Only the main sect throughout the thirteen states was called the “Xiezhi Sect.” The branch sects scattered across territories were called “Punishment and Redemption Offices.” Yan Ling had originally intended to go directly to the Xiezhi Sect’s main temple using “Xi Jue’s” identity to seek the sect master.
But the Xiezhi Sect’s security was too tight. Even the title of “Young Immortal Xi” couldn’t get him inside.
With no other choice, Yan Ling had to go to a Punishment and Redemption Office first.
The one who received Yan Ling was a young executioner. Seeing Xi Jue, he frowned slightly: “Young Master Xi?”
Perhaps because the new year was approaching, the enormous office had only this executioner present. Yan Ling vaguely heard a gentle water flow sound from him, knowing this person’s heart wasn’t bad. He directly dropped to his knees with a “thump.”
The executioner was startled and hastily helped him up.
“Please, honored official, grant me justice.”
Yan Ling kept his teeth clenched, refusing to rise. Instead, he laid out his identity and the Xi family’s crimes concisely and completely. Finally, he bowed deeply, his forehead nearly drawing blood from the impact.
The executioner was stunned: “You’re saying the Xi family? Central State’s Xi family?”
Yan Ling: “Yes.”
The executioner remained speechless for a long while, his expression grave: “Child, this is no small matter. If you’re lying…”
“I swear.” Yan Ling raised two fingers and made a blood oath. “If I’ve spoken even half a lie, let me die badly and never be reincarnated.”
The executioner froze.
“Get up first.” He helped Yan Ling to his feet. Seeing him shivering in a single layer of clothing, he removed his own light-colored Xiezhi Sect robes and wrapped them around him, speaking softly: “This matter is too grave. A small executioner like me cannot determine right from wrong. If you trust me, wait here. I’ll go to the Xiezhi Sect’s main temple and report this to the sect master.”
Yan Ling suddenly gripped his hand, saying urgently: “Truly?”
The executioner couldn’t help but smile and spoke warmly: “Truly. The Xiezhi Sect exists precisely to uphold justice for the people of the thirteen states. The sect master will certainly not ignore this.”
Yan Ling’s eyes grew hot. He couldn’t speak, only nodding desperately.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The executioner brought him hot tea and gave him instructions before hurriedly leaving the office through the snow.
Yan Ling waited restlessly for an hour. Finally, footsteps sounded outside.
The young executioner’s water flow sound came first. Yan Ling’s heart hadn’t yet settled when he heard another sound—a dull wind before the rain and storm.
Yan Ling froze.
The executioner pushed open the door and smiled at Yan Ling: “Sect Master Qu has arrived.”
The Xiezhi Sect’s master was named Qu Xiangren. His face held an expression of solemn righteousness, his eyes like a hawk’s—cold as they fixed on Yan Ling.
Children of merely thirteen or fourteen, when swept by Qu Xiangren’s gaze—the cold severity born of years adjudicating cases—typically trembled with fear. Yet Yan Ling met his stare with an expressionless face.
Qu Xiangren said: “Do you swear what you’ve said is true?”
“Yes, not a single false word.” Yan Ling knelt on the ground. “I beg the sect master to grant me justice.”
Qu Xiangren asked: “Do you have witnesses?”
Yan Ling was silent for a moment, recalling that Yan Yue had told him he’d seen Xi Ze slaughter Yan Hanque and Lady Chao with his own eyes.
But he didn’t dare gamble with Yan Yue. He bit his teeth slightly, uncertain how to speak.
“Rest assured.” Qu Xiangren said. “The Xiezhi Sect has a xiangwen capable of extracting memories. If there truly is a witness, the extracted memories can serve as evidence.”
Yan Ling hesitated for a long while: “You… can truly grant me justice?”
Qu Xiangren’s eyes flashed.
So there really is a witness.
“If the Xiezhi Sect cannot grant you justice…” Qu Xiangren said flatly, “then even if you search the entire thirteen states, no one will be able to right your grievance.”
Yan Ling said nothing.
