Ink Blade Chapter 64 (Part 1)
Translated by Sylver
Chapter 64.1 Revenge Settled (part 1)
Days passed amidst the clash of swords.
The Central Plains Righteous Army penetrated deep into the lair of the Southern Xinjiang Wuxian Sect, breaking through the maze, sweeping away the poisonous insects, and naturally fought a tough and hard battle. Unbeknownst to them, winter snow replaced autumn frost, and the rise and fall of the sun and moon marked the passage of time.
Chu Yan couldn’t remember how many bloodbaths he had been through, couldn’t count how many people he had killed, and didn’t know how many internal and external injuries he had sustained.
He didn’t know if there was still time, or if it was already too late. All he could do was to be faster, even faster. The sword in his hand had to be fast, and his steps had to be quick. In such day and night, his sense of pain gradually numbed, and he could no longer feel the fatigue. His soul and body separated, and finally sank into a dark swamp.
“Palace Master…Palace Master…”
“——Palace Master Chu!”
The smell of blood rushed into his nose, and his consciousness and senses were dragged back. Chu Yan suddenly opened his eyes, first feeling the severe pain and fatigue all over his body. He didn’t know where the winter wind came from, but it blew from head to toe, freezing him as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
“…”
Chu Yan squinted his eyes with difficulty, and his vision changed from blurry to clear. He was leaning against the stone wall covered in blood, and crowds gathered in the stone caves around him. Ying Feng and Ying Lei were guarding him, their faces full of anxiety.
Ying Feng helped him stand up straight and whispered, “Palace Master, you’re awake.”
Xu Fangchuan handed over a water bag and elixir, worriedly saying, “Palace Master Chu, since we’re here, there’s no rush. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Time circled around and settled in the present, and they finally… finally reached the last step. The main altar of the Wuxian Sect had been destroyed. This Wuxian Sect had been crushed by the righteous men of the Central Plains decades ago. This time, even the ashes of resurrection were trampled out by them.
The remaining followers scattered like birds and beasts, only the sect leader Yan Luo stubbornly defended the main altar, and was now trapped in this stone cave, the situation was gone.
Chu Yan pressed the corner of his brow with difficulty, took the water to drink a few sips, and hoarsely murmured, “What day is it…”
He didn’t know when he started to gradually lose track of day and night, numbly asking the people around him about the days, even asking several times in the same day.
He wasn’t asking about the year and month of today, he was asking about how many days and nights had passed since he left the Jiuzhong Palace… How many days and nights had passed since he left Mo Ren in the Jiuzhong Palace and went alone to Southern Xinjiang.
Many people quietly discussed that this Jiuzhong Palace Master might not be far from madness, or perhaps he was already mad. After all, looking at his three immortal souls and seven mortal forms wandering around appearance, it seemed that the last thread of obsession was leading him to trek in the world, and they didn’t know…
They didn’t know, if one day news of the death of his family’s guard came from the Central Plains, what kind of person would he become.
Xu Fangchuan fell silent. Ying Feng’s face darkened, and he dared not answer untruthfully, “It has been forty-eight days since the Palace Master left the sect.”
Chu Yan said nothing more.
Once, Lin Yun had asserted that Mo Ren would not live more than two months. Now that forty-eight days had passed, he dared not ask for news inside the palace.
Chu Yan picked up the Xuan Hong Sword and pushed himself to walk forward. However, a severe pain in his left leg made his face pale, and he fell down amidst the exclamation of the people behind him.
“Palace Master!” The two guardians, Feng and Lei, wanted to rush up to help him, but Chu Yan stubbornly supported his body with his sword, stood up again by himself, and looked at his left leg that was dyed red with blood with a bitter smile——
At that time, a poisonous snake bit his calf. He only thought that if he was poisoned, he would not be able to wield his sword and move forward. With a swing of Xuan Hong, he directly cut off that piece of flesh. When the blood spurted out, the people around him had not yet reacted.
…In nearly two months, he could actually make himself such a mess.
If Ah Ren saw it… Chu Yan sighed lightly, not daring to think further.
“Let’s go.”
“Yan Luo, that thief, should be just ahead.”
…
Wuxian Sect’s main altar, Poison Insect Cave.
The Central Plains Righteous Army surrounded this place, and Chu Yan asked everyone not to move. He alone took Xuan Hong and walked in first.
There were no poisonous insects in the Poison Insect Cave. The five poisons of this place had all been released during the previous battle, blocking the Central Plains Righteous Army for quite a while. In the end, they cleverly devised a plan, led them into a dry valley, borrowed the winter wind and added dry firewood to make a fierce fire, and burned it clean.
So now there was only a bare cave left here, and the depths were even connected to the canopy of the heavens. If any enemy went around to the top and shot arrows, the people inside would have no defense. No one could understand why Yan Luo, that treacherous and defeated man, would finally retreat to such a place.
It was snowing. The light of the sky fell with the snow, as if a mist had risen.
Yan Luo was sitting in the deepest part.
He sat with his eyes closed and his knees crossed, leaning against the stone wall, as if he was a rotten wood, as if all his vitality had been drained.
Chu Yan was covered in wounds, and his scattered long hair was soaked in cold sweat. He still walked towards Yan Luo’s direction with his steps floating and pausing every step, leaning on his long sword.
Blood fell drop by drop behind him. He stepped out a bloody path.
“Yan Luo.”
Chu Yan said hoarsely, raising his long sword. His right hand holding Xuan Hong was protruding with blue veins, and blood flowed from the hilt to the scabbard, turning into a few red beads and falling. The blade was sharp as ice, reflecting the pitch-black phoenix eyes, “The matter started because of you and me. After so many years, let’s end it.”
Yan Luo was still sitting there, slowly opening his eyes when he heard the sound.
“End…”
His eyes were dark, but his gaze was unfocused, casting towards the sky above the Poison Insect Cave, as if he wanted to see someone in that hazy halo.
