Chapter 11: The Great Deceiver

“Has Elder Brother already left…?”

At the Heavenly Sword Sect, Forest Sword Peak.

The already lonely cultivation cave became even more desolate and cold after only one person remained.

The girl sat silently on a chair woven from vines, the flickering candlelight beside her casting her face in an ever-shifting play of light and shadow.

Without the sun, plants cannot grow.

Without wings, birds cannot soar.

Without feet, humans cannot run.

For the girl, Xu Xi was such a crucial person—irreplaceable, the one and only who would never have a second.

But now, that one and only had left her far behind.

Why—why did it come to this?

Her injuries were completely healed, and Elder Brother’s cultivation had broken through to the Golden Core stage. These should have been two extremely happy events, so why did it end up like this?

Drip, drip.

Her eyes were hollow, as if she had lost the ability to see the world. Tears welled up in her eyes for a long time before finally slipping down uncontrollably.

Even breathing hurt now.

Her throat burned, tightening violently.

Amidst the overwhelming despair, tears streamed down both sides of the girl’s cheeks, eventually gathering at her chin before falling to the ground with a crisp sound.

The tears shattered, just like the support in the girl’s heart, now gone forever.

“I can’t cry… I can’t cry…”

She wanted to scream, to wail, to vent this despair, but the one who could accept her, the only one who could accept Xu Moli, had completely left.

Moli knew it well.

Ever since that argument with Xu Xi long ago, she had a faint premonition that one day, Xu Xi would cast her aside as a ‘burden’ and disappear from her life completely.

She refused to accept it, refused to let it happen.

To prevent that day from coming, Xu Moli did everything she could to learn, hoping to impress Elder Brother with her efforts, to make him see that she wasn’t a burden.

But.

Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why.

She had tried so hard.

She followed Xu Xi’s teachings, learned everything she needed to learn.

Why did he still leave!?

Was it because she wasn’t good enough? Was her personality not obedient enough? Did her existence make Elder Brother unhappy?

“…”

Xu Moli closed her eyes, letting the tears flow freely.

When Elder Brother first disappeared, she still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking he might have just gone out briefly.

But after waiting for half a month, even the most oblivious person would realize that man wasn’t coming back.

He had cast her aside, freed himself from the useless shackles.

He left freely.

Yes, wasn’t that only natural? After all, everyone was free, and what right did she, a burden, have to demand that Xu Xi stay by her side?

This ridiculous, naive fantasy should have shattered long ago, shouldn’t it?

“Liar…”

“Big liar…”

“You promised me you wouldn’t leave.”

The crying girl wept even louder.

In her hand, she tightly clutched a storage ring, the one Xu Xi had left for her before he departed.

It contained many items.

Like a large amount of spirit stones, top-grade formation tools, a mountain-high reserve of talismans, and a vast supply of cultivation and healing pills.

But to Xu Moli, all of it was meaningless.

Filled with anger and sorrow, she hurled the storage ring at the wall.

After a series of bouncing sounds, the ring rolled away to who-knows-where, along with the items inside, all discarded by Xu Moli.

Meaningless.

All of it was meaningless!

“I only want you, I only want you…” The girl covered her face and wept, her knuckles turning white from the force.

But no matter how much she cried, no matter how sincere her wishes.

The hero who, in her childhood, braved the scorching sun and hunger, who chose to save her when everyone else gave up.

The elder brother she relied on, the one she absolutely could not lose.

He would never return.

Yes, never again.

No matter how much she refused to admit it, no matter how much she didn’t want to face reality, this fact wouldn’t change.

—Suffocation.

It was like falling into the deep sea, drowned by endless despair. Xu Moli felt all her strength leave her, her mind too dizzy to think, and she could only let herself keep falling.

Perhaps, maybe, it was because the sun in her heart had disappeared.

She had been spiraling out of control in this state.

She had been crying in this despair.

After who-knows-how-long, the girl’s sobs gradually quieted. By the time she stepped out of the cave, her eyes had lost their usual spark, colder than ever before.

It was as if she had made some decision.

Alone, she walked to the Forest Sword Hall at the mountain’s peak.

Not long after, news spread throughout the Heavenly Sword Sect: the famous True Disciple Xu Xi had disappeared to who-knows-where, and his sister, Xu Moli, had become the second True Disciple of Forest Sword Peak.

Some were puzzled, some were confused, some were shocked.

Amidst the discussions throughout the sect, Xu Moli’s performance was exceptionally dazzling.

Like a bright meteor streaking across the sky, she burst forth with unparalleled talent, even surpassing her brother, advancing to Foundation Establishment at an even faster pace.

She never stopped, she kept moving forward.

As if to prove something.

Xu Moli’s steps became more and more aggressive.

Gradually, the commotion Xu Moli caused in the Cultivation World grew larger and larger—whether it was delving into ancient inheritance sites or slaying powerful enemies above her level. The righteous path saw her as a seed of immortality, while the demonic path hated her as a thorn in their side.

The commotion was so great that even in the mortal cities far from the Cultivation World, rumors of the girl began to spread.

“Sword Immortal.”

“Favored by Heaven.”

“Reincarnated Immortal.”

These were all praises for her.

In Blackstone City, when Xu Xi first heard these evaluations, he couldn’t help but pause, especially at the so-called “Favored by Heaven” praise, which made him want to laugh.

After that.

Xu Xi breathed a sigh of relief.

The worry he had felt after leaving the girl for so long was finally eased.

“That’s great, it seems even without me, Moli can live well in the Cultivation World. Now, I have nothing to worry about.”

Feeling his increasingly sluggish and weak body.

Xu Xi smiled.

To be honest, his current state was terrible, even torturous, far worse than his wheelchair-bound state in reality.

Xu Xi had thought more than once about ending this simulation early through suicide.

But every time the thought arose.

The image of Moli would appear in his mind.

He couldn’t help but want to stay a little longer, to watch over her a little more, because once the simulation ended, the two of them, in different times and spaces, would never have the chance to meet again.