498 Fate Leads to a Misunderstanding
“Imperial Sister! I’ve returned!”
Ji Qinghai’s sword stopped beside Jiang Huai and Ji Qingxuan. Looking at Jiang Huai, who was injured, and Ji Qingxuan, who lay pale on the ground, he became flustered. He quickly turned his gaze to Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai quickly replied, “The Grand Princess was locked in a fierce battle with the Snow Spirit Wolf King and sustained severe injuries. I seized the opportunity when the Snow Spirit Wolf King let its guard down and landed the final blow, killing it. The wolf pack has been scared away, and we are safe for now. Don’t worry, but her injuries seem quite serious and require immediate treatment.”
“You… killed the Snow Spirit Wolf King?”
“Yes.” Jiang Huai nodded lightly, then forced a bitter smile. “I exhausted all my spiritual qi scaring away the wolf pack earlier. I also saw the signal flare from Central Province and had been lying in wait, searching for an opportune moment to act, which is why I didn’t reveal myself directly.”
After a moment, Ji Qinghai sensed that Jiang Huai before him was indeed depleted of qi, and not a trace of spiritual qi could be felt from him. The same applied to Ji Qingxuan lying on the ground; even the sword her Father Emperor had given her was now devoid of spiritual qi.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s good that you’re alright, it’s good that you’re alright… Brother Jiang, my gratitude is beyond words. Once we leave this Secret Realm, my Imperial Sister and I will be deeply indebted to you for your rescue.”
“It was nothing,” Jiang Huai shook his head. He was still crouched on the ground and gently pressed a few acupoints on Ji Qingxuan’s shoulder, managing to stop her bleeding for the moment. He slowly said, “Her injuries cannot be delayed for too long. This is no place to talk anyway. Let’s find a safe place to hide first.”
“Okay.” Ji Qinghai immediately agreed.
Under the moonlight, just as Jiang Huai was about to help Ji Qingxuan up from the ground, a sword wind struck from behind him. Intense pain instantly surged through his chest. The moment he regained his senses, he looked down to see the tip of a sword protruding from his chest.
He slowly turned his head, his face filled with disbelief.
Under the moonlight, Ji Qinghai’s expression was calm. The anxiety and panic he had displayed earlier had vanished without a trace, replaced by icy indifference.
He didn’t even smile. He simply drew his sword silently, and the blade was instantly pulled from Jiang Huai’s chest. Jiang Huai’s body went limp and collapsed to the ground, spurting large amounts of blood.
“I didn’t expect it to be this easy.”
Ji Qinghai lowered his head slightly, looking at Jiang Huai and Ji Qingxuan lying on the ground. After a moment of hesitation, he couldn’t help but murmur to himself, “It feels like a dream.”
Ji Qingxuan was not unconscious at this moment. She widened her eyes slightly, staring blankly at Ji Qinghai before her. Ji Qinghai first glanced at Jiang Huai beside him. Jiang Huai was lying prone on the ground, his breathing faint, and he was too weak to muster any strength. He would likely be dead within the time it takes an incense stick to burn.
Ji Qingxuan, who was now defenseless, was clearly no match for his sword.
Ji Qingxuan’s throat twitched. However, due to extreme shock, even with all her effort, she could only manage to utter, “You…” before falling silent.
Ji Qinghai gazed at her face for several long moments before finally letting out a long sigh.
“I didn’t want this,” he looked at Ji Qingxuan before him with a somber expression. “But why are you so foolish, Imperial Sister? If you hadn’t tried to save those fools, you wouldn’t have ended up like this, and I wouldn’t have had this opportunity. If you had even the slightest chance to resist, how could I have brought myself to draw my sword against you?”
“But this is such a golden opportunity. They all witnessed you willingly cover their retreat. I even specifically asked them. If even one person was willing to return with me to save you, under the gaze of that person, I wouldn’t have wanted to kill you, Imperial Sister. Yet, despite feeling grateful to you, none of them were willing to come.”
“They all saw me returning to save you, but I arrived late, and by then you were already at death’s door, beyond saving.”
“This is all your own doing, Imperial Sister. If this Jiang Huai hadn’t intervened to save you, you would likely have died by the snow wolf’s claws. You really can’t blame me.”
