Love & Redemption
Chapter 266: Final Volume: I Am Liuli - Twenty-Five: Liuli (Part Five)

Chapter 266: Final Volume: I Am Liuli: Chapter Twenty-Five: Liuli (Part Five)

The entire curtain tore with a rip when she yanked it down, fluttering to the floor, but the scene behind it startled Xuanji—no one was there! The dragon throne was completely empty!

In front of the dragon throne was a desk upon which sat a Luminous Glass Vase about three feet tall, its brilliance captivating and soul-snatching, as if harboring a silent, icy, colorful flame inside. A small corner of the Luminous Glass Vase was missing, its cut smooth and fine; the person who had acted did so with extreme swiftness, severing a corner without leaving a single crack on the fragile glass.

Xuanji’s heart trembled, her throat tightened slightly, and she stared fixatedly at the Luminous Glass Vase, as if after a millennia, she had finally found something of vital importance.

She reached out, her fingers trembling, wanting to gently touch the Luminous Glass Vase when she suddenly heard the Heavenly Emperor’s voice from behind the curtain, "Let’s return this item to the General today."

She was shocked again, hurriedly looking up, only to see curtains all around; behind each one, figures flickered indistinctly, the Heavenly Emperor’s voice coming from all directions, elusive. Behind the curtains were more curtains, and no matter how many she tore apart, she could not see his face, prompting Xuanji to coldly laugh, "A crafty hare has three burrows! You don’t even dare to show your face!"

The Heavenly Emperor did not get angry but instead spoke mildly, "I have millions of forms, changing at will. What form does the General hope to see me in?"

Xuanji said harshly, "I have no interest in your appearance! I just ask you one question—how shall we resolve this?!"

The Heavenly Emperor sighed, "Given the circumstances, Heaven has no standing to speak. What does the General wish?"

Cunning! He was actually pushing the problem to her! Xuanji was just about to burst out in anger when she suddenly thought of Liu Yihuan and their situation, feeling a chill in her heart, and said urgently, "You took Si Fengting Nu captive, planning to blackmail me!"

The Heavenly Emperor replied, "The General has finally found significant people in this life, why would I keep them captive to threaten you? You need not worry, I will soon send them back to the Lower Realm, unharmed."

"Who knows what you have done to them! Back then, you forcibly convicted me and sent me to the Lower Realm, and Ting Nu suffered due to his association with me. Now you pull the same trick again, implicating those close to me, your intentions are condemnable! You don’t need to say it—I know what you want. You simply hope to return these people to me, no charges laid, and then I will happily take them back and continue to be an oblivious fool. You first lured me here under the pretense of rebellion, and when I arrived, you lowered your posture; what do you want, to beg my forgiveness? Haha! Don’t you think it’s funny when you say that?"

The Heavenly Emperor spoke softly, "Have you ever thought, as you said, I could choose not to let you know about the past, sweet-talk you a little, then let you bring everyone back, and you’d probably still thank me."

Xuanji flew into a rage, not letting him finish, and with a clang, she drew the Ding Kun Sword and with a swing, set all the surrounding curtains ablaze. Nine Coiled Dragon Gold Pillars were severed in three or four places instantaneously, the hall shook violently, countless bricks and tiles fell clattering down, and the copper tripod, lit with incense wood, was also kicked to the ground by her. Sparks scattered everywhere, landing on the curtains, and thick smoke billowed up, rapidly engulfing the well-maintained side hall in fire.

:

Xuanji swung her sword wildly in the firelight, without uttering a word. She harbored the deepest rage, feeling as if she would burst and die if she did not vent. Her face steamed with the heat of the fire, covered in streaks of tears. Even she could not tell if she was actually crying; perhaps more than wanting to destroy everything before her, she wanted to destroy herself. That blazing inferno should have swallowed her up right then.

She forgot, everything was an illusion. Go back, go back! It was just her and Si Feng, sitting in West Valley Town, laughing as the Phoenix Flowers bloomed and faded, the whole sky seeming ablaze. Chatting softly about past amusements, envisaging the days ahead, planning where to go next—the days flowed like water, passing in the blink of an eye. They turned into hoary-haired old people, the blood-red Phoenix Flowers falling all over them.

