Chapter 124: Life and Death Together

Jiang Wu heard Yun Xiao call me "Fei'er" and thought of herself. "Fei'er... Mother calls me Wu'er; it sounds better than Fei'er. Mo'er's father loved to call Mother Wu'er. Mother thought he was a king who could give Mother anything, yet this cowardly man sent Mother away for a marriage alliance! Is he not worthy of death? He is even more useless than Guiyuan..."

A swarm of dark red creatures, seeing the divine purple light of Chunfeng’s aura, surged toward him in a dense, suffocating mass.

"Stay back! How disgusting!" Chunfeng shouted, shielding Biyou, who was holding little Xiaobai. He struggled against the immense suction of the black hole while using the purple heat waves of his Xiaori Chunsheng Palm to incinerate the creatures.

"That old thing, the Underworld King, cannot protect us. If he dies, let him die. His divine power was sealed within the Chaos Robe all along. Mother has absorbed that power; Mother will become the Demon King, and my Mo'er shall be the ruler of heaven and earth!" Jiang Wu shrieked in ecstatic madness.

As Jiang Wu rambled on in her demented state, several immortals were blissfully devoured by the black hole while being gnawed upon by the dark creatures. Even the High God Kaiyuan seemed unable to endure it any longer. Tiande, protected by the Crown Prince’s Seal, remained untouched by the creatures; though his mouth was sealed, his eyes gleamed with delight. Seeing Jiang Wu’s ecstatic state, his eyes suddenly brightened. He silently recited a spell and formed a hand seal... the God-Binding Chains on Jiang Wu loosened.

My Master and I fought with all our might to eliminate the soul-devouring creatures. Behind me, Jiang Wu’s eyes turned blood-red as she transformed into a werewolf covered in dark red maggots—a sight far more terrifying and grotesque than the aftermath of Ming Mo’s wolfbane poisoning. Her hands morphed into ten razor-sharp Greed-Wolf blades.

"Mo'er, if the Tears of Rebirth cannot wake you, we shall use their Chongming Hearts!" Jiang Wu broke through six layers of seals and leaped into the air, her wolf-claw blades piercing through six layers of the boundary!

I was pouring all my strength into burning the creatures, but sensing the danger behind me, it was too late to react. I felt a sharp claw hook into the bone of my back and desperately channeled my divine power to resist it. Looking at my Master, I saw he had been caught off guard, the claw already piercing his back!

I hurriedly channeled my divine power to strike the claw in his back, but as my own defense faltered, the claw in my back sank deeper. I let out a groan of pain, cold sweat beading on my forehead.

"Fei'er! Don't move!" he cried out urgently.

The immortals were too busy protecting themselves. My Master and I fought to shield our backs, locked in a stalemate with Jiang Wu. Enraged, Jiang Wu exerted more force, merging the two black holes into a larger one that began to consume the trees, rocks, and any immortals or spirits of Kunlun Void that could not escape. The Heavenly Water surged violently under the suction, and the sky began to crumble...

The omen I had divined at Hundred Flower Island last night was coming true; the reading said, "The gentleman hides from the world"... He must not suffer any more harm!

He gripped my hand tightly...

Very well! I shall break the ill omen of the Scarlet Flame Demon Star! Beyond heart, beyond form!

I withdrew the divine power protecting my back. Master suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood! He had withdrawn his power first to shatter the omen, allowing Jiang Wu’s blades to pierce his heart!

"Fei'er! Hold on..."

I felt a chill in my chest, my heart pierced and shredded by the blades, and I, too, spat out a mouthful of blood!

The pain of a pierced heart—it was agonizing!

I held his hand tightly... Bai Fei’s face faded, revealing the features of Yu Fei...

The two of us looked at each other through tears and smiled...

"Master, please don't send Fei'er away again..."

"Very well..."

Jiang Wu’s claws abruptly retracted. Our bodies swayed, and finally, we closed our eyes and collapsed to the ground...

Moments later, a flood of blood pooled beneath our bodies, staining Yu Fei’s robes the color of a wedding dress and turning Yun Xiao’s wedding attire an even deeper, more vibrant red...

Jiang Wu’s claws held two hearts: one bright and luminous, wrapped in roaring flames—that was Yun Xiao’s; the other, wrapped in clear dew amidst intense fire—that was Yu Fei’s.

"Little Crow! Yun Xiao!" Chunfeng, shielding Biyou and little Xiaobai, fought against the suction of the black hole, calling out with a heart-wrenching cry...

"Mother!" The little one in Biyou’s arms wailed...

"Master! Junior Sister!" The senior disciples sat in meditation amidst the violent suction of the black hole. Chang Yang held onto Leici and Lu Xue, Tiansheng pressed down on Tiande; all the immortals were weeping, unable to speak...

