On Rufeng Sect’s Soul Summoning Platform, Xu Shuanglin looked at the scattered specks of golden light floating in the night sky. He suddenly felt that it resembled the piece of paper he threw into the fire that one snowy Lantern Festival night.

     It burned to ash in an instant, with only a few specks of sparks remaining to scald him over the years.

     I hope that Luo Fenghua, Nangong Xu, and Nangong Liu can be friends and family for the rest of our lives.

     But Nangong Xu no longer existed in this world. The one standing here now was Xu Shuanglin, a madman, a demon, a person who crawled back from the depths of hell to claim the lives of all the decent people in the world.

     Nangong Xu was no more.

     He, just like his name, had drifted away, floating somewhere between the vast heaven and earth.

     As time passed, even rocky cliffs shatter and break.

     Not to mention this tiny willow catkin.

     So many years had passed. The willow tree grew old, the magnificent maple started to wither, and the floating catkins wandered in the wind. What he saw was not the world’s flowers, but the blood that covered the mountains and plains, the overwhelming hatred.

     But why did he still involuntarily hand over everything Luo Fenghua had taught him back then to Ye Wangxi? Why did he still feel compassion when he saw a true gentleman, a good person, and could no longer be ruthless?

     Why…

     Why did he cry?

     Xu Shuanglin knelt on the Soul Summoning Platform and finally wailed, tears flowing down his ugly, twisted face. He caressed and held Luo Fenghua’s spiritual core in his hand, finally crying until his voice was hoarse and he was choked by heartbreak, as if every inch of sound was dug out from a throat covered in blood.

    “Shizun… Luo Fenghua…”

     He had exhausted all the methods he could think of. He was full of madness and hatred, distortion and longing. He had spent his whole life setting up this trap.

     Was it ruined just like that?

     He thought of the resentment he felt after the Spiritual Mountain Competition. Later, when his father passed on his position to Nangong Liu, he was unwilling to accept it, and seized the throne out of anger.

     —

     He still remembered his father’s old and pale face when he was ill, staring at him in disbelief.

     “The position of Sect Leader belongs to me.” He put his hand around his father’s throat and tightened it bit by bit. His expression was cold and ruthless, a sharp light flashing in his eyes, “If father doesn’t want to destroy Rufeng Sect’s hundreds of years of foundation, then you should accept it. You’re already old, you can rest now.”

     “Xu-er…”

     He closed his eyes and didn’t allow his father to continue speaking. The meridians in his hand suddenly bulged and he heard a heart-piercing “crack.” It was the sound of his throat breaking.

     He took off the Rufeng sect leader ring and put it to his lips.

     The thumb ring was cold, but not as cold as his face.

     “I just want justice. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it myself. Father, you don’t have to hate me in the underworld.”

     He turned around and left.

     The scene in his memories changed.

     It was the first night after he usurped the throne. The servants cleaned up the bloodstains on the ground after the great battle. His father was dead, Nangong Liu and his family were imprisoned in a water prison, and all those who tried to resist him were suppressed. Everything was settled, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

     He lit a stove in the courtyard and made tea for himself. He was the only one in the courtyard, stroking the glittering sect leader ring on his thumb.

     From then on, he was the Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect.

     Needless to say, those outsiders who plotted against him at the Spiritual Mountain Competition would naturally be chopped to pieces as soon as there was an opportunity. But he didn’t know how to deal with his eldest brother, let alone Luo Fenghua.

     Dusk gradually deepened, and the golden crow set in the west.

     Seeing that the sky was getting darker, Xu Shuanglin finally made up his mind to go to the water prison and see his brother and Shizun, who were detained.

     He brought several attendants with him, and walked halfway there before the last ray of sunlight was swallowed up by the dark night sky. He shivered and suddenly felt a little cold. His head also felt a little dizzy.

     “Sect Leader, what’s wrong?”

     Waving away the servant who came to help him, Xu Shuanglin said, “It’s nothing. I suddenly remembered that there’s something I haven’t dealt with properly. I’ll go back to the main hall first. You don’t have to follow me.”

