The Legendary Son-in-law of the Emperor
Chapter 950 - 947 Empty Ancient City

Chapter 950: Chapter 947 Empty Ancient City

The old Taoist smiled and watched the butcher leave. Then he climbed up the city wall and looked at the old scholar in the green robe, carrying a sense of respect.

The old scholar in the green robe had already put down his pen, continued drinking wine, and was muttering something.

However, the strong wind from the Luminous Sea made the old scholar’s words very indistinct, and no one could hear them clearly.

The vast world over the Luminous Sea was fading away slowly, like a mirage.

But the old Taoist knew that this was not a mirage; it was because the Forbidden Power of the Luminous Sea did not allow this vast world to exist.

Looking into the distance, the old Taoist had a vague sense of anticipation.

His intuition told him that the person he was waiting for was arriving soon.

"Your name is Zhang Qingfeng, right?"

At this moment, the old scholar in the green robe turned to look at the old Taoist, took a sip of his old wine, patted the spot beside him, and said, "Come over here and sit down to talk."

The old Taoist named Zhang Qingfeng cupped his hands, followed the invitation, and sat down beside the old scholar.

The old scholar squinted at the Luminous Sea and said, "Why do you keep paying for my wine?"

The old Taoist smiled slightly and said, "My master once told me that living in the world, one must do what one can."

The old scholar gazed at the old Taoist and shook his head, saying, "No, no, no, this reasoning is not quite right. People only do what they want to do when they do what they can, and even give their all."

"Moreover, living within this Empty Ancient City is no different from being dead."

The old scholar averted his gaze.

The old Taoist smiled calmly and said, "But still living, is it not?"

"No one remembers, they’re all dead," the old scholar murmured, and after taking another sip of wine, he staggered to his feet, almost falling off the city wall, and threw the wine bottle towards the Luminous Sea.

But before reaching the Luminous Sea, it turned to ashes.

The old scholar flicked his sleeves, placed his hands behind his back, stood tall with his chest out, squinting at the distinctly divided skies above, and loudly declared, "They’re all dead!"

The voice spread throughout the Empty Ancient City.

But the people of the Empty Ancient City had long grown accustomed to it.

In their eyes, this Ji Yueyi seemed like a madman.

The old Taoist seemed to sense something. He raised his head and glanced sideways at the old scholar, saying, "May this junior ask the elder a question?"

The old scholar slowly lowered his head, seemingly finding the human world uninteresting, and sat down again, saying, "Go ahead, I may not be able to answer."

The old Taoist cupped his hands and asked, "What kind of beings are the people within the Empty Ancient City?"

The old scholar turned to look at the old Taoist and chuckled, "People have eyes to see. Can’t you see?"

The old Taoist shook his head slightly and said, "Forgive my ignorance, I can’t see it clearly."

The old scholar reached out and slapped directly.

The old Taoist did not dodge.

A surprising scene occurred.

As the old scholar’s hand touched the old Taoist’s face, it directly turned ethereal, then passed through the old Taoist’s head, and returned to normal.

The two seemed to reside in different spaces and times, conversing but unable to touch each other.

The old scholar put down his hand, looked at the old Taoist, and said in a slow voice, "Do you understand now?"

The old Taoist was silent, got up, made a bow to the old scholar, and then walked down from the city wall.

The old scholar did not watch the old Taoist leave, still gazing at the Luminous Sea, murmuring, "All dead, all forgotten..."

Walking down from the city wall, the old Taoist met the butcher. Under the butcher’s astonished gaze, the old Taoist took the Golden Essence Copper Coin, ignoring the butcher’s furious curses behind him, and returned to his small plot of land to meditate, waiting for that person’s arrival.

————

On the Luminous Sea, three thousand ships were sailing.

These were real ships.

The fake ones were all gone.

Hundreds of thousands of cultivators died.

Less than twenty thousand remained.

Even the Shaking Light Saint Heir had died.

Everything, it seemed, happened in the blink of an eye.

At the stern, Ye Xuan looked in the direction of the Empty Ancient City, saying nothing.

Empty Ancient City.

Empty through the ages, ages of emptiness.

In that city, many lived, yet the city was empty.

It continued to exist in this very strange form.

Only one was truly alive.

Zhang Qingfeng.

"Ye Xuan, is grandfather really in that ancient city?" Zhang Jingtong came to Ye Xuan’s side, also looking in the direction of the Empty Ancient City.

Although the dark mist remained thick, the towering city walls could now be faintly seen.

