THE OTHER XUE MENG stood in the raging storm. He opened his mouth and closed it again, the jut of his throat bobbing as he swallowed. The first thing he managed was a courteous greeting. "The disciple Xue Meng greets Shizun."
His voice was torn and ragged: These five words contained a decade of unspoken suffering. The instant they were out, all the pain in him seemed to rise to the back of his throat, so bitter he couldn't form any more words.
Behind him, Mei Hanxue spoke up. "Focus, Ziming."
The Mei brothers of this world looked much the same, save for a greater maturity in their faces. But their spiritual energy was stronger by leaps and bounds.
"I know you're shaking, but you can't let the flow of spiritual energy do the same. I just saw the younger version of you come into this world—if you're defeated in front of your other self, wouldn't that be embarrassing? Pull yourself together."
It had been a long time since Xue Meng was that impetuous young man; he knew Mei Hanxue was right. He took a deep breath, and though loath to do it, tore his eyes from Chu Wanning to rest upon Taxian-jun.
"Who the hell are you?" Caged in the blue and red array, Taxian-jun narrowed his eyes in threat. "Are you in such a hurry to die?"
Mei Hanxue blinked. "What's going on? He doesn't recognize us?"
Chu Wanning had caught his breath. "His mind is gone. He doesn't recognize anyone."
Xue Meng couldn't speak. If the mere sight of Chu Wanning had shaken him to his core, hearing that familiar voice—one now heard only in his dreams—brought stinging tears to his eyes. How many years had it been? He didn't dare try to count. He was afraid he'd break down pathetically if he did.
Time had passed both very quickly and very slowly. He remembered the first year Chu Wanning had been taken captive at Sisheng Peak, his fate unknown. He'd gone to every sect begging for help. Perhaps he'd been too proud back then; hardly anyone had been moved by his plight.
Later, when the volunteer army finally gathered, he'd fervently hoped to rescue his beloved teacher from the demon's lair. But everyone had thought him selfish and reckless; all of them had eyed him with scorn. Mei Hanxue had been sent to another part of the battle away from the front lines. Xue Meng had had no one; he had gone up the mountain alone.
But what had been waiting for him atop it? An unrecognizable Sisheng Peak, a dying Emperor Taxian-jun, and the corpse of Chu Wanning, crumbling away within the pond at the Red Lotus Pavilion. It'd been almost ten years. The man he'd longed to see for a decade had become a corpse, and even that corpse had dissolved into ash in front of him. The last thing holding him up had disappeared. Xue Meng had knelt in the scattering dust and wept like a child.
He'd come too late. Too late to even touch a corner of his teacher's sleeve, too late to hear Chu Wanning call his name ever again.
Since then, things had only worsened. Taxian-jun had returned to life; Shi Mingjing had shown his true colors. They had begun the slaughter, sinking the world into hell. Everyone who'd been dear to Xue Meng was either dead or changed beyond recognition; if he unearthed the jug of wine buried beneath the osmanthus tree in his youth, was there anyone left to share it with him?
It took more strength than Xue Meng knew he had to look away from Chu Wanning after ten years of deprivation. "I'm not too late this time," he said. "Shizun, let me help you."
At this moment, Xue Meng and the Mei brothers from the other world arrived on the scene. Though they knew they might see unexpected faces upon crossing through the Space-Time Gate, running into themselves more than a decade older stunned the three young men.
"You… You?!" the younger Xue Meng yelped.
The older Xue Meng glanced at him, eyes filled with envy and grief. He chuckled softly. "Nearly forgot. So this was how I looked over ten years ago." He considered a moment, then pronounced, "Dumb as hell."
The young Xue Meng had been just called dumb by his own self for no apparent reason. He was still trying to figure out what was going on when a bolt of Emperor Taxian-jun's blazing fire came down on his exposed back.
He pivoted and instinctively unsheathed Xuehuang to block the blow. Stumbling backward, he fought to recover his balance. He hadn't wanted to use the holy weapon, but now he raised it and charged at Taxian-jun with a roar of fury.
A sword glowing blue blocked his way. The older Mei Hänxue stepped in front of him. "We're here," he said, shooting Xue Meng a cutting look. "It won't fall upon you to fight."
Mei Hanxue was facing his own younger self with a smile. "It's our mess, so we'll be the ones to clean it up. You won't be needed. Mei-xianjun, you're in the prime of your youth. It'll be a terrible shame if you get buried in all this seething hate and spend the rest of your life as dully as I did."
The younger Mei Hanxue was left speechless.
The array they'd used to trap Taxian-jun shuddered. Mei Hanxue stopped teasing his younger self; he whirled and shouted, "Watch out! He's much stronger than he used to be!"
"They put a new heart inside him," said Chu Wanning.
All three of them flinched. Straining tendons stood out on the backs of Xue Meng's hands. He gritted his teeth. "We might not be able to hold out for as long as we thought—Shizun, you have to hurry back and kill Hua Binan."
