As soon as Chao Zhaoyue came out, Chao Jinsui chased after him.

They walked down the mountain together.

Chao Zhaoyue had entered the Golden Core stage very early. In appearance, he looked no more than a spirited youth of eighteen or nineteen, his long hair tied high in a ponytail, a sword slung across his back, a blade of grass held between his teeth.

With eyes like cold stars, the first thing he said was, “I heard you stabbed Feng Liuyun?”

He snorted coldly. “I’ve wanted to teach him a lesson for a long time. He even drugged you? What a complete scumbag!”

He walked fast, striding forward in long steps, his long hair swaying. She had to hurry to keep up.

—He had always been like this since childhood. When she was still tiny, he would take her down the mountain to play, often walking so fast that he would lose his short-legged little sister. More often than not, it was only when it was time to pay that he remembered there was still a little tagalong clutching the money pouch.

When she was young, she always felt she was clever enough, while Chao Zhaoyue was not a thoughtful older brother at all. Not only did she have to worry about him constantly, she even had to take care of him in daily life in return.

After all, he would often become so absorbed in sword practice that he neither ate nor drank; and whenever he went down the mountain, he was easily cheated until he was penniless. Although sword cultivators were all poor, being as loudly, unmistakably poor as Chao Zhaoyue was still quite rare.

Sometimes she wondered, without her, what would Chao Zhaoyue do?

Yet when she lay dying, reduced to a useless cripple abandoned by everyone, only this rather unqualified elder brother went through mountains of blades and seas of fire for her and never returned.

After Chao Zhaoyue died, there was never again anyone who stood behind her.

She paid in blood to grow rapidly, and only then did she understand what it meant that the world was vast and boundless—yet nowhere felt like home.

She suddenly stopped and asked,

“Chao Zhaoyue, if I want to leave this place, will you come with me?”

Chao Zhaoyue turned his head to look at her, the grass still between his teeth.

“It’s not at the point of running away from home yet. Feng Liuyun wasn’t stabbed to death by you.”

“Don’t mind that old lecher Chao Taichu. Tonight go back to Mingyue Mountain. Don’t go to the Siguo Cliff. If the Su family sends someone tomorrow, I’ll meet them.”

But Chao Jinsui stopped where she was and said softly, “More or less.”

“I crippled him.”

He was quiet for a moment, then chewed the grass hard and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a run.

✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦

Mingyue Mountain was remote. There had originally been a few attendant children, but after Chao Jinsui grew up and preferred quiet, only Granny Yu remained.

Granny Yu brought up two bowls of soft, glutinous porridge cooked from spirit rice grown at the foot of the mountain, set out a few small dishes, then limped away without disturbing the siblings.

After listening to her recount the entire course of events, Chao Zhaoyue frowned deeply.

“Feng Liuyun’s father is not only the head of the family, but also a late Nascent Soul expert. The Feng family has been operating for generations, controlling three cities as their holdings. And their line has been passed down single-handedly for generations—only Feng Liuyun survived as their sole heir.”

“Chao Taichu has always wanted a marriage alliance with the Feng family. The Feng family has money and immense power. Although we Kunlun have many disciples, we have been declining day by day and lack strong allies.”

“If Chao Taichu is unwilling to offend the Feng family, he most likely won’t protect you. Leave tomorrow. Hide outside until things settle down. I’ll find a way to bring you back.”

At present, the cultivation world and the demon realm were maintaining a fragile balance.

For more than twenty years, although minor frictions had been constant, there had been no major conflicts. Yet this balance was precarious—once broken, it would lead to a fierce war.

Under the surface, currents surged within the cultivation world. Every faction was seeking allies, attempting to secure a greater voice when war finally broke out.

This was also why Kunlun had always tried to maintain good relations with the Su family.

That Chao Jinsui could see this clearly was not strange—but what she never expected was that Chao Zhaoyue, who devoted himself wholeheartedly to sword cultivation, had also seen through it.

They sat facing each other for a long time, the atmosphere extremely heavy.

Chao Jinsui: “Chao Zhaoyue, that character is read Su, not Feng.”

