Chapter 484: Buried in the Sea of Fire, Never to Part!

Xie Huaiyuan's veins bulged from the pain, tears streaming down.

Qingyangzi hurriedly jabbed another thickest needle into him.

Don't die yet, please, please don't die yet!

These two immortals haven't finished their methods yet; they won't let you die.

If you die, it'll only prove your own inadequacy!

Qingyangzi had desperately tried every vicious method, yet he still let Xie Huaiyuan retain a trace of consciousness.

He opened his bloody mouth, unable to speak any further.

But the pain and hatred in his eyes accused Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi of their ruthlessness.

Li Qingluo: "Keep looking, and I'll gouge out your eyes too."

"Let you taste the agony of wanting to die, and also taste the despair when you shoved Princess Qingyue into the Land of Eternal Calamity back then!"

Sha San hurried over: "Miss, Princess Changning by the well has been rescued by Sha Yi."

"When the Second Princess rushed over, that prince consort… personally gave her a sword."

"Coincidentally, Princess Changning also woke up."

"And she witnessed this scene."

Li Qingluo felt pity, realizing that Princess Changning was the only innocent party in this affair.

"Let Sha Yi take her away."

Sha San, though puzzled, obeyed: "Yes."

Princess Changning didn't know much.

Moreover, Zhang Tingji could be of great use to Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi when they later enter the South An of the Great Chu Imperial City.

So, temporarily taking Changning away might earn a favor from the composed Zhang Tingji.

Shrieks of agony from the meditation hall never ceased.

Listening to it filled Xie Huaiyuan with anguish and despair.

He opened his bloody, hollow mouth, only able to utter 'ah ah ah'.

Tears streamed down with a 'splash splash' sound.

Watching the Ningyuan Temple, which had flourished for decades, now utterly destroyed by his own hand, his heart turned to ashes.

Not long after, Zhang Tingji dragged the blood-soaked, still-breathing Zongzheng Zhiyan over.

Upon seeing Xie Huaiyuan tied to the tree, he seemed hardly surprised at all.

Instead, he calmly nodded at Li Qingluo and the two of them.

It seemed he too had long understood that everything happening in the temple was orchestrated by those two behind the scenes.

Yet he felt no ill will toward this matter.

He even used this opportunity to expose publicly all of Zongzheng Zhiyan and Xie Huaiyuan's affair, as well as every humiliation they had inflicted upon him, laying it bare before the world.

He wanted them to lose reputation and status.

He wanted them all to die!

Although he hurt Changning, a single Changning could not make him let go of this.

Moreover, Changning is Xie Huaiyuan's offspring; she too ought to know the truth.

Although he regretted the moment Changning jumped into the well, now his heart felt only satisfaction.

"Vile wretch!"

"You've been pining for him, Xie Huaiyuan, for over twenty years."

"Since you can't forget, I'll grant your wish—let you die together!"

Zhang Tingji pushed Zongzheng Zhiyan onto Xie Huaiyuan.

Zongzheng Zhiyan embraced Xie Huaiyuan, her face full of pain.

"Huaiyuan brother..."

"I've come—"

Her obsession was Xie Huaiyuan.

Even if he repeatedly tried to kill her.

Even if he would abandon her without hesitation every time.

Even if his heart never held her.

Even if the one he loves will never be her.

Even if Changning no longer acknowledges her as mother, and her husband Zhang Tingji would personally kill her.

Zongzheng Zhiyan also has no regrets!

She suddenly produced the small knife hidden on her person and cut the ropes binding Xie Huaiyuan in one swift motion.

"Huaiyuan brother, don't be afraid. I'll stay with you…"

Zongzheng Zhiyan held Xie Huaiyuan and slowly slid down the trunk to sit on the ground.

Yet Xie Huaiyuan shoved her away again, harshly.

Then he turned and resolutely charged toward the sea of fire.

He flailed his arms and legs as he vanished into the flames.

As if singing: "Moon, I have come…"

Zongzheng Zhiyan let out a mournful wail: "Huaiyuan brother——"

Following her, she also crawled up: "Don't even think of leaving me!"

"Even in death, we must die together!"

Hahaha, hahaha……

Zongzheng Qingyue, I finally won!! I got Brother Huaiyuan——

Ah——

Zongzheng Zhiyan's miserable scream quickly came from the fire.

Everyone watched this scene; besides feeling a bit sighful about their madness, they felt nothing else.

Li Qingluo even sneered: "You who don't even care about your own life, yet you think she actually cared? In fact, she never truly cared……"

Zhang Tingji turned and gave them a slight nod.

"Today, the abbot of Tranquil Distance Temple, Abbot Jiaguan, after the matter of intentionally deceiving and extorting money from the commoners for many years was exposed by the commoners, shut himself in the Perceiver of Sounds Hall to repent behind closed doors."

"Who would have thought a fire would suddenly break out in the hall, and the devout Buddhist Princess Zhiyan, who had been faithful for many years, in her panic rushed into the fire to try to save people, but unexpectedly ended up perishing together with Abbot Jiaguan in the sea of fire."

"Upon returning to the Prince Consort of South Peace, he will use this explanation to report today's outcome to His Majesty."

"Do you two have any other opinions?"

Duan Rongshi took a slight half-step back, pretending they weren't the one speaking.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Zhang Tingji's eyes.

Indeed, this lady is the master?

Although I originally couldn't tell their identities, but now it seems this person in black is also a guard.

I didn't expect Great Chu to have such a woman.

Under her command are a group of guards, each highly skilled in martial arts, and she also possesses such courage and strategy.

Everything that Tranquil Distance Temple has encountered and even evolved today is surely her scheme, right?

And I merely went with the flow, waiting for the result.

And this result, Zhang Tingji is naturally satisfied.

He also knows that if he doesn't quickly state his position, today he definitely won't be able to leave even half a step from Tranquil Distance Temple.

So he turned and hurriedly bowed slightly to Li Qingluo.

"Miss, I have no intention of becoming enemies with you. Since we're all involved in today's matter, let me handle the rest."

"What is your opinion, Miss?"

Li Qingluo neither nodded nor shook her head.

Instead, she raised her gaze toward the direction of the distant Jiaguan Meditation Chamber.

After the faint cries over there had mostly died down, then I saw San return and report.

"Miss, the monks and priests, unwilling to let the gold and silver buried under the abbot's meditation chamber floor be dug up, clashed with the commoners. In the heat of the moment, they came to blows, and now all the monks have been beaten to death."

Li Qingluo then looked at Zhang Tingji: "I don't know, will the commoners who, in upholding justice, accidentally killed people while retrieving their own money be implicated by your Great Chu laws?"

Hearing her question, Zhang Tingji hurriedly replied: "Miss, rest assured, regarding today's matter, the Prince Consort——no, I personally saw"

"It was the temple monks who struck first; I, in order to protect the commoners from harm, dispatched the Princess Residence guards to go forward and rescue the commoners, which delayed me from rushing into the sea of fire to save the princess."

With this set of explanations, isn't it a perfect, complete closure?