Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 112 - The End of the Story (1)

The aftermath lay bare before everyone.

The shark demons, the black mist, all disappeared, leaving only the cold silence of the night and the distant surging of the waves in the Western Sea.

Princess Lizhu collapsed softly, and a maid exclaimed, rushing over to help her up. The guards of the palace emerged from the White Jade Palace, shielding the King of Li’er behind them.

The King hesitated, “Immortal Senior.”

Gu Baiying glanced at him, “It’s finished.”

Everything was over.

The day the secret realm opened was supposed to be an exciting and anticipated night, but who could have thought it would end so bleakly. Perhaps it was because Yin Ying had revealed the shameful secrets of the royal family forty years ago in front of all the cultivators, leaving the King unable to face others. After hastily instructing the guards to escort the injured cultivators back, he was escorted back to the palace.

Princess Lizhu was also sent away from the imperial mausoleum.

Those injured cultivators who couldn’t walk were helped away by fellow disciples or servants from the palace, while the remaining ones who could still walk left in groups of two or three. Tonight, the Starry Sky Terrace was destroyed, and with so many unexpected events, the secret realm could only be opened on another day.

Tian Fangfang put away his axe, his body adorned with injuries. He limped over to Zanxing and Gu Baiying, asking, “Junior Sister, where do we go now?”

Zanxing looked at Gu Baiying, and Gu Baiying replied, “Back.”

“Back where? To the palace?”

Gu Baiying glared at him, “To Xian Xun Hai!”

Tian Fangfang nodded in understanding. Meanwhile, Meng Ying and Mu Cengxiao also approached, followed by Men Dong dragging Mimi behind them. During the battle with the shark demon, this duo had been hiding behind the pillars of the Starry Sky Terrace and hadn’t been harmed at all.

Meng Ying looked at Zanxing, “Junior Sister Yang, when you let the shark demon’s soul possess you just now, did you feel any discomfort?”

Zanxing shook her head, “Nothing, I’m fine.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her palm. The pain swept through her brain in an instant, and Zanxing blacked out, knowing nothing further.

The wind slipped through the window crack, kissing the face of the person on the couch.

When Zanxing woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

She sat up, her head still heavy. Mimi jumped onto the table with a meow, startling the person who was dozing off at the table.

“You’re awake?” Men Dong stood up and walked to the bedside. The child, with two lotus buns on his head, solemnly checked her pulse and said, “You’re fine now. Take a couple more doses of medicine later, and you’ll be back to normal.”

Zanxing asked, “What happened to me?”

“How dare you ask,” Men Dong scolded her. “With your little cultivation, you dared to let the soul of a demon possess you. Luckily, I was there, or you would have been in big trouble this time. Remember, from now on, I’m your lifesaver.”

Zanxing pinched his face, “Okay, lifesaver, thank you.”

Men Dong’s face was squished into a mess, and he angrily swatted Zanxing’s hand away, pouting, “Don’t touch my face!”

Zanxing got out of bed, put on her shoes, looked around, and asked, “Where are the others?”

“Senior Martial Uncle and Martial Brother Tian went to the palace. The King asked the cultivators to reconsider the date for opening the secret realm. Senior Sister Meng and Senior Brother Mu are practicing in the next room. They were both injured last night, so they need to recover their qi quickly.”

Mu Cengxiao and Meng Ying were always the top students of the Taiyan Sect, very diligent. Zanxing wasn’t surprised.

She opened her hand, looking down at her palm.

The woman’s hand was fair, slender, with calluses often formed at the fingertips from gripping a staff. But on the palm, the red, flower-like mark was noticeably deeper than before.

Zanxing’s heart sank.

She had changed the plot again, causing a warning from the original storyline. But since stepping into Li’er Country, she had never taken any initiative. Could it be because of Yin Li? Because of Yin Li’s soul possession, she briefly comprehended the Fire Tree and Silver Flowers technique during the battle with Yin Ying, thereby defeating him and stealing the limelight that should have belonged to Mu Cengxiao? But at that time, Mu Cengxiao didn’t seem to intend to exert any effort.

Seeing Zanxing’s heavy expression, Men Dong asked strangely, “What’s wrong with you? Why do you look so awful?”

Zanxing collected her thoughts and smiled, “It’s nothing.”

She walked to the window and opened it wide. The large window of Xian Xun Hai faced the Western Sea, with boundless azure skies and seemingly endless blue sea. The sunlight was dazzling, and the redwoods were gentle and charming.

Everything was no different from a hundred years ago.

But Zanxing knew that the shark demon clan, who would sing only on sunny days, and the boy who would climb onto the rocks on moonlit nights to bask in the moonlight, would never appear again.

He had disappeared forever with the cargo ship from forty years ago, vanishing into the depths of the Western Sea.

Tian Fangfang’s voice came from downstairs, “Junior Sister, you just got out of bed, don’t expose yourself to the wind, be careful not to catch a cold!”

Zanxing glanced sideways and saw Tian Fangfang and Gu Baiying walking upstairs from the courtyard below. Gu Baiying still had that indifferent expression, while Tian Fangfang looked as if he had hit the jackpot, smiling almost as sweetly as if he had found a treasure.

After they both went upstairs and returned to the room, Zanxing asked, “Why is Senior Brother so happy? Did something good happen?”

Tian Fangfang gestured for Zanxing to come closer, then pulled something out of his pocket and slapped it into Zanxing’s hand with a smack, saying, “I’m splitting it with you, don’t say Senior Brother isn’t generous!”

Zanxing looked down and saw a golden arrowhead in her hand.

“What is this?” She paused. “Why does it look somewhat familiar?”

“Take a closer look.”

Zanxing focused and suddenly realized. Wasn’t this the arrowhead from the golden statue of the ‘Warrior Killing the Shark Demon’ by the Western Sea? Zanxing had marveled at it before, thinking that Li’er Country must be wealthy to display such a large piece of gold outside without fear of it being stolen at night along with the statue.

Now, it was obvious that someone had broken off the arrowhead. Zanxing looked at Tian Fangfang. “Senior Brother, did you take this arrowhead off and steal it?”

“Nonsense, how can you call it stealing? It’s picking up,” Tian Fangfang justified himself. “Besides, it’s not like I broke it.”

“Then who broke it, risking their life?”

Tian Fangfang glanced at Gu Baiying.

Zanxing was surprised. Gu Baiying didn’t seem like someone who would take advantage of such things.

Gu Baiying raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been eyeing that statue for a while, it was just the right time to smash it.”

Zanxing: “?”

“We were passing by the statue near the Western Sea on our way back from the palace,” Tian Fangfang chuckled. “We happened to see two kids spitting on the head of the shark demon statue. I scolded them, but those stubborn kids didn’t listen and insisted that the shark demons were despicable. Later…”

Later, Gu Baiying, impatient with the situation, directly smashed the statue with his Xiu Gu Spear.

The kids, realizing they had caused trouble, quickly ran away to avoid being caught. Tian Fangfang, feeling sorry to see the gold go to waste, picked up all the pieces and put them in his Qiankun Bag.