Wayfarer

Chapter 281: The Mortal Division Leader

Xiao Nanfeng rushed back to Taiqing Island as quickly as he could alongside a bevy of Mortal-division elders who had just received the news.

"Elder Xiao!" The moment Xiao Nanfeng arrived, Taiqing disciples swarmed toward him.

"Where's my senior uncle?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"At the Mortal division's Hall of Immortals."

Xiao Nanfeng rushed toward a distant peak, the main peak of the Mortal division. The mountain was lush with vegetation and spiritual aether, and the hall at the mountaintop was known as the Mortal Hall of Immortals. A large group of Taiqing disciples was already gathered by the plaza outside the hall.

Xiao Nanfeng, overcome with unease, rushed into the hall.

At the center of the hall was a coffin, and around that coffin stood Zhao Yuanjiao, Ye Sanshui, and other familiar faces.

"Nanfeng, you've returned," Zhao Yuanjiao began mournfully.

"King Xiao, the division leader has been placed in the coffin," Ye Sanshui said, forlorn.

Xiao Nanfeng strode forward and looked into the coffin. Hong Lie's face was waxen. He lay unmoving, without any sign of life whatsoever.

"Impossible. Senior Uncle, Xiang Pojun surely was no match for you. How could you have died?" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.

He inspected Hong Lie's body carefully, but there was no sign of vitality at all remaining. Even his mindscape was empty, as though all the spiritual power had drained out. This was nothing more than a corpse—and a particularly decayed one, at that.

"Solace, Nanfeng," Zhao Yuanjiao sighed.

"Senior Brother, have you received any additional information from the blackguards? Xiang Pojun was no match for Senior Uncle. I'm sure of it. Why would he challenge him regardless? And how did Senior Uncle die?" Xiao Nanfeng pressed.

Zhao Yuanjiao shook his head. "I don't know anything myself."

Xiao Nanfeng clenched his fists tightly, killing intent blooming in his eyes.

Suddenly, a commotion could be heard from outside the hall.

"Division Leader, Emperor Tianshu is here!" an Ascended disciple reported, rushing into the hall.

A group of Taiqing disciples immediately stepped out to greet the guest.

"We greet Elder Nalan." Many Taiqing disciples bowed in respect and reverence.

A man wearing a robe with a dragon motif in white-and-gold brocade stepped into the hall. The man was tall and sturdy, with a broad face and a golden mole at the center of his forehead. He exuded an aura of majesty.

The man looked toward the coffin the moment he entered. As he gazed at the corpse within, his face turned chilly.

"Xiang Pojun, you'll die for this!" The man exuded a fearsome killing intent.

"Elder Nalan, please avenge the division leader!" the Mortal elders cried out, their faces steeped in sorrow.

"Nalan Qiankun? Why have you only sent one of your avatars here?" Zhao Yuanjiao suddenly demanded.

Everyone in the hall looked toward Zhao Yuanjiao in surprise, not understanding the vehemence in his tone.

Nalan Qiankun turned to Zhao Yuanjiao. "What are you trying to say?"

"Hong Lie met an untimely end while helping you quell the disturbance in Marquis Wu's lands. He is your senior brother and your division leader. Shouldn't your main body be able to leave the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm at any time? Is this the depth of the respect you deem fit for this occasion?" Zhao Yuanjiao criticized.

Nalan Qiankun glared coldly at Zhao Yuanjiao, but didn't offer an explanation. The hall was silent. Some felt that Zhao Yuanjiao was making a mountain out of a molehill, but others were deep in thought.

Just then, a burst of golden light emerged from Hong Lie's corpse.

"Senior Uncle?!"

The elders in the hall widened their eyes in astonishment. Could Hong Lie still be alive?

Nalan Qiankun gaped as Hong Lie slowly opened his eyes. His body floated out from the coffin.

"Are you alright, Division Leader?!" countless Mortal disciples cried out.

Only Xiao Nanfeng, Zhao Yuanjiao, and Nalan Qiankun's faces slowly began to fall.

"This is just an echo," Zhao Yuanjiao explained with a frown. "Division Leader Hong Lie, as an Immortal, can prevent his truesoul from dissipating for a period of time. His spirit has shattered; he is truly dead."

"What?!" the cultivators exclaimed.

"Senior Uncle, I've come too late," Xiao Nanfeng stated.

