Inside the dark, cold cave that served as their muster point, Xue Longwei violently spat out a mouthful of thick, black blood onto the stone floor. He was clearly poisoned, his internal energies failing.
Yongzheng moved quickly, preparing to transfer more of his internal energy to stabilize the family head, but Xue Longwei raised a weak, stopping hand.
"Dirty beggar," Xue Longwei rasped, his eyes burning with a grim finality. "At this point, it is useless to transfer your inner energy to me. It doesn't do me any good." He turned his gaze to Xue Horan, who was huddled nearby, weeping without control. "Horan, I'm thirsty, go get me some water."
Xue Horan shook his head vehemently, tears streaming down his face. "I don't want to go."
"Be obedient and go," Xue Longwei commanded, his voice edged with forced firmness.
Seeing the deadlock, Xue Horan relented, but only under one condition. "Yongzheng, stay with my father. I will go fetch some water."
"Be careful," Yongzheng said, his tone serious, watching the young man disappear quickly from the cave entrance.
As soon as they were alone, Xue Longwei sank heavily to his knees on the ground.
"Xue qianbei," Yongzheng said immediately, moving to lift him. "You don't need to kneel. If there is anything I can help you with, I am willing, as long as you don't ask me to kill for you."
Xue Longwei ignored the offer of help; his focus narrowed to his dying wish. "Promise me one thing."
He leaned closer, forcing the words out. "I'm going to teach you the last twenty moves of the 'Butterfly Swords Manual'. You must promise me that you will pass it on to Zhengsheng."
Inside the cold cave, Yongzheng watched the dying man, his face etched with worry. "Xue qianbei," he said gravely, "you know that once your energy flows like this, your meridians will be completely destroyed. The poison in your body will rush straight to your heart, and you will die within minutes."
Xue Longwei paid no mind to the warning; he was consumed by his final urgency. He shouted wildly, a desperate, fading passion in his voice. "Yes, I know! But my time is limited. No matter what, I will die. If you don't promise me this, I will forbid Horan from ever befriending you!"
Yongzheng closed his eyes, accepting the manipulation with a sigh. "What about Horan? What do you want me to say to him?"
Xue Longwei's answer was immediate and firm. "Just tell him the truth. Horan hates lie, because he never lied."
Yongzheng opened his eyes, the decision made. "Let's start then."
Xue Longwei nodded, sinking deeper into his desperate focus. "Dirty beggar, pay close attention."
Ignoring the searing pain and the internal devastation, Xue Longwei launched into a fierce, final display. His body was a wreck, but his sword hand was precise and deadly as he demonstrated the last twenty moves of the 'Butterfly Swords Manual'. He didn't explain or elaborate; he simply showed the movements, each maneuver a silent legacy pressed onto Yongzheng's memory.
As the final move concluded, the cost was immediate and terrible. Xue Longwei immediately fell to his knees, vomiting more black blood, his energy spent, his life force extinguished.
Without a word, Yongzheng reached down and picked up the two sticks Xue Longwei had used as impromptu swords. He took a steadying breath, and then, with the profound stillness of a true martial artist absorbing a new form, he began to execute the moves. He repeated every flourish and every subtle shift that Xue Longwei had just shown him, displaying the complete sequence back to the dying master with fluid, accurate motion.
Xue Longwei laughed, a hacking, wet sound that quickly turned into a violent cough. "Dirty beggar, your memory is really good." He spat out more black blood. Yongzheng knelt behind him, supporting Xue Longwei's back, trying to give him some small measure of comfort.
Yongzheng leaned closer, his voice low with concern. "Do you have anything else to say?"
Yongzheng was about to impart more internal energy, a futile effort, but was stopped by Xue Longwei's hand. This time, his voice was thin, choked on his own blood. "It's useless, dirty beggar."
