25 Arc 1.23

A small house that was particularly worn down with the paint fading and the roof looking like it was about to collapse at any minute stood just next to the entrance of the forest. It was as if it was part of the decor of the forest but to the fox cub running towards it, the house was extremely visible.

The fox was a beautiful one with beautiful silver fur and sparkling eyes that glowed like two silver gems. The fox hesitated when it reached the door and after a few seconds, a small child of about six years was standing in place of the fox.

The child pushed the door open to reveal a small dark room with a single bed. A woman was lying on the bed, she had a small face that was extremely charming, however, her charming face was contorted like she was in a nightmare that she could not escape from.

The young child took out a large bread from the fold of his faded shirt and crept quietly next to the woman. He shook her quietly.

"Mother. Wake up. I got some food."

The woman opened her eyes slowly before she lifted her head with a jolt, scrambling to the edge of the bed. Her beautiful, foxy eyes were wide with terror.

'Get away! Stay away from me! Let me go." She clapped her hands about and the bread fell to the ground. The young boy swallowed when his gaze met the fallen bread and his stomach rumbled. He did not make any movement to touch the woman as he knew that it would send her into more violent fits.

The young child turned back into a fox and made his way back into the small cupboard by the corner. That was the last time he appeared in human form before his mother. Well, at least while she was awake.

At night, the little fox would change to a human once again, he would soak a rag in water and clean the blade that was stained with blood, and the bloody trail of droplets that covered the bare floor of the house. He would then reach over and use the blanket to cover the woman even though he knew she would kick it away.

She never heard a peaceful sleep but as far as he could remember. She always turned around, cried and screamed. 

Wei Ji Xu. She mentioned it severally in her nightmares. That person had a name, unlike he and his mother. But he was not a good and kind person like his mother. Wei Ji Xu was evil. He had hurt his mother.

One day, his mother died and the young boy left home. Just like his mother once did, he mentioned that name in his dreams and in his nightmare. Wei Ji Xu.

Maybe the man had died or maybe he was suffering for all the sins he had committed. The young boy soon became a young man and met the man that had thrust him into the abyss.

He was neither dead nor suffering, he was up above. Like a star, he shone, respected, adored, loved and praised. How could it be? The shattering of the young man's heart was quiet in the assembly of immortals. How could they not see him for who he truly was? A vile, disgusting person.

The knowledge was like a hand wrapped around his neck suffocating him and pressing him down into the mud pit that he had slowly crawled up from. 

He wanted to say it. He wanted to shout it from the top of his voice. The desire consumed his waking up till he went back to bed and even when he went to bed, that desire embraced him, sticky and impossible to get rid of.

That obsessive feeling that had accompanied Feng Mian for thousands wrapped itself around Nian Zhen's throat like the cold hands of a ghost causing his body to tremble severely.

"Lu Yan!" Nian Zhen called again. 

His desire and grief battled within his mind. Nian Zhen had thought he would give everything to expose Xui Fan but the grief that wrecked his body was too much for him to bear. The eyes of the young man before he was shut forever. Nian Zhen would never see those clear eyes again.

It was not worth it. It was truly not worth it.

He took a shaky breath and curled into himself. He did not cry but the sounds that left his throat made Xiao Shu so uncomfortable that he looked at Shen Jiyu who had an unfamiliar expression on his face. Was that regret?

"Realm Master! Maybe this method was a little too harsh."

Shen Jiyu just looked at Nian Zhen who was curled in a ball and felt pain in his chest. Nian Zhen deserved it so why was feeling this much guilt and pain? He wanted to warp him in his arms and tell him to cry if he wanted to cry, what is the use of choking it so much when he was in pain but he did not? 

"I gave him a chance, he failed to grab it."

"But-The both of you..."

"Xiao Shu." Shen Jiyu cut off in a solemn tone that made Xiao Shu stand at attention, "What have you heard about me in the realm?"

Xiao Shu wanted to skim around but seeing the uncharacteristic serious expression on Shen Jiyu's face, he was also serious. He had not been in the Heavenly Realms for a long time but as one of the most eligible bachelors, news and books about Shen Jiyu were all too common. He cleared his throat, opting to go through the honest route, "They said that you are arrogant, that you do everything according to your own pleasure."

Shen Jiyu nodded, "And... the way I govern Penglai and the Shen family. Have you heard anything about it?"

Xiao Shu was uncomfortable and he removed his gaze, his voice a little lower than usual, "they said you are petty; you don't forgive and that you hold grudges. The punishments for crimes in Penglai are the stricter in all four of the pillar realms."

Shen Jiyu nodded again and walked slowly to Nian Zhen, "They are right. I don't believe in giving chances. One strike and you are out. Xiao Shu...Can you guess how many chances I have given Feng Mian?" He did not wait for Xiao Shu to reply before he continued, "I hate him for a reason, Feng Mian is ..." He bent down and his hand turned into a claw, "He is cold and ruthless."

Xiao Shu did not speak but he still had his misgivings. Once he and his senior martial brother had been talking and Marquis Feng had come up in their talk.

"Marquis Feng...He is a really interesting person." His senior martial brother had chuckled before he took another large sip of wine. "He is a genius...Xiao Shu, you are quite stupid, if you meet someone like Marquis Feng, you would probably be deceived till you help him count the money he made from selling." After he had finished laughing, his tone became a little quiet, "Well, I guess he is also pitiful."

When Xiao Shu met Marquis Feng, the man was so gentle and well-mannered that Xiao Shu felt like his senior martial brother was taking nonsense again. But maybe he was not wrong.

"Realm Master, maybe he has his reason."

Shen Jiyu did not reply. How many times he had thought the same thing? Feng Mian was to be his family and yet to the end, he never trusted him, never concerned him as one.

He looked at the face before him and held back the urge to touch it. Was he really so trustworthy? In the end, who was I to you?

His hand pierced Nian Zhen's chest and he pulled out a shimmery small orb.