Chasing The Moon (Moonlight Mystique) - Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Er Yun, who was suddenly used as a meat shield by Bai Shuo, turned pale and bewildered.
She whipped her head around to glare at Bai Shuo, “You-you-you… what are you doing?!”
“I-I-I… What do you care!” Bai Shuo mimicked her stuttering retort, “Why are you panicking? You’ve got nine lives anyway, you can’t be killed!”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Er Yun froze for a moment, then frantically looked at Chongzhao, “Senior Brother, save me…”
Chong Zhao stared at Er Yun with a strange expression, his face darkened, and he suddenly drew his sword, pointing it at Eryun, “Who are you? Where is Er Yun?”
The frail expression on “Er Yun’s” face stiffened.
She turned her head toward Bai Shuo, asking with interest, “This idiot spent days with me and didn’t notice anything, We are senior brother and junior sister who live together day and night. How did you figure it out, you little Taoist?”
“It was easy,” Bai Shuo took a step back, “I knew the moment I saw you at the inn that you were an imposter.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Because it’s me who’s been with Er Yun day and night, not him.
” Bai Shuo shrugged and blinked.
“Surprised, little fox? I also come from that far-off corner of Piaomiao.”
“Er Yun” was speechless, but before he could respond, Nan Wan exclaimed, “You’re Mu Jiu of the Fox Clan!”
“Aww, I’ve been found out.”
Mu Jiu pouted, looking unhappy.
He seemed oblivious to the tense atmosphere around him, instead focusing on Bai Shuo.
“Little Taoist, how did you figure out my identity?”
Bai Shuo paused, scratching his head.
“Well, that’s a bit tricky to explain.”
Seeing her hesitation, Mu Jiu, still wearing Er Yun’s face, acted impatiently, “Come on, spit it out.”
“It’s nothing much. I got up last night to use the toilet and happened to run into you.”
Everyone froze, their expressions turning odd.
Bai Shuo remained unfazed, spreading her hands.
“You’re a male lord, adept at transformation. It only made sense that you’d be from the Fox Clan. Everyone knows that Mu Jiu, the demon lord of the Fox Clan, loves excitement. How could you miss the grand Wutong Martial Banquet, a major event across the Three Realms?”
Mu Jiu, seeing Bai Shuo’s frank expression, suddenly giggled.
“Wow, how did a clever and charming girl like you come from such a backwater place like Piaomiao? You’re really quite delightful…”
As he said this, Mu Jiu leaned closer to Bai Shuo, but before he could get near, a pair of hands lifted him by the collar and threw him aside.
Mu Jiu turned to see a large, heavily made-up face and recoiled in horror, stumbling backward several steps before jumping behind Chong Zhao.
He shouted toward Big Iron Flower, “Yikes, so ugly! Senior Brother, I’m scared!”
Chong Zhao’s veins bulged on his forehead, his voice freezing the air around them, “Where is Er Yun?”
“Relax, she’s just outside the city, sleeping.”
Mu Jiu rolled his eyes and stepped out from behind Chong zhao, revealing his true form: a young man in red.
The young man was exceptionally handsome, with a pair of fox-like eyes that seemed capable of enchanting the world.
Yet his face carried a rebellious, roguish air.
With his hands on his hips, he glared at Bai Shuo and gestured toward the previously silent Drunk Old Man.
“That lunatic wants to kill you, so why are you using me as a shield?!”
Mu Jiu’s antics nearly made everyone forget the matter at hand.
Bai Shuo sighed, “Rong Xian harbors deep hatred for the immortal and demon clan. If there’s still any kindness or guilt left in his heart, it’s probably only toward the Fox Clan.”
“Guilt?”
Mu Jiu scoffed, looking mockingly at Rong Xian.
“Unbelievable, you’re still alive, Rong Xian. A beast like you, who breaks promises, starts things and doesn’t finish them, abandons his wife and child for power—what guilt could you possibly feel?!”
When it came to insults, the Fox Clan truly reigned supreme across the Three Realms.
“Mind your words!”
Before the Drunk Old Man could respond, Beichen, who had been silent, suddenly stepped forward, pointing his sword at Mu Jiu, his expression icy.