Yongzheng asked again, his heart heavy. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
Xue Longwei struggled to speak. "If it's not too much trouble... please look after Horan." His voice became almost a whispering thread. "His martial art skill is weak, and he is very likely to be used by others." He gathered his strength for his final instructions. "Dirty beggar, remember, these last twenty moves can only be taught to Zhengsheng the day after he married Horan. You can tell him that this is my wedding gift to him. If he doesn't keep his promise... if he refuses to marry Horan..." He chuckled lightly, a sound full of complex emotion. "Forget it then. Don't teach him a single move."
Yongzheng spoke with absolute sincerity, his voice shaking with the weight of the promise. "I will remember. Xue qianbei, I promised you that I will take care of Horan. I will not put him in danger. I... I will use my life to protect Horan's."
Xue Longwei smiled faintly. "You…"
Yongzheng finished the thought that the master was unable to voice. "I know you worry about him. I promised you that if Rao Zhengsheng refuses to marry Horan, I... I will stay with him."
"Do you like him?" Xue Longwei asked, his final query.
Yongzheng nodded. His answer was simple, direct, and fervent. "I like him."
Xue Longwei chuckled, a final, weak exhalation of air. "Very good. Very good. I can rest in peace." His body slumped fully against Yongzheng's arm.
Xue Horan walked into the cave, the faint, flickering light reflecting off the leaf cone of water in his hands. "Father, I'm back," he announced, his voice carrying a nervous cheer.
Seeing Xue Longwei's devastating state, his heart instantly dropped. He rushed forward. "Yongzheng, why does my father look worse than when I left him?"
Yongzheng looked up at Xue Horan, his expression heavy with sorrow and urgency. "Horan, quickly tell him what you want him to hear."
"What...?" Xue Horan stammered, his blood turning cold. He grabbed Xue Longwei's right hand. "Father, don't leave me!"
With a desperate final effort, Xue Longwei gripped both Horan's hand and Yongzheng's. "Horan… he… Horan… he like…" He managed a weak smile and attempted to sit up, facing his son, before his body abruptly fell back into Yongzheng's arms. He gasped twice, shallow and rattling, and then, surrounded by the two young men, he died.
Xue Horan stared, the water cone slipping from his numb fingers. "Father… Father… he like what? You haven't finished speaking yet. Get up and finish your words. Father… Wake up." It was a desperate plea born of shock and the sheer unwillingness to accept that his father had died right in front of him. His mind, unable to process the grief, slowly shut down, and he fainted.
When Xue Horan slowly opened his eyes, the cave was empty. He was alone.
He scrambled to his feet, hurrying out of the cave entrance. Outside, in the harsh glare of the daylight, he saw Yongzheng digging a grave, using a rudimentary hoe. Lying still beside the freshly dug hole, covered respectfully with a cloth, was the body of his father.
Xue Horan looked at the makeshift hoe and asked, his voice raw and distant, "Yongzheng, where did you get this?"
"I went back to your house and took it," Yongzheng replied, his gaze returning to the grave. "The wooden shed is the only place that didn't catch on fire."
Xue Horan slowly walked to his father's body and sat down beside it. He looked up just as he saw Rao Zhengsheng walking toward them, his mother slung across his back. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward his eldest brother, shouting, "Da shixiong!"
Rao Zhengsheng looked at him, tears streaming down his face, his voice hoarse and broken. "Horan… Shimu… she..."
When Xue Horan looked at the devastated faces of Rao Zhengsheng and Dong Lanying, who was following closely, he already knew the truth. He asked, his own tears starting to flow, "Is she dead?"
Rao Zhengsheng could only nod, unable to speak.
"She is dead?" Xue Horan repeated, his voice barely a whisper of disbelief.
Rao Zhengsheng stepped forward. "Horan…"
"She is dead," Xue Horan confirmed to himself, the reality slamming into him. He felt his heart beating faster and faster, a furious drum against his ribs. Then, suddenly, everything turned black, and he merged into the darkness.
As Xue Horan's body slowly fell to the side, Yongzheng rushed forward, moving faster than Rao Zhengsheng. He caught Xue Horan before he hit the ground, gently picked him up, and leaned the Xue Horan's unconscious body against the nearest tree trunk.
