The Qingming Festival.
Most of the craftsmen from the Great Shang Dynasty had already departed. The mountain-top villa was completed, the small town rebuilt, its front and back streets, along with stone bridges, reappearing before their eyes. A new academy even stood where Mr. Qin's bookstore used to be. Yet, the academy was empty, and the entire town felt profoundly desolate, lacking the genuine warmth of human life.
In the early morning, Lin Zhao bought some joss paper ingots and candles, a few roasted chickens, and some offerings from the general store. He bundled them all together and headed first to Chu Huaixi's grave. After burning some spirit money and leaving offerings, he traversed the town and arrived at the eastern foothills. As a player, he technically didn't need to do any of this.
But...
When Lin Zhao was seven, his parents died in a fire. He survived the disaster but suffered severe injuries, falling into a century-long slumber. Upon waking, he had lost a vast amount of memories. In fact, his memories of his parents were mere hazy fragments. However, he possessed the childhood memories of the young Lin Zhao from the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, with crystal-clear recollections of his father and mother. Therefore... Lin Zhao could only treat the in-game father and mother as his own kin, as if his parents were protecting him in another form, in another world.
On the eastern foothills, a gentle rain fell.
Lin Zhao first tidied up his father and mother's graves, pulling out the weeds and adding fresh soil. He then placed offerings before the tombstones. He glanced to the side, and not far from the two graves, there was a new one. A stone monument stood there, with a line carved into it by sword energy: "Tomb of Lin Zhao." It was his cenotaph. Before the tomb, there was a bronze incense burner green with age, likely built for him by Xiao Jiu'er.
Lin Zhao couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't dwell on it, merely burning joss paper, offering incense, and presenting offerings to his father and mother.
"Father,"
Lin Zhao knelt before the tomb, his gaze soft, and smiled, "I've returned again. This time... my identity is slightly different, but it's alright. Lin Zhao is still that same Lin Zhao. When you hunted demons, I will hunt demons too. When you guarded the human border, I will do the same..."
He looked at his mother's tombstone, his eyes suddenly reddening, and murmured, "Mother, though I can't be certain, I know... you truly might be her. I miss you so much."
He clenched his fist, looking at the words "Mu Rong Qin" on the tombstone, and whispered, "Mother, Mom..."
In the light rain, he was no longer that boy, but as he looked up at the tombstone, tears still streamed down his face.
...
In the distance.
Zhu Zhi and Chu Yu stood side-by-side, watching Lin Zhao pay respects to his parents from afar. Both possessed high cultivation realms and could hear clearly. As Zhu Zhi lowered her head, two tears fell onto the rocks at her feet. Chu Yu's eyes were red, her lips bitten. She had never understood why Lin Zhao insisted on returning to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond. With his abilities, he could have joined the army of the Great Shang Dynasty and quickly distinguished himself, perhaps even becoming "Marshal Lin" again. But now she understood. Lin Zhao's persistence in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond was because his roots were here, all his attachments buried beneath the soil.
From another direction, Mu Zha watched Lin Zhao's retreating back and bowed slightly with a clasped fist.
Chen Ben gritted his teeth. He had never imagined that the Commander-in-Chief, Brother Lin Zhao, would be so vulnerable, kneeling before his parents' graves and weeping. He then bowed with his master.
Not far away, Tong Yu, holding a long sword, watched Lin Zhao from a distance. Her eyes were slightly red. Lin Zhao was sad, and she felt a little sad too. But the greater sadness lay in the fact that her parents didn't even have proper graves, their remains lost somewhere unknown in the rebellion of the Eastern Wu Kingdom. Therefore, Tong Yu only wished to practice her sword more diligently, to become stronger in the future, so she could do more.
In a grove of apricot trees, Dong Cang, in a pink dress, watched Lin Zhao from afar, her heart aching. The young master's mother must have loved him dearly when she was alive, more than anything else in the world.
...
At the foot of the mountain.
Three figures suddenly descended from the sky: Wu Li, Zhao Sui Guang, and Zhao Guang Yi. Two were at the Twelfth Realm, one at the Eleventh. Wu Li's palm, hidden within his sleeve, slowly circulated spiritual energy, activating the artifact "Empty Mountain." An invisible restraint and barrier instantly enveloped several hundred li around the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, isolating it from the world.
Then, the three slowly ascended the mountain, appearing confident of success.
Wu Li no longer concealed his identity. With a wave of his sleeve, his robes billowed, and a palpable demonic aura emanated from him. A peak Twelfth Realm cultivator, possessing the formidable physique of a demon, indeed had reason to be so arrogant. He didn't even consider the human Thirteenth Realm cultivators who were slightly weaker, inferior to him. If it weren't for the task assigned by his master, Jun Gang, he would have long ago gone to kick open Zhao Jing Yu's cave dwelling when he was at Qingliang Sect.
Zhao Sui Guang's expression was grim. With a gentle wave of his hand, his natal artifact, a green treasure cauldron, began to flicker around him.
Zhao Guang Yi carried a long sword. As an Eleventh Realm sword cultivator, he was the weakest of the three. However, relative to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pond, he, Zhao Guang Yi, could suppress even Mu Zha, the highest-ranked cultivator in the Heavenly Pond, who was in the Tianyuan Realm!
Midway up the mountain.
Su Shanjun emerged from the drizzling rain and looked at the three figures before him. He couldn't help but frown and say, "The Great Dao ascends to the heavens, yet your Great Dao clearly lies in the heavens. Why then do you walk upon the earth?"
