usatvline Chapter 815 The Cause and Effect of the Betrayal
Chapter 815 The Cause and Effect of the Betrayal
The sands of Guixu Fishing Village were stained by the blood-red moonlight, and the crash of waves mingled with the sharp whistling of metal against metal. Yun Yao's grip on the Jinghong Sword broke into a cold sweat as she gazed at a familiar figure not far away—Xiao Cui, who had once huddled in the palace's woodshed, timidly looking at her for a bowl of hot porridge. Now, she wore a gilded robe embroidered with causal patterns, and the "Heavenly Secret Soul-Locking Hairpin" in her hair shone with a cold, dark light.
"Master, do you still remember the bowl of medicine that saved me in the palace?" Xiao Cui (now known as the "Fairy of Karma") raised her hand and waved it gently. Twelve chains of karma burst out of the ground, trapping the old village chief and others in the center. "So from that time on, the 'seed of karma' was planted in me. Every kindness you show is a pawn of the Tianji Pavilion."
Yun Yao's pupils suddenly constricted. She suddenly recalled the seemingly coincidental quests the system had issued during her early days of time travel—rescuing a bullied maid, treating a street beggar, even helping an old woman find a lost chicken... The experience points rewarded for each success now echoed in her mind like a cold mockery. Her spiritual sense swept over the villagers of the fishing village. The Heavenly Secret Soul-Locking Curse flashing in their sea of consciousness was identical to the hairpin in Xiao Cui's hair.
"Impossible..." Chu Mochen's Hanyuan Sword trembled slightly. He clearly remembered that day in the mountains behind the palace, when Xiao Cui had blocked the assassin's fatal blow to save Yun Yao, her blood staining her coarse cloth red. But the indifference in the man's eyes made his sword hand bleed.
Xiao Cui chuckled softly, and a golden chess piece popped out from her fingertips. The phantom of a chessboard unfolded behind her. "Reincarnation of the Great Lord of the Beginning, why do you think the Pavilion Master allowed you to grow up? From the moment Yun Yao awakened her system, she became the most crucial discarded piece on the chessboard. When she gathers all nine fragments, Fairy Yun Hua's soul will fully awaken. At that time, the cycle of reincarnation will restart, and Yun Yao, as a mortal..." She deliberately dragged out the last word, a subtle struggle flashing in her eyes, "will forever dissipate under the laws of heaven."
Yun Yao felt the fragments within her body tremble violently, and the system interface suddenly flickered wildly. The quest panels and skill upgrade prompts she had viewed as golden fingers now shone with dense, dark red runes, like countless tiny chains entwined within the depths of her soul. She finally understood why each time she broke through a bottleneck, she always managed to attract the Tianji Pavilion's pursuers—the so-called opportunity was nothing more than a carefully crafted trap.
"Chu Mochen! Kill her!" someone suddenly shouted from the Tianji Pavilion's pursuers. Dozens of sword energies pierced the air, but mysteriously dissipated within three feet of Xiao Cui. The Yin-Yang Fairy lightly raised her sleeves, and the pursuers' swords turned around and began to kill each other. In the blood mist, her voice was a little crazy: "Did you see? This is the power of the law of cause and effect! In front of my Yin-Yang Palace, your resistance is meaningless!"
Just as Yun Yao was about to activate "Reverse Karma" to uncover the truth, Chu Mochen's sword suddenly pressed against her throat. The cold touch of the Hanyuan Sword made her body stiffen, but when she saw the pain in his eyes, a dull pain surged in her heart. "I'm sorry..." Chu Mochen's voice was horribly hoarse, and the tip of his sword trembled slightly. "I can't let you put yourself in danger for me again."
Memories flooded back like a tide. The figure in the Guixu Ancient Palace who had blocked the Blood River Ancestor's fatal blow for her; the resoluteness with which he had unhesitatingly integrated the fragments of the chapter into his own sea of consciousness during the symbiosis of the two chapters; and just now, when facing the divine messenger, his voice transmission: "This time, we will face this together." But now, the sword that had severed countless dangers for her was pointed at her throat.
"You want to kill me?" Yun Yao's voice was eerily calm. She reached out to grip the tip of the sword, blood dripping from her palm like a seductive red plum blossom blooming on the sand. She could clearly feel Chu Mochen's hand trembling as he gripped the sword, and the violent spiritual energy he was deliberately suppressing yet still leaking out - this was clearly a sign of insanity.
Seeing this, Xiao Cui laughed gleefully, "Great Lord of Beginning, this is the wisest move! Kill her, and you can still..." Before she could finish her words, Yun Yao suddenly activated "Reverse Karma," and Xiao Cui's fate unfolded before her. On screen, the shadowy figure of the Pavilion Master of Tianji Pavilion hovered above the fishing village, twelve chains piercing the villagers' chests. Xiao Cui knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.
"If we don't act according to the plan, the entire fishing village will turn into a sea of blood." The Pavilion Master's voice was cold and ruthless, "You should know that I can make them wish they were dead but unable to live." The scene switched to Xiao Cui practicing hard in the Karma Hall. She repeatedly practiced an indifferent expression in front of the bronze mirror, but in the dead of night, she secretly touched the old handkerchief Yun Yao gave her and cried.
"I see..." Yun Yao suddenly smiled, injecting the power of the Guixu Fragment into Xiao Cui. The chains of karma crumbled around her, and confusion and pain washed over Xiao Cui's eyes like a tide. "Now, you can choose your own path," Yun Yao whispered softly, "to continue being a pawn of the Tianji Pavilion, or..."
"Master, take the village chief and the others!" Xiao Cui suddenly turned, and karmic fire burst from her fingertips, trapping the pursuers in a sea of flame. Her long hair flew in the flames, revealing the karmic mark on the back of her neck that had not yet completely dissipated. "I will repay you for saving my life! If there is an afterlife..." Her words were swallowed by the explosion, and her figure gradually became transparent in the karmic fire.
Yun Yao grabbed Chu Mochen's sword-wielding hand and pressed the Taichu Seal into his palm. "Look at me, this isn't your inner demon." Her divine sense penetrated his sea of consciousness, forcibly suppressing the surging spiritual energy. "Remember what we said in Guixu Fishing Village? If I lose my human emotions, what good is it even if I become the Way of Heaven? What I want is to live with you."
Chu Mochen's sword clanged to the ground. He trembled and hugged Yun Yao to him, his voice choked with sobs: "I feel a force within me controlling me... I'm afraid of really hurting you." Yun Yao held his face and pressed a fragment of the chapter, still warm from her body, to his forehead: "The symbiosis of the two chapters is not a shackle, but our bond."
The roars of the Tianji Pavilion's pursuers echoed in the distance, and the villagers of the fishing village spontaneously formed a defensive line. Yun Yao gripped the Jinghong Sword tightly, its blade reflecting the blood moon and the smoke, yet it shone brighter than ever. She finally understood that true karma is never about fate manipulated by others, but about the courage to choose faith even in desperate situations. When Xiao Cui's karma-infused fire illuminated the night sky, Yun Yao knew they had taken the first step in this chess game.