Chương 400: Grudges (VII)

Yun Qi was rather surprised that the woman hadn't attacked him immediately. Though she couldn't be absolutely certain that it was him who caused Elder's death, people of the Holy Lands weren't the sort to bother with pesky details like that--they'd kill first and match the story after the fact. Seeing as she didn't do so immediately, it piqued his curiosity.

"You are beautiful, Fellow Daoist," he said.

"But I've no intention of choosing a Dao Companion for now."

"I can't kill you," she said, ignoring him.

"But I can run away. Why do you think I was the one who was dispatched?"

"Are you also trying to buy time for something else to happen or for someone else to come?" he asked.

"Nobody else is coming; not anytime soon, anyway," she said.

"You've put the terror of death into their hearts deep enough that they'd rather not chance it."

"You must be the river of courage, then."

"Or a disliked outcast," she said.

"Or that. Are you here to tell me you'd like to help me in exchange for me helping you?"

"And if I am?"

"Then you should return," he said.

"I've no intention of either getting your help or helping you."

"... even if I know the way to lure Jadesword by himself?" Yun Qi frowned, readying to strike; she immediately drew another hundred yards of distance between them so quickly that he was a bit shocked. Her movement arts... were rather spectacular, he had to admit.

"Were you listening to us?" he asked, feeling a bit curious.

"No," she shrugged.

"I'm simply not as stupidly ignorant as the rest are."

"Oh?"

"Almost two years ago," she said.

"Elder Wolfheart, whom you had just killed, as well as several minor Elders, tasked me with being an intermediary with Elder Ghostblade of the Immortal Sword Haven Sect. Then, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, they boarded the flying artifacts and flew westward. Not half a day later, I sense the charging energy of another artifact and manage to catch a glimpse of a massive boat with the Heavenly Star Sect sigil on the side.

"I ventured to the edge of the region, by the Heaven-Piercing Peaks," she continued.

"And stayed there a while before the news spread that the two local hegemons of the region were flattened practically overnight. The next thing I know is that Elder Wolfheart comes back and locks himself in his cultivation chamber for nearly half a year under the guise of isolated cultivation. But the key piece was when he learned the Elder Ghostblade had been slain. You should have seen his face: pale, like a ghost's." If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author.

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"..." she really did seem like she pieced it all together from smaller clues.

"The pattern held as far as I could tell." She shrugged further and continued.

"More Elders began to drop dead, and they all, one way or another, seemed to have some connection with whatever happened west of the mountains. Either it was that they'd started turning against each other or that there was somebody connected to whatever happened there hunting them. Including Jadesword."

"... wow," he exclaimed with genuine feeling in his heart.

"Why haven't you shared such insight with them?"

"So that I could get a pat on the back as a reward?" she sneered.

"I'll take my chances with the mysterious, vengeful stranger."

"Me?"

"Why not? You can't be much worse than them. Seeing as you're able to kill so many of them with such ease and not get caught even after so long, you're quite capable."

"You make it sound so sweet," he said with a faint smile.

"Yet, your best choice is to goad me into accepting your proposal and then simply gifting me to them. You'd get far more than just a pat on the back."

"... then you simply don't know them as well as you think you do," she said.

"Do you know what Elder Wolfheart's reputation was in the sect? He'd issue missions that seemed easy, causing a number of young women to accept them and then he'd threaten to kick them out of the sect because they didn't complete the mission correctly--unless they spent a night with him, of course. They'd never even see the promised mission reward in the end. Why, tell me, would I ever trust they'd reward me properly?"

"..." Yun Qi stayed silent, feeling a pang of pain in his heart. He knew well enough the truth of it; even in their small Spirit Sword Sect, where Elders were no more important than ants in the grand scheme of things, such principles played out all the time.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I've no treasures to give you, I'm afraid. In fact, I barely have enough Stones to cultivate myself."

"I don't need your treasures or stones," she said.

"Just a promise."

"A promise?"

"She did not participate in the destruction of your former sect," she said.

"So, you have no reason to go after her."

"But you do?"

"She killed my Dao Companion," she said.

"Bewitched him with her arts, took him from me, and then, when she got tired of him, she killed him. If you swear an Oath that you will kill her, I will swear an Oath to help you track down all other cultivators who participated in your sect's destruction. And, to start it, I will have Jadesword, on his own, in front of you within fifteen days."

"Who is she?" Yun Qi asked.

"Former Sect Master of the Jade Meridian Sect and Jadesword's grandaunt, Divine Flower Zhu."

"..." he exclaimed softly, looking deeply into the woman's glistening, almost scarlet-red eyes.

"I suppose you are the reason he will show up on his own."

"..."

"It's a twisted world, everywhere," he added.

"It may take a while until I'm even capable of killing her. Let alone creating an opportunity to do so."

"I'm aware," she said.

"That woman is at the peak of True God Realm and will likely break through into Shedding Mortality within the next 50 years. But I'm willing to wait. 50 years, 100 years, 1000 years. No matter how long it takes. As long as she is alive, I will be waiting."

"... no," he said.

"50 years is more than enough."

"E-eh?"

"I, Yun Qi," he said.

"Swear to the Heavens that, if you help me track down and hunt all the dogs who've condemned my home to an early death, I shall in turn help you execute the one that caused you endless harm, Divine Flower Zhu."

"... I, Jin Hua," she said.

"Swear to the Heavens that I shall help you track down and hunt all the dogs who've condemned your home to an early death. Shall I go back on that oath, may the heavens above smite me."

"And if I shall go back on mine, may they smite me, too."