Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 9

Cao Ruxu rolled across the ground, picked up the sword Lou Jing had knocked away, and charged straight at her blade without bothering to defend himself.

He had lost to Lou Jing time and again. The more he lost, the more desperately he wanted to win, and his sword strikes became increasingly impatient and reckless.

Sword aura surged through the abandoned garden, slicing through the wild grass. The night wind swept the severed blades into the air, where they rustled and danced, obscuring everyone’s vision.

Among Cao Ruxu’s subordinates was one who was particularly skilled at judging a situation.

He saw that Lou Jing and Cao Ruxu had begun fighting. Long Chou’s trusted subordinate—the black-clad man—was fighting desperately with no regard for his own life and gradually gaining the upper hand.

If they attacked the pregnant woman again to threaten Long Chou’s subordinate, they might provoke Lou Jing into protecting her even more fiercely.

If the fighting continued like this, the situation would become extremely unfavorable.

Allowing the Feihua Alliance’s people to escape was a minor concern. Their young master being injured was a far more serious matter.

Their most urgent priority was to bring reinforcements and stabilize the situation.

The subordinate thought, Releasing a signal might attract our people’s attention, but they know we came here in pursuit of the thief who stole the Jade Buddha’s Hand. If they see the signal, they may assume we are merely dealing with an ordinary thief and fail to recognize the urgency. How could they know that we encountered members of the Feihua Alliance and are now in danger?

After a moment’s consideration, he withdrew from the fighting.

With a single leap, he vaulted over the wall and personally returned to Zhongwu Hall to report what had happened.

To deal with members of the Feihua Alliance, they needed to summon someone powerful enough to control the situation.

The subordinate had only just departed when Lou Jing’s sword pierced forward like a rainbow.

Her righteous true qi surged magnificently, and the Qian Formula became incomparably domineering in her hands.

Cao Ruxu’s chest was filled with jealousy. His Zhengyang Sword Art became even more ferocious.

When two unyielding forces collided head-on, one was bound to break.

A sharp metallic clang rang out.

Cao Ruxu’s sword snapped in half.

The momentum of Lou Jing’s strike did not diminish. Her blade pierced straight through his left shoulder.

She then struck him squarely in the chest with her palm.

Cao Ruxu spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying. He fell into a patch of wild grass.

“Young Master!”

Those fighting nearby had been watching the duel between the two.

The moment they saw Cao Ruxu defeated and Lou Jing showing no intention of stopping, two men withdrew from the melee.

One rushed to support Cao Ruxu and inspect his wounds, while the other blocked Lou Jing and confronted her Qianyuan Sword Art.

Lou Jing’s temperament was like a raging fire.

After being wounded so deeply by those words, how could she possibly endure them in silence?

Even after striking Cao Ruxu down, the resentment accumulated in her chest refused to disperse.

The cool night wind could not lessen the scorching heat throughout her body.

When Cao Ruxu’s subordinate blocked her sword, she simply continued fighting—and fought even more ruthlessly.

It seemed as though those mocking faces had gathered before her in a crowd.

She wanted only to tear every one of them apart and wipe away every word they had spoken.

Then a woman’s groans sounded behind her.

This time, the cries were not the same intermittent sounds as before. The woman’s painful moans continued without pause.

The ordeal of childbirth had already begun. It could no longer be delayed.

The woman had no strength left to stand.

She knelt in the grass, clutching her belly. Sweat had long since soaked through her hair.

Lou Jing knocked Cao Ruxu’s subordinate away with her sword.

Her extreme anger had made her face burn. She took two shallow breaths, and the violent trembling of her heart gradually began to slow.

On the other side, Cao Ruxu appeared to have lost consciousness. His subordinate was stopping the bleeding from his shoulder.

Lou Jing glanced behind her, walked to the pregnant woman, and helped her up.

The woman’s legs trembled, and even walking was difficult.

When she stood, Lou Jing saw a large dark stain spreading across her skirt.

“You are bleeding?”

The woman’s waters had broken some time ago.

After being struck and frightened again and again, she could no longer endure it. Her face was deathly pale.

“Miss, I beg you…”

She could barely finish a sentence.

Lou Jing intended to carry her to a medical clinic, but she remembered that there had been almost no houses in the surrounding area, let alone a clinic.

When Long Chou’s subordinate fled with the woman, he had been focused only on reaching the area near the place where they were supposed to meet their rescuers, hoping to find somewhere quiet and hidden.

He had never expected her to go into labor at that very moment.

The woman could no longer withstand being jolted during travel.

Lou Jing feared that if the night wind struck her a few more times, she would catch a chill and begin breathing out more than she breathed in.

Lou Jing had no choice but to carry her into the abandoned house first.

There was a hole in the broken roof. Silvery moonlight poured through it and illuminated the room.

Cobwebs hung overhead, while several old clay jars lay in one corner. Beside the wall stood a couch covered in dust.