"Mo'er! These are the two Chongming Hearts! Mother will heal you! Mo'er will be the King! The King of heaven and earth!" Jiang Wu reached out to place the hearts into Ming Mo’s mouth!

Suddenly, the two hearts transformed into two streams of brilliant light and soared toward the Summit of Light in the Thirty-Third Heaven. Seeing the hearts she had grasped slip away, Jiang Wu frantically tried to catch them, but failing, she transformed back into her Greed-Wolf form and chased them into the sky.

In the Thirty-Third Heaven, the Rebirth Star and the Light Star gazed at each other before merging into the Chongming Star. The two hearts also fused, becoming a ball of flowing flame that melted into the Chongming Star. Instantly, the universe inverted; Yin and Yang harmonized. The two Chongming stars, though placed in a position of death, had found new life. The entire Thirty-Third Heaven erupted in brilliant light, and a righteous aura surged across the Nine Provinces, the Four Seas, and the Ten Directions, flowing endlessly into the Chongming Star. The star grew brighter and more intense! Jiang Wu, in her wolf form, saw the dazzling radiance, her eyes filled with infinite greed, and she lunged at it. The light and fire of the Chongming Star generated countless bolts of lightning, converging into a single thunderbolt that struck Jiang Wu. The dark red maggots on her head screamed in agony, disappearing into the scarlet flames, and Jiang Wu was reduced to ash. The Greed-Wolf star, wrapped in colorful light and transformed into the Scarlet Flame Demon Star, instantly shattered into countless fragments, scattering like a giant red firework. The spiritual light that had been bound to the star rained down upon the earth... The scarlet fireworks turned the sky the color of blood, and Jiang Wu’s final words echoed in the air... "Mo'er! Mother loves you!"

The black hole reversed its spin, and all things were restored. Heaven and earth returned to peace, life continuing in an endless cycle...

A ball of flowing flame drifted through the vast heavens, flying to the Yuqing Realm of Kunlun Void:

"You can't drive me away this time!"

"And you can't run away either."

"You see clearly now, don't you?"

"Yes. And you?"

"I saw it clearly long ago."

"Then why did you send me down the mountain?"

"I hadn't seen clearly back then."

"You were discriminating against me!"

"I was worried about your safety on the battlefield. Back then, you arrived and told me not to jump off the cliff. You were so silly, it was quite funny."

"You jumped off the cliff yourself, yet you laugh at me for being silly! You’re silly too! You actually thought I was Biyou!"

"I was mistaken at first."

"So when the Heavenly Tribulation struck the cenotaph, you were protecting me, not the grave. Do you like Biyou as well?"

"Look for yourself, you jealous little thing!"

"I am jealous! Hmph!"

"Very well! All the pears in the Yuqing Realm shall be pickled in vinegar for Fei'er to eat."

"The other day, you were in the room with that Xue'er... you even hugged her! Did you two...?"

"Of course not."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Don't lie to me."

"My heart is open to you; see for yourself."

"That year when I was under the Soul-Seizing Spell and kissed you, did we do anything else?"

"No."

"You wanted to kiss me back then too, didn't you?"

"No..."

"Hehe, you can't fool me now. I’ve seen your heart. Pretending to be so upright."

"I felt comforted to have rescued you. I am upright by nature; I don't need to pretend."

"You didn't catch me in time at Zhui-Xian Cliff. Eleventh Senior Brother said your heart ached."

"It was broken!"

"That’s what you get for being so slow!"

"Baize intercepted the Heart-Link Feather behind my back, which delayed me. He finally repented, though."

"Was it him you meant when you said you remembered old ties?"

"Yes. This Baize caused you and me much suffering. We lived and died together for sixty thousand years; I valued our old friendship, yet he stabbed me in the back twice."

"Hmph! I didn't see you at all while your 'Xue'er' was here!"

"I was busy with the war and the investigation. You were gone for only a few days, yet you ran away from home, ate two thousand years' worth of my food and pears for nothing, and kept threatening to die just to get my attention. Heartless!"

"The Yuqing Realm was in such chaos, I couldn't bear it. Was Dongfang Mo the one who repented this time too?"

"Yes. He was the one who caught the messenger bird."

"And then he deliberately released it to that Xue'er?"

"Yes. He and Ming Zhong intended to work together to ambush the Yuqing Realm. When Dongfang Mo saw your message, he realized the ambush was exposed, so he improvised, hoping to hurt you and drain my power to target my divine body. I didn't expect that I would arrive late, and you would risk your life to stop Ming Zhong and protect everyone. Dongfang Mo was moved by you and repented."

