“All Shifu wanted was for her to stay by your side. If you could make her willing to remain, Shifu would have had no need to resort to this.”

Night Rakshasa’s gaze shifted to Elder Shi. “Elder Shi, what exactly is wrong with this girl?”

Elder Shi was silent for a moment before answering. “The Heartless Gu — as long as she does not let herself feel, it will certainly do her no harm, nor injure her body in the slightest. After some years have passed, the Heartless Gu will dissolve on its own and vanish entirely.”

“But the state she is in now…”

“She has developed feelings for the Ninth Prince.”

“How is that possible?” Night Rakshasa could not understand it. The Ninth Prince was not here. How could this girl have stirred feelings for him?

Could it be because…

“Ninth Imperial Uncle…” The person on the bed murmured softly, causing all three in the room to hold their breath at once.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, I’m sorry. Ninth Imperial Uncle…” Her thin lips trembled incessantly. Even in sleep, her brow remained tightly knitted.

She was suffering. Even within her dreams, the pain did not leave her.

Every thought of the Ninth Imperial Uncle brought only pain.

“Elder Shi.” Night Rakshasa’s heart was heavy with unease. “Did you not say the Heartless Gu would make her forget the Ninth Prince?”

“That is what should have happened.” Elder Shi himself could not determine where the process had gone wrong. Yet Feng Jiu’er continued to pine for the Ninth Prince without cease.

She knew that thinking of him only brought suffering — and yet the thoughts kept coming, again and again.

“Palace Master, Feng Jiu’er’s current condition has entirely exceeded my expectations. She is somewhat… beyond the Heartless Gu’s control.”

“You are not to control her any further!” Mu Mu’s heart lurched with urgency. He could barely restrain himself from sending his palm crashing into Elder Shi.

Now it was clear — the Heartless Gu had been placed by Elder Shi. But this could only have been done at Shifu’s instruction. Otherwise, Elder Shi would never have acted on his own authority.

Elder Shi had followed Shifu for so many years. Every action he took was done at her bidding.

Elder Shi met his furious gaze with perfect calm.

“Young Palace Master, now that the Heartless Gu has already taken hold in her body, it is absolutely impossible for me to remove it for her… Ugh!”

A hand closed around Elder Shi’s throat.

Mu Mu glared at his rapidly reddening face, his five fingers tightening without relent. “I want you to lift the Gu Poison from her!”

“Mu’er, how dare you! He is your elder!” Night Rakshasa surged to her feet, her figure flickering, and in an instant she stood before them.

Her hand came down on Mu Mu’s wrist. His tiger’s mouth joint flared with sharp, searing pain.

He did not resist. He was simply incapable of raising his hand against Night Rakshasa. Yet he did not release his grip on Elder Shi either.

“I only want him to lift the Gu Poison from Jiu’er. The moment it is lifted, I swear I will not harm so much as one of his fingers!”

“And if he does not lift it? What then? Will you move against Elder Shi — or kill your Shifu along with him?”

“I would not dare!” Even so, his five fingers never once loosened.

Elder Shi’s breathing grew more and more labored, his complexion darkening steadily — yet he only watched Mu Mu with a calm gaze, without the slightest inclination to resist.

“Mu’er, let go now. Do you truly mean to injure Elder Shi? He has watched over you since you were a child!”

Mu Mu’s resolve wavered. His five fingers eased slightly. Elder Shi’s breathing visibly eased — yet Mu Mu still refused to let go entirely.

“Young Palace Master, we have known one another for many years. You should know full well the kind of person I am. Anything that is good for the Palace Master and the Young Palace Master — I will pursue it at the cost of my life, without a moment’s hesitation.”

“But anything that would harm the Palace Master and the Young Palace Master — even if you kill me, I will not do it!”

Mu Mu understood Elder Shi’s loyalty. And it was precisely because he understood it that he was very nearly in despair.

At last, his five fingers released. He let go of Elder Shi and turned his head to look at Night Rakshasa. “Shifu, what do you truly want Jiu’er for?”

“Did you not say yourself that all you cared about was her identity as the Phoenix Girl? Now Shifu has made her forget the Ninth Prince — can she not devote herself to you without distraction?”

There was nothing Mu Mu could say to that.

Even without his Shifu voicing it, he understood in his heart: she did not wish for him to be entangled by personal feelings.

In all the pursuits of Shifu’s life, love had never once held any weight.

Shifu herself had no need for it, and the disciple she had raised was not permitted to need it either.

They still had far too many important matters, far too many responsibilities.

“Have you used the name Mu Mu for so long that you have even forgotten your own true name? Di Fei Mu!”

The three characters Di Fei Mu sent a shudder through Mu Mu’s entire body. His large hand clenched tight in an instant. Something warm and liquid seemed to flow across his palm — yet he felt not a trace of pain.

This name carried with it the weight of a lifetime’s duty — and a lifetime’s torment.

Hatred ignited in his heart at once, blazing upward in an instant, roaring like a fire that consumed the heavens, reducing him entirely to ash.

“Have you forgotten? Your elder brother, Di Wu Ya — even his name has been stolen by an enemy. They show him no respect, not a shred of reverence!”

The hatred in Night Rakshasa’s eyes was no less than that burning in Mu Mu’s.

“They know full well who Wu Ya is. They know how noble a name that is. And yet they dare! A pack of riffraff from the streets, daring to taint the sanctity of those two words, Wu Ya!”

Who did not know Wu Ya’s identity? Who did not know?

The shameless rabble of the Heavenly Venerable Sect — their Sect Master had actually dared to take Wu Ya’s name for himself.

Whether it was the Heavenly Venerable Sect or their own Night Underworld Palace, anyone of consequence had to guard their identity. Who among them would ever use their true name? Only someone who was truly arrogant beyond all fear of anyone in the world.

The Heavenly Venerable Sect’s Master daring to use the name Di Wu Ya — that alone was arrogance beyond measure. But for everyone within their Night Underworld Palace, it was a humiliation without equal.

“Shifu has ordered you to uncover the true identity of the Heavenly Venerable Sect’s Master and tear him apart. You have not yet accomplished it.”

Mu Mu still said nothing. Only his palm tightened further.

“Now the Phoenix Girl has appeared, and instead of finding a way to keep her by your side, you let her follow the War God of Bei Mu, the Ninth Prince, at every turn. Have you forgotten? All those who bear the surname Zhan are our enemies. Between them and us flows a river of blood!”

She glared at Mu Mu. “Have you forgotten all of this?”

“I have not forgotten!”

Elder Shi could not bear to see Mu Mu suffer. This child was one he had watched grow up through all these years as well.

Yet from the moment of his birth, a bitter fate had been his destiny — the blood debt of a dynasty to reclaim, the agony of a clan annihilated. How could there be no hatred?

“Mu’er, do not blame the Palace Master or me. All that we have done was to give you one more pillar of strength to lean upon.”

Those who obtain the Phoenix Girl shall obtain the realm — though none knew precisely where those words had first come from, they were recorded in the Ancient Sages’ Book. Such words were not without foundation.

Within the Phoenix Girl, there must be secrets they had yet to uncover. Secrets that could surely help Mu’er reclaim the Di clan’s rightful dominion.

As long as Feng Jiu’er remained by their side, the Phoenix Girl’s secrets would sooner or later be brought to light.

Suddenly, the young woman on the bed sprang upright and, with the greatest speed she could muster, flung herself at Mu Mu.