Living Up to You

Chapter 33

He seemed to have woken up from a snow storehouse of ten thousand years. His whole body was terribly cold. He stood among the flames, but there was not even the slightest warmth in his black eyes. He looked condescendingly at Ling Xi. It was just a look where no emotions could be detected.

Ling Xi was kneeling blankly. Tears were on her face. Her hands were still in the posture of holding him. It was as if she had lost again the treasure that she had just regained. The watery eyes were overflowed with deep disappointment and pain.

However, those emotions only appeared in the eyes for a short moment. She wiped away her tears and stood up.

Ever since she was ten years old when her mind began to become clearer to the now eighteen-year-old, she had experienced several situations between life and death. She was now able to quickly calm her emotions and analyze the situation. She understood that if she couldn’t do that, she would only create a big disaster like Nan Zhi’s death.

She once again told herself that Nan Zhi’s true form is a Chinese rose. That day, she saw the Chinese rose disappear with her own eyes. As an immortal spirit, if it dies, the soul would be scattered and there was no possible of coming back to life again. What if they look alike? High-tiered deity Donghua also looked like big brother, but he took her soul and caused Nan Zhi’s death.

She wanted to wait for him to speak first, but he remained silent. The black eyes seemed to be covered in ice and snow.

Even if her reason told her that even if they looked the same, it may not be the same person, but when Ling Xi faced the same cold eyes that she had known before, her heart still went into uncontrollable chaos.

Time seemed to have stopped. The two looked at each other, but they seemed to be separated by the heaven and earth.

Ling Xi didn’t know what to say to him. She still couldn’t help but probed, “Nan Zhi?”

The ice in the man’s eyes flashed slightly as if the ice had been shattered and floated up and down. He looked at Ling Xi as if he wanted to get to the bottom of her eyes.

Ling Xi didn’t dare to believe that she read a familiar emotion in his eyes. Her body shivered slightly. She moved forward and put her hand on his face. She sobbed as she asked, “Nan Zhi…?”

His lips were in a tight line. A thin rage seemed to be in his eyes. However, the moment Ling Xi’s hands touched him, his eyes softened as if the ten-thousand-year-old ice melted and rippled.

He suddenly pulled Ling Xi into an embrace.

Ling Xi’s heartbeat quickened. The familiar warmth, the familiar embrace, but there was no more Chinese rose fragrance that seeped into the nose. Could she…be dreaming again?

Ling Xi’s voice trembled and she asked again, “Nan Zhi?”

“Mm.”

This answer was calm and powerful. The voice penetrated through her chest into the bottom of her heart. Just one word made Ling Xi’s face full of tears. However, Nan Zhi suddenly let her go the next moment.

He turned his gaze and said in a low voice, “You don’t want to see me again.”

“No!” Ling Xi hugged him again and suddenly cried. She cried bitterly as if she wanted to cry out all the suppressed emotions of these past two years, “Nan Zhi…I’m sorry, Nan Zhi…I shouldn’t let an illusion confuse my mind and say such things that hurt you. Nan Zhi, I’m sorry…”

Nan Zhi frowned slightly. His long finger rubbed the tears on Ling Xi’s face. He held her face and kissed her eyes.

That cherishing act and that tender touch made Ling Xi’s tears fiercer.

However, the dark world suddenly began to shake as if it was about to collapse. Crazy shouts came from somewhere. Evil energy burst through the ground. The darkness had been swallowed up and was replaced by countless black figures. They laughed, screamed and flew to everywhere.

Ling Xi froze on spot from being shocked. She was held by Nan Zhi and even forgot to cry.

She knew better than anyone what these were.

Devilish beings.

Devilish being…that took away big brother and caused Feng Shu’s death.

She had always known that Cangjia Mountain had an entrance to the god realm. At the same time, it had a junction between the devil and immortal realms. Therefore, the disciples of Cangjia never dared to relax. At any time, devilish beings may sneak in from the junction and seek an opportunity to attack. However, there were immortal energy floating on Cangjia Mountain. The right vital energy was overwhelming. After the battle of the immortals and devils sixty years ago, except for the time where Feng Shu died five years ago, the devil clan had never confronted Cangjia directly.

