Chapter 23 Meeting Again in the Cherry Blossom Garden

When Yuan Qi and the martial artists who had finished recuperating made their way to the cherry blossom garden, they immediately saw this scene...

There, a "monster" that looked three parts human and seven parts corpse was chasing after a woman riding a tiger.

And that tiger was also quite bizarre... It had two super-long fangs protruding from its mouth, and its size and fur were unlike anything they had ever seen.

Of course, compared to the "giant eagle" and "stone bird monster" that this woman rode in Broken Soul Gorge, this tiger was considered quite normal... These martial arts masters had seen countless bizarre things that subverted their common sense and values today, and at this moment, there was basically nothing they couldn't accept...

"Alliance Leader! Look!" Soon, someone discovered the other two figures in the garden.

Those two... were naturally Feng Bujue and Cao Qin.

"Alliance Leader, should we..." Just as a sect leader was about to ask Yuan Qi if they should go up and help.

Yuan Alliance Leader waved his hand before he could finish speaking, saying, "No..."

His response, though somewhat ruthless, was understood by everyone... After all, the difference in skill level was too great, and even if they went up, they would likely only be courting death in vain, or even become a burden to Feng Bujue.

Who knew, Yuan Qi had a second half to his sentence: "...I'll go over there alone; you all stay here."

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at him with admiration.

Immediately afterward, there was an uproar in the crowd, with people saying things like "The Alliance Leader is loyal and righteous," "The Alliance Leader is truly a hero of our time," and "I, so-and-so, have never admired anyone in my life, but I am convinced today"...

Yuan Qi didn't pay much attention to it; he just waited a few seconds and then continued, "Everyone... Cao Qin's martial arts are unfathomable; although we haven't seen him make a move, judging from his disciple 'King Yama's' methods... he is undoubtedly beyond the realm of mortals." He paused. "As for Chief Feng's martial arts... well... everyone has seen his wife's swordsmanship... it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it divine."

Speaking to this point, he paused, giving everyone some time to think.

"The martial arts of these two are beyond our reach, even for Yuan... I am not confident that I can interfere in their victory or defeat," Yuan Qi continued, "But... if I don't wade into this muddy water today... if Chief Feng loses in the end, then Cao Qin will inevitably come after us next, and then... we will all be dead anyway." His expression grew more solemn as he spoke, "Alas... whether we can leave Burial Heart Valley alive today... I'm afraid it depends on fate."

Having said that, he stopped and looked ahead, remaining silent for a moment.

Afterward, he seemed to have made a major decision, his eyes changing... and he rushed out.

…………

On the other hand, fifteen minutes ago...

"Eunuch Cao, sorry to keep you waiting!" Feng Bujue greeted Cao Qin when he returned to him.

"It's nothing; I saw a good show," Cao Qin replied, turning his head to look at the Blood Corpse God and Blood Rose in the distance. "Speaking of which... that girl and her companions also seem to have various strange techniques like you from Broken Sword Teahouse." His eyes changed slightly. "Just what are you people...?"

"If I told you that we all came from 'beyond the heavens,' or rather... a 'projection from another world,'" Feng Bujue tentatively replied, "would you stop fighting me?"

"Oh?" Cao Qin narrowed his eyes upon hearing this and began to ponder.

From an NPC's point of view, his level was undoubtedly very high; his strength definitely belonged to unique data, and the planet he was on was also in the main universe.

However, from the perspective of the character's world background, he was just an ancient person living in a Confucian world.

Due to the limited level of natural science and knowledge in his world, it was difficult for Cao Qin to grasp concepts like "dimensions."

In technology-oriented worlds, even some NPCs with little education could learn about this, while in mythic or magical worlds, there were "high-level gods" who were almost omniscient.

As for Cao Qin's world, it was rather unfortunate... If the NPCs here wanted to perceive the existence of "dimensions" on their own, they could only rely on methods like "entering the Dao" or "becoming a Buddha."

Unfortunately, this world wasn't a place where cultivation was very convenient... There were no cultivation sects here, no techniques, no elixirs, no magical treasures with built-in grandpas, etc... Nothing at all.

If you wanted to cultivate here, you had to either practice martial arts or cultivate Zen...

