In This Life, I Have Two Great Regrets and One Great Sorrow
Hongmeng Academy, Council Hall.
It was already long past curfew, yet the Council Hall remained brightly lit. The atmosphere so oppressive that it left everyone struggling to breathe.
The young disciple kneeling below finished relaying the contents of the letter, then tremblingly presented a wooden box.
The atmosphere instantly sank to freezing point.
After a long while, Tianshu let out a deep sigh. “They want Feng Qi?”
“And because they want him, we’re supposed to hand him over?” Kaiyang snapped. “Lingyuan Sea has gone too far! Jiang Cheng!”
Jiang Cheng’s expression was extremely grim. His gaze remained fixed on the wooden box in the disciple’s hands, and it was only after Kaiyang called him a second time that he came back to himself. “...Immortal Venerable.”
Kaiyang said, “Immediately gather all available disciples and send them out to search. They first attacked the market town below the mountain, then abducted Ji Chaoyun and Jun Ruzhuo without anyone noticing. They must have brought no small number of people. I refuse to believe we cannot find where they’re hiding!”
“Kaiyang...” Tianshu was about to speak when he suddenly sensed something.
At that moment, everyone in the hall froze.
As if by unspoken agreement, they all turned toward the doors of the Council Hall. The doors burst open with a thunderous crash, revealing a figure stood before the hall.
Feng Qi’s robes snapped violently in the fierce wind outside, his expression dark to the extreme.
“I’ll go.”
Tianshu stared at him. “You...”
Feng Qi seemed not to hear. He walked straight to the young disciple and held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
The young disciple glanced at the man before him, then toward Immortal Venerable Tianshu seated above. For some inexplicable reason, he felt that even the imposing presence of Hongmeng Academy’s master seemed somewhat diminished before Feng Qi.
He swallowed and carefully handed over the box.
Feng Qi took it and opened the lid.
Inside lay a bloodstained dragon scale.
The dragon scale shimmered with silver light. Beneath the illumination within the hall, streams of light and color played across its surface, so beautiful that the sight was shocking.
Feng Qi’s hand trembled violently.
He snapped the box shut.
A fierce gale suddenly swept through the hall, rushing in through the still-open doors and sending the furnishings rattling.
At the same instant, everyone present felt an extraordinarily powerful pressure descend upon them, so oppressive it nearly stole their breath.
“Feng Qi!” Bai Qiuyue called sharply. “Calm down.”
“I’m very calm.”
Feng Qi lowered his eyes and carefully put away the wooden box before turning toward the door.
Tianshu asked, “Feng Qi, where are you going?”
“To find him.”
“There are too many suspicious points in this matter. We need to consider this carefully.” Tianshu said, “Ji Chaoyun is the eldest son of the Dragon King of Lingyuan Sea. For him to injure Ji Chaoyun merely to avenge the Third Prince makes no sense. They must have another purpose in luring you out. Don’t walk willingly into their trap.”
“The scale is his.”
Feng Qi’s fingertips stroked the surface of the wooden box as he said softly. “I can hear him calling me. He’s in pain.”
“But your immortal power has yet to stabilize—”
“Uncle, don’t worry. I’ve never felt better.”
Scarlet-gold light flowed through Feng Qi’s eyes, as though something buried and suppressed for far too long was slowly awakening within them.
“Better than I’ve ever been.”
☁
Inside the dim mountain cave.
Ji Chaoyun lay beneath the stone wall, his limbs tightly curled as his body trembled uncontrollably through the fine, relentless pain.
His entire body seemed soaked in cold sweat. His thick lashes were damp, making the unnatural pallor of his face even more striking. Half his sleeve had already been stained red with blood, which seeped through his fingers and dripped onto the ground, leaving a winding trail.
Suddenly, someone approached.
Ji Chaoyun’s vision kept fading into darkness. He could barely make out who had come.
He slowly curled further into himself, as though trying to hide his body with the motion. It was a helpless and vulnerable attempt at self-protection, but it was useless. The silver chain gave a soft clink and a hand reached from the darkness and grasped his wrist.
“Don’t...” The slender wrist bore two deep, bloody marks from where the silver chain had cut into it during his earlier struggles.
