Chapter 719: Going to Death with Dignity
In the sky above, Duan Renhuang's killing intent was fully exposed, domineering and cold.
Below him, three figures, three brothers, swore to live and die together, their righteous spirit soaring straight into the clouds, earning people's admiration.
Although the Nine Heavens Continent revered martial arts and the strong above all, humans still had sympathy in their hearts, a thought of good and evil. This made the crowd feel a slight disdain for Duan Renhuang. So it turned out that this former genius had only reached his current state by monopolizing the treasures they had obtained together as brothers, and now he wanted to kill the three brothers he had once stood with.
Looking at Lin Hai and the others, their bond commanded respect, their righteousness moved people.
Though they would die, they had no guilt in their hearts. They would go out with a blaze of glory.
The destructive pressure grew stronger and stronger, Duan Renhuang's killing intent becoming more and more fierce. The three below looked up at Duan Renhuang, their bodies shooting into the sky, fearless in the face of death.
"Roar..." A terrifying roar rolled forth, the earth cracking and collapsing. The massive stone ape also turned into a streak of light, charging toward Duan Renhuang like a mountain.
"Kill!" Duan Renhuang roared in anger. In the void, it seemed as if illusory doors appeared, carrying a terrifying sealing will. These doors of nothingness pressed down, and with a booming explosion, the charging stone ape's body was smashed heavily downward. Accompanied by a thunderous cracking sound, it was as if a great mountain had crashed into the depths of the earth, shaking the bodies of the crowd until they trembled.
"Kill!"
Lin Hai and the others roared in fury. Palm force, cold energy, and the merciless sword intent stabbed toward the sealing power of nothingness, but they could not shatter it.
This force crashed down, pressing their bodies back again. Yue Menghe and Zhuge Wuming in particular were directly blasted back to the ground, smashing heavily into the earth.
Although Lin Hai broke through the suppression of the sealing doors and struck at Duan Renhuang, what he faced next was Duan Renhuang's terrifying attack. Like Yue Menghe and Zhuge Wuming, his body was suppressed back, blood gushing wildly, and he was violently shaken back to the ground.
"Die, all of you, die." Duan Renhuang's killing intent remained as cold as ever. Meng Qing's body had already stood up, but at that moment, a voice came from afar.
"Don't..."
The voice came from the direction of the Imperial Palace. The crowd looked over and saw a beautiful woman in a long dress, her face pale with shock, shouting toward them.
This woman was none other than Princess Duan Xinye.
Duan Xinye's hair was disheveled, but her beautiful eyes were filled only with panic. Why, why did it have to be like this?
Wasn't today her wedding day? Why was this the result?
She ran frantically toward the wedding procession, occasionally glancing back. There stood her father and her second imperial brother, but their eyes were so indifferent, making her feel unfamiliar and terrified.
"No, no..." Duan Xinye still couldn't believe it. She ran wildly to the severely injured Yue Menghe and the others, collapsing directly to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know... I didn't know it would be like this!" Seeing the blood at the corners of Yue Menghe's and the others' mouths, Duan Xinye felt powerless, terrified, and deeply guilty.
Yue Menghe forced a smile, touched Xinye's head, and said gently, "Silly child, how could I blame you? This has nothing to do with you."
"But it's all because of me..." Duan Xinye was still full of self-blame. She turned back, looking at the distant monarch and the Second Prince, and screamed, "Why, why did you all lie to me?"
The monarch and Duan Wuya said nothing, only watching Duan Xinye in silence. After a moment, Duan Wuya finally spoke: "You shouldn't have come."
"Yes, I shouldn't have come. Should I regret it for the rest of my life after I find out?" Duan Xinye roared. "It was all fake. So everything was fake, Second Brother. The one who drugged him was you. Only you had that chance. I didn't want to believe it before, but now I have to. You've been scheming against Lin Feng all along. What exactly do you want?"
Hearing Duan Xinye's roar, the distant crowd all sighed inwardly. So it was all a conspiracy. Born into a royal family, where was there any brotherhood? It was all deceit and scheming.
Only the innocent and beautiful princess was pitiable, reduced to nothing but a sacrifice of the conspiracy.
