The Demise of Azure Water Sect

Cheng Kun stumbled, his feet appearing not to work for a moment, and then he turned around and fled.

Of course, being a cultivator, he flew into the air on a sword or some sort of artifact. Unfortunately, before he could get far, Wu Xing was suddenly behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

"Going somewhere?" The leader of Elemental Mountain Sect asked in an almost pleasant manner. Cheng Kun stammered something, but he was hurled backward by the bald sect leader, spinning helplessly.

He somehow halted his momentum in midair, reaching out with his fingers and feet, skidding across the skies and leaving a trail of friction-sizzling qi. Then he looked up and widened his eyes when he saw Hui Ying in front of him.

The bodyguard of the fourteenth prince had taken to the air and was wielding a sword, intent on eliminating the cultivator who had dared threaten the safety of his charge. Black qi swirled around his blade.

"Lunar Fang Surges through the Heavens!" He yelled and swung his sword. A gigantic lunar fang blasted out and slammed into Cheng Kun, engulfing him in destructive energies.

The old man cried out and plummeted, his body fuming. He crashed onto the ground heavily, his body imprinting a crater in the stone. When he staggered to his feet, his body battered, bruised and scorched, he found himself surrounded by the various sect leaders.

This time, even Jin Shan Dian had joined in, his spear crackling with golden lightning. Only Shan Ben Yuan Jian stood far away, the old man having reverted his sword into a wooden walking stick.

He must have judged that his involvement was no longer needed.

"N…no…" Cheng Kun stammered, shrinking away from the furious sect leaders. Before he could retreat, Jin Shan Dian impaled him through his chest with his spear, causing him to scream. He shuddered and slumped.

"Get up," Jin Shan Dian snapped, yanking his spear back. "You're not dead. I only destroyed your dantian to ensure that you will never be able to use martial arts and cultivation techniques again, but the judgement is not ours to deliver."

"No…there is someone more appropriate for that." Long Feng Meng nodded in agreement before turning to the side. Huang Qian Jin was approaching, with Hui Ying by his side.

"We'll help to deliver the traitor to the imperial palace," Wu Xing said, his head lowered and one of his hands raised in what seemed like prayer. He didn't take pleasure in Cheng Kun's demise. "Your royal father, his majesty, will want to deliver the judgement himself."

"Yes, thank you very much." Huang Qian Jin nodded in approval, trying to sound strong with a shaky voice.

"What should we do with the rest of the Azure Water Sect?" Xing Chen asked deferentially. Huang Qian Jin glanced at Hui Ying, who simply tilted his head silently.

His meaning was clear. He was just a bodyguard, not an advisor. As the prince, Huang Qian Jin would have to make the decision himself.

Huang Qian Jin took a deep breath and steeled himself. Adopting a firm glance, he swept his gaze from sect leader to sect leader, and then cupped his hands respectfully.

"I will have to trouble the many sect leaders here to help me round up and capture every member of the Azure Water Sect. Do not allow even a single outer disciple to escape. My father the Emperor will inform everyone of his verdict – and how to deal with them – after you bring the traitor to his court. Until then, I must request that everyone here assist me in restraining every member of Azure Water Sect and keeping them in place."

An ember of resolve gleamed in his blue eyes.

"Make no mistake," he continued. "There will be an investigation…a very thorough one. And once everything is clear, we'll punish all the traitors behind this, no exceptions."

"Very well." Shen Ben Yuan Jian tapped his wooden staff against the ground. "Hear me, all disciples of the Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion! Capture every single member of the Azure Water Sect and bring them here! Do not let even one escape! Show no mercy to anyone who resists. If they fight back, cut them down."

"Yes, sect leader!"

Already the many disciples and masters of Ten Thousand Sword Pavilion were on the move.

"Xue Ren, you take the Blood Blades and do the same," Bai Yao Cai ordered his bodyguard. He nodded at me. "Xiao Ye, follow Xue Ren and listen to his instructions."

"Roger that." I bowed my head and cupped my hands obediently.

"Bei Er, you continue to treat Bai Ning Shuang. Alas, there is nothing we can do for her, but we can at least stabilize her condition and preserve her life. Also, once she is out of danger, watch her. She is to be restrained like a prisoner…just don't be too rough on her."

"Understood." Lan Bei Er hesitated. "But I don't believe that senior Bai is part of the coup d'état."

"If that's the case, then the investigation will prove her innocence. But that's not our job. We just stick to healing and apprehending."

"Yes, sect leader."

"My sect members and I will set up formations here to prevent the Azure Water Sect people from leaving," Xing Chen offered. He then began barking instructions to Astral Star Sect members, who scurried off to set up the necessary spirit arrays.

"My sect members and I will escort the prisoner and the fourteenth prince back to the royal palace in the imperial capital," Long Feng Meng suggested. She then gathered her disciples, masters and elders to her, forming an escort party.

"Well…I'll be returning first then, brother Ye," Huang Qian Jin told me. "Take care!"

"Yeah, I will. You too. Stay safe." I glanced at the Dragon Phoenix Sect members worriedly, but Hui Ying shook his head and reassured me.

"The Dragon Phoenix Sect can be trusted. They are the major sect that has the closest ties with the royal family."

