Horse manes flying, Tang Lici urged his mount into a frantic gallop, his robes fluttering in the wind.

Jiang Garden on Niutou Mountain was a thousand li away from Piaoleng Mei Manor on Qihun Mountain—with just one person and one horse, even ten days wouldn’t be enough to arrive.

But Tang Lici was faster than the swiftest horse.

Setting out from Qihun Mountain, he first rode horse after horse, changing mounts when possible. When no more horses were available, he traveled on foot at high speed.

Even the fastest horse, running without rest, would take five days to reach Jiang Garden, but Tang Lici took only two.

Besides riding horses, he would also leap from cliffs.

This journey had many high peaks and precipices. He neither dodged nor avoided, climbing straight up to the heights before leaping down. The crimson silk ribbon at his waist unfurled in the wind, blood-red and brilliant as sunset clouds, seeming to stretch endlessly toward heaven.

During those two days, many mountain folk saw a red speck disappear into deep ravines among the pale mountains and white clouds. It seemed like a mountain spirit apparition or ghostly manifestation, giving rise to many tales of mountain demons.

When he arrived at Jiang Garden, the fierce fires had already been extinguished, though the ground was covered with smoldering embers still sending up wisps of black smoke. The courtyard walls had collapsed, charred corpses lay everywhere. Tang Lici walked slowly forward to see two dead men in the center of the courtyard—one lying, one sitting.

The blood on Mo Ziru’s body had long since turned brown, his body covered with sword wounds, palm strikes, and poison injuries—Tang Lici couldn’t even determine what had killed him, as any one of these seemed capable of taking his life.

He had fallen forward with his sword piercing through Shui Duopo’s heart.

Compared to Mo Ziru, Shui Duopo sitting upright nearby had hardly any injuries except for that wound to the heart. His long hair fell over his shoulders, eyes closed as he sat propped against his sword, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth that had been wiped quite clean. With Shui Duopo’s martial arts and medical skills, even a sword through the heart shouldn’t have killed him so easily.

But somehow, Shui Duopo was indeed dead, and from his expression, he seemed to have died quite peacefully.

Tang Lici stood in stunned silence before these two men.

Besides these two corpses.

And countless enemy corpses.

No one else remained here.

Liu Yan, Yu Tuan’er, those three hundred disciples… and Puzhu, whom he had entrusted to Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo—all had vanished without a trace.

Tang Lici looked at Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo, his gaze deeply confused, as if there were countless things he couldn’t understand, or perhaps he understood something but couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Black smoke drifted past, staining his magnificent red robes… he was wearing red today.

Red robes like blood.

Stained with dust from all directions.

After what might have been a long time, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood before Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo.

“Ha!” A distant, ethereal cold laugh rang out. “So Young Master Tang can also have days when rage attacks his heart—truly strange and unusual… I’m afraid Mo Chunfeng and Shui Qiqi never dreamed that besides killing people and destroying hearts, Young Master Tang actually has a few traces of genuine feeling.”

Tang Lici wiped the blood from his lips and turned around. His face appeared flushed with healthy color, as if the blood he’d just spat had nothing to do with him. Seeing Tang Lici smile faintly, “Sir has been waiting here for Tang for quite some time.”

A corpse of “Gui Mudan” lay on the ground, but from the smoldering flames, another Gui Mudan in black embroidered robes slowly emerged.

The mask on this person’s face was stained with considerable ash—he had indeed been waiting here for a long time, though he himself couldn’t see this.

“I didn’t believe it at first—that someone as intelligent as Young Master Tang would actually let Liu Yan teach the antidote and method for Nine Heart Pills to so many insignificant half-grown boys,” Gui Mudan said eerily. “Liu Yan and three hundred disciples were quite conspicuous. I guessed that if Young Master Tang wasn’t employing misdirection, then he was luring the enemy into a trap. But seeing your rage attack your heart today, that antidote and method… could they actually be real?” He threw back his head and laughed loudly. “Hahaha, you actually believed that Mo Chunfeng and Shui Qiqi could protect Liu Yan and those three hundred children? ‘Long Clothes All Shredded’ Mo Chunfeng, ‘Sword Emperor’ Shui Qiqi—if this were twenty years ago, if Shui Qiqi hadn’t been poisoned, wherever these two were would indeed be impregnable, but now?” Gui Mudan looked mockingly at Tang Lici. “They’re dead.”

Tang Lici’s face was flushed red. Hearing Gui Mudan’s words, he sighed deeply and murmured, “Tang has indeed… made his first error in judgment in this lifetime…” He raised his eyes to look at Gui Mudan. “If I had known Senior Shui was severely poisoned, I would never have made such arrangements. But even though they both died in battle—they still kept their promise and protected Liu Yan and the antidote for Nine Heart Pills.” He said slowly, “Three hundred youths who can cure Nine Heart Pill poison, dispersing into the jianghu… surely some will escape and survive, able to cure this poison—from now on, the jianghu will no longer suffer from Fengliu Shop’s toxic plague. The two seniors died, but not in vain.”