Ji Chaoyun shrank back with a tremble, but no matter how he tried, he could not pull free from the hand holding him.
“Don’t be afraid.” The man gently lifted Ji Chaoyun’s wrist and rolled up his sleeve, exposing the gruesome wound along his forearm.
With his other hand, he summoned a stream of water into his palm and slowly covered the injury.
“Mmgh—!” A sharp, piercing pain instantly shot through his entire body. Ji Chaoyun bit down hard on his lip, letting out a low, stifled sob.
The Dragon King closed his eyes briefly, concealing the trace of anguish within them.
“Father knows it hurts. Seawater will ease the injury. Endure it a little longer.”
That sound of his voice seemed to bring back a little of Ji Chaoyun’s awareness. He opened his eyes and looked once at the man before him, then lowered his gaze again without making another sound.
After a long while, the Dragon King withdrew his spell. The bloody wound had finally stopped bleeding.
“I remember you were always afraid of pain when you were little.” The Dragon King sat beside Ji Chaoyun on the ground, his fingertips brushing tenderly over the bloody marks on Ji Chaoyun’s wrists. “When you first began training, whenever you had even the slightest illness or injury, you would come crying to me. You wouldn’t stop until I held you and coaxed you for a long while.”
Ji Chaoyun’s eyes remained half closed. He ignored him.
“...All these years, I’ve kept wondering. After you left Lingyuan Sea, if you fell ill or were hurt and there was no one to hold you and comfort you, what would you do?”
Ji Chaoyun’s lashes trembled. At last, he opened his eyes. “...Get away from me.”
Half of the Dragon King’s handsome face was hidden in darkness.
He remained still for a long time before finally releasing Ji Chaoyun’s hand.
“Yan’er, do you remember what I once told you? In the deepest reaches of Lingyuan Sea lies a Sea-Calming Pearl. Whoever possesses that pearl gains the authority to command the Four Seas and becomes the supreme ruler of Lingyuan Sea.”
“All these years, Jun Jue has constantly tried to learn from me where the pearl is hidden. I never told him. I never told anyone. Do you want to know where I hid it?”
Ji Chaoyun stared blankly for a moment, vaguely sensing that there was some deeper meaning behind those words, but the sharp pain from his wound left him unable to think. “What are you talking abo...”
The Dragon King’s gaze flicked toward the cave entrance.
The light mirror had disappeared at some point. He opened his mouth as though wanting to say something, but ultimately restrained himself.
Instead, he raised a hand and stroked Ji Chaoyun’s silver-white hair, which had returned to its original form from the pain, then sighed. “Let’s speak of something else.”
“I heard Ah-Zhuo say that Feng Qi... treats you very well?”
When he spoke that name, an indescribably complicated emotion surfaced in the Dragon King’s eyes, though he quickly concealed it. He gave a faint smile. “Although I’m somewhat reluctant to accept it, perhaps this is good too. This way, I can rest easy.”
Ji Chaoyun asked, “Why... why are you telling me these things?”
The Dragon King merely smiled without answering. Then he said softly, “In this life, I have two great regrets and one great sorrow. I regret allowing you to descend to the mortal realm for training back then, which led to you being injured so grievously. I regret refusing to listen to your warnings and placing my trust in the wrong people, but now I am too deeply trapped. Regret has come far too late.”
Ji Chaoyun buried his face against his knees. After a long silence, he asked in a trembling voice, “And the sorrow?”
The Dragon King stared at him, and at last, genuine pain appeared in his eyes. “My sorrow is... that I cannot apologize to you with my own lips and see the estrangement between father and son melt away.”
Ji Chaoyun abruptly raised his head. His reddened eyes were filled with disbelief.
“What exactly are you...”
“Your son already hates you enough to want to flay your skin and grind your bones to dust, yet you still have so much to say to him?”
The glazed light mirror flew back into the cave and stopped before them.
Every trace of emotion instantly vanished from the Dragon King’s face. He stood, his expression calm and unreadable, revealing nothing at all, “If I can persuade him to be of use to me, it will benefit our plan.”
“Be of use to you? This son of yours never would. Is there anyone in this world who despises the Demon Clan more than he does?”
