FLME Ch11: Ending

The filming schedule of the crew was inconsistent with the plot’s progression. For convenience, all scenes in one set were usually filmed completely within an expected timeframe.

The Yunxiao Sword Sect was the center of the story. For a low-budget web drama like Legend of the Immortal Sect, this single set had already occupied more than half of the crew’s time.

What they were going to film today was the grand finale, which was also the last few scenes on Yunxiao Mountain.

[“There is no demon race holy relic at all.”

The sect’s Fourth Shixiong had a piece of foxtail grass dangling from his mouth. Lying on his back looking up at the starry sky, a cynical smile hung on his lips. “When the news spreads tomorrow, I’m afraid those factions who racked their brains to sneak in earlier will be pissed to death. After all, they wasted so much unnecessary time on us.”

“Once the news spreads, the demon race will inevitably launch an offensive, and the human realm will usher in centuries of war.” A fire was burning in the courtyard, with everyone sitting around it in a circle. The cold and steady Second Shixiong added a handful of firewood as he spoke.

“By then, we’ll be long dead.” Third Shijie covered her lips and yawned, lazily leaning against a pillar under the eaves, presenting a beautiful scene of a beauty’s spring lethargy. “Having worried for so many years, let’s not fret about what happens after we die.”

There was no demon relic at all.

The news was fake, fake right from the very beginning. It was just that the demon race believed it. For thousands of years, they had always been restrained because of the holy relic’s existence, giving the human realm a chance to catch its breath.

The Yunxiao Sword Sect wasn’t some hidden sect that had suppressed the relic for generations, either. It was just that a few decades ago, the demon race found evidence that the relic didn’t exist. To cover up the truth, a small sect stepped forward to act as a target.

They were a group of the most ordinary cultivators. They had no powerful sect inheritance, no overbearing secret techniques, and even their natural talents were mediocre.

They were a group of ordinary people.

“The mountain protection grand array can last until the end of the fifth watch at most. By then, the temporary army surrounding the mountain will charge through the mountain gates. Once they search the mountain, the news that the holy relic isn’t with us will definitely not be hidden. To have deceived the demons for thousands of years with such a lie is already extremely good luck. What happens next is entirely up to the fate of the common people in the human realm.”

Third Shijie rambled on, taking stock of the current situation. Finally, she rested her chin on her hand and laughed a couple of times, her laughter crisp like silver bells.

“But no matter what you say, I’m still not resigned to it. In order to play this target well, this grand-aunt has cultivated like her life depended on it…”

The outside world spread rumors about the Yunxiao Sword Sect as if it were miraculous, claiming that every disciple was a grandmaster-level genius. Who knew that a few decades ago, this sword sect didn’t even have a name. There were only a few youths idling away their days in the mountain, knowing some meager spells, eating and sleeping every day, proficient in slacking off and shooting birds.

Since when did their first thought upon opening their eyes change from “what’s for breakfast” to “how many enemies will there be today”?

Chu Old Sixth was digging out taros from the fire. He was the youngest, acting recklessly, and possessed a bit of naive optimism. Hearing this, he pouted. “What if other immortal sects arrive in time and save us?”

Jiang Qiuyue sat upright on the side, holding a storybook with curled edges, not participating in the discussion from beginning to end.

Third Shijie asked Chu Old Sixth to dig out a taro for her too.

Chu Old Sixth visually estimated the nearly identical distance between the two of them and the fire, and asked why.

“You have good luck, the ones you dig out are always cooked.”

Chu Old Sixth handed the taro in his hand to his Shijie. “This one is cold, you eat it.”

Third Shijie patted his dog head. “Our little koi is just so understanding.”

Chu Old Sixth was dissatisfied with the title of koi, but didn’t say much else.

He always had the ability to mess everything up, and also always had the luck to turn danger into safety. The title “koi” not only encompassed his supreme luck but also his heaven-defying ability to mess everything up.

After the two finished fooling around, Old Fourth spoke slowly, “They won’t make it in time. This attack on the mountain has been premeditated for a long time. Not only are there demons, but also evil cultivators and immortal sects, all elites. Even if we can dodge it this time, we won’t dodge it the next.”

The power of the holy relic could be used by anyone. The ones coveting it had long stopped being just the demons. Since ancient times, power and strength could always make people lose themselves.

“What’s more, there’s also a demon king over there who is familiar with us and familiar with Yunxiao Mountain.”

Mentioning Old Seventh, whose true identity had been exposed, several gazes, either direct or subtle, shot towards Jiang Qiuyue.

“Don’t look at me.”

Chu Old Sixth felt guilty and tried to cover it up, making it more obvious. “Eldest Shijie, we didn’t…”

“If you didn’t look, what are you trembling for?”