"That's good." I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I raised a hand to wave them off. "I'll see you guys later then."

"Yeah." For some reason, Huang Qian Jin was grinning broadly. "We'll see each other again shortly, I'm sure of it."

Then he and Hui Ying were gone, escorted by members of the Dragon Phoenix Sect. Long Feng Meng, in particular, personally took charge of Cheng Kun's broken body. He groaned and shuddered, blood leaking from his mouth and torso, but nobody had any sympathy for him.

He had tried to kill all of us with his corpse puppets, after all. What a joker. Even if he was trying to rip off the villains of True Sun Sect from Banished Disciple's Counterattack, he was such a pathetic failure that it wasn't funny.

At least his motives made some sort of sense. He wasn't just being villainous and targeting the protagonist specifically and resorting to all sorts of ways to kill him because Ye Chen (or I) somehow offended him by proving him wrong and thus he found that humiliating even though he and his sect were the ones insulting him (or me).

He would have done the same – offering the five-veined spirit pill – if someone else was the one who won. Like Chi Yan, for example.

Speaking of Chi Yan, he had been fully healed by Lan Bei Er yesterday, and he and He Shan Jie came over to join me when I was rounding up disciples of the Azure Water Sect. The Azure Water Sect disciples were glumly surrendering themselves, many of them confused because they weren't privy to the plans of the higher-ups. The elders and core disciples, on the other hand…they were pale and afraid now that their schemes had been exposed.

Most of them were prostrating themselves across the floor and begging for mercy. The four other major sects showed them no pity or remorse, simply dragging them from wherever they found them and throwing them into the broken arena.

We were creating like some sort of pen to fence all of them in. The Astral Star Sect, the only one not physically involved in apprehending the traitors, had finished setting up the formations and were ensuring nobody got in or out. Keeping the venue watertight, in other words.

"Never expected this sudden turn of events, eh?" Chi Yan said, shaking his head. "I mean, I always knew they were arrogant bastards, but I never imagined they were traitors who were after the other major sects and even the throne itself. Are they…insane?"

"Ambitious," He Shan Jie muttered. "To the point of delusional grandeur."

"Did they really think they would get away with it?"

"Probably. But they never thought that Shan Ben Yuan Jian would be so strong to the point of absurdity."

"Yeah," I agreed, remembering the old man's sword skills. The dude was godlike.

We ran a sweep through the place one last time, finding no other Azure Water Sect member in the place, and returned to the coliseum. I approached Lan Bei Er, who was stabilizing Bai Ning Shuang's condition.

She was finally stirring, having stopped coughing up blood some time ago. Lan Bei Er looked concerned, but she was finally relaxing slightly when she saw that her friend was no longer in danger. At her side, restrained, was Sui Mei.

"I really didn't know what Master was planning," Sui Mei was pleading. "He never told me anything about this!"

"…I believe you," Lan Bei Er said softly, much to Sui Mei's relief. However, she wasn't done. She focused her gaze on Bai Ning Shuang, who opened her eyes slowly. "What about you, senior Bai?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I have nothing to do with this coup d'état?" Bai Ning Shuang asked, her voice weak and her demeanor frail.

"Yes," Lan Bei Er replied without any hesitation. This was why I love my wife.

Bai Ning Shuang lowered her head, ashamed. A few seconds of silence passed, but Lan Bei Er didn't press her friend for anything. She simply continued to treat her as best as she could, but there was nothing she could do. No healing technique could reverse the effects of the Marrow Corrosive pill.

Bai Ning Shuang laughed hollowly. "I suppose I deserve this fate," she finally spoke up, glancing at me. "I was so arrogant and full of myself…thinking that nobody deserved me. Then I met someone and fell in love with him when he saved me. I thought he was the only one worthy of my love…only to find out that his real identity was someone who I had been scorning, insulting and looking down on this entire time. This is my punishment then…I should learn to be more humble and less arrogant. I should never look down on others…should never judge them by their appearances."

"Yes," Lan Bei Er agreed. "Don't worry about it. As long as you learn from your mistakes, that's all that matters. Everyone stumbles and fails multiple times throughout their lifetimes. It's how you recover and grow from those mistakes that build you up as a person."

"I…might not have the chance any longer," Bai Ning Shuang said, her head lowered in shame. Lan Bei Er shook her head.

"That's not true!"

"Earlier, I said I have nothing to do with this coup d'état," Bai Ning Shuang said weakly. "That's true. I wasn't involved…I didn't want to get involve. But that didn't mean I didn't know about it. I knew about it. Master told me about it. I refused to join him…I refused to help him or have anything to do with it, but I didn't do anything to stop it. I didn't tell you or the other sects or the royal family. I simply didn't do anything, as if that would set me apart from their treachery."

She lowered her head.

"This must be my punishment for such a half-hearted mentality. The heavens have delivered their judgement themselves. This is the will of Heaven."

Lan Bei Er said nothing. What could she say? She didn't know how to respond to her friend's confession. At least she sighed.

"It is not my place to judge…but you're still my friend, senior Bai."

"Thank you." still lying down, Bai Ning Shuang weakly raised a hand and squeezed Lan Bei Er's fingers. She then turned to me, her eyes moist. "And…sorry."

Then she slipped back into unconsciousness.