In the next few hours, the only sounds were the scraping of the hoe and the muffled thud of earth. Rao Zhengsheng and Yongzheng wordlessly took turns digging a single, large grave—a final resting place for the masters of Butterfly Island.
Once the grave was deep enough, Rao Zhengsheng carefully carried Xue Longwei's body and placed it inside. Afterwards, he gently laid Xue Luxia's body beside her husband. He saw some dried bloodstains on her lips, a final sign of her struggle. He took out his handkerchief and, with a trembling hand, began to wipe away the dark residue.
As Rao Zhengsheng wiped Xue Luxia's lips, a wave of powerful, heartbreaking memory crashed over him: the sweet memories of life on Butterfly Island with his younger juniors and his shifu and shimu, whom he regarded as his true parents. He wished he could go back in time, back to that wonderful family night—a night that now felt like a captured, impossible dream.
He pictured the dining hall: Xue Horan, Xue Luxia, Yen Nuo bringing all the dishes to the round table. They sat together, happily talking about the mundane, joyful things they did during the day. As everyone knows, those happy times will not last forever, nor can they be captured by time.
Tears finally overwhelmed him, and he began to sob, his shoulders shaking with the profound loss of the family he knows.
Yuan Xiurong approached and spoke gently, trying to pull him from the edge of despair. "Rao gege, please don't cry anymore. Anyway, they are gone."
Swallowing his grief, Rao Zhengsheng returned to the grim task. He, Yongzheng, and Dong Lanying went back and retrieved the other three bodies. They dug three more graves and laid the bodies of their fallen seniors to rest.
They waited until darkness had fully descended, and Xue Horan finally regained consciousness. After Xue Horan had tearfully said his last goodbye to his parents and his three seniors, the four people began to cover the four graves with dirt and stones, forming small mounds marked by the cold, dark earth.
Rao Zhengsheng, Xue Horan, and Dong Lanying knelt together in front of the largest grave, where the masters of the sect lay.
Rao Zhengsheng's voice was low, broken by sobs, yet steel-hard with purpose. "Shifu… Shimu… juniors, rest in peace. Don't worry about anything else. I will kill Cao Fengge and avenge your death."
He then reached out and firmly grabbed Xue Horan's hand, his gaze settling on the fresh earth grave.
"In front of your graves, I promise I will take care of Horan for the rest of my life. I will marry Horan."
Later that night, Yongzheng woke suddenly. The cave was cold, and the sound of the crackling fire was too loud in the stillness. He immediately noticed that both Rao Zhengsheng and Xue Horan were gone. He walked out, his steps cautious, and saw them sitting together, shadows against the pale light of the moon, before the freshly turned earth of Xue Longwei and Xue Luxia's grave.
Rao Zhengsheng broke the silence, his voice hushed but firm with decision. "Horan, Let's marry."
Xue Horan looked at him, his expression obscured by the darkness and his grief. He searched his eldest brother's face, asking, "Da shixiong, are you absolutely sure that you want to marry me?"
"Yes," Rao Zhengsheng affirmed, squeezing his hand. "Sooner or later, we are going to get married. I would like to marry you in front of shifu and shimu."
Xue Horan then introduced his condition, a test born of his deepest fear. "If you marry me, you can not marry another person. Will you agree?" He stopped and waited for an answer, but a familiar dread told him he wouldn't receive one. He continued, his voice heavy with caution. "Da shixiong, think carefully before deciding. I will spend three years mourning for my parents, and you can answer me at that time." He got up and started to walk away.
Rao Zhengsheng reacted instantly, pulling Xue Horan into a fierce embrace. He lowered his head and kissed Xue Horan's lips—a deep, desperate pledge. When they parted, Rao Zhengsheng spoke, his breath ragged. "Horan, I really do love you."
Xue Horan gently pushed back, a shadow of doubt lingering in his eyes. "Three years is a long time. Let's see if Da shixiong still feels the same."
Rao Zhengsheng held Xue Horan tightly in his arms, sealing his promise beneath the silent moon. "Back then, now, three years from now, or twenty years from now, you will always be the number one person inside my heart."