Suspended Fate Valley ran straight and deep, cutting across a thousand mountains and a hundred peaks. The water veins of every mountain and river converged into it, forming a ceaselessly rushing great river.
On both banks, the crevices of the raised stone shoals brimmed with overflow, and blue-black waterweeds crept across the rocks, waiting for the rainy season to come.
Following the Sword Spirit's guidance, An Jing walked deep into Suspended Fate Valley.
The mist thickened.
Ink-colored vapor pervaded the valley, laying a faint haze over the surface of the sandy rock walls. The river surged out from the deep darkness, masking his footsteps.
Legend held that this place was where a Sword Immortal had once slain a demon during the great calamity of ancient times. Over the long, endless years, the sword qi and demonic qi that had once crisscrossed heaven and earth had been worn away, hiding themselves within the mountains, rivers, and earth veins.
“It’s just ahead.”
The Sword Spirit's voice rang out in his mind. The protagonist of that very legend was now within An Jing—a power wrapped around his whole body, easily pushing aside all that ink-colored demonic qi, so that at most he felt only faint threads of chill.
“Fuxie, where are my junior brothers and sisters now? Are they well?”
“They're around the Altar, in one of the hundred sword-sacrifice caves of that era. Doing just fine,” the Sword Spirit answered, and An Jing felt slightly eased.
That Bai Qinghan had left with a quarter of all the survivors, and with almost every one of those whose Destiny Pattern had awakened, shook him considerably—but it wasn't beyond comprehension.
Great Chen's inaction in the Northern Frontier truly was very... very much not human.
But he also understood clearly that no matter how terrifying or wicked a rotting dynasty was, in the end it was still a little more reasonable than the Demon Sect, which ate people outright.
...Maybe? Ugh, dammit, why are they all so rotten! Two lumps of filth and dogshit—how can you even compare which is filthier!
Honestly, An Jing didn't want to choose either side, but things had come to this, so he could only observe and proceed with caution.
At least before the Frost Calamity, the people of the Northern Frontier had not lived in hardship; one could even call it orderly. Now and then there was even news of the sage ruler striving to govern the realm well... He didn't know what exactly had happened, either—how Great Chen, once in its prime and thriving, had suddenly decayed into its present state.
An Jing didn't want to blame those junior brothers and sisters who had chosen the Demon Sect either—in the Demon Sect, an ordinary Child of Calamity would most likely meet a bad end, but Bai Qinghan and the other awakened ones would not; they would surely become mid- to upper-level managers.
Such status was far better than drifting and wandering through Great Chen. Choosing the Demon Sect was only human.
He simply didn't want Bai Qinghan to have done anything to Gu Yeqi, Cang Linzu, and the others before leaving.
Thankfully, she hadn't.
“Brother Jing!”
When An Jing, following the Sword Spirit's guidance, reached the depths of the valley—a cave mouth hidden beneath a massive boulder—he saw a graceful figure pacing outside, glancing anxiously toward the entrance of Suspended Fate Valley.
Upon catching sight of An Jing, Gu Yeqi's eyes lit up, and she hurried forward at once, letting out a breath of relief. “You're finally back... Huh, didn't Qinghan and the others come back with you, big brother?”
She had no idea when Bai Qinghan and the others had left, and assumed they had stayed behind at the outer perimeter on purpose to cover for An Jing.
“...They chose the other side.”
An Jing opened his mouth. Gazing at the girl who was still looking past him, waiting for the figure of her “best friend,” he paused for a moment, then still told her the truth: “I killed Manor Lord Yao. But Qinghan still chose the Demon Sect... She left with the others and the remaining Instructors.”
“What?” Hearing this, Gu Yeqi's eyes went wide, and she cried out in disbelief. “You killed the Manor Lord?”
At her outcry, Cang Linzu and the other Children of Calamity—who had heard An Jing's footsteps and come out of the cave—were equally stunned. “Eldest Senior Brother, you killed the Manor Lord?!”
“Your strength... is actually this strong?!”
“Isn't that beside the point?” An Jing was briefly struck speechless with exasperation. He'd never expected this bunch to care not the slightest about Bai Qinghan and the others leaving, and instead be so full of admiration for his strength.