     He suppressed the increasingly obvious pain, put on the hood of his cloak, and strode towards Rufeng Sect’s main hall. In the end, he truly couldn’t hold on any longer. Even if he couldn’t endure it, he still had to run a bit further. He fiercely pushed the palace door open and went in, then closed it tightly.

     “Sect Leader?”

     “All of you stand guard at the door. You are not allowed to enter. If anything strange happens, report to me immediately.”

     After giving orders to the guards, Xu Shuanglin staggered to the depths of the hall, panting. He abruptly took off his hood, and when he looked down, he found that his skin and flesh was torn and there were hideous scars everywhere he looked.

     His first reaction was to think his father had cursed him.

     But then he felt that it was impossible. That old man was already terminally ill, and didn’t even have the strength to cast spells. How could he do such a thing without anyone noticing?

     Then what was going on?

     The pain was excruciating. His muscles and bones were broken, his skin was hideous, and he continued to convulse and tremble by the window. His knuckles were pale and twisted, and he lay on the ground smearing streaks of red.

     It was too painful…

     He didn’t dare to shout, nor call for a doctor. The situation was not stable yet. As the leader of the rebel army, how could he show even half an inch of weakness?

     He kept gasping and trembling in the hall, rolling and twitching in pain. As he stomped and kicked in pain, he inadvertently pulled down a part of the curtain, which fell over his body.

     The moonlight outside the window was blocked.

     He felt the pain suddenly abate. He shrank under the curtain and gasped for breath, drenched in a cold sweat. After a while, thinking the pain had passed, he pulled the curtain off and sat straight, wanting to stand up.

    Who would have thought that as soon as the moonlight shone, his skin and flesh would be ripped open again, and the pain would pierce through his muscles and bones?

     Xu Shuanglin suddenly realized that he might not be able to stand the shine of the moonlight. Therefore, he staggered to his feet and struggled to close the window tightly, then hid in the darkest part of the hall, where he couldn’t even see his own fingers in front of him.

     His breathing gradually calmed down.

     The pain disappeared, and the bleeding flesh healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

     Xu Shuanglin felt that something was amiss, so he donned his cloak so tightly that not even the slightest bit of skin was exposed, and rushed to the library. He rummaged through for half of the night before he found a scroll of past records in his grandfather’s bookcase—

     It turned out that Nangong Changying, the first Sect Leader of Rufeng Sect, once fought against a Gǔn. Although he finally defeated the evil beast and suppressed it under Jingu Tower, he had been cursed by the Gǔn.

     The ancient evil beast was of the yin attribute, and was closely related to the night and moonlight. It cursed the successive generations of Rufeng Sect’s Sect Leaders. As long as the moonlight shone on them, their skin and flesh would be torn apart, and the pain would be so excruciating that it pierced through their hearts and gnawed through their bones.

     And on every full moon night, the yin energy was at its strongest. Even if one hid in the darkest place with no moonlight, they would feel even more tormented.

     Therefore, for hundreds of years, this had always been the greatest secret of Rufeng Sect. The sect leaders of past generations had always kept it a secret for fear that someone would take advantage of this opportunity and sneak in. Even towards their own son, they would not reveal the truth until the last moment.

     What irony.

     He had gone through so much trouble, but all he got in return was actually a cursed position of power?

     The next day, Xu Shuanglin came to the water prison.

     Nangong Liu and his wife, Rong Yan, were both locked inside, and Luo Fenghua was held in another secret room.

     He did not go to see Luo Fenghua, but went to his brother’s prison first.

     “A-Xu! A-Xu! What are you doing? What are you going to do…” As soon as Nangong Liu saw him, he was extremely agitated. However, his hands and feet were sealed with spells, so he couldn’t move at all. He could only kneel on the ground with tears streaming down his face as he looked at his younger brother, “Have you gone mad? You’re really willing to go to this extent for the position of Sect Leader?”

     After a night of torture, Xu Shuanglin’s complexion was still weak. He sneered, “I’m just taking back what I deserve.”

     “...”

     “You stole my sword technique and ruined my reputation. I am only twenty years old, Nangong Liu.” He paused, his eyes cold, “I’m only twenty years old, and you let me see a lifetime of mediocrity.”

