Record of the Missing Sect Master Chapter 111-120 (End)

Chapter 111

Pavilion Master Ding was supported by his subordinates, while the dagger remained pierced into his back.

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” didn’t dare to retreat as they pleased and so could only hit his acupoint to staunch the flow of blood.

But it was a futile effort, because Pavilion Master Ding quickly noticed that his injury was growing numb and that this numbness was even slowly spreading out to his limbs; the dagger had clearly been poisoned — in front of outsiders, and in an unprecedented move, Wei Jin had performed two despicable deeds back-to-back, and all of it ended up being against him.

He pulled open the capsule in his mouth, swallowing down the antidote that Cong Yu had specially created. Using all his strength, he barely managed to control his killing intent and asked, “What did you do to Xilai?”

Wei Jin said, “What do you think? Since I’ve been educated by you for this many years, if I don’t properly pay him back for the honor, how could I ever be worthy of you?”

Pavilion Master Ding’s face immediately tightened.

He pressed down bloody tang that bubbled up from his throat and slowly said, “Who told you that you were a child of the Jiang family? If I truly murdered the people of the Jiang family, and you truly are a child of the Jiang family, why would I leave you behind?” He looked around. “If it was all of you, would you do so?”

The adventurers fiercely shook their heads, feeling that it was too inconceivable.

Meanwhile, ever since they finished listening to Wei Jin, the elders had been thinking about this exact same question.

When getting rid of weeds, one must pull them up by the roots, or else they’ll return with the spring breeze. This kind of reasoning was one everyone understood, and that’s not even mentioning the grudge that would’ve been created from the massacre of an entire family. If Pavilion Master Ding was truly filled with evil, then no matter what, there was no way that he’d leave behind that family’s child. And that person was even in the position of the Captain of “Moon’s Shadow”. Wouldn’t this be entirely like he was creating trouble for himself?

If one thought of it like this, the possibility seemed even greater that Wei Jin was tricked.

Everyone couldn’t help but look towards a certain person over there.

Under everyone’s gazes, Ye You unhurriedly moved forward a step before amiably asking Pavilion Master Ding, “Are you trying to say that I drugged him and tampered with his memories?”

“It’s not impossible,” Pavilion Master Ding said with a cold face, “What’s more, if it truly was me who drugged him, would I not be worried that he’d one day undo the drug’s effects?”

Ye You said, “Isn’t it precisely because you weren’t worried that you drugged him?”

At once, the surroundings erupted into a fuss, with the adventurers whispering in each other’s ears, not understanding what was happening.

Sect Leader Xuanyang said, “Sir Xiao, what is your meaning?”

“Why exactly did he leave a survivor behind, me and Wei Jin have also been wondering about this for the past few years.” Ye You looked at the people of “Moon’s Shadow”. “Wei Jin once told me that, from the training barracks up to being chosen to enter “Moon’s Shadow”, over the course of the entire process, the value that’s been instilled the most in all of you was to be just and fair. Since there were too many strange people and incomprehensible occurrences in Jianghu, and even more drugs that could lead people’s hearts astray, a moment of inattention could then lead one to mistake even a brother as an enemy. Thus, whenever you encountered anything, you must first have evidence, and only once you’re certain should you make a move; hasty actions must not be taken. Isn’t that right?”

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” made a sound in agreement. They’d all heard a similar sort of lecture before, and not only once.

Ye You said, “That year, when Wei Jin broke through the drug’s effects, the first thing he wanted to do was to investigate his own identity, to see if he ever actually resided in the village that he remembered, but I stopped him.”

Wei Jin took over the conversation with, “He told me that, since I haven’t sent any news in this many days, if I truly had been drugged, then the people who drugged me would definitely start considering the possibility that I undid the drug’s effects. Thus, there was even more of a possibility that they’d send people to that village or the Jiang family’s grave to stand guard. The moment those people saw me, they most likely wouldn’t wait to see whether or not I’d take my revenge and would simply kill me on the road. Rather than going now, he told me that I should slowly investigate, so I endured it.”

“During the time he was taking care of his injuries, it was me who investigated in his place, and I discovered that those places really did have more strangers present than before.” Ye You smiled in a way that was not at all like a smile as he looked at a certain someone. “But when I said as much to Wei Jin, he didn’t completely believe me.”

Wei Jin said, “If I completely believed it, then I wouldn’t be me.”

Ye You declined to comment and continued with, “And so I didn’t want to bother investigating too carefully and left it him to find his own conclusions. But since Ding Yicheng would definitely ask him where he’d been when he returned, I found a village ahead of time and made the appropriate preparations. As expected, not long after Wei Jin went back, people from Lingjian Pavilion came to the village to ask about Wei Jin’s matters, and they left only when they learned that there truly was someone who had nursed their injuries there.”

Those elders understood now. They had begun their deception starting from when Wei Jin went missing.

Ye You said, “Everyone should be clear now, having listened up ’til now, that no matter who was drugged, and no matter who undid the drug’s effects, after going through such a training, they definitely wouldn’t recklessly seek revenge immediately. But upon finishing these investigations, even if by some lucky coincidence, one or two of them didn’t die, or if they were clever enough to want to expose this matter, the people they’d look for would be either Wei Haide or the Alliance Leader. And even if it was someone like Wei Jin who knew that both Wei and Ding were partners, he’d definitely find either the Alliance Leader or Shaolin and Wudang, but what difference would that make?”

Those elders — even the named Shaolin and Wudang — all fell silent.

If it wasn’t for the chess game this time, who would’ve thought, and who would’ve believed, that those three were partners? And with those three’s power and influence in Jianghu, no matter who investigated, all that’d be found would be countless evidence that simply reaffirmed the people’s faith, making it clear that the accusers had their rationality muddled and were purposely wrongly accusing Pavilion Master Ding.

If the small point that “those three people were partners” was established to be true, then Pavilion Master Ding truly was secure in his backing.

But the question was could they really establish that? Those elders maintained their doubtful attitudes for now.

“Let’s talk a bit more about why Ding Yicheng left a survivor.” Ye You looked at everyone. “What kind of talent Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian have, I’m sure all of you are aware.”

Everyone nodded.

“Moon’s Shadow” and “Heaven’s Firmament” were far too famous, and both the Captain and the Vice-Captain attracted people’s attention. Since Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian were able to assume those positions, there was no need to even mention their talent. This talent might even be higher than Pavilion Master Ding’s and has resulted in no small amount of admiration from the people, who have all praised Pavilion Master Ding for his good fortune.

One of the sect masters within the crowd asked, “Sir Xiao means that the reason Pavilion Master Ding didn’t kill Wei Jin at the time was due to his innate ability being high?”

Another person keenly asked, “Wait, what does this have to do with Ren Shaotian?”

Ye You said, “Because Ren Shaotian was also drugged. He’s the Yang family’s eldest young master.”

Everyone sucked in a breath, profoundly thinking that Pavilion Master Ding was far too demented.

Pavilion Master Ding said, “The Jiang family and the Yang family? In a little while, will Sir Xiao also find me a person from the Hua family?”

“I’ll have to disappoint you there. Until now, I still haven’t met anyone from the Hua family,” Ye You quipped before once again looking at everyone. “That year, during the massacre of those three families, Ding Yicheng most likely already wanted to create ‘Moon’s Shadow’, and with Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian’s innate abilities being so high, they were chosen by him.”

He stopped for a brief moment before adding, “Of course I’m simply making a conjecture. Only he himself knows the actual details.”

He didn’t wait for the elders or Pavilion Master Ding to speak before continuing his speculations, “And then came the establishment of the training barracks. How ‘Moon’s Shadow’ chooses people, I think all of you know. After all, within Jianghu, there were many people who wanted to enter ‘Moon’s Shadow’ and ‘Heaven’s Firmament’, to emulate the perceived ‘just and solemn’ Pavilion Master Ding. With Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian displaying such strength, it’d be strange if they didn’t advance to the top.” He looked at the people of “Moon’s Shadow”. “All of you, think back. Over these years, for ‘Moon’s Shadow’ to be able to slowly reach its current position, how many contributions did Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian make?”

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” opened and closed their mouths, rendered speechless by the question.

Who in “Moon’s Shadow” didn’t know that, even before Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian had reached the proper positions of captain and vice- captain, they were already backbones of the organization, and now they had become even steadier pillars of support. Even when Ren Shaotian was following the young master year-round, he’d still also usually take care of various matters within many other squads.

The elders also quickly straightened out their thoughts.

Indeed, in Jianghu, there were truly few people who could match Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian’s sort of talent, and Sir Xiao’s analysis of the merits and demerits were truly incisive, with the advantages clearly outweighing the disadvantages. After all, if they could be used, why not use them?

Ye You said, “I know that leaving two drugged people to assume the position of captain and vice-captain would definitely leave Ding Yicheng uneasy. Before, I was always wondering whether he’d feel secure enough to use them for an entire lifetime or if he’d find an appropriate time in the future to silence them. But after going through these events, I now have one more guess…”

He looked at Pavilion Master Ding, his expression abruptly turning sharp. “Ding Yicheng, tell me, when their martial arts have progressed even more, would you have thrown them to Cong Yun to test drugs?”

Everyone was astonished. “What?” “Wait, who’s Cong Yun?”

“Cong Yun… Why do I feel as if this name is familiar…” Wenren Heng said, “He’s the white piece’s miracle doctor. He’s also Miracle Doctor Ji’s eldest disciple.”

Everyone was once again astonished. “What?” “Didn’t Miracle Doctor Ji’s eldest disciple die?”

“He also faked his death,” As Wenren Heng spoke, he returned to the previous topic, “While at Shaolin, Miracle Doctor Ji said before that Cong Yun was adding to the drug’s efficacy. And with the white piece having that many drugged men to use, there really was no need to take such risks to save Blood-sucking Ghost and the others, unless the white piece wanted to use them to test drugs. It’s likely that even they were never aware of this fact, even believing in self-satisfaction that they had been saved.”

Sect Leader Xuanyang said, “Then the goal for testing drugs…” Wenren Heng said, “I’m guessing it’s to control that monster.” Ye You moved forward a small step.

This was what he really couldn’t endure.

If his big brother was a vice-captain for a lifetime, then at least the person wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothing. But, at the very end, when it came down to it, that surnamed Ding most likely would’ve used them to test drugs!

Wenren Heng immediately perceived that his Junior Brother’s mood was somewhat unsteady, and he went forward to hold the other’s hand.

Ye You breathed out a few breaths, still looking at Pavilion Master Ding. “Why aren’t you speaking? Actually, you know that you can’t delay matters any longer. All we need to do is find an influential family that had been on good terms with the Jiang family in the past and we’ll be able to confirm Wei Jin’s identity. Now that Wei Haide and the Alliance Leader can’t help you, and all of you can’t make any moves, the only thing you can do is wait for the Abbot and them to do an investigation. Your actions up until now have simply been because you thought that we didn’t have any concrete evidence, and so you wanted to delay the proceedings. Best, even, to delay until that monster arrives to turn this place upside-down, until the smell of blood stained the air. Or perhaps you wanted to use a confession to exchange for your son’s life. Isn’t that right? You forgot that I said before that you believe far too much in your own infallibility. Right now, I’ll give you evidence of how it’s impossible for me to drug Wei Jin!”

When he finished speaking, he looked towards his Senior Brother. Wenren Heng understood and unraveled the bandages on his face. Everyone immediately raised their spirits in anticipation to look.

When Sir Xiao turned towards them, quite a few people internally

sucked in a breath.

Pavilion Master Ding also looked at him, not knowing what kind of idea he had.

“Ding Yicheng, you and Wei Haide were both not familiar with those three influential families, so you probably wouldn’t recognize me.” Ye You turned towards those elders. “How about all of you? Am I familiar?”

Those elders hesitantly looked at him.

The Sheng family head suddenly said in a trembling voice, “Y-y-you are…”

“I’m a child of the Yang family, and Ren Shaotian is my big brother.” Listening to the surrounding clamor, Ye You said, “Uncle Sheng, that year I came with my parents to visit the Hua family, you272 even bought me some sweets.”

The Sheng family head said in astonishment, “That’s right, it’s you! You and your mother look very much alike!”

He walked over with large strides. “When you were little, I even held you in my arms. Previously, when disaster befell to your family, I was always too busy dealing with what happened to the Hua family so I didn’t have time to look in on you. Afterwards, when I heard you were taken in by Fengxian Manor, I felt somewhat more relieved, and when I finally had the time to see you, I even thought that you weren’t as good-looking as an adult compared to when you were a child. You…”

“I escaped. That year, the one Wei Haide saved was my family steward’s son. They fed him that drug.” Ye You once again looked at Pavilion Master Ding and, seeing the other’s face turn pale, asked, “Ding Yicheng, as a child of the Yang family, I myself am a witness. I never needed to drug Wei Jin and have him testify against you. Right now, do you still have anything to say?”

Pavilion Master Ding’s face was stretched taut, and he spoke not a word.

Wei Jin’s sword hiss‘d out of its sheath, and he said in a low voice, “Understand now, right, so let me through!”

The prestige he had accumulated in “Moon’s Shadow” was too ingrained, and at once, there were a few people who obediently made way.

The rest hesitated for a moment as they gave the Pavilion Master a look, hoping that he would say a few words.

Pavilion Master Ding let go of the people supporting him and asked again, “What exactly did you do to Xilai?”

Wei Jin said, “If you want to know, then come and accept your death!”

As he spoke, he had already grown unable to endure it, and immediately made to hack this bastard into pieces, but right as he was about to make a move, Ye You spoke, “From the looks of it, you seem to want to admit your guilt.”

Pavilion Master Ding coldly gave him a look and then lifted his head to look towards Abbot Ciyuan and Sect Leader Xuanyang.

Even when things had gotten to this stage, he still carried his usual solemn appearance, even taking a moment to tidy up his clothes and straighten up his back. “Amitabha…” Abbot Ciyuan let out a sigh as he spoke. “Benefactor Ding, do you have anything to say?”

This time, Pavilion Master Ding’s behavior was finally befitting of his usual temperament, and he straightforwardly admitted, “I did do those things.”

The surroundings were like water that had boiled over, suddenly erupting as they listened to this person say, “Over these twenty years, no one in my family has been aware of these things. One person’s deeds should be one person’s responsibility. I hope that the Abbot will act justly.”

Wei Jin sneered. “So you’re already making your dying wishes273?” Pavilion Master Ding ignored him, still looking at the Abbot.

Abbot Ciyuan said, “All right.”

Pavilion Master Ding closed his eyes for a moment before slowly saying, “That year, the monster fell for Wei Haide’s older sister, who was also my sister-in-law…”

These first words already shocked everyone present.

However, as Pavilion Master Ding was injured, his voice was very low, so they showed only a moment of alarm before hastily stowing away their voices and earnestly listening.

Pavilion Master Ding forced himself to stand straight and persist in speaking.

There was no doubt of that monster’s strength, and at the time, other than practicing martial arts, that monster had feelings only for his sister-in-law. His sister-in-law could see through the monster’s moods and feared that if she incurred his rancor, her two families would end up falling to calamity and massacred. Thus, she took poison, her body growing weaker and weaker, as she left the monster to believe that she had taken ill.

Before her death, fearing that the monster would take his anger out on her two families, she begged him to look after her family members, and the monster agreed. And not long after his sister-in- law passed, that monster received news about Pursued Until

Scattered and so took out the pain he felt at her death on those three families.

That year, the first family was the Hua family, and there was practically not a single intact body to be found, with not a single person left alive.

Pavilion Master Ding took a few breaths and said, “Only then did me and Wei Haide realize what kind of demon we were following, but the situation didn’t allow us time to think, since that monster refused to give up until he obtained that secret book, so immediately following, we went to the Jiang family…”

It was precisely that day that he saw Wei Jin.

Ah-Xiao had guessed one thing wrong. At the time, he hadn’t yet had the thought to create “Moon’s Shadow”. He simply thought that Wei Jin was too young, so perhaps if he was able to find a few people to prove that he wasn’t at the Jiang family residence that day, he might then have been able to trick this child. It was only later when he heard Cong Yun say that the drug could change memories did he decide to change his methods.

And the reason he picked up Wei Jin was that he had already grown to fear that monster.

Wei Jin’s innate ability was high, and if this talent could be used for his sake, then in time, it could perhaps be a match for that monster. Later, he saved Ren Shaotian for the same reason. And, with Ren Shaotian, the upside was that, when the Yang family encountered disaster, the child wasn’t even at the Yang family residence and so wasn’t aware of his participation. So even if one day the drug loses its effect on Ren Shaotian, he could still say that he had done it for the other’s own good and that he hadn’t wanted the person to rush into revenge recklessly. Thus, he wasn’t worried about Ren Shaotian’s drug losing its efficacy at all.

Ye You’s expression turned cold, and he silently stared at this person. Pavilion Master Ding turned a blind eye to his gaze and continued with, “Later, when me and Wei Haide thought of the ‘Demon Slaughter’, we truly did want to kill that monster, but just in case, we first told him that it was all an act, so as to avoid being murdered. As it turned out, even though an entire crowd of righteous faction members encircled and attacked him, we weren’t able to achieve the least bit of advantage. Me and Wei Haide knew then that if we continued fighting, even more people would die, so we could only follow our original plans, moving as we fought, and allow that monster to feign death. And after he faked his death, me and Wei Haide found Cong Yun and asked him if there was any way, and Cong Yun said that we needed to refine the drug. Only then did we begin to make drugged men…”

He sucked in a deep breath. “Over these twenty years, other than a few drugged men escaping and killing people in moments of insanity and the most recent matters that forced our hand, we never allowed the drugged men to act unscrupulously in Jianghu. We simply wanted to oppose the monster, and when we succeeded, we would’ve destroyed this power. Now, I already don’t have anything left to explain; I can only say that, over the years, I’ve never been unjust in my dealings with anything or anyone…”

Wenren Heng shouted, “Break his jaw!”

Wei Jin moved at practically the instant that Wenren Heng spoke, quickly rushing over.

Pavilion Master Ding unconsciously stepped backwards.

He had originally believed that Wei Jin wouldn’t have thought that he could move, perhaps allow him an opportunity, but Wei Jin’s expression hadn’t changed from the start, as if the person had already anticipated such an action. And, as he had been stiff for too long, his movements remained slightly slower, and he quickly had his chest acupoint sealed by Wei Jin and his jaw broken with a crack.

Those elders said, “This is…”

Ye You said, “There was no other choice, because the moment he finished speaking, he was going to poison himself and commit suicide.”

He once again moved forward a step. “Surnamed Ding, did you believe that we’d let you get even the slightest bit of goodwill back before you died? Keep dreaming! You and Wei Haide aren’t fools. With Cong Yun’s medical expertise that high, it wouldn’t be difficult to kill that person through poisoning. What ‘refining drugs to oppose that monster’? It was completely for the sake of your own selfish ambitions. You two feared the monster, yet you didn’t want to kill him, so that’s why you thought of turning him into a drugged man in order to control him completely. You talked only about how it was for the righteousness of Jianghu, but why don’t you talk about all those people who died in Bodhi Prison? Why don’t you talk about how many benefits you received from the ‘Demon Slaughter’ incident? Why don’t you talk about how many children died in that secret villa for the sake of raising Blood-sucking Ghost and those other monsters! Ding Yicheng, don’t even think of dying while carrying the mantle of ‘hidden hardships’; you aren’t worthy of it!”

The moment these words fell, only the sound of a ssfft could be heard.

While everyone was still taking a moment to react, Wei Jin’s sword had already directly pierced through Pavilion Master Ding’s chest.

With Pavilion Master Ding’s jaw was broken, his saliva poured out uncontrollably, and along with his twisted face, he looked extremely sinister and dismal.

Wei Jin’s expression also wasn’t terribly good to witness. With his great vengeance fulfilled, under such extreme excitement, his facial features had also faintly twisted.

With the boiling-hot blood flow down the sword and onto his hand, he felt extremely delighted, saying, “Just sit and wait in hell first for a few days, I’ll also be sending Wei Haide and that monster down to accompany you soon.”

He retreated a step, pulling out the sword with great force. No longer able to remain upright, Pavilion Master Ding fell forward, smashing into the ground with a thud, not making a single sound.

Not a sound could be heard.

The people looked at how one of the two great experts who had plagued Jianghu had lost all breath, and all of them couldn’t quite come back to their senses.

Wenren Heng lowered his eyes to look at the blood slowly flowing outward and said in a low voice, “You don’t regret not making a move?”

Ye You said, “I’ve already talked it over with Wei Jin. Ding Yicheng’s life was his to take.”

Wenren Heng made a sound in acknowledgment and began sliding his hand up his Junior Brother’s in order to take the other’s pulse. Right as he was about to pull him away to sit for a while, he saw Wei Jin instruct the people of “Moon’s Shadow” to begin searching Pavilion Master Ding’s corpse and asked, “What?”

Wei Jin said, “Before I left, he gave me a medicinal pill to swallow, and I don’t know if it was poison or not.”

Practically no one knew what what expression to use. “Then why didn’t you ask him just now?”

Wei Jin said, “If I had asked, who knows if he would’ve given me the antidote or more poison? The things he wanted me to do required more than a month, so even if it was poison, I won’t die right now. If I could’ve used this month to kill him, and then watch as the remaining two take their last breaths, then I’d even be content to die.”

The hatred incurred from the massacre of one’s clan was as deep and bottomless as the seas.

Everyone all fell silent.

Ye You didn’t look at Pavilion Master Ding’s corpse again. Walking forward two steps, he looked towards everyone. “I know there are most likely still people present who are the white piece’s men, so listen up. All of you send news to your master today and tell him that if he doesn’t appear within ten days, then I’ll drag Wei Jiangyue to the Yang family grave and cut him up alive!”

He paid no attention to everyone’s expressions and instead looked at Wei Jiangyue. “Second Young Master Wei, will you hide?”

Ever since Wei Jiangyue had learned his true identity, his entire person had been frozen stiff, and he had felt a sharp pain mixed with bitter agony attacking his heart in unison; it truly felt even worse than death.

He looked at this person and said in a hoarse voice, “I won’t.”

Chapter 112

Huayang City, the Yang family residence.

After what happened at Suiyun Sect, Manor Lord Wei and the others had gone to the Yang family residence in Huayang City.

Manor Lord Wei was more cautious than Pavilion Master Ding. Even though he had fed Sir Yang the drug, he had also kept the person under close watch for a number of years, and even after letting the person go, he still remembered to plant a portion of people to stand guard. Now, practically all of the elders at the Yang family residence were his subordinates and so let them in upon seeing their arrival.

Although those other than the steward weren’t aware of the truth, they knew Manor Lord Wei’s relationship with their young master and so naturally received the group as important guests, while also internally expressing shock at Manor Lord Wei’s missing arm.

However, they didn’t dare ask too much, simply obediently lowering their heads to work.

Not many days later, they discovered that more and more people were gradually appearing in the residence.

There was a black-clothed bodyguard, a weak and sickly young sir, a malevolent woman, and a fiendish, demonic man, all solemnly treating this place as if it was their own home, leaving the servants completely baffled. There were some who privately asked the steward and learned that these were people of Jianghu and that it was better not to provoke them. The servant thus curbed their curiosity and didn’t ask any further.

