The night deepened, filled with unspoken confidences.
Yue Wuhuan began restoring Song Qingshi's lost memories, piece by piece, starting with their unfortunate first encounter at Golden Phoenix Manor. Slowly, he recounted their shared past, including all the details he disliked and preferred to conceal—those they had killed, An Long's affections, Baizi Hao's correctness, and the so-called Taskmaster, that piece of trash. His recollection was impeccable; he left nothing out.
He divulged it all, attempting to confront those hateful things without prejudice.
Song Qingshi habitually took out his pen and paper, categorizing everything systematically. The fog obscuring his memories began to lift as he filled in the details, revealing partial truths. He pinpointed several key moments and asked Yue Wuhuan to elaborate.
"The year you disappeared, An Long came to save me," Yue Wuhuan, once resentful of this debt, spoke evenly. "After my rebirth in the flames of the Indomitable Summit, becoming the incarnation of the phoenix, I waged war, purging filthy sects and scum. I killed many people; the world plunged into chaos. With nowhere to go, An Long stayed in the Valley of Medicine. He loathed me, and his insults were vitriolic. However, he never joined any forces against me."
Song Qingshi considered An Long's behavior and logical patterns: "This doesn't sound like something he'd do."
An Long would tear apart anything he disapproved of.
Yue Wuhuan reflected, "He mentioned that before you vanished, you said something peculiar to him—'If you kill Wuhuan, you'll regret it.' He believes in that statement, and despite his anger, he has not laid a hand on me. Do you remember why you said that?"
Song Qingshi gnawed on his pen, shaking his head. "It's too difficult. My memories are fragmented, like a jigsaw puzzle missing several crucial pieces. I just have an instinct that he and you shouldn't be enemies..."
"Then let's trust your instincts," Yue Wuhuan decided, "You've done many missions, and although your memories have been erased, the recurring experiences and poignant events will leave an indelible mark on your soul. You won't entirely forget."
Just like the palpitations they felt when they first met.
That was the memory etched in their bones.
"I don't dislike An Long; I even admire him, am willing to help him, and trust him," Song Qingshi hesitated no more in discussing the matter, now that Yue Wuhuan's emotional barriers were down. "Since we're sure about our multiple reincarnations, can we boldly assume that An Long was once a significant friend of yours?"
Yue Wuhuan snorted, "A friend? One who wanted to win your love by crossing swords..."
Then he stopped, as if realizing something.
Song Qingshi hesitantly asked, "If we remove my presence from the equation, is there absolutely no sense of mutual admiration between the two of you?"
An Long was sealed in the Endless Abyss. During his rare moments of lucidity, he would call out Yue Wuhuan's name... Initially, they hurled insults and jeers at each other, but over time, they became accustomed to it. He'd occasionally bring An Long some liquor, and An Long had shared his encounters with Song Qingshi... In that foul, despairing swamp, anyone willing to pull him out would be someone he would love.
Yet it was precisely this love, forever unattainable, that had created a chink in his armor, plunging him into a hopeless abyss from which he couldn't escape.
This feeling, does it not resemble being toyed with by fate?
Yue Wuhuan pondered carefully. While he found An Long to be both foolish and detestable, he begrudgingly respected his strength and integrity. Looking at that once-proud figure, now warped into a monstrosity within the Endless Abyss, a sense of unease gnawed at him. He felt that if An Long were to die, it should be by his own hand, or in honorable combat, not manipulated by some lowly being and dying miserably in the dark. This is why he'd been seeking a way to free An Long for years.
An Long himself once said that he couldn't bear to see Yue Wuhuan's mental degradation or his cowardice. To him, the Yue Wuhuan he wished to confront should be like a proud, beautiful bird—worthy of defeat and of having its feathers plucked for display.
The words were a blatant provocation. In response, he severely reprimanded the fool locked within the Abyss.
Reflecting on it now...
Did they each harbor a sense of disappointment in the other, a sense of wasted potential?
Yue Wuhuan thought about the fool once more. Feeling a bit stifled and frustrated, he reluctantly replied, "If we were friends, it must have been a lapse in judgment in my past life."
Song Qingshi seemed to understand and started taking notes again: "If the System can arrange coincidences to drive your destiny into the depths of despair, pushing you to the edge of madness, it could also do the same to An Long and engineer a way for me to save him."
With this, everything fell into place.
He must have witnessed the friendship between An Long and Yue Wuhuan somewhere before, which was why he trusted An Long, wanted to befriend him, and provided him with a higher level of care than other patients. Yet, An Long, steeped in desperation, misconstrued this as love. When Yue Wuhuan appeared, the two became mortal enemies, their alliance an impossibility.
The System's objectives were all achieved.
One, Yue Wuhuan's possessiveness and paranoia were exacerbated; he couldn't have friends apart from Song Qingshi.
Two, An Long ensnared himself emotionally, becoming a pawn in the game of fate.
Three, An Long could be used as an instrument to eliminate any undesirable elements.
"There must be another reason for the System to choose An Long. I've tried to kill him multiple times over the years using various methods," Yue Wuhuan took Song Qingshi's notebook and added, "It seems An Long has the most resilient skeletal structure and an unimaginably robust physique. Only he could withstand such horrific modifications."
He picked up a pen and emphasized An Long's name and details.
With the appearance of the Filthy Demons, changes in An Long began to take place.
