Chasing The Moon (Moonlight Mystique) - Chapter 58

Under the moonlight, Bai Shuo tread carefully over the soil beneath her feet, glancing back at the hall behind her with lingering fear.

That eerie stone hall lay buried a hundred meters beneath the palace of the Yi King.

If not for Fan Yue’s strong spiritual energy, allowing him to carry her out in flight, she would never have escaped.

No wonder there were no guards stationed in the hall.

Even if those immortals and demons with broken spiritual cores woke up, they could not jump more than a hundred meters.

The moment they exited the stone hall, Bai Shuo pulled Fan Yue into a secluded corner and took out a tortoise shell from her storage bag.

No one knew where she had procured a handful of white powder, which she sprinkled onto the turtle shell.

The powder emitted a faint, familiar fragrance of cosmetics as Fan Yue inhaled, stirring a vague sense of recognition.

“This was rubbed off onto me by Big Iron Flower. I secretly kept some. Since she could withstand a blow from Rong Xian’s sword, she’s likely reached the peak of the Supreme Lord realm. She might be able to unravel the Yi King’s formation,” Bai Shuo explained while activating the turtle shell.

“She disappeared after chasing the Yi Prince, and I suspect she’s been trapped by the Yi King. This powder carries her aura—the turtle shell should be able to calculate her location.”

Fan Yue stared at the busy Bai Shuo, momentarily lost in thought.

How many layers of cunning did his master possess?

Clearly, her spiritual energy was so weak she couldn’t even defeat a little monster, yet here she was, strategizing to locate the Yi King’s daughter and rescue Chong Zhao.

She was truly fascinating.

Under the moonlight, the young man did not realize that the way he looked at Bai Shuo had changed.

It was no longer just pure admiration; there was a hint of appreciation and evaluation.

Suddenly, as if aware of something, his expression stiffened, and a sharp pain shot through his brow.

The young man pressed hard against his forehead, seemingly trying to drive away the sudden thought that had arisen in his heart.

This wasn’t him! But if it wasn’t him, then who? His former self?

“I found her!”

Bai Shuo’s voice broke his trance as the turtle shell in her palm stopped, pointing to a northern corner of the Yi King’s palace.

“Big Iron Flower is over there!”

Bai Shuo turned, noticing her disciple’s face hidden in the shadows, trembling slightly.

Her heart clenched as she grabbed his hand.

“Mumu, are you okay?”

Bai Shuo’s hand carried a comforting warmth.

The young man looked up, curving his eyes into a smile at her.

“Master, I’m fine.”

Bai Shuo sighed in relief.

“Let’s go find Big Iron Flower.”

Fan Yue nodded, wrapped his arms around Bai Shuo’s waist, and vanished on the spot.

In the far corner of the Yi King’s palace, there was a simple courtyard.

It had no name, only a few sparse withered trees scattered within.

Beside them stood a stone pavilion, under which hung a rustic wooden swing.

The swing seemed aged, its fabric ropes tying the planks already yellowed.

Late at night, under the quiet moon, Hua Hong leaned lazily against the swing, chewing on a blade of wild grass, lost in thought as she swung leisurely.

Bai Shuo burst into the courtyard, and across the stone pavilion, her gaze met Hua Hong’s.

Both froze.

Bai Shuo’s eyes filled with suspicion, while Big Iron Flower’s face lit up with excitement.

“You’re finally here! Hurry, hurry, save me!”

Bai Shuo examined the relaxed, defenseless courtyard and took a step back.

“You want me to save you?”

Hua Hong waved her hand, revealing a faint barrier outside the stone pavilion.

“I’ve been trapped by the Yi King. This barrier was set up by Wuzhao. He can break it,” Hua Hong said, pointing at Fan Yue.

“He can break it, but you can’t?”

Bai Shuo took another step back, her gaze even more wary.

It was well-known that the Yi King was evil.

Hua Hong was, after all, his daughter.

“I was poisoned by Spiritual-Sealing Grass. Until midday tomorrow, I’m no different from an ordinary mortal,” Hua Hong replied with a helpless shrug.

“The Yi King has such a rare item? How did he refine it?”

Bai Shuo’s eyes gleamed with interest.

