Ji Chen was still chatting with Ji Xing, counting the peach blossoms on the opposite slope one by one for her to hear.

Suddenly his whole body shuddered, jumping up vigilantly, narrowly avoiding a sword energy. Just as he was about to warn Song Qian Ji, he turned and stared in astonishment:

“Brother Song, why—why are you hitting me?”

His eyes were clear, naturally innocent, appearing like a pitiful friend who had been betrayed.

Wei Zhen Yu sometimes pretended to be innocent, but Ji Chen truly felt himself to be blameless.

“It’s you I’m hitting!” Song Qian Ji’s anger intensified as he grabbed his sword hilt like a feather duster and pummeled Ji Chen fiercely. “Running? Still running?”

“Hey, hey, if you keep hitting me, I’ll have to fight back!” Ji Chen summoned his formation disk, a cold light flashing through his eyes.

Song Qian Ji laughed coldly: “Try fighting back and see!”

Ji Chen ran wildly around the tree, attempting to string a few formation lines to obstruct his opponent.

But Song Qian Ji was fighting in earnest, his momentum pressing down like Mount Tai, giving Ji Chen a terrifying feeling of being trapped in a heavenly net.

Formation masters weren’t adept at close-quarters combat. Ji Chen had no time to set up formations, only using movement techniques to dodge. Unfortunately, Song Qian Ji’s movements were faster.

He still had high-grade magical artifacts and formation disks, but he was saving them for revenge. Using them to fight Song Qian Ji under a tree would be a waste.

Moreover, this fight was inexplicable—the other showed no killing intent with his sword, nor did he use killing moves, only harshly beating him with the scabbard.

Had Song Qian Ji’s hidden madness erupted? How could he be crazier than himself?

Song Qian Ji beat him from dawn till dusk, from the mountain’s bottom to its top, then back again.

Ji Chen initially fought back vigorously, then fled while cursing and wailing like ghosts and wolves. If they weren’t in the wilderness, they would surely have been reported for disturbing the peace.

“Go ahead and hit me!” Ji Chen tripped and fell, deciding to lie on the ground and whine, “Just kill me then!”

Song Qian Ji rubbed his wrist, seeing Ji Chen’s swollen face and teary eyes, his anger mostly dissipated.

By now night had fallen, and crows were returning to roost. A few stars adorned the treetops, and a few peach blossom petals fluttered down from the branches.

They had somehow run to Peach Blossom Hollow.

Under the flower trees, Ji Chen pounded the ground and wailed: “Even my father never beat me like this! Father, it’s unfortunate you died early and didn’t see how he beat your son!”

“Stop crying!” Song Qian Ji felt a headache coming on. “A real man sheds blood but not tears. What kind of image is this crying and wailing? Get up now.”

“I can’t get up. My bones are broken!”

Song Qian Ji squatted down, reaching out to feel, his tone softening slightly: “Which bone is injured?”

“Has Brother Song’s anger subsided?” Ji Chen flipped over to sit up, grabbed his hand, blinked his big eyes, and asked: “I wonder what I did to anger Brother Song?”

Song Qian Ji withdrew his hand, sitting beside him under the peach tree:

“You care about Ji Xing’s marriage but make decisions on your own, without asking whether she likes to marry or not, only caring about your satisfaction. If she and that person despise each other, how could she be happy? Do you want her to be unhappy even as a ghost?”

“So that’s what this is about. I… I just hoped that when I’m gone, someone could take care of Little Star.” Ji Chen lowered his head, his tone dejected.

“It’s simple logic—if the person you send down there hates and resents you, how would they be willing to take care of your sister?” Song Qian Ji held his forehead. “Forced melons are not sweet.”

“That’s true.” The more Ji Chen thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He finally admitted his mistake, “Brother Song, I’m sorry. Let me prepare a gift to apologize. I heard you came to White Phoenix County to find ‘forging fire’ for your sword.”

Song Qian Ji initially wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, that was a matter from his previous life, as long as Ji Chen stopped going mad trying to find a match for his sister. But then he remembered that the day after tomorrow was the Night of the Awakening of Insects. In his previous life, Ji Chen had massacred the entire Ji family on that night, after which he went completely insane.

