Free Web NovelChapter 651: Chapter 257: Jiang Ran (Part 2)
Fan Wubing couldn’t understand what he had done wrong for everything to suddenly change. It felt as if he had gone from being adored by everyone to being despised by all.
He had bitterness in his heart that was hard to express.
When he mentioned this to Liu Qingqing, she just shook her head and refused to say more.
It felt like a cold violence. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Until last night, when he was tossing and turning in bed, he suddenly realized something and sat up in shock. He realized that Jiang Sha was driving him away.
This answer made him feel both enlightened and sad.
He could accept parting ways due to differing philosophies, or being dismissed for his inadequate care, but he absolutely couldn’t accept this silent and melancholic departure.
So, this morning, he found Jiang Sha to confront her in person, wanting to leave with clarity.
But she still chose silence.
Silence is the blade that kills a relationship.
Fan Wubing no longer had any place in this household.
After saying goodbye to Liu Qingqing, he left the manor and headed to the Jinhua Mansion.
In the past half-year, he had absorbed a lot of the Yin Yang School’s thinking from Pei Weiyi, his understanding of the laws of fate progressing rapidly. Supported by the "heart’s desire" of his soul and the superhuman perception brought by the system, his level was almost on par with Pei Weiyi.
With just a calculated moment, he could perceive the connections between things.
But even so, he still couldn’t figure out why Jiang Sha was doing this.
Feeling the gloom between Fan Wubing’s brows, Pei Weiyi kindly asked,
"What’s the matter? You seem unhappy these days."
Fan Wubing didn’t want to engage with her. With Pei Weiyi, he was just a performer playing a role, not wanting to bring his true emotions into it.
"It’s nothing." He replied casually.
Pei Weiyi sensed his perfunctoriness but wasn’t displeased, she sat calmly at the tea table and said,
"It’s okay if you don’t want to say. I just hope you can treat this place as your home. If a person can’t relax at home, then they probably have nowhere to belong."
Pei Weiyi wasn’t necessarily a good person. As the Left Minister of the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty, she wielded the power of life and death.
During this time, Fan Wubing had witnessed her cunning schemes as a minister and her ruthless means as the trusted aide of Emperor Shangjing. Her work essentially involved doing unspeakable deeds for the Immortal Emperor and the Court to maintain order and stability.
The Immortal Emperor’s extreme trust in her made her almost the feared Cold-faced Judge of this flourishing Immortal Dynasty.
If she wished, countless people would rush to become her followers, kissing the floors of Jinhua Mansion, but within the vast political whirlpool, she was indeed alone, without any companions.
However, when it came to treating friends, she was impeccable.
Apart from betraying the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty, whatever Fan Wubing wanted from her, she would offer unhesitatingly.
Whether it was Yin Yang School techniques, secrets, her own Divine Techniques, or teachings of the great way... anything she could do, she would do.
These past six months,
she had let Fan Wubing understand through her actions what kind of status "the best friend" held in her heart—
It was an existence more important than herself.
Having just experienced Jiang Sha’s cold violence, Fan Wubing didn’t want to discuss matters of belonging.
He had once regarded being by Jiang Sha’s side as his place of belonging. But now it seemed, it was just wishful thinking.
He picked a light topic and asked with a smile,
"Did you study the skills of divining natural laws and destiny yourself?"
Pei Weiyi shook her head,
"Studying on my own, I would at most become a somewhat capable Yin-Yang Master, far from my current level."
"So, you had a teacher too?"
Pei Weiyi took a sip of tea, her pale arm concealed beneath wide sleeves,
"Though I wished to be her student, I wasn’t excellent enough, in the end, she only regarded me as an ordinary junior. However, her slight guidance to me was enough for me to reach the realm I am in now."
"Oh? Such a person exists?" Fan Wubing asked, intrigued.
"She was formerly named Jiang Ran, the sister of the Immortal Emperor. Later, she changed her name to Jiang Sha, the world-renowned Slaughter Demon Lord."
