For the question "who are you really"—a question to which Duan Xu wouldn't alter his answer even with the Ghost King's hands crushing his throat—he suddenly offered a response other than "Duan Xu."
Why were his skills so formidable?
Why did he possess such intimate knowledge of the Danzhi and Heaven-Knowing?
Why did Han Lingqiu sense something familiar within him?
Heaven-Knowing—the most elite death warriors in existence, cultivated by the Danzhi royal court, bound by absolute loyalty to the court and the Azure God, their training pushing human capability beyond conceivable limits.
Fifteen, who not long ago had declared "Heaven-Knowing lives for the Azure God and never betrays the Azure God," looked pallid as he faced this junior brother who had utterly repudiated the Azure God. Attempting to steady his voice, he said: "Impossible. You think you understand Heaven-Knowing, so you're here..."
"When I completed my training at fourteen, I followed Master to pay respects to all senior brothers. I had just emerged victorious from the Dark Trial then, my body a canvas of wounds. When I bowed to you, I nearly collapsed, and you steadied me, saying, 'How can someone from Heaven-Knowing be so unsteady with just these minor injuries?' That was our sole meeting. Am I mistaken, Senior Brother?" Duan Xu mercilessly shattered Fifteen's stubborn disbelief.
He Simu observed Duan Xu, with the blazing conflagration from the distant Danzhi encampment on one side and the brilliant fireworks ascending from Shuozhou Prefecture city on the other. Under these two dramatically contrasting lights, the gleam in his eyes resembled ignited flames.
The moment he finished speaking, he struck suddenly. Exploiting Fifteen's distraction, he discharged a small arrow from the crossbow mechanism concealed in his sleeve, piercing the eye of Fifteen's black warhorse.
Fifteen leaped down from his mount. The injured horse jumped several steps as if maddened, then collapsed heavily to the ground. The winter wind cut like blades as Duan Xu and Fifteen faced each other across the distance. Faintly, the thunder of war drums could be heard—Shuozhou Prefecture City seemed to harbor some unusual movement, but neither paid it any heed.
Clusters of fireworks burst open in the sky, their explosive percussion rising and falling in waves, creating a brilliant spectacle of false prosperity.
Under the blazing firelight, Duan Xu drew his Truth-Breaking Sword with both hands and said with a relaxed smile: "I've always wanted to cross swords with Senior Brother."
Fifteen's gaze was like a cold blade. He gripped the Hu knife at his side, drawing it like lightning to clash with Duan Xu in close combat, the force so tremendous that sparks flew like scattered stars.
"Why! You were Master's favorite disciple! Why did you betray Master and betray the Azure God!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Senior Brother. The old man cares for no one but the Azure God and himself. I guessed with his stubborn temperament, he definitely couldn't admit to you all that I blinded his eyes and escaped. All these years, to save face, he only said I was missing. Isn't that laughable?"
The hunter became the hunted—so Duan Xu's unfortunate master had been blinded by him.
During this exchange, Duan Xu and Fifteen had already crossed swords more than ten times. Their speed and perception were first-rate, and their life-or-death struggle was dizzying to witness. It was as if they both possessed a third eye, predicting each other's movements with uncanny precision. In over a dozen exchanges, blood was drawn with every strike, the two transforming into indistinguishable black shadows locked in mortal combat across the wilderness.
Fifteen's pupils suddenly contracted, the hatred in his eyes like a poisoned arrow shooting toward Duan Xu. But Duan Xu was like a cotton bundle, not bothering to evade and instead smiling: "Senior Brother Fifteen, I'd like to ask—why do you believe Master and the Azure God? You're so accomplished at deceiving others, aren't you afraid you've been deceived as well? If the Azure God is truly the creator as the Azure Scripture claims, all-knowing and all-seeing, and the Hu Qi people are his noble children, then why would he create a rebellious me?"
"You betray the Azure God and will be severely punished, cast into hell!"
