[Wushuang] Chapter 185
You are about to die soon.

Trigger Warning: Body horror (Main Villain)

Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu couldn’t have guessed that this underground maze was another universe entirely, to the point where beneath this one layer, another one existed.

Within a short amount of time, mishap once again befell over them. The ground collapsed under Cui Buqu’s feet and he fell from a high place before finally landing heavily onto the ground.

Suddenly, intense pain engulfed his entire body. He wasn’t able to think clearly and couldn’t help but let out a low groan, feeling that his shoulder might have snapped.

Compared to his shoulder, his back sustained an even more intense pain. His old injuries brought up his old diseases and he couldn’t stop coughing. A raw and salty taste surged up his throat and before he could stop himself, he had spat out two mouthfuls of blood.

The sound of breathing resounded within the darkness. It wasn’t only his, but Xiao Lu’s as well.

No longer having the effort to look at Xiao Lu, Cui Buqu quietly laid down as he waited for that wave of pain and the spinning in his head to pass.

After a long time, he heard Xiao Lu say, “You are about to die.”

Xiao Lu was neither cussing nor mocking him, for his tone was very calm.

He could hear that piece of truth from Cui Buqu’s breaths.

When Cui Buqu was inhaling, his breaths had been heavy, just like someone who needed to labouringly inhale a breath into their body, yet they weren’t strong enough to do so.

He guessed that Cui Buqu’s lungs were burning like scorching fire, but it were not only his internal organs the only things that were burning—even the last moments of Cui Buqu’s life were gradually burning away.

This person was born defective and handicapped. He should’ve originally been someone that shouldn’t have lived long, but he had insisted on dragging this broken body of his back from the brink of death for a whole thirty-years. He had forcibly stolen thirty years of life from the hands of God.

It was a pity that all that has been taken must be returned. To defy the mandate of Heavens one must endure these pains that were difficult to describe in words.

Xiao Lu knew that not a single day passed in these thirty years that Cui Buqu didn’t have to endure pain from his body. Even if he was in a better condition, it was impossible for him to live the life of ordinary people who are healthy.

What was the faith that Cui Buqu held onto to insist on living such a life?

Xiao Lu was very confused.

If everything Cui Buqu did was for the sake of someone else, then how could he cling onto life until now?

Regardless, he wanted an answer from Cui Buqu.

Because this person was far too similar to himself.

So similar that, even at this present hour, they were in identical situations—death was near.

“I know.”

Only after half a beat, did Cui Buqu quietly answer him.

If it weren’t for Xiao Lu’s sense of hearing being superior compared to others, it was very likely that he would have missed that answer.

After speaking those words, Cui Buqu fell into another series of violent coughs.

Xiao Lu could almost imagine the sight of him bending over as he coughed so violently that his lunges were about to pop out.

Cui Buqu’s life was like a flickering flame on a candle. Because it was nearing the end of its life, it would glow brightly from time to time to create a false sense of hope, like the last radiance of a setting sun before its light would disappear forever.

Unless the Heavens deemed him worthy enough to grant him a miracle.

But, could that be possible?

Cui Buqu even needed to use all the strength from his body before he could exhale a breath of air. Then, the pain radiating from his lungs would keep his mind conscious.

As he was enveloped by this darkness filled with boundless dangers, a person comes to his mind.

That person was born from a good family and had all he wanted in life since he was little. He had the most glaringly beautiful face and the most wayward and unbridled attitude.

It was from him that Cui Buqu realized the true meaning of living in the light of the sun.

With each step Cui Buqu took that brought him closer to Feng Xiao, Cui Buqu realized it had also brought him closer to companionship, towards a sense of belonging which made him feel that he was no longer alone.

That person was neither gentle, nor was he kind, he had even annoyed Cui Buqu at all times around the clock.

But it was because of this attitude of his, that Cui Buqu never failed to spend his time on him, to avoid falling into the pits he’d dug for him.

Although he was very annoying, he was also filled with life.

And yet, he would never say these words to that person in question.

Otherwise, it would boost that person’s ego for life and from time to time he’d remind him of it.

For the sake of his ears, he’d keep it to himself.

It was unknown how long had passed before Cui Buqu’s pain greatly lessened.

He slowly raised his elbow as he laboriously fished out a firestarter and lit it bright.

It only managed to make a small ambit around him visible with its light. Cui Buqu very quickly realized that they were fissures very close to each other on the ground, appearing to be the cause of an earthquake. However, if he were to take a closer look, these fissures looked alive. They stacked on top of one another and repeated the sequences without fail.

He calmed himself down and immediately turned away, refusing to look at it any longer.

Taking his current condition into consideration, these few looks had caused him a massive headache and his world had begun to spin so much that he could not even sit properly.

“This pattern on the ground appears to be an array…. Cough cough, how much do you know about this underground palace?”

Cui Buqu did not wait for Xiao Lu’s answer.

He realized just then that the other hadn’t spoken for a very long time.

“Xiao Lu?”

“Ugh….”

A voice sounded from nearby.

Cui Buqu frowned, “Are you alright?”

If anything happened to Xiao Lu, then it would be even more difficult for them to leave this place.

“I’m poisoned.”

Xiao Lu’s sigh reached him, yet he sounded so calm that it would make one suspicious of whether he was lying or not.

Cui Buqu paused for a moment, “How did it happen?”

Xiao Lu, “When we fell just now, there was poison on the wall. If you don’t believe me, you can come here and take a look.”

Cui Buqu did not speak.

Xiao Lu smiled, “Why? As things have progressed until this disastrous state, are you still afraid that I am lying to you?”

Cui Buqu expressionlessly said, “You too know that I am about to die. All the strength I’ve left now is used to talk to you.”

Xiao Lu sighed again, and after a while, he slowly rose to his feet and walked towards Cui Buqu.

They were quite far apart. He knew that something was wrong with the ground, and so he trod carefully.

All of a sudden, there was a sneer.

Cui Buqu’s fire lit the place, and he saw sharp needles rising from the ground beneath Xiao Lu’s feet.

Considering Xiao Lu’s martial prowess, it was not difficult for him to avert this trap. However, when he leapt into the air, Cui Buqu caught sight of the obvious freeze of his posture in midair, his skills not as smooth as they were before.

Xiao Lu narrowly avoided the trap in just centimetres and spared himself the fate of turning into the flesh on a stake.

Xiao Lu came to Cui Buqu’s side and slowly sat down, his breath heavy and rushed.

He reached out with a hand.

Under the firelight, Cui Buqu could clearly see the dark spots on his hand. They were splotches of red and purple, and a part of it had already turned black.

Cui Buqu was taken aback. He recalled that after Xiao Lu pulled him away from the pagoda and both of them fell down, Xiao Lu seemed to have used his palm against the stone walls to give himself a push.

“Why don’t you force the poison out?”

Xiao Lu sighed and said, “Because my body had long been poisoned by another kind of poison.”

He used his poisoned hand to pull back his other sleeve.

Under his sleeve was an arm that had dried up similar to a tree branch. It was wrinkled like a wilted plant and as thin as a chopstick.

Even if Cui Buqu had seen it before, he remained taken aback by its sight.

This wasn’t a hand that should belong to a human, and it shouldn’t have belonged to someone like Xiao Lu.

But this wasn’t what Xiao Lu wanted Cui Buqu to see.

He continued to roll his sleeve up further.

Cui Buqu could see that further up the arm was ordinary, but it was tainted with an unusual purple.

“What’s this?”

