Ma Jingguo's cries of plead echoed among the unfolding chaos as Wang Zedong and his followers began pulling away from Jinfeng Sect, leaving the battlefield strewn with the wounded.
Mu Dishi turned around and saw Ma Jingguo's mouth stained with blood, and the familiar, happy puppy's big eyes were now wet with tears. He stretched out his hand toward Ma Jingguo's and slowly began to pull his own hem away from Ma Jingguo's hand, but Ma Jingguo quickly clenched his hand and refused to let it go.
Ma Jingguo grasped Mu Dishi's hand and placed it flat against his own left chest. He whispered sadly, "Xiao shushu, this heart misses you very much..."
Cao Wenyan pulled Mu Dishi away, his voice cold and rational. "He is not who you think he is." Cao Wenyan and Mu Dishi began to walk away, leaving the young man clinging to the ground.
Ma Jingguo watched his figure receding, his voice breaking with anguish. "Xiao shushu, why do you always have to hurt me before you will care for me?"
Mu Dishi stopped; he did feel his heart torn in his chest. He knew how much Ma Jingguo missed him, and he was no different from Ma Jingguo. He wanted to pull away Cao Wenyan's hand, turn around, and rush into Ma Jingguo's arms. He slowly began to move Cao Wenyan's hand away from his left shoulder.
Then, he heard a familiar woman's voice calling Ma Jingguo's name. He knew that this woman was Ma Jingguo's partner, the one they had met in the tavern, the one Ma Jingguo had held tightly in Shaolin. The sound was the cold justification he needed for his self-imposed exile. Ma Jingguo moved on, he should too.
Mu Dishi murmured beside Cao Wenyan, his voice now resolute. "Let's go."
Mu Dishi and Cao Wenyan slowly descended the stairs and walked toward the gate. Even as they departed, the battlefield was shiftin; people from the six sectors rushed in with their members, entering the Jinfeng Sector to engage in the chaotic aftermath. The war was just beginning.
Ma Jingguo quickly began to crawl forward, chasing the receding figures of Mu Dishi and Cao Wenyan. He shouted like a madman, his voice ragged with sorrow. "Xiao shushu… xiao shushu waits for me… Don't leave me... Xiao shushu!"
His desperate pursuit was finally halted when Zu Siyuan rushed over, called his name, and hit the back of his neck, mercifully knocking him unconscious to stop his hysterical pleas.
The siege was over: because of Wang Zedong's injury from the golden needle, Wang Zedong and his men were forced to retreat from Jinfeng Sect.
Zhu Mingyang, however, still stood where he had collapsed, clenching his fists tightly. He seemed to be possessed by a dangerous internal force. Gu Yingjie shook him and called his name several times, but Zhu Mingyang remained unresponsive.
Yan Zhanjin walked in front of his friend and raised up his right hand, displaying a familiar gesture. "Mingyang, you said you will remember me when you see this. Now, try to remember me."
Zhu Mingyang blinked slowly, his eyes momentarily clearing, only to quickly darken again. He reached out and violently grabbed Yan Zhanjin by the neck.
His voice was a low, chilling murmur, utterly devoid of recognition. "Whoever harms Jingjie will definitely die."
Gu Yingjie grasped Zhu Mingyang's hand firmly. "Mingyang, stop it!" He tried desperately to pull Zhu Mingyang's rigid fingers away from Yan Zhanjin's neck. Maintaining his hold, Gu Yingjie began to count, his voice calm and steady. "One... two... three... four..."
Zhu Mingyang's labored breathing began to slow down as he listened to the familiar rhythm of Gu Yingjie's voice. When Gu Yingjie reached seven, Zhu Mingyang finally turned his head to look at him, and his grip on Yan Zhanjin's neck loosened.
Zhu Mingyang blinked, the murderous haze lifting. He asked, his voice weak, "Yingjie, are you hurt?"
"No," Gu Yingjie said. He held Zhu Mingyang's hand tightly. "Mingyang, let go."
Zhu Mingyang immediately released Yan Zhanjin and exhausted by the immense strain of the magically forced martial arts, fainted.
