Chapter 228: [Mount Jiao] An Empty Space

On the Soul-summoning Platform of the Confucian Wind Sect, Xu Shuanglin looked at the specks of golden light drifting in the night sky. He suddenly felt that it was very similar to the paper he threw into the furnace on the snowy night of the Lantern Festival.

It burned to ashes in an instant. Only a few sparks remained, burning him through the years.

He looked at Luo Fenghua, Nan Gongxu, and Nangong Liu.

They could be family and friends for life.

But Nan Gongxu was no longer in the human world. The one standing here now was Xu Shuanglin. He was a madman, a demon, and a Xu Shuanglin who crawled back from the depths of hell to claim the lives of all the upright gentlemen in the world.

Nan Gongxu was no longer in the world.

He was just like his name, drifting and drifting in the boundless world.

As time passed, even the bones and tendons of the cliffs were broken.

Not to mention this tiny willow catkin.

After so many years, the willow tree grew old, the maple tree withered, drifting and drifting. What he saw was not the Tianya Flower, but the blood that covered the mountains and the plains, and the overwhelming hatred.

But why did he still involuntarily teach the things that Luo Fenghua taught him in the past to Ye Wangxi without sparing any effort? Why did he feel compassion when he saw a true gentleman and kind person? Why did he stop being ruthless?

Why …

Why did he cry?

Xu Shuanglin knelt on the Soul-summoning Platform. He finally lost his voice and wailed. Tears flowed down his ugly, twisted face. He rubbed the spiritual core that held Luo Fenghua. He finally cried until his voice was hoarse and his throat was torn apart. It was as if every inch of his voice was dug out from his throat and blood.

"Shizun … Luo Fenghua …"

He had calculated everything. He was full of madness and hatred, distortion and longing. He used his whole life to set up this trap.

Was it ruined just like that?

He thought of the Holy Mountain Sword Conference. He was full of resentment. Later on, his father passed on the position of Nangong Liu. He was unwilling to accept it and seized the position in anger.

— —

He still remembered his father's old and pale face, staring at him in disbelief.

"The position of sect leader is mine." He gripped his father's throat and slowly tightened his grip. His expression was cold and ruthless, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "If father doesn't want to destroy the hundred years of foundation of the Confucian Wind Sect, then I will take it. You are already old, you can rest now. "

"Xu 'er …"

He closed his eyes and didn't allow his father to continue speaking. The meridians in his hand suddenly bulged and he heard a heart-piercing crack. It was the strange sound of a throat breaking.

He took off the Confucian Wind Sect's ring and pressed it against his lips.

The thumb ring was cold, but not as cold as his face.

"I just want justice. If you don't give it to me, I'll take it myself. Father, you don't have to hate me in the underworld. "

He turned around and left.

The scene in his memories changed.

It was the first night after he usurped the throne, the servants were cleaning up the bloodstains from the battle. His father was dead, Nangong Liu's family was locked up in the water dungeon, all those who tried to rebel against him were suppressed. Everything was settled, for a moment he did not know what to do.

He lit a stove in the courtyard and made tea for himself. He was the only one in the courtyard. He rubbed the glittering Sect Leader's Ring on his thumb.

Henceforth, he was the Lord of the Confucian Wind Sect.

Needless to say, those outsiders who schemed against him at the Soul Mountain Conference naturally had to be chopped up and killed. But he didn't know how to deal with his older brother, and he didn't know how to deal with Luo Fenghua either.

Dusk gradually deepened, the golden crow set in the west.

Seeing the sky gradually darkening, Xu Shuanglin finally made up his mind to go to the water dungeon to see his elder brother and master who were being held captive.

He took several attendants with him. Halfway there, the last ray of sunlight was swallowed up by the dark night. He shivered and suddenly felt his body was a little cold. His head was also a little dizzy.

"Lord, what's wrong?"

Xu Shuanglin waved away the servant who wanted to help him. He said, "It's nothing. I suddenly remembered there's something I haven't dealt with properly. I'll go back to the main hall first. You don't have to follow me."

