Chapter 1884: One Side

Yue Gongnu unleashed a move.

The Angry Immortal Buddha Sword was back in her hand, shining with a cold, piercing light.

She simply gave a cold glare, and Dao Qiongcang, who was still feigning terror, acting menacing, and speaking in an odd, sarcastic tone, shuddered all over, waving his hands repeatedly, "Not that bad, not that bad, I'll speak properly."

Dao Qiongcang seemed quite intimidated by Yue Gongnu.

When he was little, he and Yue Gongli had peed on dirt more than once, and they had both been disciplined by his elder sister’s whip more than once, but that wasn't the main point.

The main point was Ba Zun'an; Dao Qiongcang’s deference was primarily out of respect for Ba Zun'an. As for past friendships or old grievances, to him, they weren't worth mentioning… well, they might be worth a brief mention, but in the grand scheme of the Great Dao, they were just a mere "mention."

With Sister Yue holding a broadsword in front of them, Yu Zhiwen, who had been tormented by the shadows of the Dao Department, and Liu Fuyu, who belatedly broke out in a cold sweat, finally felt a glimmer of security.

"No need to bother with him; no one's disciplined him, so he's gone astray," Yue Gongnu snorted. She knew she wasn't Dao Qiongcang's match, but she also knew Dao Qiongcang couldn’t do anything to her right now. She continued, "Though it might be presumptuous, I'd like to ask one more thing: are you sure your master died of old age?"

Liu Fuyu didn't mind these things, but hearing this question now, she lost her definite answer.

"Don't ask, don't ask! Yue Gongnu, just go to Lingyu Mountain to see your little Ba. If you ask more, you might just bring trouble upon yourself..."

"Shut up."

"Oh, okay then, Sister Yue."

"...Copycat!"

Yue Gongnu was truly distracted by Dao Qiongcang behind her. She really wanted to cleave another sword into his mouth.

Perhaps this was precisely what Dao Qiongcang wanted. She continued the discussion on serious matters, knowing that more information would lead to more effective thinking: "Don't misunderstand, what I want to know is, who guided you and your master in the beginning? Was it the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor, or something else?"

In fact, the three women knew that this question was directly aimed at Dao Qiongcang behind them, and the answer was almost on their lips. However, they also understood that Dao Qiongcang wouldn't cooperate. His staying there to only interfere and not interrupt the discussion was already the greatest concession; how could he possibly reveal everything voluntarily?

Liu Fuyu still didn't understand after hearing this. "Is there a difference?"

"Of course there is," Yue Gongnu knew better than her which matter was more serious, and explained, "The Sword God left this contingency plan to suppress the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor. It's impossible for him to have left a gap for the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor to influence you, the Sword Tower guardians, let alone break the seal and bring the Protective Belt out of the Sword Tower."

"So, in my opinion, the possibility of the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor guiding you is minimal."

"Amazing, Sister Yue!" Dao Qiongcang gave a thumbs-up from behind. "You're right, but don't deduce any further. Even if you expose the mastermind, what then? You can't move him, and you can't kill him!"

Yue Gongnu ignored him and continued, "And if the influence came from elsewhere, either your master willingly succumbed to evil, or from the moment of your birth, the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor had already laid out a plan..."

"This is even more preposterous!"

Yue Gongnu shook her head to herself. "The Sword Tower is exiled in the River of Time, untouched by the mundane world, precisely to avoid these variables. If there was a possibility of the guardian being corrupted by the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor, the guardian would never have existed in the first place."

Liu Fuyu couldn't agree with this point.

The Sword Tower guardian must exist! She knew her mission. Even though the Sword Tower was exiled in the River of Time, there was a 99% chance that people from the Great Thousand World wouldn't see it, but what if? Her existence was to guard against such a "what if" possibility. Perhaps a Child of Fortune might accidentally fall into a spatial rift and just happen to land at the Sword Tower's spacetime node, thereby entering. A unguarded Sword Tower would surely lead to trouble!

"Besides this, what else could it be?" Yu Zhiwen was also confused. Both possibilities were zero, yet Liu Fuyu had indeed taken the Protective Belt out of the Sword Tower. There must be a flaw! The question was, where was the problem?

