Reborn Song Qingshu: Besieging Bright Peak at the Start

Chapter 83 Coming Like Flowing Water, Gone Like the Wind

As soon as the battle ended, Zhang Wuji leaped forward and rushed straight to Zhu'er's side.

At this moment, Zhou Zhiruo was taking care of Zhu'er. She knelt on the ground and gently wiped away the bloodstains from Zhu'er's lips with a plain handkerchief.

As Zhang Wuji leaped closer, she quickly stood up and, before Zhang Wuji could speak, whispered, "Master Zhang, are you alright? I was really worried about you when I saw you were about to be hit."

Her eyes were brimming with tears as she spoke, her tone tinged with genuine anxiety, and her pale face still bore the pallor of her earlier shock.

Anyone who saw this would assume that she was completely concerned about them.

Zhang Wuji was deeply moved and quickly waved his hand, saying, "I'm fine, you don't need to worry."

"That's good!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo relaxed, then seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, how did you and Senior Brother Song end up here?"

As he spoke, he squatted down and placed three fingers on Zhu'er's wrist pulse.

He could only feel that his pulse was weak and faint, his arms had multiple fractures, and his internal injuries were even more severe. His brows immediately furrowed.

He dared not be negligent, and with a burst of energy from his palm, the gentle true energy of the Nine Yang Divine Skill flowed over her continuously, deciding to protect Zhu'er's heart meridian first.

On the other side, Song Qingshu bent down and picked up the six Sacred Flame Tokens.

The tokens felt heavy and cold to the touch, and were incredibly hard. The six tokens varied in length and size.

There are faint flames flying up inside, but upon closer inspection, it is actually caused by the changing colors of light reflected from the material.

He ran his fingertips along the patterns on the tokens, each one engraved with numerous Persian characters.

Song Qingshu knew that these words contained the martial arts of the Sacred Flame Token.

The Sacred Flame Token and its martial arts origins were forged by "Old Man of the Mountain" Huo Shan.

The martial arts techniques engraved on it are the essence of his lifelong martial arts skills, which is quite amazing.

However, Song Qingshu wasn't very interested in this martial art, mainly because when he used it, he would either roll to the east or stumble to the west.

He could be as pathetic and ugly as he wanted, how could that possibly match the image of a king?

He was well aware of the superior martial arts such as Tai Chi Fist and Sword, Nine Yang Divine Skill, and One Yang Finger. Although the martial arts on the Sacred Flame Token were extraordinary, they were ultimately just unorthodox and heretical arts.

In terms of breadth and depth, it is far inferior to the aforementioned martial arts.

Moreover, there's the Nine Yin Manual and the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms waiting for him to learn. He shouldn't try to learn too much at once; he should just let Zhang Wuji master those.

Just then, I heard light footsteps behind me.

Zhao Min helped the slowly waking Xiao Zhao over.

Xiao Zhao shuddered violently when she saw the headless corpse of Granny Jin Hua on the ground.

She broke free from Zhao Min's grasp and rushed over, falling to her knees with a thud, crying out in anguish, "Mother!"

Hearing the crying, Zhang Wuji, who was tending to Zhu'er's wounds, turned around abruptly.

He had previously noticed Xiao Zhao's unusual concern for Granny Jin Hua's safety and assumed that the two had some old relationship, but he never expected that they were actually mother and daughter.

Zhao Min stood aside, surprised, but her eyes immediately glanced at Song Qingshu.

Seeing that he was only studying the token in his hand, with a calm expression and no sign of surprise.

A thought flickered in her mind.

When Xiao Zhao first revealed her relationship with Granny Jin Hua, this guy had the same expression, as if he already knew.

This relationship.

In fact, ever since the garden was abandoned, she had felt that Song Qingshu's actions were full of hidden meaning.

At first, I didn't think much of it, assuming he was just being considerate of his fellow disciples.

Zhang Wuji wanted to save Zhou Zhiruo, so he went to great lengths to plan and strategize for his junior brother.

It wasn't until Zhang Wuji was on the ship and realized that the trip wasn't to Ice and Fire Island, and proposed to take action against Granny Jin Hua, that Song Qingshu stopped him, and she began to doubt his motives.

If it were truly to save Zhou Zhiruo, there would have been plenty of opportunities to stay on the ship for several days and nights.

You don't even need to lift a finger; just add some Ten-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder to the food.

Why bother coming to this island? Isn't it redundant?

Unless he has ulterior motives for coming to the island, he would not dare to take action halfway.

However, she was loyal to Song Qingshu, and despite her many doubts, she wouldn't say anything more.

As he was pondering this, he suddenly felt a very faint gaze sweep over him.

Looking up, Zhou Zhiruo was right there.

However, Zhou Zhiruo remained calm and did not meet her gaze, as if it had just been her imagination.

Zhao Min raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconcerned, and turned back to look at Xiao Zhao.

Regardless of what everyone was thinking at that moment, Song Qingshu put away the Sacred Flame Token, walked to Zhang Wuji's side, and said in a deep voice, "Junior brother, how is her injury? If it stabilizes, we must leave this place as soon as possible."

Zhang Wuji didn't even raise his head, his inner energy still flowing continuously in his palm, and said, "Senior brother, both of her arms are broken, her internal organs have also been shaken, and her internal injuries are extremely severe."