Hong Lie turned to Nalan Qiankun, then to Xiao Nanfeng, as though taking the opportunity to consider the people he cared for most in the world.

"Senior Brother, my main body is bringing Ku Jiang and Han Bingdie into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm and is trapped in the Spirit Emperor's swamp for the time being," Nalan Qiankun explained.

"Senior Uncle, who killed you? I don't believe that Xiang Pojun could be the sole culprit. Who else was there?!" Xiao Nanfeng demanded.

Hong Lie glanced at Xiao Nanfeng and Nalan Qiankun again before he slowly stated, "Nalan Qiankun, do you remember the oath that you, I, and Xiao Hongye swore in the Mortal division two centuries ago, after the calamity that befell the sect?"

Nalan Qiankun's eyes flashed with discomfort as he nodded. "The three of us swore to defend the Taiqing Sect's Mortal division, to never do anything that would go against the Mortal division. We live as it lives; we fall as it falls."

"May you never forget this oath," Hong Lie echoed.

Nalan Qiankun's eyes were faintly red as he nodded. "This oath is ever in the back of my mind, Senior Brother."

Hong Lie handed his storage ring to Nalan Qiankun.

"This ring possesses something you want. There's nothing else I can leave to you. Please take care of this," Hong Lie said.

"Senior Brother!" Pain traced out lines around Nalan Qiankun's eyes.

"Take it and commit what you said to heart," Hong Lie said.

Nalan Qiankun sighed and claimed the storage ring.

Then, Hong Lie turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Come over here, Nanfeng."

"Senior Uncle!" Xiao Nanfeng called out, heading forward. His eyes throbbed with red veins.

Hong Lie patted Xiao Nanfeng on the shoulder and smiled wryly. "It looks like I won't be able to keep my promise to you, after all. Don't blame me, will you?"

Hong Lie had once promised Xiao Nanfeng that, after he dealt with the rogue forces in Marquis Wu's lands, he would bring Xiao Nanfeng into the Spirit Emperor's hidden realm in search of transformative opportunities—but that promise wasn't one that could be kept any longer.

"Of course I won't blame you, Senior Uncle. I don't care for that opportunity at all. Senior Uncle, is there anything I might assist you with in death?" Xiao Nanfeng asked, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"Yes. A request you must fulfill," Hong Lie stated.

"Anything, Senior Uncle," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"I want you to inherit my position and serve as the Mortal division leader!" Hong Lie exclaimed.

"What?" Xiao Nanfeng gasped.

Nalan Qiankun also frowned. Countless Taiqing disciples gathered within the hall were shocked by the pronouncement.

"Will you carry out my last wishes?" Hong Lie asked, squeezing Xiao Nanfeng's shoulder.

"Of course, Senior Uncle." Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

"Very good! This is the Mortal token. I hereby pass it to you. You do not need the sect master and the other division leaders' approval as long as the majority of the Mortal-division disciples accept you. From today onwards, you shall be the Mortal division leader," Hong Lie announced.

Xiao Nanfeng claimed the Mortal token with a complicated expression on his face. "Yes, Senior Uncle!" [1]

Hong Lie patted Xiao Nanfeng on the shoulder, then looked toward the countless elders of the Mortal division that were present in the hall.

"From today onwards, Xiao Nanfeng will be the Mortal division leader. If anyone objects, make your objection known now. Otherwise, in accordance with sect customs, obey your new division leader," Hong Lie proclaimed.

"We greet the new division leader!" Ye Sanshui, Ye Dafu, and the other disciples shouted.

The Mortal-division disciples had largely joined Xiao Nanfeng on his expedition, and they were more than happy to accept him as their new division leader.

A few elders looked toward Nalan Qiankun. Seeing that he didn't object, they too bowed toward Xiao Nanfeng. "We greet the new division leader."

Nalan Qiankun didn't say anything; he didn't object. He looked toward Xiao Nanfeng with a complicated expression on his face.

"Is it possible to save you, Senior Uncle?" Xiao Nanfeng refused to give up.

Hong Lie glanced at Xiao Nanfeng and shook his head. "Nanfeng, don't try for the impossible. My soul has shattered, and my truesoul is about to dissipate. Nothing can save me now. On the other hand, you have to believe that your father will return. He's an absolute genius; if not for the calamity that struck the Taiqing sect, his talent would have been more than sufficient to see him become the sect master. He'll come back sooner or later, I'm sure of it."

