In the main hall of Mount Jiao, a single lamp was lit.

     Nangong Liu was curled up beside the throne, sleeping soundly. There were two uneaten oranges next to him.

     Suddenly, a slender figure appeared in the corner. The figure cast a shadow on Nangong Liu as the person slowly approached him. That person’s footsteps were very slow. He tapped with a cane, and there was a snow-white silk cloth that hung on the bridge of his nose, completely covering his eyes.

     “Hm…” Perhaps the sound of the bamboo cane hitting the ground had disturbed Nangong Liu. He woke up from his light sleep, rubbed his eyes, and said in a daze, “Ah, it’s my Dear Friend-gege… What’s wrong with your eyes?”

     The person who appeared within the hall was the blind Shi Mei who had appeared mysteriously before and tried not to emerge in front of others.

     Nangong Liu said in a daze, “Didn’t you go to Tianyin Pavilion?”

     Shi Mei shook his head. “It’s a long story, so I won’t tell you the details.” After a slight pause, he said, “A-Liu, I should have left a Zhenlong military record on the table. Can you help me find it?”

     “What’s wrong with that?” Nangong Liu immediately rummaged around on the table and quickly found the military record made of silk. “Here.”

     “Thank you.”

     Shi Mei’s slender fingers moved slowly across the silk. His eyes were already blinded, and he couldn’t see the words on the silk. However, in case of trouble, this kind of military record wasn’t just recorded using characters. He could read it using his spiritual energy. He stood in the empty hall, reading its contents bit by bit. It was written that Hua Binan had used all the troops of the Zhenlong chess army to force Mo Ran to sacrifice his spiritual core.

     According to this, in the previous life, Rainbell Isle had a population of 46,000 people.

     Wubei Temple had 13,000 people.

     “...”

     It had all kinds of records.

     All the disciples of Sisheng Peak in the previous life.

     Shi Mei held the soft and delicate silk, feeling numb at first. He thought dully, So, this mountain of corpses and sea of blood is the sacrifice he said was necessary in the previous life?

     All the disciples of Sisheng Peak—all of them.

     All of them were made into Zhenlong chess pieces to be used by Emperor Taxian-Jun, and no one except Xue Meng was spared?

     But he clearly remembered that Hua Binan once said to him gently, “You know, I am also a person used to life and death. There is so much suffering in the mortal world. I just wish not to do any evil. I hope that fewer people will die on this path. Otherwise, my conscience will not be at ease.”

     That was what Hua Binan had said to him when he had just come through the space-time rift.

     There is so much suffering in the mortal world, so don’t do any evil. If there is no other choice, you can only wish for fewer deaths.

     This wasn’t much different from his own thoughts. He was ruthless, but it wasn’t what he wanted, and he had no other choice.

     “My conscience will not be at ease…” At that time, Hua Binan, who had sincerely said those words to him, had already killed everyone in the other world.

     But he didn’t know until now.

     "Dear Friend-gege, you… what happened to you?” There was blood rushing to his head, and he heard Nangong Liu’s anxious voice. “You look terrible. Why are you trembling? You… are you sick? Are you cold?”

     Nangong Liu was babbling like a child.

     Suddenly, a wave of warmth suddenly enveloped him. It was Nangong Liu, who had taken off his outer robe and put it on him in a hurry.

     “Come on. I’m not cold. I’ll give you my clothes.”

     The sinner who once had hidden agendas and was so full of schemes turned out to be so simple after losing his spiritual consciousness.

     Perhaps everyone had a time when they were young and sincere, when they were anxious and worried about others. Right? But under the sculpting of time, their hearts and faces had developed wrinkles.

     Until they no longer looked like themselves.

     Shi Mei was wrapped in Nangong Liu’s clothes. He was cold—cold to the bone.

     His vision became blurry, and tears of blood flowed from under the white cloth… He slumped down on the seat and curled himself into a small ball.

     “He is not me…” Shi Mei kept murmuring, “He is not me…”

     Nangong Liu was confused when he heard this. “What?”

     Shi Mei curled his face into the crook of his arm, and tiny tremors spread from his fingertips to the rest of his body. He didn’t even want to touch the piece of silk again.

