, but he did not get off the carriage, and looked down at Ding Ning, just like how Ding Ning had looked at Li Jiaoyue previously. His voice was very calm, but when his voice sounded, the black energies around the wheels of the carriage flew outwards like frightened bats.

  “You should be the eldest disciple of Official Shang, Wen Guangyue,” Ding Ning took a deep breath and said.

  The indigo-robed man did not refute. He looked at Ding Ning and said, “You can forgive others, but who will forgive you? You are still alive, but my teacher is dead. He cannot forgive you.”


  After a pause, he said slowly, “I will not forgive you. Even if you kill me today, there needs to be a reason to kill. If you feel you have reason, you can kill me.”


  This man’s voice sounded in people’s minds like lightning.

  Back then, when the Ba Mountain Sword Field started the reformation, they first relied on the Shang Family. But for balance, the Shang Family became a sacrifice. For the cultivators of Changling, they may know that the Shang Family had a lone daughter left, but for the cultivators of the outside world, the Shang Family had all been killed, and no one was left.

  “It is very good that you are alive.” Ding Ning looked into Wen Guanyue’s eyes and said calmly, “I thought that you were dead. I had not expected that you were able to escape. I got the news too late. When I arrived, I was only able to rescue her.”


  “Even if she was the only one left, and you managed to save her, do you think that it was due to you? If my junior sect sister did not pretend to be her and lure away many of the cultivators, if not for my many friends fighting to the death, would you have the time and opportunity to protect her?”


  Wen Guanyue laughed. “Do not forget. You personally went to ask my teacher to help you, but did you complete your promise to my teacher? I do not owe you and your Ba Mountain Sword Field, you and the Ba Mountain Sword Field owe the Shang Family. So I will not forgive you.”


  “Do not say that you did your best. The final result is that my teacher and my friends died because of you, and you are still alive.”


  “Do not say stupid things to me like the enemy is Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu. If not for you……Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu could not have reached such a position.”


  Volume 6 20 - Kill Stone

  In the many years before the Ba Mountain Sword Field’s rise, there had been many old nobility and powerful families in Changling. Some of these powers had been imperial relatives, with deeply rooted interconnected relations in court. Others were very powerful officials who had a grip off the arteries of the dynasty. Not just in Changling. Some of the commanderies had once been under the control of these old nobility.

  For a very long time, the real ruler of the Qin Dynasty had not been the emperor, but the old nobility. These old nobilities liked to increase their own power. Their secret partners even included enemy countries. They cared more about their own benefits than the benefits of the entire dynasty. In their view, it was not the imperial house giving them land, but their land and power creating the entire dynasty.

  Because they had been high up for such a long time, they were used to not following the laws, and even employed some dark tactics. Ordinary people were just like crops in the ground, after cutting down a bunch, more would grow back. No one really cared about the hardships of the people.

  The Ba Mountain Sword Field’s rise had been because of that group of powerful swordsmen led by Wang Jingmeng. When Wang Jingmeng and his group came to Changling and started the reformation, their first target was the old nobility. So the first war of the Qin Dynasty was not the great wars against the Han, Wei and Zhao. It was a war against the old nobility. Only the cultivators who had experienced that time knew how many cruel battles had occurred, and what price they had paid. Each of the old nobility had been like a dynasty.

  The black-robed man standing on the mountain was part of a family that had been one of the true rulers of Changling. When Wang Jingmeng first came to Changling, the black-robed man had been famous. His power had shrouded Changling like black moonlight.

  Many years later, when Ding Ning heard this black-robed man’s name again, he had killed one of Zheng Xiu’s confidants, Wen Houling. At that time, Ding Ning knew that the power of the black-robed man was no longer limited to his family’s power, and even his cultivation progress was beyond prediction.

  But Ding Ning did not understand. Why was such a person on Zheng Xiu’s side?

  Back then, those cruel orders had been given by Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu. This leader of the old nobility had fought secretly against Zheng Xiu for many years. Ding Ning had never expected that he was on her side. So he had never thought that Zheng Xiu’s hidden pawn was here.

  “Why?” Zhangsun Qianxue looked up at this black-robed man and asked coldly.

  With the addition of the cultivator in moon colored robes, there were only two extra grandmasters. But she knew, the arrival of the black-robed man meant that a terrifying power had come, and it was not possible to easily escape.

  “Why?” The black-robed man looked calmly at her, repeated her words, and then gathered up his hair. In his inky black long hair, there were many white hairs that usually were not seen.