This morning, a young servant girl had just entered the room to refill the tea when she heard a brittle crack echo through the air as Manor Lord Wei suddenly smashed his teacup into pieces, his usual amiable face completely covered with a layer of frost. The steward was also in the room and, upon seeing this, took her outside, indicating that she should work elsewhere. The young servant girl had long already paled in fright and quickly retreated without delay. The steward then turned around and returned to the room. After a moment of observing Manor Lord Wei, he cautiously said, “Master?”

Manor Lord Wei didn’t speak as he sat there grimly.

The steward could only look beseechingly at another person.

Cong Yun motioned for him to put the teapot down and then sent him away before looking at Manor Lord Wei. “What did the letter say that’s making you so angry?”

Manor Lord Wei handed the letter over to the other. “Ding Yicheng died.”

Cong Yun’s heart skipped a beat, and he hastily accepted the letter, skimming through it rapidly. A peculiar light began to shine uncontrollably from his eyes, but he quickly concealed it and asked, “The Yang family’s child?”

Manor Lord Wei nodded, his expression still as grim as before.

If he had known at the time that the child they saved wasn’t part of the Yang family, or if he had perceived that Ah-Xiao had another identity previously, then how could they have been forced down to this level?

Right now, it already wasn’t important whose family’s child Ah-Xiao was; the important thing was that Ding Yicheng had died, and that he had admitted his guilt before his death. This didn’t just ruin their previously agreed upon plans of “enduring humiliation for the sake of justice for a few years” but had thoroughly destroyed all his hopes of making a comeback!

Cong Yun’s hands clenched the letter, while his mind was entirely filled with that beautiful and stunning face.

Regarding this incident from start to finish, after he became aware of all the things that person did, he felt a certain thrill quickly spread through from his chest, stirring up his internal injuries, and he suddenly couldn’t help but start lowly coughing. Manor Lord Wei regained his senses and poured out a cup of water for the other. “Why don’t you return to rest?”

Cong Yun said, “No… cough, no need.”

Manor Lord Wei examined his pale face and said, “The one who injured me is very likely the person you met at Shaolin. He’s the true Ah-Xiao. The one who’s been following Wenren Heng is most likely a body double.”

A few days ago, Cong Yun had reconvened with them, and once the two sides exchanged information, Manor Lord Wei had then understood that Ah-Xiao had purposely fallen into the water and gone missing last time, all for the sake of disappearing together with Wenren Heng for a period of time in order to get a chance to return to Shaolin. After all, both he and Cong Yun had encountered an expert, so the possibility of this expert being the same person was extremely high.

Cong Yun drank a sip of water and suppressed his coughing, making a soft sound in acknowledgment.

The injury he sustained this time was extremely serious.

At the time, if he hadn’t thrown out those concealed weapons so promptly, allowing his subordinates the opportunity to take him and escape, he most likely would’ve long already been finished. Even though he later used all kinds of medicine to heal himself, he still hadn’t completely recovered. Previously, he had already thought of the kinds of torments that he’d subject the other party to once captured, but right now he dispelled all those ideas, and even all the resentment in his heart had seemingly dissipated.

He said, “I want him alive.” Manor Lord Wei said, “What?”

Cong Yun didn’t feel annoyed at having to repeat himself, “That child of the Yang family, I want him alive.”

Completely unaware of this person’s period of unrequited love, Manor Lord Wei simply believed that he wanted to grab the other party to turn into a drugged man and so said, sighing, “I do want to capture him, but even the monster isn’t his match. How exactly would I do it?”

Cong Yun said, “Oh?”

“The monster himself says that he’d lose if they fought long enough, and there’s no knowing what that brat practices…” As Manor Lord Wei spoke, he suddenly paused, and his expression changed slightly. “Could it be that he practices Pursued Until Scattered? At the time, even though the Yang family head burned that book, what if Ah-Xiao retained a copy?”

Cong Yun said, “It’s not impossible.”

Manor Lord Wei immediately stood up and made to go outside.

Cong Yun said, “Going to look for that monster? Could you convince him to take the drug?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “It’s only a drug to raise internal energy. If he knew that the other party practices Pursued Until Scattered, he’d most likely agree.”

Cong Yun said, “Then I’ll go prepare the drug now.”

After Manor Lord Wei left, he went directly to the monster’s room.

Ever since the Alliance Leader was killed, the monster spoke even less than before, and there were times when he wouldn’t say a single word the entire day.

Manor Lord Wei had originally been worried that the monster would find trouble for Xiao-Rou but, after some close observation, discovered that the person didn’t appear to have such intentions and so felt much more at ease. Since long ago, this person hadn’t had any sense of right and wrong, always doing things as the mood strikes without exception, and, along with those high martial arts, had always inspired fear in him and Ding Yicheng. But luckily they hadn’t hardened their hearts to kill this person, or else they’d be even more disadvantaged right now. He knocked on the door. “Brother, I have something to say.” From within, the elderly man said, “Mn.”

Manor Lord Wei pushed open the door, entered, and said, “News has come from Wuyun City. Ding Yicheng was killed.”

The elderly man again made a sound in acknowledgment, not showing the slightest change, as if the person who died was completely insignificant. Manor Lord Wei knew that he’d have this reaction and so told him about how the Yang family had another survivor before finally relaying that hypothesis. Only then did the elderly man’s expression somewhat flicker. “You’re certain

it’s Pursued Until Scattered?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “Almost certainly. Or else how could he be your match when he’s this young?”

The elderly man didn’t reply, but his expression was no longer so lifeless.

Manor Lord Wei assessed him and said, “Cong Yun said that although your wounds have almost completely recovered, you should still take some more care for now. Last time, you said that, in an exchange between you and Ah-Xiao, victory or defeat will be determined after a number of moves, and that his chance of victory was higher. I’m thinking that you should take a bit of Cong Yun’s drug to raise some of your internal energy and then thoroughly capture him so as to force him to hand over that book.”

The elderly man said, “His body still has the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison, so it’s impossible for him to use his full strength.”

Manor Lord Wei said, “They have Miracle Doctor Ji. If Miracle Doctor Ji manages to hurry over in time, he might be able to cure that poison.”

The elderly man raised his head to look at the other.

Manor Lord Wei didn’t know what he had decided and internally tried to guess a thing or two before asking, “Brother wants to defeat him in a fair fight?” The elderly man said, “With my age right now, even if I get that book, it might not be of any use. It’d be better to just go all out in a fight with him.”

Manor Lord Wei’s heart sank.

This person was actually no longer that same person who was so concerned about Pursued Until Scattered. He wasn’t clear what this monster had been thinking over these past few days, but he could tell that this person appear to desire a fight to the death with Ah-Xiao.

But he didn’t want that.

He wanted this monster to kill Ah-Xiao and Wenren Heng, and even kill Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian. This way, he wouldn’t have to be afraid that Jiangyue would be persecuted in the future, and he could then go into hiding in peace. Regardless, with Fengxian Manor around, Jiangyue would definitely have firm footing.

The elderly man said, “Is there anything else?”

Manor Lord Wei considered for a moment before saying, “Cong Yun said he wants to capture Ah-Xiao and turn him into a drugged man. I think if this succeeds, in the future, if you want to fight him, you can fight him whenever you like.”

The elderly man said, “After turning into a drugged man, would he still be able to use his full strength?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “You’ll have to ask Cong Yun about this.”

The elderly man then no longer paid attention to him, continuing to sit there cross-legged.

With one look, Manor Lord Wei could tell that it was hopeless, and so holding back his anger, he returned to his room. With a frown, he sat in contemplation for a long while before he called over Wei Jiangrou, wanting her to go urge the monster a little.

Wei Jiangrou fiercely shook her head. “Dad, I don’t want to go see him.” Ever since they returned from Suiyun Sect, that monster was always silently staring at her, and this slight assessing gaze made her especially afraid and uncomfortable. She usually didn’t even have time to hide, so how could she dare to approach him herself?

Manor Lord Wei said, “Cong Yun wants to turn Ah-Xiao into a drugged man.”

Just by hearing this name, Wei Jiangrou felt a bit unwell. Unconsciously, she asked, “Why don’t you just kill him directly?”

Manor Lord Wei was unmoved in the face of his daughter’s temperament and said, “Because his martial skill is high, so he’ll be of use once captured. Besides, think about it, if he dies, Xiao-Heng most likely wouldn’t continue living either.”

Wei Jiangrou turned blank, and upon thinking of Wenren Heng’s words last time, her eyes suddenly turn somewhat red. A faint light then flashed through her gaze, and she asked, “Dad, then… then is it possible to also turn Brother Heng into a drugged man?”

Manor Lord Wei looked at her. Although he was somewhat unwilling to respond, he was aware of his daughter’s attachment towards Wenren Heng and so said, “It’s possible, but our foremost concern is about how to capture them in the first place. Right now, even whether or not we’re able to win is in question.”

Wei Jiangrou understood and lowered her head, falling silent.

Manor Lord Wei didn’t force her and patted her on the head before letting her return.

After returning to her room, Wei Jiangrou hesitated for a moment before very quickly settling on a firm resolution. Summoning up her courage, she knocked on the monster’s door while carrying a bowl of tea. In a shy voice, she said, “I’m here to deliver some tea for you.”

The elderly man was very surprised at her appearance, but he understood after a moment of thought. “Coming to urge me to take the drug?” Wei Jiangrou said in a small voice, “My dad says that if you lose, it’s possible that you’ll die there.”

The elderly man said, “If I die, I die.”

Wei Jiangrou startled before biting her lip. “But didn’t you promise my aunt to take care of my family and the Ding family?”

The elderly man looked at her and didn’t speak.

Wei Jiangrou said, “And Uncle Zhong’s son is still in Ah-Xiao’s hands. You don’t want to save him? I heard that the drug can raise your internal energy exponentially. If you really want to fight Ah- Xiao fairly, you could just not use your entire strength and use only the internal energy you have now to fight him. When things before truly dangerous, then…”

The elderly man interrupted her, “And you? What do you want?”

Wei Jiangrou fell silent for a while before saying in a low voice, “When you capture Ah-Xiao, can you also capture Brother-Heng?”

The elderly man said, “I can.”

Wei Jiangrou’s face turned joyful, and she stood up and said, “Then I won’t disturb you any longer.”

She turned around, wanting to leave, but who could’ve known that, right as she made the first step, she’d feel an incorporeal force pulling her in. Immediately afterwards, she felt herself being thrown, shouting out a word in alarm as she’s smashed into the ground, having been tossed around to the point that she saw stars. When she regained her senses, she saw that the monster had gotten up and walked over to her who-knew-when.

Her face turned pale. “What… what do you want to do?”

“I’ll honor the promises that I’ve made, and I’ll take care of the people in your two houses. I’ll also capture that person called Wenren Heng for you.” There was not the slightest expression on the elderly man’s face as he looked at her from on high. “But there’s one thing that can’t be.” Wei Jiangrou said, “What?”

“These past few days, I’ve continuously observed you. After you caused Xiao-Zhong’s death, you showed not the least bit of remorse, and even less grief, and right now, you’ve even come over to ask me to capture someone for you. You and her are not the least bit alike.” The elderly man’s expression turned abruptly cold. “You’re not worthy of carrying that face.”

In an instant, Wei Jiangrou became aware of his intentions, and she shouted, “Y-y-you can’t do this! No, no——Ah——!”

By the time Manor Lord Wei heard those bloodcurdling cries and rushed over, he saw that his daughter’s face had already been destroyed and that she had even been thrown ruthlessly out the room. Practically brimming with anger, he looked at the person standing in front of the door. “What do you mean by doing this?”

The elderly man said, “This is her punishment. Don’t let her get near me again in the future.”

Unclear on the reason behind this and fearing that he’d anger the other, Manor Lord Wei could only carry his daughter away first. At this time, he heard the elderly man say, “Bring that drug over then.”

He faintly startled before quickly understanding this person’s meaning. He nodded and then brought his daughter over to Cong Yun’s room.

The two people consoled Wei Jiangrou as they slowly learned the reason why the monster had made a move. Manor Lord Wei felt as if all the anger was rushing to his head, and he had a mind to murder that monster, but he had no choice but to rely on the other party, so he could only continue comforting his daughter with, “It’s all right, there’s the Hundred-Grass Dew.”

Wei Jiangrou’s entire face was a mess of blood and tears, and she could only continue to cry.

Cong Yun said, “There’s no need to cry, I have the Hundred-Grass Dew right here. I’ll help apply it now.” As he spoke, he pulled over his medicine chest, taking out a medicine case and handing it over to Manor Lord Wei. He then took out a bottle of Hundred-Grass Dew and carefully helped take care of Wei Jiangrou’s injuries.

Wei Jiangrou’s voice continued to tremble. “Will it leave scars? Will it?”

Cong Yun said, “No, the Hundred-Grass Dew is a very good medicine.”

Manor Lord Wei was also consoling her on the side. Only when he saw her gradually calm did he hand the person over to Cong Yun and go outside to give the drug to that monster. Wei Jiangrou sat there for a while, choked with sobs, before she thought of something, “You want to turn Ah-Xiao into a drugged man?”

Cong Yun said, “Yes.”

Wei Jiangrou said, “Then could you destroy Ah-Xiao’s face?” Cong Yun’s hands halted. “What? You don’t like his face?”

Having just experienced such provocation, along with knowing that this person was her dad’s subordinate, Wei Jiangrou completely didn’t suppress her own nature and said, “Yes, that kind of face on a man is just like a demon’s, ugly as hell. I don’t want to see it again.

Help me destroy it.”

Cong Yun stared at her, giving her a few looks, before saying with a smile, “All right. After I capture him, I’ll destroy it.”

Wei Jiangrou’s eyes shone, and she finally smiled for the first time since her face was destroyed. She then began to worry about her own appearance, asking about how long she had to apply the Hundred- Grass Dew before she could recover completely.

“These injuries of yours will require several months,” Cong Yun said, “The Hundred-Grass Dew is actually something my master created several years ago, so its efficacy is actually very ordinary. In the next two days, I’ll prescribe you another ointment that’s far more effective than Hundred-Grass Dew. It’s able to not only get rid of scars but also make your skin even better than before.”

Wei Jiangrou immediately said, “All right, thank you.”

Cong Yun smiled extremely elegantly. “You’re welcome. It’s as it should be.”

He used some bandages to bind Wei Jiangrou’s wounds. Watching her walk out the door, he coldly laughed before he hid all the remaining Hundred-Grass Dew from the medicine chest. Internally, he thought, since you dare to hate the face that I love, I’ll kill you.

Chapter 113

After Pavilion Master Ding died, the Abbot and the others arranged for someone to collect the corpse.

Wei Jin watched from the side, a thought flashing through his mind for an instant of, “Going over in the middle of the night to cut that corpse into pieces,” but this impulse persisted for only a short moment before it disappeared.

Forget it, he thought.

The person was already dead, so no matter how he’d cut, the other party wouldn’t even feel it, and wouldn’t even give him a furious expression that’d bring him joy. It would be truly pointless.

Ye You didn’t care about any of this.

After he finished saying those words to Wei Jiangyue, he had been received by the Sheng family head into a room. Hearing the “Sir Yang”s bubbling forth from every which way, he faintly lowered his eyes.

For twenty years, the name he hadn’t dared to speak aloud had once again returned to him.

He had once wondered if the Yang family had still been around, what his circumstances would be like right now. Perhaps, everyone in Jianghu would know that he was Sir Yang and, when they met him, would also politely greet him. He had also once wondered about when everything came to light and everyone knew his true identity, what would his circumstances be like then. And now that this day had truly arrived, he discovered that he wasn’t actually as excited or happy as he thought he would be; instead, his entire mind was empty and quiet.

His family was already gone, while this was only a form of address, that’s all, so what was the point.

Even after they called out Sir Yang, he was still himself, and the Yang family still wouldn’t return. He thought that probably the only upside was that, in the future, he’d be able to go pay his respects at the Yang family grave out in the open.

Wenren Heng gave the other a look and guessed that since this person had just caused the death of a hated enemy, his Junior Brother most likely wanted some peace and quiet. He then used the excuse of his Junior Brother’s health not being good to take their leave, pulling the other to the back courtyard. He said, “Ah-You.”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgment, internally thinking that the other upside was that whenever he heard his Senior Brother calling him “Ah-You,” he always really liked hearing it.

Of course, on this point, he had already heard this form of address many times before already.

Wenren Heng said, “What are you thinking about?”

Ye You wasn’t the sort of person who remained depressed for long, and the small mood he was in quickly passed.

He unconsciously wanted to tell his Senior Brother that it was nothing, but when the words reached his mouth, he suddenly remembered something and changed tracks to say, “Thinking about how that jug of ‘Fengzui’ from Xie Junming still hasn’t been finished.”

Wenren Heng said, “Keep dreaming.”

Ye You let out a light sigh, sounding quite like he was bearing some hidden bitterness, almost as if he had been betrayed by love.

Wenren Heng was speechless. “When Miracle Doctor Ji cures your poison, I’ll go with you to drink your fill.”

Ye You said, “What if Miracle Doctor Ji doesn’t make it here in time?”

In truth, Miracle Doctor Ji and the others definitely wouldn’t make it in time. Because he feared that the situation would turn unfavorable with the passing of time, he had given Wei Haide only ten days. There was some risk to this, but since the righteous faction had so many people, it still came out in their favor.

Wenren Heng said, “If he doesn’t make it in time, then you just obediently stand aside, don’t just move however you please.”

Ye You said, “I also want to do that, but the monster most likely won’t let me…”

Wenren Heng interrupted him, “There’s still me.”

Ye You looked at his Senior Brother and, upon seeing the other also looking back at him, closed his mouth, having a clear view of things. He then obediently went with the other back to the room to rest. But, right when they arrived, Xie Junming and Elder Baili had also come right at their heels.

Xie Junming looked at Ye You, smiling especially handsomely. Ye You raised a brow.

Xie Junming said, “So it turned out that Wei Jin was one of yours.”

He had previously been baffled over why Ah-You had made the decision to oppose Ding Yicheng right when he learned that Ding Xilai had been sent away. But it turned out that Ah-You had calculated that Ding Yicheng would very likely hand the person over to Wei Jin. The two of them had definitely already discussed all the proper preparations previously, which was how Wei Jin was able to hurry back in time for Ye You’s face-off against Ding Yicheng in order to twist in the knife.

Ye You said, all smiles, “You never asked me.”

Xie Junming then continued smiling, looking even more handsome.

Back at Shaolin, he had been able to guess that Ah-You had accomplices. And later, when Ghost Gentleman brought people to surround the mountain, since Qin Yuemian and Lady Tao had both helped out, he had inevitably believed that Ah-You’s accomplices were them and so didn’t ask any further. Who knew that he had simply been “too certain of his own cleverness”. He asked, “Is there still anything that I don’t know? You better say all of it now, or else I might feel hurt in the future.”

“There’s nothing much.” As he spoke, Ye You paused before adding, “Oh, Young Miracle Doctor Fang is also mine.”

Xie Junming and Elder Baili simultaneously startled. Xie Junming was astonished. “That little fool?”

Ye You continued with, “I saved him once before. Since he said he wanted to learn medicine, I then let him come to the Central Plains to find Miracle Doctor Ji to try it out, and in the end, he actually succeeded. It was also because he and Miaomiao were around that Wei Jin was able to be saved when he was injured that year. But he’s too foolish, so he doesn’t know too much. He simply came over during the period of time I had lost my memories to stand guard for a few days.”

Xie Junming once again repeated, “Stand guard for a few days?” Ye You said, deadly earnest, “Because I was too weak.”

This was actually a true statement.

He had truly been at his weakest when he had lost his memories; he simply had to vomit blood three times for everything to end in failure.

But he knew that his Senior Brother would definitely take him to see Miracle Doctor Ji. Thus, he told the matter of Pursued Until

Scattered to the Young Miracle Doctor in advance, so the Young Miracle Doctor was able to speak of his situation after hurrying over and smoothly stand guard at his side. In this way, if there truly was a need, and the elders didn’t have time to hit his death acupoint, the Young Miracle Doctor would then take their place. If the Young Miracle Doctor also didn’t have time, then there was still Wei Jin.

Xie Junming could hear that he didn’t want to discuss this any further and gave him a look before then actually not asking any further. Ye You saw that he was reluctantly satisfied and personally poured him a cup of tea.

Xie Junming asked, “The next step is to go to Huayang City?”

Ye You said, “Naturally, I need to keep my word after all. From here to Huayang City, it’ll take about ten days.”

Xie Junming said, “Wei Haide should be in Huayang City, right?”

“Very likely.” Ye You narrowed his eyes, smiling. “This is great. If he stays there and doesn’t move, I’ll go directly to Huayang City to kill him. If he brings people and rushes over, meeting us on the road, I can even save a bit of effort.”

Xie Junming said, “That monster…”

Before he could finish speaking, he heard footsteps approaching from far away and then, immediately following, two knocks sounded from the room door.

Chen Hong pushed open the door and entered, his entire face full of astonishment. “Big bro, right as I came back, I heard that Ding Yicheng died, Wei Jin is a child of the Jiang family, and you’re part of the Yang family. Are these all true?”

Ye You said, “They are.”

Chen Hong looked at him and then looked at Xie Junming before saying angrily, “I can’t be the last one to know about this, right? Are we still brothers?”

Ye You laughed and said, “Of course you aren’t the last one.” Chen Hong said, “Really?”

Ye You said, “Xiao-Bai, Xiao-Mei, and the others along with my big brother all still don’t know.”

Chen Hong silently took a moment to react, feeling as if he had received a sliver of comfort. He then ran over to sit extremely close to the other, blinking his limpid eyes, looking especially heart-rending. Ye You pushed aside his face and asked, “Why is it only you? Where’s Sect Master Shui274?”

Chen Hong’s expression turned somewhat stiff.

Every time he pretended to be pitiful in order to be saved by someone, he always wanted to leave behind a good impression, so when Sect Master Shui wanted to send him home, he had agreed. He had thought that he’d find a good place to send the person away before returning, but as a result, after chatting for a while on the road, he had learned that the other party wanted to come to the Sheng family residence. Only then did he resign himself to fate and once again retrace his steps to return.

But he didn’t give that idiot a chance to yell at him, since he ran away the moment he entered the Sheng family residence.

He said, “He’s probably talking with those adventurers or something. Who actually knows, I didn’t bother to pay attention.”

The group collectively looked at him. Chen Hong said, “What?”

Ye You said, “He’s Suiyun Sect’s Sect Master.” Chen Hong said, “I know. He said as much.”

Ye You said, “Then you should know that, last time, it was precisely at Suiyun Sect that I set a trap for Wei Haide, right?”

“Mhm. Wait, don’t tell me that he came here to find you two…” Chen Hong had spoken only halfway when he heard knocks once again sound from the room door. He immediately looked pitifully at Wenren Heng.

Wenren Heng ignored him and said gently, “Come in.” The door creaked open.

