Artifact Chapter 57: Kunlai Mountain

Chapter 57: Kunlai Mountain

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

At this moment, deep within Kunlai Mountain, a faint light flickered in and out, first a pale golden, then gradually shifting to a deep blue. Eventually, the light grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire cave with a brilliant glow.

The bright light revealed the scene inside the cave. By a massive rectangular stone table stood a young man radiating dark demonic energy. This young man, whose features were strikingly handsome, had tightly pressed lips and a forehead dotted with fine beads of sweat. His eyes were crimson red, exuding a murderous aura like a drawn sword, making him appear like a hellish demon. Anyone who laid eyes on him couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear.

This man was Jing Mo, the top disciple of Kunlai Mountain, as well as a high-ranking demonic envoy in the Demon Realm, second only to one person—Sang Wusheng. He held in his hand a recently crafted divine artifact, turning it over and over while his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

“This Heavenly Mirror artifact doesn’t seem particularly special,” Jing Mo muttered to himself.

The artifact he held was the Heavenly Mirror artifact mentioned in ancient texts. Since Lu Ming had left Kunlai Mountain, Jing Mo had entered the cave to begin its crafting. Having received the true teachings from Cang Zhi and aided by the nearly ‘cheat-like’ demonic energy within him, he had completed the Heavenly Mirror artifact in just two months—something that would normally have taken several months to make.

Legend had it that this artifact, once infused with spiritual energy, would allow one to glimpse into the future. Jing Mo had initially made this artifact out of curiosity, but now that it was finished, it seemed little different from an ordinary magical item.

With a slight sigh of disappointment, Jing Mo infused a trace of weak spiritual energy into the Heavenly Mirror artifact. Soon, the artifact emitted a faint red glow, which gradually coalesced into a single beam of light. Within that light, an image suddenly appeared about two meters in front of him.

Jing Mo studied the scene carefully. He saw a tall, slender young man dressed in blue, holding a food box. The young man walked to the entrance of the cave where Jing Mo stood, then paused and called out, “Senior brother, the master asked me to bring you some freshly picked spiritual fruits.”

The image froze at that point, and the red glow from the Heavenly Mirror artifact began to fade. Jing Mo realized that the spiritual energy he had infused had been depleted.

Just then, footsteps were heard from outside the cave, followed by someone shouting, “Senior brother, the master asked me to bring you some freshly picked spiritual fruits.”

Jing Mo responded, “Bring it in.”

The person entered the cave and Jing Mo narrowed his eyes, feeling a sudden sense of surprise and wonder. This disciple looked exactly like the one in the image from the Heavenly Mirror artifact.

With a wave of his hand, Jing Mo signaled for the person to place the food box down and leave. He resumed playing with the Heavenly Mirror artifact, a faint smile gradually forming on his face. The artifact was indeed interesting. He’d give it to his brother when he arrived.

Jing Mo extended his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings of the cave, confirming that the person had already left. He then relaxed and released the demonic energy that he usually kept well hidden, guiding it into the Heavenly Mirror artifact. Instantly, the artifact erupted with intense blue light, and the beam of light slowly gathered together. A scene immediately appeared in front of him.

In the image, there were two figures—a young man in green and another in black—seemingly in a standoff. Both held long swords pointed forward, their eyes cold and sharp, staring at each other motionlessly as if they were about to lunge and kill the other.

“Since you wish to die so much, I will fulfill your wish.” A cold, emotionless voice suddenly sounded.

The young man in green remained unfazed. He merely smiled faintly at the other and, without hesitation, lunged forward with his sword toward the black-clad man. At that moment, the earth began to tremble violently. Golden light filled the sky, blinding Jing Mo to the point where he instinctively closed his eyes. However, in the next second, he seemed to hear the sound of his own heart breaking.

“This result… is fine,” the young man in green murmured softly.

Jing Mo suddenly opened his eyes, his breath coming in short gasps. That voice—clearly, it was his brother’s! The young man in the golden light, the face he could never forget, those eyes that remained gentle even at the point of death—those were the eyes of the person he had loved to the extreme.

Jing Mo stared blankly at the scene in front of him until the image slowly cut off, at which point he snapped back to reality.

“It can’t be. It can’t happen like this…” Jing Mo staggered back a few steps and leaned against the cave wall, the image from the artifact flashing through his mind over and over again. Why, in the future, would it be him who… killed his brother?

His eyes turned a deeper shade of red, and the fear and pain almost drove him mad. He gathered his demonic energy into his palm and struck the Heavenly Mirror artifact that had fallen to the ground. The powerful attack turned the artifact into ashes in an instant.

At that moment, Jing Mo suddenly heard a faint sound. His breath tightened, and he spoke in a low voice, “Who is it?”

The footsteps outside the cave stopped, and after a brief silence, a voice responded, “It’s me.”

The unease in Jing Mo’s eyes was instantly replaced by joy. He quickly walked outside the cave and saw a young man standing not far away, silently watching him without saying a word.

Jing Mo felt a tremor run through him. The scene from the Heavenly Mirror artifact, like a curse, had caused him to lose his reason. But now, his brother was standing right in front of him. There was nothing better than this in the world.

He approached and, breathing unevenly, pulled Lu Ming into his arms. His voice was hoarse as he said, “Brother, you’ve finally come.”

Lu Ming, held in Jing Mo’s embrace, trembled slightly from sadness. His eyes, once indifferent, were now clouded with a thick fog, and the warmth in his heart seemed to be fading, as if he had fallen into an icy abyss. No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t escape the increasingly cold environment.

How much had his younger brother been hiding from him? The terrifying, yet strangely familiar, demonic energy in the cave had only been encountered in one other person.