“Well, well, the dog disciple is defending his master!” Mu Jiu spat.
“Beichen, you Kunlun sword cultivators sure know how to lick boots. He’s trying to kill you, yet you’re still so eager to kiss the old sect master’s ass…”
“You—!”
The Fox Clan’s young lord, with his unparalleled beauty, had a mouth that ran wild without restraint, leaving everyone around him seething.
Even the typically stoic Beichen was nearly driven to draw his sword.
“Lord Mu Jiu!” Bai Shuo interrupted just in time, “Don’t you think something’s odd?”
Mu Jiu, in the midst of his tirade, casually followed up, “What’s odd?”
“If Rong Xian really were the type to abandon his wife and child for power, why did he lose control a thousand years ago and slaughter his entire sect? And why, when he attacked the Immortal Sects now, did he spare you?”
“I…” Mu Jiu paused, frowning, visibly frustrated.
“How the hell should I know?”
“If you don’t know, why not ask?”
Bai Shuo looked toward Rong Xian.
“Senior Rong Xian, what really happened a thousand years ago?”
Since Mu Jiu’s identity had been exposed, the Drunk Old Man had kept his eyes down, indifferent to the quarrels around him.
Even when Bai Shuo spoke up on his behalf and posed the question directly, he only cast a cold glance at the group.
After a moment, without saying a word, he turned and walked toward the straw hut.
Mu Jiu waited for a response, but when none came, his playful demeanor vanished, replaced by a menacing killing intent.
“Rong Xian, you dog! Return the lives of my Fox Clan ancestors!”
A fiery red wheel appeared in Mu Jiu’s palm—the dreaded Wheel of Destruction, a demon artifact once carried by the demon emperor Hong Yi. Before ascending to the god realm, Hong Yi forged a similar spiritual weapon and left it to the Fox Clan.
The smaller Wheel of Destruction flew from Mu Jiu’s hand, aiming directly at Rong Xian’s back.
Rong Xian didn’t dodge or flinch, not even turning his head.
Just as the Wheel was about to strike him, a immortal sword knocked it away.
“Beichen!”
Mu Jiu roared, “I’ll kill you first!”
“The fault of the past lies not with the sect master. If you seek vengeance for the Fox Clan, then come at Kunlun!”
Beichen held his immortal sword, positioning himself between Rong Xian and Mu Jiu.
The hunched figure walking toward the thatched hut paused.
A thousand miles away, at Wutong Phoenix Island.
In a secluded pavilion, the pale-faced Songfeng sat in meditation, focusing on healing his wounds in the chilly autumn moonlight.
Suddenly, a paper crane flew in through the window and landed in his palm.
“A message from within the sect?”
Songfeng was startled.
He opened the crane, and his expression shifted slightly.
“Evil disciple!”
Songfeng coughed heavily.
That traitorous disciple, who had already had his golden core shattered and been locked in the Xuan ice cave, somehow managed to escape from Piaomiao.
He really had ties to the demon clan.
Who knows what calamity he might bring in the future?
Songfeng let out a long sigh, his face filled with undisguised worry.
Under the silent moonlight in Nameless Mountain, Bai shuo sighed softly.
“Senior, back then, you were willing to give up the position of Kunlun sect master for Clan leader Linglong. How could you then return to Kunlun for power? What truly happened back then?”
“A love between an immortal and a demon—unforgivable by the Three Realms.”
A hoarse voice suddenly spoke in front of the thatched hut.
“But I met Linglong.”
Rong Xian finally spoke. He turned and walked toward the three tomb.
“Kunlun sword cultivators, devoted to the path of emotionless detachment. No one ever thought that the first to break the iron law of the Three Realms would be a disciple of Kunlun.”
Rong Xian stopped before the grave on the far right, resting his hand on the weathered, unnamed tombstone.
“I promised Linglong I would no longer meddle in the affairs of the Three Realms, and we lived in seclusion in the wilderness. We had Xin’er. Those were the most peaceful and joyful days of my life. For her, I would defy the Heavenly Dao, without regret.”
“That’s nonsense! No regret? If you had no regret, why did you personally kill her?” Mu Jiu shouted in fury.