     “I want to save people. I also know that sacrifices are inevitable. I know there will be many schemes, and I will let many people down. I have long since been prepared for eternal damnation. When he discussed with me that I might have to give up my eyes, I didn’t hesitate. But I…”

     “Dear Friend-gege…”

     Nangong Liu put his hand on his hair, clumsily comforting him like a child.

     Shi Mei suddenly choked up. “But I really didn’t expect that he would kill so many people…”

     The silk record fell to the ground. Written on it were the recorded experiences of almost all cultivators and commoners of the cultivation world.

     They had all turned to bones.

     After a long time, so long that Nangong Liu had already squatted down to the side, not knowing what to do, Shi Mei slowly supported himself on the cold table and slowly stood up.

     Nangong Liu quickly asked, “Where are you going?”

     Shi Mei was silent for a while. He seemed to be really confused about where he should go. When Nangong Liu asked for a third time, he finally came to his senses. He bit his lip and said, “The secret room.”

     He couldn’t continue to make mistakes. He had to save his Shizun.

     When he came to the door of the secret room and touched it, he realized that Hua Binan had cast an extremely powerful forbidden spell on the stone door.

     “...” Shi Mei was slightly startled, but then the corners of his mouth lifted into a wry smile.

     From the silk cloth records to the stone door’s forbidden spell, he suddenly felt that he was so ridiculous.

     He was wary of him, so he cast a forbidden spell that Shi Mei had never practiced before. In the end, Hua Binan didn’t trust him at all.

     “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Shi Mei said softly. A blue light lit up in his hand, and he touched the center of the array.

     “Perhaps you didn’t learn this spell at my age, but I know it—it’s just that you didn’t know about it.”

     The stone door of the secret room suddenly opened.

     Who would live the same life again and take the exact same path?

     Even if it were the same person, perhaps because they had avoided the rain on a spring day and slept soundly under the shade of a summer tree, their life would change because of it.

     Shi Mei hesitated for a while in front of the door to the secret room, but eventually, he slowly walked in.

     In the secret room, a nine-dragon candle was burning, emitting a pure, bright light. However, this light was of no use to the two people in the room—one of them was unconscious and the other was blind.

     The Shi Mei wearing a silk cloth sat on Chu Wanning’s bed. He reached out and stroked Chu Wanning’s face with his pale, slender fingers.

     He murmured softly, “Shizun…”

     Chu Wanning didn’t wake up and didn’t respond. His cheeks were still burning.

     His soul split apart and merged into one.

     He endured Mo Ran’s fragmented memories, tormented in his dreams.

     Shi Mei’s fingertips glowed with a bright light, and he touched the side of his neck. Spiritual power as gentle as water flowed through his body.

     “Are you feeling better?”

     Still, no one answered him.

     Shi Mei lowered his eyelashes. In fact, he also knew that Chu Wanning was still asleep. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to muster the courage to enter the stone room and sit beside Chu Wanning.

     He was in a daze for a while and seemed to be thinking about many things, yet nothing at all.

     In fact, before he entered the sect, when he was still very young, he had a long-cherished wish in his heart. For this long-cherished wish, any sacrifice was worth it.

     He was very clear about what his destiny was, so he never felt that he had done anything wrong.

     But one day, time and space were distorted, and another version of himself from another mortal world suddenly appeared in front of him.

     He met himself more than ten years in the future.

     Putting aside his surprise and fear, when he first saw Hua Binan in his youth, the biggest feeling he had was disharmony—he didn’t know what had caused the other to be like this. He was cold, cunning, morose, and desperate.

     However, for the common wish shared between the two of them, he finally agreed to Hua Binan’s request and worked step by step to finally come to the point they had reached today.

     Over the years, the two Shi Meis of the different mortal worlds each had their own duties. The one who stayed by Mo Ran’s side was always him, while the man behind the scenes was the other Shi Mingjing, who had traveled back through time.

