Near the edge of Jincheng Lake, a sign with strong red lettering read: Proceed with caution, the road is difficult.

     The only living people at the scene were Nangong Liu and Xu Shuanglin. They were the only living people, but they were surrounded by countless dead people lying on the ground.

     Or one might say, dead merpeople.

     “Hurry up. If we block the path and prevent other cultivators from going up the mountain, it might arouse suspicion.”

     “It’s almost done.” Xu Shuanglin stuffed a black chess piece into the mouth of one of the merfolk, then silently chanted a spell. The merperson shakily stood up from the ground and bowed towards the two. With a splash, he leapt back into Jincheng Lake, which was filled with floating crushed ice.

     Xu Shuanglin said, “I’m still not familiar with this forbidden technique. But once I’m somewhat proficient, I won’t need to feed them chess pieces one by one, I would just need to point in the air, and they would receive my orders and be at my disposal from afar.”

     “It’s that powerful?”

     “Why else would it be called a forbidden technique? And even if one could cultivate to that degree, it’s just superficial knowledge, the tip of the iceberg. I’ve seen people…” Xu Shuanglin suddenly stopped talking and smiled, “I mean, I’ve seen records in the history books about people who could preserve the consciousness of living beings and make them follow their orders willingly—that is powerful. At my current level, I can only control the body, not the mind. I am still far from that.”

     Nangong Liu nodded, “It’s alright, you don’t have to cultivate too well. It’s not good to draw attention to yourself.”

     “Sect Leader is right.”

     “To break my curse, you need to open the Heavenly Rift to the infernal hells. But to open the rift, you need to possess the elemental spiritual essence of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. However, elemental spiritual essence spirit bodies are extremely hard to find, and we can’t just go from sect to sect to search for the most elite spiritual bodies in this world.”

     Nangong Liu paused for a moment before continuing, “Fortunately, you thought of another method. Since you have the ability to manipulate Jincheng Lake, there’s no need to find the ones with the greatest elemental spiritual essence. Anyone who seeks a holy weapon from Jincheng Lake will unknowingly reveal what type of spiritual core they have, and all we have to do is sit back and enjoy the benefits of their power when we’re ready to open the rift in the future.”

     As he spoke, he took out an orange from a pouch on the horse beside him and peeled it as he praised, “Shuanglin, those monsters of Jincheng Lake are no match for you. You really are capable.”

     Xu Shuanglin smiled and said, “Although Jincheng Lake is an ancient place of power, the divine power of Gouchen the Exalted has long since been weakened, almost to nothing. Otherwise, with my ability, how could I possibly have been able to use this method? Sect Leader is too kind.”

     Nangong Liu laughed loudly, “Tell me, how do you want me to reward you?”

     Xu Shuanglin only smiled, “I have nothing to ask for.”

     “No way, you have to want something,” Nangong Liu insisted.

     Xu Shuanglin thought for a moment and replied, “Then, Sect Leader, please reward me with half of the orange.”

     Nangong Liu was stunned, until finally, he started laughing, “How can this be your reward?” Still, he peeled the orange and moved to hand it to Xu Shuanglin, “You can have the whole thing.”

     “Half is fine.” Xu Shuanglin smiled lightly, “I don’t want much either.”

     Nangong Liu sighed, “You truly are a strange person. Half, then.”

     He moved once again to hand half of the orange to Xu Shuanglin. But since Xu Shuanglin’s hands were still covered in blood, it was inconvenient for him to take it. Xu Shuanglin ate the orange directly from Nangong Liu’s hand and said brightly, “Sweet and juicy, not bad.”

     For a moment, Xu Shuanglin’s smile seemed to become somewhat terrifying. Under the light of the sun, some droplets of juice from the orange dripped down to the corner of his mouth, but he only stuck out his tongue and licked it away, looking like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue.

     Nangong Liu was suddenly frightened and immediately withdrew his hand. Then, his expression shifted to confusion and annoyance, as if he didn’t understand what he was afraid of.

     Xu Shuanglin suddenly said, “Look at that.”

     “What?” Nangong Liu looked over, and after a moment, his eyes suddenly widened and an extremely complicated expression appeared on his face, “It’s… it—”

     “The man-eating fish.” Xu Shuanglin picked up the dead piranha and threw it on the sandy beach, leaning over to examine it.

