Little White Sugar looked at the Seventh Water Blue in horror: "Ghost King, what did you say?"
"Nothing. Let's go!" The seventh Shuilan took the lead in crossing the Fengling River. After we crossed the other side, I couldn't help but look back. There was a tall man beside Xue Ling'er - Zhan Qing!
Xue Ling'er used the illusion of the ghost realm to create a Zhan Qing
Perhaps, that Zhan Qing is a real existence to her
Xue Ling'er took Zhan Qing's arm, leaned on his shoulder and waved to us.
Xiao Baitang couldn't stop her tears from flowing.
I felt like a stone was pressing down on my heart, and I couldn't breathe. It was not until I saw Xue Ling'er and Zhan Qing walking hand in hand into the depths of the ghost realm that I pulled Xiao Baitang, who was crying, out of the ghost realm.
When I reached the top of the mountain, the fog that had enveloped the ghost realm had completely disappeared, and the ghost realm revealed its true appearance for the first time. Just as the hunchback said, the real ghost realm was just a small country in the Western Regions buried underground, or in other words, just a small ancient city.
I have never seen what the ghost domain looked like in the past. In my eyes now, it is just a city that is half covered under a sinkhole.
I stared into the ghost realm and said, "Why is the original illusion gone?"
Seventh Shui Lan whispered: "Either the Heavenly Dao Jade Disk was broken, and the Ghost Realm Illusion Formation lost its support; or Lin Jingyuan broke a corner of the illusion formation when he left. Now it seems that the Ghost Realm can no longer be hidden."
Just as I was about to speak, Qiqi Shuilan suddenly turned around and said, "Wu Zhao, have you really entered the trajectory of Zhan Qing's fate?"
"Indeed." I nodded. "I have seen almost all of Zhan Qing's life. However, I did not see why Zhan Qing was captured. The last thing I saw was myself being tied up in a cell somewhere."
"What a Zhan Wuxiang!" Seventh Shui Lan sneered, "I didn't expect that he would find another successor for himself in this way."
The seventh Shui Lan turned to look at me and said, "You are now considered the heir of both the human and ghost lineages."
I couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then I immediately understood what the seventh Shui Lan meant. I watched Zhan Qing learn from his grandfather Zhan Liren for ten years without missing a single detail. Doesn't that mean I learned from him for ten years? I have almost inherited the secret method of networking.
Although most of the secrets of the Zhan family have been lost, they are incomparable to those of the Wu family. As for the Zhan family's swordsmanship alone, although it is not as magical as the Nine Fateful Swords, it is already countless times more ruthless and fierce than the Wu family's inheritance. With this set of swordsmanship alone, I can compete with most martial arts masters.
According to Seventh Shui Lan, Zhan Wuxiang should have deliberately let me inherit. But what is his purpose in doing so
While I was thinking, the Seventh Shuilan said in a deep voice: "Remember, you can't tell anyone what you saw, especially don't let the people of Xuanjing Division know. As far as I know, the Feng family, who founded Xuanjing Division, and Zhan Wuxiang have an irreconcilable feud. If you are just the descendant of the Half-Life Dao, perhaps they will not go all out against you. However, once the secret that you are the descendant of the human connection is exposed, Xuanjing Division will do its utmost to hunt you down, and hunt you to death."
I looked up and asked, "What kind of grudge did Xuan Jingsi have with Zhan Wuxiang? Zhan Wuxiang has been dead for hundreds of years, but they still can't let go of this hatred?"
"I don't know." Seventh Shui Lan shook his head and said, "I only know that Xuan Jing Division has spared no effort to hunt down the descendants of the Zhan family several times, and even the distant relatives and branches of the Zhan family have not been spared. You must be careful."
"I understand!" I just finished speaking when I heard a roar from the hillside: "Let's see who dares to do it!"
Monk
The voice in the ancient castle on the top of the mountain was clearly that of Monk Shi.
Ye Jin and I looked at each other and simultaneously leaped towards the direction of the castle. When we climbed to the top of the city wall, the first person we saw was Monk Shi who was facing the Northern Judge of the Hell Gate.
The large group of people brought by Judge Bei set up dozens of mortars commonly used by the Japanese army, and pointed the muzzles directly at the ghost zone below the mountain.
Hell Gate had taken down the Japanese army's underground fortifications, so I was not surprised that they could seize a large amount of munitions, and I would not be surprised even if they brought out field artillery. But what surprised me was how could Shi Heshang stand in front of Hell Gate alone
The Northern Judge, who was the leader of the Hell Gate, said in a cold voice: "Shi Bucong, you have seen it yourself. The ghost realm has emerged at the foot of the mountain. If you don't strike hard and blow up the ghost realm now, when the evil spirits emerge and cause trouble, can you, Shi Bucong, bear the responsibility?"
Monk Shi roared, "Stop talking to me about those principles. I don't understand! I know my brother is in there! Whoever dares to make a move will be killed by me!"
Judge Bei said coldly, "Shi Bucong, don't think that I am afraid of you just because I gave you a bit of warning. If you didn't have the Nine-fold Order in your hand, you would have been beheaded long ago."
