The Ice Desert Ghost Tribe came to East Yang to retrieve their supreme-grade divine weapon, Soul Awakening.

After infiltrating as undercover agents for over a month and working as servants for the young Sect Master for more than thirty days, they discovered that this young Sect Master was someone who feared trouble, disliked going out, and was quite picky. All day long, he either ate or slept, or read books and drew pictures. He needed everything delivered to him, finding it difficult to even step outside his courtyard.

He also disliked being followed, preferring solitude. Even in East Yang, Song Tianyi still preferred to curl up in his small room.

Whenever there was a matter requiring his presence, Song Tianyi would always agonize over what clothes to wear.

Cheng Jingbai even suspected that when Song Tianyi traveled to Nan Que for the wedding last time, he had sent a spirit clone rather than going in person.

Song Tianyi shook his head in denial: “I couldn’t create a spirit clone of that caliber. I’m not Xiang An’ge, after all.”

After speaking, he sighed again, with a hint of expectation in his voice: “If Xiang An’ge could make such a spirit clone, I would buy one no matter the cost.”

Cheng Jingbai: “You’d better keep dreaming.”

Lin Xiao asked: “Then why were you willing to go to Nan Que last time?”

Song Tianyi wiped his face with his sleeve, sighing repeatedly: “Cui Yaocen insisted that I go. How could I refuse? I thought about declining, but her message was clear—if I refused, I would be disrespecting her, looking down on her… That wasn’t my intention at all! If I didn’t go but sent double the customary gifts to Nan Que instead, wouldn’t that be fine? Why force me to leave home?”

Just as he finished speaking, they saw the Mars star in the southern sky flash once before fading.

Song Tianyi froze: “See? This is karma for forcing people against their will.”

“With the bad blood between Nan Que and Bei Dou running so deep, it would be strange if Ming Li didn’t kill Cui Yaocen after breaking through,” Cheng Jingbai looked toward the night sky, lost in thought. “Bei Dou is in chaos; she probably doesn’t have time to worry about Zixi.”

Zhou Xiang had somehow crouched down at some point, her wet hands drawing on the ground as she fell into deep thought.

“What are you writing?” Cheng Jingbai bent down to ask her.

Zhou Xiang hesitantly replied: “Didn’t Zixi want me to change my surname?”

Cheng Jingbai: “Don’t listen to him about that. Why change it when there’s nothing wrong with it? You’re not from the Zhou Clan of the West.”

Zhou Xiang happily wiped away the writing on the ground.

Lin Xiao continued questioning Song Tianyi: “Since you’re leaving East Yang this time to find the missing divine weapon, Soul Awakening, with us, do you have any clues?”

“Speaking of clues, shouldn’t you have more?” Song Tianyi replied with a troubled expression. “The ones who stole Soul Awakening were your Ice Desert Ghost Tribe, after all.”

Cheng Jingbai frowned: “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Song Tianyi pointed at Zhou Xiang: “I’m under her Heart Meridian Twin Binding technique. If I were lying, she would know.”

Cheng Jingbai and Lin Xiao looked toward Zhou Xiang, who shook her head.

Song Tianyi’s cooperation now wasn’t just because of his personality, but also because of Zhou Xiang’s Heart Meridian Miracle Ability: Twin Binding—a spirit technique that connected one’s life force to another. Until their release, both parties shared the same fate of life and death. It was an extremely rare control technique.

These Ghost Tribe members were all still growing. Twin Binding was a miraculous ability that Zhou Xiang had only awakened recently, not through breaking boundaries, but through bloodline awakening.

After confirming that Song Tianyi was indeed not lying, the group under the eaves fell into a brief silence. Li Bushuo was the first to break it as he turned his head.

With bright, dark pupils beneath his paper mask, Li Bushuo asked in a low voice: “What’s the name of the Ice Desert Ghost who stole Soul Awakening?”

Song Tianyi shook his head: “That I don’t know. Don’t you have any suspects in mind?”

Lin Xiao asked: “Was it a man with a staff-blade who uses Yin-Yang curses and is arrogant and irritating?”