He inexplicably had a premonition that he couldn’t let Yan Yue get involved. If he did, he would surely regret it.
Seeing Yan Ling remained silent, Qu Xiangren said: “You wait here for now. I’ll first send an executioner to Yanwen Mountain to investigate whether your words are true.”
Relieved that Qu Xiangren didn’t press about the witness, Yan Ling quietly exhaled.
Qu Xiangren turned and left.
The young executioner helped Yan Ling to his feet and smiled: “Now you can rest easy, right? The Xiezhi Sect’s master upholds righteousness without bias. Justice will surely be served.”
Yan Ling nodded, saying softly: “Thank you.”
The executioner’s expression didn’t show it, but his heart pitied the boy.
Just a child of thirteen or fourteen, yet experiencing such tragedy.
The executioner said gently: “Do you have any other relatives?”
Yan Ling shook his head.
Yan Yue had mentioned that Lady Wan once said she and Lady Chao were good friends. But Yan Ling, seeing enemies everywhere, didn’t dare trust her. If Lady Wan truly was his mother’s close friend and learned from Yan Yue that Xi Ze had taken him away, why hadn’t she come to find and save him all these years? Why had she never even come to see him?
Yan Ling didn’t feel Lady Wan rescuing him was a given. He simply didn’t want to place his hopes on other strangers.
Only by relying on himself could he find peace.
Yan Ling sat obediently there drinking tea. Before even finishing half a cup, a familiar, piercing shriek suddenly reached his ears.
“Clang—”
The ceramic cup fell from his weakened hands, shattering into countless pieces on the ground.
Hot tea spilled across the floor. The scalding steam that appeared for a moment was suddenly swept away by the chill brought in as the door pushed open.
Yan Ling suddenly trembled violently and stared blankly at the entrance.
Xi Ze stood expressionless, as if radiating overwhelming dark mist, his eyes cold and merciless as he regarded him.
Qu Xiangren stood at the door, observing coldly.
Xi Ze said coldly: “Xi Jue, winter solstice approaches. Why haven’t you returned home?”
Yan Ling’s heart plummeted into an ice cellar. His entire body went numb with bone-deep cold, making him shiver uncontrollably.
The Xiezhi Sect and the Xi family—were they birds of a feather!
The young executioner also froze, stepping forward with a frown: “Sect Master, this matter…”
Rumble rumble—
A thunderclap suddenly struck Yan Ling’s ears. He nearly went into a daze from the shock. After forcibly steadying himself, he realized with delayed understanding that the executioner who had just spoken had been pierced through the heart by Qu Xiangren’s sword. He staggered to the ground, eyes wide, already lifeless, dying with eyes open.
Yan Ling clenched his teeth: “You!”
Qu Xiangren expressionlessly retracted his hand and said to Xi Ze: “The fewer people who know of this, the better. Your spiritual-grade spell technique seems to be useless after all—a child of merely thirteen or fourteen broke through it easily.”
Xi Ze remained silent and walked forward. Before Yan Ling could curse, he suddenly reached out and shocked him unconscious.
Like back then, he casually picked him up, his cold face unmoved as he rode the wind away from the Punishment and Redemption Office.
***
When Yan Ling woke again, he was imprisoned in a spiritual residence under heavy seals, unable to move at all.
Xi Ze sat nearby and said coldly: “Who is the witness you mentioned?”
Yan Ling looked at him coldly: “If you don’t kill me today, one day I will make you pay the price.”
Xi Ze turned a deaf ear and asked again.
Yan Ling didn’t answer.
Xi Ze knew this person was stubborn. Even with torture, he wouldn’t extract a single word from him. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said: “Go bring Xi Qingfeng here.”
The elder acknowledged and withdrew.
Very quickly, Xi Qingfeng came hurrying over and bowed respectfully to Xi Ze.
“Family head.”
Xi Ze said: “You serve in the Punishment and Redemption Office. Do you have a technique to track people through their aura?”
“I do.” Xi Qingfeng responded respectfully. “My xiangwen is Mysterious-grade ‘Tracing Hidden Traces.’ With even a single wisp of aura, I can track a person within a hundred li radius.”
