Chapter 0044

Chapter 44: Mo Liu Su’s Fated Person!

Mu Rong Ya grabbed the Love Gu, drew on her inner power, and refined it in an instant. After a burst of colored light, the two gu insects fused and turned into a single gem.

Mu Rong Ya explained: “This is a reversed Love Gu. It has become a Mother Gu, while the gu inside the caster drops to a Child Gu. Whoever holds the Mother Gu controls the caster’s desires.”

Zhou Tong sucked in a sharp breath, thinking that Mu Rong Ya’s countermeasure was brutally direct. Tang Qi dared to use a Love Gu on someone from the Joyous Union Sect; he was asking for death.

Mu Rong Ya shouted: “You filthy lecher, go mate with a wild boar!”

She shot into the sky and hurled the Mother Gu toward a distant spot. Zhou Tong followed with his spirit sense, and when he saw the gu take root in a boar, he finally relaxed. He thought: [Tang Qi won’t sleep a wink tonight.]

But Tang Qi was not the only one who could not sleep. In the Jade Purity Sect’s immortal cave, Mo Liu Su fell into a terrible nightmare. Someone as strong as her could recover spirit just by meditating and did not need sleep, but she had been under heavy strain lately. Zhou Tong was being blamed by fellow disciples, and the pressure wore her down, so she took a rare rest.

The moment she closed her eyes, a scene split her heart with fear. Under a broken sky, Zhou Tong floated in midair with a bold, graceful look. He seemed pure and flawless, one step from the highest Emperor Realm, about to become an eternal legend.

Yet a hand blocked his path. A slender hand drove a sword into his chest and twisted it with hatred, as if they were bitter enemies. Zhou Tong did not resist. He looked at the attacker with a sad smile and murmured something. Then his life ended, and he fell into an endless abyss.

Mo Liu Su cried out: “No!”

She jolted awake. Her sleepwear was soaked, and cold sweat clung to her silk robe, tracing every curve. Her mouth tasted bitter, and her heart raced. At her level, dreams were never meaningless. They carried causes and effects. Either her cultivation had gone wrong, or the dream revealed a corner of the future.

She thought: [Why would I have a dream like this? Even if it is true, if that rebel dies I should feel glad. Why would I grieve for him?]

She tried to steady her breathing, but it barely helped. The image of the sword piercing Zhou Tong’s heart replayed in her mind, making her limbs numb.

She judged herself: [This is bad. I have fallen into a nightmare, and a deep one.]

She knew how serious it was. Ten years ago she had suffered even worse nightmares that nearly took her life. But after a certain event, the nightmares vanished, and her path of cultivation smoothed out.

She wondered: [What happened back then? I should not have forgotten something so important.]

She chased the memory in circles, wore herself out again, and slipped back into sleep. The same scene returned: the same hand, the same sword, the same person. Zhou Tong still murmured before he died. This time, part of his words remained.

She listened as he said: “The thing I regret most in my life is…”

Before he finished, Mo Liu Su woke again, panting and drenched in sweat.

She frowned and thought: [He regrets it? What does he have to regret?]

If this was a vision of the future, then it meant Zhou Tong would truly feel regret.

She guessed: [Could it be…]

Light rose in her eyes. She said with pride: “I knew it. The day that rebel cut ties with me was the day he sowed regret.”

She reasoned on: “Then the identity of the woman who kills him should be clear. It must be that witch Mu Rong Ya.”

She called out: “Attend me. Pass my order. Have Hong Xiu come out of seclusion at once.”

Hong Xiu’s full name was Xia Hong Xiu. She was Mo Liu Su’s second disciple, gifted at talisman drawing and the Heavenly Divination Arts, a genius rare in a thousand years. Mo Liu Su summoned her to use the Heavenly Fate Art to complete the prophetic dream and extract it to show the world. Then Mu Rong Ya would be ruined, and Zhou Tong would be crushed with regret and finally see who could truly protect him.

Thinking of this, Mo Liu Su’s smile bloomed. The gloom of the last few days seemed to lift.

A clear voice drifted in as a figure glided over: “Master, I am here.”

Xia Hong Xiu wore a bagua robe, a tiny red mark between her brows. She was lovely yet cool and distant, a beauty wrapped in quiet solitude.

Mo Liu Su spoke plainly: “Girl, I had a strange sense tonight and received a prophetic dream. But the dream is broken, and I cannot grasp its full meaning. I want to use your arts to complete it. What do you say?”

Xia Hong Xiu considered briefly, then nodded: “Of course.”

She began to draw talismans and set an array. Half a stick of incense later, she wiped sweat from her brow and smiled a little: “Disciple is ready. Master, please invite my sixth junior brother.”

Mo Liu Su’s brows knit. The sixth junior brother was Zhou Tong. Xia Hong Xiu spent her life dealing with fate and often shut herself away. She had not heard that Zhou Tong had been expelled.

Mo Liu Su asked: “Why do we need him? Can you not do it alone?”

Xia Hong Xiu rarely showed surprise, but now her eyes widened. Mo Liu Su pressed her: “What is it? Is there a problem with my order?”

Xia Hong Xiu answered softly: “Master, have you forgotten? Junior brother can block calamity and anchor your life. Only with him at your side can all go well for you.”

Mo Liu Su stiffened as if struck by lightning: “What!”

At last she remembered what happened ten years ago. She had been haunted by nightmares and nearly suffered a qi deviation. Xia Hong Xiu had cast a divination. The hexagram said she would face three disasters and four tribulations in her life. To survive, she had to find her fated person to steady her fate. Following the guidance, on a yang day, yin hour, and yang? south of the Desolate Mountain, she found a boy and took him as her disciple. That boy was her fated person. That boy was Zhou Tong.

“Master… Master…” Xia Hong Xiu called a few times before Mo Liu Su slowly returned to herself.

Xia Hong Xiu urged: “Time is short. Please bring sixth junior brother at once.”

Mo Liu Su said coldly: “That rebel has already left the sect.”

“What!” Xia Hong Xiu blurted.

Mo Liu Su cut her off: “Enough. Help me draw out the dream. Soon that rebel will come back on his own.”

She was eager to find the truth that would make Zhou Tong regret everything.