495. Is This The End? (Patreon)

Gui Delun looked down. Tang Fei stepped back, inadvertently drawing the sword out of him. They both stared at the bloodsoaked metal.

“I—” Tang Fei stuttered. She looked at Gui Delun, then at the sword, then at Hui.

Hui backed away. He bowed apologetically and shook his head.

Gui Delun clawed at Tang Fei. He caught her by the neck and drew her in, pressing her forehead against his. He took a ragged breath, his whole body trembling.

Hui quietly watched him with his third eye. His cultivation is ruined, and that is a fatal wound. I don’t see a way out of this for Gui Delun, but I’ll keep watching just in case.

“Did I fail? Did I fail at everything? As your Master, too?” Gui Delun whispered.

“M…master, I…” Tang Fei looked at her hand. She bit her lip, unable to answer.

Gui Delun looked at her hand as well. His gaze darkened. “I see. So, I…”

His body went limp. He fell flat on the floor, splayed out dead.

Hui let out a sigh. He fell backward, landing on his butt. “Finally!”

Li Xiang stepped forward. She grabbed Gui Delun’s hair and pulled his body off the ground. With a swift strike, she severed his head. Dangling the gory trophy in one hand, she stepped into the air, glancing back. “I’ll announce his death.”

Hui nodded and gave her a thumbs up, still catching his breath. Yeah, let Li Xiang take the credit. This small cultivator can’t risk drawing Heaven’s gaze right now.

He looked up. “Senior, can you…?”

High above, Chen Wuya tipped his wings. He flew off, continuing to circle around the peaks.

Phew. I can’t believe it’s finally over. I… I killed Gui Delun. He’s dead. He can’t hurt anyone I love ever again.

Tang Fei looked at the sword in her hand. Her eyes turned to Hui, full of betrayal.

“I’m sorry, Tang Fei,” Hui started.

“You couldn’t trust me? Even after everything?” she asked, her voice shaking.

Hui shook his head. He jumped up. “No, I—it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s—”

“Then what is it?” Tang Fei demanded. She threw the sword away.

Distracted, Hui watched it go. He bit his lip. Ah… er, I’d like to apologize to whatever or whoever that lands on… That edge is plasma, after all. I hope it breaks quickly…

“What is it!” Tang Fei shouted again, flying over to face Hui.

Hui looked at her. He shook his head. “Elder Sister, it’s not that I couldn’t trust you. It’s that Gui Delun is too much of a threat for me to accept a single risk.”

Her lips twisted in disgust. “So I’m a risk.”

“No, it’s not—”

She turned away. “You could have let me have it. You could have allowed me to finish this. Instead, you broke my trust. I can’t. I can’t do this.”

“Tang Fei—”

Tang Fei shook her head. Tears glimmered in her eyes. “He was my Master. Even if—even after everything, he was still—”

She scowled, though Hui couldn’t tell if it was at him or at herself. Wiping her eyes quickly, she took off, leaving Hui behind.

Hui bit his lip and stared after her, but didn’t follow. She has the right to be angry at me. I did everything she accused me of. I couldn’t trust her. But I couldn’t trust anyone. Not her. Not any of my friends. Not any of the seniors. I could take a risk at any other time. But not then.

I destabilized Gui Delun’s cultivation before he could use his full strength. If he had recovered enough from the qi deviation to activate his full strength, I’m not sure I could have destabilized his cultivation again. And using Tang Fei to attack him… the shock and surprise of being attacked by his own disciple, and a fist-using disciple with a sword, at that, would only have worked once.

I acknowledge that I didn’t make the perfect decision for Tang Fei. But I made the only decision that I was sure would kill Gui Delun, once and for all.

Hui ducked his head. He ran a hand down his face, letting out a slow sigh. In the end, I’m a coward. I made the coward’s decision to be sure of the kill, rather than the hero’s decision to let Tang Fei finish it herself and prove herself to me and her former Master. I know I could have made another decision. But if I had, would Gui Delun be dead right now? Or simply provoked into using his entire strength, with a single glancing sword wound to show for my grand strategy?

I can’t be sure. And that’s why… whether it was the ‘right’ decision or not, I don’t regret what I did. Even if I feel horrible for doing that to Tang Fei… it was the only way, in the moment.

Hui closed his eyes. A wry grin spread over his face, a grin full of indecision and pain. “It really is as you said, Master. Right and wrong are labels applied after the fact. In the moment, I…”

Overhead, Li Xiang brandished Gui Delun’s head. “Your leader is slain! Surrender, or be slain yourselves!”

Startled, Hui looked up. Eh. Li Xiang, that’s a dangerous thing to say! Don’t tell me, you really will kill everyone who doesn’t surrender?

No, wait. This is a cultivation world, originally. I only find such actions startling because I’m from the modern world, not this world. It would be startling in this world if Li Xiang said that and didn’t mean it.

Though, uh… I think Li Xiang is probably a bit more extreme than most, given her truth-telling restrictions.

Zhang Minyan flew up beside Li Xiang. “It’s true. That tyrant is dead! His reign is over!”

“That’s right.”

Fen Long’s voice boomed across the peaks. He stood, kicking away Han Qin. Han Qin darted up after him. Fen Long whirled, and Han Qin’s head rolled away, bouncing over the rocky peaks. Kicking off, Fen Long zoomed into the sky, hovering over Zhang Minyan and Li Xiang.

