Chapter Eighty: The Last Tianliang
When Gu Huai saw Shen Xuan attack him, he found that he had been mistaken from the beginning. From the start, Ding Ning had been able to defeat his sword moves, but it was not out of talent, but great understanding. The other seemed able to predict what sword move he would use next.
This was not just being familiar with his sword moves, but being familiar with his personality, habits and everything else in order to be able to predict his sword moves. But because he had been too proud and confident, the faint feeling had not reached the top of his mind. Only now, when someone like Shen Xuan was taking a blow for Ding Ning without care for his life did he suddenly start to realize.
Yet he still could not understand. Other than that person, who could be so familiar with his sword moves and his personality? Even the other people of Ba Mountain Sword Field, even that person’s heir, could not do this.
“Why?” he looked at Ding Ning in disbelief and said blankly.
The Sword Mountain Sword did not keep falling, embedded in the mountain slope, but the sword energies were still coming out and the slope still cracked.
Cracking sounds also came from inside Gu Huai’s body. More wounds started to appear on the surface of his skin.
These wounds came from battles long ago. The people who had created these wounds had all been peerless. The wounds had healed to the point that even Gu Huai could no longer sense them. Yet today, his body was near complete collapse, and these flesh and bones, slightly different from his body, were expelled first.
Shen Xuan felt like he was immersed in the previous Fountain of Eternal Life. He sensed the vitality that had left him return to his body and the deepest parts of his body quickly close. He looked up, knowing he would not die, and saw Gu Huai’s wounds. He knew that Gu Huai was really going to die.
Li Xixing’s attack missed and he felt a surge of discomfort. But seeing himself, Hu Jingjing and Ding Ning unharmed, he felt the air was extremely warm.
Wu Lianzi was still sitting on the ground. Looking at this scene, inexplicably, as he felt admiration towards Ding Ning, he also felt that the latter was not happy at this moment.
Gu Huai could no longer control his vital energy or stop his body from falling apart. For Zhan Moke at this moment, with a thought, he could erase Gu Huai from this mountain valley. But he was not in a hurry to kill Gu Huai and just looked thoughtfully at Gu Huai and Ding Ning.
Ding Ning did not immediately answer Gu Huai’s question and started to walk towards him.
More sounds of ice shattering came from inside Gu Huai’s body. Seeing Ding Ning walk over, inexplicably, he started to feel terror but he could not stop the other from coming close.
Ding Ning walked until he was right in front and then looked at him gradually darkening eyes which were starting to fill with shattered ice. He said seriously, “I said you would be the first to die today.”
Gu Huai felt great pain, but he was unable to be angry or answer because this had become reality.
“When I sensed that I could use this thing to sever your connection with Zheng Xiu, you were fated to die today.” Ding Ning looked at him and said, “For Zheng Xiu, you are just a dog. Many people do not treat you like a dog, but you are willing to be a dog and help her kill the people who do not treat you like a dog,”
“You are the heir to the Nine Death Silkworm!”
Gu Huai looked at the still alive Shen Xuan. Many scenes flashed through his mind. He seemed to understand something. His voice seemed to carry cracks and was indistinct.
Other than Shen Xuan and Zhan Moke, the three people present, including Li Xixing, felt like a hammer hit his heart and trembled all over.
Ding Ning did not refute this and just calmly reached out with his hand.
Gu Huai had originally used up all his strength and was going to die by falling apart. But like Shen Xuan, a fresh presence flowed into Gu Huai’s heart meridian to keep him as he was.
“Answer one question of mine, and I will tell you a secret.” Ding Ning looked at Gu Huai whose entire face had twisted due to his strong emotions and said softly but with great sincerity.
Gu Huai suddenly became nervous and said, “What?”
Ding Ning said, “Where is the Great Punishment Sword?”
Gu Huai’s eyes widened to their limits and even his lips started to crack. “I do not know where, not in my Spirit Void Sword Sect.”
He sensed that Ding Ning did not leave him too much time, so while his emotions were in greater chaos, he still spoke immediately.
Ding Ning frowned slightly. Strictly speaking, Gu Huai did not give the answer to his question. But at least eliminated one of his important assumptions and he had an answer in mind.
So he took a half step and whispered by Gu Huai’s ear, “When the plums turn yellow, see me slash that person’s face.”
This appeared to be a phrase unconnected to this time, and the phrase itself was also odd. Yet Gu Huai knew the meaning of the words.
This was an old saying. Many years ago in a plum forest, when a drizzle was coming down, someone had said this to him when they were making tea and discussing the sword. At the time, the plums had been green and there was about two months until the plums turned yellow.
There was a famous swordswoman in Changling. She was not good looking but she liked beauty and was proud. Because of her bad character, they ended up with grievances. But she had been much stronger than them back then. In his view, two months of cultivation was not enough to win against that swordswoman. But in the end, that person managed a breakthrough within two months and achieved what the phrase said.
Only the two of them knew of this matter.
Gu Huai could not understand his own emotions at this moment. He just felt endless cold, like countless snow flakes were embedded into his body. He saw a certain truth.
“You are not … you are —”
He saw a certain truth, but he looked like he saw countless untruths. His body trembled violently as he spoke but Ding Ning did not give him the time to finish.
His body completely shattered at this moment. His body became countless pieces, collapsing like glass and scattering.
**
Seeing Gu Huai turn to dust, everyone felt this was unreal. But the Sword Mountain Sword stuck in the slopes reminded everyone that this was reality.
The master of Spirit Void Sword Sect, on his first time out of the sect after many years, was killed here.
“What is, and what is not?” Zhan Moke took a deep breath and then asked Ding Ning with a faint smile on his lips.
“What I am is not important.” Ding Ning looked up at him and said slowly, “What is important is who you are, the last of Tianliang.”
Zhan Moke nodded. His movements were unusually slow. “Why do you say I am the last of Tianliang?”
“If you are not of Tianliang, how could you have set up such a game?” Ding Ning’s gaze passed through the settling valley air on to his slightly old and pale face. “Since the Tianliang people treat this place as holy and will not allow anyone to even enter it, then if there are any other Tianliang people, would they have allowed you to set this up and let you enter?”
Hearing Ding Ning’s words, Zhan Moke laughed, sad and emotional. “You are right, but I finally have entered here.”
