Chapter 40

Countless chaotic noises suddenly erupted within the Mizi Secret Realm.

Several people were locked in a scuffle. One was knocked out of the battlefield, severely injured. Just as he was about to take out his token to escape the realm, he found the token completely unresponsive, and he was not teleported out.

"—The tokens have failed!"

Like a stone cast into a pond, the news stirred up waves of panic. The ground of the Mizi Secret Realm shook violently, and countless mechanical traps and arrays were triggered. Most people found themselves trapped in tiny, confined spaces.

Guan Qianyi naturally didn't have that much power on his own, but he had happened to deploy a barrier that cut off the flow of spiritual energy between the Mizi Secret Realm and the outside world. The Mizi Secret Realm was not a naturally formed realm but was partially man-made; deprived of external supply, the heavens and earth shook, and the mechanisms and arrays spiraled out of control.

The chaotic background elements from the original story that Zora had read about finally descended into absolute turmoil.

Vane finished dividing the magical tools and pills, handing the storage bag to Zora. The useless items were put into his own storage bag after he consulted her.

Guan Qianyi's corpse was in a wretched state, practically left to rot in the wild, but his legacy was handled quite thoroughly.

Around them, birds chirped in terror, flying aimlessly like headless flies; some even crashed into tree stumps and slid down with a final squawk.

Turi Qi looked into the distance, worried. "What on earth has happened?"

She only knew that Guan Qianyi wanted to kill her and that he had caused a change in the Mizi Secret Realm, but she didn't know the specific method he had used before his death to cause such a massive impact.

Vane knew more. A second before he tore his teleportation talisman, the herds of monsters had suddenly let out roars of distress and began charging about blindly; the situation was clearly dire.

Furthermore, Guan Qianyi's long-winded, rambling speech hadn't gone unheard. At the very least, while Vane appeared indifferent on the surface, his mind had been spinning, managing to find a few clues amidst the messy, repetitive insults directed at Lord Wanghua.

Sifting through the details, he automatically translated and summarized the situation.

Vane: "The Mizi Secret Realm has likely been sealed off. Now that the realm is in chaos, we should hide first and wait for Lord Wanghua to resolve the seal."

Turi Qi was shocked. "To think it’s like this!"

Then she wondered: "Does Guan Qianyi have such great capability?"

Zora, who already knew half the truth from the original plot, nodded expressionlessly. "Let's go."

Halfway through their journey, they suddenly saw a woman sprinting toward them. As she drew closer, they recognized who she was.

Yiling Ke's face was a mask of panic as she followed the crowd's frantic flight. Seeing Zora and the others was like seeing her own mother; she almost cried with joy as she rushed over. "Zora! Senior Sister Turi, Vane, thank goodness! Run with me, quick!"

It seemed everyone was fleeing from a single point, spreading out from the center like ripples.

Zora didn't move. Vane glanced at her, naturally crossed his arms and retracted his spear, standing still with a calm expression.

Zora asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Yiling Ke stopped, gasping for breath. "I don't know! But everyone is running, so there must be danger behind us!"

Regardless, even if she asked for a reason, a formation master like her couldn't verify its truth. Better to just run along—the more cautious, the better.

Zora: "?"

Turi Qi stopped someone to ask: "Fellow Daoist, did something happen up ahead?"

The disciple was silent for a moment, then gave a "hehe" and scratched his head. "I don't know, but the Mizi Secret Realm is a mess. Running makes me feel safer. It won't be too late to hide once I find a secluded spot."

Turi Qi: "?"

She asked several people in a row, and only the last, most panicked person gave a reason.

"...Up ahead, there's a sword cultivator... he's gone mad! He’s swinging his sword at everything, his eyes are red. Thankfully he hasn't hurt anyone yet; he's just destroying trees. We wanted to stop him and prevent the demonic energy from seizing his spiritual platform, but his aura is too strong, too cold, too dangerous. I didn't dare get close, but he's wearing a December Sect emblem on his belt..." The disciple gestured wildly, describing the sword cultivator's appearance.

Zora grew even more confused. "Senior Brother Song? He's gone mad?"

Can you stay mad and still continue to cultivate and live?

Zora thought about it.

Probably.

So she relaxed a bit.

In Zora's view, aside from death, things like turning stupid or going mad were secondary concerns.

Turi Qi thought deeper. She feared Song Zhihuai had been affected by some drug and would go mad until he died. Regardless, they hurried toward the place everyone was fleeing from, moving against the flow of countless passing shadows.

Song Zhihuai had been struck by an invasion of demonic energy, which disrupted his mind and triggered his most susceptible memories of falling into the demonic path.

