“Living like demons and monsters for more than ten years, I searched for clues about you and Yue Tianhong. I finally got news of you two—it was the absurd matter of Yue Tianhong wanting to take you as his goddaughter. I secretly monitored your every move and discovered you had actually hired an assassin. At that time, I already knew what you were going to do.” Su Qin’s bloody visage was shocking. “Assassins all work for money. You gave Xiao Chuan thirty thousand taels to help you complete the ghost ship murder scheme, while I gave him sixty thousand silver taels just to have him tell me your plan.”

“After learning your plan, I used the opportunity of meeting with Xiao Chuan to poison him. After I infiltrated the ghost ship, Xiao Chuan’s poison took effect and he died. I disposed of the body and then boarded Yue Tianhong’s sea vessel. Next, I waited for the murder scheme to unfold.”

“After Yue Tianhong, Shan Jie, and Ji Ming each stepped into the net tailored for them, the show began. Without Xiao Chuan, I became Xiao Chuan. Using the stormy night, I first killed Shan Jie, then killed the deranged Ji Ming, completely following your plan.” Su Qin spoke with cadence, as if narrating an absolutely brilliant performance.

“You and the black-clothed figure appeared simultaneously, truly appearing and disappearing like ghosts. How did you accomplish this?” Li Si asked.

“Heh, thanks to the trap mechanisms and hidden passages Jin Xue’er designed. I only needed to select a puppet double similar to Xiao Chuan and control its movements with ropes, deliberately let you see it, then activate the mechanism to make it disappear into the hidden passage. Such tricks of pretending to be ghosts and spirits were also meant to attract your attention.” Su Qin said.

“You deliberately exposed Xiao Chuan’s identity to make me suspect you.” Li Si continued. “The blue paper about finding someone with three moles on the left hand also came from your hand. You used incense to make me sleep deeply and sent the blue paper into the hold. You wanted me to see through Xiao Chuan, perceive that he was the killer who murdered Shan and Ji, then you would use Xiao Chuan’s identity to expose Jin Xue’er’s murder scheme, placing Jin Xue’er in an irredeemable situation. Have I said anything wrong, Miss Su Qin?”

“Not a word wrong.”

“I could both eliminate Yue Tianhong who harmed my mother, and place the sister I hate in a desperate situation—killing two birds with one stone. Isn’t it absolutely wonderful!” Su Qin smiled.

“Sister, I never imagined you would hate me so much… I didn’t want this. If possible, I would rather Mother had chosen you to live that year, not me.” Jin Xue’er’s tears blurred her vision.

Yue Tianhong, who had been silent for so long, knocked his head against the wooden planks, first toward Jin Xue’er, then toward Su Qin. “It’s my fault! Let your sisters’ hatred all come toward me… Today I will die in this place. If I’m fortunate, Heaven will show mercy by letting me see both daughters before I die. That’s enough!” Yue Tianhong laughed miserably, then suddenly rushed toward a wooden pillar and violently crashed into it. Blood splattered as he fell into a pool of blood.

Yue Tianhong died.

“The villain has finally died.” Jin Xue’er faced the void in the darkness, murmuring to herself. “Mother, I’ve finally avenged you. That beast Yue Tianhong is dead. Thirteen years of hatred… But why don’t I feel even the slightest bit of happiness? I only feel like a stone mountain without any cracks has been piled up in my heart, about to suffocate me alive, stifle me to death. Why, why?”

“No matter how sinful and unforgivable he was, he was still your father. When a daughter kills her father, how can she find release? She can only be bound by even heavier shackles.” Li Si moved his gaze away from Yue Tianhong’s blood-stained face and sighed deeply.

“Is that so… I suppose so.” Jin Xue’er closed her eyes slightly and said to Su Qin and Li Si, “The murder scheme’s purpose has been achieved. You should go.”

“What about you?” Li Si asked.

“God-Catcher Li guessed everything correctly, except for one thing. I buried countless explosives behind the hold long ago. The fuse for the gunpowder is in my hand. Yue Tianhong is dead, and I have no more reason to live, so I’ll go too.” Jin Xue’er smiled. “God-Catcher Li, thank you for coming. You let me know many secrets I never could have reached, whether good or bad. I’m grateful to you.”

Jin Xue’er’s bright eyes gazed deeply at Su Qin one last time. “And Sister. No matter how much you hate me or harm me, I don’t blame you… Just like when we were little, no matter how much I bullied you, you would always smile and pat my head saying: ‘I’m not angry. Who told me I’m your sister—you’re my only little sister.'”

“Sister, I also want to say to you: Thank you. If there were another choice between life and death, I hope the one who lives would be you, because you’re also my only sister.” Tears blurred her smile, but couldn’t conceal her sincere heart.

“God-Catcher Li, Sister, please go.”

Su Qin suddenly walked toward Jin Xue’er. Her bloody face was grotesque, but her eyes became gentle. “You’re here, Yue Tianhong is here, and Mother’s soul will also stay here. Silly little sister, where do you want your sister to go?”

“We’ve been separated in this mortal world for thirteen years, homeless for thirteen years. At this moment, I don’t want to be separated anymore.” Su Qin gently took Jin Xue’er’s hand. Two ice-cold hands gripped tightly together and felt warmth.

“Sister.”

“Little sister.”

“No, you both must leave.” Li Si wanted to rush forward to stop the obsessed sisters, but his body went soft. His vision suddenly became blurred. Li Si shook his head and said in surprise, “Sedative incense!”

Li Si remembered that earlier he had smelled a faint strange fragrance. He had fallen for Su Qin’s trick again.

Su Qin, holding Jin Xue’er’s hand, walked to Li Si’s side and gently leaned near his ear, saying, “You’re a good person. You should live. Also, pay attention to the people around you. Someone is watching you.”

“You…” Li Si tried to speak again, but darkness poured into his eyes. He had no more strength and fell unconscious.

Li Si was sent onto a small boat, slowly drifting toward the nearby sea vessel.

Jin Xue’er and Su Qin smiled together at the sun hidden behind the stormy clouds, whispering softly, “The storm will eventually pass, and the sun will come out again. Life, death, love, and hate are the same.”

“Boom!” A violent explosion resounded across the sea surface. Two streams of tears unconsciously and gently flowed from the corners of unconscious Li Si’s eyes as he drifted on the vast ocean.