Gui Diao Tang looked at Gui Yansheng, as if trying to see the shadow of someone else from the person before him.

But Gui Yansheng’s entire body was drenched in blood, his face already a blur, making it impossible to glimpse his former appearance.

The Demon Lord lowered his eyelids in silence.

On the day Jiang Yiru discovered Gui Diao Tang’s demon clan identity, her first reaction wasn’t anger, but panic.

That woman who used to always nestle against him, acting coquettishly and asking to be with him for a lifetime, showed complete terror and helplessness on her face as she said: “You’re actually from the demon clan…”

Gui Diao Tang stepped forward, wanting to comfort her, but Jiang Yiru took a step back, looking at him as if he were a flood or savage beast.

This woman was gentle and timid, yet upon learning his identity, she immediately packed her belongings. Standing before Gui Yansheng, her tone was coldly decisive: “Between you and me, this is the end. There’s no need to continue making the same mistake.”

“Mistake?” He looked at his empty outstretched hand, feeling bewildered for the first time in his life.

“You are demon clan, I am human clan. Demons and humans are different. Our past affection ends today. My father has found me a good match – I’ll be married next month,” she said.

The Jiang family was a renowned local wealthy merchant, and those wanting to marry Jiang Yiru came in endless succession. Master Jiang had long been dissatisfied with his daughter’s association with this cultivator of unknown identity. When Jiang Yiru agreed to marry, he immediately finalized the engagement.

He knew that beneath Jiang Yiru’s gentle and timid exterior lay an extremely resolute and passionate heart – otherwise, she wouldn’t have entrusted her life to him after just a few encounters. He was demon clan, and his woman was now to become another’s wife. If he wished, he could easily slaughter everyone in the city and take Jiang Yiru back to Heishi City.

But his plan was dismissed the moment he saw Jiang Yiru’s eyes.

Her gaze was guarded and wary. Without doubt, if Gui Diao Tang truly did such a thing, Jiang Yiru would hate him for the rest of her life.

So he spoke indifferently: “There’s no need for you to leave. I’ll go.”

He left his Sun-Moon Banner with Jiang Yiru, saying only: “If you encounter danger, or if you want to see me, just open this banner and I’ll come find you.”

Jiang Yiru kept her head down, not looking at him.

Gui Diao Tang took a deep look at her and turned to leave.

He returned to Heishi City. At first, he still hoped Jiang Yiru might open the Sun-Moon Banner so their affection could continue. But as time passed – one year, two years – with no movement, he gradually understood that Jiang Yiru would perhaps never open that banner again in this lifetime.

She no longer wanted to see him. Between them, their fate was finished.

Gui Diao Tang devoted all his energy to cultivation. He became the tenth Demon Lord of Heishi City, busy day and night, and gradually never thought of Jiang Yiru again.

That delicate little flower had already been stripped from the Demon Lord’s life. This was natural – on the barren soil of Heishi Mountain, vibrant colors could not grow. And as demon clan, his nature was inherently fickle and cold. Even if Jiang Yiru hadn’t discovered his identity back then, even if she hadn’t wanted to sever their bond, the two of them might not have made it to the end anyway.

The demon clan was always cold-hearted. Deep affection with shallow fate was already destined.

In the wilderness, the Demon Lord’s azure robe appeared gentle, condensed here, becoming an incongruous part of the scenery.

But Gui Yansheng laughed lowly: “You say she left you?”

He wiped the blood from his lips and spoke indifferently: “Then do you know that shortly after her marriage, she was discovered to be pregnant and was beaten and imprisoned by her husband’s family, who forced her to reveal her lover’s whereabouts?”

Gui Diao Tang froze.

“To protect me in her womb, she desperately escaped from the mansion and hid in a mountain village, never daring to leave home for the rest of her life, never having the chance to get that banner again.”

Gui Yansheng looked at him mockingly: “You say you loved her, that you left for her good. Since you loved her so much, why didn’t you go back to look, to inquire, in all these years? If you had just turned back once, you would have known what kind of life she was living! She and I wouldn’t have fallen to this state!”

All around was silence.

Gui Diao Tang said nothing.

Why hadn’t he turned back? Why, when Jiang Yiru spoke of severing their bond, did he immediately leave his things with her and decisively return to Heishi City? Was it because he knew that unions between the demon and human clans couldn’t produce offspring, so he never suspected Jiang Yiru could be pregnant? Was it because he felt Jiang Yiru’s strong-willed nature meant that once she decided something, nine oxen couldn’t pull her back, and forcing her would only make her melancholy for life? Or was it because he felt that Jiang Yiru following a mortal husband and living in harmony until old age would give her a happier ending than following him?

None of these was true.

He had never thought of fighting for her, nor of lowering his proud head for Jiang Yiru’s sake. In his heart, self-respect was more important than love. Perhaps from the beginning, when he was with Jiang Yiru, he had already sensed their tragic separation.

Ultimately, his love for Jiang Yiru was not enough to overcome his love for himself.

After a long while, the Demon Lord spoke softly: “I’m sorry.”

Gui Yansheng looked at him coldly.

“All these years, you’ve suffered,” he said, looking at Gui Yansheng.

Gui Yansheng pulled at the corner of his mouth, as if trying to form a smile. But that smile looked worse than crying.

From the moment he learned of his origins, he had given everything to return to Heishi City and find his father.

He didn’t necessarily want father and son to acknowledge each other. Perhaps he just wanted to ask on his mother’s behalf, on his behalf – why had he abandoned them back then?

He wanted to hear an answer, even just an excuse. With just one excuse, he could convince himself. At least they weren’t the abandoned party; at least when father left, there had been some unspeakable difficulty.

All his fantasies were ruthlessly shattered when he met the Painted Skin Girl, and in that vast river at Heishi City, he lost the most important person in his life.

He had nothing left, his heart filled with extreme resentment. He slaughtered all the ghosts in the Ashura Ghost Path, awakened his Demon Lord bloodline, and re-entered Heishi City, but those involved in past grudges and entanglements were all no longer in this world.

The Two Lives Buddha Wheel in the Wulun Pagoda couldn’t change his destined ending. He lost his mother, lost Xiao Shuang, so he offered himself to the Xiaoyuan Pearl, losing even himself.

He had no hope left in living. The only thing he wanted to do was drag everyone in the world to death with him. Let torrential floods cover everything, let all the damned “rules” of this world disappear completely. He would establish new rules and become the one in power over worldly affairs.

Large mouthfuls of fresh blood poured from Gui Yansheng’s mouth. His golden pupils weren’t as bright as before, and the demonic essence within his body was slowly dissipating.

Even if Zanxing hadn’t taken away his Xiaoyuan Pearl, he wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway. Cultivating the Ten Thousand Ghosts Ashura Path was inherently a self-damaging technique. The higher his cultivation, the heavier the damage. Eventually, he would be devoured by those roaring remnant souls, completely becoming a puppet of the remnant souls – one of the human shadows in the snow-white umbrella surface.

It was just a destined ending.