Chapter 121

On the day of Zong Zi Xiao's return to Daming, a fine drizzle continued to fall.

The dark clouds hung low, as if they were about to fall to earth at any moment, and the border between heaven and earth became indistinct. Among the chaos, a dark shadow came from afar.

The gates of Daming City were wide open, with no guards in sight, and the empty city buildings were desolate and deserted, which doesn't look like the imperial capital of Jiuzhou. The hub of the Central Plains instead looked like an abandoned city after a defeat.

Zong Zi Heng had withdrawn all the guards. This was a battle between him and Zong Zi Xiao, so why should the others die for nothing?

Inside the city, the doors of every house were closed tightly, and no one can be seen in the streets except for stray dogs and cats, as if all the 100,000 people in the city had disappeared overnight.

Ever since the Supreme Demon appeared out of the blue, Jiuzhou has been under his shadow. Legend has it that he is ruthless and bloodthirsty, killing people like scything flax. He controls thousands of Yin soldiers and massacres cities, drinking blood and feeding on cores wherever he goes, leaving no one alive.

When they heard that he was returning to Daming, many people fled the city with their families in tow, fearing that they would end up like the Wuyun Sect. However, the vast majority of the people, whose livelihoods were tied up in the land, had nowhere to go but to hide and shiver in their homes.

The dark figure stepped into the city.

There was silence, except for the regular clatter of metal hooves against the stone path, like drum beats before a battle on the battlefield, each step approaching death.

It was a skeletal horse surrounded with a black aura of death. Its entire body was black in color and with only four hooves on the snow. Without flesh, blood and other burdens, its strong and sturdy bones were like beams supporting its tall body.

Its name is Wuya. It was the mount of Xiang Yu, the king of the Western Chu, which is a famous horse of its generation. When the king killed himself in the Wujiang River, it also sacrificed itself to its master through starvation, so its fierce bloodlust is evident. But now, it has a more widely known name - the demon foal.

It is said that during the ten years that Zong Zi Xiao has been keeping silent and lying low, he has traveled all over Jiuzhou, using the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman to summon countless resentful spirits and fierce ghosts from the ruins of ancient battlefields. Wuya also has a new owner.

The man dressed in black was riding on Wuya's back. He was motionless like a mountain. His limao* covers his face but not his tall, sturdy figure. His black figure almost blends in with Wuya's, and the gushing rain sprinkles down. Before it can wet his hair, it is swallowed up by the darkness.

Was it a man or a demon beneath that wrapped cloth?

Wuya can travel a thousand miles a day, but at this moment it walks slowly because its master wants to take a good look at his hometown after ten years of absence.

This street is the main road of Daming City, leading all the way to the magnificent Wuji Palace. There was a rule in the immortal cultivation world for the children. They were not allowed to leave home alone until they were twelve years old, so as a child he could only play in the city with his big brother.

He had been to most of the places in the city. He knew exactly which restaurants were good, which shop's tea and wine smelled the best, and where to try new and interesting things. Big brother knew very well and would bring him along to try.

Are those places still there today? It must have changed a lot in ten years.

He was born and raised here. When he was forced to flee at the age of fourteen, he swore that one day he would kill his way back. He never imagined that it would take ten years.

Everything he once had here; his parents, his brother, favoritism, and wealth, had been lost the day he left in disarray and could never get it back. He had come back here with only one purpose, and that was to take revenge on the man who had taken it all away from him!

---

Every day, Zong Zi Heng would stand at the highest point of Wuji Palace, staring motionlessly into the distance, and today, he finally waited for the person he wanted to see.

He watched that man riding a pitch-black skeletal warhorse, cross the palace corridor, step over the stairs, and finally stop in front of Zhengji Hall's gate. He was like a burning black flame, bursting with majestic vitality in the rain.

Zong Zi Heng felt his heart beating. It was regular, monotonous and calm, perhaps because he had rehearsed the reunion of brothers after ten years countless times in his mind over the past few days, and when it came to this moment, his heart was surprisingly still.

The man on the horse slowly lifted his head, but under the cover of his limao, only two thin lips could be seen, which carried a light smile. He spoke, his tone cold and irreverent, "Caoming* greets Emperor Kong Hua." The sound echoed in bursts through the empty and silent Wuji Palace.

Zong Zi Heng took a deep breath and flew down from the palace wall, as limp as an immortal.

The two stood opposite each other, looking at each other without a word. At this moment, the surroundings were still and quiet. Only the heartbeat sounded like thunder rumbling in the ears.

The black boots landed on the ground, and the rainwater splashed up as they were trampled, and the limao was thrown beside the feet.

Their eyes met.

He had changed. He was once a gentleman with splendid future prospects and steadfast nobility, but now there was no light in his eyes, and the clouds of sorrow had formed a light crease on his brow that could not be erased. His white, handsome features are not much different from ten years ago, but his demeanor was totally different.

