The soft, flowing melody of a guzheng filled the air. Rao Zhengsheng practiced in the backyard of the Yuan family, his sword weaving and striking in rhythm with the music. His butterfly blade—though currently a single, ordinary sword—flew like a butterfly dancing on the wind. When the melody ended, Rao Zhengsheng finished his practice and walked into the small pavilion. He smiled warmly at Yuan Xiurong.
Yuan Xiurong poured a cup of tea, handing it to him with a gentle smile. "Rao gege, your butterfly sword technique is much better, but why are you still using that simple sword instead of the true butterfly swords?"
Rao Zhengsheng's expression turned serious. "I'm not ready yet. I want to kill Cao Fengge with those swords."
Yuan Xiurong took out a yellow amulet folded into a neat triangle and handed it to him. She smiled encouragingly. "I went to the temple the other day and asked for this amulet from one of the monks."
Rao Zhengsheng took the amulet and tucked it carefully into his robe. He smiled at her gratefully. "Xiurong, thank you for everything you and Leader Yuan have done for Lanying and me."
A maid hurried toward the pavilion, stopping outside. "Er Xiaojie, Er Xiaojie! Da Xiaojie is back!"
Yuan Xiurong stood up abruptly. "How? Where is she?"
The maid replied quickly. "Da Xiaojie is escorted by the Gu family guard. She's not in the manor—she's in the abandoned hut on the back hill."
Yuan Xiurong was confused. "What happened?"
The maid lowered her voice. "Da Xiaojie came back with a divorce order."
Yuan Xiurong looked at Rao Zhengsheng. "Rao gege, I'm going to go see her."
Rao Zhengsheng nodded immediately. "I will accompany you."
As they walked out of the backyard and toward the front of the manor, they saw Dong Lanying walking in with Yuan Zixin.
Yuan Zixin asked sternly, "Where are the two of you going?"
Yuan Xiurong rushed to her father. "Father, why do you want Jiejie to stay in the abandoned hut on the hill?"
Yuan Zixin's face was unyielding. "She wants to stay there. I told her before that if she returns here, she is not allowed to stay in the manor with us." He looked pointedly at Yuan Xiurong. "Don't visit her. She needs time to reflect on her mistakes."
In the back hill of the stone mountain stood a small, old house. Yuan Chaomei stood alone, desperately trying to repair the dilapidated structure. After cleaning the interior, she walked out the front door, carrying a bucket of water. She stopped short when she saw Fu Yuanjun standing on the other side of the door. Yuan Chaomei walked up to him, her expression weary. "What business does Cheif Fu have with me?"
Fu Yuanjun spoke with concern. "I heard that Gu Yingjie divorced you."
Yuan Chaomei's voice was firm, defending her estranged husband. "Yingjie had to divorce me because he committed treason, and he didn't want to implicate me."
Fu Yuanjun said, his tone sympathetic, "Fortunately, he is considerate of you."
Yuan Chaomei's eyes were sad. "This is the last thing a husband can do for his wife."
Fu Yuanjun then asked, his voice suddenly sharp, "When are you going to give birth to your child?"
Yuan Chaomei looked startled. "How do you know?"
"From the martial artists who participated in the celebration banquet," he admitted.
Yuan Chaomei sighed, her gaze hardening. "Miscarriage." She looked pointedly at him. "If Chief Fu has nothing else, please excuse me." She walked past him, setting the bucket down next to the well.
Fu Yuanjun walked into the gate uninvited, stopping directly in front of her. He looked at her closely. "Miscarriage? How?"
Yuan Chaomei simply repeated herself. "It was a miscarriage." She started walking back toward the door of her small house.
Fu Yuanjun asked again, pressing the issue. "Miscarriage, or were you not pregnant in the first place?"
Yuan Chaomei sighed, turning around to face him with weary frustration. "All you need to know is that I had a miscarriage." She walked into the house and firmly closed the door behind her. She walked to the table and sat down as her tears moisten her eyes.
She looked up at the ceiling and wiped her tears, because she knew that out of all the men in her life lied to her. The only person who kept his promise was Gu Yingjie. Her father asked her to marry Gu Yingjie so that she could help him get protection from the Gu family. Fu Yuanjun left her because he was afraid of hardship.
Outside of the hut, Fu Yuanjun ignored the closed door, walking to the open window. "You are not pregnant, are you?" he asked, his voice low and insistent. "Did you even sleep with Gu Yingjie?"
Yuan Chaomei stood up from the table, facing him through the window. "Chief Fu, please leave me alone. This land still belongs to the Yuan."
Fu Yuanjun pleaded, frustration creeping in. "Chaomei, please answer me."
Yuan Chaomei then delivered the final, painful truth, her voice clear and sharp. "Gu Yingjie and Zhu Mingyang are like Ma Jingguo and Mu Dishi. Do you think Gu Yingjie will sleep with me, if the person he wants beside him is Zhu Mingyang?" Her resolve was final. "Please leave me be and go away." She dropped the window drape, cutting off his sight.
That night, Yuan Chaomei sat alone in her desolate room, eating quietly. For her, this was normal. Since her adoption by Yuan Zixin, she had always eaten alone, though she had been grateful for the last two years when Gu Yingjie would join her when he wasn't on a mission from Gu Tingfang. She conceded that the happiest time in her life had been those two years inside the Gu Manor, having Gu Yingjie as her best friend.
Then, the sound of approaching footsteps made her look up. She recognized the figure immediately: Yuan Zixin. She stood and walked to the door to wait for him.