"Tsk tsk..."
Wu Li chuckled indifferently, "Lord Su Shan, you talk too much. If you wish to stop us, then by all means, make your move. It's no matter, as we are about to wreak havoc anyway. Killing one more Lord Su Shan wouldn't change anything."
"What arrogance!"
Su Shanjun sneered, "If one didn't know better, they might think Lord Wu Li was a whale from the deep sea. Who would have thought your true form was merely a small mud carp!"
"You!"
Wu Li glared at him furiously but didn't retaliate. In truth, Wu Li had no desire to kill Su Shanjun. Firstly, it was unnecessary. Secondly, it would cause too many complications. First, the Demon Ancestor forbade any demon from killing Su Shanjun – they could fight, but never kill. Second, Su Shanjun's identity was unique. Although he was now only a Fifth-Realm deity, he had been incredibly powerful in his prime, a Fourteenth-Realm mountain god. Killing him would incur karmic debts that would likely entangle him for life.
Therefore, Su Shanjun, this person, wasn't frightening, just… irritating.
"Zhao Sui Guang!"
Su Shanjun sat on the roof of the Shanjun Shrine, using his fan as a parasol to shade himself as he looked at Zhao Sui Guang. He chuckled, "Your father, Zhao Jing Yu, has shamelessly refused to ascend for so many years. Is he never satisfied, no matter how much he eats? I heard your most beloved female disciple was taken as a concubine by your father? Tsk, truly, the rotten roots of a tree lead to rotten branches. Can't defeat your father, so you collude with demons, trying to anger your father to death?"
"Impressive! As expected of the thickest-skinned Twelfth Realm cultivator in the human Northern Territory. I have high hopes for you. If you, Zhao Sui Guang, continue to be so shameless, you'll eventually outlive your own shameless father!"
Su Shanjun narrowed his eyes and looked at Zhao Guang Yi, chuckling, "Zhao Guang Yi, don't think I won't curse you just because you're ugly! You shameless, despicable scoundrel. To enter Qingliang Sect, you even sacrificed your own mother as an offering to Old Ancestor Zhao Jing Yu. It's fortunate your father died early, otherwise, he would have been angered to death by his unfilial son!"
"..."
Zhao Sui Guang and Zhao Guang Yi's faces turned ashen with rage, but they forcefully suppressed their fury and quickened their pace up the mountain, not wanting to look at Su Shanjun for even a moment longer.
"Whoosh!"
A figure descended from the sky and landed beside Su Shanjun. It was Yun Shi Han Bu Yu.
"Are you just going to ignore this?"
Han Bu Yu's brow furrowed. "Watch Lin Zhao be killed by two Twelfth Realm cultivators?"
"What else?"
Su Shanjun said leisurely, chuckling. "Are you, Old Sword Immortal Han, going to step forward and challenge two Twelfth Realm cultivators? Have you really mistaken yourself for a sword immortal, old Han?"
Han Bu Yu: "..."
...
At the town gate, beside a wooden house.
A disheveled man carried a long sword, his sword intent completely contained. Although he was a Twelfth Realm sword cultivator, stronger than either Wu Li or Zhao Sui Guang individually, fighting them both would be too difficult, leading to his death.
He held a freshly grown dandelion flower and was plucking its delicate petals one by one, muttering to himself.
"Step forward."
"Protect myself."
"Step forward."
"Protect myself."
...
His heart was filled with conflict. He wanted to save Lin Zhao but dared not. How could he save him? Wu Li alone was manageable, but there was also Zhao Sui Guang, a Twelfth Realm cultivator skilled in defensive tactics. Who was he? Tang Guang Jun, a Twelfth Realm sword immortal from the ancestral court of the military strategists. Why was he punished by his sect to guard the gate here? Because he had caused the death of his elder through selfish actions. But wasn't self-interest justified? Was it wrong for a person to look out for themselves?
What should he do now? Step forward and bravely face death?
That was not Tang Guang Jun's style at all. But if he did nothing and simply watched Lin Zhao be killed by the combined forces of two Twelfth Realm cultivators, one human and one demon, Tang Guang Jun's conscience would not allow it. His junior brother was such a good person, to be killed by those two bastards? To just watch? If that were the case, he, Tang Guang Jun, might as well pluck out his own eyes and crush them underfoot!
He suddenly stood up, threw the half-plucked dandelion onto the ground, and stepped on it, crushing it.
"Damn it!"
He gritted his teeth. "If I don't step forward, who else has the right to?"
But just then, a heavy sword intent pressed down on his shoulders, preventing him from fully standing up. As he looked down the mountain, he saw a beautiful woman riding a white horse, ascending the mountain. She raised her hand towards him, pressing downwards, signaling Tang Guang Jun that there was no need to act; she was here.
"My heavens..."
Tang Guang Jun sat down on the ground with a thud, rubbing his nose. He thought to himself that it was fortunate that Wu Li had come, not Feng Quan. If Feng Quan, that old rascal, had appeared, he might have met his end here. What was the point of having the same cultivation realm when others possessed the ability to kill you?
...
At the foot of the mountain.
The woman, clad in a red dress over a snow-white sheer robe, was breathtakingly beautiful. She held a sword with a white jade scabbard in her right hand and a few peach branches in her left, their blossoms in full bloom. She gracefully leaped from her horse, her delicate feet lightly touching the falling rain. Instantly, a golden aura appeared in her eyes, and her entire demeanor transformed.