"If the world was created by the Azure God, then the existence of believers, non-believers, and those who despise him—isn't it all arranged by him? Why does he attack those who don't believe in him? Why does he need our faith? Why can't we believe in something else? If a god so desperately, through coercion and inducement, needs to gain power from us, then what kind of god is that? Why, when we've been slaughtering innocents day after day since childhood, with countless blood debts, are we not punished but instead allowed to shed our lowly Han identity and gain the qualification to believe in the Azure God?"
Fifteen's eyes flickered as he gritted his teeth and said: "What nonsense! Dying for the Azure God is their honor and our glory! The heavenly way is vast—stop your blasphemy!"
"Hahahahaha! If a god is all-powerful, why would he need insects like us to die for him? Would you need ants to die for you? The heavenly way is naturally vast, but even if the Azure God exists, he certainly isn't the Azure God from Master's mouth, nor the Azure God from that damned Azure Scripture! Senior Brother Fifteen, think carefully! Use that brain that has impersonated countless people! What Master taught us—was it to grant us heaven or to use and control us?"
"Senior Brother Fifteen, I have never betrayed anyone, because I never believed them in the first place, not even for a moment."
Duan Xu was already wounded before, and Fifteen's martial prowess was clearly beyond comparison with ordinary soldiers. With wound upon wound, his black garments were saturated with blood, dripping steadily onto the grass. But he seemed completely oblivious, his movements never slowing, his voice growing louder. Across the open wilderness, his mocking laughter seemed to reverberate, penetrating through Fifteen's ears into his heart, layer upon inexorable layer.
Fifteen knew Duan Xu was attempting to provoke him, but he was still struck by Duan Xu's relentless storm of questioning.
He suddenly recalled that before "Seventeenth" took the Dark Trial, he had heard whispers about a child in the seventeenth batch whom Master particularly favored. That child had possessed exceptional martial talent, and when injured, Master even allowed him to rest for a few days, occasionally tutoring him in military strategy.
Master had originally been a celebrated war god of the Danzhi, later retiring to establish Heaven-Knowing after being grievously injured. Fifteen had occasionally heard tales of Master's battlefield exploits but had never been taught them directly. He had been somewhat envious of this child.
This child indeed passed the Dark Trial to officially become his Seventeenth Junior Brother. When serving tea, he had staggered and nearly fallen. Fifteen had disdainfully thought: Is this the kind of child that earned Master's favor? Nevertheless, he reached out to steady him.
Yet the child looked up at him, his eyes curving as he smiled. Years later, he could no longer remember the face of that black-veiled child, only that it was a bright, clear smile filled with genuine happiness, like the overwhelming heat of summer sunlight. He was stunned, feeling he had never witnessed anyone smile like that before.
The people of Heaven-Knowing rarely smiled.
But Seventeenth was different. He was naturally fond of smiling—he smiled when praised by Master, smiled when scolded, and even when being punished and beaten until his flesh split open, he showed no sorrow. It was as if the smallest thing could bring him joy.
He truly possessed a pair of remarkably bright, remarkably happy eyes.
Fifteen suddenly understood Master's favoritism toward Seventeenth, and he too couldn't help but envy and yearn for something within this child. He had once privately asked Master why Seventeenth looked so happy, why he could possess such bright, happy eyes.
Master had simply said: "Because Seventeenth's faith in the Azure God is most devout, and the Azure God blesses him with such a disposition."
Because Seventeenth's faith in the Azure God was most devout.
This was simply a mockery.
The happiest person in Heaven-Knowing was someone who had never believed in the Azure God.
In his daze, Fifteen looked at Duan Xu's bright eyes in the firelight. Those eyes merged with his memory, unchanged after all these years. Seventeenth had become a traitor, yet still possessed something that Fifteen yearned for desperately.
What exactly was he yearning for?
He had impersonated so many people—those surges of passion and pain that had rolled through his heart, were they other people's or his own?