Zhu Mingyang slowly opened his eyes and saw Yan Zhanjin lying on a nearby table, sleeping—a clear sign that his friend had been caring for him. He slowly got up and stared at Yan Zhanjin. He reached out and touched his friend, which caused Yan Zhanjin to instantly wake up.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhu Mingyang replied, "Just putting you to bed."
After Zhu Mingyang gently settled Yan Zhanjin onto the bed, he lay down beside him.
Yan Zhanjin asked, "Does anyone here know that that person is Mu Dishi?"
"No," Zhu Mingyang said, "except for Ma Jingguo's suspicion."
Yan Zhanjin sighed, turning to face Zhu Mingyang. "To have someone love you too much is not a good thing when you try to hide yourself from the rest of the world." He paused. "Cao Wenyan told me that you sold yourself to the Gu family, just wanting them to kill your father for you."
"Yes," Zhu Mingyang confirmed.
"Why?" Yan Zhanjin pressed.
"He killed my mother," Zhu Mingyang stated simply.
"What's your father's name?"
"It has been so long, I have forgotten his name already."
"How did he kill your mother?"
Zhu Mingyang's voice was heavy with old pain. "He drove my mother to the end of her road. She couldn't stand the pain anymore, so she committed suicide." He sighed again. "I'm not a good person. I did a lot of things against my will. Many people who know me are afraid of me. Do you know? The first person I killed was a ten-year-old boy."
Yan Zhanjin's voice was tight with fear and concern, cold sweat forming in his palms. "How... and why?" he asked.
Zhu Mingyang sighed, staring at the ceiling. He began to tell Yan Zhanjin the childhood past he had desperately tried to forget.
That year was the first winter he sold himself to the Gu Household. Zhu Mingyang was locked inside a cage with thirty-five children around his age. The thirty-five children had been hungry for four days without food and water. On the fifth day, twenty buns were thrown into the cage, and the children began to compete for buns. Some younger children were too weak to get up.
Zhu Mingyang grabbed a bun, and another boy about ten years old grabbed the bun from him. Zhu Mingyang followed the boy. Zhu Mingyang grabbed the little boy's neck and squeezed it hard. Only then did Zhu Mingyang realize that this is not who he is. This is not what his mother taught him. He slowly loosened the boy's neck. The boy coughed so badly that he could not breathe. The boy's eyes widened, looking directly at Zhu Mingyang. He took a few breaths, and the boy fell to the floor. The next day, some people entered the cage and took away the dead children. On the last day of the month, only four children survived. They were brought into the training ground in shackles. So, this is the price he paid for someone to kill his father.
The memory of his childhood washed over him, and Zhu Mingyang sighed, letting the weight of the past settle. "I do not regret selling my soul to the Gu. The Gu Household did get me my sweet revenge. My father and his wife were forced to kneel in front of my mother's grave. On the fourteenth day, they only ate leftovers from the garbage in nearby restaurants. My father could not bear his punishment, and he fell ill after the fourteenth day. A month later, he died due to the illness. I was not there to witness his death, but I heard that before my father's death, my father went crazy and begged my mother for forgiveness."
He paused for a moment, letting the information sink in, then sighed and continued, "So, that's how they died."
Yan Zhanjin asked, "So, you didn't actually kill him?"
"It's not that I stabbed the knife, but he died because of me," Zhu Mingyang admitted. He turned his head to look at Yan Zhanjin. "I don't feel sorry or bad for what I did to him. Letting him and his wife kneel for fourteen days is not even one-third of what my mother and I have experienced."
"Mingyang..." Yan Zhanjin pressed gently. "Just now, you still remember what you did."
"I heard someone ordered me to kill Wang Zedong," Zhu Mingyang explained. "I didn't remember anything after I stood up."
"Scary, very scary," Yan Zhanjin murmured, still reeling from the thought of the music. "Mu Dishi can use his music to direct people to kill."
Zhu Mingyang offered a vital insight. "No, I think he can only command me, not everyone."
Yan Zhanjin asked, his mind searching for a logical explanation. "Did Mu Dishi plant some device or poison in you some way? I know that Mu Dishi is the son of all those famous Mu doctors. He might have used his golden needle to harm you."
