chapter 68

"The Fate of the Children"

He hadn't even finished his studies, and his gaze was already so straightforward.

The Fate Book flipped page by page, and the shadows of the two children before her quickly blurred.

Zhan Yunwei knew that the opportunity was fleeting. To uncover the secrets hidden deep within the Yue family, it was best to follow Yue Ziheng's gaze.

So, just as the scene was about to disappear, she quickly grasped Yue Ziheng's hand.

Like the ice lotus, this time, she didn't fall empty-handed. She held onto a cold little hand.

The boy under the blood moon was also surprised. He felt the touch in his palm and looked up at her.

But in the blink of an eye, the scene before her vanished. The hand in her grasp had grown slightly and turned into nothingness, slipping past her fingertips.

Zhan Yunwei found herself back at Jianhuan Tower, standing before Wen Xun.

Unlike the twisted King of Evil Spirits she had seen later, this was the scene when Yue Ziheng was eight years old, closer to the memories in the Mirage Realm.

Wen Xun sat by the window, pouring a glass of wine and pushing it toward Yue Ziheng across from him. He had a clear, elegant appearance, his hair tied with a jade crown.

The night wind blew outside, and beneath the dark river, the atmosphere was unpredictable and strange.

Amidst the countless evil spirits, Wen Xun stood out like a refreshing breeze and the bright moon.

Had it not been for the blood-red gleam in his eyes, Zhan Yunwei might have thought him to be just another normal cultivator.

"Drink. I don't need to go through so much effort to kill you," Wen Xun said.

Zhan Yunwei lowered her gaze and looked at the Yue Ziheng across from her. His clothes were torn, his small figure calm despite his age.

Perhaps the whip marks on his body were still stinging, but Yue Ziheng drank the wine Wen Xun handed him, numbing the pain of his injuries.

Wen Xun watched the fearless and strong-willed boy before him and chuckled after a long moment: "Not bad. Looks like you'll live for a long time."

Yue Ziheng wiped his lips and hoarsely asked, "Why are you saving me?"

"I want you to do something for me once you leave. If you can do it, I'll help you leave Jianhuan Tower and Duer City," Wen Xun replied, his gaze drifting to the other side of the dark river.

He then made his condition clear: "After you leave, find the Grand Princess of the Dynasty and tell her to live well. I promised to take her away, and I will keep my word. This world owes us, and one day, I will make them all pay."

Zhan Yunwei was deep in thought. From Wen Xun's words, it was clear that there was some significant connection between the Grand Princess and him.

Wen Xun's gaze grew cold. "Don't rush to agree. I'll give you only a few short years. If you fail, you won't escape a violent death. You may even regret not dying today."

Zhan Yunwei glanced at Yue Ziheng. She knew that even at this young age, Yue Ziheng was firm in his resolve.

He had grown up in the underground palace, unaware of the Grand Princess, but still he answered, "Alright."

Wen Xun marked Yue Ziheng with a seal: "At dawn, I'll send you out of Duer City."

The scene froze on Wen Xun's face, and once again, the sound of pages turning in the Fate Book echoed in her ears.

When her vision cleared, Zhan Yunwei looked up and realized she had arrived in the Spiritual Realm.

On a rainy night, a girl knocked on the door of a medicine shop. The attendant opened the door and the girl immediately knelt, gesturing and pointing to the boy in the corner, who was covered in wounds.

The attendant spat, "Damn it, stinky beggars, get out of here."

The girl was pushed to the ground, and the brown door slowly closed.

Zhan Yunwei instinctively wanted to catch her, fearing Yue Qingluo would be hurt. But as she passed through Yue Qingluo's body, she closed her eyes and let out a soft breath.

These were all events that had truly happened in the past, and nothing could change what had already occurred.

Yue Qingluo wiped her tears and walked to the corner, looking helplessly at the wounds on the boy's body.

This was already their third medicine shop.

Yue Ziheng struggled to swallow a mouthful of rainwater, his eyes unfocused but stubborn. "It's fine. We'll go to the temple. Big sister, can we still find the way back?"

Yue Qingluo nodded.

The two children supported each other back to the broken temple. Yue Qingluo prayed in front of the goddess statue, then apologetically gave the spirit fruit to Yue Ziheng.

