Long Zhun stepped forward, shielding his wife before him. “Don’t come any closer!”

Dong Tianyun’s gaze coldly pierced through him, looking at “Xiang Su” hiding behind him. Long Zhun drew his sword with an outward show of strength masking inner weakness, though his hand trembled slightly. With a wave of his sleeve, Dong Tianyun sent Long Zhun stumbling aside with a sudden surge of overwhelming power. Seeing she had no choice but to face Dong Tianyun, “Xiang Su’s” expression instead became calm with resolute determination. She chanted an incantation, raising both sleeves to cover her face. When the sleeves moved away, she had already revealed her true appearance—though her complexion was pale, it was still a beautiful and charming face.

“I am the Fox King’s youngest daughter, Hu Chen.” She bit her lip and removed the crane feather hairpin from her hair, presenting it together with the Sinking Star Fan to Dong Tianyun. Dong Tianyun looked at them for a while without accepting, as if his mind had wandered elsewhere.

“Why?” He looked at Hu Chen’s face. If she was the Fox King’s daughter, transforming into a perfect likeness of Xiang Su wouldn’t be difficult, but…

“How do you have my spiritual blood?” It was precisely because she carried his spiritual blood that he had been deceived into believing she was Xiang Su, with this one oversight in his otherwise flawless vigilance.

Hu Chen didn’t answer immediately, lowering her eyes in thought for a moment. Dong Tianyun didn’t rush her. “It was… Chilin.” Hu Chen’s eyes sharpened as she raised her gaze to look directly at Dong Tianyun. The hardest part was speaking the name of the mastermind behind it all. Now that she had said it, she no longer had any need for hesitation or concealment. “It was her! Knowing you would return from the Abyss River, she used Heaven’s Fire to burn Xiang Su to death. Your spiritual blood was refined by Heaven’s Fire into blood pearls. She gave them to me along with these two treasures, wanting me to impersonate Xiang Su and make you completely despair.” Hu Chen spoke in one long rush, as if unburdening herself, yet also as if afraid that if she stopped, she wouldn’t have the courage to continue.

Dong Tianyun looked at her with no reaction whatsoever, as though he hadn’t understood what she said.

Having poured out all the secrets in one breath, Hu Chen stared blankly at Dong Tianyun. She hadn’t expected this expression from him and looked at him helplessly.

Long Zhun came over, supporting Hu Chen with concern. After quite a while, Dong Tianyun finally said in a low voice, “You said… Xiang Su is dead?”

Hu Chen showed a desolate expression. This was the sentence she could finally speak aloud: “Xiang Su was killed by Chilin because she kept waiting for you. She never betrayed you.”

Dong Tianyun looked at her for another moment, calm to the point of being dazed. Suddenly he turned and walked away, disappearing into the thick night in the blink of an eye.

Long Zhun sighed. “He just left like that. Does that mean… he’s letting us go?”

Hu Chen shook her head. “He’s just momentarily overwhelmed by grief and can’t be bothered to settle accounts with us. He’ll come back sooner or later.”

Long Zhun lovingly stroked her long hair, which had fallen loose when she removed the crane feather hairpin. “No matter what, it’s finally over. From now on we can be together in peace, go somewhere no one can find us, and never deal with these troublesome matters again.”

Hu Chen didn’t respond—not because she was unwilling, but because she wasn’t as naive as Long Zhun.

A carefree and elegant figure strolled from the rear hall. The red light from the lanterns shining on his face brought not the slightest trace of joy. He was smiling, but to Hu Chen’s eyes, it was like a death warrant.

“I’ve already exposed Chilin’s secrets according to what you said. Is that enough?” Hu Chen looked at him coldly, her tone carrying a trace of disdain. She didn’t know when the man who once captivated her had become so ugly in her eyes.

Yu Mu had already walked to within five or six paces of them. Long Zhun still managed to smile at him reluctantly, maintaining the courtesy of a host.

“Little Hu Chen, you’re so clever—can’t you guess your own ending?” Yu Mu tapped her with the tourmaline ruyi scepter in his hand, truly seeming to praise her.

Hu Chen clenched her teeth secretly. “You promised that if I exposed Chilin, you would let me and Long Zhun leave!”

Yu Mu laughed, his smile handsome and gentle—to Hu Chen, hypocritical and detestable. “A person who knows too much often doesn’t have a good ending. Little Hu Chen, blame it on your bad luck!”

Only then did Long Zhun belatedly shout, “You mean to go back on your word? You’re the Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan, someone who will become the Celestial Emperor in the future! How can you do such faithless and dishonorable things!”

Hearing this, Yu Mu laughed heartily. “Those words are pleasant to hear. Little swallow, it’s precisely because I want to become Celestial Emperor that I must make you both shut up forever today. Speaking of which… I really am somewhat sorry.” He raised his eyebrows, saying this with his mouth but showing not the slightest hint of apology in his expression.

