Chapter 269: The Fate of Past and Present (Part 2)
The black-robed figure looked at him and spoke, his voice seeping out from within the hood like a cold wind blowing up from an abyss: "Are you preparing to go mad?"
Su Li was silent for a moment, then a smile reappeared on his face as he said, "What use is worry? What use is going mad? Right now, I need to find a way to escape alive. As long as I live, she will surely live. If not, then I can go mad when the time comes."
The black-robed figure remained calm and silent. He knew very well that this was not a threat, but merely a calm statement of objective fact. If Su Li could escape from this carefully planned encirclement by the demon race tonight, then if his daughter perished in the Zhou Garden, he would inevitably go on a massive rampage. Even His Majesty the Demon Lord would not wish to see such chaos.
"So I have nothing to worry about." Su Li raised his eyes to gaze into the deep night and said, "As long as I don't die, who among you dares to kill her?"
The black-robed figure laughed and said, "In principle, that is true, but you know, I occasionally do things that are not based on reason."
Su Li withdrew his gaze and looked at him steadily, saying, "You are the most mysterious figure in the world, and also the most rational. I don't believe you would do something so irrational."
The black-robed figure explained calmly, "Because I have already promised someone else—your daughter must die, so she will definitely die."
Su Li noticed that in his words, he said "someone else"—a single person.
"Who?"
The black-robed figure did not directly answer his question but spoke slowly: "Back then, the Eternal Life Sect drowned your beloved in the Cold Water Pond. When you returned from the Southern Sea and learned of this, in a rage you drew your sword and stormed the Eternal Life Sect, slashing down seventeen of their elders in a single night... Everyone knows about this, but neither the sect leader of your Li Mountain Sword Sect, the Southern Holy Maiden or the Pope, nor even Lady Tianhai could say anything to you, because your anger was justified, and when you went mad, they had no way to deal with you, so they could only pretend it never happened."
Su Li thought of that past event, his expression unchanged, but a trace of loneliness appeared between his brows.
The black-robed figure continued, "But have you considered this? Those truly powerful figures said nothing and deliberately forgot that matter, yet some very weak people will not forget it and have always wanted to make their voices heard? Those you killed also had descendants, and those people were also beloved by others."
Su Li was silent for a long moment, then suddenly said, "You don't have to keep your promise, especially to a human."
As soon as these words were spoken, the temperature on the snowy plain suddenly dropped several degrees colder.
Coldness meant the stagnation of movement, representing that the sword traveling through the night sky had slowed by several degrees.
It also meant that, with his daughter's life under serious threat, Su Li had begun to consider negotiation or even compromise.
For the famously wild Little Uncle of Li Mountain, this attitude signified compromise—a significant concession.
However, the other party was not prepared to negotiate with him.
"As a schemer, I understand better than anyone the importance of keeping promises, especially promises to humans. Only in this way can I make more and more humans trust me. In a sense, my promises are very precious, because they will inevitably be fulfilled, and they represent an invitation from Snow Old City to the entire world."
The black-robed figure looked at him calmly and said, "Of course, the most important thing is still to kill you. Dead people cannot go mad."
Snowflakes continued to fall, and the cold night returned to normal. The mountain-like figures of the demon generals slowly halted at the periphery.
From the night sky came an extremely sharp sword cry.
Su Li reached out and tapped his scabbard, his sleeve lightly fluttering. A sword cry came from the horizon, and with a clang, the sword returned to its sheath, indescribably graceful and effortless.
At the periphery, a black figure swayed slightly, like a mountain on the verge of collapse, but it ultimately held firm. However, the cold iron spear in its hand snapped in two with a crack.
Su Li had drawn his sword from the night sky and, in one move, broken the weapon of the Seventh Demon General—truly indescribably powerful.
But that Demon General showed no sign of panic or anger, speaking with extreme coldness: "Su Li, you are dead today."
Su Li turned to the black-robed figure and asked very seriously, "Am I really dead today?"
The black-robed figure said, "Yes. We have simulated it thirty-seven times. You are certain to die."
Hearing this, Su Li was silent for a long time.