Sure enough, the one who had come was Suiyun Sect’s Sect Master Shui. What’s more, Wei Jin was even following by his side. With one look, Sect Master Shui saw those pink clothes sitting in the middle of this crowd of men and almost forgot to greet Wenren Heng. He walked close and then looked the other up and down.

Chen Hong, “…”

Sect Master Shui, “…”

The two stared at one another for a while.

Sect Master Shui asked, “You really are a man?” Chen Hong shyly lowered his head. “…Yes.”

Sect Master Shui deeply felt as if he had taken on the role of an idiot and was immediately indignant. “Why are all of you demonic faction people like this…”

Ye You and Xie Junming simultaneously looked at him. “Hm?” “…” Sect Master Shui’s words instantly became stuck in his throat.

Although he had never met Xie Junming before, he had heard from the adventurers that Temple Master Xie and Sect Master Ye were both in Wenren Heng’s room before he came over. And upon thinking of the imperious attitude that Sect Master Ye had last time, along with the miserable appearance of the righteous faction members’ who had been bullied by these two people over the years, he then switched out his “demented” appearance and said,

“How cough… great not to confine yourself to strict categories.” Chen Hong felt his spirits rise. “The Sect Master flatters me.”

Sect Master Shui internally thought this elder will definitely find a

time to give you a beating before walking over to sit next to Wenren Heng, changing the topic to proper business, “I heard that Ding Yicheng was also rotten?”

Wenren Heng said, “Yes.”

Sect Master Shui was speechless. “Doing all these things, what exactly is it that they want?” “It was for the sake of their positions and reputations.” Upon seeing the other wanting to refute, Ye You then explained to him how both Wei and Ding weren’t as incredible as they were now twenty years ago, so they had used Cong Yun’s drugs to create incidents that they could come out and resolve, slowly growing their power. In the end, Ye You also told him that, when those two had obtained what they wanted, they then started pulling back.

Ye You said, “You’ve seen that in these last two, three years, Jianghu has been relatively peaceful, hasn’t it?”

Sect Master Shui said, “Then what were they doing with the whole fuss about the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison?”

“Because they were too afraid of that monster, probably,” Ye You guessed.

Ding Yicheng had said as much before dying, and he felt that this was most likely true.

Over these years, the monster had essentially been living a life of seclusion, and both Wei and Ding were perhaps afraid that he’d become bored of living such days. That’s why they had hurried to obtain confirmation when they heard the news about Pursued Until Scattered so as to give the monster something to do.

Of course, his thoughts at the beginning of this were that, regardless of how high both Wei and Ding’s positions had gotten, regardless of whether or not the monster was still in this world, towards this greatest of secret books, both Wei and Ding would still want to obtain it, if not for themselves, then for the next generation.

But regardless of what the truth was, this chess game had fortunately opened smoothly.

Sect Master Shui said, “I even heard them say that Ding Yicheng said that he’d destroy this power before he died. He wasn’t lying?”

“Yes, in order to leave all the benefits to the later generation,” Ye You said, “For instance, say that Wei Haide and the others have all retired, while those three young ones have taken their positions. Then, an incident suddenly occurs in Jianghu. Someone then notifies those on the three young ones’ sides, and the advisors by their sides all follow along to put forth plans and ideas, leading them to slowly discover a terrible demonic sect who had been taking advantage of Bodhi Prison to make drugged men. And when that demonic sect is thereby annihilated by them, what do you think the effect would be?”

Sect Master Shui gasped.

If that really happened, then it wouldn’t just be enough to establish Wei Jiangyue and the others’ positions, it’d also leave them with more praise and honor than Wei Haide and them had ever received. After all, while Wei Haide and the others were around, no demonic sect such as this had ever appeared.

What planning!

He was even more speechless. After drinking a sip of tea in order to suppress his shock, he then asked doubtfully, “Wait, that’s not right. Would they stop trying to oppose the monster then?”

Ye You said, “When the time comes, it’d also be about time for that monster to die of old age. Why would they still take the time to kill him?”

Oh, that’s right.

Sect Master Shui once again took a drink, feeling as if his mind wasn’t quite up to par.

Ye You gave the other time to process as he looked towards the Wei Jin who hadn’t spoken from start to finish and asked, “How are you?”

Wei Jin said, smiling, “Extremely delighted.”

Ye You said, “I’m talking about the drugs in your body. How do you feel?”

Wei Jin said, “It still hasn’t spread yet. Who knows what will happen. How about you?” Ye You said, “I’m all right.”

Wei Jin was doubtful. “Nothing happened when you fought that monster?”

Ye You lightly drank a mouthful of tea and said, “Yes, it’s only that he hit me once.”

The room turned deathly still in an instant.

Other than Wenren Heng and Sect Master Shui who had already known, the rest of them all looked towards him.

Ye You took the initiative to say, “It’s not like I didn’t want to talk about it, I just simply didn’t have the opportunity.”

This was also the truth.

Over these years, he and Wei Jin had long already developed a tacit understanding. Last time when Ren Shaotian jumped into the river to save him, Wei Jin had thought of a way to drag out some information from Ren Shaotian and, when Ding Yicheng later sent Wei Jin to follow him and his Senior Brother, had then taken the opportunity to relay that information to him. That was when he began to suspect that Ren Shaotian could perhaps be his big brother and so had impatiently lured the person outside the city the day he returned. And afterwards, since he had faced off against Ding Yicheng in a moment of anger, he had been pulled away by his Senior Brother to stay in an inn and only just now returned.

He said, “I’ve eaten the antidote that Miracle Doctor Ji personally created. Right now, I still feel all right.”

The group gave him another look before moving away their lines of sight.

Ye You knew that they were all probably feeling uneasy in their hearts, including his Senior Brother as well, so he didn’t continue speaking of this. Looking at Wei Jin, he asked, “Where did you put Ding Xilai?” Wei Jin said, “I found a random place to toss him. Whether he lives or dies will depend on his luck.”

Ye You declined to comment. After chatting with them for a while longer, he then went outside to eat lunch, taking the opportunity to relay his decision.

Everyone had already been dragged around by this chess game for far too long, and all of them wanted to resolve it as quickly as possible, so there was not the least objection to his decision to go to Huayang City. After a night of rest, they then set out the next morning.

The matter of the monster still being alive had already spread, and Jianghu adventurers hurried over one by one to help slaughter the demon, while Elder Bai and Elder Ji also smoothly reunited with them. The procession grew bigger and bigger, and morale also grew better and better.

In this way, after six days, they met Wei Haide’s party on the road. The two sides both stopped.

The Abbot and the others stepped out of the carriages one by one in order to stand at the very front.

Ye You also pulled aside the carriage curtains to get out of the carriage. However, right as he was about to step onto the ground, a number of adventurers quickly leapt out from nearby, with many experts from “Heaven’s Firmament” and “Moon’s Shadow” among them. They had long been keeping watch on the carriages and, upon seeing him appear, collectively mounted an attack, planning to catch the person by surprise.

Everyone’s expressions instantly changed. “These are the white piece’s men! Quickly dodge, Sir Yang!”

“Sir Yang, be careful!” “Sir Yang!” Ye You steadied his footing and raised his head, his entire person already seemingly enclosed by the other party’s sword energy.

As their important hostage, Wei Jiangyue had been sitting in the same carriage as them and immediately wanted to rush outside, but he was stopped by Wenren Heng’s hand pressing against his shoulder. In the next moment, he saw only this person’s figure flash before then immediately hearing a great resounding bang and those people all suddenly being blown away.

Everyone stared and saw those Elders of the Demonic Sect, along with “Sect Master Ye”, flashing over from the side to send all those people flying away, even firmly encircling Sir Yang in their protection.

Everyone immediately felt steadier, suddenly feeling as if even these Elders were quite pleasing to the eyes.

Ye You looked at Wei Haide and said, smiling, “Once, twice, thrice. I’ve seen through every single one of your plans, so how do you still dare to come? Aren’t you quite unhappy right now? That’s all right, for the sake of making it up to you, I’ll give you a nice surprise in a little while.”

Wei Haide ground his teeth, internally thinking about how terrible the Demonic Sect was.

And who knew what exactly this Sect Master Ye was thinking, as he always carried about as if this matter was of no concern to him, but now he had actually taken the initiative to jump out.

In contrast, those elders let out a breath of relief and said, “Many thanks for Sect Master Ye’s help.”

Elder Baili said, “Simply playing the part, that’s all.”

Everyone blinked, not yet understanding the meaning of those words before they saw him taking off his mask.

Startling, they all anxiously looked over without exception. But upon seeing that it was actually Elder Baili’s face under the mask, every one of them fell into stunned shock. Before this moment, they had believed that Elder Baili had remained behind to guard the Demonic Sect, but who could’ve known that that wasn’t true.

No, no, that’s not right. That wasn’t the important thing.

The important thing was, if Elder Baili was here, where was Sect Master Ye?

Under these countless staring eyes, Elder Baili raised his hand and handed over the mask to the person behind him. Ye You accepted it and placed it on his own face, mouth lifting up in a smile, a smile full of a sort of wicked air that was incomparably unique, and immediately familiar to the righteous faction.

Manor Lord Wei, “…” Wei Jiangyue, “…”

The martial arts circle’s elders, “…” The Jianghu adventurers, “…”

The Junior Sect Masters, “…”

Ye You let out a faint laugh at the sight of these blankly staring people, his tone very much asking for a beating, “For the sake of revenge, over this period of time, this lord couldn’t help but play a small joke. Apologies.”

Everyone, “…”

The scene was deathly still.

After a number of breaths, the same word flashed through everyone’s mind.

— Fuck! “Hahahahahaha…”

Upon seeing this situation, Xie Junming fell to laughing uncontrollably as he sat in a nearby carriage. The left protector wiped his sweat. “Temple Master, stop laughing. If you keep laughing, they might even decide to unite against a common enemy in order to cut you and Sect Master Ye into pieces!”

Xie Junming said, “What are you thinking? Between that monster and Ah-You, who do you think they’d pick?”

“Of course the monster.” As the left protector spoke, he seemed to become aware of something and asked in alarm, “So… so the righteous faction’s resentment will all be diverted onto Wei Haide and them?”

Xie Junming said, “Or else why do you think Ah-You would choose a time like this to reveal his identity?”

The left protector, “…”

Sure enough, Sect Master Ye was terrifying!

Xie Junming said, “Ah, it’s no good, I like him more and more. Let’s steal him out from Wenren Heng’s hands!”

The left protector once again wiped his sweat. “Temple Master, stop messing around!”

He almost forgot, this person was also always causing him endless worries! And the person’s instincts for causing trouble was even comparable to Sect Master Ye’s, how upsetting!

Chapter 114

Ye You naturally couldn’t draw everyone’s ire for too long.

When he finished speaking those words, he once again looked at Wei Haide and commented, “It looks like you brought the whole family here.”

Everyone in the righteous faction unconsciously looked over and discovered that, while Wei Haide hadn’t brought over as many people as they did, there were still many familiar faces. Other than that monster, there were Madam Chen, the Three Demons of Evil Island, and so on — all who had once brought disaster to the peace of the martial arts circle.

Ye You also looked at them and said, “Do all of you still not know that Wei Haide saved all of you originally in order to test drugs on you?”

Wei Haide’s heart skipped a beat. “Stop trying to sow discord.” “I’m trying to sow discord? Before he died, Ding Yicheng already

admitted that you two did all this in order to turn that monster into a drugged man, and he even said that, when matters were over, you’d destroy that power,” Ye You said, “If none of you believe me, there’s no harm in asking Shaolin’s Abbot Ciyuan. As a monk, he certainly wouldn’t lie to you. If it was me…”

Wei Haide said, “Stop talking nonsense! Hand over Jiangyue!”

During this period of time, Wenren Heng and Wei Jiangyue had gotten out of the carriage.

Having heard this, Wei Jiangyue looked at the other and, upon seeing that missing arm, felt pain prick his heart. In a hoarse voice, he said, “Dad, you should stop.”

Wei Haide said, “I’ll slowly explain matters to you later. First, come over here.” Wei Jiangyue said in a low voice, “I won’t go over. If they want to kill me, then they can kill me; I won’t move against them. Dad, you’ve done something wrong. I beg you to stop.”

Wei Haide said, “You…”

“It’s useless no matter how much you try to interrupt me.” At this time, Ye You once again spoke, still looking at those people on the other side. “All of you aren’t fools. Deep down, you’re aware of the current situation. Truth be told, the people of the Demonic Sect and Wuwang Temple are all nearby, so what do you think are Wei Haide’s chances of success today?”

The people over there immediately turned hesitant. Wei Haide felt his teeth ache with hatred.

The people planted in Wuyun City had already written on the letter, in clear and precise detail, the words that Ding Yicheng said before his death. Old Ding had mentioned only that they wanted to go against the monster while skipping over their precise methods entirely. Over these past few days, he had considered the possibility of the other party attempting to sow discord, and as such, before setting out, he had sent Cong Yun to explain to the monster, pushing all these matters onto Old Ding.

As for the rest of them, when all was said and done, they weren’t fools, so he naturally didn’t say too much.

He had originally believed that if he sent people to launch a surprise attack on Ah-Xiao and Wenren Heng today, then the two sides would definitely start fighting at once, so there also wouldn’t be time for a verbal exchange. But who knew that Ah-Xiao was actually Sect Master Ye, and with this sudden reveal, the flow of the scene had entirely fallen into this person’s hands.

What’s more, he hadn’t imagined that, from the start, this scoundrel wouldn’t even look for the monster and would instead try to incite disharmony directly among Madam Chen and the others, even dragging in Abbot Ciyuan to speak. Like this, Madam Chen and the others would definitely start feeling apprehensive in their hearts. Ye You continued with, “I won’t say things like ‘if you stop taking the side of this evildoer, we’ll let all of you go’. That’s too obviously a lie. But I will say that since the righteous faction’s anger is directed entirely at Wei Haide and that monster right now, why don’t all of you take this opportunity to run…”

Wei Haide suppressed his anger and interrupted with a sneer, “Let them run? I think that you just don’t want people to know that you practice Pursued Until Scattered, right? That’s right, if more people learned of it, your situation would take a turn for the worse.”

The moment these words were said, the scene erupted into an uproar, causing even more astonishment than the reveal that Sir Yang was Sect Master Ye.

Ye You was very calm. “This lord has already spoken of what martial arts this lord practices back at Yushan Stage. If you don’t believe this lord, then you can go to my Demonic Sect’s main hall to investigate; all the people there know. Or do you mean to say that when I fled the Yang family residence as a five-year-old child that year, I hid a book in my clothes as I walked over a thousand miles to reach Heji Mountain, and not a single person discovered this on the way?

Including even the Master who saved me?” Wei Haide said, “What if your master knows?”

Ye You said, “If my master knew, why didn’t my Senior Brother also practice it? And when you brought people to commit murder on Heji Mountain that year, why did my master still fight alongside you?”

His expression darkened. “Wei Haide, look well upon these elders and adventurers. Do you think that everyone under the heavens is just like you, willing to massacre three families in such a deranged way for the sake of one book?”

These words were truly pleasant to hear, especially since the words were spoken by Sect Master Ye — it truly was rare for him to say a good word about them.

All the adventurers couldn’t help but straighten their backs to look down upon Wei Haide, feeling that what Sect Master Ye said was reasonable and that Wei Haide was definitely trying to smear Sect Master Ye.

Ye You said, “Going back to what you said before, even if I really practiced Pursued Until Scattered, they still wouldn’t move against me because even the heavens couldn’t tolerate what you’ve done!”

Everyone shouted, “That’s right, accept your death, surnamed Wei!”

Wei Haide was finally able to understand the feelings of those righteous faction members who had been choked by Sect Master Ye over the years; this person was even able to convince people that black was actually white with just a few words. He was angry enough to kill as he looked towards the monster. “Brother, not making a move?”

From start to finish, the elderly man didn’t have much of an expression on his face.

He was not the least bit concerned about the truth, and he was even less interested in whether or not Wei Haide was lying to him, or whether Ye You actually practiced Pursued Until Scattered, because right now, his entire head was filled with the desire to fight with Ye You.

He moved forward a step and looked at Ye You. “Brat, come out.”

Ye You shot him a glance, but before he could even open his mouth, he saw that a few more people had arrived on that side.

The ill young sir who was at the head said, “First wait a moment.” Wei Haide turned around and discovered that it was Cong Yun.

This person’s body had still yet to recover, and since Wei Jiangrou’s martial skill was too terrible and she had offended the monster, the two had thus remained behind in Huayang City. He never imagined that Cong Yu would actually follow them. He asked, “Why did you come?”

Cong Yun walked over and said, sighing, “After all of you left, I discovered that the drug I gave you before has some…” When he had spoken up to here, the people following behind him suddenly threw out three concealed weapons.

Immediately following, only the sounds of thuds loudly echoing through the air were heard before thick smoke began spreading with a rumble.

This moment truly went beyond everyone’s expectations.

Wei Haide hastily flashed out of the smoke before raising his head in disbelief.

Over at the righteous faction side, everyone was also flabbergasted one after the other. There were some who believed that the other party perhaps wanted to flee and so made a fuss about not letting the monster go. But before they could give chase, Ye You called them to a stop, and only when they heard him explain Cong Yun’s identity did they give up on those ideas.

Wenren Heng let go of Wei Jiangyue and went to his Junior Brother’s side. He said, “There’s something strange.”

Ye You made a sound in agreement, watching with narrowed eyes.

Other than Wei Haide and a few black-clothed men, he still had yet to find the figures of the monster and Madam Chen. He didn’t know if they had retreated or if they hadn’t come out from the start.

The smoke didn’t persist for long and dissipated very quickly.

Everyone saw then that the monster, Madam Chen, and the others were still standing in the same places, their heads lowered, unmoving, with Cong Yun actually standing in the middle of them. At this moment, he snapped his fingers, prompting those people to raise their heads with sudden swiftness, their eyes completely lifeless and their expressions vacant.

Everyone collectively sucked in a breath. “This is…”

Ye You pupils darkened slightly. “He turned them into drugged troops.” Everyone said, “How did he do it?”

Ye You said, “Their bodies definitely contained the drug, so they needed only a trigger.

Everyone then understood.

It was clear that Cong Yun had set off that trigger during that smoke just now.

At this time, Wei Haide had also understood. So it turned out that the drug that Cong Yun had given him previously was able to control the monster. How did this person manage to make such a thing in the end?

He suppressed his bad premonition and said, as calmly as possible, “This is?”

Cong Yun looked at him and laughed, saying, “Only people who are drugged would listen obediently forever, isn’t that right?”

Wei Haide said, “Not bad.”

Cong Yun then turned back his line of sight.

After researching so arduously in Bodhi Prison for so many years, he actually had long already created a drug that could handle experts; it was only that he had never had the opportunity to test it before.

Because he wasn’t interested in anything other than manufacturing drugs, along with the worry that Wei Haide and them would silence him once matters were finished, he had always dragged out the process and, in the meantime, researched a whole bunch of other messy things.

He had originally thought that things would carry on like that forever, unchanging, but who could have predicted the blessings of the heavens, and that he would actually meet a person who looked like Ah-Cheng. As such, he was no longer interested in continuing this farce with Wei Haide.

These past few days at the Yang family residence, he had used the excuse of “raising internal energy” to give the drug to Madam Chen and the others, and then later Wei Jiangrou had succeeded in convincing the monster to take the drug, so now everything was ready, and only the finishing touches were left.

He looked at that familiar figure with a burning-hot gaze — even if this person was wearing a mask, he still knew that this was the person he had met at Shaolin. He said to the monster, “Go, capture that person for me, alive. Remember not to injure his face.”

The elderly man lifelessly went accordingly, towards where he was pointing, at once leaping off the ground. Upon meeting people standing in his way, with one palm strike, he sent those same people flying with a bang before continuing to rush forward, extremely ferocious.

At practically the same time the monster was looking over, Wenren Heng grabbed his Junior Brother by the waist and rushed into the nearby forest. Cong Yun saw their departure and ordered the remaining drugged people to protect him, deciding to follow along to watch.

Upon seeing that the drugged people didn’t even need a flute to command them this time, Wei Haide felt the bad premonition in his heart growing even stronger and so didn’t move forward for now.

Before leaving, Cong Yun gave him a look and said, “That’s right, before I left, I gave your darling daughter some ointment. Remind her to apply it on time.”

Wei Haide could hear that the other’s tone contained a certain degree of malice, and his expression changed slightly. “Don’t tell me…”

Cong Yun said, “Who told her to provoke me.”

Wei Haide felt both anxious and angry, and he had half-a-mind to grab the other in order to force out an antidote, but he knew that right now truly wasn’t a good time.

Madam Chen and the others were already incredible originally, so now with their internal energies having sharply risen and Cong Yun the only one they listened to, it would be far too difficult for him to even think about approaching. And since Cong Yun had done this, his own strength had immediately become the weakest of the three parties, so it also wasn’t advisable for him to stay for long.

He inwardly hoped that the monster could kill Ye You and Wenren Heng before saying, “Retreat.”

“Want to leave? No way!”

Under the Abbot and the others’ directions, the righteous faction had quickly split into three groups. The first two went on to chase the monster and Cong Yun, while the remainder had rushed over to face Wei Haide.

From the beginning, Wei Haide had planned to retreat upon capturing Wenren Heng and Ye You and thus never had any intentions of fighting to the death. Turning around, he and his subordinates then rushed into the forest on the other side of the official road, going in the completely opposite direction from the monster.

And it was at this time that he saw two bright sword lights abruptly flashing downwards, forcing him to step back hastily in order to dodge. Upon looking, he then saw Qin Yuemian and Wei Jin midair, jumping down to block his path of retreat.

Qin Yuemian said, “We still haven’t accounted for what happened to my father, so don’t be in such a rush to leave.”

Wei Jin said, “There’s no point wasting words with him! Come!”

The moment those words were said, a number of figures suddenly flashed out from the forest; from their clothes, it was clear that they were all people from the Demonic Sect and Wuwang Temple. At the same time, murderous cries were resounding from the righteous faction adventurers behind, voices loud enough to shake the heavens.

And so, with one in front and the other behind, the demonic faction and the righteous faction had come together to trap him in the middle. Wei Haide’s heart immediately sank.

At this time, Ye You had already been brought into the forest by his Senior Brother.

The monster was currently in close pursuit, unwilling to let up. Because of the drug, this person’s internal energy had increased exponentially, and his lightness skill was even better than before, so the distance between them began to close little by little.

Wenren Heng continued jumping forward for a time before he suddenly stopped and said, “Now!”

The moment this word was said, countless concealed weapons smashed down from every possible direction. Smoke whistled out, bubbling forth and covering up the entire area in the blink of an eye. Right afterwards, sounds of clanging began messily resounding from the surroundings, mixing in with the sounds of countless concealed weapons still being dropped to the ground, immediately causing people to lose their way.

During this time, Ye You had been taken by his Senior Brother to another location.

He lifted his head and saw that there were countless rows of Shuangji Sect members in front of them, each one of them holding a crossbow in hand, with one row currently prepared to fire at the smoke. He blinked before quickly understanding his Senior Brother’s plan and silently giving his Senior Brother a look.

Holding his hand, Wenren Heng walked with him over there. “Ah- You.”