     The lion-faced fish monster’s fangs were bared, revealing its mottled, bloody canine teeth. Its grayish-black eyes were bulging, no longer holding any light.

     Xu Shuanglin dipped his finger in a little of its blood and smelled it. He subconsciously rubbed his bare feet together and frowned as he said, “Ew, it stinks.”

     He stood up and kicked the piranha, “This should be one of the few evil beasts left in the lake. Although the beings that the Exalted Gouchen left to guard the holy weapons were all divine beasts, the passage of time is enough to change a lot of things. Ghosts can transcend, gods can fall, not to mention a mere divine beast.”

     Nangong Liu murmured, “It was this… beast that asked me to sacrifice Rong Yan’s heart…”

     Everyone outside the illusion was horrified at these words, and apart from Chu Wanning, who already knew the truth, no one could believe what they were hearing. They were shocked, “What?!”

     “Rong Yan… that’s… that’s…”

     Some were still muttering, while others turned to look at Nangong Si, feeling both dismay and pity, “That’s his…”

     Nangong Si was stunned, and his entire body began to tremble. He staggered backwards and fell to his knees. His face was paler than the dead, and more terrifying than a ghost’s.

     “Mother? Impossible… that’s impossible!”

     Ye Wangxi reached out to him, trying to hold back her tears, “A-Si…”

     “Impossible…” Nangong Si’s face twisted with fear and anger, grief and horror. His emotions were in complete disarray, and he couldn’t hear anyone else’s words, couldn’t hear anything at all, “It’s impossible! Father told me my mother died because her heart was pierced through when she killed a demonic beast!”

     He trembled and muttered to himself, “Her heart… it pierced her through the heart and she died…”

     He did not cry. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot as he kept repeating hoarsely, from muttering to growling, until he cried in a frantic howl, “It pierced her through the heart! Through the heart!”

     His memories suddenly flashed back with a jolt.

     He was still very young when his parents set off with a group to seek holy weapons from Jincheng Lake.

     He remembered vividly that the night before, because he wanted to play, he took Naobaijin into the forest at the back of the mountain. Only when it was late at night did he sneak back into the house and tried to act as if he had been studying his lessons all day.

     But he didn’t know that his mother had come to find him after dinner to give him a newly embroidered quiver. In the end, after looking around and not seeing him in the mansion, she knew he had snuck out to play again.

     Rong Yan was a woman with a very cold temperament. Unlike most mothers, she was not close to Nangong Si, and did not dote on him. When she came to Nangong Si’s room again, he was pretending to read Wandering Free and Unfettered, shaking his head and reciting it.

     Rong Yan told him to stop and asked him, “What have you been doing since dinner?”

     Nangong Si didn’t know that Rong Yan had already found out he was slacking. He put down the scroll, scratched his head, and said with a big smile, “Mother, I, I was reciting the scroll.”

     “You were reciting it the whole time?”

     The child was afraid of being punished, so after stammering for a second, he still nodded, “Mm… yes, yes!”

     Rong Yan lifted her elegant neck slightly and raised her chin as she looked down at him sharply, “You lied.”

     Nangong Si was startled, and his face turned red, “I didn’t.”

     Rong Yan immediately took his bamboo scroll and asked, “The world is wrong without adding discouragement. What is the previous sentence?”

     “And… and lift up the whole world… and…”

     “You are renowned throughout the world and yet you refuse to advise me!” Rong Yan frowned. Her eyebrows knitted together and she slammed the bamboo scroll on the desk, saying sternly, “Nangong Si, what did mother teach you? It would be fine if you only went to play outside until late at night, but now you’ve learned to deceive people?!”

     “Mother…”

     “Don’t call me!”

     Seeing that his mother was angry, Nangong Si couldn’t help but panic. Compared to his amiable father, he was actually more afraid of his mother, who was always in and out of her military uniform, and had no delicate words to spare her son.

     “You really are too outrageous.”

     The little child’s eyes reddened. He was afraid that she would scold him again, so he argued, “I-I didn’t come back too late. I just played outside for a little while after dinner.”

     Rong Yan stared at him. His mother, who was originally not so angry, became more and more disappointed and upset at her son’s painstakingly persistent arguments.

     “I came back as soon as the sky got dark.”

     Pah! A resounding slap interrupted Nangong Si’s words. Rong Yan’s chest moved up and down, her hand still lingering in the air. She shouted angrily, “Nangong Si! Greed, hatred, deceit, murder, rape, robbery, and plunder are the seven things a gentleman of Rufeng must not do! Have you not learned these words?! Do you want to continue lying to your mother?!”