Driven by the instinct for survival, Yue Ziheng ate whatever he could find. He saw an injured bird nibbling on grass seeds under the corridor, and with great effort, he crawled over and picked up the grass seeds, shoving them into his mouth.

Perhaps luck was on his side, as the grass seeds turned out to be a medicinal herb. By dawn, his condition had improved significantly.

The two children continued their journey, stumbling along, until they finally reached the Yue family.

At that time, the Yue family hadn't yet moved to Fenhe County but was still in Xian Mountain of Qiyang County.

Before they left, the two children washed their faces by the creek, and Yue Qingluo carefully tied up the holes in their clothes with grass stems.

They stood at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the message to be relayed.

Xuan Furen was surrounded as she walked out, and Yue Qingluo's eyes lit up. She couldn't speak, so she couldn't call out to her mother. But Yue Ziheng, looking at Xuan Furen's cold, distant eyes and her mourning attire, seemed to understand something. He pursed his lips but said nothing.

In fact, he hadn't called out "mother" in a long time.

Xuan Furen was even thinner than when they had seen her in Duer City. She gave them a cold glance and said, "Get out of here. I don't know them."

Zhan Yunwei knew that this was the fifth year after Yue Linyuan's death, and Xuan Furen had completely broken down.

The two children had no choice but to leave the mountain. Yue Ziheng was fine, but Yue Qingluo's face was downcast as she clutched the grass stem in her clothes.

Zhan Yunwei followed them, seeing how hard they had struggled along the way, and her heart ached for them. Though she knew they eventually stayed with the Yue family, she didn't know how they managed to return.

Soon, she would find out.

Not long after Yue Ziheng and Yue Qingluo left the mountain, they fell into a trap set by a few spirit cultivators at the foot of the mountain.

The people who captured them hesitated, saying, "Are these really the cursed children you spoke of?"

"The Encounter with Evil"

"It's definitely him." A man emerged from the forest, one of his eyes blind, his tone filled with resentment. "I was outside the Duer City barrier earlier, watching them run out. This kid can really run, and he's cunning. It was because of him that I lost my eye."

Zhan Yunwei finally understood why Yue Ziheng had been so severely injured that rainy night. It turned out that he had encountered someone with ill intentions. After a dangerous battle, he had barely escaped with Yue Qingluo.

The oldest of the group chuckled. "As long as we've got them, it's done. The City Lord of Qiyang County has been looking for the children of evil spirits to use as pawns. These two little beasts are valuable. If we sell them, we can make a fortune."

The one-eyed man sneered. "Wait a minute, the City Lord didn't specify that he wanted them intact, did he?"

The older man raised an eyebrow, understanding his meaning, and warned, "Don't kill them."

"I only want their eyes," the one-eyed man replied.

With that, he grabbed the Emei needle in his hand and aimed it at Yue Ziheng's eye. "You little brat, if you beg for mercy and call me 'Grandfather,' I'll spare one of your eyes. How about that?"

The sharp needle was aimed right at Yue Ziheng's eye, but his gaze was fearless as he coldly smiled.

"Don't try to force me," he said.

Although Zhan Yunwei knew there was nothing she could do, she instinctively reached out to grab the Emei needle.

She wasn't sure if it worked, but she felt a sharp pain in her palm as she indeed managed to grab the Emei needle.

The one-eyed man looked at the needle now blocked in mid-air and shouted, "Who's playing tricks?"

Yue Ziheng, who had not reacted until now, lifted his head and looked toward Zhan Yunwei's direction.

His eyes were mere inches away from the needle, yet he didn't flinch or avoid it, instead, he looked at her.

Although Zhan Yunwei knew he couldn't see anything.

In the next moment, countless leaves fell from the trees, and an elderly man with white hair pushed a wheelchair forward.

The eldest among the group immediately recognized him as the head of the Yue family, the so-called "Immortal of Artifacts," and quickly said, "Let's go!"

But it was clearly too late. The falling leaves were like blades, slicing through their throats. The group of men all collapsed, and the two children in the air were gently lowered to the ground.

Yue Qingluo shivered as she looked at the elderly man who had killed so many with a mere wave.

Yue Ziheng stepped forward, positioning himself in front of her to block her view.

The elderly man gazed at him and asked, "What's your name?"

"I don't have a name," Yue Ziheng replied.