"Oh, I'm so anxious..." Dao Qiongcang behind him slapped his thigh in frustration, an expression of wanting to hear something but always missing the point. He said bitterly, "You have to think like this."

"Since both of these are impossible, then the occurrence of all incidents is left to 'coincidence'."

"Couldn't it be that Sword Immortal Liu wanted to leave the Sword Tower, just happened to lack a sword companion, and 'Protective Belt' just happened to mean 'protection'? It’s all mystical stuff, believe it if you want, or not if you don’t. So she simply took the Protective Belt out of the tower. Is that not possible?"

He mumbled, with a tone that completely underestimated the intelligence of the three women, "If she didn't take 'Protective Belt,' would she take 'Slaughter,' 'Evil,' or 'Ferocity'... those names just sound so unlucky, don't they?"

"Shut up!"

Yue Gongnu finally couldn't help but turn back and snap.

Liu Fuyu, on the other hand, was stunned, her face subtly flushing.

And indeed, when she took the Protective Belt out of the tower, it was exactly as Dao Qiongcang had suggested—"Protective Belt" sounded much better than "Slaughter"!

"I won't shut up!" Dao Qiongcang became stubborn, grumbling discontentedly. "You don't even believe in coincidences. Could it be that I visited the Sword Tower or something?"

This was even more absurd!

Yue Gongnu almost scoffed aloud. The Sword Tower could be stumbled upon by the fated, by the "what if" Children of Fortune, but malevolent individuals like Dao Qiongcang could never appear near the Sword Tower from the very beginning. Or rather, the mere existence of the Sword Tower would actively bypass such people.

Thinking this, Yue Gongnu subconsciously wanted to dismiss this direction and consider other possibilities. Suddenly, her expression hardened, and her eyes glinted menacingly as she stared intently at Dao Qiongcang.

"W-why are you looking at me?" Dao Qiongcang jumped back in fright, pinching his lips. "Oh, I'll speak properly, I promise..."

Still acting!

She almost let him get away with it! Yue Gongnu never thought that after decades of not seeing him, Dao Qiongcang could be so disgusting—not only was he cunning and sly, but he also played innocent and acted cute with masterful skill.

"Before your master passed away, did anyone visit the Sword Tower?" she asked Liu Fuyu.

Liu Fuyu paused, subconsciously shook her head, then abruptly stopped. "It seems... there was!"

"Tsk." Dao Qiongcang made a noise from behind, sounding somewhat gloating. "Don't ask anymore. If you do, Sister Yue, you'll be sad."

"Who?"

Yue Gongnu ignored the noise.

Liu Fuyu remained silent, turning her head to recall. Before long, a very faint, blurry phantom appeared in her mind. She was still young then, only knowing that one day, a tall older brother, dressed in white, knocked on the Sword Tower's door, breaking its eternal solitude. He didn't enter the tower but set up a tea table with her master at the entrance, drinking much tea or wine and saying many words she didn't understand at the time. Who was it? The memory was very vague.

Yet, Liu Fuyu peeled away the blurry exterior of that tall, white-clad man, layer by layer, like unraveling silk. Finally, she touched upon the truth, connecting him with another figure from her memory. Her pupils trembled as she looked at Dao Qiongcang in the distance, then back at Yue Gongnu in front of her, her face filled with disbelief.

"Who?!" Yue Gongnu's voice trembled slightly.

It took Liu Fuyu a long time to suppress the waves in her heart. But that name was like a crushing weight, and she expended immense effort just to barely utter it: "Ba... Zun... An..."

Dong—

Near the Southern Underworld Sea, a sudden, ear-splitting gong reverberated in the quiet night, startling the three women. They all turned their heads simultaneously, only to see Dao Qiongcang cowering behind, a gong in his hands that had appeared at some unknown time. The noise had come from him striking it!

"Oh."

Dao Qiongcang put down the gong, spread his hands, shrugged, and wore a relentless smile. "Things have turned bad."

How could it be Ba Zun'an? Yue Gongnu didn't believe it at all. She stepped forward and gripped Liu Fuyu's shoulder, her red lips just parting.

Dao Qiongcang suddenly roared from behind, like a wild beast gone mad, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws, "Liu Fuyu, you're spouting nonsense!"