He had wanted to hear the black-robed figure's answer because he trusted it, but this was not the answer he wanted.
Whether it was the human supreme saints or the couple at White Emperor City, whether they liked it or not, they all had to acknowledge one thing.
Since Wang Zhice vanished, the person on the entire continent most skilled in planning, deduction, and calculation was this demon race strategist hidden within his black robe.
Plans made by the black-robed figure rarely failed, and those he personally participated in had never gone wrong.
Back in the day, Emperor Taizong led countless experts and a million iron cavalry on a northern expedition into the demon domain, only to return fruitlessly from outside Snow Old City—this man was the demon race's greatest contributor.
It had been hundreds of years since the black-robed figure had specifically laid a trap to kill a human expert—until now.
He wanted to kill Su Li.
He had simulated it thirty-seven times, and Su Li was certain to die.
So perhaps Su Li really was destined to die.
Su Li himself thought so, but he didn't believe he would necessarily die: "To kill me, you've done so many things. Which are real, and which are fake? Are you really trying to kill those children in the Zhou Garden, or are you using this to lure me out and kill me? If you yourself aren't clear, then maybe I still have a chance."
"They are all real, and possibly fake, but killing you is the most real thing. As I said before, those young people are humanity's future, and you are humanity's present. I am a vulgar person living in the moment, so the first thing to do is, of course, to kill you."
The black-robed figure said calmly, "Lady Tianhai, the Pope, and the Holy Maiden have tried to promote the unification of north and south for humanity's future. Why hasn't it succeeded until now? Why has the south held out so long? The reason lies not with the Eternal Life Sect or the Huai Academy, but with you, Su Li, the Little Uncle of Li Mountain. So how could I not kill you?"
Su Li said, "If I die, the unification of north and south would bring no benefit to your demon race."
The black-robed figure shook his head and said, "Not wanting to be annexed by the Zhou Kingdom is the thought of many southerners. You are merely the sharpest and most powerful sword of the southerners. Even if this sword breaks, the thoughts of those southerners will not change. On the contrary, it will be Lady Tianhai whose thoughts change. With that woman's ambition, if you no longer exist in this world, and those noble families still try to resist unification, she will inevitably lead a great army southward, incorporating the entire human territory under her rule. Only then would the unification of north and south rely not on the tide of the times, but on the iron cavalry of the Great Zhou."
Su Li remained silent. That was a scene that could very likely happen—he could even see it clearly at this moment.
"On that day, the human world will surely fall into great chaos. Lady Tianhai will lead her army south, and His Majesty will lead his army south as well. Southward, southward... endlessly southward, from the world of ice and snow to the warm, sunlit lands. That will be a journey strewn with corpses and blood. I don't know who will ultimately win, but this is the result we want."
The black-robed figure looked at him calmly and said, "So, please go reunite with your family in the stars. In a few years, when you look down from above on this chaotic world of war and extinction, remember to say hello to me."
Standing at the edge of the cliff, hands clasped behind her back, gazing at the wisps of mist, the wind was like a knife, but it could not scrape away the weariness between the white-robed girl's brows.
After two consecutive days without sleep or rest, rushing through the Zhou Garden to save people, and continuously using the highly draining Holy Light Technique, even she should be feeling tired.
Weariness was not frightening; what was frightening was the hint of alarm deep in her heart.
That zither sound, the solitary tree behind her, and this illusory realm enveloping the mountain path—all made her sense immense danger.
Since she began cultivating as a child and her bloodline awakened, this was the greatest danger she had faintly perceived.
She didn't know the specific reason, didn't know who was waiting for her at the end of the mountain path, didn't know what the opponent intended by expending so much effort to set up this illusory realm and isolate her from the Zhou Garden.
But she knew she should break this illusory realm.
There was no logic to it, no need for logic. Since the opponent had set a trap to trap her, she naturally had to break it. Since the opponent had created an illusory realm, she naturally had to destroy it.
She brought her finger to her lips and gently bit it, then found she hadn't broken the skin, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Then she bit down harder, her delicate brows slightly furrowing in pain.
She looked at the bead of blood seeping from her fingertip, frowning in displeasure.
