396 Three Pines II

As people of virtue and prestige in the human world, the Storms of the EightDirections were like gods in the eyes of the common people. In the mouth of SuLi, they were eight good-for-nothings, and it couldn't be forgotten that at thevery beginning, he had said that Zhu Luo was an old bastard. This was nothingmuch, but from the tone of his voice, it seemed like he had the ability to slayevery one of the continent's supreme experts. This was truly too arrogant andconceited, even if he was the legendary Junior Martial Uncle of Mount Li. Allthe people present who heard these words still felt that it was too excessive,even preposterous. Zhu Luo's face did not show any derision that might have arisen from thisabsurdity, nor was there any anger. It was still indifferent. As the sectmaster of the World-Severing Sect, his Dao heart had severed emotion anddestroyed his nature. This did not mean he was brutal and callous, but ratherthat he was like the bright moon shining over the snowy plains, lonely andpure, cold and absolute, not confused by external things. He looked at Su Li and declared, "You no longer have the opportunity." Yes, Su Li was about to die. Regardless of whether at his peak he had theability to slay the Storms of the Eight Directions and even menace the FiveSaints, he was on the verge of leaving this world. The result of anow-impossible scenario could only remain a mystery that would vanish in thelong river of history. But Su Li did not think this way. He looked at Zhu Luo and said, "Wait untilafter I recover from my injuries. The first thing I'll do is go to Hanqiu Cityand kill you." He had said these words very casually and indifferently, as if he wasn't evenaware that Zhu Luo had come to kill him, as if he didn't know that Xunyang Citywould be where his body would be buried, as if he would be returning to MountLi in the next moment. The long hair draped over Zhu Luo's shoulders wafted in the breeze, and hisbrows rose up at the same time. Finally, a hint of derision appeared. "That's wrong, I shouldn't be going to Hanqiu City to kill you…rather I shouldgo to Hanqiu City to kill your entire family." Su Li corrected himself. Then he turned to Liang Wangsun, who was at the headof the crowd, and said, "This time, I will draw upon my past experiences toteach you not to make these mistakes again." "Senior, this way of doing things is wrong." Chen Changsheng was holding the reins. He turned his head to Su Li and saidthese words. Yes, such a thing as killing a person's entire family truly waswrong. Even cutting the grass and leaving the roots meant that there was apossibility that there would someday be a giant wildfire. Over the course of their journey south, Su Li thought that he had obtained avery good understanding of this little kid called Chen Changsheng. But now, herealized that he had not completely understood him. After a moment of silence,he laughed and said, "Then I won't kill his entire family, just him." This seemed just like a joke, but in reality, it had always been a joke. Su Li was about to die, yet he was speaking about how in the future he wouldgo kill Zhu Luo's entire family. How could he even have a future? Zhu Luo looked at him and solemnly said, "When you're about to leave theworld, can't you just act serious for once?" Previously, the bishop of Xunyang City, Hua Jiefu, had said something similarto Chen Changsheng. "Calmly welcoming death is acting serious? Then I don't like acting serious.Given a choice to die on the battlefield in the endless mountains or diecomfortably in bed in the bosom of a beauty, I would definitely choose thelatter." Su Li continued, "Now that I mention it, I really don't understand what youold fools continue to live for…if it's about profit, then I can't really seehow much profit you'll make from this. It looks to me that you're also in arather miserable situation. After all, this is Tianliang County…those old foolscan hide in their own caves, but in the capital, you can't hide anywhere." Zhu Luo was silent for a few moments, then said, "There are some matters thatmust be resolved." From beginning to end, this powerful figure of Tianliang County, this man ofvirtue and prestige, had no intention of appearing in Xunyang City. Because hewas unwilling to personally kill Su Li; at the very least, his two hands couldnot be stained in Su Li's blood. That was until Wang Po appeared, his blade cleaved through the snowy sky, andthe crowd of heroes was forced to retreat. Now he was compelled to appear. Su Li said mockingly to him, "Then did you ever think about how you wouldresolve future problems? There are many people in the south that want me dead,but no matter how you look at it, I'm also an idol in the south. If your handsare stained with my blood, then your Zhu family and the World-Severing Sectwill bear the anger of the southerners. Have you mentally prepared yourself forthat?" Zhu Luo said nothing. For a person like him, his Dao heart was incapable ofbeing darkened by worldly affairs. How could he possibly have failed to weighthe situation? But it was precisely as he said: since this matter occurred inTianliang County, he was forced to come and resolve it. "Even though you've lived for several centuries, in the end, you were stillused by other people as a blade." Su Li looked at him sympathetically. "How could your mother give birth to suchan idiot? Once your father in the underworld learns that your decision todaywill lead to the gradual downfall of the Zhu family, will he regret givingbirth to such an idiot?" His speech was incisive and ear-piercing, every word condemning, but it wasn'tbecause these words were filthy—rather, because they struck true. Words thatwere true were like swords. With Su Li's skill, even if Zhu Luo's Dao heart wasas fixed as a boulder, there would still be some marks left behind. Zhu Luo looked upon the feeble man on the horse, so weak that he could barelylift his arms anymore. "The torrential great river is divided into two shores.Even if you look and don't speak, you still have to pick a side." This was speaking about Su Li, about why the entire continent wanted to killSu Li. Roughly ten years ago, after the bloody case of the Orthodox Academy, theGreat Zhou was in internal upheaval. The Longevity Sect joined hands with theLiang Household and had intentions of invading the north. But Su Li wasunwilling to allow this, so much so that he used the one sword in his hand tocompletely destroy the entire plot. Over the past hundred-odd years, theTianhai Divine Empress and the Pope both wanted to unite the north and thesouth. But Su Li objected. Relying on the one sword in his hand, he stood infront of the south and