The crows cawed mournfully, and the old trees stood gnarled and bare.
A man dressed in robes as white as snow stood in a cemetery on the outskirts of Lin’an City, before one of the short little tombstones made of bluestone. The tombstone was not often tended, and a layer of dust covered it. The characters carved upon it were not particularly deep, and much of the writing along the edges had already been worn away.
Murong Chuyi quietly gazed at it.
The tombstone had been erected by the owner of Jiuxiang Tavern out of kindness for the deceased. Thus, it bore none of the usual titles such as “Beloved Mother” or “Dear Wife.” There were only four simple characters.
Tomb of Chu Lian.
He had found this place following the tavern owner’s directions. After wandering for thirty years, this was the first time he had ever seen the grave of his birth mother.
He had once resented his mother for being so heartless, for abandoning him at the entrance of a temple. He had harbored bitterness in his heart, unable to understand what kind of helplessness could have driven her to be so cold-blooded.
But it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Murong Chuyi slowly knelt down before Chu Lian’s tombstone. He raised his slender fingers and brushed away the thin layer of dust covering it. He wanted to call out “Mother,” but his lips moved, yet no sound came out.
He had never called anyone “Mother” before. For more than thirty years, he had suddenly been given a grave to which he could address that word, yet he could no longer bring himself to say it so easily.
It was clearly such a simple word.
Yet it was lodged in his throat like a sharp thorn, bringing pain and bitterness, while refusing to become a sound.
He steadied himself for a while, closed his eyes, and then gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips. Slowly, he traced over the four characters—Tomb of Chu Lian. Stone powder rustled down as the faint, worn marks on the tombstone once again became deep and distinct, as though each stroke had been carved into his heart—
Tomb of Chu Lian.
So that was her name.
Beside Chu Lian’s grave stood another, much older tombstone. It bore no name. It was a grave the tavern owner had built for Lord Chu, whom he had once owed a meal to, out of gratitude for that kindness. But because he feared the authorities would discover it, he had not even dared to inscribe any words upon the stone. He had only carved a tiny lotus flower into it.
Murong Chuyi raised his hand and, through the spotless white sleeve covering him, touched his own left upper arm.
He had always wished that he had a family.
These two stones in this cemetery were the result of everything he had searched for so desperately.
They were terribly cold.
It wasn’t that he had never considered searching for the younger son who had survived back then, the one the tavern owner had told him about. But when he learned that the man had a wife and children and a happy family, he felt that his own appearance would probably once again put him in an extremely awkward position, just as it had in the Yue family.
Other people’s lives were already full enough. There was no need for him to add an unnecessary stroke to them.
He knelt before the tombstone, his thoughts—which had always been clear and lucid—now in utter turmoil.
Hatred, resentment, unwillingness, sorrow, pain.
His chest felt as though it were about to split apart from the weight of these emotions. He could no longer think clearly about anything, and in the end, he could only sit there in a daze.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Withered vines and dimly cawing crows filled the night.
He raised his hand once more to touch his mother—
But all his fingers encountered was the cold stone.
The home he had finally found was cold, too.
“Back then, that family wasn’t moving away together at all. Some influential noble in the royal capital had taken a fancy to the two daughters and forcibly abducted them. Lord Chu was desperate to protect his daughters, so they killed him. And the youngest son was abandoned in a haystack to fend for himself.”
“In the chaos of their escape, Miss Chu fell down a steep slope and into the Five Poisons Abyss.”
“Outside Lin’an City, I… I found Lord Chu’s body. His head had been severed from his body—”
Every word he had just heard echoed in his ears like a curse.
A sudden hatred surged within Murong Chuyi.
He rose to his feet, and a mass of blazing light suddenly gathered in his palm.
Then, suddenly, he heard the rustling of footsteps behind him.
Someone stopped not far behind him. A deep, low voice quietly called out:
“Mr. Murong.”
Murong Chuyi abruptly turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning.
“Who?!”
Mo Xi stood between two rows of tombs, looking at him from neither too near nor too far away.
Murong Chuyi narrowed his eyes slightly.
“…Why are you here?”
“I was at Jiuxiang Tavern this evening as well.”
Murong Chuyi’s expression instantly became razor-sharp. His features were already exceedingly severe, and now that he was on full alert, his eyes filled with warning. He appeared even more unapproachable than usual.