     He walked over slowly, his robe touching the ground, then lowered his head to look at his brother’s face.

     “Nangong Liu, trash like you all have the ambition for power and want to stand out. If you all wish to be outstanding, then what about me?” He said slowly, “I am more diligent than you, more talented than you, superior to you in everything, but I can’t compare to your tongue.”

     He pinched Nangong Liu’s chin and used two fingers to pry open his tightly shut mouth.

     He stared at the slippery, sticky, reddish thing inside.

     “It’s a really sharp weapon that can kill without spilling blood. Just cut it off.”

     Nangong Liu’s eyes widened in horror, but because his mouth was stuck, he couldn’t speak. He could only whimper, drool flowing down continuously.

     “Don’t want to cut it?” Xu Shuanglin sneered, “It’s fine if you don’t cut off your tongue. Since you and I are brothers, I’ll kill you quickly. It’ll be my mercy.”

      As soon as he let go, Nangong Liu cried, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! No, isn’t this about the Spiritual Mountain Competition? You, you bring me out. I will… I will give you justice in front of the whole world!”

     “It’s too late.” Xu Shuanglin took out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped his hands, glancing at him indifferently, “No matter what you say now, the world will only think you were forced to admit it because of my pressure. The dirty water you poured on me can no longer be washed away.

     Before Nangong Liu could speak, he heard a woman’s voice next to him, as sharp as a knife.

     “Nangong Xu ! I know you’ve been wronged, but what do you think you’re doing now? You killed your own father, took away the sect leader’s ring, and now you want to kill your brother. You… How can you be so cruel?”

     “Oh, Rong-shijie.” Xu Shuanglin smiled slightly, “If you hadn’t spoken, I would have forgotten you were here.”

      Although Rong Yan was restrained by spells, and was also kneeling, her expression was fierce and stubborn. Although there were tears in her eyes, there was no weakness, “I… I really misjudged you back then.”

     “So what if you misjudged me?” Xu Shuanglin smiled, “You were the one who gave me the sachet, and you were also the one who later married Nangong Liu. It was you who wronged me first, sister-in-law, how can you bring up the past with me now? You don’t want to tell me that you were forced by him, right?”

     Rong Yan’s face turned pale, and she seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she only bit her lip and closed her eyes.

     Tears streamed down her cheeks.

     The knife was already in his hand, glowing with a cold light.

     “No… no… A-Xu, you can say anything. I can talk to you about anything… Don’t kill me… Please, don’t kill me…”

     “Did you make a mistake about your position?” Xu Shuanglin wiped the blade of the knife with an evil smile on his lips, “Nangong Liu, I am now the Sect Leader and you are a prisoner. You have nothing in your hands, yet you still want to negotiate terms with me? What are you trying to use as a bargaining chip? Your dog life?”

     “I can be your slave! Yes… I can plant the grass! I, I’m willing to do anything! As long as you’re willing, I can return Rong-shijie to you!”

     Rong Yan suddenly opened her eyes and turned her head furiously, “Nangong Liu!”

     Nangong Liu was scared out of his wits. He ignored his wife and just sobbed to his brother, “As long as you let me go… I beg you, please let me go…”

     “Come on.” Xu Shuanglin lazily patted him on the face with the handle of his knife, “Do you think I’d touch an orange you’ve already licked?”

     “Then I can still—I can—” Nangong Liu racked his brains, but couldn’t think of anything. Only tears and snot flowed incessantly, and in the end, he burst into tears, “A-Xu, we once said that we’d eat pastries together, climb roofs together… We cultivated together, celebrated the Lantern Festival together, and learned to play the zither together. Have you forgotten all those days?”

     Xu Shuanglin’s face darkened, but in the end, he just sneered and didn’t answer. He raised the knife, and after a while, he slashed it down.

     “Ahh!!”

     “Wait a minute!!”

     The cold blade stopped just inches away from Nangong Liu’s neck. In truth, Xu Shuanglin wasn’t sure whether his knife could be swung any further even without this shout.

     However, his expression remained unchanged, and he still said calmly, “What’s wrong? You two sure have a lot of last words.”