Chapter 727: Extra Chapter 2: I Trust You

What ulterior motives does Zhao Zixun have toward me?

I am so weak; what could there be that would be worth an Upper Realm War God coveting?

Besides love, I seem unable to give him anything else.

"Wanwan, you are someone I raised single-handedly; I am a villain accumulated over lifetimes, what about you?" Zhan Jia'e pressed aggressively, "You are my confidant, your body has long been stamped with my mark; even if your nature is ever so pure, you will be rejected by the outside world because of this identity. Don't you really feel at all that Zhao Zixun's affection for you came too suddenly?"

Suddenly?

I earnestly recalled the whole process from when I met Zhao Zixun to knowing him and then falling in love; although the time was short, I did not feel it was sudden at all.

We could say we became acquainted through fighting.

Initially, we met on the battlefield.

As a general, Zhao Zixun led the living army and encountered Zhan Jia'e's corps of the living dead; the enemy pushed our side back repeatedly, and Zhan Jia'e sent me out to oppose Zhao Zixun.

I crossed blades with Zhao Zixun on the battlefield, exchanging hundreds of moves, yet I actually gained no advantage from him.

The turning point came when I met Zhao Zixun for the fifth time on the battlefield.

That time, our battle took place on a cliff; during the fight, I fell off the cliff.

What I did not expect was that, at the moment I fell, Zhao Zixun hesitated not and jumped after me, grabbing me in midair.

He held my waist firmly with one hand, and with the other, during the fall, he kept grabbing any protruding thing he could cling to; eventually, he brought me safely to the mouth of a cave on the mountainside.

We lived together in that cave day and night for six days.

During these six days, the first two days I was in a deep coma; my left ankle bone was broken, and Zhao Zixun helped me set the bone, bandage it, and immobilize it.

Two days later, when I woke again, I had fully recovered.

At that time, Zhao Zixun was covered in wounds, his clothes were tattered, and scabs covered all ten of his fingers; he looked quite miserable.

His fingers were scraped when he grabbed for lifelines in midair, and his clothes were torn when he bandaged me.

He usually carried medicinal pills for treating injuries, and also a life-preserving pill kept close to his body, said to be used to prolong life at death's door, and there was only that one.

And to save me, Zhao Zixun immediately fed me that pill.

Otherwise, in such an environment, if my wound became infected, I would die, let alone talk about recovery.

In the following days, Zhao Zixun searched the cave's surroundings for food, herbs, and warm supplies to sustain our livelihood, while checking my wounds, changing my dressings, and so on, providing meticulous care.

I also once asked him: "Zhao Zixun, we are enemies; why would you sacrifice your life to save me?"

Zhao Zixun answered decisively: "I am not your enemy; after all, we are nothing but puppets controlled by fate; the innocent are guiltless, Fu Wan, Zhan Jia'e is your true enemy…"

That was the first time someone laid out Zhan Jia'e's myriad misdeeds to me, bit by bit.

I went from initial anger, desperately defending myself, to later doubt, and finally, Zhao Zixun's various explanations all matched up, leaving me no choice but to believe his words in my heart.

But throughout those six days, from beginning to end, I never said to Zhao Zixun: "I trust you."

One is the master who raised me for over twenty years; the other is an opponent I have fought a few times; emotionally, I certainly lean more toward Zhan Jia'e, yet Zhao Zixun succeeded in planting a seed of discord between my master-disciple bond with Zhan Jia'e.

Six days later, Zhao Zixun's people searched the mountainside, successfully rescued us, he rode his warhorse to bring me to safety, and we parted ways.

I returned alive to Zhan Jia'e's side; the first thing greeting me was a rigorous logical interrogation; after passing it, I was then brought before Zhan Jia'e.

Zhan Jia'e, as usual, expressed concern for me, telling me how many people she had sent out these days to look for me, how worried she was about something happening to me…

If it had been before, I would surely have felt deeply moved.

But this time, watching Zhan Jia'e's moving lips, I recalled Zhao Zixun's words to me, and I actually felt a bit dazed.

Over the next period, I covertly investigated Zhan Jia'e.

No matter what, I am one of her confidants; as long as I wish, I can access many things others cannot.

As each bloody fact was laid before me, and each thing Zhao Zixun told me was verified one after another, I felt my world collapse.

Obviously, Zhan Jia'e is no fool.

After I returned from the cliff fall, she still treated me on the surface as before, but privately she had already set up heavy defenses against me.

When I had investigated to a considerable extent, the best time for the sacrifice also arrived.

Zhan Jia'e tore off his sinister mask; I fled, she pursued, and I ultimately still fell into her hands.

"Wanwan, you have crossed blades with Zhao Zixun many times; how do you rate his combat ability?"

"He can attain the rank of general with a mortal body, showing his combat ability is indeed strong, but as time passes, his battle soul will gradually awaken; how great is the gap between his combat ability and what you imagine a war god should possess?"

Very great.

Zhao Zixun fights very well; every move and style is highly systematic, he can force an opponent into a desperate situation in the shortest time with the most clever technique.

If combined with some internal cultivation, it would be like sweeping through tens of thousands of troops as if entering an uninhabited realm.

But from my multiple encounters with Zhao Zixun, his ability and cultivation seem quite unstable.

After each burst, there seems to be a relatively long cooldown period.

He has been using his own techniques to compensate for the lack of sustainability in his explosive power.

Could there be some hidden problem here?

I never took up Zhan Jia'e's words.

She has become a sly old fox; I cannot match her, and every time I engage in conversation, I might fall into her trap.

I clearly know that Zhan Jia'e will say these things to me at such a time, aiming to lure me into my inner demon.

No, I must not be misled by her.

I have been wrong for many years; I cannot keep making the same mistake.

But Zhan Jia'e obviously does not intend to let me go; she said on her own: "Zhao Zixun's battle soul has long been awakened, yet he cannot fully unleash its power; there are two reasons: first, when he descended to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation, the heavens sealed his battle soul, and this will gradually awaken as his cultivation increases."

And the second reason is related to why he descended to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation.

"Wanwan, Zhao Zixun's battle soul had already shattered before he descended to undergo tribulation; he came to the mortal realm to seek medicinal herbs capable of recombining his fragmented battle soul, and you are precisely the herb he happens to need…"