The mirror slowly examined Ji Chaoyun from top to bottom. A smiling voice came from within. “I really like the way you look at me. Let me think where I’ve seen that expression before...”
The voice paused, then continued, “Ah, I remember now... Feng Xiao. Feng Xiao used to look at me exactly like that. Truly identical.”
The mirror slowly drifted closer to Ji Chaoyun. The Dragon King stepped sideways, blocking its path.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come in and interrupt while I spoke with him?”
“Don’t worry. I have no interest in listening to your sickeningly sentimental father-son talk. I only came to remind you that half a shichen has passed.”
The Dragon King’s expression changed immediately.
The mirror turned toward Ji Chaoyun. Its voice remained light and casual as though nothing were amiss. “Tear off another dragon scale and send it over. If they still haven’t responded by dawn, gouge out those eyes as well and send them along. Something I like this much should not be mine alone to admire.”
The Dragon King’s expression turned exceedingly grim. He stiffly turned his head, his gaze falling upon Ji Chaoyun.
Under the mirror’s watchful gaze, he crouched down and once again took Ji Chaoyun’s hand.
“No...” Ji Chaoyun shrank back, only to realize that the fingers holding his hand were trembling faintly, cold enough to pierce to the bone.
The Dragon King looked deeply into Ji Chaoyun’s eyes. Those eyes, so similar to Ji Chaoyun’s own, suddenly softened. “Don’t be afraid. Close your eyes.”
Ji Chaoyun closed his eyes and immediately felt a hand settle upon his forearm, touching several dragon scales that were still perfectly intact. Not far from the original wound, those scales lay closely fitted against his flesh, their edges glowing with clear silver light, trembling faintly with their owner’s fear.
The Dragon King drew a deep breath. His fingertips gently brushed across the trembling scales.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted.
“Wait—”
It was Yan Huaqing.
The mirror turned toward the cave entrance. Its voice could no longer conceal its delight.
“He’s here. He’s finally here...”
☁
The night lay heavy over the mountains, and the roar of a tiger echoed through the wilderness.
A violent gale swept across the clearing outside the cave. A massive figure blotted out the moonlight as it descended from the sky on a torrent of wind.
The guards outside had no time to make out who had arrived before a tremendous force hurled them away, sending them crashing through several thick tree trunks.
The white tiger folded its snow-white wings. Feng Qi’s gaze fixed on the dark cave entrance.
His voice was ice cold. “Come out.”
A glazed light mirror flew from within the cave.
Feng Qi narrowed his eyes. “What are you supposed to be?”
“You don’t recognize me anymore? Of course. You remember nothing.” The indistinct surface of the mirror seemed as though a breeze had scattered the dense mist covering it. Ripples stirred and spread across the surface, gradually revealing the face of an unfamiliar man.
His features were deeply defined, handsome and striking, with a faint trace of crimson hidden beneath his eyes. Unlike the demons Feng Qi had encountered before, there was no obvious sinister aura between his brows. When he smiled, it was elegant and composed yet carried a coldness that made one shudder.
He looked at Feng Qi with that faint smile and spoke gently. “No matter what, I’m still very happy to see you again.”
Feng Qi’s expression remained dark. He asked coldly, enunciating every word, “Where is he?”
The man’s smile faltered slightly, apparently dissatisfied with that response, though he still answered patiently. “Inside the cave. His father is with him. He’s perfectly safe.”
Feng Qi’s expression did not ease. “You sent word to Hongmeng Academy saying that once I arrived, you would release him. I’m here now. Let him out.”
Soft footsteps sounded from the cave entrance. Feng Qi raised his eyes and saw the Dragon King walk out.
This was the first time Feng Qi had ever seen the Dragon King of Lingyuan Sea. Even amid such tension, he immediately sensed something strange.
In his youth, the Dragon King of Lingyuan Sea had led the Water Clan in pacifying the Four Seas, eliminating water scourges, controlling floods, and saving countless common people. Through his own strength, he had raised Lingyuan Sea to its present standing.
Yet the man before him carried little of the imposing bearing described in those stories.
