Chapter 14 Return to Wing-Serpent Lake

"Not good." Shui Yi's heart tightened. He could sense the threat posed by the beast-skin-clad youth before him and the white-robed steward beside him.

Ji Ning and Uncle Bai both harbored murderous intent.

Thus Shui Yi felt a palpitation of fear, a sense of menace.

"I am Shui Yi. The two of you have stopped me here; you must have long known who I am." Shui Yi looked at Ji Ning and the other. "I rushed back from the distant Dong tribe, as you probably expected. My tribe, the Shui, is but a small tribe with no great ambitions. Speak plainly what you two want. If I can do it... I naturally won't refuse."

With these simple words, he subtly threatened them with his backing, the 'Dong tribe,' while adopting a humble posture. If this were a struggle for power, negotiations could begin.

But...

This was not a struggle for power—it was revenge!

"I want you..." Ji Ning's form suddenly moved. He executed the Windwing Evasion, and a sword-light instantly pierced through Shui Yi's abdomen.

Though Shui Yi tried to dodge, even summoning some flying swords before him, the gap in strength was too vast—both in foundation and in the realm of the Dao. In a single exchange, his abdomen was run through.

"Die!" Ji Ning stared coldly at Shui Yi.

"You, you!" Shui Yi's eyes bulged.

The flying swords in the air began to fall directly.

Several other magic treasures appeared in the air nearby. His storage bracelet still hung on his wrist, but it was now ownerless treasure, for his Zifu had been completely shattered.

"You destroyed my Zifu..." Shui Yi could not believe it.

"Collect."

Ji Ning waved his hand, gathering all the treasures, then stared coldly at him.

Though his Zifu was destroyed, Shui Yi still hovered in midair without falling—because a huge lotus of water and fire was floating beneath him, and he stood at its very center. The lotus did not spin, so there was no grinding force.

"Why did you destroy my Zifu? I, I don't even know you." Shui Yi was stunned. The sudden disaster was almost unbelievable. "Who are you? Who are you?!" His face twisted. With his Zifu shattered, his path of immortality was over; there was no hope left.

"Shui Yi, do you still recognize me?" Uncle Bai beside him instantly turned into mist, then transformed into a snow-white dog.

"A divine beast Whitewater Hound?"

Shui Yi looked, and memories from twenty years ago surged forth.

That was when he followed Young Master Dong Qi, committing all sorts of misdeeds without fear. With Young Master Dong Qi backing them, those days were truly exhilarating.

Back then, he and Yu Tong were ordered to capture a woman...

And at that time, the woman's brother and husband used forbidden arts to resist desperately, while a snow-white dog carried the woman away.

"You, you are that Whitewater Hound?" Shui Yi looked at Ji Ning. "You, you are?"

"Back then, you targeted my uncle, my father, and my mother!" Ji Ning stared at him, the chill in his eyes making Shui Yi's heart tremble.

"You are the child that woman was carrying?" Shui Yi's eyes widened.

Heavens.

Only twenty years.

The child that woman carried had become this powerful? Was she carrying a reincarnated immortal?

"Hmph." Ji Ning willed it, and his elemental energy formed a glowing rune before him—the Heartburn Art. The rune light instantly plunged into Shui Yi's body.

"Enjoy it." Ji Ning said coldly.

Shui Yi immediately screamed, his skin and bones twisting, his skin turning red as he began to wail in agony.

"Kill me, kill me." Shui Yi's throat rasped.

Ji Ning just watched him silently.

"Kill me!" Shui Yi roared. "Give me a quick death."

"A quick death? I grant your wish, but who grants mine? Can you bring my father and mother back to life? Can you bring my uncle back?" Ji Ning stared at him coldly.

Shui Yi's skin began to char, his eyes turning bloodshot.

This was hell itself.

"I curse you, I curse you—you will die horribly, die horribly." In his extreme agony, Shui Yi's resentment surged skyward as he fixed his gaze on Ji Ning.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle~~~

Flames burst from his body, and his entire form burned.

A censer treasure appeared in Ji Ning's hand. "Collect!" A soul was directly drawn into the censer, corroded and destroyed. Then Ji Ning waved his hand, gathering the surrounding treasures. The icy coldness in his eyes suddenly calmed, but his gaze was very complex.

"Two are dead." Ji Ning said softly.

"Ning'er, your father and mother probably never imagined that two of the three great enemies from back then would fall to your hand so quickly." Uncle Bai stood beside him, reaching out to pat Ji Ning's shoulder. "If they knew, they would surely be very gratified."

"Only Dong Qi remains. But he is in the Snowdragon Mountain sect, the mountain gate of a sect. Even a loose immortal must be cautious when storming it. For me to go now... there is no hope at all." Ji Ning said softly. "I'll wait. Let Dong Qi live a little longer. When the time comes, I will still make his soul scatter."