“This toxin has been there since I was born. These years, I’ve only been using martial arts to stop them from acting up. In the last battle I fought with Feng Xiao, after being heavily wounded, I was unable to break through my martial limits and almost went into qi deviation. You should be able to feel that my wounds have not completely healed and my martial arts were only sixty to seventy percent of what it was before. Now, I can no longer control it.”

The toxin that was there before would only continue to spread, and now that he’s poisoned with something else, Xiao Lu almost failed to escape such an easy trap like that one just now.

Cui Buqu, “What’s the worst scenario?”

Xiao Lu smiled and said, “There is no worse scenario. I have only one path ahead of me, and it is death.”

Cui Buqu coldly said, “You could have originally chosen to remain in seclusion and nurse yourself back to health, instead of creating troubles here.”

Xiao Lu, “There’s no time for that now. After my secluded mediation failed, I know what state of condition I am here. Since I’ve failed to surpass my martial limits, and the toxin in me is beyond cure, I no longer have the chance to reach higher. Every path would only lead me to death, and that I could only choose to fight for my right to watch everything I’ve schemed for all these years fall into place and fulfil my lifelong wish.”

Cui Buqu coldly snorted, “Your lifelong wish is something that harms others and not beneficial to yourself!”

Xiao Lu started coughing.

Perhaps it was because his toxin had started acting up. He no longer answered Cui Buqu as he turned around to close his eyes, sit down, and regulate his breathing.

Cui Buqu tossed a porcelain bottle over, and Xiao Lu caught it.

“Bingzhi Pellets. It could prolong your toxin from spreading. If you don’t believe it, you can choose not to eat it.”

Xiao Lu uncapped it and sniffed at it. He hadn’t contemplated for long before he tipped his head back and poured all the Bingzhi Pellets into his mouth.

At this moment, among the two of them, neither of them really have a reasonhave much reason to suspect the other anymore.

Very quickly, Xiao Lu felt better.

“This medicine of yours is very effective.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Let us go out first before further discussion.”

After Xiao Lu accepted the firestarter from his hand, he fished out an acupuncture needle and pierced the firestarter with it then threw it into the distance.

The acupuncture needle flew over his head and towards the opposite direction, piercing into the stone walls.

The light quickly died out, but it was enough to allow the two of them to see the vague structure of this place.

Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu both were shocked by the sight at the same time.

……

Feng Xiao and Tuan Qinghe had been fighting for nearly an hour.

Neither of them could defeat the other, neither was it easy to wound the other either.

And Tuan Qinghe appeared to have realized that Feng Xiao’s martial arts seemed to have improved greatly compared to when he was in the streets of Chang’an yesterday.

That was a very strange occurrence.

Because martial arts involved talk of basics, as well as talents, and more than that, instincts.

Ordinary practitioners of the martial arts would find it incredibly difficult to improve drastically within a few days, and practitioners who have reached their highest level would find it difficult even to improve an inch further. They would have needed the advantages of Heaven’s time, advantages of the terrain, as well as the people’s harmony.

Yet, Feng Xiao managed to do it.

If he’d held back during the last time, then within this short period of time, what had he managed to achieve?

How could that be possible?

Tuan Qinghe dispelled all irrelevant thoughts from his head.

He believed that his chances of victory with Feng Xiao were fifty-fifty.

Then it shouldn’t be a problem to contest him with just their own capabilities.

Someone had walked up close to them.

Both of them realized it, but neither of them cared.

Because that was Yuwen Yihuan, the person who was next to Xiao Lu just a moment ago. She hadn’t followed Xiao Lu in search for the bogus Emperor and had remained here instead.

She had been observing their battle although very quickly, she wasn’t able to catch up.

All of Yuwen Yihuan’s martial arts were taught to her by Xiao Lu. Her talents were only ordinary, so naturally, she could not achieve the same level of martial arts as Xiao Lu. However, it truly makes one different to have a prestigious teacher. Although she wasn’t distinctively a first-class martial artist in the Jianghu, she was arguably one.

She was controlling her own breathing, using all of her effort to make them undetectable to avoid Feng Xiao from paying her any attention.

As both of their palms clashed once more, Yuwen Yihuan finally found the chance and lunged forward at Feng Xiao’s back!

From her sleeve, the glare of a sword flashed!

Translator and Editor’s Note

This chapter is brought to you by our tears.

From the translator: I want to thank everybody but the well wishes in the previous post. It helped lower down stress a bit to see readers not being pushy, and I’m very grateful for it!! ❤

[Wushuang] Chapter 186
Cui Buqu, do you dare to take the risk?

Yuwen Yihuan was determined to achieve it.

At that moment, she was not even three cun away from Feng Xiao, the flashing item in her sleeve had shot out and was just about to pierce Feng Xiao from behind.

But something unexpected happened.

Feng Xiao, who was originally battling with Tuan Qinghe, suddenly withdrew himself and retreated.

He turned around instead and leapt upwards.

The hidden weapon pierced through the spot where Feng Xiao stood just now and hit thin air!

Yuwen Yihuan revealed an expression of shock and disbelief.

“I don’t need any dirty tricks to obtain my own victory.”

Tuan Qinghe’s ice-cold words floated past Yuwen Yihuan’s ears. She felt a piercing pain from her back and, abandoning everything, she immediately leapt out of harm’s way.

But if Feng Xiao wanted to take her life, how could she escape from it? Yuwen Yihuan’s body fell from the air like a kite whose string had snapped.

Even if she had formerly blocked it off with her qi and had managed to save her own life, it was unavoidable for her to spit out a few mouthfuls of blood. Her internal organs have been injured and there was nothing that could be done of it.

Yuwen Yihuan’s chest raised and fell and stared deathly at Feng Xiao and Tuan Qinghe as she laboriously retreated backwards.

“Tuan Qinghe…. You betrayed my adopted brother’s alliance!”

“It was Kuhezhen who formed an alliance with him, not me.” Tuan Qinghe looked at her with an unwavering gaze as if he was staring at a rock or a tree.

Just as Feng Xiao wanted to annihilate all roots of his enemies, Yuwen Yihuan loudly shouted, “I know what ploys Kuhezhen assembled down there. If you want to rescue Cui Buqu, you should let me live!”

As expected, Feng Xiao’s footsteps stopped.

At that moment, Yuwen Yihuan quickly cut an opening between her brows and stuffed a black coloured worm into the wound. Then, she turned to the two of them and flashed a sinister smile before flipping backwards and falling into the deep pit so quickly that even Feng Xiao was a step too late.

Feng Xiao didn’t hesitate as he followed her down.

“Stop!” Tuan Qinghe’s expression changed.

He had not participated in Kuhezhen’s underground palace scheme, but he knew in general how much effort Kuhezhen had placed into it. He wanted to capture everyone in one fell swoop and make sure they died inside, to be locked in for eternity.

Tuan Qinghe was unwilling to watch Feng Xiao leap to his death. To him, that wasn’t only his enemy, but he was also his match.

Enemies could be found everywhere, but a fitting match was hard to come by.

But he couldn’t stop Feng Xiao; the latter quickly vanished from his sight.

Tuan Qinghe’s gaze flickered in his eyes and finally, he followed, leaping down together!

……

A bright light flashed and vaguely lit up a scene.

Not far off from Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu, atop some bronze stairs was a copper pillar standing tall. There were plenty of patterns engraved on it and because the firestarter had flown too quickly, they hadn’t been able to clearly see.

But below the pillar, gathering closely to one another, was a small number of bones. Those bones had changed colours over the years and turned ashen but such a sight was quite impactful to onlookers.