Chu Old Sixth: “…”

Old Fourth couldn’t stop laughing. “Chu Old Sixth, you’ve just never gone down the mountain, it’s not like you didn’t grow a brain. How come you still act like this after all these years? Your guts are smaller than a sesame seed.”

Second Shixiong chimed in calmly: “He’s not cowardly, he’s just afraid of Jiang Qiuyue.”

After all, growing up, the mistakes Chu Old Sixth made were if not a thousand then eight hundred. Every time, the one who punished him was Jiang Qiuyue. Eldest Shijie didn’t understand that a child’s body was weak, and would beat him half to death with a wooden board.

Chu Old Sixth survived only thanks to being a koi.

Third Shijie leaned close to Jiang Qiuyue and took a look.

“Still reading a storybook at a time like this. Is it that good?”

Jiang Qiuyue answered coldly and faintly, “It’s not good.”

Third Shijie was silent for a moment.

“If it’s not good, what are you crying for?”

Jiang Qiuyue calmly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and said composedly, “This section is slightly sorrowful, I couldn’t control my emotions.”

Third Shijie: “…So is it good or not good?”

“Not good. Puyang Xi said it was good; I don’t agree. If I see him tomorrow, I want to tell him my reasoning.”

“Oh…”

Third Shijie laughed intriguingly.

“Qiuyue, you really like him.”

“Mn.”

“But you won’t meet again, you know that. We are going to die with the mountain. Sealing the secret of the holy relic until the very last moment of our lives, this is the Yunxiao Sword Sect’s promise of decades.”

“Perhaps we can meet once before dying. When that time comes, I will tell him this storybook is not good.”

“Alright.”

Third Shijie had no desire to argue with her.

Jiang Qiuyue had always been like this.

Once she decided on something, she wouldn’t change her tune because of a few words from others. She was firm and stubborn, inflexible, and would not bow her head.

And precisely because of this, she was able to steadily prop up Yunxiao Mountain for decades.

Third Shijie was suddenly curious.

“Qiuyue, when Master died, were you also this calm?”

The night was silent, with only the crackling sound of the bonfire.

“Master died many years ago. To stabilize the situation, you had to hide the fact that he was already dead, delivering meals to him every seven days, rain or shine, keeping even us in the dark… Those food boxes were brought out empty every time. When you were alone in the quiet cave, eating all the food by yourself… what were you thinking in your heart?”

Liu Zhenzi had died in a demon assassination over a decade ago.

After news of the holy relic leaked, there were countless such probing attempts. During that assassination, only Jiang Qiuyue and Liu Zhenzi were present. Afterwards, Master announced he was going into secluded meditation and would ignore sect affairs.

Even the other disciples knew nothing, only finding out a few days ago that Liu Zhenzi had long since passed away. Without Liu Zhenzi guarding it, breaking through the Yunxiao Mountain gate would be a piece of cake for the demons.

Jiang Qiuyue held the storybook, her eyes looking straight ahead. If anyone lowered their head to look, they would see her sorrowful eyes.

“It tasted terrible,” she answered thus.

Third Shijie couldn’t help but laugh.

Old Fourth started complaining dissatisfiedly, “I’m in charge of the food in the sect. If you think it tastes terrible, why don’t you guys do it? Each and every one of you is as lazy as a ghost…”

Chu Old Sixth: “Fine, fine, I’ll learn in the future.”

Second Shixiong: “There is no future.”

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Old Fourth let out an ambiguous scoffing laugh, “Not necessarily. Maybe Puyang Xi has deep affection and heavy righteousness towards Boss, and spreads the news that the holy relic doesn’t exist in advance. Those demons down the mountain naturally wouldn’t block us anymore.”

Without the holy relic, besieging the Yunxiao Sword Sect was meaningless.

Releasing the news could save Jiang Qiuyue’s life. But releasing the news would violate Jiang Qiuyue’s will.

How would Puyang Xi choose?

Chu Old Sixth thought for a while, muttering softly, “I think Old Seventh is a pretty good person…”

“At a time like this, it’s best if he’s not a good person,” Third Shijie interrupted leisurely.

“He won’t say it.” Jiang Qiuyue closed the book and properly placed it in a small pouch close to her body. Her voice still carried a bit of a choke.

Third Shijie teased: “Trust him that much?”

“There’s no need. As the demon king, the holy relic is a hidden danger to him, he must grasp it in his hands; but if the holy relic doesn’t exist, it’s actually beneficial to him. He similarly needs the half-true, half-false news of the holy relic to restrain the various faction leaders.”

It wasn’t trust, it was understanding.

They always knew what kind of person the other was.

The appreciation and love born out of vigilance were stronger than any cold iron.

Dawn was approaching. Second Shixiong silently wiped his sword blade until it was shiny. Knowing well that there was no returning from this, he abandoned his meticulousness of many years and, for the first time, did not lock the door.

