Zhan Ri Fei, seeing that Huo Xiao Di had already grasped his meaning, continued, “If you think carefully, during the fight between the Wu Ning Hall assassins and Jiao Chao Gui with Mu Xiuquan, it was your San’er’s sudden intervention that turned the tide in Xing Yun Manor’s favor.”
Huo Xiao Di’s thoughts raced. “At the time, San’er was indeed alone with him. San’er is extremely intelligent—once I scold it, it never disobeys my commands. If it acted against my orders, it must have been provoked by someone else.”
As the realization dawned on him, his eyes widened in disbelief. His voice rose as he exclaimed, “You’re lying! San’er has been with me for years. How could it possibly take orders from him?”
Yet even as he said this, how much of his own words did he truly believe?
A flicker of complexity passed through Zhan Ri Fei’s eyes. “If your San’er wouldn’t obey others, then why did it show no hostility toward him from the start? Why did it constantly circle around him? Knowing San’er’s temperament, don’t you think your dog’s unusual friendliness toward him was strange, even excessive?”
His deep gaze shifted toward the moonlight streaming through the broken door, seeming to meld with its silvery glow.
“I wish these speculations were all wrong. But given the circumstances, it appears your San’er might have been influenced by Mind-Ensnaring Arts. It is said that these arts must be practiced by a pure boy [a youth who has remained celibate], and at a certain level, they require inner energy to enhance their effectiveness. This boy has no martial skills, so even if he learned the technique, he couldn’t master it. However, to control your clever dog, it would have been more than sufficient.”
— “What I don’t understand is this: if he grew up in Han Shui Palace, where did he learn the Mind-Ensnaring Arts?”
— “Could this be the reason he left Han Shui Palace?”
He looked at the boy’s tense, wary expression even in his sleep and gently shook his head. “Perhaps the only one who can uncover the reason is you.”
Huo Xiao Di finally lowered his head. “No wonder San’er suddenly lunged and bit someone. So it was… it was him—”
When he raised his head again, his eyes held a determined glint. “I never thought he would harm San’er. If it’s truly him, I will never forgive him!”
Zhan Ri Fei sighed softly. “Huo, up until now, we’ve only been speculating. These are just the most plausible conclusions, but they do not justify condemning someone for a crime.”
Huo Xiao Di gritted his teeth. “But what if our speculations are correct?”
Zhan Ri Fei replied, “Then tell me this: if you were in his place, would you not have done the same?”
Huo Xiao Di froze, stunned.
Zhan Ri Fei’s words, though spoken softly and slowly, struck Huo Xiao Di like the toll of a great bell, each phrase shaking him to his core.
— “If our speculations are correct and he truly grew up in Han Shui Palace, who would have taught him right from wrong, good from evil? What could he possibly have learned from what he saw and heard there?”
— “If you were in his place, living every day knowing that your survival came at the cost of endless suffering—constant wounds inflicted by others and the daily agony of being forced to drink poison—would you trust anyone? Especially when everyone around you didn’t see you as a person but as an object?”
— “If our speculations are correct and he is truly Chang Hong Bi, then why should he trust that your intentions toward him are pure? How would he know that your effort to save him isn’t because he is Chang Hong Bi?”
— “Even a child younger than him would understand that if his secret were exposed, he would become the target of everyone’s greed. Without martial skills, and with everyone in the martial world desiring him, what means wouldn’t he resort to for survival?”
— “Are you really willing to take someone’s life over a dog? Is his life truly worth less than that of a dog?”
For the first time in his life, Huo Xiao Di was left speechless. Born and raised in the privileged environment of Ling Long Manor, accustomed to commanding others with ease, he had never considered that a human life could be as fragile as a feather or as insignificant as a worn-out shoe.
After a long silence, he finally let out a deep sigh and said, “I understand now. — I don’t blame him.”
