In the middle of the illusion, Xu Shuanglin’s eyes suddenly widened, and at the same time, the people watching the illusion were also stunned.

     When Mo Ran saw this, he vaguely felt something was wrong. He had lived two lifetimes, and this conversation tied in with some of the events of his past life, allowing him to work out some intriguing details. He knew of Ye Wangxi’s affection for Nangong Si, not just because Ye Wangxi had asked to be buried with Nangong Si before her death, but because in the previous life, Ye Wangxi’s secret had been made public to the world very early on. Nangong Liu had personally chosen her to marry Nangong Si. Now it seemed that this was only because the father was looking for a dual cultivation partner for his son.

     However, not long after the engagement, Nangong Si died suddenly, and Ye Wangxi survived…

     Mo Ran couldn’t help but think about Nangong Si’s death that year…

     Was it really just a coincidence?

     He didn’t think so.

     In the illusion, Xu Shuanglin’s hands were clenched into fists. Although he was still smiling, his tone was somewhat cold, “You want Xiao Ye to marry A-Si?”

     “Well, she’s the most suitable,” Nangong Liu said.

     “What’s suitable?” Xu Shuanglin couldn’t help but laugh, “You originally wanted her raised to be the commander of the Shadow Guard, so you made her appear male instead of female. Now, you’re saying you want her to marry your son. Aren’t you afraid that he’ll despise her?”

     Nangong Liu replied, “He was really unhappy. I saw how often he talked and laughed with Ye Wangxi, and treated her well. I thought he would more or less accept it, but when I told him about the marriage, he was furious. He said he didn’t like Ye Wangxi at all, and that the reason he took care of her was because she was a girl and it wasn’t easy for her to survive in Dark City. He refused to accept the marriage.”

     Xu Shuanglin: “...”

     Nangong Liu continued, “How could I compromise? So, he had a huge quarrel with me. He said that I didn’t respect his decision and casually dealt with the most important matter in his life. He even ignored Ye Wangxi’s decision and kept a cold and distant relationship with her. The more I mentioned it to him, the worse his attitude became. In the end, he even thought I was biased towards Ye Wangxi, how ungrateful. He really doesn’t know what’s good for him. Is it because he thinks she isn’t pretty?”

     Xu Shuanglin was rather impartial, “If the previous Sect Leader suddenly asked you to marry a woman you didn’t like, would you be willing? I don’t think it’s a matter of looks. You really don’t respect him.”

     “He’s shallow! One has to marry a useful and virtuous woman. If he likes pretty girls, can’t he just take concubines after his health stabilizes?” Nangong Liu sighed, “Ai, this is also my fault. Back then, cough, cough, I didn’t… I didn’t see Ye Wangxi’s feelings for Si-er in time. If she still looked the same as before, Si-er would definitely like her…”

     “You’re ridiculous,” Xu Shuanglin said. “Si-er won’t accept it.”

     “Only if he doesn’t want his life anymore. Dual cultivation with someone with such a violent spiritual core like him is extremely painful. If he were to marry an ordinary woman… I’m afraid… she wouldn’t be able to bear it…” Nangong Liu gasped for breath, “Ye Wangxi loves him. If she is willing, she’ll be able to bear it.”

     “How could she be willing?!”

     “I already asked her.”

     “...What?!”

     “I asked her. I’ve already told her about this matter,” Nangong Liu said. “She’s more afraid of Nangong Si being hurt than of her own death.”

     “...” Xu Shuanglin said no more, lowering his head. No one could guess what he was thinking, but after a long while, he finally said, “She really is a fool.”

     At this point, Mo Ran was almost certain—in his previous life Nangong Si didn’t suddenly die of an illness. Most likely, it was Xu Shuanglin who killed him personally.

     With Nangong Si dead, Ye Wangxi would live.

     The reason why Nangong Si was still alive in this life was probably because of Song Qiutong. Since she was a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast, she would be a perfect partner for dual cultivation. With her marrying Nangong Si, his father would have nothing to say. He even felt that it was like xianbing falling from the sky, and wouldn’t force Ye Wangxi to marry Nangong Si.

     Since the engagement between Ye Wangxi and Nangong Si was annulled, Xu Shuanglin would have no reason to harm Nangong Si in this life.

     However, there was still one thing Mo Ran couldn’t figure out. In these illusions, Xu Shuanglin appeared to be the mastermind behind everything, the true devil of this world. But why would such a devil value Ye Wangxi so much? She was clearly just someone he picked up along the way… What was this treacherous and unpredictable man after?

