Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 123 Shared Guilt (Please Subscribe and Vote)
With a single step, his Ice Soul True Qi surged, and wind and snow seemed to roar out from his body, as if a silent snowstorm had broken out between heaven and earth.

"I am a soldier, and what I am guarding is not the throne, but the land and rivers."

"I am a father, and I protect not the law, but flesh and blood."

He turned to look at Chu Ning, a boy he didn't know well, yet someone to whom he was willing to entrust his military spirit.

"When Chu Ning undergoes the triple tribulation of lightning, he is carrying the evil spirit, as well as you high and mighty 'judgments of destiny'."

"If this is also a crime—"

He suddenly raised the seal of Zhuge Liang high above his head, his voice rising sharply and shaking the surrounding area:

“Then I, Xie Chengjun, will share his guilt from this day forward.”

"This seal, in my hands, is nothing but a knife; in your hands, it becomes blood."

"If that's the case, then I'd rather not take the job!"

His voice was like thunder, reverberating through the mountains, causing all the martial artists in the surrounding areas to tremble and be deeply moved.

At that moment, he was not a warrior.

He was a lone, courageous man who struggled for too long between the hypocrisy of the court and the faith of the military, and finally chose the righteous path in his heart.

The crowd erupted in uproar, and the entire venue was shaken.

At that moment, even the Celestial Observer was moved, and the martial artists from various sects were in an uproar.

The greatest general of the Great Qian Dynasty is now requesting to resign?
Xie Chengjun looked down at Chu Ning, his gaze steady as a mountain, yet concealing too much unspeakable weariness and hidden pain.

Chu Ning remained silent for a moment before finally stepping forward to stand in front of Xie Chengjun.

He stared at the Xuanqing Wuhou Seal that was about to fall to the ground, and suddenly paused for a moment.

He did hear Xie Chengjun say, "I'm tired."

It's not that they didn't hear about the imperial edict issued by Prince Duan, which was titled "Better to kill the innocent than the guilty."

This was the first time he had clearly seen what "fate" and "power" looked like when he truly faced them.

Fate is not talent, not opportunity, not tribulation.

Rather, it's about whether a person has the right to choose how to live and whether they have the ability to defend their beliefs.

Power is not glory, not title, not imperial edict.

But whoever says you are guilty, you shall die; whoever says you should kneel, you shall kneel.

"Is this destiny?"

"If I say you are a tool, then you are a tool."

"If they say you're a monster, then you are a monster."

Even if you save people, block lightning, and survive a life-or-death situation... it's still no match for their single sentence, "You can't stay."

He recalled Xie Mingli, who held him tightly during the tribulation and refused to let go, and Tun Yuan, who took the calamity for him and burned his soul blood to ashes.

They have no right.

But they gave him his life.

"I gave it my all, not to be anyone's hero."

"I just want to be able to say that I am not the sinner you all talk about."

"Who I am is not for you to decide."

He slowly reached out and pressed down on the Wuhou Seal that was about to fall.

At that moment, he finally understood:
The so-called "defying fate" does not mean living against the will of heaven.

Rather, it's about whether you can still stand up when you know that the world has been corrupted by power and is riddled with holes.

"My lord, there's no need for you to do this for me."

"If this imperial edict is really to fall on me, they... will have to have the ability to do so."

"If you step down, who will protect the people of this world?"

“But I have my own destiny, and I have never feared the heavens.”

"This seal must not be dropped."

Xie Chengjun was slightly taken aback, and a complex emotion that was hard to hide surfaced in his eyes.

"I'm not doing this for you."

"I'm doing this for myself."

"I've fought for too long and defended this world for too long... I'm tired."

"The court is cold and the fate is like a knife. No matter how hard I try to protect it, I cannot protect the only remaining bloodline of my family."

"Chu Ning, if you can really survive, don't let my daughter down."

Having said that, he fell silent, turned to look at the sky, and stood silently in the wind, like an old but unyielding monument. Chu Ning looked at him and slowly withdrew her hand.

"I will remember your kindness, Lord Marquis."