The former required reaching the extraordinary realm to touch the threshold of cultivation, while the latter was even more difficult than the former... As I said earlier, there were no special cultivation techniques or elixirs here, so... cultivators had no way to increase their lifespan before entering the most basic Foundation Establishment stage. Unless you were the kind of person with amazing comprehension, a natural living Buddha... otherwise, relying on meditation to develop the power of Buddhism... you definitely couldn't do it without a hundred or eighty years of life.

In summary, although Eunuch Cao was very strong, Feng Bujue's "theory of extraterrestrial projection" was still a new and difficult-to-believe thing for him...

"Hehe... hahaha..." After thinking for about a minute, Cao Qin laughed loudly. "This statement... is indeed hard to believe, but... if what you say is true, then all the doubts that have plagued me until now... have a reasonable explanation."

"As expected of Eunuch Cao, with this vision alone, you are far stronger than most people in the world." Feng Bujue himself was once a non-believer in ghosts and gods, and he could understand Cao Qin's mood at this time—it was probably similar to when he first met Woody.

"Whether it's Azure Spirit Town or the Summit of the Forbidden City..." Cao Qin didn't respond to Jue-Ge's compliment, but continued, "...and today... you people always appear suddenly and disappear in a flash of light; after many years, your faces remain unchanged... plus the techniques, spells, and strange hidden weapons you use... none of them seem to be from this world." The faster he spoke, the clearer his thinking became. "...Hmph, Broken Sword Teahouse, I finally understand your secret... Hahahaha..."

Cao Qin had finally let go...

As mentioned earlier, someone like him could accept that others were stronger than him; what he feared... was the unknown.

"Looks like... I should have explained it to you sooner," Feng Bujue replied upon seeing the other party's reaction. "That way..." He turned his head to look at Lin Yan's corpse in the distance. "...things might not have reached this point."

"You seem very troubled by Lin Yan's death?" Cao Qin gave Jue-Ge a deep look and continued.

"To be honest, I didn't want to kill her," Feng Bujue replied. "She was a pitiful person; she didn't do anything wrong." His eyes sharpened. "The person who was wrong... was you."

"Hmm..." Cao Qin nodded. "You're right; I wasn't her benefactor, but her enemy... the enemy who ruined more than forty years of her life."

"But, to complete your 'ideal'... you wouldn't care about this level of sacrifice," Feng Bujue said in a deep voice.

"Ha!" Cao Qin laughed again, this time... a bitter laugh. "How do you know I don't care?"

"Could it be that you do care?" Feng Bujue's expression changed slightly, and he asked suspiciously.

"I originally didn't care," Cao Qin replied, "At least when I plotted to kill her mother, I didn't hesitate at all."

"Later... your thoughts changed?" Feng Bujue asked again.

"Yes," Cao Qin said.

"Why?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Naturally, it's because of emotion," Cao Qin said.

"Someone like you... can still have emotions?" Feng Bujue asked.

"I am also a person," Cao Qin said. "People's hearts are made of flesh; no matter how detached someone is, they will have emotions."

"Heh... I thought you had already lost your heart," Feng Bujue sneered.

"Hmm..." Cao Qin sighed wistfully. "Indeed, I have killed many people, including good people, bad people, and more... innocent people, the so-called sacrifices; Cao has been in the court for more than sixty years, and the amount of evil I have done... has already exceeded anyone's imagination. In my position... if I didn't throw my conscience to the back of my mind, I would have gone crazy or committed suicide long ago."

Speaking to this point, he changed the subject: "At first, I also thought... that I had already lost all emotions and heart. But Lin Yan changed my mind." He paused for a second and continued, "Lin Yan was raised by me... she was well-behaved, sensible, and intelligent since she was a child, and she sincerely regarded me as her father; she had no idea... that I was her greatest enemy, and the misfortune of her family... was directly related to me, or even caused by me."

"So you gradually felt guilty," Feng Bujue stared straight into the other person's eyes; he could feel that... Cao Qin was not acting, and there was no need to act in this kind of play.

"That's right, I am the one who should feel guilty, not you..." Cao Qin shook his head: "Until she was killed by you, Lin Yan didn't blame me; in her heart, I will always be the benefactor, the adoptive father, who raised her." He clenched his fist. "Even if I have no affection for her, at least I have guilt."

"Hehe..." Hearing this, Feng Bujue laughed. "Eunuch Cao, it seems that you... are nothing more than this."