Daxingshan Temple was originally a place of Buddhist ethics. These bones should not have shown up here. Even if Kuhezhen went further, he could not have gathered so many dead people within such a short amount of time. A few years ago, this piece of land was the capital of several dynasties. It was very difficult to turn it into burial mounds. Unless all of these events took place even earlier than they had imagined.

Surrounding the bronze stage was a countless number of cracks spreading apart all the way to where they stood.

“This place must have been a sacrificial altar of our ancestors. Perhaps because the ground had sunk, it was originally intended to be built underground, and most likely, over those years their descendants didn’t know about it before building this temple.” Xiao Lu theorized.

“Perhaps the head of the temple knew of this place, and that is why they’d built the temple to overcome malice with kindness.” Cui Buqu said, “However, there’s no need to bother with these things. Why don’t we focus on how we should be leaving this place.”

Xiao Lu bitterly laughed, “No need to place your hopes on me. My current situation is not any better than yours. Let alone you, I’m not even confident of getting myself out of this place safely.”

Cui Buqu coughed, “But you’re smarter than most people, and that is enough. If I’m possessed by an evil spirit later, remember to wake me up.”

Xiao Lu, “Got it.”

As they were speaking, Cui Buqu once again lit a firestarter and stomached the dizziness and disgust as he forced himself to stare at the cracks on the ground.

These cracks looked layered like waves, crisscrossing one another even more beautifully than rippling waters. There was a demonic aura about it making him want to stare at it for eternity.

Not long later, these cracks moved on their own.

They stood up from the ground and lined themselves up systematically. Most of the lines were gathering themselves to form an object.

Although Cui Buqu had only seen this item for a few times, he couldn’t help finding it familiar.

The Jade of Heaven’s Lake.

In this world, if there was anything that could drastically prolong his life, the Jade of Heaven’s Lake was the only one.

But this unique precious relic had already been used up by Xiao Lu.

Or was it trying to say that there was another?

It was impossible.

After all, this place had a history even longer than Daxingshan Temple itself. Even if someone had hidden some relics here, they would not be discovered.

It was a crystal-clear stone with flowing waves of green and blue light within it as if the light from the galaxies were flickering unpredictably within a green lake, reaching into the hearts of its watchers with every skip of time.

Even people with stronger determinations could not resist such rarely seen worldly treasures.

Cui Buqu steadily looked at the Jade of Heaven’s Lake.

He closed his eyes and opened them up.

His fingers had dug deep into his palms, bringing him pain.

The Jade of Heaven’s Lake had not vanished.

It was quietly sitting not far off from him. As long as he reached out with an arm, he could get it.

Cui Buqu slightly wavered and reached out to the Jade of Heaven’s Lake.

With it, there was no need for him to worry that his life would constantly hang by a thread.

Perhaps he could gain ten more years of life, even if his body wouldn’t be in its prime, at least he’s still living.

As long as he lived, there was hope.

He could still sit beneath the sunlight, scheming after Feng Xiao and dig a few more pits for him.

He could still protect a few more people like his birth mother, people who were kind and righteous yet were too weak to protect themselves. Simply because he was Cui Buqu; his heart was tough and his methods cruel.

His sharp fingers almost touched the Jade of Heaven’s Lake, and then a warning bubbles up from his chest.

Cui Buqu didn’t know where this warning had come from, just like a shapeless string tying itself to his fingers and made him pause momentarily.

He bit down on his tongue and pain accompanied the scent of blood spread across his lips. His entire person was suddenly awake.

He gathered his senses back and then stared in front to see that the Jade of Heaven’s Lake was gone, and instead, there was a poisonous snake staring at him. Both its eyes were glowing green and it swallowed from time to time, waiting for him to deliver himself to it.

Cui Buqu’s hand froze midway and that snake didn’t move, as if it was trying to see who would give in first.

He reached out with a hand into his sleeves, took something out and tossed it at the snake. At the same time, the snake also launched at him!

Sailing midair, the snake’s body froze and hissed. It twisted its body to avoid the powder that Cui Buqu had tossed.

Those were sulphur. Before Cui Buqu entered the underground palace, he’d made full preparations. He and Zhangsun both were carrying pouches that carried sulphur on them so they could avoid most snakes and insects, but it was obviously insufficient to use against a poisonous snake at least a hundred years old.

Just in case, Cui Buqu had made the Vice Commander Song Liangchen seek out a special formula of cinnabar, mugwort and sulphur—none that weren’t arsenic in the extremes, to use against these poisonous creatures.

These poisonous creatures had fled back into the darkness, refusing to show themselves anymore.

As danger died down from his side, Cui Buqu lit his firestarter and turned to Xiao Lu.

This look made his expression change!

Just now, when he was in danger and unaware of it, Xiao Lu hadn’t woken him up.

They were enemies to begin with, and Xiao Lu would have been fine with watching him walking to his death, but to do this during such a moment was a foolish movement. It wasn’t a decision Xiao Lu would make.

Xiao Lu was not next to him, nor was he anywhere at all.

It was unknown since when the other person had finished walking across all four angles of the bronze stage and just as he was walking towards the copper pillar in the centre, he raised his head and revealed a fascinated look.

From the way Cui Buqu saw it, there was nothing fascinating above that massive pillar. It was, instead, a countless number of snakes. Some of them were hissing with their head raised high, some of them were curled around one another, taking their time slithering about. Their scales were flowing under the firelight, making him feel numb just by looking at it.

But Xiao Lu appeared to not have noticed. He walked up closer.

“Xiao Lu!” Cui Buqu yelled and took a step forward, wanting to grab his shoulder.

But then he heedlessly stepped onto a mechanism in the cracks and heard a heavy grinding around them. Suddenly, arrows shot out from all four directions!

Cui Buqu could not find a place to hide.

The arrows came in a flash!

The moment he was held, Xiao Lu’s body momentarily quivered and turned, leaping into the air and grabbing Cui Buqu.

Cui Buqu rose into the air with him and at the moment those arrows passed by, they narrowly avoided them.

He could feel the howls of those arrows as they wheezed through the air, brushing past their attire. One of them ripped a streak across the fabric on his arms, narrowly avoiding his skin.

Xiao Lu let go of him and Cui Buqu heavily fell down. Xiao Lu fell down next to him as well, his breaths heavy and it was a silent acknowledgement that he had no strength left to hold on to Cui Buqu.

Many snakes on top of the bronze pillar were killed by those arrows and more of them had fallen from shock and slithered around, including to where Cui Buqu and Xiao Lu were standing.

The two of them wasted no time speaking. They forced themselves to their feet and fled as they tumbled.

The firestarter had fallen to the ground and for a moment, it lit up those cracks.

Cui Buqu’s heart quivered.

“Lead me and follow the directions I mentioned!” He quickly urged.

Xiao Lu grabbed his arm without hesitation and leapt into the air, the tips of his toes light as he avoided all the poisonous snakes on the ground.

Cui Buqu, “Northwest1, ten steps!”

“East, six steps!”

“Southwest, eight steps!”

Xiao Lu was wealthy in knowledge and he was familiar with arrays. One Cui Buqu began speaking, he instantly knew where he was referring to.

“North… No, not north. It’s upwards, upwards in the front!”

The two of them leapt into the air and finally fell onto a cavern above the stone wall.

Xiao Lu was already completely depleted of energy. He stuck himself to an incredibly short stone wall, and couldn’t care less whether they were painted with poison. Sweat poured down his temples like rain and his face was as pale as a ghost’s.

