The fortune manifested as rain and fell for three days and nights.

Afterward, the sky cleared, the usual clouds vanished, and a rainbow arched across the horizon.

Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng never returned.

Everyone waited for a long time and finally accepted that the two would not come back.

From the beginning, this journey had been one with no hope of return, and now the result dashed what little hope remained in everyone’s hearts.

The heroes who sacrificed themselves were etched into history, and time moved forward.

*

After the Upper Realm disappeared, Cheng Yu often came to the Beiyue Sword Sect to look at the soul lamps of Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng with Ming Xiao.

Soul lamps could only detect the situation of this world, if the related person had already left this world, the lamp would automatically go out. Since Xie Liufeng and Chu Xinghui ascended, their soul lamps never lit up again.

Cheng Yu looked at the soul lamps, which remained lifeless as always, and tried to be optimistic: “Anyway… now there is a new Heavenly Ladder. Maybe those two have already ascended to the true Divine Realm.”

Ming Xiao cruelly shattered his optimism: “The chances are slim.”

Besides debating what exactly enabled the new Heavenly Ladder to appear… it was still very crude and would take a long time before it could guide anyone to ascend.

Cheng Yu sighed.

After a while, Ming Xiao also sighed.

The two faced each other, sighing for a long time. Ming Xiao then skillfully told Cheng Yu: “You should leave. Outsiders can’t stay here too long.”

Cheng Yu responded with an “Oh” and turned away gloomily, about to leave.

Suddenly, something caught his eye, he stopped in his tracks.

He abruptly turned back and hurried toward Chu Xinghui’s soul lamp.

Ming Xiao, puzzled, followed and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Cheng Yu stared at the soul lamp and said: “It lit up for a moment.”

Ming Xiao was stunned: “Huh?”

Cheng Yu confirmed: “It really lit up for a moment.”

Ming Xiao hesitated and said awkwardly: “Are you seeing things—”

His sentence was cut off abruptly.

The soul lamp before them flickered once, indeed shining with a faint light.

The two looked at each other and fell into silence.

Finally, Ming Xiao reacted first and immediately ran out without looking back, shouting: “I’ll go find the others!”

He quickly ran along the sect’s mountain paths to the meeting hall.

Xue Heng, Fang Yan, and several elders were discussing matters.

Although the Book of Fate had finally been dealt with, many follow-up miscellaneous issues remained, and the lingering toxins brought by the false gods who descended earlier all needed patient resolution.

Mid-discussion, Ming Xiao burst in, panting heavily.

Xue Heng frowned at his troublesome disciple and scolded: “What are you rushing around for?”

“There’s something very important,” Ming Xiao said, his voice choking up: “Chu Xinghui’s soul lamp… lit up.”

He couldn’t hold back any longer, and tears finally fell.

The soul lamp lit up… still alive… that was truly wonderful.

Fang Yan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stood up and grabbed him: “Let’s go, take the soul lamp, and find someone.”

*

When they found Chu Xinghui, he was lying alone in a desolate wilderness.

His eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, and his entire body was stained with blood. His cultivation had completely vanished.

The spirit sword, now without its sword spirit, lay beside him.

But thankfully, he was still alive.

…No matter what, as long as he was alive, he would slowly recover in time.

They immediately brought him back to the sect.

Chu Xinghui lay in bed for several months, from spring until late summer, before he finally opened his eyes.

Ming Xiao came to visit him as usual. Upon seeing the person sitting by the bedside, he was startled and nearly dropped what he was holding.

He immediately summoned everyone using a communication talisman.

A crowd gathered around the bedside. Ming Xiao looked at Chu Xinghui seriously and asked a rapid series of questions: “Do you feel any discomfort? How did you come back? Where is Sword Sovereign?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him with a strange and confused gaze.

Ming Xiao babbled on and slowly felt something was wrong. He waved his hand in front of Chu Xinghui’s eyes: “…Do you still recognize me?”

Chu Xinghui shook his head.

Cheng Yu, watching nearby, hurriedly called out: “Master! Master!”

Xie Tinglan was brought over by his call, but before she could speak, Xue Heng spoke first.
He remembered some information about Xie Liufeng from 500 years ago and made a judgment: “It seems Xie Qinghe taught him the resurrection technique — this is the aftereffect.”

Ming Xiao anxiously asked his master: “Master, what… are the aftereffects?”

Xue Heng replied irritably: “Loss of cultivation and memory problems. What else is there? Go ask Xie Qinghe yourself.”

Although Xie Liufeng never actively spoke of the cultivation method’s aftereffects, those close to him could notice some obvious symptoms.

Others: “…”

Now, where were they supposed to look for Xie Liufeng?

Cheng Yu felt it necessary to evaluate how severe Chu Xinghui’s memory problems were and continued asking: “Do you still remember your own name?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him but still remained silent.

Cheng Yu frowned in frustration, thinking it was going to be difficult: “…The aftereffects wouldn’t cause him to become mute, would they?”

He tried poking Chu Xinghui and asked: “Can you still speak?”

Chu Xinghui blinked and obediently said one word: “Words.”

Cheng Yu: “…”

Alright, looks like he could still speak.