"How could it be Ba Zun'an? How could it be my little Ba?"

"He couldn't have gone to the Sword Tower, he couldn't have been used by Dao Qiongcang, and he certainly couldn't have been guided by the Spirit of the Demonic Ancestor—think again, think again! There must be a second person! There must be!"

Dao Qiongcang said, suddenly clutching his head, twisting and shaking his body, then spun around to face the opposite direction. His tone became incredibly aggrieved, asking and answering himself, "But Sister Yue, there's no second person, there's only... Ba Zun'an."

Waves rolled in from a distance. Yu Zhiwen felt an inexplicable chill down her spine from the sarcastic voice, and her palms broke out in sweat.

Dao Qiongcang... For the first time, she felt that the word "disgusting" couldn't even describe this Martial Uncle. How had he become like this?

It wasn't that he had changed; he had always been like this. It was just that before, when she was in the Dao Department, under his command, he appeared solemn and humble, both internally and externally, because he was the Dao Hall Master, and he needed to maintain that facade. Now, the Dao Hall Master had shed his sheep's clothing of disguise and returned to his wolfish nature; this was his true self, he was always like this!

"Hmph..."

Yue Gongnu's eyebrows twitched, and her anger finally erupted. She raised her sword and slashed at Dao Qiongcang.

Dao Qiongcang dodged to the side.

Yue Gongnu, holding the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword, delivered another horizontal slash.

Dao Qiongcang ducked to avoid it.

Yue Gongnu gripped the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword with both hands and raised it fiercely upwards. Before she could even bring it down, Dao Qiongcang was already retreating...

"Stand still!" she shouted.

Dao Qiongcang suddenly shuddered, his shoulders hunched, stunned and "controlled" in place by that single shout. With a thud, Yue Gongnu brought her sword down hard, cutting into Dao Qiongcang's right shoulder, severing his shoulder blade, cutting through his ribs, and plunging into his abdomen.

"Pfft..." Dao Qiongcang coughed up blood, and blood gushed from the wound on his body, which was almost split in two. Yu and Liu were both startled.

How did she control him? No, it didn't seem like control; it was more like Dao Qiongcang willingly admitted his mistake and accepted punishment, standing there to take a slash from Yue Gongnu.

"It's no use even if you kill me, Sister Yue," Dao Qiongcang's face twitched. Although he wouldn't die, it truly hurt! He pouted and said viciously, "If you kill me, it's still Ba Zun'an who went to the Sword Tower. He was the one who brought the variable, and he was the one guided by the Demonic Ancestor. Blame him for being too curious."

"I'm not afraid to tell you, letting you go to Lingyu Mountain was truly my good intention, unwilling to see you two separated for so long and not even meeting once after coming out."

"For this last meeting, if I were you, I would rush to Lingyu Mountain right now, not waste time here with this meaningless speculation. See him first."

"Everything can be discussed!"

"The last meeting..." Yue Gongnu was consumed by rage, her eyes blazing with killing intent, yet her voice remained calm. "You'd better explain clearly."

"I've explained clearly enough!" Dao Qiongcang threw his head back and laughed. "The last meeting, then eternal separation—am I not expressing myself well, or are you, Sister Yue, simply unwilling to believe reality?"

Rip!

The Angry Immortal Buddha Sword tore downwards. Dao Qiongcang's upper body was completely severed, falling to the ground with a splat, blood gushing like a spring. He knew he was wrong and accepted the punishment, but his words remained unchanged: "Kill me, Sister Yue, if you can—in the Dao Seizing Battle, if you kill me, the Dao will be yours!"

Yue Gongnu's eyelids slightly lowered, a cold light flickering in her eyes. She stepped forward with the sword, its tip piercing Dao Qiongcang's head, causing him to howl and contort in pain.

"The Dao can indeed be mine."

Moonlight sprinkled on Yue Gongnu's cloud-like hair and fragrant shoulders. Behind her, Yu and Liu were both astonished. Sister Yue's aura had changed! A cold aura emanated from her, weaving and outlining the power of the Sacred Ancestor and the power of the Art Ancestor. She seemed to shed all dust, transforming into a sharp sword drawn from its sheath. She held the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword against Dao Qiongcang's head, her words astonishing, completely devoid of her previous soft demeanor: "Don't forget, I am no longer a descendant of the Sacred Emperor; I am a discarded pawn."