"It would be better to stay on the island for a few days until her injuries have stabilized before setting off. Otherwise, the rough seas might be too much for her."

Song Qingshu shook his head, his tone becoming more serious: "Junior brother, it's not that I insist on urging you, but it's really not a good place to stay any longer."

The three envoys had said that their mission was to reorganize the church affairs. Although they were defeated, they might still have backup.

"If we wait for their large force to arrive, things will be easier for us, but protecting the four women might make escape difficult."

Song Qingshu knew perfectly well that the Persian Ming Cult had also brought the Twelve Treasure Tree Kings with them on this trip, along with a large fleet of ships and cannons.

The three envoys, Feng, Yun, and Yue, were merely vanguard officers; the main force might already be in the waters surrounding Ling She Island.

These are things that cannot be discussed openly with Zhang Wuji; this is the only way to offer a reminder.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wuji was startled and immediately realized the truth.

He was only concerned about Zhu'er's injuries and hadn't expected this connection.

He dared not delay, and exerted more force in his hands, pushing the Nine Yang Divine Skill to its full potential. He said in a deep voice, "Senior brother is right. Wait a moment, I will protect her heart meridian and stabilize her internal injuries, and then we will leave immediately."

Song Qingshu nodded and said no more.

He glanced sideways at Xiao Zhao, who was lying on the ground weeping, then looked at the corpse on the ground. After a moment's thought, he found a spot and drew the Heaven-Slaying Sword.

With a slight dip of his wrist, the tip of the sword pierced the earth.

With a flick of the wrist, it was as if plowing the ground, digging up the soil.

With his profound inner strength, wherever the tip of his sword touched, earth and stones flew everywhere, and in no time, he dug a pit waist-deep.

He sheathed his sword, walked behind Xiao Zhao, and softened his voice: "Miss Xiao Zhao, things have come to this, please accept my condolences."

This place is not safe to stay any longer; let Granny Jinhua be laid to rest first.

Xiao Zhao's shoulders trembled as she cried. Hearing him speak, she slowly turned her head and looked at him with teary eyes.

She knew Song Qingshu was right, but how could she bear to look at her mother's corpse?

Zhang Wuji had stabilized Zhu'er's injuries by then. He stood up and walked over, saying softly, "Xiao Zhao, what your senior brother says is right. We can't let Senior Jin Hua's body lie exposed in the wilderness. Let's bury her first."

Xiao Zhao looked at the two of them, then turned back to look at her mother's body. Finally, biting her lip, she nodded, but tears streamed down her face again.

With everyone's help, Granny Jin Hua's body was placed in the pit. Just as they were about to cover it with soil, Xiao Zhao removed the human skin mask and the white hair from Granny Jin Hua's face.

Granny Jin Hua spent most of her life wearing a mask, and Xiao Zhao didn't want her to remain an old, ugly woman even after her death.

When the disguise was removed, a stunningly beautiful woman appeared before them.

Zhao Min and Zhou Zhiruo were both amazed, not expecting that Granny Jin Hua had such a side to her.

Seeing her true appearance, one can imagine that if Dai Qisi were standing alive in front of them, she would surely be graceful and radiant.

Now that her body and head are separated, her almond-shaped eyes are wide open, and no matter how beautiful she is, no one has time to appreciate her.

To be honest, I don't have much sympathy for Dai Qisi and Song Qingshu. They are ruthless and extremely selfish.

In the original story, Yin Li followed her since childhood, respected her as his mother-in-law, served her diligently for many years, and was her only disciple.

But just because Yin Li went against her wishes regarding Zhang Wuji, she took advantage of Zhang Wuji's unpreparedness and struck Yin Li's vital chest with three golden flowers, completely disregarding their years of companionship.

Sending his own daughter, Xiao Zhao, who was only a teenager and had no high level of martial arts skills, to Bright Peak as an undercover agent so that she could sneak into the secret passage and steal the martial arts manual was extremely selfish.

Before Zhang Wuji became the leader of the Ming Cult, these people were practically lawless. You can imagine how dangerous their situation would be if it were confirmed that Xiao Zhao was an undercover agent.

However, seeing her end up like this, Song Qingshu still felt a little sad.

He spent his entire life trying to escape the pursuit of the Persian missionaries, but despite his best efforts, he could not escape them.

Song Qingshu channeled his inner energy, brushing it across Dai Qisi's face, the method of which was unknown.

His face, which had been slightly distorted and filled with unseeing anger, suddenly closed his eyes peacefully, as if he were asleep.

The group then covered her with soil, thus burying her in peace. The Purple-Robed Dragon King thus went to sleep forever.

A night breeze blew by, and a very soft and ethereal song rang out: "Coming like flowing water, going like the wind, we know not where we come from, nor where we go."

But Xiao Zhao was softly singing a tune, a song completely different from those of the Central Plains.

A night breeze is blowing, and the waves are rolling in the distance.

The four remained silent, feeling the impermanence of life and death. One person drifted into the world like a flowing river, not knowing where he was going.

No matter how heroic or cunning you are, in the end you cannot escape death.

Xiao Zhao's singing grew softer and softer until her voice gradually faded away with the sound of the wind.