"How about I use the Nine-fold Order to pressure you?" Monk Shi had no intention of being fooled. "If you have the guts, just kill me and then bombard the ghost realm. I want to see if the Hell Gate will go to war with the Nine-fold Pavilion for you!"
"You..." Judge Bei took a deep breath and said, "Okay, okay! Nangong Ling, you better come out and persuade Shi Bucong! I'll give you five minutes. Once the five minutes are up, I won't care if he has the Nine-fold Order in his hand or not. I will kill him here. In the face of justice, I don't believe that the Nine-fold Pavilion will be the enemy of the Art of War."
I didn't come out until I found Nangong Ling standing at the gate of hell. Now it seems that Nangong Ling is standing on the opposite side of the monk.
Ye Jin was about to speak when I stopped him: "Let the monk choose for himself."
Nangong Ling is a choice for Monk Shi, and isn’t it the same for us
If Monk Shi chooses to give in, the friendship between him and me will not be severed, but we will no longer be able to walk side by side in the martial arts world as before.
Deep down, I can understand this choice.
However, that also means that the monk will embark on a different life - it's time for him to retire.
There is a difference between the underworld and outside of it after all. We will not drag Monk Shi to flee with us in the underworld any longer.
Nangong Ling walked towards Monk Shi and whispered, "Brother Shi, you..."
Monk Shi said in a deep voice: "Nangong Ling, I only have one question for you. If the person below is your father, will you let me leave?"
Nangong Ling exclaimed: "How can they be the same? Wu Zhao and the others..."
Monk Shi said in a deep voice, "It's no different. They have no blood relationship with me, but they went deep into Miao territory for me and risked their lives. At that time, they just lost a woman who advised them to stop."
Monk Shi looked at Nangong Ling and said, "I'll say this one last time. Either you leave now, or our relationship ends here."
I could tell that Monk Shi didn't ask Nangong Ling to go through thick and thin with him, he just wanted Nangong Ling to leave safely.
Nangong Ling was silent for a long while, and stood behind Shi Heshang without saying a word. Shi Heshang's body couldn't help but tremble slightly. I could see that he wanted to turn around and hug Nangong Ling and cheer loudly, but he just suppressed his urge to cheer.
Ye Jin slapped his thigh: "Let's..."
Ye Jin's expression changed before he finished speaking - we also saw Nangong Ling raise his hand and point at himself.
Monk Shi had his back to Nangong Ling and could not see her movements, but we could see clearly that Nangong Ling was hinting to Judge Bei to use herself to put pressure on the monk.
Judge Bei sneered and said, "Shi Bucong, I admire your loyalty, but it's a pity that you used it in the wrong place. For the sake of justice, even if I kill a thousand people by mistake, I can't let the evil spirit come into the world."
"Shi Bucong, I'm warning you one last time! Think carefully about it. Do you want to die with your woman in this desolate mountain for the sake of loyalty?"
Judge Bei's words hit the monk's soft spot.
If this choice were made in ancient times, it might not have been possible at all. In ancient times, it was not uncommon for men to kill their wives for justice, or even to exterminate their entire clan for justice. Women in ancient times were also proud to fulfill their husbands' righteousness and were willing to die.
But this is not ancient times!
Even if Shi Heshang was cut into pieces, he would not frown, but he could not bear to leave Nangong Ling. Nangong Ling was his beloved, and he could not watch Nangong Ling die in front of him, let alone take Nangong Ling away with his own hands.
As for Nangong Ling, I can understand her as well. She would do anything for Shi Heshang, but Ye Jin and I don't have the kind of friendship that would allow us to go through life and death together. In her opinion, Shi Heshang is the most important person. If she can sacrifice us to save Shi Heshang, she will choose the latter without hesitation. This is not wrong!
I don’t know why, but I always feel that Nangong Ling seems to be forcing Shi Heshang to choose between love and righteousness, and she seems to be constantly verifying her weight in Shi Heshang’s heart.
Ye Jin gritted his teeth beside me and whispered, "Damn it, what is Nangong Ling doing? Is he trying to force the monk to death? Let's get out!"
I don't know why I said, "Wait a minute!"
As soon as I said this, I saw Monk Shi tightly gripping the copper stick in his hand, and his body, with his back to Nangong Ling, was trembling slightly.
Judge Bei struck while the iron was hot and said, "Shi Bucong, there are not many women in this world who can stand behind you at the critical moment of life and death. Do you think that giving up your beloved woman for the sake of loyalty is something worthy of respect? You are wrong! How can a person who can easily give up his own woman talk about the word "loyalty"? "
I couldn't see the monk's expression, but I could see the copper stick in his hand slowly seeping into the ground.
I couldn't understand the inner struggle of Shi Heshang, but I could see that Shi Heshang's emotions were gradually getting out of control. I said in a deep voice: "Ye Jin, don't wait, this kind of thing will probably not have any results. I believe..."
Before I could finish my words, I saw Monk Shi suddenly raise his head and said in a hoarse voice: "Can you let Nangong Ling go?"
Judge Bei said: "That depends on your choice." (To be continued)