NOVEL NEXT chapter 187 - Each to Their Own
"Zhuque... was really killed by him."
Bai Qiulan stared at Lu Ye’s departing figure, all the light in her eyes extinguished.
At this moment, she was completely certain.
Lu Ye was no longer the Lu Ye of their previous life.
The Lu Ye who had single-mindedly protected them, who had treated them with only kindness, had completely disappeared.
Why?
Why had it come to this?
They were wrong!
They had truly been wrong!
They should never have been bewitched by Yin Qingcheng, not when Lu Ye had treated them so well!
Eight poisons!
Eight Gu insects!
All triggered during his tribulation to become a saint!
Even toward a mortal enemy, such ruthlessness would have been excessive!
Why had they not understood?
"Ah!"
A large mouthful of blood gushed from Bai Qiulan’s lips, her eyes bloodshot.
Wrong—everything was wrong!
The violent turmoil of her heart and mind caused Bai Qiulan to collapse straight onto the ground.
The Chaotic Yin Poison erupted once again.
The other three women didn't even spare her a glance; Lu Ye’s words were still echoing in their minds.
Even in death, he would never forgive them.
He would never forgive them!
In Lu Ye’s heart, they no longer held even the slightest bit of value!
"It’s all Yin Qingcheng’s fault, it’s all her fault! If not for her constant manipulation, how could we have ever laid a hand on Senior Brother!"
"It’s over!"
"Everything is over!"
"Senior Brother!!!"
Yue Hongling let out a piercing scream.
Chu Ling gripped her demonic sword tightly, saying nothing, and began walking toward the distance.
"Chu Ling, where are you going?"
Shangguan Huanling hurriedly called out.
"To die."
Leaving behind only those two words, Chu Ling vanished in an instant.
Shangguan Huanling...
Really going to die?
Shangguan Huanling clenched her fists, continuously cheering herself up, though deep down, she too felt terribly exhausted.
But she absolutely could not give up.
If she gave up, it would feel like there would be no one left in this world who loved her.
Besides, her Dao was the Dao of Emotion.
Now that she had already reached the Grand Ascension Realm, she had lost the opportunity to choose another Dao.
She had to catch up to Lu Ye again.
So she too needed to leave.
Before leaving, though, Shangguan Huanling came to Bai Qiulan’s side.
She once again activated the Scripture of Ultimate Yin for Virgin Maidens, and a massive amount of Taiyin force instantly surged into her body.
Shangguan Huanling gritted her teeth tightly; this time, she surprisingly held on. Unlike before, when she would collapse after only a short while, she kept enduring.
Until all of the Chaotic Yin Poison within Bai Qiulan’s body was drawn into her own.
Shangguan Huanling turned into an ice sculpture with a twisted expression, the ice slowly beginning to melt.
Yue Hongling sat on the ground without a care for her image, her eyes blank as she stared into nothingness.
Bai Qiulan slowly awakened but did not get up; she merely stared quietly at the sky.
This time, she finally understood a few things.
It was said that prejudice was like a mountain.
That the ethics and morals of the world were like chains.
But was it worth sacrificing one’s own happiness for them?
In the end, was a person’s life meant to be lived under the gaze of others, or for themselves?
She loved Lu Ye.
It had nothing to do with being master and disciple—it was purely the love between a man and a woman.
But realizing it now, everything was already too late.
Too late...
Shangguan Huanling burst out from the melting ice sculpture.
A smile was on her face, though her complexion was somewhat pale.
"Big Sister Bai, Big Sister Yue, I'm leaving," Shangguan Huanling said, smiling brightly.
The two women turned their gazes toward Shangguan Huanling.
"You’re leaving? Where will you go?" Bai Qiulan asked.
"I’m going to pursue Brother Lu Ye. Even if he doesn't want to see me, even if he no longer loves me, even if I can only follow far behind him, walking the paths he has once walked, I will be satisfied."
"So, farewell!"
Without giving the two any chance to stop her, Shangguan Huanling turned into a stream of light and chased after Lu Ye in the direction ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ he had left.
Another one was gone.
Bai Qiulan hurriedly turned to look at Yue Hongling.
Yue Hongling was also looking at her.
"Master, I want to pursue the Dao of Steadfast Fearlessness. I realize now that without Senior Brother behind me, I am someone with fear in my heart. I have to leave."
Bai Qiulan opened her mouth.
She wanted to say something.
But in the end, nothing came out.
"Go. Be careful. Take care of yourself," Bai Qiulan murmured.
Yue Hongling suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.
"Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you say anything to keep me? If you had stopped me, I could have left with peace of mind! Why didn’t you stop me!" Yue Hongling’s emotions spiraled out of control again; after laughing madly, she began to cry bitterly.
Bai Qiulan let out a deep sigh.
"Go. Carve out your own path. Your master won’t drag you down anymore."
With that, Bai Qiulan’s figure rose into the air, flying off randomly in some direction.
When she chose her direction, her expression was filled with confusion.
Because she no longer knew where she should go, nor what she should do next.
Yue Hongling watched Bai Qiulan’s departing figure.
Her weeping grew even sadder.
Master, oh Master, do you really not understand, or are you just pretending?
Don’t you know that the better you are to me, the harder it is for me to abandon you?
Couldn't you just act a little more selfishly, show a little more desperation for life?
Why?
Why did you have to treat me like this!
...
Lu Ye didn’t know that the four women had already gone their separate ways.
He didn’t know—but the system did.
Under the great influence of Shen Xitong, the host had become a bit more aggressive.
The moment Zhuque spread her wings, even Shen Xitong had felt a rush of satisfaction.
Host, awesome!
At this moment, Lu Ye was inspecting the items inside the Void Shuttle.
The remaining members of the Jiang Clan were of mediocre strength; apart from those killed by Lu Ye himself, the rest had mostly been slain by Chu Ling.
Not a single chicken or dog left alive.
Even the earthworms had been split in two, and the eggs had been shaken apart.
Clearly, Chu Ling bore a deep grudge against the Jiang Clan—or more precisely, against Jiang Die.
However, the treasures inside had not been touched. Even the storage rings on the dead bodies remained untouched.
Chu Ling must have been waiting for Lu Ye to come and collect them.
Lu Ye was rather satisfied. He found the Void Shuttle itself quite interesting; it seemed to be made from the Jiang Clan’s exclusive Void Dao Gold.
He could reforge it, smelting it into a small ring-shaped pocket dimension—a true void, not just a space like an ordinary storage ring.
Inside this small world, the space would be larger, and even living beings could be stored.
But there was no rush; he would deal with it after finishing this matter.
The first force arrived—a sect named Profound Mystery Sect.
The great formation of the Profound Mystery Sect activated, clearly prepared for battle.
Lu Ye was also prepared.
He circled the sect’s protective array unhurriedly, then took a step forward.
Before long, agonized screams rang out.
The protective array trembled violently. Some tried to flee, only to discover in terror that the formation, which was supposed to allow exits but block entries, had now been reversed—now it allowed entry but prevented exit.
Bloody handprints spread across the surface of the formation’s light barrier.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the Profound Mystery Sect had fallen silent.