No one answered Duan Xinye's words. Her voice just drifted in the void, then dissipated like smoke. All the crowd saw was that haggard and despairing face.
Standing up, Duan Xinye blocked in front of Yue Menghe and the others, raised her head, and looked at Duan Renhuang. "If you want to kill, kill me first."
Duan Renhuang looked at Duan Xinye, completely indifferent. The only one he cared about was his own successor, Duan Wudao. He cared more about Yue Menghe, Lin Hai, and the others than he did about Duan Xinye.
Yet Duan Renhuang still advised her: "I am still your uncle after all. I don't want to kill you. Step aside."
"I won't step aside. If you want to kill, kill me first." Duan Xinye blocked the way, biting her lip gently. The fragile girl's gaze was now so firm.
"Xinye, go back. This has nothing to do with you." Yue Menghe shouted. This child was too foolish.
Duan Xinye just kept shaking her head. No, how could she step aside? All of this was because of her. Even if she lived, she would be guilty for the rest of her life.
"You want to die, then I'll grant your wish." Duan Renhuang said coldly, his killing intent descending.
The monarch and Duan Wuya remained silent, just watching everything unfold. Duan Xinye was merely a sacrifice.
"Clang..." A zither sound drifted over. Then, from within the crowd, a figure flickered and appeared. This person sat cross-legged in the void, his true essence forming clouds, and on his knees rested an ancient zither.
A wave of killing intent spread wildly from the zither sound, surging toward Duan Renhuang, as if an endless stream of zither-based killing intent was blooming toward him.
"There's actually someone else who dares to kill Duan Renhuang. Courting death." The crowd's gazes fixed on the newcomer. It was a calm man, very composed, his hands merely playing the zither, plucking the strings, not even looking at Duan Renhuang or the crowd.
"Another one coming to die." Duan Renhuang said coldly. Duan Xinye's eyes froze as she looked at the newcomer, murmuring, "Teacher."
So the man playing the zither was none other than Yan Yu Pingsheng. A raincoat, a life of drifting.
Looking up, Yan Yu Pingsheng glanced at Duan Xinye, a smile appearing on his peaceful face.
"Teacher, why must you do this?" Tears fell from Duan Xinye's eyes as she looked at Yan Yu Pingsheng. Her teacher was no match for Duan Renhuang at all, just as Duan Renhuang said—he was only coming to die.
"Xinye, in my life, I have only had three and a half disciples. You, Duan Wuya, and Wen Aoxue count as three. Lin Feng counts as half. And now, one of the disciples I taught is ruthless and merciless, using his own sister, even willing to cause her death. And that sister happens to be another disciple of mine, also the wife of my half-disciple. How can I, Yan Yu Pingsheng, not step forward?"
Yan Yu Pingsheng continued to play the zither, the strings vibrating, endless killing intent rolling forth toward Duan Renhuang, but it couldn't harm him in the slightest.
"Among my disciples, you are the kindest and most innocent, my favorite. Aoxue is also clever and cautious. Only Duan Wuya is deep and calculating. As for the one I am most satisfied with, it is actually my half-disciple, Lin Feng. Perhaps he is not as perfect as Aoxue, but his talent is unparalleled, his love and hate are clear, and he has flesh and blood. In this life, having you two and a half disciples, I have no regrets. As for Duan Wuya, I helped him the most, yet I only aided him in harming you all. Dying today can be considered atonement."
As Yan Yu Pingsheng's words fell, he charged toward Duan Renhuang with the killing zither sound, the endless murderous zither notes seemingly enveloping his own body.
Duan Renhuang snorted coldly. A terrifying willpower froze all the thousands of killing zither sounds, blocking them with his sealing will. Then, Duan Renhuang took a step forward, roared in anger, and the terrifying killing force reversed, piercing through Yan Yu Pingsheng. In an instant, Yan Yu Pingsheng was destroyed amidst the endless killing force, and the zither sound abruptly ceased.
With a clang, the string broke, and the man died.
"Teacher!" Watching her teacher's body dissipate in the air, Duan Xinye murmured a crying sound. Dead. After the misty rain, Snow Moon would never have such a fine zither player again.
PS: Motivation!