Zhan Ri Fei’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed. He let out a light sigh and said, “I wasn’t wrong—Huo, your magnanimity is truly admirable. Ling Long Manor’s rise to prominence in the martial world is undoubtedly due to such wisdom and—” He couldn’t finish the word “virtue” before his breath caught, and he broke into a fit of coughing.
The fire crackled softly. In the faint flicker of the flames, Huo Xiao Di suddenly noticed that at some point, Zhan Ri Fei’s voice had grown weaker and weaker.
The coughing fit revealed just how grave his condition had become. His complexion, under the mottled pale moonlight, had turned an alarming bluish-purple. The muscles in his face twitched slightly, and beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.
Huo Xiao Di frowned. “Even after taking two Ling Long Honey Pills, why is your wound still in such pain?”
— Although Zhan Ri Fei hadn’t allowed him to see the wound on his back, Huo Xiao Di knew that Ling Long Manor’s Ling Long Honey was renowned throughout the martial world as a miraculous healing remedy, rare and priceless. Now, having casually offered Zhan Ri Fei two pills, only to find they couldn’t sustain him, Huo Xiao Di wondered whether the Han Shui Palace’s Chang Xiang Si poison had some supernatural power that even Ling Long Honey couldn’t counteract.
Zhan Ri Fei forced a weak smile and opened his mouth to speak, but a wave of blood surged up from within, leaving him unable to utter a word. His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.
It was only then that Huo Xiao Di realized Zhan Ri Fei had been sustaining himself solely through an unbroken flow of inner energy ever since his fight with the two from Han Shui Palace. Now, with the wound flaring up, he could no longer hold on. Startled, Huo Xiao Di leapt to his side with a cry of alarm.
Zhan Ri Fei drew a deep breath, steadying himself. Seeing the concern etched on Huo Xiao Di’s face, he still managed a lighthearted expression and said, “Don’t worry—I’m not going to die. But I’ll need you to do me one more favor.”
Though Huo Xiao Di hadn’t spent much time with him, he knew that beneath Zhan Ri Fei’s refined and composed demeanor lay an unyielding will. At this critical moment, he couldn’t spare a thought for humor or pleasantries and instead said anxiously, “Just tell me—what should I do?”
Zhan Ri Fei’s eyes were nearly swollen shut from the pain, and his voice had become faint and slurred. Huo Xiao Di had to lean close to his lips to make out his words: “Ink Fire counters Cold Water... There’s no other way. I’ll need to trouble you to use your Yin Yang An.”
Huo Xiao Di repeated, startled, “My Yin Yang An?”
Zhan Ri Fei nodded weakly. “Yes. It’s a long story. The wound on my back... a fragment of Chang Xiang Si poison was left there—”
* * *
The pale crescent moon above the mountains darted swiftly through the drifting clouds. The rain-soaked night was gradually reaching its peak—midnight.
Midnight was the time when human vitality was at its weakest, when yin energy was at its strongest, and when, according to legend, nocturnal spirits were at their most active.
A gust of night wind swept through the partially open temple door, sending a chill down Huo Xiao Di’s spine. He shivered involuntarily. His hand trembled slightly, not from fear but from tightly gripping the Yin Yang An sword. The veins on the back of his hand stood out from the strain.
The Yin Yang An, with its black blade, seemed to embody the spirit of the night. Whether it was due to Huo Xiao Di’s inner energy coursing through it or its own ominous nature, it let out a faint, sinister hiss, like the whisper of a demon.
Zhan Ri Fei forced himself to take a deep breath, circulating his inner energy. Despite the overwhelming pain and exhaustion that felt as heavy as a mountain pressing down on him, his expression remained serene, as if Huo Xiao Di wasn’t about to cut into his body.
After a moment of silence, Huo Xiao Di, standing behind him, said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take this chance to stab you in the back?”
Zhan Ri Fei replied calmly, “Would you like to try, Huo?”
Surprisingly, Huo Xiao Di didn’t deny it.
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