Fan Wubing was stunned, "Jiang Sha is the Immortal Emperor’s... sister?"
Pei Weiyi replied, "For the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty, this is a disgrace. Because of the Immortal Emperor’s prestige, various historical records intentionally avoid mentioning it, and few know of it except a handful from that era."
Fan Wubing hid the emotions in his eyes and asked, "Was Jiang Ran very powerful?"
Pei Weiyi’s tone changed, becoming formal and solemn,
"Very powerful. It is widely believed that I found the way to elevate the Shangjing Imperial Dynasty to the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty, but in fact, it was Jiang Ran who orchestrated everything behind the scenes. At that time, the Zhou Yue Dynasty was at its zenith, and the battle for the Immortal Ascension Dynasty was almost unanimously predicted to end in Shangjing’s defeat. Yet, Jiang Ran nearly single-handedly changed the world’s structure, creating an unprecedented and unmatched sole Immortal Dynasty."
Fan Wubing asked, "Then why did she become the Slaughter Demon Lord?"
Pei Weiyi shook her head, "Jiang Ran always remained behind the scenes, few knew of her existence, and no one ever saw the true thoughts within her heart. We still do not know what Jiang Ran saw when she knocked on the door of the Immortal Dynasty. After that, she disappeared. Two thousand years later, Jade Ancestor fell and the Celestial Plough was forced to retire, Wenxin Heaven was succeeded by the Primordial Ancestor, and in the same year, the Slaughter Demon Lord and Greedy Demon Lord were born. Since then, under the leadership of the two Demon Lords, the Demon Cultivators of the Southern Celestial Land emerged on the historical stage."
Beneath Fan Wubing’s calm expression, a great wave was surging.
He knew Jiang Sha was certainly an ancient monster but didn’t expect this kind of identity.
This made him unable to stop wondering, why had Jiang Sha returned to the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty, and for what purpose?
What caused her to leave the Shangjing Immortal Dynasty she personally built and become the notorious Slaughter Demon Lord?
These questions baffled Fan Wubing, who found himself in a murky, vast whirlpool.
"Are you really okay?" Pei Weiyi’s brows showed a hint of concern.
Fan Wubing merely shook his head.
Pei Weiyi was not one to smile easily; she rarely smiled in front of Fan Wubing, but now, she curled the corners of her mouth into a smile to comfort him,
"No matter what, I will support you."
This is an honor only the best friends can receive.
Fan Wubing felt complex emotions, hard to articulate.
After a simple farewell, he left Jinhua Mansion, left Changning City, and even departed from the Immortal Continent.
This endlessly flourishing place also held no refuge for him.
He headed straight for the East Continent, to begin searching for the destiny traces left by the Seven Luminaries True Monarch indicated by the Supreme Dharma Orbiting Device.
More than ever, he urgently wanted to know what colossal whirlpool he was in.
...
The manor, with its hundreds of servants, became exceptionally desolate with Fan Wubing’s departure and An An’s seclusion.
In the warm room, Jiang Sha’s head nodded forward suddenly as she dozed by the stove, waking up. She gathered the snow cloak around her tight. She stared blankly at the flickering flames in the stove.
Liu Qingqing, beside her, said, "Hall Master, you’ve been more and more drowsy lately."
Jiang Sha said softly, "It’s just winter fatigue."
"Did you have to force him away? This doesn’t seem like your style at all." Liu Qingqing said.
"He’s not truly a Demon Cultivator; how could he stay by my side forever?" Jiang Sha’s voice was soft and gentle, "Moreover, he has already grown capable of holding his own, much faster than I anticipated. He accomplished in three years what should have taken twenty."
"But why couldn’t you just tell him? I think if you directly revealed your plans to him, he might even accept it." Liu Qingqing said, "Why use such a way? It seems like you’re being willful. Cold violence really hurts feelings; if he leaves this time, he might really never come back."
Jiang Sha shook her head, "Not returning is the right choice. What is there to wait for in a precarious, crumbling building?"
Liu Qingqing didn’t know what more to say, so she just sighed.
