“You don’t care, I am well aware of that. After all, that’s exactly what you yourself once said to the Plume Immortals and to Obscura.”
Hong Xia’s pupils shrank. “What do you know?”
Jiu Wen looked down. He saw the Sixfold Crimsons and countless other cultivators scattered across the universe. He saw the nervousness, panic, anxiety, and despair that filled their eyes.
“Back then, there were just as many people watching, weren’t there? And yet you asked Obscura to destroy the entire Crimson Starshade Civilization.”
Those words caused Ba Yue to shudder. She stared at Hong Xia in horror.
Chu Songyun and the others also heard Jiu Wen.
Ji He was shaken. This was not something that he had been aware of. He had only known that Hong Xia had betrayed the Second Rampart, but he had never known any of the details.
Hong Xia stared at Jiu Wen, his face contorting. “How do you know that?”
Jiu Wen laughed. It was an utterly mocking sound. “You still want to claim that it was you who gave Crimson Starshade a chance to continue? Hong Xia, how do you have the boldness to say such a thing? What a joke! A member of Crimson Starshade begged an enemy to destroy his own civilization. The reason why the people of this megaverse were able to survive was not because of you, but precisely because of our enemy. How ridiculous!”
Hong Xia roared, “Who told you?”
Jiu Wen roared with laughter. “I know that you don’t care about Crimson Starshade, and yet you care very much about Crimson Starshade. The reason why Crimson Starshade persisted was not because of our enemy’s mercy, but rather because our enemy placed restrictions upon you! You wanted to destroy Crimson Starshade and keep the other human civilization to use them to cultivate your Twelvefold Path of Dispassion, but Obscura preserved Crimson Starshade and destroyed the other human civilizations. Why do you think that is, Hong Xia?
“It’s because you were too thorough in your betrayal of the Second Rampart! Your betrayal was so grave that not even Obscura could ignore it, and so you were betrayed in turn. Obscura did not grant your request, but instead imposed even more restrictions upon you. They destroyed the other human civilizations so that you would have nowhere to run and be forced to remain in Crimson Starshade. That is the fate of a traitor!”
“Who told you?” Hong Xia screamed. Someone was plotting against him. It suddenly made sense that Jiu Wen had betrayed him.
In truth, if one listened to Hong Xia’s account of history, it was true that he had betrayed the Second Rampart, and it was also true that Crimson Starshade had only survived because of his protection. Thus, Jiu Wen should not have been this determined to betray Hong Xia. Even if they died together, the only ones to be harmed would be humanity itself.
Even so, Jiu Wen had gone through with it.
That was because someone had told Jiu Wen about this matter, and that had allowed Jiu Wen to see Hong Xia clearly. He knew that Hong Xia truly did not care about humanity at all.
In particular, after Obscura discovered the existence of the Three Megaverses, Jiu Wen had known that, the moment another human civilization appeared, Crimson Starshade would no longer hold any value to Hong Xia. He would be free to abandon them at any time, while that other human civilization would be dragged into the abyss by Hong Xia.
That was why Jiu Wen had been so determined to deal with Hong Xia. Sometimes the most terrifying opponent was not an enemy, but rather a traitor. Traitors had even fewer lines that they would not cross. Jiu Wen could not entrust humanity’s future to Hong Xia. If the man had another breakthrough, there would truly be no one who could stop whatever he might do.
In Hong Xia’s eyes, the root of everything lay with the being who had told Jiu Wen about that betrayal. He glared at Jiu Wen. “Who told you? Who is plotting against me? They are plotting against all of humanity!”
Jiu Wen sighed. “I understand that, but I don’t know who it is.”
Hong Xia had schemed against Hong Shuang, while Jiu Wen joined hands with Green Lotus to scheme against Hong Xia. Even so, behind everything, there was still a hidden hand controlling everything. No one knew who it might be.
If Jiu Wen had not revealed what Hong Xia had once said, the man might have never even known that someone was plotting against him. This was the true ambush.
Hong Xia casually flung Ba Yue aside. That threat was no longer useful. He could not truly destroy Crimson Starshade, because as soon as Crimson Starshade was destroyed, Hong Xia’s Twelvefold Path of Dispassion would completely die.
After all, even if Bing Xu and the others had been taken away by Lu Yin, only several anchors of Hong Xia’s the Path of Dispassion would be broken.
The man also understood just how strong the Three Megaverses were; it was simply impossible for Hong Xia to use them to cultivate his Path of Dispassion.
Crimson Starshade was his only hope of recovery, though even that hope would take a long time to come to fruition.
Ba Yue panted, her face deathly pale. She could not stay here. At this moment, there were only two Immortals in the entire Crimson Starshade Civilization who could be of use: herself and Ji He. Ji He was Hong Xia’s disciple and would be fine, but Ba Yue had no confidence in her own safety.
She had to find a way to escape.