Chapter 96: This Venerable One's Hatred Born In This Life

It was no wonder that Ye Wangxi despised him; this Mei Hanxue was that "dashixiong" from the Peach Blossom Springs that got countless female cultivators to coo and squabble jealously over him.

Nangong Si had initially thought that the new arrival was some powerful character, but it only turned out to be some pretty boy that relied all on looks; all of his interest vaporized in an instant, and he turned back to the battle at hand.

Mei Hanxue glanced at Xue Meng, a little exasperated, but paid him no mind as he lowered his brows and his fingers danced over the strings of the pipa.

Hearing the notes, the hundred cultivators of Taxue Palace spread out in all directions——   "Guqin division, play the Song of Alkaid[8]; pipa division, perform the MagicCancelling Dance." At his command, the ensemble changed its tune immediately, countless strong, fast-paced chords gathering in the air into a resounding refrain that scattered the clouds.

Immediately, all the demonic fiends stopped fighting, standing in place instead with their necks outstretched and hollow stares on their faces.

Seeing this, Li Wuxin remembered that those of Kunlun Taxue Palace were not only masters of music, but also knew something of barrier mending.

Delighted, he tilted his head up and yelled, "Esteemed nephew[9] Mei, would you happen to know how to mend the Heavenly Rift?"   Paying no heed to that gross "esteemed nephew" address, Mei Hanxue answered, "The Heavenly Rift of the Infinite Hells is beyond my abilities."   "Ah, this…" Li Wuxin's face paled, then he swept his sleeve and let out a long sigh.

"Hanxue, what about the barrier around Butterfly Town, would you be able to hold that down?" The speaker was Xue Zhengyong. Sisheng Peak and Taxue Palace have always been on good terms, so Mei Hanxue, seeing a familiar senior, bowed courteously before answering, "I can try."   "Great!" Xue Zhengyong clapped his hands together. "Go guard the barrier in the four directions, make sure the demons don't get out, and call Yuheng back ——" "Yuheng Elder?"   "Ah, my damn memory, forgot you've never met Yuheng before. Don't worry,

you'll know him when you see him, just look for the person holding down the barrier right now."   "Got it." Mei Hanxue, calm and collected, flew off toward the edge of the town with a tilt of his sword, like a shooting star upon the wind.

Nangong Si nocked three arrows onto his bow and shot in three directions at once. Between the thrumming of the bowstring, he saw Mei Hanxue shoot past with speed and grace, while the rest of the people from Taxue Palace continued to suppress the enemy with musical chords. Surprised in spite of himself, he asked Ye Wangxi, "This person seems quite capable after all, why did you call him a pretty boy who relies on women to do the fighting?"   "..." Ye Wangxi was baffled as well, but the fiends were moving slowly right now,

presenting an ideal opportunity to take them out, so he didn't waste time trying to figure it out, replying only, "It seems he didn't go all out against me back then," before turning back to the enemy and saying no more.

Four of the ten great sects were now present, making the fight against the Heavenly Rift somewhat less of a desperate struggle, but still harrowing nonetheless.

Although the fiends currently on the ground were frozen by the chords of Taxue Palace, more and more oozed out from the bloody eye connecting to the ghost realm by the minute, shrieking and howling. The force from Taxue Palace was positioned in the air, but couldn't defend themselves while playing, so the demonic fiends rushed toward the pipa and guqin players between the clouds.

They had no choice but to divert a portion of their force to play the song of defense, instantly weakening the song of suppression and exorcism and allowing the masses of fiends on the ground to resume their frenzied rampage.

Even worse, as the door to the ghost realm opened wider still, some high level demons consumed enough of the mortal realm's Yang energy to break free of their fetters and cross into this world as well, dragging their chains and shackles behind.

These were nothing like the minor fiends from before; they were possessed of both their corpse and resentful soul in one, and were much more powerful and vicious, far beyond what the average cultivator could handle alone. Instantly,

some stragglers were slammed over in one strike, their chests skewered right through by bony claws—— With a wet gushing sound, blood splattered all about as the high level demons ripped the spiritual energy-filled hearts from those cultivators and bit greedily into them, fresh blood squelching out and streaming down the rotting flesh of their faces.

