Understand?

     What was there not to understand? Shi Mingjing had concealed his true identity from Sisheng Peak since the very beginning. For so many years, he had always avoided talking about his biological parents, and even if he did occasionally mention them, it would only be with a few words and eyes filled with such sorrow that it would be difficult to continue asking him.

     Lies always had loopholes, and too much discussion could lead to mistakes. This was a simple truth that Shi Mei must understand.

     Looking back now, ever since Shi Mei was a child, he had never shed a single tear, no matter how wronged or wounded he’d been…

     “Come up. This Venerable One will bring you to the end of the Path of Martyrdom.”

     This carriage belonged to the demon clan and was made of gold, inlaid with various images of the demon realm in silver. Two figures were carved at the junction of the carriage; on the left was a man with a curled beard, his eyes wide open with rage and his hand holding a carpenter’s tool. It was unknown what grudge the person who carved the figure had against him, but this man was depicted in an extremely ugly manner, which made people feel disgusted. On the right was a plump woman with lowered brows and eyes, who also held a carpenter’s tool. This one was slightly better. It was ugly, but still within the limits of being tolerable.

     The feature that would cause people to feel the most unease was what was in front of the five demonic horses pulling the carriage. There were five objects suspended in the air by spiritual power—four limbs and a bloody head; they weren't real, only carved from wood, but since Chu Wanning had seen the appearance of the fake Gouchen at the bottom of Jincheng Lake, he could easily recognize that this was actually Gouchen’s appearance.

     “All of the carriages in the demon realm have always been like this.” Taxian-Jun glanced at the meager head. “It has been like this for millions of years.”

     Sitting in the carriage, with the little bell on the demonic horse’s bridle jingling, Taxian-Jun sat comfortably and said, “You should have guessed who those two little carvings on the carriage are.”

     “...It’s Fuxi and Nuwa.”

     “That’s right.” He smiled. “The old Demon Lord hated the heavenly realm so much that he wished for the god of creation to pull a carriage for him for the rest of his life.”

     “...How was Shennong spared?”

     “Never heard Hua Binan speak about it before. But rumor has it that Shennong is gentle and generous and doesn’t like to spend his time fighting and killing others. He also doesn't have a very close relationship with Fuxi and Nuwa, so that old guy didn’t participate much in the battle between the gods and demons.”

     Chu Wanning said no more and turned to look out the window at the red Path of Martyrdom.

     The demon horses were very fast. After about a cup of tea’s time, it had already brought them to the end of the long, bloody bridge.

     After dismounting the carriage, there was a bridge made of piles of bones under his feet and a boundless sea of clouds ahead. The gate to the demon realm was hundreds of times larger than it had seemed at the top of Sisheng Peak, and now they could see it clearly in full detail. It was so massive that it seemed to connect the heavens above and the earth below, bursting with demonic fire in the rainy night. A mortal standing in front of it would be like a mayfly in front of a giant tree, or a millet in front of the ocean.

     Chu Wanning looked at the colossal gate that reached the sky. Everywhere he looked was covered in exquisitely embossed carvings depicting the five realms—the demon realm at the top, followed by ghost, monster, human, and the heavenly realm at the bottom. These embossed carvings were magnificent, but they also had a vague sense of indefinable treachery about them.

     “Doesn’t it seem strange?” Taxian-Jun walked to his side and looked at the giant gate with him. “When seeing it, This Venerable One also thought something was wrong.”

     “...”

     “It took half a shichen to figure out the problem.”

     But he clearly didn’t intend to waste time and make Chu Wanning stare at the gate for half a shichen, so he said, “The carvings on this gate aren’t made of the same material as the stone door but were melted on later. It’s divine bone.”

     Chu Wanning suddenly turned around.

     Taxian-Jun’s demeanor became more and more indiscernible under the illumination of the demonic fire. “In ancient times, during the war between the gods and demons, the Demon Lord flayed and removed the bones of all the captured gods and turned them into embossed carvings on all the gates to and from the demon realm.”

     The strong wind made his robes flutter.

     “From then on, all living beings who go to the demon realm will see how many gods have been captured by the demons. This also means that the demons behind the gate will never have any dealings with the gods.”

     After watching the strange phenomenon for a while longer, Taxian-Jun said, “That’s about it. Now that you know what we’re going to do, do you still have so much criticism?”

     “...Killing all the people of two worlds to pave this path home.” Chu Wanning raised his eyes, and although he knew Taxian-Jun was nothing more than a puppet controlled by others, he still couldn’t help but sneer, “Without any criticism, do you want me to say you’ve done well?”

     Just as Taxian-Jun was about to respond, he heard a commotion behind him.

