Chapter 107.2: Aftermath

Jing Yue pulled out the mini Canglan sword that pierced through Blood Corpse’s spiritual dais and turned to Fu Xuan while saying, “Many thanks. I didn't expect you to be here.”

Fu Xuan cupped his hands and greeted, “This disciple has a cave nearby.”

Jing Yue laughed. “It's such a coincidence and so unlucky for this old devil.”

Then, his gaze passed over Fu Xuan, through the crowd of cultivators who were cleaning up the disciples of Cadaver Gate, and settled on a red-robed figure in the ruins of the Naraka Tower.

Mo Qianyun was saved by Blood Corpse at that time, but he didn’t retrieve the Naraka Tower and leave as instructed by the other party. Instead, he rushed directly toward Zhao Qingyuan's bones, looking for the scattered remains of the other party from the ruins.

But he discovered that no matter how hard he tried to put them together, he couldn't put together a complete skeleton. Some bones had already shattered into ashes and merged with the ruins.

Mo Qianyun knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the broken bones in front of him. No more hatred could be found in his eyes, only bewilderment.

Scenes of the past surged and pounded his soul. Finally, the memory was fixed on a certain day.

That day, he and his master stumbled upon the Naraka Tower and he was accidentally sucked into the tower. To save him, his master became the sacrifice of the tower instead of him, and his soul was imprisoned forever in Avici Hell.

He wanted to resurrect his master, but in the end, all he got was a pile of broken white bones.

Mo Qianyun knew that his end was near and didn't care anymore, but it was just a pity about the Four Elephants Villa.

He touched a section of the white bone's arm and whispered, “Shizun, it’s not cold in hell.”

The next moment, he used his hand as a sword and chopped off his own head!

The splattered blood was hot and warmed the dry bones.

Jing Yue coldly watched as Mo Qianyun committed suicide but didn’t stop it.

The fighting in the villa was not over yet but it would be soon.

That night, the people coming in and out of Four Elephants Villa made this place livelier than when the Melody Fruit was born.

Many nearby cultivators came to the villa. Some of them received a request for help from fellow disciples or friends, while others heard about it.

No one thought that the Four Elephants Villa, one of the righteous Dao in central continent, would do such a crazy thing. Moreover, the entire event lasted a thousand years!

Fortunately, Mo Qianyun was dead, and Blood Corpse who escaped several times was likewise put to death.

The cultivators interrogated the captured disciples of Cadaver Gate and learned that Mo Qianyun had colluded with Blood Corpse a long time ago to refine the Naraka Tower together. Mo Qianyun's purpose was also to resurrect Zhao Qingyuan, the former sect leader of Four Elephants Villa.

And none of the disciples of Four Elephants Villa knew about this.

Even at the very beginning, some disciples were thrown into the Naraka Tower for refining, and these disappeared disciples were replaced by people from Cadaver Gate.

But as time passed, Mo Qianyun was afraid that too many disappearances of the villa’s disciples would attract suspicions, so he changed it to spiritual beasts, and Jing Yue and the others roughly guessed what happened after that.

Such frenzied behavior was to create an endless hell just to resurrect one person. If Zhao Qingyuan could really be resurrected, would he die again from anger?

Listening Pavilion, the moon hung high in the sky.

The Melody Tree had long been destroyed. At a glance, the pavilion was in ruins everywhere, and a person stood atop the broken tiles.

He took out a pill furnace from the Qiankun bag and extracted a bit of five-element mutated fire from the furnace. With a flick of his fingers, the fire immediately spread out and burned the remains of the Naraka Tower into ashes.

After collecting the mutated fire, someone suddenly said, “A-jing.”

Not far away, Wei Zhentu walked over.

“Here you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

Jing Yue, “What's the matter?”

Wei Zhentu handed him a fruit from his Qiankun bag, the Melody Fruit. “Aren’t you here for the fruit? It’s for you.”

Jing Yue was startled. “You got the melody fruit. Why are you giving it to me?”

Wei Zhentu, “Why don’t you guess?”

Jing Yue, “…”

Wei Zhentu laughed. “Well, it’s to thank you for saving me.”

Jing Yue said bluntly, “You should thank Master Jing Wu.”

Speaking of Jing Wu, the two fell silent.

After a while, Wei Zhentu said, “I have to thank you too. You brought me out of the living hell.”

Jing Yue shook his head. “We came out of the tower together. All of us have contributed.”

Wei Zhentu didn't expect that it would be so difficult to gift a fruit, but it would be too embarrassing to take it back. After a beat, he choked, “Then I thank you for picking a leaf for me.”

Jing Yue was amused. “I don’t know why you insist on giving it to me, but I really need it, so I’ll remember this favor.”

