Chapter 23 - The Question Never Before Considered
"Young Master."
When Luo Hongyu came back to her senses, Gu Jing had already finished examining Shen Huai's corpse; her cyan sword attire was stained with blood.
"Shen Huai's death has other suspicious aspects. Moreover... the clues are not necessarily all severed. From Su Huanhuan of the Remnant Moon Sect, there might still be some news."
"Mm."
"Young Master, you need not worry excessively. Luo He, he... won't get into trouble that easily."
"...Mm."
Yes, ah, this point, Luo Hongyu herself couldn't be clearer about.
Doesn't Luo He just disappear from her side for a few days from time to time? This time, is there any difference?
Isn't Luo Hongyu still the same, not knowing what Luo He was doing, why he disappeared, because she didn't care.
But this time, she was thinking, why did Luo He, when faced with such a big problem, not find a way to tell her.
But she immediately realized again, even if he told her, what use would it be?
Could she help him, or could the Tianchen Sword Sect, far away at the ends of the earth, help him?
Moreover, he had never spoken to her about these things before. Now, why would he say them?
She herself, in his heart, was exactly...
This brief conversation with Huoxin forced Luo Hongyu to confront many problems she hadn't noticed before, or had deliberately ignored.
Who was Luo He, what was his identity, what was his origin, and most importantly, also what Huoxin had asked...
Why did he have to stay by her side.
She had been curious once, but before she could satisfy her curiosity, that feeling had transformed into loathing, and even a trace of fear she herself hadn't noticed.
These emotions made her deliberately avoid, deliberately ignore these questions.
She had hastily, according to her own thoughts, reached a conclusion she considered relatively reasonable, a conclusion that would allow her to justifiably continue disliking him.
That was, he was born with defects, was her father's illegitimate son, and was her younger brother.
But that argument she had used to convince herself for over ten years had already become somewhat shaky when Gu Jing explained about the red jade; and today, during the confrontation with Huoxin, its foundation had been completely shaken.
The questions she had ignored for so many years—it was time to face them directly.
"Senior Sister Gu."
Luo Hongyu looked at the Lu Lan Sword in her hand; from the hilt came the feel that she had always been familiar with and trusted.
Her sword heart could see swords clearly, but it couldn't see people clearly.
"Shen Huai said Luo He should hate me to the bone."
"He said he personally gave the Demonic Sarira to Luo He because he felt it was an opportunity for Luo He, an opportunity to kill me."
"Why is this?"
Luo Hongyu raised her head, an inexplicable emotion flowing in her eyes.
"I know I haven't treated Luo He with much tolerance or consideration, but what have I done that would be enough to make him want to kill me?"
"My red jade and Luo He, what on earth is the connection between them."
"......”
It has finally come.
Gu Jing didn't know at this moment if what she was now facing was liberation.
The secret she had always tried to keep, the secret of Luo He and Luo Hongyu, had reached the moment where it would be dug up by Luo Hongyu's own hands.
The Young Master, of course, wouldn't know at this moment that this was an unsolvable spiral corridor; the more she dug, the more painful it would become for her.
And she, Gu Jing, had to be the gatekeeper of this corridor.
This was her own choice.
"Young Master, all the answers will be revealed after the Immortal Ascension Trial."
"Senior Sister Gu, that day when I punished Luo He, you were protecting him. It has always been like this."
"But now, you seem quite composed."
"Is it because there's some reason why I cannot harm him?"
"My answer is still the same, Young Master."
"Alright."
Luo Hongyu nodded her head, glanced again at the red jade at her waist, and then sheathed her Lu Lan Sword.
"We'll go find Su Huanhuan."
"Now that both Xiao Yang and Shen Huai are dead, there might be considerable trouble from the Star Moon Pavilion's side."
"Then let them come looking. Right now, find Luo He first."
Luo Hongyu said faintly.
She walked halfway and suddenly stopped, turning back to look at Gu Jing.
"Senior Sister Gu, have you done anything in the past that makes you deeply regret it now?"
This question pierced through Gu Jing's body like a thunderbolt. She stood there stunned, never having imagined there would be a day Luo Hongyu would ask her this.
After a moment of silence, she lowered her gaze, the smile at the corners of her mouth revealing traces of ice-cold despair.
"I don't know, Young Master, I don't know..."
"Is that so."
...
The deep night seemed like a flowing river.
From afar came bursts of flute sounds; a swaying boat rode the night, ferrying over like a phantom.
Huoxin sat in the boat's cabin, still that indistinct silhouette whose appearance couldn't be seen clearly.
Since discovering that Luo Hongyu had not been affected by the Demonic Seed, Huoxin understood that the name Shen Huai could no longer be used.
An identity painstakingly managed for so long, to be cast off by Luo He just like that... It truly made one somewhat unreconciled.
If she had known earlier, she shouldn't have created extra complications at the Water Lord Festival that day; it was she who had overthought things.
Now, the Demonic Seed could be considered scrapped, and Shen Huai's identity was also lost. To try and deal with Luo Hongyu from the shadows again was already as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Alas, but who would have thought that Luo He would actually swallow the Demonic Seed himself... Truly mad. This errand is truly difficult to handle.
Moreover, she had originally thought that even if the Demonic Seed couldn't be used on Luo Hongyu, if it could take out Luo He instead, it wouldn't be completely useless.
But after hearing from Luo Hongyu that Luo He had disappeared... she became uncertain about this idea again.
Generally speaking, his normal reaction after knowing the power of the Demonic Seed in his body should be to quickly find a way to solve this problem.
But now he was playing the disappearing act... Although the reason was unknown, Huoxin had to pessimistically believe that Luo He had very likely found that method and was trying to solve this problem.
She then thought of Su Huanhuan, who had appeared together with Luo He during the Water Lord Festival...
Huoxin frowned.
She didn't know what exactly Su Huanhuan's relationship with him was, but even if she (Su Huanhuan) was willing to transmit her cultivation to him, it should have been too late... The power of the Demonic Seed was no small matter.
Clearly, Huoxin was not aware of the existence of the malevolent qi within Luo He's body.
This point, basically only people like Gu Jing and Su Huanhuan, who had inwardly inspected the situation within Luo He's body, could have seen.
Alas, difficult to handle, ah, difficult to handle.
While Huoxin was thinking this, she tapped the head of the flute-playing young girl beside her. The young girl smiled; a dead soul controlled by Huoxin flew out from the yin flute and drifted to Huoxin's side.
"Heh ah... Go tell that gang from the Demonic Gates, the Demonic Seed failed, it was wasted. Let them think of other tricks; I did my best."
The dead soul received the command and immediately disappeared into the shadows of the night.
Although she said so, she still had to start preparing the next move; otherwise, that favor owed under the witness of the Heavenly Dao would not be so easy to repay.
The relationship between Luo Hongyu and Luo He might be a good angle of approach. But what should she do... Oh?
Huoxin's divine sense suddenly stirred. She waved her hand to put away the yin boat beneath her and stood on the bank of the Crossing of No Return.
He smiled, looking forward at that white fox mask which was particularly conspicuous in the dark night.
"So it's you. Do you know, many people are looking for you now?"
"......”