     Nangong Si was stunned by her slap. After a while, he came back to his senses, and tears welled up in his eyes. He felt wronged, “If you weren’t so fierce, why would I have lied to you? You hit me and scold me… You, you don’t treat me well at all! I don’t like you! I like father!” As he said this, he ran out to find Nangong Liu.

     “You stop right there!”

     Rong Yan pulled him back. Her pale face was filled with fury, “Why are you looking for your father? Your father is always submissive, always flattering. He’s just a piece of trash. Don’t tell me you want to learn from him?! Sit down!”

     “I don’t want to! I don’t want to!”

     Rong Yan gritted her teeth and forced the struggling Nangong Si back into his seat. But the moment she let go of him, Nangong Si tried to run again. In the end, Rong Yan had no choice but to raise her hand and place a barrier, binding him completely.

     He was humiliated and angry, gasping like a caged beast.

     “Let me go! I don’t want a mother like you! You… you’ve never talked to me kindly, you’ve never cared about me, you only ever scold me… You only know how to scold me!”

     Rong Yan’s face turned red and white, her lips trembling slightly as she said halfheartedly, “Stay in your room and recite this entire scroll. I’ll check it tomorrow. If you continue to misbehave, I’ll…”

     As she finished speaking, she was at a loss. What would she do? She had always been an iron-blooded person with a fierce temperament. Even when facing her cowardly husband, she wouldn’t hesitate to reprimand him in public and teach him a lesson.

     But to Nangong Si… what could she do?

     She stood in place for a while, feeling sad and resentful, shocked and helpless. Under the attack of such anger, she couldn’t help but cough violently. She was someone with an old illness, and after a short while, she coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

     Before Nangong Si could even see it, she had already used a handkerchief to wipe it away. Then, she spoke in a hoarse voice.

     “Si-er, you are still young. In this world, right and wrong are not always things that can be seen clearly. Sometimes, the people who treat you with tolerance may not want you to be good, and those who treat you harshly may not wish you ill. Your father is weak and incompetent, not to mention…” She paused for a moment before dropping her train of thought and saying instead, “Mother does not wish for you to become a cultivator like him in the future, a Sect Leader like him.”

     Nangong Si bit his lip and said nothing.

     “You mess around and don’t pay attention to your studies. These aren’t important matters, but how can you learn to lie and deceive people? Our Rufeng Sect has been a glorious foundation for over a hundred years. And it is only because we have always adhered to the qualities of gentlemen that we have the face to stand at the peak of all immortals. Your father never taught you these truths seriously. But I am your mother, so if he doesn’t want to tell you, I will repeat it to you again and again. Even if you don’t listen, even if you think I’m strict, even if you hate me.”

     “...Father doesn’t want to tell me because he treats me as Si-er. If he makes me happy, he’ll be happy. What about you?! What mother?! You only treat me as the Young Master of Rufeng Sect, the future Sect Leader! When I’m with you, I don’t even have half a day of good days! I won’t listen to you!”

     Rong Yan was immediately irritated, and an unnatural flush rose to her snow-white cheeks. She covered her face with her handkerchief and coughed again. After gasping for breath for a long time, she finally said sternly, “Alright. If you don’t listen, I will continue to tell you until you finally understand one day.”

     “...” The child was extremely stubborn, so he simply covered his ears with his hands.

     Rong Yan sat back down in her chair slowly and calmed down. However, her heart still throbbed with pain. She remembered the injuries she had suffered when fighting a demon in her early years. Although she was taking medicine every day, it had turned into a grave disease that was only getting worse and worse. When she looked up to see her child disobeying once again under the candlelight, she couldn’t help but close her eyes.

     After a long time, she said in a softer tone, “Si-er, mother can’t accompany you for a lifetime. There will be a day when I can no longer watch over you. I will no longer be able to warn you. I only hope that you can understand in the future…”

     She suddenly stopped talking.

     Nangong Si had crouched down on the floor, his small body curled up in a ball, crying within the barrier she had cast. And her child, the one who had always been happy and smiling, sobbed and cried under her words.

     Rong Yan was stunned for a long time before she slowly stood up and walked over to the enchantment. She raised her hand, wanting to remove it, wanting to lean down and pick up her crying child, caress his red and swollen cheek, and kiss his forehead. However, she endured it, and only continued to stand there fiercely.

