Chapter 1079: Tragedy
Heiya City was an absolutely dangerous place for Yun Che. While in the city, he had always restrained his aura, disguised his appearance, and acted with extreme caution.
But now, he no longer cared whether the Black Feather Chamber of Commerce would discover his whereabouts. Every bit of profound energy in his body surged forth desperately as Phantom Lightning Extreme was pushed to its absolute limit. He streaked across the sky above Heiya City like a bolt of flowing light, and wherever he passed, an ear-splitting, sharp screech tore through the air.
Before sending He Lin back to the Wood Spirit Secret Ground, he had carefully examined him for any tracking marks.
But… why would something like Ten Thousand Mile Soul-Chasing Incense exist!
It had to be fake… How could such a thing possibly exist! Absolutely impossible!
Heiya City rapidly receded beneath him, and all along the way, his teeth were clenched so tightly they nearly shattered.
He had stayed at the Wood Spirit Secret Ground for an hour and a half. Since leaving, another three or four hours had passed. If everything was real, then with that much time having gone by…
Please, don’t let it be real!
Yun Che shot out of Heiya City like thunder and lightning, several times faster than when he had escorted He Lin away earlier. Then he charged southeast, plunging straight into the dense forest, without even a moment’s pause in the entire process.
Once inside the forest, Yun Che’s speed did not diminish in the slightest. It was as if a violent hurricane had suddenly swept through the woods. Grass and trees flew in all directions, and ancient trees that had stood for ten thousand years were shattered at their roots.
Following the memories that were still perfectly clear, Yun Che finally saw the row of old trees near the entrance to the Wood Spirit Secret Ground. He plummeted down, and his pupils abruptly constricted.
Before him, the ancient trees that had supported the Wood Spirit Illusion Array were all broken into pieces. The green-black wooden vines looked as if they had suffered the ravages of a violent storm, every inch snapped, scattered chaotically across the ground.
The world ahead was utterly silent. A silence so deep it made one’s hair stand on end.
Yun Che’s heart clenched, and his heartbeat stopped. His eyes went blank, his entire body turned cold. He stood there foolishly for a long time before his stiff legs slowly began to move forward. The sound of his feet stepping on the broken vines was like a saw blade relentlessly cutting into his soul.
Stepping past the broken vines scattered all over the ground, Yun Che’s footsteps halted. His body trembled, and his face turned deathly pale, as if all the blood in his body had drained away in an instant.
The once lush and tidy flowers and grass were now a complete mess. The ancient trees had all fallen, and the wooden huts had been reduced to rubble. Everywhere, aside from the traces of a chaotic struggle, there was only a ground full of pale green blood and utter stillness.
One Wood Spirit after another lay quietly on the devastated land stained with the blood of Wood Spirits, silent and lifeless. The Wood Spirit closest to Yun Che’s feet had its eyes wide open, but there was no more emerald light in them—only fear, despair… and a resentment that had not faded even in death.
“Ah… ah…”
Yun Che’s lips trembled violently. His rapidly dilating pupils nearly covered all the whites of his eyes. His feet seemed nailed to the ground, unable to move another step. Even his vision blurred repeatedly, and then the world spun around him.
For a long time, he raised his hands and clutched his head, his fingers trembling like those of an old man at death’s door.
Dead…
All dead…
It’s me…
I killed them… It’s me…
“Hah… huff…”
A full dozen heavy breaths later, his mind and eyes finally regained some clarity.
He walked forward slowly, his vision still somewhat blurry, but the corpse of every Wood Spirit, every drop of green blood, imprinted itself with excruciating clarity into his soul… then transformed into icy-cold blades, stabbing every corner of his spirit.
Occasionally, he could see the crimson blood of humans, which in this broken and devastated world seemed particularly glaring and filthy.
Huff…
Taking another deep breath, Yun Che’s expression finally softened, and his gaze grew calm. He walked forward carefully, treading through this destroyed little world.
Boom!!
At that moment, a shattered old tree suddenly fell, revealing behind it the lifeless body of an elderly Wood Spirit… She was old and frail, her wrinkled face eternally still.
“Granny Qingye…” Yun Che murmured softly, tilting his head back and slowly closing his eyes. She was the Wood Spirit He Lin respected the most, the one with the highest seniority and prestige in this small world. Just a few hours ago, he had accepted the Wood Spirit Divine Dew she had personally gifted him.
“I’m sorry. It was I who brought disaster upon you,” Yun Che said softly. “May you rest in peace.”
In the face of the tragedy that had already unfolded, all he could do was offer this hollow apology.
Though his heart had calmed, his chest was still stifled with an unbearable, suffocating pain. Yun Che leaped into the air, releasing his spiritual sense, trying—or perhaps hoping against hope—to find surviving Wood Spirits. Even just one would be enough.
In front of the collapsed wooden hut, he saw a sturdy middle-aged Wood Spirit. Even though he had no breath left, his hand still tightly gripped a broken spear. His body and the spear were stained with a mix of green and red blood.