Song Tianyi thought for a moment: “Yes, he did use Yin-Yang curses, and his manner… was indeed quite irritating.”

Lin Xiao asked again: “When did this happen?”

Song Tianyi: “Before you arrived, about two months ago.”

Zhou Xiang said fearfully, “It must be Qiu Lang and the others.”

Cheng Jingbai patted her shoulder, gesturing for her not to panic.

“You’re also Ghost Tribe members from the Ice Desert, so you should know where these ghosts who stole my Soul Awakening are, right?” Song Tianyi looked up and asked Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao looked down at him: “I have a question. Why did your brother Song Tianjiu go to the Northern Ghost Plains to die?”

Song Tianyi didn’t answer immediately, instead gazing silently at the curtain of rain.

“My brother… probably died in a rather embarrassing way.” Song Tianyi let out a long sigh, speaking weakly. “Ever since he broke through, he kept lecturing me about life meridians and divine prophecies. But aside from remembering what he said, what else could I do? I couldn’t see the life meridians, and I couldn’t defeat that divine prophecy. Moreover, my memories only returned intermittently in the years after my brother’s death.”

When Song Tianjiu had spoken to him before, Song Tianyi couldn’t fully remember; he only had vague impressions. It was like waking from a dream—that sense of unreality, questioning whether what happened was real or just a fantasy from a dream.

Song Tianyi said softly: “That day, my brother suddenly became very serious and told me that he was starting to lose control of himself, that both his actions and thoughts were becoming uncontrollable.”

*

On that spring day, with sunlight streaming through the window and crab apple blossoms adorning the branches, the young man leaned lazily against the window wall, yawning as he listened to his brother, who sat opposite with perfect posture, speak sternly: “I can feel that power growing stronger, and its influence on me is increasing.”

“What power? What influence?” the young man asked, bewildered.

His brother said: “A remnant obsession in this world, carrying ineradicable hatred and ambition, trying to control everyone to create the world it desires.”

From this point on, the young man’s memories began to blur. He found his brother’s words difficult to understand, and the sounds reaching his ears became fragmented.

“It makes my hostility toward Ming Li grow stronger and stronger, often using the Sacrificial Spirit Voice to probe her inner thoughts. But Ming Li is extremely cautious, and I can never hear what she’s thinking.”

The young man yawned and sprawled on the table, saying lazily, “You often go looking for her. I thought you liked her.”

His brother turned to look at the crab apple blossoms outside the window, his tone full of regret: “Ming Li is the most talented person I’ve ever met, and it’s precisely because she possesses such powerful strength that people take notice. If Ming Li were to submit to the divine prophecy’s consciousness and create a world belonging to the Eight Meridians, then everyone who resists would be destined to lose.”

The young man blinked in confusion. Did his brother say something?

“I refuse to submit to the divine prophecy because how this world should be shouldn’t be dictated by it, let alone through this method of controlling later pilgrims, turning different people all into the same type of person.” His brother sighed almost imperceptibly. “But now I’ve discovered that although Ming Li is a talent seen only once in thousands of years on the Tonggu Continent and is currently the strongest pilgrim, she too is forced to remain constantly vigilant against the divine prophecy.”

“Many people initially resist being controlled by the divine prophecy, but eventually they are influenced by it, lose themselves, and become slaves to the prophecy.”

“And I… I couldn’t defeat it either.”

The young man looked into his brother’s sad eyes, but his consciousness was foggy. His eyes saw the other’s mouth opening and closing, but his ears couldn’t hear the sound.

His brother turned to look at him and said, “Ming Li often retreats into seclusion alone to focus her mind and spirit against the divine prophecy. Because of this, she can hardly leave Bei Dou and becomes insensitive to changes in the outside world. Meanwhile, the existing pilgrims each have their ideas, and their hostility toward her is growing—whether arising from themselves or manipulated by the divine prophecy, they will take action.”

“The divine prophecy has been working for over ten thousand years and has reached a critical point.”

His brother tapped the table and asked the young man: “Tianyi, what are the basics of the Eight Meridians Formation?”

The young man finally heard his brother’s words. Thinking he was being tested, he sat up and answered: “Curse runes, star lines, anchoring points, and Eight Meridians spirit techniques.”