In revenge, one never gives the enemy a chance.

These enemies were all cultivators with strong souls. Even if they died and went to the underworld, they would usually become 'ghost soldiers' and could still cultivate to become ghost immortals.

Ji Ning would not allow that to happen.

"Let's go. Your junior apprentice brother has been waiting for a while." Uncle Bai said.

Ji Ning turned and saw Mu Zishuo and Xiao Qing in the distance, hovering in midair. They clearly did not want to disturb his revenge and were just watching from afar.

"Mm, time to go back."

...

Ji Ning then released Shui Tianyi again. He had no grievance with that man, and Ji Ning's proud nature disdained slaughter. With Shui Yi's death, the Shui tribe was destined to decline.

...

Within the Red Dragon Mountains, the Yulong Guard branch near Anchan City.

Ji Ning and Mu Zishuo each submitted their missions.

"Ten merits earned—at least a hundred years of leisure." Mu Zishuo looked at Ji Ning. "Senior apprentice brother, where are you headed?"

"I want to return to my hometown." Ji Ning said. "I'll probably settle in the Wing-Serpent Lake of Swallow Mountain for a long time... Occasionally I'll go out and adventure, but most of the time I'll stay at Wing-Serpent Lake."

That was his homeland.

There were people he knew well.

There was the water mansion that greatly benefited his cultivation.

Also... it had been a very long time since he drifted on Wing-Serpent Lake in a small boat. The feeling of being in his parents' arms was truly warm. He missed that feeling.

"Return to Wing-Serpent Lake?" Mu Zishuo pondered. "Senior apprentice brother, I'll part ways with you for now. I still want to study the art of puppetry... I plan to return to the academy. Master has deep research in puppetry; being with her helps me a lot. Also, Master's time is near, and I want to accompany her well."

Ji Ning could feel his junior apprentice brother's attachment to that Qionghua Daoist.

It was a bit like a mother-son bond.

After all, his junior's mother had long passed away.

"Alright." Ji Ning nodded. "We'll part for now. If you have nothing to do later, you can come to Wing-Serpent Lake in Swallow Mountain."

"Mm, I'll definitely come see you then." Mu Zishuo nodded.

Then Mu Zishuo boarded his dragon-headed warship and shot straight into the sky, heading toward Anchan City.

Ji Ning watched his junior leave.

"Let's go." Ji Ning led Xiao Qing and Uncle Bai toward the teleportation array within the Red Dragon Mountains. Swallow Mountain was indeed far from here; taking the array was faster.

...

Swallow Mountain—still the same mountains, still the same waters.

A boat sped through the high sky. On it were a beast-skin-clad youth, a snow-white dog, and, added since leaving Swallow Mountain, a small green snake.

"I'm back." Ji Ning looked at the scenery of his homeland and smiled. "When I left, it was deep winter, a vast expanse of white snow. Now I return, still in the depth of winter."

When he left the Black-White College to join the Yulong Guard, it was high summer.

But after the Wilderness Marsh, and the pursuit of criminals, killing Yu Tong and Shui Yi, it was now indeed deep winter. Looking down, the ground was covered in snow... Swallow Mountain was a bitterly cold place, almost entirely snow-covered in winter. When Ji Ning was born, it was also blanketed in snow.

"Wing-Serpent Lake." The Whitewater Hound suddenly spoke in human tongue.

"Here."

Ji Ning also saw the vast Wing-Serpent Lake. Though the shores were thick with snow, the lake, stretching almost endlessly, still rippled with waves. Such a lake rarely froze completely even in the cold.

"Wing-Serpent Lake." Seeing this lake, Ji Ning felt warmth.

His mother's ashes and his father's ashes had been scattered into this lake.

The boat descended from the sky and landed on the lake's surface.

"Father, Mother." Ji Ning looked at the lake and smiled. "I'm back. Of the three enemies, my strength is still insufficient; I've killed two for now. The remaining one, I will slay another day."

"Uncle Bai, I'll sleep for a while." Ji Ning said.

The Whitewater Hound nodded.

Ji Ning then lay down on the boat, utterly relaxed and comfortable, drifting on the lake. It was truly pleasant, more comfortable than sleeping in a bed. Especially the gentle, rhythmic rocking of the boat on the water, like when he was a baby sleeping, his mother gently rocking him...

The boat rocked. Beside him lay the snow-white dog, and the green snake coiled around Ji Ning's arm, nestling against him obediently.

Gradually, the boat drifted toward the central Brightheart Island.

By evening, the boat reached the shore of Brightheart Island. Ji Ning sensed the presence of many people on the island and naturally stood up. As he rose from the boat, he saw, amid the snow, a white-clad woman standing gracefully, looking at him with tears she could not hide.

"Qiuye!" Ji Ning also smiled. "I'm back."