The Aloof and Pure-hearted Killer: She Has Been Targeted by Xue Ningshuo
Through the projection of the Stellar Eye, Yuyi Yue witnessed everything happening on Fang Xun’gui’s side.
As the projection temporarily concluded, the Stellar Eye couldn’t help but ask:
[Master, what are your plans next?]
Yuyi Yue smiled faintly:
[As a White Moonlight Portrayal System, what do you think a white moonlight should be like?]
Here it comes, the master’s trick question.
The Stellar Eye recalled all of Yuyi Yue’s previous mission records in its database before hesitantly answering:
[Loving the male lead while being deeply loved by him, being the most special and irreplaceable to the male lead, and without the white moonlight, there would be no future for the male lead?]
Yuyi Yue shook her head:
[More important than being the most loved is being the most unforgettable, the hardest to let go of, the most irreplaceable, and the most difficult to move on from. The more elusive the moonlight that cannot be grasped, the more wistful the daylight becomes after the moonlight departs.]
[Master, I don’t think I understand.]
[Let me ask another question. Do you know why I perform a death escape in every small world?]
[No…]
[Because people tend to infinitely romanticize the beauty of what they have lost. White moonlight only exists in the darkness of night. When the long night finally ends, even if the blazing sun appears, the moonlight that accompanied him through the lonely darkness will never return. That is precisely why she becomes so precious.]
[Master, I think I understand a little now. So, what are your plans?]
[What do you think?]
[Well… help Fang Xun’gui find the truth and resolve his inner conflicts? Beyond that, I’m not sure. You mentioned earlier that you want Fang Xun’gui to willingly give you a home, but I still don’t understand.]
[It’s fine, we’ll take it slow. Now, Fang Xun’gui is going to meet Xue Ningshuo. After he returns, I’ll have a good talk with him.]
[Master, what kind of person do you think Xue Ningshuo is?]
[Xue Ningshuo treats the Blood-Severing Pavilion and the Netherworld Hall as a chessboard, with Fang Yunmo, Fang Xun’gui, and me as his pawns.]
[And in reality?]
[Xue Ningshuo will never know that he and the Netherworld Hall are merely my pawns. And this game of chess I’m playing is solely for Fang Xun’gui.]
[…Master, that sounds like something a villain would say.]
[I’ll take that as a compliment.]
[Should I continue the projection? Fang Xun’gui has already met Xue Ningshuo.]
[Yes, continue.]
…
On the eighteenth floor of the Severing Blood Pagoda, in a narrow room, the only scent was the rich and heavy fragrance of sandalwood.
This place didn’t resemble the office of a leader of a killer organization; instead, it looked more like the study of a refined scholar.
Xue Ningshuo sat with his hands clasped on the sandalwood table, his posture relaxed, a composed smile on his face that tugged at the wrinkles around his eyes.
He spoke in a tone reminiscent of an elder addressing a younger person:
“Zhan Kong, you did well with the Netherworld Hall mission. As expected of the child I value most.”
Zhan Kong’s expression was tense, his fists clenched tightly as he struggled to suppress his emotions.
He asked:
“Pavilion Master, what are you trying to do?”
Xue Ningshuo responded with feigned surprise:
“Where did that question come from? What am I trying to do… child, I have too many things I want to do.”
He wore the faint smile that Zhan Kong knew all too well, as if everything was nothing more than a game to him.
Zhan Kong asked bluntly:
“Was it you who dug out You Ye’s nameplate and sent it to Zhan Yan? Did you deliberately let me know?”
Xue Ningshuo’s smile remained unchanged:”Child, to be precise, I never intended to hide it from you from the start. What reason would I have to keep it from you? There are many other things I know as well. I gave Zhan Yan You Ye’s nameplate simply because she was already responsible for such matters within the Pavilion. Is there a problem with that?”
Zhan Kong did not panic at Xue Ningshuo’s words and asked coldly:
“Pavilion Master, is You Huo also one of your people?”
Xue Ningshuo frowned slightly, replying with a disapproving smile:
“I don’t like that phrasing. The people around me serve me willingly—like You Huo, like your brother.”
Zhan Kong clenched his fists again.
Xue Ningshuo glanced at Zhan Kong and chuckled:
“Hahaha… Zhan Kong, if you behave, once your twenty-fifth year is over, I will naturally let you leave the mountain. This is the path to life your brother fought for you. I won’t stand in your way, as long as you don’t act so disobediently.”
Zhan Kong sneered inwardly and retorted to Xue Ningshuo:
“After I leave the mountain, will the Netherworld Hall let us go?”
Xue Ningshuo wore an innocent smile on his face:
“Whether the Netherworld Hall lets you go or not is their business. How can I interfere? Nine years ago, I only promised Zhan Yun that I would let you leave the mountain safely. You can’t expect me to protect you and the girl you love for the rest of your lives. I’m not your foolish brother.”
Xue Ningshuo spoke the cruelest words in the gentlest tone, watching with satisfaction as Zhan Kong’s expression shifted repeatedly. He added another line:
“Zhan Yun and Zhan Hao gave you a good name back then. It’s a pity you couldn’t uphold it. Zhan Kong, from the moment you naively and foolishly demanded the truth, you lost any path of return to seek.”
The smile in Xue Ningshuo’s eyes was bottomless, and his gaze at Zhan Kong was like that of a small beast trapped in a cage.
Zhan Kong nearly gritted his teeth to dust.
Over the years, Fang Xun’gui had considered countless possibilities. He had even wondered if Fang Yunmo was actually a member of the royal family.
