Over the past five hundred years, Cangshu Bai had developed a habit. After every slaughter, he would return to the small world he had created for himself, wash his hands clean, strip away the murderous aura clinging to his body, and hold his sleeping wife in his arms.
Occasionally, he would be very quiet. But at other times, he would speak meaningless words that would never receive a reply. In this way, his restless heart, agitated by killing intent, would slowly find peace and stability.
"The house we lived in is still doing well, and so is the village. When you wake up, whether you want to return to Hulu Village or Bishui Town, I will accompany you."
"Didn't you used to love joining Aunt Wang and the others to listen to the gossip? When she passed away peacefully at a ripe old age, I went to see her on your behalf. She asked me how you were doing. I told her that you just needed to take a nap, and when you woke up, everything would be fine."
"Her descendants planted a few wildflowers by our door, and fireflies land on them. I still remember how much you liked the way fireflies glowed in the night. I'll take you to the mountains to see the fireflies later, alright?"
"Ranran."
Cangshu Bai lowered his eyes, his gentle gaze falling upon her face that had recently regained a touch of rosiness. His fingertips lightly caressed the skin of her cheek, and he let out a soft chuckle.
"Biyun Mountain is gone, and so is Tianyu Palace. Only Zhenyue Mountain City is left."
"I have been cultivating very hard."
"Now, no one can bully us anymore."
Cangshu Bai could almost imagine that if she were awake, she would definitely run over dramatically to hug him, then tilt her face up, her eyes curved into crescents, her smile bright and radiant.
"Jinzhi, you are so amazing!"
A spark of light flickered in his dark eyes, but soon, that fleeting gleam dimmed once more.
"If you knew that my hands were covered in blood, that I had killed so many people, would you hate me?"
Somehow, even though he hadn't seen any look of disgust from Mu Ran, just the thought of it caused a thin layer of moisture to veil his dark eyes.
His eyelashes trembled slightly as a teardrop gathered at the corner of his eye. It was on the verge of falling, yet he held it back desperately, letting it only blur into a watery sheen in his eyes.
Cangshu Bai buried his face in the crook of her neck, greedily breathing in her scent, and only then did he feel his own heartbeat again.
While he was completely unaware, a girl's hand was gently stroking his white hair.
"I already told you that when you want to kill someone, I'll hand you the knife. Don't you remember?" Mu Ran stood bent over in front of him, muttering, "You are my favorite person. I could never bear to abandon you."
She crouched down again, watching Cangshu Bai embrace her physical body. It was a subtle feeling that was hard to put into words.
Mu Ran had tried to dive back into her own body, wanting to resurrect, but she had failed.
She couldn't explain what was going on with her current state either. Perhaps it was because she had integrated her blood into his body back then, forming a magical connection with him, allowing her soul to drift around him.
The former Cangshu Bai had black hair and wore green robes, looking like a scholar with a refined, academic air.
But the current Cangshu Bai had snow-white hair and often wore oppressive black clothes. He seemed even colder than before, and when he killed, he looked more like a vengeful ghost.
Mu Ran didn't know how he had survived these past five hundred years, but she could guess that this long half-millennium had definitely not been easy.
She carefully reached out to touch what looked like a hand formed by condensed black spiritual energy. However, he was missing a real hand there after all, and nothing else could truly replace it.
Mu Ran couldn't help but feel her eyes grow hot again. "Idiot, didn't I tell you to just remember me for fifty years? Who told you to use a forbidden art!"
A mortal life was only a short hundred years. Asking him to remember her for fifty years was her own selfish desire, making it feel as if he had truly given her a lifetime.
She raised her eyes again to look at Cangshu Bai's gaunt profile.
Not long ago at Biyun Mountain, his strikes when killing had been as ruthless as an Asura's. His entire being had been steeped in a maddened ferocity, as if even his soul had been dyed crimson.
But at this moment, the corners of his eyes were tinged with an unnatural pale red, and deep within his dark eyes hid a lingering emptiness and exhaustion. He had clearly just returned from a slaughter, yet now he looked as if he would shatter into pieces in the next second.
One moment sinking into madness, the next left with only shattered bewilderment. His entire being was constantly torn between brutality and fragility, like a string ready to snap at any moment.
Only Mu Ran could see that his current mental state was terribly frail.
The young man held her body tightly, his knuckles turning white. His voice was broken and out of tune, suppressed and hoarse. "Ranran... I miss you so much."
Mu Ran suddenly thought that if, over these five hundred years, he had truly met another girl he liked, and that girl could save him from this awful state, that would be good too.
Whether it was Hong Fu or Luo Qingniao.
As long as it kept him from falling into such a state of self-torture, anyone would do.
Knowing full well that he couldn't sense her at all, Mu Ran still rose gently and approached him without a sound.
She reached out and tenderly wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders, as if gently pressing his head against her heart. Like soothing a severely injured little beast licking its wounds alone, her fingertips softly pressed against the crown of his head, slowly and lightly stroking his hair, over and over again.
"Jinzhi, I miss you too."
For some unknown reason, in this world that had always been calm and tranquil, where the sea met the sky, a faint breeze suddenly blew past. Ripples appeared on the surface of the water, spreading out in circle after circle.
The small blue fish that often swam leisurely in the water was freely flicking its tail when it suddenly paused its movements.
It tilted its head, its glass-like round eyes staring fixedly in the direction where Mu Ran was, as if it had pierced through the invisible barrier and truly seen her figure.
But after blinking again, the woman's figure vanished without a trace.
It subconsciously wanted to pass this news to its master, but soon it shook its head in confusion, feeling that it had been too influenced by its master and was hallucinating.
Its master's condition was already terrible enough; it was better not to give him false hope.
And so, it turned its head and swam away, chasing the bubbles it blew out to play.
The overnight destruction of Tianyu Palace sparked widespread discussion among many cultivators.
"Five hundred years ago it was Biyun Mountain, and now it's Tianyu Palace. Could it really be that The Green-Clad Guest has returned?"
"I heard that only two female cultivators survived from Tianyu Palace. They said the person who annihilated Tianyu Palace was a man with black clothes and white hair!"
"Then it must be Cangshu Bai who has returned!"
"He must be taking revenge for his wife!"
"Now he can easily annihilate an entire sect. Just how terrifying is his strength?"
"Thank goodness I didn't offend him back then, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have been able to keep my life."
"Say, do you think his next target for revenge will be Zhenyue Mountain City?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd suddenly felt a chill sweep over them, and the tavern instantly fell into dead silence.