Yan Ling’s heart jumped. A bad premonition washed over him.
Xi Ze raised his hand and drew out the foreign aura from Yan Ling’s body, condensing it into a virtual white sphere which he handed to Xi Qingfeng. He said coldly: “Follow the aura to find this person and bring them here.”
Xi Qingfeng: “Understood.”
He turned and left.
Yan Ling’s heart raced wildly. He asked, horrified: “What… what are you going to do?”
Xi Ze didn’t answer.
In less than two quarters of an hour, Xi Qingfeng returned to the Xi residence, dragging the filthy Yan Yue by force. He tossed him to the ground where Yan Yue hit his head hard, dazed and unable to rise for a long while.
Yan Ling finally knew fear. He struggled desperately, yet no matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t break free from the restraints binding him. He could only cry out hoarsely: “No!”
Xi Ze was heartless and ruthless. He dared kill anyone.
Xi Ze said coldly: “How did you break through the spiritual-grade spell technique?”
Yan Ling’s long hair hung in disarray, his appearance disheveled as he shook his head desperately: “I… I don’t know. When the Xiezhi Sect executioner killed—killed someone, my consciousness suddenly broke through the prohibition. I really don’t know.”
Xi Ze regarded him, as if judging whether his words were truth or lies.
But Yan Yue was in his hands. Yan Ling trembled with such fear that he couldn’t possibly lie now.
Xi Ze withdrew his probing gaze, lost in thought.
Perhaps as Yan Ling’s cultivation grew higher, the spiritual-grade spell technique would gradually crack on its own. If he imposed another spell to alter his consciousness and memories, eventually he would break through the prohibition without realizing it.
Rather than merely treating the symptoms…
Xi Ze looked at Yan Yue sleeping on the ground and suddenly said to Yan Ling: “If you want him to live, do as I say.”
Yan Ling eagerly nodded: “Yes, yes, I’ll do anything. Please let him live! I promise, I’ll be obedient from now on. Please…”
Xi Ze nodded and gestured to Xi Qingfeng.
Xi Qingfeng nodded and roughly dragged Yan Yue away.
Yan Ling, covered in cold sweat, finally exhaled in relief. Seeing Xi Ze looking at him, he quickly squeezed out an obsequious smile.
But moments later, a thunderclap suddenly sounded outside.
Yan Ling froze and turned his head to look.
The sky outside was perfectly clear.
Where had the thunder come from?
A thought too terrible to accept suddenly flashed through Yan Ling’s mind. His bound hands suddenly clenched, then he forced them to relax, not wanting Xi Ze to notice anything amiss.
“Y-your… your lordship…” Yan Ling said carefully to Xi Ze, his voice strained: “You won’t kill him, will you?”
Xi Ze said coldly: “Naturally. When we no longer need the identity of ‘Xi Jue,’ I will naturally let you and him go.”
Yan Ling went rigid. It was as if a blade had pierced through his chest.
He was lying.
That thunderclap had said everything.
Yan Ling’s eyes nearly burst with hatred. A thick, coppery taste welled up in his throat, yet he forced his taut body to relax, arranging his expression into one of relief.
Xi Ze said: “What do you call me?”
Yan Ling curved his eyes and said obediently: “Father.”
Xi Ze said coldly: “You’ve been away too long. Lady Xi has worried herself into taking to bed. Winter solstice approaches—spend three days praying for your mother’s health.”
Yan Ling said submissively: “Yes.”
Xi Ze released him from the spiritual residence. Without being told, Yan Ling knew what was expected. He knelt in the courtyard in a single layer of clothing, “praying” for Lady Xi’s health for three days.
At the courtyard, Xi Qingfeng escorted Feng Chongyang out the gate with proper respect. After courteously seeing the distinguished guest off, he returned and looked down coldly at Yan Ling.
He seemed extremely disdainful of the high-and-mighty “Xi Jue.” Though he vaguely knew this person wasn’t the real Xi Jue, seeing that hateful face fallen into such a sorry state brought a twisted satisfaction to his heart.