“And you!” Ji Qinghai said, angrily kicking Jiang Huai’s butt. “If you hadn’t come out and interfered, I would have secretly watched the Snow Spirit Wolf King kill my Imperial Sister. Everything would have been perfectly justifiable, and I would have just arrived slightly late, not even needing to act myself!”
Ji Qinghai cursed through gritted teeth, then turned his gaze back to Ji Qingxuan. “Imperial Sister, you see, this really isn’t my fault.”
“You…”
“There are thirteen princes in Central Province, and Father Emperor has no heir he favors. He has always doted on you, Imperial Sister. You always told me you disdained the throne and would recommend me as Emperor of Central Province in the future. But you are simply too outstanding. As long as you are alive, everyone will expect you to ascend the throne, not me.”
Ji Qinghai’s voice grew increasingly low. “I really didn’t want this, but why did it have to be such a coincidence… the wolf pack went berserk, you acted foolishly, and insisted on staying behind to cover their retreat. And now you’re severely injured before me, how can I possibly bear it?”
“How many times have I told you, Imperial Sister, not to be so soft-hearted, not to be so soft-hearted! With your noble status, why are you concerning yourself with these strangers? There are so many deserving of death in this world; you save so many, yet who will save you now? None of the people on those boats were willing to even glance back. If even one person had been willing to return with me, I would have believed in human kindness, believed that people understand gratitude… But people, without the restraint of laws and customs, are no different from selfish beasts.”
“If even one of them had been willing to take a look, if even one pair of eyes had supervised my conscience, I wouldn’t have… laid hands on you, Imperial Sister,” Ji Qinghai’s voice began to tremble slightly. “I truly didn’t want this, Imperial Sister.”
He walked step by step towards Ji Qingxuan, looking down at her now, her expression cold and aloof, her eyes filled with disbelief, as if she hadn’t fully processed it yet. He let out a long sigh.
“In your next life, don’t be a do-gooder anymore, Imperial Sister. It’s not worth it… not worth it.”
He swung his sword, it flashed with cold light.
The sword tip plunged into the ground, but it struck empty air.
Ji Qinghai froze. When he came to his senses and looked at the ground again, not only was Ji Qingxuan, who had been lying there, now standing not far from him, but even Jiang Huai, whose butt he had just kicked, was standing there calmly as if nothing had happened. The bloody wound on his chest had completely healed.
Jiang Huai glanced at Ji Qingxuan beside him, and Ji Qingxuan returned the glance.
Both their expressions were a little strange.
Ji Qingxuan raised her eyes slightly. Her eyes were no longer filled with the panic, unease, and disbelief from before. Instead, they were exceptionally calm, with a hint of coldness. She gently took a Sound Recording Stone from her waist, tossed it into the air, and in an instant, all the words Ji Qinghai had spoken, and all the emotions on his face under the moonlight, were revealed.
Ji Qinghai took a step back, his face contorted with rage.
Ji Qingxuan sighed softly. “I didn’t want this either, but before we entered the Secret Realm, my Sixth Brother quietly told me to be wary of you harming me in the Secret Realm.”
“Sixth Brother wants to kill you too!” Ji Qinghai quickly gripped his sword hilt.
“I know,” Ji Qingxuan’s tone became increasingly helpless. “I know you all want to kill me, but I never wanted to kill any of you. I knew you were secretly watching me fight the Snow Wolf, and choosing not to lend a hand. Even so, I never resented you. As long as you didn’t intend to kill me with your own hands… I would have forgiven you.”
“But you actually intended to kill me…” Ji Qingxuan sighed softly. She lowered her head slightly. The bloody wound on her shoulder was rapidly healing, and after a moment, it became smooth and delicate, as if reborn.
Now it was Ji Qinghai’s turn to be filled with disbelief and madness. He looked at Ji Qingxuan before him in alarm. He could clearly sense that Ji Qingxuan, for some unknown reason, had regained thirty percent of her spiritual qi… With her cultivation level at the verge of the Eighth Realm, it was not difficult for her to kill him with this thirty percent spiritual qi!
But what was even more terrifying was yet to come.