"Please, General, calm your anger!" Suddenly a shout came from behind; Xuanji turned around dazedly, only to see a figure in white distinctly visible amidst the flames—it was Emperor Bai.

Seeing him was like throwing oil on the fire for Xuanji, she shouted fiercely, "Good! You’ve come! Today I will take your head to appease my heart!" She swung her sword to strike, but heard Emperor Bai cry out miserably, "If the General wishes to kill me, I will not resist, but there are some past events I want the General to understand."

Xuanji tilted her sword, narrowly missing his ear, and with a clang, it slammed into a pillar, sparking a shower of sparks—the side hall was almost collapsing now, enveloped in thick smoke, both figures flickered in and out of visibility amidst the firelight.

Emperor Bai spoke softly, "Even as a Shura Demon God, the General is still a heroic figure. Naturally, you also detest the repeated invasions of Heaven by the Shuras. Actually, this strategy was initially proposed by you."

"You’re talking nonsense!" Xuanji felt it was absurd.

Emperor Bai spoke gravely, "Yes, the General was actually joking that day, but I kept it in my heart all this time. In my heart, I was always hoping against hope that the General was willing... but that was just self-deception, I’ve been tormented by guilt these years. But I hope the General understands that all the strategizing and actions were my doing alone, unrelated to others, even the Heavenly Emperor was unaware."

The Heavenly Emperor’s voice came from all directions, clear and mild: "My beloved, why take all the blame upon yourself? As the saying goes in the mortal world, seeing is believing. The more we speak here, the worse it may be from the General’s perspective. How about we let you see the past for yourself?"

Emperor Bai knelt down, choked up, "This humble subject has recklessly brought such unprovoked disaster to Heaven, I beg for your judgment! I will bear all the guilt alone."

The Heavenly Emperor spoke gently, "My beloved, stand, after all, it is Heaven that has wronged the General. It’s really up to the General what happens next. General, shall I take you to see the past?"

Xuanji said softly, "Having seen it... what then? After having seen it, can everything be as if it never happened?"

The Heavenly Emperor replied, "Not quite, I was thinking that the general should be aware of the whole story."

Xuanji paused for a long while before she slowly nodded her head. The Heavenly Emperor said loudly, "Events of today stem from causes of the past. All grudges shall return to dust."

As the sound of his voice faded, the flames consuming the side hall extinguished in an instant, cascading curtains fell, and a gust of fragrant wind swept through, coiling up her long hair. Inside the Luminous Glass Vase, a lump of cold, colorful flame energetically danced, emitting a captivating radiance, as if it intended to draw in one’s soul. Surrounding everything, the darkness descended like thick ink of the night.

Xuanji tried her best to divert her gaze from the Luminous Glass Vase; however, it seemed as if a divine power was emanating from it, no matter how hard she tried, her eyes would not shift even slightly. In a daze, she saw a pair of hands reaching out from the darkness, faintly glowing white, like an enormous white butterfly. In those hands, a slender copper striker was held high, poised to strike down.

Xuanji was terrified and blurted out, "Do not strike!"

It was too late by the time she spoke; the copper striker lightly tapped, striking the edge of the Luminous Glass Vase with a crisp "clang". She was shaken, yet strangely, felt no pain, only sensing a gust of wind blowing past her eyes in an instant. She hurriedly covered her face with her hands, only hearing the incessant sound of the wind, echoing like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves.

Unsure how much time had passed, the wind ceased abruptly. Xuanji hesitantly lowered her sleeves, and suddenly everything brightened. She saw an astonishingly unique scenery; a wide, shimmering river separated the two banks, with an endless desert shrouded in fog on the far bank, devoid of any signs of life. Her side, however, featured lush green mountains and waters, fragrant with birds and flowers, extraordinarily beautiful.