The Si family had once been a flourishing clan of imperial relatives. In the end, the family head, who lacked spiritual roots, became obsessed with cultivation and sought out crooked paths by any means necessary.

His father, Si Shaoyu, was treated as a mere "medicinal primer" because he possessed spiritual roots. At the time, Si Shaoyu hadn't realized it, thinking it was just a result of strict family discipline.

One day while he was away, the family head believed a lie and tried to force Si Shaoyu to mate with a woman from another family. He was blocked by Song Zhihuai's mother, so he killed her.

He killed her right in front of Song Zhihuai.

The young boy was pinned to the scorching ground, unable to break free. When the blood sprayed, the woman didn't soothe him like the "mothers" in storybooks; she didn't offer a dying smile of comfort as people expected.

She was terrified.

She was so terrified that she cursed, then begged for mercy, saying she hadn't finished reading her botanical manual or asked the Floating Cloud Valley cultivators to resolve her doubts. She only begged them to let her finish those two things, and then she would go to her death generously. As for anything else, knowing Song Zhihuai wouldn't be killed was enough for her.

She didn't entrust her dying thoughts to her son; she kept them for herself. She was so vivid, like a ball of fire, burning for her own sake.

He didn't think she was wrong, nor did he feel she didn't love him, because in every second before that moment, the love she gave him was not lacking in the slightest.

—His mother was dead.

He wept bitterly.

—An innocent person with unfulfilled ambitions had died a tragic death.

She was first and foremost a mortal who loved herbs, and only then was she Si Shaoyu's wife and his mother. Yet now, they had obliterated the more important former identity because of the latter.

In that grief of losing his mother, Song Zhihuai experienced a surge of extremely unfamiliar sorrow and deep helplessness, instantly giving birth to an inner demon. The weight pressing on his shoulders lightened, yet he no longer had the strength to stand.

He sat dazed for who knows how long, until screams erupted and another slaughter began. Si Shaoyu returned home to find the woman dead. Overcome by grief, he rebelled for the first time, slaughtering the entire clan. That day was bright and sunny; the golden glow on his body brought a burning sensation, and blood stained the bricks beneath the boy's knees.

Finally, he took his mother's surname.

The so-called Path of Heartlessness is when a cultivator, after a profound realization, prays for the Heavenly Dao to take away all intense love and hate so they won't be tormented by them. The cultivator then forms their own "Dao" and lives by it for the rest of their life. There is always a type of person who cannot escape past nightmares; this is the condition for entering the Path of Heartlessness. Therefore, those without intense love and hate cannot cultivate it. Those who are truly heartless, or who kill their wives or kin for no reason just to "prove their Dao," can never succeed.

On that day, Si Shaoyu entered the Path of Heartlessness, withdrawing all sorrow and joy. But the timing of his killings was so coincidental that the world believed he had killed his parents to prove his Dao. The truth was the opposite: his compassionate guilt was about to consume him, and his love and hate were so intense that he successfully entered the Path.

Song Zhihuai would also enter the Path of Heartlessness, for only then would he be free from the torment of his inner demons.

—Therefore, before he lost the ability to feel emotion, he desperately wanted to have one instance of truly pure friendship.

Like the naive child who first climbed the immortal gates long ago, he looked at comrades and fellow disciples fighting side by side with envy. Those family memories were tangled with love and hate, so he hoped friendship could be a pure love.

In a short while, Song Zhihuai broke free from the nightmare and snapped awake. He immediately sat down to recite the Heart-Cleansing Incantation, skillfully driving away the fledgling inner demon.

By the time Zora and the others arrived, Song Zhihuai was already conscious. Seeing them, he was stunned for a moment. Then he faced them, and though his face was still cold, it seemed to have softened considerably.

Yiling Ke said hurriedly: "Senior Brother Song! Did you get drugged?!"

Song Zhihuai shook his head and replied seriously: "No."

Zora walked closer and patted his shoulder. He looked down at her. The girl stared at him with rounded eyes and asked seriously: "Are you mad?"

Yiling Ke's lip twitched. "..."

What kind of question is that?

But Song Zhihuai answered her very seriously: "No, I caught myself in time."

Zora frowned in confusion.

That disciple said Senior Brother Song was mad, so Senior Brother Song has recovered now? He successfully resisted it?

Zora thought for a bit. It seemed Zhou Shijin had said she should offer comfort at times like this. So she spoke: "It's okay. If you're mad, you can cultivate. If you're not mad, you can still cultivate."