However, the devilish beings she saw this time was ten times more than five years ago! Hidden in the sky and covering in the earth, they surged up violently and didn’t seem to stop at any time soon.

“Nan Zhi, quickly, quickly take me out!” Ling Xi urged.

Nan Zhi hugged her across the waist but he didn’t move. These devilish beings seemed to have turned a blind eye to him and they didn’t seem to intend to hurt her. However…they would destroy Cangjia Mountain!

When Nan Zhi heard her, he easily rose into the sky. The black devilish beings covered the sky and rolled like clouds towards the main peak of Cangjia Mountain.

Ling Xi looked back at where they had just been. It turned out to be the bottom of Huomai Peak. The dark mist-like monsters kept pouring out from the bottom. This gave her a terrifying thought. Could…could the bottom of Huomai Peak be the junction between the immortal and devil realm and the virtual realm of just now was the boundary between the two realms?

With such a thought, Ling Xi sweated coldly because of being terrified.

She shivered and wanted to get off Nan Zhi, but she had been tightly grabbed.

“Nan Zhi, I want to go to the main peak!” Ling Xi still struggled. Now, she could already manage to fly a sword very skillfully.

“Alright,” Nan Zhi jumped, carried Ling Xi and went there on a cloud.

On the way, Ling Xi’s heart became colder and colder. Sweat dripped all over her. the several peaks that they had passed by were filled with traces of destruction as if they were ruins. No life could be seen.

The devilish beings just got out. Even if they wanted to destroy Cangjia Mountain, it wouldn’t have happened so fast. Cangjia must’ve already been plundered before she came out.

The main peak of Cangjia was in a chaos.

A large number of demons entrenched the various hills. Cangjia’s disciples and the disciples of the other sects who came to celebrate the birthday were now all getting rid of demons, but there were too many demons. It could be said to be a bloody battle. Cang Yu and a few elders protected the disciples that had been wounded and the large number of disciples that had not yet completed their learning into seal. Qing Kui, Qing Lian and Qing Nian were fighting with Qing Feng.

Qing Feng’s white clothes were already red from blood. The ten demonic fingers were drawn in a strange way. Her facial features had been demonized. She glared with resentment at the three, laughed and said something that Ling Xi couldn’t hear.

Nan Zhi held her as they landed, but they didn’t directly land on the ground and was still suspended in mid-air. Ling Xi heard Qing Feng laughed hysterically, “Qing Kui! If you have the ability, kill me once again!” Then, she heard Qing Kui say, “Hand over Ling Xi!”

The battle was too fierce. No one had noticed the large number of black clouds (devils) that had suddenly appeared in the sky and no one noticed the appearance of Ling Xi and Nan Zhi. Ling Xi quickly shouted to Qing Kui, “Senior brother Qing Kui, I’m here!”

When Qing Kui heard that his eyes lit up. After he dodged Qing Feng’s blow, he wanted to rush towards her but suddenly stopped.

The black fog gradually dispersed from the sky. The haze was no longer there and the sun shone again. The people who were battling just now stopped and looked shocked at the sky. They retreated quietly to their respective camps.

Ling Xi had been in Nan Zhi’s arms. When she saw that the clouds disappeared, the sun emerged again and the fighting also stopped, she felt relieved.

However, she saw Cang Yu stand alone as the leader and looked somberly at her, “Ling Xi, come here.”

Qing Kui also had a grave expression and wanted to say something but hesitated.

Ling Xi knew that she made a mistake again. She wanted to go over and admit her mistake to Cang Yu, but she confined by Nan Zhi and couldn’t move.

“Don’t go,” Nan Zhi said coldly.

“Ling Xi, come here quickly! That is not Xiao Hei!” Qing Kui finally couldn’t hold himself from speaking.

The aura on Nan Zhi turned a bit colder. Qing Kui’s words made Ling Xi’s heart feel inexplicable empty. She wanted to get out of Nan Zhi’s arms, but she still couldn’t move. She frowned and said, “Nan Zhi, let me down.”

“No.” Nan Zhi refused.

“Nan Zhi…” Ling Xi was helpless.

If it was in the past, he wouldn’t have refused.