He looked as though he had aged many years in a single night. Exhaustion sat plainly between his brows as he met Feng Qi’s gaze from afar.
Feng Qi looked at the face that bore some resemblance to Ji Chaoyun’s and before he could say anything, Yan Huaqing spoke, “We can certainly release him. However, His Majesty the Dragon King has a few questions he wishes to ask you.”
Feng Qi replied, “I killed Jun Jue. If you want revenge, come at me.”
The smile in Yan Huaqing’s eyes deepened. “Did you hear that, Your Majesty? He said that if you want revenge, you should come at him.”
The Dragon King gave a faint laugh. “I had thought the Venerable would be unwilling to leave this man’s life to me.”
Yan Huaqing said, “Of course not. Your vengeance should naturally be settled by your own hand.”
“Quite right.” The Dragon King lowered his eyes. Cold light gathered in his palm and transformed into a slender immortal sword.
The sword traced a graceful arc before him. With the Dragon King at its center, a silver-white formation suddenly rose from the ground.
Beams of light erupted around the two men, soaring upward and weaving into a net overhead before closing together without a single gap.
The white tiger let out an agitated roar, but Feng Qi calmed it with a touch.
“This is one of Lingyuan Sea’s secret confinement formations.” The Dragon King raised his sword toward Feng Qi. “Once the formation closes, no one can escape unless the one who cast it exhausts their cultivation.”
The Dragon King raised his sword and pointed it at Feng Qi, his voice calm. “Today, fate has decreed that one of us will die here.”
Feng Qi’s brows lowered. He lightly tapped his foot against the ground and leaped down from the white tiger, drawing a sword from the void.
“Then it can only be you.”
Spiritual light flared along both blades. Black clouds pressed low in the sky, while the immense spiritual pressure created by their confrontation surged across the clearing.
But at that moment, Yan Huaqing suddenly spoke. “No. Wait.”
The light mirror floated between them. For some reason, Feng Qi thought he saw the Dragon King’s expression loosen slightly. However, the impression vanished almost immediately, so quickly that it seemed little more than an illusion.
“This Venerable naturally hopes His Majesty the Dragon King can fulfill his wish and personally kill his enemy. However, this man and I have been entangled for far too long. Letting him die by someone else’s hand would truly leave me reluctant. So... I’ve changed my mind.”
As he spoke, strands of black smoke seeped from the mirror and gathered before it, gradually forming a slender figure.
A man dressed in red stepped forward, excitement flickered in his eyes.
“Something as interesting as killing you should still be done by my own hand.”
“Why are you wasting so much breath?” Feng Qi flicked his sword outward and said coldly, “Come one at a time or all together. Just hurry up and stop wasting my time.”
“It would be discourteous to refuse.”
Within the silver-white formation, two figures instantly collided.
The Dragon King remained standing to one side, his gaze dark and unfathomable as he watched them, seemingly waiting for something.
“Too weak... still far too weak...” A smile remained in Yan Huaqing’s eyes. Even amid such an intense battle, he still appeared perfectly at ease. “Like this, you’re not even one ten-thousandth of what Feng Xiao once was. What right do you have to stand here?”
Feng Qi’s gaze darkened.
The spiritual light along his sword abruptly intensified.
“Yes. That’s it.” Yan Huaqing’s voice remained gentle, almost encouraging. “Now you’re beginning to look a little more like you should. Keep going.”
Golden light shone within Feng Qi’s eyes, and every successive swing of his sword grew more forceful than the last.
His seclusion had not yet ended, and he still had not learned how to control his power. He should not have been using his immortal power at a time like this. Forcibly driving his spiritual power made his qi and blood churn violently in his chest, while every meridian in his body sent out warnings of danger, as though they were on the verge of collapsing beneath the strain of that tremendous power.
Yet he did not retreat.
Again and again, he forced his spiritual power onward.
Almost.
He was almost there.
The power hidden in the deepest reaches of his sea of consciousness, sealed away for nearly three hundred years, trembled wildly at its master’s summons, on the verge of surging forth in full.
Shhk!
Yan Huaqing’s body abruptly stiffened.
A slender immortal sword pierced through his back and burst from his chest.