“Compared to ‘the jianghu no longer suffering from Fengliu Shop’s toxic plague,’ making Young Master Tang miscalculate and fail is what makes their deaths worthwhile,” Gui Mudan sneered. “Rest assured, I won’t let a single one escape—not Liu Yan nor those three hundred children.”

Tang Lici extended his hand. Gui Mudan stepped back, thinking he was about to attack, but saw Tang Lici reach out to support the sword that Shui Duopo had been leaning on, swaying slightly. Gui Mudan was startled—if anyone else showed such weakness, he would certainly kill them immediately, but seeing Tang Lici unsteadily supporting himself on a sword, he took another step back after his first retreat.

Seeing him retreat two steps, Tang Lici smiled faintly. “More than Liu Yan, I want to know where Xue Xianzi and the Imperial Plum Blade have gone?” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You didn’t come from Haoyun Mountain—the one from Haoyun Mountain lies dead on the ground. Like me, you traveled a thousand li and arrived a step too late, missing the finale here.” His eyes lifted slightly at the corners. “The deaths of both seniors were not only beyond my expectations, but beyond yours as well… Would Ghost Lord be willing to explain in detail how you originally planned and arranged for ‘Long Clothes All Shredded Mo Chunfeng’ and Senior ‘Sword Emperor’? Was it to have the ‘Call Lamp Command’ strike, or…” He lifted Shui Duopo’s sword and said softly, “was it to have the ‘Rebirth Manual’ strike?”

Gui Mudan wore a mask, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but in that instant, his entire aura underwent a subtle change. Tang Lici slowly raised his sword—his hand seemed unsteady, the blade trembling uncertainly, sword light wavering and flickering. “Nine Heart Pills, the Cowhide Wing People, Kuanglan Wuxing’s ‘Demons Spitting Pearl Qi,’ Yu Konghou and Fu Cui’s ‘Long Hatred That This Body Is Not My Own’… the soul-capturing bowstring technique… you—or rather ‘you all’—obtained the ‘Rebirth Manual’ from Liu Yan. That is an evil book.” Tang Lici said slowly, “The ‘Gaye Bodhi Blue Sanskrit Rebirth Manual’ records strange and sinister arts, killing and arson with every evil deed. Practice too much and you’ll go mad… but it’s truly too tempting, for it can make people omnipotent…” He said softly, “Once a person becomes omnipotent, does it matter whether they’re mad or not?”

“Young Master Tang knows quite a lot about the ‘Rebirth Manual,’ but the only pity is that you’ve only seen one volume, while I’ve seen three volumes,” Gui Mudan laughed loudly. “Bai Nanzhu defied universal condemnation to take one volume from Ye Xianchou’s study, but he didn’t know that accursed place contained two more volumes. Bai Nanzhu’s volume was merely the foundation.”

Tang Lici held his sword, the blade still trembling ceaselessly. After a light cough, he asked quietly, “I know of the first volume you obtained from Liu Yan, but where did the other two come from?”

Gui Mudan’s eyes flashed with extremely heavy malice. His mention of the other two volumes of the ‘Rebirth Manual’ was deliberately meant for Tang Lici to hear. He laughed quite joyfully, “The other two volumes—as miscellaneous books, found their way into Xingyang Bookshop.”

Tang Lici trembled slightly. “Xingyang Bookshop?”

Gui Mudan sneered, “Correct, Xingyang Bookshop. Your ‘old friend’ Lord Liu, as well as Ice Lynx Marquis Hao Wenhou, both first met A’Shui at Xingyang Bookshop.” After saying this, Gui Mudan carefully observed Tang Lici’s expression—this person was cunning and intelligent, ruthless and cruel, with unknown cards up his sleeve. Even though their side had already captured Xue Xianzi and the Imperial Plum Blade, forced Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo to their deaths, and even seized A’Shui, Tang Lici seemed both calm and mad, both cold and passionate. His reactions to anything were unpredictable—this was his most difficult enemy to handle in this lifetime.

Tang Lici closed his eyes slightly, instantly understanding the entanglements—Liu Yan and Hao Wenhou fighting over the ‘Rebirth Manual,’ with A’Shui merely an accessory in their struggle. Gui Mudan deliberately telling him of A’Shui’s involvement in this matter naturally wasn’t about those two books of unknown authenticity, but to tell him that A’Shui was deeply connected to this affair—she had been involved earlier than Tang Lici imagined, with closer ties to the ‘Rebirth Manual.’

What was he hinting at?

Tang Lici suddenly raised his eyes, staring at Gui Mudan with a killing intent sharp as a blade, scattering in all directions with fierce, forest-like sharpness. “What do you want to say?” His eyes were filled with killing intent, but his tone was low and gentle, like a drop of poison wine not yet fallen.

