Transcending the Nine Heavens

Chu Yang walked to the summit; step by step. His black robe was fluttering in the night breeze. He was taking heavy footsteps. There was some hesitation in his gait. His heart was in a state of complete mess… just like his black robe in the wind.

Wu Qian Qian looked at Chu Yang's black robe; she had sewn it with her own hands. Her eyes revealed traces of tender feelings.

"Minister Chu, you've just returned from the war. Why are you taking a leisurely stroll instead of getting rest?" Tie Bu Tian asked with a smile.

"I've come here because there's something I don't understand. And, it has left me puzzled. So, I've specially come to consult with Your Majesty," Chu Yang replied indifferently.

"Ha-ha, what in the world happened… that has puzzled Minister Chu so deeply?" Tie Bu Tian laughed in a clear and sonorous voice.

Chu Yang was silent for a long time. Then, he slowly spoke-up, "Qian Qian, you should excuse us. There's something I wish to discuss with His Majesty alone."

Wu Qian Qian complied by saying, "ok". She anxiously looked at these two people, and then turned around to leave.

Tie Bu Tian snorted, and said, "Qian Qian isn't an outsider. What's this matter that you can't talk about in front of her?"

Wu Qian Qian found herself sandwiched between these two, and didn't know whether to advance or retreat.

"This is a private matter. It will be very inconvenient to talk in Qian Qian's presence," Chu Yang indifferently replied.

"Private matter or public matter… they are all the same in front of me. These are mere worldly matters in my eyes!" Tie Bu Tian gently said, "I'm the Lord of the world. I have the power to manage all such matters of the world. Qian Qian, you can stay."

Chu Yang looked at Tie Bu Tian; he was astounded. His face slowly darkened slowly. He simply couldn't understand how Tie Bu Tian had become so overbearing all of a sudden?

"Your Majesty, is this what you wish? Is this what you intended?" Chu Yang asked solemnly.

He 'genuinely' didn't know that the reason Tie Bu Tian was so adamant on keeping Wu Qian Qian here… was related to the fact that she was somewhat lacking in confidence. Moreover, she was a bit scared in heart as well. Therefore, Wu Qian Qian's presence would embolden her.

"Minister Chu, what's the matter?" Tie Bu Tian asked.

Chu Yang's complexion had turned gloomy. In fact, he had barely managed to suppress his rage from erupting. He tried his utmost to keep his anger under control and said, "Since Your Majesty says so… I'll speak frankly. I think you must've seen that Jing Meng Hun and his 25,000 golden horse riders were poisoned to death. They were completely wiped out… by a poison called the 'lust poison'!"

His eyes were firmly fixated at Tie Bu Tian's face as he said this.

"Lust poison!" Tie Bu Tian's facial muscles twitched.

"There's no method or medicine to cure this type of lust poison… besides the copulation between male and female!" Chu Yang bluntly said, "And, I was affected by the same lust poison on the day you had rescued me. But, I came out unscathed for some reason."

Tie Bu Tian's eyes moved aside to avoid eye-contact.

Chu Yang pressed forward, and moved a step closer. His eyes were still glaring at Tie Bu Tian as he calmly asked, "I wish to know why I didn't die back then? Who's the woman who saved me?"

Tie Bu Tian began to panic. And, this was clearly visible from her frenzied facial expression. She opened her mouth to speak something as she helplessly looked at Chu Yang. Meanwhile, Wu Qian Qian was nervously watching her from the side…

"I just wish to know who she is!" Chu Yang softly spoke-up.

"Ha-ha... I never thought that Minister Chu would find out the truth," Tie Bu Tian's eyes flickered. There was a strange uneasiness in her smile, "This is the work of providence."

"Providence?" Chu Yang's eyes flashed.

"Yes..." Tie Bu Tian's gaze became somewhat distant as she spoke, "I guess I will have to tell you what happened that day since you're asking..."

"I would like to hear the details," Chu Yang solemnly said.