Faced with Feng Qi’s increasingly overpowering sword intent, even Yan Huaqing had been forced to focus entirely on him. At last, he had revealed a fatal opening.
Yan Huaqing lowered his gaze toward the blade protruding through his chest.
At the same moment, Feng Qi’s sword came to rest against his throat.
“Kill me.”
Yan Huaqing smiled softly.
Behind him, the Dragon King’s body suddenly swayed, and a large mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
It was as though that sword had pierced him instead.
Feng Qi frowned suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
The Dragon King shouted, “Stop asking and do it!”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” Yan Huaqing raised a hand and pointed to his own chest, where the sword had pierced through him. “What’s sitting right here is that old fool’s dragon core.”
Feng Qi froze. “How could...”
“Because that old fool is truly stupid. When Jun Yan lost his dragon core, the Dragon King of Lingyuan Sea searched everywhere for a way to save him. When nothing worked, he actually decided to dig out his own dragon core and give it to him instead.”
Yan Huaqing seemed to recall something highly amusing and laughed softly.
“The Third Dragon Prince coveted the Dragon King’s position for years, to the point of cooperating with the Demon Clan. But once Jun Yan lost his dragon core, the Dragon King decided to sever his dealings with the Demon Realm. For the sake of one son, he drove the other into a dead end. With nowhere else to turn, the Third Dragon Prince sent word to me and betrayed his own father.”
“He helped me invade the Dragon King’s body with demonic energy while the Dragon King was extracting his core. And so, before this dragon core could ever be given to Jun Yan, it became mine.”
“After the extraction failed because demonic energy entered his body, the Dragon King still never suspected his own son. Instead, he believed the Third Prince when he claimed there was another traitor within Lingyuan Sea. So, following the Third Prince’s suggestion, he pretended to drive Jun Yan from Lingyuan Sea and sent him down to the mortal realm to keep him away from danger. TTell me, how can someone this stupid even exist?”
“Shut up!” the Dragon King roared. “Feng Qi, Yan Huaqing cultivates demonic arts that allow him to separate his three souls. What was hidden inside the mirror is one strand of his soul essence. I arranged this entire scheme to lure him out of the mirror. Kill him now. We cannot let him escape.”
“But you—”
“He won’t dare kill me.” Yan Huaqing spoke softly. “This fragment of my soul has long since fused with your dragon core. If you kill me, won’t your dragon core shatter as well?”
“You...” The hand holding Feng Qi’s sword trembled slightly, hatred surging through his eyes.
“Feng Qi. Yan’er is still waiting for you.”
The Dragon King spoke calmly.
“Yan Huaqing controls my dragon core. I cannot kill him. Only you can.”
“I have made too many mistakes in this life. One wrong step led to another, then another. Before coming here, I arranged everything. After I die, the whole truth will come to light, and I will bear all the blame.”
“Yan’er will regain his position as Crown Prince of Lingyuan Sea. I don’t care whether he is immortal or yao. He is my child.”
“I never wanted to hurt him, yet in the end, I hurt him more deeply than anyone. If you are willing, once his wounds have healed, please... apologize to him for me.”
“Do it.”
The next instant, Feng Qi’s sword fell.
With a single strike, the blade pierced through Yan Huaqing’s throat.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
I originally wanted to finish this whole part, but this chapter got too long and was too difficult to write. Let me catch my breath _(:з」∠)_
There won’t be any more angst after this. Actually, this chapter wasn’t really that angsty either, right? 【?】 Anything that still isn’t clear will be explained in the next chapter, so there’s no need to worry.
At the earliest, spiritual cultivation will happen the day after tomorrow.
————
I got so caught up writing that I forgot today was Christmas. I can’t believe I wrote such a heavy chapter on Christmas, I feel a little guilty.
Merry Christmas, everyone! I won’t have time for an extra update today, so leave a comment and I’ll send out red packets instead. Mwah!
Jade-Slip Fortune Draw
The road feels a little quieter today, catto. Unroll the jade slip and see what the heavens have already written for you. ♡
One fortune per browser day, catto. Even beneath quiet skies, the Heavenly Dao does not rewrite what has already been drawn.
0 Comments