Chapter 160: 159

Chapter 159 – Fenglin, The Dead Country

“Now, tell me what’s beneath the Swordsmith Court,” said Gu Suihan flatly as he poured himself another cup of tea and gently rapped the table with his knuckles.

“Yes, sir.” Elder Yan quickly understood his new position in relation to Gu Suihan, so he bent his head and bowed slightly as he responded, “The basement is the furnace for forging swords, and it is linked to the fire from the earth.”

“And?” said Gu Suihan with his eyes closed.

“And…and…it’s also where…the formation eye of the formation…that protects the Youthful Clarity Sect is.”

Elder Yan was conflicted as to whether he should tell Gu Suihan the truth or not and stuttered through his entire sentence. But once he finished saying it, he felt much more relaxed. Or perhaps relieved was a better word.

“The formation eye…” murmured Gu Suihan. He gave Elder Yan an approving look and said firmly, “I hear the inter-sect exchange between the seven major sects will happen in a year from now. During this year, you will still be Elder Yan of the Youthful Clarity Sect.”

“The inter-sect…exchange?” repeated Elder Yan. He suddenly shuddered and looked at Gu Suihan with a start.

When he saw the faint smile on Gu Suihan’s flawless face, he felt a chill rise from within his heart. “Yes, sir!”

“Refashion this sword into a saber.” Gu Suihan placed Questioning Heaven on the table, then stuffed a piece of parchment paper into the hands of the old man. He patted the old man’s shoulders without saying anything and left.

After a long time, Elder Yan finally snapped out of his thoughts. He looked down at the drops of perspiration that had collected on the floor and felt like the wrinkles on his face had become deeper.

“After going one big round, I finally got what I wanted, I guess?” Gu Suihan had a slight smile on his face as he turned to glance at the Swordsmith Court. There was a strange gleam in his eyes that shone like fireworks.

“Big brother!” Shuang’er’s youthful voice resounded in Gu Suihan’s ears, causing his expression to freeze for a moment. His smile faded, and he had an indifferent expression on his face again.

“Junior brother Gu, why are you here?” Jingjing’s clear and gentle voice came along with a lovely fragrance.

“I just came to take a look.” Gu Suihan narrowed his eyes and continued to behave frostily toward them.

Shuang’er couldn’t help but bow her head sadly when she noticed how Gu Suihan’s expression remained as unfriendly as before.

Jingjing patted Shuang’er’s ponytail and said to Gu Suihan in a rather unhappy voice, “We’ve taken up the sect’s mission to investigate the plague that’s affected Fenglin. Do you want to come along with us to gain some experience?”

At the same time, she spoke to Gu Suihan via telepathy, “Shuang’er has been very depressed because of you, so I hope you can come along and cheer her up. Bringing you here was my fault to begin with, not hers. But you’ve been here for two years now, and I think you’ve straightened your thoughts out by now. Or rather, I believe you can sense how much the sect looks after you. It’s time you let go of the past.”

Gu Suihan frowned deeply, and his first instinct was to tell them no, but when he noticed Shuang’er’s timid but hopeful expression, an idea struck him, and he said, “Alright then.”

“Yay!” Shuang’er’s little face instantly lit up. She leaped into Jingjing’s arms excitedly and jumped about.

Along the way, Gu Suihan’s stiff expression seemed to be influenced by Shuang’er’s bright laughter. His expression slowly became gentler on his fair and smooth face, shining like a pearl and exuding a fatal charm.

His brilliant eyes were like the stars and looked like they could pierce right through one’s heart.

Jingjing held Shuang’er’s hand and looked down at the capital city of Fenglin, which was strewn with corpses. There were no signs of life, and it was now filled with a vengeful hatred of the people who once lived here. She murmured, “The cultivator who did this…must be completely out of his mind, don’t you think so?”

“Perhaps.” Gu Suihan had no expression on his face and looked unaffected.

“Shuang’er told me before,” said Jingjing as she turned to look at Gu Suihan’s pretty profile with a conflicted look in her eyes, “she…seems to find you very familiar.”

“Is that so?” Gu Suihan turned to look at her. His shiny black eyes beneath his long eyelashes flashed with just enough gentleness.

Jingjing’s expression slowly relaxed. The tinge of suspicion in her eyes earlier instantly disappeared when she looked into his bright eyes.

“Perhaps it’s…fate,” said Gu Suihan quietly as he patted Shuang’er’s head.

Jingjing blinked a few times in silence. She had a slightly curious look on her face as she said, “Junior brother, I heard that you hardly enter the skills and techniques library. Instead, you’re often found inside the library of historical records.”

