Chapter 32: He Must Die

The next time she opened her eyes, she was surprised to be back at the War. On her right side was the massive Heavenly Army dressed in white and on the left was a blanket of army dressed in black serving under the God Creator. Xiu'er watched as the two armies ran and collided into one another.

Similar to blending colors, one would expect that white and black would make gray, but they didn't. They make red. These soldiers are as different as the colors they are wearing, and will never be able to blend together even in a million years. Instead, when they were blended together they made red. Blood spills everywhere staining the rocky ground as if a bucket of red paint was carelessly tipped over. Body counts started to skyrocket. The stench of iron filled the noses of everyone, but their focus were mainly not to slip on the spilled blood of their fellow soldiers while trying to kill the enemy.

Next, this was the part where the Heavenly Emperor and the God Creator jumped at each other, unleashing all their energy into their most powerful attack. The Heavenly Emperor was wearing a large gold armor that shone so bright Xiu'er had to squint her eyes. The God Creator was wearing an armor equivalent in magnificence as the Heavenly Emperor, only that it was black.

Xiu'er remembered this scene like it was yesterday. But wait! What was that!?

The man she loved the most just jumped right after the Heavenly Emperor and God Creator out of nowhere. He held himself responsible for the War as he leaped and came into the middle of the two most powerful individuals in the entire universe, the Heavenly Emperor and the God Creator. Just like before, Xiu'er was unable to stop him. Even in her dreams.

His body came between them at the exact location where the two attacks were pinpointed and their powers were blasted into his body. As the three men hovered in the air, Xiu'er was on the ground yelling at the top of her lungs. She fell on her legs, her eyes never leaving the large white streak of power coming from the right and the large black streak of power from the left, both colliding into his body that was too small compared to the enormous powers he was receiving. She gasped for air and screamed one last time.

That was when she woke up.

Sweat dashed around her forehead as Xiu'er familiarize herself with the room again. She realized that she had screamed out loud and startled A'Li. She hadn't had this dream for the longest time. There were many other nightmares but this one was the worst one. Maybe it was Kun Shang's near death situation that triggered her nightmare once more. She wiped off the perspire from her face and turned to look at the bed. Everything about Kun Shang was the same as before she fell asleep.

The lashes on his eyelids wiggled and his pupils moved underneath. She was surprised to see that he was going to wake up soon. With the Heart Cleansing Spring and his strong stamina, he should be able to recover faster than most.

Afraid for him to see her like this, and to answer his many questions that came afterwards, she called for her brother to exchange shifts.

"A'Li, go get Big Brother. Take the blanket with you."

Xiu'er left Kun Shang's room to notify Master Quan that Kun Shang had awoken before heading down to the dungeon where Chun Yi was. When Chun Yi saw her for the first time in three days, she stood up and walked towards the ice bars, clamping her hands on it. The two girls looked each other in the eyes in a moment of silence.

"How did you do it?" Chun Yi asked first in a low whisper.

"Do what?"

"Save him." She was still in shock that there was someone out there who could actually cure her poison.

"You'll know about that later."

Chun Yi lowered her eyes. "Is he… is he ok?"

"What do you think?" Xiu'er said it a little too fast with anger. She tried to keep her voice monotone as best as she could. "Let me ask you this, do you know that your poison works against the qi of the patient? Do you know that if the person cultivates and has strong spiritual energy, their qi can hold off the poison for as long as it can but eventually the patient will die. Since you know this, you probably thought that Kun Shang has more hours to live. Well, he should've. He should have at most 18 hours to live before he dies, so why was he in such a dire state so soon, you might ask. That's because his spiritual nature is fire. It spreads the poison exponentially faster than normal, dwindling his life expectancy to 6 hours. In that time his blood will freeze, his organs stopped working one by one, and the pain of losing oxygen as if he was underwater, then his heart giving him a heart attack and finally his brain giving him a seizure, all the while he is still gasping for air because his lungs had closed down." There was a short moment of silence as the poisonous girl was letting the symptoms of her poison sink in. "Now imagine that to a five year old child."

Chun Yi's eyes suddenly shot large as she saw the dried flower crown in Xiu'er's hand when she brought it around. Tears were building up in her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish until she calmed down. "Xiu'er, do you believe me that everything was an accident?"

"Really?" Xiu'er kept her calm but she was starting to get heated. "Killing Yaoyao was an accident? Killing Kun Shang was an accident?" She creased her brows and her lips turned crooked. "Don't you dare say my name. That name is only used by my friends."

Chun Yi looked her in the eyes with so much to say and apologize for, but nothing came out. She knew she was wrong to ever let the little girl come near her. She knew she was at fault no matter if it was by accident or on purpose. Most importantly, she knew where she stood and where the rest of the martial arts community stood. She was from Hidden Butterfly Valley, an unorthodox Sect presumed to be evil in all of martial artist's eyes.

When Chun Yi was given this mission, she never expected she would meet Yaoyao and be the one to kill the innocent girl. Out of all the people she had killed, this was the one she regretted the most.

"I know you have secrets." Xiu'er looked into her eyes and continued. "And I have secrets too, but if you promise me one thing I won't tell anyone about your fake contributions." Chun Yi's eye squinted one time with concern. "That's right. That night when Gou Qingzhao attacked us, you didn't save us, did you? I know you're using it as an excuse to get Kun Shang to help you retrieve this precious vial you talk about. But you're only trying to get close to him." There was another moment of silence. Chun Yi took a guilty inhale and finally nodded ever so slightly. She was admitting to purposely trying to hurt Kun Shang.

How did Xiu'er found out that Chun Yi didn't save them on that night? Simple. Chun Yi's real mission was to assassinate Kun Shang. She couldn't have saved them when the situation was in her favor.

"Why are you trying to kill him?" Xiu'er finally asked the million dollar question. The girl in black carried herself mysteriously and she definitely had a mission in mind. Chun Yi did not approach them on this journey with a friendly intention.

Chun Yi looked Xiu'er in the eyes and suddenly she had more courage. She had lowered her pride many times in her own Sect for her Master's sake, allowing her fellow junior sisters to slip by many times for bullying her because of her poisonous condition. Her poisonous condition may have made her as strong as she was now, but it came with the cost of jealousy and insults. She had beared through it all these years, letting them tamper on her pride and dignity.

However, she will not lower herself to this girl to tamper her pride. She was the one behind bars for no reason. She was the one who saved Xiu'er from Qingzhao's men once. And she was the one who was more martially skilled than Xiu'er. She definitely did not have to lower herself to this beggar.

"Who are you to ask?" Chun Yi said to Xiu'er coldly. "I don't have to answer you. For all I know you're just a beggar who's tagging along with him. You don't have the authority to make me answer."

Xiu'er straightened out her back and raised her head higher. "How about the fact that you like him? I know I'm just a beggar, but I'm not stupid. Deep down, you didn't want Kun Shang to die, did you? You prayed for me to be able to save him. Now that I've cured your infamous curse, I think I deserve to know why you're trying to kill him."

Chun Yi looked at the hand she had on the ice bar. She wasn't melting it with her warmth, but her fingers are turning blue underneath her black glove. She dropped her hands beside her in a limp. Maybe Xiu'er was right? Maybe she did deserve an explanation? It didn't make any sense to Chun Yi that she was starting to like Kun Shang. Her feelings are getting uncontrollable. What difference does it make now? She had already failed her mission. He lived. And she was glad.

"Because he carries the Sword of the Millennial Gods." Chun Yi simply replied. "My Master said whoever carries that Sword, must die."