But on second thought, it made sense. The Children of Calamity had basically had their values reshaped. If Bai Qinghan left, then she left—who among them hadn't watched a good friend get eliminated partway through training? And now that they knew the truth, dying partway through was nothing unusual either.
They had long since grown used to loss, so instead they revered power all the more.
“It's a good thing, I suppose. At least Qinghan awakened her Destiny Pattern...”
Apart from Gu Yeqi, who looked somewhat dejected toward the valley entrance, saddened at losing yet another considerate friend, the others were quite indifferent.
This was what “demon” truly meant. The mo of indifference. The mo of silence.
Though they had left the Demon Sect, the thinking of these junior brothers and sisters had yet to turn around... Rather, An Jing had realized that the reason they were willing to betray the Demon Sect—apart from the sect's own cold ruthlessness and its cruel killing of friends—was, at its core, that they believed in him more.
It wasn't that they truly understood An Jing's anger; it was only that An Jing was rebelling, so they rebelled along with him.
“Don't grieve too much. Before she left, she also asked me to tell you she's sorry... Everyone has their own path.”
Composing himself, An Jing consoled Gu Yeqi, then instructed everyone, “You all still need to wait here a while.”
“The manor's guards are still fighting the Red Armored Guards. Great Chen's troops can't tell whether we're innocent or Demon Sect folk. Until things settle down, don't act rashly.”
“If Great Chen's side turns out not to be good people either, I'll find a chance to slip away. There aren't many fierce beasts around Suspended Fate Valley, and there are some villages too. I'm confident I can keep you all alive.”
This was no empty boast. An Jing now counted as a Martial Artist as well, and he had firearm ammunition. The Children of Calamity were all strong and sturdy, versed in Martial Skill and cooperation. As long as they kept out of sight—and given that An Jing had the Sword Spirit's help and guidance—they could live safely around the great mountains for a time.
“Big brother...” Cang Linzu frowned the moment he heard this. “Are you going to do something alone again? Can you take me with you? I can still be of some use!”
“It's too dangerous. Your strength really is good, but you haven't reached the Inner Breath yet, so you don't qualify to act alongside me.”
Cang Linzu was something of a genius too; his strength already neared the Inner Breath realm. And had it not been for An Jing's own influence weakening the calamity of the demonic qi, he, like Gu Yeqi, would have had a seventy to eighty percent chance of awakening a Destiny Pattern.
So An Jing patiently explained, “Deep inside the manor in the eastern hills, there's a dungeon. There are still quite a few junior brothers and sisters in there who were eliminated but haven't yet been ‘dealt with’ by the Demon Sect. I have to go see how they're faring—the manor's caught fire, and with no one to rescue them, they'll likely be burned alive.”
“Once I confirm you're all in decent shape, I'll get moving and go rescue the others.”
An Jing gave a few more instructions, reassured all the Children of Calamity, and then turned and left.
Gu Yeqi and Cang Linzu both knew that An Jing's word was final, so naturally they didn't try to keep him back. Instead, acting as An Jing's deputies, they tended to the wounded companions and cleaned their injuries.
The Sword Spirit had been right. The Altar lay right beside the cave where the Children of Calamity were, within another ‘fissure’ hidden by the river rocks and waterweeds.
This fissure was wholly natural. At a glance it looked like one of the cracks common to any rock face, but that was an illusion—it was exceedingly narrow at its mouth, then gradually widened, forming a natural passage.
On both sides of the passage were some ancient murals. Most of their contents had been washed clean by the river water that surged up from time to time, but An Jing could still roughly make out that they told the story of an immortal who rid the world of demons and guarded the myriad people.
In ancient times, Huaixu had befallen a great calamity. From high above the Nine Heavens, countless Extramundane Demons descended upon the world. They brought strife, disaster, and destruction, toppling nations, unbalancing the wind and rain across the land, wiping out myriad tribes, and setting countless people to hating and battling one another in war without end.
To stand against the Extramundane Demons, the immortals and gods who had once ascended to the heavens all returned to the mortal world, leading all the living beings of the human world to resist them.
And among them was one immortal god who, wielding a green-bladed longsword, carried out the work of subduing demons and quelling the wicked.
Chapter 44