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墨書 Inktalez
As the battle unfolded, it was clear that Zhuque was at a disadvantage.
Originally, Zhuque's martial arts skills were the weakest among the four disciples. He couldn't even defeat Nie Qiuyuan alone, let alone Luo Dachun, whose skills were on par with Nie Qiuyuan.
He had been wielding two Long Whips with impressive force, wrapping his entire body in an impenetrable defense. However, at this moment, his breathing was noticeably ragged, and the whip strikes appeared fragmented and weak, barely holding up his defense.
On the other side, Nie Qiuyuan's attacks were ghostly and unpredictable, making them nearly impossible to defend against. Luo Dachun wielded his short blade like a whirlwind of chaos, his techniques so fast they were almost indistinguishable. If it weren't for their intention to capture Zhuque unharmed, he would likely have already lost his life.
Ren Pingsheng observed the battle quietly, his brow furrowed in concern over the significant improvement in his opponents' martial arts. This time they met, Ren Pingsheng looked slightly better than before, but it was clear that his internal injuries had not fully healed. In his current state, he would not be a match for either Nie Qiuyuan or Luo Dachun.
Thus, it seemed that pitting them against Mirror Gate while he reaped the benefits was Ren Pingsheng's best and only option.
It appeared that Zhuque had no better cards to play; he had already exhausted all his traps meant to outsmart them. Without his mechanisms and formations, Zhuque could only defend himself against Nie Qiuyuan and Luo Dachun, lacking any means to counterattack.
After exchanging dozens of blows, there was a sudden whoosh as Nie Qiuyuan found an opening and swiftly disarmed both of Zhuque's Long Whips. At that moment, Luo Dachun closed in. His slender short blade flashed like lightning as it pressed against Zhuque's neck.
A moment of stillness enveloped the arena. For three seconds, silence reigned before a series of crisp applause echoed across the desolate high ground.
Standing before me, Ren Pingsheng wore a smile as he clapped slowly.
Nie Qiuyuan pointed at several vital points on Zhuque's body, causing him to slump down helplessly onto the ground, rendered incapable of movement. Yet his ruby-like eyes showed no sign of surrender; instead, they fixed defiantly on Nie Qiuyuan as if silently expressing hostility.
"Xuanwu," Ren Pingsheng said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "I suggest you think this through carefully. This child cannot be subdued easily, but the blood he carries is extremely dangerous. Do you really think you can take him along and fight Rong Fu to the end?"
Nie Qiuyuan coldly snorted in response: "First get away from my woman before you speak. Our matters do not require your meddling."
Ren Pingsheng replied, "I mean well; after all, I'm bringing this child to you. It’s only beneficial for you—there’s no downside. You should thank me for it. If you’re not going to kill him, what do you plan to do? Or is it that deep down you want to kill him but can’t bring yourself to do it?"
Zhuque was unable to move but could still speak; his voice rang clear yet was laced with deep anger as he scolded: "Qinglong, you are truly a traitor and worse than a beast!"
Ren Pingsheng ignored him entirely and scoffed: "You dare speak of beasts? That’s truly laughable!"
Luo Dachun withdrew the blade from Zhuque's neck and with a flick of his white sleeves pointed the blade directly at Ren Pingsheng.
"Ren Pingsheng, if I'm not mistaken, even if you fight alone now, you wouldn't stand a chance against either of us. What reason do we have to spare you?"
Ren Pingsheng smiled slyly, turning to look at me. "Spare me? Ah Ying, would you really be able to do that? Xuanwu Sheng's mercy—would he even be able to take action?"
A surge of anger rose within me. "Ren Pingsheng, you..."
But I couldn't finish my sentence. The thought of killing him was impossible for me. No matter how much of a devil he was, he had saved my life countless times and had done so much for me.
So, if either Nie Qiuyuan or Luo Dachun were to kill him, I would surely intervene.
"Then perhaps we should just take you down as well," Luo Dachun said coldly. "What to do with you can be decided later."
"Take me down? Am I that easy for you to capture?" Ren Pingsheng laughed heartily. "You know what I'm best at, so Ah Ying, are you starting to forget about them? Are you feeling anxious?"
As his words echoed in my mind, I suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled forward.
Nie Qiuyuan's expression changed instantly as he moved to my side, while Luo Dachun swiftly darted past, both supporting me from either side.
What did Ren Pingsheng mean? Was I really starting to forget them? Was he beginning to erase my memories right now?
Nie Qiuyuan and Luo Dachun quickly grasped Ren Pingsheng's intent and grew alarmed, both asking in unison, "Zhenzhen, how do you feel?"
At that moment, we heard a muffled groan from nearby.
Following the sound, we were all stunned.
Zhuque, who had been struck down and was sitting on the ground, had his crimson eyes wide open. Looking at his left chest, a bright blade tip protruded from behind him—someone had ruthlessly stabbed through his chest from behind.