Cui Buqu was nowhere better. But at the very least, he was not a practitioner of the martial arts and the one who injured his qi just a moment ago was not him.

After a while, Xiao Lu regained his strength a little and hoarsely said, “How did you know there is a cave here?”

Cui Buqu, “The picture of the river. This is a sacrificial altar and it must have been built according to the evolution of the river. Although death traps are all around here, there is bound to be an escape route. This is where nature’s secret lies.”

He closed his eyes and, once more, the Jade of Heaven’s Lake appeared. However, that memory was fast-forwarded and the Jade of Heaven’s Lake shattered, reforming itself into a picture.

A picture that was familiar to everyone who was educated in arrays.

“I managed to get a hint in the illusion just now, and realized that although these cracks appeared to be scattered messily, if they were rearranged, they would form the picture of a river.”

As Xiao Lu listened to him, he remained silent, offering only a bitter smile.

“The arrays you learned were more advanced than mine. When Fan Yun taught me back then, as expected, he hadn’t been fully serious.”

Cui Buqu, “No. He was no different when he taught you or me. Moreover, he once valued you and he never held back the number of things he taught you. Only, your heart wasn’t there.”

Xiao Lu was incomparably intelligent and was born with shocking talents. However, there was a flaw to every person of ambition. They set their targets too high and martial arts to them were only stepping stones. Since they had not put in all their efforts on it, then naturally, they had not paid full attention.

“You are right.” Xiao Lu didn’t deny it.

Cui Buqu, “What did you see just now when you were staring at the pillar?”

Xiao Lu, “…Everything I ever wanted. Fame, power, my limbs full, birth from a noble family, raising my fortunes single-handedly, succeeding the Imperial Throne and replacing the Emperor of Southern Chen, ruling it on the other end of the world from the Sui Dynasty before finally unifying the world.”

Cui Buqu coldly snorted, “You are too stubborn with your beliefs.”

He no longer continued chatting with Xiao Lu. He felt his body regaining a bit of strength and surveyed his surroundings.

This was a very clean cavern, albeit small.

One side was empty, leading down to the squarish bronze platform. The other three sides were stone walls and one of them was unusually smooth as if someone had worked on it.

Cui Buqu knelt and fumbled beneath the wall and indeed, he found a slight crack.

Having found the crack, it meant that this wall wasn’t made of natural cause. It was a stone door that someone had chiselled.

He wasted some efforts finding the mechanism, a stone ball in the corner which he pulled.

There was a heavy, grating sound and the stone door lifted.

Cui Buqu realized that his enemy and companion hadn’t spoken for a long time.

“Xiao Lu?”

“I fear that I won’t be leaving this place.” Xiao Lu calmly said.

Cui Buqu, “If I can, so can you.”

Xiao Lu sighed, “I’m different from you. My toxin has already infiltrated my bones. Even if I have absorbed the essence of the Jade of Heaven’s Lake, it cannot help.”

Cui Buqu, “Then what do you want to do?”

Xiao Lu said, “Regardless of what I do, I cannot escape heaven’s mandate. Why don’t I transfer the essence of the Jade of Heaven’s Lake to you? Perhaps you might have a chance?”

Cui Buqu, “The Xiao Lu that I know was a person who would not give up until the last moment.”

“To me, it’s already the last moment. Just now, I’ve already expended my last strength bringing you here. Now, I can’t even get to my feet. My legs are in so much pain that they’ve gone numb.”

Xiao Lu smiled, “But, since my entire body is toxic right now, I’m not certain if it will allow me to transfer all of my remaining strength to you.”

Cui Buqu frowned.

Xiao Lu, “Cui Buqu, do you dare to take the risk?”

[1] Here, Cui Buqu was actually referring to the positions on the Bagua, but I decided to use bearings instead for sake of visual convenience.

Translator’s Note

Double update until the end today because Editor Black Lotus says so!

[Wushuang] Chapter 187
Cui Buqu, I like you.

Trigger Warning: Dismemberment (secondary character)

As long as Xiao Lu desired it, of all the people he’d spoken to, they all couldn’t help but take him for their confidant.

Even Cui Buqu was not an exception.

But Xiao Lu knew that Cui Buqu was proud at heart.

He would not permit any form of imperfection on himself.

The most preposterous thing from all of this was that the first half of his life, from start to finish, was riddled with imperfections.

He was born from a prestigious clan, but his clan had already declined.

He was intelligent and knowledgeable, but he’d been cursed by an incompetent Emperor and was not highly valued.

He was incredibly talented and had a photographic memory. His martial levels would show up only once or twice in ten to a hundred years, and yet he was born with a toxin in his body. Even if he has a strong martial foundation on him, it could only be used to suppress his toxin at most.

His original plans began forming since he was among the court in the Southern Dynasty, because that was, after all, his place. The Chens’ powers were weak. The Southern Dynasty’s strength was complicated and there were enough opportunities for him to make use of them.

But, what felt like a thousand years ago, Yuwen Yihuan’s appearance changed his thoughts.

Back then, the Northern Zhou was still in reign. As the daughter of the Crown Prince of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yihuan was the daughter of the future Emperor.

At birth, she was mistaken to be dead and forgotten, but since she was an identical twin of the Crown Prince of Northern Zhou, her identity was extremely useful. Xiao Lu formed ties in secrecy and went on many secret campaigns to finally get himself this chance that would have otherwise been hard to come by.

The Lantern Festival that lasted for three days. The deaths of Zheng Yi and Liu Fang. The massive change of events at the manor of Prince Qin. The festival of the Buddha’s Birthday at Daxingshan Temple. As all these conditions gather together, what could have originally been a plan of perfection had changed within an abrupt spin of events.

If not for Cui Buqu and the others standing in the way, if not for Kuhezhen’s betrayal of their alliance, if not for him chasing after perfection and assassinating the Sui Emperor first, perhaps the world outside would have already begun to change.

Even then, there are not so many ‘what ifs’ in this world.

From the beginning, Xiao Lu knew that the path he had chosen was like a precipice a thousand feet high, like a sheer and steep cliff. He had no choice.

Even if he exhausted all of his strength, scheming and plotting for many years, he could not escape his fate.

To go against the mandate of the Heavens, in the end, was only but a joke.

Xiao Lu closed his eyes and, as he briefly recalled all the events in his life, a somewhat comical feeling filled his heart.

He heard Cui Buqu say, “I won’t take the risk.”

Xiao Lu smiled, “You’re afraid.”

“Yes, I am afraid.” Cui Buqu replied calmly, avoiding explaining further.

But Xiao Lu saw through his thoughts.

“Cui Buqu, I thought you knew better than others about seizing opportunities or cutting off all means of retreat. But right now, you know that you have no means of retreat left, and yet you still refuse to take the chance given to you. Why is that?”

Silence.

Cui Buqu said nothing.

Xiao Lu smiled, “You have something weighing in your heart. You’re afraid that if you took my suggestion, you’ll never make it out of this place. There is someone out there that you want to see again, am I right?”

Cui Buqu behaved as though he hadn’t heard it. “Xiao Lu, you said that we are alike. While it is true that both of us had experienced unfavourable turns in life, were born talented and were even taught by Fan Yun before, still, I have no interest in toiling storms under the Heavens, nor do I have interest in usurping a throne. I have no interest in risking my life on something that was near hopeless to begin with.”

After he’d finished speaking, he coldly stated, “If you have the strength to say such words, why don’t you get to your feet and examine the way.”