“I am your Patriarch. After a great many years, I have returned to the sect.” His voice echoed out, halting everyone in their tracks.

Across the way, both sets of cultivators slowed, then stopped. As if entranced, they watched Fen Long. He rose higher into the sky. Silver light glowed around him, forming the projection of a dragon.

“Gui Delun attempted to usurp my position. He has been dealt with. Does anyone else wish to take the leadership of All-Heavens Sect away from me, your Patriarch?”

Immediately, several of the Inner Peak Lords dropped into bows. “Patriarch!” “Patriarch Fen Long!” “Patriarch! It’s been too long!”

Following suit, their disciples quickly dropped as well. The Outer Peak Lords hesitated, but ultimately followed the lead of their seniors, and whatever disciples they’d gathered bowed as well.

Fen Long smiled. He turned slowly, taking them all in. “I did not expect to return to such discord, but when one leaves for a long time, one must—”

“I don’t recognize you!”

Fen Long paused. He turned.

One of the Inner Peak Lords scowled. He spat at Fen Long. “I don’t recognize you as Patriarch. Since when can anyone stomp in and—”

Fen Long flicked his sleeve. The man blinked. He reached to his throat. A second later, blood poured down, and his head fell backward off his neck.

The same gentle smile on his face, Fen Long looked at the gathered cultivators once more. This time, he exerted his pressure. An enormous weight bore down on the shoulders of everyone present, a pressure barely restrained from toppling them all from the sky. “Is there anyone else?”

No one stepped forward. Those who remained standing stumbled back, then abruptly lowered themselves into a full kowtow.

Fen Long nodded. “Excellent.”

Wings fluttered. A weight thumped down on Hui’s shoulder. “And he says he’s a righteous cultivator,” Chen Wuya scoffed. “No wonder his sect turned out so messy.”

“Pot, and kettle,” Hui said lightly.

Chen Wuya sighed at Hui. He shook his head. “Will you ever learn to hold that tongue of yours?”

“Eh? Senior, why should I hold my tongue when it’s such a great asset? Didn’t I just defeat Gui Delun with the help of that tongue of mine?” Hui asked, tilting his head.

“Whoa. The final battle was way hotter than I thought it was, apparently,” Bai Xue laughed from behind Hui.

Hui jolted. “Elder Sister!”

Chen Wuya chuckled, cawing a bit in his throat. “You still act like that around her? Even after everything?”

“I find it adorable,” Bai Xue said, smiling at Hui. She petted his hair, sighing out. “Hui’s original hair can’t be beat.”

Hui shook his head slightly, somewhat tolerating Bai Xue’s petting. He looked at the crow. “Senior, have you—”

Chen Wuya tilted his head to the side in a very crowlike manner, pointing one of his beady black eyes directly into the sky. The crows circling overhead reflected in the murky black. “I’m on it.”

“So what next?” Bai Xue asked quietly. She looked at Hui. “You’ve conquered All-Heavens and restored peace to Starbound Sect. What do you want to do now?”

“I… just want to enjoy my life,” Hui said quietly. He looked at his hands, almost able to feel the time running out of them. He clenched them shut, but the sensation didn’t abate. I can only hold on so much longer. My time is almost up.

Bai Xue nodded. Quietly, she said, “Mmm. I understand.”

“Elder Sister, whatever happens… remember me as I am,” Hui said suddenly.

“A coward who fakes his death a lot?” Bai Xue asked jokingly.

Completely serious, Hui nodded. “Yes! Yes, precisely that. I want to be remembered that way. Don’t embellish or… or alter anything. I’m a coward and I love to fake my death. That’s very important!”

Bai Xue snorted. “A coward who has fabulous hair,” she murmured to herself, running it through her hands.

“That’s… that part isn’t so important,” Hui said, shaking his head.

“No, no. It’s vital,” Bai Xue insisted, her eyes twinkling.

Hui sighed. “Xingxue, will they…”

“They’ll be fine. I was only gone a short while,” Bai Xue said.

“No, I mean—”

“They’ll be fine,” Bai Xue repeated. Her hand came to a stop, resting on his shoulder comfortingly.

Hui took a deep breath. “I should go.”

“That’s right. I’ll see you later, then.” Bai Xue stepped back.

Hui stopped. He turned. “You’re really fine with—”

“What? I have a harem, too. Of course, of course.” She waved her hand.

“Even now that we have a kid, you’re still—”

Bai Xue rolled her eyes. “What does that mean? We have a kid, whatever. I did that to satisfy my mother and for my own whims. I have enough staff to raise them whether you’re there or not. From the start, I picked you so you wouldn’t get in the way of my own habits. You aren’t going back on that now, are you?”

“Eh… no,” Hui said, shaking his head.

“So there. I’ll take care of Xingxue. You focus on what you need to do,” Bai Xue said. She turned to go.

Hui nodded. “I understand, Elder Sister. And…thank you, Bai Xue.”

Without looking back, Bai Xue waved her goodbye.

Closing his eyes, Hui settled himself. He opened them slowly, looking up at Li Xiang and the others high above. It’s time that I finish everything I’ve left unfinished.