The old man said softly, "You are truly unworthy of the name my son had planned for you."

Yue Ziheng looked at him with a mocking expression.

The old man sighed. "The duty of an immortal sect is to exterminate evil spirits. Though you may not be one today, you will be one in the future. I won't kill you today, but from now on, until the anomaly happens, you must stay inside the barrier. After the anomaly, if you don't act, I will."

After they were locked in a small cabin on the mountain, the old man stared at them for a long time.

The old servant quietly spoke, "Master?"

"Let's go." The old man sighed. "Since Yuan'er wanted to bring them back, let them stay. The immortal sect cannot harbor evil spirits, but we will give them food and drink and ensure they aren't captured. Most children of evil spirits don't live past sixteen. Once fate catches up with them, it will all be over." No resentment, no bitterness. Keeping them alive was the best he could do.

As the Fate Book began to turn pages again, Zhan Yunwei knew she had to make a choice. She turned back to glance at the lonely cabin, softly saying, "Take care."

In the next moment, she grabbed the old man's wheelchair with her injured hand.

After a swirl of dizziness, she finally arrived in the Artifact Pavilion she had been yearning for.

At the very top of the pavilion, an ice lotus bloomed, spinning slowly, exuding an ominous aura.

Outside, the phoenix tree leaves fell, and before the old man stood Yue Wujue.

Yue Wujue, still young, looked plump and timid, shaking his head nervously. "I don't want to undergo the transformation of the ice lotus, Grandfather, Wujue is scared."

The old man patted his head. "Didn't I tell you? Cultivators should be fearless. The one in the royal family is no longer the Emperor the people knew. The Hongyuan Daojun tried to use the Hundred Kill Lu to wipe out the City Lord of Duer City, but instead, the backlash hit the Spirit Emperor. The Daojun sacrificed himself for this."

The wind howled outside, but in that moment, Zhan Yunwei could almost hear her own heartbeat clearly.

What? The Spirit Emperor was the City Lord of Duer City!

No wonder all the royal princes seemed mediocre, but after they ascended the throne, their cultivation soared, and they suddenly became geniuses. The current Spirit Emperor's strength was unfathomable.

The Lord of Changya Mountain had long been troubled by this, unable to fathom what kind of inheritance the royal family possessed to be so powerful.

In this generation, the Spirit Emperor could almost control everything with a mere thought.

Zhan Yunwei inhaled sharply, never expecting the truth to be so terrifying. If the Spirit Emperor had been constantly taking over other people's bodies, but was actually a monster that had lived for thousands of years, then it all made sense.

She also had a vague idea of what the old man intended to do.

He patted his grandson's shoulder. "Don't be afraid. Take the ice lotus. Grandfather and the Yue family will be with you. Wujue, the immortal sect was established to protect the people and the common folk. We cannot watch the three realms be destroyed by that evil spirit."

The old man sighed. He didn't want to force Yue Wujue, but time was truly running out.

Above them, the countless King of Evil Spirits in Duer City were feeding the Spirit Emperor with their energy, helping him rapidly increase his strength. Below, the royal family in the Spirit Realm was providing him with new bodies.

The Spirit Emperor had no opponents left. At this rate, within a few decades, that evil spirit would ascend to the heavens.

How could one steeped in bloodshed possibly ascend to divinity? And once one becomes a true demon whose life spans the same as the heavens, it would be a calamity for all of mankind.

Zhan Yunwei's heart sank further. She never imagined that the truth would be like this. If, in the past, she believed that with the immortal sect's efforts, there was still hope to witness a day of peace, she now understood—there had never been any hope from the start. This was a death trap.

Encouraged by the old man, Yue Wujue finally gathered the courage to reach for the ice lotus.

However, the ice lotus emitted a blue light, sending Yue Wujue flying back.

The old man caught his tearful grandson and sighed, "It's fate."

Yue Wujue was already the most gifted successor in the Yue family. Was the downfall of the three realms truly inevitable?

He raised his hand and wiped away Yue Wujue's memory of this moment.

Soon, Zhan Yunwei saw the chubby boy running out of the Artifact Pavilion, happily practicing his swordsmanship.

The old servant suggested, "Master, I've heard that there is a disciple in Penglai who is born with a sword bone. Should we have him try?"