Xiao Lu sighed, “If there was hope, why does it matter that it’s only a slight possibility of success? The more you try to leave this place now, the more you need to exhaust your strength and your thoughts. Even if you refuse to take a gamble, you won’t make it very far.”

Cui Buqu wasn’t in a very favourable condition from where he stood now.

Although he looked calm and his breaths weren’t laborious, that was only because he was quietly suppressing his pain.

At this moment, if he didn’t support his body with the help of the stone walls, he might not even be able to stand.

Every breath he exhaled was like a breath of seething fire brewing in his lungs, practically setting it aflame.

The icy-cold dampness in the cavern mixing with his breaths not only failed to lighten his pain, but it had instead conflicted with it, tossing him into such agonizing state that it was difficult to describe.

Cui Buqu stomped it down, but he finally couldn’t hold it in much longer and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Xiao Lu squinted his eyes.

He was no longer capable of having an excellent vision in the dark like he used to, but by lending the light from Cui Buqu’s fire, he could vaguely see the pool of blood on the ground having a colour that almost made it seem black.

Still, Xiao Lu joked, “I couldn’t have guessed that after fighting for so long, the two of us would be dying on the same year, month, day, and place. Perhaps we might even get to know each other again in the next life.”

Cui Buqu, however, coldly snorted, “But I no longer want to see Pavillion Lord Xiao again. Please die a little further away from me so that I can have peace.”

The fire in his hands began to die out and his surrounding fell into darkness once again.

But before the light completely died out, Cui Buqu saw a scenery of light behind the stone door.

That was a tunnel with two candelabra chiselled into the walls of both its sides.

If he wasn’t wrong, they must be located on the first floor of the underground maze. With the existence of candelabrum, it could only mean that this was a path people could use. If they were to follow this tunnel forward, they might find the exit.

But the point was whether or not there would be trap mechanisms waiting for them.

Cui Buqu exhaled a foul breath. He laboriously pushed himself up with his arm and slowly stood straight.

Even if Xiao Lu refused to move forward, Cui Buqu insisted until he was out of this place.

“Don’t leave now. Stay behind with me…”

Xiao Lu taunted him from the back.

His voice was like a shapeless shackle locking up Cui Buqu’s ankles, refusing to let him advance.

It was true that Cui Buqu was truly tired.

This broken body of his could no longer endure any more hardships, and yet it was being dragged by him, crawling out from the gates of the dead, again and again, year after year.

He needed extremely rigid determination in order to command his every movement, his every thought.

But he was still slower than he was before. He felt heavy and sluggish.

“Cui Buqu, look at how hard you’re trying to leave this place. If the person you wanted to see again doesn’t want to see you, then whatever will you do?”

“You’ve been living such a hard life for so many years. Day by day you immerse yourself in aches and pain, and yet you aren’t seeking the highest places of power for yourself, so what meaning is there in your life?”

“Why don’t you die with me in this place, so that at the very least, I will not feel lonely when I reach the Yellow Spring!”

Behind him, Xiao Lu coughed uncontrollably in between speaking and laughing.

Cui Buqu didn’t bother himself with him. He didn’t look back.

He took step by step with great difficulty as he moved forward.

He passed through the stone gate, entering the tunnel. He couldn’t see his five fingers if he reached out with his hand, it was like he’s fallen into an abyss of a thousand zhang, like he’s fallen into the darkest corners of hell.

Only the pain radiating from his limbs clearly reminded him that he was still alive.

Suddenly, a gentle wind swooped from behind his back.

Cui Buqu could feel it, but he could not avoid it. His nape was quickly seized by an ice-cold hand.

“You don’t want to die with me, but I want to drag you down with me.”

Xiao Lu gently said. He sealed all his meridians and his hands slipped down his nape, supporting his back.

“Cui Buqu, even if you refuse to take the gamble, I want you to take it.”

Cui Buqu could not speak, nor move or struggle.

The damp, sinister air from a place underground that hasn’t seen the light for ten thousand years clung onto him, but Xiao Lu’s hand on his back abruptly sent a strong bundle of light into his body. All of a sudden, dozens of his bones burned as if they were turning to ash. Pain bouncing between a state of coldness and warmness repetitively twisted in him and he was unable to free himself.

His flesh and skin seemed to be tugged by invisible hooks as if they intended to tear his entire person apart. Hot waves toiled against his entire body, yet they were unable to melt down the sinister cold in his bones. Both parties could no longer hold on to it as the battle took place in Cui Buqu’s body, trying their hardest to overwhelm the other and refusing to back down unless there was a victor.

But how could the body of an ordinary person sustain such turmoil? Moreover, this body was originally fragile to begin with. It didn’t need such a searing change to take place in the first place; a light push was all it needed to crumble into ashes and dust.

He slowly blinked, aimlessly looking towards the void of nothingness in front. His pale lips involuntarily parted, wanting to let out a groan, but couldn’t in the end.

When the pain had reached its peak, his consciousness and soul could not stand it, shaking free of his body and going ahead on their own.

Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more and he could finally be free;, free from this pain of being forever ill.

Of his birth mother’s undeserved death, he has already avenged her.

The Zuoyue Bureau has Zhangsun and Song Liangchen present in them, he didn’t need to worry too much.

There are plenty of intelligent people in this world. The Imperial Court could certainly find a new Zuoyue Commander and succeed him immediately.

As for this case; Xiao Lu was about to die with him here in this underground maze. Their bones and bodies would rot in this place for eternity and in a few month’s time, they would already be unrecognizable, their faces unable to match their names.

All the love and hatred, all past grievances will slowly drift away, disappearing into nothingness.

All his insistence will be reduced into fabricated thoughts.

Look, isn’t it nice to quietly remain here? You have a nemesis like me. Even if we went to the Yellow Spring, you wouldn’t be alone.

The voice of someone he didn’t know floated into his ears, sounding persistent and gentle, yet poisonous.

In the midst of the indiscernible and chaotic darkness, Cui Buqu allowed himself to be guided as he passed through the stone door, through the long and piercing tunnel as time ceased to spin. The pain of having a battle of ice and fire in him had faded away. His body felt light, so much so that even his stride was almost surreal.

It’s been such a long time since walking felt so light and easy for him. Those wishful thoughts he harboured in the past resurfaced, even though Cui Buqu never dared to think that there would be a day where he could experience how it felt like to be a normal person again.

No, this felt even more comfortable compared to normal people. If he were to continue walking in such a way, he would be able to walk to freedom not long later…

Then he could—

Even though a shapeless force seemed to be pulling him forward, he stomped down the urge to give in and forced himself to stop.

As he stood in the darkness, there was something he seemed to have forgotten.

Something extremely important.

He hesitantly lifted his gaze to look around himself, then lowered his head, but regardless of how hard he thought, he couldn’t recall it.

Then that force came again from behind him, pushing him forward.

What in the world had he forgotten?

Panic was born in his heart as he pressed onto it, hoping for an answer in mild despair.

An object slipped out from his robes and fell onto the ground. As the jade stone hit the ground, it resounded clearly in the empty space.

The clear resound of its ringing allowed his consciousness to briefly clear.

It seemed to be a jade pendant.

He vaguely recalled a certain night after he returned to the capital. Perhaps, it was the night of the Lantern Festival. As he was making his way to the Eastern City to meet Feng Xiao, he had passed by a stall and saw a piece of jade, which he ended up buying.

On that jade was engraved the picture of a—

He frowned as he thought hard on it, searching every detail from his memory.

It seemed to be… the picture of a phoenix.