Xi Qingfeng looked down at him for a long moment, then suddenly slapped him hard across the face.
The crack was sharp and clear.
Yan Ling’s head turned from the impact.
Xi Qingfeng said coldly: “You’re nothing but a counterfeit.”
Yan Ling extended his tongue to lick the blood at the corner of his lips. When he raised his head slightly, his face still bore a smile.
He seemed like someone whose mind was no longer under control. Even as he wished for death, his face remained smiling as he said: “I will kill you.”
Xi Qingfeng froze.
“You, the Xiezhi Sect’s master, Xi Ze.” Yan Ling wore a childlike smile, his eyes narrowed as he said: “If you don’t kill me today, one day I will kill you all.”
Xi Qingfeng suddenly grew furious and was about to slap him again, but meeting those black, hollow eyes, he seemed to feel fear and instinctively stepped back half a step.
Yan Ling licked the fresh blood flowing from his lip corner and smiled: “…None of you will escape.”
He suddenly decided not to perish together with this pack of beasts from the Xi family. Why soil his karmic path through rebirth?
He wanted to live. Live well.
Kill every single person who tormented him and brought him suffering, one by one. Only then could he fill the void left by these years of torment.
Since the Xiezhi Sect wouldn’t grant him justice, he would seek it himself.
Yan Ling underwent complete transformation in this heavy snow.
After that, not a single truthful word ever left his lips.
Xi Qingfeng was infuriated by this madman. After recovering, he was about to make him suffer more when a voice came from nearby.
“Enough.”
Xi Qingfeng turned to look and said coldly: “You coward—what are you playing at, being the good person?”
Xi Minghuai stood there with lowered eyes, speaking softly: “You know perfectly well he’s not Xi Jue.”
Xi Qingfeng gave a cold laugh, too lazy to waste another word on this weakling. He turned and left with a flourish of his sleeve.
Xi Minghuai looked at the child falsely smiling in the heavy snow. After hesitating for a moment, he placed an umbrella beside him.
Yan Ling looked at it for a while and said: “I don’t want it.”
Xi Minghuai froze.
“Thank you.” Yan Ling smiled and said, “You’re a good person. I won’t kill you.”
Xi Minghuai crouched there, hesitating for a long time before saying quietly: “Have you gone mad?”
He wasn’t scolding Yan Ling. He was genuinely asking.
Has the Xi family driven you mad?
“No.” Yan Ling said flatly. “I’m very lucid.”
Xi Minghuai pressed his lips together and said softly: “Then don’t say such childish things. Just live well.”
Yan Ling gave a short laugh but didn’t take up his words.
Xi Minghuai could only retrieve the umbrella and walked away slowly through the thin layer of accumulated snow.
With no one around, Yan Ling stood with his waist and back straight. It was as if even the fiercest blizzard couldn’t bend his spine.
He seemed to have been worn smooth of all emotion by successive tribulations. From start to finish, not a single tear fell.
***
In the dark alley beside the Xi residence.
Feng Chongyang stared expressionlessly at the tiny corpse curled in the corner. After a long silence, he suddenly sighed without sound.
Yan Yue’s sleeve still held the half-moon patterned water mirror. Feng Chongyang picked it up and placed it in his palm, then performed a soul-summoning gesture with his fingers.
The young boy had been dead for less than a quarter hour. His spirit hadn’t yet fully departed the mortal realm. Using a spiritual-grade soul-summoning technique, he could barely gather his three hun and seven po souls.
Yet that body had already lost its life force and couldn’t be used anymore.
After a time, the fragmented hun and po souls were finally summoned. Feng Chongyang sealed them within the water mirror, watching as the fragile spirit drifted uncertainly. After a long moment, it finally coalesced into a complete soul and slowly fell into slumber.
Feng Chongyang stashed the water mirror in his sleeve. His ghost-character-marked white robes fluttered in the wind and snow as he walked away slowly.
***
**
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1
Just when I thought angst was over, got hit by even worse😭 thanks for the new chapter as always.