Spiritual-Sealing Grass was a nemesis to both immortals and demons.

However, it only grew on kilometer-high snow mountains, guarded by top-grade snow pythons.

It was not only difficult to harvest but would also crumble to dust when exposed to fire, making it exceedingly challenging to refine.

With her weak spiritual energy, Bai Shuo had studied every life-saving material under heaven and was well aware of the rarity of Spiritual-Sealing Grass.

“Wait, who could poison you?” Bai Shuo paused.

“Was it the Yi King?”

Seeing Hua Hong’s silence, Bai Shuo suddenly asked, “Hua Hong, why were you exiled from Yi City back then?”

Hua Hong squinted at her.

“What does that have to do with you?”

“I’m not trying to dig up your family’s old scandals. The Yi King captured all the immortal and demon disciples who came to the Wutong Martial Banquet. My senior brother’s life is in your father’s hands, and they’re trapped by his formation. Only you can break it. How can I trust you?”

“Believe me or don’t—it’s up to you,” Hua Hong said dismissively, chewing her blade of grass.

She glanced at Bai Shuo indifferently.

“If you don’t trust me, then leave.”

Hua Hong’s indifference to the captives annoyed Bai Shuo.

Hua Hong might have stayed by her side, but that was only to protect Fan Yue.

Bai Shuo cursed herself for being foolish; Hua Hong had no personal stakes in this matter.

With her status, she’d likely celebrate if those disciples all died.

Bai Shuo bit her lip and glanced at Fan Yue behind her.

Then she whispered to Hua Hong, “Do you believe I won’t shout right now?”

Hua Hong froze and suddenly glanced at Fan Yue, her face darkening.

“Bai Shuo, don’t you dare!”

The Yi King didn’t know Fan Yue’s identity, and tonight, no immortal or demon disciple entering Yi City would be spared.

With Fan Yue’s power yet to recover, encountering the Yi King now would mean certain death.

“Why wouldn’t I dare? At worst… I’ll die with him,” Bai Shuo said, her lips tightening as she avoided looking back.

Sorry, Mumu. I can’t let Ah Zhao die. I must save him.

“You…!”

Hua Hong had lived as a demon for over a century but had never met anyone as shameless as Bai Shuo.

Not far away, Fan Yue watched Bai Shuo silently.

It was as if he understood her words, yet also as if he had heard nothing.

His gaze lowered, his eyes unreadable.

“I’ll shout now…”

Bai Shuo closed her eyes, ready to call out.

“I’ll destroy the core of the Spiritual Sealing Formation.” Hua Hong’s voice interrupted her.

Bai Shuo’s eyes flew open, only to see Hua Hong turning away.

Under the moonlight, her figure seemed somewhat desolate.

The Spiritual Sealing Formation? Wasn’t that the one treasure that allowed Yi City to survive in the three realms?

Why would Hua Hong, as the Yi King’s daughter, destroy it?

“Yi people are born with blocked spiritual veins and cannot cultivate spiritual energy. Thus, the Yi King is not a hereditary title but one determined by the Yi King Sword. When Mu Guang built Yi City, he forged a sword from East Sea Mystic Iron and gave it to the first Yi King. Only someone with the strength of a thousand jins can unsheathe it, establishing a tradition: whoever can draw the Yi King Sword becomes the Yi King.”

(T/N:The jin is a Chinese unit of weight that is equivalent to 500 grams, or just over half a kilogram.)

Before Bai Shuo could interrupt, Hua Hong continued.

“But human ambition isn’t something a sword can control. Even in a city isolated for a thousand years, power struggles still fester. The Hua family has ruled Yi City for over five centuries, but in this generation, it’s become impossible to hold onto the throne.”

“Why?”

“Hua Lin was born weak and couldn’t draw the Yi King Sword.”

Hua Lin?

Bai Shuo froze.

Hua Lin must be this generation’s Yi King—Hua Hong’s father.

But wait, the Yi King was clearly at the peak of the Supreme Lord realm, just a step away from demigod.

How could someone born weak achieve that?