The moment he finished speaking, he raised a hand and waved it lightly.

As one, the Shuangji Sect members pulled the trigger, and in an instant, the arrows flew through the air, falling like rain upon that smoke. And since Wenren Heng had spoken, the monster had finally been able to identify where they were and was currently rushing forward rapidly — he was practically about to run right into the arrow rain, his high speed actually making it so that he wouldn’t have any way to react in time; even if he used his internal energy to protect his body, he still wouldn’t be able to avoid all of the damage.

Ye You almost immediately heard the ssfft sounds of arrows hitting human flesh, and by the time the monster had rushed out of the smoke, his body was already riddled with countless arrows.

“Retreat,” Wenren Heng said as he drew his Junior Brother towards himself and rushed forward.

The monster let out a roar and once again gave chase.

Having been grabbed by his Senior Brother, Ye You couldn’t help but give the other another look.

Wenren Heng felt his gaze and held him tighter. “I said that I wouldn’t let you make a move, so that’s what I’m doing.”

As he spoke, he moved more than three meters forward before once again stopping.

Upon seeing this, the Shuangji Sect members in hiding once again threw down concealed weapons, and the smoke once again bubbled forth.

Ye You discovered that, this time, there were no Shuangji Sect members standing with his Senior Brother but, rather, there were two rows of people with crossbows on either side. He then understood that, if the monster hadn’t been turned into a drugged man, after the earlier volley, the monster would’ve definitely bolstered his internal energy and used it to hit aside the arrow rain in front, which was why the arrows were now arranged to shoot from the two sides. But it was a pity that the monster had already become a drugged man and didn’t have any rationality, so with the Shuangji Sect members standing this way, the destructive power was actually not as high.

Wenren Heng clearly understood this point and so waved them over, indicating for his subordinates to move carefully and line up in the front before then opening his mouth. In the next moment, the monster rushed over with not the least bit of hesitation and thereby once again ran into the arrow rain.

Ye You said, “You couldn’t have already guessed that we’d meet Wei Haide here, right?”

Wenren Heng said, “Mn, it’s the same no matter where it is. None of the standing positions and the arrangements would have changed.”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgment before assessing the monster’s miserable condition. He then noticed that the other party was also currently looking at them.

Perhaps it was the excessive blood loss that also led to the drug losing a portion of its effects, perhaps it was that Cong Yun’s drug still hadn’t been quite completed, or perhaps it was the unrelenting injuries that brought back his sense of pain, but the monster’s eyes actually gradually cleared.

Both his arms and legs were pierced with arrows, and his injuries were extremely serious. At this time, he forcefully pulled the arrows out, gasping out some rough breaths as he stared fixedly at Ye You, his eyes extremely red. “Come out, fight with me.”

Ye You raised a brow. “Can you still beat me in this state?” The elderly man said, “Fight with me.”

Wenren Heng said, “You better not think of even touching him with me here.”

The elderly man didn’t even give the other the time of day, continuing to stare stubbornly at Ye You. His body was surrounded by extremely dense killing intent, most likely because of his injuries, and his eyes even revealed a sliver of the madness of one who was near death.

Wenren Heng asked, “Are you simply asking for a fight, no matter if you live or die?”

The elderly man was finally willing to give him a look. “Yes.” Wenren Heng laughed very handsomely. “Then you should stop dreaming. Die with this regret.”

The elderly man’s killing intent rose, and he rushed towards Ye You at once.

Wenren Heng held his Junior Brother and once again pulled a distance away. Although the monster continued his pursuit, his speed had dropped considerably, so Wenren Heng was able to avoid him with ease while saying, neither too slowly nor too quickly, “Don’t you believe that, in this world, other than you or other experts, anyone else can’t even be considered a person and so you can just kill them however you please?”

The elderly man, “If I do, what about it?”

“Do you understand Jianghu? Today, I’ll let you know how stupid and worthless you are when all is said and done,” Wenren Heng said, “You are fated to die under the hands of those people you’ve looked down upon.”

During the time these two people were exchanging words, Ye You had keenly discovered that his Senior Brother was currently circling back.

Sure enough, before long, he saw the righteous faction members who had managed to catch up — since the monster was far too incredible, those who had caught up were all the elites of the righteous faction, including Abbot Ciyuan and Sect Leader Xuanyang.

Wenren Heng stopped and said, “He’s already near the end of his life.”

Everyone also saw the monster’s current condition, and their spirits shook. Although they didn’t know how this pair of disciple-brothers had done this, there was no point in bothering about these things at a time like this, and they all immediately moved to kill.

Wenren Heng carried his Junior Brother as he leapt onto a large, nearby tree, and only then did he let the other go. Ye You lowered his eyes to watch and saw that the righteous faction had tightly surrounded the monster, jumping in to fight the person without a word. The draw of the “Demon Slaughter” was truly too great, and even if the monster still had some strength remaining, the monster was still unable to block the adventurers’ hot-blooded rush forward.

The monster who should’ve originally been killed twenty years ago was, in the end, still going to die under the banner of “Demon Slaughter”.

Two fists couldn’t defeat four hands, and no matter how incredible the monster was, he wasn’t a god. Along with his excessive blood loss, he quickly exposed a face of defeat, and one cut after another landed on his body, with bloodied flesh sent flying.

Upon seeing the monster bolster a breath of energy to send the people in the surroundings flying in order to rush towards his Junior Brother, Wenren Heng then took the opportunity to shoot out some pieces of broken silver, directly hitting the person’s chest acupoints. The monster quickly raised his head, meeting Wenren Heng’s line of sight at once; this person’s gaze was still as gentle as ever, but perhaps due to the position of looking down from on high, a sliver of contempt laid clearly exposed.

As the blade next to him slashed down, a sentence flashed through his head in an instant — you are fated to die under the hands of

those people you’ve looked down upon. No, I can’t die like this!

In the next moment, that blade fell down with a rumble, and immediately following, there was a crack as it was broken in two. Everyone felt only a frenzied internal energy rolling over them and hastily retreated, looking at the person in inexplicable alarm.

Ye You’s gaze tensed, and he said, “Move aside, he’s qi deviating!”

Ye You and Wenren Heng turned around and left, while the monster let out a roar, breaking into a run to give chase. Wenren Heng glanced back and asked, “How long can he sustain like this?” “Not too long,” Ye You said, “After all, he’s already lost this much blood. Dragging it out a bit should be fine.”

Wenren Heng then began circling back together with his Junior Brother. After a while, he heard the echoing sound of intermittent footsteps, and when he raised his head to look, he found that it was actually Cong Yun.

Cong Yun had ordered the drugged men to capture two Junior Sect Masters and, at this moment, was currently holding them by the neck and calmly facing the righteous faction. At this time, upon seeing Ye You, his expression heated up. “If you come over on your own, I’ll immediately let them go. How about it?”

Ye You took off his mask and smiled at him extremely lovably. “All right.”

The moment he finished speaking, he and his Senior Brother quickly flashed over. Afraid of tricks, Cong Yun then hastily ordered the drugged men to stop them, but immediately afterwards, he saw a bloodied person rushing over diagonally, a palm crashing into a drugged man that was about to approach these two people, smashing the person away with a bang.

Cong Yun, “…”

All the righteous faction members, “…”

What the fuck is this?

Ye You said to Cong Yun, “Hurry and think of something. He’s qi deviated and wants to kill me.”

Cong Yun suddenly regained his senses and said in a harsh voice, “Stop him!”

Chapter 115

The moment Cong Yun spoke, Madam Chen and the others threw themselves at the bloodied man at once.

These monsters who had once wreaked havoc in Jianghu were now facing off against a great monster, and with both sides not having much sense of pain or fear, the scene turned considerably ferocious. With one look, Cong Yun was able to tell that there was no saving the monster and so changed the “stop” order to “kill” before then looking at Ye You.

Ye You also looked at him.

At this moment, Cong Yun’s back was leaning against a tree, and several bodyguards were behind him, while a young man-and- woman pair was standing in front of him, a Junior Sect Master in each of their hands, currently facing off against the righteous faction. Ye You had once met that young lady at Shaolin and so turned his attention to that young boy to say, “This is Blood-sucking Ghost’s son? I heard that his innate abilities are quite high. That old ghost definitely thought that if he stayed in your hands for a few years, he’d undoubtedly be able to become the highest of experts and so was able to die without worries.”

Cong Yun only needed one moment of consideration before he understood. “Demonic Medicine King told you?”

Ye You generously admitted, “That’s right.”

Since he was captured, Demonic Medicine King had quite the clear view of things, answering whatever he was asked. He had even been the one to relay the information that Wanping Weir’s Beiyan Village was the location of the drugged men’s headquarters.

Cong Yun wasn’t too concerned about this matter. Staring at the other, he said, “If you come over, I’ll let them go.”

Ye You saw that young man’s expression didn’t even show the slightest change and didn’t bother continuing to try and sow discord. He said, “Aren’t I already over here?” Cong Yun said, “Walk over to where I am.”

Ye You said, “Not afraid I’m going to kill you with one strike?”

Cong Yun said, smiling, “Of course I need to first get you under my control before I’d let these two go.”

Ye You also smiled. “My uncle’s already been dead for over twenty years. Why are you still so stuck on this?”

Cong Yun’s expression darkened faintly for a moment. “You don’t need to know. Come.”

The two people’s back-and-forth happened very quickly.

The righteous faction felt completely baffled while listening, but they also felt that the information contained within were quite significant and so continued watching them. There was also another large portion who remained nervously staring at the scene of battle, feeling truly overwhelmed with shock. At this time, they saw the appearance of a sudden, unforeseen event over there — a drugged man, after being struck by the monster, had been sent flying towards them with a bang, and using this small gap, the monster was obstinately rushing over.

Everyone’s expressions changed one after the other, and they hastily moved to evade.

When Ye You and Wenren Heng dodged, they also moved in tacit understanding to approach the man and woman, doing their best to jump close to the other party, and quickly seized the hostages to throw back into the crowd. Ye You’s speed was even faster, and after he saved the hostages, he then rushed towards Cong Yun.

At the same time, the monster had rapidly caught up. Upon hearing the wind behind his back and the echo of his Senior Brother’s voice calling out, Ye You’s body immediately flashed as he dodged the monster’s attack before then following up with a counter strike, sending the person back to those drugged troops who had been in pursuit. By lucky coincidence, Abbot Ciyuan and Sect Leader Xuanyang had also arrived with people prepared to kill and rapidly surrounded them.

He guessed that the monster was definitely about to be finished and once again swept his eyes over to Cong Yun. At this time, the sound of a thud exploded out, and smoke once again bubbled forth, instantly swallowing up his entire person. He unconsciously closed his eyes and was just about to retreat when he felt half his body suddenly turn numb.

Wenren Heng also saw this smoke, and his heart tensed. “Ah-You!”

The smoke quickly dispersed, and Wenren Heng and the righteous faction members who had rushed over all stopped in their tracks. Because Cong Yun had managed to grab hold of Ye You who-knew- when and currently had him by the neck. “None of you move.”

Wenren Heng keenly noticed that a silver needle had punctured his Junior Brother’s arm, and his pupils darkened.

Cong Yun pressed the person into his embrace while raising his chin towards them. “Back up.”

Ye You still had his consciousness and so said, sighing, “With this many people surrounding you, can you really take me away?”

“I can.” After he spoke, Cong Yun instructed his guards to stuff a medicine pill into Ye You’s mouth and then forced the other to swallow it. Upon seeing this person looking at him, he said, placating, “Don’t be afraid. It’s just a drug to seal your internal energy, that’s all.”

Ye You said, “I’m quite curious. What do you want to do by capturing me? I’m not my uncle.”

Cong Yun said, “You will be.” Ye You said, “Oh?”

Cong Yun pulled close to his ear and laughed in a low voice, saying, “I’ve made many different drugs over these years. One of them can change an adult’s memories. When I give it to you, and slowly tell you all about Ah-Cheng, you’ll then become my Ah-Cheng.”

Ye You said, “I feel that, even if my memories have been changed, I also won’t suddenly become stupid. Sooner or later, I’ll notice that there’s something wrong.”

“I actually wouldn’t mind too much if I had to turn you half into a drugged man so that you can listen only to my words.” Cong Yun looked at his profile and couldn’t help but use a thumb to stroke the skin of his neck slowly before then returning to clutching him, expression boiling-hot. “If I had known beforehand that you would look so much like Ah-Cheng, I would’ve taken you away when I went to your house that year.”

Ye You was very surprised. “You’ve been to my house before?”

Cong Yun said, with a hint of playfulness, “A certain day twenty years ago.”

Ye You startled. “Twenty years ago…”

Cong Yun said, “Or else how do you think you were able to escape? Your mom was, in the end, Ah-Cheng’s older sister, after all. In a moment of benevolence that year, I told your dad that Wei Haide and them were coming with intent to kill.”

Ye You thought so it was like that. No wonder his dad knew that Wei Haide and them were partners.

It was only that, when things came to a head, Cong Yun had sent the information far too late, so he didn’t believe that it had been well- intentioned. Instead, it was far more likely that the other simply wanted to see his parents lose their minds out of fear. After all, if Cong Yun really did feel affection towards his family, why would this person still continue to work with Wei Haide and them after his family was slaughtered?

He asked, “What exactly were you and my uncle…”

He had spoken only midway when he felt the hand at his neck tighten slightly, and he immediately stopped speaking. “I don’t want to talk about the things between me and him, so you also shouldn’t ask.” As Cong Yun spoke, he shot a glance at the people in front of him and once again made them step back. This scene went on for a while, with his holding Ye You, in a deadlock with the righteous faction, up until a carriage suddenly came into view, galloping over from not faraway. After staring at the carriage, Ye You guessed that, when Cong Yun had first grabbed the hostages, the other should’ve already instructed his subordinates to circle back to grab a carriage, or else it would’ve been impossible for it to have arrived this quickly.

He gave his Senior Brother a placating look before saying in a light voice, “All right, but I’m afraid you won’t have the chance.”

Cong Yun said, “What do you mean?”

Ye You said, “I’ve been poisoned by the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison. Since you sealed my internal energy, I can no longer suppress the poison.”

Cong Yun said, “You’re lying to me.”

Ye You said, “You’re a doctor. Would I be able to lie to you?”

Upon hearing this, Cong Yun drew out a hand to feel the other’s pulse, and his expression changed, carrying with it some panic. “You…”

Ye You said, “Do you believe me now?”

“The poison can still be contained. With me here, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Cong Yun said, “Wait for when we return, I’ll immediately help you dispel the poison! Right now, all of you back up! Quickly!”

Wenren Heng met his Junior Brother’s eyes, and he took the initiative to pull back.

Everyone in the righteous faction could only follow in pulling back, helpless in the face of this crisis, and allow the carriage to approach. Cong Yun then hurriedly dragged Ye You to get on the carriage. Right as the righteous faction were unsure whether or not they should move to block, they heard only a muffled thud resound, and Cong Yun was sent flying out from the carriage, ferociously smashing into the ground.

The guards and that man-and-woman pair all shouted, “Sir!”

At practically the same instant that Cong Yun was injured, Wenren Heng ordered his subordinates to surround and capture them.

However, that young man’s martial skill was very high, and he managed to escape the encirclement at once. His first reaction was to rush towards the carriage to capture the person, but just as he approached, he was sent flying by the coachman’s kick and was then very quickly also captured.

These series of events happened in the blink of an eye.

Everyone in the righteous faction was completely unable to keep up with such a tempo, and all of them stared, blank, up until the coachman took off his disguise and revealed the face of a Demonic Sect Elder. Only then did they sluggishly begin to understand — so it turned out that while Cong Yun sent people to get the carriage, the Demonic Sect members had taken the opportunity to steal said carriage!

In the next moment, they saw the carriage curtains lift and Xie Junming, the left protector, and Ye You all come out together. With quick steps, Wenren Heng walked over to his Junior Brother’s side and pulled the person into an embrace, asking in a low voice, “How are you?”

Ye You said, “Still all right…”

As he spoke, he felt the hand on his waist tighten and saw that his Senior Brother’s expression didn’t look very good, so he could then speak only the truth, “It’s not clear for now.”

Wenren Heng said, “Didn’t you put Miracle Doctor Ji’s medicine in your mouth?” “Yes, so my body isn’t numb anymore, but only a bit of my internal energy has returned right now. So we still need to wait and see.” Once Ye You finished speaking, he walked towards Cong Yun, lowering his eyes to look at the other.

Cong Yun originally had internal injuries, and now he’d even suffered a strike from Xie Junming. Thus, when he was sent flying, he had vomited out two mouthfuls of blood, his face rapidly turning pale. He looked at Ye You and said with difficulty, “Ah-Cheng, you came…”

Seeing that he was already on his dying breaths, Ye You didn’t bother to correct his form of address.

“Ah-Cheng, I really do like you…” Cong Yun mumbled, “I was the one in the wrong last time, so don’t be angry. We can go… go wander the world, partake of wine and delicacies, and… and grow old together275…”

His voice gradually ebbed before finally disappearing within the ice- cold wind.

Xie Junming walked over. “Who’s Ah-Cheng?”

“My uncle.” Ye You gave him a look. “Where’s Wei Haide?” Xie Junming said, “Already been tied up. He’s in the back.”

Ye You looked at the nearby monster and, upon seeing that the other’s breaths were already exhausted, then turned around to go find Wei Haide.

At this moment, Wei Haide was currently being guarded by Wei Jin and the others.

Although Wei Jin had already promised to leave Wei Haide for Ye You to deal with, he and Qin Yuemian were both people with bellyfuls of evil tricks, so while capturing the person, every so often they’d inflict a warning on Wei Haide’s body. Thus, by the time Ye You arrived, he saw that Wei Haide’s entire body was bloody, looking as if even that last remaining arm was about to be lost. He narrowed his eyes. “Wei Haide, today you’ve finally fallen to this level.”

Wei Haide sneered. “Stop wasting words. One person’s deeds should be one person’s responsibility. Hurry and end it.”

Ye You took the sword from Elder Bai’s hand and asked, “Any last words?”

Wei Haide said, “Yes. That year, while on Heji Mountain, I truly regret that I didn’t kill you.”

“You should regret,” Ye You said, “Do you have anything else you want to say?”

Wei Haide said, “No.”

Ye You nodded. “Well, I do. Don’t worry and die. Little by little, I’ll also send down your Fengxian Manor to accompany you.”

Wei Haide said, “What do you want to do?”

Ye You said, all smiles, “Didn’t you originally do those things for the sake of Fengxian Manor? Did you think I’d let it remain?”

Wei Haide said, “Stop indulging in such fantasies. With the Abbot and them around, how could they allow you to run amok?”

Ye You arrogantly laughed. “When has this lord ever been afraid of the righteous faction?”

Wei Haide suddenly remembered that the other was still the Demonic Sect’s Sect Master, and his expression changed. “If you dare to… urk…”

Before he could even finish speaking, Ye You’s sword had directly pierced through his chest.

“Wei Haide.” Ye You coldly stared at his warped face. “The debt you owe the ninety-plus people in my Yang family, the debt you owe my esteemed teacher, today I’m collecting all of it from you. Go on your way then.” Ye You pulled out the sword with a hand. With a mix of alarm and anger frozen on his face, Wei Haide fell down with a thud, taking those still unfinished words with him.

Ye You threw aside the sword and lowered his head to look at the corpse.

This long and arduous journey of twenty years, as he slowly unfolded his plans step by step, had finally reached its dawn after a cold and endless night. He felt the heavy burden on his back lighten, and his mind suddenly turned completely blank.

Wenren Heng had been with Ye You from beginning to end and, upon seeing this, held the other’s hand, also staining himself with a handful of blood. He said gently, “Let’s go.”

Ye You pressed down on the surging emotions in his chest and said, “Yes.”

Xie Junming had followed along the whole way, quietly watching them as he slowed his footsteps. “Things are basically finished.”

The left protector said, “Does the Temple Master want to go back now?”

Xie Junming said, “You should be asking me what I want to do next.”

The left protector readily complied and asked, “All right, what does the Temple Master want to do?”

Xie Junming said, “Let’s steal Ah-You over, all right?”

The left protector wiped his sweat. “Temple Master, stop joking around!”

Xie Junming said, “Why do you think that I’m joking?” The left protector said, “Of course it’s because…”

He suddenly paused.

That’s right, why did he believe that the Temple Master was joking? Did the Temple Master like Sect Master Ye?”

Ever since the Temple Master had that delightful time conversing with Sect Master Ye, he had wondered about this question, though he had gradually forgotten about it until now.

Before the Demonic Sect arrived in the Central Plains, their Wuwang Temple was the uncontested, foremost sect in the demonic faction, but although their Temple Master passed the days with strength and vigor, with noise and excitement, always rampantly tormenting those people who he found displeasing to the eye while inciting great pandemonium, he hadn’t had even a single confidante; it was always him playing by himself.

And then one day, Sect Master Ye suddenly moved here. The two’s positions were similar and their temperaments were well-matched, and Sect Master Ye was even a hard-to-come-by beauty. Would his Temple Master’s heart move?

Regarding this point, he really couldn’t say.

He swallowed his saliva and reminded, “Temple Master, Sect Master Ye and Sect Master Wenren are already together.

Xie Junming said, “It’s precisely because of this that I want to steal him. Think about it, after they get married, Ah-You might simply move to Shuangji Sect. Then who’d still accompany me? How lonely will I be.”

“…” The left protector almost choked to death on his own spit, internally thinking, so after all you276 just want to find someone to play with then?

He speechlessly gave the Temple Master a look. He then actually saw the Temple Master’s expression change slightly before the other suddenly began running forward. He immediately received a fright and hastily followed, lifting his head to see that Sect Master Ye had already fallen into Wenren Heng’s arms.

“Ah-You!” “Sect Master!” “Sect Master Ye!” “Sir Yang!”

Sounds from every which way rolled over like the tides as Ye You once again spat out a mouthful of black blood. Looking towards the azure sky, he then thought, right before he thoroughly lost consciousness, Today’s good weather is truly hard to come by.

Dazed and semi-conscious, he slept for who-knew-how-long.

When he once again woke up, he discovered that he was lying within a nest of blankets.

Wenren Heng was sitting on the side, reading, and, upon seeing him open his eyes, moved closer. “Ah-You.”

Ye You felt somewhat sore in his chest and said, “How long did I sleep?”

Wenren Heng said, “Three days.”

Ye You felt around for a moment and discovered that the poison had practically been entirely suppressed. It was only that he wasn’t able to exert much strength in his body. He asked, “Where is this?”

Wenren Heng said, “Huayang City.”

Ye You guessed that they were in the Yang family residence. He then examined his Senior Brother for a moment before grabbing the other’s hand. Wenren Heng was afraid that his arm would be cold and so simply decided to get on the bed, pulling the person into an embrace and saying, “You weren’t unconscious for long before Elder Miao and the others came.”

“Miaomiao?” Ye You said, “How did they get here so fast?”

Wenren Heng said, “The drugs in the drugged men’s bodies have already been dispelled, and Elder Miao and them were worried about you, so they left Shaolin together. On the second day after what happened, they luckily managed to arrive. He and Demonic Medicine King managed to suppress the poison in your body.”

