Seven Men Chapter 24
Translated by Helliot at Isohungry Translations
It was just a simple sentence, but it had drained all the strength from the youth, his face had turned extremely pale and scarlet drops of blood was still dripping from his wrist, forming the only colour present on his whole body.
Mo Jiu Shao knew that Chu Mu Yun wanted to kill him with the array.
But he would’ve never expected that in such a short amount of time, and in such an unexpected moment, that the child he had raised would do something so crazy.
At this moment, Mo Jiu Shao was clearly awoken to the fact that he would never again encounter another creation as perfect as Chu Mu Yun in his life.
Such beauty, such excellence, such strength, it was all so intoxicating.
He was only twenty, with youthful tenderness, he was just a child, but he was able to do things that could shake the world.
Who would’ve thought that such a young child with powerless hands that could not even raise a sword, one without any cultivation, could actually bind two lords of the demon realm.
If anybody had said such a thing before this day, they would only be dismissed.
But now……it had truly happened.
Mo Jiu Shao stared at Chu Mu Yun without even blinking.
Ling Xuan had also raised his pupils to him, the fragile figure of this unfamiliar youth was completely reflected within that field of scarlet.
‘Wrath’ had never set his eyes upon a weak person, but he had to admit that at this moment, this crippled person with no cultivation had actually ignited a thirst for battle in him that he had never tasted before.
While Chu Mu Yun had been staring straight at Mo Jiu Shao since the very start:”Speak, answer me!”
“It was me.”Mo Jiu Shao responded.
It wasn’t as if Chu Mu Yun did not know, but to hear it for real still rose up the unbearable desperation and pain within him. The corners of his lips were raised, and a smile that was more ugly than a tearful face rose up:”Ten years, for ten whole years, you’ve been playing with me, turning me in circles, playing me like a fool, did you have fun? Is it that interesting? Watching me fall in love with the very man who killed my parents, just like a fool?”
Mo Jiu Shao did not answer.
Chu Mu Yun’s hate for him had reached its limits:”How long did you plan to keep this from me? How long did you plan to fool me for? Ten years, twenty, or thirty? Until I’ve forgotten my hatred, until I’ve become a stringed puppet for you? Until I end up taking you as my life, as all of me, as everything?”
Mo Jiu Shao maintained his silence.
But Chu Mu Yun had already crumbled apart:”Did you think that……I wouldn’t kill you?”
Finally, Mo Jiu Shao spoke:”If I could be killed by you, it would be my pleasure.”
His words were so tender, but it had infuriated Chu Mu Yun instead:”Stop this acting! Don’t play me with that anymore! You are a devil, a madman, you……you don’t have a heart at all!”
He had shouted himself hoarse as if he had used all his strength, his whole person shuddered and he was slightly panting.
Mo Jiu Shao’s gaze on him was as gentle as ever:”I will take responsibility for what I’ve done.”
“Shut up!”Chu Mu Yun glared at him, if the hatred in him could be turned into a sword, he may have already killed him a thousand times over,”You? Take responsibility? For what? How could you ever take responsibility for the hundreds of lives you’ve taken from the Chu family!”
As his voice fell, within the scarlet field in his surroundings, the scarlet veins squirmed wildly as if they had obtained life, devouring Mo Jiu Shao’s vitality.
Under such great suffering, the complexion of the prideful lord did not change, he kept his calm demeanor that he always had as he watched Chu Mu Yun with unblinking eyes.
At this time, Ling Xuan started to speak:”If you wish for Mo Jiu Shao’s death, you only have to disperse this array, I will grant you your wish.”
Chu Mu Yun did not even look at him, he had only urged on the array, and used the same fierce force to strangle Ling Xuan.
The wrathful lord had never been a man with a good temper, his voice had gotten lower and lower:”Do you really think that you can hold me down with this?”
Of course not, there’d be nothing to play with if it really could.
Zero:”Wrath is starting to regain his power.”
Chu Mu Yun:”Tell me when it reaches seventy percent.”
Ling Xuan had already made preparations before he stepped up into the Thousand Phoenix Peak, he craved a good fight but he was never reckless, Pride’s power excited him but he wouldn’t let it rush to his head and underestimate him.
The fact was, he had used three hundred years to cultivate a set of moves that were able to raise his strength quickly. It had considerable drawbacks, but can make an unexpected counterattack in the last moment, giving his opponent a nasty surprise.
He thought that he would have to use it near the end, but he never expected that this it would be forced out by this child so early into the game.
In an instant, a black mist swelled up in Ling Xuan’s surroundings, and the pressure that suddenly rose up came sweeping in like a thunderstorm, the scarlet threads that were quite sturdy had begun to lightly tremble.
Mo Jiu Shao noticed it immediately, his heart skipped a beat and quickly he turned his head over to Chu Mu Yun:”Withdraw the array! You can’t hold him down, it will turn back on you if you keep this up!”
Chu Mu Yun did not move, he just stared straight at him:”I don’t need you to tell me anything!”
Mo Jiu Shao knitted his brows into a frown, he was pondering in his heart on how he could save Chu Mu Yun from Wrath’s rampage.
But Chu Mu Yun closed his eyes, because Zero’s count had already reached sixty-nine percent.
After taking a deep breath, Chu Mu Yun opened up his palms that had been clenched all this while, and within the center were numerous green beads. He dyed them red with his own blood and put the beads to his chest, only the flowing stream of scarlet blood could be seen, and very quickly a small inverse array had formed.
