Lost of Oblivion: Chapter Five

As a matter of fact, Fāng MèngChén’s spiritual power was not great, nor was his swordsmanship, however, his moves were quick.

He knew that Wèi WúXiàn was running out of spiritual power, and noted that Wèi WúXiàn was not in a hurry to put an end to this fight, he only spent as less as possible his physical strength.

Fāng MèngChén also observed that Wèi WúXiàn was doing his best to protect the baby, so, he began to direct his attacks towards Wèi WúXiàn’s chest, aiming at the little baby.

Sadly, Wèi WúXiàn began to feel dizzy again, and, moreover, it was getting harder for him to handle his sword. Also, the more he used his spiritual power the more the agonising pain in his abdomen increased.

Furthermore, he could not get close to and attack Fāng MèngChén, because he feared that he would put the little baby in danger of being harmed by Fāng MèngChén.

Wèi WúXiàn knew that he could not hold on forever, so, he decided to take a risk. He moved one step backwards and his foot sank into the mud of the riverbed, and, deceitfully, revealing a flaw.

As Fāng MèngChén charged once more, Wèi WúXiàn shielded the baby with the energy of his sword.

However, Fāng MèngChén really took the bait, and, instead of aiming at Wèi WúXiàn’s chest as he formerly intended to do so, he directed his attack towards Wèi WúXiàn’s sunk foot and stabbed his shin.

This new pain in his leg helped Wèi WúXiàn to clear his head of the dizziness that he was experiencing, and, without losing any moment, Wèi WúXiàn cut off Fāng MèngChén’s arm which was brought within his reach, using his spiritual power that he transferred into Suíbiàn.

A stream of blood rushed in the air, and, in severe pain, Fāng MèngChén passed out instantly.

Wèi WúXiàn then said, “The trick to cutting off arms, I must confess that I learned it from Lán Zhàn.”

Then, there was a little sound, like the noise of an extinguished fire, coming from Suíbiàn; it had exhausted all its energy.

The next instance, Wèi WúXiàn sensed the cracks in his golden core widened, then, once more, his head began to spin, and, once again, he fell on his butt on the riverbed.

At the moment he ended up sitting on the mud, the signal-transfer talisman that he had placed on his chest lit up. The ice-blue light of the talisman began to throb like a heartbeat.

“Lán Zhàn succeeds!” exclaimed Wèi WúXiàn, overjoyed.

Meanwhile, the sound of the raging waves became more louder, the red light of the talismans went off, and the barrier weakened; it would not resist the pressure much longer.

Moreover, the fierce corpses and water ghouls at the most top of the barrier began to fall off, resulting in a small stream of water pouring over.

The stream progressively expanded as corpses and ghouls continued to fall off the barrier, and soon the small stream changed into a waterfall.

Wèi WúXiàn was no longer able to stand up as his strength failed him.

Enduring the pain in his abdomen, he quickly untied the blanket, stuck the signal-transfer talisman on the baby girl, fastened the blanket around Suíbiàn, then he sent Suíbiàn to stick on the trunk of a big tree near the riverbank.

The small amount of spiritual power that Wèi WúXiàn had transferred into Suíbiàn was enough to cause more pain in his golden core vessel. He could even sense that his golden core was on the verge of shattering.

Soon after Suíbiàn flew away with the baby, the barrier collapsed completely, and water rushed like a tsunami, the violent waves carried Wèi WúXiàn and Fāng MèngChén on their chaotic course downstream.

“Lán Zhàn, I won’t die.” swore Wèi WúXiàn.

In this turmoil of the river, Wèi WúXiàn managed to use his last bit of spiritual power to protect the vital parts of his body, namely, the head, the neck, the chest and the abdomen, then, he lost his consciousness, engulfed into the darkness.

The excessive use of his spiritual power had put a lot of strain on his newly formed and still fragile golden core. Like a crystal ball, it eventually broke into small pieces, which scattered and vanished within the golden core vessel.

