pjbooks Chapter 88 Those who deserve to be killed must still be killed.
Chapter 88 Those who deserve to be killed must still be killed.
His Dao heart, the Immortal Emperor Dao heart he had honed over a thousand years, now showed a very slight crack.
He opened his eyes.
His eyes weren't red, his lips weren't trembling, and his fingers hung steadily at his sides. But at that moment, billions of viewers in the live stream simultaneously noticed an extremely subtle change. The way he looked at his master was different from how he looked at any enemy before.
They had never seen that look on the boy's face before.
"Master," Jiang Chen spoke, his voice regaining its calmness, but beneath the calm, something was flowing, "She pulled you out of my memory. Morgana, the twelfth apostle. She used the law of soul screams to pry open my sea of consciousness, dug you out from my deepest guilt, and made you into a tangible soul projection."
The master looked at him quietly without saying a word.
"She wants to use you to kill me. Just like she used Su Wanniang to kill me just now." Jiang Chen's voice was flat, as flat as stating a math problem. "But she won't succeed."
The master nodded slightly: "I know."
Jiang Chen knew, of course, that the master before him was an imposter, because... his real master was already dead. A thousand years ago, in the back mountain of the Qingyun Sect, he was killed by the demon god who had possessed him.
Jiang Chen witnessed it with his own eyes.
His body was possessed by the demon god, his soul was devoured by the demon god, and the last words he left me were not "Do you still have your sword?" but a scream that I could not utter and that he made me forget forever.
His voice did not tremble, but every word seemed to be carved from a rock.
"But I still want to see you," he said. "Even if you're a fake. Even if you're just a phantom pieced together from my guilt. Even if you're standing in front of me only to kill me. I still want to see you."
The master looked at him, remaining silent for a long time. Then he withdrew his hand from Jiang Chen's head and placed it behind his back. That posture was exactly the same as it had been a thousand years ago—in blue robes, hands behind his back, head slightly tilted, his gaze gentle and warm like jade.
"Silly boy," he said, "you've never been silly. But this time, you are."
Jiang Chen remained silent.
"You think you feel guilty?" Master shook his head. "What is guilt? Guilt is when you do something wrong, hurt someone you shouldn't have hurt, and that feeling of remorse stays in your heart, becoming a thorn that you can't remove. But what did you do wrong? You didn't take me with you? You didn't save me? You couldn't stop the demon god from taking my body? None of those are your faults. Back then, you were just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. You couldn't even protect yourself. Why should you save a Nascent Soul stage master? That's not guilt."
His voice deepened slightly.
"That's an obsession."
Jiang Chen's pupils contracted slightly.
"Your obsession isn't about not saving your master," you're obsessing over not saying goodbye properly. A thousand years ago, before you went to the Demon Beast Forest for your trial, I was in seclusion. You waited for me for three days, but I didn't emerge. After you left, the Demon God possessed my body. When you returned, I was no longer myself. You didn't have a chance to say goodbye to me. That goodbye has been bottled up in your heart for a thousand years. A thousand years ago, you said it countless times at my grave, but I couldn't hear it. You became the Immortal Emperor, standing high in the heavens, and said it countless times to the void, but I still couldn't hear it. So today, even though you know I'm an imposter, you still want to see me. Because you finally have the chance to say that goodbye that you've held back for a thousand years to my face."
The master took a step forward, reached out, and patted Jiang Chen on the shoulder. The slap was so heavy that Jiang Chen's entire body slumped down.
"Speak," the master's voice wasn't loud, but every word was imprinted on the void like a brand. "Speak, and then walk out of here."
Jiang Chen lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. Then he raised his head and looked into his master's eyes. Those gentle, jade-like eyes reflected his face, and reflected the tears he hadn't shed in a thousand years.
He didn't cry. But he was just a hair's breadth away from crying.
The live stream chat fell completely silent at that moment. Billions of people stared at the screen; no one typed, no one posted comments, and not even one breathed.
Then came the same three words.
Jiang Chen looked into his master's eyes and uttered those three words.
"Bye now."
The master smiled. The smile was fainter than before, but more genuine.
He reached out and ruffled Jiang Chen's hair again, then his hand slid down to his side. The azure figure began to transform into pale golden specks of light from the edges. First the shoulders, then the arms, then the torso, and finally the smiling face.
"Ah Chen, your sword is still here," he said. "That's enough."
Pale golden light shot into the sky and dissipated into the void.
Jiang Chen stood there, watching the points of light drift away, past him, through the purplish-black mist, and towards the end of the void. He finally pulled his right hand from his pocket, letting it hang at his side. His fingertips were slightly bent, as if he had just put down something very, very heavy.
Then he looked up at Morgana.
"Anything else?" His voice was soft, but every word caused Morgana's soul-piercing scream to tremble violently in the void.
"Are there any things you dug out of my consciousness that you haven't yet taken out?"
Morghana stood before the purple-black throne, her long black hair flowing silently behind her. Her empty, black eyes stared intently at Jiang Chen, the energy surging within them more intense than ever before.
She was scared.
It wasn't because Jiang Chen shattered the illusion she summoned. It was because she finally understood what Seran had said. His Dao heart wasn't without weaknesses; rather, it was composed of those weaknesses. Guilt, obsession, regret, pain—all these things that should have been his best weapons had instead become his strongest armor.
She opened her mouth, as if to say something. But Jiang Chen didn't give her a chance. He raised his right hand, and a golden sword shadow condensed at his fingertips. This time, the light of the sword shadow was more intense, purer, and closer to the essence than ever before.
"Since they're all gone, it's my turn."
A long-lost, serene smile appeared on Jiang Chen's lips.
Because of Morgana, his mood seemed to have improved considerably.
They encountered the regrets of their youth, their long-deceased master, and even many former enemies along the way.
As people get older, they often reminisce about the past and feel sentimental about it. But Jiang Chen never expected that he would one day witness these memories with his own eyes.
interesting.
In a sense, he should also thank Morgana.
But... those apostles who deserve to die still have to be killed!
Immediately, the sword light illuminated the entire void.