Chao Zhaoyue: “……”

✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦

Back in her room, the system finally could not help but say:

“Host, why do I feel like… he doesn’t want to leave?”

She watched the flickering candlelight.

“Your feeling isn’t wrong. He doesn’t want to go.”

“He doesn’t want me to become enemies with all of Kunlun and then add the Su family on top of that. He’s afraid I’ll be hunted down by both sides and die outside.”

“So he wants to stay behind and bear the anger of both parties himself. That way, I can hide outside with peace of mind.”

The system felt that the host seemed to be sulking inwardly and did not dare to speak again.

Chao Jinsui opened the window to get some air, and saw Chao Zhaoyue perched on a tree branch.

His arm was pillowed behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, gazing at the moon, his eyes deep, no one knew what he was thinking.

She raised her hand, and a spirit fruit shot straight toward his forehead with a snap.

An “Ow!” came from below, and she slammed the window shut with a bang.

But she could no longer fall asleep.

Suddenly, she understood some things:

If she had not lived through that miserable life, she would not have wanted to leave this place either.

After all, she was born in Kunlun. Her friends, teachers, and family—almost all of them were in this towering sword sect.

She was like this, and Chao Zhaoyue was the same.

She did not doubt in the slightest that if she wanted to leave, Chao Zhaoyue would carve a bloody path for her, even stay behind to cover her retreat—but would he be willing to leave this place with her?

He had not yet experienced betrayal. How could he draw his sword against them?

In his heart, he had never placed himself in opposition to Kunlun.

He would only believe that as long as he stayed, there was still room to turn things around. He still retained trust in his kin and in the sect.

Just like her in her previous life.

She could not help but clench her fingers tightly, squeezing her little eyes until they hurt.

The small snake poked out its head and bit her hard.

She loosened her grip and lowered her gaze.

After quite a while, she heard a familiar voice.

The young man’s voice carried a hint of mockery. “I always thought you lived quite gloriously in Kunlun.”

Admired by the masses, radiant beyond compare.

Who would have known that beneath the splendor lay wounds everywhere.

“It is glorious. One person below, a thousand above.”

She lowered her head to look at the snake, but strangely, the little snake was not possessed by its master.

The one speaking was a mass of black qi that emerged from behind her, slowly condensing into the phantom of that handsome demon lord.

His long hair reached his waist, and the broken demon horn, shrouded in black qi, appeared even more eerie and sinister. He lowered his head and asked, “Then you—are you happy?”

She froze, because no one had ever asked her that question before.

After a long while, the cool, aloof girl with her hair falling loose adjusted the wick of the lamp, her profile calm. “What does it matter if I am happy, or not?”

The black phantom suspended in midair stared at her for a long time, his tone extremely strange.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have let you leave the demon realm.”

She laughed.

“You know, no matter what, I had to come back here.”

What she meant was to settle the grudges of her previous life—but in the ears of this demon lord, it sounded extremely harsh.

He sneered. “Yes, one senior brother here, one junior brother there—how very proud of yourself.”

The demon lord moved closer to her, the black qi passing through her body, his voice cold and sinister.

“I really should have chained you up with iron chains and locked you in the underground palace.”

He paused suddenly.

“Oh, and that disciple you picked up from the human world.”

Following the demon lord’s gaze, she looked toward the half-covered bamboo curtain outside.

Fine rain fell steadily. Wuya stood in the rain, no one knew how long he had been waiting.

His figure was slender, yet he stood there quietly, as if, if she did not see him, he would remain there the entire night.

The black qi hovered beside her ear, its tone icy.

“Tell me, someone so devoted—if his heart were dug out and examined, would it grow differently from others?”

Her fingers trembled.

Because she knew this was something the demon lord would truly do—he was absolutely not just saying it.

His gaze was like a venomous snake in the darkness, hissing and flicking its tongue.

She had no choice but to speak.

“Yan Xueyi, when I brought him back, he was only five years old.”

The handsome demon lord sneered, drawing out the final note of his voice, “Yes, he was only five back then—but now he’s grown, hasn’t he? Isn’t that right, Little Master Sui?”

Chao Jinsui: ……

Facing this disciple Wuya, her feelings were complicated.