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“My Lord, although Wèi WúXiàn is infamous, in fact, it is him who forms the bond between GūsūLán and LánlíngJīn sects, as well as the bond between GūsūLán and YúnmèngJiāng sects.

“GūsūLán has no longer the desire to dwell on the past events related to Wèi WúXiàn. Jīn Líng, the young leader of LánlíngJīn, holds no longer any grudge against Wèi WúXiàn. Even Leader Jiāng, the uncle of the young leader, has changed his attitude towards Wèi WúXiàn; this is due to the attachment between the young leader and Wèi WúXiàn.

“In the past, Zéwú-Jūn, the leader of GūsūLán, Jīn GuāngYáo, the former leader of LánlíngJīn, and Chìfēng-zūn, my Lord’s big brother and our former leader, were sworn brothers. Back then, the three of them had formed a strong alliance.

“Even after our former leader had passed away, Zéwú-Jūn and Jīn GuāngYáo were still treating QīnghéNiè sect very kindly, and giving us their support every time it was needed.

“At the present time, however, QīnghéNiè has no bond with any other sects, at all.”

Holding a fan in his hand, Niè HuáiSāng was slowly fanning himself, while quietly listening to his underling.

The morning sun had not risen yet, and the night sky was not bright, putting a shadow on Niè HuáiSāng’s face, hence making it hard for the underling to see his lord’s expression.

Two days ago, the news of Wèi WúXiàn, who went missing, came as a great shock among sects.

Persistently, Lán WàngJī had since played his guqin, invoking and asking spirits the whereabouts of Wèi WúXiàn, until the strings of WàngJī broke off, cutting his fingers in the process. And the guqin was smeared with blood as a result of heavy bleeding.

In the end, Lán WàngJī had located Wèi WúXiàn’s presence in the vicinity of Baihe, the suburb of Ankang City.

So, cultivators from the four sects, who had come to assist in flash floods, took turn in searching and throwing nets in the river, day and night.

Strangely enough, it was QīnghéNiè sect which found Wèi WúXiàn.

Unconscious, Wèi WúXiàn was lying on the riverbank of a tributary of the Ankang River.

The underling resumed, “If Wèi WúXiàn happens to disappear without a trace, HánGuāng-Jūn will be deeply devastated.

“Zéwú-Jūn has been living in seclusion for many years, so, right now, GūsūLán only relies on HánGuāng-Jūn. However, if HánGuāng-Jūn is lost without Wèi WúXiàn, GūsūLán will be in an enfeebled state.

“At the same time, with Wèi WúXiàn being no longer in this world, the connections GūsūLán has with LánlíngJīn and YúnmèngJiāng will be severed.”

Niè HuáiSāng remained silent, standing close to Wèi WúXiàn, who was still lying on the riverbank, looking ghastly with dark circles under his closed eyes, his lips had turned blue, and, moreover, he was soaking wet.

Several years had passed since his return from death by the means of being invoked; the summoner offered his body in exchange of having his longing revenge to be done.

Progressively, the appearance of Mò XuánYǔ, the summoner, had faded away, replaced by Wèi WúXiàn’s own face.

Back when they were teenagers, and attending the school at Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù*, Wèi WúXiàn once said, “The spiritual power is the energy, and the resentment** is also the energy.

“The spiritual power is stored in the golden core vessel, and can be used to split mountains, or be used in various ways for a good cause. So, why the resentment, also being the energy, is forbidden to be used in doing the same things as the spiritual power?”

The argument that Wèi WúXiàn had put forward shocked everyone present in the classroom, and made Lán Lǎo, the teacher, extremely furious.

Later on, after school, he said, “I don’t plan on leaving the path to a bright future, and walk on the wrong side of the road. It’s much easier to follow the path that someone else had taken.

“So, don’t worry about what I have said earlier. I was just answering the questions that Lán Lǎo was asking me.”

However, few years later, what he had said that it would not happen did happen; Wèi WúXiàn really walked on the wrong side of the road, found himself isolated and doomed.

