Chapter 88:
This Venerable One Meets Another One Reborn
MO RAN’S HEAD snapped up to look in the direction the sound had come from.
A person in a floor-length, gold-patterned black cloak appeared at the end of the hall. His figure was tall and straight, and his entire body was concealed by that cloth. Even his face was shrouded behind a curtain of black silk. The only thing Mo Ran could see was a pair of eyes, but the darkness made even these difficult to clearly discern.
The person held a blade in his hand. A narrow blade, completely black, unmatched in sharpness—Bugui.
“Who are you?!”
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” the person said coolly. His voice sounded strangely warped, as if it had been intentionally distorted. “All you need to know is that I know who you are.”
A chill ran through Mo Ran, but he forced himself to keep his cool. “I’m just a disciple of Sisheng Peak. So what if you know me? What’s your point?”
“A disciple of Sisheng Peak? Heh, that’s not wrong. But have you forgotten that you’re also Taxian-jun, Emperor of the Mortal Realm, a vicious ghost who slew his teacher and spit on virtue, a soul that fled the road to the underworld?”
Mo Ran’s blood grew colder with every word. He felt like he had fallen into a frozen cave.
Taxian-jun. Who had bathed all seventy-two cities of Rufeng Sect in blood. Emperor of the Mortal Realm. Who had married the most beautiful woman in the world, who had killed his teacher and family alike, who had trod on countless people to reach the top.
“You are Mo Weiyu,” the person continued in an icy tone.
Mo Weiyu. Evil beyond redemption, may he die ten thousand deaths and be denied reincarnation.
Mo Weiyu, deserving of naught but to be torn to pieces at Sisheng Peak, his heart and eyes dug out—undeserving of an intact corpse!
“Who are you?!”
Mo Ran saw red. His youthful demeanor wholly vanished from his face, replaced by a ruthless, fiendish snarl as he stood off against that man at the end of the hallway. He was on the verge of lunging at the man’s throat and ripping it to pieces alongside all those names he never wanted to hear again.
The man lifted a hand wrapped in black silk, and the hallway was instantly encased in layers of ice, dividing the space between them.
“You can’t call this blade anymore, can you?” The man walked closer, slow and leisurely, stopping some ten paces away. “Emperor of the Mortal Realm… Or maybe it’s better to call you Mo Ran? How laughable. Have you ever taken a good look at yourself as you are now?
“A heart that is no longer cold and hard as steel. You’ve stayed by Chu Wanning’s side and even developed some genuine fondness for him…
“Rebirth, rebirth. I wonder where that person is… The one you swore to protect in your last life.”
Mo Ran’s expression instantly transformed. “Shi Mei?! What did you do to Shi Mei?!”
The man did not answer his question, only sneering disdainfully. “Do you know why you can’t call Bugui anymore?” He slowly traced a fingertip along the black body of the blade. “It’s because your soul is about to change, and your hatred about to dissipate… Your regret, as you lay dying, was that you couldn’t protect your Mingjing-shixiong, and your wish was that, if there was a next life…you wouldn’t fail him again.”
Those piercing eyes turned on him.
“Mo Ran, have you lived up to that wish?!”
“I—”
“The ghost realm barrier is soon to rupture, and the events of the past are sure to repeat. Do you intend to watch him die again? Do you plan to beg Chu Wanning for mercy once more? You’re only letting your second chance go to waste. You don’t deserve to touch Bugui ever again.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that!” Mo Ran roared, enraged. “What happens between me and Shi Mei is no one else’s business! If you know I’ve been reborn, then who are you? The fake Gouchen? Or some damned ghost who’s been reborn like me?!”
“Heh…” The man snickered lightly. “Some damned ghost who’s been reborn… Yes, I suppose I am some damned ghost who’s been reborn. Or did you really think that, with the world as it is now, you were the only one the heavens graced with rebirth?”
Just who exactly was this?! Indistinct faces flashed deliriously through Mo Ran’s mind, one after another.
There were the ones who had died before him in his past life: Xue Zhengyong, Madam Wang, Chu Wanning, Song Qiutong, Ye Wangxi…
There were the ones who had charged Wushan Palace just in time to see him off: Xue Meng, Mei Hanxue, the executioners from the ten great sects…
Who was this? Who was this?!
Just who had found out his secret and seized his weakness?! Of all his demons from a lifetime ago, which one of them had crawled out of the underworld to hound him, to force him back down the road to ruin?! Who was it?!
In the split second it took Mo Ran to think, there was a flash before his eyes, and with a flurry of robes, the man had moved to stand right in front of him. The sheer strength of this man, even after rebirth, rattled Mo Ran.
Bugui’s tip was pressed to his chest. Just a bit of pressure and it would pierce through his flesh and into his heart.
“Mo Weiyu, I thought you devoted in matters of affection. Perhaps your Mingjing-shixiong doesn’t enjoy the fortune of your favor. Even in your second life, you still care nothing for him.”
Mo Ran gritted his teeth. “Bullshit.”
“Is it, though?” The man smirked darkly. One hand closed around Mo Ran’s throat, then slid slowly down to rest on his chest. “Does he truly have a place in your heart? Even the scrap of memory you used to cherish has long since worn away. Is anything left anymore?”
“As if you would know who’s in my heart better than I do!” Mo Ran growled. “You’ve blathered on long enough. Why don’t you take off that veil and show me your face already?!”
“Why the rush to see my face?” The man’s voice was like smoke and his gaze like mist, both threaded with contempt. “I’ll make sure you get a glimpse, right before you die.”
“You die first, you—”
Mo Ran didn’t finish before he suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold underfoot. He looked down to find that without his notice, the man’s icy thorns had climbed up his body.
Ice spells, ice thorns… Water element… Who was it? Who from his past life had used such spells? Mo Ran had met far too many adversaries, and his head was an utter mess as he scrambled to remember them all.
Xue Meng, fire. Chu Wanning, metal and wood. Ye Wangxi, earth. Xue Zhengyong, earth.
Just who was it? Why couldn’t he think of someone who had such powerful command of ice?
“You’re not wrong. I’ll die too. But Mo Weiyu, that won’t be for a long, long time.”