But since she did not want to remain in Kunlun, nor did she want any further ties with it, this bond of master and disciple should be severed.

When he chose to acquiesce, she no longer had the strength to explain.

Especially when she knew that in that dream, he had chosen to stand against her.

Preserving his life now could be considered repayment for all those years he had called her Master.

She glanced at Wuya outside, then called Granny Yu over.

“He has always thought I teach him too slowly, always restraining him and not letting him make a name for himself. From today on, he doesn’t need to come to Mingyue Mountain anymore. For his future lessons and sword practice, he can go to the Grand Elder. He will arrange everything.”

She paused.

“Oh, and tell him—I never formally accepted him as a disciple to begin with. From now on, he shouldn’t call me Master anymore.”

✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦

Closing the door, watching through the window as Granny Yu walked toward Wuya, she asked, “Like this… are you still angry?”

The handsome demon lord’s phantom drifted out from behind her, a smile at the corner of his lips. Following her gaze toward the pale-faced youth, his voice was filled with malice. “Little Master Sui, how cruel-hearted you are. Look how heartbroken he is, won’t you go comfort him?”

She sighed. “No. I still have one I haven’t finished comforting.”

The demon lord was so enraged he laughed instead. He was about to ask who else she still needed to comfort when he suddenly realized—

There was no one else here.

The flames of his anger were instantly extinguished.

He wanted to smile, but a lingering sense of being toyed with remained, and the smile at the corner of his lips faded again.

His expression flickered uncertainly for a long time. He let out a cold snort, as if sparing that whatever-his-name Wuya.

But the demon lord’s attention returned to her.

She suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, in the next moment, the black qi circled her twice, then suddenly split apart.

It transformed into several phantom figures, each one becoming a long-haired, handsome demon lord.

Each of him lowered his head and murmured to her, voices bewitching, echoing faintly—

“Look, you treated Wuya so well, and he still thinks you were wrong, doesn’t he?”

“They treated you like this… don’t you want to… kill them all?”

“Heartless ingrates—dig out their hearts and livers.”

“Leave only the obedient ones. Kill the rest—wouldn’t that be better?”

In an instant, demonic qi filled the entire room.

The long-haired girl’s figure swayed, and she suddenly snapped back to her senses.

“Yan Xueyi, what exactly did you do to me?”

She suddenly remembered the bite mark that still had not faded.

One of the demon lords revealed a malicious smile and leaned close to her.

“Remember that bite mark? I infused a trace of demonic qi into it.”

—With his fangs.

Clearly, sleeping with the Lord of the Demon Realm and still wanting to retreat unscathed was nothing but a dream.

He actually wanted to lure her into demonic cultivation!

One demon lord smiled. “Once your emotions fall low and your mind becomes unstable, I will appear.”

Another whispered by her ear, “Why not enter the demonic path?”

Another lightly sniffed her long hair. “Glory and power will be yours for the taking, as long as—”

Forced back a step, she collided with a mass of black qi. The black qi behind her condensed into a tall, handsome demon lord.

“Abandon that tiny bit of hypocrisy.”

The small inner chamber was sealed by a barrier, demonic qi surging to the heavens within.

The system panicked, but did not dare to speak to the host at this moment. If the host truly entered the demonic path—good heavens, with their powers combined, who could restrain this madman anymore!

In desperation, the system could only stab the host.

Pain exploded through her sea of consciousness. She clenched her teeth, and her eyes suddenly cleared.

“No. I will not enter the demonic path.”

The bewitching expressions vanished from the faces of the demon lords all at once, replaced by ferocious, icy smiles.

“Is that so?”

Dangerous demonic qi surged wildly, nearly swallowing her whole.

They all gazed at her darkly, their towering figures looming over her, their shadowed eyes like predators about to devour their prey.

“Why refuse me?”

It was like a question that could cost her life.

She suddenly stepped forward, approaching the demon lord in the center.

“Because once you enter the demonic path—”

A hint of a smile rose in her apricot eyes.

“Your heart becomes narrow.”

“Yan Xueyi.”

“How did you know he was someone I picked up from the human world?”

The long-haired girl moved closer to the handsome demon lord and softly asked beside his ear, “Were you secretly following me?”