Ren Pingsheng stood coldly behind Zhuque, one hand pressing on his shoulder while the other held Zhuque's curved knife, deeply embedded in his back.
Zhuque parted his lips slightly and managed to utter a single word: "You." A stream of blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth.
Ren Pingsheng had an astonishingly precise understanding of the human body, so his blade struck true, piercing through Zhuque's heart. Zhuque had already been immobilized by a pressure point, and with this strike, he could not utter a complete word; only a few gurgling sounds escaped his throat before he suddenly went limp, falling silent forever.
A living person had vanished in an instant, and the impact was even greater knowing that Zhuque was actually a relative of Nie Qiuyuan. I stared in shock at the scene before me, unsure how to react.
Ren Pingsheng held Zhuque's neck with one hand, lifting his lifeless body. With the other hand, he slowly withdrew the curved blade that had pierced through him.
"Xuanwu, now that you know this is your cousin, you probably can't bring yourself to do it. You've always been such a bothersome softie. You wanted to kill him, didn't you? So, it's kind of me to fulfill your wish and do the right thing for you. Besides..."
Ren Pingsheng continued to grip Zhuque's neck, raising his corpse higher.
"Helping someone means seeing it through to the end. I’ll take care of this trouble for you. Although he’s dead now, if a person dies not long ago, their blood can still be useful. So, this won't do either."
With that, Ren Pingsheng lifted Zhuque and gently swayed his body to the edge of a high cliff. Releasing his grip, Zhuque's body floated down like a scarecrow into the molten lava below, disappearing in an instant.
Everything happened so quickly that I barely had time to think. The two people beside me supported me as they too were stunned.
Ren Pingsheng sheathed his curved blade and lightly clapped his hands before speaking calmly, "Xuanwu, I must admit I'm quite envious. We both suffered similar injuries, yet how is it that you’ve recovered so quickly? But I must thank you all; my condition isn’t great right now, and removing Zhuque would have been quite time-consuming and labor-intensive. Thank you for taking care of it."
It turned out that Ren Pingsheng intended to pick us off one by one. He had anticipated that we wouldn’t be able to kill Zhuque during this confrontation; his goal was to wait until both sides were exhausted from fighting each other so he could reap the benefits.
In essence, Ren Pingsheng's first move was to use us to eliminate Zhuque. Once Zhuque was out of the way, Rong Fu would have no choice but to resort to using Nie Qiuyuan's blood to proceed further. This meant we would inevitably be drawn into a deadly struggle. It seemed that Ren Pingsheng's initial objective had already been achieved.
Poor Zhuque had lost his life without understanding why.
I felt conflicted about Zhuque. He was actually a close relative of Nie Qiuyuan, sharing the same bloodline—how incredible was that? Autumn had endured the pain of Annihilation; discovering there was still someone in the world who was family should have been something precious. Yet this person had always been an enemy.
Though young, Zhuque was one of the most dangerous figures in Mirror Gate. All the weapons he created were mass destruction tools, and more lives had perished at his hands than at Ren Pingsheng's.
Fate can be cruelly unfair; what one is born into and who one encounters can dictate the path they walk in life.
Ren Pingsheng smiled faintly at me and said, "Ah Ying, don’t worry; that was just a relaxant—only beneficial with no harm done. I'm leaving now; we will meet again soon."
He lightly tapped his toes and swept toward the "Gate of Faithfulness" in the distance.
Luo Dachun was about to chase after him when Nie Qiuyuan reached out and pulled him back.
"No need to go. Even if we catch him, what will it matter? Besides, he is likely more familiar with everything here than we are."
Luo Dachun fell silent for a moment before stopping and saying, "That's true."
"Since the Mirror Gate has arrived, what we should be striving for is time. The information we just received must be used before they do."
"The information we just received?" I suddenly understood. The two of them must have gained some important insight while they were lost in thought earlier; this was certainly what they were referring to.
"Zhenzhen, come." Qiu did not explain further but instead took my hand and led me toward the jade statue of Chang'e behind us.
The fire caused by the mechanism of the Vermilion Bird had already been extinguished, leaving the ground charred black, and several Cushions had been burned to oblivion. However, it was strange that the legs of Chang'e's jade statue showed no signs of having been scorched; not even a speck of dust clung to them.
Nie Qiuyuan pulled me down to kneel before the statue, and Luo Dachun knelt beside me. I mimicked their actions and respectfully bowed three times before Chang'e's jade statue.
At the moment I completed my third bow, my vision suddenly blurred, and a massive open copper door appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the high ground. Oddly enough, on the other side of the door, which should have been a cliff and lava, there was instead a brilliant starry sky visible through the door, as if it connected to another mysterious world.
At the top of that grand door were four large characters—"Gate of Compassion." (To be continued...)
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