Back in that day, when he had been informed that the teacher punished him in copying the GūsūLán rules, Wèi WúXiàn exclaimed, “I’m not a member of the GūsūLán sect, or planning on becoming one. Why do I have to copy their rules. I won’t do it!”

However, after his return, he had join the GūsūLán sect, and, with Lán WàngJī, they became a couple who lived in perfect harmony. And, furthermore, he seemed not to mind copying the GūsūLán rules.

Inside the Guānyīn temple, Wèi WúXiàn asked, “Leader Niè, do you know what was inside of this now-empty coffin?”

“Indeed, time has passed and things have changed. At that time, he called me ‘Leader Niè’ instead of ‘HuáiSāng-xiōng’*.” said Niè HuáiSāng inwardly.

Should they save Wèi WúXiàn, or should they not? The underling appeared to be nervous. It was impossible for him to guess what their leader was thinking, because whether he was happy or angry, Niè HuáiSāng would not let it show.

After a while, Niè HuáiSāng said, “Give me the fireworks.”

Concealing his disappointment, the underling respectfully handed four fireworks to their leader. The three of the fireworks belonged to GūsūLán, LánlíngJīn and YúnmèngJiāng sects, while the fourth was their own firework.

For a while, Niè HuáiSāng fiddled with the fireworks that the underling began to think that their leader had changed his mind.

Then, suddenly, Niè HuáiSāng pulled on the four strings of the four fireworks at the same time, and, the very next instance, the four emblems that represented the four sects were flickering in the night sky.

Letting off the four fireworks was the agreed signal to let other sects know that Wèi WúXiàn was found, as well as giving the exact location he was found.

Niè HuáiSāng looked up into the sky, and, while gazing at the gorgeous fireworks, he nonchalantly said, “Spread the words of the Wěishàn villagers: ‘Yílíng Lǎozǔ forced us to leave our village, then flooded our homes, and destroyed the graveyard of our ancestors.

‘He also caused a hundred of us to be separated from our families. The elderly and children were in tears.

‘HánGuāng-Jūn is bewitched by Yílíng Lǎozǔ, indulging himself in crime, taking advantage of the high status of his sect to bully us. He arrogantly promised to compensate us for all our losses.

‘And, finally, Yílíng Lǎozǔ experimented a new devilish technique at the remnant of the Ankang embankment that went wrong, and he ended up being washed away by the flood.’ ”

By the time Niè HuáiSāng finished making up the story, the underling’s whole face lit up with excitement, “My Lord’s words are very thoughtful.”

Niè HuáiSāng rectified, “It’s not me who said these words. It’s what all the villagers from Wěishàn Village said. ”

All the rest of underlings understood the cunning plan of their mission.

Inwardly, Niè HuáiSāng said, “My dear Wèi-xiōng, I don’t have any intention of harming you. It’s just that the power between sects needs to be balanced.

“However, you are so talented, by yourself you held a turbulent river back for quite a while; it is inconceivable.

“GūsūLán should not carry on being complacent because they have you, who, alone, can withstand legions of troops.”

All of a sudden, an ice-blue light flashed close by.

Niè HuáiSāng asked, “What was that?”

The underling replied, “My Lord, it was the light produced by a teleportation.”

Niè HuáiSāng sighed, then said to himself, “HánGuāng-Jūn blew up an extremely stout dam by himself, then, for two days, he hasn’t rested but kept on playing his guqin in order to find Wèi WúXiàn.

“Despite all this, he still has enough spiritual power to use a teleportation! It’s so lovely to see how deep his love goes.”

A smiling expression appeared on Niè HuáiSāng’s face. He took off his outer robe, and used it to cover Wèi WúXiàn.

Indeed, it was Lán WàngJī who arrived via a teleportation. His hands were shaking, his eyes were red, and his face was deadly pale. In fact, it was his whole appearance that was extremely dreadful.

Niè HuáiSāng gently said, “HánGuāng-Jūn, don’t worry. Wèi-xiōng is still alive.”