“Young Master Shen, since you cannot speak of other things, could you at least tell me about Xie Ling’s physical condition?” Yin Huizhi asked abruptly on their way, as Shen Zhihui led him into a side palace.
Shen Zhihui reacted swiftly: “Your own current physical condition is what requires more attention.”
“I am quite well,” Yin Huizhi stopped and looked at him. “After all, I drank so much fresh blood.”
Shen Zhihui’s face tensed.
Of course he knew. The terrifyingly deep gashes on Xie Ling’s arms made it glaringly clear to him what had transpired inside the sacrificial altar.
Yin Huizhi lowered his eyes: “If you are angry, you might as well express it directly.”
“I have nothing to be angry about. No matter what the Lord does to you, I will not be surprised.” Shen Zhihui took a deep breath. “Had I not arrived too late, this would not have happened.”
Yin Huizhi continued to look at him.
Facing this face, Shen Zhihui found himself utterly incapable of speaking harsh words.
After a long silence, Shen Zhihui finally spoke: “The Sovereign once possessed the power to overthrow the universe, and he also bore the price of seeking vengeance against the Heavenly Dao.”
“Later on, he broke free from all of it,” Shen Zhihui said in a low voice. “I thought that by starting over, he would make a different choice.”
As Shen Zhihui’s words fell, a sharp pang pricked at his heart, serving as a warning from a certain someone.
He lowered his head and murmured: “Sovereign, since you forbid me from speaking the truth, could you also please not indulge him to make things difficult for me?”
The prick in his chest grew heavier. It was not painful, but it clearly conveyed that person’s wrath.
Yet, Yin Huizhi’s heart jolted violently.
The Sovereign once possessed the power to overthrow the universe. He bore the punishment of Heaven. He held an animosity toward the Ouyang family.
At this moment, all doubts and conjectures dissolved like clouds parting to reveal the sun, and a single name surfaced in his mind: Xie Yin.
He was the former head of Qinyin and the ex-sect master of the Tianye Sect, who in his youth had been unparalleled in the cultivation world, only to eventually fall into depravity.
For a person’s temperament to alter drastically in a short period, aside from the possibility that he had been hiding his true colors all along, there was only one other explanation: possession through a borrowed corpse.
All of his prior deductions had been built on the premise that the truth was the former; he had never expected that he had guessed in the wrong direction from the very beginning.
Rumor had it that back then, Xie Yin abandoned the righteous path to practice demonic arts, ultimately succumbing to Qi deviation and burning himself alive within his own palace. Recalling what Xie Ling looked like after breaking through the Gate of Life, a wave of coldness washed over Yin Huizhi’s chest.
Suddenly, he remembered something and shouted anxiously toward the doorway: “Shen Zhihui!”
Shen Zhihui paused in his tracks, turning around to give him an inquiring look.
Yin Huizhi ran forward, raising his right hand to display the ring on his pinky finger. Staring into Shen Zhihui’s eyes, he asked word by word:
“This is the ‘Dao’ that Xie Ling cultivates, isn’t it? The substance of ‘Nightmare’ is actually the world’s resentment and obsessions, am I right?”
He asked two questions in succession, but his tone was already bordering on certainty.
Instead of answering directly, Shen Zhihui reached out and lightly touched the ring. The “Nightmare” within immediately reacted, viciously stinging his fingertip.
Withdrawing his hand, Shen Zhihui said softly, “How can this be considered a ‘Nightmare’?”
Yin Huizhi was slightly stunned.
Shen Zhihui smiled: “Young Master Yin, the ring the Sovereign gave you is refined with resentful spirits that are as obedient as can be. Look, they do not even dare to harm me.”
Realizing something, Yin Huizhi gradually lowered his hand and fell into silence.
Shen Zhihui offered a parting bow and departed.
Xie Ling was not entirely oblivious to what was happening in the side palace, but he simply lacked the mental energy to spare it any attention.
In his mind, aside from a chaotic jumble of clamoring voices that echoed near and far, there was also a system screaming at the top of its lungs, desperate to drag him down with it.
【I told you to conserve your energy and stay inside! Was it just so you could wait for a day like this? Ah?!】 Looking at Xie Ling’s combat stats, which had soared to a terrifying number on the panel, the system suffered a total breakdown, completely forgetting its own fear. 【0011, speak!】
Xie Ling: 【…】
Expressionlessly, he flicked his fingers. The system instantly shrieked: 【What the hell are these ghostly things! Get away, get away, get away!!!】
Only when the system finally quieted down did Xie Ling speak slowly: 【What happened to me?】
The system nearly died of fury: 【You are asking me?! Look at what you have done! The mission is to reform the villain, but you tricked him into entering an evil organization instead, and you are even trying to conquer the villain territory!】
【My apologies,】 Xie Ling apologized with zero remorse, 【An occupational hazard.】
The system had nearly broken its feedback program from clicking it so much, yet headquarters remained as dead as ever, offering no response.