"No," Zhu Mingyang said. "I possess the devil fist technique. I think this is how he controls me." He turned his face and looked at the ceiling, the final piece of his dark history exposed. He asked, "Zhanjin, now you know me. If you think you can't be friends with me, I understand."
Yan Zhanjin rolled flat onto his back, facing the ceiling. "You talk too much," he said simply, dismissing the fear and the moral judgment. "Go sleep, it takes two days to walk back home."
Ma Jingguo woke up with a sore neck. He sat on the bed and saw Zu Suyin sitting on the table. "Where is xiao shushu?" he demanded.
Zu Suyin replied with the accepted narrative. "He died in Shaolin."
"The person with Zhu Mingyang?" Ma Jingguo pressed.
"Yan Zhanjin?" Zu Suyin asked, confused by his focus.
Ma Jingguo stormed out of his room and headed straight to the guesthouse. He slammed the door open and walked into the room, startling Zhu Mingyang awake.
"Where is xiao shushu?" Ma Jingguo yelled madly.
"I don't know xiao shushu," Zhu Mingyang maintained, meeting his gaze.
Ma Jingguo asked impatiently, "The man with the long veil hat."
"He is gone," Zhu Mingyang said.
"Is he Mu Dishi?"
"I was told to not know his name, so I never asked him."
Ma Jingguo, desperate, demanded, "Where can I find him?"
Yan Zhanjin intervened from the bed. "Ma ge, if he doesn't want to be discovered, you can't find him."
Ma Jingguo pleaded, "Zhanjin, tell me, is he my xiao shushu?"
"I haven't seen his face, so I don't know," Yan Zhanjin insisted.
"I can't be wrong!" Ma Jingguo yelled. "His eyes are exactly the same as xiao shushu. His voice, his breath, and his waist are exactly the same as xiao shushu."
Zu Suyin tried to soothe him. "Ma-xiong, sometimes when we miss someone so much, we often mistake other people as them."
Ma Jingguo's resolves hardened. "If none of you will tell me, I will go ask Cao Wenyan myself!"
Yan Zhanjin jumped off the bed and grabbed Ma Jingguo's left arm. "Ma ge…let him go, so he can rest in peace. Batu once told me that the more we held onto the past, the more we held the person's spirit with us, and that person will never be born again. Mu Dishi deserves to be reborn to be a better person. Perhaps he will be born in a family that loves him very much. If you keep mourning for him, he cannot be reborn."
Zhu Mingyang spoke from behind, his voice layered with earned wisdom. "Ma-xiong, I have learned these years. I want to live as full as I can, so when I meet my mother in the underworld, I won't be ashamed to face her. I mourned for her in a good way. Live according to her teachings and enjoy every day as much as I can." He looked pointedly at Ma Jingguo. "If you indulge yourself in this way, whether it is here or in the underworld, Mu Dishi will never agree to see you."
Ma Jingguo replied stubbornly, rejecting their counsel. "Don't coax me with your sympathetic words." Ma Jingguo left, with Zu Suyin following him.
Zhu Mingyang immediately grabbed onto Yan Zhanjin's left arm, his composure instantly gone.
"What's wrong?" Yan Zhanjin asked, alarmed.
Zhu Mingyang gasped, "Zhanjin, my chest is tight."
Yan Zhanjin instantly took out three silver needles and directly pierced Zhu Mingyang's left shoulder blade. This caused Zhu Mingyang to spit out blood.
"Feeling better?" Yan Zhanjin asked.
"A lot better, I can breathe now," Zhu Mingyang confirmed, relieved.
Yan Zhanjin pressed him. "When Mu Dishi asked you to fight Wang Zedong, you were invincible. Why didn't you use your inner energy to force this bad blood out?"
Zhu Mingyang smiled, a thin, weary expression. "Zhanjin, even the invincible man does feel pain."
When the two walked back toward the guesthouse, a person also walked out from behind a rock. The person watched the two enter the room and closed the door, their presence a silent, dangerous promise.