SOL Chapter 20

Epilogue

Epilogue

Jue Ming fled in disarray, her breath ragged.

In the blink of an eye, her pursuers were nowhere to be seen. The constant chanting from the No Ferry Sea faded into silence as if the scenery had shifted with each step. Before her lay only an endless corridor, like the deep courtyard of an ordinary wealthy family in the human realm. Dim lights were hidden behind screens, obscuring the daylight outside.

Jue Ming was a disciple of the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion, studying under the Master, Zhou Ci Hua.

With the imminent war between the Immortal and Demonic realms, she had been tasked with assassinating Shi En, the Demonic Lord’s Left Guardian.

However, Shi En was exceptionally vigilant and exposed her identity in public. Jue Ming’s assassination attempt failed, and she accidentally escaped to this place.

Although she had temporarily escaped danger, Jue Ming dared not relax her guard. Though quiet, and with thin demonic energy, this place vaguely emanated an eerie feeling.

After a brief pause, she quickened her pace.

Beyond one long corridor was another identical one.

Repeatedly, Jue Ming realized something was wrong. She used her spiritual energy to investigate and discovered that an array had been set up here.

If she couldn’t break the array’s core, she feared she would be trapped here to die.

Seeing this exquisite array, Jue Ming knew that this was no ordinary place. She hastened her movements to find the array’s core. After destroying three cores, Jue Ming soon arrived at the final one.

This place was vastly different from the endless corridors. The room contained an altar, with a curtain obscuring the deity being worshipped.

There were many heretical gods in the Demon World, and Jue Ming, fearing trouble, didn’t dare look closely. She raised her hand to shatter the statue on the altar.

But a domineering spiritual force blocked her.

Jue Ming quickly dodged, narrowly avoiding the attack, and turned to face a pair of cold, black eyes.

The young man outside the door seemed to be about her age, dressed in plain white robes, with a jade-ornamented sword at his waist. His appearance was handsome, and his hair was neatly arranged. He didn’t seem like a demon from this place but rather a wealthy young master from the human realm.

Jue Ming’s right hand pressed against the sword at her waist, and she subconsciously asked, “Who are you?”

The young man raised his eyebrows slightly and opened his mouth slowly, his tone carrying a hint of youthful arrogance, “That’s an interesting question. You, a cultivator, break into the Bright Mirror Platform at night, yet you question the name of the host?”

Before Jue Ming could think of a response, a sword was already at her face.

Seeing this deadly move, Jue Ming was shocked. She was all too familiar with this starting stance, it was the Sword Pavilion’s swordsmanship!

Jue Ming had already guessed the identity of the young man before her. Since this was the Bright Mirror Platform, and the young man looked to be of a young age, he must be the son of the Sword Pavilion’s former traitor, Li Huai Su – the young master of Bright Mirror Platform, Li Heng.

Li Heng’s sword was extremely fast, like a snake spitting its tongue.

Jue Ming subconsciously raised her sword to block. In the instant of their clash, she already knew that she was no match for him.

In that brief exchange, she could clearly feel the surging sword intent.

Its sharpness and freedom were something that countless people could never attain in their entire lives.

Li Heng showed a hint of surprise on his face when Jue Ming blocked his attack, “A disciple of the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion?”

Jue Ming held her sword horizontally, watching Li Heng warily, unsure of his next move.

But then she heard Li Heng laugh, “Your swordsmanship is not bad. Although I cherish talent, my younger sister was killed by someone from your Sword Pavilion. Since you are from the Sword Pavilion, I can only use you to offer a sacrifice to her sword.”

Before Jue Ming could speak, Li Heng’s killing move arrived again, “Let’s see how much ability you have.”

Jue Ming gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Since she herself could sense that she had no chance of winning, the young master of the demon clan would also know. He was simply playing a game of cat and mouse.

The only option now was to escape.

Jue Ming feinted with her sword and suddenly retreated. She stepped onto the altar table, using her toes to leap up and over Li Heng, landing on the corridor, and turned to flee.

Li Heng seemed to have expected this and wasn’t in a hurry to chase. Jue Ming faintly heard a mocking chuckle in the air.

Then, the endless corridor seemed to come alive. Her footsteps felt like stepping on writhing flesh, the walls twisted and writhed, and the doors opened by themselves without any wind. Dozens of grotesque arms reached out from the dark doorways, attacking Jue Ming.