Ye You said, “Then what about Miracle Doctor Ji?”

Wenren Heng said, “Miracle Doctor Ji’s getting on in years, so he isn’t as fast as Elder Miao and them. Right now, he’s still on the road, and Young Miracle Doctor Fang is currently with him. They’ll arrive in the next few days.”

Ye You said, “Then…”

“No need to think about it. That boy attendant of yours had definitely been on a separate path from them.” Wenren Heng knew what he wanted to say and replied with, “But your Demonic Sect’s people have already sent people to contact them in order to get them to circle back within these two days.”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgment and scooted closer into his embrace.

Wenren Heng could no longer contain himself, and he pinched the other’s chin before lowering his head to kiss, tightly winding around the other’s tongue, only letting go when he noticed that Ye You seemed somewhat short of breath. His thumb stroked the other’s moist lips as he said in a hoarse voice, “If you ever scare me like this again, don’t even think of ever going anywhere else.”

Ye You panted out a few breaths before saying with a laugh, “All right. You better mean what you say.”

Wenren Heng’s face finally carried a hint of a smile, and he held the other, lying there companionably. Ye You leaned against him and, upon feeling this familiar warmth, gradually began turning drowsy. At this time, a sudden feminine shriek echoed in from the outside.

He opened his eyes. “Wei Jiangrou?” Wenren Heng said, “It should be.” Ye You raised a brow. Wenren Heng then told him that Wei Jiangrou’s face had been destroyed by Cong Yun.

When they arrived at Huayang City three days ago, the guards that Wei Haide had left behind had long already run away in fear, leaving behind Wei Jiangrou. Wei Jiangyue had found a doctor to examine her, and the conclusion was that there was already no saving her face. Since she was not able to accept it, Wei Jiangrou’s temperament had taken a turn for the worse.

And since the Yang family’s steward had already learned about the entire sequence of events, he naturally felt his heart ache for their family’s young master and inevitably stopped giving anyone from the Wei family any respect; the fact that he was still willing to give her some food to eat was already not bad. Wei Jiangrou then couldn’t take it anymore and had begun arguing with a young servant girl yesterday evening. In a moment of anger, she had injured the other. Upon hearing the noise, Sir Zhong and Wei Jiangyue had hurried over. The former had mocked and ridiculed Wei Jiangrou, and the two had almost come to blows. In the end, Wei Jiangyue had grabbed her and handed her over to Shaolin and Wudang.

Ye You said, “Wei Jiangyue wants to…”

Wenren Heng said, “Yes, he wants to send Wei Jiangrou to Bodhi Prison and lock her up for the rest of her life. Right now, Shaolin and Wudang’s people are watching Wei Jiangrou, and who-knows-what incident has occurred again. In a while, it’ll pass.”

Sure enough, not long later, Wei Jiangrou’s voice faded away.

Since Ye You’s body was weak right now, he hadn’t been able to hear what she had been shouting about at all. In contrast, Wenren Heng was clearly able to hear that she wanted to see his Junior Brother in order to beg his Junior Brother to have Demonic Medicine King heal her injuries, but he naturally wouldn’t tell such a thing to his Junior Brother and simply acted as if he hadn’t heard.

He asked, “Want to sleep for a while longer?” Ye You made a sound in agreement and, leaning against him, quickly fell into a deep sleep.

His energy was quite low, so this sleep lasted until noon the next day before he then slept again, on and off, for another full day. When he once again awoke, he was actually met with Miracle Doctor Ji’s familiar face.

Miracle Doctor Ji was currently taking his pulse and asked, “How do you feel?”

Ye You said, “My chest hurts.”

Miracle Doctor Ji said in admonishment, “Can’t you think of something more original?”

Ye You said, smiling, “It actually hurts this time.”

Miracle Doctor Ji declined to comment and carefully took his pulse for a while before saying, “Luckily your internal energy is high.”

With only this sentence, Wenren Heng was able to feel much steadier.

Miracle Doctor Ji stroked his beard as he looked at a certain person. “I’m helping you only this once. Whenever you return to the righteous faction will be whenever I examine you next.”

Ye You remembered those rules of Miracle Doctor Ji’s and said, smiling, “I heard that elder’s rules were created during the ‘Demon Slaughter’ incident that year, and that you277 established them after seeing the miserable appearances of Wei Haide and Ding Yicheng. At that time, elder actually already knew that there were problems with

them, right? Most likely because their injuries were too fake, for the sake of guarding against their suspicions, elder then purposely feigned anger and made those vows.”

Miracle Doctor Ji didn’t respond.

Ye You continued smiling. “Right now, they’re already dead, and elder was fortunately able to help this young one succeed. In other words, whether a person’s good or bad isn’t determined by whether they’re from the demonic faction or the righteous faction, it should be…”

Miracle Doctor Ji interrupted him, “Speak a bit less. Save some energy for drinking your medicine.”

Ye You could hear that he was becoming somewhat frustrated and said, all smiles, “All right, this young one has no basis with which to meddle with elder’s decision. But this young one won’t return to the righteous faction. In the past, Young Miracle Doctor Fang has already entered my Demonic Sect, and so this lord will take him back within these next few days. In the future, if anyone in the demonic faction is ill, they can just go directly to him.”

Miracle Doctor Ji immediately became angry with him.

Wenren Heng was on the side, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and only when he indicated for his Junior Brother to be a bit more obedient did the other finally close his mouth.

With Miracle Doctor Ji’s help, the poison in Ye You’s body gradually lessened, and after half a month, it had completely disappeared.

Since matters were already over, the adventurers also slowly dispersed.

Those elders were, however, gathered together and began to discuss how to deal with the people they captured as well as those drugged men who had regained their rationality. Sir Yang had also already been sent back and given to Young Miracle Doctor Fang and Elder Miao. In the past, these two people had worked together to dispel the drug in Wei Jin’s body and so they used the poison that had previously infected Wei Jin as a guide to try and create an antidote for Sir Yang — although it took them five days before they discovered even a single hint, they were now progressing in a good direction, allowing Ye You to let out a breath of relief.

Unconsciously, another half month passed by.

These past few days, Xie Junming had become bored with his stay and, upon seeing that Ye You’s injuries were largely healed, then took the people of Wuwang Temple and Chen Hong to say their farewells together.

Ye You had taken their help this time extremely to heart and so personally saw them off, telling them that, when he returned to Xiaoqing Mountain, they can all meet up again. Xie Junming said, “All right. Don’t forget to prepare good food and wine.”

Ye You laughed and said, “I won’t forget.”

Xie Junming gave him one final look before taking the Chen Hong who was wearing a small green dress onto the carriage.

Ye You watched as they moved further and further away before he saw that Wei Jin had also come out. This person’s poison had been much simpler than the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison, so before Miracle Doctor Ji could even make a move, Demonic Medicine King had already cured it. Ye You looked at him. “What have you decided for the future?”

Wei Jin said, “I still haven’t thought it through.”

Ye You said, “I heard that the people of ‘Moon’s Shadow’ all want to follow you.”

Wei Jin said, “I didn’t accept. I’ve long been annoyed by having to act so righteously over all these years.”

Ye You immediately laughed out loud. “Want to come to my demonic faction?”

Wei Jin said, “And enter your Demonic Sect?”

Ye You said, “If you’re willing, then come. My Demonic Sect still doesn’t have a Deputy Sect Master.”

Wei Jin was very delighted. “All right.”

Ye You smiled at him and was right about to say something else when he saw news arrive from the Demonic Sect. He received the slip of paper from Elder Hei’s hands and opened it, discovering that it was a letter from Elder Mei. On it was written that the investigation was finished, and as expected, the person known as Ren Shaotian truly didn’t exist. Right now, she was about to take Ren Shaotian back to the Demonic Sect and lock him up. Ye You said, “Write a response, tell them to come to Huayang City.”

Elder Hei made a sound in agreement and went out as per orders.

Ye You once again looked at Wei Jin and, upon seeing that the other was currently looking in a certain direction, also looked over, discovering that it was Wei Jiangyue — ever since this person had come to the Yang family residence, he had essentially never left his room; now, they were all at the gates, so the fact that he was able to appear on the street meant that he had probably not taken the back gates but had climbed the walls.

Wei Jin said, “Where is he going like this?”

Ye You said, “You go back first. I’ll follow and see.” Wei Jin said, “You don’t need me to come along?” Ye You said, “I’m afraid you’ll drag me down.”

Wei Jin remembered that the other practiced Pursued Until

Scattered, and the little bit of worry he had vanished like smoke. With a cold groan, he went back through the gates. “I’ll tell the kitchens not to leave your food.”

“I’ll hurry back.” Ye You let out a faint laugh before making to follow.

The place Wei Jiangyue was going to was a private house, and the more Ye You followed, the more surprised he was. It was only when he saw that the person who opened the door was Ding Xilai that he understood. So it turned out that this person had found Ding Xilai, but for whatever reason had decided to situate him in a place like this.

With his heart astonished as it was, he decided that he might as well stay nearby and wait. After a quarter of an hour, he then saw Wei Jiangyue come out. Wei Jiangyue had not thought that he would be able to meet the other and turned stiff in an instant. Walking over, he said, “He heard the news and hurried over to Huayang City, but he didn’t dare to see you.”

Ye You said, “Hm.”

Wei Jiangyue fell quiet for a while before saying, “This whole time, he’s actually always wanted to apologize to you…”

“No need.” Ye You gave him a look. “I heard that you collected Wei Haide’s corpse. You should know that it was me who killed him, right?”

Wei Jiangyue once again stiffened before saying, “I know.”

That time when his dad had been captured, he had advised his dad to admit his wrongs, but his dad had actually instead lectured him on how to take over Fengxian Manor. He had felt hopelessly lost to no end, feeling as if his dad had suddenly turned into a completely unfamiliar stranger, and so he hadn’t followed after them.

Ye You said, “If you want revenge, you can come find me anytime.” Wei Jiangyue said in a hoarse voice, “I won’t.”

Ye You said, “What have you two decided?”

“We’re starting over. I don’t want Fengxian Manor, and Ding Xilai also doesn’t want Lingjian Pavilion, so we decided to give our family assets as compensation to those families that have been hurt by our fathers.” Wei Jiangyue paused before asking, “Did you hate us?”

Ye You said, “I’ve hated all of you.” Wei Jiangyue fell silent.

Ye You said, “Although I don’t hate all of you now, I actually don’t much want to see any of you at all.”

Wei Jiangyue closed his eyes for a moment. “Yes, tomorrow I’ll take them and leave Huayang City.” Ye You declined to comment and, upon perceiving that he had slowed his steps, then didn’t wait for him, walking forward alone without a word.

Wei Jiangyue watched that fading back and, for an instant, felt almost compelled to tell the other about his feelings, but immediately following, he remembered that he truly didn’t have the right. These shameful words that were unable to leave his mouth were definitely destined to follow him for an entire lifetime, in the end sinking through the passage of time, right into his blood and flesh.

Ye You walked for a while, and he gradually stopped hearing the other party’s footsteps any longer.

He guessed that this person probably didn’t want to return with him at the same time and so then turned onto another street. After walking forward a few more steps, he discovered that this appeared to be the road that he had used to escape that year. At once, he felt somewhat at a loss, suddenly feeling a desire to go to the Yang family’s grave to take a look.

He thus left the city and entered the grave, quietly standing in front of that gravestone.

Over these years, he had said many things to them already on his own, and right now he didn’t actually have anything he really wanted to say. The only thing new was that his big brother was still alive, and that next time he would bring his big brother to come pay their respects together.

He stayed there alone for a time before turning around and returning to the city.

The sky slowly darkened, and the cold air blew over the desolate path, bringing with it the sounds of faint rustling. For a split second, he seemed to see a small child staggering along, running past him in a helpless and frantic rush, before then disappearing to the light of time.

Standing still, he raised his head and suddenly saw a familiar person standing outside the city gates, seemingly having already waited for a long time.

This person was brilliant and handsome, mouth carrying a cozy smile and eyes covering him with a tender gaze, leaving people’s entire heart warm.

Ye You walked over. “Why did you come?”

Wenren Heng said, “I heard Wei Jin said that there was no need to leave your food, so I then found and asked Wei Jiangyue before guessing that you had probably come out.”

Ye You said, “But there’s no need for you to come out as well.”

Wenren Heng said, “No can do. Just now, I instructed the kitchens to make an entire table of food that Wei Jin hates. I’m guessing that Wei Jin won’t be too happy, so let’s go eat at a restaurant.”

Ye You immediately laughed out loud. Wenren Heng held out a hand.

Ye You grabbed his hand, interlocking their fingers, and then, together, entered Huayang City.

(END)

The author has something to say:

Ah, the entire text is finished~

It’s my first time trying to write this kind of revenge story that unfolds gradually along the way, and it actually felt extremely good. Thanks to all the readers for staying with me this whole time. After this, I have to move [houses], so I’ll be writing the extras after I finish my move~~

I still haven’t thought of what I want to write next. If you think the pit that I’ve dug is all right, you can keep an eye on my page~ and after a period of time, I’ll start digging a new pit 

Chapter 116

It was almost the Winter Solstice278, and the days grew colder and colder.

Wenren Heng discovered that this Junior Brother of his was also getting more and more lazy, especially during the day.

With the elders around, his Junior Brother would at least crawl out of bed to eat breakfast at the dining hall together. The moment the elders left, however, his Junior Brother began to dawdle in bed, no longer even eating breakfast on time.

Wenren Heng really suspected that those few days when his Junior Brother always wore that mask and openly flaunted his instincts to show off in front of those elders were all on purpose — because by the time they left, all their expressions were complicated and nonplussed, very likely vexed by the fierce change that was “Sir Xiao as Sect Master Ye”.

Actually, with both Wei and Ding executed, Jianghu would definitely go through a period of instability, and the follow-up matters were truly numerous. Sooner or later, those elders would’ve left, and Wenren Heng guessed that they had wasted so much time at the Yang family residence most likely because they wanted to advise his Junior Brother to “return to the proper path”. They probably believed that his Junior Brother had purposely invoked the righteous faction’s hatred simply because the other still had unfulfilled vengeance on the mind. As such, his Junior Brother had used actions to tell them that this appearance was actually the true Ye You. The elders then had nothing left to say and so naturally scattered.

Thus, a certain person joyfully saw them off and, within the next day, began lazing around in bed, refusing to get up.

Wenren Heng had always indulged him and so accompanied him to lie there for a while, pulling the person into an embrace and occasionally giving a little tease, very quickly becoming unable to stop once having started. It wasn’t until a certain person started wanting to eat breakfast and lunch together that Wenren Heng began feeling that they couldn’t continue like this and so dug the person out.

Ye You let out a faint sigh. “Senior Brother, after exhausting all my thoughts and ingenuity over these years, I’m now far too tired.”

Wenren Heng lowered his eyes to look at the other.

Ye You said, “And because of my childhood, I grew afraid of cold, so now the moment winter comes, my mood turns bad.”

Wenren Heng didn’t much believe him.

His Junior Brother’s temperament was ostentatious, and the other wasn’t the type of person to be affected overly by seasonal changes or to become melancholy because of minor issues. Even while carrying twenty years of blood debt, the person had definitely made sure that he himself lived well — not leaving anything out, from the enjoyment he deserved to the fun he wanted.

If he was dawdling in bed, then it was simply because he wanted to dawdle in bed.

Ye You calmly watched the other’s examination before curling back up into the blankets, turning around so as not to look at him.

Wenren Heng was at wit’s end and, after tucking him more tightly into the blankets, then went out to carry in the food. Fishing him out again upon returning, Wenren Heng helped him wash up before handing over the porridge, tenderly urging, “After you finish eating, don’t immediately go back to sleep.”

Ye You maintained an attitude as if he was still only semi-conscious. With chin in hand, he stared at his Senior Brother’s handsome face that was just within reach, feeling as if the other was more and more pleasing to the eye the longer he looked. Thus, when he spoke, he didn’t put much thought into it, “Yes, I’ll listen to my wife.”

Wenren Heng shot him a glance, smiling in a way that was not quite a smile. “Husband, want me to feed you?” Ye You instantly came fully awake and took the bowl, saying, “No need.”

Wenren Heng grabbed his wrist and leaned over to kiss him on the forehead before letting him go and walking over to the table nearby to sit.

A moist warmth was left behind on his forehead. Ye You knew that his Senior Brother had become used to adopting such slight intimacies with him, but for whatever reason, he still felt like he had been teased, as if that sliver of warmth was able to sink beneath his skin, turning into a feather to brush against his innermost feelings.

He narrowed his eyes before getting out of bed and walking over.

Wenren Heng got some clothes to drape over him. “Not staying in bed?”

How can a bed be more attractive than you?

Ye You moved his lips, wanting to say these teasing words, but at this time, a soft sigh filled with sorrow suddenly echoed in from the courtyard, “Ah, it’s snowing.”

He paused slightly.

After a number of breaths, knocks sounded at their door. Ye You said, “Come in.”

Upon hearing this, Sir Yang pushed open the door, nodding his head in greeting at them, “Sect Master Wenren, Sect Master Ye.”

He still maintained that temperate and courteous appearance of his former days, with a proper smile hanging from his lips. It was only that he had become slightly thinner, and a few soft shadows were visible below his eyes, clearly showing that he hadn’t slept well recently. Wenren Heng saw that his face seemed to carry some hesitation and so took the initiative to leave, while also considerately closing the door for them.

The room turned quiet at once. Ye You indicated for him to sit and began unhurriedly drinking porridge.

Sir Yang then walked next to him and sat down before pouring a cup of tea for himself.

Ye You noticed that his hand was shaking slightly, but he ultimately managed to control it enough in order to lift up the cup and drink a mouthful of tea. Ye You couldn’t help but feel his lips lift slightly in praise — from beginning to end, the only good thing that Wei Haide did was to educate this person well.

If everything hadn’t happened, Ye You wasn’t certain what this person would’ve become if he had been the teacher, but he did know that, no matter how it could’ve been, the other wouldn’t have turned out better than now. After all, this person had lived the life of a young master, and had also taken care of the Yang family alone; regardless of position or ability, all of this couldn’t have been achieved by a boy attendant.

He continued to eat, not asking whether the other had any business for now.

Sir Yang also didn’t speak.

He was silent for a while, having a mind to drink another mouthful of tea to steady his thoughts, but upon noticing that his fingers were still shivering, could only give up and look at Ye You.

Those eyes had grown red, misted over with a layer of faint wetness. Ye You gave him a look and asked, “You remembered?”

Sir Yang said in a low voice, “I don’t know if it counts… Over the past few days, I’ve had many dreams.”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgement.

That year when Wei Jin was injured, it took more than a month for Miaomiao and that little fool working together to remove the drug completely, and this was only possible because Wei Jin’s martial skill was high and the other had broken through a portion of the drug’s effects beforehand. Meanwhile, this person’s foundation wasn’t good, and he didn’t know martial arts from the start. Even if Miaomiao and them had found a baseline for the drug, the difficulty was still extremely high. Besides, even if the drug had been completely removed, this person would still receive only a child’s memories, murky and indistinct, and every little detail from these past twenty years wouldn’t simply disappear.

What’s more, this person was younger than him by a year. How much could a four-year-old child remember?

He said, “You’ve definitely been tired these past few days, so there’s no need to think too much. First take a break.”

Sir Yang shook his head, still looking at the other. He said in a hoarse voice, “I faintly remember chasing after you and calling you young master.”

Ye You once again made a sound in acknowledgment. Remembering that old matter, he said, smiling, “You were quite round at the time.”

Sir Yang’s eyes turned even redder.

Recently, quite a few things had appeared in his mind, all vague and fuzzy.

At that time, the residence appeared very big, and there were also many people, so every day was especially lively. There were endless snacks which he wasn’t able to finish, and a large man who would put him on the shoulder and spin him in a circle while laughing. The scene was like the first flower at spring’s beginning, happy and beautiful.

But, later, everything became a sea of blood, appearing even more clear and frightening than his previous memories.

That man had squatted down in front of him and said, within that noisy din, “Ah-Bao, our entire family’s lives are dedicated to the Yang family. Remember, if you’re captured, say that you’re the Yang family’s little young master…” He didn’t know what happened afterwards. He only knew that, when he woke up, tears were streaming down his face.

He looked at this person in front of him and felt as if this person was slowly overlapping with that beautiful, little young master in his memories. He opened his mouth, “…Young master.”

Ye You patted his shoulder.

Sir Yang suddenly somewhat couldn’t control himself.

Even the previous days of indecisiveness and helplessness bubbled forth from his mind, and he immediately used a hand to cover his face. His voice slowly and uncontrollably began to be choked with sobs. “Young master, I…”

“There’s no need to say any more,” Ye You said, “That you’re still alive makes me very happy.”

Sir Yang’s shoulder faintly trembled, while his other hand was clenched into a tight fist, and only after a long time did he barely manage to control himself.

He actually also didn’t know what else he could say.

These twenty years, he had carried the young master’s name, living a life of luxury, even acknowledging the villain as his father, and although it hadn’t been his choice, he still felt that it was hard to take.

He put down his hand and asked in a low voice, “What has the young master decided?”

Ye You said, “Call me Second Brother.”

Sir Yang instantly felt as if he had misheard. “——What?”

Ye You said, “There are only three people left in the Yang family. Since we’re family, why do we still need to consider things like who’s the young master and who isn’t?”

Sir Yang understood his meaning and said, “But…” Ye You interrupted him, “There’s no ‘but’. Unless you dislike this lord.”

Upon hearing the “this lord”, Sir Yang immediately wanted to wipe his sweat.

In the past, he had been close to Fengxian Manor, and so under Wei Jiangyue’s influence, he had in fact disliked Sect Master Ye and Temple Master Xie, but now that his family’s young master was actually that Demonic Sect’s Sect Master, how could he dare to dislike the other?

No, he should say that, even if the Demonic Sect’s Sect Master wasn’t the young master, he still wouldn’t have the guts to say the word “dislike” to this person’s face!

In this world, there probably weren’t many people who dared to do so, right?

Ye You saw that he had fallen speechless and said, all smiles, “Then it’s decided. Even a senior monk at Shaolin said that your life is destined for riches and honor. In the future, I’ll still leave you to take care of this Yang family then.”

Sir Yang grew anxious. “That’s not right, I need to follow you.”

Ye You raised a brow. “Coming with me back to the Demonic Sect?”

“…” Sir Yang’s mind suddenly flashed to those Demonic Sect Elders he had met over these few days along with the rumors of the Demonic Sect he had heard over the years, while also reminding him of a certain Temple Master Xie who always liked to go to the Demonic Sect to play. After a moment of silence, he suppressed the unclear premonition that he was a lamb treading into a tiger’s den and said, solemnly, “All right.”

Ye You laughed out loud. “You should probably still stay here.”

Sir Yang unconsciously wanted to shake his head, but then he heard the young master continue with, “The Yang family’s roots are here, so someone needs to remain in Huayang City.” He instantly remembered the grave outside the city, and he swiftly swallowed back the words in his mouth.

In the end, matters were settled.