That phoenix had looked as vivid as life itself, proud with its head held high as it flew through the layers of clouds. At a single look, he knew that it reminded him of someone.

Cui Buqu was somewhat taken aback. His steps abruptly stopped. Even if that force continued to lure him forward, he refused to take another step.

There was something he needed to do.

There was someone he wanted to see.

He couldn’t die.

He didn’t want to die.

He wanted to live.

With these thoughts in mind, pain once again flowed back into his body from all perceivable angles, toiling like raging waves as if there were no limits to them.

Cui Buqu bounced in and out of consciousness. He was not even aware that blood was continuously pouring from the corner of his lips, and that his body was trembling nonstop.

He couldn’t see that Xiao Lu, who was lying behind him, had already turned into a wilted corpse with a head full of graceful hair.

The hand Xiao Lu had placed on his back had already shrivelled from its originally smooth and slender fingers. They now looked as terrible as wilted bones.

A mouthful of blood fell onto Cui Buqu’s shoulder. Xiao Lu finally let go, limping to one side.

He didn’t even have the strength to open his eyes to take a look at this turbid realm of mortals.

Once, he thought that he would refuse to resign to such fate, but when it really did come, he had instead felt an unexpected calmness, like the snowflakes falling from the sky had frozen in place.

This was not a bad place to serve as his grave. At the very least, an underground maze that was prayed to by a Buddhist temple would not be as filthy as other places.

It’s a pity that in the end, he couldn’t fight back against fate.

The corner of Xiao Lu’s lips curled; his wrinkled skin stretched, no longer as beautiful as before. Even the people closest to him might not be able to recognize him now.

His gaze retracted from the distance and fell upon Cui Buqu.

Cui Buqu, I wish you luck.

If you can’t make it, then accompany me. Perhaps in the Yellow Springs of hell, we could fight to our heart’s content.

In his muddled memory, someone had vaguely said the same words to him.

Cui Buqu could no longer tell illusion from reality, the same way he could no longer tell whether his soul had left his body, or that he was still in the living realm.

A sinister force seemed insistent on pulling his soul out of his body as his soul fought a battle with his body restlessly with both sides refusing to let go.

He strayed in the boundless darkness aimlessly in an unknown place, refusing to be tempted by that external force simply because of the sheer piece of consciousness he had left, going so far as to drag himself back.

It was unknown how long it had been since Cui Buqu felt himself slowly waking up from his body.

The pain intensified not only in his body, it even spread to his brain, like someone was disturbing the calm waters of his mind.

Without realizing it, he had lightly sighed.

That sigh of his reached far into the distance, then bounced back from the walls, resounding in the empty space.

He laboriously opened his eyes.

Naturally, what greeted him was still a sight full of darkness.

But he could sensitively feel that the other presence was no longer there.

“Xiao… Lu?”

Cui Buqu didn’t get his answer.

Quickly, the staggering sound of footsteps came from the distance.

It seemed like someone who was moving unevenly, stumbling, their footsteps sometimes heavy and sometimes light.

Who could it be?

Maybe the Sui Emperor, Zhangsun, or the gu human that Kuhezhen was breeding.

It could be Feng Xiao, or Tuan Qinghe.

But regardless whether it was a friend or a foe, he had no strength left to move.

Those footsteps drew nearer.

They had also brought a bundle of light. As the owner of those footsteps drew close, the light formed a vague silhouette.

It looked like… a girl.

Cui Buqu frowned.

His mind now found it difficult to spin its wheels. At first, he thought that it was Qiao Xian, but after a while, he recalled that he’d sent Qiao Xian to another place a long time ago. She would not be showing up here anymore.

It was not Qiao Xian, neither could it be Qin Miaoyu.

He quickly got his answer.

The other person’s footsteps stopped, panting, as the light illuminated her face.

There was a crazed look that did not fit in with a face that was originally beautiful and proper.

There was also a vertical shaped scar between her brows, as if slit open by a knife. The skin around it was twisted outwards, a trail left behind by blood streamed down the bridge of her nose. There were little bumps moving in her forehead as if something alive was wriggling in it.

Yuwen Yihuan dazedly stared at him, then moved her gaze onto Xiao Lu next to him who was no longer breathing.

“Xiao-lang1!”

Tears burst out of her eyes. Yuwen Yihuan frantically dropped to the ground and brought Xiao Lu to her arms, not even a little bit afraid of how cold and withered the other person’s body was.

Why didn’t you wait for me?

The young girl gave a soundless cry, the despair she’d experienced for half her living years all seemed to gather in both her eyes.

To her, Xiao Lu was her world. He was her everything in the first half of her life.

While she was born in a family of royalty, she had never lived a single day as a princess.

Princess Leping, Yuwen Eying, Yuwen Yun, the Sui Emperor, the Empress Dugu; these people who were her blood relatives were far too distant to her.

Even if it were Xiao Lu’s orders for her to get close to the princess and her daughter, Yuwen Yihuan had never taken them for family.

Xiao Lu was the only one who could render her completely unguarded.

Because from as far back as she could remember, this man taught her how to read and write, he taught her to fight, to scheme and plot. Even though the two of them passed off as siblings, if Xiao Lu wanted her to shed her clothes and offer herself to him, she wouldn’t have hesitated to do so.

But Xiao Lu had never made such a request. He never lacked beautiful women by his side, but all his efforts have been used in his quest to conquer all under heavens.

So much that the focus Xiao Lu placed on his nemesis, Cui Buqu, was far more than the focus he’d placed on her.

Yuwen Yihuan’s tears have run dry.

As for Xiao Lu’s body, it would never warm up again.

She slowly raised her head and glowered at Cui Buqu.

The latter looked back at her, fearless.

“Xiao-lang is already dead, but why aren’t you?”

Yuwen Yihuan placed Xiao Lu down, then gorged a very long gu worm from between her brows, and with her other hand, she reached out towards Cui Buqu, slitting the clothes below his neck in a sensual manner.

“You’ve caused Xiao-lang such misery, I cannot allow you an easy death. You should die more horribly than him to pacify the pain he will be going through in the realm of the afterlife!”

She slit open the skin below his collarbone, cutting open a bloody wound. Yuwen Yihuan approached closer with the gu worm in her hand. The latter couldn’t wait to latch itself onto Cui Buqu and suck his blood dry.

As she released it, the gu worm pounced into his flesh, relieving only half an inch of its tail.

Very quickly, its tail vanished under his skin. Yuwen Yihuan ripped his clothes open and watched as the gu worm wriggled down his chest and couldn’t help snickering a little.

“Next, I want to dig your heart out. But relax, with the gu worm present, you won’t die so quickly even if you lose your heart. Perhaps you can feel how it’s like to have your heart dug out.”

Her voice was flattering and light as she pried open Cui Buqu’s clothes, a pious look over her face.

Cui Buqu felt like his body was dissected into three parts.

One part was being ripped by the illnesses that originally existed within his body.

One part was being ripped by the martial abilities that Xiao Lu transferred to him a while ago.

The one part that remained was being ripped apart by gu poison.

All three sides were taking his body for a warfield with the intention to conquer it. In such a heated battle, no side was willing to take a step back and the result that came from this was the black blood that continuously foamed at the corner of Cui Buqu’s lips. It was obvious that his body had reached its limit, incapable of enduring any more forms of hardship.

But Yuwen Yihuan didn’t care.

She didn’t care about how much pain Cui Buqu was in. The more pain he was in, the happier she was. If Cui Buqu could describe the pain he was in at this moment, Yuwen Yihuan would only happily clap in joyous celebration.

