Hearing someone call her, Ye Wangxi turned around. Although she looked haggard, her spirits weren’t as low as Mo Ran had imagined.

     Seeing Mo Ran, Ye Wangxi lowered her eyes and saluted him as a man would out of habit, “Mo-gongzi.”

     Mo Ran looked at her, then at Nangong Si beside her. He couldn’t help but ask, “You guys… where did you come from? Why are you covered in blood?”

     Ye Wangxi replied, “We were on our way from Linyi and encountered many evil spirits along the way. The mess was unavoidable, my apologies.”

     Mo Ran was about to ask another question when Xue Zhengyong said, “You came too, Ran-er? That’s good. Come in and talk.”

     After Chu Wanning entered the room, he stopped looking at Mo Ran and sat in his seat. He tidied his clothes and looked at Nangong Si.

     Although he and Nangong Si didn’t have the title of master and disciple, he still taught him for a time. He looked at Nangong Si for a moment, his heart aching, but in the end, he only asked simply, “...Are you well?”

     Since the destruction of Rufeng Sect, this was the first time someone had looked at them and asked if they were well.

     Nangong Si’s eyes immediately turned a little red, and he dropped his head sharply, clenching his hands into fists. He closed his eyes for a long time, trying to resist the urge to shed tears in front of Chu Wanning. After a while, he said hoarsely, “It’s fine. We’re getting by.”

     Chu Wanning sighed softly and lowered his eyes, not saying another word. He didn’t believe Nangong Si’s words. The road to Linyi was long. How could these two young people not have suffered?

     Xue Zhengyong spoke up to explain the situation, “Yuheng, now that you’re here, it’s like this… Nangong-gongzi and Miss Ye found something and came to inform us.”

     “I heard. It’s related to Xu Shuanglin?”

     “Yes.”

     Chu Wanning gestured to Nangong Si and Ye Wangxi, “Let’s sit down and talk.”

     Mo Ran went to bring chairs over, but Nangong Si and Ye Wangxi felt that they were too dirty and smelly, and were unwilling to sit down. Chu Wanning didn’t force them. After a pause, he asked, “After we parted ways in Linyi, where did you go?”

     Nangong Si replied, “Ye Wangxi and I were forced to take refuge on Mount Wei, just across the river…” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Mount Wei is a desolate and inaccessible place, so it was inconvenient to send messages. Ye Wangxi was also injured, so after the fire was extinguished, we rested a while before returning… returning to Rufeng Sect.”

     Hearing Nangong Si mention the sect he had joined when he first entered the outside world, Chu Wanning didn’t know how to feel. In no time at all, everything had changed. After a while, he sighed and said, “That place should be barren.”

     “Zongshi is right,” Nangong Si said. “Not even an inch of grass has grown, but something crawled out of the ruins.”

     Chu Wanning looked up and asked, “What?”

     “These worms.” Nangong Si opened a bloodstained sack in front of him. The sack was filled with small worms with black spots on their green bodies—three large spots and two small spots, five in total. They also had the faint smell of blood emitting from their tails.

     Most of the worms were still in the bag, seemingly afraid of the light. However, a few of them had flown out and landed on the walls and pillars of Loyalty Hall. They left streaks of blood wherever they crawled.

     Mo Ran recognized these worms. They were gu worms.

     These worms only lived in the blood pools near Linyi’s Rufeng Sect. They were neither fully dead, nor fully alive, and fed on flesh and souls to survive. Almost all of the elders were revolted by these worms. Lucun Elder even covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief, unable to stand the stench.

     “We found these gu worms in the ruins,” Nangong Si explained. “I thought they were attracted to the blood pool nearby, but then later found that this wasn’t the case.”

     “What do you mean?”

     “There were too many worms. Ye Wangxi and I walked through the seventy-two cities of Rufeng Sect, and the worms were densely packed in the cracks of the bricks, in the mud, and in the ashes. There are countless of these gu worms. We felt that something was wrong, and after careful inspection, we found not only adult worms, but also larvae… Zongshi should understand what I mean.”

     Chu Wanning didn’t know much about gu worms. At first, he was a little confused, but after thinking about it carefully, he figured it out.

     The blood pool was next to Mount Wei, separated from Linyi by a big river. The full-grown gu worms had weak wings, so it barely made sense that some of the adults would smell the scent of death and cross the river. But what about the larvae? How could the larvae have grown legs to swim across the river and mountains? How could they come to the scorched earth of Rufeng Sect on their own?

     Chu Wanning frowned and said, “Someone put them there in advance?”

     “Yes, that’s what I think.”