"Minister Chu had already lost consciousness when I came rushing to your rescue with my army behind. My shadow uncles went all-out, and saved you from the encirclement of the Golden Horse Riders Department at the risk of their lives," Tie Bu Tian began to narrate slowly.

"This much… I know. What happened afterwards?"

"Then, we found out that Minister Chu had a dreadful poison running in his body. And, this poison couldn't be cured with any antidote! Moreover, it was the lust poison of an ancient beast named the 'Lust Dragon'. The only way to get rid of this poison was copulation… otherwise it was incurable," Tie Bu Tian told little by little.

"And…?" Chu Yang knew that the narration was reaching the main point. So, he was listening very attentively.

"And, we were in the barren mountains that were surrounded by wilderness. Where could we possibly go to find a woman?" Tie Bu Tian heaved a loud sigh.

"Oh?"

"But fortunately, the heaven never seals off every exit. We took Minister Chu along, and looked for help along the way. And, we suddenly found a young peasant maiden in the valley. She had come to the mountain forest to chop firewood…" Tie Bu Tian's eyes sparkled as she quietly continued.

Meanwhile, Wu Qian Qian cried out 'ah' in fear. The tone in which Tie Bu Tian was recounting the incident… made it seem as if she was about to tell the truth. However, Wu Qian Qian hadn't anticipated that Tie Bu Tian would pull out such a 'pack of lies' out of nowhere!

"A peasant maiden…?" Chu Yang wrinkled his brows.

"Her home was located in the mountains. It had burned down in the mountain fire, and everyone in her family had died. She survived because she had come to the valley to chop firewood, and there was a spring nearby," Tie Bu Tian narrated this part with difficulty.

This was the grand lie she had prepared in advance to deal with Chu Yang if he would ever come to press her for an answers.

"Continue…" Chu Yang's tone was quite blunt. There was a dangerous look in his eyes as well.

"We had saved her at that time. And then, we requested sister-in-la… requested her… to save you." Tie Bu Tian sighed and said, "She agreed..."

Chu Yang clenched his fist tightly.

"Where is she?" Chu Yang realized that this young girl had sacrificed her chastity for his sake, and he had been completely oblivious of it. So, he couldn't help but have a burst of constrained feelings in his heart…

He didn't feel ashamed. He was lucky-enough to have survived in that kind of situation. Was he in a position to ask for some outstanding beauty? It didn't matter what she looked like. After all, she had saved his life by sacrificing her most precious thing!

This was one big favor! And, for the man involved… this was one hell of a responsibility!

"I killed her!" Tie Bu Tian solemnly replied, "That girl... was clean and undefiled, but I figured that Minister Chu doesn't need a burden like her. Moreover, Minister Chu already has someone in his heart. So, I realized that you won't be willing to bear such a responsibility. Therefore, I determined what's right for Minister Chu… and, I killed her."

A sharp pain appeared in Tie Bu Tian's eyes as she said this, [killed her. Yes, I killed her!]

"Killed?" Chu Yang was somewhat dazed by this. He murmured to himself, "Killed?"

[A chaste girl sacrificed her dignity… her purity… as well as her most precious thing to save my life, and Tie Bu Tian killed her?!!]

"Why?" Chu Yang's body trembled. Flames of anger surged forth in his eyes. He noticed a look of panic and guilt in Tie Bu Tian's eyes. It was accompanied by an apologetic look as well. Chu Yang intuitively thought, [Tie Bu Tian doesn't seem to be lying!]

"Why not?!" Tie Bu Tian indifferently replied, "Minister Chu, I did it for you."

[I did it for you! I did it for your own good… I don't want you to be hurt…]

Chu Yang turned furious, "You did it for me? You killed my savior for my good? You killed a pitiful woman for my good?!"

Chu Yang couldn't control his rage, and suddenly took a step forward. He stretched out his hand, and maliciously grabbed Tie Bu Tian's neck. A vengeful look welled-up in his eyes, "You... how can you be so heartless?! Don't you understand that it doesn't matter whether she was beautiful or ugly… it doesn't matter whether I would've been reluctant to accept her or not… she was still my woman!?"

