Chapter 102: A 300-Year Wait
The girl ran through the forest.
Her feet pounded the soft earth, but her body trembled.
She collapsed onto a rock, sobbing uncontrollably.
Dark clouds gathered in the distance, and with a rumble of thunder, rain began to fall.
She looked up, the rain washing over her face, blurring her tears.
Drenched and shivering, she wandered aimlessly through the downpour.
The rain intensified, the sound of the storm filling the air.
The sky darkened, flashes of lightning illuminating the falling trees in the distance, brief flames extinguished by the rain.
Muddy water flowed over her embroidered shoes, down the mountainside.
She reached a deserted temple, its paper windows torn, cobwebs hanging from the rafters, dust covering the floor, incense ashes piled on the altar, mixed with dirt and debris.
Behind the altar, a faded statue of a judge of the underworld, holding a mace, its face ferocious and menacing, stared down at her.
She huddled in a corner, her mind hazy.
She dreamt of Brother Shi again, with that female thief and Yue Ya’er, the three of them entangled, their bodies writhing. They were trying to seduce him, tempt him.
She screamed, but he couldn’t hear her. They laughed at her, mocked her.
She tried to reach them, but they pushed her into the mud.
She lay there, sobbing, unable to distinguish dream from reality.
A voice whispered that she had lost her lover, that she was being bullied, because she was weak.
She looked up, the scene around her dissolving, darkness descending, an evil lotus blooming.
Suddenly, she was in a sinister, demonic temple—
The rain continued outside, the statue of the judge looming over her.
The doll, with its morning cloud bun and wooden hairpin, floated above the huddled girl, its black gemstone eyes gleaming with a sinister light, a dark aura emanating from its outstretched hands.
The girl fell into a deeper sleep, a strange, grey light washing over her face.
The doll silently floated out of the temple, landing on a rock by the entrance.
As it sat down, a cold wind swept through the air, and the rock, like polished jade, became clean and smooth.
It stretched out its small legs, clad in white and pink embroidered shoes, its hands clasped in its lap.
It looked at the storm raging outside, its black eyes, usually filled with a sinister light, now sad and mournful.
Master…
Three hundred years… It’s been three hundred years.
For three hundred years, its master hadn’t appeared, not a single word, not a single trace.
It had waited patiently, telling itself that its powerful master couldn’t have simply vanished.
It refused to accept that. It believed, deep down, that its master was still alive.
But now, it had to make a choice… It had to find a successor for its master, preserve the legacy of the Evil Lotus Sect.
It was running out of time.
Even after transforming itself, using all sorts of methods to prolong its existence, it couldn’t last much longer.
Tears welled up in its black eyes.
It raised its sleeve, trying to wipe them away, trying to be strong.
It told itself it couldn’t be so weak. It had to fulfill its duty, its responsibility, in its final moments.
It couldn’t let the Evil Lotus Sect’s legacy die with it. It had to choose a successor for its master… in the time it had left.
Tears streamed down its face, falling onto the rock, forming tiny jade beads that rolled off and dissolved in the rain-soaked earth.
But it couldn’t believe, couldn’t accept, that it would never see its master again.
It couldn’t accept that its master was truly gone.
As the wind and rain intensified, the doll curled up on the rock, hugging its legs, its soft sobs lost in the roar of the storm.
No one could hear its cries, a constant lament for three hundred years, a sorrow that never ceased.
Shi Hao couldn’t help but worry about Du Yuejiao.
Although he had mostly used her in Jin Prefecture, he couldn’t be completely indifferent to her well-being. She had been kind to him.
And he didn’t know the Emerald Beauty’s purpose in following her.
His mind, filled with worry, conjured up worst-case scenarios.
The demonic sects were known for their sinister and unpredictable methods.
Their rituals often required bizarre sacrifices.
Perhaps the Emerald Beauty was using Du Yuejiao as a sacrifice for some strange ritual, or perhaps just as a pawn in some twisted game… It was all possible.
That day, it rained heavily in Dàxīng City.