Other than these things, the room was empty.

With no other option, Lou Jing placed the woman on the couch.

Half of a candle remained near its head.

Lou Jing took out a fire striker and lit it. The warm yellow glow illuminated the small area around the couch.

All color had drained from the woman’s face, and the blood beneath her had already stained the bedding.

Tears glimmered in the woman’s eyes as she spoke haltingly.

“Miss, even if I go to… the underworld, I will… pray for your blessings. I…”

Lou Jing said, “I will find a physician and midwife for you. Do not panic.”

Lou Jing had never witnessed childbirth and had no idea how to handle it.

The woman caught her wrist.

“No. I cannot wait. Please help me…”

“But I do not know how.”

On Tiger Roar Mountain, Lou Jing had studied literature and martial arts. No one had ever taught her how to deliver a child.

The woman groaned in pain, biting her lips until they bled.

Tears poured down her face as she pleaded, “If there is another life, I will certainly repay you. I… please help me. Please…”

Lou Jing had originally felt a trace of dislike toward the woman because of her connection to the Feihua Alliance.

She had helped her this far only because she was a mother.

At this moment, however, everything the woman did to protect her child moved Lou Jing deeply.

Just as she had said, she might not survive until Lou Jing returned with a physician.

Lou Jing would simply have to do everything she could.

Lou Jing was decisive and never hesitated once she had made up her mind.

She grasped the woman’s wrist and transferred some true qi into her body, giving her enough strength to endure the labor.

Afterward, she followed the woman’s instructions.

In truth, there was very little she could do.

The entire place was filthy and covered with dust, which was dangerous for a woman giving birth. Cold air entered through the broken walls, and there was nowhere to boil water.

The sounds of fighting outside continued.

Lou Jing had no idea who was winning.

To preserve what little strength she had, the woman did not even dare cry out in pain. She could only suppress her voice.

No one knew how long she suffered.

Even Lou Jing began sweating beside her.

At last, an infant’s cry rang through the room.

There was no spare cloth inside.

Lou Jing could only remove her outer robe and wrap the baby in it.

Holding the life that had only just entered the world, Lou Jing’s eyes brightened with a trace of curiosity as she stared at the infant’s wrinkled face.

There was now one more person in the world.

How extraordinary.

But fortune was cruel.

The woman began hemorrhaging.

Blood poured endlessly from her body.

Childbirth was one of the greatest trials a woman could face. Even under the best conditions, some lost their lives to it.

Here, in this ruined and filthy house, severe bleeding was equivalent to placing one foot inside the gates of the underworld.

Lou Jing did not fully understand what was happening, but the moment she saw the blood, she sensed that something was terribly wrong.

Transferring true qi into the woman and striking her acupoints had no effect.

“The child… Let me see her.”

Lou Jing carried the infant beside her.

“It is a girl.”

The woman pulled aside the swaddling robe and looked at the baby.

Tears slid from the corners of her eyes.

She pressed her cheek gently against the child’s face, filled with inexpressible grief.

“Miss, you have my deepest gratitude.”

At that moment, the woman seemed to experience a final burst of clarity. Her speech became smooth and clear.

She rested beside the swaddled infant and softly soothed her until she stopped crying.

In an exceedingly gentle voice, she said, “Mother did not mean to leave you…”

The words made Lou Jing’s nose sting and her eyes burn.

The woman placed her hand upon the child and closed her eyes, as though she had merely fallen asleep.

Gradually, she became silent.

Lou Jing approached the couch and reached out to check her breathing.

The woman had already died.

Lou Jing lifted the oblivious infant from beneath the woman’s hand.

Her heart ached as though someone had twisted it painfully.

Having witnessed both birth and death within such a brief span, she felt extraordinarily dejected.

Looking at the child, grief suddenly welled up inside her.

Her voice choked as she called softly, “Mother…”

She thought of her own mother.

When her mother gave birth to her, it must have been just as difficult.

Lou Jing had not remained immersed in sorrow for long when she realized that the sounds of fighting outside had stopped at some unknown point.

The shouts of Cao Ruxu’s subordinates sounded nearby. They appeared to be approaching the ruined house.

Long Chou’s trusted subordinate had probably been defeated.

Perhaps Cao Ruxu’s men had executed him where he stood.

Before the shouting could draw closer, it abruptly transformed into cries of agony.

A moment later, everything became silent once more.

The sudden stillness made the hairs on Lou Jing’s body stand on end.

In the next instant, a violent gust of wind swept toward the doorway.

Lou Jing was startled and immediately drew her sword.

At the same time, the two decaying doors were blown violently apart.

Cold wind struck her face like a blade.

Lou Jing circled her sword defensively.

When she met the incoming force, her hand shook violently, and the space between her thumb and forefinger throbbed with pain.

From this single exchange, Lou Jing sensed that the newcomer possessed extremely profound cultivation.