Gui Mudan laughed loudly, “What I want to say—doesn’t Young Master Tang know? When A’Shui was at Xingyang Bookshop back then, who knows whether that girl ever read those other two volumes of the ‘Rebirth Manual’—this girl is resilient, intelligent, and capable, not some village fool. Tell me, besides you—who else in this world would think she could escape unscathed and indulge her return to her hometown? Hao Wenhou wanted to capture her, Liu Yan wanted to seize her—besides her beauty, could they really have had no other motives? I’ve never believed in love at first sight. If not lust at first sight, then there must be ulterior motives. Isn’t Young Master Tang the same?”

“I indeed have ulterior motives,” Tang Lici said indifferently. “Ghost Lord’s meaning—is that even as a ghost, you couldn’t possibly let her go, and if you did, that would be playing hard to get?”

“Correct,” Gui Mudan said. “However, in this game of advance and retreat, I accidentally discovered a small secret—back then, she entrusted the child she bore with Hao Wenhou to you.” He looked with a half-smile at the sword Tang Lici held, which was still trembling, light scattering like a dragon or snake. “Whether that child is dead or alive, what concern is it of yours? You’re not truly deeply infatuated with A’Shui—why are you raising her son?”

Tang Lici sighed deeply, “Perhaps Tang is compassionate and cannot bear to see young children die early. Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.”

Gui Mudan said eerily, “What’s so special about Hao Wenhou’s biological son that this lord is very curious. He’s already been killed by Liu Yan, but I captured a physician from the Hao family back then. That old fool actually said that Madam Hao had already given A’Shui abortion medicine, and with such fierce medicine, even if the child could be born, he wouldn’t live long—but not only did he live, he’s actually lived until now.” He tilted his head. “This is what’s strange. If that little child should have been dead, then what is it that you’ve been holding all this time?”

“Tang is… omnipotent,” Tang Lici said slowly.

He did not smile.

Gui Mudan scoffed, “Who do you think you are?”

Tang Lici’s sword suddenly steadied as he raised it with a “swish,” pointing directly at Gui Mudan’s nose. “I’ll kill you first, and then there will be one fewer person who knows ‘the little child should have been dead.'” He said softly, “Before you die, you must tell me how many others know… I’ll kill them one by one, and when I’m finished, no one will know anymore.” He actually didn’t deny that “the little child should have been dead.”

Gui Mudan’s sleeves fluttered, and from the thick smoke around Jiang Garden, many figures silently emerged—this was originally a trap to lure the enemy in. Only Tang Lici had arrived too quickly, and Gui Mudan’s ambush wasn’t yet ready when this man had already burst in. Gui Mudan had deliberately said so much earlier precisely to buy time.

When Tang Lici wasn’t smiling, he appeared even more gentle in features than when he smiled, but within that gentleness seeped a cold aura of death.

“Killing more people won’t help—it’s too late,” someone said from nearby. “Before coming to kill you, I already informed Miss A’Shui that Fengfeng is not her biological son. Her real son died on the very night she entrusted him to you.”

Tang Lici slowly raised his eyes to look at the speaker—this person was weak as an ant yet utterly detestable. It was Cao Wufang.

Cao Wufang smiled quite happily, “I don’t know what you’re plotting in your entanglement with a servant girl. You pretend to be omnipotent in front of her, insisting on saving her son who couldn’t possibly be saved. When that child died, you held a fake one to deceive her… forcing her to be grateful to you, to respect, love, and trust you for life? Expending so much effort on one girl—if you say there’s truly nothing to be gained from her, who in this world would believe it?”

Tang Lici said nothing. He stared at Cao Wufang, but what he saw seemed to be a phantom from not long ago—someone slightly frowning, sighing gently, saying quietly, “If so… A’Shui thanks Young Master Tang for saving my life. I will repay this debt of gratitude with my life, through fire and flood, at any cost… Is that enough?”

She asked: Is that enough?

And he had no words to say.

Yes, all his affected feelings, all his calculations, were merely displays of his dominion over all living beings—grace and authority, fortune and favor, joy and sorrow all needed to be bestowed by him. Everyone in this world—everyone—should be grateful to him, willing to repay debts of gratitude with their lives, through fire and flood, at any cost…

It should have been this way.

But it also wasn’t.

It wasn’t.

Gui Mudan asked, “Why are you raising her son?”

Cao Wufang said, “I don’t know what you’re plotting in your entanglement with a servant girl… Expending so much effort on one girl—if you say there’s truly nothing to be gained from her, who in this world would believe it?”

Tang Lici thrust his sword at Gui Mudan—these questions he wouldn’t answer, because he couldn’t answer them.

To enjoy the benefits of gods and demons, to do the deeds of gods and demons, one must bear the sins of gods and demons.

No one had told him, nor had he ever thought before, that if one day he couldn’t bear it…

What then?