Jue Ming’s heart shook. Only now did she truly feel the demonic nature of Li Heng’s identity.

She dared not linger any longer, but the corridor was endless, and the thousands of arms followed like shadows, impossible to shake off.

Jue Ming could even feel the chilling killing intent behind her neck, only a fraction away from strangling her throat.

In extreme panic, she subconsciously performed a formation-breaking technique taught by the Sword Pavilion, spiritual energy flowing from her fingertips. In the next moment, the scenery before her changed again.

Jue Ming found herself in a secluded little hut.

The bamboo fence gate closed behind her as she stepped forward, and the surroundings suddenly became silent.

The small courtyard was lush with greenery, like a patch of moss in spring, with the damp warmth of decay and the scent of earth. It was completely different from the solemn, oppressive, and deeply courtyarded scene before.

Jue Ming could still sense the surging demonic energy behind her searching for her location, so she must still be within the Bright Mirror Platform.

Jue Ming held her breath and walked towards the little hut in the woods.

She knew that this place might not be safe either, but with pursuers behind her and no way forward, she could only hide here for now.

The inside of the hut was pitch black. Before Jue Ming could ignite a fire spell, footsteps came from outside.

She dared not make a sound, her right hand again pressing on her sword, waiting for Li Heng to enter the room.

But Li Heng actually opened the door, just as she had expected.

The young man stood tall and upright, the false sunlight from outside casting his figure onto the carved door panels.

Li Heng asked respectfully, “Mother, are you asleep?”

Jue Ming was horrified. Where had she escaped to?!

The room was silent for a moment, then from behind the layers of curtains, someone slowly answered, “I am already asleep.”

The voice was calm and cold, revealing no emotion.

Jue Ming was stunned – it was a man’s voice.

Li Heng didn’t seem to find anything wrong with this, still standing outside the door, saying word by word, “Today, a cultivator from the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion broke into the Bright Mirror Platform. Has anything unusual happened here, Mother?”

A rustling sound came from inside the room, like the sound of fabric rubbing against fabric.

Jue Ming was standing behind the door. The interior of the hut was simply decorated, empty like a snow cave. As long as the owner of the hut came out from behind the curtain, they would bump right into her. Jue Ming felt like her heart had skipped a beat.

The calm voice came almost from behind Jue Ming, as if only a few steps away, “I haven’t seen anyone.”

Jue Ming suddenly froze.

The owner of the hut was right behind her at this moment, so there was no way they couldn’t have noticed her.

Were they covering for her?

Jue Ming’s mind was in turmoil, and she had no time to guess the other party’s position.

Hearing this, Li Heng didn’t doubt it at all, and still said very respectfully, “If Mother notices anything unusual, please send a message to Father and me.”

Li Heng left these words and seemed to be leaving, but just as Jue Ming thought she had gotten away with it, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

Jue Ming’s heart tightened – had Li Heng noticed something unusual?

But then she heard Li Heng soften his tone, his voice gentle, “Mother, ever since Younger Sister died, you have been depressed and haven’t eaten. Father and I are very worried. Please take care of yourself.”

At this moment, he seemed not to be the young master of the demon clan, but a filial young man from an ordinary family, and the concern in his words didn’t seem fake.

Jue Ming only felt like vomiting, as if seeing a monster in human skin imitating human words and actions.

Hearing Li Heng’s footsteps gradually moving away, Jue Ming suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did she realize that her back was already soaked with sweat.

Now she had the energy to think about the identity of the owner of the hut. Li Heng had actually called the man inside the room “Mother”.

Jue Ming had a guess in her mind, but she didn’t dare to think about it in detail.

Jue Ming turned around stiffly. In the darkness, she could vaguely see the man fumbling to sit down at the round table in the room.

She said uneasily, “Thank you for saving me just now, Senior.”

The man’s hand was groping on the round table, as if looking for a candle. Hearing this, he suddenly said, “I recognize you. You killed A-Zhen.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

Hearing this, Jue Ming confirmed the identity of the man before her – the Mother of Demons.

Cultivators were not unfamiliar with this name.

Li Huai Su, the Left Guardian of the Demon Clan, had a son named Li Heng, and the Demonic Lord Tian Chang had a daughter named PinGallo, but this pair of children was born of the same mother. The Demon Clan scorned human ethics and morals, and coupled with the difficulty of conceiving children, this kind of thing was not uncommon.

It’s just that cultivators thought this was absurd, debauchery.

