Chapter 37 The Most Important Decision
Chapter 37: The Most Important Decision
“I will not allow you to do this!”
“Is Young Master Luo’s life worth more than yours?”
Never before had the atmosphere in Gu Jing’s cottage been as tense as it was now.
This year, Luo Hongyu was nineteen.
She stood firmly in front of her door, holding the Autumn Sword, looking at Luohe inside the room with anger, and said word by word:
“If the future of the Tianzhen Sword Sect must be preserved by sacrificing a disciple, then we’re better off without this sect!”
“Even if someone must do it, why must that someone be you…”
At this moment, Gu Jing’s face showed none of her usual dignity and composure.
She looked as if she had recalled something unbearable, her expression fragile as though it might shatter at any moment.
It was hard to imagine that one of the strongest sword cultivators in the world now held her sword with such unsteady hands.
She looked at Luohe as he approached step by step, her eyes flashing with a kind of desperation, seeming to carry both a plea and an expectation.
Luohe remained silent, only walking slowly to stand before her.
Now he was half a head taller than the girl who had once been that child.
Luohe looked at Gu Jing, whose sword still lay between him and the door of the cottage.
“If you insist on leaving… you’ll have to step over my body!”
“…”
Her hoarse voice and slightly reddened eyes… evoked no change in Luohe’s expression.
He was thinking only of Luo Hongyu’s situation.
Since that conversation with her when she was fifteen, Luo Hongyu had begun training much more diligently and earnestly than before.
But… the results were minimal.
Four more years had passed, and Luo Hongyu had finally broken through the Qi Gathering stage to reach Foundation Establishment.
For an ordinary small sect, perhaps a nineteen-year-old at Foundation Establishment would be considered a promising talent.
But this was the Tianzhen Sword Sect, and Luo Hongyu had been exposed to various heavenly treasures and earthly gifts since childhood as a top-tier immortal family’s daughter.
For her, Foundation Establishment at nineteen was mediocrity at its most mediocre.
If before one could use the excuse that she hadn’t tried hard enough to defend Luo Hongyu’s talent, after this, there was no room for dispute.
Luo Hongyu had no future on the path of immortal cultivation.
The sect’s dissatisfaction with this talentless Young Master grew stronger by the day.
Perhaps due to pressure from both outside and within herself, or perhaps because of the promise she had made to Luohe four years ago.
She went alone to the sect’s Sword Storage Pool, where the Tianzhen Seven Swords were kept.
She tried to use her status as the Sword Sect’s Young Master to forcibly claim the Deer Mist Sword, but unexpectedly, the Deer Mist Sword showed no favor and no mercy.
The sword intent accumulated over thousands of years revealed just the tip of the iceberg, and Luo Hongyu’s sword heart and soul suffered great damage.
Her life was barely preserved through the sect’s resources.
But her future and how long she could hold on remained unknown.
There was a way to save her.
Since her sword heart and soul had been severely damaged, the solution was to find a way to complete it.
With what would it be completed… needless to say, the condition was that it had to be someone whose sword heart was compatible with Luo Hongyu’s, who wouldn’t be rejected by her, and who could subdue the rampaging Deer Mist Sword intent within her body.
Looking around, only one person was suitable.
Upon learning this news, Gu Jing immediately knocked Luohe unconscious, bound him, and brought him to her cottage.
She confined him there for seven days.
During those seven days, Luohe didn’t rush to leave. He used the week to think quietly.
Now, he had figured it out.
He looked at Gu Jing, his gentle features flashing with some indescribable emotion.
“Senior Sister Gu, why go to such lengths?”
“What do you mean? No matter how close you are to Young Master Luo, you can’t joke with your own life…”
“I won’t die. You’ve known that all along.”
“That’s not the point!”
Gu Jing shouted, even she herself was shocked by the desperate emotion she displayed.
Strange… so strange…
She was simply trying to stop Luohe from doing something stupid.
Why did she now feel as if…
Luohe had already done it?
No, not just that, but also…
Luohe stopped speaking and continued to approach Gu Jing.
With each step he took forward, Gu Jing unconsciously took one step back. She retreated until her back hit the wall, but the sword in her hand remained extended.
So Luohe walked toward her sword.
The cold aura from the blade seemed to gradually dissipate as he approached.
One step, another step, then he stopped.
The edge of the Autumn Sword pressed against Luohe’s neck. Gu Jing’s hand had stopped trembling.
Luohe turned to look at Gu Jing, who shook her head in a pleading manner.
So Luohe continued forward, and a line of blood was drawn across his neck.
Clang!
The Autumn Sword fell to the ground, its snow-white blade speckled with drops of blood.
Gu Jing collapsed weakly to the side.
“Senior Sister Gu, since you made your choice so early on, you should see it through to the end.”
“Softening halfway… doesn’t benefit anyone.”
Luohe’s words fell calmly, landing in Gu Jing’s heart.
What choice was he referring to, or rather, which choice was he talking about…
Gu Jing didn’t know.
She only knew that this deep sense of powerlessness that enveloped her now, like being trapped in a bottomless swamp…
It seemed to be the most profound base color of her entire being.
…
Outside, it was night.
The vast Stillwater Peak was deserted.
Luo Wenwen was still absent from the sect. Luohe walked straight into that majestic hall, passing through many doorways, directly to the innermost room, and opened the door.
Inside was an extremely rare cold jade bed that nourished the soul, one of the rarest in the world. Luo Hongyu sat cross-legged upon it, eyes closed in meditation.
Hearing the sound, she slowly opened her eyes. Seeing it was Luohe, she smiled faintly.
Her face was full of exhaustion, as if she might fade away at any moment.
The wound at her heart that had not yet fully healed was still entangled with the Deer Mist Sword’s unstoppable sharp intent.
“Why have you only come now?”
Her voice was now so faint.
“I was delayed by Senior Sister Gu for a while.”
Luohe sat down beside her, inconspicuously placing one hand on her back.
“Mmm… she really loves you.”
“She actually loves you more.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I’m too useless.”
This was the first time Luo Hongyu had so directly disparaged herself.
“Now I’m not only cut off from immortal cultivation, but I might not even see the decades of mortal life.”
“I’m sorry. I really wanted to walk farther with you… but ended up walking into a dead end myself.”
“I probably won’t hear you call me sister now.”
Luo Hongyu gave him a sad smile.
“Yes, you won’t hear it.”
“…”
Luohe glanced at her and continued:
“Remember that person I told you about four years ago, Luo Hongyu?”
“…What about her?”
“I wasn’t lying to you. Such a person really exists.”
“Haha…”
“You probably don’t believe me now, but that’s okay.”
“In five more years, you will.”
“…”
Suddenly, Luo Hongyu fell asleep.
Luohe withdrew his hand and looked at Luo Hongyu lying on the bed before him, his expression calm and undisturbed.
If this dream were treated as a text adventure game, what he faced now was a key option that would determine a good or bad ending.
He needed to make his decision.
…