Ink Blade Chapter 63 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver
Chapter 63.2 Deep Kiss (part 2)
With that, he held Mo Ren close under the covers, caressing his waist and back, his eyes and brows filled with joy.
"You can't even kiss properly, yet you want to do other things. Look at you, it's like trying to learn lightness skills before you even learn how to walk."
"Alright, won't tease the sick. This Master will take care of you."
With that, Chu Yan took the lead, holding the back of Mo Ren's head and pressing his lips down, while his hands quietly slipped under the covers, soothing every inch of his lover's skin.
In the dark night, their lips and tongues intertwined in the water-like silence, unlike the previous roughness, this time it was soft and bewildering.
"...!..."
Mo Ren's eyes widened, his gaze unfocused, his chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath.
His master didn't seek relief from him, nor did he seek pleasure with him, he just kept kissing him deeply. This, this kind of thing…
An illusion appeared in his eyes. Petals of pear blossoms flowed upstream from the river of his memories, fragrant and more white than snow.
He wouldn't live to see the spring, but he saw the pear blossoms again.
He also saw the young Chu Yan, laughing and waving at him, calling his name.
"Ah Ren, come over here!"
"No tea for this Master today, will you drink with this Master instead?"
In the illusion, he was also very young, carrying a newly brewed pear blossom wine in one hand, and a black long sword on his back, following Chu Yan into the pear forest at the foot of Tianlan Mountain.
It seemed that the pear blossoms had never bloomed so abundantly, and the wine in the palace had never been so mellow.
After three rounds of wine, his wrist was held by his master. The young Chu Yan's cheeks were red, as if emboldened by the wine, he held him and said softly, "Ah Ren, Ah Ren, I..."
If it weren't for the series of poison schemes from Southern Xinjiang, if they had always been together, how would everything have turned out in the end?
Would they eventually, like now, kiss and love each other so deeply?
No one knows what fate has in store.
"Ah Ren."
The magnetic voice brought Mo Ren back to his senses, he was still lying in bed.
In the darkness, the palace master bit him teasingly, "Can still be distracted, hmm? Tell this Master, what did you see?"
Suddenly, Mo Ren couldn't help but let out an impatient moan, his whole body trembling as he straightened up, a hint of restrained moisture in the corners of his eyes.
The Master's fingers touched his... his...
"Seeing Ah Ren so alluring tonight," Chu Yan whispered, "let this Master give you a taste."
Suddenly, a gust of wind rose, and the pear blossoms, at the peak of their bloom, shook and fell like a snowstorm, scattering all around in a vast white expanse.
The wine cup, brimming with beauty, shattered on the ground, and the thousands of shards reflected intoxicating wine light, plunging into the depths of a dream.
Mo Ren's fingers twitched, gripping Chu Yan's sleeve tightly.
"Master," he gasped, "Master...!"
Then, everything fell silent.
The candle at the head of the bed quietly extinguished, completely enveloping the consciousness in a dark yet gentle night.
"You, be good."
In a daze, Mo Ren felt the last place the palace master kissed was his fingertips, cold and slender.
Chu Yan's voice was low, filled with infinite tenderness and reluctance.
"The rest, wait for this Master to come back."
****
The next morning, Chu Yan, the Jiuzhong Palace Master, set off with a light fur and a swift horse, wearing the Xuan Hong sword, leading sixty percent of the palace's forces and the two guardians, Ying Feng and Ying Lei, down the mountain in a grand procession.
As the army reached Changqing City, the forces of the Jiuzhong Palace, the Xuyang Sword Sect, the Shuijing Tower, and various martial arts forces rallied by Xu and Shui from all over, swiftly headed south.
The Alliance Leader Mansion was furious, declaring that Chu Yan's actions were meant to disrupt the peace of the Central Plains, and immediately issued the Jinwu Order, ordering everyone to withdraw. However, Chu Yan and his party acted extremely quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they had already left the sphere of influence of the Alliance Leader Mansion, piercing into the depths of Southern Xinjiang like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
Seven days later, the group locked onto the hiding place of the remnants of the Wuxian Sect. A fierce battle began.
This battle, in the blink of an eye, lasted for over a month.
Chapter 64.1 Revenge Settled (part 1)
Days passed amidst the clash of swords.
The Central Plains Righteous Army penetrated deep into the lair of the Southern Xinjiang Wuxian Sect, breaking through the maze, sweeping away the poisonous insects, and naturally fought a tough and hard battle. Unbeknownst to them, winter snow replaced autumn frost, and the rise and fall of the sun and moon marked the passage of time.
Chu Yan couldn’t remember how many bloodbaths he had been through, couldn’t count how many people he had killed, and didn’t know how many internal and external injuries he had sustained.
He didn’t know if there was still time, or if it was already too late. All he could do was to be faster, even faster. The sword in his hand had to be fast, and his steps had to be quick. In such day and night, his sense of pain gradually numbed, and he could no longer feel the fatigue. His soul and body separated, and finally sank into a dark swamp.