Long Zhun was enraged by his shamelessness and drew his precious sword to point at Yu Mu. “Earlier you promised me that if Hu Chen and I performed this act together, you would spare my father and release him from the Heavenly Palace dungeon! You… you…”

Yu Mu didn’t take him seriously at all. “The reason the Swallow Clan has been bullied for generations is because of fools like you and your father.”

Hu Chen looked at him coldly. By this point, she had no words left to describe this man. What he said might be right—she was unlucky. From the moment she followed his orders to lure Xiang Su out of the barrier, he had intended to kill her to silence her.

Because of her infatuation, she had painstakingly practiced the Thousand Faces technique, which gave her new utility value to him, allowing her to live a bit longer. But she also felt fortunate—she had finally seen through his cold and cruel heart, and in this ugly deceit, she had met Long Zhun.

Long Zhun still wanted to swing his sword at Yu Mu but was stopped by Hu Chen.

She smiled at Long Zhun. “It’s useless.” She gripped his hand. “We… must never be separated again.”

Long Zhun’s eyes reddened, but he felt that crying before the woman he loved would be too unmanly. If even she could face life and death so calmly, how could he cower and make her look down on him?

He smiled too, saying only: “Alright.”

Yu Mu looked at them with mocking contempt. To him, they were utterly despicable—having no ability to resist and simply giving up completely.

“How touching.” Yu Mu sneered. “Since you’re both ready, how can I not see you off?”

Yu Mu shook the tourmaline ruyi scepter. At that moment, Dong Tianyun slowly walked in from outside the hall entrance. He said nothing, only staring at Yu Mu expressionlessly.

Yu Mu panicked for an instant—he hadn’t expected Dong Tianyun to return so quickly.

“Why did you come? They deceived you so bitterly—I’m helping you vent your anger.” He pretended to be righteous.

Hearing this, Hu Chen and Long Zhun unexpectedly burst into mocking laughter in unison. Even Long Zhun, who had been somewhat afraid of him moments ago, now despised Yu Mu’s hypocrisy and cowardice.

Infuriated by their laughter into humiliated rage, Yu Mu urged the ruyi scepter forward, striking directly at Hu Chen’s head.

With a “clang,” Dong Tianyun blocked his murderously aggressive ruyi scepter with Gu Wen’s sword sheath. Having escaped death, Hu Chen and Long Zhun both looked at Dong Tianyun somewhat incredulously, unable to understand why he had intervened to save them.

“That’s enough,” Dong Tianyun said indifferently to Yu Mu. “Your tricks are so clumsy I can’t bear to watch anymore.”

Yu Mu frowned, glaring at him fiercely.

Dong Tianyun withdrew Gu Wen. “You may not know this, but when I originally imprisoned Bi Lian beneath Lingze Mountain, I sealed it with a barrier that only your tourmaline ruyi scepter can unlock.”

Yu Mu’s brows and eyes moved, showing great surprise.

“What you’ve always wanted is nothing more than this Gu Wen sword.” Dong Tianyun also looked at him. “Actually, you could have just said so directly—you didn’t need to go to such trouble. In Dragon Binding Valley, you weren’t truly trying to capture You Yue to fill the wind vortex—you hoped to seize Gu Wen under the interference of the wind vortex. If I’m not mistaken, since you were able to discover that the Divine Farmer’s Cauldron was in Dragon Binding Valley and knew about the wind vortex’s existence, all of that was just a trap you set. You helped Chilin conceal the truth because you wanted me to rush to Dragon Binding Valley as quickly as possible.”

Yu Mu said nothing, his eyelashes slowly lowering.

“Now you’re exposing Chilin’s crimes because you want me to completely break with her, making it impossible to restore my celestial essence.” Dong Tianyun smiled slightly. “But you’re being redundant—between Chilin and You Yue, I choose You Yue.”

Hearing this, Yu Mu laughed coldly several times. “Palace Master of the Nine Darkness Palace, since you’ve seen through everything from the start but didn’t speak up, you also wanted to use me. Without my tourmaline ruyi scepter, you might not have been able to enter Dragon Binding Valley safely. You also thought about deceiving Chilin to gain her help, didn’t you? How are you any better than me?”

Hearing this, Dong Tianyun didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled slightly. “The biggest difference between you and me is that I once genuinely wanted to treat Chilin sincerely.”

Yu Mu fell silent. Dong Tianyun placed Gu Wen on the Eight Immortals table in the center of the hall. “I’ll say it again—if you can lift it, I’ll give it to you!”

Yu Mu’s face turned deathly pale, his shoulders shaking continuously. It looked neither like excitement nor fear. He stared at Gu Wen, his eyes showing no bloodshot veins yet somehow giving the impression that they had turned red.