Xie Tinglan took him aside and carefully examined Chu Xinghui’s body. She breathed a sigh of relief: “Recovery is going well. If he rests a bit more, he can start cultivating again.”

She left a few bottles of medicine she had prepared long ago and quietly said: “…Not remembering anything might be a good thing.”

After all… the two of them had gone, but only he came back. If he remembered, how heartbreaking that would be.

Chu Xinghui looked at the concerned crowd before him, not knowing what he had forgotten.
He glanced down at his chest.

It was empty… but he always felt a painful sadness there.

*

After waking, Chu Xinghui recovered quickly, and soon didn’t need constant care from others.
When he could walk outside, he occasionally went for strolls on his own.

Ming Xiao, fearing that his friend—now powerless and amnesiac—might get lost, anxiously followed him a few times and roughly learned his routine.

Chu Xinghui didn’t go anywhere else, he only stayed within Qingjing Peak, stopping randomly at every corner.

One day, when Ming Xiao came to visit, Chu Xinghui was standing in the courtyard, looking up at a tree.

There was a bird’s nest in the tree, but no birds lived in it.

Chu Xinghui heard footsteps, turned, and asked Ming Xiao: “Where are the birds?”

Ming Xiao didn’t know.

Since Chu Xinghui returned, his sword spirit hadn’t appeared again.

He could only awkwardly make something up: “Maybe… it flew away?”

Chu Xinghui neither confirmed nor denied, only nodded lightly.

*

One morning, when Chu Xinghui woke, he caught a strong fragrance in the air.

He opened the window and saw osmanthus flowers blooming outside.

He walked under the tree.

A breeze blew, scattering the tiny petals onto his clothes and hair.

He reached out and touched the flowers on the branch.

He felt very familiar with this tree.

There should be a noisy bird beneath it, and a person with a beautiful smile… but now, he was alone here.

All around Qingjing Peak were traces of two people’s life, but no matter what, he couldn’t find the other person.

The long silence swallowed him.

Chu Xinghui stayed under the flowering tree for a long time, then left and returned to his room.

He looked at the wardrobe in the room.

Inside was a very familiar scent.

So familiar that thinking about it made his heart ache, almost suffocating him.

He opened the wardrobe and locked himself inside.

Ming Xiao found Chu Xinghui asleep inside Xie Liufeng’s clothes, breathing peacefully, holding the sleeve of one garment.

The wardrobe was narrow and cramped for an adult, he curled up inside like sleeping in a silent coffin.

Ming Xiao was shocked and hurriedly pulled him out.

Chu Xinghui was awakened and quietly looked at him with open eyes.

Ming Xiao turned around twice on the spot, really not knowing what to do: “Chu Xinghui, how did you…”

Chu Xinghui suddenly called out his name: “Ming Xiao.”

Ming Xiao looked at his clear eyes and was stunned for a moment, then reacted: “Eh… eh, you remembered!”

He thought of something and cautiously looked at Chu Xinghui, asking him: “How did you feel now?”

If Chu Xinghui’s memory recovered normally, it also meant… he would remember Xie Liufeng.

Chu Xinghui did not answer his question and only said to him: “Ming Xiao, I was a bit hungry.”

He had lost all his cultivation and had stayed in the wardrobe sleeping for a long time, so feeling hungry was not strange.

Ming Xiao’s attention was distracted, and he asked awkwardly: “Then, shall I get you a bowl of noodles?”

He was not good at cooking and only knew how to make noodles.

Also, he did not make them very tasty and did not know if Chu Xinghui would dislike them.

Chu Xinghui nodded and earnestly said: “Thank you.”

Thanking him for the noodles and also for the care during these days.

Ming Xiao did not notice anything strange in his words and quickly ran to the kitchen.

After Ming Xiao left, Chu Xinghui walked to the table and found his spiritual sword.

The spiritual sword had not been used for a long time, and there was a thin layer of dust on it.

He carefully cleaned the spiritual sword that had lost its sword spirit and drew it out of the scabbard.

The swordlight was cold and clear, even though it had lost its sword spirit and no spiritual power was flowing through it, it was still a sword that could cut through iron like mud.

Chu Xinghui quietly looked at his sword for a while.

Then he gripped the sword handle tightly and, without warning, placed the sword on his neck.

The blade pierced his skin, and warm blood seeped out from under the skin.

Chu Xinghui closed his eyes and slowly applied force.

He did not know why his soul could still return to his body.

But he knew… no matter what, he had to find Xie Liufeng.

To live and die together.

Suddenly, a slight sound came from the window.

A familiar black bird struggled to open the window, sneakily took something in its beak, and flew in through the window. Seeing the scene in front of it, its feathers puffed in fright. It hurriedly dropped what was in its mouth and collided head-on: “bang,” knocking away the sword in Chu Xinghui’s hand.

The spiritual sword clanged and fell to the ground.

Chu Xinghui’s eyelashes twitched, he opened his eyes in confusion and met a pair of familiar black beady eyes.

The black bird was agitated, its feathers puffed into a ball because of anger, then it flew up and hit him again.

It had worked hard to bring the soul back through the heavenly ladder. Why did this person still want to die?

Its contracted master must be a fool.

 

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