Moonlight Mystique

Chapter Fifty-One

Er Yun, who had suddenly been used as a human shield by Bai Shuo, turned pale with shock. Dumbfounded, she spun around to glare at Bai Shuo. "Wh-wh-what are you doing?!"

"Wh-wh-what's it to you?" Bai Shuo retorted mockingly, mimicking her stammer. "Why panic? You've got nine lives anyway—it's not like you'll die from a stab!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Er Yun froze, then turned to Chong Zhao in a fluster. "Senior Brother, save me...!"

Chong Zhao stared at Er Yun with a strange expression, his face darkening as he suddenly drew his Sword and pointed it at her. "Who are you? Where is Er Yun?"

The delicate expression on "Er Yun's" face stiffened. She turned back to Bai Shuo and asked with amusement, "This fool spent days with me and never noticed. And we were supposed to be close senior brother and junior sister! How did you, a Daoist, figure it out?"

"Easy," Bai Shuo said, taking a step back. "I knew you were an impostor the first time I saw you at the inn."

"Oh? Why?"

"Because the ones who've been close day and night are me and Er Yun, not him." Bai Shuo shrugged and blinked. "Didn't expect that, did you, little fox? I'm also from that backwater place called Piaomiao."

"Er Yun" looked speechless, but before she could respond, Nan Wan blurted out, "You're the fox demon Mu Jiu!"

"Ah, busted." Mu Jiu pouted, looking displeased. Ignoring the tense atmosphere, he instead fixed his gaze on Bai Shuo. "Little Daoist, how did you guess my identity?"

Bai Shuo hesitated, scratching his head. "That's... hard to explain."

Seeing Bai Shuo's reaction, Mu Jiu—still wearing Er Yun's face—looked unbearably curious. "Come on, tell me!"

"Well... last night, I got up to use the outhouse and happened to run into you."

Everyone froze, their expressions turning odd.

Bai Shuo, however, showed no embarrassment and spread his hands. "Since you're a man and skilled in transformation, you could only be from the fox clan. They say Mu Jiu, the fox demon, loves excitement—how could you miss a grand event like the Wutong Martial Banquet in the Three Realms?"

Mu Jiu studied Bai Shuo's frank expression and suddenly grinned. "Ah, how did such a clever and adorable girl like you come from that backwater Piaomiao? You're truly delightful..."

As Mu Jiu moved closer to Bai Shuo, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his collar and yanked him aside. Mu Jiu turned to see an overly powdered face, startling him into retreating several steps before leaping behind Chong Zhao and pointing at Hua Da Tie. "Ugh, so ugly! Senior Brother, I'm scared!"

Chong Zhao's temple twitched, his voice icy. "Where is Er Yun?"

"Relax, she's sleeping outside the city," Mu Jiu rolled his eyes, emerging from behind Chong Zhao—now transformed into a red-clad youth.

The young man was strikingly handsome, with fox-like eyes that seemed to charm the world, though his face bore a roguish, irreverent smirk.

Hands on his hips, he glared at Bai Shuo and jerked his chin toward the silent Drunk Old Man. "That madman wants to kill you—why use me as a shield?!"

Amid Mu Jiu's antics, everyone had nearly forgotten the main issue.

Bai Shuo sighed. "Senior Rong Xian harbors hatred for both clans. If there's any kindness or remorse left in his heart, it's probably only for the fox clan.""Remorse?" Mu Jiu let out a derisive snort, casting a mocking glance at Rong Xian. "Well, well, Rong Xian, I never thought you'd still be alive. A scoundrel like you—who betrays trust, abandons love, covets power, and deserts his wife and child—has no right to speak of remorse!"

When it came to insults, the Fox Clan truly reigned supreme across the Three Realms.

"Enough of your nonsense!" Before the Drunk Old Man could speak, Bei Chen, who had remained silent until now, suddenly stepped forward, pointing his sword at Mu Jiu with a cold expression.

"Oh, the loyal dog defends his master!" Mu Jiu spat. "Bei Chen, you Sword Cultivators of Kunlun sure have peculiar tastes. Even when he tried to kill you, you still grovel at the feet of your former Sect Leader's wrinkled old—"

"You!"