Looking at him, Dong Tianyun suddenly remembered how Xiang Su had disliked Yu Mu from their first meeting because he had shown greedy and savage expressions before the three broken swords. His heart felt as if it had been cut by Gu Wen—that beautiful girl with her laughing words and cheerful manner, that melancholy maiden who had waited for him alone by the Abyss River… was dead! Hearing Hu Chen reveal the truth, he hadn’t even had time to hate Chilin. He only felt numbly repeating Hu Chen’s words in his mind: Xiang Su is dead.

He didn’t even know how he had walked out of Autumn Peace Mountain. He only felt his heart swelling with indescribable emotions, ready to burst apart. He had to go find her—Xiang Su, who had been waiting for him to return. He had returned, so where was she? Standing on the clouds with the night wind blowing bleakly, he suddenly came to his senses but fell into even deeper confusion. Heaven and earth, the three realms of gods and demons—where should he go to find her?

Dong Tianyun suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. Hu Chen and Long Zhun both looked at him in shock, not knowing how he had been injured. Dong Tianyun wiped the residual blood from the corner of his mouth. He couldn’t tell if Gu Wen had truly cut his heart—in any case… the pain was so intense that even he could barely endure it.

Yu Mu stared fixedly at Gu Wen, completely oblivious to Dong Tianyun’s condition. He finally struck out swiftly, his eyes gleaming like a madman’s. Gu Wen was different from the Heavenly Demon Sword of old. Before Yu Mu’s fingers could even touch its hilt, it was already trembling defiantly with a ringing sound. When its sword energy turned severe, Yu Mu cried out and retreated, clutching his fingers. He looked at the Gu Wen sword and suddenly burst into loud laughter. After laughing, he slowly revealed a vicious expression. “Beast! You were originally my ancestor’s sword. Now you don’t recognize your old master and shamelessly injure me—truly contemptible!”

Dong Tianyun picked up Gu Wen. Although everything Yu Mu said was laughable, he couldn’t allow him to insult Gu Wen. Dong Tianyun shot Yu Mu a cold glance. Yu Mu was instinctively intimidated by him, becoming especially resentful after realizing it.

“Dong Tianyun, since you were willing to let me try, you already knew I couldn’t lift it.” Yu Mu calmed his emotions somewhat, recovering a bit of his usual tone. “But it doesn’t matter! This sword originally belonged to the Celestial Clan. Even if we seal it away and let it rust, we won’t let you swagger around with it!”

Dong Tianyun acted as if he hadn’t heard him.

Yu Mu had long been on guard against Dong Tianyun killing him. While speaking, he retreated toward the hall entrance, only casting down harsh words once he had mounted the clouds: “Since we’ve already torn off the veneer of civility, the Celestial Clan won’t scruple about forcibly seizing Gu Wen from your hands! With no hope of restoring your celestial body, relying only on your impure half-celestial, half-demon cultivation, you have only a dead end ahead!”

Dong Tianyun finally reacted, but only with an extremely contemptuous cold snort. Yu Mu flicked his sleeves and departed.

Hu Chen and Long Zhun looked at Dong Tianyun with ashen faces. Before him, the two of them were nothing but fish on a chopping board. Still, dying by his hand was better than dying at the hands of that villain Yu Mu.

“You may go.” Dong Tianyun said.

Neither Hu Chen nor Long Zhun moved, as if they hadn’t understood his words.

After a while, Hu Chen finally shook her head. “You’re letting us go?”

Dong Tianyun nodded. People in love being able to stay together was at least one good thing. He raised his eyes to look at Hu Chen, hoping to see a few traces of Xiang Su’s likeness in her face… but there remained only complete and utter strangeness.

This girl was an accomplice of Yu Mu and Chilin, yet she had her own helplessness. He couldn’t resent her, because on countless nights, he had watched her transform into Xiang Su and live happily together with Long Zhun. He even hoped this secret would never be exposed, that she would become Xiang Su forever—at least letting him see her living happily.

Long Zhun and Hu Chen walked a few trembling steps, then heard Dong Tianyun say quietly, “Stop.” The two smiled bitterly in despair. As expected, they still couldn’t escape death. Well, perhaps this would repay the karmic debt they owed.

“Leave the hairpin and the silk ribbon.”

Only then did Hu Chen realize that in her tension, she had been clutching these two items tightly all along. She solemnly presented these two items to Dong Tianyun—these were the only belongings his beloved maiden had left in the world.

Dong Tianyun looked at them silently, his movements slow and heavy as he accepted these two items. Hu Chen again felt both pity and envy—pity that he had lost his beloved, yet envy for the girl who was so deeply loved by him.

When only Dong Tianyun remained in the great hall, not even the bright red lanterns could dispel the loneliness and desolation pervading the lofty hall. Dong Tianyun looked at the Gardenia Fragrance Silk and the Sinking Star Fan in his hands. His fingers tightened and he coughed up another mouthful of fresh blood. The ribbon and hairpin stained with blood suddenly seemed unbearably sorrowful and broken.