Mouths covered in blood and dangling with pieces of flesh, the demons grew even stronger, plunging into the crowd and seeking their next meal like beasts of prey.

Instantly, all hell broke loose!

Xue Zhengyong shouted, "Set arrays and form groups! Stay together, don't run off!" But some had already lost their head to fear, running about in hysterics,

screaming and crying as they fled every which way. The stench of blood in the air grew stronger; the demonic fiends amassed like the tide, as did the corpses of the dead...

Letting fly arrow after arrow, Nangong Si was going all out when a hanged ghost with its blood red tongue dangling from its mouth rushed in and latched onto him, raising its claw and going straight for his chest.

Ye Wangxi was too far away when he turned and saw, all color draining instantly from his usually composed face—— "A-Si!!!!" "Gongzi!" In the nick of time, Song Qiutong sprung over with her sword and stabbed the hanged ghost in the arm. But she's never even killed a person before, much less a ghastly fiend like this, so she let go right after in fear, the long sword falling to the ground with a clang.

The hanged ghost lunged out at her in rage, and Nangong Si switched bow for sword to block in front of her as he yelled, "Get away from here, hurry!" Song Qiutong's eyes glistened with tears, saying, "Qiutong's life was saved by Rufeng Sect, this one cannot possibly leave…" Nangong Si had little experience in dealing with women, but seeing her delicate demeanor and that determination in her eyes, he felt a squeeze in his heart and couldn't help cursing under his breath as he called, "Ye Wangxi!!!" "Ye Wangxi! Get the hell over here! Look after her for me!"   Ye Wangxi arrived covered in blood, grime and filth staining his handsome face. He grabbed Song Qiutong by the arm and said harshly, "Go find Qinshixiong and stick with him."   "I'm not leaving, I can still help," she pleaded. "Young master, I want to stay by your side." "Ye Wangxi, make sure you protect her!"

Ye Wangxi's face darkened immediately; being the upstanding gentleman that he was, he rarely ever showed such anger on his face.

"Nangong Si," the syllables trembled, broken. "You must have lost your mind." Then, paying no more mind to the other two, he took hold of his sword and vaulted away back into the surging masses of undead.

More and more high level demons appeared, mixing into the crowd like daggers slicing open the stomach of the fish, peeling off its scales, glistening scales sticky with blood, rising and falling.

It was every man for himself as the fiends surrounded the living, wanting nothing more than to devour each and every one of them, drag them into the Infinite Hells. Mo Ran, Xue Meng, and Shi Mei fought back to back against the demons in all directions, but the clearing around them was shrinking as the enemy closed in. There was a wet sound as Xue Meng cut the arms off a fierce fiend, and foul blood shot several feet into the air.

The attacking fiends saw that this person was strong, and so circled around toward Shi Mei instead. Shi Mei's hands were held in a spell sign, but his spiritual energy was draining, and the waterlight array flickered in brightness...

Knowing that they won't be able to hold out for much longer at this rate, Mo Ran made up his mind, saying, "Shi Mei, put up a shield array. Xue Meng, get in."   "What?" Xue Meng got mad immediately. "You telling me to be a wimp?!" "Just listen to me and get in! Is this the time to be stubborn about appearances? Look around you, you think we can kill this many ghosts?!"   Shi Mei said, "A-Ran, what are you going to do?" "Don't ask so much, just do as I told you," Mo Ran gentled his tone, "it'll be alright."   The circle around them closed in even more. Mo Ran urged, "Quickly, there's no more time."   Shi Mei could only adjust his hand seal to raise a layer of blue-colored shielding array around Xue Meng and himself. Seeing the array complete, Mo Ran pulled out the weapon hidden in his sleeve and swiped it across his palm to sprinkle the array with his own blood, marking it with his spiritual energy. Then,

gaze darkening, he called out in a low voice, "Get to work!" Jiangui flared bright at his words, each leaf ablaze with the glow of scarlet spiritual energy, like so many sharp daggers hanging from the willow vine as it suddenly grew in length by tens of feet. Mo Ran closed his eyes, recalling in his mind the sight of Chu Wanning unleashing his killing technique, and when he opened them again, in his eyes were reflected the countless ghastly fiends closing in.