But no matter how he investigated Fang Yunmo’s background, the result was simple: he was just an ordinary orphan abandoned by a common family.
He had also looked into Yan Zuoxiu’s origins.
Fang Yunmo met Yan Zuoxiu, who was sixteen at the time, by the shores of Shuochun Lake when he was eighteen.
Three years before they met, a wealthy family in Shuochun City fell into decline and sold their maidservants to a brothel.
One of the maidservants, named Xiu’er, grew up to be exceptionally beautiful.
In truth, Xiu’er had been trained as a killer by that family from the start, with the purpose of having her assassinate the family’s enemies once they fell into decline.
She was merely a weapon they had cultivated.
On her sixteenth birthday, Xiu’er took advantage of the chaos in the brothel to kill her target, then fought her way out with half her life left. Just before her pursuers could kill her, she encountered Fang Yunmo, who had just completed a mission.
The details of this encounter were never shared by Fang Yunmo with Fang Xun’gui, and Yan Zuoxiu was unwilling to speak of it again.
From then on, she changed her name and clung to Fang Yunmo, insisting he teach her more skills for killing.
What happened afterward, Fang Xun’gui had no way of knowing. The first time he met Yan Zuoxiu, Fang Yunmo was already dead.
Fang Xun’gui never saw the clever and charming “pretty sister” Fang Yunmo had spoken of. Instead, he saw only Zhan Yan, shrouded in hopelessness and hollow numbness.
Yan Zuoxiu never saw the stubborn and headstrong “cheap little brother” Fang Yunmo had described. Instead, she saw only Zhan Kong, whose heart and eyes were filled with resolute hatred.The vicissitudes of life—these four words feel almost too gentle to describe the existence of an assassin.
Zhan Kong forced himself not to be unsettled by Xue Ningshuo’s words and asked again:
“I learned about what happened back then from You Huo. The royal turmoil nine years ago had nothing to do with the Blood-Severing Pavilion. Why did you send my brother to the imperial city? Did you strike a deal with the Netherworld Hall, using my brother as a bargaining chip?”
The amusement in Xue Ningshuo’s eyes deepened as he slowly replied:
“I’ve said it many times, Zhan Kong, you always overthink things. I’ve never deliberately hidden the truth from you because it really is that simple. I’ve never stopped you from seeking the truth about what happened nine years ago. If you can’t figure it out or find the answers, that’s your problem. As for me, I disdain lying about such matters.”
Xue Ningshuo smiled with narrowed eyes.
This was precisely what made him most terrifying.
Not a single word from his mouth was a lie, yet he could effortlessly manipulate everyone without batting an eye.
…
On the other side of the projection, Stellar Eye couldn’t help but ask:
[Master, I don’t understand any of this.]
Yuyi Yue sighed softly and asked:
[What don’t you understand?]
[Fang Xun’gui wants to know why his brother died. Xue Ningshuo isn’t hiding it from him, but he isn’t telling him directly either. Why?]
[He isn’t hiding it because there’s no need to. He isn’t telling him directly because Xue Ningshuo still needs Fang Xun’gui to keep the Netherworld Hall in check.]
[I still don’t understand…]
[Alright, let me put it more clearly. Fang Xun’gui single-handedly took down an entire branch of the Netherworld Hall, which proves both his stance and his absolute strength. As long as Fang Xun’gui remains Zhan Kong of the Blood-Severing Pavilion, the Netherworld Hall must remain wary and cannot launch a full-scale attack on the pavilion. As for the Blood-Severing Pavilion, as long as Fang Xun’gui hasn’t found the truth, he won’t leave, and Xue Ningshuo is more than happy with that.]
[Oh, I understand that part now! Then, why doesn’t Fang Xun’gui leave the Blood-Severing Pavilion? Can’t he defeat Xue Ningshuo?]
[I don’t know about Xue Ningshuo’s combat skills, but when it comes to schemes and strategies, he’s an absolute master. If Fang Xun’gui were to leave the Blood-Severing Pavilion without permission, first of all, ‘my’ safety would be threatened, not to mention Yan Zuoxiu is still in the pavilion. Fang Yunmo is already gone. If something were to happen to Yan Zuoxiu, Fang Xun’gui would undoubtedly blame himself. After all, he already blames himself for Fang Yunmo’s death.]
[What a complicated person.]
[Yes, the human heart is always complicated.]
[Master, there’s another unrelated thing. I always find the way Yan Zuoxiu and Fang Xun’gui interact so strange. They should be the ones who trust each other the most, so why do they always seem both familiar and distant?]
[It’s simple. Because both of them carry similar guilt toward Fang Yunmo, they can’t face each other. Moreover, Yan Zuoxiu is more carefree than Fang Xun’gui. She forces herself to let go of the past, but Fang Xun’gui just can’t.]
[Didn’t Yan Zuoxiu love Fang Yunmo?]
[It’s precisely because she loved him too much that she chose to let go. She and Fang Xun’gui are completely different people. To Fang Xun’gui, Fang Yunmo was a fallen sun. To Yan Zuoxiu, Fang Yunmo was the only moonlight in her life. When the moonlight fades and dawn breaks, the traveler must continue moving forward. Stellar Eye, the question you just asked has now been answered.]
[What?]
[Fang Yunmo was Yan Zuoxiu’s “white moonlight.”]
[…You’re right.]
[Mhm.]”Wait, Master, you’re not planning to turn Fang Xun’gui into someone like Yan Zuoxiu, are you?!”
“No, they’re not the same kind of person. Shh, be quiet. Let’s hear what Xue Ningshuo has to say.”