“You heard—”
“I heard.”
Golden light erupted from his palm, instantly transforming into a long sword sharp enough to cut hair apart. Murong Chuyi’s sword-like brows drew together. Without another word, he raised his hand and swung.
In an instant, a streak of sword energy and blazing light came crashing down toward Mo Xi.
But Mo Xi opened a barrier and blocked it outside.
Golden sword light collided with the red barrier, sparks exploding in all directions.
Mo Xi looked at him and said, “Murong, I’m not here to fight you. Nor am I someone standing on Yue Juntian’s side. If I were, there would be no reason for me to appear before you.”
Murong Chuyi’s strike had failed. He flicked his sleeve and withdrew his attack, holding the sword before him, his expression still filled with wariness.
“Then what did you come here for?” Murong Chuyi narrowed his phoenix eyes dangerously. “To plead with me on Yue Juntian’s behalf?”
“You should know that I’ve never gotten along with him.”
“…”
“He and I have served in the same court for so many years. I never joined his faction, never had any personal friendship with him, and never even spoke more than a few words with him. You can’t possibly be unaware of that.”
Murong Chuyi said nothing, but the hissing flow of spiritual energy around his sword dimmed somewhat.
After a while, Murong Chuyi moved the sword behind himself, though his expression remained tense. He stared at Mo Xi and said, “Yue Juntian is incompetent and lawless. He has exploited the people of the fief for so many years, causing other people’s families to be destroyed. This debt—I must settle it with him.”
Mo Xi nodded.
“If I were you, I’d think the same.”
“Then why are you blocking my path?”
Mo Xi asked, “If I don’t stop you, are you going to immediately confront Yue Juntian and demand an accounting? Are you going to personally kill your enemy?”
Murong Chuyi said sharply, “Why can’t I?”
“If you take revenge for your personal grudge like this, what justice will your mother—or your grandfather—receive? Murong, you know perfectly well that the proper thing to do is report this matter to His Majesty. Yue Juntian indulged his own selfish desires and harmed the people of the fief. That is already a loss of virtue. Then he concealed what happened afterward, which amounts to deceiving the sovereign. Those are two grave offenses. His Majesty will not tolerate or excuse them.”
Murong Chuyi glared at him with reddened eyes.
“And what will happen if His Majesty doesn’t tolerate or excuse him? Will he sentence him to death? Take that bastard’s life? No. He’ll merely give him some painless punishment, and then the blood debt and deep hatred will be written off once and for all. You think I haven’t thought of that?”
“Besides, don’t tell me that His Majesty will punish him according to the law,” Murong Chuyi said coldly. “When Yue Juntian forcibly violated my birth mother, where was the law? When he killed my family, where was the law? When he did all those things, there wasn’t a single law restraining him. But when it comes to me, I have to follow the rules, is that it?”
Mo Xi looked at him.
After a long moment, he said, “Fine.”
“If you don’t want to listen to me and insist on killing him for revenge, then go.”
As he spoke, he stepped aside.
“I won’t stop you.”
“…”
“But Murong, have you ever thought about the consequences of doing this?”
“Yue Juntian will die, and your revenge will be complete. But you will certainly be sentenced to death as well. Perhaps you think sacrificing yourself doesn’t matter. But what about Yue Chenqing?”
“For Yue Chenqing, no matter how contemptible Yue Juntian may be, he is still his father. And you have always been the fourth uncle he admires. You kill his father, and then because of that, you are imprisoned and executed after autumn. What do you think Yue Chenqing will become?”
Murong Chuyi’s gaze dimmed slightly.
After a long silence, he said in a low voice, “I have never regarded Yue Chenqing as my nephew. Whether he is happy or in pain—what does that have to do with me?”
“Is that so? How heartless.” Mo Xi said, “Then why, on Bat Island, did you risk your own life to save him?”
“I—”
Mo Xi continued, “Once you settle your personal grudge with Yue Juntian, the Yue family will descend into chaos and fall apart. Yue Chenqing’s life certainly won’t be easy. And besides that…”
He paused.
“Besides Yue Chenqing, there is another person who doesn’t want you to walk along the edge of a blade.”