This was a crucial turning point in Ji Chen’s fate. Better to give him something to do. If Ji Chen entered White Phoenix Mountain tomorrow to seek the Phoenix Fire Seed, he wouldn’t return for four or five days.

“Since you’ve offered, you should prepare well,” Song Qian Ji said.

“I’ll certainly satisfy Brother Song, helping you forge the strongest Solitary Light life-bound sword.” Ji Chen smiled, but it pulled at his wounded mouth, making him inhale sharply.

The starry night was cool, and the flower fragrance was rich. After sitting under the tree for a while, their clothes were covered with fallen petals.

Song Qian Ji stood up, brushing his sleeves and reaching out to pull Ji Chen: “Get up.”

“What for?”

“…To apply medicine to your wounds.”

“Brother Song is so good, taking responsibility after the beating! Truly caring!”

“You say I’m good, but do you believe me?”

“Why would Brother Song say such a thing? I see you as my closest kin, always trusting you completely, without the slightest doubt… Hey, hey, don’t put that on me! Let’s talk this through. What’s with the talisman?”

The two figures chased each other, gradually disappearing among the thousand peach trees.

…

In White Phoenix County, the number of visiting cultivators surged overnight, making the streets unusually bustling.

Stories spread everywhere about the branch family plotting murder for wealth and usurping power, and the legitimate son returning for revenge after arduous cultivation.

The Ji family couldn’t stop the endless gossip or control the visiting cultivators, so they had to close their gates and lock up. The people who had been monitoring Song Qian Ji and Ji Chen had also disappeared.

What everyone didn’t know was that the protagonist of the story, Ji Chen, had already left White Phoenix City to enter the mountain in search of the Phoenix Fire.

Song Qian Ji drank tea at the Phoenix Immortal Tower during the day, listened for news, and returned to Peach Blossom Hollow to rest at night. This place was right between the mountain and the city, quiet and deserted.

Everything seemed to be developing favorably.

Yet Song Qian Ji vaguely felt something wasn’t right; it seemed too smooth. After mentally calculating several times, he still had no clues.

Lost in the situation, he could only respond to change with constancy, waiting for Ji Chen to return.

Ji Chen refused his company: “Since it’s a gift preparation, it’s not appropriate for you to come along.”

“If you’re in danger…”

“Brother Song cares about my safety, treating me so well. If golden fireworks appear from White Phoenix Mountain, it means I’m in peril. You must come to the mountain to save me.”

Song Qian Ji agreed.

He could have tracked Ji Chen, but his ultimate goal was to gain the other’s trust.

That day, Song Qian Ji returned to Peach Blossom Hollow to rest. Near midnight, he suddenly saw the night sky brighten as White Phoenix Mountain shone with golden light.

He muttered “troublesome” and got up from bed, picking up his sword.

Before entering the mountain, he encountered several cultivators rushing past. As they brushed shoulders, Song Qian Ji heard them mention Ji Chen’s name:

“Ji Chen vowed to take revenge on the Night of the Awakening of Insects. Tonight is that night, but he’s been missing for two days. Will he still appear?”

“For such major revenge, he naturally must be fully prepared.”

“This person is strange. Why didn’t he reveal the truth earlier, suffering unnecessary criticism for so long?”

“As a demon lord, he has no restrictions, taking revenge however he wants. Heroes have many constraints—harsh methods get criticized, bad timing gets criticized, ultimately still criticized.”

Song Qian Ji paused for a moment, then suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He turned his sword around and flew swiftly toward the Ji mansion in the city.

He now knew what was wrong!

Before the appointment at Peach Blossom Hollow, he had calculated more than ten contingency plans, but he didn’t expect the current Ji family head to be that useless Ji Guang.

Since Ji Guang was a waste who relied on family resources and ancestral guidance, couldn’t Ji Chen achieve what he had done? Why hadn’t Ji Chen done it? Not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t care.

He didn’t care whether he was seen as a righteous avenger or a jealous, deranged madman.

The Ji Xing he cared about was already dead.

All he cared about was crazy revenge; all he waited for was tonight!

Tonight, nobody in White Phoenix City could sleep.

The sky was ink-black, without stars or moon. In the direction of the Ji mansion, flames soared to the heavens.

