Chapter 333

Then came Pei Ji’s hoarse voice: “Open your mouth.”

Everything happened too suddenly.

By the time He Zhizhou realized what was going on, he had already seen his junior brother, Pei Ji, putting something into Ning Ning’s mouth. The next moment, she seemed to lose all strength, her body swaying as Pei Ji held her in his arms.

Pei Ji’s expression was cold.

His gaze, usually frosty and detached, now held an unreadable depth.

Locking eyes with He Zhizhou, he solemnly said, “Thank you.”

With just that look, He Zhizhou understood Pei Ji’s intent.

Ning Ning did as well.

She tried to break free, but her whole body was weakened by the unexpected pill.

Pei Ji had clearly anticipated her resistance and was prepared from the start.

But this couldn’t happen.

If Pei Ji went through with this… he would die.

Under the pale moonlight, the young man in dark clothes held her close, walking step by step away from the crowd, the rolling thunder rumbling ominously.

Pei Ji didn’t lower his head, so Ning Ning couldn’t see his face; she could only make out the thin, bloodstained neck, with veins taut like climbing vines.

Suddenly, he spoke, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly, and his voice, raspy yet impossibly gentle, slipped into her ears like the wind: “Don’t be afraid.”

A deafening clap of thunder roared.

Pei Ji kneeled down on one knee, setting Ning Ning against another dune.

His shadow engulfed her entirely, and in her final sight, he gave her a slight smile.

It wasn’t forced, nor was it stiff; standing at the edge of life and death, he looked at her face and, from the bottom of his heart, smiled.

Unable to move or speak, Ning Ning could only feel her heart ache as he covered her eyes right as the first bolt of heavenly thunder fell.

The first ordeal, Heaven’s Path.

She heard the unsheathing of his sword, the clash of sword energy and thunder interwoven, stirring up a storm, bursts of explosive force surging through the air.

The hand covering her eyes pressed a little harder, and once again, Pei Ji’s voice reached her ears: “Don’t be afraid.”

Ning Ning’s tears fell in an instant.

The one who should be most afraid was him.

The second ordeal, Humanity’s Path.

Another crack of thunder, and Pei Ji kneeled by the dune, sword in hand, resisting the lightning with its energy.

“This… this is just too much—”

The streaks of eerie blue lightning looked like ghostly claws, and Lu Wanxing, squinting against the glare, murmured with a tremble: “Can he really make it through?”

He Zhizhou, exhausted, could only rage internally: “Isn’t Pei Ji supposed to be your chosen one for tempering? Doesn’t Heaven itself have a shred of mercy for him?”

“Life and death are preordained. Pei Ji’s past life carried exceptional karma; while Heaven acknowledges this with tempering, it will never intervene in the cycle of cause and effect to save him.”

The voice in his mind responded calmly: “If he truly dies, it has nothing to do with Heaven.”

He rolled his eyes in frustration.

These unscrupulous capitalists!

The third ordeal: Beast’s Path.

Ning Ning couldn’t see what lay before her, only hearing the thunder grow more ferocious than before.

And the clanging of a sword hitting the ground.

With Pei Ji’s slight cough, the air grew thick with the scent of blood.

“After my mother passed, I traveled to many places.”

The pain in his back was a searing agony, cutting to the bone, tearing every inch of flesh, and boiling the blood within him.

He clumsily wiped the tears from her face with his thumb, his voice softer than ever: “The water town in South City often has rain, and I loved to stand beneath the eaves and watch the drops fall one by one. Whenever I went to the ponds then, I’d see lines of geese and ducks.”

Pei Ji laughed faintly: “They’re very cute, round and chubby. If you saw them, you’d definitely like them.”

Then came the rumble of more thunder.

The fourth ordeal, Asura’s Path.

The frail youth picked up his sword, using the tip as a crutch to hold himself up, silently reciting a sword incantation, and sword energy surged forth once again to form a shimmering shield.

“To the north of South City lies Butterfly Valley.”