The wide Milky Way was peculiar, its water appeared stagnant. At a distance by the river, there was a wooden pole, tied to it was a flat boat. When Xuanji walked over to take a closer look, she saw that the flat boat had no bottom, merely floating effortlessly on the stagnant water, completely still.

This scenery felt somewhat familiar, yet strange to her. Xuanji hesitated and walked along the mountain path, the rugged trail spiraling amidst lush greenery. Upon walking a stretch, she suddenly heard voices. She quickly sought to hide, but then realized these were scenes from the past; no one could see her. Thus, she relaxed and followed the voices.

A white, jade pavilion stood on the mountain path, dazzling with brilliant light. Xuanji immediately recognized that it was crafted from a single block of jade—a typical style of Heaven, only they would indulge in such extravagance.

Two people were sitting inside the pavilion, one dressed in white, handsome and vibrant, clearly Emperor Bai from the past. The other person... Xuanji rubbed her eyes, only to feel a blur, unable to make out that person’s features clearly. He seemed extremely tall, his entire body a deep red, quite fearsome in appearance, suggesting that he probably wasn’t very pleasant-looking either.

This must have been her once.

Back then, a voice teased her, suggesting she transform into a beautiful Liuli figure, for she was truly unsightly. No wonder that person had said so; she indeed looked pitiful. Xuanji gave a wry smile, her eyes brimming with tears of frustration and sadness. Eventually, she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.

Inside the pavilion, the two seemed to enjoy their drinking, laughing and chatting about something. Emperor Bai drained his cup in one gulp and while laughing, suddenly sighed. The person next to him was sharp-minded and immediately guessed his thoughts, soothingly said, "Now that the realms are at war, your Highness is troubled, why not share your concerns with me?"

Xuanji listened to the person’s hoarse and rough voice, neither male nor female, quite unpleasant to the ear. She smiled even more bitterly. Could it be she had once been a man? However, it’s said that Shuras are genderless, so it suited her being androgynous. If Si Feng knew about this, would he tease her?

Emperor Bai sighed, "Jidu, brother, is a hero of the Asura World. You must be in a difficult position, caught in the middle. It’s rather my younger self who has dragged you into this."

Then, Luo Hou and Jidu burst out laughing and said, "Your Highness underestimates me! Our friendship would not suffer due to the conflict between the realms!" After speaking, he suddenly smacked his lips, frowning, "It’s a shame they won’t listen to me. The Shura Path has long been peaceful, and they seem to prefer death to this. Now they’ve even caused trouble in Heaven. I advised everyone from top to bottom, but to no avail as the call to battle was too loud. I had no choice but to step aside and come have a drink with you, to soothe our worries. Ha-ha! Come, let’s finish this drink!"

He poured another two cups, and both seemed deeply moved, discussing the war between the realms. No matter how Jidu tried to console him, Emperor Bai remained troubled.

Wuzhiqi once said that during the ancient war between Asura Heaven and Heaven, the Asuras were valiant and skilled warriors, unlike the tender Heaven immortals who only knew how to seek peace and avoid the world. They were simply not on the same level, and Heaven got terribly defeated... As to how terrible, nobody knew, until the War God appeared, and Heaven could finally regain its glory, turning the tide to severely beat the Shuras.

Xuanji saw as the two drank more and more, Luo Hou and Jidu were quite drunk, their speech becoming slurred and disjointed. Emperor Bai, perhaps due to his heavy thoughts, seemed soberer. Suddenly thinking of something, he laughed and said, "If only brother Jidu were a person of my Heaven, with your valor, even if thousands of Shuras charged at us, we would have nothing to fear."

Of course, this was a drunken jest. Normally, Jidu would have brooded over such a remark for a long time. However, this time, completely intoxicated, he not only wasn’t angry but burst out laughing, lifting the liquor jug and leaping up, he loudly said, "Your idea is indeed excellent! Too bad I was born this robust, unlike the delicately beautiful people of Heaven. Otherwise, what assistance could I have provided you?!"

*******

My computer is working again... Please, call me a computer prodigy...(To be continued, for more details, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)