The participants in the Dao Competition in the Illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror were actually their spiritual souls, and so was Jing Jiu.
Without a physical body and only a spiritual soul, his Underworld Fairy Sword could travel at an unimaginable speed. Even the swordsmen in the Yuanying State couldn't resist it.
Jing Jiu didn't respond to Duke Mo's question, but replied to Zhen Yuan in silence.
Duke Mo walked toward the snowy ground after leaving the ruins. The numerous holes on his body opened up again, shooting out countless bloody arrows.
It seemed that he didn't feel anything at all. He didn't stop until he came before Jing Jiu.
He sensed the loss of his vitality and the disappearance of the mysterious energy in the sky. Thinking of what Jing Jiu had said earlier, he couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated.
This frustration was not regret; it was because he wanted to do two things at the same time. He wanted to see the scene in the sky and hoped that the human race would have a bright future.
Yet, he felt a bit regretful that these two things happened at the same time, so he had no choice but to make a choice.
In the end, he didn't draw out his sword. It could be said that he had missed the opportunity. Of course, it was also because he had an instinctive fear of the sky.
Duke Mo said to Jing Jiu, "Unfortunately, we can only choose once."
"Yes," said Jing Jiu. "It's a pity."
Duke Mo didn't say anything more. He sat down slowly on the snowy ground and wiped off the blood beads on his face with his sleeve. Then, he closed his eyes and bid farewell to Jing Jiu.
The wind and snow had stopped, and everything was quiet.
Zhuo Rusui sealed the bleeding wound on his broken arm and turned the wheelchair around.
Tong Yan's face was pale, and she was breathing rapidly. Her thick eyebrows were raised high, indicating that she was puzzled. "What are you afraid that I will figure out?" she asked Jing Jiu.
Jing Jiu said, "You have guessed it, but I won't admit it. So don't say anything more. Die now."
A regretful expression showed in Tong Yan's eyes. Then, she let out a smile and tilted her head to one side. She breathed her last.
Liu Shisui sat up in the ruins with difficulty. "It hurts a bit," he said while panting.
The bloody hole in his chest was extremely large and looked extremely terrifying. One could imagine the pain he was in.
Duke Mo was too powerful. If he had not used such a bloody method to lock the sword, the Netherworld Fairy Sword would not have been able to kill him so easily.
Jing Jiu said, "Don't be stubborn. Let's go."
He was the Emperor of the Chu Kingdom, but he had killed Crown Prince Jing in the Imperial Palace after receiving an imperial edict, which would inevitably cause a great disturbance.
As his personal bodyguard, Liu Shisui had to die in the end.
Liu Shisui drew his sword and placed it across his neck. Just as he was about to exert force, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Your Majesty, what exactly is our relationship?"
Jing Jiu said, "You'll know when you get out."
Liu Shisui said, "Then I'll go first."
Jing Jiu said, "Wait for me outside. Don't go far."
"Okay," Liu Shisui said, and then he tightened his grip slightly and committed suicide.
Though Zhuo Rusui was severely wounded, his life was not in danger. As a famous assassin in the Illusionary Realm, he must have a way to escape from the Royal Palace.
Before he left, he asked Jing Jiu a question.
"What's so strange about your sword?"
He was referring to the fight between them in the valley where Bai Zao cultivated before they entered the Illusionary Realm. Zhuo Rusui found it strange at the time that Jing Jiu's sword looked ordinary, but every time they met, his Sword Source would stagnate a bit.
That iron sword was very strange. Jing Jiu knew what he was asking about, saying, "My sword is poisonous."
Thinking of Jing Jiu's usual behavior, Zhuo Rusui shrugged and said, "Senior Master, I think it's you who is poisonous."
… …
… …
The quietness inside the palace gate brought unimaginable anxiety to the people outside. The Grand Scholar couldn't wait any longer.
Boom!!! The palace gate was knocked open by the heavy wood of the royal guards.
The Grand Scholar waved his sleeve to dissuade the people around him, and entered the palace first. Seeing the scene in front of him, the expression on his face changed abruptly. He turned around and ordered all the people to back off and not to enter the palace without permission.
The chancellors and the royal guards followed the order and backed off. They used the cloth curtain to block the sight of the people inside and outside the palace. The Grand Scholar didn't turn around until all this was done.
Seeing the blood on the snowy ground and the horrible scene, his face turned pale, and his body swayed slightly. "Why did they do this?" he murmured.
Duke Mo sat on the ground, covered in blood, his eyes closed. He was dead.
Crown Prince Jing sat in the wheelchair, his head tilted to one side. He was no longer breathing.
The thin and dark bodyguard who had been following the Emperor was also dead. There was a large bloody hole in his chest, and a bloody line on his throat.
The Grand Scholar walked to the front of Jing Jiu. It took a great deal of effort for him to walk such a short distance. The wrinkles on his face deepened, as if he had aged a few years.
Jing Jiu said nonchalantly, "Crown Prince Jing colluded with Duke Mo to assassinate me, and he died together with this bodyguard."
The Grand Scholar knew that this was not the truth, and that the Emperor was merely giving him an explanation. "Your Majesty … why did you do this?" he asked with a bitter smile.
Jing Jiu said, "Crown Prince Jing had guessed some of my thoughts, so he had to die."