     This memory was not very long. It ended quickly, and the illusion changed again, shifting into a scene much earlier than the previous one.

     Nangong Liu obviously looked younger, and he was much thinner than he was in the last memory. He was holding a small jade colored object shimmering with green light in his hand. Upon closer inspection, this shimmering item turned out to be the Sect Leader’s ring of Rufeng Sect.

     This ring could not be taken off once it was put on. Since Nangong Liu didn't wear it in the illusion, it showed that at this time, he still hadn’t become the Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect.

     An attendant came in and knelt down to salute. The attendant’s robes were stained with blood, as if a violent battle had just taken place. It appeared that this memory was from the night Nangong Liu killed his Shizun and seized the Sect Leader’s ring.

     The attendant asked, “Sect Leader, what should we do with Luo Fenghua’s body?”

     Nangong Liu fiddled with the ring and thought for a while, then said, “Let’s bury him in the Hero’s Tomb. He was my Shizun after all, let’s give him a home to return to.”

     “Yes, sir!”

     The attendant left.

     Mo Ran frowned slightly. He felt that it was a bit strange. According to the memories he had seen so far, the Nangong brothers’ Shizun, Luo Fenghua, was clearly cut into ten thousand pieces by Nangong Liu, sank into the blood pool, turned into a malicious spirit, and thrown into the infernal hells, never to be reincarnated.

     But then why did this memory say Nangong Liu buried his Shizun in the Hero’s Tomb?

     In the illusion, Nangong Liu rubbed the jade Sect Leader’s ring. His eyes flashed with a complex and strange luster, as if he was slightly afraid, but also determined. His adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and finally, he slowly raised his hand. Under the candlelight, he solemnly placed the ring on his thumb.

     He stared at his hand, just looking at the Sect Leader’s ring over and over again. The corners of his mouth slowly curled up as if to burst into a wide, triumphant smile.

     But before his smile could even spread out halfway, it suddenly stopped. Nangong Liu suddenly cried out and plunged down from the Sect Leader’s throne, trembling and convulsing.

     “Sect Leader!”

     “Sect Leader, what’s happening?!”

     Attendants on his left and right rushed to help him up.

     Unexpectedly, when Nangong Liu raised his head, his face, which was fine just a moment ago, was covered in blood. His face was suddenly covered in countless small wounds, which immediately healed, then tore open again. Again and again, blood kept surging from those mysterious wounds.

     “What’s going on?!” Nangong Liu panicked. “It hurts so much… How… how could this happen? What’s going on?!”

     The sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

     Against the moonlight, a man with smooth bare feet stepped onto the ice-cold bricks. He stood in front of Nangong Liu and lifted his robes slightly, so he could half-kneel on the ground to examine the wounds.

     This man was Xu Shuanglin, who was also younger than he was now. He bent over and pinched Nangong Liu’s face to examine it carefully. Nangong Liu was gasping and struggling, his tears, snot, and blood mixing together.

     Xu Shuanglin seemed somewhat disgusted, creasing his brow and frowning as he asked, “Why is this happening all of a sudden?”

     “I don’t know, I don’t know… Shuanglin-xiansheng… Shuanglin-xiansheng, please save me…” Nangong Liu begged.

     At this time, Xu Shuanglin was still only an advisor to Nangong Liu, so Nangong Liu only called him xiansheng rather than elder.

     After a moment’s investigation, Xu Shuanglin grabbed Nangong Liu’s right hand and looked at the brilliant Sect Leader ring. Suddenly, his expression changed, “The Curse of Ten Thousand Calamities is attached to this ring?”

     After hearing this name, the attendants gathered around them all gasped. Only Nangong Liu was still in a daze, not knowing what this curse of life and death was. He only raised his head with a blank expression as tears streamed down his face and his nose dripped with blood.

     “Ah, what’s that?” Nangong Liu asked.

     “A death curse.”

     Xu Shuanglin’s expression was unpleasant, “Luo Fenghua cursed this ring, so if the person wearing it can see even the slightest hint of moonlight, their skin will crack open, and they will suffer a fate worse than death… They are cursed to live like this night after night for the rest of their lives.”

     Nangong Liu was shocked, “What?!”