He whipped Jiangui high up into the sky above, sparks erupting off the vine and raining down.

Mo Ran held up his arm, his sleeve whipping in the wind.

In that moment, his silhouette seemed to overlap with that of Chu Wanning in his mind, the two moving in perfect sync.

"Wind."

A burst of force that ravaged the land and urged the very clouds above,

pulling low the sky itself!

Behind Mo Ran, Xue Meng and Shi Mei watched as an enormous light array in scarlet bloomed like a red lotus from hell, fierce gales whipping the ground like formless blades as Jiangui whirling into a blur in Mo Ran's hand, sending dust and debris swirling into the air, the overwhelming force pulling countless fiends into the maelstrom and grounding them into mince!!!!

Chu Wanning's area killing technique, "Wind." Mo Ran could already use it this well...

By the time the tempest settled down, there was absolutely nothing left in the area.

Both Xue Meng and Shi Mei wore shocked expressions when Mo Ran turned around, but he had no time to celebrate, feeling only that he was far from where he needed to be—if he had the cultivation level that he once did right now,

something so trifling as a fracture in the ghost realm barrier would've be nothing to him.

"Look over there!"   Someone suddenly called in the distance.

Everyone looked up to see several contingents high up in the sky, riding in on swords from various directions, each group dressed differently and shrouded by different spiritual energies.

The Heavenly Rift of the Infinite Hells had finally urged the sects of the upper cultivation realm into action. The glowing swords touched down one after another, bringing a massive influx of reinforcements—over here were the graceful and charming personages from the Rainbell Isle, and over there were the solemn and dignified monks from Wubei Temple.

Finally, the ten great sects were all present.

Even stronger demons were crossing into this world, endless like swarming locust, but with the sudden arrival of reinforcements, they were no longer so outmatched.

At the same time, Mei Hanxue and Chu Wanning finally completed the spiritual transfer, the color of the barrier at the cardinal directions of the town changing from gold to blue.

With Mei Hanxue guarding the borders, Chu Wanning rode the wind into the center of the battle, landing gracefully where the fighting is most fierce.

He looked up at the rift in the sky, completely open by now, with some kind of immeasurable and terrifying evil vaguely perceptible from within.

He could practically feel the entity's insane strength, as if it had drunk the blood and consumed the brains of millions...

The barrier must be sealed now, or else that great evil being suppressed within the Infinite Hells will break free and cross into the mortal realm!

Chu Wanning couldn't help wondering if this was what the person behind the scenes was after, to unleash some kind of great evil from hell into this world?

But to what end?

"Shizun!" Shi Mei called anxiously after him.

Chu Wanning turned toward the voice.

Memories from the past life once again overlaid the present scene.

"Shizun!"

Shi Mei had called for him the same way back then.

Chu Wanning turned toward the voice.

Shi Mei panted in the snow, covered in blood and grime, but his eyes were firm and determined. "Shizun is going to mend the Heavenly Rift?" "Mn." "But that… that's not just any fracture, that's a fracture into the Infinite Hells,

how will Shizun manage by himself?" "..." "Let me help. I studied the defensive arts at the Peach Blossom Springs, I won't get in Shizun's way…" It was almost as if he could hear the exchange between the two, so many years ago, that determined life and death.

Mo Ran felt his blood run cold and his head go numb. Without warning, he grabbed Shi Mei and pulled him behind himself, then shoved him into Xue Meng,

yelling, "Xue Ziming, keep an eye on him! Look after him!!" Xue Meng's eyes widened. "You going somewhere, mutt?" "I…" The wind picked up, carrying with it the stench of blood.

There was no flurry of snowflakes in the sky; at least some things were different from the last lifetime.