“You mean the surviving youngest son of the Chu family?” Murong Chuyi looked up. “Then you’re mistaken. He has a wife and children, and he lives a peaceful life. I have no intention of disrupting his life. Whether I walk along the edge of a blade or not, whether I kill Yue Juntian or not, has nothing to do with him.”
“No.” Mo Xi shook his head. “I’m talking about someone else.”
“…”
Murong Chuyi looked at him in slight confusion.
Mo Xi glanced at the tombstone and said, “Senior Chu Lian’s younger sister was saved by the former Lord Wangshu back then. Although she is no longer in this world, she left behind a child. Your maternal cousin.”
Murong Chuyi froze for a moment, seemingly unable to digest the meaning of those words. And when he finally understood, his phoenix eyes widened slightly.
“You should have heard the old story about how the former Lord Wangshu once fell in love with a woman from Lin’an, only to be repeatedly impeached and obstructed by Yue Juntian, until they were ultimately forced to part. That woman was Senior Chu Lian’s younger sister.”
Murong Chuyi was almost unable to believe what he was hearing.
“She and the former Lord Wangshu… had a child?”
“Yes,” Mo Xi said. “Actually, once you know everything that happened, it’s not difficult to understand why Yue Juntian tried so desperately to slander her identity back then, preventing the former Lord Wangshu from marrying her. Although Senior Chu Lian gave her younger sister Forget-Worry Powder at the time, its effects were not necessarily permanent. Yue Juntian was terrified that one day Chu Lian’s younger sister would recover her memories and reveal everything to the world. By then, with the former Lord Wangshu backing her, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to manipulate things and cover everything up.”
Murong Chuyi: “…”
“Senior Chu Lian’s younger sister, her child… your brother. He is just like you. Alone for thirty years…”
“Mr. Murong, he needs you.”
“He wants to acknowledge you, too.”
Under the moonlight, this man, who had always possessed an air of grace and radiance, had gone as pale as a sheet of paper. Even his thin, pale lips had lost all trace of color.
Murong Chuyi said, “How would you know…”
“It’s a long story, but please believe me—I have never lied to you. Because his shoulder is the same as yours, the same as the mark on this tombstone. All three bear an identical lotus-petal mark.”
Murong Chuyi’s face became deathly pale.
After a long while, he said, “…Who is he? Murong Lian?”
“No. Gu Mang.”
“!”
His silk shoes shifted involuntarily as he took a stunned step backward.
Murong Chuyi said, “Him? He… how… how could he…”
Mo Xi said, “He is not a traitor, nor is he an evil person. It’s just that the reasons behind everything are extremely difficult to explain. Right now, the black demonic aura within him is growing heavier and heavier. If he suffers another devastating blow, I’m afraid he will lose his mind completely and become utterly corrupted. I can stay by his side and give him support, but you are his blood relative. There are some things you can give him that I am destined never to be able to.”
Murong Chuyi’s gaze shifted slightly, as though he were suppressing something inside himself that was nearly enough to snap him in two. His expression was extraordinarily complicated.
After a long while, he asked, “Did he come to Lin’an with you as well?”
“Yes,” Mo Xi said. “…If you’re willing to acknowledge him, he’ll definitely be very happy.”
“Murong, Gu Mang is different from everyone else. If you feel that other people don’t need you, I can’t say anything about that. But he does.”
“Thirty years… Let him call you Ge.”
Murong Chuyi abruptly closed his phoenix eyes.
After a while, he raised his head and spoke hoarsely.
“Lord Xihe, I have always… disliked becoming too personally involved with others, and I don’t even know how to have relatives. Besides, the grudge against Yue Juntian…”
Mo Xi said, “So you’d rather lose your brother and settle the personal grudge from thirty years ago in your own way?”
Murong Chuyi pressed his lips together and said nothing more.
After a long time, he finally relented.
“I can meet him once.”
“But tomorrow, everyone from the Yue family will be going to Huntian Cave for the ritual. If I’m to meet him, it can only be the day after tomorrow.”
Mo Xi felt slightly relieved.
“All right. I’ll tell him.”
Seeing that Murong Chuyi was no longer refusing, Mo Xi asked, “Then what about Yue Juntian…”
“Don’t worry.”
Murong Chuyi lowered his eyes. After a moment, he said,
“As for Yue Juntian… no matter what happens, I’ll wait until after I’ve met Gu Mang before deciding what to do.”