After Saving the Immortal Sect, I Became a Heartthrob - Chapter 26

“Master!!”

Lan Jue and Zhong Ming knelt on the edge of Wuji Cliff, watching Shen Mu’s figure disappear completely into the darkness, their cries of agony echoing through the air above.

“Shen Mu… is he actually dead?”

Xiao Wangyou said this with a trembling voice, intending to take a step forward, but before he could move, a sword light surged directly toward his face.

“You beast! I’m going to kill you!” Zhong Ming’s eyes flashed with fierce light, his sword stance carrying the force of ten thousand jun!

Xiao Wangyou was momentarily stunned, but the black-clad cultivator behind him reacted immediately, raising his sword to block.

He chanted the Chaos Mantra silently, striking Zhong Ming directly in the chest!

“Pfft!”

The black-clad cultivator’s cultivation was above the Exit Aperture stage, and this blow, delivered with full force, instantly made Zhong Ming spit out a mouthful of blood!

“Little Junior Brother!” Lan Jue cried out, and his Forgetfulness Sword flew out like lightning, forcing the black-clad cultivator back.

He supported Zhong Ming with one hand and held his sword with the other. His gaze toward Xiao Wangyou was as sharp as a blade, wishing he could cut him into a thousand pieces with his eyes: “Xiao Wangyou! You keep insisting that Master is the true killer behind your clan’s annihilation, but the Phoenix Plume you used to convict him was clearly a gift from our Second Junior Brother to him as an apprenticeship offering!”

“If you want revenge, you should go find the Gu clan! You fool, to be this dim-witted and cause my Master to fall!!”

Xiao Wangyou’s pupils contracted, his face filled with horror.

“No! This… this is impossible! How could it be the Gu clan…”

He took a step backward, stumbling as if about to collapse to the ground.

“Master saved your life, and not only are you not grateful, but you’ve also harmed him to this extent!” Lan Jue held his sword across his chest, his spiritual power surging, and the water vapor in the air suddenly expanded violently.

“Die!”

Lan Jue flew forward, and the black-clad cultivator immediately raised his sword to resist. Amidst the clashing sword intents, waves of spiritual power erupted.

The two previously wounded black-clad cultivators saw Lan Jue engaging their leader and Xiao Wangyou standing pale and stunned, so after a moment of consideration, they still picked up their weapons and stabbed toward Lan Jue’s back!

“Stop—!” Xiao Wangyou noticed their movements and let out another shout.

Zhong Ming, who had been coughing up blood on the ground, felt his pupils tremble at the sight, and he raised his sword to strike!

Boom—

The spiritual power of several people collided. Zhong Ming intercepted one person, but the other still attacked Lan Jue!

Lan Jue caught a glimpse of the approaching blade light and moved to defend, but the black-clad cultivator seized the opening, delivering a punch squarely to his chest!

“Cough!” Lan Jue vomited blood and immediately rolled backward.

Seeing his Little Junior Brother and Senior Brother injured one after another, Gu Congxing felt his already sorrow-stricken heart surge with boundless rage.

Damn it! Where on earth did these Exit Aperture stage cultivators come from!

The Kong clan had already been wiped out; where had Xiao Wangyou found these henchmen?

Watching the black-clad cultivators prepare to strike Lan Jue and Zhong Ming again, Xiao Wangyou leaped out, blocking them: “Enough! Don’t kill them!”

The leader of the black shadows immediately said: “Young Master! They know our identities; if we don’t eliminate them now, there will be endless trouble!”

“Shut up! Don’t forget that I am your Young Master!” Xiao Wangyou retorted sternly. “If what Shen Mu and Lan Jue say is true, then we have sought the wrong revenge! We’ve killed the wrong person!!”

“Shen Mu is already dead; do you want us to continue down the wrong path?!”

He roared, causing the black-clad cultivators to fall into a stunned silence.

After a moment, one of the severely wounded cultivators whispered: “The isolation formation we set up is nearly at its end. In a few moments, the outside world will sense the disturbance here.”

Xiao Wangyou clicked his tongue. He scanned the Wuji Cliff, then summoned a dazzling, radiant Heaven-tier magical treasure—the Map of Shattered Carriages.

He unfurled the map and said to the people behind him: “Withdraw!”

The two wounded black-clad cultivators leaped into the map, and in the blink of an eye, their figures vanished.

“Don’t run!”

Seeing them fleeing, Zhong Ming tried to get up to chase them, but the Chaos Mantra he had been hit with earlier caused his blood and qi to surge again.