The mother of these two little demons lived in seclusion and had never been seen in person, but most of the demon clan’s descendants inherited the powers of both parents. Li Heng and PinGallo were rare disasters in a century. It was conceivable that their birth mother was by no means an ordinary person.

It was also heard that she had the ability to manipulate these two little demons, so she was called the Mother of Demons.

Jue Ming only felt a sense of absurdity of escaping the dragon’s pool and entering the tiger’s den.

She had personally killed PinGallo.

Fate was really a trickster, actually sending her, the enemy who killed his daughter, under the nose of the Mother of Demons.

The Mother of Demons had a spiritual connection with her flesh and blood, so since she killed PinGallo, how could this “mother” not know?

It was useless to argue, so Jue Ming could only admit frankly, “Yes.”

She looked at the man’s outline in the darkness, a thousand words in her throat, and finally only uttered two words: “Sorry.”

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say next, and Jue Ming also knew that whatever she said would appear pale and powerless.

She almost gave up, thinking that if the Mother of Demons wanted to kill her, then kill her.

The man was silent for a moment, then raised his hand to light the exquisitely crafted lotus lamp on the round table.

The candlelight reflected his face, which was extremely beautiful, but pale and sickly, like a flower transplanted to a mismatched soil. The petals were curled, stained with a withered color, and falling into the mud was only a matter of time.

The man looked up at Jue Ming, his eyebrows filled with deep weariness.

He just looked at her quietly, and then slowly opened his mouth: “You go.”

Jue Ming’s eyes seemed to be dazzled by the light, and she stared at the face of the person in front of her, almost exclaiming, “Senior Li! You are Senior Li Shan!”

Li Shan’s reaction was a little slow. Hearing her address, he paused for a few seconds, and then slowly looked at Jue Ming: “You recognize me?”

Jue Ming’s throat tightened slightly, and she said softly: “That year, Shi En brought disaster to Fengze Village, and I was the only survivor.”

Hearing this, Li Shan seemed to suddenly understand, recalling from the depths of his memory a pair of frightened eyes of a girl and the back of a girl fleeing in a hurry. Time has changed, and the girl from Fengze Village who suffered a sudden disaster has now joined the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion and become a disciple.

The air was silent for a moment, and Li Shan’s eyes fell on the sword at Jue Ming’s waist, his tone indistinguishable: “Who are you studying under now?”

Jue Ming’s voice was hoarse: “Under Master Zhou Ci Hua, Master Zhou.”

Li Shan looked at her, and a trace of indescribable emotion appeared in his eyes: “Senior Brother, he… is probably dying now.”

He asked a little too bluntly, and Jue Ming looked at Li Shan, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

People’s lives are limited, even the most outstanding cultivators are the same.

When Jue Ming said goodbye to Zhou Ci Hua and went to the No Ferry Sea to assassinate, she already knew that his body had reached the point of exhaustion.

But the Li Shan in front of her was still extremely young, as if the years had not left any trace on him.

Jue Ming said in a low voice, “Master is indeed a little unwell. When I came, he mentioned you to me. I didn’t know that you were trapped in the Demon World.”

Hearing this, Li Shan lowered his eyes slightly, as if recalling some old memories.

He sighed softly, and the room was only silent, and Jue Ming did not speak for a long time.

But Li Shan reached out his hand, searched for a moment in the pile of old papers next to the round table, and pulled out a few thin pages from it: “I used to write some things, but after all, no one can give them to me, so I will give them to you now.”

Jue Ming subconsciously took the things Li Shan handed over, the pages of the book were old, the paper was yellowed, and the edges were rubbed with rough burrs because the owner had repeatedly modified them.

She straightened the first page of paper, and then froze.

The paper seemed to be randomly torn from some pages of the book, and the blank was messily painted with words and paintings, as if it was scribbled at will.

But after she saw the content, her whole person’s breathing stagnated.

The content on the few pages was actually the Vast Wave Sword Formation –

No, it wasn’t entirely the Vast Wave Sword Formation. Many of Li Shan’s thoughts and ideas were added to it, and many of the original sword formation’s contents were modified. It was a version she had never seen before.

The Vast Wave Sword Formation was created by the Sword Ancestor in the past, and its power was amazing. It was an exquisite formation that made all the major sects in the entire cultivation world admire it.

Jue Ming continued to flip down, and her heart was actually shaking.

The cultivation world is now stormy, and everyone has restrained their minds of forming parties to eliminate dissidents, and remembered the goodness of Li Shan.

