Dugu Baitian's heart was filled with extreme bitterness as he returned to his room like a walking corpse. What had happened today was too sudden. He had never imagined that Yue'er, who had once sworn eternal love to him, would be so fickle. He couldn't accept this reality. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a jar of wine, and returned to his room. He opened the wine seal and drank the entire jar in one gulp, then lay down on the bed and fell into a deep, groggy sleep.
The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the three Situ brothers rushed to the Dugu family's house.
"Baitian, wake up—quickly wake up!" They shook him vigorously, finally rousing Dugu Baitian from his sleep.
Situ Minyue said, "Brother-in-law, don't sleep anymore. My sister cried all night. Early this morning, she packed her things and is going back to the Wushuang Empire!"
Dugu Baitian sat up in shock.
Situ Haoyue said, "Baitian, hurry and go after her—otherwise, it will be too late!"
Dugu Baitian sat blankly on the bed, recalling the words he had said to Situ Mingyue the night before.
"Yue'er, you don't need to blame yourself. We were just children in the past—we didn't know what love really was. Love is not only a promise, but also a responsibility. It requires two hearts to be together forever.
...
Go back to your Senior Brother Liu. Although I only met him once, I can tell he truly loves you—he can bring you happiness. Go, and may you live happily ever after."
He lay back down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. She was leaving just like that—not only because he had hurt her feelings, but also because her heart truly belonged to that Senior Brother Liu.
Situ Aoyue shouted anxiously, "Baitian, get up quickly! If you don't go now, it will be too late!"
The three of them pulled him up from the bed.
Dugu Baitian shouted angrily, "Let go of me! What does her business have to do with me? I've cut off all ties with her—we have nothing to do with each other from now on!"
The three of them were stunned, looking at him as if he were a stranger.
"Brother-in-law, do you really not like my sister anymore?"
"Her heart already belongs to someone else."
"But last night, she clearly told the three of us that you no longer liked her."
"I want a complete love. If a love is split into two or stained, it's better to have none at all. If we continue like this, it will be a distorted love that ends in endless pain. Instead of that, it's better to end it now."
The three Situ brothers fell silent.
"You three came at the perfect time. We didn't get to fight yesterday—let's continue today, right here in my backyard."
Dugu Baitian dragged the three of them to the backyard.
The three Situ brothers didn't use fancy moves or powerful internal energy. Just like when they were children, the three of them rushed at Dugu Baitian together, fighting him with brute force.
"Crash! Bang! Thud!"
The courtyard was filled with the sound of fighting.
Half an hour later, all four of them were lying on the ground, their faces covered in bruises.
After a while, Dugu Baitian stood up unsteadily, looked at their swollen cheeks, laughed loudly twice, then burst into tears, and finally fell silent. He turned around and walked back into the house.
The three of them looked at each other in silence, then turned and left.
In the days that followed, Dugu Baitian seemed to have truly become obsessed with martial arts, practicing with his father every day—of course, only basic martial arts moves.
In recent years, as Dugu Baitian grew older, his body became increasingly strong. He used to go fight with his hooligan friends only once every ten or fifteen days—mainly because after each fight, the hooligans would have to "rest" for several days. Now, he went to fight with them every two or three days, leaving the hooligans complaining bitterly.
In addition, because of the incident with Situ Mingyue, Situ Jingyun specially allowed one of the Situ brothers to go out every week to fight with Dugu Baitian to cheer him up.
Dugu Baitian was numbing himself. Every time he dragged his battered body back home, he felt as if the wounds in his heart had healed a little.
Finally, after getting drunk one night, he was dragged by a group of hooligan friends into a brothel. In his daze, he felt someone taking off his clothes. He swung his hand and slapped hard—"Slap!"—hitting the person in the face.
"Ah!"
A scream rang out.
Dugu Baitian opened his eyes and saw a charming girl. "Who are you?"
"My name is Mudan (Peony)."
"Where is this place?"
"This is Lichun Courtyard (Spring Courtyard)."
"What? This is a brothel?"
"Y-yes..." Mudan trembled with fear as she looked at Dugu Baitian's angry face.
Dugu Baitian was furious at first, but then he calmed down. These hooligan friends, although not very decent, had a sincere friendship with him. Their bond had been forged through years of fighting since childhood. They must have seen how depressed he had been these days and wanted to make him "relax"—though their method was a bit extreme.
"Your name is Mudan?"
"Yes."
"Besides sleeping with guests, what other services do you offer here?"
"We can accompany guests to drink, play the pipa, and sing songs."
"Good. Then play and sing a song for me."
Mudan held a pipa in her arms and began to play and sing:
"Endless longing, in Chang'an.
The cricket sings by the golden well railing in autumn,
The thin frost chills the pale night.
The lonely lamp flickers, longing drives me to despair,
I roll up the curtain, gaze at the moon, and sigh in vain.
The beautiful one is like a flower, separated by clouds and mists.
Above, the vast blue sky;
Below, the rippling green waters.
The road is long, the soul flies in agony,
Dreams cannot cross the dangerous mountains.
Endless longing, shatters the heart."
The song was mournful and sorrowful, touching Dugu Baitian's heart deeply. It aroused the sorrow hidden in his heart. After listening to the song, he felt a surge of emotion, and his heart felt much lighter—as if the song had sung directly to his soul.
From then on, Changfeng Town had one more prodigal son, often lingering in Lichun Courtyard. Those who knew him understood that Dugu Baitian only drank wine and listened to songs there; those who didn't know him thought he had completely become the king of hooligans in Changfeng Town.
Eventually, the news reached his home. His father gave him a severe beating. Chen Ting stroked the wounds on Dugu Baitian's body, her heart filled with deep sorrow.
"Child, when you have experienced loving and being loved, and learned how to love, you will know what you truly need. Only then will you find the person who is most suitable for you, someone you can spend your entire life with. But sadly, in real life, these three people are usually not the same: the one you love the most often does not choose you; the one who loves you the most is often not the one you love the most; and the one who stays with you the longest is often neither the one you love the most nor the one who loves you the most—just the one who appears at the right time.
Ideals and reality are rarely aligned. You are too emotional—you need to learn to change. You are no ordinary person. Don't forget what your grandfather told you: you may have to walk a difficult and irreversible path in this life. Or it may be an unprecedented path of light. You are destined to be extraordinary, and you will likely experience all kinds of hardships. How can you let trivial romantic troubles consume you all day long?"
These words stirred up a storm in Dugu Baitian's heart. It took him a long time to wake up as if from a dream. "Mother, I understand."
"Go. Your grandfather has returned from visiting his old friend—he is waiting for you in the backyard."
Dugu Baitian's grandfather, Dugu Feiyu, was nearly seventy years old. With white hair and a childlike face, he exuded an ethereal aura, like an immortal.
"Grandfather, you wanted to see me?"
"Hehe, my good grandson. I heard you've become proficient in drinking, gambling, and visiting brothels these days—truly surpassing your grandfather. You're just like me when I was young."
Dugu Baitian's face turned red with embarrassment.
"I called you here to tell you one thing: you are different from others. When you were born, a dazzling blood-red light soared into the sky. You were born with blood-clotted characters in your palms—'Bai' (Defeat) on the left, 'Tian' (Heaven) on the right. Your name was destined from birth. What exactly does this mean? I don't know. You need to figure it out for yourself."