His realm was still unstable. After some twists and turns, he could feel the fluctuations in his realm.

Wei Zhentu breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I'm leaving, what about you?”

Jing Yue, “I'm going to the Three Realms Temple.”

Wei Zhentu, “What a pity. I have to make a trip to East Yu with a few shixiongs, so we can't go the same way.”

Jing Yue, “Bon voyage.”

After Wei Zhentu left, Jing Yue stroked blue phoenix, who was still sleeping in his arms. He transmitted a message to Fu Xuan and left the villa alone.

…

In the mountains, a small temple in the wilderness.

The blue phoenix woke up gradually and felt a sharp pain from its body as if it had been crushed repeatedly.

It grunted and cried, “Jing-jing! Where’s Jing-jing? Is Ji-ji dead?”

“I’m here,” Jing Yue quickly said. “It's okay, we are safe.”

Blue phoenix felt extremely uncomfortable, but when it heard Jing-jing's voice, it felt relieved and began to act like a baby. “It’s so painful! That Mo Qianyun actually dared to hurt this phoenix! Ji-ji’s wings are broken!”

It moved a little and found itself lying on Jing Jing's lap. Its wings were held in place by branches and wrapped in white cloth.

Jing Yue said in distress, “I've fixed the bones for you. After applying some medicine, it won't hurt anymore in a while.”

Blue phoenix, “But Ji-ji is in pain now.”

Jing Yue, “… Then you should blow on it.”

Blue phoenix’s eyes darted around and said happily, “That's right! Ji-ji can do that!”

It twisted its head with difficulty and blew at the wings. The bone that was healing gradually recovered faster, but it cried again, “It’s so itchy!”

Jing Yue, “… Bear with it.”

Blue phoenix endured it for a while but felt like its wings were crawling with thousands of small insects, unbearably itchy. It could not help but rub against Jing Yue’s legs.

Jing Yue was afraid that it would hurt his bones again, so he hurriedly caught it.

Blue phoenix kicked out with its claws and wanted to turn its head to peck Jing Yue, but Jing Yue patted its head. It felt so aggrieved and wanted to cry again when it felt warmth on its wings.

Blue phoenix was stunned and intoxicated again—just now, Jing-jing kissed its wings!

With stars in the eyes, the blue phoenix felt that its wings were not itchy anymore, only that its face was burning.

It was completely quiet, just lying in the palm of Jing Yue's hand, staring at its Jing-jing, feeling extremely delighted.

After a little more than an hour, the blue phoenix’s strength recovered, all discomfort disappeared, and it finally had the energy to complain.

“At that time, the black tower succumbed to my identity as a divine beast and dare not take me in. When the demon surnamed Mo saw my feats and realized that I’m not an ordinary spiritual beast, he wanted to bring me into his harem, but Ji-ji used the leaf blades to mock him mercilessly and told him that Ji-ji only likes Jing-jing and will never betray Jing-jing! He was very angry and broke my wings, and tried to threaten Ji-ji! Ji-ji pretended to faint and deceived him strategically. By the time he wanted to attack Jing-jing again, Ji-ji snuck upon him. Hatred grew from his love and he wanted to kill Ji-ji!”

Jing Yue, “…”

Hehe, he would be an idiot if he believed that.

However, after blue phoenix’s words were translated, Jing Yue mostly guessed the truth and felt warmth in his heart.

He didn’t expose Ji-ji but merely smiled and took out the Melody Fruit from his Qiankun bag.

The ice-blue fruit was crystal clear and only the size of a thumb, just like a gemstone.

Blue phoenix’s eyes lit up but immediately said doubtfully, “Didn't the Daoist surname Wei get this fruit? Did Jing-jing snatch it from him?”

Jing Yue, “He gave it to me.”

Blue phoenix, “Hmph! Good for him!”

But it immediately said nervously, “Jing-jing didn’t give him anything in return, right?”

Jing Yue, “No, I don't know what he wants, but I did say I owe him a favor. If he needs help in the future, I’ll do my best.”

Blue phoenix sighed with relief. “It’s good as long as it's not in kind. Jing-jing should know that if he gave you something and you gave something back in return, it’s a token of love! Jing-jing mustn’t get set up by him.”

Jing Yue, “…”

Blue phoenix’s tone suddenly became despondent. “But if that’s the case, Jing-jing has exchanged love tokens with that hooligan many times. You have to use a jade pendant with oversized space just for everything to fit inside.”

Jing Yue, “…”

Life was too short and he should stop chatting with Ji-ji. Thus, he swallowed the Melody Fruit in one bite and sat cross-legged in meditation.