Realms In The Firmament

Zhu Menghun seemed to hesitate for a second, and then he took a deep breath. “Do it!”

“Hold!”

Master Guan shouted and said, “Zhu Menghun! I have words to say!”

Zhu Menghun waved one of his hands to stop the others. He said, “What do you want to say?”

Master Guan took a breath and said, “Zhu Menghun, let me ask you one thing. You are one of the Two Tigers, which means you play an important role in the Hall of Returning Nature. Why would you come to my clan and be a steward? I know… you were undercover. You would earn the credit one day. However, aren’t you too good to do such a job?”

Zhu Menghun smiled and said, “I will do whatever it takes to support the Master’s great plan. I don’t care. Besides, I have been with you for hundreds of years, and I was never wronged.”

Master Song was cunning. He sensed something, so he said, “Does it mean that the Hall of Returning Nature has been planning against us for a long time?”

Zhu Menghun laughed and said, “The Heaven’s Leaf and the Seven Golden Lotuses are together. One hundred thousand years was due, and the Heaven’s Leaf returned to the world. The Seven Lotus Clans would definitely follow the Great Ye Clan again. How could we not keep an eye on you?”

“Do you have your people in all our clans?” Master Guan was angry.

The enemies had set their people in the clans for hundreds of years, and the seven clans couldn’t notice anything! That was horrific!

“It makes no difference. Even if I tell you we are among you, and even if you can survive, do you think you can find them? If I didn’t tell you this, if I didn’t attack you, even if the Hall of Returning Nature told you I am a mole, would you believe them, Brother Guan?” Zhu Menghun sighed and said, “Brother Guan, give it up. We fought together for hundreds of years. I was always sincere and loyal to you. Why would you suspect a man who was sincere and loyal to you?”

Master Guan felt like he was hit by a clap of thunder. He knew that Zhu Menghun was telling the truth. He was angry, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He said, “Zhu Menghun… You and your Hall of Returning Nature… You are contemptible!”

“Contemptible? Come on. I have done my best to support you when I was by your side. I never got lazy. I did this only because you started to stand against the Hall of Returning Nature. I can’t be loyal to two masters. I am loyal to the Hall of Returning Nature. Is that contemptible? I don’t think so. Besides, people die in the martial world. It is either you or me. One should do whatever he could for the great plan!” Zhu Menghun said, “Old Guan, did the Guan Clan rise because you were always righteous and honest?”

“People in the martial world kill! Who doesn’t?”

Zhu Menghun blandly said, “We are in the martial world. Our hands are all stained by blood. Under our feet, there are mountains of rotten bones. Brother Guan, you shouldn’t be too emotional about this.”

Master Guan nodded and fiercely said, “Good. Good. You are loyal to the Hall of Returning Nature. Old Zhu, my brother, you keep saying that you were sincere. Well, then I won’t regret treating you as my brother. Now, we are in opposite positions, so it is pointless to talk about friendship anymore. I, Guan Muyun…”

He stepped forward and waved one hand, ripping off a piece of cloth from his sleeve. The sound seemed to shake everybody’s heart.

Zhu Menghun turned sullen, and he stepped ahead, too.

Master Guan raised his hand and threw the cloth of his sleeve up to the air.

“There is no Old Zhu anymore! My brother Zhu and I are life and death enemies now!” Master Guan was emotional. “From now on, there is only Zhu Menghun, my sworn enemy in the world!”

He cut his sleeve to break off their friendship!

Zhu Menghun was a bit shaken. He looked at the cloth flying in the sky, and he was lost.

They had been brothers for hundreds of years. Most of the time, Zhu forgot who he truly was. When the Hall of Returning Nature didn’t give him any work to do, he felt like he was truly a brother to Guan Muyun, a member of the Guan Clan…

They usually drank together. They ate together under the tree and enjoyed the days… Sometimes, they drank outside when it was snowing in the sky…

The memories hit him in the heart.

Zhu Menghun made a long sigh. He suddenly felt a void in his heart as if he was not complete anymore.

He was undercover in the Guan Clan. His job was to destroy the Guan Clan when he got the chance…

He was going to kill the chief of the clan now.

Why was he so uncomfortable?

It didn’t make sense…

He felt like he was lost in a dream; a dream of a happy life in the Guan Clan. He was the Tiger in the Dream, and he shouldn’t be lost in dreams!

Zhu Menghun closed his eyes, and he felt the pain in his heart. After a while, he said, “Old Guan, I am sorry. I failed you.”

“I am done. I can’t do this to you. I will ask for punishment when I meet the Master later!”

Zhu Menghun made a long shout and flew out like a flying star. After a while, he was gone.

“Brother Guan, forgive me!”

His voice was resounding in the night sky.

Master Guan staggered and spat out a mouthful of blood again.

Two streams of light were shooting down to the ground.

“The antidote.”

“Old Zhu gave it to you, not Zhu Menghun.”

Zhu Menghun’s voice sounded weak and hoarse.

The Tiger in the Dream of the Hall of Returning Nature actually did such a weird thing. He first attacked the masters fiercely. He poisoned them and pushed all the men of the two clans to death.

However, in the end, he was gone, leaving the antidote behind.

It seemed he betrayed himself in a short time.

Master Guan grabbed the two bottles of antidote with his hand and made a sigh.

“Father, it could be a trap!” Guan Changfeng anxiously said.

“No.” Master Guan closed his eyes, and his tears rolled down. “Old Zhu gave it to me… It must be real.”

He swallowed the antidote in one of the bottles.

After a while, his face turned colorless from green. The poison was gone, but he was still wounded. The wound started to cause extreme pain. That was good because the poison was gone.

Master Guan gave the other bottle to Master Song.

In the end, he took the two empty bottles and put them away.

He made a long sigh.

‘Brother, farewell.’

‘When we meet again, one of us must die.’

‘I don’t know if I can do it to you, and I wonder if you can do it to me?’

‘I guess you won’t hesitate to kill me.’

Master Guan bitterly smiled.

‘Perhaps I am already done here… Maybe we are not going to see each other ever again…’

…

The Red Phoenix was flying up in the sky like the most beautiful dancer dancing in the air.

Her beauty was the blade of a fabulous sword!

“Kill!”

The Red Phoenix shouted.