Chapter Twenty: Still The Past

“He likes to forgive so much?”

Deep in the Xia Family courtyard, there was a lotus pond. In front of the lotus pond stood a man in indigo robes. This man clearly had been living in Nanquan Commanderies for a long time, and had the accent. But his clothing looked the same as Changling’s people. More accurately, his clothing, and some of his adornments, including the ribbon for his hair were the styles of Changling more than a decade ago.

His face was also similar to Changling’s people, slightly square, upright in posture like a sword, wide shoulders, slightly yellow skin. He did not look as elegant as the people in the middle of Chu. But his presence was different from ordinary Changling cultivators.

When he opened his lips to speak, some of the lotus flowers in front of him withered, the life presence turning into indigo energy streams that then turned into light black dark yin energy which gathered in his palm. This silent method of devouring the energy of others, even in the Qi Dynasty, was thought of as an evil method by many cultivators.

When cultivating such a method, what was affected the most was lifespan. In simpler words, when one stole too much energy of different kinds into the body, it was easy to die earlier than other people.

“Since he used this method to take Ba Mountain Sword Field back into the world, since he likes being public so much, then I will meet him publicly.”

The man who seemed to have locked himself in the time of a decade ago slowly turned around. He looked at the numerous Xia Family members who could not endure the pressure and said coolly, “Deliver me to meet him.”

These words were a release to the Xia Family.

A carriage quickly arrived in front of the indigo-robed man. The inside of the carriage was very fine, but the outside was very shabby.

The indigo-robed man knew why the Xia Family did this. Because Ding Ning had ridden a very ordinary carriage to reach Nanquan. Now, his identity was undoubted. Since he was going to meet Ding Ning, the Xia Family did not dare to let his carriage be fancier than his.

The Xia Family had submitted long ago, unable to withstand the pressure. The indigo-robed man did not care. But when he closed his eyes in the carriage, there was faint scorn in the corners of his mouth. After all of this, the people who were stuck in the entanglement were still the same people as back then. In the end, it was that the conflict between those people back then was still continuing. In the next moment, grief and fury appeared on his face, but quickly disappeared into indifference.

As the carriage wheels crushed over the road, the green grass quickly turned yellow, and the energies which turned indigo and then black wrapped around the wheels of the carriage.

At the start, the blackness on the carriage wheels were not eye-catching, but they slowly grew like black vines. On the gullies on the two sides of the path, bubbles formed. While the indigo-robed man appeared cold and calm, the natural reactions of the energies could not conceal his chaotic emotions.

Seeing these stunning signs, the cultivators who had gathered in Nanquan were certain that the cultivator within was very powerful but could not guess this person’s identity.

Was this a cultivator of the Qi Dynasty?

Why was such a cultivator hiding in the Xia Family, and also standing firmly in opposition to the Ba Mountain Sword Field?

Even more importantly, the presence he gave off showed no signs of submitting to Ding Ning.

“Condensed Anger Energy. More difficult than I imagined, because I owe him. You do not have to come out.”

When Ding Ning saw the carriage from the Xia Family, his expression grew heavy. He walked out of the Zhou Estate alone, to the outermost bridge, and greeted the carriage.

The Xia cultivator driving the carriage saw Ding Ning appear on the bridge and reined in the horse, wanting to stop the carriage a long ways off. But the moment his hands pulled, he was sent flying from the carriage by an irresistible force, landing behind the carriage.

Gasps sounded.

The carriage did not slow down, rushing towards the bridge. When many people were thinking that the carriage was going to crash towards Ding Ning on the carriage, the carriage stopped.

Ding Ning’s expression did not change. He bowed solemnly, greeting the person in the carriage first.

The people who saw this scene were silently shocked.

What kind of person was worthy of him bowing first?

“It seems that you have already guessed who I am.”

The indigo-robed man’s voice sounded. He appeared out of the carriage, but he did not get off the carriage, and looked down at Ding Ning, just like how Ding Ning had looked at Li Jiaoyue previously. His voice was very calm, but when his voice sounded, the black energies around the wheels of the carriage flew outwards like frightened bats.

“You should be the eldest disciple of Official Shang, Wen Guangyue,” Ding Ning took a deep breath and said.

The indigo-robed man did not refute. He looked at Ding Ning and said, “You can forgive others, but who will forgive you? You are still alive, but my teacher is dead. He cannot forgive you.”

After a pause, he said slowly, “I will not forgive you. Even if you kill me today, there needs to be a reason to kill. If you feel you have reason, you can kill me.”

This man’s voice sounded in people’s minds like lightning.

Back then, when the Ba Mountain Sword Field started the reformation, they first relied on the Shang Family. But for balance, the Shang Family became a sacrifice. For the cultivators of Changling, they may know that the Shang Family had a lone daughter left, but for the cultivators of the outside world, the Shang Family had all been killed, and no one was left.

“It is very good that you are alive.” Ding Ning looked into Wen Guanyue’s eyes and said calmly, “I thought that you were dead. I had not expected that you were able to escape. I got the news too late. When I arrived, I was only able to rescue her.”

“Even if she was the only one left, and you managed to save her, do you think that it was due to you? If my junior sect sister did not pretend to be her and lure away many of the cultivators, if not for my many friends fighting to the death, would you have the time and opportunity to protect her?”

Wen Guanyue laughed. “Do not forget. You personally went to ask my teacher to help you, but did you complete your promise to my teacher? I do not owe you and your Ba Mountain Sword Field, you and the Ba Mountain Sword Field owe the Shang Family. So I will not forgive you.”

“Do not say that you did your best. The final result is that my teacher and my friends died because of you, and you are still alive.”

“Do not say stupid things to me like the enemy is Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu. If not for you…Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu could not have reached such a position.”