Lin Muci slept in a daze for an entire night.
She woke up to the sigh of the little system.
“Manage Ling Qianhe, that madman…”
Lin Muci was slightly stunned.
“He killed someone again?”
“He did seem to say something about taking back the spiritual veins before…”
Vaguely, hazily, she had this impression. Ling Qianhe had said so. She stretched lazily, her attitude open and honest.
“It wouldn't be surprising if he took action.”
The little system’s voice was trembling.
“He’s too brutal—he kills, so be it, but does he need to use human skin to light sky lanterns? He even refines people’s souls. Is he afraid others won’t die thoroughly enough?”
“What reason is there for a cultivator to live on human flesh and blood? Like this, he’s destined to become a demon. He’s no different from a demon now.”
“Host, you are the only hope in this entire world. Why don’t you manage him…”
Lin Muci was slightly stunned. She put on her clothes and said.
“I’ll go take a look.”
…
Ling Qianhe went near the Imperial City’s treasury today.
When his mother died, he didn’t let go of any of the people who had harmed her.
The Empress who had forced his mother to her death was no longer recognizable as human. The eunuchs and guards around all lay on the ground, and blood flowed like a river.
Opposite him, a youth’s blood vessels burst, revealing white bones.
He fiddled with the bones, but then he laughed.
“My things, you dare to take them away?”
“Serves you right to be ground to ashes now.”
“It’s all your and your mother’s own doing.”
The young man’s eyes were filled with brutal killing intent. In his palm was a black longsword, its sword energy as dark as ink, looking terrifying.
He strode across the lake formed by the accumulated blood in three steps.
The skilled craftsmen before him trembled, but they handed him the sky lantern they had just finished.
He lit the candle, a flicker of mockery and coldness flashing in his eyes.
Let it be chaos—the more chaotic this world, the better, he thought. Suddenly, a girl’s voice, tinged with anger, reached his ears.
“What are you doing?”
The girl, holding up her skirt, rushed towards him.
Looking at the lake formed by the blood before him, the pain in her eyes intensified. She couldn’t help but walk around it. But the moment she looked up at him, she took a deep breath.
“Ling Qianhe!”
She was very angry.
Ling Qianhe could feel her emotions.
Anger, unease.
She walked up to him and then grabbed his wrist.
“Are you killing for pleasure?”
“Answer me!”
She looked up, meeting his gaze.
The young man’s eyes were dark and deep, like an unfathomable sea. Then, he let out a scoff, as if mocking her childish sense of justice. He leaned close to her ear and asked in a low voice.
“What if I said—yes.”
“Just as you see. I am killing for pleasure.”
“What can you do to me?”
She looked up at him. She raised her palm high, as if about to strike him without restraint. He, however, somehow anticipated the expression of anger and stubbornness on this girl’s face. The next moment, she sniffled and suddenly hugged him.
“Don’t be like this.”
“I know you’re not that bad.”
“You want revenge, you want to kill. It’s their fault, they are the ones who sinned.”
“But you shouldn’t…”
He looked into her eyes, so bright and pure, yet in their depths, a sinister him was reflected. How absurd and laughable.
He clenched his palm tightly, turning his face away, and said.
“I shouldn’t what? I don’t need anyone’s permission for anything I do. Whatever I do is righteous and proper.”
“If there are divine punishments or heavenly condemnations, let them come. I fear nothing.”
The sinister smile on his lips spread little by little. The impossibly handsome youth lowered his head, leaning close to her ear.
Then Lin Muci heard him say.
“Even immortals cannot be all-powerful.”
“When I was young, I overheard the Imperial Preceptor mention a legend. If heavenly immortals descend to the mortal realm, they must suppress their cultivation, otherwise, they will face heavenly retribution. Since that is the case…”
His eyelashes, dark and heavy, covered his eyes. His tone was indifferent.
“If they think I truly deserve to die, they will send powerful beings down to this realm, won’t they?”
“The Human Emperor who had a connection with you will also descend to kill me.”
“After all, he is the leader of the righteous path.”
“How can he stand by and watch me, a demon, wreak havoc in the human world?”