The Grand Scholar said painfully, "Once this matter was exposed, the Jing Of Silla would either surrender to the Zhao Kingdom, or the Qin Kingdom, or even rebel. The Chu Kingdom would have a hard time conquering the world. Doesn't Your Majesty care about this?"
Jing Jiu said, "You should know what those scholars and commoners who were making trouble outside the Royal Palace were thinking. It's normal for them to avoid the war, but it's impossible for them to conquer the world with the help of the Chu people. "
The Chu Kingdom had been peaceful for a long time, and its people were gentle and reserved. All they wanted was to be well protected, to prevent them from suffering, to prevent them from wandering around, and to prevent them from having no one to rely on.
This kind of people was only suitable to be people, nothing else was suitable.
"All these can be changed as long as we have enough time."
The Grand Scholar looked at Jing Jiu and said earnestly, "Though I'm old, Your Majesty is still young."
Jing Jiu said, "I can only change some people around me, but I can't and don't want to change all the people in the world. It's too tiring and troublesome."
…
…
The assassination in the Snowy Palace and the chaos in the capital had to be dealt with. The Grand Secretary Zhang left the Royal Palace in a hurry despite his tiredness. He didn't forget to instruct people to clean up the blood and corpses in the snow, just like how Jing Jiu was assassinated many years ago in the morning.
The chaos outside the Royal Palace and the assassination and arson in the capital had all been suppressed. The city was filled with cries and curses.
Those scholars and populace who were worried about the safety of the Crown Prince Jing were expelled by the Royal Army. They spread many rumors about Jing Jiu, which were unfavorable to him.
For instance, the thunder and lightning in the snowy sky must be the result of the dissatisfaction of the Emperor.
Many chancellors advised the Grand Scholar not to be so forceful, and a dozen of them wanted to take advantage of the situation to force the Emperor to abdicate the throne.
The Grand Scholar was enraged and had all these people imprisoned.
At dusk, the Grand Scholar entered the Royal Palace again to meet the Emperor. He reported the situation in the imperial court and the reaction of Cangzhou in detail.
The Crown Prince Jing came to the Royal Palace with the intention of killing the Emperor. The problem was that he was dead now, and the Emperor was still alive. As such, nobody believed what the Imperial Court said.
In order to appease the people, the Imperial Court had to do something, and the Emperor should do something even more.
"Depose the Emperor or expel him."
Jing Jiu pulled his black hair behind his back and tied it with a cloth ribbon, saying, "But don't try to kill me."
The Grand Scholar wouldn't depose the Emperor, even though he had realized that the Emperor didn't want to be the Emperor.
If the throne was empty, those useless kings would step forward, and it was unknown what Jing Silla would do in the distant Cangzhou.
After some thought, the Grand Scholar said, "Your Majesty, please write an edict of self-reproach, and then leave the Cold Palace."
"Okay," said Jing Jiu.
The Grand Scholar sighed in his mind, got up, and walked toward the outside of the grand hall.
The doorsill seemed to be ablaze in the twilight.
As he stepped over the doorsill, the Grand Scholar suddenly thought of a possibility. He turned around and looked at Jing Jiu, asking with beaming eyes, "Your Majesty, do you want to have a son?"
Jing Jiu's answer was simple and clear.
"No, I don't."
…
…
The twilight was getting darker, and the night had just arrived. The blood outside the grand hall had been washed away along with the snow water. No smell of blood could be detected, and the palace gate had even been repaired.
The green bird flew over and landed on the window with a flutter of her wings, staring at Jing Jiu.
"Thank you very much," said Jing Jiu.
He seldom said thank you to anybody, because he seldom needed help from others.
That day, when Duke Mo stepped into the Royal Palace, the Blue Bird flew away from the chessboard and stood on a high eave, using the angle of view to choose the scene. The Cultivation practitioners in the real world only knew that Duke Mo was dead, but they didn't see him strike. And Tong Yan was sitting in a wheelchair with her back to the pavilion, so she couldn't see the specific scene either.
There was no love or hate without a reason in the world. Any help needed to be repaid; but sometimes the recompense was a spiritual satisfaction.
The Blue Bird didn't belong to this category. "I hope you can help me figure out a problem," he said.
"Tell me," said Jing Jiu.
The Blue Bird asked, "Why can Duke Mo see the truth?"
At the time, Duke Mo stood in the snow and took a look at the bird in the sky, and he saw the truth.
As a result, the thunder struck down and the heavenly punishment occurred.
The Blue Bird wasn't afraid of this; otherwise, it wouldn't have left its paw prints on the snow to help Duke Mo see the truth more clearly.
Jing Jiu said, "Only the truth can be seen; and such things will happen more and more often in the Illusionary Realm."
"Why?" asked the Blue Bird.
Jing Jiu stared at her eyes and said meaningfully, "You have to ask yourself this question."
The Blue Bird understood what Jing Jiu meant, remaining silent for a long time.
If Duke Mo woke up and became a real person, what kind of change would she, the spirit of the Green Sky Mirror, experience?
Or, in other words, she had undergone some changes that she wasn't aware of at some point in time, resulting in the occurrence of such things in the Green Sky Mirror?
When was that moment?
The Blue Bird remembered that it should be when she lied to Bai Zhenren.
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