“Xiao! Wang! You!” Lan Jue’s lips overflowed with blood as he called out Xiao Wangyou’s name, word by word, fierce light burning in his eyes.

Xiao Wangyou’s brows were knitted tightly, but the black shadow leader chanted a mantra, striking Lan Jue and Zhong Ming with two more bolts of spiritual power!

“You! I told you not to—”

“Hey, Young Master, look closely, I only temporarily wiped their memories of today. Otherwise, when the Qingxuan Sword Sect comes hunting, will you and I be able to escape?”

“…Hmph!”

Xiao Wangyou turned, and together with the black-clad leader, stepped into the scroll.

The Map of Shattered Carriages slowly closed in the air, finally disappearing into a ripple in the air like a drop of water falling into the sea, leaving no trace behind.

“Memory wipe… I absolutely cannot lose the memories of today!”

Lan Jue’s autumn-water eyes brimmed with dark, fierce light. He chanted a mantra, and the spiritual power surging around him changed from azure blue to blood red, finally condensing into characters engraved upon his own arm!

Lan Jue had cast a curse upon himself!

At the cost of his own heart-blood, unless he died, he would never forget what happened today!

This technique was extremely damaging to his qi and blood; the moment he succeeded, he fell into a dead faint.

Gu Congxing’s heart shook violently. He flew toward Lan Jue, but felt waves of demonic energy coming from behind!

No, Little Junior Brother!

Gu Congxing turned back, only to see Zhong Ming’s blood and qi surging, his spiritual power in chaos, and those demonic vertical pupils appearing in his eyes once again!

Seeing Little Junior Brother in this state, and connecting it to the Chaos Mantra strike from the black-clad cultivator, Gu Congxing suddenly understood everything!

No wonder the black-clad cultivator could so easily follow Xiao Wangyou’s command to leave; he had already left a trap with that strike!

With Little Junior Brother fallen into the demonic path, when the Immortal Sect members arrive, they will only point their blades at Little Junior Brother, who has exposed his Heavenly Demon blood! How could they ever trace the Xiao Wangyou who left no tracks!

Damn it! What a deep-scheming bastard!

Just then, as if to confirm Gu Congxing’s thoughts, a group of Qingxuan Sword Sect disciples arrived on their swords.

What they saw was the Wuji Cliff side in total disarray: Sword Venerable Shen Mu was missing, Lan Jue was severely wounded and unconscious, and the only conscious one, Zhong Ming, was wailing and struggling in sorrow.

“This! What on earth happened here?” Elder He and Elder Duan exchanged a look of shock.

Among the disciples who followed was Chen Wang. He spotted Zhong Ming crawling on the ground and immediately shouted sternly: “Zhong Ming! You’ve fallen into a demonic obsession and gone mad, severely wounding your Senior Brother!”

Zhong Ming was struggling to suppress the surging demonic energy and fighting against the memory-wipe mantra—he had already begun to lose his memory, and his throat choked as he tried to speak the name of the true culprit.

His expression flickered between clarity and chaos; his pupils had turned vertical, and black scales appeared on his hands, yet he still raised his head and said to the crowd:

“Master… fell off the cliff…”

Everyone looked at him, their faces filled with horror.

“…It’s a Demon!”

The disciples immediately raised their swords, standing in combat readiness.

“A Northern Border demon actually dared to infiltrate our Qingxuan Sword Sect!”

Watching Zhong Ming struggle to lift his head, trying to speak in his own defense, Chen Wang hurriedly interjected: “Speak! Are you possessed by madness, or are you a demonic spy? Did you cause Sword Venerable Shen’s tribulation failure?!”

He had only said it off the cuff, but to his surprise, Zhong Ming was so enraged that he spat out a huge mouthful of blood. The spiritual energy, mixed with demonic qi, surged around him, making him look like a full-fledged demon.

Gu Congxing floated beside him, wishing he could kill the noisy and venomous Chen Wang with a single strike of his sword!

Elder He sighed, stroking his beard: “You say Zhuoguang Sword Venerable fell off the cliff?”

Zhong Ming nodded with difficulty, but before he could speak, Elder Duan gave a cold snort: “You demons are full of lies! The gale winds beneath Wuji Cliff are as sharp as blades, and there is a sealed Demon Flood Dragon there. If he had failed the tribulation and fallen, he would have died for sure!”

“But now, Shen Mu’s life lamp is clearly still lit!”

