Pei Du felt deeply humiliated.
If he had merely been left to linger in the Ghost Domain with his broken body, he might have forced himself to endure the shame of his current predicament without dwelling on it.
But now that the Pei family had appeared, confronting him face to face, the situation became entirely different.
Disgrace, schemes, defeat, being a mere stand-in—all the hidden truths were laid bare without pretense, making his existence seem laughable and unnecessary.
Calling him a "stray dog" would indeed be fitting.
Luo Zheng looked up, the events of that steep cliff still vivid in his mind. He could tell that Pei Du’s cultivation had greatly diminished.
It was a strange feeling.
He and his fellow disciples all knew that Pei Du was merely an adopted son of the family head, with no blood relation. He should have been a lowly, insignificant youth, yet he had risen to prominence overnight—all because of his face.
It was utterly unfair.
Countless times, Luo Zheng had asked himself, Why?
Why was he forced to look up to Pei Du from afar? Why did the family head favor Pei Du alone, treating the rest of them as fools unworthy of comparison? Why did he have to live under Pei Du’s shadow, forever overlooked?
But now, things had changed.
Pei Du had been caught scheming treachery, struck down by the family head and sent tumbling off a cliff. His cultivation, reputation, and family backing—all gone.
Luo Zheng told himself this wasn’t revenge born of jealousy.
Pei Du had colluded with demons first. He was merely upholding justice.
"All those years in the Pei family—what was the point?"
Luo Zheng sneered. "In the end, you still betrayed us, siding with the demons. Now you’re nothing but a useless cripple."
He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, ready to intimidate further, when a clear voice cut in:
"Some people have lived in this world for so many years—what was the point?"
Xie Jingci twirled a lock of her hair lazily. "All that height, but no brains. In the end, they’ll just end up buried early. How pitiful."
"You—!"
Seeing Luo Zheng’s fury, Pei Du frowned and stepped forward, seizing the man’s outstretched wrist.
His movement was too fast to react to. Luo Zheng had assumed the young master had lost all will to fight, never expecting him to strike. Before he could process it, Pei Du had twisted his arm behind his back.
This damn brat!
Being outmaneuvered by a wounded man with no cultivation left was an unbearable humiliation.
Rage surged in Luo Zheng’s chest, and in an instant, he drew his sword, unleashing a storm of sword energy. The attack was swift and ruthless—there was no way Pei Du, in his current state, could evade it.
Yet before Luo Zheng could even smirk, he froze in shock.
Impossible.
How could another surge of spiritual energy, even more overwhelming than his own, come crashing toward him—crushing his killing intent completely?
"This is a martial hall, not a place for picking fights."
Mo Xiaoyang frowned. "Was that really necessary? Bullying someone who’s already injured—does that make you feel good? Fine, if you love showing off so much, why not spar with me?"
He didn’t know the full story, but after years of surviving in the Ghost Domain, he could at least tell right from wrong by people’s expressions and actions.
—No decent person would ever mock a man who had lost his cultivation in such a cruel, gloating tone.
Mo Xiaoyang’s strength clearly surpassed Luo Zheng’s, and the latter was quickly overwhelmed, his breath ragged. "You have no idea what kind of person he is! Pei Du—"
Before he could finish, a sharp metallic shing rang out.
Xie Jingci had drawn her blade from her storage pouch, its tip aimed at Luo Zheng’s forehead in the blink of an eye.
Her voice was calm, almost indifferent. "If you want to take him away, you’ll have to get through me first."
Accompanying Luo Zheng to the Ghost Domain was Pei Mingchuan, the third young master of the Pei family.
Among the noble clans, he was infamous as a talentless coward. Though he knew of his mother and second brother’s scheme to frame Pei Du, he hadn’t been invited to participate—with his timid nature, he’d only cause trouble.
Truthfully, among the Pei family members, he was the closest to Pei Du.
His parents had long given up on him, and his second brother treated him as if he didn’t exist. Only Pei Du had ever spoken to him kindly, even teaching him sword techniques without reservation.
But Pei Mingchuan never dared to openly approach him.
His mother despised Pei Du. If she found out, she would fly into a rage.
He didn’t know what to do.
So when Luo Zheng hurled insults earlier, he had remained silent and unmoving—Pei Mingchuan had worked hard to build a rapport with Luo Zheng. If he intervened now, he might lose his only "friend."
If they could even be called friends.
He had been watching the fight from the sidelines, but when Xie Jingci drew her Ghost Crying Blade, his expression finally cracked.
That sword… felt eerily familiar.
A wild thought flashed through his mind, but he dismissed it instantly. The Xie family was far from the Ghost Domain, and their young lady was still unconscious.
