T/N: Aww looks like we won't be getting the bonus chapter again this week, we still need 150 powerstones to reach 200. (╥﹏╥)
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Chapter 59
The entire galaxy was shaken to its core.
Cangcheng, once the most prosperous city in the Xianzhou Alliance, had been reduced to cosmic dust.
The Rahu that had devoured the heavens and earth was gone as well. That entire starfield now held only suffocating silence.
The Emanator of Abundance Shuhu had been slain by the Emanator of the Hunt from Cangcheng, leaving not even ashes behind.
Yet no influential faction took the news seriously.
Shuhu had died many times before, and each time he returned.
Facing this calamity, the entire Xianzhou Alliance fell into panic. The attitudes of factions that traded with the Xianzhou grew complicated and divided.
For the Alliance itself, the opinions of outsiders were not among the urgent matters that needed solving.
Xianzhou Yaoqing, temporary resettlement area.
There was no joy or celebration of having survived the catastrophe.
Everywhere one looked, white mourning attire filled the scene.
The occasional sound of suppressed weeping made the dark sky feel even heavier.
Less than twenty million people. That was the total number of survivors from Cangcheng.
For a star skiff that had once thrived with a population of hundreds of billions, this was not survival. It was dismemberment.
The air carried a heavy mix of disinfectant, blood, and the unique nauseating stench that followed every battlefield.
Beyond the artificial dark sky lay the homeland no one could ever return to.
In a temporarily constructed ward, not a single bed stood empty.
Jingliu lay in a corner bed, staring blankly at the ceiling with hollow eyes.
Her wounds had already been treated. She wore no bandages, yet she looked like a fragile branch that could snap at any moment.
Since her rescue she had stayed in this exact posture, neither eating nor drinking, rarely even moving her eyes. She was like a puppet that had lost its soul.
Kanzaki Tomomu walked in from outside.
He had changed into clean casual clothes and washed away the blood and grime, but nothing could remove the heavy gloom between his brows.
He stopped beside the bed and looked down at Jingliu.
There were no gentle words of comfort, no questions about her well-being, only a cold sneer.
"Is this the person Yu Huai and Hui Yu risked their lives to protect?"
Jingliu did not react, as if she had not heard him.
"If she had known this, my mother would not have wasted the last moments of her life on you for nothing."
Kanzaki Tomomu's tone was icy, each word sharp as a blade of frost.
He suddenly leaned down, his bloodshot eyes staring straight into her hollow pupils.
"Saving a walking corpse like this is pointless even if she lives."
"I should never have brought you out of that purgatory. Letting you rot inside Rahu's belly would have been a mercy!"
Jingliu's eyelashes trembled. A faint ripple finally appeared in her empty gaze.
Pain. Guilt. Despair.
Kanzaki Tomomu saw it all and forcefully pushed down the reluctance in his heart.
Family dead. Homeland turned to dust. People dying because of me… It must hurt. It must feel hopeless. It must feel unbearable with guilt… I understand it all, and I understand exactly how you feel right now.
If I had returned even a little sooner, perhaps I could have saved your parents.
But what has happened cannot be undone.
Whether you choose rage or carry hatred forward, at least do not remain like this…
Kanzaki Tomomu straightened up, withdrew his gaze, and spoke coldly.
"Cangcheng has fallen. Very few survived. If you choose to remain a useless person drowned in fear for the rest of your life, then so be it."
With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.
One step. Two steps.
"…Wait… wait…"
A faint voice came from behind him.
Kanzaki Tomomu paused.
"I want to…"
Jingliu struggled to climb off the bed. Her legs gave way and she fell, but she gritted her teeth and crawled forward on her hands and knees, chasing that retreating back.
She looked up. In eyes once filled only with fear, a small flame now burned.
A prairie fire called hatred.
"…I want to kill them all… Teach me. Please… teach me how to kill them…!"
Kanzaki Tomomu's back remained turned to her, but the tension in his lips eased almost imperceptibly.
Hiding the complex emotions in his eyes, he turned to look at the disheveled girl on the ground.
"I can teach you. But this path is more painful than death itself. If you choose to learn, I will not allow you to back down."
Jingliu gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand.
"I… I'm not afraid."
"Good." Kanzaki Tomomu lowered his eyes and nodded, his voice still indifferent.
The next day, Jingliu's minor injuries no longer posed a problem.
Kanzaki Tomomu first took her to the Martyrs' Grotto-Heaven to bury his fallen mother.
Then he brought her to a martial arts field and led her into the armory.
Many excellent weapons lined the racks: sabers, spears, swords, halberds, all fully stocked.
"Go pick one. I will wait for you outside."
Kanzaki Tomomu pointed to the weapon racks and left her alone to choose freely.
Jingliu did not hesitate. She moved through the cold metal rows until she stopped in front of a longsword.
It was the most basic Type II standard longsword of the Cloud Knights, slender and gleaming with a chilling edge.
She gripped the hilt with both hands, lifted it from the rack, and walked out of the armory.
There she bowed deeply to Kanzaki Tomomu.
"Master."
The wind swept across the empty training ground, stirring dust from the floor.
With the simplest master-disciple ceremony, the two became master and apprentice.
One month later.
A secluded viewing platform in the Grotto-Heaven where the Yaoqing Sky-Faring Commission was located.
A burly man in military attire stood gazing into the distance. Star skiffs responsible for transporting supplies moved in and out of the busy starport like worker ants.
Hearing footsteps, Teng Xiao turned his head.
After only one month apart, the once valiant general of Cangcheng now carried a sharper edge between his brows.
"You're here." Teng Xiao's voice was low.
Kanzaki Tomomu nodded and stood opposite him, his expression calm.
"The statistics are out."
Teng Xiao handed over a Jade Sign.
"Excluding you and me, the total number of survivors is 19,874,521. The Alliance has decided that all personnel will be relocated and distributed among the remaining six Xianzhou according to their own wishes. But… many will not live long enough to see it."
At those words, Teng Xiao's gaze toward Kanzaki Tomomu carried clear worry.
Kanzaki Tomomu pretended not to notice the concern and gave a silent nod.
"Though Cangcheng is destroyed, its legacy is not extinguished."
Teng Xiao sighed inwardly.
"The Marshal has ordered me to take over the Luofu Cloud Knights' military affairs. Will you come with me? I need a helper like you."
Kanzaki Tomomu's gaze turned toward the dim sky.
"No." He refused directly. "I want to stay on the Yaoqing for now."
"Why?"
"Yaoqing is constantly fighting on the front lines to clear abominations. It is more suitable for me right now."
Kanzaki Tomomu's voice carried a subtle, unyielding murderous intent. In his mind appeared the image of the small figure tirelessly running across the martial arts field.
"And it is also more suitable for the disciple I just took in."
Teng Xiao looked at him deeply. After a long moment he let out a sigh.
He understood that Kanzaki Tomomu carried too much hatred in his heart.
Yaoqing was known as the Alliance's vanguard and sharpest arrow. It was indeed the best place for that hatred.
"Since that is the case, I will not force you."
Teng Xiao patted Kanzaki Tomomu's shoulder, his hand heavy.
"Take care. Do not die."
"You too."
Kanzaki Tomomu watched Teng Xiao board the star skiff bound for the Luofu and disappear into the realm gate route. Then he turned and left.
For the next period he would remain under observation after experiencing such major battles.
Having taken Jingliu as his disciple, he naturally needed to be responsible for her.