His brother asked again: “What’s the first step in forming the array?”

The young man said, “First, confirm the anchoring points.”

“Once the anchoring points are confirmed, the scattered star lines, curse runes, and Eight Meridians spirit techniques can be connected.” His brother looked toward the white sun hanging high outside the window and said softly, “Fortunately, the strongest pilgrim is resisting the divine prophecy. Unfortunately, those who submit to the divine prophecy have found an anchoring point that can destroy the life meridians.”

The young man blinked. What is my brother talking about?

“I know you won’t remember today’s conversation, nor can you understand it, but I hope that someday you will recall it. Perhaps what I couldn’t achieve, you can.” His brother sighed, looking at him with eyes more sorrowful than prematurely withered apricot blossoms in spring. “After today, I am no longer your brother.”

Song Tianjiu had lost to the divine prophecy. He was no longer a pilgrim who would resist it, but a slave controlled by the prophecy, creating a world of the Eight Meridians.

Thus, East Yang began to hunt down the Ghost Tribe in great numbers, capturing and killing those they had previously let go.

At first, the young man found it difficult to understand why his brother’s attitude toward the Ghost Tribe had changed again. Even more incomprehensible was his brother’s rush to the Northern Ghost Plains to kill Ming Li.

Several chancellors of East Yang and Song Tianyi all knew that Song Tianjiu had gone to the Northern Ghost Plains to kill Ming Li years ago. He hadn’t gone after Ming Li’s death, as outsiders claimed, but before.

Both Bei Dou and East Yang lost their pilgrims, but Bei Dou suffered heavier casualties from the subsequent attack, while East Yang only lost Song Tianjiu.

The outside world had various speculations, saying that Song Tianjiu went to the Northern Ghost Plains to save Ming Li and so on, but while East Yang denied this, they also tried to avoid conflict with Bei Dou.

*

After hearing Song Tianyi’s recollection, the Ice Desert Ghost Tribe members under the eaves all fell into deep thought.

“This is truly big news,” Cheng Jingbai said thoughtfully, touching his brow with one hand. “Let me get this straight: we only plan to rescue Zixi, while Sui Qiu San plans to kill everyone in this world and create a world with only the Ghost Tribe.”

“The pilgrims, on the other hand, plan to kill all Ghost Tribe members in the world and create a world with only the Eight Meridians.”

Zhou Xiang weakly raised her hand and said: “Then, of course, we should choose Sui Qiu San—”

“Don’t take sides yet.” Cheng Jingbai pushed her raised hand back down. “Qiu Lang stole East Yang’s divine weapon, Soul Awakening, and we don’t know where Zixi is being held. Could it be that the anchoring point your brother mentioned is Zixi, who’s been imprisoned for five years?”

Song Tianyi asked in confusion: “I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier, who is this Zixi you keep mentioning?”

Zhou Xiang tilted her head close to him and explained in a whisper.

Li Bushuo said, “If Zixi is the anchoring point, he should have said so.”

“Not necessarily,” Lin Xiao shook his head. “In his current state, there are many things he won’t be forthright about.”

Cheng Jingbai also said, “If it were Zixi, Song Tianjiu should have told Ming Li.”

“That’s not necessarily true either,” Song Tianyi shook his head. “My brother was already controlled by the divine prophecy at that time, with no sense of self. He had been probing Ming Li with the Sacrificial Spirit Voice, irritating her to the point of murderous intent. Ming Li certainly had no good feelings toward my brother; it would be strange if she listened to him.”

Lin Xiao slowly frowned: “If it is Zixi, then his situation may be more dangerous than I imagined.”

Cheng Jingbai couldn’t help but wonder what Zhou Zixi would do in this situation. Now that he had lost his humanity and emotions, his thoughts were difficult to predict.

But if it were the previous Zhou Zixi… he would not allow himself to become the existence that the divine prophecy used to exterminate all Ghost Tribe members.

If it came to that point, Zhou Zixi would, without hesitation, kill himself first.

Cheng Jingbai’s eyelid twitched at the thought. So the reason this guy never revealed his location was that he never intended to be rescued at all.