A moment later, he suddenly realized that Jiang Huai, standing not far from Ji Qingxuan, had also fully replenished his spiritual qi, as if… he had never expended any. In fact, his cultivation level was no longer Body Integration First Layer, but Body Integration Second Layer!
This unbelievable scene made him breathless, and he could only suspect that everything that had happened tonight was a dream. First, a sweet dream, then a nightmare, the changes catching him completely off guard.
“Father actually never intended for me to inherit the throne,” Ji Qingxuan sighed softly. “You see that I still have thirty percent spiritual qi now, because that thirty percent is stored in my Dragon Heart.Half of my bloodline is dragon blood. Once, a member of the Dragon Clan was traveling the world and, out of curiosity for the prosperity of the imperial palace, entered it disguised as a concubine. She spent her days and nights with Father Emperor, and unexpectedly, Father Emperor’s Ninth Realm cultivation and the miraculous Ji family bloodline allowed her to conceive.
“Later, she gave birth to a prince and, sensing the Dragon Clan, had to return to them. It wasn’t like you know, that my birth mother died in childbirth. After all, if the Dragon Clan found out about bearing offspring with humans, they might punish my mother, so Father Emperor sealed all the news.
“The Dragon Clan, is considered a foreign race to humans. Because I have dragon blood flowing through me, I cannot wield the Imperial Seal, nor can I command the Ji family royalty. How could I possibly ascend the throne?”
Ji Qinghai trembled all over, his lips pale. After a long while, he managed to choke out, “Imperial Sister, Father Emperor… you’ve kept secrets from me for so long… so long…”
“I’ve discussed it with Father Emperor. After this Five Regions Grand Competition, we plan to establish you as the Crown Prince,” Ji Qingxuan said softly. After a moment of hesitation, she continued, “I won’t kill you. I will take you back to Central Province, and your fate will be decided by Father Emperor.”
Just as a glimmer of hope began to appear in Ji Qinghai’s eyes, he suddenly heard Jiang Huai say indifferently from the side, “Whether you kill him or not is your business, but he owes me a sword.”
Ji Qingxuan remained silent for a moment, but did not interfere. After a long silence, she weighed her thirty percent spiritual qi and knew that any intervention would be meaningless. She turned her face away. “A life for a life, it’s reasonable.”
Jiang Huai sighed helplessly.
He had been lurking in the shadows for a long time. After all, he had used a lot of his spiritual qi yesterday, and what was left was not much; his full spiritual qi was only enough to maintain the Nine-tailed Fox Clan’s true form for ten breaths. The remaining half of his spiritual qi was needed to fully activate the Overlord Art and boil his dragon blood. Thus, he had concealed himself for a while. However, he had also noticed Ji Qinghai, who had returned but was now concealing his presence, and had secretly devised a small plan to see what he was up to.
But with the divine physique of his Overlord Art, even if Jiang Huai had taken out his heart to wash it, he wouldn’t have died. So he had been a bit careless in his vigilance. Who knew he would be stabbed in the back like this? Fortunately, the moment he was hit, he silently prompted the system to use the Qi Replenishing Pill from his backpack and quietly replenished all his spiritual qi. It was just that Ji Qinghai, who had no idea he had such a trick up his sleeve, hadn’t noticed at all.
Before he could figure out Ji Qinghai’s game, he lay on the ground and pretended to be dead for a while. He didn’t expect Ji Qingxuan, who was also lying beside him, to be faking too. After listening to their Central Province family drama for a while, he could only say it was somewhat interesting, but not enough.
Jiang Huai raised the Yening Sword in his hand. “How about this? You stab me once, and I’ll return the favor.”
The moment Jiang Huai finished speaking, without the slightest hesitation, he struck down with his sword, shredding Ji Qinghai’s qi sea and shattering all his acupoints with sword qi. This was far more brutal than when his cultivation had been crippled; back then, his cultivation had been crippled, but his acupoints were intact. Now, Ji Qinghai’s acupoints were all shattered by his sword qi, and even Granny Jiuy would be powerless to help.
“Alright, I’ve vented my anger. As for your future life and death? That will be decided by your Imperial Sister,” Jiang Huai said, clapping his hands and sheathing his sword.
For the vast majority of cultivators in this world, the crippling of their cultivation was a more terrifying punishment than being drawn and quartered.