Yet the fire was contained within an invisible golden ring of light, unable to spread, only burning slowly amid piercing wails.

Everyone had been driven to the abandoned garden by the fire. Unable to gather spiritual energy due to the formation’s pressure, they could barely move, only kneeling on the ground.

This was once the residence of the Ji siblings now turned into a hell of slaughter.

Ji Guang, his son, and their followers were thoroughly dead, their bodies separated from their heads. Among the remaining dense crowd were both family advisors and the weak, women, and children. Some cursed while others kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Ji Chen seemed not to hear, his expression cold, as if the painful cries and venomous curses had nothing to do with him.

He sat by the pond, folding a paper kite, saying softly: “Little Star, I’ve finally waited for this day. That person said on the hundredth anniversary of your death, with the whole clan as a sacrifice, I could see you once more… Wait for me.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice pierced through the noise:

“Ji Chen, you said you were going to White Phoenix Mountain for forge fire, but you set up a trapping formation there. When the time came, a signal would lure me over, trapping me in the mountain, allowing you to complete your formation here, isn’t that right?”

Ji Chen looked up: “You still came.”

He smiled, revealing white teeth like a knife not yet bloodied.

Song Qian Ji stood on the ruined garden wall, his robes fluttering, his long sword gleaming, rapidly attacking the formation’s light barrier.

Among the crowd, some rekindled hope, shouting to Song Qian Ji for help:

“Master Song, this person has gone mad. He said this formation is called the ‘Yin-Yang Reversal Karmic Fire Immolation Great Formation.’ Before sunrise, it can summon souls from the netherworld back to the mortal realm. Such delusional thoughts—please quickly kill this demon!”

“Fellow Daoist Song, if you save my life, you will be greatly rewarded!”

Ji Chen ignored them, laughing brightly: “How can Brother Song be so cruel? I truly prepared a gift to apologize. After I complete this formation tonight, I’ll take this formation fire as forging fire for you, certainly helping you forge a peerless divine sword!”

“You think I can’t break your formation?” Song Qian Ji was furious, his hands moving like lightning, his figure like the wind, each sword strike hitting the formation’s weak points.

Ji Chen shouted: “Look carefully! I’m within the formation, and this formation shares life with me. Do you want to come in and kill me? Come on!”

Song Qian Ji’s face suddenly turned pale, his movements becoming slower and slower.

He knew the other wasn’t lying; he had detected the formation’s treacherous nature.

If the formation was broken, Ji Chen would die.

If he gave up breaking the formation, everyone in the Ji mansion would die, and Ji Chen would follow his old path from the previous life, completely becoming a madman.

Unless Ji Chen voluntarily left the formation, tonight’s situation had become a dead end.

But after such careful planning, how could Ji Chen leave?!

What else could Song Qian Ji do?

He sheathed his sword and turned to leave.

Behind him came the sounds of burning flames, collapsing buildings, crying children, and Ji Chen’s insane laughter.

Spilled water cannot be recovered; hell has been created.

Had he given up?

…

Across the soaring flames, Ji Chen watched that figure disappear: “Go, don’t concern yourself with me.”

He was still smiling, his smile becoming gentle, his eyes glowing brightly in the firelight.

“Little Star, when I see you, you must tell me what kind of marriage partner you like. It’s a pity we can’t see the stars tonight. I’ve waited for so many years. If I can’t see you, I don’t know what I…”

Suddenly Ji Chen stopped speaking, his expression changing from desperate madness to shocked bewilderment, then to wild joy.

He seemed to witness the most incredible miracle.

The wind swept the ground, blowing away the dark clouds, and revealing the bright moon and stars.

Under the silver starlight, a figure stood on the wall, sleeves fluttering, silently watching him.

Like a distant dream.

The shadow sketched countless times in his heart suddenly became clear.

—If Ji Xing could live until now, she would look like this.

“Little Star!”

That person smiled slightly, waving a sleeve and departing.

“Little Star, don’t go.” Ji Chen dropped his formation disk.

Song Qian Ji fled with the wind, touching the disguise on his face, thinking that if he didn’t make Ji Chen carry manure water to water the fields for a month when they got back, he would change his surname to Ji.