     They turned around and saw Mu Yanli leading thousands of people from the back mountain of Sisheng Peak. She didn’t expect the two of them to be here, and she was stunned at first before her gaze fell on Chu Wanning.

     “Why did you bring him here?” She stared at Chu Wanning, but her words were directed at Taxian-Jun. “Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble?”

     Taxian-Jun said coldly, “By just looking at him, This Venerable One knows what he will do next. No need for you to worry.”

     “This is a key place for the Butterfly-Boned Clan to return home. Do you know—”

     He didn’t want to listen to her talk anymore, so he interrupted her and said, “Then, amongst you trash, who can fight him to a draw?”

     Mu Yanli choked.

     “It is more difficult for him to escape by This Venerable One’s side than if he were in a cage with ten layers of forbidden spells. This Venerable One is kind enough to bring him to share your worries, so why are you still talking so much nonsense?”

     “You—!”

     “What?” Taxian-Jun lifted his thin eyelids, his eyes extremely cold. “If you’re not convinced, This Venerable One will send him back immediately and leave him alone from now on. You find a way to keep an eye on him yourself. Don’t let him approach Hua Binan again by accident; otherwise, he will easily take his life.”

     Mu Yanli was speechless for a moment. After a long time, she changed the subject and said, with a hint of anger, “...Forget it. I’ve got some chess pieces, fill them all in. In addition, A-Nan has detained some people from the present world and imprisoned them at the summit of Sisheng Peak. Once you’ve cleaned up this matter, you should quickly go back and make some new chess pieces.”

     After she finished speaking, she left with a wave of her sleeves. Taxian-Jun glanced at Chu Wanning, revealing his white teeth and deep dimples.

     “You’re really lucky that a new batch of materials has arrived. Do you want to see how This Venerable One builds the bridge?”

     The scene of sacrificing the living to build a suspended bridge was so horrifying that Chu Wanning had a nightmare after returning that day.

     In the dream, Taxian-Jun stood at the end of this Path of Martyrdom, his feet trampling over broken bones, hearts, livers, stomachs, and intestines; every organ and piece of broken flesh had a bright red mouth, wailing miserably.

     “I don’t want to die…”

     “Give me back my life… Give me back my life…”

     Among the fragments of bodies, he saw half of Xue Meng’s face, Xue Zhengyong’s eyes, Madam Wang’s body, and Huaizui’s hand with a small mole on it.

     He ran towards them with all his might, shouting, “Xue Meng! Sect Leader! Mada—”

     The words were cut off.

     He saw Mo Ran slowly turn his head under the blood-red sky. He was still wearing his old disciple uniform, and his eyes were gentle and sad as he said, “Shizun, save me…”

     “I don’t want to die. I don’t want this… Save me…”

     He suddenly woke up, gasping for breath, his cheeks and back covered in a cold sweat. He wanted to get up, but his wrists were bound by Taxian-Jun’s forbidden spell, and he couldn’t move.

     The room was very quiet. He was alone. The sand in the hourglass fell slowly, like the tears of the dead gathering into a stream.

     “Someone come…”

     In recent days, he had become very thin and weak, so much so that the thick covers almost completely covered him as he sat on the bed.

     Memories of the previous life, missed opportunities in this life, a sea of piled up corpses, and a hopeless future—all these things weighed down on his shoulders, crushing even his iron bones to ashes.

     Chu Wanning’s eyes were empty. He was in a daze and slowly recovered from the nightmare, but reality wasn’t much better than the nightmare, and his expression seemed particularly broken.

     “Someone come…”

     Liu-gong hobbled in, looking much older than Chu Wanning remembered.

     After all, this world was far too distant from the year Chu Wanning had died in his previous life.

     “Zongshi, are you having a nightmare?”

     The old servant could see what was in his heart at a glance. Chu Wanning nodded wearily.

     “Let me heat up a pot of ginger tea for you…”

     “No need.” Chu Wanning raised his slightly moist eyes and looked at him in the darkness. “Where is Mo Ran? Still on the Path of Martyrdom?”

     “...”

     “How many people did he kill?”

     Old Liu was silent for a long time before he sighed. “Zongshi, don’t ask.”

     The water poured for a long, long time, and the rain and wind outside were very bleak.

     “This old slave doesn’t know how to cultivate, but I understand that once the Gate of Life and Death was completely opened that day, there was no turning back. All those zongshi also understand this in their hearts.”

     Chu Wanning’s lips moved slightly, and after a moment, he suddenly closed his eyes. He gripped the fiery red spell chain on his wrist with his fingers—ever since his assassination attempt, Taxian-Jun had been on his guard against him. When he had nothing else to do, Taxian-Jun would personally watch him, and when he had to go out to pave the way for the return of the demons, Chu Wanning would be locked in Wushan Palace.

