Chapter 600: Questioning the Heart

Lu Lu Wushuang did not answer.

So Li Miao’s knuckles continued to tap on the table, one sound after another, as if tapping on Lu Lu Wushuang’s heart.

After a long while, she let out a long breath.

"As expected, I couldn’t hide it from you, my lord."

"That’s right, that is how I planned it."

She said softly.

"I didn’t know when you would be able to reach Kyoto. For me alone, I could neither resist the Shinto sect nor those Heavenly Man Sword Saints loyal to the Emperor... Actually, Nanako was destined to be a discarded pawn from the very beginning."

"Neither the Shinto sect nor those Sword Saints would let her go, so... I felt that handing her over to those Sword Saints would at least be better than dying worthless in the hands of the Shinto sect."

Speaking to this point, Lu Lu Wushuang was silent for a while. After a long time, seeing that Li Miao just looked at her without speaking, she continued.

"I know, those Sword Saints must have other motives, and knowing Taiji Fist doesn’t prove anything... To them, I’m afraid it makes no difference whether the Emperor is controlled by the Shinto sect or the Great Shu court; they must have other ideas and means."

"But, so what?"

"If their cooperation is sincere, then let the cooperation continue; if their cooperation is fake, there will still be an Emperor for you, my lord, to kill."

"Either way... this is all I can do... this is the best choice I could make."

After speaking, Lu Lu Wushuang let out a long breath.

She had actually been avoiding this question all along, until Li Miao put the question in front of her, forcing her not to be able to avoid it anymore.

Rationally, she knew that the choice she made was the correct one, and also the choice with the least sacrifice and the greatest chance of Nanako’s survival... but her last sentence sounded lacking in confidence no matter how one listened to it.

Li Miao smiled and shook his head.

"It is indeed the best choice, but it is not the choice you yourself wanted to make."

He pointed at Lu Lu Wushuang’s heart from across the air.

"Little Lu, you have developed a heart demon."

"If not for the Gu insect that Sect Leader Ji placed in your body to suppress it, you would have already suffered a cultivation deviation."

Before the words fell, a stream of true Qi shot out from Li Miao’s fingertip, dividing into three in mid-air, hitting Lu Lu Wushuang’s upper, middle, and lower dantian with extreme precision.

Lu Lu Wushuang only felt a spicy, scorching evil fire suddenly rise from her side, instantly sweeping through her Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian, then attacking her heart pulse and dantian, igniting her true Qi into a surging sea of fire.

"Ugh!"

She suddenly raised her hand to cover her heart.

That feeling suddenly disappeared without a trace, as if the sensation just now was merely an illusion.

Then she heard Li Miao say in a leisurely manner.

"Liver Qi stagnation, which turns into fire, horizontally invading the spleen, consuming Yin blood. This is a sign of the five Yin flourishing and desire unfulfilled."

"I am not saying you did wrong; after all, everything you did was out of consideration for my interests, and you have already done your best."

"However—"

Li Miao extended a finger.

"Best does not mean most correct."

"You let Nanako walk into a situation where she would very likely be sacrificed, but you didn’t ask her if she was willing to be sacrificed. You even deliberately concealed these considerations from Miyoshi Ryota, even though he couldn’t have opposed your decision at all."

"You were afraid."

"You wanted too much to make a choice useful to me, but you couldn’t pass your own hurdle, so you didn’t dare to ask. You were afraid that if they didn’t agree, you wouldn’t be able to harden your heart to force them to make a choice."

"So you developed a heart demon."

"Clearly a killer, yet your temperament is like that of a righteous hero; how did you end up playing with Little Xiao Anzi?"

Lu Lu Wushuang’s shoulders suddenly slumped.

The string that had been taut since Li Miao left Yanli Temple finally snapped.

She walked slowly to the table and sat down, lowering her head, stroking the hilt of the sword in her sleeve. After a long while, she let out a long sigh.

"If the self is not controlled by the heart, how can the body be controlled by the self?"

"My lord, will you look down on me because of this? Am I really never going to be able to keep up with you... and Sect Leader Ji?"

Li Miao smiled and picked up the teacup.

"What is there to keep up with us? Just a cold-blooded brute and a mad demoness, two monsters who recognize no kin."

Lu Lu Wushuang suddenly looked up.