Chapter 196 — Master and Disciple

“Haha!! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful…”

The Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable, hovering in the night sky, brushed his sleeve, and the surrounding flames blazed brightly. His gaze swept over the City God, whose incense offerings were meager, and the scholar who was only at the Golden Core realm. One hand curved into a claw, gathering whorls of fiery qi into a swirling vortex.

“My Buddha is merciful—”

Outside the city, the Buddhist invocation sounded, rolling in like ocean tides.

The condensed firelight suddenly scattered. The Sacred Flame Exalted Venerable glanced sidelong toward the darkness beyond the city. With a flick of his sleeve, he snorted, turned, executed an air-riding art, and swiftly vanished into the night.

Below, Lu Liangsheng’s face was streaked with sweat. His arm drooped, the sword tip clanged as it braced against the wreck-strewn ground. The demonic body left behind by Pudu Cihang, having lost control of its primordial spirit, turned into speckled sparks of fire and dispersed, leaving only a few traces of ash.

Over by the stone steps, Chen Shubao still lay there unattended. Lu Liangsheng’s gaze shifted toward the great hall. Through the window lattice where a line of sight extended, on the opposite side, stood that child. He did not know what he ought to say at this moment. He sheathed Veiled Moon Sword and walked off in another direction, gradually fading into the wind.

Hoo…

Silence settled over the great hall plaza. Someone let out a breath, and the guards and soldiers who had been hiding around came out one after another. Only then did they remember the Emperor left outside.

A eunuch hurriedly ran over. Seeing Chen Shubao’s face tinged bluish, he subconsciously reached out to feel for breath.

The eunuch’s expression changed abruptly. He tore open his throat and shrieked:

“His Majesty has passed away—”

Chaos spread throughout the entire imperial palace.

Eastern outskirts. The gigantic monster that had stood in the night had, at some unknown time, vanished from the soldiers’ sight.

The clear moon emerged from drifting clouds, spreading a sheet of silvery frost.

“Old Toad!!”

From afar, a Daoist supported a burly man as he jogged over. When he drew close, he tossed the man aside and burst into laughter. “That just now was your Dharma Image?? Damn, that was satisfying—pinned that centipede down and gave it a savage pounding.”

“Heh….”

Over there, the Toad Daoist, having returned to his original form, clasped his webbed hands behind his back and chuckled twice, seeming somewhat strained as he looked toward the old monk not far away.

“The foul breath in this old man’s heart has finally been vented… thank you.”

Old Monk Zhen Kong pressed his palms together and silently recited a Buddhist invocation.

The Toad Daoist did not mind, nor did he pay the Daoist any attention. He merely lifted his gaze and looked toward the round moon revealed once more.

The clear radiance shone upon his face, and he could not help letting out a sigh.

“So beautiful…”

A trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The webbed hand behind his back lifted, as if trying to grasp the bright moon in the night sky. His eyelids half closed. His short body swayed, then tipped backward and fell.

“Old Toad! What’s wrong with you?!” The Daoist shouted as he rushed forward.

The falling figure was suddenly supported by a surge of spiritual power. Amid rapid footsteps, Lu Liangsheng leapt down from the city wall. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived, reaching out to catch the toad. His voice could not help but tremble.

“Master.”

Hearing that call, the Toad Daoist weakly opened his eyelids. Looking at the disciple before him, he spread his toad mouth in a smile.

“What kind of expression is that… your master isn’t dead yet… just… just wanted to change posture and look at the moon.”

The webbed hand lightly patted the back of the scholar’s hand. The toad face turned aside, and the bright moon reflected in his pupils.