     “Zongshi… forget it. It’s been two lifetimes; you’ve done enough.” Old Liu’s voice was elderly, like an autumn leaf about to fall. “In these last few days, just look at it like everyone else.”

     “It’s all over. There’s nothing that can be done.”

     “Have a good life and stop torturing yourself..”

     Later, Old Liu brought a bowl of ginger tea and watched over Chu Wanning as he drank it. The old man used to be cautious in his words and deeds, knowing what to say and not say, which was how he stayed beside Taxian-Jun for so long.

     But on this rainy night, he looked at Chu Wanning, who had been forced into a desperate situation and looked extremely haggard; he looked at Chu Wanning’s cheeks, which were even paler than a porcelain cup. He looked at the cold and rainy night outside and suddenly had some complicated feelings.

     Old Liu didn’t know how to console him, so he could only mumble, “Drink some more. At least finish this bowl. Ginger tea can drive away the cold. It is said that nightmares are caused by a cold body, so if you drink it before going to sleep, you won’t have nightmares.”

     After a while, he murmured in a daze, “My son used to have nightmares all the time too. I gave him some, and he’d sleep soundly…”

     But the murmur was too soft, and Chu Wanning didn’t hear it.

     After the old servant gave him tea, he slowly walked out with the tray and cups, wiping his eyes as he left the room. The old man was soft-hearted, but he couldn’t do anything; thus, his back appeared even more hunched.

     He disappeared down the long corridor.

     In fact, what Old Liu said was right. The best time to stop Shi Mei had been before the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death was opened. If this was missed, it would be almost impossible to reverse the situation.

     Chu Wanning sat in the empty Wushan Palace. He knew that he had finally lost to Shi Mei in the end. In his previous life, he discovered the truth too late. His sacrifice and planning only delayed the calamity for about ten years.

     In the end, everything returned to the same place.

     He tried his best, but in the end, nothing came of it.

     It was written in more than one book that when time and space were broken, the punishment of the heavens was bound to come. In fact, even if punishment from the heavens didn’t come, the two mortal worlds were already in complete chaos. These were the last years, and many people knew it in their hearts. But Taxian-Jun’s consciousness was incomplete, so he wasn’t worried and lived a very carefree life.

     When he returned that day, he brought a pot of pear blossom white wine.

     He poured cups in front of the two of them and said to Chu Wanning, “The Path of Martyrdom has almost been paved.”

     “...”

     “After helping Hua Binan with this, there will be more free time.” He took a sip of the pear blossom white, which he hadn’t tasted in a long time, and smiled. “Well, it still tastes the same.”

     After saying this, he looked up at Chu Wanning. “When they return to the demon realm, do you want to stay in this mortal world with This Venerable One or cross the Gate of Life and Death and let This Venerable One return with you to the other world?”

     Chu Wanning glanced at him and asked, “Where is Shi Mei?”

     “Shi…”

     He froze for a moment, then his dark brows slowly furrowed, his expression somewhat confused and distressed. He put down the wine cup and raised his hand to rub his forehead.

     Chu Wanning watched his every move, thinking to himself that Hua Binan had really muddled his mind. To Taxian-Jun, the entire matter regarding “Shi Mei” didn’t make sense anymore, and he had no way to think about it any further.

     In the end, Taxian-Jun only felt a splitting headache. He suddenly slammed the wine cup and stared at the man in front of him in the candlelight with tired and slightly reddened eyes.

     “I don’t know.”

     He closed his eyes and pulled Chu Wanning to his feet. He remained seated in his original spot, and after a while, he rested his forehead against Chu Wanning’s waist and smelled the scent of haitang flowers.

     “Don’t ask me again.”

     In the following days, Taxian-Jun’s behavior was almost exactly the same as in his previous life and even became more severe.

     This body that should have no feelings seemed to be afraid that Chu Wanning would disappear or die again, and so used the most powerful techniques to trap him. During the day, Taxian-Jun went to refine Zhenlong chess pieces and pave the Path of Martyrdom. When he returned at night, he would entangle with him endlessly. It seemed that only the most intense sex could soothe the turmoil in his heart, as if only by going deep into the warmth of Chu Wanning’s body could he confirm that all of this wasn’t a dream.

     “Wanning…”

     In the dead of night, the man sleeping beside him murmured.

     “Please pay attention to me…”

     Although he knew it was impossible, at times like this, Chu Wanning still felt that the person entangled with him had a soul. The heartbeat beneath his chest was very heavy and powerful, and his brows and eyes were identical to those of the dead young man.

     When he called “Wanning” in a hoarse voice, there was even something like love in Taxian-Jun’s voice.