On his back was a large, bloody hole… To fight to the death, he had not destroyed his Wood Spirit Pearl early. Without a doubt, after his death, the Wood Spirit Pearl had been forcibly taken away.
“Senior Qingmu.”
Yun Che’s lips moved slightly, his hands trembling as they clenched into fists.
All around him lay the bodies of many adult Wood Spirits, each covered in the marks of a bloody battle. Their eyes were all wide open—filled with terror, despair, hatred… not a single one had closed in peace.
Yun Che flew over silently. At the back of the small world, he saw one young Wood Spirit after another. Some were huddled together, others lay sleeping in the arms of their elders… and the smallest one, a jet-black longsword pierced straight through its tender body.
His breathing became harder and harder to steady. Yun Che forced himself to look away… He saw the large flower garden, the place where he had stayed the longest earlier.
Ten thousand flowers had fallen, and not a single butterfly remained.
At the edge of the flower garden, two young girls were tightly embracing each other. There were no wounds on their bodies, but they too had lost the breath of life.
They had destroyed their own spirit pearls and died.
Yun Che landed and stared at them blankly: “Feiyan… Qinghe…”
Outside the flower garden, a young Wood Spirit boy lay silently on the ground. The wounds covering his entire body showed how brutal and cruel a battle he had endured to protect the two girls behind him.
“Qing… zhu…”
The suffocating sensation that had eased suddenly pressed down on his heart and soul once more, more intensely than ever… more intensely than ever before.
“… I wish I could, one day, truly go out and see the outside world…”
“I always thought humans were terrifying. I never imagined there would be a human like Brother Yun Che, so amazing and so likable.”
“This is a protective charm I made myself. May it keep you safe…”
“Brother Yun Che… will you come back often… to visit us…”
“……”
Qingzhu… Feiyan… Qinghe…
He grabbed his head with one hand, pressed his chest with the other, and slowly crouched down. It felt as if ten thousand poison needles had pierced his heart, and his entire body trembled in unbearable pain.
Just a few hours ago, they had looked at him with such pure, earnest, and hopeful eyes, listening to his words with rapt attention, afraid to miss even a single syllable. He could clearly feel the deep longing stirring in their souls.
Fate had already been too cruel to them. What their peers took completely for granted was an unattainable dream for them. They had just reached the most beautiful time of their lives, and now they were already…
“It’s… it’s… my… fault… for… you…”
“It’s… me…”
His heart convulsed, his teeth chattered, and the five fingers clutching his head trembled so hard they pierced his skin, yet he felt no pain.
This was the second time in his life he had felt this way.
The first time was back then, on the Cang Yun Continent, when he lost his master, lost Ling'er, when there was no one left in the world he cared for or who cared for him. Driven by hatred and insanity, he used the Heavenly Poison Pearl to poison an entire city of living beings, killing them all…
After a twisted sense of satisfaction, an endless oppression and guilt made him suffer so much he nearly collapsed and went mad…
That time, he had sent millions of lives to their graves… Most of them were completely innocent, with no grudges against him at all.
This time, a hundred Wood Spirits had died, and not by his hand… but the pain flooding his soul was almost as intense as it had been back then.
Why did this happen…
What had these innocent Wood Spirits done wrong?
Was it only because they were too kind, too weak!?
No… It’s because of me… If it weren’t for me, this disaster-bringer, how could they have suffered such a calamity!
It’s all because of me!!
If I hadn’t insisted on finding a Wood Spirit Pearl, if I hadn’t foolishly thought myself merciful and brought He Lin back, then none of this would have…
……
Wait… He Lin!?
Like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, Yun Che suddenly looked up and then sprang to his feet… What about He Lin? He Lin was not among the Wood Spirit corpses. Where had He Lin gone?..
Yun Che leaped into the air, quickly releasing his spiritual sense to cover the entire Wood Spirit Secret Ground, sweeping over every inch of land, every plant and flower, every Wood Spirit corpse.
But he found no trace of He Lin.
His mind quickly cooled down, and his spiritual sense expanded to its maximum… There was no corpse of He Lin. Maybe he was still alive… No, he must still be alive.
Those people knew He Lin was a Royal Wood Spirit, so they would surely prefer to capture him alive. And He Lin, who cared so deeply about his identity as a Royal Wood Spirit, would absolutely refuse to die even when pushed into utter despair… Yes! He must still be alive!
Most likely, he had been taken alive.
The blood on the ground had not yet dried. They couldn’t have gone too far.
Yun Che flew to a higher altitude, closed his eyes, and desperately focused his spirit… He had to find him. He absolutely had to find him!!
To the due east, a trail of trampled vegetation stretching into the distance appeared in his spiritual sense. His eyes snapped open, profound energy exploded from his body, and he shot toward the east like lightning.
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[Happy New Year, everyone! Time to watch the Spring Festival Gala!]