She was horrified.

The person was so fast that she could not even clearly see his figure.

Another attack arrived.

Lou Jing felt as though Mount Tai itself were descending toward her face.

She executed the Kun Formula. Her sword moved with astonishing speed, releasing six consecutive strikes.

Yet the man was even faster.

He tapped a finger against the flat of her blade, sending a shock through Lou Jing’s left arm and forcing it aside.

Her center was completely exposed.

The man struck her with his palm before she could defend herself.

Lou Jing was thrown backward and crashed beside the couch.

Her arms suddenly felt empty.

The man had moved with incredible speed and seized the infant from her embrace during the attack.

His cultivation was far beyond anything Cao Ruxu’s subordinates or Long Chou’s trusted follower could possess.

After succeeding in his first attack, the man moved forward again, apparently intending to kill Lou Jing.

Yet after taking a single step, he suddenly stopped.

He stared at Lou Jing’s face beneath the candlelight and exclaimed in surprise.

“You…”

The newcomer remained hidden in the darkness and appeared to be examining her carefully.

Lou Jing could see only the vague outline of his body, but his voice revealed that he was a man.

Holding the infant, he asked, “Did you help deliver this child?”

Lou Jing watched him warily.

The man murmured softly, “When you lower your brows, the resemblance is even stronger.”

The remark came without explanation and made no sense at all.

The man said, “Did you not know that she was the woman of a demon from the Feihua Alliance? Yet you still helped her.”

Lou Jing could not determine the identity of this sudden attacker.

“Who are you?”

The man studied her for another moment.

“You look very much like your mother.”

Lou Jing froze.

Her heartbeat trembled.

“You knew my mother? Who are you?”

Before the man could answer, he suddenly glanced outside.

Lou Jing could not tell what he had seen.

He gave a disdainful snort, turned around, and left.

“Do not leave!”

Lou Jing chased him outside, only to freeze in shock.

Bodies lay scattered across the abandoned garden.

Lou Jing hurried over and recognized them as Cao Ruxu’s subordinates.

Their corpses wore hideous expressions, and their chests had collapsed inward, as though each had been struck by a palm.

Their skin was red and hot to the touch, as though scorched by flames.

Among these horrifying corpses was a headless body kneeling on one knee and leaning against a saber.

The severed head lay in a pool of blood not far away.

It was Long Chou’s trusted subordinate.

He had been worn down by successive attacks. The blood from his many wounds had nearly drained from his body, but he had still forced himself to continue fighting.

When he heard the infant’s cry, his concentration relaxed for an instant.

Cao Ruxu’s attendants had seized the opportunity to severely wound and behead him.

Lou Jing feared losing track of the mysterious man.

She had no time to check whether Cao Ruxu was alive or dead. She hurriedly followed the man over the wall.

Before she had traveled far, she suddenly heard an unusual disturbance in the wind behind her.

Someone else had entered the abandoned garden, though she did not know who.

Lou Jing thought, That mysterious man must have heard someone approaching. That is why he left in such a hurry.

Lou Jing pursued him all the way to the canal before finally catching sight of his figure.

She rushed forward and attempted to seize him.

The man turned gracefully and landed on a small boat floating along the canal.

Lou Jing also flew onto the vessel.

“Who exactly are you?”

The man stood at the other end of the boat.

“A living person.”

Lou Jing frowned.

He was clearly the type who spoke in riddles and refused to give a proper answer.

“Did you kill all those people in the abandoned garden?”

“What do you intend to do about it?”

Lou Jing glanced at the infant in his arms.

“Judging by those methods, you cannot be one of the martial artists from Zhongwu Hall. From your words and behavior, you appear to be protecting that woman and her child.

“You are a member of the Feihua Alliance.”

The man curved his lips into a smile.

“Clever.”

After receiving confirmation, Lou Jing’s heart pounded violently.

“You and my mother… Why did you know my mother…?”

He had spoken as though they had been extremely familiar.

The man gazed into the night and remained silent for a long while.

At last, he recited a line of poetry completely unrelated to her question.

“Thirsting, I drink three feet of jackal blood. Who dares mock me as no true man?”

Lou Jing suddenly felt a powerful force lifting the end of the boat beneath her feet.

The man had used the Thousand-Catty Drop, pressing his side of the boat down and forcing Lou Jing’s side upward.

Lou Jing sank her qi into her dantian and pushed downward with her feet, attempting to force her end of the boat back into the water.

Unexpectedly, the man suddenly withdrew his strength.

With Lou Jing’s side bearing all the pressure, his end of the boat shot upward while hers plunged downward.

The movement was even more violent than before.

Lou Jing did not have time to recover her strength and lighten her body.

She fell directly into the water.

When Lou Jing surfaced, she saw the man drifting away.

His voice traveled faintly back to her from the distance.

“When we meet again, if you still wish to know, I will not mind telling you.”