“Palace Master…Palace Master…”
“——Palace Master Chu!”
The smell of blood rushed into his nose, and his consciousness and senses were dragged back. Chu Yan suddenly opened his eyes, first feeling the severe pain and fatigue all over his body. He didn’t know where the winter wind came from, but it blew from head to toe, freezing him as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
“…”
Chu Yan squinted his eyes with difficulty, and his vision changed from blurry to clear. He was leaning against the stone wall covered in blood, and crowds gathered in the stone caves around him. Ying Feng and Ying Lei were guarding him, their faces full of anxiety.
Ying Feng helped him stand up straight and whispered, “Palace Master, you’re awake.”
Xu Fangchuan handed over a water bag and elixir, worriedly saying, “Palace Master Chu, since we’re here, there’s no rush. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Time circled around and settled in the present, and they finally… finally reached the last step. The main altar of the Wuxian Sect had been destroyed. This Wuxian Sect had been crushed by the righteous men of the Central Plains decades ago. This time, even the ashes of resurrection were trampled out by them.
The remaining followers scattered like birds and beasts, only the sect leader Yan Luo stubbornly defended the main altar, and was now trapped in this stone cave, the situation was gone.
Chu Yan pressed the corner of his brow with difficulty, took the water to drink a few sips, and hoarsely murmured, “What day is it…”
He didn’t know when he started to gradually lose track of day and night, numbly asking the people around him about the days, even asking several times in the same day.
He wasn’t asking about the year and month of today, he was asking about how many days and nights had passed since he left the Jiuzhong Palace… How many days and nights had passed since he left Mo Ren in the Jiuzhong Palace and went alone to Southern Xinjiang.
Many people quietly discussed that this Jiuzhong Palace Master might not be far from madness, or perhaps he was already mad. After all, looking at his three immortal souls and seven mortal forms wandering around appearance, it seemed that the last thread of obsession was leading him to trek in the world, and they didn’t know…
They didn’t know, if one day news of the death of his family’s guard came from the Central Plains, what kind of person would he become.
Xu Fangchuan fell silent. Ying Feng’s face darkened, and he dared not answer untruthfully, “It has been forty-eight days since the Palace Master left the sect.”
Chu Yan said nothing more.
Once, Lin Yun had asserted that Mo Ren would not live more than two months. Now that forty-eight days had passed, he dared not ask for news inside the palace.
Chu Yan picked up the Xuan Hong Sword and pushed himself to walk forward. However, a severe pain in his left leg made his face pale, and he fell down amidst the exclamation of the people behind him.
“Palace Master!” The two guardians, Feng and Lei, wanted to rush up to help him, but Chu Yan stubbornly supported his body with his sword, stood up again by himself, and looked at his left leg that was dyed red with blood with a bitter smile——
At that time, a poisonous snake bit his calf. He only thought that if he was poisoned, he would not be able to wield his sword and move forward. With a swing of Xuan Hong, he directly cut off that piece of flesh. When the blood spurted out, the people around him had not yet reacted.
…In nearly two months, he could actually make himself such a mess.
If Ah Ren saw it… Chu Yan sighed lightly, not daring to think further.
“Let’s go.”
“Yan Luo, that thief, should be just ahead.”
…
Wuxian Sect’s main altar, Poison Insect Cave.
The Central Plains Righteous Army surrounded this place, and Chu Yan asked everyone not to move. He alone took Xuan Hong and walked in first.
There were no poisonous insects in the Poison Insect Cave. The five poisons of this place had all been released during the previous battle, blocking the Central Plains Righteous Army for quite a while. In the end, they cleverly devised a plan, led them into a dry valley, borrowed the winter wind and added dry firewood to make a fierce fire, and burned it clean.
So now there was only a bare cave left here, and the depths were even connected to the canopy of the heavens. If any enemy went around to the top and shot arrows, the people inside would have no defense. No one could understand why Yan Luo, that treacherous and defeated man, would finally retreat to such a place.
It was snowing. The light of the sky fell with the snow, as if a mist had risen.
Yan Luo was sitting in the deepest part.
He sat with his eyes closed and his knees crossed, leaning against the stone wall, as if he was a rotten wood, as if all his vitality had been drained.
Chu Yan was covered in wounds, and his scattered long hair was soaked in cold sweat. He still walked towards Yan Luo’s direction with his steps floating and pausing every step, leaning on his long sword.
Blood fell drop by drop behind him. He stepped out a bloody path.
“Yan Luo.”
Chu Yan said hoarsely, raising his long sword. His right hand holding Xuan Hong was protruding with blue veins, and blood flowed from the hilt to the scabbard, turning into a few red beads and falling. The blade was sharp as ice, reflecting the pitch-black phoenix eyes, “The matter started because of you and me. After so many years, let’s end it.”
Yan Luo was still sitting there, slowly opening his eyes when he heard the sound.
“End…”
His eyes were dark, but his gaze was unfocused, casting towards the sky above the Poison Insect Cave, as if he wanted to see someone in that hazy halo.