He suppressed the pain that was becoming more and more obvious. He put on the hood of his cloak and strode toward the main hall of the Confucian Wind Sect. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore. Even if he could endure it, he couldn't take it anymore. After running for a while, he pushed open the door and went in. Then he closed the door heavily.

"Lord?"

"You guys stand guard at the door. Don't come in and don't act rashly. If there's anything strange, report to me immediately."

After giving the orders to the guards, Xu Shuanglin gasped for breath and staggered into the depths of the hall. He abruptly took off his hood, and when he lowered his head to look, he found that his skin and flesh were all chapped and cracked, and there were hideous scars everywhere he looked.

His first reaction was that his father had cursed him.

But then he felt that it was impossible. That old man was already beyond cure. He didn't even have the strength to use magic. How could he do such a thing without anyone noticing?

Then what was going on?

It was too painful. His muscles and bones were broken, and his flesh was hideous. He couldn't stop convulsing and trembling by the window. His knuckles were pale and twisted. He lay on the ground and scratched out red marks.

It was really too painful …

He didn't dare to shout, nor did he dare to call for a doctor. The situation was not stable yet. As the leader of the rebel army, how could he reveal even half an inch of weakness?

He kept gasping and groaning in the main hall, rolling and twitching in pain. He kicked and kicked. Under the severe pain, he inadvertently pulled down a part of the curtain and fell on his body.

The moonlight outside the window was blocked.

He suddenly felt the pain abate. He was drenched in cold sweat. He shrank under the curtain and gasped for breath. After a while, thinking that the pain had passed, he pulled down the curtain again and sat up straight, wanting to stand up.

Who would have thought that when the moonlight shone, his skin and flesh would split open again, and the pain would penetrate his muscles and bones.

Xu Shuanglin suddenly realized that he might not be able to shine the moonlight. So he staggered up and struggled to close the window tightly. He hid in the darkest place in the main hall, where he couldn't even see his own fingers.

His breathing gradually calmed down.

The pain disappeared. His bleeding skin and flesh also healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Xu Shuanglin felt something was amiss. Therefore, he wrapped himself in a cloak so that not even the slightest bit of skin was exposed. He hurried to the library and rummaged for half the night. Finally, he found a scroll of past records in his grandfather's bookcase.

It turned out that the first generation Sect Leader of the Confucian Wind Sect, Nangong Zhangying, once had a great battle with Gun. Although in the end he defeated the evil beast and suppressed it under the Golden Drum Pagoda, he was cursed by Gun.

That ancient evil beast belonged to the yin attribute, which was closely related to the night and the moonlight. It cursed the successive generations of Confucian Wind Sect Leaders. As long as the moonlight shone on them, their skin and flesh would be torn apart, and the pain would penetrate their heart and bones.

And every full moon night, the yin aura was the strongest. Even if they did not shine the moonlight and hid in the darkest place, they would still feel tormented.

Therefore, for several hundred years, this had always been the Confucian Wind Sect's biggest secret. Successive generations of Sect Leaders had always kept it a secret, for fear that someone would take advantage of this opportunity to break in. Even if it was their own son, they would not reveal the truth until the last moment.

It was really ironic.

He had gone through so much trouble, but what he obtained was actually a cursed position of power?

The next day, Xu Shuanglin came to the water prison.

Nangong Liu and his wife Rong Yan were locked inside, while Luo Fenghua was being held in another secret room.

He did not go to see Luo Fenghua, but first went to his older brother's prison.

"Ah Xu! Ah Xu! What are you doing? What are you doing … "As soon as he saw him, Nangong Liu was extremely excited, but his hands and feet were sealed by the curse, so he could not move at all. He could only kneel on the ground and cry to his younger brother," Are you crazy? Is it necessary for you to go to this extent for the position of Sect Leader? "

After a night of torture, Xu Shuanglin's complexion was still weak. He sneered, "I'm just taking back what I deserve."

"…"

"You stole my swordsmanship and ruined my reputation. I'm only twenty years old, Nangong Liu." He paused, his eyes cold, "I'm only twenty years old, but you let me see a lifetime of mediocrity."