made it impossible for the great powers to advance. In these two matters, regardless of what Su Li chose, he had never miredhimself in any perilous situation. Then on the contrary, it was like he hadnever chosen at all. His attitude was extremely proud and clear: "I am like afirm rock, standing in the center of the great river. I am like duckweed,letting the water pass over me. I am Su Li; for what reason should I choose ashore?" Zhu Luo decided to conclude his words. "Mount Li will continue to exist, butit will be without you." This was respect, and also a proclamation. The streets of Xunyang City were absolutely silent. Dark clouds graduallygathered and raindrops once again began to slowly drip down. "Is a Mount Li without me still Mount Li?" Su Li expressionlessly looked south, thinking about what could be happening inMount Li at this very moment, his heart heavy. This was no haughty declaration, but concern. The entire continent took Su Li to be Mount Li, but he himself did notactually think this way. Ever since he entered the Mount Li Sword Sect as achild, he understood that Mount Li possessed the soul and spirit of a sword.But the fact was that over the last several centuries, he had become that youngpine at the peak of Mount Li, offering shade and protection to the disciples ofMount Li Sword Sect. If he was no more, what would happen to Mount Li? Theremust be something happening in Mount Li, but what? Could the disciples of MountLi hold on? This was the only thing he was currently concerned about. "In the end, I'm still no match for Black Robe…in this aspect." Su Li drew back his gaze and turned to Zhu Luo. "Although he hasn't killed asmany people as me, he actually knows far more about the dark side of humannature than I do. The divine realm still surges with the red dust of the mortalrealm, and he understands very well the hearts of you guardians of the humanworld, but do you all clearly understand just what it is you're doing?" Zhu Luo replied, "There are times when the river of history must pull backbefore it has enough power to push forward." "To resist external threats, one must first stabilize within?" Su Li looked athim and sneered. "Then won't it be fine if you advise those people in the ChenImperial clan to stop thinking about becoming emperor? Or perhaps you can goadvise Tianhai to voluntarily abdicate?" Zhu Luo was silent, then he recited a line from a classic of the Daoistscriptures, layered with deep meaning. "I really detest this mysterious and divine behavior you guys like to put on." Su Li simply did not care about how profound the truth contained within thispart of the Daoist Canon was. "It's really no fun." "It truly is no fun." Xiao Zhang, who had not spoken all his time, fiercely shook his head. Thewhite paper over his face which had been soaked by the rain flopped around,sounding like someone being slapped. Xiao Zhang then turned around, his spearon his back, and began walking towards the other end of the street. He had come to Xunyang City to kill Su Li. Now someone had come to kill Su Liand Su Li was certain to die, so why should he stick around? To kill a personlike Su Li was still rather meaningful, even if he was so heavily injured thathe couldn't strike back, but to see him die was not very fun. Liang Wangsun did not leave, nor did those several hundred other cultivators.They stood in the increasingly heavy rain, silently watching those people onthe street. They wanted to wait and see how Su Li would die. Su Li caressed the wet hair of the fine horse he sat on, then said, "You allcan go now." These words were obviously aimed at Chen Changsheng and Wang Po. Although hedetested such ideas as calmly welcoming death or returning to the sea of stars,in the end, he had to have a little bearing. After all, he was Mount Li'sJunior Martial Uncle. How should a person live their life? This was a question that Su Li hadthought about many times, but in the end, he had never found an answer. Thevast majority of the time, he relied on his likes and dislikes to guide hisbehavior. But as for how a person should end their life, he had long sincereached a conclusion. To die at the hands of one of the Storms of the Eight Directions, althoughstarkly different from what he had imagined, was still something he couldreluctantly accept. Holding the reins of the horse, Chen Changsheng lowered his head and silentlywatched the raindrops fall in front of his boots. Now that things had come to this, there was no meaning in doing anything else.It was this world that wanted to kill Su Li, and the person at the end of thisrainy street was one of the supreme experts of the world. No matter how fastand how strong his dagger was, it would not be able to block him. Wang Po also said nothing. But he began to roll up his sleeves. His actions were very slow, very focused, very careful. He rolled the sleeve of his right arm up to his elbow. With this, he could wield his blade a bit faster. Su Li's expression turned a little cold. Previously when had said those harsh words, claiming that a Storm of the EightDirections like Zhu Luo wanted to kill a junior like Wang Po, he had been doingso to protect Wang Po's life…the blood on his hands was too great, so Zhu Luocould find many excuses to kill him, but to kill Wang Po was different. Withouta firm enough reason, any action taken against Wang Po could be explained asjealousy of a junior and envy of ability, because he did not want a shockinglytalented junior to replace him. In spite of the general interest of humanity,he would sorrowfully become a murderer. As long as Wang Po did not take action of his own volition, under the watchfuleyes of these several hundred cultivators, Zhu Luo had no means of doinganything to Wang Po. It might even be the case that he and the other EightStorms would have to ensure Wang Po's life and safety for a short timeafterwards. But Wang Po did not have any intention of giving way. He rolled up his sleeves and revealed his arms, preparing to attack. The rainy street grew even quieter. Su Li quietly looked at Wang Po. Zhu Luo quietly looked at Wang Po. Wang Po acted like he didn't know anything. He began to use his sleeves topolish his metal blade. His expression was calm and focused, his actions slowand serious. Zhu Luo suddenly began to laugh, because he had finally gotten truly angry. His anger could not be sensed from his smile, but Xunyang City could feel itvery clearly. The clouds in the sky were pressed down even lower and the rain instantlyturned into a torrential downpour. This was the august majesty of the Divine Domain, like the might of theheavens. Then his smile disappeared and he impassively said a single sentence to WangPo.