Zhang Jingtong wasn’t tall, standing straight she barely reached Ye Xuan’s shoulder, appearing extremely petite.

"I’m here." Ye Xuan slightly nodded and said.

"How come you know so much?" Zhang Jingtong looked up sideways at Ye Xuan’s face, with a hint of confusion.

"Perhaps... it’s because I’ve traveled a long journey." Ye Xuan smiled and said.

"I also want to travel a long journey in the future." Zhang Jingtong replied playfully with a smile.

"That’s good." Ye Xuan rubbed Zhang Jingtong’s head.

Seeing Zhang Jingtong, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but think of an old acquaintance.

That old acquaintance was his female disciple.

That female disciple was named Yu Chudong, with the nickname Dong’er. When she was ten, her parents passed away, and she wandered alone until she was saved by Ye Xuan during the tumult and taken in as a disciple.

She was also the first female disciple from the Human Clan that Ye Xuan accepted.

Simply mentioning her name might not be recognized, but she had a well-known title, called Emperor Baxian.

The era following Sword Emperor Huang Chunqiu was the era belonging to Emperor Baxian.

Afterward, it became the era of Heaven Suppressing Ancient Emperor.

Even so, Emperor Baxian’s era was not long because, like Ming Jing Great Emperor, she was devoted to her beliefs, not to imperial pursuits.

Nonetheless, Emperor Baxian remained stunning in that era.

However, the past Ye Xuan recalled was not about the time when Emperor Baxian rose to power but when she was sixteen.

Ye Xuan took her to traverse famous mountains and rivers, witnessing the hardships of the human world.

That night, the bright moon hung high, and the master and disciple sat under a large tree.

Dong’er grilled the meat and asked Ye Xuan.

"Master, what kind of person do you want Dong’er to become in the future?"

Dong’er looked at her master, Emperor Ye, with hopeful eyes, who always sat three zhang away from her.

Emperor Ye said slowly, "Just be yourself."

Dong’er’s beautiful eyes showed a hint of mischief and she said, "What if Dong’er becomes a bad person?"

Emperor Ye smiled and said, "In this world, who can truly discern right from wrong, so whatever you do, I feel it’s fine."

"In short, just don’t emulate your master."

"Why?" Dong’er asked puzzled.

Emperor Ye looked up at the bright moon and sighed, "Because your master is not human."

That moment, Dong’er looked at her master, Emperor Ye, and suddenly felt her master was inexplicably pitiful.

What kind of loneliness would lead to that feeling?

An indescribable sadness grew in Dong’er’s heart.

At that time, Dong’er secretly vowed to herself, she would stay by her master’s side no matter what.

Until the day she entered the Saint Realm, her master suddenly departed without a word.

From then on, her life was spent searching for her master.

She never knew that her master, Emperor Ye, was always watching over her from the shadows, just never meeting her.

......

"Ye Xuan, what are you doing?" Zhang Jingtong’s voice brought Ye Xuan back from his memories.

The faint smile at the corner of Ye Xuan’s mouth gradually faded away as he looked at Zhang Jingtong and said softly, "What’s wrong?"

Zhang Jingtong had a puzzled expression, then repeated her words: "I said, you’ve traveled far, have you ever encountered times so desperate you wanted to give up?"

Ye Xuan looked at the approaching city walls of the Empty Ancient City and said, "Naturally, there have been."

"I can’t believe you also had such times, how strange." Suddenly, Yao Yueqing, who had come nearby to eavesdrop, couldn’t help but tease upon hearing Ye Xuan’s words.

Ye Xuan didn’t mind Yao Yueqing’s teasing and said serenely, "Failure is nothing to be afraid of, as long as you keep standing up amidst failures and keep going."

"You brat, full of nonsense." Yao Yueqing snorted.

This fellow, clearly only sixteen or seventeen, yet always sounded so wise, which really annoyed her.

Ye Xuan squinted at Yao Yueqing and said with a smiling face, "If I weren’t married, you’d be begging for mercy lying on the ground now."

Of course, Yao Yueqing understood the meaning behind Ye Xuan’s words, and instantly her face turned red with embarrassment, muttering angrily, "You nasty Ye Xuan, always saying such things!"

After that, Yao Yueqing stomped her foot and returned to the cabin.

Qiankun Ancestor amiably approached Yao Yueqing, whispering, "Actually, being teased by my master is a tremendous blessing."

"Senior, why are you also..." Yao Yueqing was exasperated, wanting to call him shameless.

Qiankun Ancestor sat upright, pretending to be profound and said, "You’ll understand in the future."