The Fox Clan's Young Lord possessed peerless beauty, but his words were utterly unrestrained, making them unbearable to hear. Even someone as composed as Bei Chen nearly drew his sword in fury.

"Demon Lord Mu Jiu!" Bai Shuo interjected suddenly. "Don't you find it strange?"

Mu Jiu was in the midst of his tirade but still managed to respond smoothly, "What's strange?"

"If Senior Rong Xian truly were the kind of man who would abandon his wife and child for power, why did he suffer Qi Deviation a thousand years ago and slaughter his entire sect? And why, when he struck against the immortal sects a thousand years later, did he spare you alone?"

"I…" Mu Jiu faltered, frowning in agitation. "How the hell should I know!"

"Since you don’t know, why not ask?" Bai Shuo turned to Rong Xian. "Senior Rong Xian, what really happened a thousand years ago?"

Since Mu Jiu's identity had been exposed, the Drunk Old Man had kept his head lowered, as if the surrounding chaos had nothing to do with him. Even when Bai Shuo spoke up for him and posed the question directly, he merely cast a cold glance at the group. After a moment, Rong Xian said nothing and turned to walk toward the thatched hut.

Mu Jiu waited, but no answer came. The mischief in his eyes vanished, replaced by a surge of Killing Intent. "Rong Xian, you treacherous dog! Return the lives of my Fox Clan ancestors!"

A fiery red wheel materialized in Mu Jiu's palm. This wheel resembled the Divine Artifact, the Wheel of Annihilation, which had accompanied the Yao Emperor Hong Yi into the Divine Realm. Before his Ascension, the Yao Emperor had forged a similar Spiritual Artifact for the Fox Clan.

The Lesser Wheel of Annihilation shot from Mu Jiu's hand, hurtling toward Rong Xian's back. Rong Xian neither dodged nor turned around. Just as the wheel was about to strike, a sword flashed out, deflecting it.

"Bei Chen!" Mu Jiu fumed. "I'll kill you first!"

"The fault of those events does not lie with the Sect Leader. If you seek vengeance for the Fox Clan, direct it at Kunlun!" Bei Chen stood firm, sword in hand, shielding Rong Xian.

The hunched figure walking toward the hut paused and stopped.

A thousand miles away, on the Phoenix Isle of Wutong.

Under the cold autumn moon, Song Feng sat cross-legged on a meditation mat in a secluded pavilion, his face pale as he focused on healing his wounds.

Suddenly, a paper crane flew through the window and landed in his palm.

"A message from the sect?"

Song Feng frowned as he unfolded the crane, his expression darkening.

"That wretched disciple!"

He coughed violently.

Even after having his Golden Core shattered and being imprisoned in the Frozen Ice Cavern, that traitor had still managed to escape from Piaomiao! It was clear he had ties to the Yao Race—who knew what calamities he might bring in the future!

Song Feng sighed deeply, his face heavy with worry.

Back in the nameless mountain, beneath the silent moonlight, Bai Shuo sighed softly.

"Senior, if you were willing to abandon your position as Kunlun's Sect Leader for Clan Chief Linglong, why would you return to Kunlun for power? What really happened back then?""Immortal and Yao, a love forbidden by the Three Realms." A hoarse voice suddenly spoke before the thatched hut. "Yet I met Linglong."

Rong Xian finally spoke, turning toward the three graves.

"Kunlun's Sword Cultivator, the Dao of Heartlessness—who could have imagined that the first to break the iron law of the Three Realms would be a disciple of Kunlun?"

Rong Xian stopped before the rightmost grave, his hand resting on the weathered, nameless tombstone.

"I promised Linglong I would never meddle in the affairs of the Three Realms again, living in seclusion with her in the wildlands. We had Xin'er, and those days were the most peaceful and joyful of my life. For her sake, even if it meant defying the Heavenly Dao, I have no regrets."

"Nonsense! What do you mean, no regrets? If you truly had none, why did you kill her with your own hands?!" Mu Jiu roared.

The man before the grave fell silent once more.

"That was not the Sect Leader's intention!" Bei Chen suddenly interjected. "It was Kunlun who killed Clan Chief Linglong, not Sect Leader Rong Xian."

