Dragon-Marked War God

Jiang Chen reached out and held Wu Ningzhu’s hand tightly, while Yan Qingcheng held Wu Ningzhu’s other hand.

“Let’s go.”

Just as Jiang Chen, Yan Qingcheng and Wu Ningzhu were about to leave, Lin Youkang suddenly started and transmitted his voice:

“Someone has sent word to the Profound Connection Divine Palace. Just four words: the Helians are in trouble!”

Jiang Chen started, and his face darkened somewhat. Helian! It must be Yue Er.

…

Eastern Victorious Divine Land, Wind God Valley, Wuyi Mountain!

Green mountains stretched on endlessly. A ten-thousand-zhang waterfall hung like a silver river. Ancient trees towered to the sky, and the cries of birds, beasts and apes rang through the valley.

All around, countless immortal cranes danced lightly beneath the waterfall and in the clear springs, playing in the water like waves. The birdsong was pleasant to the ear, like a chorus of celestial music.

The mountains were full of dense forests with layer upon layer of bamboo shadows. Flowers and grasses covered the wild hills in sheets. The bright moon shone among the pines, and the clear spring flowed over the stones. The moon was bright as a golden measure, and its light and shadow were like a red lotus.

Among the wild hills and clear springs, a breathtakingly beautiful figure danced alone in the valley. Graceful and charming beneath the moonlight, lovely and lithe, she seemed rather lonely and forlorn.

The sword in her hand was cold and clear as frost; her face was like jade, and she moved like flowing water. The young girl moved in unison with her shadow, leaping again and again beneath the moon, like a spirit of the mountains, lively and nimble.

The vast Wuyi Mountain, with three thousand miles of rivers, three thousand miles of pines and cypresses, three thousand miles of green bamboo and three thousand miles of lone clouds, still could not hide that small, nimble figure, level with the great mountain and shining together with the bright moon.

The girl’s sword intent was cold and her momentum steady. In her broad, sweeping strokes there was the air of a heroine who yields nothing to men. That unrestrained grace flowed like water, light in advance and retreat, like a gentle breeze arriving slowly, raising no waves on the water.

Gradually, the sword in the girl’s hand grew sharper and sharper. That matchless sword intent seemed to carry the firm and persistent resolve in her heart, making her more and more disordered, more and more panicked and anxious, as if she wanted to break through the cage of heaven and earth.

On the bank of flowers and willows, two young men in white like swords stood with their hands at their sides, watching the girl dance with her sword, sighing deeply in their hearts. One stood like a hook, the other’s back was like a painting. But undeniably, both of these white-robed young men were extremely powerful, and their looks were excellent too, full of a handsome, dashing flavor. Any woman who looked at them even once would never want to forget them.

“Zhangyang, what do you think she’ll choose?”

One of the white-robed young men said quietly, his gaze somewhat complicated. He did not know how to dissuade the girl in the river whose figure was intertwined with the moon’s reflection and the clear spring. His thoughts turned over and over, but he grew more and more hesitant, at a loss for what to do.

“Who knows? We aren’t her. We can’t choose for her, and we can’t change anything for her. All of this is fate, heaven’s will. No matter what, she can’t change it. Heaven’s will is what it is. Even the Family Head probably has no way, right?”

The man called Zhangyang shook his head and sighed. When he looked at the girl again, he shrugged helplessly, as if completely unable to change his original intention. All he could do at this moment was silently watch that stubborn figure, powerless, unable to change anything.

“That’s true. It was a bit presumptuous of me. Even she herself has no choice. What can we do?”

Fengchao shook his head and sighed, seeming to fall silent. They could not change what was before their eyes. They could only choose to obey the arrangement of heaven’s will. No one would change anything for that girl, just as this sky, day after day, year after year, would never change for anyone.

“Rather die nine times without regret than bow her head to fate. That isn’t like someone from our Helian Family.”

Helian Zhangyang said with a smile. But he too had some sympathy for the girl in the clear spring. But what could he do? He could only stand silently behind her. Liking someone was easy, but changing the world for her was not so easy.

Helian Fengchao nodded as well. He knew there was nothing either of them could do. What the ancestors had decided, even the Family Head could not change, let alone a family that had always followed its ancient precepts. Who could change their original intention?

In all of this, all they could do was silently be bystanders, because many things were beyond what they even dared to imagine. Unable to change any of it, they could only accept fate. Although they never believed in fate, they had to obey it at every moment. This was the fate of the Helian Family.

“By now the Family Head and the five great elders are probably already furious beyond restraint. I just don’t know how long she can hold out. No matter what, she is a member of the Helian Family. Sacrificing for the Helian Family is something she must always be prepared for. Besides, it’s not as if it means her body dying and her Dao perishing.”

Helian Zhangyang was also extremely curious about the girl. What exactly was it that she found so hard to let go of? So much so that she could not forget it, regarding even the family’s ancient precepts as nothing. But her strength was what it was. If she wanted to defy the family’s fate, she was destined to have only one road: death.

“Some people and some things, once missed, are gone forever. I think she also can’t forget her past. Once you are part of a great family, there is no getting out. We can do many things, but all of them are beyond our own control. In the current situation, I expect the five great elders are about to fly into a rage.”

Helian Fengchao said with a smile.

“Aren’t you worried about her?”

Helian Zhangyang asked.

“Aren’t you too? As the peerless twin prides of the Helian Family, there’s nothing either of us can do. Who do you think could change all this? What use is worrying? The outcome is still something we can’t change. Being born into the Helian Family is a kind of luck, but also a kind of sorrow.”

Helian Fengchao sighed, his gaze grave. He stared at the girl in the clear spring for a full minute before turning away. This pair of the Helian Family’s two peerless geniuses, who were normally like fire and water, were for the first time so harmonious, because the person they faced was the one they both deeply loved: Helian Yue Er.

But at this moment, they were powerless. They could only watch helplessly as Helian Yue Er was made to obey the decision of fate. It was destined to be something she could not let go of, which was why she resisted it so. No one knew when the family would truly lose its temper. When that moment came, the outcome no one could change would become reality.

“Yue Er, I hope you can let go. Otherwise, those few fine fellows will absolutely not spare you.”

Helian Zhangyang murmured. At this moment, he too was powerless. No matter how outstanding their talents, no matter how deep their cultivation, they still could not change all this for Helian Yue Er. Fate is a very strange thing. Their Helian Family spent their whole lives exploring fate, yet no one could change their own fate.