Even today, the lineage of Master Zengi had split....Fengxian and Huye bearing one legacy, Winzhiong another. Yet, over them still loomed the shadow of Master Azhai Rong and Lady Kuangshi, whose only son was Bochan Zhi.
That night....when midnight's stillness reigned...Master Kinji Yo had come to speak with Master Azhai Rong.
Inside Master Azhai Rong's chamber.....
On the table lay a single lantern, casting its amber glow like a miniature sun, warming the otherwise modestly sized, quiet room. Yet the silence wasn't empty...it whispered of unspoken venom.
Master Azhai Rong, a man with an exquisite love for painting, sat by the table, brush in hand, sketching a delicate branch laden with peach blossoms upon a pure white cloth. A faint fragrance of sandalwood incense lingered in the air, masking the darker poison festering within his heart.
The door creaked open. A figure entered...it was none other than Master Kinji Yo.
He had come to report failure. He had been unable to steal the complete ritual from Hei Lin San Sect...unable to find it in time before the officials arrived, forcing him to flee. The news ignited Master Azhai Rong's fury, but it was a flame quickly extinguished.
For though they had failed to obtain the ritual to break Mo Yan's Throne Seal, they still held another.....one that could reopen the gates of the Black Heaven.
It had been years since a dark rumor spread....that the Black Heaven's magic was a threat to all sects. What none knew was that the rumor had been deliberately seeded by Master Azhai Rong himself, a ploy to shield his own deep schemes from suspicion. This was why Grandmaster Bao Fang and Yun Zhi's four disciples had been misled into casting out all black magic forever from Xuemo Sect, Fuzi Xion Clan, and Linyan Clan.
Those who practiced it had been forced to seek shelter within Hei Lin San Sect. And now....another, deeper conspiracy was brewing.
Master Azhai Rong's plan was venomous in its precision.....
First, abduct the children.
Then, sacrifice them in a ritual.
Finally, frame Yu Sui and Kin Lishuan for it all.
The name "Kin Lishuan" now existed in the world only as a shadow; Azhai Rong used it to deepen suspicion. That was why only girls were kidnapped, threatened by a false "Kin Lishuan" so that the world would believe Yu Sui and Kin Lishuan...father and son...were preparing to end it once more.
"The mothers will never forgive them," Azhai Rong said coldly.
And at last, he whispered with a smile as cruel as winter's bite:
"We're going to kill a snake.....but without a stick."
He laughed, and Kinji Yo departed.
But they were not alone.
By the window, a figure had been passing.....and stopped. Miss Su Ri Zhen had heard every word. Her face went pale as ash. She could scarcely believe these were her own kin, though estranged. Her breathing quickened; for a moment she froze in fear.....then gathered herself, turned, and left for her home.
There, in the hall, Master Ren Zhou and Yin Fengxian were speaking of fabric dyes.
The hall was warm and beautiful.....peach blossoms painted on the walls, soft pink curtains, a large table laden with food and drink. It was a peaceful, contented scene.
Yin Fengxian was grumbling, making faces about how he was always the one tasked with changing the curtains. Lady Mei Ying, in playful scolding, tugged his ear, saying he never finished his duties and spent all his time practicing swordplay.
But such moments of lightheartedness are fragile.
Like fair weather swallowed by a sudden storm, the hall's large doors burst open.....Su Ri entered, panting, sweat beading on her brow as if she had run through rain.
The moment the three saw her, they understood.....something had happened.
The air shifted. The silence was heavy. Their hearts spoke the same truth: Something is wrong.
Moments later…
She told them everything.
Every word. Every vile truth.
And that truth....the stench of betrayal....was an acid that burned deep, for this was her own family.
It was hard to bear.
But there was no time for grief.....only action.
Their hearts became still. Their eyes blazed with fury. Their steps began to follow the shadow of a target.
Su Ri Zhen and Yin Fengxian trailed Kinji Yo in silence...shadows clinging to his every move.
They followed him to a house they did not recognize. But if Kinji Yo entered it, it could not belong to any righteous soul—it had to be the dwelling of an ally. They crept to the window and listened.
Inside, Kinji Yo was not alone....two others were with him. Their bitter voices, their poisonous tones, told all...they were grapes of the same rotten vine.
Kinji Yo spoke to Master Fijion:
"They're planning to open the Black Heaven's gate. If they succeed, our plans will be ruined. We must take the children, as they said before, and send them there."
Master Fijion smiled...a sick, gleeful smile, as if hearing his own thoughts spoken aloud.
"My brother," he said, "I've already finished the task. I've taken nine children, placed them in a carriage, and sent them toward the Xueyan Huo Sect."
Kinji Yo laughed...a laugh that was not human. It was greed itself laughing. Betrayal laughing. Its sound struck the soul like a blade.
Su Ri and Yin Fengxian's eyes widened. Their very blood turned cold.
Before they could act, the three men rose to leave.
Su Ri and Yin Fengxian drew their swords....ready to spill blood.
Su Ri, though outwardly a delicate, sweet-faced girl, was a master of dance-incantations, able to bewitch many at once. Yin Fengxian was a master swordsman whose strikes carried lethal grace.
They peered around the corner.....only to see more people gathered before Kinji Yo. Yin Fengxian gripped his sword tighter...there would be more than one corpse tonight.
But the tide turned in an instant.
Blades flashed. Spiritual beasts materialized...beasts Su Ri and Yin Fengxian had never seen before. They fought, yet the beasts did not fight each other.
In the chaos, Kinji Yo seized his chance and fled. But he fled only from the danger before him...never seeing the greater danger stalking behind: Yin Fengxian.
Meanwhile, Fijion and a woman also fled. Su Ri saw them and, without a second thought, turned in their direction.
Snow began to fall harder, cold biting deeper...water in the veins turning to ice.
At Kinji Yo's dark chamber, Yin Fengxian entered without a sound, moving like a shadow. His presence was so oppressive that Kinji Yo's limbs went numb.
And then.....the scent of peach blossoms. A fragrance only the Fengxian family used. Kinji Yo knew instantly who stood before him.
A single strike....
And Yin Fengxian's blade put a treacherous soul to eternal sleep.
Outside, Fijion and his wife froze mid-step...feet rooted in ice, as if the snow had bound them. But it was no weather...it was the work of Su Ri's extraordinary magic.
Behind them, Su Ri danced....her graceful forms a deadly art. Every movement commanded her sword. Her face hardened; the final form came.
Her blade struck from all sides, piercing the prey completely...then severed the throat.
Su Ri fell silent. She stepped to the bodies, took a deep breath, retrieved her blade, and walked away humming softly....until she came to rest beneath an apple tree, waiting for Yin Fengxian.
But before her.....the carnage was a battlefield painted in blood.
Flashback over.....