Lu Ming suddenly felt exhausted—so tired that his eyelids barely stayed open. After so many years of searching, so many years of companionship, and countless dangers they had faced together, the person he had sworn to protect with his life now seemed laughable. He never expected that his beloved brother had been deceiving him all along, even dragging Fu Shu into it, nearly costing her life.

Lu Ming’s voice trembled as he asked, “How long do you intend to keep deceiving me?”

Jing Mo stiffened, slowly releasing Lu Ming. His expression didn’t change, and he smiled faintly, his face full of confusion. “Brother, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Lu Ming raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face. Jing Mo’s face was immediately turned to the side by the slap. Lu Ming coldly sneered, “You still want to pretend?”

Jing Mo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze fixed and calm as he looked at Lu Ming. His eyes were unusually tranquil. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lu Ming couldn’t help but laugh in frustration. “Twelve years ago, Fu Shu was harmed by demonic energy and became mentally ill. Over the years, she’s been hunted by people from the Demon Realm. You should know this better than I do.”

Jing Mo’s fists clenched unconsciously. After a long pause, he spoke in a low voice, “Yes, it was me.”

Lu Ming asked coldly, “Why?”

Jing Mo stared at him, a flash of pain and suppression crossing his eyes. Finally, he lowered his gaze and answered quietly, “There’s no reason.”

Lu Ming took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions. After a long while, he finally let out a low laugh, a bit self-deprecating, and said, “I saw in Fu Shu’s memory that it was you who hurt her, but I didn’t want to believe it was true. That’s why I couldn’t stop for even a moment and traveled for half a month to get here. I just wanted to hear you explain it with your own mouth. Along the way, I kept thinking, how could my brother hurt Fu Shu? We three relied on each other in the He family. Everyone wanted to kill me, but I was never afraid because at least I had Fu Shu and you. No matter how hard it got, I told myself I had to hold on—at least for you and Fu Shu, I had to bear everything.”

Jing Mo suddenly looked up at Lu Ming. The young man’s body seemed to be swaying as if it would collapse, and his eyes took on a dull, grayish hue, lifeless and devoid of any emotional fluctuation. This was a look Jing Mo had never seen before in all these years. Panic gripped him. He felt that if he didn’t say something, his brother would leave him, never to return. He trembled and took a few steps forward, fear in his eyes, “Brother, listen to me, things aren’t as you think.”

Lu Ming didn’t pay attention to Jing Mo’s words, speaking to himself, “After escaping from the He family, I first lost Fu Shu, then I lost you. For ten whole years, I lived in guilt and pain, always feeling that as an older brother, I had failed. I couldn’t protect you, and instead, I had let you both fall into trouble. Two years ago, when I met you in Green Mountain Town, it was the happiest moment of my life. I was so happy I almost went crazy. So, I secretly vowed that I would protect you no matter what, even if it cost me my life. But I never expected that the brother I held most dear, for all these years, had been lying to me. Everything was fake, even… even Jing Mo was fake, wasn’t he? Sang Wusheng.”

Jing Mo was struck hard by these words. He stared at Lu Ming, his lips trembling, unable to speak a single word.

When Lu Ming saw Jing Mo’s expression, the last shred of hope in his heart vanished. He gave a faint smile, but his eyes gradually reddened. “Looks like I was right. You’re not Jing Mo at all. Was it fun, fooling me all these years?”

Suddenly, Jing Mo felt like he was about to lose the other person. The overwhelming panic drove him to move forward, grabbing Lu Ming’s hand, helplessly looking at him. “Brother, I… I didn’t mean to deceive you. Please, don’t look at me like that… Let’s talk, okay?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Lu Ming pulled his hand back, looking at him coldly, as though he were a stranger. His face remained expressionless as he said, “Don’t call me brother anymore. You’re not worthy.”

Jing Mo bit down hard on his lip, his eyes starting to turn red. The coldness in Lu Ming’s gaze felt like it had thrown him into an icy abyss, and his entire body shivered. His mind went blank, unsure of what to do to make things right.

Lu Ming took a deep breath, his voice low and hoarse. “From today on, you and I have no relationship. I can’t beat you now, but remember this, one day, I will make you personally apologize to Fu Shu and make you pay for all these years… for the pain you’ve caused me.”

After he spoke, he didn’t even glance at Jing Mo. With unwavering determination, he turned and left, at least maintaining his last bit of dignity. But just as he turned, it felt as though he heard the sound of the entire world collapsing.

Jing Mo stood frozen in place, stunned by Lu Ming’s words. He watched as Lu Ming slowly disappeared from his sight, his vision blurring. He knew that if he didn’t stop his brother now, their bond would be shattered forever.

In a hurry, Jing Mo rushed forward, gathering demonic energy in his palm and striking forcefully in Lu Ming’s direction.

Lu Ming sensed someone chasing him and quickly dodged to the side, but still, the demonic energy surged around him. It filled his nostrils, and suddenly, he couldn’t summon any strength. His body went limp, and he fell to the ground.

He closed his eyes, expecting the pain to come, but it never did. Slowly, he opened his eyes again, only to see himself held tightly in Jing Mo’s arms.

Lu Ming’s mind cleared a little. He shouted angrily, “What are you trying to do?!”

Jing Mo held Lu Ming tightly, and with a wicked smile that grew more twisted, he gently licked Lu Ming’s lips. His eyes were bloodshot, full of determination, and his expression was almost like a child holding onto a beloved toy, not wanting to let go for fear of it being taken away. Jing Mo looked at Lu Ming with a soft laugh, as if murmuring to himself, “I won’t let you go. Even if you hate me now and want to kill me, I won’t let you go.”

 

 

 

 

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