"What did you say?" Cao Qin's expression changed upon hearing this; a feeling of unease... rapidly rose in his heart.

"Could it be that you really thought... that Lin Yan didn't know that her mother's death was related to you?" Feng Bujue immediately replied.

In that instant, the expression on Cao Qin's face changed drastically.

"You understand now, right?" Feng Bujue also knew that the other party was a smart person; a word was enough to make him understand. "You said she was 'intelligent and clever'; how could she not have noticed the truth of that year after more than forty years?"

"Then... why did she..." Cao Qin's speech actually became hesitant.

"Because... she also had emotions," Feng Bujue interrupted. "She made a choice between hatred and kindness, so... she chose to hate me, to hate someone she had never met and might never meet. She transferred all her hatred onto me, so she could live a little easier, so she could... continue to regard you as her benefactor, her father." His tone was not impassioned, but every word he spoke struck Cao Qin's soul directly, "In fact, she lived a very painful life, more painful than you imagined... until today..."

"Today..." Cao Qin's eyes widened, and his body began to tremble.

"Whether you, as her master, have noticed it or not, I have noticed it..." Feng Bujue said, "When I fought her earlier, although Lin Yan seemed very excited, she didn't actually use her full strength. Whether this was out of subconsciousness or deliberate intent... what I could feel was that—rather than killing me, she would rather be killed by me."

"Lin Yan... she..." At this moment, Cao Qin also turned to look at Lin Yan's corpse, "She..."

"Alas... If I die, who else can she hate?" Feng Bujue sighed.

Cao Qin choked up; he lowered his head and muttered, "What a foolish child..."

He could finally no longer restrain his emotions, and his eyes became moist.

For decades, Cao Qin's face had always been indifferent or smiling; he had long forgotten the feeling of the bitterness in his heart churning outward and becoming uncontrollable.

Even at the moment of Lin Yan's death, he had only shown a brief moment of shock and anger; he had almost immediately suppressed the outburst of emotion and put on his usual expression.

But at this moment, Cao Qin was almost out of control.

"Chief Feng... I'm sorry, Cao has lost his composure..." After another moment of silence, Cao Qin wiped his face, straightened his expression, and continued.

"It's nothing, it's only human," Feng Bujue said.

"Do you still remember... my twelve ultimate techniques?" In the next second, Cao Qin suddenly changed the subject.

"What's wrong?" Feng Bujue asked. "Does Eunuch Cao still want to give me some pointers?"

"No... that's not what I meant..." Cao Qin's tone softened a lot, becoming more like an old man, an elder, and his eyes also revealed a faint hint of weariness, "I just want to... discuss a deal with you."

…………

Returning to the present, Yuan Qi unleashed his qinggong, passing through the forest, and in the blink of an eye, he had rushed to Cao Qin and Feng Bujue's side.

And those two... seemed to have just agreed on something and were waiting for something.

"Chief Feng! I, Yuan, have come to help you!" Yuan Qi shouted as he approached them within five or six meters, while drawing the cloth sword from his waist.

Who knew...

"Alliance Leader Yuan, you've come at the right time," Feng Bujue turned his head and said, "We were just waiting for you."

"Wh... what?" Yuan Qi was stunned upon hearing this, and his figure also faltered.

Alliance Leader Yuan immediately thought to himself—“Could it be? Could it be that these two fiends have formed an alliance? Are they going to destroy the world?”

Immediately afterward, Feng Bujue threw out a question: "Alliance Leader Yuan, are you interested... in becoming the Supreme of the Martial World?"

The tone in which he asked this question was similar to saying, "Are you interested in going for a walk with me?"

"Huh?" Yuan Qi was obviously unable to react.

"If you are, let's have a discussion..." Feng Bujue didn't wait for the other party to answer and continued, "As long as you listen to my arrangements, you can still be your Martial Arts Alliance Leader after today, and... you can also learn several martial arts that are no less powerful than the Life Star Mysterious Art. As for the group of martial arts big shots you brought, I'll teach you how to explain it to them... I guarantee you'll be able to deceive them completely without any future troubles."

"This..." Yuan Qi had already been tempted upon hearing this.

"Of course, if you don't want to listen to my arrangements... you can also choose not to." After a breath, Feng Bujue's lazy face instantly changed into an evil smile, and he continued, "Then I'll join hands with Eunuch Cao... and have a fierce game with you all."