Luo Zheng, however, didn’t overthink it. With a cold laugh, he replied, "You asked for this."
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Mo Xiaoyang, confident Xie Jingci wouldn’t lose, cut in. "You can’t fight here! If the training platform gets damaged, my master—"
"The Pei family is wealthy. A mere training platform is nothing."
Pei Mingchuan, silent until now, spoke firmly. "Money isn’t an issue. We’ll compensate for all damages."
Xie Jingci suddenly chuckled. "Just the original price? That’s not fair. You’ll scare off all the customers—there’s also the loss of business to consider."
Pei Mingchuan: "..."
Pei Mingchuan: "Double, then."
If he could bring Pei Du back, his parents would surely look at him differently. And even with double compensation, the assets in his storage pouch were more than enough.
The duel began.
Luo Zheng struck first.
He had no patience for mercy. His sword style was swift and lethal, sharp as a blizzard.
As for this unknown girl from the Ghost Domain, he paid her little mind, assuming she was just another fool bewitched by Pei Du’s looks, daring to challenge him without knowing her place.
At first, his movements were fluid, but gradually, he sensed something amiss.
Her blade technique…
Why did it resemble certain forms of the Pei family’s sword arts?!
He couldn’t decipher her footwork.
Though some of her attacks mirrored his own, most were a chaotic mix of other bizarre techniques, switching seamlessly between wildly different styles—
It reminded him of someone.
But that person couldn’t be here!
By the time Zhou Shen heard the crowd’s excited cheers, the battle was nearly over.
Xie Jingci clearly had the upper hand, but that wasn’t his main concern—
"No! My training platform—ten thousand demon crystals’ worth! Gone! I’ll be drinking northwest wind now!"
Mo Xiaoyang hurried to console him. "Master, don’t worry. That young master promised compensation."
"Compensation? What good is money?! My life’s work—can money replace that?!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, "It’s double, Boss Zhou!"
The blade’s edge pressed down with crushing force. Luo Zheng, drenched in cold sweat, barely managed to block it.
Zhou Shen: "Hahaha! T-this—this is my Xuan Yu Mirror! How could it be broken?! My heart is dead with despair, hahaha!"
After the life-and-death struggle in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Cave, Xie Jingci had finally mastered control over this body.
Countless blade techniques, movement skills, and esoteric arts flashed through her mind. Like a cat toying with a mouse, she wasn’t in a hurry to defeat her opponent outright—instead, she took pleasure in savoring his panicked expression.
Zhou Shen laughed uproariously, so excited his tongue nearly lolled out: "No! No! No! A family heirloom, my grandmother’s last keepsake! Grandma! My heart is shattered! Tragedy—this is the greatest tragedy in the mortal world!"
Mo Xiaoyang: "Master, that’s the spittoon I bought this morning."
The duel had reached its end.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Luo Zheng’s longsword was sent flying with a resounding clang, its blade shrieking through the winter wind.
"You—you—!"
His face was twisted in shock, but a last shred of desperate defiance remained. Gnashing his teeth, he spat, "If you dare harm me further, you’ll be making an enemy of the Pei family! The Pei estate has countless Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators—none of you can afford to provoke them!"
Xie Jingci’s movements abruptly stilled.
Mistaking her pause for hesitation, Luo Zheng regained his bravado, forcing open his right eye—swollen shut from the spiritual pressure—and glared straight at Pei Du: "And you… the once-mighty young master of the Pei family, now reduced to clinging to a woman’s skirts. How laughable!"
Pei Du clenched his sleeves, silent this time.
To lose so miserably yet still talk big, and then turn his taunts toward Pei Du—Xie Jingci couldn’t help but marvel at the man’s shamelessness.
"This guy doesn’t seem too bright," Mo Xiaoyang scratched his head. "Miss Xie, are they really that wealthy?"
His casual question went unnoticed by Luo Zheng and Pei Mingchuan, who stiffened at the address.
Miss Xie.
She was truly a Xie.
If she belonged to the illustrious Xie family of Yunjing, then Luo Zheng’s earlier claim of being "unprovokable"…
Was nothing short of a joke.
"What do you mean, ‘clinging to a woman’s skirts’?"
Xie Jingci snorted, sheathing her Ghost Cry blade and taking a step back.
Pei Du, caught in an awkward position, lifted his head in confusion—only to meet her smiling eyes as she suddenly leaned in.
"It’s me who has long admired Young Master Pei. When I heard of his misfortune, I left Yunjing at once to find him."
As she spoke, she wrapped both hands around Pei Du’s arm.
Her arms were soft and fair, her palm lightly brushing against his sleeve before sliding down with deliberate slowness. "It’s just a shame he’s always been so cold toward me. Truly heartbreaking—don’t you agree?"