The figure by the tomb fell silent once again.
“It wasn’t the sect master’s will!” Beichen suddenly interjected.
“It was Kunlun that killed Clan Leader Linglong, not Sect Master Rong Xian.”
Beichen’s words were like a thunderbolt, stunning everyone.
Mu Jiu’s angry shout was abruptly cut off, “Nonsense! A thousand years ago, on the battlefield, countless witnesses saw with their own eyes that it was him…”
“The sect master at that time couldn’t even recognize Clan Leader Linglong,” Beichen interrupted Mu Jiu, as if he had made a great resolution, and slowly began to explain.
“A thousand years ago, the war between the two clans had escalated. The old sect master was severely wounded by the demon emperor. Our Kunlun sect had guarded the Immortal-Demon boundary for generations, but with the old sect master nearing death, there was no one capable of taking up the mantle. If no one succeeded the sect, Kunlun’s power would wane. Desperate, the old sect leader used the power of his primordial spirit to summon Sect Master Rong Xian back to Kunlun.”
“He returned?”
Beichen looked at Rong Xian’s back.
“Kunlun swordsmanship is passed down in a single line. The old sect master had only one true disciple. How could the sect master not return?”
Beichen paused for a moment.
“What happened after Sect master Rong Xian returned to Kunlun?” Baishuo couldn’t help but ask.
“He refused to take on the mantle of sect master, insisting on returning to the wilderness. The old sect master, unable to preserve Kunlun’s legacy, along with the five great elders, forcibly transferred their spiritual energy to the sect master and sealed away all of the sect master and Linglong’s memories.”
“What are you saying?” Mu Jiu froze.
“When the sect master woke up, the old sect master had passed away. The elders told him that the old sect master had been killed by the demon emperor. In his grief and rage, the sect master led the Kunlun disciples into the demon realm…” Beichen sighed.
“The sect master remembered nothing of Clan Leader Linglong, and with the grief of losing his master, he massacred the demons indiscriminately. Yet, it was the Fox Clan that came to face him in battle…”
In that battle, Rong Xian slaughtered a hundred members of the Fox Clan, most of whom were Linglong’s blood relatives.
At that time, Chang Linglong was still waiting for Rong Xian’s return in the wilderness.
When the Fox Clan was left in ruins without their leader, a message was sent to the wilderness, asking her to return to her clan.
Only then did she learn that the person she had waited half a year for had already taken up the position of Kunlun’s sect master and was wiping out her clan.
Chang Linglong couldn’t believe that Rong Xian would abandon her and their child.
She left the wilderness, carrying their baby, to find him.
But this journey would mark the beginning of a tragedy…
“When Clan Leader Linglong learned of the Fox Clan’s suffering, she rushed back from the wilderness with the child. At the Immortal-Demon boundary, she found Sect master Rong Xian. But he didn’t recognize her. With no other choice, seeing her clan in such dire straits, Clan Leader Linglong fought with the sect master. During their battle…”
Beichen’s voice faltered.
The elderly figure by the grave, gripping the tombstone, began to tremble uncontrollably.
Baishuo’s heart skipped a beat.
“The child!…. Did something happen to the child?”
Beichen closed his eyes and spoke with difficulty, “In his blind vengeance for his master, the sect master inadvertently wounded the child in Linglong’s arms.”
Rong Xian was already at the peak of the supreme immortal lord at that time, having inherited the spiritual energies of Kunlun’s old sect master and the five great elders. His sword falling upon an infant—one can imagine the result!
“Clan Leader Linglong, devastated by grief, saw her child brutally slain. In her rage and sorrow, she impaled herself on the sect master’s sword and died on the spot.”
Beichen closed his eyes, as if witnessing that tragic scene from a thousand years ago, and gripped his Kunlun sword tightly.
“But at that moment, the blood of the child and Clan Leader Linglong broke the seal on the sect master’s memory.”
No words could carry more weight.
The air seemed to freeze as all eyes turned to the elderly figure by the grave.
“How could the old sect master do something so cruel?!” Bai Shuo murmured.
In that instant, when the seal was broken, Rong Xian saw his wife and child dead before him.
Who in this world could bear such a sight?