     She slowly finished the second half of her sentence, “You have to understand… that greed, hatred, deceit, murder, rape, robbery, and plunder are seven things a gentleman of Rufeng Sect must not do.”

     “I don’t understand, I don’t want to understand, I… I…” Nangong Si raised his teary eyes and shouted at his mother outside the barrier, “I hate you! I don’t have a mother like you!”

     “...”

     At that moment, outside the barrier, Rong Yan’s face was so pale. Her face, which had always been cold and resolute, looked as if she was heartbroken.

     That face, for the next twenty years, haunted Nangong Si’s dreams many times. When he woke up, the pillow would always be wet, soaked through with his tears. At that time, he could only imagine a poisonous scorpion waving its pincers and stabbing its vicious poison into his mother’s heart.

     It was painful, really painful.

     Even after a lifetime, he would never be able to ease the pain. He would never be able to reconcile with himself.

     Three days later, Rong Yan didn’t come to see him at the mansion. She only asked the maid to bring him a quiver embroidered with camellias and a letter.

     In the letter, his mother wrote solemnly, saying only that she knew Nangong Si had recently taken up martial arts and was fond of the bow, so she had embroidered a quiver for him to carry. She also said she was going to Jincheng Lake with his father, and when she returned, they would take a good look at Wandering Free and Unfettered. She hoped he would focus on his studies and not be too carefree.

     And what did he do?

     His anger had not yet subsided, and his heart was full of resentment. He took a knife and cut the quiver his mother had made to pieces. Then, he threw her letter into the fire pit, and burned it to ashes. He tore up Wandering Free and Unfettered and threw it on the table. In the midst of that fragmented determination, he felt glad.

     He took revenge on her.

     He hated her.

     He wanted her to know that he would never listen to the teachings of such a terrible mother, that he would never compromise…

     He grimaced with the utmost malice; he had his heart set on building his walls up as high as he could. He wanted his mother to bow her head to him, to admit her faults. Or perhaps… he was only using his pitiful malice to get soft words and a hug from his mother.

     But she did not come.

     It didn't matter if she admitted her mistake, hugged him, or was gentle. He was looking forward to his victory, waiting to declare war on that woman once more, and then—

     He waited for her bones.

     “The Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect was attacked in the forest last night. His wife protected him with her own body and died pierced through the heart.”

     When the coffin was brought back, Nangong Si stood in a daze by Rufeng Sect’s towering city gate tower. White silk and paper money were scattered all over the place, and as the sole legitimate son, he stood at the front of the group, waiting.

     According to custom, when his mother’s coffin was carried back to the sect, the elders would break a porcelain bowl and the first son would kneel down and cry bitterly, kowtowing to the ground to welcome his mother’s spirit back.

     But Nangong Si could not cry.

     He felt that everything was so absurd, so unreal. The sun shone down on the ground, reflecting a dazzling white light. He felt dizzy and sick to his stomach.

     It’s not true.

     It’s not true!

     How could he accept that… now, separated by life and death, the last thing she said to him was, “Greed, hatred, deceit, murder, rape, robbery, and plunder are seven things a gentleman of Rufeng Sect must not do.”

     And what did he say to her?

     He didn’t want to remember, but that day, he hated so deeply, shouted so bitterly, and his mother’s face was so pained and sorrowful outside the barrier.

     Pain…

     It was really painful.

     He said the last words he would say to his mother in his life… He said…

     “I hate you.”

     “I don’t have a mother like you.”

     The coffin was carried over, and the elders broke the porcelain bowl. A thousand people knelt on the ground, crying bitterly. His father wept silently beside the coffin, while Nangong Si just stood there, tightly holding the embroidered quiver he had cut into pieces.

     The bright red camellia petals and yellow stamens were covered in snow and blooming proudly. It was as if his mother's warm fingertips had just touched the surface of the silk, opening up the beautifully luxuriant red and purple flowers.

     He didn't know if it was because she had a premonition before she died, or if it was just a coincidence, but she embroidered it so vividly that the flowers seemed to come to life, as if she wanted to embroider all of her unspoken love, all of her words and wishes for the rest of her life, into every stitch and thread of that small cloth quiver.

     Nangong Si clutched it tightly. This was the last thing his mother had left him in this life.