She didn't like pain, and even less did she like hurting herself.
She reached her hand out over the abyss beside the mountain path.
That drop of crimson blood detached from her fingertip and fell into the smoke-like mist among the cliffs.
As it fell, the color of the blood bead changed, growing redder, more vivid, brighter, until finally it turned golden.
Like a drop of molten gold, it contained unimaginable energy.
The temperature around the mountain path rose sharply. The thin layer of frost that had just formed on the stone slabs instantly vaporized, and the solitary tree became even more wilted.
A few wild grasses that had struggled to grow from the cracks in the cliff face instantly burned to ash.
The golden blood bead fell into the mist.
With a hissing sound.
Brilliant light burst forth within the mist, and the mist, like cotton wadding, was instantly ignited.
Amid the vast mountain range, a great fire suddenly erupted, illuminating the deep night as bright as day.
A single drop of blood had brought about such a spectacular scene.
Was this the power of the Heavenly Phoenix Blood?
Looking at the mountains, now bright and clear again, a satisfied expression appeared on her face, but the next moment, her brows furrowed once more.
Biting her finger really did hurt a bit.
She brought her finger to her lips and gently blew on it, looking extremely serious and focused.
At the same time, she murmured to herself, coaxing herself like a child: "It doesn't hurt... it doesn't hurt... it doesn't hurt, be good."
From the day he entered Li Mountain to learn swordsmanship, Su Li's fate was determined. He had to guard that peak and protect the entire south. So even though he spent most of his life wandering the four seas, he had to return to Li Mountain every so often to prove to that lady in the capital and the demon race further north that the iron sword was still there.
From the day her bloodline awakened, her fate was also determined. She had to guard the Thirteen Divisions of Azure Radiance, the Eastern Divine General's Mansion, the Imperial Palace, and the Papal Palace, and now added to that was the Holy Maiden Peak. She had far too many things to protect, and in truth, it all ultimately pointed to all of humanity.
How to protect? Why should she be the one to protect? The most important, even the only reason, was of course the Heavenly Phoenix Blood flowing within her. Because of this, everyone either doted on her or revered her, pouring endless expectations and hopes upon her, yet no one knew that sometimes she truly disliked the blood flowing within her.
That blood was too pure, too holy, and so in everyone's eyes, she was pure and holy. Thus, she, a Zhou native born in the capital, had become the inheritor of the Southern Holy Maiden Peak. But she never considered herself a pure, holy maiden. Just as the entire continent called her the Phoenix, she found the title unbearably vulgar.
She furrowed her brow, blew on her fingertip, and looked at the faintly visible demon horns in the burning mist, thinking that if she weren't afraid of pain, she might really find a way to drain all this blood from her body. But could the blood be drained? No, it couldn't, so she could comfortably be afraid of pain. If this was her fate, then she would just keep moving forward for now.
The mist burned away, leaving only clarity. The cliff returned to darkness, but it felt safer than when it was bright.
She continued walking forward along the mountain path.
Some people's fates are not determined from birth, or from the awakening of their bloodline, or from becoming a disciple of a powerful master.
Somewhat sadly, and easily provoking inexplicable anger, their fates are determined by the fates of others.
At the end of the mountain path, at the peak, was the legendary Twilight Valley—the true Twilight Valley.
Sitting here, one could see the magical suspended light patterns on the grassland.
The little girl sat at the edge of the cliff, quietly gazing at the grassland below the peak. Her indifferent, almost dull eyes held no emotion.
Her name was Nanke.
She was the thirty-seventh daughter of the Demon Lord.
When she was born, the Demon Lord was very pleased because she possessed the bloodline talent of the peacock, so he named her Nanke.
Nanke meant peacock.
At that time, her fate should have been to be favored by her father and become the pride of the entire demon race.
But when she was one year old, the bloodline of that girl in the south awakened, and she formally began her cultivation.
With comparison came disparity.
Moreover, she was of royal blood.
Thus, pride became awkwardness, even shame.
From that moment on, her fate was finally determined.
To defeat that girl, or to kill that girl. (To be continued)