"The old woman looked at me with a face full of bitter malice, as if she was about to hit me. I could see that she was very jealous, very jealous of my youth and appearance, almost as if she wanted to tear me apart... But you know, with my strength, how could I be afraid of an old woman? I saw she was too tired, so I helped her home to sit down and even made her a pot of tea."

"After that, although the old woman remained sharp-tongued towards others, she became considerably more amiable towards me. The hostility in her gaze diminished, and she no longer seemed envious... She’s an old resident here, rumored to have lived in the city in the past. I’ve inquired about many things from the time of King Jing and gained quite a bit."

"I also discovered gradually that the elderly lady wasn’t always so sharp and mean-spirited—she was even well-read and cultured, surely a noble lady from a scholarly family in her past, but for some reason, she left the city to live in the countryside."

"The so-called reason was actually the death of King Jing. Her husband used to work for King Jing, and after the king died, naturally, he had to leave the big city."

"The reason for her clashes with the children is that they always played around her house, even urinating at her doorstep, corroding it into a large hole, while the wall base got dug out."

"She never complained about these things to me, and I gradually understood that it wasn’t my youth she envied, nor my looks, but my... martial power."

"Strength."

"Realizing this, I bestowed some blessings upon the old woman. With my ’Purple Qi’ Star Life, it was effortless, and the old woman could once again walk nimbly. She was very happy, and after a few scoldings with a broom, the children around were much more obedient."

"The village became a lot more peaceful, and thanks to the clues the old lady gave me, I found the information I sought in the Dao Domain’s manor."

"It took a bit of time, and when I returned from the Earth Vein..."

At this point, Gu Yeqi paused, her voice growing distant as she looked toward the sea of lights in the faraway Shenjing: "The elderly lady had already passed away."

"Before her death, she seemed to have a premonition and specially came to see me, placing her hidden gold bracelet under the bed in my house, leaving me a letter as well..."

"She said it was left to her by her husband. She said the villagers knew this, so they all isolated her, wishing for her death day and night."

"She mentioned that those children were probably hinted by their parents to come around her house ’treasure hunting.’ She used to be able to drive them away but was too old to do so anymore."

"She said... In her final days, she lived peacefully and happily. She didn’t want her treasures to be found by those villagers, so she gave the gold bracelet to me, knowing that as a martial artist, the villagers wouldn’t dare to search my house, even if they were incredibly audacious."

"And indeed, it was the case."

Gu Yeqi closed her eyes: "After I returned to the village, I learned that the old woman’s body had been cremated. Logically speaking, she should have been buried, but why would the village people hold back when searching for the gold bracelet? An old lonely widow being eaten up by others is no surprise; not being so would indeed be strange."

"The old woman’s house was also emptied long ago, furniture and all, beds and cabinets had been taken away, even the ground had been dug up several times, and someone even took the broom."

"When I went to reminisce, and came to the old woman’s bedroom, there was indeed nothing left... But soon, I discovered that the walls had writing on them."

"Dense with small characters written in charcoal... They were probably what the old woman wrote over and over through the years."

"The words said..."

"’Husband, they bully me...’"

"That was what she wrote."

Turning her head slightly, Gu Yeqi looked at Bai Qinghan and smiled: "It has nothing to do with the Sects, nothing to do with the family, nothing to do with the government—just ordinary villagers, driven by ordinary covetousness, were able to inflict years of intangible, invisible oppression on a lonely old woman..."

"This kind of oppression, compared to the disciples of the Sects, is more pervasive, to the extent that even I feel bewildered and powerless."

"Even the old woman’s end was relatively good, she lived long enough to die of old age, waiting for my arrival."

"Though her husband had long passed, perhaps the name he left behind still protected her. But leaving an old woman alone in this world, the intangible malice was indeed too great."

"..." Bai Qinghan lowered her gaze, took a deep breath, and her chest rose and fell slightly, then softly said: "I hate this kind of... this kind of..."

"This kind of world," Gu Yeqi helped her finish.

"So I understand you, Qinghan, the ones you want to kill aren’t mere insects, not specific individuals—we can kill those people easily, it’s just a matter of putting the human world through fire and blade, wiping it clean, without even needing Eldest Senior. You and I can accomplish it in the future."

Speaking casually of blood-soaked intentions, Gu Yeqi lifted her head, looking at the moon: "I think, perhaps that’s exactly what the Heaven’s Will Cult is thinking?"

"To reshape the human world, replace Heaven’s Will, create an entirely new sky, a different human order, starting from scratch, completely eradicating all resentment and prejudice left over in the human world, planting the correct principles within people’s hearts from the very beginning."

"But even so, what difference does it make?"

Gu Yeqi looked at Bai Qinghan, calmly said: "As long as one is human, one cannot escape the fenced-in boundaries set by instincts, the fence being human nature; without changing the fence, the area it encloses remains the same, no more, no less, this is the limit."

"Qinghan, what you want to eliminate is actually something ’nonexistent.’

"What you want..."

"Is a new order."

"A new human world."

Bai Qinghan closed her eyes, her voice soft as a sigh: "I loathe humans. I loathe the people of today. Though there are good people, kind souls, ultimately, even without Heavenly Demons, without Martial Arts, without families or Sects, without an Imperial Dynasty... as long as it’s humans, they will create evil."

"I... want to obliterate all sources of evil."

Destroy everything.

That’s the voice deep in her heart, resonating with the heavens and the earth, with the will of all things.

Thus came Xuanyin.

Thus came Eternal Silence Cold.

"Indeed." Gu Yeqi smiled, "Pain, death, being despised, being betrayed are surely detestable, but your inner anger wasn’t born in an instant—just like me, the deepest anger inside wasn’t being ignored by Da Chen in the Northern Border, but my grandfather driving my father to death."

"I was supposed to have a father."

"But was it really grandfather who drove him to death?"

She raised her head, looking at the distant lantern-lit skyship-cruising Shenjing: "Now, I’ve received news, that grandfather is about to die, and I have to come see."

"You’ve... changed." Bai Qinghan watched this friend from the past, gently, like a sister by An Jing’s side.

"Of course I’ve changed, Qinghan. You are the Goddess, I am the acting Peak Master; we have our own careers, our own power, and thus we are no longer the simple ones we once were."

"Look at your hair, it’s all blown out of place, it doesn’t look good anymore."

Saying this, Gu Yeqi stepped forward, naturally arranging Bai Qinghan’s long hair that was tousled by the cold wind, using her fingers to comb it smoothly and then skillfully braiding it, she gently said: "Just killing their children isn’t enough, they will regenerate, and even if we annihilate them all, so what? Da Chen would just recreate them."

"And even if Da Chen were destroyed, what difference would it make? This world would give birth to a new Da Chen."

"I know." Bai Qinghan lowered her head, feeling the warmth of her friend’s fingertips: "What I want to destroy is something far greater."

"But that’s not something one person can easily accomplish."

Gu Yeqi smiled as she finished braiding the hair and lightly patted Bai Qinghan’s shoulder: "With us."

"With Eldest Senior."

"Mm."

Bai Qinghan gently nodded: "He shall come, I know."

"But even if he doesn’t, I will still do it."

Gu Yeqi was slightly taken aback, then she laughed: "Although you’re not a Companion Star, unexpectedly, I always feel you are quite similar to Eldest Senior."

"Let’s go."

"We have a lot to do, no time to rest."