Jin Se

Chapter 79

Then, his laughter finally vanished in the endless roaring of thunder.

Twenty years ago, a bolt of lightning from the nine heavens had struck Cangyun Valley to warn a child not to leak heaven's secrets. It had split the ground and shaken the Hall of Demons; the beginning of all the karma that came after.

Now, everything was coming to an end. The child who'd had his head pressed to the ground in prostration to the western sky had grown up. He'd grown into a person with the word rebellion carved into his bones. He could die nine times over with no regrets. He feared nothing.

Seven mountain lanterns suddenly rose into the air, but the lightning and thunder were so overwhelming that no one noticed. Those lanterns slowly rose higher and higher, and went out one by one. A mere fleeting flash before it all returned to silence.

Boom.

Bai Li suddenly started struggling, but he couldn't break free of his binds. He was overcome by despair. He yelled Shi Wuduan's name again and again, until his voice was no louder than the buzzing of insects, until he couldn't make another sound, until his throat was clogged with blood.

However... no matter whether he was the little worrywart fox or the feared Demon Lord, there would always be that one person in the world who could easily bind him.

Then, his binds abruptly vanished. All the starsilk withered to lifeless threads and fell languidly to the ground. Bai Li was stuck to the spot. His eyes were red when he raised his head and looked at that empty spot. That spot, utterly devoid of human presence, where only a handful of ash remained.

The mirror beneath his feet was already shattered. Everything was merely an illusion. The sky suddenly cleared... beneath the place the dust lingered in the air, there was a leftover piece of the disintegrated astrolabe. One end stuck out above the other. Its stars had toppled out, crumbling into ordinary sand.

Bai Li flipped off his horse, winding through the army of thousands, clutching a small wooden figurine in his hand.

Suddenly, someone yelled, "He... he's the Demon Lord!"

Some reckless fools tried to block his way, but before they even got close, their heads and bodies were already in different places. Bai Li shrugged off his restraints and instantly reached the place where Shi Wuduan had disappeared.

He woodenly kneeled down, feeling like the person he'd wanted for a lifetime, chased for a lifetime, who he'd only just managed to grasp, had suddenly turned into a wisp of wind and flown away. Thus it seemed like... his whole life had passed just like that.

Bai Li reached a hand out and gently touched the remaining ash on the ground, almost feeling like he could sense its remaining warmth. He thought, how could it be like this.

Shi Wuduan, how can you be like this?

Gu Huaiyang suddenly came back to his senses and roared, "Attack! Attack the city!"

Then, he charged to the forth on his horse, not caring one bit about his status as the commander in chief. His vision was wholly taken up by something, he kept feeling like he couldn't see clearly.

Unrestrained emotion; the pain of a knife twisting in one's heart.

Lu Yunzhou followed after him. Meng Zhongyong, still stunned, turned and asked, "Si-niang, what about little sixth?"