Xie Ling thought for a moment: 【But the mission should be going quite well. I see nothing wrong with Yin Huizhi.】
The system choked.
The mission itself indeed had no issues. During the period it had been asleep in the dark room, Yin Huizhi’s reformation value had increased by a full twenty points. From this perspective, Xie Ling could even be praised as reliable.
However, the system remained deeply concerned.
【Even if the progress bar looks acceptable, the host cannot alter the main storyline without authorization!】 the system insisted stubbornly.
【What on earth did you do? This body is fundamentally incapable of reaching such heights!】
Xie Ling replied airily: 【If it is impossible, then how did I manage it?】
The system refused to engage in a war of words with him. 【Regardless, it is forbidden! Headquarters will never permit this kind of behavior!】
Xie Ling reminded it: 【We have already lost contact with headquarters.】
The system grew furious: 【Does that mean you can just ignore the rules? Absolutely not! 0011, if you cause this world to collapse, even if I only have fifty years’ worth of energy left, I will execute the maximum disciplinary measures against you!】
Disciplinary measures, he thought.
Xie Ling smiled lightly: 【Alright.】
The system hesitated a little: 【You accept?】
Xie Ling tilted his head: 【I do not intend to crash the world anyway, so why shouldn’t I accept?】
The system froze, unable to determine whether he was telling the truth or lying: 【But you are currently leading the villain down a depraved path. If the villain ultimately joins the antagonistic faction, even if the reformation value reaches one hundred percent, the mission will still be deemed a failure.】
Xie Ling pondered for a few seconds before asking: 【Have you ever heard of ‘reverse guidance’?】
The system: 【What?】
【It does not matter if you have not,】 Xie Ling smiled faintly. 【In short, letting him witness evil and loathe evil is far more effective than any preaching that urges him to be good. Hatred is the most enduring thing in this world.】
The system: 【But…】
【There are no buts,】 Xie Ling was still smiling, but the system sensed that his patience had reached its absolute limit. 【You can go back to sleep now.】
As Xie Ling’s words fell, the system was once again surrounded by those terrifying entities, pushed back into the darkness by their shrieking and eerie laughter.
Yin Huizhi and Xie Ling, with one living in the side palace and the other living in the main palace, were separated by a straight-line distance of no more than a few dozen meters.
Yet, subtly, neither of them took the initiative to seek out the other.
Yin Huizhi did not know with what attitude he should face Xie Ling, while Xie Ling seemed to have simply forgotten his existence entirely.
The window in Yin Huizhi’s room directly overlooked the mandatory path for entering and leaving the sleeping quarters. He knew that Xie Ling had gone out the very next day, and he also knew that the man had not returned since.
When he inquired with the guards at the door, they did not avoid the question; rather, they found it somewhat strange that he was unaware of the events unfolding outside.
Yin Huizhi asked humbly for illumination, and the guard immediately beamed with joy: “It is said that the Sovereign and the Protector Lord are going to unify the Qinyin Realm. We have finally made it to the light at the end of the tunnel!”
The days continued to pass by.
On the seventh day, at dusk, the outside grew so quiet it carried a hint of desolation.
Yin Huizhi set down his book, glanced out the window, stood up, and pushed open the door.
Upon seeing him, the servants guarding the outside showed a level of deference no less than what they displayed for Shen Zhihui. They bowed first, and before Yin Huizhi could even speak, they perceptively reported the latest updates on the war: “Young Master, the Sovereign has conquered Mozhou.”
The young palace master of the South Sea Palace had been overly eager to seize power and was poisoned to death by the old palace master.
The concubine-born son, Shen Zhihui, succeeded the throne and led the South Sea Palace to defect to the Tianye Sect.
Following that, the Tianye Sect conquered Qinyin City and Mozhou in succession, forcing the former regional lord, Zhou Ye, to retreat back to Mount Wuliang.
Now, more than half of the Qinyin Ghost Realm belonged to the surname Xie.
A chaotic sound of footsteps echoed from afar. Yin Huizhi looked over. Under the glow of the setting sun, Xie Ling was walking toward him, step by step.
The pristine, brand-new white shark-silk robe he had changed into before leaving had now been stained a dark crimson from head to toe by layers of fresh and dried blood.
Yin Huizhi subconsciously took a step back.
Xie Ling seemed not to notice, stepping right up to him as a smile, identical to his usual ones, surfaced on the corners of his lips: “Have you slept well these past few days?”
Staring at the blood splattered across Xie Ling’s jaw, Yin Huizhi murmured, “Yes.”
The smile on Xie Ling’s lips deepened: “That is good. In a moment, I will have Zhihui bring you some delicious food. They are all fresh novelties you have never seen before.”
Yin Huizhi’s stomach twitched slightly: “Many thanks, Regional Lord.”
Xie Ling’s expression remained unchanged: “Since you already know, aren’t you going to offer a word of congratulations to the newly appointed Regional Lord?”