Wrath didn’t understand anything about arrays so he didn’t know what he was trying to do.
But Mo Jiu Shao saw it clearly, the prideful lord who had always been calm, even in the face of death, had a face filled with shock at this moment:”What are you doing?”
He was asking Chu Mu Yun, but Chu Mu Yun did not utter a word, he was quickly setting down this array that he knew so familiarly.
Mo Jiu Shao’s irises had almost turned fully black:”Chu Mu Yun! What are you trying to do?”
His questions came with no answers, and in the blink of an eye, the scarlet threads that were spread throughout the place were engulfed by a rich colour of emerald green. The vitality surging from the heart of the array had turned the fierce array around, and as if a holy light had shone upon the depths of hell, the dim sky was washed over with light in an instant, awakening the life in the earth, dissipating all the gloom and despair, turning this desolate hellhole into a land of bliss.
Almost right at the moment when ‘Wrath’ had broken away, the green light had all quickly shrunk and the dense threads converged, turning from a large net to a barrier, then the emerald green lights landed like a meteor on Mo Jiu Shao’s body.
——Guardian of Life.
Sacrificing your life for a millennium’s worth of protection.
Mo Jiu Shao was completely stunned, Ling Xuan who had broken away from the array had also stopped where he stood.
The young man, the only one within the heart of the array, wore a robe of white that was drenched completely in blood, while there was not a single droplet of red on his pale face. After all the light had faded, he could not stand properly at all, and he fell onto the messy ground.
Mo Jiu Shao had already come to his body in a flash, and with a stretch of his arms, he took the person in his arms. The weight that entered his arms was so light that it was almost as if he was only clutching onto a set of robes.
“Why?”Mo Jiu Shao’s voice was filled with disbelief.
Chu Mu Yun opened his eyes, but the dark colour of his eyes were empty, he was barely able to open his mouth and the voice that came from within was extremely quiet:”I wonder why.”
Mo Jiu Shao suddenly froze, and he spoke with a tremble in his voice in the next moment:”I killed your parents, I destroyed the entire Chu family, I……”
“That’s right.”Chu Mu Yun’s voice cut him off,”And that is why I hate you.”
Mo Jiu Shao stared still at him:”Then you should’ve killed me.”
Chu Mu Yun did not respond to his sentence, he had only laughed, it was very light, but the arc that rose up came with a heavy hint of sarcasm:”Mo Jiu Shao……If there is an afterlife, I only wish that we will never meet again.”
This was the last sentence Chu Mu Yun had given him, and it had successfully become the only shackle that bound this prideful lord in his life.
The battle ended in vain, but Ling Xuan couldn’t even dream to battle with Mo Jiu Shao again before the end of this millennium with the Guardian of Life protecting him.
Holding this young man whose body had lost its vitality completely, and had turned into an icy corpse, forever Mo Jiu Shao would never find out what Chu Mu Yun was thinking in the last moment, and he would never understand what Chu Mu Yun meant when he said ‘I wonder why’.
But he knew.
Chu Mu Yun hated him, he hated him so much he wanted him dead, but he had used the array he had been preparing for a long time at the last moment to save him.
Before the fierce wicked array came, what this young man researched so diligently was a way to protect him with his life.
But now……it was all gone.
Whether it was love, or hate, all that was left was one sentence.
——If there is an afterlife, I only wish that we will never meet again.
With an abrupt force, Mo Jiu Shao grasped tightly the body that had lost all of its vitality into his embrace.
When Yan Jun Qing rushed over from his residence after breaking away from the array, this was the scene that he saw.
The majestic Thousand Phoenix Peak had turned into a heap of rubble, and the snowflakes softly dropping down from the sky seemed as if it was trying to wash away all of the sins, covering up the stench of blood in the air, but it could not replace the warmth that had been lost.
A dark blue blade was stabbed into the ground, and the owner of the sword was kneeling on the ground. His jade pin had dropped down and the dark, ink coloured hair swayed down, no discomposure could be seen, only an overflowing feeling, gushing out over the brim, with a coldness that could seemingly freeze everything over in the surroundings.
A single man was held in his arms, cautiously, as if he was holding onto the treasure of his life, cherishing him as much as he could.
What Yan Jun Qing feared had still happened, everything he did not hope to see had appeared right in front of his eyes.
The young boy staggered, then he walked a few steps forward, and in a difficult voice he spoke:”My lord, Brother Yun……He……”
Mo Jiu Shao did not move, he had only spat out a single word without a single trace of warmth:”Leave.”
***
Chu Mu Yun had ‘died’, he thought that he would be floating in the air like a spirit while admiring his own ‘masterpiece’, but unfortunately, he had fallen into darkness after his breath had cut off, he wasn’t able to see anything at all, he could hear nothing, and feel nothing……But unexpectedly, it was very peaceful.
Chu Mu Yun:”00, are you there?”
Zero:”……”
Chu Mu Yun:”Mm?”
Zero did not make a sound, but a field of light shone in Chu Mu Yun’s eyes right when he was about to continue asking, he had just opened his eyes when he was swept up by the madness in front of his eyes, making him dizzy.
Then he felt as if his body was being chucked into the distance, and he only realized what was going on after he slammed into a wall, it did not hurt as much as he expected, but this feeling couldn’t be said to be pleasant either.
Chu Mu Yun wanted to stand up but he suddenly found the abnormalities with his body.
He lowered his head and faltered, Chu Mu Yun was shocked by his own furry paws and the tail behind his body.