     “What’s more than that,” Xu Shuanglin said as his hand brushed over the emerald of the ring and felt the raging spiritual flow. “Is that on the day of the full moon, even if you don’t leave your home, and the walls are sealed, not even a hint of the moonlight shining through, you will still feel the pain of a thousand cuts with no way to escape…”

     He opened his eyes and looked at Nangong Liu, who was cowering on the ground with a miserable expression.

     “Until you die.”

     Under the thick stench of blood, Nangong Liu’s pupils suddenly contracted. His appearance was that of a panic-stricken rat, or a poisonous snake that had stuck its head in a dark, gloomy cave.

     He shuddered, then murmured, “Until death?”

     “Yes.”

     “Can… can it be broken?”

     “It can’t be broken,” Xu Shuanglin said. “At least I can’t think of a way to break it at the moment. Maybe in the future…”

     Before he could finish, Nangong Liu had already broken free of his grasp. He climbed down the steps, laughing hysterically as he dragged a crooked bloody streak across the cold tile floor. He yelled and laughed at the same time, his voice hoarse and distorted. The sound was as sharp as a needle, and even many people outside of the illusion couldn’t stand it and covered their ears.

     “Hahahaha—a curse?! You cursed me?!” Nangong Liu yelled, “Luo Fenghua! You stole the Nangong family’s throne! It’s only right that I should throw you out and reclaim my rightful place as the Sect Leader! I even left your body intact, yet you still dare to curse me? How could you… How could you?!”

     He continued, “Because you were my… teacher… I buried you… I buried you in the Hero’s Tomb! Ha! Hero’s Tomb… Yet you want me to suffer every night, splitting my flesh until I die!”

     He snarled, moving inch by inch to the entrance of the great hall, hiding in the dark shadows cast by the heavy red bronze doors. His fingers twitched ferociously, and he suddenly fell, hitting the ground heavily.

     “Until death! How can you be so cruel?! How can you be so cruel! You bastard! Beast! You’ve ruined my life!”

     “Sect Leader…” The attendants around him couldn’t bear it any longer, and wanted to help him back up, but Nangong Liu roared and shouted like he’d gone mad.

     This mangled face had always been one of cowardice and incompetence, more so than any other color. But today, it was different. There was a bone-deep hatred on his face, dancing in his pupils like a wildfire, burning his reason to the point where there couldn’t even grow a single blade of grass.

     Nangong Liu hissed hysterically, “Pass on… my first order… as Sect Leader…”

     The attendants all knelt down to listen to the order.

     “The former head of Rufeng Sect, Luo Fenghua, has committed the most heinous of crimes… great evil… unforgivable! Order people to cut his remains… Destroy his body—ten thousand cuts… into ten thousand pieces!”

     Xu Shuanglin stood silently at the side, his eyes lowered with not a hint of emotion on his face.

     At this moment, another round of tearing came, and Nangong Liu, unable to bear it, collapsed and cried again. But as he cried, he still finished his first order as Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect. Each word was squeezed out of his mouth, “Sink the remains… in the blood pool…”

     You cursed me to be mutilated until I die.

     I curse you into the infernal hells, never to be reincarnated.

     Nangong Liu opened his empty and vacant eyes, his voice hoarse, “Luo Fenghua, you beast…”

     The memory fragments started to collapse and reform like snowflakes once again.

     The bloody secrets of Rufeng Sect were uncovered one by one, and almost everyone present was engrossed in the illusions.

     Some people, like Ye Wangxi and Nangong Si, were watching because it was a personal matter. But many others were enthralled by the complex secrets and lies, and wanted to get their hands on every piece of gossip they could.

     Jealousy was one of the ugliest emotions in the world. How many of those invited to Nangong Si’s wedding were truly sincere in their worship of Rufeng Sect? How many of them passed through the magnificent main gate, looked upon the seventy-two cities under the heavens, and saw spiritual stones as valuable as gold, with only admiration and not a hint of jealousy in their hearts?

     The higher one’s tower reached into the clouds, the more it would attract people’s attention when it collapsed. The pain of others was always the best topic of conversation on the streets and alleys, especially during a meal.

     Mo Ran didn’t want to watch any longer, but this matter was full of doubt, and of great importance. Although Xu Shuanglin’s memories appeared to be true, and could explain the changes at Jincheng Lake and the Peach Blossom Springs, he still vaguely felt that something was wrong.

     He always felt that there was something particularly wrong about this memory.

     …What is it?

