Thousand Autumns

The ape threw itself at Tuoba Liangzhe, and they both fell into the deep abyss. Only Tuoba Liangzhe’s cry echoed across the empty space, lingering for quite some time before it ceased.

Yan Wushi, whom Tuoba Liangzhe had originally planned to use as his scapegoat, stood with his back against the stone wall, panting. His face was as pale as that of a ghost. Under the flickering candlelight, it seemed to possess an almost apathetic coldness.

Shen Qiao let out a sigh of relief. “Are you alright?” he asked as he walked over to take Yan Wushi’s pulse.

Yan Wushi turned a little stiff as Shen Qiao’s hand touched his, but he soon relaxed and let the other person have his wrist.

Shen Qiao knitted his brows, but it wasn’t because of Yan Wushi’s reaction.

“How come your inner qi is even more chaotic now? It’s like they are fighting over each other inside your body!”

“I had to use my inner qi just now,” Yan Wushi said.

Shen Qiao was surprised that he could almost hear how burnt out the other person was simply from these few words.

Before he was able to respond, Yan Wushi was already collapsing towards him.

Shen Qiao had no choice but to extend his arms to keep the man from falling. The latter’s body was so cold that it gave Shen Qiao, who was totally unprepared, a shudder.

In fact, the situation was somewhat similar to the time when Yan Wushi had a qi deviation after his fight with Ruyan Kehui in the Chen Dynasty.

And the root cause of his current illness also started on that same day.

Yan Wushi was trembling as well. It made him subconsciously want to snuggle close to Shen Qiao to draw more warmth.

Due to what happened last time, Shen Qiao dared not pass inner qi to him anymore. “How do you feel? If you can’t walk, we can rest here first.”

Yan Wushi clenched his teeth and said with great efforts, “Let’s go…”

Shen Qiao sighed. He bent down and carried Yan Wushi on his back; then, using his sword as a walking stick, walked towards the cave entrance.

Sect master Yan who was once unrivalled in the pugilistic world probably had never imagined even in his dreams that he would be in such a state one day.

They didn’t have any more fire sticks left, but before the last one went off, Shen Qiao did see a flight of steps behind the cave entrance. It was extremely steep, but the existence of stairs was also a sign that there must be people living down there at one point in history —— ten to one it was the ancient city of Ruoqiang that Chen Gong was looking for.

The person on Shen Qiao’s back was still shivering slightly. But he had such a strong will that he refused to let out any groans.

The ape that attacked us earlier must have waited here for a long time. In that case, since it took Tuoba Liangzhe as it jumped off, does that mean what’s below isn’t the aforementioned abyss, but a path leading somewhere else?

Shen Qiao climbed down the stairs step by step as he thought about it.

Yan Wushi said hoarsely, “I’m not your Ah-Yan.”

“I know.”

From Yan Wushi’s expression as he watched Tuoba Liangzhe fall off the edge and the way he reacted when Shen Qiao touched his gate of vitality, Shen Qiao knew that the other person had probably switched personalities once again.

After spending several days together, Shen Qiao more or less had some clues.

Out of the several personalities he had, one of them was the original one, which could just be referred to as Yan Wushi.

One was the “Xie Ling” who would call Shen Qiao “Pretty Brother.” This one may be a bit naive, but he was just as cautious and didn’t talk a lot. However, he trusted Shen Qiao, perhaps because Shen Qiao was the first person he saw after waking up, or perhaps he could tell that Shen Qiao had no malicious intentions towards him. In any way, “Xie Ling” did whatever he was told to do, which saved Shen Qiao a lot of worries. The real Yan Wushi would never do something like this.

Another one was the “Ah-Yan” whom Shen Qiao had been talking to just now. This personality had a rather gentle temperament and was capable of discussing certain matters. Among all of Yan Wushi’s personalities, it was probably the easiest to get along with.

Shen Qiao asked, “Who are you right now?”

But Yan Wushi’s response was rather paradoxical: “I’m him, yet I’m not him.”

He must be in great pain at the moment, since the inner qi in his body had been roaming around in disarray. But if he didn’t want to focus so much on the agony, he had no other choice but to use talking as a way to distract himself.

“So you’re neither Yan Wushi, Xie Ling, nor Ah-Yan?”

Yan Wushi said, “I don’t know. My mind is a mess right now. Sometimes I can remember certain things, but sometimes I feel those things didn’t actually happen to me. Maybe I can’t even tell what I did a moment ago…”

Shen Qiao was already used to dealing with this situation. “Once we find the jade cistanche, things should become better.

“Jade cistanche can only cure external injuries. It’s useless against internal ones.”

“Then what do we need to do to help you recover?”

“Wait till I fix the flaws in the Fundamental Records of Phoenix and Qilin.”

“Didn’t you say that the flaws in your Demonic Core were not fixable?”

Shen Qiao’s slightly surprised voice echoed down the tunnel.

Yan Wushi couldn’t remember much right now, but he still remembered how “he” had treated Shen Qiao in the past: the desperation in the other person’s eyes when he handed him to Sang Jingxing with his own hands, and Shen Qiao’s words to “him” —— “The reason I am betrayed over and over again is not because I am too naive, but because I believe that kindness exists in this world. Without fools like me, where would Sect Master Yan find your pleasure?”

It hadn’t been long since that day.

How did Shen Qiao feel when he faced “Yan Wushi” once again?

“I’ve found the way to do it already,” he said flatly.

He could still feel a bit of warmth in his chest. It was what “Xie Ling’ and “Ah-Yan” had left there, the feeling they had whenever they thought of Shen Qiao.

However, Yan Wushi forcefully wiped it from his heart. His eyes fell on a place not far from Shen Qiao.

“Someone’s there,” he said.

Almost at the same time, Shen Qiao stopped.

He too heard that fleeting yet heavy breathing sound.

“Who’s there?” Shen Qiao asked.

Glowing in the dark like two lamps from hell, a pair of faint green eyes floated in midair and stared at them.

At the same time, the strong smell of blood started to reek in the area. 

The ancient ruins of Ruoqiang, a place that humans hadn’t set foot on for years, was indeed full of dangers.