The old man gave a bitter smile. "Once the ice lotus enters the body, a short life is certain. Killing the City Lord won't be accomplished in a day. This person will need to use blood to nurture and tame tens of thousands of Yin soldiers."

It would take the combined strength of tens of thousands to have a chance of killing the Spirit Emperor.

The old servant furrowed his brows. "But where would we find tens of thousands of Yin spirits?"

Zhan Yunwei followed the old man's gaze toward the ice lotus. She already knew what would happen next, no need for the old man to explain.

Those Yin soldiers would come from the souls of people who were supposed to die.

That's why, in the later years, there would be the empire's hounds, and why Yue Ziheng—the man rumored to be cold-blooded and ruthless, killing without blinking—would come to be.

She also finally understood the old man's sigh. It was the same mission, yet so different.

Some people live their entire lives walking in the light, praised by others, like Pei Yujing.

But some must walk in darkness forever, enduring endless scorn, walking alone, hated by the common folk even in death.

Pei Yujing, raised by Penglai, although he knew that extracting the souls of those destined to die and training them into soldiers was the only way to save the world, could not bring himself to do it. He could not take in the ice lotus.

The phoenix tree leaves fell. The pages of the Fate Book turned one after another.

Zhan Yunwei knew that once she understood all the truths, it would be time for her to leave.

Now, she understood why Yue Ziheng had told her that their love would only last for three parts. Because some people were meant to die from the very beginning. She would never wait for the great Yue to come to Changya Mountain.

Her palm still throbbed with pain. Before leaving, she wanted to take one last look at the Yue she had known.

She hadn't been there to accompany him during his growth, but she could see the old man in the wheelchair growing rapidly older.

In the Fate Book, time passed in a flash. She waited for the moment when her life would cross paths with Yue Ziheng again.

The scene before her rippled like waves in water. The tree rings grew by several cycles, and at last, they arrived at the day when the two children of evil spirits met their demise within the barrier.

The old servant was tasked with collecting their bodies. After a while, he opened the door of the Artifact Pavilion.

"Master, the two children in the barrier aren't dead."

The old man raised his head.

The servant spoke in a flat tone, "That boy broke through your barrier, ran down the mountain, and returned covered in wounds."

The old man asked, "What did he use to break it?"

"An axe."

The old man: "…"

The room was silent for a long time. Zhan Yunwei could feel the lingering pain in her palm, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

The indomitable Yue Ziheng.

Eight years across the pages of the Fate Book, Zhan Yunwei finally returned to that small cabin.

The frail boy of the past had now grown into a youth with defined features.

He stood in the yard, washing himself with water. Inside the house, Yue Qingluo's breathing had already stabilized.

The old man stood outside the door, watching him for a long time, then uncertainly asked the old servant, "What's that he's holding? The enlightenment jade tablet?"

"Yes."

The old servant sighed softly, a rare expression of emotion. "I've seen that jade tablet. He's learning the way of the gentleman." It seemed absurd, yet strangely moving.

The old man fell into a long silence and said nothing.

The grandfather and grandson stood separated by the barrier, gazing at each other from a distance. Yue Ziheng lowered his gaze and turned away, not acknowledging the old man.

The sixteen-year-old youth was far from the composed figure he would later become. There was still a sense of vitality and rebellion in him.

Zhan Yunwei walked over and sat down on the small wooden stool opposite him. His hands were skilled—he had personally crafted the stool.

She also saw the jade tablet in Yue Ziheng's hands. Memories slowly pieced together, and for the first time, Zhan Yunwei experienced the mysterious power of destiny. She realized what was hidden in Yue Ziheng's study: it had always been her jade tablet.

The old man entered the yard.

"Who gave you the jade tablet?"

Yue Ziheng ignored him.

The old man said, "I know even if you won't say. It was the little girl from the Zhan family, wasn't it? Your bones are well-suited. Would you like to make a deal with me?"

Yue Ziheng coldly picked up his axe and began chopping wood to cook.

The old man watched him and said, "If you agree, maybe you'll see her again on this day next year."

Only then did Yue Ziheng raise his head. He had not completed his studies and could barely recognize a few characters, but his gaze was direct.

The old man paused, then smiled and shook his head.

He wasn't quite the heartless little evil spirit after all.

And Zhan Yunwei, sitting across from him, couldn't help but feel a flush creeping up her ears.