     Tanlang Elder, who had been listening on the side, suddenly understood, “Gu worms can store spiritual power. After the disaster, vengeful spirits were everywhere, along with countless fleeing cultivators. When these worms eat the souls of cultivators, they become seeds that store the spiritual power of their elements. With these tens of thousands of seeds, you can still activate most of the formations without using your own spells.”

     Then who was the one who placed the bugs there? Who could have foreseen the catastrophe in Linyi? Who needed the spiritual power of the outside world?

     No one spoke, but the answer was obvious. It could only have been the instigator of all of this chaos, Xu Shuanglin—or should he be called by his original name, Nangong Xu.

     Xue Zhengyong said, “So the entire time the cultivation world has been relying on spell trails to track Xu Shuanglin, but it turns out that he wasn’t using his own power at all, but the worms?”

     Nangong Si replied, “That is indeed the case.”

     Xue Zhengyong muttered, “Well… detection techniques can only be used to detect people; they wouldn’t detect traces of beasts or demons. If Xu Shuanglin indeed used this method, he could cover his tracks for a long time.”

     Then he asked Tanlang Elder, “Can we find Xu Shuanglin’s whereabouts by tracking the worms?”

     “It’s impossible,” Tanlang Elder replied. “After eating enough soul fragments, the gu worms go underground to the underworld. Why don’t we ask Master Huaizui? He should know about the matters of the ghost realm.”

     However, Chu Wanning immediately replied, “There’s no need to ask him.”

     “Why?”

     “It’s useless to look for him,” Chu Wanning said. “He doesn’t want to interfere in the mortal world. He won’t say anything.”

     Everyone knew Chu Wanning was once Huaizui’s direct disciple. Now that he said those words with such certainty, although everyone was puzzled, they couldn’t say anything more. The entire hall fell silent once again.

     After a while, Xue Zhengyong muttered, “Then what should we do? Since Xu Shuanglin can use the spiritual energy of the gu worms to avoid detection, it’s useless for us to investigate any further.”

     “How about we change the way we search?” Chu Wanning suggested.

     “What do you mean?” Xue Zhengyong asked.

     “Sect Leader, when Xu Shuanglin left, he took three things with him. Do you remember what they were?”

     Xue Zhengyong recalled, “Luo Fenghua’s spiritual core, Nangong…” He glanced at Nangong Si and sighed inwardly, softening his voice, “Sect Leader Nangong, and the holy weapon.”

     Chu Wanning nodded, “That’s right. A person always has a reason for doing things. Even when he was in a hurry to escape, he still insisted on taking these three things with him. He definitely wasn’t doing this just because he was bored. Then, in Sect Leader’s opinion, why would Xu Shuanglin take his elder brother away?”

     “Um… revenge?”

     “Then why did he take the holy weapon?”

     Xue Zhengyong thought for a moment, “To use the five elemental types of spiritual energy to open a crack to the ghost realm.”

     “He tore a crack to the ghost realm to obtain Luo Fenghua’s spiritual core,” Chu Wanning said. “He doesn’t need to tear it open a second time.”

     “Then why did he do it?”

     “I think there’s one possibility,” Chu Wanning said. “He’s doing it for the Rebirth Technique.”

     Xue Zhengyong was stunned for a moment, “But the Rebirth Technique… Master Huaizui didn’t need the five different elemental types of spiritual energy to use it.”

     Chu Wanning shook his head, “Huaizui once said that the Rebirth Technique isn’t always the same in this world, so Sect Leader doesn’t need to use what he performed as a reference.”

     When Tanlang Elder heard this, he sneered, “Yuheng Elder, you have no evidence, so how dare you presume that Xu Shuanglin is doing all of this for the sake of cultivating the forbidden technique of Rebirth?”

     Chu Wanning replied impassively, “Because the last thing he took was Luo Fenghua’s spiritual core.”

     In the main hall, Chu Wanning’s voice resonated steadily, “Many years ago, I once interrogated a girl who died unjustly in Butterfly Town. When the girl was young, she met a madman covered in blood. He gave her clementines and said that her eyes looked like an old friend of his. That madman also said one last sentence: There once was a man in Linyi, whose heart died at twenty.”

     Twenty was the age Xu Shuanglin had been deceived and betrayed, never able to stand up again.

     That year at the Spiritual Mountain Competition, he had been high-spirited and proud. He felt that as long as he relied on his own talent and hard work, he would be able to obtain everything he deserved fairly and righteously.

     However, despite all his effort and hard work, all he received was a lifetime of infamy. Even with a sharp blade in his hand and ambition in his heart, he still couldn’t win against his brother’s eloquence.