“Besides the Hua family holding the throne of the Yi city for hundreds of years, there was another prominent family, the Mei family. For generations, the Mei family bore the responsibility of assisting the Hua family in guarding the city. In this generation, the old General Mei had only one daughter, Han. To ensure the Hua family’s reign continued, the old king of the Yi struck a deal with General Mei.”

“What kind of deal?”

“The Hua family would marry Mei Han to the crown prince, and in return, General Mei would sacrifice his spiritual energy to reshape the frail body of the prince. The Yi are not entirely without spiritual energy, but their spiritual meridians are inherently chaotic. Back then, Hua Lin’s meridians were even more chaotic than most. The old Yi king carried the mission of protecting the clan. At that time, only General Mei, who had reached the pinnacle of the Supreme Lord level, had spiritual energy strong enough to alter Hua Lin’s meridians.”

Sacrifice?

Bai Shuo thought of the eerie formation in the stone palace and turned pale.

Could that stone palace be the place where the body of the Yi King was reshaped? But now that he has already reached the peak of the Supreme Lord level, why would he reopen the formation?

Before she could ponder further, Hua Hong continued.

“But no one expected that Hua Lin’s body was so weak that General Mei’s spiritual energy alone wasn’t enough. The ritual was extremely sinister. Once begun, it couldn’t stop, or both would die. To save his son, the old Yi king also infused all his spiritual energy into Hua Lin. That night, both the old king and General Mei perished, while Hua Lin ascended to the Supreme Lord level, drew the Sword of the Yi King, and became the new king. To preserve the Hua family’s honor, this matter was kept a secret between the two families, known only to a select few. Shortly after, he fulfilled his promise and married Mei Han. Later, their eldest daughter was born. It was said that the girl was born with divine power, and at the age of eighteen, she drew the Sword of the Yi King, carrying the hopes of all the citizens of the Yi City.”

Hua Lin’s ascension as the Yi King happened a hundred years ago.

Although these people were Hua Hong’s blood relatives, she recounted these old secrets as if speaking about strangers.

Bai Shuo blinked, staring at Hua Hong in amazement.

“Big Iron Flower, you’re something else.”

Hua Lin required the spiritual energy of two Supreme Lord level beings to draw the Sword of the Yi King, yet Hua Hong managed it in her teens.

If not for being born a Yi with chaotic spiritual meridians, she would be a true prodigy.

“That’s just a rumor. How many rumors in this world are true? Back then, they said Rong Xian killed his wife and child for the position of Kunlun sect leader, but you’ve heard the truth at the Tomb of Yi.”

Under the stone pavilion, Hua Hong spoke lightly.

“That’s false?”

Bai Shuo was stunned.

When the Sword of the Yi King is drawn, it triggers celestial phenomena.

If it spread across the three realms, someone must have sensed it. How could it be fabricated?

“It’s not entirely false. A child did draw the Sword of the Yi King, but it wasn’t me.”

“Then who?”

There was a long silence in the courtyard before Hua Hong spoke again.

“Hua Yong.”

“The prince of the Yi? That fool?” Bai Shuo’s jaw almost dropped.

Back in the hot springs, Hua Yong might have shown some brute strength, but in terms of cultivation, he was far inferior to Hua Hong.

“At that time, he wasn’t yet the prince of the Yi. In fact, the Yi didn’t even know of his existence.”

Hua Hong seemed lost in her memories, gazing at the simple courtyard behind her.

“As the princess of the Yi, I was spoiled from birth, unruly and untamed. During one Mengyu Festival, I sneaked out of the palace and saw a child being bullied on the streets. He was an orphan with a miserable life. Feeling sorry for him, I brought him back to the palace. Hua Lin had always indulged me and never objected to my whims, and this time was no exception. The child was soft-natured and innocent. Initially, I brought him back just to amuse myself, but over time, our relationship became less like master and servant and more like siblings. My mother, the queen, had no other children apart from me and grew very fond of him. She personally taught him to read and write, named him Hua Yong, and even passed down the Mei family’s blade techniques to him without reservation.”

Hua Hong’s voice faltered as she glanced at the simple courtyard behind her.

Bai Shuo suddenly understood that Hua Yong had likely lived here in those days.