Song Zhihuai couldn't understand her, but he tried to. The attempt ended in failure. Regardless, Junior Sister Zora meant well. At this thought, Song Zhihuai grew even more serious and said: "Thank you."

Yiling Ke: "........."

Turi Qi offered a smile.

In the entire group, only Vane grasped Zora's meaning. The youth glanced at her and said to Song Zhihuai with a smile: "Zora was afraid you wouldn't be able to cultivate and would die early. If you can cultivate even while mad, then you don't need to be afraid, Senior Brother Song. In the end, it's the same path."

Song Zhihuai was deeply moved. "I understand. Thank you, Junior Brother Vane and Junior Sister Zora."

Yiling Ke: "..."

She was gradually losing the ability to keep up with her teammates' logic.

Turi Qi was smiling the whole time. Since they needed to wait for the barrier to break, they built a fire on the spot and sat around it. Song Zhihuai looked at the circle the five of them formed, finding the warmth of the fire very comfortable.

Turi Qi was still worried about hidden dangers and questioned Song Zhihuai. As a result, he blurted out the matter of the inner demon and even shared the reason for its birth.

"Because my mother was killed in front of me, I developed an inner demon. It just flared up a moment ago."

"..." Yiling Ke's excited smile as she added wood to the fire froze. Realizing something was off, she quickly adjusted her expression.

...I-is this something you can just say?

Zora nodded, feeling nothing about it. She merely said expressionlessly: "Are there any enemies left?"

Song Zhihuai was deeply moved once more. "No more. They were all killed by my Master."

Turi Qi didn't feel pity, only that he might be in a bad mood. She said: "It's okay, Senior Brother Song. I also lost my mother at a young age and was constantly sick. Although my family doted on me, they couldn't afford the burden. Finally, they gave me a chance, letting my nanny carry me up the Cloud Stairway. Only then did I enter the immortal gate and fix my health. Unfortunately, my nanny died halfway up the stairway..."

Zora blinked. She looked at Song Zhihuai, then at Turi Qi, and suddenly said: "My father swung a blade at me, so I killed him. My mother died of a severe illness."

Vane looked at her sideways.

Turi Qi was stunned.

Yiling Ke: "........."

Zora, you definitely treat this like a relay race for tragic family stories!

After staring at her in silence for a moment, Vane shifted his gaze and said calmly: "Because my parents tried to kill me, I killed them."

Yiling Ke: "..."

She knew it. Vane would absolutely follow her lead. Even if Zora hadn't asked, this smart boy would figure it out and do it voluntarily. His servant qualities were top-tier.

Song Zhihuai listened intently the whole time, nodding slightly now and then. Everyone looked normal, showing no pity or sympathy, as if they were just listening to ordinary matters.

Yiling Ke: "Uh..."

I had a falling out with my family because I was too stupid—how can I say that out loud!

The other four didn't look at her, each doing their own thing. Zora was already digging osmanthus cakes out of Vane's storage bag. Seeing the topic was about to pass...

No, I want to say it too! I can't hold it in!

Yiling Ke steeled herself and closed her eyes. "Because I was too stupid and couldn't compare to the people in my family, I developed dark thoughts about them, so I felt guilty and had a falling out!"

After a moment, she opened her eyes and let out a huge sigh of relief.

Great. Their reaction is the same as when they heard about killing relatives.

The five of them treated everything with the same ease, maintaining a relaxed attitude without any pressure. It was a wonderful atmosphere. Yiling Ke happily went back to adding wood to the fire.

In the dead of night, the five slept around the fire. The flames flickered. In a state of half-sleep, Zora felt that resting on a stone was too stiff, so she moved her body.

Vane was lying on a hard rock, his arms raised behind his head, looking at the stars through the leaves. Hearing movement nearby, he glanced over.

Zora moved closer and rested her head on his abdomen, curling up to sleep. The youth’s waist was narrow and resilient; his abdomen naturally had well-defined muscle, but it wasn't too hard when relaxed—it was just right.

Zora's right ear pressed against his abdomen. Her breathing was shallow, and her lashes cast a fluttering shadow. The warm firelight enveloped her.

Vane remained motionless, looking down at the crown of her head and her curled-up form. He was silent for a moment. "..."

The spiritual power of a cultivator circulated through every part of the body. The youth's body was exceptionally quiet, and even the sound of his heartbeat was suppressed. After watching her for a long time, Vane restrained himself and shifted his gaze back to the starry sky, closing his eyes.

His abdomen rose and fell even more subtly with his breath, and the sound of his breathing in her ear became even softer. Zora fell into a deeper sleep.