As he spoke, Hong Lie's physical body dissipated in a cloud of golden mist.

"Senior Uncle!" Xiao Nanfeng reached out for Hong Lie's physical body, but for some reason, it had dissipated without a trace.

"Senior Brother!" Nalan Qiankun stepped forward and attempted to gather the mist as well, but it slipped by his fingertips.

Within moments, Hong Lie's corpse had vanished entirely, leaving only a dissipating cloud of golden mist behind.

Xiao Nanfeng kowtowed toward the mist. "Fare thee well, Senior Uncle."

"Farewell, Division Leader!" All the disciples of the Mortal division kowtowed, pain and sorrow writ large on their faces.

The golden mist vanished entirely, leaving nothing but Hong Lie's clothes behind.

Nalan Qiankun bowed slightly toward Hong Lie.

Xiao Nanfeng himself gathered up Hong Lie's clothes and arrayed them properly in the coffin, then replaced its lid.

Over the next few days, more and more of the disciples of the Taiqing Immortal Sect returned to send Hong Lie off.

A week later, Hong Lie's coffin was officially interred, after which point Nalan Qiankun left Taiqing Island.

Xiao Nanfeng officially became the Mortal division leader as Ye Sanshui and the others worked hard behind the scenes.

After two days, Xiao Nanfeng stood alone before Hong Lie's cenotaph. He poured a cup of wine over the ground.

"Don't worry, Senior Uncle. I'll avenge you for your murder, no matter who's responsible." Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flared with killing intent.

Suddenly, Zhao Yuanjiao appeared beside him.

"Senior Brother, have you discovered something? Why did you deliberately antagonize Nalan Qiankun that day in the Hall of Immortals?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"Xiang Pojun's one reason for Hong Lie's death, but I believe there are other culprits," Zhao Yuanjiao replied.

"I think so too. Xiang Pojun was no match for Senior Uncle last time. There's no way he would have been able to win this time, let alone kill him before he could escape or shield himself. I'm sure someone assassinated Senior Uncle during his fight with Xiang Pojun. Please, Senior Brother, if you know anything, let me know. I can control myself." Xiao Nanfeng looked toward Zhao Yuanjiao.

Zhao Yuanjiao broke the terse silence. "I believe Nalan Qiankun may know who the other culprit is, but he hasn't revealed that information."

"Oh?"

Was this why Zhao Yuanjiao had provoked him initially?

"Hong Lie chose to destroy his physical body because he didn't want anyone to investigate or dig deeper into his death. Perhaps he might know who the other culprit is as well," Zhao Yuanjiao continued.

"Senior Uncle knew?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"When I inspected his corpse, I found three bloody holes at the back of his head. Do you remember?" Zhao Yuanjiao asked.

"I do!"

"When your mother suffered an assassination attempt years ago, there were three bloody holes on the back of her head as well," Zhao Yuanjiao revealed.

"What?!"

"The reason your parents left you in such a hurry that year—you must have heard some rumors about it, haven't you? I was going to find a good opportunity to tell you. I had a look at the blackguards' records and found some pertinent information. Your mother appeared to have died from her assassination attempt, and your father left with her claiming to be seeking to ressurrect her. I don't know whether she's dead or alive, but the marks that the killer left behind perfectly matches those I observed on the back of Hong Lie's head," Zhao Yuanjiao said.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes widened. He clenched his fists tightly. "You mean that the assassin could well be someone from the Tianshu Empire, someone whom Nalan Qiankun knows and might even be protecting?"

Zhao Yuanjiao nodded. "The Tianshu Empire has become a hotbed of danger. Even Hong Lie has died. I feel a deep sense of unease. Hong Lie may have discovered some conspiracy before his death, and the reason he appointed you as Mortal division leader is to provide you with any protection he can."

Xiao Nanfeng felt a sense of danger and anger overcome him.

1. The notion of master (师父, lit. teacher father) as father is ingrained in Chinese. Xiao Nanfeng usually uses 师叔 (lit. teacher father's-younger-brother, referring to his master's junior brother in cultivation) to refer to Hong Lie. In this case, he addresses Hong Lie as 师伯 (lit. teacher father's-older-brother, referring to his actual father's senior brother in cultivation). In this manner, he emphasizes his intimate connection to Hong Lie via his father rather than the more impersonal one via Ku Jiang. ?