Fifteen suddenly felt infinite hatred. Why was it that Seventeenth was the traitor, yet Seventeenth was so self-righteous while he suffered? It would be best if Seventeenth disappeared from this world, never again to have such lively, bright eyes, never again to have such a questioning voice. Better for everyone to suffer equally, to be silent equally, and to understand nothing.
With these thoughts consuming him, his Hu knife had already pierced through Duan Xu's ribs. Duan Xu, at very close range, coughed a mouthful of fresh blood onto his face. Fifteen angrily looked at the handsome, blood-stained face before him. Duan Xu's face was also wounded by him, blood soaking his eyes until they were as red as an Asura's.
Duan Xu reached out to grip the knife embedded in his ribs, slowly beginning to smile. He called softly: "Senior Brother... you still wavered after all..."
"Shut up! I..." Fifteen's words caught halfway. His eyes widened as he beheld the gleaming sword before him. His throat split open, blood splattering across Duan Xu's face. Duan Xu lowered his Truth-Breaking Sword and said slowly: "Hasty and failing to recognize a trap, letting your guard down thinking you've succeeded—if you hadn't wavered, how could you make such a fundamental mistake, Senior Brother?"
Fifteen clutched his throat, falling powerlessly to the ground. Unable to make a sound, he could only stare intently at Duan Xu, as if trying to discern an answer within him.
An answer to a question he didn't know, yet had sought his entire life.
Duan Xu pulled the Hu knife from his body and pressed his acupuncture points to staunch the bleeding. Behind him was a sea of riotous fireworks. He staggered several steps, just like when he had served tea fifteen years ago, then he laughed and said slowly: "Senior Brother, did you think that by faithfully believing in the Azure God, you could shed your Han bloodline and henceforth part ways with those who died by your hand?"
He had given him the answer.
Fifteen's eyes trembled. He suddenly remembered those "fourth-class people" who were bound before him when he was six, whom he killed row by row. Those terrified people with faces similar to his own. Master had told him he was different from them, that he had been chosen by the Azure God, and as long as he graduated from Heaven-Knowing, he too would be a child of the Azure God.
He was not like those who could only bow their heads for slaughter.
He would cleanse his bloodline; he was nobler than those lowly people.
He wasn't killing indiscriminately; this was only for the Azure God, a rightful sacrifice.
If he didn't think this way, if he didn't believe so firmly, how could he go on living? What would he live for?
He had no parents, no relatives, not even his name—only a body of base blood. In this world, besides the Azure God, no one needed him. If he didn't live for the Azure God, what meaning did his existence have in this world?
If the Azure God was also false, then what was he?
Fifteen could no longer make a sound. He slowly opened and closed his lips, saying something to Duan Xu with lip movements alone, then slowly closed his eyes.
Duan Xu silently watched Fifteen, then suddenly laughed a moment later. Though he was so grievously injured that his steps faltered, he still stood straight. His laughter seemed to emanate from his chest, eerily echoing across the wilderness thick with the scent of blood. As he laughed, he began to cough, yet he continued to laugh as if he would laugh madly until death claimed him.
Suddenly, a pair of cold hands touched his face. Amid this crazed chaos, he looked up, the light in his eyes completely scattered. Those hands patted his face, neither too light nor too heavy. He heard a remarkably calm and clear voice in his ear.
"Wake up. You're too excited."
Wake up.
Duan Xu trembled, the light in his eyes gradually gathering back. In the vast sea of fireworks, he finally saw the evil ghost before him—her beautiful phoenix eyes with the small mole at the corner, her slightly furrowed brows, her pale face, and her calm expression as she looked at him with complete seriousness.
He blinked slowly. His blood-stained eyes suddenly held a different moisture as tears mixed with blood flowed down his cheeks onto her fingers, then downward, disappearing into the darkness.
Duan Xu cried.
He Simu thought this was the first time she had witnessed this little fox cry.
She helped wipe away his tears and said: "You could say you've given your Senior Brother a facial-cutting funeral rite."
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