The Price of Power and the Path of Suffering

“Brother Xiaozhu, is that lightning striking us?” Lu Yanling froze, craning her neck to gaze at the flickering sky.

Glancing at Su Mo, who remained ‘calm’ and unmoving, Xu Qingzhu abruptly slashed his wrist, allowing blood to stream forth.

Under Lu Yanling’s astonished and heartbroken gaze, crimson spell patterns rapidly formed around Xu Qingzhu’s body.

A strange tremor began to reverberate. In an instant, blood-red chains materialized from thin air, interweaving above the two of them to form an impenetrable net.

“It’s still not enough…” Xu Qingzhu gritted his teeth, plunging two fingers into his heart to guide the surging blood.

“Brother Xiaozhu! Don’t do anything foolish… BOOM! BOOM!!”

The uncontrolled lightning had already descended. In that fleeting moment, Lu Yanling’s vision went utterly blank.

She instinctively reached for Xu Qingzhu, guided by memory. It was only with his warm touch that her mind found a semblance of peace.

She had forgotten the stinging pain in her eyes, unable to discern the difference between opening and closing them.

She desperately clung to Xu Qingzhu’s body, finding tranquility amidst the continuous roar.

“If only I could die with Brother Xiaozhu like this, how wonderful would that be?” She was startled by her own thought.

“Boom…” The thunder finally subsided, scattering into countless points of light that drifted across the ruins of Dangyang County.

The survivors, terrified, all steered clear of Su Mo, keeping their distance.

There was no longer any trace of Xiao Yao. Under the uncontrolled lightning, he had, coincidentally, drawn the brunt of it.

“Thud.” A charred arm fell to the ground, likely the only testament to Xiao Yao’s former presence.

Yet, he was not dead, having used the same escape secret art as before.

As people gradually regained consciousness, they looked around to see Su Mo, who had shattered all restraints, floating down towards the ground.

Her aura was utterly spent, her silver hair loose upon her shoulders, her hair tie long gone.

With lips stained crimson, Su Mo released the Dark Thunder Bow.

“Clatter.” It fell to the ground.

Though she had no strength left, she still began to move towards Xu Qingzhu.

Whether intentionally or not, she had harmed them, and a pang of guilt resonated within her.

“Whoosh…” The wind blew cold. Xu Qingzhu’s hair had turned white at the tips, making him appear aged.

Holding Lu Yanling, he lowered his gaze and spoke coldly to Su Mo, who was slowly approaching:

“Don’t come any closer.”

“Mm…” In his arms, gripping his clothes, Lu Yanling suddenly cried out in a panic:

“Brother Xiaozhu, I can’t see you! Brother Xiaozhu, you’re not hiding from me, are you?…”

“…” Silence. Xu Qingzhu slowly raised his head, his gaze meeting Su Mo’s disbelieving one.

His heart was a tangled mess, all his accumulated grief now surging within him.

First Uncle Zhang, then Lu Yanling…

He even felt that the origin of all these calamities stemmed from Su Mo’s arrival.

He found it hard to believe that, having mastered such power, Su Mo could still err in controlling the lightning’s trajectory.

Yet, how could he know that Su Mo’s pain at this moment outweighed her power?

“I…” Su Mo uttered a single word, then suddenly fell silent.

She had already sensed the countdown of her life.

It seemed that what sustained her was Xu Qingzhu before her, the benefactor and enemy she both fiercely loved and resented.

There was too much to say, yet she found herself speechless.

And under his cold gaze, all her grievances became lodged in her throat.

“Still trying to explain?” Xu Qingzhu listened to Lu Yanling’s tearful cries, his patience for Su Mo completely gone.

He should never have harbored any expectations for the demonic woman, Su Mo. She was incorrigible, even taking the opportunity to destroy them.

‘She wants to kill me…’ This thought echoed deafeningly in Xu Qingzhu’s mind.

“Haha.” Su Mo suddenly laughed, a desolate, resigned sound.

It was as if she had never truly seen Xu Qingzhu before; now, he felt utterly alien to her.

Nevertheless, he was also the benefactor who had saved her countless times.

Her lifesaver.

Gathering her last vestiges of strength, Su Mo swept aside the disheveled hair by her ear, revealing her beautiful, pale face.

She spoke earnestly:

“I’m sorry, I won’t be able to repay your kindness… Well, perhaps you never expected me to, did you?”