     Just like how Emperor Taxian-Jun and Mo-zongshi were two completely different people, he and that Shi Mingjing actually weren’t that similar. Because of their different experiences, that Shi Mingjing was more like a scheming Cold Scale Sacred Hand, while he, in the current of time, actually became a hidden piece on Cold Scale Sacred Hand’s chessboard.

     Now that he thought about it, before Hua Binan broke through the Gate of Life and Death, he could be considered a ruthless young man. But after he cooperated with Hua Binan, the other had continuously told him that he must curb his sharpness and learn to disguise himself.

     When he was a teenager, he once had a huge argument with Hua Binan because of this. “I’ve had enough. How long do you want me to pretend? I’m always gentle and kind, swallowing my anger every step of the way. Who can remember all the lies I made up to cooperate with you from the inside?”

     When he returned from Jincheng Lake with Mo Ran and the others that time, Hua Binan wasn’t satisfied with his performance in front of the Heart-Pluck Willow, so he scolded him a little. But he didn’t expect Shi Mei to have such a big reaction. He couldn’t help but get startled. “I was just reminding you to be careful and not expose yourself.”

     “You make it sound so easy.” He bit his lip. “You asked me to confirm Mo Ran’s feelings several times. When did I not do it? Do you know how disgusting it is to flatter someone you don’t like?”

     Hua Binan seemed to be at a loss for how to answer. After a while, he said, “I’ve experienced all the things you’ve experienced. What right do you have to say I don’t know?”

     “But I have never experienced what you’ve experienced!”

     “...”

     “Ever since you came to this world, you’ve told me that what I did was wrong and what you did was right. Okay, you’re experienced. For that reason, I am willing to listen to you and give my all for it. But, Hua Binan,” Shi Mei became increasingly agitated as he spoke. He gasped for breath, and his eyes were red. “...you better know that you have no right to criticize me.”

     This was the first time he had such a huge conflict with his younger self since he had traveled to this world. Hua Binan’s face was ashen. He pursed his lips and remained silent.

     Shi Mei said, “You failed in your world, so you came here through the crack in the Gate of Life and Death left by Chu Wanning and wanted to start over again. But you have to be clear that I am not your chess piece.”

     “...”

     “I am conspiring with you for our common wish.”

     Hua Binan closed his eyes. “You’re thinking too much. No one treats you as a chess piece.”

     Shi Mei was still very irritated. “Forget it. Ever since you sensed Mo Ran’s reincarnation, which of my actions haven’t been according to your instructions? I’m the one who’s been keeping an eye on the dormant Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower in his body for you! It’s me!”

     “...”

     “From the first time he appeared in Wuchang Town, you were in a hurry for me to ‘encounter’ him by chance. Later, you asked me to confirm his emotions with small dishes, not to mention the times you asked me to deliberately drive a wedge between him and Chu Wanning.” Shi Mei’s peach blossom eyes glared at Hua Binan’s increasingly unsightly face. “I’m almost sick while acting!”

     “You would do these things even without me.” Hua Binan gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t think I am forcing you. I did all of those things in my previous life. Mo Ran is the host of the Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower. Only by repeatedly confirming his emotions can I find out the situation of the cursed flower in his body. Do you think that I haven’t suffered all these grievances you have suffered?”

     Seeing that Shi Mei didn’t immediately refute, Hua Binan added, “In my previous life, I did almost the same thing as you and kept pretending until the Heavenly Rift occurred. I used my own death to stimulate the hatred in his heart. After that, I started my life anew as Hua Binan.”

     “...”

     “I’ve endured it for so long. Why can’t you bear it after just a short year and a half?”

     Shi Mei suddenly raised his head. “Do you still need to ask? You’re fighting for yourself. What about me?”

     Hua Binan: “...What’s the difference between you and me?”

     “There is a difference. If possible, I don’t want to be manipulated,” Shi Mei stared at him for a while before saying the last part of the sentence, “...even if it’s me from another world.”

     But it was difficult to fulfill one’s wish. No matter how dissatisfied he was, Shi Mei still had no choice but to bow down to fate after the dispute that day.

     After all, he was too young and had never experienced many unforeseen events. He knew clearly what he wanted in the end, so he would definitely compromise with himself from the previous life.