Mo Ran's gaze landed on Shi Mei, lost and helpless, feeling his heart clench but then fill with relief.

This barrier cannot be mended by Chu Wanning alone.

But aside from his three disciples, no one else had the familiarity with his spiritual cultivation to work together with him in rapport. So one of them had to go.

The wind whipped fiercely through the battlefield, thousands of miles of desperate slaughter.

Bracing himself, Mo Ran pulled Shi Mei into his arms. It was the first time he had ever held him like this so openly and directly; he held him for a moment, and then abruptly pushed him away.

Shi Mei.

This time, I'm afraid the one to die will have to be me.

"I'll go help Shizun seal the barrier," Mo Ran declared in a tone that left no room for argument. Narrowing his eyes, he directed another deep, meaningful gaze at Shi Mei.

Suddenly, he didn't care what others might think anymore, didn't care that Xue Meng was right there, didn't care that he might get rejected. He had waited for two lifetimes, loved for two lifetimes, and now he was leaving, and might not be able to come back. Standing in the ferocious wind, he wanted to say a few final words to his beloved.

"Shi Mei, actually, I…"   But just then, as he opened his mouth to speak, the roars of vicious fiends drowned out his voice.

    That momentary impulse, boiling hot like lava, grew cold in that momentary pause, and in the end fizzled out.

"A-Ran, did you want to say something?" A reflection from his past life flitted across Mo Ran's eyes; he saw Shi Mei's gentle smile from behind that half-rolled curtain.

How cruel it had been.

It had stayed with him, for his whole life until death, and it was everywhere that he looked.

The rims of his eyes a little red, Mo Ran grinned.

"Nevermind, good things can't be said twice." Shi Mei: "You…"   "I'm off to go help Shizun. When I come back… if I still feel like telling you." Dimples deep, gaze filled with love. "I'll tell you then…" With that, he turned and headed toward Chu Wanning.

Shi Mei won't die now.

At least he won't die in front of him.

Mo Ran suddenly felt as if the sky was more open and the ground more vast.

He supposed that the figure in front of him, white robes billowing, will be the end point of this reborn life of his.

His Shizun, who held the world in his heart.

As Shi Mei lay dying, for the sake of completing the mending of the barrier,

for the sake of purging the rampaging fiends, Chu Wanning had ruthlessly chosen to leave.

This time, the one to repair the barrier with him was himself. Chu Wanning despised him so much, disliked him so much, there was no way he'd put down his esteemed reputation as the Beidou Immortal to mind the life or death of someone so insignificant as himself.

"Shizun." He came to a stop in front of him, Jiangui glowing in his hand.   "This barrier is hard to repair, let me help." The situation was dire; Chu Wanning shot him a wordless glance in silent acceptance.

He leapt up to stand at the highest point of the Chen Manor, with Mo Ran following after.

Chu Wanning spoke, "Set the Discernment Barrier." Following his instructions, Mo Ran moved in concert with him, one to the left and one to the right, the tips of their fingers glowing with the seal of the Discernment Barrier as they lifted their hands into the air in concert.

"Invoke!" Their spiritual energies streamed forth from their bodies at the invocation,

working in rapport and each holding down a vital grounding point of the array,

using the surge of their cultivation to form a gold-scarlet barrier that expanded outwards.

Any demonic fiends touched by the barrier would shriek as if burned and flee back into the eye of the ghost realm. The barrier grew clearer and brighter by the second, and below their feet rose a pair of coiled dragon platforms formed of spiritual energy, lifting the two of them high into the skies above.

In the glaring gold and scarlet light of the barrier, the ghost eye slowly began to close, but, as if refusing to yield, the resentful spirits within grew even wilder.

The resentful energy spilling forth grew stronger with each inch of the closure, and by the time they were some thousand meters away from the rift, the corruption from within was practically palpable.

In his reborn body, Mo Ran felt as if a heavy weight was beginning to settle over his shoulders, like an immense rock weighing a thousand tons was pressing against his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Across from him, Chu Wanning's spiritual energy was still strong and steady,

streaming unceasingly into the barrier.