Shi Hao stood on the mountainside, looking at the distant, rain-shrouded horizon.
He felt a strange unease, a growing anxiety.
The chaos in Dàxīng City intensified with the storm.
Even the common people felt the growing unrest.
News of the imperial army’s defeat in the distant Changbai Mountains had emboldened rebellions across the land.
Even around Dàxīng City, several small uprisings, quickly suppressed, had erupted.
The constant movement of troops, however, indicated the barbarian court’s growing concern.
Some of Dàxīng City’s garrison had been redeployed. And with the Leopard Gate’s collapse, the other gangs were vying for control of their territory, further fueling the conflict.
The fighting between the Ascending Heroes Gang and the Mystic Virtue Society and the White Sword Society was particularly fierce.
The Ascending Heroes Gang, led by the ruthless Hu Qingxiong, whose “Five Tigers” were all mid-rank experts, was rumored to be backed by the Zong Hai family, one of the four great barbarian families.
Of the three gangs, the Ascending Heroes Gang was the youngest, having risen to prominence in just ten years, its rapid growth clearly aided by the Zong Hai family.
The Mystic Virtue Society and the White Sword Society, however, were long-established factions in Dàxīng City. Although not as powerful as the Ascending Heroes Gang, with its backing from a royal family, they were popular among the people.
The Ascending Heroes Gang wanted to eliminate them and become the undisputed rulers of Dàxīng City, but despite the bloodshed, the Mystic Virtue Society and the White Sword Society held their ground.
The conflict between the larger gangs inevitably spilled over into the lower ranks, and for several days, the city’s gutters were choked with corpses, blood mixing with sewage.
Whoever controlled Dàxīng City during these turbulent times would hold a significant advantage in the coming chaos.
When the Yang Dynasty fell, it was the Li family of the Sheng Dynasty, having seized control of Dàxīng City, who quickly rose to power and unified the land.
And geographically, controlling Dàxīng City provided a strategic advantage for attacking West Shu. During times of chaos, when the central plains were ravaged by war, West Shu, due to its remote location, often remained relatively peaceful, becoming a vital source of supplies.
Although its importance had diminished due to changes in climate, Dàxīng City was still considered a “land of destiny,” a place where dragons rose.
This made the Ascending Heroes Gang’s ambition to control the city clear. And whether the Zong Hai family, backing them, was simply trying to maintain stability for the barbarian court or had other motives, was uncertain.
The tension in Dàxīng City was palpable.
And yet, despite the bloodshed, even more martial artists flocked to the city, seeking fame and fortune, either becoming heroes or becoming corpses.
While the three gangs and six societies fought amongst themselves, the overall power balance remained relatively unchanged, but the smaller gangs and factions at the lower levels rose and fell quickly.
It rained for several days in Dàxīng City, the occasional glimpses of the moon, a thin crescent gradually waxing, approaching fullness.
Amidst this chaos, news that shook the entire martial world spread like wildfire:
Zhao Xian, the “Peerless Sword,” had killed Lu Jin, the “Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior.”
Zhao Xian, number nineteen on the Blacklist.
Lu Jin, one of the Eight Immortal Warriors of the Chongxian Sect.
No one knew the reason for their feud, and no one had believed Zhao Xian could defeat Lu Jin.
Although they were supposedly of similar strength, most believed Lu Jin to be the superior martial artist.
However, Zhao Xian had intercepted Lu Jin, and after ten exchanges, Lu Jin was dead, and Zhao Xian, severely injured, had escaped before the Chongxian Sect’s reinforcements arrived.
Those who witnessed the duel were stunned by its ferocity.
Those who didn’t could only express their regret at having missed it.
For the Chongxian Sect, the self-proclaimed orthodox leader of the Daoist sects, this was a devastating blow.
After all, even for a large sect like the Chongxian Sect, high-ranking experts weren’t easily replaceable. Lu Jin’s death significantly weakened their control over Dàxīng City.
That morning, Shi Hao, alone, arrived at the foot of Mount Qian Yuan…
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