The old moon once shone upon me.

Jin Xianyao was adopted by the former Master of the Palace.

In his distant memories, he had endured many hardships, having served as a menial in minor sects and been taken in by others before.

That couple had once been a famously devoted pair in the cultivation world, having sworn to be each other's only companion for life and even establishing a spiritual bond. Yet one day, his adoptive father suddenly announced that he had found a new love. He callously destroyed the spiritual bond, transferred all the backlash onto his partner, and brought his lover into their home.

At that time, Jin Xianyao’s adoptive mother had been on the verge of a breakthrough; caught off guard by the betrayal and forced to witness the couple’s public displays of affection daily, her health withered rapidly.

Had it not been for Jin Xianyao’s quick thinking—striking his adoptive father with a blade and seizing the chance to flee with his mother—she likely would have lost her life.

Ever since then, Jin Xianyao’s sense of security had been severely fractured, reaching a point where the slightest disturbance would plunge him into anxiety.

It was not until his adoptive mother entrusted him to the former Palace Master, who then had him recognize Xiang Bieyun as his elder sister and placed him under the guidance of Xiang Bieyun and Yuan Bushu, that Jin Xianyao began to heal.

But that was only on the surface.

Jin Xianyao swore that he would never let anyone come between Sister Xiang and Brother Yuan.

He did not want to stab Sister Xiang, nor did he want to see Brother Yuan shed tears.

Therefore, he had to be strictly on guard against this new cultivator, Fellow Daoist Ning!

...

Since waking up, Sheng Ningyu felt regret for the first time.

If time could turn back, she would never have stepped out today for any reason.

Beside her, Lady Xiang had already dried her tears, a wisp of spiritual energy clearing away any trace of them, yet her slender fingers remained tightly locked around Sheng Ningyu’s arm like parasitic vines.

She had no idea where the woman found such strength.

Along the way, braving the heavy gazes of the stewards and disciples behind them, Sheng Ningyu gradually grew composed, her thoughts even beginning to wander again.

She wondered if Xie Qianjing had reached the Great Wilderness Mountain yet.

Sheng Ningyu thought that, given his temperament, if he saw someone clinging to her so intimately, he would probably say something strange and ask some odd questions.

But before that, he would likely help her tend to the wounds she had recently sustained from processing herbs and drawing talismans.

It was strange; even though they were only minor cuts that Sheng Ningyu never paid attention to, Xie Qianjing always managed to notice them.

"Miss Ning."

A gentle, cautious voice drifted from above, and Sheng Ningyu snapped back to reality.

Lady Xiang had led her to a pavilion in the middle of a lake.

The four corners of the pavilion’s eaves curved upward, looking as though they were glowing from afar. Upon closer inspection, she realized they were adorned with pearls and glaze, with the words "Pavilion of Ignorance" inscribed in the center.

Lady Xiang guided her into the pavilion and finally spoke: "What do you think of this pavilion of mine, Miss Ning?"

The wind blew from all directions, surrounded by mountains and water, with birds skimming across the lake, emitting bright, clear cries.

Sheng Ningyu loved water and sparkling things most of all. Looking around, she praised, "The wind rises and the water flows; a life of contentment. The pavilion’s meaning is excellent, and I like it very much."

It would be even better if not for that painting behind them.

It was too similar.

Lady Xiang stared at Sheng Ningyu as if enchanted.

She had thousands of words in her heart, but the social grace she usually wielded so skillfully failed her completely.

"...Is it you?"

Lady Xiang asked suddenly, her voice as soft as a dream.

Sheng Ningyu paused: "My Lady?"

Lady Xiang continued: "It is you, isn't it? Sword Venerable..." She stopped abruptly, gasping for breath as if terrified that Sheng Ningyu would not respond, and hurried to speak again.

"My Lord, it is I, Hua Liyan!"

"—That demon-ghost, Hua Liyan!"

Sheng Ningyu’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

She had never seen this face before, but she suddenly knew who she was.

"Sixty years... It has been sixty whole years since you left, and I am finally able to see you again."

Lady Xiang spoke, and suddenly, tears streamed down her face like rain. The Lady Xiang who was usually gentle yet sharp-tongued was, at this moment, crying like a helpless child.

She looked at Sheng Ningyu, as if she had returned to that time long ago.

Back then, she was not called Xiang Bieyun, nor was she the high-and-mighty Lady Xiang, and she had not been taken in by the "Half-Wall Sect."

She was merely an ordinary woman in the mortal world with the surname "Hua."

Like any ordinary woman, she had married. It wasn't a matter of whether she liked him or not; with her ancestral skill in blending incense, she lived a stable, worry-free life.

But later, her husband fell into evil habits. After forcing her to have an abortion, he sold her into a brothel, and from then on, she became "Hua Liyan."

She suffered endless torture. It was only on the verge of death that she learned from the madam that a powerful Immortal Master from a great family had taken a fancy to her while buying incense; when she refused him, he had turned his attention to her husband.

"Why were you so stubborn?" the madam had clicked her tongue. "You could have lived a life of luxury in that immortal place, but now, the opportunity is gone."

It turned out that the Immortal Master had long lost interest in her; he was merely nursing a grudge over her rejection and had casually ordered someone to "teach her a lesson."

So that was it.

In the eyes of those high above, they were nothing but ants, their lives as cheap as grass.

"Why..."

Why could her husband sell her?

"Why...!"

Why could those people humiliate her?

"Why!!!"

Why could a casual command to "teach a lesson" destroy a family and end a life?