Cang Yu took a few steps forward. He swept behind Nan Zhi before his eyes fell on Nan Zhi. Suddenly, he cupped his hands and said politely, “Don’t know if Cang Yu should call sire revered master.”

- Cang Yu used 师尊 (shi zun, that I translated as revered master) here which means the ancestor of Cang Yu’s master. So, he is calling Nan Zhi the master of his master or perhaps the master of his master’s master. It isn’t specified from which generation of Cangjia Nan Zhi was.

“Of course,” Nan Zhi replied coldly.

Ling Xi was puzzled. She looked at Cang Yu and then looked at Nan Zhi. Both faces were cold like frost.

“Ling Xi is Cang Yu’s disciple of the 397th generation. Can you let her return to this disciple?” Although, Cang Yu’s voice was still cold, he was still very polite.

“Can’t,” Nan Zhi answered flatly.

Zhuge Xu who had been watching quietly on the sidelines suddenly stepped forward and sneered, “I think that your dear disciple is obviously a gang with this devil! And you still call the devil as revered master? Could it be that you want to follow him in the devilish ways?!”

Cang Yu’s complexion was ashen.

Ling Xi didn’t want to see Cang Yu being humiliated and also didn’t want to hear Nan Zhi being called devil. She struggled once again without success. With a bit of anger, she said, “Nan Zhi! Let me go!”

Nan Zhi frowned before he slowly let her down.

Only when Ling Xi landed did she understood why the two parties (demons & immortals) suddenly stopped fighting, why everyone looked at Nan Zhi with fear and why Cang Yu swept behind Nan Zhi first.

Behind him, densely packed…weren’t black clouds of devils but devilish beings that had already attained their forms. Each one looked malevolent and was ferocious-looking like ghosts. They all had different shape that looked like demons. The only thing that they had in common was that they stood obediently behind Nan Zhi and didn’t dare to step over any bounds. They looked at him with reverence.

Devil…

When Ling Xi thought about what Zhuge Xu said just now, she turned numb. Cold sweat oozed from her body again.

“Ling Xi! Come here quickly!” Qing Kui urged again.

“Haha…” Behind Qing Feng was a large number of demons. She laughed alluringly, “The shame of Cangjia Mountain…I’m afraid you can’t hide it any longer today, right? Master?”

She raised an eyebrow and looked at Cang Yu. She was very pleased with herself.

Cang Yu frowned. She continued, “Cangjia’s Mountain most prided high-tiered deity Nan Zhi. The high-tiered deity Nan Zhi who ascended to god in just a hundred years (after becoming an immortal) is also the high-tiered deity Nan Zhi who had fallen into the devilish ways! Master, how interesting, right?”

Cang Yu’s expression was ashen and looked very terrible.

Ling Xi still didn’t understand. It had also been a short while since she reunited with Nan Zhi. She still didn’t have the time to ask how Nan Zhi got another body and was pressed at the bottom of Huomai Peak…

She remembered that Qing Kui mentioned to her that Cangjia once had a high-tiered deity that was also called Nan Zhi. However, what did that “Nan Zhi” had to do with the Nan Zhi in front of her? Even if there was a relationship, what did Nan Zhi had to do with falling in the devilish ways?

Her thoughts were a mess. Ling Xi heard a low voice in the bottom of his heart, “Kill him.”

It was Cang Yu’s voice.

Ling Xi’s heart skipped a beat. She felt like she stepped into air with one foot and fell from great height. She shook her head and quickly backed away but her wrist had been grabbed by Nan Zhi.

“Kill him!” Cang Yu shouted again in her heart.

Ling Xi still shook her head and wanted to shake off Nan Zhi’s hand. “Nan Zhi, let go of me.”

She said that as calmly as possible.

Cang Yu’s voice was still repeating in her heart, “Getting rid of devils to defend the traditional values is your duty. Kill the devil king!”

“Let me go, Nan Zhi!” In fact, Ling Xi wanted to shout that Nan Zhi was not a devil and even more not a devil king!

Nan Zhi still didn’t let go. He pulled hard and Ling Xi fell into his arms.