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“I have some interest in the mysteries of ancient times,” said Gu Suihan slowly.

“In that case, do you know what tactic could have been used to cause this tragedy?” Jingjing had a depressed look on her face, and she let out a sad sigh.

Gu Suihan took note of these things and asked quietly, “Did you have family living here?”

Jingjing stared at Gu Suihan in surprise and nodded. “Yes, I did. My parents passed away when I was very young, and it was my grandfather who brought me up. My family wanted to force me into marrying some rich wastrel, but my grandfather was against it, so he insisted on sending me to the Youthful Clarity Sect instead. In fact, it would have been his birthday in a few days’ time.” Tears streamed down her face as she uttered the last sentence and reflected the colors of the rainbow in the sunlight.

“That’s…too bad,” said Gu Suihan with a soft sigh. He did not seize this chance to pull her into his arms and show her concern. Instead, he merely replied flatly, “I don’t know what tactic could have been used. The books I read from the library did not mention anything like this.”

Jingjing secretly rolled her eyes at Gu Suihan and let out a long sigh. It was hard to tell if she was sighing because she was upset about her grandfather or if she was upset about how oblivious the young man next to her was.

“Let’s take a closer look inside. We might find something.”

Jingjing felt something scratching against her palm. She looked down to see Shuang’er throwing her a look of disdain. She felt embarrassed and flicked the little girl’s head as she hissed, “Don’t you dare judge me!”

“I heard that the plague spread from the palace,” remarked Gu Suihan nonchalantly.

“The palace?” Jingjing’s eyes lit up. After searching through the rubble and leaping over some high and thick walls, she called out to Gu Suihan and started flying northwest of the city.

“The seeds I planted…should have borne fruit by now.” Gu Suihan lagged behind and looked past the two ladies in front of him, keeping his eye on a place in the distance with an oddly icy look in his eyes.

“This is the palace of Fenglin.” Jingjing landed on the ground slowly and scanned the area covered in broken rocks and weeds.

Gu Suihan suddenly felt like he had forgotten one thing – the Great Elder of Fenglin. That old man who had cultivated in the Way of Martial Arts and had nearly reached Nascent Change. Where was he now?

“I heard that Fenglin has an elder whose level of cultivation was very high. I wonder where he is now,” said Gu Suihan suddenly as his sharp eyes slowly focused on the collapsed buildings within the palace walls.

Jingjing was confused for a second before her flippant expression became serious. She cautiously moved toward Gu Suihan and said, “I heard that the Seven Kill Sect and some of the martial cultivators from Fenglin were actually on the same side. They even broke out the warship they had been hiding for years.”

A gleam shone in her pretty eyes as she paused to think. “Junior brother, do you think this was done by the Seven Kill Sect? Fenglin is located within the Seven Kill Sect’s territory and was guarded by some really formidable martial cultivators, so the Seven Kill Sect must have felt like these people were a thorn in their flesh.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” said Gu Suihan calmy. “The Seven Kill Sect is the only one not on our side, and it was already very difficult for them to fight all of us by themselves. Now that they finally got themselves an ally, why would they do something to exterminate their ally?”

There was another reason that Gu Suihan did not mention. That was, You Hantian was at Nascent Change, so the Great Elder of Fenglin was not a threat to the sect leader at all. There was no need to massacre an entire country and become hated by the world.

“This should have been where the king’s wives lived.” Jingjing looked at the soiled clothing on the ground and could still see the embroidery and gems on the fabric.

“In that case…if there were danger within the palace, the emperor would have escaped to his own residence.” Gu Suihan slowly walked around and sensed that he was getting closer and closer to that well.

“Inside there…”

The three of them walked around the rubble and looked carefully at the rusty armor on the ground as well as the blackened pieces of flesh mixed in with dried puddles of blood that were also stuck firmly among the grass.

“It’s got to be here.”

They stood in front of the only building that looked like it was still in one piece. The signboard above the main entrance was in pieces, and the doors were broken, revealing the absolutely tragic scene within.

“This…must be the emperor of Fenglin.”

Gu Suihan looked at the dried corpse seated at its low desk. It wore a yellow robe that was embroidered with a picture of an unknown ferocious beast and covered in a lot of blood. There was also a very obvious hole in the middle of his chest. That must have been the main cause of death.

“Search for the Cause, Reenact the Past!” Jingjing bit her tongue, raised her fair wrist, and pressed a pretty finger against the area between the dead man’s brow bones.

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