“You demon, how dare you curse Master; you are truly vicious!”

Hearing these curses, Zhong Ming’s expression lit up, and Gu Congxing was equally shocked.

Light actually sparkled in Zhong Ming’s eyes, and his very aura grew stronger: “Master definitely fell off the cliff! If the life lamp is still lit, then this is the most critical moment! He is severely injured, I beg you, go save him—”

“You demons, truly stubborn and incorrigible!” Elder Duan interrupted with wide, angry eyes.

The disciples and elders holding long swords stood proudly, looking like immortals, yet not one of them moved.

The whispering of several disciples rose continuously.

“With Sword Venerable Zhuoguang’s cultivation, even if he failed the tribulation, how could he fall into Wuji Cliff? His lie isn’t even convincing.”

“What a cunning demon, actually spinning this lie to trick us into going to Wuji Cliff! That’s the most famous death trap in the sect!”

“Junior Brother Zhong Ming… is actually a fierce and cunning demon…”

Gu Congxing floated beside Zhong Ming, looking up at them, boundless despair rising in his heart.

Zhong Ming had fully transformed into the form with black scales and long horns. His lips trembled, as if he wanted to speak in his defense, but ultimately he closed his mouth amidst the accusations from all sides.

Gu Congxing had expected him to shed tears, but he did not.

The boy who had always loved to act spoiled and cry in front of him actually showed a look of contemplation in this hopeless situation—at the same time, the resolve to die surfaced in his eyes.

He murmured extremely softly: “Since it has come to this, I might as well confirm this smear…”

“As long as… I can get them to go save Master…”

Gu Congxing felt a massive shock; he watched Zhong Ming close his eyes, and when he opened them again, he wore a ferocious expression.

“Ah, that’s right, I am indeed a demon.”

He no longer suppressed his demonic energy, letting himself be fully revealed in his demon form, and shouted: “It was me. I plotted to make Shen Mu’s tribulation fail, destroy his cultivation, and cast him into Wuji Cliff.”

“Lan Jue was also severely wounded here while trying to save Shen Mu.”

Seeing the crowd’s expressions shift suddenly, filled with shock and rage, Zhong Ming let out a genuine, heartfelt laugh.

“Since he is not yet dead, then I will go down myself and kill him with my sword!”

Amidst the fear and curses, Zhong Ming leaped into the pitch-black bottom of the cliff!

Gu Congxing’s eyes widened. He reached out with all his might, but his transparent fingers passed right through Zhong Ming’s body.

“Little Junior Brother!!”

Gu Congxing woke up from his bed with a gasp, drenched in cold sweat, his face covered in tear stains.

I… came back?

Everything that happened in his past life was like the most terrifying nightmare. Gu Congxing clutched his heart, panting continuously.

Master, Little Junior Brother, Senior Brother.

He called out their names in his heart, his belief hardening—

In this life, I must keep them far away from this damned fate!

Absolutely! I must save them!

At that moment, a golden light entered Gu Congxing’s gaze.

That is… the Sanskrit Bell?

Isn’t that the gift I gave Little Junior Brother? Why is it here?

As Gu Congxing pondered, a chill suddenly crept up his spine.

The scene of Zhong Ming’s desperate resolve in his past life overlapped with the scene of him roaring and weeping in the blood spring in the present life. Gu Congxing felt a shudder, and immediately bolted toward the door!

After recovering from the bloodline awakening period, Zhong Ming carried the fainted Gu Congxing back to his room.

Back in his own cave dwelling, Zhong Ming gripped his long sword with both hands, the tip pointing toward his own heart.

In that moment, looking at his own eyes reflected in the sword light, many scenes flashed through his mind.

In his early childhood at the fishing village, he was pelted with stones by other children; after he fought back, it brought only colder glares from more people.

Some even called him an evil monster, the one who had cursed his parents to death.

But the grandfather who raised him had never looked down on him or blamed him. This silent and compassionate old man would always stroke Zhong Ming’s head over and over, telling him all kinds of stories.

He taught him logic and told him how to be human.

However, on the day the blood moon descended, a senseless slaughter occurred.

The maniacal demonic cultivators laughed as they twisted off people’s heads in the village, their sharp knives piercing the chests of those trying to flee in terror.

Damn demonic cultivators! Damn demons!

It was them! It was them who killed the villagers! It was them who killed Grandpa!

It was them! They took away his only kin, his only home!

—But why, why am I a demon?

