As one of the twenty-two youths chasing deer in the forest, Xue Meng also had a Zhenlong chess piece planted in his body; he was walking around the lake nonstop, his eyes empty.

     They were like puppets, unafraid of pain or death. They cut down several ghosts and monsters with their swords, not allowing them to destroy the formation. Other than these ghosts, they didn’t care for any that escaped into the darkness.

     The purpose of these chess pieces was clear; they were guarding the five element formation.

     Seeing his disciple being controlled, Chu Wanning couldn’t bear it any longer. But just as he was about to get up and rush out, Mo Ran suddenly stopped him.

     Chu Wanning gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “Let go.”

     “Don’t go out. Wait a little longer—”

     “How can we wait?! That’s Xue Meng!”

     Chu Wanning was too strong. Mo Ran couldn’t pull him back with one hand, so he could only wrap his arms around him and hold him tightly in his arms. He covered his mouth with his other hand and refused to let go no matter how hard he struggled in his embrace.

     Mo Ran whispered in his ear, his hot breath brushing against the back of Chu Wanning’s ear, “It’s too risky to go out now. Don’t be so impulsive. Listen to me for once, hmm?”

     Mo Ran was only answered with an elbow to the face. Chu Wanning pried his hand away and gasped, his phoenix eyes full of anger as he said in a low voice, “Under the control of the Zhenlong Chess Formation, his spiritual force is being depleted rapidly. This place is full of evil spirits. If anything goes wrong, he’ll die!”

     “He won’t.”

     “...”

     Mo Ran took his hand, his eyes deep and firm, “I know about the Zhenlong Chess Formation. You have to trust me.”

     Chu Wanning was stunned to see such a stern and solemn expression on his face, but his breathing eventually slowed back down.

     At that moment, a strange howl came from afar. They quickly turned around to see an evil spirit flying out of the sky and swooping down towards Xue Meng—

     Swish! Longcheng reflected the moon’s frosty light. Xue Meng’s body was as light as a swallow, and the blade instantly pierced through the ghost.

     “When a living person is struck by a Zhenlong chess piece, their spiritual energy will be gradually depleted and they will no longer be as strong as before. But, he has only been under control for a short time, so he’ll be fine for now.”

     Chu Wanning turned to look at him, a crease appearing on his forehead in his confusion, “Why do you know so much about this?”

     “...From my travels.”

     The evil spirit fell, and was quickly turned to ashes. Xue Meng held Longcheng in his hand, as black droplets of blood dripped down from the blade of the longsword, trailing treacherous, twisted marks on the snow. The moonlight shone on his face. His expression was cold, his pupils dull.

     Mo Ran’s heart clenched.

     Xue Meng had never been a chess piece in his previous life. Who was it…?

     Suddenly, there was movement in the distance.

     Mo Ran came back to his senses and whispered, “It looks like someone is coming.”

     Sure enough, two people came out of the forest and walked along the frozen lake, into the eye of the formation, which shone with a jade-green light. One of them carried a holy weapon, but because of the angle, Mo Ran couldn’t see clearly which holy weapon it was.

     The person smashed the layer of ice with their palm and threw the holy weapon into the eye of the formation. In an instant, the eye lit up with a brilliant light, and the dark clouds dispersed. The moon appeared from behind the thick clouds, shining a cold light on the ice, illuminating the figures of two men guarding the eye of the formation.

     One was wearing a luxurious robe made of golden silk, elegant and graceful. But, his face couldn’t be seen clearly due to the dark and thick veil on his bamboo hat. The other was barefoot on the cold ice, obviously someone who didn’t mind the cold.

     The man suddenly raised his head and looked at the Heavenly Rift. Mo Ran’s eyes widened abruptly, “How is this possible?!”

     Xu Shuanglin?! Mo Ran was dismayed and shocked to the core, Xu Shuanglin… Elder Shuanglin?!

     He was Ye Wangxi’s adoptive father. In his previous life, he had used his flesh and blood to protect Ye Wangxi, and died under the indiscriminate sword. How could it be him?!

     Unaware of Mo Ran’s shock, Chu Wanning lightly tapped Mo Ran’s shoulder and whispered, “Go.”

     “Why hasn’t he appeared yet?” The man wearing the bamboo hat beside Xu Shuanglin spoke. When Mo Ran heard these words, he realized it was Nangong Liu’s voice.

     Nangong Liu’s tone was distinctly agitated and gloomy, and he couldn’t help but curse, “Damn, did you make a mistake?”

     Xu Shuanglin only said, “Let’s wait and see.”

     “Hurry up! Tear this crack wider! I don’t know when the guests will send someone to follow! If we wait any longer, it will be too late!”

     “I know you’re anxious, but don’t you know what happened last time? In Butterfly Town, because you were too impatient, the situation got out of hand and attracted the ten great sects to come one after another. If you don’t stay calm, you will fail again.”

     “Ugh…”

     Xu Shuanglin closed his eyes and said, “Sect Leader, it wasn’t easy to find five holy weapons of different elements that can absorb spiritual energy from cultivators. You’ve endured for so many years. How could you rush this short night?”

     “You’re right.” Nangong Liu took a deep breath and nodded, “I’ve waited for five years already… No, it wasn’t just five years; from the day I became Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect, I have been waiting for this…” He rubbed the thumb ring in his sleeve, his eyes blazing in the dark night. He muttered, “I’ve been waiting…”

     “You don’t have to wait.”

     Suddenly, a harsh, stern voice resounded across the lake. It was like a bolt of lightning breaking the clouds, shocking the two people on the lake as they looked up at each other.

     The bright moon hung high in the sky and tens of thousands of pine trees rustled in the wind. A slender man stood atop a tree, his narrow phoenix eyes shining, his robes billowing. The dark color of his robes made his face look like a frozen jade, his handsome face filled with a bone-chilling coldness.

     “Nangong Liu, it’s over.”

     Nangong Liu was shocked, then he gritted his teeth and shouted, “Chu Wanning!”

     Tianwen crackled with golden light, reflecting the chilling look in Chu Wanning’s phoenix eyes, which only made him look more and more dangerous.

     “Yuheng of the Night Sky, Beidou Immortal. Why didn’t you just stay dead after the Heavenly Rift in Butterfly Town? Now you’re here to ruin my plan, you evil creature!”

     Chu Wanning was stunned. His eyebrows furrowed and he said sternly, “So you were responsible for the disaster five years ago?”

     Nangong Liu saw that the matter was exposed, and had no intention of lying. He laughed coldly, “So what if I am?”

     Chu Wanning lifted Tianwen, his fingers brushing against the willow vine; the light was so bright that it was almost a white-gold, “...Back then, when you sought a sword from Jincheng Lake, the spirit in the lake wanted your wife’s spiritual core in exchange. You ordered your wife’s heart to be cut out and thrown into the lake. At the time, I was so disgusted that I wanted to kill you, yet you told me that Nangong Si was still young and couldn’t afford to lose a father… You said you were in a trance, and were full of remorse for what you had done… You also said that from then on, you would be a righteous scholar and never do evil again, you…” As his fingers brushed against the tip of the willow vine, a golden light flashed.

     Chu Wanning gritted his teeth, “Nangong Liu, you are unforgivable!”

     “You blame me?” Nangong Liu suddenly laughed in a low voice, “Chu-zongshi, how can you not blame yourself for being young and naïve? At that time, you were still a boy, a teenager of fifteen, right? You were so naïve. I only said a few words, shed a few tears, and used my responsibility for Si-er as a cover. You showed me mercy and let me go. Heh, zongshi, why don’t you think about it? Is it not your fault that I’m able to do what I’m doing today?”

     Before the sound of his voice faded, Chu Wanning’s Wind had already struck.

     Tianwen cut through the dark night and slashed straight for the place Nangong Liu was standing. In an instant, dragon light danced and flames broke through the sky, splitting the entire frozen lake in half and completely shattering the ice!

     Nangong Liu bellowed, “All rise!”

     The group of puppets that had been walking around the lake waiting for orders suddenly had a glint in their eyes. They all turned around and rushed towards Chu Wanning. Xue Meng had the most combat power, so he was leading the charge.

     Clang! Longcheng and Tianwen clashed fiercely. Afraid of hurting Xue Meng, Chu Wanning retreated back a few feet, with a ruthless expression, “Nangong Liu, what kind of ability do you have if you have to use others to protect you?!”

     “Ha, I made you unable to attack, and now you can’t kill me. This is my ability.” Nangong Liu laughed, “They’re all living people who have been taken over by my chess pieces. Chu Wanning, this little Xue-gongzi is your disciple, right? You are helpless to fight back, so now you can only wait for death. You’re just the same as you were more than ten years ago by Jincheng Lake. There is nothing you can do, you can only let me go. You—”

     He suddenly stopped. The smile on his face froze, and he felt like a bucket of cold water was suddenly being poured on him.

     Chu Wanning’s eyes were too calm.

     He stared closely at Chu Wanning, the calmness on his face suddenly making him feel uneasy. He shuddered, and his mouth opened and closed gracelessly, as if afraid of what Chu Wanning would do. Finally, he spoke, “What are you going to do…?”

     Chu Wanning didn’t waste time talking with Nangong Liu. His eyes were cold, and he raised his hand to wave Tianwen, shouting, “Tianwen, Ten Thousand Coffins!”

     Dozens of golden vines rose from the ground, trapping the puppets one by one. Like a dragon rising from the frozen lake, a thick and powerful vine broke through the waves, scattering ice crystals everywhere.

     Chu Wanning sat atop the ancient vine, his robes fluttering in the wind as he raised his slender hand, pausing after each word, “Jiu’ge, come.”

     Wisps of golden light poured out from his palms and gathered at his knees to form an ancient pitch-black guqin. The guqin’s tail was curled up like a tree that was still full of life, its leaves and branches flourishing with haitang flowers in bloom, and its strings were a translucent icy-white, emitting a cold air.

     The holy weapon Jiu’ge.

     Tianwen’s most commonly used ace attack was Wind, which was a killing move. Jiu’ge’s most commonly used ace attack was Ode, which was a healing technique used to clear the heart and heal the mind.

     Chu Wanning only gently strummed the strings a few times, and played a short section of Ode. The puppets who had been struck by the Zhenlong chess pieces were originally struggling under the entanglement of Tianwen, but now they suddenly looked left and right, as if they were confused.

     Nangong Liu was furious. He chanted an incantation silently, with veins popping out on his forehead as he fought against Chu Wanning. Seeing that he couldn’t hold on any longer, he angrily turned his head back and shouted, “Shuanglin, go and interrupt his guqin!”

     “...Me? Ah, fine, fine.”

     Xu Shuanglin sighed helplessly and wanted to fly over to the top of the vine Chu Wanning was sitting on. Unexpectedly, a black shadow suddenly flashed in front of him. Mo Ran stood in the wind and raised Jiangui, blocking his path.

     “Elder Shuanglin, please reconsider.”

     Xu Shuanglin blinked and suddenly laughed, “Will you stop me? You two are truly a perfect model of master and disciple, how touching.”

     Meanwhile, Chu Wanning said to Mo Ran, “The barrier.”

     “It’s all set up.”

     As it turned out, Mo Ran hadn’t appeared until now because he had been told to place a barrier around the lake. Although the Heavenly Rift wasn’t as bad as the time at Butterfly Town, all of the prisoners in the infinite hells were evil spirits with twisted minds who lost their sanity. It would be fine if three or five of them escaped, but if too many came forth, there would be a rain of blood in the mortal world, and it wouldn’t stop for a long time.

     Mo Ran and Xu Shuanglin exchanged blows, and in the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than ten moves. Mo Ran said, “Elder Shuanglin, don’t keep trying to run over to my Shizun. The person you should be fighting is me.”

     “What for?” Xu Shuanglin suddenly laughed, “Do you have to force an opponent to fight these days? It’s not that I want to say this, but young man, you’re really a bit too fierce. Uncle is old, I’m afraid I can’t handle your violence.”

     Mo Ran was speechless.

     “If I fight with you, I’ll break.” He grinned and said, “Little brother, spare me. Let me go to your Shizun, okay?”

     Mo Ran actually didn’t know how to face Xu Shuanglin. In his previous life, he had witnessed Xu Shuanglin’s death with his own eyes, so he knew that he wasn’t a bad person. Who would have thought that in this life, he was the person behind the scenes alongside Nangong Liu. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do, so he remained silent and only focused on exchanging blows with him.

     Jiangui had the same interrogation ability as Tianwen. As long as he could catch him, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out what he was really thinking. However, Xu Shuanglin’s movements were light, and his speed was far greater than Nangong Liu’s. He floated gracefully above the shattered frozen lake like a dancing kite. The red light could only hit him, but couldn’t lock him in place completely. Moreover, since he was Ye Wangxi’s foster father, Mo Ran couldn’t help but show mercy until things were clear...

     Xu Shuanglin abruptly laughed again, “That’s about it, Mo-zongshi. I’ll apologize first.”

     Mo Ran didn’t understand why he said this, and asked, startled, “What?”

     “Because I’m going to bully your Shizun.”

     Xu Shuanglin raised his hand with a flash of light at his fingertips. A white stream of light whistled in Chu Wanning’s direction, and his other hand pulled out a folding fan at his waist.

     Mo Ran was most worried about Chu Wanning, and was distracted when Xu Shuanglin’s eyes darkened. Unexpectedly, Xu Shuanglin swiftly and fiercely flicked open the fan and brought it down on Mo Ran’s throat.

     Sha! Instantly, blood blossomed and splattered everywhere. Although Mo Ran had dodged quickly, his neck was still cut by the sharp barbs of the fan. Xu Shuanglin retracted the handle of the fan, which was stained with Mo Ran’s blood, and pointed his hand to the ground. A drop of blood fell into the lake, which suddenly lit up with a bright green light.

     Lowering his head to take a look, Mo Ran discovered that Nangong Liu and Xu Shuanglin were actually guarding the core of the wood elemental pillar, which was using the holy weapon to absorb the essence of the surrounding grasses and trees. At this time, because Mo Ran’s blood contained extremely rich wood elemental spiritual energy, the holy weapon suddenly shone from within the lake with a dazzling jade-green brilliance. The earth trembled, and after a few moments of deathly silence, a sharp and ferocious black blade broke out of the water, shining brightly.

     Xu Shuanglin shouted at Nangong Liu, “The forbidden spell has been cast! He’s about to come out—hurry up and go down to meet him under the Heavenly Rift! Fight!”

     Fight?

     Did they call someone from the infernal hells just for a fight?

     However, the thought passed quickly from Mo Ran’s mind when he saw the holy weapon floating in the air. He stood frozen, as if struck by a whip, standing there stiffly without uttering a word.

     He could think of nothing else.

     Because the holy weapon that gathered the wood elemental spiritual energy at the eye of the formation was actually—

     Taxian-Jun’s vicious blade that had experienced a hundred battles—the holy weapon Bu’gui!

     Mo Ran suddenly felt a dull pain in his chest, and his vision went black. There seemed to be some kind of inaudible murmuring in his ears that kept repeating itself over and over. He couldn’t breathe. He felt the blood of his previous life rushing towards him from the darkness, soaking his entire body. He felt disgusted, dizzy, and his heartbeat quickened…

     Seeing that Xu Shuanglin wanted to do something with Bu’gui, Mo Ran didn’t have time to think. He raised his hand, wanting to recall his holy weapon. However, as soon as his spiritual energy reached out, he heard the sound of Chu Wanning’s guqin stop. He suddenly felt that something was wrong, and turned around, enduring the indescribable stifling feeling.

     His pupils suddenly shrank.

     “Shizun!”

     How could he forget?! Chu Wanning’s spiritual core was fragile. Back at Xuanyuan Pavilion, a doctor had said that Bu’gui seemed to have some sort of repelling force towards Chu Wanning. It would backfire on him, hurting his already weak core and making the pain even more unbearable.

     Mo Ran suddenly cut off his connection with Bu’gui and leapt up to the giant vine before it gave way, grabbing Chu Wanning, who was pale with pain. He held him in his arms and landed safely in the nearby orange grove. At the same time, the coffins that Chu Wanning had summoned with Tianwen also disintegrated. Fortunately, those who had been chess pieces were only confused, and although they weren’t completely awake, they no longer followed Nangong Liu’s orders.

     “Shizun!” Mo Ran trembled with anxiety and regret. He knelt in the snow and held Chu Wanning, whose brows were furrowed, and stroked his face gently, “How are you?”

     When he saw blood dripping from the corner of Chu Wanning’s mouth, he felt even more distressed, and his heart ached. He hurriedly wiped it for him, but as he did so, he suddenly thought of his previous life, when Chu Wanning was lying in his arms on the peak of Mount Kunlun, bleeding to death. Just like now, he wiped away the mottled blood in a panic, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wipe it clean.

     It was like being stabbed in the heart.

     His eyes were red, “Does it hurt?”

     Chu Wanning was so affected by Bu’gui’s fury that he felt as if the aura of death had instantly rushed towards his chest, wanting to tear it open. What was even more frightening was that there seemed to be several tattered illusions twisting and flickering before his eyes. He shook his head, trying to shake off the blurry illusions, and struggled to look towards Nangong Liu. With just one glance, the last bit of color on his face suddenly disappeared.

     He didn’t know where he got the strength, but he suddenly grabbed Mo Ran’s arm and said hoarsely, “Over there, be careful!”

     Mo Ran saw that his face shone like gold paper and his eyes flickered with great shock, reflecting the firelight…

     Fire? He turned around and saw that it was no longer little ghosts and monsters that were pouring out of the Heavenly Rift, but surging lava from hell. The fire of the earth rained down from the sky, and the ghosts that managed to escape the rift were instantly burned to ashes by the raging evil fire before they could even utter a wailing cry.

     What kind of strange situation was this?

     The infernal lava hung in the sky like a magnificent red-gold waterfall, flowing slowly and calmly as it reached the cold water lake. The shattered ice and lake water were ignited like firewood, and began to burn fiercely.

     Nangong Liu and Xu Shuanglin, standing at the front of the group, activated a powerful water formation in order to keep themselves from being engulfed by the flames.

     Although the flames of lava flowed slowly, it would soon reach those who had fallen victim to the Zhenlong Chess Formation.

     Mo Ran cursed silently and formed a seal with his hand. However, he wasn’t familiar with the water formations, so he was only halfway through when Chu Wanning, still in his arms, suddenly held his hand and said with a pale face, “You’re doing it wrong, let me do it.”

     Mo Ran helped him sit up, but stopped his hand, “Don’t do it, teach me.”

     Chu Wanning hesitated, but knew that his spiritual power was momentarily impaired, and that he might not be able to cast the spell properly. This was a matter of life and death, so he couldn’t be careless. He held Mo Ran’s hand and placed his ten fingers in the proper position one by one. Then, he said hoarsely, “Cast the spell.”

     Spiritual energy flowed from the tips of his fingers, quickly creating a barrier in the air and blue waves of water that wrapped around the puppets who had been under control.

     Chu Wanning let out a sigh of relief. He wanted to praise Mo Ran, but when he raised his eyelashes he saw that under the light of hellfire, there were traces of tears on his handsome face.

     Why… is he crying?

     Because of who?

     Chu Wanning was at a loss. If Shi Mei wasn’t here, Xue Meng wasn’t injured, and Mo Ran didn’t know who the others were, could he dare be so bold to think that Mo Ran was crying for him?

     “...Don’t cry.”

     Mo Ran came back to his senses and hurriedly wiped his face in a panic.

     “You’re already this old, how do you look now?”

     Mo Ran only looked at him with teary eyes and asked him, “Does it hurt?”

     At his words, Chu Wanning was stunned. Then, a wave of warmth as soft as a hot spring stream rose in his chest where the pain still hadn’t subsided. His heart was filled with his secret feelings, a mixture of sorrow and tenderness, bitterness and pain, sweetness and astringency. It wasn’t appropriate, but he couldn’t stop it.

     “It’s just a small injury, probably because I summoned two holy weapons at the same time and lost too much spiritual energy, causing my old illness to flare up.” Chu Wanning raised his hand and hesitated before finally stroking Mo Ran’s hair, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

     Then, he turned his head again to look at the vast flow of hellfire, that blazing lava. His eyes gradually darkened, the pain in his eyes subsided, and his gaze became more and more vicious, “You find out what Nangong Liu is planning to do, and find the right time to attack.” He paused, and when he spoke again there was no more hesitation, “Kill him.”

     Chu Wanning’s eyes were filled with hate, but they also held regret for a time far in the past.

     Nangong Liu was right. At Jincheng Lake, it was his fifteen year old self who hadn’t known the world well. He had let Nangong Liu go for the sake of the upper cultivation world, and so that Nangong Si, who was still young, wouldn’t know that his father had given up his mother’s life in order to obtain a holy weapon. He had already revealed his evil intentions, but Chu Wanning had still let him go. It was his youthful naïvety and excessive kindness that brought about this situation—his letting the tiger back into the woods, that caused the infernal flames to burn…

     What exactly did Nangong Liu want to do?!