Mount Song belongs to the Funiu Mountain range and is a famous mountain under heaven.
Mount Song’s Shaolin Temple is renowned throughout the world—an ancient temple grand and majestic, with morning bells and evening drums, distinguished monks and ink scrolls, contemplating reincarnation and all living beings.
On the various paths leading to Shaolin Temple, human figures could be vaguely seen moving about.
Two carriages slowly approached, visible from distant mountain peaks.
Zhang Hemo, the sect leader of Mount Song Sect, had already followed the Central Plains Sword Society to distant Bodhi Valley, but Mount Song Sect’s foundation remained on Mount Song. Tang Lici’s journey to Shaolin had originally been secret, but after encountering several ambushes along the way, everyone in the martial world knew Tang Lici was heading to Shaolin Temple to cause trouble for them. Though no one knew why he, now the target of universal condemnation, didn’t temporarily avoid the limelight, this demon’s extreme arrogance wasn’t surprising news either. His coming toward Shaolin Temple might well be to establish his authority.
Shaolin Temple made no response to this.
Since becoming abbot, Puzhu had lived in seclusion, no longer stepping foot in the martial world.
But Mount Song Sect was also on Mount Song—to let Tang Lici easily cross their sect’s territory would be an unprecedented humiliation. Everyone could punish evil demons and heretics, so although Zhang Hemo wasn’t present, Mount Song Sect still blocked the path.
Wouldn’t it be even better if they could ambush and kill Tang Lici here?
Besides Mount Song Sect, this route was filled with Tang Lici’s enemies. Previously, Young Master Tang had held high position and great power, but now he was universally betrayed. This enmity must be avenged—they couldn’t share the same sky.
Tang Lici fought as he advanced.
In Funiu Mountain, shadows stirred, hearts fluctuated, and ghostly figures loomed.
Liu Yan drove the carriage slowly up a yellow mud mountain path. The old wounds on his face had healed, but new ones had been added. New scars overlapped with old ones, some places swollen and purple-black, making him barely look human. Yu Tuan’er controlled another carriage, which carried A’Shui and Fengfeng. Their previous coachman had been poisoned, and Tang Lici had given him generous payment to return home. Se Lin and Tang Lici rode in the same carriage. Initially, they got along peacefully, but in recent days, Se Lin had unprecedentedly lost her temper with Tang Lici.
All along, Tang Lici had been very indulgent toward her, treating her perfectly well. When they were attacked on the road and Tang Lici fought back, Se Lin would lean against the carriage watching him fight. With her fair skin, beautiful appearance, and luxurious clothing, reclining in the carriage she looked like a painting. Outside the carriage, swords flashed and blood splattered three feet, making her like a rose amid the carnage, adding three parts more to her beauty.
But this was a life-and-death struggle, not a performance. No matter how high Tang Lici’s martial arts, he couldn’t protect two carriages single-handedly. Three days ago, he inadvertently let a flying arrow graze past his face and strike the carriage wall beside Se Lin. After that, Se Lin was no longer so composed facing the coming and going blades. Another day passed, and a masked intruder broke through Yu Tuan’er’s defenses, trying to snatch Fengfeng from A’Shui’s hands. Tang Lici intervened to save them, but that person suddenly turned to grab Se Lin. Though Tang Lici seriously wounded the attacker with one sword strike, Se Lin’s shoulder also bore a long claw wound.
That masked intruder of unknown origin had poison on his fingernails.
Se Lin finally felt fear.
The wound on her shoulder began to fester. In the dense forest, medical care and medicine were scarce. Even though Liu Yan and Yu Tuan’er both told her that since the claw wound wasn’t fatal, this poison probably wasn’t deadly either, even if not deadly, watching her wound fester while not knowing how it would develop was unbearable. Moreover, she had followed Tang Lici here and hadn’t suffered much in that dog-raising cave. She never doubted she could conquer everything.
But her confidence in “being able to conquer everything” was shattered by this sudden festering wound.
Se Lin suddenly discovered that in this savage ancient world, the “most beautiful” woman wasn’t as fearless as she had imagined—there were actually some people who simply didn’t see her at all.