Perhaps, this could be the key to uncovering the truth of the matter.
...
Having finally recounted the events of these years, Yue Wuhuan looked at Song Qingshi, who was frantically taking notes, and couldn't help but ask the most crucial question: "Who is the target of your mission this time?"
Recalling the grave matter at hand, Song Qing Shi stole a hesitant glance at Yue Wu Huan, words teetering on the tip of his tongue.
Yue Wu Huan assured, "This time, I promise to suppress my possessiveness and properly take care of the damnable mission target beside me."
Song Qing Shi unconsciously straightened his posture, "This time, it's a bit different…"
Having been partners with him for so many years, Yue Wu Huan could read his movements and knew he was feeling guilty. "Did you mess up the mission? Don't worry, we can find a way to make amends."
"No, let me say something first," Song Qing Shi took a deep breath and admitted candidly, "I think I've blown up the system…"
Yue Wu Huan looked at the pile of documents he had just sorted and felt a twinge of frustration.
Song Qing Shi explained, "I can't remember how I blew it up, but… it feels like it's my fault? Maybe I failed too many times and drove the system to self-destruct? But as it blew up, I managed to quickly snatch a mission and came back to find you. Words can't do justice to describing this mission; let me draw it for you."
[Eliminate the most evil villain in the realm of cultivation, the indestructible Peak's *** *** *** *** *** *** ***.]
Yue Wu Huan felt even more disheartened, "What does *** *** *** mean?"
Song Qing Shi was straightforward, "I don't know, it just showed *** *** ***. The last mission had a lot of *** *** *** too, because it mentioned an extraordinary beauty with a perfect constitution, and I think you're the most beautiful person on the Lang Gan Platform, so I couldn't help but bring you back."
Touched but also frustrated, Yue Wu Huan felt like blowing up the system all over again.
Song Qing Shi eagerly asked, "Are there any other evil villains at the Indestructible Peak?"
Yue Wu Huan pondered carefully before affirming, "In the eyes of the world, none are more evil than me."
Song Qing Shi was torn, "If the mission target is really you, then I can't proceed."
They had been through so much together over the years, and their emotional connection was strong. There was no way they would go through some ridiculous drama about whether to kill each other or sacrifice themselves.
Song Qing Shi contemplated the situation seriously for a while, only to turn back and see Yue Wu Huan laughing heartily, completely lacking in seriousness.
Yue Wu Huan sighed, "After all the missions you've accepted, it seems I can finally be the right answer."
Song Qing Shi cautioned, "With the proctor system blown up, being the right answer doesn't matter anymore."
"The system is just a tool for issuing missions. The corruption of Wu Shui and An Long hasn't disappeared; it's even intensifying. This proves that the power manipulating fate behind the scenes is still there, and so is the mission," Yue Wu Huan, having researched the soul memories of a task-taker called Zuo Ye countless times, reminded the still-confused Song Qing Shi. "It must have been truly desperate to issue such a foolish mission. If I'm your mission target, it means we have full control over the mission's pace and method of completion."
Song Qing Shi instantly understood his meaning.
"Elimination" could have multiple interpretations. Yue Wu Huan had never shown his face; if he were to give up his divine lord status, he would no longer be the villain at the Indestructible Peak, thus considered 'eliminated.' Alternatively, if he helped cultivate an even more evil divine lord to become the new villain, that would also count as 'elimination.' Or perhaps, if Song Qing Shi lacked the strength but tried his best to fulfill the mission, maintaining a moderate progress and dragging it on for millennia, that too would be a solution.
"In Mo Yuan's magical array, within Zhao Ye's soul, I've seen those so-called original works. They are almost like drama scripts—childish," Yue Wu Huan said with a perpetual grin. "What defines a villain, after all? Is it status, actions, or public perception? If you take me home as your Daoist partner, making me obedient and domestic, could I still be considered a villain? Or what if I perform charitable acts, distribute food and money, establish schools, and aid the weak? With enough publicity, I could be considered a virtuous man who's turned over a new leaf. Or alternatively, you could strive to challenge the villain but fail due to insufficient strength and end up imprisoned. Forced to warm my bed and partake in alchemy and scholarship, you'd spend many years unable to escape—that would also be acceptable."
Song Qing Shi found the argument convincing and continued, "What about Bai Zi Hao's failed mission? He didn't die."
Yue Wu Huan chuckled, "He formed a Daoist partnership with Jin Fei Lun and became a lifetime slave, controlled both physically and emotionally. That scum made him do many disgusting things; I won't sully your ears by recounting them. In any case, when you tried to kill An Long, the system declared your mission a failure due to Bai Zi Hao's predicted unhappiness and forcibly removed you. That is a plausible outcome."
Within the Mo Yuan array, Song Qing Shi's attempts to turn Qu Yu Rong into a Sleeping Beauty or imprison her were also deemed failures by the system…
Song Qing Shi understood.
Due to the system's explosion, there were issues with the mission.
Unable to make better arrangements, the system issued this rudimentary and brutal task.
Considering the Mo Yuan array and Bai Zi Hao's missions, it was evident that system tasks had no time limit; they were assessed based on the degree of completion. Since Song Qing Shi had accepted the mission and taken the exam, it had to grade his paper according to the rules.
Now, with both the mission taker and the mission target cooperating, they could fully control this mission...
When the system teacher drafted the mission, they likely didn't consider the possibility of cheating, did they?