Ye You then made a simple sentence or two of inquiry and, upon hearing that he had remembered only a bit, didn’t pressure him, indicating that he could return to rest.

When Wenren Heng returned, Ye You had coincidentally also finished eating. He lifted his head and saw that his Senior Brother’s shoulders had accumulated a bit of snow and so walked over to the door to look out, discovering that the ground had already amassed a thin layer of snow, looking quite like frost.

Wenren Heng said, “Don’t catch cold.”

“It’s nothing, I…” Ye You was originally going to say that he had his internal energy to protect him, but in the space of an instant, he remembered that he had just said that he had grown afraid of cold from his childhood and so quickly changed his words, “I can warm some wine.”

Wenren Heng didn’t expose him and simply pulled the person back in.

Ye You sat on the chair for a while before again returning to the bed, gradually becoming drowsy once again. Half-awake, he heard the scarred man’s voice and guessed that the other had probably come to find his Senior Brother regarding Shuangji Sect matters, but immediately following, he then smelled a familiar fragrance, and he immediately sat up. “Fengzui?”

Wenren Heng carried the wine jug back and asked, smiling, “Still want to sleep?”

Ye You said, “How can sleep be more important than wine?” Wenren Heng said, “Hm?”

Ye You walked over to kiss him on the lips, lowering his voice to tease, “How can sleep be more important than drinking wine with you?”

Wenren Heng was reluctantly satisfied, holding his hand and walking over to sit on the soft couch next to the window before beginning to warm the wine. Ye You opened the window a bit, and the scene of the first snow immediately met his eyes.

With the two of them drinking wine together during this first snow, even his heart felt as if it was entirely at peace.

Ye You looked at the person in front of him, shallowly drinking a mouthful of wine before narrowing his eyes in satisfaction.

Wenren Heng noticed that the other’s gaze had remained on him for quite a long time and asked, “What?”

Ye You said, smiling, “You’re so handsome, so why not let me watch you for a bit longer?”

Wenren Heng couldn’t help but laugh. Looking at this disaster in front of him, he then exhausted all the wine in his cup before pressing the other’s head forward as he moved to kiss, directly passing over the wine from his mouth.

The mellow fragrance of the wine along with that familiar taste mixed together to provoke the senses, and Wenren Heng’s pupils gradually darkened. From his ears, he listened to this person’s low groans and felt more and more unable to suppress his fire. Closing the window, he then pressed the other down.

Meanwhile, a carriage passed through this first snow and slowly stopped in front of the Yang family residence.

The carriage curtains lifted, and the first person who stepped out was an incomparably beautiful young lady.

She turned back to say, smiling, “Brother Shaotian, we’ve arrived.”

Chapter 117

A snow day made everything appear peaceful and quiet.

This was the first snow of winter, and the children were endlessly excited, their excited laughter echoing throughout the streets. But Elder Mei, for whatever reason, felt a sort of serene calm, as if all the previous bloody carnage had settled in place just like the snow falling from the skies.

In complete contrast, Ren Shaotian felt as if everything had become an absolute mess, and he was entirely unable to keep still.

He knew that it was actually his heart that wouldn’t calm.

He raised his head to look at the Yang family’s walls, carrying a complicated expression.

Matters had grown far too big, and on the way back, he had already heard from someone else how the entire matter had resolved.

He knew that both Wei and Ding had already died, that Wei Jin was a child of the Jiang family as well as Ye You’s partner, and that he himself was the Yang family’s oldest young master as well as the older brother of Ye You, but he did not remember any of this in the slightest. Over these past few days, he had tried countless times to chase after matters that happened in his childhood, but he found not a single clue. For him, it felt as if, after leaving for a short moment, he had returned to find his previous world suddenly collapsing into the dust.

Elder Mei gave him a look. “Brother Shaotian?” Ren Shaotian regained his senses and walked over.

The previous steward of the Yang family was Wei Haide’s man who had run the moment he saw that the situation wasn’t good. Later, Wei Jiangyue had sent the people of “Heaven’s Firmament” to capture him back and hand him over to the elders. Right now, the steward was someone newly chosen by Sir Yang and, at this moment, had just received a fright after having asked for their name and purpose for coming.

Everyone in the Yang family all knew already that their young master wasn’t an actual child of the Yang family and that Sect Master Ye and Ren Shaotian were. Although they were more willing to follow their young master, they were all clear that the master of the Yang family might be changed to another. And now, right in front of him was two people — one, Ren Shaotian, and the other, the Demonic Sect’s Elder Mei — so the steward naturally didn’t dare to neglect them and hastily invited the people in.

Upon seeing this, the people of “Moon’s Shadow” immediately ran over in excitement. “Vice-Captain!”

“Vice-Captain, where have you been these past few days?”

“Vice-Captain, you’ve finally returned! We all didn’t know what to do!”

Ren Shaotian was keenly able to hear that there was an issue and said, “Where’s the Captain?”

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” said, “The Captain went to Shuihe City279.”

Shuihe City was the Jiang family’s former home, and that year, the righteous faction members had likewise erected a gravestone for the Jiang family. Ren Shaotian internally thought that Wei Jin had probably gone to sweep that grave and, out loud, made a sound in acknowledgment.

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” said, in profound anguish, “And also, the Captain joined the Demonic Sect.”

Towards this, Ren Shaotian wasn’t very surprised and asked, “Then all of you are here…”

“The Captain told us to stay here and let Young Miracle Doctor Fang examine us, in case some of us were also drugged. Vice-Captain, now that the Captain’s left for the Demonic Sect, what do you think we should do in the future…” As everyone spoke, they suddenly remembered that the Vice-Captain was the older brother of Sect Master Ye and immediately grew even more anguished. “Vice- Captain, are you also going to join the Demonic Sect?”

Ren Shaotian couldn’t guarantee this and could only shake his head, asking, “Where’s Sect Master Ye?”

The people of “Moon’s Shadow” said, “He should be in his own room.”

Ren Shaotian thus went over with a heavy heart.

Elder Mei hadn’t seen the Sect Master in many days and so also wanted to go find the Sect Master to chat. However, in the end, when she had walked only partway, she saw Ren Shaotian double back before then also pulling her along to leave. She didn’t understand. “What?”

After a moment of silence, Ren Shaotian said, “He’s busy.” Elder Mei was very flabbergasted. “Busy?”

Brother Shaotian was in fact the Sect Master’s blood-related older brother. How could the Sect Master have something that was more important than his older brother?

However, no matter how suspiciously she stared at Ren Shaotian, this person didn’t respond to her. While she had a mind to go take a look, her intuition told her that she had better not. Fortunately, at this time, having received the news, those Elders of the Demonic Sect had also come looking for them, and she took advantage of the situation to leave with them.

During a certain instant, Ye You suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps.

But his thoughts had barely regained clarity for a moment before he then perceived the other party walking away, and so he once again sunk into that warmth that was capable of driving people crazy. It was probably due to the intoxicating fragrance of the wine.

The mellow fragrance of “Fengzui” was like a hook latching onto the senses, able to let people become intoxicated without even a drink.

Through his lips, Wenren Heng passed his Junior Brother another cup of wine. Seeing those moist lips and that dazed expression, his pupils grew even darker. He then pressed the other down on the soft couch and messed around for a while before finally carrying this person over to the bed, once again moving to resume.

Outside the window, great flurries of snow swirled through the air, while the small space of this room remained fiery warm.

The two entangled, sweat washing them over and over again in waves, finally stopping only when they had enjoyed themselves to the fullest.

Ye You said, “We still haven’t finished drinking the wine.”

His voice was somewhat hoarse, still a bit breathless, mixed with a languid satisfaction, just like a good wine. Wenren Heng couldn’t help but press him down and kiss him again before getting off the bed and grabbing the wine jug. Returning to look at him, he used a low and erotic voice that was still in complete disarray to ask, “I’ll feed it to you?”

Ye You laughed and crooked his finger. “Come.”

Since the two had entangled once already, this time around they were even more tender and affectionate.

Ye You drank a few mouthfuls of wine in satisfaction and licked the corners of his Senior Brother’s lips. Wenren Heng pulled the person into an embrace and asked, “Want to sleep?”

Ye You remembered that someone seemed to have come before and said, “Not tired. Let’s go out and walk around.”

Wenren Heng didn’t have any objections, and the two helped each other dress before leaving the room. Outside, the entire yard was blanketed in beautiful, silvery light, everywhere a vast expanse of whiteness. Ye You sucked in a deep breath and, upon feeling the refreshing coolness spread through his chest, narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

The two walked out of the small courtyard with slow steps and immediately met the scarred man head-on. Very quickly, they learned from his mouth that Elder Mei and Ren Shaotian had returned. Ye You couldn’t help but ask when exactly they had arrived and, upon receiving the answer, internally guessed that the person who had come before was probably his big brother. He rubbed his nose.

Having also noticed that there seemed to be someone there previously, Wenren Heng gave his Junior Brother a look.

Ye You had always been thick-skinned, and so he quickly calmed. At this moment, upon meeting his Senior Brother’s gaze, the corners of his mouth lifted. “Let’s go, wife, I’ll take you to meet my big brother.”

Wenren Heng didn’t argue with him and said tenderly, “Let’s go then, husband.”

The scarred man, “…”

Wait a minute, wasn’t there something not quite right about this? Why didn’t the Sect Master deny it? Could it be that the Sect Master isn’t marrying Sect Master Ye but is being married into the Demonic Sect? Or was it that Sect Master Ye actually didn’t call wrong? And their Sect Master was really the wife?

Thinking of Sect Master Ye doing this and that to the Sect Master immediately shocked him, and he followed them in a complete daze, running right into a hallway pillar with a thud after a few steps.

Appearing as if he didn’t even feel the pain, he steadied his footing under the gazes of the Sect Master and Sect Master Ye as blood slowly trickled down his nose.

Ye You, “…” Wenren Heng, “…” Ren Shaotian had been taken by those Elders to a guest room, and right as he found a place to sit, he discovered that they were all silently staring at him. He couldn’t help but raise a brow. “What?”

Those Elders looked at him and then looked at Elder Mei before hesitantly asking, “That matter…”

Elder Mei said, “Are all of you referring to how Brother Shaotian is the Sect Master’s older brother? Both of us already know.”

The Demonic Sect Elders were thereby relieved and, with a swish, surrounded Ren Shaotian, patting his shoulder in a familiar manner. “In the future, we’re all one family!”

Elder Baili said, “Whoever dares to bully you will be the same as bullying us!”

Elder Miao said, “If you want to kill anyone, just come find me! I’ll set some poisonous insects!”

Ren Shaotian, “…”

Elder Baili looked towards Elder Mei. “Just now you called him Brother Shaotian280?”

Elder Mei made a sound in agreement and then, as if having just thought of something, pulled up her handkerchief to cover her lips as she smiled. “But only I can call him that. All of you can’t.”

Those Elders said, “Why?”

Elder Mei said, very meaningfully, “Because our relationship isn’t ordinary.”

Ren Shaotian was the least afraid of things like this. Over these past few days, he and Elder Mei had made quite a few jokes of this nature together, and so upon hearing this, his lips raised in a somewhat wicked smile. “Mhm, it’s extremely out of the ordinary.”

“…” Those Elders silently took a moment to react, their gazes flicking between the two of them, collectively astonished. In a trembling voice, they said, “You… she… You two, could it be… could it be…” Ren Shaotian drank a mouthful of tea. He saw that they appeared significantly startled and, as he was not familiar with them, didn’t overdo the joke, adding, “There’s nothing much between us.”

Those Elders asked, “What does ‘nothing much’ mean?”

Elder Mei once again pursued her lips into a smile. “The Sect Master told me that I needed to follow him very closely, so over these past few days, whether it was bathing, sleeping, and so on, me and Brother Shaotian were, al, ways, to, get, her.”

As one, those Elders immediately turned sympathetic, internally thinking that Brother Shaotian had definitely been scared out of his wits by a certain person’s boldness the first time around, but upon seeing a certain person’s gaze about to turn unhappy, they hastily looked towards Ren Shaotian and said in unison, “A young lady like her taking a bath with you, how can that still be called ‘nothing much’?”

Ren Shaotian, “…”

All of you don’t feel guilty saying such things?

When Miracle Doctor Ji pushed open the door and entered, those were the words that he coincidentally heard. Stroking his beard, he couldn’t help but give Ren Shaotian and Elder Mei a look.

Ren Shaotian, “…”

Elder Mei quickly stowed away her face that appeared as if it was watching a good play, settling down as was proper.

Those Elders stood up in greeting. “Miracle Doctor Ji.”

Miracle Doctor Ji made a faint sound of acknowledgment before walking to Ren Shaotian and taking off his mask in order to examine his face.

Ren Shaotian didn’t understand and said, “Miracle Doctor Ji…”

“I’m here to take a look at your injury.” Miracle Doctor Ji paused slightly before saying, “Your little brother mentioned it before.” Although on the surface, he appeared not to like that little rascal much, in his heart, he actually found that youth quite praiseworthy. And since his youngest disciple had even been standing on the side, insipidly looking at him, he had then decided to act as if he had forgotten that his youngest disciple wanted to enter the Demonic Sect and agreed to look at Ren Shaotian’s injury for Sect Master Ye.

He said, “If you want to heal it completely, we’ll need to cut open the wound again.”

Ren Shaotian had carried that scar on his face for more than ten years, and he actually didn’t much care about whether or not it was healed, but upon hearing that it was Ye You’s idea, he then didn’t refuse and politely said, “I’ll have to trouble Miracle Doctor Ji then.”

Miracle Doctor Ji nodded before opening his medicine chest and helping him take care of the injury. After applying the medicine, he then used bandages to wrap it carefully.

Those Elders didn’t dare to disturb them the entire time. At this moment, with one look, they all simultaneously thought the same thing in their hearts, As expected of brothers, just as the little

brother had finished being wrapped up, now it’s the older brother’s turn.

Miracle Doctor Ji gave a few instructions of things to keep in mind before prescribing a prescription and taking out a few bottles of ointment, all of which he handed over to Elder Mei. At the end, he silently gave both her and Ren Shaotian a look before leaving.

Elder Mei, “…” Ren Shaotian, “…” Those Elders, “…”

Miracle Doctor Ji, aren’t you281 misunderstanding something?

The room was deathly still. Under the gazes of her colleagues, Elder Mei placed the items on the table and said imperiously, “If all of you keep looking, in the future, when I’m unable to be married off, then it’ll be up to all of you to raise me.”

Those Elders at once looked elsewhere.

Ren Shaotian took the ointment and said, “Didn’t you say that you wanted to go take a bath once you’ve returned?”

“Oh, that’s right.” Elder Mei made to walk outside, saying, with quite an emotional sigh, “I can finally take a bath by myself.”

Those Elders watched her leave before moving their chairs closer to Ren Shaotian’s side and then patting his shoulder one by one. “Brother Shaotian, it hasn’t been easy on you these past few days, right?”

Ren Shaotian said, “It was all right.”

Those Elders said, “Don’t say any more, we understand. Whether she’s a man or a woman all depends on her mood. Well, it’s fine if you’re used to it.”

Ren Shaotian asked, “She’ll still feel like a man sometimes?” Those Elders said, “You haven’t seen it yet?”

Ren Shaotian said, “No.”

Over this period of time of being in contact day and night, he was able to see that, although Elder Mei’s body was somewhat special, she really was more inclined to be a woman. It was only that her temperament was occasionally too outspoken that he wasn’t able to look upon her as just any ordinary young lady.

Those Elders said, “It’s no big deal. You’ll understand when you see it in the future.”

Ren Shaotian was curious. “What is she like when she’s a man?”

Those Elders said, tactfully, “She’s, uh… more outstanding and elegant.” “It should be very outstanding and elegant but, when meeting certain challenges, becomes extremely manly.”

“When young ladies see her, they usually become unable to walk anymore… I remember in the past there was a strong-minded female bandit who kept threatening to kidnap her back to a bandit fort to become a husband, even sending people to try and capture her many times.”

“Yes, luckily her martial skill is high, or else now her children would already be old enough to walk.”

“That’s right, how lucky. In short, Brother Shaotian, it’s fine as long as you become used to it in the future. The majority of the time, she’s a woman. It’s only when she gets carried away on a whim that she’ll decide to become a man for a bit.”

“Yes, yes, it’s fine as long as you’re used to it.” Ren Shaotian, “…”

What kind of people are all of you from the Demonic Sect?

“Let’s stop talking about her.” Those Elders once again patted his shoulder with familiarity. “In the future, we’re all one family. Come, these brothers will hold a welcome dinner for you. Let’s go drink a cup of wine together.”

Ren Shaotian said, “Miracle Doctor Ji said no drinking for now.” Those Elders thought for a moment.

Elder Baili said, “Why don’t we go to a teahouse?”

Elder Ji said, “Is there any meaning in going to a teahouse?”

Elder Baili said, “Then where should we go? We can’t just go and have a snowball fight.”

Elder Miao said, “Oh, a snowball fight sounds pretty fun. Shall we go?”

Elder Baili said, “…Let’s go and play mahjong instead then.” When Ye You and Wenren Heng found them, the two saw that they had already played who-knew-how-many rounds of mahjong. Ye You raised his head and immediately met Ren Shaotian’s gaze.

Those Elders stood up. “Sect Master.”

Ye You nodded and walked over to Ren Shaotian. Although he knew that the other still had not regained any memories, he still softly called out.

“Big brother.”

Chapter 118

Ren Shaotian and Ye You’s parting last time definitely could not be counted as pleasant.

At that time, Ren Shaotian was rattled by the knowledge that Ye You was poisoned and vomiting blood, while Ye You had caused his blood and energy to churn for the sake of confirming Ren Shaotian’s identity before then directly suppressing the person and throwing the other to Elder Mei. It was only later that Ren Shaotian learned from someone else’s mouth that they were blood-related brothers — luckily he had always been concerned about Ye You, so he accepted this relationship without the least bit of resistance.

On the way back, he often thought of Ye You.

Twenty years ago, Ye You had still been a child, and he should’ve grown up living a life of ease and comfort, bereft of any worries, but he had instead wound up having to bear his entire clan’s blood debt without warning. He had needed to hide from Wei Haide and them in order to continue living, to plan his chessboard, and to establish the Demonic Sect. Ren Shaotian was unable to fathom at all how Ye You had been able to go on.

At the same time, he also understood why Ye You had gotten so angry that day.

If it had been him, he also probably wouldn’t be able to take it. He looked at the person in front of him.

Perhaps because that grand revenge had been achieved, at this moment, Ye You wasn’t giving off even the least bit of that hostile sharpness. Looking like this, the person actually appeared a bit well- behaved. When Ren Shaotian regained his senses, he had already involuntarily stood up and grabbed this person’s wrist — he didn’t have his old memories, but for whatever reason, he felt his heart ache.

Ye You faintly paused, allowing his hold. Ren Shaotian said, “I still can’t remember anything from my childhood.”

Ye You said, “I know.”

Ren Shaotian said, “What if I’m never able to remember?” Ye You said, “Then that’s also all right.”

Actually, the fact that his big brother was still so concerned about him even without memories already left him very satisfied.

The mahjong game definitely couldn’t be continued. Wenren Heng signaled to those elders and left the room to these two brothers.

Right as they left the room, they saw that Sir Yang had come.

When Sir Yang finished speaking to the young master, he had originally wanted to return to his room, but on the way back, he looked out upon the Yang family’s snow-dyed residence and remembered that this was something that Wei Haide had helped build. Immediately feeling awkward, he thereupon personally went to Huayang City to invite the best master craftsman, wanting to let this person come look at the residence in preparation to make some changes come spring. And he had only just now returned home.

He said, “I heard the steward say that Ren Shaotian… I mean big brother has come?”

Wenren Heng said, “Yes, he’s inside.”

Sir Yang hesitated for a moment and looked at him inquiringly. Wenren Heng said, “They’ll probably want to talk for a while.” Sir Yang also had this premonition and so didn’t enter the room,

deciding to take the master craftsman to walk around the residence first.

Ye You heard the voices from outside and so told his big brother about how he recognized Sir Yang as his little brother. Ren Shaotian naturally wouldn’t have any objections. He remembered that day when Ye You had taken that person away, he had also followed behind by jumping into the river, and had even carried Ye You back. He couldn’t help but feel somewhat rueful; at that time, he could’ve never imagined that matters would progress to this degree.

Ye You saw that his face had bandages and asked, “What did Miracle Doctor Ji say about your wound?”

Ren Shaotian said, “He said it can be healed.”

Ye You felt slightly more relieved and said, “You look a lot like our father.”

Ren Shaotian touched his face and said in a soft voice, “Really?” Ye You made a sound in agreement. “Really alike.”

Ren Shaotian didn’t have the least impression and let out a sigh in his heart, though he didn’t show it on his face, before asking, “What about you?”

“I take after our mother,” Ye You said, “Miracle Doctor Ji says I also look a lot like our maternal uncle. I just don’t know who I look like more.”

Ren Shaotian had heard some rumors and asked, “I heard that he and Cong Yun?”

“I just know that Cong Yun fell in love with him but that the love wasn’t successful. As for the specific details, I don’t know anything,” Ye You said, “Perhaps Miracle Doctor Ji knows, but I didn’t ask.”

Cong Yun was, after all, Miracle Doctor Ji’s first disciple, and so no matter what, there’d still be some feelings left. And since now the person was already gone, with everything settled, Ye You didn’t have any desire to investigate further.

Ren Shaotian nodded and then began chatting of some other things, including about Wei Jin joining the Demonic Sect, about what the righteous faction was going to do with those captured people, and so on. Only at the very end did he speak of the events that happened when he and Elder Mei went to investigate his “homeland” before then turning to the topic of removing the drug. Sir Yang’s drug had already been mostly dealt with, so for the most part, Elder Miao and Young Miracle Doctor Fang had been examining the people of “Moon’s Shadow”. But this matter largely depended on luck, so they were completely capable of stopping for a while so as to help Ren Shaotian get rid of the drug first.

Ye You asked, “You just returned, so why not rest first…”

“No need,” Ren Shaotian knew what he meant and interrupted, “Let’s do it today.”

He wasn’t someone who’d be too afraid to face the truth. Since he had already confirmed that his past was a lie, then he definitely wanted to know the truth.

Ye You said, “Then all right, I’ll arrange it.”

He paused for a moment before saying, “Ding Xilai left with Wei Jiangyue.”

Ren Shaotian stilled for an instant. “I already know.”

Just now while they had been playing mahjong, those elders had divulged this matter to him, most likely fearing that he’d worry.

He had grown up in Lingjian Pavilion and had experienced all kinds of emotions there. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he wasn’t, after all, a cold-blooded person, and having been with Ding Xilai for this long, when he learned that Ding Xilai had been tossed away by Wei Jin, with life and death unknown, he had still been somewhat concerned.

Ye You was also clear on this and so had decided simply to take the initiative to tell him.

Ren Shaotian added, “I know in my heart.”

If he was really the eldest son of the Yang family, then his master- servant relationship with Ding Xilai was probably going to end here, and he wouldn’t linger over it. Ye You glanced at him and ultimately couldn’t endure the impulse to reach out a hand to hug him.