     He hated.

     He hated so much, but there was nowhere to express his grievances; everyone was laughing at him, accusing him, denouncing him. In the end, an evil spirit crawled out of the blood of the crumbling mountain of hate to seek the justice he deserved from all the righteous people of this world.

     “Needless to say, this madman was Xu Shuanglin. And since this is the case, then who is his old friend? Who did Luo Xianxian’s eyes look like?”

     “They look alike and both have the surname Luo…” Xue Zhengyong said, stunned, “Could it be Luo Fenghua?”

     Chu Wanning replied, “I think it should be Luo Fenghua. At the bottom of Jincheng Lake, Xu Shuanglin practiced two techniques, the Zhenlong Chess Formation and Rebirth. The Zhenlong Chess Formation was to control others, but what was Rebirth for? When he disappeared, he took two bodies with him, Sect Leader Nangong and Luo Fenghua. It’s unlikely that it’s for Sect Leader Nangong.”

     Xue Zhengyong muttered, “But why resurrect Luo Fenghua? Isn’t he the man who framed him?”

     “It’s hard to know the reason for another’s actions, so we can’t speak carelessly,” Chu Wanning said. “But I can’t think of any other reason to take Luo Fenghua’s body, other than to resurrect him.”

     Everyone was silent. After careful consideration, they all felt that Chu Wanning’s conclusion made sense, but there was still no evidence; in the end, it was only speculation. The answer to this question could probably only be revealed by Xu Shuanglin, who was currently in hiding.

     After the meeting ended, Mo Ran pondered for a long time. That night, he went to Nuan Pavilion to find Xue Zhengyong.

     Xue Zhengyong was looking through some ancient books about gu worms, hoping to find clues about Xu Shuanglin’s whereabouts.

     “Uncle.”

     “Ran-er? It’s so late. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

     “I can’t sleep. There’s something I wanted to ask uncle.”

     Xue Zhengyong lifted his chin and motioned for him to sit down. Mo Ran didn’t beat around the bush and just asked directly, “Does uncle know what kind of person Luo Fenghua—or, Xu Shuanglin’s Shizun is?”

     “Luo Fenghua.” Xue Zhengyong frowned and thought hard for a long time, then shook his head, “I had very little contact with him, so I can’t tell you the details. I know he had always been described as… righteous, resolute, and fair. He was a man of few words, but actually very good-tempered. He was courageous and bold in his actions, and would never act carelessly. When he was Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect, he even sent his disciples to the lower cultivation world to exterminate demons.”

     Mo Ran asked, “So, in short, other than seizing the position of Sect Leader and usurping power from the Nangong family, no one had any other grievances with him, right?”

     Xue Zhengyong sighed, “That’s right. Not only were there no grievances, he was known for being a good man. I don’t understand why a man like him would curse his disciple so harshly.”

     Mo Ran pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, “Uncle, don’t you think your description of Luo Fenghua just now was a bit like someone else?”

     Xue Zhengyong was stunned, “You mean Yuheng? Come on, how can Yuheng’s temper be good?”

     “No, it’s someone else,” Mo Ran said.

     “Who?”

     “Ye Wangxi,” Mo Ran replied.

     “Ah…” Slowly, Xue Zhengyong’s eyes widened. He chewed on the name soundlessly, then said slowly, “Ye Wangxi…”

     This person was benevolent and resolute, tenacious and unyielding. She was indeed very similar to the person in his memory, who had only been Sect Leader for a short year or so.

     “Do you think so?” Mo Ran asked.

     “...Yes.” Xue Zhengyong was surprised. Since Luo Fenghua and Ye Wangxi were so different, he had never compared the two of them before. They were of different genders, ages, and had completely different positions in Rufeng Sect. But now that Mo Ran pointed it out, he was shocked to realize that the two of them were practically carved from the same mold.

     The more Xue Zhengyong thought about it, the more astonished he was. Memories that had been sealed for a long time came back to him, surfacing one by one. He could even vaguely remember that when Luo Fenghua was still a guest at Rufeng Sect, even the clothes he wore were extremely similar to those worn by Ye Wangxi.

     There was also their mannerisms, the way the two of them talked, and their tone of voice. Even the way they drew the bow—

     When he was young, he had seen Luo Fenghua draw a bow. At the time, there was a celebration for Nangong Liu’s birthday, and Rufeng Sect had also invited the two Xue brothers.