"But I can't be a burden to you anymore."

His voice was calm, yet exceptionally cold, as if a resolute determination was being peeled away bit by bit from the very marrow of his bones.

"I have nowhere to go."

"But I know there is a place waiting for me to go."

He paused, looking at the endless, snow-covered horizon of the northern border in the distance.

There, it seemed, was a gaze that had long awaited his return from the abyss of time.

Just then, a slightly mocking voice rang out: "Where are you planning to go?"

Li Jing'an stood in the snow, his robe sleeves rolled up, his face covered in the frost of the wind, but a subtle probing glint in his eyes.

Chu Ning glanced at him and answered decisively:

"The far north."

"...Temporarily, leave the borders of the Great Qian Kingdom."

A knowing look flashed in Li Jing'an's eyes. He nodded slightly and chuckled softly.

"You really dare to leave?"

Xie Chengjun turned around abruptly, his eyes swirling with a snowy light:

"Do you know that in that far northern ice plain, the earth's veins have fractured, the ice souls have reversed their course, and the laws of heaven and earth have collapsed?"

He gazed at the distant horizon, his eyes fixed on an abyss.

“Since Cangque Mountain was sealed off, over the past three hundred years, countless people have entered, but only one has returned.”

Li Jing'an sneered upon hearing this:
"The one who returned later went mad, spending his days painting snow foxes and broken souls in front of the capital gate. He was beheaded as an evil spirit and displayed to the public."

A silence filled the air.

Xie Chengjun's voice was deep:
"The far north is neither controlled by the imperial court nor recorded in the sect's secret maps. The snow there is not snow, but a soul-devouring chill; the wind there is not wind, but the remnants of divine blood."

Chu Ning's eyes remained calm, as if he had already put life and death behind him.

"That land does not belong to the imperial court, nor to the king's will."

Xie Chengjun remained silent for a moment, then took out a heavy, black token from his sleeve.

It is cast in black gold, with the words "Zhenbei" printed on it, and the faint patterns of the Zhenwu Division's Great Wall sentry on the back.

"Take this token, and you can pass through the Great Wall outposts." He handed over the token, speaking slowly: "This is a one-time opportunity. If anyone questions you, just say that I, Xie Chengjun, ordered you to patrol the north."

Chu Ning accepted the token and nodded emphatically.

Xie Chengjun looked at the token in his hand and suddenly smiled:

"If you can truly return alive from the far north... then no one in the Great Qian Dynasty will be able to kill you."

Xie Mingli walked step by step to Chu Ning, surrounded by wind and snow, as if even heaven and earth could not bear to disturb her.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mist thicker than snow, like a layer of transparent yet untouchable frost.

"Brother Ning, are you... leaving?"

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, as if she was afraid that if she spoke, she would shatter the air of that moment.

Chu Ning looked at her, her eyes filled with emotion, but she refrained from speaking.

She didn't urge her, but simply raised one hand and slowly took out a fox head pendant and a dark bell from her bosom.

It broke off on the battlefield on the night of the lightning tribulation, burned by the lightning and fire, and rolled down stained with blood.

She held it as if it were her own heart, carefully wiping away the marks and soot, and then polishing it again.

“They fell out after you passed out,” she said softly, her voice tinged with a hint of stubbornness. “I searched for them for a long time… I almost thought I would never find them again.”

As she spoke, she stood on tiptoe and gently wrapped the pendant around his neck.

Her fingertips were as cold as snow. They trembled slightly when they touched his collarbone, but she still tied them securely and hung the little bell around his waist.

The fox-head pendant landed on his chest, cool and calm, almost blending into the rise and fall of his chest.

Chu Ning paused for a moment, then looked down at the fox head pendant.

The pendant had lost its luster, yet under his slightly trembling fingertips, it faintly emanated a warmth, like a sliver of light that had not yet been extinguished in the snow.

He wanted to speak, but found his throat felt blocked by something, so he gently raised his hand, pressed the pendant to his heart, and nodded heavily.

There was no evasion in his eyes, but he didn't dare look at her for too long.

(End of this chapter)