More terrifying still, she hadn’t realized this truth from her own experience.
She discovered that in this world, not only did most people not see her, but even…
Most people in this world didn’t see Tang Lici either.
What she considered the most magnificent and brilliant treasure—in most people’s eyes along this journey, they didn’t see “him” either.
These people simply hadn’t seen the beauty and incomparability of this treasure. They only saw a symbol—”enemy,” “demon,” or “monster.”
Most people hadn’t even clearly seen what her treasure looked like before replacing him with a symbol and hating him as a matter of course. They didn’t need to see clearly whether he or she was beautiful, whether they were wronged or not—they could fight to the death just the same.
Tang Lici wasn’t as she had imagined—someone who could naturally manipulate everything and tower above all the world’s beauties. What she liked and was willing to conquer was an incomparably magnificent and brilliant treasure, but Tang Lici… was increasingly unlike that treasure.
He could be injured, could fail, his clothes could become tattered, he could be disregarded, and most detestably, he barely spoke anymore.
This ancient world was so dangerous, she had suffered such a terrible wound, yet Tang Lici remained unmoved. He only stroked her long hair once and said nothing more.
Liu Yan didn’t know how they had started arguing. Naturally, Se Lin wasn’t the type to curse like a shrew. She simply suddenly said to Tang Lici, “I’m very disappointed in you.”
She said, “You’re not the same person anymore.”
Hearing this, Tang Lici raised his head, looked at her, and slowly asked, “Would ‘the original person’… be better?”
Se Lin was stunned. She thought for a while but couldn’t answer.
Tang Lici said, “But ‘the original person’… would look better.”
Se Lin blinked. “What are you saying?”
Tang Lici chuckled softly and said slowly, “The ‘original person’ you liked…” he said quietly, “was fake to begin with.” After a moment, he said, “I’m just a bit tired.”
Se Lin was silent for a while. “I want to go home.”
“Tomorrow at this time,” Tang Lici’s tone remained light, yet still carried the air of someone who had planned everything thoroughly, “someone will escort you away.”
Se Lin suddenly looked up and stared at him, her gaze flickering. “What do you mean? You planned to send me away? Before… before deliberately ignoring me, deliberately letting me get hurt, deliberately disappointing me… was all your premeditation? What do you mean?” She finally showed her anger. “Tang Lici! Even if you want to break up with me, you don’t need to harm me, do you? If I hadn’t suffered this wound, would I definitely remain devoted to you, definitely not break up with you? You’re being too presumptuous! Too calculating! You really are—” she said word by word, “You really are disgusting!”
Liu Yan was dumbfounded. He didn’t think Se Lin’s wound was Tang Lici “calculating” to deliberately hurt her to make her give up and break up, but… if Tang Lici had long arranged for Se Lin to leave, this was somewhat strange. He didn’t know what Tang Lici was thinking, just as he didn’t know what Tang Lici was actually doing by heading toward Shaolin Temple all this way. Previously, when no one knew he was coming to Shaolin Temple, that was one thing, but now that everyone under heaven knew he was going to Shaolin, yet he continued killing his way up like this—aside from provoking Shaolin and the righteous martial world, he truly didn’t know what the purpose was.
But Tang Lici showed no reaction to Se Lin’s words “you really are disgusting.” He leaned against the carriage’s tattered wall and closed his eyes.
In the following carriage, Fengfeng stood supporting himself against the carriage wall, curiously looking outside. After watching for a while, he said to A’Shui, “Wu wu… ma… ma…” then spread his small palms to gesture. A’Shui, fearing he might fall, gently held him. Fengfeng continued gesturing to her, his two chubby little hands opening and closing into fists repeatedly, pointing outside the window.
What had Fengfeng seen?
Perhaps there were things in the mountain forest that Fengfeng had never seen before. A’Shui knew this journey was full of hidden soldiers and countless crises… but so what?
She thought, so what?
Young Master Tang… was omnipotent.
What Young Master Tang wanted and didn’t want, he could ultimately have his heart’s desire.
We… we…
We…
We are all the sand between his fingers and flowers by his temples.
We all love him.
We are all his heart’s desire.