He slowly walked over, his robe touching the ground, and then lowered his face, staring at his older brother's face.

"Nangong Liu, trash like you have the ambition for power, and want to stand out. Then what about me?" He said slowly, "I'm more hardworking than you, more talented than you, I'm better than you in everything, but I can't compare to your tongue."

He pinched Nangong Liu's chin, and used two fingers to pry open his tightly shut mouth.

He stared at the slippery, sticky, light red thing inside.

"It's really a sharp weapon that kills without spilling blood. Cut it. "

Nangong Liu opened his eyes wide in horror, but because his mouth was blocked, he could not speak. He could only whimper, saliva continuously flowing down.

"Don't cut it?" Xu Shuanglin sneered, "It's fine if you don't cut your tongue. Seeing that you and I are brothers, I'll kill you quickly. It'll be my mercy. "

As soon as he let go, Nangong Liu wailed, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! No, isn't it about the Spiritual Mountain Conference? You, you take me out, I'll give you justice in front of the whole world! "

"It's too late." Xu Shuanglin took out a snow-white handkerchief, wiped his hands, and glanced at him indifferently, "No matter what you say now, the whole world will only think that you were forced to admit it because of my pressure. The dirty water you poured on me can never be washed clean. "

Before Nangong Liu could speak, he heard a woman's sharp voice next to him.

"Nan Gongxu! I know you were wronged in the first place, but what do you think you are doing now? You killed your own father, deprived the Sect Leader's ring, and now you want to kill your brother, you … how can you be so cruel? "

"Oh, Senior Sister Rong," Xu Shuanglin smiled slightly, "If you didn't speak, I would have forgotten that you were here."

Although Rong Yan was restrained by the curse and was also kneeling, her expression was fierce and stubborn. Although there were tears in her eyes, there was no weakness, "I … I really misjudged you."

"So what if you misjudged me?" Xu Shuanglin smiled, "You were the one who gave me the sachet, and you were also the one who married Nangong Liu. You were the one who betrayed me first. Sister-in-law, how can you bring up the past with me now? You're not going to tell me that you were forced by him, right? "

Rong Yan's face turned pale. She seemed to have something to say, but in the end, she bit her lower lip and slowly closed her eyes.

Tears flowed down her cheeks.

The knife was already in his hand, shining with a cold light.

"No … no … Ah Xu, you can tell me anything, I can talk to you about anything … Don't kill me … I beg you, don't kill me …"

"Could it be that you're in the wrong place?" Xu Shuanglin wiped the knife, the corner of his mouth still had that evil smile, "Nangong Liu, now I'm the Sect Leader, and you're a prisoner. You have nothing in your hands, and you still want to talk terms with me? What are you going to use as a bargaining chip, your dog life? "

"I can work like a horse for you! I can … I can be your slave, I, I'm willing to do anything! As long as you're willing, I can return Senior Sister Rong to you! "

Rong Yan suddenly opened her eyes and turned her head, extremely angry, "Nangong Liu!"

Nangong Liu was scared to death. He ignored his wife and just sobbed to his brother, "As long as you let me go … please let me go …"

"That's enough." Xu Shuanglin lazily patted his face with the hilt of his knife, "Do you think I'd touch an orange that you've already licked?"

"Then I can still — I can still —" Nangong Liu racked his brains, but couldn't think of anything, only tears and snot running down his face. In the end, he burst into tears, "Ah Xu, we once said that we'd eat pastries together, and climb rooftops together … We cultivated together, celebrated the Lantern Festival with Master, and learned to play the zither. Have you, have you forgotten all those days?"

Xu Shuanglin's expression darkened, but in the end, he just sneered and didn't answer. He raised his knife, and after a while, he swung it down.

"Ah!!"

"Wait a minute!!"

The cold blade stopped just inches away from Nangong Liu's neck. In fact, Xu Shuanglin wasn't sure if his knife would have been able to move a few inches forward even without these two shouts.

But his expression didn't change, and he still said indifferently, "What now? The two of you sure have a lot of last words."