She was focusing on fumbling around his chest, searching for the best spot to dig his heart out.

Finally, a satisfied smile spread across Yuwen Yihuan’s face.

She decided to silt open his chest vertically, then reach in to gorge his heart out.

However, all of a sudden, a sword pierced through her back.

Yuwen Yihuan seemed to have felt it, as the death bell toiled in her chest.

The other person had come from the tunnel, and she hadn’t noticed him until it was too late. One could tell how profound his martial abilities were. He was definitely not below Xiao Lu’s level of ability from before.

The moment that thought passed through her mind, the tip of the sword had already pierced her back.

There was a look of despair and confusion on Yuwen Yihuan’s face.

From the time she climbed up from the ground to stuff the gu worm into her own body, she was already prepared to be its vessel and die a painful death.

She knew that her martial abilities were weak, so she had no choice but to rely on this item to help Xiao Lu, even if it meant that she would meet a very painful end.

It’s a pity that when she finally found Xiao Lu, he was already dead.

All her efforts, all her sacrifices, were in vain, just like that.

The tip of the sword was dyed in blood, and after a moment, it was swiftly withdrawn. She aimed at him with her foot and the sword brushed across her shoulders. The young maiden’s head left her body on the spot and a splutter of blood sprayed across the stone walls as her head rolled into a distance.

An arm, on the other hand, wrapped itself around Cui Buqu’s waist.

He could vaguely hear someone calling his name. The other person repeated his name, again and again, stricken with panic and fear.

Cui Buqu forced himself to open his eyes. He wanted to say something, but instead, he vomited a mouthful of blood.

Then he saw it. Feng Xiao’s entire expression had changed.

How could the proud and arrogant Second Commander Feng ever wear an expression like this in the past?

All of a sudden, Cui Buqu wanted to laugh. He parted his lips to say, “Help me gorge the gu worm out…”

Feng Xiao couldn’t tear his eyes off the object swimming beneath the skin in his chest. He clenched his teeth. “I don’t dare to do it.”

To think there came a day when he’d say he didn’t dare.

Cui Buqu felt an even stronger urge to laugh.

“There are only two paths to choose: To die or to live.” Cui Buqu closed his eyes and calmly said, “To place my life in your hands, even if my end is death, it is something I’ll never regret.”

There was a brief ripple on Feng Xiao’s expression, as if he wanted to say something, but he’d swallowed it down.

He lit the firestarter in his hand, and lending its light, he drew a dagger from inside his sleeve. After heating it up on the fire for a while, he pointed the dagger at Cui Buqu’s chest, but then he hesitated.

“Quick…”

The gu worm seemed to wiggle even deeper. Cui Buqu could feel all his muscles cram, his consciousness fading.

Feng Xiao didn’t dare to hesitate anymore. He fixed his gaze onto a spot where the gu worm was wriggling, raised his hand, and down the knife went. A black worm was wriggling in a pool of blood, trying its best to hide, but Feng Xiao caught it with both his fingers, then pulled it out.

“Hnn…”

Cui Buqu was in so much pain that his eyelids unfurled, his pale face oozing with cold sweat, his eyes losing their focus.

After Feng Xiao gorged the gu worm out, he instantly burned it to death with fire. Then he wrapped his arms around Cui Buqu’s waist and helped him up, leaving Yuwen Yihuan’s corpse behind.

Cui Buqu felt himself being taken away in a blur. Those arms holding him were very steady, trying their best not to let him feel bumpy as they moved.

Had it been a year ago, when he first met Feng-er in the City of Six Crafts, Feng-er would have never been so thoughtful towards him. Cui Buqu suddenly caught himself missing it.

The other person seemed to think that the poison in him was taking effect. He stopped and lowered his head to nervously ask, “Is something wrong?”

Cui Buqu, “I’m fine.”

As long as he could still withstand the pain, he deemed all to be fine.

Feng Xiao placed him down.

Cui Buqu asked, “How did you find me?”

Feng Xiao, “I followed Yuwen Yihuan along the way. Without her gone, she will fester into a threat. I didn’t expect to run into you.”

After he and Tuan Qinghe leapt into the underground maze, the two of them fought for a while, but quickly lost each other after a brief collapse of the maze. Feng Xiao turned and waddled his way around, managing to escape death a few times. It was owed to his exemplary martial prowess that his dangers only resulted in fear.

At this moment, it was instead Zhangsun who was being pursued by the human gu and ran into Tuan Qinghe.

The human gu could no longer tell who his enemies were, hence he wouldn’t let Tuan Qinghe go simply because he was a friend of Kuhezhen. Zhangsun and the Sui Emperor had instead taken the opportunity to escape after being pursued for so long.

“I met them at the front. Zhangsun has found a way out. I allowed him to deliver His Majesty into safety first, then I continued looking for you, running into Yuwen Yihuan in the end.”

He spoke swiftly, describing these things without going into detail, and speaking of his danger as if it was merely small talk.

Because Feng Xiao knew that Cui Buqu would make up his mind to ask, and Feng Xiao would have no choice but to answer them. However, these were not the things he wanted to spend his energy on.

Cui Buqu has seen Feng Xiao’s many faces, but he has never seen him in such a nervous state.

“That means that Tuan Qinghe is still in here, and he isn’t dead yet.” Cui Buqu said.

“I hope he’s entangled with the human gu and has killed each other. Best not let him show up in front of me ever again.” Feng Xiao answered.

Cui Buqu faintly smiled. “It seems like this wish of yours won’t be able to come true.”

At the end of the tunnel, a person appeared.

He was holding a lantern, as he slowly walked up to them from afar.

If he was killed by the human gu, then Tuan Qinghe didn’t live up to his name.

Feng Xiao sighed, “That persistent geezer!”

But he wasn’t in a hurry to fight with the other person. He instead took out a jade pendant that he’d picked up somewhere, and passed it to Cui Buqu.

“Just now, you dropped this.”

Cui Buqu eyed the phoenix on the jade pendant and shook his head.

“Not mine.”

Feng Xiao, “Then whose is it?”

Cui Buqu expressionlessly said, “Perhaps it’s Yuwen Yihuan’s?”

Feng Xiao was driven into furious laughter. “Would it kill you to speak the truth?”

Cui Buqu, “I really am going to die soon.”

Feng Xiao’s expression abruptly turned aghast.

Cui Buqu instantly changed the subject. “However, if you win against Tuan Qinghe, perhaps I might speak the truth that you always wanted to hear.”

Feng Xiao, “I hope that when I come back, I will get to see you alive and well, speaking to me.”

Cui Buqu nodded in seriousness. “I will try my best.”

Feng Xiao lowered his head to kiss him. This time, Cui Buqu didn’t pull away, perhaps due to having no strength left in him at all. Leaning against the stone walls, he lifted his head slightly to meet the other’s demand.

After a while, both of them separated. Feng Xiao kept the jade pendant into his lapels and walked up to Tuan Qinghe.

Cui Buqu watched his rear as he slowly closed his eyes.

Tuan Qinghe stood in his place. He knelt to place the lantern aside.

“If it was possible, I’d hope that this battle between us could take place above ground.”

Feng Xiao rolled his eyes. “Do you think this old man wants to fight you here at all?”

Tuan Qinghe seriously nodded his head. “Since this is inevitable, then, we could also strive to win with our own capabilities.”

Feng Xiao snorted, and without saying another word, he moved like lightning, lunging himself at his enemy.

Both of them engaged in a ferocious fight.

One of them used pure strength, and the other was using zither strings.