“Thus, he stayed in the palace until my eighteenth year. That year, my mother became pregnant again, and the entire palace celebrated. Even Hua Lin was delighted. But my mother constantly worried because, at eighteen, royal children must face the trial of the Sword of the Yi King in front of all the citizens. Only by drawing the sword can one inherit the throne. The Sword of the Yi King holds immense power. Drawing it bestows kingship; failing means death. Over the millennia, countless young Yi have perished at the hands of the sword’s power.”

“My mother was so anxious for me that she couldn’t sleep. But she couldn’t stop me. The throne of the Yi King wasn’t just the inheritance of the Hua family—it was the legacy my grandfather secured with his life. I was the princess of the Yi, and it was my duty to draw the Sword of the Yi King. At that time, I was unmatched among the younger generation in the city. I believed I could do it.”

Bai Shuo remained silent, quietly listening.

“That day, the Sword of the Yi King chose its master. It didn’t choose me—it chose Hua Yong. My mother also died that day.”

The small courtyard fell into silence.

“What exactly happened that day?”
The Sword of the Yi King chooses its master, but how did the queen meet such a tragic end?

“That day was the Mengyu Festival. Under the watchful eyes of the entire city, I tried to draw the Sword of the Yi King. But I couldn’t even get within a meter of it. Advance or retreat—this is the law of the heavens. The sword retaliated against me for my failure, and just as I was about to perish, Hua Yong took the backlash in my place.”

“He saved you?”

“I wish he never had.”

Hua Hong’s voice was as cold as ice.

She closed her eyes. “I’d rather have died that day under the Sword of the Yi King. He took the backlash for me and, in doing so, had his spiritual bones shattered. Beneath the broken bones, the unique bloodline mark of the Hua family was revealed…”

The old king of the City of Yi had only one son, Hua Lin.

The old king had been long deceased, and Hua Yong was still a child at the time.

There was no need to ask whose child he was.

“My mother, distressed from her pregnancy, forced the truth from Wuzhao. She learned that the frail crown prince of the Yi had long harbored a lover. The two were deeply in love and had made lifelong promises to each other. He married my mother only because my grandfather sacrificed his life to secure the throne for him. My mother had a fiery temperament. How could she endure such humiliation? She didn’t survive that night, dying with her unborn child, consumed by hatred.”

Hua Yong was a few years younger than Hua Hong, which meant that even after the Yi King married Mei Han, he continued his secret trysts with his lover.

He even swapped their son into the palace, raising him under the queen’s care.

Judging by Hua Hong’s disposition, it was clear that Queen Mei had been a fiercely proud woman.

“Where was the Yi King? Even if the queen was in distress, with his power at the peak of Supreme Lord, he should have been able to protect her!”

Bai Shuo said angrily.

“Hua Yong had shattered his spiritual bones. The Yi King sealed himself in the stone hall to prolong Hua Yong’s life. My mother died in childbirth, abandoned to her fate.”

Bai Shuo was stunned, finding it hard to believe.

Hua Hong turned her head, a self-mocking smile on her lips.

“What’s so surprising? To him, the child of his lover is naturally more precious than anyone else.”

Her words, laced with chilling indifference, carried an overwhelming sadness.

Bai Shuo suddenly realized that perhaps, in the moment the Yi King left with Hua Yong, the queen had already lost the will to live.

Beneath the faint, somber moonlight, the Yi King sat before a grave.

“Hong’er has returned. She’s grown up—she looks a lot like you.”

The Yi King gently caressed the gravestone, finished his last cup of wine, and left without looking back.

“After my mother’s death, Hua Yong became the crown prince of the Yi. As for me, without my mother’s protection, I became nothing but a pitiful joke. So on the day the crown prince was officially instated, I stormed into the Spiritual-Sealing Formation. If not for this cursed throne, my grandfather wouldn’t have died, and my mother wouldn’t have had to marry that heartless beast. I lost all my family. Why should these people get to live comfortably in this city?”

“But I failed. I, the princess of the Yi, tried to destroy the city’s foundation. How could the Yi and Hua Lin tolerate me? That night, I was exiled from the city. From then on, I wandered the three realms until the Haoyue Palace took me in.”

Hua Hong glanced in the direction of Fan Yue, then looked at Bai Shuo.

“Now you know everything. Do you think I would ever help the Yi King?”