"You can offer favors to the Demonic Ancestor, collude with Evil Shadow, and dream your grand dreams of becoming a god or ancestor. I can too."

"I don't even want to become a god or ancestor; I can directly sacrifice myself to become the most perfect vessel for the Demonic Ancestor and Evil Shadow. The price doesn't have to be your death, but rather crushing the old turtle of the Qian Shi Emperor Realm, crushing that dwarf, allowing them to seal the stars' Dao, and removing the five domains' heavenly secrets... Dao Hall Master is skilled in strategy; what do you think of my plan?"

Dao Qiongcang's pupils constricted in shock. The Angry Immortal Buddha Sword cutting into his body didn't hurt as much as his heart did now. He was stunned. Women truly couldn't be provoked!

"Yue Gongnu, are you crazy?"

"Yes."

"I..." Dao Qiongcang shuddered violently, almost speechless. "Alright, alright, Sister Yue, what do you want to do? Just say it clearly."

"I want to return to Hanhua Emperor Realm, smash the stone hall and statues, cause Father's seclusion to fail, thereby cutting off the Demonic Ancestor's retreat, leaving him with only me as an option. As for Evil Shadow, do you think Ali will help you, an outsider, or me, her older sister?"

Dao Qiongcang sprang up like a reanimated corpse, his half-severed body abruptly bouncing off the ground, screaming, "Sister Yue, what exactly do you want? We can talk this through properly!"

"You speak in such an ambiguous, half-truthful way. Your Sister Yue is tired of listening," Yue Gongnu said, pulling out her sword and turning without hesitation.

Snap! Dao Qiongcang's remaining left hand quickly grasped the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword, fiercely stabbing it into his own forehead, piercing him through to the core. "I'll speak properly, I can!"

Yue Gongnu slightly turned her head, slanted her gaze downward, a mocking smile playing on her lips, then coldly withdrew her gaze.

"Give me a chance!" Dao Qiongcang wailed. "I truly know I was wrong, Sister Yue!"

Yue Gongnu ultimately dared not believe that things with little Ba would end as Dao Qiongcang described. She closed her eyes heavily, her long eyelashes subtly trembling: "One sentence! One truth, you only have one chance!"

Dao Qiongcang desperately clutched the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword, refusing to let her leave. Yet, upon hearing her words, he fell silent, unable to speak for a long time. When Yue Gongnu could wait no longer and was about to move again, he trembled and sighed deeply: "If you want to hear from me what you hope to hear, all good things about Ba Zun'an, I can lie."

Yue Gongnu clenched her fist, then released it. She even released the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword, as it was not hers to begin with, merely borrowed from Dao Qiongcang for a moment. She released the sword, came before Yu and Liu, nodded silently in farewell, and with her slender fingers together, plucked out a golden talisman.

"Whoosh!"

The golden talisman spontaneously ignited without a sound. A rustling sound came from beyond the sky. The River of Time meandered and wound around Yue Gongnu's waist, making her appear ethereal, like an immortal maiden from another world.

Seeing that she was serious, Dao Qiongcang dropped the Angry Immortal Buddha Sword in fright and shouted at her tall retreating figure, "My truth won't be pleasant to hear. Do you still want to listen?"

Yue Gongnu's footsteps paused slightly, leaving only a murmur, "We, it seems we don't have much time left..."

With that, she was about to step into the River of Time.

There's time! We have plenty of time, Sister Yue!

Dao Qiongcang didn't dare let her go; who knew what terrifying things this madwoman would do in the end. "The only thing I can tell you is that no matter if you go to Hanhua Emperor Realm or anywhere else, you might drag me down, but you can't change Ba Zun'an's fate!"

Dao Qiongcang, his upper body half-lying on the ground, vomited blood while roaring, "Go to Lingyu Mountain, Yue Gongnu!"

"No matter the outcome of the Huaba Battle, Ba Zun'an will definitely, certainly, absolutely be out of the game. Go see him one last time—perhaps, that really is the last time!"