     Xue Zhengyong remembered that in the midst of the falling snow, Luo Fenghua had held the bowstring tightly with three fingers, his pinky finger pulled taut. The arrow whizzed through the air, cutting through the vast expanse of snow and striking a snow demon rabbit from a hundred steps away.

     The surrounding people had all praised his amazing archery skills, but Luo Fenghua only smiled gently and casually pulled the bow over his left arm, his fingertips subconsciously rubbing at the string. It was a set of natural movements, free and unfettered; even the conclusion of his performance was different from the imposing and grand movements of others.

     As Xue Zhengyong watched from the side, he felt that it was breathtaking, so he remembered it in his heart.

     At this moment, he suddenly recalled that during the battle of the Heavenly Rift in Butterfly Town, Ye Wangxi and Nangong Si had both used a bow and arrow.

     Nangong Si’s arrows were swift and fierce, but Xue Zhengyong didn’t have much of an impression of them. On the other hand, Ye Wangxi, after using up all her arrows, would habitually place her bow over her left arm and subconsciously rub the bowstring.

     When he saw this, he couldn’t help but notice something familiar, as if that gentle and smooth, relaxed and composed posture was very similar to someone.

     He slapped his forehead and said, “Aiya, it is true! They’re the same, they’re exactly the same!”

     Mo Ran raised his eyebrows and said, “What’s exactly the same?”

     “The way Luo Fenghua shoots an arrow is simply too much like Ye Wangxi. They’re exactly the same!”

     Looking at Xue Zhengyong’s expression, Mo Ran couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s not quite right, uncle.”

     “Ah? What’s wrong?”

     “Your wording is wrong,” Mo Ran said.

     “My wording?”

     “Yes. It’s not that Luo Fenghua is like Ye Wangxi,” Mo Ran said. “It’s that Ye Wangxi is very much like Luo Fenghua.”

     As he said this, his eyes shone brightly. He felt that he could finally confirm that Xu Shuanglin’s Rebirth Technique was to resurrect Luo Fenghua.

     Although he didn’t know how many secrets were hidden in Rufeng Sect’s past, he had experienced two lifetimes. In the past lifetime, Xu Shuanglin was willing to die for Ye Wangxi, and in this lifetime, he would only go as far as letting her down. Why?

     He didn’t believe that Xu Shuanglin simply didn’t have the heart to kill Ye Wangxi because she was his adopted daughter. He was a man who appeared to be very free and at ease, saying, “There was a man in Linyi, whose heart died at twenty.” But he gave his place of residence the name “Three Lives Courtyard.” He seemed to want to forget everything that had happened in the past, and even gave his adopted daughter a name that was so obvious.

     Forget the past.

     Forget your old self, your deceased friends, your past hatred, your kindness.

     But Xu Shuanglin had unwittingly nurtured Ye Wangxi into that unforgettable reflection. He had raised this abandoned orphan into the likeness of another.

     This person, who earnestly wanted to forget all the memories of the past, still ended up living in the mire of his memories from beginning to end.

     At this point, Mo Ran had a vague suspicion in his heart. It was probably because he himself had also once gone mad in the darkness, but he felt that his prediction of Xu Shuanglin’s actions was a bit more accurate than others. However, it wasn’t convenient for him to share his thoughts with others, so he could only first make his own conclusions and wait to see what happened.

     The next day, Xue Zhengyong, who had searched through all the ancient books to no avail, called everyone to meet again and said, “Poisonous bugs and strange beasts are Guyue’ye’s strong points. Why don’t we inform Jiang Xi that we found gu worms at the old site of Rufeng Sect?”

     Xuanji Elder agreed, “The world’s number one medicine master, Cold Scale Sacred Hand practices under Jiang Xi. He should be able to figure something out.”

     But Chu Wanning frowned and asked Ye Wangxi, “Miss Ye, since you were young, have you ever seen your adopted father raise any poisonous insects or beasts?”

     “No.”

     “What about medical skills and beast taming? Has he ever been familiar with that?” Chu Wanning asked.

     “He… he has only ever kept a parrot. Not to mention any strange beasts, he had no desire to even take in an ordinary puppy. His medical skills are even worse,” Ye Wangxi said.

     After Chu Wanning heard this, he turned to Xue Zhengyong, “Don’t tell Guyue’ye about the gu worms.”

     Xue Zhengyong was puzzled, “Why?”

     “Since Xu Shuanglin has no medical or beast taming skills, then the one who placed the gu worms might not be him. It’s most likely the hand that stuck out from the rift.”

     “You suspect Guyue’ye—”

     “It’s important not to jump to conclusions,” Chu Wanning said. “But it’s always right to be cautious.”