Xu Ziqing was astonished. “What?”
There had only ever been one Xu Ziluo. With a cultivator’s memory, how could Zhuang Wei possibly have mistaken one person for another?
Besides, how could there be a second Miss Ziluo in the Xu clan?
He did not interrupt, however, and waited for Zhuang Wei to continue.
Zhuang Wei sighed softly and smiled. “It’s a long story, Brother Ziqing. Let me tell it from the beginning.”
After a pause, he started with his arrival in the Qingyun Great World.
A hundred years earlier, with Xu Ziqing’s help, Zhuang Wei had earned a place among those entering the great world. Along with his gratitude, he had resolved not to waste his friend’s kindness. But no sooner had he set foot there than, after exchanging a hasty farewell with Xu Ziqing, he hurried to follow Xu Ziluo.
To explain what happened next, he first had to describe where Xu Ziluo went.
Xu Ziluo was selfish and calculating. She had once loved Tian Liang, but after the upheaval in the Xu clan, she had been unable to secure a promising future for herself. Using her wiles, she had attached herself to a Foundation Establishment cultivator from a minor clan recruited by the main family. After arriving in the great world with no one else to rely upon, she naturally clung tightly to that cultivator and refused to leave his side.
Xu Zishu had come from a similar background and was skilled at flattery. With honeyed words and charming smiles, she persuaded the Foundation Establishment cultivator she depended on to travel alongside Xu Ziluo’s patron. Since they all came from the same place, they reasoned, traveling together was the most sensible choice.
Zhuang Wei followed them, but none of them considered him worth their notice, so he could only trail far behind.
The party was fortunate. Both Foundation Establishment cultivators attracted the interest of a fifth-grade sect, and after being promised numerous benefits, they immediately became inner-sect disciples. Naturally, they brought Xu Ziluo and Xu Zishu along with them.
But Zhuang Wei’s aptitude and cultivation were inferior. After considerable difficulty, he barely secured a place as one of the lowest-ranked menial disciples of the outer sect.
Fortunately, Zhuang Wei had a generous heart. Though Xu Ziluo’s treatment made him feel bitter, he carried out his duties conscientiously. His life was hard, but the great world’s spiritual energy was far richer than that of the small world. With his peaceful state of mind, his cultivation slowly improved.
At the same time, he did not forget to inquire after Xu Ziluo.
As it turned out, her life in that sect was far from smooth.
She had once been a favored daughter of heaven, accustomed to being indulged and unable to tolerate the slightest slight. By attaching herself to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she had entered the inner sect, but her status was merely that of the man’s concubine. The cultivator possessed considerable aptitude and had shown determination in passing through the Ascending Dragon Gate. His one weakness was his fondness for women. And since he liked women, why would he remain faithful to Xu Ziluo alone?
A fifth-grade sect counted as a moderately powerful institution in a great world, rich in resources and hardly free from sordid dealings. Many low-level cultivators blessed with attractive faces struggled desperately to attach themselves to inner-sect disciples.
Before long, that Foundation Establishment cultivator had seven or eight concubines, and Xu Ziluo was only one among them.
With her temperament, Xu Ziluo had always been accommodated by everyone within her clan. Now, competing for favor, she fared far worse than Xu Zishu, who was also surrounded by numerous rivals.
Xu Zishu was deeply favored. She no longer showed Xu Ziluo her former deference, and Xu Ziluo found herself obstructed at every turn, grinding her teeth with fury.
Only then did she remember Zhuang Wei.
At this point, Xu Ziqing could not help sighing.
Once Xu Ziluo remembered him, his friend would surely devote himself wholeheartedly to her affairs.
And that was exactly what happened.
Xu Ziluo began using Zhuang Wei to her advantage. She even seized a moment when her Foundation Establishment patron was in a good mood and arranged for Zhuang Wei to be transferred into the inner sect as a servant.
Ordinarily, however low his position, being in the inner sect should have been far better than remaining outside. For Zhuang Wei, though, it marked the beginning of everything that followed.
Xu Ziluo had many covert tasks she wanted him to perform.
If Zhuang Wei succeeded, she could eliminate her rivals. If he failed, she could hand him over and deny any involvement.
Zhuang Wei was no fool and understood this vicious calculation perfectly well. Yet even knowing it, he could not refuse every request she made.
Thus, during that period, Zhuang Wei did a great deal for Xu Ziluo. The one thing he absolutely refused was to commit deeds that violated all conscience or took innocent lives, and this left Xu Ziluo deeply dissatisfied. If all she needed was someone to run errands and collect information, what use was a confidant as utterly loyal as Zhuang Wei?
As time passed, Xu Ziluo found him increasingly disagreeable.
Zhuang Wei labored to serve her, yet could never satisfy her. He suffered no small amount of inner conflict.
After so long, it almost became a heart demon. Although his cultivation had risen rapidly to the ninth level of Qi Refining during his time in the outer sect, he made not the slightest progress thereafter.
That alone showed the depth of his torment.
Later, news reached the inner-sect disciples.
In a remote area of the rear mountain of their fifth-grade sect, a spatial rift had unexpectedly opened. Violent storms raged within, but treasures were sometimes swept out by the wind. Some were superb spiritual herbs, others high-grade magical treasures whose radiance had dimmed, and still others rare materials of heaven and earth. When people picked them up and examined them, they were invariably valuable enough to inspire greed.
The entire sect was thrown into an uproar.
Because the rift sometimes expelled the bodies of powerful demon beasts that had died of severe injuries, it became known as the Five-Demon Blessed Land, a place countless disciples longed to explore.
