“Heh… Yun Feiyang. Who do you think you are? Here? We’re all the same. Don’t act like the master… pfft!” The man in red hadn’t finished his sentence before a sudden gust of wind slammed him into the fake rock formation on the other side. He spat blood, his face pale and grim, clutching his chest. His bloodshot eyes flared with fury. “Yun Feiyang… a soldier may be killed, but never humiliated! I’ll kill you!”
With that, he leapt up and drew a three-meter-long iron chain made of linked silver rings from his hands. Like a coiling serpent, it lashed toward Yun Feiyang.
Yun Feiyang’s eyes flickered, cold and disdainful. “Humiliation? Hmph. You’re not even worthy to humiliate me. Just a discarded, mangy dog… What right do you have to compare yourself to me? Pathetic.” He tilted his head slightly, deftly dodging the chain. His sleeve flicked lightly, and a metallic clang rang out as the chain struck a hidden weapon, rebounding sharply to whip back toward the man in red.
Enraged, the man in red had no time to react. The chain struck his shoulder with a force several times stronger than he had applied. He crashed to his knees with a crack as bones in his shoulder and knee snapped. He screamed as blood streamed down his arm, pooling on the ground.
The onlookers instinctively tensed, lips pressing together. It was as if the blow had landed on them. Their caution toward Yun Feiyang deepened.
Yun Feiyang’s eyes darkened further with cold intent. He raised his hand, a small dagger clutched between his fingers, aiming at the man on the ground.
At that moment, a clear, resonant melody filled the air—sad, sharp, and cutting.
Everyone froze.
Yun Feiyang frowned but lowered the dagger. He looked coldly at the man on the ground, then toward an unseen direction. “I’ll let you off once… but only this once. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for being merciless.” With a flick of his sleeve, he turned and strode away.
The others glanced at the man in red, then at the source of the music, and quietly left as well.
The man on the ground trembled uncontrollably, nearly collapsing. His shoulder continued to bleed, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His teeth clenched, grinding against each other. He gazed in the direction they had gone, eyes burning with icy hatred and deep, gnawing resentment. One hand formed a tight fist, fingernails digging into flesh.
“Yun Feiyang… Murong Qiufeng… Shangguan Ye… all of you… I, Linyin, swear… one day, you will wish you were dead.”
A woman in blue approached, crouched, and set a bottle of medicine on the ground. She sighed softly. “This is Bailin Ointment. It can heal your injuries. Internal wounds will recover with time. My master orders it… just this once. If you act on your own again, you must bear the consequences yourself.” She then turned and left.
The man in red looked at the bottle on the ground, teeth bared, blood dripping. His hatred only deepened. The scars on his face, unobscured by the red veil, made him look even more terrifying.
This man in red was the long-lost Linyin. Once hunted by the Tian Sha Pavilion and nearly killed, he was mysteriously saved. But in exchange, he had to have his appearance destroyed, becoming a servant to gain the power and means to confront Tian Sha Pavilion. He had sold his life—and even his soul—to become its master.
The recent pursuit of Murong Qiufeng and Shangguan Ye had been orchestrated deliberately by him.
Elsewhere, in a tower, the woman in blue stood before a curtain and whispered, “Master. The head of Mufeng Tower requests an audience.”
“Let him in,” came a faint, airy female voice from within, neither happy nor angry, tinged with melancholy.
Yun Feiyang entered and approached the drapery but didn’t step inside. Instead, he sat on a chair outside, speaking plainly, “I assume you know why I am here. What is your response?”
“Master Yun, this matter was indeed a mistake on my part. You may have control of the puppets. But perhaps Master Yun should also give me an explanation?”
“Oh? And you remind me of that. I’m not sure what I owe you,” Yun Feiyang replied with a composed, refined smile, his eyes glinting sharply.
“You’ve repeatedly sabotaged my plans and even leaked clues. Do you think you can do this unnoticed?” The voice within grew lower, harsher, authoritative.
“Heh. You exaggerate. Most of my interference with your plans violates our previous agreement. As for leaking clues… do you not find life too smooth and boring? Perhaps a little danger and thrill make it more interesting.” Yun Feiyang’s smile remained unshaken, as if he had anticipated everything.
“Interesting… Hmph. I fear the day you find it ‘interesting’ enough to sell me out.”
“You overstate it. Until my goal is complete, I have no reason to oppose you. And Shangguan Ye isn’t so easily deceived. Never assume he knows nothing. With people like him, only in chaos can one gain the advantage. Clear waters reveal the fish; only confusion hides them.”
“Hmph. You speak plainly. As long as you remember your promise, I will provide what you seek once my purpose is fulfilled.” The female voice inside grew weary, unwilling to speak further.
“Very well. I thank you in advance. The second act should begin soon. I shall take my leave.”
“No seeing off.”
Inside the drapery, a woman in yellow sat before a guqin, hands poised but unmoving. She lifted her head slightly to the sunlight. A yellow veil obscured half her face, concealing her true features. But her brows and eyes revealed a beauty beyond compare, tempered with the sorrow, loneliness, and bitter hatred of experience.
Her fingers tightened slightly in her hand, a bead of blood forming on her skin as she played. She wiped the blood carefully onto a plant on the windowsill—a tree-like shrub with deep red branches, like coral dyed in blood, the soil beneath stained crimson.
“Cause and effect are constant. What is sown will be reaped. Those debts owed must now be repaid. Are you ready?”