Bei Chen's words struck like a thunderbolt, stunning everyone. Mu Jiu's furious tirade was cut short. "Bullshit! A thousand years ago on the battlefield, witnessed by thousands—it was clearly him—"

"At that time, the Sect Leader no longer recognized Clan Chief Linglong." Bei Chen interrupted Mu Jiu, as if steeling himself, and spoke slowly to the group.

"A thousand years ago, the conflict between the two races escalated. The previous Sect Leader was gravely wounded by the Yao Emperor. Kunlun has guarded the immortal-Yao barrier for generations, but with the old Sect Leader nearing his end and no worthy successor in sight, Kunlun's decline was inevitable. In desperation, the old Sect Leader used the power of his Primordial Spirit to summon Sect Leader Rong Xian back to the mountain."

"He returned?"

Bei Chen looked at Rong Xian's back. "The Sword Cultivator lineage of Kunlun is passed down to a single heir. The old Sect Leader had only one true disciple—how could the Sect Leader not return?"

Bei Chen paused.

"What exactly happened after Senior Rong Xian returned to Kunlun?" Bai Shuo couldn't help but ask.

"He refused to inherit the Sect Leader's position, insisting on returning to the wildlands. The old Sect Leader, left with no choice to preserve Kunlun's thousand-year Legacy, joined forces with the five Elders to forcibly transfer their spiritual power to the Sect Leader and Seal away all his memories of Clan Chief Linglong."

"What did you say?" Mu Jiu was stunned.

"When the Sect Leader awoke, the old Sect Leader had already perished. The Elders told him the old Sect Leader had died at the hands of the Yao Emperor. Consumed by grief and rage, the Sect Leader led Kunlun's Disciples into the Yao Realm..." Bei Chen sighed softly. "The Sect Leader remembered nothing of Clan Chief Linglong. Driven by the pain of loss, he slaughtered the Yao Race without mercy—yet the ones who came to face him were the fox tribe..."

In that battle, Rong Xian slaughtered a hundred fox tribesmen in the Yao Realm—nearly all of them Linglong's blood kin.

At the time, Linglong was still waiting in the wildlands for Rong Xian's return. With their Clan Chief gone, the fox tribe was defenseless. It wasn't until the fox tribe's Elder sent word to the wildlands, pleading for Linglong to return, that she learned the man she had waited half a year for had become Kunlun's Sect Leader—and was now exterminating her people.

Linglong refused to believe Rong Xian would abandon his wife and child. She took their infant daughter and left the wildlands to confront him. But that journey marked the beginning of tragedy...

"When Clan Chief Linglong learned of her tribe's suffering, she rushed back from the wildlands with her child. At the immortal-Yao barrier, she found Sect Leader Rong Xian. But the Sect Leader didn't recognize her. Forced to act as her people suffered, Linglong fought him. Yet during their battle—"

Bei Chen's voice faltered. The man before the grave, hearing this, clutched the tombstone with trembling hands.Bai Shuo's heart skipped a beat. "The child!... Did something happen to the child?"

Bei Chen closed his eyes and spoke hoarsely, "The Sect Leader could see nothing but vengeance in that moment. In the heat of battle, he accidentally struck the child in Clan Chief Linglong's arms."

At that time, Rong Xian had already reached the Peak of the Upper Realm and had inherited the spiritual power of the old Sect Leader of Kunlun and the five Elders. The result of his Sword strike landing on an infant was unimaginable!

"Clan Chief Linglong, overwhelmed with grief and fury, saw her child die a tragic death. She threw herself upon the Sect Leader's immortal Sword and perished on the spot." Bei Chen shut his eyes, as if witnessing that horrific scene from a thousand years ago, his grip tightening on the Kunlun longsword.

"But at that very moment, the blood of the child and Clan Chief Linglong broke the Seal on the Sect Leader."

No words could have carried more weight. The gathered crowd before the tomb held their breath, their gazes turning toward the aged figure standing before the grave.

"How could the old Sect Leader of Kunlun commit such a cruel act?!" Bai Shuo murmured.

The moment the Seal was broken, Rong Xian saw the tragic deaths of his wife and child. Such a harrowing sight—who in this world could bear it?