     All these years, he had been constantly manipulated by the other world’s him, living more like a puppet than a Zhenlong chess piece. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t tired of it. But whenever the anger and frustration in his heart reached an extreme, he would constantly remind himself that all this suffering was nothing for the sake of the great things he planned to do.

     “When will the game come to an end?” This became his most common question to Hua Binan. “When is the Heavenly Rift?”

     The answer Hua Binan gave him was usually like catching a carrot in front of a donkey. “Soon. It will be sooner than the previous life.”

     He just waited day by day, patiently.

     Later, the rift to the ghost realm finally opened, and he thought that he could fake his death to be freed like he had in his previous life. But he didn’t expect that Chu Wanning would die in this battle.

     That night, the conflict between him and Hua Binan had reached an unprecedented level. In the disciple room, Shi Mei smashed all the blue and white porcelain bowls in front of him, his chest heaving violently—

     “How can I continue pretending to be calm? Shizun is dead. You schemed and calculated, but did you see this coming?”

     Hua Binan’s expression was also extremely ugly. “How can you blame me for this? If you want to blame someone, blame Mo Ran. He acted rashly.” His fingers on the table clenched into fists, almost sinking into his palms. His voice suddenly became fierce. “He killed Chu Wanning.”

     “...Yes, it’s him.” Shi Mei’s eyes were red, but he tried his best not to shed tears. He was warned by his mother ever since he was a child that no matter what he encountered, he must not cry.

     Hua Binan was the same.

     “He is the one who killed Shizun. Then don’t stop me. I am going to kill him now!”

     Hua Binan suddenly raised his head. “Are you crazy?!”

     “Oh?” Shi Mei gasped and nodded his head, his eyes full of provocation. “You still know the word ‘crazy’?”

     Hua Binan gritted his teeth. “...Protecting Mo Ran, tempering him, and controlling him are vital to our plan. As for the rest, it’s not for you to think about.”

     “See, that’s it.” Shi Mei sneered and held his forehead, his eyes flashing with agitation. “You are Cold Scale Sacred Hand. You can follow the other cultivators and pay your respects to Chu-zongshi from afar in Guyue’ye, even scolding Mo Ran a few times at your leisure, but what about me? What kind of shitty nonsense are you telling me?”

     “...”

     Shi Mei sat down on his chair, and his expression could almost be said to be contemptuous. “The first thing you told me today was to confirm as soon as possible whether the Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower in Mo Ran’s body had completely lost its effect and whether it could still be saved.”

     He murmured, slowly raising his gaze a few inches to land on Hua Binan’s ashen face.

     He ridiculed, “You actually asked me to confess to Mo Ran at this moment? You’re telling me that I can’t let Chu Wanning take my place in his heart?”

     The words were as sharp as thorns, piercing Hua Binan and himself.

     He sneered, “Between the two of us, who’s the crazy one?”

     Hua Binan suddenly closed his eyes, his pupils hidden under his thin eyelids. Then he said, “There’s nothing I can do. Because of Chu Wanning’s sacrifice in his previous life, the Eight Sufferings Everlasting Hatred Flower in Mo Ran’s body is already in a precarious situation. If it is completely destroyed, it’ll be even more difficult to control Mo Ran when the time comes.”

     “So, you’re pushing all the things you couldn’t accomplish to me, right?!” Shi Mei couldn’t stand it anymore. He suddenly slapped the table and stood up. “Shizun just left… Have you considered my feelings?”

     “...”

     “You like him. Do you think I don’t?”

     After Shi Mei said this, his voice couldn’t help but tremble.

     The room was deathly silent.

     Finally, he sat down and put his hand on his forehead, his long eyelashes trembling under his palm. For a moment, neither of them said a word. The rain poured outside the window, and the sky and earth seemed to crack under the lightning and thunder.

     After a long time, he heard Hua Binan sigh softly. “...A-Nan, I’m sorry for you.”

     However, Shi Mei’s reaction to this was just a stiff and cold sentence: “Don’t call me A-Nan.”

     “...”

     “I’m not like you. Call me Shi Mei or Shi Mingjing.”