Third Shijie asked, “Qiuyue, are you afraid?”

Jiang Qiuyue did not speak.

“I never understand you. The chance to live is grasped in Puyang Xi’s hands, yet you refuse to take it. You just need to reach out your hand, and you could have a bright and brilliant rest of your life. Isn’t that better than coming to an abrupt end right now?”

“Such a rest of my life would negate the first half of my life. I am not willing.” The pale white of dawn surfaced on the horizon. The mountain protection grand array revealed its form, tottering and crumbling.

Decades ago, on a similarly dim and early morning, Liu Zhenzi asked them if they were willing to be saviors just once. The youths were ignorant, looking at each other, and nodded one after another.

From then on, Yunxiao Mountain never had a day of peace.

At that time, a few martial uncles of Liu Zhenzi’s generation were still alive. Dealing with those fly-like probings was annoying, but the heavy burden wasn’t on their heads. The young disciples were carefree, feeling that being a savior was just so-so, quite easy to do.

Later, the older generation withered away, and more than half of the flowers in the mountain fell overnight, with no one having the time to tend to them anymore.

Old Third’s eyes were slightly red. Jiang Qiuyue knew she was afraid.

Old Third loved beauty and was delicate; she was actually a very cowardly girl.

She asked stubbornly, “Is the first half of your life really that important?”

“Important.”

“Even at the cost of dying with the mountain, you want to make the first half of your life meaningful? Honestly, Qiuyue, this is so stupid. We are like the Calabash Brothers trying to save their grandpa, delivering ourselves one by one. If it’s destined to be a dead end, why sink deeper…”

“This is very stupid, but why do you steadfastly stick to this stupid path?”

Jiang Qiuyue unsheathed her longsword, her face unchanging. “Even if you belittle this choice ten thousand times, when the mountain gates are about to break, you will still draw your sword. And so will I.”

The array shattered into points of light. From afar, shouts of attacking the mountain could be heard coming from the mountain gates.

They were a group of ordinary people who didn’t know how to weigh pros and cons.

They were merely sticking to a promise that no one knew about.

“Old Third, don’t be afraid.”

Jiang Qiuyue said to her, “I will walk in front of you.”]

As soon as the director yelled cut, Jian Heng, who was in front of the monitor, couldn’t hold back his tears and covered his face, sobbing.

Zhu Xinyi teased, “We’re the ones dying, not you, what are you crying for.”

Jian Heng: “I’m just a weak, helpless, and pitiful little boy, I can’t bear all this…”

Yu Wen marveled at his abundant emotions and kindly comforted him, “It’s fine, we all died off, but you’re still alive.”

Jian Heng choked for a second, looked up at him, and then burst into loud tears.

“That’s even more angsty!!”

At this time, the actor playing Fifth Shixiong walked out of the dressing room. He didn’t appear in the previous scene because Old Fifth had kicked the bucket before this scene.

His makeup hadn’t been fully removed, and his face was still covered in fake blood, looking exactly like he did right before he died.

Jian Heng took one look and broke down again.

“I might as well just die with you guys!”

The death scenes of several key characters had to be filmed separately. Yu Wen went to the dressing room to prepare blood packets. When he came out, he saw Jian Heng squatting in a corner, holding his phone and scrolling through videos with a dead-inside expression.

Yu Wen: “Teacher Jian, aren’t you going to watch us?”

Jian Heng looked back at him with two eyes swollen like walnuts. “The director won’t let me watch. He said my eyes will be so swollen later they won’t be coverable.”

He sighed melancholically and said, “I wanted to watch a variety show to ease my mood, but the latest episode is too dramatic, it makes me even more depressed watching it.”

“What variety show?” Yu Wen was curious and leaned over to take a look.

It was a slow-paced reality show called Small Courtyard in the Mountains. The show was fairly standard, with no particular highlights or explosive moments. Its winning point was its comfortable pace, like a slow but steady stream.

The purpose of the show was to gather five guests to build a rural courtyard together. In the beginning, they had nothing, even the house had holes and leaked wind. By completing a series of tasks to exchange for supplies, they gradually built up a small courtyard.

A process of creating something out of nothing had a very strong slice-of-life feel, and some viewers loved this type.

Yu Wen caught a glimpse of two familiar faces on the screen. Thinking it wasn’t his turn to film yet, he also squatted down and watched for a while.

Among the five guests, the one with the biggest status was Chu Han, but the one with the most hype was Xi Su.

Yu Wen couldn’t figure out for the life of him how these two ended up together.

Jian Heng pointed at the screen and explained: “The first few episodes were very good to watch, but a guest withdrew halfway through, and Xi Su took their place. These past few episodes haven’t been very good to watch, they lack the feeling of the earlier ones…”

With a head of flashy blue hair and a cynical smile, Xi Su looked like he was purely there to stir up trouble.