"Oh, so the Underworld Realm conspired with Tiande to harm you and get rid of an eyesore, and they also targeted Chunfeng’s divine body. So you and Dongfang Mo played along?"

"Yes."

"You old fox!"

"You little fool!"

"Then what should I call you from now on? Master? Yun Xiao? Or something else?"

"Anything you like."

"Master!"

"Fei'er!"

"Husband!"

"Wife!"

Flying to the Peach Garden of the Thirty-Third Heaven:

"You must have been stifled not being able to speak all that time."

"Yes, I was always treated as a villain in the Heavenly Palace; everyone wanted to beat me wherever I went."

"Appearance stems from the heart. They always think evil thoughts, so they can't see the good."

"I ran into that scoundrel Tiande!"

"He and Biyou were former lovers. You look like Biyou, and I was worried, so I put you in the Peach Garden, hoping to avoid socializing and avoid him. I didn't expect you to run into him anyway. He actually had the nerve to try and steal my wife."

"So it was you who secretly took the Nine Immortals Pilgrimage Flute."

"If I hadn't taken it, would I let you keep a token of affection from someone else?"

"He harmed me repeatedly! Even this time was his doing! I wonder how many others he has hurt!"

"I was careless. He gave the God-Binding Chains to the Underworld Realm and knew how to undo them. But if he hadn't played his tricks, you wouldn't have seen my heart. You even pretended to be my elder brother's wife to provoke me. You wouldn't even turn around when I called you yesterday!"

"I was angry! I thought you were calling that 'Fei'er'. You knew it was me then?"

"After parting with Grandmother Dayin, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was you! Your tolerance for alcohol is so low, yet you have boundless power after drinking!"

"Hmph! You should have realized that flaw of mine back then!"

"You stole wine twice in the Heavenly Palace!"

"You knew that too!"

"I saw you drunk when I returned to the Peach Garden; you didn't even wonder how you got from the table to the bed."

"I was just a little unhappy..."

"You were just jealous."

"I was not!"

"You were jealous the whole time."

"I was not!"

"I saw your heart; you can't hide it."

"I was not... Look! It's the Kui Ox Drum!"

"Fei'er’s drumbeats came from forty thousand years ago."

"It's a pity I can't play it now, or I’d celebrate with you again!"

Flying to the Underworld Realm:

"The flower nectar I drank was actually your blood!"

"Yes, Wuxiang said it would take some effort to cure your muteness, though I only realized it later. I had to pinch your mouth to make you drink it."

"You forced me... you were so heartless!"

"The Underworld Uncle was watching every moment. If you didn't eat or drink, how could you recover your strength? How could you escape the Underworld?"

"Hmph! You even hit me! You... you even tried to molest me... I don't love you anymore!"

"You were injured and suffering from the heart-piercing backlash. The Underworld King has great power, and the Underworld Uncle has eyes and ears everywhere; there was no way to send you out directly. I had to make it look convincing to save your life. I, your husband, shall serve you tea and pour water to apologize."

"And you faked your death to deceive me!"

"How else could I have unearthed the traitor who betrayed the Heavenly Realm, broken the Underworld Realm, and found the Scarlet Flame Demon Star? You fool, all is fair in war. I’ve been teaching you that for two thousand years."

"Hmph! You acted so convincingly, you broke my heart."

"If I had told you, you would have ended up risking your life just like today. You might have even tied yourself up and gone to the Underworld to marry him happily."

"I would not! Even if you begged me, I wouldn't go!"

"You suddenly appeared out of nowhere to scare me. How did the 'Seventh Princess' of the marriage alliance turn into you! The whole plan was ruined."

"So you took that sword strike from me on purpose... did I hurt you very badly?"

"Badly! Attempted murder of your husband! You even shot arrows at me in the West Sea. All the skills I taught you for two thousand years were used against me."

"I didn't mean to... it was all Tiande’s fault!"

"I told you to go to Hundred Flower Island, but you insisted on the Thirty-Third Heaven, causing me so much worry for nothing."

"I... was heartbroken..."

"So you jumped into the Heavenly River?"

"Yes. But you saved me, didn't you?"

"What if I hadn't gone to the Thirty-Third Heaven?"

"Then you would have had to wait another forty thousand years for me. Who told you to keep such painful secrets from me."

"I thought if I let you sleep for a while, I could return, but I didn't expect you to wake up in three days, nor did I expect things to be so difficult."

"I was thinking of you, so I woke up..."

"When Chunfeng took you away from the Underworld, I left the words 'Kunlun Flying Snow' on your palm."

"So there really were words! I didn't see them at the time, they burned away. But later I dreamed of them..."

"You little fool!"

"You impersonated Ming Zhong, but where is the real Ming Zhong?"