With his dazzling sword glares that far outweighed the enemy’s aura, Feng Xiao leapt in a flutter of sleeves, creating the image of a lonesome figure in the midst of toiling waves and crumbling mountains.

But from inside his sleeve, a zither string shot out, breaking through the screen created by the enemy’s sword. Tuan Qinghe was forced to change his approach. He leapt into the air as well, the weight of his sword clashing down like a gathering of raven-black clouds.

Feng Xiao drew a soft sword from his waist, and with a flicker of his wrist, the sword straightened from the qi that flowed into it with a freezing aura.

The heavy glare of a knife hammered down like a tiger pouncing out of its mountain in a hungry attempt to seize its prey. The force was unstoppable. All of a sudden, it resembled the thundering clouds in the sky, churning in preparation for an impending storm to make all walking lives on earth kneel before it.

Even Cui Buqu, who was sitting far away, could feel its killing intent surging wave after wave, enough to make one dumbstruck with astonishment.

Cui Buqu had never seen Hulugu, who lived in fame for a decade, but he has once heard Fan Yun mentioning Hulugu’s martial approach.

Back then, Fan Yun had even demonstrated it himself. Although he wasn’t like the original and neither could he flawlessly mimic him, Cui Buqu could tell from just a few moves that this was truly the swift and fierce ways of the number one fighter under the Heavens.

As for Tuan Qinghe; this person was a young man who has never once stepped into the Central Plains. Although his martial arts were formerly taught by Hulugu, there were differences.

Tuan Qinghe was someone who spent most of his years training atop snowy mountains. Other than the path of martial arts, his heart harboured nothing else. A heart purely devoted to martial arts was clearly reflected in his martial abilities. Although his manner of fighting wasn’t showy, they had instead made him appear ethereal and otherworldly.

In future days to come, this person would most certainly surpass his master and turn into the grandmaster of his generation.

However, this wouldn’t happen at any time soon.

The enemy in front of him did not look even a little bit inferior.

Although Feng Xiao seldom meddled in affairs of the Jianghu, his talents were not beneath him. Not long ago, he had just managed a breakthrough and alleviated his martial arts to attain a new degree.

As the two of them engaged in a toiling battle of storms, other than Cui Buqu, it was a pity that there was no audience.

Feng Xiao could not guarantee that he would win.

He clearly knew that Tuan Qinghe and he had around the same strength. This also meant that his chance of success was fifty-fifty.

Any small amount of misjudgement or the faintest mistake could turn this fight into a loss.

He couldn’t lose.

There was still someone behind him.

As the sword slowly descended from above, Feng Xiao remained unmoving.

He wasn’t in a hurry to avoid the enemy’s attack.

Because he couldn’t find where the enemy was.

When the sword glare filled his gaze, in reality, they were only distractions. If he failed to discern reality and illusion, then the next stab would likely strike on him.

Feng Xiao suddenly leapt into the air.

He thrust his sword into a certain direction.

From where his sword struck, it became one with his body.

His body and the glare of his sword had merged into one, piercing through the screen of the enemy’s knife.

Within an instant, a sphere of light suddenly burst into sight. The two bodies entangled with each other and then separated, landing onto a platform that stuck out from the stone walls.

There was a long bloody wound stretching from Tuan Qinghe’s right shoulder to the left side of his stomach, as blood dripped down.

Feng Xiao sustained a bloody scar across his arm, spreading across his clothes.

Both of their faces were pale. It was obvious their wounds weren’t the only external wounds they endured.

If they were to continue fighting, there wouldn’t be a second ending other than a pyrrhic victory.

Feng Xiao didn’t want to die in this place. He still wanted to bring someone out.

But he would never say these words aloud. Instead, he told Tuan Qinghe. “Something is weighing in your heart. Your spirit is not in this fight.”

Tuan Qinghe’s expression faintly changed, obviously proving Feng Xiao right.

Feng Xiao, “Why don’t we fight again another day.”

After a moment, Tuan Qinghe said, “When?”

Feng Xiao, “In three years. Three years later on this day, I will meet you at the golden peak of Mount Emei.”

Tuan Qinghe said nothing, as he turned and left. He was incredibly quick, vanishing into the darkness within a blink.

Feng Xiao could tell that he was in a hurry since the other person didn’t even care to hide his urgency. He had even refrained from stopping his bleeding wound first.

Feng Xiao observed where Tuan Qinghe stood just now, then saw Yuwen Yihuan’s corpse, and then he seemed to have understood something.

But he didn’t want to spend time thinking about others. He didn’t stop as he limped to Cui Buqu’s side, then abruptly paused as he bent down and picked up the other person in his arms in the most gentle gesture he had ever done in his life.

He couldn’t help himself from placing his hand on the other person’s chest, and after feeling a faint warmth radiating from it, he relaxed.

Feng Xiao softly asked, “I’ll carry you out. Alright?”

Cui Buqu stirred and eyed him, then closed his eyes and nodded his head.

Feng Xiao carried him and slowly walked step by step, although he was also in a bit of a hurry.

“Promise me that when we leave the maze, you’ll still be awake.”

A moment passed.

Perhaps, a long moment had passed.

Only then did Feng Xiao hear a sigh coming from his back.

“I promise you.”

Cui Buqu never made empty promises, but once he did, he would keep his word.

However, Feng Xiao not only refused to relax just because of this promise, but he had also become even more worried instead.

No one knew better than him how determined Cui Buqu was about living, but no one knew better than him how gravely wounded Cui Buqu was as well.

Even if he could survive, how much did his body endure to sustain wounds such as these?

Even if he had to beg all the physicians under the Heavens, it was something that can only be done if they left this place.

“If you keep your promise, I will tell you something.”

“…Hm?”

“Cui Buqu, I like you. If you live, then I can deign myself to spend the rest of my life with you. If you die, then even if the members of the Zuoyue Bureau bury you, I will unroot your grave so that your soul will never be reincarnated.”

Feng Xiao’s voice was cold, so cold that it could freeze anyone in place.

Cui Buqu, however, faintly smiled.

He didn’t know whether it was the Jade of Heaven’s Lake from Xiao Lu’s martial arts that was taking effect, or perhaps it was poison combating with poison. After he’d lived through the most painful moments of his life, he didn’t feel so bad right now.

But he had no intention to confess so quickly.

If he could enjoy watching the Second Commander Feng confess and bend his knee, why not enjoy it a moment longer?

At the very least… Once they got out, he’ll pit him one time less and call it a day.

Author’s Notes

The main story is finished!

[1] 郎: lang with a romantic connotation.

Translator’s Note

It’s been a long journey for us & Wushuang. I remember when I started translating it back in November 2019 for a friend, I had no idea a huge danmei/translation community exist. So, the journey has been very …. wild and experiencing haha. But I am glad to finally finish translating such a long novel, and to have also earned some skills along the way. Some of you have been following Wushuang since I was a newbie translator and stuck with me until the end, and I appreciate it – it means a lot to someone who is just trying to find my way through how everything works alone. Of course, I also want to thank Black Lotus, my editor, for helping me edit since Chapter 90 and then for the both of us to learn together along the way. It has been an honour to work with you. After this, I will be slowly finishing the extras, then move on to Zuoyu. 🙂

But with how MXS left the ending, we know it’s only our journey with Fengcui has ended, but they will continue to live the rest of their lives together.

Editor’s note

I’m very happy to have taken part in presenting everyone with this novel, I hope you liked it as much as we did! I tried my best to clear out any errors but if you find anything while reading please do comment! Cya ya’ll!