One inch, another inch.

The corruption in the air had concentrated into one spot; it felt as if countless daggers were digging into his very flesh and bones.

"Shizun…" As his consciousness slowly began to fade, he seemed to see memories from the past again.

Shi Mei and Chu Wanning working together to repair the barrier, and it was mere moments before the worlds of Yin and Yang would be separated once again. The vicious ghosts that were about to be deprived of Yang energy once more saw that Shi Mei's side was much weaker; they gathered together and lunged toward Shi Mei as one.

Shaa!

In only an instant, Shi Mei, who had been doing his best to maintain the balance of the barrier, was pierced right through!

The scene replayed, almost exactly the same way.

Only, this time, it was Mo Ran whose heart was pierced through by a thousand ghosts.

From the Heavenly Rift, a cascade of demonic fiends broke through the heavy clouds and punched through Mo Ran's chest in an instant. Mo Ran saw red before his eyes, and it wasn't until a moment later that he came to his senses and realized that that was his blood bursting forth from his own chest.

Drowning in the suffocating stream, he strained to turn toward Chu Wanning,

only to be met with the sight of the man's pristine white robes and coldly impassive face, not even sparing him so much as half a glance.

Resentment flooded his chest.

Setting into deep hatred.

He fell from the coiled dragon platform, blood seeping from the corner of his lips, chest dyed a deep crimson.

The fall took only a moment, but it felt like an eternity, like a drowning person sinking slowly to the bottom of the sea, never again to hear the soft whispers of the living world.

Chu Wanning hadn't lifted single finger on his behalf.

Hadn't tried to stop them.

Couldn't even be bothered to glance his way.

When he fell, the scarlet spiritual energy dissipated, and just like in the previous lifetime, Chu Wanning chose to pour the remainder of his powers into the portion that Mo Ran wasn't able to mend, and, by his strength alone—— Forced the barrier shut with a thunderous bang!

But the fiends left on this side of the gate, cut off from the Yin energy of the ghost realm, immediately went into a frenzied rampage against the cultivators,

mowing through countless of the living in mere moments, utterly annihilating the formations of several sects.

Chu Wanning descended. When Mo Ran fell, a layer of light had formed beneath the coiled dragon pillar to cushion his fall.

But his whole chest had been pierced through and blood pooled on the ground beneath him, no different from Shi Mei back then.

Chu Wanning beat back the fiends that rushed toward Mo Ran and, with a backhanded wave, dropped a protective barrier around him.

"Shizun…" The person behind him murmured quietly.

"Are you leaving…" Mo Ran coughed out blood, but there was a grin on his face.

"Are you leaving again?"   Outside the flowing golden barrier, that person continued to stand with his back to him. Mo Ran opened his mouth, but his throat filled suddenly with the taste of iron.

"Chu Wanning, are you made of wood? You don't know what it is to feel sad,

to be selfish, do you…" "Chu Wanning…" "Chu Wanning…"   His vision blurred. He was covered in wounds from the battle; blood streamed from a cut on his forehead, flowed into his eyes, and as he threw his head back and laughed with abandon into the skies above, laughed as if he had gone mad, bloodied tears fell down his face.

His voice broke on a sob. "Chu Wanning, turn around! Look at me...are you really going to leave…" Won't you look at me one last time.

I'm dying.

Back then, when it was Shi Mei, you had at least spared him a glance.

You…

Do you truly…

Dislike me this much? Look down on me this much?

Why else would you refuse to look at me, just this one last time? Why won't you turn around?

"Shizun…" His eyes brimmed with blood and tears.

The last thing he saw, through the golden barrier, was the back of that lone person's white-robed figure as he walked away.

To go suppress demons.

So, in the end, it turned out that in his heart, there was no one else less important...than Mo Weiyu.

[8] 瑶光 Yao Guang, English name Alkaid or Benetnasch, leftmost star in the Big Dipper [9] They're not related by blood, Chinese culture is just really casual about referring to people who aren't blood-related to you as brother/sister/aunty/nephew etc etc