"Scum..."
"You scumbag! Don't think you can escape the consequences of your actions!"
"Evil."
"Despicable."
"Do you really believe everything will go your way? Hah..."
The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood. The moon hung low in the sky, its pale light illuminating the gruesome scene before them. Bodies lay strewn across the battlefield, their lifeless forms casting long shadows under the pale moon. The once-vibrant landscape had become a graveyard, littered with the remnants of a fierce battle. It was a stark reminder of the chaos that Lao Xie had wrought.
...
"Why aren't you answering? Did you think the heavens would forgive you after everything that has happened?" Wang Xiuying's voice trembled, caught between anger and sorrow.
...
"Wang Xiuying. A name as beautiful as the shimmering gems that adorn a royal crown. What hardships have you ever known?"
"As your name suggests, you lived a life of light, untouched by the shadows that engulf this world. A life many could only envy, talent that could shake the heavens, skills far beyond your peers. Truly a rare gem, a genius of the cultivation realm."
"What a pity. To have been brainwashed by those old fools."
"STOP! Don't you dare finish that sentence! Look around you, Lao Xie! Corpses everywhere! Are you truly satisfied with this bloodbath? Why did you do this? Why..."
"Why have you fallen to the demonic path, Lao Xie...?"
"I trusted you—"
A soft, mocking laugh escaped Lao Xie, echoing eerily in the silence that followed. "Pffft~... Satisfied? I don't feel such trivial things." It turned into a sudden burst of laughter that seemed to mock the very gravity of the situation. "Ahaha..."
"Pardon me, I couldn't help but laugh." He wore an unsettling smile, his eyes glinting with a cold, predatory light.
Taking a deep, calming breath, he leaned back against the large, jagged rock behind him, the sharp edges digging into his back as if to ground him in this twisted reality. "Wang Xiuying, I have never fallen toward the demonic path."
His words hung heavy in the air. His gaze bore into her.
Wang Xiuying's striking blue eyes sparkled like the surface of a still lake, but beneath them churned a storm of emotion. Her long, silky white hair flowed down her back like a waterfall, stark against the bloodstained earth.
"W-what?" she stammered, her heart pounding.
"W-what do you mean by that?" Panic crept into her voice as realization began to dawn.
In that surreal confrontation, they were locked in a deadly dance. Lao Xie reclined lazily on his perch, while Wang Xiuying knelt before him. Her light golden sword lay at her side, gleaming ominously under the moon, a reminder of the power she once wielded.
"What are you saying, Lao Xie? Answer me!" Her voice rose, desperation breaking through.
"Look around you! What kind of sane person would cause this bloodbath?" Her fury ignited, lighting her beautiful features with anguish.
Lao Xie met her gaze, calm and indifferent. "I have never fallen to the demonic path. To begin with, I have always walked it. Can't you see, Xiuying? Can't you see that I'm just using you?" His cold stare sent a chill down her spine.
"U-use me? W-what are you talking about, Lao Xie? Stop lying to me!" she shouted, her voice cracking under the weight of her despair, tears threatening to spill over.
The anguish etched on her face darkened, her expression shifting to one of sorrow and disbelief. "I-I know you're lying—"
"I'm not lying, Wang Xiuying." Lao Xie interrupted, with his cold voice. "You knew it all along."
He stared into her eyes, heavy with the weight of everything they had been through. "For thousands of years, I've walked beside you, all to gain your trust. Have you never wondered why your Senior Brother and Senior Sister always ended up in tragedy whenever we went on missions together?"
His expression didn't change. It was a mask of calm hiding a storm of ambition.
"Everything is part of my plan. All within my calculations."
He paused, then tilted his head toward the blood-red sky where dark clouds churned.
"Wang Ling."
The name fell like a stone.
Wang Xiuying's eyes widened. Her breath caught.
"H-how do you know that name?" she whispered.
"Your dear brother," Lao Xie replied, his voice devoid of sympathy.
Wang Xiuying turned away, her chest heaving. "Stop."
"The one you love the most."
"STOP!" Wang Xiuying shouted, her voice slicing through the night like a blade.
Lao Xie remained calm, unmoved by her tears.
Tears began to flow down Wang Xiuying's cheeks, relentless and heartbreaking. "Just kill me."
Lao Xie's expression remained unchanged, a mask of indifference. "Is this what you want?" he asked, his tone unnervingly calm.
"You've already taken so many lives. What's one more?" Her voice was hoarse and broken. "You've gotten everything you wanted, so just kill me."
Slowly lifting her gaze to meet his, she added, "Even now, I can't bring my heart to despise you. So please... just kill me. Let me escape this hell of suffering."
"Wang Xiuying. If only we had met sooner, perhaps it could have been different," Lao Xie said, his expression unchanged.
Confused by his words, Wang Xiuying's voice trembled. "What are you talking about? Stop speaking nonsense."
"Invincibility leads only to loneliness. I've slaughtered countless people, destroyed countless sects, all in pursuit of that goal. My resolve is unshakable. That is the only path I walk in this life," Lao Xie replied, his tone distant, as if weighed down by something far deeper.
Wang Xiuying, taken aback, shook her head. "Have you lost your mind? Does absorbing so many people's blood essence drive you mad?" she asked, bewildered.
Suddenly, a smile formed on Lao Xie's face. It wasn't sinister or unsettling, but a genuine, heartfelt smile. Wang Xiuying's eyes widened in shock.
"Did… did you just smile?" she asked, astonished. "I've seen you smile countless times before, but this one… it feels different."
Lao Xie's smile grew, and he took a deep breath. "It's been such a long time since I've felt this way. Perhaps it's possible… but it's a pity we met in this lifetime."
The more he spoke, the more confused Wang Xiuying became, her face a storm of emotions.
"My dear Ying'er, you've awakened something sweet in me. Memories and feelings I thought lost for billions of years." His eyes softened. "I never thought I'd feel this again. In a past life, I had everything one could desire, but in time, it all became unbearably dull."
"Being invincible… it's nothing to be proud of," he added, his voice trailing off.
Wang Xiuying stood speechless, unable to grasp the weight of his words.
"You've ignited a small flame within me, Ying'er. I've reigned supreme across countless lifetimes. Held many titles, each one different from the last. And yet, i still failed... even in this lifetime..."
!!
The world shattered with a sharp krack! ripping him out of the dream and back into reality.
The scene shifted abruptly.
"It's that dream again," he murmured, his voice a low, smooth whisper devoid of any real emotion.
The young man sat up slowly, his movements measured, as if the chaos of the dream hadn't affected him at all. His chest rose and fell steadily, no sign of panic, only a cold gleam in his eyes. Sweat slicked his skin, but he wiped it away with a detached flick of his hand, as though it were merely an inconvenience.
His gaze swept across the room and landed on the broken glass scattered on the floor. The shards shimmered in the moonlight, casting jagged reflections on the walls. A rock, palm-sized, sat among the wreckage.
An ordinary object in an unsettling scene.
But what caught his attention wasn't the broken window. Nor the silence that followed.
It was the timing.
He pressed a hand to his forehead. The dull ache was more of a tickle.
"These dreams... They're not just dreams, are they?"
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, not out of fear, but intrigue. The battlefield, Wang Xiuying's anguished cries, the twisted satisfaction that followed it felt too real. Not a warning, but a memory, something buried deep.
"I've been having this same dreams more often now," he continued, voice soft but laced with growing amusement. "And the name… Lao Xie…"
The very same name as his own.
He gazed at the broken shards of glass, his reflection distorted and shattered. "However, it always end just like that." he pondered, wearing an unreadable expression.