"My woman! How can you casually kill her?" Chu Yang asked furiously.

Tie Bu Tian was being strangled by him, and found it difficult to breathe. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and revealed the whites of her eyeballs. She was suffering a lot of pain. However, a sweet feeling had also appeared in her heart rather spontaneously. The words spoken by Chu Yang had firmly wedged themselves into her heart… [My woman!]

[How can you causally kill my woman?]

However, this strong woman tenaciously controlled her emotions, and coldly looked at Chu Yang.

"Chu Yang! Don't do it!" Wu Qian Qian rushed over in panic, and tried to break-off Chu Yang's grip, "What are you doing? Let go of His Majesty! Quickly let go… she… she is…"

She wanted to say that 'she is pregnant with your child', but didn't dare to say it in the end…

Chu Yang gradually relaxed the strength in his hand, and Tie Bu Tian's feet touched the ground. She was finally able to breathe. However, he still kept clutching her neck, and coldly asked, "Give me an explanation!"

Tie Bu Tian coughed severely. Then, she coldly looked at Chu Yang and slowly explained, "Would you have married her if I hadn't killed her?"

Chu Yang's complexion paled. He couldn't help but take a step back. And, the grip of his right hand loosened in an involuntarily motion.

However, Tie Bu Tian took a step forward to close-in-on him, and then asked in a heavy voice, "Minister Chu, how would you have handled her if I hadn't killed her? What would you have done for her?

"Would you have accompanied her for a lifetime if I hadn't killed her?" Tie Bu Tian's piercing gaze pricked right into Chu Yang's eyes like a needle, "Tell me… what could you have done? Tell me?!"

The five finger marks could be seen very clearly on her neck. These marks had been left by Chu Yang's grip.

Chu Yang took several steps back in a completely distressed state of mind.

[If that woman was alive and present here… would I marry her, and take her as my wife…?]

[Yes, can I marry her…?]

Chu Yang suddenly remembered Mo Qing Wu, and felt a tearing pain in his heart!

[Would I? Would I? What would Qing Wu do if I had married this girl? What would be the point of my rebirth? But… her sacrifice would have been for nothing if I hadn't married her!]

[How could I be so heartless?]

Chu Yang was at a loss after being confronted by Tie Bu Tian's questions!

Tie Bu Tian covered her neck, and let out a painful cough. She gasped for breath, and spoke-up with difficulty, "So, I ended her life with my own hands. I terminated this entire matter myself… treating as if this incident never happened. Isn't that good enough?"

She had felt as if a knife was had sheared her heart as she had spoken these words, [terminated with my own hands…? Ended with my own hands…?!]

Chu Yang stood stupefied like a wooden statue. And, his eyes suddenly turned moist.

[That poor girl sacrificed so much… and even her life for someone like me… a man she didn't know, and had never seen before…]

He was always decisive when it came to killing people or ruthless slaughters! However, he wasn't a person without feelings. In fact, Chu Yang was always very serious about his responsibilities on the contrary!

He would kill everyone on the battlefield if they were hostile towards him… that too without batting an eye. However, killing an innocent person… would make him feel guilty.

This matter had made him feel very constrained in his heart. In fact, he was infinitely bitter in his heart.

A long passage of time elapsed. Chu Yang heaved a long sigh, and asked in a hoarse voice, "What... was her name?"

[Name?]

Tie Bu Tian took a deep breath as her eyes turned somewhat moist. She replied in a muffled voice, "I don't know her surname. I only know that she was called 'Tian Tian'. She had told us that her father loved her very much, and used to call her… Little Tian Tian…"

"Tian Tian? Little Tian Tian?" Chu Yang's voice was low and deep. It was hard to tell what kinds of emotions were raging in his heart.

Tie Bu Tian suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart when she heard Chu Yang call her name. She felt congested in her chest. She hastily turned her head to one side, and tears began to well-up in her eyes…