His breathing was jagged and fragmented, every word forced out with all his strength: “It’s called Butterfly Valley, but it’s actually full of rabbits. Imagine that — an entire valley of round, white furballs, like rain falling from the sky.”

Lacking any talent for charm, he could only use such clumsy tales to comfort Ning Ning, to ease her fear.

The shield shattered as the unrelenting thunder tore through it, slashing deep wounds that exposed his bones.

Pei Ji bit his lip to stay alert, using the pain to keep himself from fainting.

The fifth ordeal: Hungry Ghost’s Path.

Ning Ning’s consciousness was fading, unable to hear his voice as clearly as before.

“In the drawer on the left of my study, there are osmanthus cakes I made. They’re a bit sweet, so I didn’t give them to you.”

He lowered his gaze as he spoke, staring at her face as though engraving every feature into his mind.

The dark hair, the small nose, the pale, cool skin.

Pei Ji thought, like the moon.

“There’s nothing I can leave for you… I’m sorry.”

The drug had taken effect.

In her last blurred moments, Ning Ning heard Pei Ji say, “Goodnight.” The words she had once said to him.

Goodnight.

The sixth ordeal: Hell’s Path.

Six realms of reincarnation, a path of karmic retribution, fate within a single thought.

In the midst of roaring sand and wind, the black-clad youth rose with his sword, his face hidden by his hair.

His warmth was gone, replaced by a cold, unyielding determination.

His body was covered in vicious wounds, yet he stood straight, his killing intent like a blade.

From the beginning, Pei Ji had made up his mind.

No matter what the death ordeal entailed, he would give his all to ensure she survived.

If it were a person, he would kill them.

If it were a demon, he would slaughter them all.

And if it were Heaven—

Then, even if it killed him, he would take up his sword and sever Heaven’s will.

“Pei Ji, he…”

He Zhizhou felt a chill down his spine, trembling as he watched.

“He’s drawn his sword!”

The final heavenly thunder struck as expected.

The web of lightning illuminated his pale face, his lashes quivering as a bead of blood fell from his brow.

In his right hand, he held his sword; with his left, he drew out a slender hair ribbon from his chest pocket.

The ribbon Ning Ning had given him in Luan city.

He hadn’t told her how happy he’d been to receive that gift.

So happy that every night he saw it, he couldn’t help but smile.

Roughly tying back his disheveled hair, his dark eyes flashed with a murderous resolve and a calm as deep as the void.

The thunder came for him in an instant.

With all his remaining strength, Pei Ji tightened his grip on his sword.

The Hell’s Path, a certain death ordeal.

No one could escape it.

On the mighty sword formation, the young demon lord had already vanished, leaving no trace.

A drop of blood fell from the barrier, forming a glistening bead that reflected a dim, hazy figure.

It was the moon, gazing at him from afar in the sandy storm.

Cracks formed in the giant flaming figure within the formation, the dragon youth filling the fissures with his spiritual energy, his sword in hand, carrying a single glowing pearl in his pocket.

In the hellish red, it was the only light left in the world.

The lightning illuminated every corner of the vast desert.

The trembling eyes of the bandits, the crimson rivers of demon blood, scattered beasts, swirling sands, and the gentle spiritual energy encasing the skeletal remains.

Virtue, sin, fate, grudges.

Countless intertwined destinies converged in this moment.

And countless tangled threads of karma collided and canceled each other out here.

The sword held back the path of the thunder, blood flowing steadily from his fingertips.

Pei Ji swallowed the metallic taste in his throat, his sword gathering its last surge of intent.

This ordeal was an endless purgatory, inescapable.

Amidst the deafening thunder, a middle-aged voice suddenly echoed from deep within his mind.

It laughed wildly, tinged with fury, and as it sounded, the light of the sword surged dramatically, its radiance sweeping over the scene and facing off against the violent thunder.

“It’s just fate—”

Cheng Ying’s voice resounded, “Pei Ji… will cut through it all the same!”