  “There are many reasons for this question, for example, if the people of the Ba Mountain Sword Field were not so strong, no matter how cruel Zheng Xiu is, she could not have done what she did. Or rather, Wang Jingmeng was too strong. Such a person was a god. Compared to him, no matter how strong we were, we were just food in the mouth of the god. Such a person should not exist in the world. He died, but he left behind an heir. Also, the other seems to have the same talent as him. I do not want to see another god be born.”


  “But, in the end, why?”


  The black-robed man looked up into the wind and snow in the air. Undisguised sorrow appeared in his eyes. “You ask me why, how about you? Are you doing this for the Gongsun Family? Are you not just getting revenge for Wang Jingmeng?”


  Zhangsun Qianxue frowned. She did not understand what the other meant, but she could clearly feel the sorrow coming from his.

  The black-robed man did not look at her, and kept on speaking quietly. “Between you and Zheng Xiu, Wang Jingmeng chose Zheng Xiu and not you, but even so, you want to get revenge for him. Also, if two people are in true love, why should I not get revenge for her?”


  Ding Ning and Zhangsun Qianxue stilled, exchanging a look.

  The black-robed man continued. “No matter if it is the Gongsun Family or the Xiao Family, while both families were destroyed by the cruel tactics of Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu, but before this, there was one Zhou Family who were punished for opposing the reformation. The people in charge of the Zhou Family were executed, their property confiscated, and family members sent to Zhushan Commandery. One miss of the Zhou Family was full of worry and fury, and during the journey, she became ill. At the time, I was still cultivating in the You Mountain, by the time I learned and went to get her, she had died of her sickness.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue paled. She finally understood this story.

  “I have a mountain in my family, I planted many roses on the mountain, all of them her favorite color. I waited for the flowers to bloom to marry her, and live there with her. But before her favorite flowers could bloom, she was gone.”


  The black-robed man slowly turned his head, and looked with great dislike in the direction of Changling. He said, “When I lost her, the pain I felt is something I think you will understand. All these ambitions had no meaning to me then. In the end, the family was full of scheming, and there were not many good people. So what if they died? But she was kind and innocent. If not for Ba Mountain Sword Field, if not for Wang Jingmeng’s rule with his sword to push the Shang Family into the reformation, how come she would have died during exile? When she died, I was not by her side. How much pain and helplessness did she feel?”


  “So if there is an enemy that I have to kill, it should be the Ba Mountain Sword Field.” The black-robed man slowly said, “I follow my innermost desire, it has nothing to do with other things. After many years, who will remember many things of the past? People only call me Ye Xiao now so who will remember a person like her? But I do.”


  Ding Ning had been silent for a long time. When this black-robed man stopped speaking, he took a deep breath and then said, “It is not possible to organize favors and grudges. One can only follow their strongest desire.”


  The black-robed man nodded. He looked down imposingly at Ding Ning. At this time, the sorrow in his eyes faded, and his eyes flashed with the light of intelligence, strength, and confidence. At this time, he was no longer an ordinary person thinking back to his past sorrows, but Ye Xiao, the emperor of the darkness, who controlled the forces of many old nobility. He looked at Ding Ning like he was an emperor.

  “I admire you greatly,” he said softly in a sincere tone. “If I had not spent more than a decade acting so Ba Mountain Sword Field would trust me, and let me learn some news about the eldest Miss Gongsun, I fear that even I could not have found where the Nine Death Silkworm is, and not guess that you will appear with her here.”


  The wind and snow intensified. The change in the killing intent caused Zhangsun Qianxue to lose control of the power of the Nine Hell King Sword. With each energy vibration, the coldness in the air grew, and the falling snowflakes grew bigger. There was gray and black snow, pale lantern light, and the world seemed to be black and white.

  The Donghu monk who had been more silent than Ding Ning moved slightly. He went to brush away the snow that had gathered on the top of his head.

  Too much talk was not likable. Especially to a cultivator like him. After saying so much, everything still depended on who could kill Ding Ning.

  So he looked at Ye Xiao and said, “Which of you can kill him?”


  Ye Xiao’s appearance meant that more grandmasters would have silently arrived and surrounded this place. But his words were matter of fact. With him here, who could kill Ding Ning? He qualified to say such things.

  But when he said such things, a strange look appeared on Sima Cuo’s face. Then he said softly and seriously, “Demon Consort Zhao is not the only one who will come to the battlefield.”