“If he wants to kill me, I will kill him!”
His voice was filled with palpable killing intent.
Lin Muci suddenly realized… He not only wanted revenge, but he also wanted immortals to descend?
He had no inherent sense of good or evil in his heart. The more evil thoughts he absorbed, the stronger he became. But in return, his sense of right and wrong would only fade.
He didn’t care at all how others viewed him.
Even if they considered him a demon, or a vengeful spirit—
The young man’s face, exquisitely beautiful to an extreme, looked at her expressionlessly.
Then he lifted her chin and asked her.
“If I hurt a man you’ve had relations with, will you be heartbroken?”
Lin Muci was furious.
She looked into his eyes, wishing she could beat him soundly. She sniffled, then told him loudly.
“Of course I will be heartbroken!”
Red light began to flicker in the young man’s eyes.
The mockery on his lips intensified, clearly filled with ridicule. He knew it.
He knew her words were all lies.
He knew that a girl would never truly like a demon, that she had never genuinely intended to stay by his side.
But the next moment.
He froze, because he heard Si Muxi say seriously.
“I’m not heartbroken for others, I’m heartbroken for you!”
“Don’t you understand? I don’t care one bit about that so-called Human Emperor. His life or death has nothing to do with me. If I could defeat him, I would even kill him!”
“The person I care about, clearly, is you!”
“Why do you use this method to prove you have no heart, no love?”
“Doesn’t it hurt? When the mortal world turns into hell, when you are swallowed by endless malice, you yourself will cease to exist—won’t you feel pain?”
She looked at his chest.
“How can a heart born of flesh and blood remain unmoved? If others hate you and resent you, you must also retaliate fiercely.”
“To kill ten thousand people is to harm yourself infinitely.”
“That heart, it must be being cut to pieces, right?”
“How could it not hurt.”
She bit her lip, her gaze stubborn, with a hint of shimmering tears. The faint tears that slowly spread at the corners of her eyes made one’s heart tremble silently. Yet she still looked intently into his eyes. A hint of resolve slowly rippling in the depths of her eyes stirred the heart.
She asked him.
“Don’t you understand?”
“I don’t think you’re guilty.”
“I pity you.”
She tiptoed. There was still some uncleaned blood on his cheek.
Her fingertips, radiating a slight warmth, slowly wiped away the blood from his cheek inch by inch. She looked at the ice in his eyes and said.
“Don’t kill innocent people.”
“Otherwise, I will atone for you.”
He began to frown.
What did she mean—what did she want to do?
The young demon, feeling a trace of panic—he gripped her fingertips. There was still blood on her fingertips. He used black energy to burn the blood away, thinking this blood was too dirty for her to touch.
And she stared into his eyes, saying.
“Do you hate so much? Enough to make the world pay the price for your hatred?”
Ling Qianhe remained silent. He felt that the way the girl looked at him caused him a subtle pain. He lowered his head, pursed his lips, his voice very, very soft.
“But—”
“What in this world is worth me enduring?”
What he actually wanted to hear was her saying, "For my sake, can you endure it?"
But the girl simply watched him, as quiet as water.
She spoke no more and turned to leave.
She was somewhat disappointed.
But she was still willing to wait for him.
So he could still arbitrarily and happily abuse those who deserved to die.
He could still let his twisted, bloodthirsty nature consume him.
Until—after that incident, she was no longer willing to wait for him to turn back.
Later, Ling Qianhe thought many times—if possible, he would definitely restrain his nature, he would definitely obey her obediently.
Whatever she said, he would definitely agree. He shouldn’t have been so extreme, he shouldn’t have been jealous of her and other men, he shouldn’t have doubted her…
As long as she was still here.
He could do anything.
Later, he became so humble that he begged heaven, so humble that he burned his bones and heart, so humble that he knelt nine thousand miles with every step, begging her to return.
If she were here.
He would do anything.
Unfortunately, he was too extreme in his youth.
Unfortunately, even a demon could not do everything.
If only he hadn’t disappointed her again and again.
There are no "if onlys."
After that incident.
His Sister Muci, was, by his own hands, shattered in the mortal world.