Pei Du heard her laugh—a low, breathy sound that curled into a teasing whisper before she uttered:
"Pei Du… gege."
Pei Du had saved face for her in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Cave, and Xie Jingci always repaid kindness in kind.
Saving face was, after all, a two-way street.
Even knowing it was a lie, Pei Du’s ears burned as if set aflame.
A tingling current surged through him, scorching every vein and nerve until his entire body felt feverish.
He thought he should be happy—something rich and sweet had seeped straight into his heart, tickling him from within. The weight of a smile tugged at his lips, but he didn’t dare let it show, forcing his mouth into a stiff line while his ears flushed crimson.
How strange.
A heart could feel both numb and scorching, laced with the faintest ache—yet it was a pain he welcomed gladly.
"As his betrothed, it’s only right that I involve myself in this matter."
Xie Jingci declared, "He’s injured. We’ll be retiring to the inn for now."
Having provoked someone far beyond his reach, Luo Zheng wilted like a fish left to dry in the sun.
She had expected a smooth departure, but another voice cut through the air: "Pei Du."
It was Pei Mingchuan.
The third young master of the Pei family had remained silent the entire time, leaving her no excuse to draw her blade—no matter how much she wanted to teach him a lesson.
Xie Jingci liked to think of herself as a civilized person.
Even if she occasionally lost her temper and resorted to violence, it shouldn’t be called "fighting." No, it was an exchange of the artistry of blades—the epitome of refinement.
Pei Mingchuan rarely raised his voice in public, and his face flushed with discomfort.
He knew his mother’s schemes were beneath contempt, yet he hadn’t stopped her. Nor had he warned Pei Du.
He was afraid.
Afraid that this unrelated younger brother would outshine him, exposing his own cowardice and incompetence. Afraid that Pei Du would one day seize the family headship, reducing him and his kin to pitiful dependents. Afraid that helping Pei Du would earn him the scorn of his mother and elder brother.
But when Pei Du had fallen from the cliff, and he—terrified by the night’s demons—had wanted to seek him out for comfort, he froze mid-step.
Only then did Pei Mingchuan realize with sudden clarity: there would never again be someone willing to listen quietly to his ramblings and soothe him with gentle words.
"If you return with me to beg Father’s forgiveness, perhaps…"
He trailed off, staring blankly.
Pei Du watched him with the same dark, tranquil eyes as always—but there was no warmth left in them. They were like still, bottomless marshes, utterly unmoved.
As if looking at a stranger.
The gaze startled him.
In high spirits, Xie Jingci stepped closer to Pei Du, tightening her grip on his arm as she smiled up at him. "Let’s go back to our room."
Our room.
She deliberately blurred the line, making it sound as though they shared the same quarters.
Pei Mingchuan struggled on: "Pei Du! Don’t be so stubborn!"
Xie Jingci: "Talk too much, and you might end up in a mass grave."
Pei Mingchuan paled—only for her to burst into laughter. "Just kidding. Why would I dump you in a mass grave?"
That was more like it. The renowned Xie family wouldn’t resort to such brutish acts.
Before he could relax, she added, "The Xies usually just toss people into the river—who’d waste time digging graves?"
Pei Mingchuan fell utterly silent.
Whew.
She felt much better.
Mo Xiaoyang was in awe. "Incredible! Now that’s how you throw your weight around!"
Pei Mingchuan’s face cycled through shades of yellow, white, and black, rivaling a kaleidoscope in its vibrancy.
Xie Jingci didn’t leave immediately, as if suddenly remembering something. Raising her voice, she called out, "Oh, right—the Pei family is rolling in wealth. Third Young Master, don’t forget to pay up."
Earlier, Pei Mingchuan had explicitly mentioned "spirit stones." Sensing something amiss, she’d baited him into doubling the compensation—which he’d done without a second thought, eager to flaunt his riches.
Double the reimbursement.
Like her, they’d probably been dragged here by the rift between realms, carrying nothing but spirit stones—not a single demon crystal to their name.
The longest road these outsiders had walked was the one paved with demon crystal scams.
When it came to being broke, Xie Jingci was a seasoned expert.
After hearing her explanation via sound transmission, Mo Xiaoyang gave a thumbs-up. "Wow! In terms of sheer ruthlessness, who could possibly rival you, Miss Xie?"
He paused, glancing at Zhou Shen—who was now wild-eyed and foaming at the mouth—before pointing solemnly at the shattered spittoon on the ground. "Master! Tragedy! The greatest tragedy in the mortal world! Isn’t this your grandmother’s priceless heirloom?!"