Before Chu Wanning could reply, the younger Xue Meng spoke up. "Kill Hua Binan? Why Hua Binan and not this…this…" He didn't know if he should call him Mo Ran or Taxian-jun or something else.
Xue Meng glanced at his younger self. "This is a corpse puppet. He's unkillable—but if the person controlling him dies, he'll turn to ash. Also…" He paused, transferring the cage spell to one hand with difficulty. A fiery red array lit up beneath the younger Xue Meng's feet. "It's not safe here. You're still young; you don't need to be a part of this. Go—back to the attacking army."
"No! Don't! How dare you—hey!"
Despite their protests, the younger Xue Meng and the Mei brothers were surrounded by spiritual butterflies. The spelled swarm whisked the three young men back toward the front hall of Wushan Palace.
The three brats were no sooner sent off than Xue Meng heard a loud cracking sound. Mei Hanxue went pale. "Ziming, the array's going to break!"
Xue Meng shoved all the spiritual energy he had in the direction of Emperor Taxian-jun. He shook from head to toe, straining as if holding the fraying reins of a beast trying to take the skies. "Shizun, go!"
Chu Wanning leapt into the air, his sharp brows drawn together. He looked at Xue Meng. "I'll be back soon. Stay safe."
"I should be the one saying that to Shizun." Xue Meng clenched his jaw. "Don't worry—this disciple is different now. I can hold out."
He could. He'd held out for so many years in this world; he'd grown used to surviving, until sheer endurance was the only thing that kept him going. He'd held fast through all those terrible years in the dark. Now that he'd reunited with his teacher, there was no reason for him to fail.
"All these years," sighed Chu Wanning. "You were left alone. I'm sorry…"
His voice lingered, but he was already gone. Xue Meng finally allowed his tears to fall. For an older man to cry like this was unbecoming. Though the pouring rain hid the tears streaming down his cheeks, his shaking shoulders and red-rimmed eyes were there for all to see.
Inside the array, Taxian-jun was going mad. Cracks appeared on its glowing surface like fissures snaking across the frozen surface of Heavenly Lake. Just as he threatened to break through, a bolt of red light slammed down on him, binding him again. Taxian-jun stared with feral, crimson eyes toward the spell's source.
Xue Meng held his gaze. "Give it up," he said. "I won't allow him to disappear before my eyes a second time."
He harnessed all his spiritual energy, veins protruding from his neck. His eyes were steely and resolute. "Shidi, you used to be the stronger one. But Shizun's here today, and I don't want to let him down. You'd best believe I'll win!"
Mei Hänxue immediately guessed his intent. Stunned, he knitted his brows and snapped, "Ziming! What are you doing?!"
Ferocious flames burst from Xue Meng's back with a sound like a thunderclap. He roared and flung his palms outward. The flames sped along the array toward Taxian-jun, slamming through him like a storm of arrows and tangling chains that engulfed him in an instant.
"Mngh!" Taxian-jun's face twisted in pain. He threw his head back and groaned, his explosive spiritual energy faltering. His pitch-black eyes slowly lit on Xue Meng. Taxian-jun stared silently at him like a resentful ghost, a trickle of blackened blood leaking from his mouth. Next to his heart, on the left side of his chest, was an old scar where Xue Meng had once buried Longcheng in his flesh. As the spells Xue Meng had created pierced his body, the sharpest spiritual arrow had torn through the exact same spot, leaving a bloody hole in his flesh.
"Stop!" cried Mei Hanxue, worried and shocked. "You've hit the limits of your spiritual core; if you keep this up, your core will—"
"Enough!" snapped Xue Meng. His eyes were pinned on Taxian-jun, a shixiong staring at his one-time shidi, an erstwhile assassin staring at his tyrant king. These two brothers watched each other, decades of time written off in one final stroke.
Though Xue Meng's face was pale, the impassioned light belonging to the young phoenix of the past once again shone in his eyes. "I, Xue Meng, have trained all my life for this duel."
As those words rang out, flames licked the skies like a phoenix shooting toward the clouds. In the inferno, they could almost see a young man dressed in blue and silver armor, his ponytail fastened with a golden clasp. He was shouting for all the world to hear:
"I want to take first place at the Spiritual Mountain Competition!"
"Hmph! I'll have a holy weapon sooner or later! Who cares?!"
"In fifty years—no! In thirty years, I'll make the name of Sisheng Peak known throughout the world!"
His eyes were as clear and unblemished as a new sprout, his voice crisp as an early peach. That young man was fearless, undaunted by fate or the heavens themselves as he proclaimed his aspirations to any who would listen.
Firelight dyed half the skies around Sisheng Peak red. Those scenes of the past crisped in the heat, burning away to ash. All was dead and gone, leaving only Xue Ziming. His eyes shone with determination. "I seek not fame or glory, only to be who I once was."