He had changed too. From a young man who was once in high spirits, innocent and frivolous, to a malicious and ruthless man.

His height has the power of oppression. His shoulders were as broad as a wall. His dangling fox eyes hooked upwards. His pupils were dark and unpredictable. His stunning features, inherited from the world's greatest beauty, metamorphosed into the charm of a ghost and the madness of a demon.

Zong Zi Xiao looked at Zong Zi Heng like he wanted to pierce through his body. He gave a grim smile and let out a hoarse voice: "It’s been 10 years, and we finally meet again." He paused and called out the two words that burned his heart every day and night, "Big brother."

Zong Zi Heng traced Zong Zi Xiao's outline and silhouette carefully with his gaze, trying to find Xiao Jiu's shadow in this man who struck him as unfamiliar. With such similar features and voice, why does he not resemble his Xiao Jiu at all? He felt bewildered and in a trance.

Zong Zi Xiao's gaze was burning increasingly fiercely as he took a step closer.

Zong Zi Heng's heart tightened and he murmured, "You ... have grown up."

"What, you can't recognize me?"

"You've grown taller too." Zong Zi Heng gazed at Zong Zi Xiao stoically, "Taller than me."

"Emperor Kong Hua is so busy with your day-to-day business and still remembers me, a fugitive and wild child. It is truly an honor."

"How could I forget you?"

"Yeah, you must have thought of me too in these ten years." Zong Zi Xiao sneered, "Wondering if I had died or not. If I would kill my way back one day and fight you for the throne."

Zong Zi Heng was stung by Zong Zi Xiao's full-of-hatred gaze, "Zi Xiao, if you want to claim the throne and title yourself as emperor, no one can stop you anymore, but you must not kill any more needlessly. "

"What if I want your throne?!"

"Then you will have to step over my dead body." Zong Zi Heng said indifferently, "As a descendant of the Zong clan, I shall guard the foundation left by my ancestors with my life."

Zong Zi Xiao let out a snicker, "Do you think I will kill you, my big brother?"

Zong Zi Heng only felt his heart ache, and for a moment he could not speak.

"Or am I not worthy to call you big brother? I'm just a wild child born from the cheating core thief, so how can I be worthy of calling Emperor Kong Hua my brother?"

Zong Zi Heng took a deep breath, "Zi Xiao, I will always consider you my younger brother."

Zong Zi Xiao’s gaze was fierce, and the bottom of his eyes were tinged with crimson: "Even now, you are still so hypocritical and cunning. You make me sick!"

"I ..." Zong Zi Heng was as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat*. Zong Zi Xiao's hateful gaze and mean words were like a million arrows piercing his heart. He thought his heart had shattered piece by piece long ago during these ten years, but he didn't expect that the person he cared about the most would still be able to grind those pieces into fine powder again.

"You actually have the face to tell me not to kill again." Zong Zi Xiao bared his white teeth, "A man who poisoned and framed his brothers, who killed his father and usurped the throne, a man who has done so much evil that he will go to Abyssal Hell after death, dares to hypocritically tell me not to kill again?!"

"There are many things that I can explain to you." Zong Zi Heng said in a trembling voice, "If only you are willing to listen."

"Do you think I will ever believe a word that comes out of your mouth again? I once believed in you, and what have you given me? You caused my mother to die and pushed me down into the abyss."

Zong Zi Heng took an unconscious step back. He tried to maintain a calm expression, but in fact he was already grief-stricken.

Zong Zi Xiao looked at Zong Zi Heng's blue-white face and grey eyes and laughed wildly, "You are afraid now. You are afraid that everything you have gained with all your heart and by all means will be easily destroyed by me. So you want to quibble. You want to beg for mercy. You want me to be your younger brother forever, hahahaha-------"

"Zi Xiao, I will not beg for forgiveness." Zong Zi Heng closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze had become firm and persistent. He too had been bitterly resentful for carrying sins that did not belong to him, yet looking back, actually, everything was based on his decisions, so it was only fitting that he should bear all the costs himself.

"Is that so?" Zong Zi Xiao once again came closer to Zong Zi Heng. Besides hate, here was a naked, extremely aggressive desire in his eyes, burning in his pupils with an evil fire that only he understood. His breathing became heavy: "Big brother, I am not the same person I was ten years ago. I have ten thousand ways to make, you, beg, me. Do you want to know what I will do to you?"

This time, Zong Zi Heng did not retreat. He stared fearlessly into Zong Zi Xiao's eyes, buried all his bitterness deep into his soul, and nimbly drew his sword: "Zi Xiao, draw your sword. The grudge between you and me shall be ended today."

 

 ----

Limao*[笠帽] ---- a hat

Caoming*[草民]- it’s a way to address oneself when you are talking to someone superior.

as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat*[如鲠在喉]--- very upset and needing to express one's displeasure

 

Edited on 23 Apr. 21 (Emzie)

 

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