Ren Shaotian’s heart trembled slightly, and he pulled the person into an embrace.

The smoke from the incense burner spiraled upwards, while the snow outside continued to fall.

In a sudden flash, Ye You felt as if he was inexplicably able to see the Yang family residence from that year. As the snow fluttered through the air, a child was firmly holding onto another child who was shorter than him by a head, walking forward one step at a time, carefully and strenuously, stepping over the stone road that had become soaked with snow.

He closed his eyes. “Brother.”

Ren Shaotian tightened his hold and made a soft sound in answer. Matters quickly proceeded apace.

That afternoon, Elder Miao and Young Miracle Doctor Fang entered Ren Shaotian’s room with the medicine.

That year, Wei Jin had needed more than a month to remove the drug’s effects completely. But Ren Shaotian’s innate abilities were higher than Wei Jin’s, and Elder Miao and them had already helped Sir Yang remove the drug once already. Thus, with this now being the so-called ‘third time’s the charm’, they felt that things should proceed much more smoothly this time.

Ye You watched for a while and, upon seeing that he couldn’t be of much help, then left to find his Senior Brother.

Wenren Heng was currently in the study taking care of Shuangji Sect affairs, and his tender expression was especially heart-warming.

Ye You’s mouth flicked up into a shallow smile, and he moved forward, wanting to tease a bit, but then he saw an invitation that had been placed on the table. Picking it up, he discovered that it was sent by Qin Yuemian, saying that the other wanted to invite his Senior Brother to drink some wine. He raised a brow. “It’s only some drinking. Did he need to send an invitation?”

Wenren Heng put down the things in his hand and asked, “How is it over on your brother’s side?”

Ye You said, “I don’t know. They’re still working on it.”

Wenren Heng pulled the person into an embrace while also giving a few pats.

Ye You raised the invitation. “There’s definitely a reason why he’s looking for you.”

Wenren Heng laughed and said, “You didn’t notice before that he and Lady Tao were walking a bit too close together?”

Ye You startled. Previously, Qin Yuemian had always been talented but self-effacing, and his appearance was entirely that of a prodigal son. And since Lady Tao’s sound-killing technique was able to break through the white piece’s flute commands, she needed someone to protect her, so Qin Yuemian had always feigned being infatuated with beauty in order to be close to Lady Tao. He really hadn’t thought much of it.

He asked, “You’re saying…”

Wenren Heng said, “Ah-Mian has those kinds of intentions.” Ye You said, “What about Lady Tao?”

Wenren Heng said, “Perhaps I’ll know after we finish drinking that wine.”

Ye You laughed out loud, sounding playful. “This lord will also go.”

The moment those two words “this lord” came out, Wenren Heng knew that his Junior Brother wanted to go and stir up trouble.

After all, all the people in Jianghu knew that Sect Master Ye and Lady Tao had that kind of unclear, ambiguous relationship, especially since Lady Tao most likely truly did have favorable feelings towards his Junior Brother at one point, so during this critical juncture, there was no way that Qin Yuemian would be happy to see a certain person appear. He said, “Careful, if Ah-Mian’s really unhappy to see you, he might just cut you down.”

Ye You laughed in a way that practically begged for a spanking. “He can’t win against me.”

Wenren Heng was helpless and said, indulgent, “True. Let’s go.” “I feel that this matter of his is sure to succeed,” Ye You said, “The

date on here says after the new year. The fact that he’s notifying you this early means that he definitely wants you to leave that day empty specifically to drink with him. Those friends of yours have most likely also received the same invitation.”

Wenren Heng was also thinking the same thing and said, “If it goes smoothly, we might be able to drink at their wedding feast next year.”

Ye You looked at him. “Didn’t Senior Brother say before that you wanted to marry as early as possible? When will I be able to drink at Senior Brother’s wedding feast?”

Wenren Heng pulled him close and let out a low laugh next to his ear, saying, “I’ll listen to my wife.”

Ye You corrected, unafraid of death, “Call me husband.”

Wenren Heng’s response was to lift the person up and press him down on a nearby couch.

The household servants woke early to sweep out the snow, occasionally also discussing a few things in a low voice. All the talk was about the eldest young master who had arrived yesterday.

It was a pity, however, that the eldest young master’s face was covered with bandages, so none of them were able to see the other’s appearance. But since he was related by blood to Sect Master Ye, they thought that he wouldn’t look too different. Otherwise, that Elder Mei who had arrived together with the eldest young master was truly a beauty, and they wondered if she was going to become the next Madam.

Ren Shaotian had always woken early and had coincidentally heard this sentence, immediately falling speechless.

Elder Mei had also awoken.

Over this period of time, she had needed to keep watch over Ren Shaotian and basically had no time to play around. Now that she was finally free, she then impatiently put on a lavish dress. Standing among the snow, she appeared incomparably beautiful, and the household servants all couldn’t quite pull their eyes away.

Elder Mei completely disregarded the gazes of those in the surroundings and, upon seeing the nearby Ren Shaotian, smiled in greeting. “Brother Shaotian, good morning.”

The household servants followed her line of sight and only then discovered that the eldest young master was also actually around. They immediately didn’t dare to continue looking at Elder Mei, internally thinking that the eldest young master was truly worthy of being the Vice-Captain of “Moon’s Shadow”! He’s indeed incredible, able to walk without making a single sound!

In this interval, Elder Mei had walked over to Ren Shaotian. Ren Shaotian smiled and said, “Morning.”

Elder Mei asked, “How do you feel? Remember anything?” Ren Shaotian shook his head. “How can it work this quickly?”

“That’s true,” Elder Mei said in approval. She spun around in a circle, raised a brow, and laughed. “How is it? Beautiful?”

Ren Shaotian sincerely praised, “Very beautiful.”

Elder Mei was very happy and was preparing to also go to her colleagues and spin around when, at this time, she heard two people in the corner discussing a female dancer from Hualai Pavilion282, saying that one rendition of the Feihua Dance283 was able to captivate people’s spirits. She immediately became interested and interrupted to ask, “Is it the lead entertainer?”

The people speaking were two from “Moon’s Shadow”, and upon seeing her, they startled before answering, “No, we heard it was a newcomer. Isn’t it almost year’s end? The proprietor wanted…”

They suddenly paused mid-speech as they became aware that the person in front of them was a young lady. Feeling that it was quite inappropriate to talk about a brothel with the other party, they then stopped entirely. Elder Mei also didn’t ask any further because it was clear that the proprietor’s reasons were simply for the sake of more business.

She looked at them. “Are you two going tonight?”

The two from “Moon’s Shadow” hastily waved their hands and forced out a laugh. “No, no, no, we’re not going.”

Elder Mei looked towards Ren Shaotian. “Brother Shaotian, what about you?”

Ren Shaotian said, “What do you think?”

Elder Mei looked at his current appearance and knew the answer. Throwing down a single, “Then forget it,” she then went back to looking for her colleagues, her figure quickly disappearing.

Today, Ye You had dawdled in bed as per usual, but upon remembering that his big brother was here, he then crawled out of bed a quarter of an hour before breakfast started and went to the dining hall together with his Senior Brother. The group of people boisterously ate breakfast together, and after the meal, Ren Shaotian followed Elder Miao and them back to the room, while the rest then went their separate ways to work. A day thus unwittingly passed like this.

During winter, night arrived earlier. By the time they began eating dinner, it was already entirely dark outside.

Wenren Heng and his Junior Brother were walking shoulder-to- shoulder, and they had just reached the anteroom when they heard an alarmed “Ah!” resound. The two raised their heads and discovered that three people were standing over there — Ren Shaotian, Elder Mei, and a young servant girl.

Elder Mei had changed into masculine clothing who-knew-when and, at this moment, currently had a hand outstretched, gripping the young servant girl’s waist and softly saying, in a voice deeper than usual, “Roads are slippery because of the snow. Be careful.”

The moment the young servant girl saw this bewitching appearance, she immediately turned blank.

Elder Mei steadied the person, soft emotions in those eyes. “Did you receive a fright?”

The young servant girl abruptly regained her senses and, with cheeks turning red, shyly said a single, “No,” before then running off.

Wenren Heng, “…”

The nearby Ren Shaotian, “…”

Elder Mei very quickly noticed the Sect Master and them and walked over with a smile, every movement carrying with it a distinguished air as the person said in greeting, “Sect Master, Madam.”

Ye You nodded.

In contrast, Wenren Heng made a sound in acknowledgment, while he internally assessed her, discovering that, with those masculine clothes, there didn’t appear to be an air of femininity around her at all.

Elder Mei said, “No need to leave us dinner. We’re going out to eat. Let’s go.” She then called out towards the room and Elder Baili and Elder Ji then hurriedly ran out. The three put their arms around each other’s shoulders and left under everyone’s strange gazes. Wenren Heng watched as their figures disappeared and then gave his Junior Brother an inquiring look.

Ye You laughed. “Senior Brother, there seems to be one thing that I never told you.”

Wenren Heng said, “What?”

Ye You said, “Of our Demonic Sect’s Elders, none are women.”

“…” Wenren Heng thought of the beautiful Elder Mei and was extremely speechless. “He’s a man?”

“That’s also not entirely accurate.” Ye You saw that his big brother had also come over and so then entered the dining hall with both of them as he asked, “You should’ve heard of yin-yang people284 before, right?”

Wenren Heng was surprised. “He is?”

“Yes, so that’s why I said that she’s faced many hardships in the past,” Ye You said, “When I saw her the first time, her clan members had taken their anger out on her because of a long-running drought. And because they found her too different, they then stripped her of clothes and hung her up, wanting to burn her alive.”

Ren Shaotian asked, “And then?” Ye You said, “I saved her.”

Ren Shaotian asked, “Why?”

“She neither cried nor made a sound and simply watched her clan members. Although her entire body was full of injuries and she was on the cusp of death, she wasn’t giving off any sense of defeat.” Ye You said in a soft voice, “Big brother, if you had seen her at that time, you definitely would have also saved her.” He walked over to the table and looked at Sir Yang, “They didn’t say where they were going to go?”

Sir Yang had also seen the Elder Mei just now, and his entire face was stiff. “It seemed like Elder Mei wanted to go to the brothel to see that female dancer, so Elder Baili and them decided to go with her.”

Ye You laughed. “Then let’s still leave some food for them.”

Sir Yang didn’t understand why, but he still left a word of instruction to the steward. Sure enough, the next day, he really did hear about how those three Elders had huddled together in the kitchens in the middle of the night to eat a meal. He was even more flabbergasted and couldn’t help but ask Elder Baili.

At this time, these people were once again playing mahjong with Brother Shaotian.

Elder Ji sighed. “You really should have come with us to see. Every time Xiao-Mei’s a man, she’s much too disastrous, as if there were lures in her eyes.”

Elder Baili’s heart still held some lingering fear. “Not just disastrous, she even attracts women like flowers attract butterflies. The dancer and lead entertainer were both dazed to distraction, looking only at her the entire time. The other guests weren’t too happy about that and almost joined hands to beat her up.”

Elder Ji said, “And we’re still not done. Last night just so happened to be the sale of that female dancer’s first night, and the person just persistently stared at Xiao-Mei the whole time without ever looking away. There was a young master from who-knew-where who got so angry that he rushed over wanting to drive Xiao-Mei away.

Goddammit, we still hadn’t even eaten.”

Elder Baili said, “Just so. If it was as usual, then that young master would’ve been able to get that female dancer by just throwing around his money. But it’s all because Xiao-Mei likes to show off too much, and in the end they still ended up fighting. Ah, what a disaster. We shouldn’t have gone with her!” Elder Ji said, “That’s right!” Sir Yang, “…”

Ren Shaotian, “…”

A creak sounded, and the door opened.

Elder Mei had changed back into a beautifully splendid dress, once again becoming a woman, and asked, “What are all of you talking about?”

Those people said in unison, “Nothing.”

Elder Mei walked over and sat down next to Ren Shaotian. “How does Brother Shaotian feel today?”

Ren Shaotian said, “Still all right.”

Elder Miao interrupted on the side, completely full of confidence, “There’s no problem with the medicine’s baseline. We can definitely remove the drug.”

And it was just like Elder Miao and them had anticipated. The removal of the drug for Ren Shaotian went quite smoothly, and he didn’t feel the least bit unwell. Thus, within these ordinary days, Ren Shaotian played mahjong with those Elders and occasionally faced Ye You across the chessboard while having a few, brief conversations; it was a rare, peaceful period of time.

Half a month quickly passed by. On a certain night, Ren Shaotian washed up and went to bed, sinking into a deep, deep sleep right as he closed his eyes.

He saw a vast and expansive residence, endlessly lively. Although he had never seen it before, for whatever reason, he found it all very familiar.

He walked a few steps and, upon hearing some messy footsteps echo behind him, couldn’t help but turn back. He then saw an exquisitely adorable child reaching out a hand and calling out to him, “Brother, brother…” The child very quickly ran over and, in the next moment, had thrown himself into the other’s embrace.

Chapter 119

The child was especially beautiful, leading people to like him at first sight.

His body carried a faint scent of osmanthus cakes, warm and soft as he threw himself into those arms. Ren Shaotian felt his heart fill with joy and immediately lifted the person up. “Ah-You has woken up?”

The child hugged his neck. “Mhm.”

Ren Shaotian then walked forward carrying the child.

The household servants followed behind. There was a newcomer who moved forward a step or two, wanting to help him carry the little young master so as to stop him from getting too tired. Ren Shaotian hadn’t even refused when the child burrowed into his embrace, taking the initiative to duck away. Ren Shaotian was very happy upon seeing this and said, “No need. I’ll carry him myself.”

A gentle breeze was blowing, and the entire yard was the color of spring.

The peach blossoms were visible as far as the eye could see, giving off a mild fragrance that eased people’s hearts and pleased their spirits.

He carried the child through the residence in this afternoon light. Entering the study, he then placed the person on a chair next to him before beginning to read. For a while, the child sat there, obedient and well-behaved, before then very slowly crawling into his arms. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh before settling the small child into his arms and continuing to read. After who-knew-how-long, a small chubby little thing walked into the room carrying some snacks and, after greeting them, walked over to sit down before then beginning to chew on the pastries, eating them awfully joyfully.

Grabbing a slice of fruit, the child reached out his hand to hand it over to the person behind him.

Ren Shaotian opened his mouth and ate it, patting the other on the head in praise. He was then struck with the inspiration to ask, “Does Ah-You want to try writing? Want me to teach you?”

The small child seemed to think for a moment before saying easily, “All right.”

Ren Shaotian then wiped the child’s hands dry before then holding his hand and helping him write the “Yang” character stroke by stroke on the paper.

This was his first time teaching this child how to write.

Although it was skewed and crooked, he still thought it looked good no matter how he looked at it.

When the peach blossoms withered, it became the season for the Liuzhu flowers to bloom.

The people of Huayang City all loved the Liuzhu flowers and formed parties in twos and threes to go flower viewing. He led the child along by the hand as he followed a beautiful woman to exit the gates. A large, handsome man was standing on her other side, tenderly holding her hand. They were a family of four, full of blissful happiness.

The Liuzhu flower bloomed and withered, withered and then bloomed.

The house was still as bustling as always, and he never left the child’s side. They were practically always together, whether it be sleeping or eating, and he treated the child as if the other was the apple of his eye. The child also always followed him faithfully, insisting on going along no matter where he went. Even the Madam said, somewhat jealously, that Ah-You loved his big brother the most and not his mother. But her expression actually carried a hint of a smile as she said so.

Autumn went and winter arrived, and the weather quickly turned cold.

As they entered the winter season, a certain prestigious gentleman was about to arrive at the academy in the neighboring city to give five days of lectures. Listening to his father’s instructions, Ren Shaotian then packed up and prepared to journey to the neighboring city.

“The outside isn’t the same as your own house, so don’t go putting on airs as a young master…”

Ren Shaotian was standing in front of the carriage, earnestly listening to the Madam’s advice. After everything was said, he then nodded to indicate that he understood. Following that, he turned his gaze to the child holding her hand and raised a hand to pat the other’s head. “Your brother’s leaving.”

The child immediately threw himself over for a hug. “Brother.” Ren Shaotian laughed and said, “Want to come with me?”

The child said, “Yes!”

Ren Shaotian said, “All right.”

“Stop messing around.” The Madam looked at her eldest son in reprimand before taking the child back. In a soft voice, she coaxed, “Be good, Ah-You. Let’s wait at home for your brother.”

The child pouted. “…Mn.”

This kind of small, wronged appearance immediately softened Ren Shaotian’s heart, and he asked his mother if he truly wasn’t able to take his little brother, only dropping the subject after he received a definite refusal. He then placated the child before stepping into the carriage. Opening the carriage curtains and looking back, he saw that the child had been lifted up into his mother’s arms.

The carriage slowly moved forward, though the people near the gates never moved, and so he quietly watched them. It was only when they were just a small dot on the horizon that he returned to himself.

The days at the academy were even more boring than Ren Shaotian had imagined.

He was the youngest of them, and so a crowd of people called him “esteemed little brother” day in and day out. What’s more, these people were even stupid to no end, not a single one as clever as his little brother.

With chin in hand, he began to consider whether or not he wanted to return home early when, at this time, he heard a great clamor echoing in from the outside. Two bodyguards then ran into the room and rushed directly towards him, giving him quite a fright. “What?”

“The master had us rush over to protect the young master.” The bodyguards hastily said this sentence as they pulled him to leave.

Ren Shaotian said, “Where’s Ah-You?”

The bodyguards said, “We left first. The little young master is still at the residence.”

Ren Shaotian said, “What happened?” The bodyguards said, “It’s unclear.”

Ren Shaotian frowned. “Let’s go back to the house.”

The bodyguards said, “But the master said not to let you return.” Ren Shaotian said, “Then where did my dad say to go…”

Before he even finished speaking, he felt his sight blur, and then a number of black figures leapt down from the sky to surround them. He once again frowned and, pressing down on the uneasiness in his heart, asked in a cold voice, “Who are all of you?”

However, no one answered him, and those people rapidly rushed over. The moment right before his consciousness faded away, he suddenly saw blood bloom from those two bodyguards’ bodies, bloodcurdling screams rending the air they fell.

What exactly has happened?

What about his parents? What about Ah-You? How is Ah-You? His thoughts struggled for an instant, but in the end he powerlessly sank into the pitch-black darkness.

Ren Shaotian suddenly opened his eyes.

An ash-colored light was glistening outside the window, and the sky had just brightened through the mist.

He got up and sat there in a daze for a long while. Finally, he pulled away the covers and messily tidied up for a bit before going to Ye You’s small courtyard.

The household servants had already gotten up, and having received their young master’s instructions, upon seeing him, they respectfully greeted him with, “Eldest young master, morning.”

That familiar form of address caused Ren Shaotian’s pupils to darken slightly, and he said, “Morning.”

He walked slower and slower and finally stopped in front of Ye You’s door. He knew that this person had definitely not gotten up yet and so, after a long moment of silence, decided simply to turn back. He looked at this unfamiliar residence, his head a complete mess, feeling as if he had woken up from a short nap only to find that everything around him had suddenly changed.

“Brother?”

Ren Shaotian instantly stopped.

Ye You had heard the movements outside and so had draped some clothes over himself and come out. Looking at Ren Shaotian, he walked over. “Is there something that made you come over this early?”

Ren Shaotian very slowly turned around and met that face.

Ah-You had already been very beautiful when he was small, and now that his facial features had filled out, he was exquisite to the point of intimidation, looking very much like the Madam from the dream.

Having just woken up, his long hair was gently hanging down, softening his usual sharpness, and from the quiet way he was looking at Ren Shaotian, he seemed to be a faint reflection of his childhood appearance.

Ye You saw how silent Ren Shaotian was and was just about to ask again when he saw this person reach out a hand to touch his face.

He faintly paused. “…Brother?”

Ren Shaotian looked at him, expression profound. “Ah-You, you’ve grown up.”

Ye You trembled for a moment, and in that instant, his eyes actually heated up. “You…”

Ren Shaotian didn’t wait for the other to finish, walking forward a step to pull this person into a fierce embrace.

He suddenly felt somewhat like crying.

That year, the entire family had doted on this child. Anytime he bumped or hit anything, everyone always tenderly pampered him for half a day. How did Ah-You escape when things happened? Without his brother by his side to protect him, would others have bullied him? And how exactly did he reach Heji Mountain?

In the past, when Ren Shaotian thought of these issues, he simply found them difficult to take, but who could’ve known that, when he regained his memories, he could feel this much pain.

“…It’s my fault,” he said in a hoarse voice, “I should’ve stayed behind and been with you.”

Ye You closed his eyes.

He was already not that small child of the past. After experiencing that calamity, he had grown up practically overnight, and over these years, he just became more and more used to controlling his own moods. He pressed down on the sourness in his eyes and returned the other’s hug, patting his big brother’s back. “It’s all already in the past.” Actually, when he thought about it later, his big brother not being there had perhaps been a good thing.

At the time, there was no child at the residence who was of a similar age to his big brother, and everyone in the outside world knew that the Yang family had two young masters. If his big brother had been there, then their parents would’ve definitely had both him and his big brother escape together. Thus, afterwards, when Wei Haide and them found only a small chubby child, they’d definitely send people to search for his big brother in every direction, and there was no telling what’d happen as a result.

He repeated, “It’s all already in the past.”

Ren Shaotian held the person even tighter for a brief moment. “Tell me of what happened after I left.”

Ye You fell silent.

Ren Shaotian said, “Ah-You?”

Ye You said, “I’ll tell you little by little.” Ren Shaotian said, “Yes.”

From the corners of his eyes, he saw Wenren Heng walking over, dressed neat and tidy, and sluggishly realized that Ah-You had only some clothes draped over. He then let go and indicated for Ah-You to enter the room, so as to avoid catching cold.

After this event, Ye You was already no longer sleepy and thus returned to change his clothes, preparing to eat breakfast with his big brother. Ren Shaotian didn’t follow and instead stood in the courtyard, breathing in the chilly midwinter air in an attempt to calm himself down, while also trying to relieve the stuffy ache in his heart. Wenren Heng also didn’t enter the room and walked over to his side. “You remembered?”

Ren Shaotian made a sound in acknowledgment and asked, “How did he get to Heji Mountain that year?” “He was picked up and taken back by our master,” Wenren Heng said, “You’ll need to ask him for the specific details.”

Ren Shaotian nodded and said, “Many thanks to you for taking care of him over these years.”

He knew that since Ah-You liked Wenren Heng, it was clear that Wenren Heng definitely treated Ah-You very well. And from his memories while as “Ren Shaotian”, Wenren Heng truly did treat Ah- You extremely well; it was clear at a glance to everyone.

Wenren Heng said, “It’s only natural.”

The two chatted for a few more sentences before Ye You came out, having tidied up appropriately.

Ren Shaotian’s thoughts were still immersed in their childhood and, upon seeing him, unconsciously moved towards him a few steps.

Conversely, Ye You had gotten used to searching out his Senior Brother, and it was only when he had walked to Wenren Heng’s side that he discovered that his big brother’s arm was slightly raised, apparently having wanted to hold his hand just now but, in the end, being completely overlooked.