His body stiffened, and an ominous feeling welled up in Xu Qingzhu’s heart.

“What do you mean by that…”

“Shhh…!” Su Mo’s body began to shatter, transforming into starlight that ascended from her feet upwards.

As if mirroring the stars in the heavens, she became a river of starlight on the earth, echoing the firmament above, constructing her final tableau.

“!” His pupils constricted sharply. Xu Qingzhu stood frozen on the spot.

Suddenly, he felt an excruciating, piercing pain in his heart.

Breathing became difficult as tears blurred his vision, obscuring everything.

“…Am I crying?” He wiped away the tears from his eyes, staring foolishly at the wetness on his palm.

“Brother Xiaozhu… are you crying?” Lu Yanling heard an uncontrollable, faint sob by her ear, as if it had seeped from her own heart.

“…” Sensing his departure, Lu Yanling understood that Su Mo had passed away.

For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she felt joy or sorrow.

“Rustle…” Fine sand slipped through his fingers. Xu Qingzhu suddenly felt lost, unsure of his purpose since his rebirth.

He was unwilling to admit it, but it seemed the image of Su Mo’s passing had already been etched deep into his heart.

****

In the distance.

Mo Lian watched Xu Qingzhu clutching the fine sand, letting it scatter with the night wind, and sighed, shaking her head.

She gazed out at the ravaged Dangyang County, dimly discerning Su Mo’s beautiful figure within the chaos.

The ghosts of the Underworld she had once brought forth now dissipated with the white mist, departing the mortal realm.

Beneath the moon, a black ghost horse stood motionless, a bronze sword leaning beside it, reflecting the solitary moon.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Suddenly, a chilling wind swept across the sky, and dark clouds gathered, obscuring the moon and stars.

Looking up, they saw a host of armored, weapon-wielding ghost soldiers riding on black clouds from the horizon.

They escorted a Ghost General, who bore a spinning golden wheel on his back.

With an imposing aura, they pressed down upon the crowd.

As a prominent figure in Dangyang County, Mo Lian stepped forward despite the daunting scene.

“May I ask, who are you?”

“…I’m here to take someone away. Little girl, don’t interfere.” The Ghost General saw through her disguise at a glance, speaking casually.

Arriving at the spot where Su Mo had vanished, the Ghost General’s towering figure looked down, his gaze coldly fixed on Xu Qingzhu’s disheveled state.

He clearly held no regard for the man. With a wave of his hand, he sent Xu Qingzhu flying with a gust of ghostly wind, slamming him into the ruins.

“CRASH…”

After the sound faded, a moment later, Xu Qingzhu coughed, his arm hanging limp as he dragged his steps forward.

His eyes resolute, he asked:

“Are you taking her away? Where to?”

“Oh? It seems you know quite a bit. But young man, anyone can worry, except you.” The Ghost General shook his head. The golden wheel on his back floated forward, “whoosh,” absorbing a pure white soul.

Without another glance at Xu Qingzhu, the Ghost General took a step, shrinking the distance to mere inches, and swiftly departed.

Simultaneously, Skinny Horse and the bronze sword transformed into streaks of light, following him.

They vanished together into the horizon, leaving no trace.

Only Xu Qingzhu remained, gazing at the now calm night sky, speechless and choked with emotion.

His heart refused to settle. The Path of Suffering he had once memorized now elicited no response.

He stood there, withered, letting the cold wind buffet him, tearing at the pain in his heart. He lowered his head.

An undeniable, unbearable truth—

‘Does the Path of Suffering truly not require killing one’s beloved to prove its tenets?’

He had been terribly, terribly wrong.

“Brother Xiaozhu, I can’t see clearly. Will you lead me? Please?” Lu Yanling fumbled on the ground, jolting in fright when her hand brushed against a corpse.

She had completely lost her sight, uncertain if there was any chance of recovery.

Walking over to her, Xu Qingzhu’s emotions were in turmoil.

Without a word, he helped Lu Yanling away.

It seemed he would never return to this place.

That way, perhaps he wouldn’t remember Su Mo, the woman who had been like a wife to him?

But…

Yet, for the rest of his life, in the quiet of the deep night, he would suddenly ‘see’ her figure, only then realizing the depth of his love.

Xu Qingzhu could never let her go, not ever.