     He furrowed his brows, thinking deeply.

     But suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a strange light flashing in the distance. But because there was one illusion unfolding after another, no one would have looked into the forest, so no one noticed it at all before Mo Ran.

     Mo Ran was stunned for a moment, then his face suddenly changed as he shouted, “Tribulation fire!”

     Everyone turned their heads at the words, “Tribulation fire?! Where is it?!”

     “Over there—over there!”

     “That’s not right! This way too!”

     No one could have imagined that while they were watching Xu Shuanglin’s memories, the surrounding area of Rufeng Sect, as well as the seventy-two cities, would all be set ablaze with a scarlet flame. The light was so distant and deep in the forest that they wouldn’t have been able to see it clearly if they hadn’t been paying attention.

     Tribulation fire was one of the fiercest types of fire. Unless it was raining heavily, it wouldn’t stop until everything around it was burned to ashes.

     Thick smoke billowed into the air, and the flames were like water poured onto a piece of silk, quickly spreading in all directions.

     In the distance, one could see bright flashes of light flying in all directions from the seventy-two cities, appearing like meteors. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were disciples of Rufeng Sect who had flown out on their swords to escape the sea of fire.

     When the people in the crowd saw this, quite a few of them paled and shouted loudly, “What’s going on?!”

     Some even turned around and ran towards Shile Hall, calling out the names of their companions.

     Xue Zhengyong’s face changed drastically as well—Madam Wang was still over there, and she didn’t know the art of the sword at all…

     “Mo Ran! Yuheng! I’ll leave Meng-er to you, I’ll go check on Madam!”

     Mo Ran was also distraught, and nodded, “Uncle, go quickly and bring auntie away first. We're here. We definitely won’t let anything happen to Xue Meng!”

     Xue Zhengyong patted him on the shoulder and flew towards Shile Hall, where the flames were raging.

     Seeing the chaos, Xu Shuanglin stood quietly in place and suddenly burst into an extremely brilliant smile as he said with a laugh, “What a scene of monkeys scattering when the tree falls!”

     Mo Ran suddenly turned around and saw Xu Shuanglin snap his fingers, causing the shimmering memory shards to gather in his palm like millions of snowflakes.

     Once again, the sky returned to the present and revealed the Heavenly Rift which still hadn’t been closed. It continued to pour out golden-red lava, which spread towards the forest at a very slow pace.

     Mo Ran stared at Xu Shuanglin and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. This man, something was wrong with the look in his eyes. Mo Ran was all too familiar with this gaze. In his previous lifetime, he was at the top of Sisheng Peak, alone in the empty Wushan Palace. After Chu Wanning died, he would look at himself in the mirror and see a pair of terrifying eyes. These eyes had been filled with madness and blood, a pair of eyes that had given up on themselves and wanted everyone to be buried with them.

     “You want to destroy Rufeng Sect?”

     Hearing Mo Ran’s question, Xu Shuanglin’s only reaction was to rub his bare feet together.

     Then, he smiled.

     “So what if I do? If I’m destroying my own home, who are you to care?”

     Mo Ran repeated, “Your own home…”

     Xu Shuanglin walked over the rolling lava to Nangong Liu and grabbed him by his collar. He pulled him up from the ground and raised his head,” Yes, my own home.”

     He forced Nangong Liu to look at him, then raised his hand and slowly, inch by inch, starting from the bottom of his own neck, began to tear something away little by little.

     In the end, with a soft tear, an exquisite human mask made from the skin of a hundred-year-old serpent demon was ripped off, revealing a face that was no longer youthful.

     At first, Nangong Liu’s entire body trembled slightly, then he began to shake violently. His breathing was erratic, but he managed to drag out bits and pieces of his voice with great difficulty, “You… It’s you…?! You’re actually not dead… You actually… You actually…”

     “I’m not dead. You’re still alive, how could I possibly die before you?” Xu Shuanglin said with a smile. “I am much stronger than you in every aspect, including survival. Even if you rot into mud, I will still live. What? It has been a long time since we last met. Are you so happy to see me again that you can’t even speak?”

     He summoned a flame and casually burned that lifelike mask, the flames spreading all the way to the tips of his fingers. He didn’t care about the flames, nor feel any pain at all, just shaking his hands off and pressing his burnt fingertips to Nangong Liu’s lips with a crooked smile.

     “Sect Leader-xianjun, long time no see… Or should I call you brother?”