Chapter 99: Crown of the Moon

I had no idea how long I had been out, but eventually I woke in a dazed stupor, my head swimming. I shook myself, and dust clung to my hair and scalp.

As I scanned the ground and around me, I froze. The scene did not match at all.

I distinctly remembered being in a great hall. From the outside it had been ruined, but inside it was still intact. Then a stone dais had burst up from beneath the floor, and from that dais came a withered-wood staff.

What happened after that?

Never mind; the real question was why the hall had collapsed.

I stood up and found that I was still holding the Blood-Slaying Blade.

I lifted it slowly in front of my eyes. Its shape was the same, but the cracks and chips were completely gone. Worse, the hilt had changed. No, wait—wasn't this the withered staff? The black crystal in it was unmistakable.

As I stirred my inner power, rings of blood-red light suddenly rippled across the blade.

Astonished, I let out a shout and slashed forward.

Whoosh.

A flash of blood-red blade light appeared and vanished in a heartbeat, and the stone blocks in its path turned instantly to fine dust.

“Mana activation rate: one hundred percent?” I was speechless. I remembered it had been only fifty before. Now it was a full hundred—impossible.

Even Nangong Haoran, with his pair of hands fashioned from yin-yang bones, had only reached eighty percent.

I tested it a few more times. No mistake—one hundred percent, truly.

“Ha! This was worth the trip. Revenge done, and my weapon even evolved.” I grinned broadly as I walked out.

The moment I passed through the stone gate, the scene shifted, and in an instant I stood at the entrance of the Cursed Corpse Forest.

I looked around and noticed Qu Yuan-shan was not here to block me, which surprised me. I headed toward the far side of the mountain, not knowing that at the drawbridge entrance Qu Yuan-shan had waited there for ten full days.

At last I cleared Lianshan. I stood before a stone stele and, on impulse, pulled out a talisman brush and carved a line of words: In Commemoration of Master Qin’s Return from Lianshan.

I lit a cigarette and switched on my phone. Outside Lianshan there was no signal at all, so I shut it down to save battery.

The moment I turned it on, a flood of messages appeared—one hundred and eighty-eight of them.

“Who in the world is sending me this much junk?” I muttered, then opened one. They were all from Gu Lijinsha.

“Qin Feng, the moonflowers in Moonlight Forest are in bloom. They’re beautiful, truly.”
“Many people came to Moonlight Forest today—so many beautiful girls. Want me to introduce you to one?”
“The Moon Tribe Gathering starts tomorrow, remember that?”
“You bastard, you liar. Do you never keep your promises?”

At the next batch:

“Don’t come anymore and I’ll just consider you no longer my friend.”
“Bastard, bastard, bastard...”

I let out a bitter laugh. Only then did I realize I had been unconscious for five days. The messages from Gu Lijinsha had started two days before the Moon Tribe Gathering, which meant she had been reminding me ever since. By now the Gathering had already reached its second day. I had heard it lasted three days in total.

Luckily, Moonlight Forest was not far from here.

I pushed the horse at full speed toward it.

Still, I was puzzled. I had told Gu Lijinsha I would attend, and I had missed the appointed time—so she was right to be angry. But this was anger of a different kind, harsher than usual.

Midway, I bought a horse from a mountain villager, which let me move much faster.

As for why not take a carriage: Moonlight Forest is beyond roads and all of it is mountain woodland.

In Moonlight Forest, a towering platform had been built at the center. The Moon Tribe chieftain, the chiefs of the thirteen branch clans, and the elders—all women—sat on it.

Gu Lijinsha, dressed to the hilt, sat beside her mother, Gu Longjing, and behind her stood her guardian, Luo Shuiyang.

Gu Lijinsha wore an unreadable expression, cursing Qin Feng in her heart.

“Jinsa, among the fine young men of the Moon Tribe below, is there anyone you favor?” Gu Longjing asked.

“No,” she replied flatly.

“Below, more than a hundred of the best men of our Moon Tribe are already breaking through the Moon Labyrinth for you. Whoever wins the Moon Crown and places it on your head with his own hands will be chosen by the old law. A child born from such a man and from you will surely be even stronger,” Gu Longjing said.

“No,” Gu Lijinsha said again, cold.

Gu Longjing was not moved by her daughter’s mood. “I know you have lived among outsiders and grown used to outside rules. But one day you are my daughter, and one day you are Moon Tribe. You must follow the Moon Tribe way.”

“I already have someone I like,” Gu Lijinsha said through clenched teeth.

“This does not conflict with your choice today. A Moon Tribe woman may choose more than one man,” Gu Longjing said proudly.

“But… I want to choose only him,” Gu Lijinsha said, and her gaze dimmed.

“The one you like is an outsider, isn’t he? I can give him a chance. If he wins the Moon Crown, you may choose him,” Gu Longjing said.

Gu Lijinsha’s face clouded. If only he had come. With his ability, winning should have been no problem.

At that moment, cheers rose from the Moon Tribe below. Someone had already reached the final stage of the Moon Labyrinth.

What was happening outside was visible to everyone outside; those inside could not see out. That is the nature of the Moon Labyrinth: winner and loser are obvious at a glance.

Then a rider came hurtling over and around him, and the Moon Tribe parted to make room.

What was this?

I scanned around for Gu Lijinsha.

At that same moment Gu Lijinsha suddenly rose to her feet on the high platform, her face alight with shock and joy. I felt it and looked up, saw her wave back to me.

Suddenly the horse beneath me stilled, and I tumbled over with a full spin.

When my feet touched the ground, the surroundings had changed completely. The dense crowd was gone. I could not see the platform where Gu Lijinsha had stood even if I looked up.

Damn, this was an illusion array.

I stepped back twice. There was no way out. Once entered, I had no exit.

I scratched my head in annoyance. Old Gu, why didn’t she warn me?

Back on the platform, Gu Lijinsha saw my dumbfounded expression and laughed till she bent and straightened with each breath. Gu Longjing glanced over and understood at once—this must be her beloved.

She studied me closely. I looked all right, though my clothes were torn in places and stained with blood. Could he be a disciple of Master Mo? Yet she had never heard of anyone like him.

I walked forward, hands behind my back, counting softly in my head, as if strolling through a garden.

In an instant the scene shifted again. Countless beasts lunged toward me. I did not dodge or flinch. I stepped once forward with my eyes closed, and when I opened them, nothing remained.

The Moon Labyrinth has nine nested arrays. Honestly, none of them are difficult. Even without mastery of formations, you can get out of it, though the route is needlessly troublesome.

I did not need all that trouble. Each array took only a few steps. In no time, I reached the last one.

“Huh, there’s still someone here,” I thought, seeing a broad, tall man reaching for the Moon Crown.

I lifted my hand; the Moon Crown flew into my grasp. The man’s ecstatic expression froze at once. It had been there and then vanished in an instant.

“Is this what you came for?” I said.

The man turned and saw me with the crown in my hand.

“Nice-looking,” I said with a smile, about to offer it back. “I was just—”
But I did not finish. The man roared and charged at me, a fist swinging for my face.

I lifted an eyebrow, sidestepped, and swept my foot in a hook. He lunged forward and crashed, bracing his arm on the ground before springing up again.

“What? Did I steal your wife?” I growled.

The man went berserk and charged again.

Back on the platform, Gu Lijinsha laughed harder and harder, shoulders shaking, tears nearly spilling from laughing too much. After a moment she stopped, a light blush rising across her pretty face, and whispered sharply, “Fool!”