Even if he had been missing for many years and his life and death were unknown, the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion still circulated his genius past.

Li Shan was undoubtedly a genius.

The Vast Wave Sword Formation modified by Li Shan was constantly improved on the basis of the Sword Ancestor, and its power was a hundred times greater than before.

Jue Ming looked at it intently, raised her sword and followed what Li Shan wrote, changed positions, and practiced seriously, only hating that she couldn’t immediately engrave what Li Shan wrote into her mind.

Li Shan sat quietly watching, not intervening, only slightly correcting Jue Ming when she made a slight mistake.

Jue Ming’s understanding and talent are excellent among her peers, and the candle light went out half a time, and she completely understood the difficulties.

Seeing her thorough understanding, Li Shan asked softly: “Have you remembered everything?”

Only then did Jue Ming withdraw her thoughts from the sword formation, and respectfully handed the few pages of paper back to Li Shan: “I have completely remembered it.”

Li Shan nodded slightly, took it casually, but suddenly raised his hand and held the old paper on the lampstand to light it.

Before Jue Ming could stop him, the tongue of fire quickly licked the paper, and the light and flame spread rapidly.

The old paper was swallowed up in an instant, and the green smoke was clear and traceless, and the sun and moon rushed to ashes.

Jue Ming stared blankly at everything in front of her, as if something in her heart had also burned out.

“Miss Jue Ming, can I borrow the sword for a while?” Li Shan’s voice was still gentle, but it made Jue Ming’s heart tighten.

The fire was a little brighter than before, and Li Shan’s glass-like eyes were clearly illuminated.

Jue Ming glanced at him, and seemed to read what he was thinking in his heart. She said in a overlapping voice: “No no…”

The Cui Wei Sword Pavilion did not circulate the rumors that Li Shan followed Li Huai Su to betray his master in the past, but Zhou Ci Hua took over as the head of the family in recent years, and there were fewer such remarks. But there are still many people who think that Li Shan probably defected to the Demon Clan.

When Jue Ming recognized Li Shan at first glance, she also had such speculation in her heart.

But at this moment, many clues and details are connected together, and she also vaguely noticed the secrets in it. Li Shan was probably forcibly left in the Demon World.

Even those two children are probably…

Jue Ming paused for a moment, and said seriously: “Senior Li, I’ll take you away, back to the Cui Wei Sword Pavilion.”

Even if Jue Ming herself was in a dilemma at this moment, she still couldn’t bear to see Li Shan fall into the quagmire, even if she took her own life, she would take Senior Li Shan away from here.

Li Shan raised his eyes to look at her, his expression a little surprised, and then smiled and shook his head.

He was born beautiful, but he always narrowed his eyes on weekdays, as if he was shrouded in a faint sadness, but the smile at this moment was sincere, with a lightness of unloading all burdens: “You should have more important things – I can’t leave here.”

Jue Ming was stunned: “How could this be?”

Li Shan smiled, his tone was very relaxed: “I once made an oath with Tian Chang that I would not leave the Demon World in this life. Moreover, I am a human being, not a demon, and now I have signs of an imminent deadline, even if I forcibly continue my life, I will inevitably be affected by the demon blood.”

Li Huai Su and the others naturally had a way to force him to stay, but at that time, would he still be him?

Jue Ming didn’t know what to say for a while.

Li Shan said softly: “Coming for people and leaving for people, this is my last wish. Miss Jue Ming, give me the sword.”

……

Tian Chang likes to play human chess, but his chess skills are really bad. It is said that you can’t regret a move, but he has to regret three moves in the next step.

Except for Li Shan who is patient and has no temper, no one else is willing to play chess with him.

Tian Chang once laughed and threw glazed chess pieces, and said to Li Shan, there has never been a sun that never rises in this world. His tone was very proud, as if his sun had already entered his snare.

Li Shan didn’t say anything after hearing this, but said that there is no need for a sun that never rises in this world.

Life is like a peach branch, sometimes blooming and sometimes dying.

This human world should experience the rotation of day and night, and the overlap of the four seasons.

The legends of heroes are enduring, such as the Sword Ancestor and the Demon Ancestor.

However, the water fairy has taken the carp away, and the Azure Dragon is buried in the middle of the moon, where is the God Monarch, where is Taiyi.

Only the stars and fire are passed down from generation to generation, and have never been cut off.

[The end of the full text]