Yuan Zixin looked at her, his expression hard and questioning. "You have stayed in the Gu residence for two years; what have you found?"
Yuan Chaomei reported dutifully, "Godfather, Gu Tingfang's guards are well-trained. If Godfather wants to capture the Four Houses, then Gu Tingfang is the biggest obstacle."
Yuan Zixin smiled, a cold, knowing expression. "You are wrong. The biggest obstacle to my progress is not Gu Tingfang, nor is it the Six Sects and Four Clans."
Yuan Chaomei looked surprised. "Who would it be?"
Yuan Zixin's smile vanished. "My biggest obstacle now is Cao Fengge."
Yuan Chaomei looked confused. "Cao Fengge? Why him?"
Yuan Zixin's gaze was heavy. "Chaomei, the most terrifying opponents are those low-key people."
Yuan Chaomei asked, hesitation in her voice, "Godfather, do we really want to use Rao Zhengsheng and Dong Lanying against Cao Fengge?"
"Why not?" Yuan Zixin countered, looking directly at her. "The two families have an old grudge. We will pass the news of Cao Fengge to Rao Zhengsheng, and he will kill him for us. We don't have to lift our hands; our enemy will be wiped out for us by others."
Yuan Chaomei worriedly started, "It's just that..."
"What?" Yuan Zixin prompted.
"Xiurong," Yuan Chaomei confessed quietly. "I can see that she likes Rao Zhengsheng very much."
Yuan Zixin sighed. "I'm fine with this." He turned to her, a hint of old guilt in his eyes. "Chaomei, you may think it's unfair to you." He paused. "Back when you liked Fu Yuanjun, I separated you. Now I tell you, Xiurong likes whoever she likes. Do you hate me?"
Yuan Chaomei immediately dropped to her knees. "Godfather, Chaomei doesn't hate you. You saved me."
Yuan Zixin helped her up, his expression remorseful. "I'm sorry that it ended up this way. You endure it for a while. After I destroy the Seven Sects and the Five Clans, I will personally send you to Fu Yuanjun."
Yuan Chaomei quietly refused. "Godfather, you don't have to do that. Between me and Fu Yuanjun, we weren't meant to be."
Yuan Zixin then steered the conversation back to business. "I still need to find out what happened to Right-Guard Zan." His voice lowered with the weight of history. "Many years ago, the heir of the Sunset Sect, Zan Huangming, killed the leaders of the Seven Sects and Five Clans, but his body has not been found. I only heard that he was taken away when he gave his last order to kill everyone inside Shaolin Temple that day. From there, his fate is uncertain."
Yuan Chaomei connected the history to the recent rumors. "Is this the reason why Mu Dishi died?"
Yuan Zixin grew visibly angry. "Chaomei, you don't know how terrible it is, because you haven't seen blood soaked to the ground." His voice rose with indignation. "At that time, I saw the bodies of people I knew everywhere. They call us the Demon Clan because we didn't side with them. Just because our way of martial arts training was different from theirs, they labeled us the Demon Clan!" Yuan Zixin choked, rising in a fit of rage and beginning to cough violently.
Yuan Chaomei rushed to him. "Godfather, don't think too much. Please take care of yourself."
Yuan Zixin stared out, his teeth gritted with blazing hatred. "That time, I stood behind my father, staring into the eyes of the so-called righteous martial artists. I remembered their faces and their names very clearly: Bai Tao chief of Kongdong, Lin Gengxi chief Tianshan, Xie Zhangke chief of Huangshan, Bu Chushen chief of Mangsha, Dai Liting chief of Kunlun, and Ning Weibang chief of Huashan. I hate them! I hate them very much!"
As anger surged through him, the past terror—a fear that had never left him since that devastating day—overwhelmed Yuan Zixin.
The screams of the dying and the relentless sound of swords colliding twisted in Yuan Zixin's ears, mixing into a horrifying parody of guzheng music and drumming. A sword suddenly swung toward his neck. Yuan Dai instantly intercepted the blow with his own sword and grabbed Yuan Zixin, pulling him close. Yuan Dai kicked the attacking martial artist, spun his sword, and plunged it into the attacker's abdomen.
Yuan Zixin cried out, terrified, "Father... I'm scared!"
Yuan Dai held him tight. "Don't be afraid, son. Father is right here beside you."
Immediately, Yuan Dai and Yuan Zixin looked up. The six sector leaders were fiercely battling Yuan Yu. Yuan Dai knew instantly that Yuan Yu was at a severe disadvantage.
Lin Gengxi, chief of Tianshan, shouted, recognizing the threat, "There is the co-leader, Yuan Dai!"
Ning Weibang, chief of Huashan pointed his sword, his voice sharp. "Kill him!"
The six sects' chiefs rushed toward Yuan Dai and his son. Yuan Dai pushed Yuan Zixin behind him. He knew he couldn't defeat all six sector leaders simultaneously, but he was prepared to fight to his last breath to protect his son.
Just as the six sects' chiefs closed in, a sudden, powerful music sound wave erupted, hitting the six sector leaders and sending them reeling backward. They fell to the ground, vomiting blood from the forceful internal impact.
The leaders quickly staggered back to their feet. Standing in front of Yuan Dai and Yuan Zixin was a young man. The young man calmly pulled a pair of black metal gloves from his inner robe and slipped them onto his hands.
He looked at the six sector leaders, his voice carrying the authority of death. "Scram or die."