Why…

Zhong Ming squeezed his eyes shut; what echoed in his head were the nursery rhymes he had heard as a child.

The稚嫩 (tender) singing always made him painfully cover his ears.

“Black mane, monster eyes, parents dead, everyone hates!”

“Cursed to death, loved by no one!”

He thought, perhaps they weren’t wrong.

He had been born without parents, and shortly after, the grandfather who had taken him in passed away as well.

When he was taken back by his Master, believing he could finally seek the path of immortality and walk the right path, only then did he discover that fate had played a massive joke on him.

It turned out that with his bloodline, it was impossible to become an immortal.

When he had awakened his bloodline and seen his Senior Brother covered in blood and fainted in his arms, his heart had plunged into an endless abyss.

Senior Brother, my favorite Senior Brother.

And it was because of me, with a bloody bite mark on his neck, that he lay there sleeping, pale as a ghost.

“Cursed to death, loved by no one!”

That cursed nursery rhyme echoed once again, with the image of Gu Congxing’s closed eyes before him.

Will I also harm Senior Brother?

Zhong Ming’s hands trembled, but he gripped the hilt tightly and pressed the blade forward a fraction.

“Perhaps, I was never meant to exist in this world.”

A drop of tear slid from his dark golden eyes, falling onto the soil like a drop of blood.

“I’m sorry.”

He whispered those words, and resolutely plunged the tip of the sword into his heart!

“—STOP!!!”

A bolt of golden light flashed, instantly striking Zhong Ming’s wrist, sending the long sword clattering to the ground.

Clack!

A crisp sound followed.

Zhong Ming had his head turned aside by the slap, a clear handprint emerging on his face.

“Zhong Ming! You little cub, how dare you seek death!”

Gu Congxing gripped Zhong Ming’s lapels, his veins bulging with fury on his forehead, fierce light flashing in his eyes.

“Have you gone mad! Huh?!”

He shook Zhong Ming vigorously; the boy with golden eyes looked dazed for a moment.

Zhong Ming reacted after a few seconds, looking at Gu Congxing in front of him in disbelief.

“Senior Brother…?”

When did he arrive? Why didn’t I notice at all?

No, how could Senior Brother be here? Clearly, he already knows I’m a demon…

“Senior Brother. I am a demon. I am the demon—the kind you and thousands of cultivators seek to slay.”

Zhong Ming blinked, his lips curving into a bitter smile: “Senior Brother, don’t I deserve to die?”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting!”

Gu Congxing stared straight into Zhong Ming’s eyes, leaning close to him.

“You are my Little Junior Brother! You are Zhong Ming, the top-ranking disciple of this year’s inner sect grand competition! Not some bloodthirsty demon!”

“Listen to me, Zhong Ming. Your bloodline is unusual, but it only takes on a dragon form during the bloodline awakening period. Besides, you have always practiced the orthodox cultivation methods, not demonic ones, haven’t you?!”

Zhong Ming looked into those shining black eyes and couldn’t help but nod in a daze.

“That’s exactly it! So what if you carry Heavenly Demon blood? That is absolutely not your fault!”

“Do you still remember what I told you? As long as you cultivate with devotion and keep your heart and intentions upright, who dares to say you are related to the demons?!”

Zhong Ming recalled the time they had discussed his dreams, thinking of the tender words Gu Congxing had used while holding him.

The grayness in his eyes dissipated bit by bit, though his brows remained knitted in a frown.

“But Senior Brother, my bloodline…”

“Don’t be afraid! Your bloodline is known only to Heaven, Earth, you, and me; I will never let a third person find out!”

Gu Congxing released his lapels, cupping his face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away the tear stains on his cheeks.

He locked eyes with those dark golden pupils, his voice softening bit by bit.

“In the future, if your bloodline awakens again, I will be right by your side to guard you.”

“Don’t be afraid, Little Junior Brother.”

“I will always be by your side.”

These words, flowing non-stop into Zhong Ming’s ears, caused his eyes to brighten again, bit by bit.

“Senior Brother…!”

His lips trembled; he wrapped his long arms around Gu Congxing, pulling him tightly into his embrace.

Such a warm body. It will always be by my side.

Zhong Ming greedily inhaled the scent of moon-lin on Gu Congxing, burying his face against the side of his neck.

He still could not bear to let go.

Even if he shouldn’t be alive in this world, he still wanted to be selfishly alive.

Alive with Senior Brother!!

Author’s Note: Deeper than despair, more fervent than hope, is love.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica