The red-haired man had already been carrying wounds from before, and after being struck repeatedly — and finally run through the chest — though the blade had missed his heart, his body simply could not endure any more. And so, he honorably……passed out.

That’s right.

He was still alive.

Primarily because his cultivation was formidable enough to withstand that kind of punishment.

However, Jun Changxiao had completely broken down.

He had always believed Zhang San was his father — only to be hit with the most ultimate reversal imaginable.

When he thought it through carefully, this was actually the second time Gou Sheng had attempted patricide. It hadn’t succeeded, but the guilt weighing on his heart was surely immense.

And so there he was.

Crouching outside the medical pod, both hands clutching his head, his face a portrait of anguish.

“Sect Master.”

Zhang San walked over and offered comfort: “One cannot be blamed for what one does not know. Do not place such pressure upon yourself.”

“Swish!”

Jun Changxiao abruptly shot to his feet, slammed Zhang San’s face against the wall, and roared: “If you knew the truth all along, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Mmph……”

Zhang San’s entire face was being squished nearly out of shape. He cried out desperately: “Was I not doing it for the Sect Master’s sake? After all, for any child with even a shred of conscience, the act of killing one’s own parents is the sort of thing that would crush them under the weight of moral torment!”

Jun Changxiao fell silent.

The moment he had learned that the red-haired man was his father, he had thought back to how freely and gleefully he had been hacking away just moments before. At the time it had felt rather satisfying — but now……it was like a dagger twisting in his heart.

Do not misunderstand.

Gou Sheng’s distress was not on account of the red-haired man himself — it was on account of Gongsun Ruoli. He had already come to regard her as his true mother. And yet, as her son, he had cut down his father right before her eyes. What kind of pain must she have been forced to carry?

Especially since——

She had known the truth all along!

All these days — how had his mother endured it?!

Looking back, Jun Changxiao recalled that for some time now, Gongsun Ruoli had clearly been going out of her way to avoid him.

He hadn’t thought much of it at the time — he had even assumed that perhaps it was because she and his father had been reunited, and the two elders simply needed time alone to rekindle the feelings they had lost across the years.

But now, thinking on it carefully, the reason was likely twofold: first, she feared being found out; and second, she did not dare look her son in the eye — the son who had struck down his own father.

Jun Changxiao’s read of the situation was exactly right.

Gongsun Ruoli had indeed been carrying both of those burdens. Every time the image of the red-haired man being cut down flashed through her mind, it pierced her to the core.

All of it — for the sake of her son.

She had borne far too much pain in silence.

Fortunately, the red-haired man, despite all his stumbling back and forth, had not died!

And so.

The charge of patricide naturally ceased to exist!

Sitting inside the medical pod, Gongsun Ruoli kept her eyes fixed on the red-haired man as his breathing gradually steadied and returned to normal. On her haggard face, a smile finally surfaced.

Ever since they had brought Zhang San in as a stand-in, every smile she had worn had been forced.

“Mother.”

Jun Changxiao stepped inside, his voice heavy with remorse: “I’m sorry.”

“My son did nothing wrong.” Gongsun Ruoli turned to look at him, her expression full of unconditional tenderness. “There is no need to apologize.”

“I……”

“Son.”

Gongsun Ruoli cut him off, and smiled: “Our family has finally been reunited.”

This smile came from somewhere deep within her.

Seeing how genuinely happy his mother looked, Jun Changxiao felt the weight on his heart ease considerably. He smiled in return: “Indeed — our family of three, complete and whole at last!”

“Congratulations, congratulations!”

Zhang San clasped his hands together in a bow.

Yet the moment he followed Jun Changxiao out of the room, he was slammed against the wall once again — and heard the other man roar in his face: “How many times did you take advantage of me, you shameless wretch?!”

Gou Sheng had finally come back to his senses. All those days he had been calling this man “Father” for absolutely nothing!

“Sect Master!”

Zhang San wailed in utter despair: “I had no choice either!”

“Hmph.” Jun Changxiao released him and said flatly: “When we return, go present yourself at the Discipline Hall for punishment.”

“What?”

Zhang San immediately crumpled to the ground.

He had become a hall master not long ago and had not yet familiarized himself fully with the sect — but the Discipline Hall had already left a deep impression on him. The Beast Taming Hall’s master had apparently been sent there by Young Master Yuan over the matter of an exploding garment, and had wept and wailed the entire way there. Whatever awaited inside, it had to be terrifying.

……

The red-haired man remained unconscious for more than half a month.

Throughout that time, Gongsun Ruoli stayed by his side without leaving for a single moment.

In truth, she was glad — genuinely so. But every day, staring at that face, she was reminded of how he had abandoned her and their son. The resentment she had thought was fading came surging right back.

“Cough!”

The red-haired man finally woke.

When he opened his eyes and saw Gongsun Ruoli, his gaze filled immediately with remorse: “I……I’m sor……sorry……I……”

“Swish!”

Gongsun Ruoli yanked him upright, pressed a bowl of medicinal broth to his lips, and said coldly:

“Open your mouth.”

“Ah!”

The red-haired man was remarkably obedient.

He drank it down — and the bitterness contorted his entire face.

“Thud!”

Gongsun Ruoli dropped him back down onto the bed, rose to her feet, and said: “Three doses a day.”

Seeing her about to leave, the red-haired man reached out and seized her hand. “Can you forgive me for leaving without a word?”

“……”

Gongsun Ruoli stopped where she stood. Those bright eyes of hers flickered with anger.

She very much wanted to turn around and drive a fist into this faithless man’s face — but considering he had only just woken, she forced the impulse down and said coolly: “If not for fearing that our son would carry the name of a father-killer, you would already be dead.”

“Indeed.”

The red-haired man said with deep self-reproach: “To abandon you both as I did — I deserve ten thousand deaths.”

“Good that you know.”

With those words, Gongsun Ruoli turned and walked away.

“Ruoli.”

The red-haired man lay on the sickbed, watching that graceful silhouette grow smaller in the distance. With great difficulty, he found his voice: “Do you think there is still a chance for me?”

“……”

Gongsun Ruoli said nothing.

She stepped out of the medical pod and let out a long, slow breath.

From the look of things, he would make a full recovery.

Women, after all.

The heart truly is a complicated place.

……

“Uh……”

Upon learning that the red-haired man had woken, Jun Changxiao came to pay a visit. He sat beside the bed and hesitated for a long while, unable to find a single word to say.

He had nearly killed him — twice.

To now meet him as father and son felt painfully, hopelessly awkward.

The red-haired man, however, harbored no such feelings. On the contrary, gazing at his son — fully grown, his strength now surpassing even his own — a look of warm, heartfelt pride spread across that pale face.

“Want an orange?”

“No.”

“Ah.”

Jun Changxiao went quiet.

“Son.” The red-haired man said with a guilt-laden voice: “Your father has not been a good father.”

“Let what has passed remain in the past.” Jun Changxiao replied. “What matters most now is that our family is whole and together — and happy.”

“Happy?”

The red-haired man said with a downcast air: “That may no longer be possible.”

“What do you mean?” Jun Changxiao caught at once that something more lay beneath those words.

“Your father was far too arrogant back then. I went alone to challenge the Heavenly Demon Emperor, and in the end, I not only lost to him — I lost the most important thing a man possesses.” The red-haired man said, his voice weighted with regret and bitter shame.

“What?”

Jun Changxiao instinctively dropped his gaze downward, and inwardly recoiled: “Surely not?!”

The red-haired man, seeing this, realized immediately that the fool had misunderstood. He scrambled to clarify: “I lost my dignity as a man. And I lost my own conscience.”

“……”

Jun Changxiao’s eyes went wide with sudden understanding.

For heaven’s sake — couldn’t you have just said that plainly? Why lead me to all the wrong conclusions?!

“Pfft!”

The System scoffed: “That is entirely the host’s own filthy imagination. How can you blame anyone else?”

“Alas.”

The red-haired man let out a long sigh. “When you were first born, your father hoped that you would grow into a man of true backbone and integrity. Yet in the end, it was I who committed unforgivable wrongs — above all……I once killed one of your disciples.”

He could not speak of it without pain.

“He is still alive.” Jun Changxiao said. “There is no need to reproach yourself.”

Still alive?

The red-haired man was stunned.

He remembered the circumstances with perfect clarity. That iron-bodied figure had been reduced to nothing by roaring flame — not even the physical body had survived, let alone the soul. How could he possibly be alive?

“Please do not dwell on the past.” Jun Changxiao’s tone shifted abruptly to something serious. “Let us speak of what matters. Where is the Heavenly Demon Emperor hiding?”

Faced with his son’s sudden and direct question, the red-haired man did not hesitate even a moment before answering without reservation: “The Heavenly King Domain — the Magma Abyss!”