Yet although treasures evidently filled the blessed land, the storms were too fierce. Anyone who ventured in recklessly might never emerge alive. Informing other sects would mean losing exclusive possession, and if a large sect came to compete for it, how could a mere fifth-grade sect secure any worthwhile benefits? They might not even get a taste of the rewards.
After internal discussions, the sect settled upon a plan.
They would offer generous rewards to induce low-aptitude outer-sect disciples, servants, and similar people to enter first, scout the route, and establish a teleportation formation so that those following them could enter safely.
But regardless of the rewards, anyone with a little sense hesitated to gamble their life.
After all, this was a sect devoted to the immortal path. It could not simply force its disciples to go, lest it provoke trouble.
Eventually the sect made a further promise. Anyone who voluntarily entered the spatial rift and returned safely could become an inner-sect disciple. Those who did not return could designate the place for a relative or friend in advance, regardless of that person’s identity or aptitude, and the sect would not renege.
This announcement immediately caused a sensation.
Even serious injury seemed a small price compared with a place in the inner sect. Life in the outer sect was a waste of years anyway. Better to stake one’s life on the chance of a better future.
Others hoped to secure the opportunity for their family members, and they too watched the offer closely.
Within a short time, dozens volunteered.
At this point in his story, Zhuang Wei smiled bitterly.
Xu Ziqing asked softly, “Did Xu Ziluo ask you to go?”
Zhuang Wei’s expression was calm now. He nodded.
Upon hearing about the offer, Xu Ziluo had nearly gone mad with excitement.
By then Xu Zishu had suppressed her thoroughly. But if she herself could become an inner-sect disciple, would she not be able to put Xu Zishu in her place? She would even possess the status needed to seek formal Dao companionship with her Foundation Establishment patron.
She soon sought out Zhuang Wei.
At the time, Zhuang Wei had grown increasingly disillusioned. He would rather enter the rift than continue carrying out tasks that went against his conscience, so he agreed at once.
But seeing Xu Ziluo beside herself with joy left him deeply bitter.
Rather than saying that Zhuang Wei loved the woman Xu Ziluo had become, it would be more accurate to say that he had been devoted to the young lady of the Xu clan who had saved his life in childhood and taught him to read and write. Later, when Xu Ziluo’s temperament changed so drastically, he had certainly been disappointed. Yet whenever he recalled the past, he could not help protecting her. When he looked at the spoiled, domineering girl, the person in his heart was still the gentle figure who had spent those years with him.
Now that he had become so utterly disheartened, he felt that never returning from the rift would be preferable to facing a Miss Ziluo who had changed beyond recognition.
The sect gathered the volunteers before the spatial rift.
Zhuang Wei leaped into it. Though he knew he would likely be torn to pieces, he did not look back and felt not the slightest remaining attachment.
Within the spatial rift, he saw many of those who had entered with him shredded by the storms. Zhuang Wei’s cultivation was the highest among them, and he forced his spiritual energy outside his body to shield himself with all his might.
Amazingly, he managed to find several gaps in the violent currents and struggled to survive.
A fierce gust swept him along. His vision abruptly cleared, and he landed on solid ground.
Ordinarily, that would have counted as excellent fortune. But just as he made out what seemed to be a secret realm around him, a foul wind rushed toward him. From its power, he realized that a vicious fourth-rank demon beast was lunging at him with open jaws!
A fourth-rank demon beast was comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How could Zhuang Wei fight it? His spiritual energy was almost exhausted, with scarcely a tenth remaining, and he devoted every last scrap to fleeing.
Zhuang Wei was not a coward. Having struggled so hard to survive the storm, he had no wish to die. He fled with all his strength, but the beast pursued him relentlessly, toying with him like a cat tormenting a mouse.
If he could have escaped by running, matters would not have been so dire. Unfortunately, after only a short while, the beast lost interest in the chase. With a sweep of its long tail it cut off Zhuang Wei’s path, then knocked him down and pounced. Several deep cuts opened across his legs and back, blood staining the ground and his face turning deathly pale.
Zhuang Wei still struggled to escape, but at last the fourth-rank demon beast pinned him firmly down. Its hideous jaws opened, ready to bite.
At that very moment, through his blurred vision, Zhuang Wei seemed to glimpse the hem of a purple robe drifting past in the distance.
Desperate to survive, he summoned the strength to cry for help. He had little hope, but it was his final attempt.
The next instant, the fourth-rank demon beast collapsed heavily. Its enormous weight crushed against Zhuang Wei’s chest, making him cough up blood. Yet he knew that the owner of the purple robe had truly saved his life.
From unrequited longing and endless torment to utter despair, followed by one terrifying ordeal after another.
Zhuang Wei had truly suffered a great deal throughout those experiences, enduring so much pain.
Hearing this much, Xu Ziqing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Without needing to think, he said, “The person who saved you must have been Palace Master Yuezheng.”
The last trace of heaviness vanished from Zhuang Wei’s face, replaced by a relaxed smile. “Yes. It was Hezhi.”
Only then did Xu Ziqing understand how Yuezheng Hezhi and Zhuang Wei had met again. Zhuang Wei had become utterly disillusioned with Xu Ziluo, only for Yuezheng Hezhi to save his life. It was not surprising that, over time, his affection had shifted to his rescuer.
Yet Xu Ziqing vaguely felt that the story could not be quite so simple.
Sure enough, Zhuang Wei continued, “I assumed that when I woke, I would have been abandoned somewhere. I never expected to open my eyes and see Hezhi.”