Ling Xi’s mind was still in a chaos. She didn’t want to disobey master’s order and she didn’t want to hurt Nan Zhi again. However, she saw that Bingling sword on her waist floated from her waist out of her control and stabbed at Nan Zhi full of murderous intent.

She got anxious and quickly grabbed the sword and wanted to throw it away. Unexpectedly, the always obedient Bingling sword got a power out of nowhere and went forward with her (LX).

Everything happened in just a blink of an eye. The sharp Bingling sword stabbed straight into the heart.

The sound of flesh and blood cracking like thunder in her ears.

Ling Xi held the sword handle stiffly and looked up at Nan Zhi’s black clothes stained with blood. He didn’t even frown, but the broken things in his eyes made Ling Xi’s heart ache so much that she could hardly breathe.

The devils behind him began to clamor angrily but they didn’t move without his command. Ling Xi’s hand that held the sword released as if it had been burned. She fell on the ground weakly.

Nan Zhi’s murderous aura brought the violent wind of Cangjia Mountain as if the night had shrouded the mountain.

His black hair floated and with a turn of his body a black fog at his fingertips went straight at Cang Yu.

Cang Yu’s expression changed greatly. In a hurry, he blocked it with a seal made with Qingxu staff. Nan Zhi’s mouth twitched slightly as if he was mocking. His fingertip moved slightly. The black fog became as thick as ink and broke through the seal with irresistible momentum. It was about to swallow Cang Yu in the next moment.

“Supremo!” Everyone shouted.

“Nan Zhi, don’t!” Ling Xi also shouted in panic.

Nan Zhi frowned. His fingertip stiffened. When the black fog was about to touch Cang Yu, it disappeared.

Everyone let out a sigh from relief. The fear on Ling Xi’s face hasn’t dissipated yet when Nan Zhi turned and looked at her. It was during this turn that Cang Yu quickly chanted a spell and aimed accurately at his back.

Nan Zhi’s whole body shivered. Almost without hesitating, his hand turned and knocked Cang Yu down to the ground with one blow. Cang Yu spit out a few mouthfuls of blood.

The disciples of Cangjia showed a terrified expression. More felt indignant. They attacked Nan Zhi at the same time. The devilish aura was very visible on Nan Zhi. The black robe floated with the strong wind. With one hand, he swept across the disciples and they fell on the ground. Qing Kui, Qing Lian, Qing Nian and the elders couldn’t bear it anymore and also launched attacks, but they were easily blocked by Nan Zhi.

The aura on his body was getting darker and heavier. His eyes were impenetrable. Fresh blood dripped down from the Bingling sword in his chest. He didn’t seem to feel the pain. Both hands accumulated energy. He didn’t spare no efforts and slashed towards those people.

The black blow caused by the palm was full of murderous intent. No matter who touched it would presumably go to the Western Paradise. However, that blow of the palm that was about to fell to the ground stopped in the air.

- The Western Paradise is the destination of the deceased.

Don’t know when, but Ling Xi appeared in front of that person. She spread her arms. Tears kept flowing. She shook her head and cried, “Nan Zhi…they are my junior uncles, senior brothers and sister.”

The bloodiness faded away in Nan Zhi’s eyes. It was replaced by coldness that could penetrate through the bones and some invisible loneliness. He stared at Ling Xi’s tearful eyes, but his face was still firm and he suddenly laughed.

For so many years, Nan Zhi had only laughed a few times, but it had always been warm. However, this time, it let Ling Xi feel painful like her heart was being bitten by insects and ants.

“They…are all more important than me.”

Whether it was two years ago or the today of two years later, there were always people more important than him in her heart.

Nan Zhi pulled Bingling sword from his chest with one hand and threw it on the ground. Blood spattered on Ling Xi’s face. It felt warm.

“Nan Zhi…”

Ling Xi wanted to hold him, but her fingers only brushed his sleeves. The sleeves turned into a cloud of black fog together with that person and flew away. The devilish beings that were behind him also turned into black fogs and disappeared with him.

“Offending the devil king. I will wait for a good show! Haha…”

Qing Feng also left with the group of demons. In a moment, the calmness returned to Cangjia, but it no longer had the vitality of before.