“This old man… hasn’t quietly watched the moon like this for a very long time. It really makes me miss that tiny little pond from back then. Liangsheng, you wouldn’t know—when your master was cultivating back then… that little pond… was actually filthy… and foul-smelling… yet I still miss it… don’t you think that’s strange…”

“And also… that woman your master kept in his heart. After walking all these years, I’m already about to forget what she looked like… I wonder whether she’s been reborn as a human… whether I could still see her once…”

“That day, wearing her wedding robes, she was truly beautiful… but she didn’t know that in the mountain forest, there was a toad hiding in the corner, watching her from afar…”

The Daoist turned his head aside, his eyes reddening. Seeing the old monk nearby and knowing his cultivation was profound, he rushed over, grabbed the monk’s robe, and dragged him toward the toad.

“Don’t you Buddhists talk about saving all beings and holding compassion in your hearts?! Now’s the time for you to save someone! What are you standing there for?!”

Letting himself be tugged, Zhen Kong stood where he was like a mountain, unmoving. With eyes closed, he performed a Buddhist bow.

“This is the final thing he wishes to do, and should do. All karmic ties arise, and by themselves they cease. His demon core is already shattered. He cannot be saved.”

“You—”

“Enough!”

The weakened Toad Daoist waved his webbed hand. Still gazing at the moonlight, his eyes gradually grew dim. Then he looked toward Lu Liangsheng. The blood-stained corners of his mouth parted slightly, and he forced out a smile.

“Liangsheng need not be sad. Just as your honored mentor once said, a person must choose a path to walk. Your master chose once before, and this time… it is another road… Your master is better off than most—I get to choose one more…”

The weak voice paused, followed by several coughs. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

“…Cough, cough… Your master has done many evil deeds in this lifetime. In this period of time, I’ve felt… none of them are worth mentioning. Only one thing… one thing…”

The Toad Daoist stretched out his webbed hand and pressed it onto his disciple’s.

“…That is, your master accepted a good disciple. His name is Lu Liangsheng.”

The scholar bit his lip tightly, feeling the chill spreading across the back of his hand, and closed his eyes.

Tap tap tap!

Tap tap…

The wilderness lay silent. From afar came the sound of hooves and running footsteps approaching. At the front of the group was the general Xiao Moke, with Min Changwen and Min Yuerou beside him.

“They’re over there!” “I see the little Daoist!”

“And Young Master Lu!”

The scholar kneeling on the ground opened his eyes, rims wet and red. One hand suddenly lifted in a sword gesture. With a clang, the Veiled Moon Sword shot from its sheath, flipped through the air across the night sky, and flew straight toward the approaching cavalry.

Bang! It stabbed into the earth, sword qi bursting forth and blasting up a curtain of dust that rose like a wall, blocking the path of the oncoming horses.

Hiiiii—

One warhorse after another sensed the dangerous aura and shrieked, halting in fright, not daring to approach.

“Liangsheng… what are you doing?” The Toad Daoist weakly opened his eyes.

“Master, don’t speak…” Lu Liangsheng’s voice was hoarse, his throat faintly aching. The hand forming the sword gesture did not withdraw but shifted—and suddenly sliced across his own wrist.

“Master, do you remember when we first met? Back then… you gave Liangsheng two books. One of them, ‘Emerald Heart Dream Nourishment’, had a passage inside that was for saving lives…”

As blood flowed from the wound, Lu Liangsheng, eyes reddened with moisture, used his spiritual power to draw the stream of blood into a line connecting it to the Toad Daoist. His face turned pale, his vision blurred. Enduring the dizziness, he fused the spiritual energy of the Heaven and Earth Rightheous Path with his blood, together with threads of white vapor emerging from his body, and sent them into the toad’s form.

The Toad Daoist felt a trace of a warm primordial spirit linking with his own. Tears slid from his toad eyes.

“Liangsheng… why go this far?”

“Because—”

Beside him, on Lu Liangsheng’s pale face, a smile appeared, just like the one he wore long ago in his youth, standing amid firelight.

“You are my master.”

The night wind howled. Firelight shone down from the city wall. Weakness and exhaustion surged over him like a tide. The scholar’s body swayed, then he collapsed into unconsciousness.