Hua Liyan thought that her current appearance must be terrifying; otherwise, why were those around her filled with horror, retreating again and again?

Amidst a pool of blood, she looked down and saw her reflection.

Her once beautiful face had become sinister and ghastly, her fair skin crisscrossed with bloodstains, radiating an ominous, bloody aura.

She had died, yet she had not died completely.

She had become a demon-ghost, feared by the world and loathed by the righteous.

Hua Liyan stared at her reflection, shedding tears of blood, and then began to laugh.

Good! Good!

She first slaughtered everyone in the house who had humiliated her, then transformed into a wisp of black mist and flew back to her former home.

Her husband was drinking with friends, discussing the past and present, a beauty in his arms—how very happy he looked.

So that was all she was worth—a few banquets.

Hua Liyan slowly began to laugh.

"Husband," she said, "I want to see if your heart and liver are truly as black as they say."

Amidst the terror and screams, she used extremely cruel methods to kill her husband, tearing out his liver and intestines while he was still alive, slicing them to pieces before his eyes, and mixing them into his wine to force him to drink.

Throughout the entire process, Hua Liyan used ghost energy to sustain his life, only letting him breathe his last at the very end.

It was not over yet.

She still had to find that cultivator.

But this time, she encountered an obstacle.

The commotion earlier had been too great and had alerted the Sword Pavilion.

The Sword Pavilion.

Hua Liyan sneered.

She had heard of the Sword Pavilion, whether from gossip in the boudoir or from the mouths of the cultivators she had killed who had once oppressed her.

They said, "The Sword Pavilion is the most powerful place in the cultivation world, and it houses the most formidable Sword Venerable in the Fourteen Continents!"

They said, "Just wait, you harlot! When the Sword Pavilion comes, that will be the day you die!"

Hua Liyan waited.

She watched as the two Sword Pavilion disciples arrived. The one referred to as "Immortal Master Rong" possessed an extraordinary bearing, like a god descending to the world, and within moments, he had everything arranged. The younger girl, however, looked bright, unrestrained, and lazy, her arms folded over her sword, appearing entirely indifferent to everything.

In that case, the latter seemed more prone to making mistakes.

"—Are you looking for me?"

Hua Liyan was suddenly shocked. She had never expected that her hidden form would be discovered. A flicker of ruthlessness crossed her eyes, and as she raised her hand, her fingers turned into sharp claws to strike!

"Eh? Why are you hitting me? Don't hit me."

The girl in the plain white dress said this, but her posture showed no trace of panic. She nimbly dodged, holding her sword scabbard in her right hand, and gave a light tap. Her spiritual energy instantly formed a net that spread from her fingertips across her entire body, pinning Hua Liyan in place.

It seemed that what the others said was true.

Sword Pavilion disciples were truly formidable.

Hua Liyan knelt on the ground, clutching her wounds, her peripheral vision catching the hem of that plain white dress—it looked just like the moon far beyond reach in the stories her mother used to tell her as a child.

But in the stories, the goddess on the moon would cast a glimmer of light for the mortal she loved; outside the stories, no one dared to hope that the moon would descend to her.

"Are you hurt?" The moon-bright white dress drew closer. "I didn't use much force—was it your previous wound?"

"What if it is, what if it isn't?" Hua Liyan closed her eyes, an endless, surging resentment rising in her heart.

Why...

Why was it always like this...

It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she was always just an ant or a puppet in the eyes of those born into nobility—always vile, always lowly, always a toy that could never step outside its tiny cage.

"The Immortal Master sits high in the Sword Pavilion, looking down from above; naturally, you cannot know the suffering of us mortals."

Hua Liyan laughed bitterly, the wounds on her face beginning to seep black blood again. Her voice was very soft, yet heavy, filled with numbness and fatigue.

"Before you came, you must have known about my experiences, right? Or do you also think that those people did not deserve to die?"

After the words left her lips, Hua Liyan felt they were absurd.

What was she asking?

She had asked this question too many times, to too many people.

How could this Sword Pavilion Immortal Master, sitting high above the clouds, know her suffering? Even if she knew, at most, it would be nothing more than a sigh—

"They deserved to die."

...They deserved to die?

She said they deserved to die...

They deserved to die.

Hua Liyan looked up, stunned, suddenly incoherent: "But I didn't just kill people, I—I am also a demon-ghost, I killed them with ghost energy, I—"

The young Immortal Master replied, "And so what? Those people deserved to die; you did nothing wrong."

"As for being a demon-ghost—I have read in books that those who become demon-ghosts have all suffered in life. If they are not careful, they lose their sanity, and it takes immense willpower to survive."

"Hua Liyan, you not only survived, but you also did not harm the innocent, only retaliating against those who hurt you. You have done exceptionally well; you are truly formidable."

—Truly formidable.

Hua Liyan’s eyelashes trembled. She wanted to see the person before her clearly, but everything was a blur.

She could not distinguish whether the sticky substance was blood or tears, yet she persisted, trying her hardest to open her eyes wide.

The moonlit night was hazy, ghost shadows intertwined, and hearts were restless.

The young Immortal Master stepped past everything, unconcerned that her skirt was stained with blood, and walked step by step straight toward her, like a piece of moonlight descending into the human world.

Hua Liyan looked up, dazed for a moment.

She thought, so her mother had not lied to her.

So the moon in the sky could truly come before her.

So, at a certain moment, the unreachable moonlight would also gently shine upon a person as filthy as she.