Ye You, “…”

Ren Shaotian, “…”

Ye You thereupon scooted towards his big brother, coincidentally also missing his Senior Brother raising a hand to hold his own.

Ye You, “…” Wenren Heng, “…”

The three of them looked at each other for an instant before deciding to skirt past this awkward atmosphere and walk to the dining hall shoulder-to-shoulder.

Sir Yang and those Elders had all already gotten up, and when they reached the dining hall, the former saw Ren Shaotian shooting him quite a few glances after entering the room. He couldn’t help but ask, “Big brother, what is it?”

Ren Shaotian said, “Nothing much, just thinking about how fat you were when you were small. I even thought that you’d most likely become a fatty when you grew up.”

These words were practically earth-shattering, and Sir Yang almost dropped his chopsticks. Those Elders were also astonished and said, in unison, “Brother Shaotian regained his memories?”

Ren Shaotian said, “I remembered a bit.”

Elder Miao and Young Miracle Doctor Fang hastily approached for an examination, while the remaining Elders followed closely behind to encircle him. Very quickly, they learned from their colleague that the drug’s effects had already disappeared, having been broken, and they all felt happy for Brother Shaotian and the Sect Master, saying, “That’s wonderful!”

“This is a happy occasion, worth drinking to!”

“That’s right! After we finish eating, let’s go drinking!” Miracle Doctor Ji coldly let out a cough.

“…” Those Elders rapidly changed their tunes, “Worth playing some rounds of mahjong to!”

“That’s right! After we finish eating, let’s go play mahjong!” “Brother Shaotian must play with us!”

Miracle Doctor Ji, “…”

And so, yet another mahjong game opened without incident.

While Ren Shaotian still had some remnants of the drug in his body, he simply needed to drink a few bowls of medicinal soup to eliminate them completely. Although he wanted to find Ye You to talk, he was truly unable to deflect the Elders’ enthusiasm. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw Ah-You let out a few yawns before he was then pulled away into leaving by Wenren Heng. Seeing Ah-You depending on Wenren Heng so much, he felt some faint discontent in his heart, but rationally he knew that it was actually quite good for them to be like this.

Elder Miao said, “Don’t move! Three tiles285! Twenty thousand!” Elder Mei said, “Brother Shaotian, it’s your turn to draw a tile.” Elder Baili was astonished. “Brother Shaotian?”

Ren Shaotian regained his senses and drew a tile before tossing it, “East wind286.”

Those Elders gave him a look. “What are you thinking about?” Ren Shaotian smiled. “Nothing really?”

“Thinking about what happened in your childhood,” Elder Baili guessed and then suddenly asked, “That’s right, how was our Sect Master when he was young?”

This question immediately attracted the curiosity of the rest of them, and they collectively looked at Ren Shaotian at once.

Ren Shaotian said, laughing, “At that time, Ah-You was very well- behaved and obedient. If I give him just a single piece of candy, he can sit quietly on my lap for an entire day.”

Sir Yang had some vague impressions of their childhood and followed with an agreement, “Mhm.”

Those Elders, “…”

Were these two really talking about that incredible Sect Master of theirs? They completely couldn’t imagine it!

Those Elders silently tried to visualize it, but at this time, they heard some soft knocks from the door before the Demonic Sect’s shadow guards pushed it open and entered, handing over a letter to Elder Miao. Elder Miao took it and, after taking a look, discovered that it was written by Demonic Medicine King. Elder Baili was sitting right by his side and, upon glancing over, asked, “Didn’t Demonic Medicine King leave with the Shaolin Abbot and them? What did he write this letter to you for?”

Of the monsters enlisted by Wei Haide, Demonic Medicine King was the only one who had avoided calamity in the incident this time.

Because although he had been quite vicious that year, he had never reached the level where he needed to be besieged in unison by the righteous faction. And since he had always been by Cong Yun’s side, he was extremely familiar with the drugged men and had successfully helped Miracle Doctor Ji and them break through the drug’s effects this time. Thus, when the people of the righteous faction added all of this up, they then allowed Demonic Medicine King to make amends using these achievements and also handed over the remaining drugged men for him to handle.

Elder Miao had worked together with that person for only a period of time, and their relationship wasn’t deep. Upon hearing that question, he honestly said, “I don’t know.”

He suspiciously opened the letter and saw only that the first sentence was, Brother Miao, a mere day apart feels as long as three years.

Elder Miao, “…” Elder Baili, “…”

Most likely because Elder Baili’s expression looked far too much like he just saw a ghost, Elder Mei and them immediately had their interests piqued, and they hastily stood up, leaning over as one to finish reading that letter. On the letter, Demonic Medicine King wrote that he felt that Elder Miao’s medical expertise was quite high, and so he wanted to request some guidance, but the words that he used carried a faint ambiguity, as if he was simply scratching the surface, little by little stirring up people’s spirits. These words made people feel especially compelled to keep the appointment as soon as possible, in order to conduct a proper inquiry. The group looked at Elder Miao, feeling as if either these two people had a somewhat impure relationship or Demonic Medicine King had fallen for him.

But if he was able to fall for Miaomiao, then he was definitely blind!

Those Elders cursed uncharitably in their hearts.

Elder Miao completely didn’t notice their expressions and, closing the letter, appeared to become suddenly enlightened, “Oh…”

Those Elders’ eyes shone. “What ‘oh’? Do you know what he means?” Elder Miao said, “Yes.”

Those Elders were very excited. “He fell for you?” Elder Miao said, “No.”

Those Elders said, “Then what is it?”

Elder Miao said, “I forgot to remove the poisonous insects from his body. He probably wants me to remove them for him.”

Everyone, “…”

Ah, so it also wasn’t easy for Demonic Medicine King, having to wrack his brains for so long to come up with this type of wording to entice this person to come out?

Those Elders fell silent.

Sir Yang conversely wanted to wipe his sweat.

He suddenly became aware of a grave matter — with the Demonic Sect Elders this outlandish, his second brother’s tongue that poisonous, and now even Wei Jin entering the Demonic Sect, so that his big brother would probably also go, in the future, when those righteous faction members were bullied by the Demonic Sect and didn’t dare to go find the Demonic Sect for payback, would they come to the Yang family residence to find him?

Goddammit, it sounds far too possible! While the righteous faction wouldn’t dare take his life, they could still lie at the gates and make a terrible scene crying and shouting in order to beg for compensation, point their fingers at him to give him a harsh tongue-lashing, or they could furtively find some trouble for him, even going so far as to put a bag over his head in the middle of the night and give him a sound beating!

His entire face was grave, and he felt in the depths of his heart that this was a truly daunting problem.

Why was his life fated to be full of so much misfortune? No, no he couldn’t just sit and wait for death!

Looking at these rascals who had thrown down that letter and returned to playing mahjong once again, Sir Yang then stood up and went outside.

Chapter 120

Sir Yang quickly found the person in charge of “Moon’s Shadow” and pulled him to drink tea while faintly sighing.

At present, the representative of “Moon’s Shadow” was a vice- captain.

Although he was a vice-captain, compared to Ren Shaotian, his sense of existence was very low. At the time, because he had quite a bit of experience and was very patient in dealing people, he was promoted by Ding Yicheng into the position of a vice-captain. Ordinarily, he took care of only some day-to-day chores, and it was only during this unusual period of time that he had been attached some importance by the people of “Moon’s Shadow”.

The Vice-Captain said, “Why is Sir Yang sighing?”

Sir Yang said, “I’m wondering if Wei Haide and Ding Yicheng still had some subordinates that haven’t been dealt with. In the future, my brother and them will return to the Demonic Sect, so would those people decide to come attack me in revenge?”

The Vice-Captain hated these matters the most and said angrily, “How would they dare!”

“I’m not afraid of the many, just afraid of the possibility.” Sir Yang once again sighed. “Let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about all of you. What have all of you decided to do from now on?”

The Vice-Captain also began sighing.

The commonality between “Moon’s Shadow” and “Heaven’s Firmament” was that they were both righteous blades of Jianghu, the difference was that the former’s foundation was Wei Jin and Ren Shaotian, while the latter’s foundation was Wei Jiangyue. So when things happened, “Heaven’s Firmament” didn’t actually collapse, and the majority of them ended up leaving with Wei Jiangyue, but in contrast, “Moon’s Shadow” didn’t know what course they should take. In the past, their young master knew only how to eat, drink, and play around, without many achievements to his name, so only a small portion of “Moon’s Shadow” was willing to follow the young master. There was another portion who, feeling intensely disillusioned, chose to roam the world instead, like some of the people of “Heaven’s Firmament”. The remaining portion was all here.

The Vice-Captain said, “It’s precisely because of this matter that I’m currently so worried.”

He knew what his own capabilities were, and that’s not even mentioning how he himself had never liked to take the lead. If Ren Shaotian also chose not to take care of them287, he really didn’t know where they should go in the future.

Sir Yang said, probing, “Then why not first stay here at the Yang family residence?”

The Vice-Captain said, “Ah?”

“Think about it, you still don’t know whether or not all of you were drugged and so need to remain for Young Miracle Doctor Fang’s examination,” Sir Yang said, “And I’m afraid that Wei Haide and them have partners who haven’t been taken care of. All of you also coincidentally don’t have a place to go. What do you think?”

The Vice-Captain said, “Ah, that’s true…”

“The Yang family is a prestigious family, and it’s also a place that once suffered a grave injustice, so it wouldn’t be inappropriate for all of you to stay here,” Sir Yang said, “What’s more, if all of you want to continue ridding the world of evil, no matter what, you’d still need a place to rest, so why not have it be right here. This way, it’d also be more convenient for all of you to see my big brother in the future as well. If you advise him little by little, he might just accept ‘Moon’s Shadow’ then.”

The final sentence succeeded in moving the Vice-Captain’s heart, and he said decisively, “Then forgive us for troubling you.” Sir Yang hastily waved a hand, telling the other that it was no trouble. He decided to raise this troop of people well, so as to avoid a future in which he’d actually get beaten up by the righteous faction in the depths of the night. For everything else, he needed to find the time to get his second brother and ask if the other had any good ideas.

After thinking about this, he immediately felt steadier. The mahjong game was still going on.

Ren Shaotian played with them until almost noon before he saw even a shadow of his little brother. Giving his seat over to the Sir Yang who had once again returned, he then got up and walked over to Ye You. “Woke up?”

Ye You laughed and said an, “Mhm.” Seeing his big brother appear eager to have a chat with him, he then went outside with the other.

As they walked, the two followed the small path through the gardens, neither speaking at all for a time.

Snow appeared to be once again on the horizon, and the sky was the color of ash, the originally weak sunlight growing more and more imperceptible.

Ren Shaotian looked up and suddenly remembered that, when he had left that year, the next few days had also appeared to be exactly this kind of weather. After an entire morning to serve as buffer, the thick thoughts in his mind had been tempered quite a bit. And since he had also long already known the Yang family’s ultimate fate, he felt as if he would be able to calmly accept what had happened in the past. But before he began asking, he first spoke of a few things of no real importance, saying, “You and Wenren Heng…”

Ye You said, “We’re precisely like that.”

Ren Shaotian had known that would be the answer, so he wasn’t surprised.

Ye You asked, “What do you think of him?” What Sect Master Wenren was like, practically all the people of Jianghu knew. Ren Shaotian said honestly, “A giant among men.” After a pause, he added, “He treats you very well. I feel reassured that you and him are together.”

Ye You said, smiling, “After the year is over, we’re getting married.” Ren Shaotian said, “This quickly?”

Ye You said, “Mn, it’s something that would’ve happened sooner or later.”

That’s true. Although Ren Shaotian wasn’t surprised, he still felt a little bit unhappy this time.

He decided to end this topic of conversation, but when he was just about to open his mouth, he actually heard his little brother also say some words that were of no real importance, at just the right moment, “It seems like it’s almost time for lunch.”

Ren Shaotian looked at him.

Ye You fell silent for an instant before he said in a soft voice, “After we finish eating, let’s go outside the city.”

Outside the city was where the Yang family’s ancestral tomb was. Ren Shaotian’s pupils slightly darkened, and he said, “All right.”

Lunch was as lively as usual. Although Ren Shaotian didn’t have much of an appetite, he didn’t show the least bit of change in his expression. Ye You naturally also wouldn’t expose his thoughts and unhurriedly finished the food in his bowl before leaving the hall together with his big brother. The rest of the group didn’t understand why and looked inquiringly at Wenren Heng.

Wenren Heng said, “They went out for a bit to handle some business.”

The group said, “Oh…”

Wenren Heng smiled. “Enough, all of you can go now.” 

Can’t you say a bit more?

The group silently looked at him but, in the end, didn’t dare to try asking further and could only reluctantly retreat.

The new year was close at hand, and the streets were filled with all sorts of new year goods, while people came and went, extremely lively and bustling. Ye You watched two children running every which way and suddenly said, “The first time I met Master was the day of the new year.”

Ren Shaotian looked at him. Ah-You’s face brought far too much disaster, and so before he left, he once again wore the iconic mask of the Demonic Sect’s Sect Master, leaving people unable to see through the expression underneath.

Ye You continued with, “That year, when Wei Haide and them came to kill, Mom pushed me out from a dog hole and told me to go to Heji Mountain to find Elder Yu and beg him to accept me. So I then walked all the way from Huayang City to Heji Mountain’s nearby town.”

Ren Shaotian’s heart abruptly tightened. “On your own?”

Ye You said, “Yes. Right now, it all seems a bit inconceivable when I think about it.”

He knew that his big brother wanted to clear up what had happened that year. Previously, he had also returned only when it was close to noon because he had been considering whether or not he should talk about it, but after ruminating over it, he had still decided to be forthcoming. After all, his big brother was Ren Shaotian, and since the other was able to become the Vice-Captain of Moon’s Shadow”, the person should have quite a bit of fortitude. The most important thing was that, even if he wanted to bluff his way out, it wouldn’t be easy.

He said in a soft voice, “It was only three days after I escaped that I learned from someone else’s mouth that you had also been killed, but 

Ren Shaotian quietly listened, feeling as if the noisy surroundings were just like the tide, receding away, leaving only this voice next to his ear to accompany him, as it pulled on his heartbeat and breathing. When he regained his senses, he discovered that they had already left the city who-knew-when and said, “So then you left the Central Plains? And Wenren Heng didn’t know anything at the time?”

Ye You said, “I didn’t dare tell him.”

Ren Shaotian felt his heart ache upon hearing this, and he grabbed the other’s wrist, pulling the person into his arms for an embrace.

Having listened to the Sect Master’s instructions, one of the Demonic Sect’s shadow guards had gone out to buy some things and, at this time, had coincidentally returned. Upon seeing this scene, he stopped nearby, not daring to move closer. Ren Shaotian saw the person out of the corners of his eyes, and only then did he let go of his little brother. The shadow guard then hurriedly approached and handed the items over to the Sect Master.

Ye You gave a word of praise before indicating for his subordinate to go back. And then he took his big brother to the Yang family’s ancestral grave.

His hatred had already settled after going through all these years, but Ren Shaotian’s feelings were just as fresh as Sir Yang’s, and he thought of Wei Haide and them the moment he saw that gravestone. Furrowing his brows, he asked, “Not changing out the gravestone?”

Ye You said, “With the revenge already a success, it no longer matters. What’s more, that year, all the righteous faction elders put in the effort for this, so a mere two people can be overlooked.”

Ren Shaotian declined to comment. He looked at the words on the gravestone, and scenes from his childhood flashed through his mind. No longer able to remain calm, his mood once again uncontrollably bubbled forth. He knelt down, stiff and rigid, doing his utmost to suppress the emotions that had welled up in his throat as he said in a hoarse voice, “Dad, Mom, your unfilial son… has returned.”

Ye You suddenly closed his eyes for a moment in an effort to dispel the acrid bitterness. After a few silent breaths, he once again opened his eyes and knelt down next to his brother. He then lit the incense that his subordinate had bought and, together with his big brother, gave his family a stick.

He was silent for a while. “There’s someplace that I need to take you.”

After returning, Ren Shaotian locked himself in his room and didn’t eat. Those Elders and Sir Yang didn’t know the reason, and all of them wanted to go ask, but Ye You promptly stopped them and said, “Let him have some quiet.”

The group was even more confused. “What happened to Brother Shaotian?”

Ye You said, “We just returned from outside the city, so don’t disturb him.”

The group then understood, feeling their hearts ache for Brother Shaotian, dithering and hesitating outside his door for a time before finally leaving with great reluctance.

Conversely, Wenren Heng had guessed the actual reason, and after pulling his Junior Brother back to the room, he asked, “You brought him to that valley?”

Ye You said, “Yes. Even if I didn’t talk about it, Wei Jin would’ve.”

What’s more, he went to that valley every year, and since his big brother wasn’t an easy person to fool, he’d notice it sooner or later, so it was better simply to explain honestly now.

Wenren Heng said, “Wei Jin knows?” Ye You said, “That year when me and Wei Jin joined hands, we made a promise. If he died, I’d bury him in the Jiang family grave. If I died, he has to bury me in three different places.”

Wenren Heng understood the moment he heard and said, with clear insight, “Heji Mountain, the Yang family grave, and that valley?”

Ye You said, “Yes.”

Wenren Heng said, “You should’ve known that I’d definitely collect your body.”

Ye You said, “…Senior Brother, I’m a bit hungry. Let’s go and eat.”

Wenren Heng acted as if he hadn’t heard and looked at the other with a smile on his face, his tone especially tender. “What kind of idea did you give him?”

“Nothing much.” Ye You looked at him and backed up a few steps. “For instance, to wait until after you bury me and then dig me back up, or something. In any case…”

Wenren Heng finished the sentence, “In any case, I wouldn’t have known.”

Ye You rubbed his nose. “Didn’t it all turn out fine?”

Wenren Heng gave him a look and then moved forward to take his hand, internally thinking that this disaster needed a tidying up

tonight before pulling him to the dining hall.

Ren Shaotian locked himself in his room for only a night before coming out the next day.

His expression was the same as usual, and no issues could be seen at all. He looked as if he had simply been hit with a bit of melancholy for a time. Those Elders felt greatly relieved and surrounded him with intimate familiarity. Ye You knew that his big brother would doubtlessly find it difficult to bear for a few days, but since his big brother had, after all, been through countless stormy seas, and the main culprits had already been executed, the person would definitely be able to return slowly to normal.

The new year came closer and closer, and festive atmosphere also got thicker and thicker.

No matter if they went to the Demonic Sect or to Shuangji Sect, they wouldn’t be able to make it in time for New Year’s Eve, and thus they decided that they might as well remain here to pass the year.

And because Wei Jin was in Shuihe City, he was quite close to the Demonic Sect. Since there was a troop of drugged men still detained at the Demonic Sect, Elder Bai and Elder Hei had also left with Wei Jin previously, preparing to return to the Demonic Sect together after Wei Jin had finished paying his respects. Thus, at the same time that they were preparing to hand over the drugged men to the righteous faction, they could then also introduce the new Deputy Sect Master to everyone in the sect.

So Wei Jin and those people were naturally going to remain at Xiaoqing Mountain to pass the New Year. After some consideration, Ye You and them decided to go to the Demonic Sect after New Year’s Day and then go to Shuangji Sect. But before all this, Ye You and his Senior Brother first needed to make a trip to Heji Mountain and light some incense for their Master.

Ren Shaotian was very grateful to Elder Yu for saving his little brother’s life that year, and so he went with them together to Heji Mountain. On the way there, upon seeing his little brother and Wenren Heng’s interactions, he felt somewhat unhappy and thus chose a day to sleep in the same room as his little brother, while using the excuse of having a heart-to-heart conversation, leaving Wenren Heng also somewhat unhappy. But he also did so only that once, because rationally he knew that his little brother and Wenren Heng were actually very well-suited for one another.

The group moved forward in fits and bursts and very quickly arrived at Heji Mountain.

Heji Mountain’s small house still looked the same as it did that year; the only difference was that it looked somewhat newer, and it was clear that Wenren Heng had sent someone to restore it.

The house had people who came to tidy up at fixed intervals, and so it was very clean, but it was also truly far too small. Giving all this a look, Ren Shaotian then lit only one stick of incense before leaving, even taking along the scarred man with him, leaving the place behind to these two people.

Wenren Heng was very satisfied. Pulling his Junior Brother to the back of the mountain, he followed the flagstone path and then entered the small pavilion. “Over these years, have you come here before?”

Ye You said, “Occasionally. What about you?” Wenren Heng said, “What do you think?”

Ye You let out a laugh.

That year, it had been precisely in this place that he had made his Senior Brother drunk and then took the opportunity to seduce the other party. At that time, it had been raining outside, pitter-pattering against the eaves, and it had seemed as if they were the only two people remaining in heaven and earth.

Every time Wenren Heng finished paying his respects to Master, he would come here to sit, reflecting on his memories piece-by-piece, wondering whether it had been his fault after all or if his Junior Brother had done so intentionally. He couldn’t help but think of those painful days and gave his Junior Brother a rather tender look.

Ye You reminded, “Senior Brother, you just said to Master that you’d take good care of me.”

Finding this both infuriating and laughable, Wenren Heng pulled the person into his embrace.

The two lived in that small house for several days. Wenren Heng was responsible for boiling the water and making the meals, while Ye You was responsible for eating said meals and enjoying life. Every day, the two would walk hand-in-hand around the back mountains. This kind of quiet and content life made Ye You feel that it also wouldn’t be impossible simply to retire from Jianghu like this. But right as he had this thought, a letter from Xie Junming arrived.

The letter said that Xie Junming wanted to bring the people of Wuwang Temple along with Chen Hong to the Demonic Sect to pay respects in the new year, and that they’d arrive in the next few days. As such, it’d be best if he would return to the Demonic Sect already in order to receive these guests.

Wenren Heng said, “We won’t make it in time.” Ye You said, all smiles, “I know.”

Wenren Heng gave him a look. “What?”

Ye You laughed and said, “Xie Junming has a bad habit — anytime there’s even a single new face on our side, he’ll always go and take some liberties with them.”

So when Xie Junming arrived at the Demonic Sect and didn’t see him, the person would then inevitably turn all attention to Ren Shaotian and Wei Jin. His big brother definitely wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, so he wasn’t at all worried, but the most important thing was Wei Jin — of course, Wei Jin also wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, but over these years, Wei Jin had been forced to suppress his own nature the entire time, and now that he could finally act unrestrained, he appeared to be developing in a slightly perverse direction; if Xie Junming truly went head-to-head with him, then the scene would definitely be fun to watch.

With one look at his Junior Brother’s face, Wenren Heng knew that this person wanted to watch a play and let out an indulgent laugh. “Let’s go back then.”

Ye You made a sound in agreement. Looking at that winding mountain path, he suddenly thought of the scene from that year where, pale-faced, he had run down the mountain by himself. At that time, his future had been full of despair, and he had never even dared to hope that he would be able to return and once again stand next to his Senior Brother.

Wenren Heng said, “What is it?” “It’s nothing.”

Ye You laughed and took his Senior Brother’s hand. They then left Heji Mountain, together.

End