Ming Zhu returned to the detached courtyard alone. Instead of entering his room, he sat directly beneath a crabapple tree.
It was already spring, and the vibrant red petals hung in thick clusters.
Sitting on the ground, Ming Zhu gently caressed a sachet in his palm. It was filled with the residual rust of the Kuayu Sword.
In the distance, the Yueyue Tower radiated a dazzling light even in the broad daylight. The glow persisted for two hours before finally fading into nothingness.
This was the sign that the Spirit-Suppressing Lamp had finished devouring everyone’s spiritual power.
A snow-white fluff-ball scurried over from the side, pouncing into Ming Zhu’s arms and transforming into a human form. Xi Chu blinked his eyes at him. "Brother Ming Zhu."
Years ago, after Xi Chu’s death, Ming Zhu had carried his monster core for a long time. It wasn't until they reached the Cliff of the Hidden Sun that Na Lian used half of his own cultivation to successfully revive him. Although Xi Chu had forgotten everything of his past life, for him, this was the best possible outcome.
Seeing him, Ming Zhu forced a faint smile.
Xi Chu rested his hand on Ming Zhu’s arm and sniffed him curiously. "There’s a very strange smell on you," he said.
Ming Zhu remained motionless, letting the boy fuss in his lap. "Is that so?" he whispered.
Xi Chu couldn't quite describe what the aura of death felt like; he only knew it was unsettling. He scrambled out of Ming Zhu’s arms and circled him twice. Once he was certain this person was indeed his Brother Ming Zhu, he pounced again, mumbling, "Brother Ming Zhu, my big brother told me we can go home soon. Is it true? He’s not lying to me, is he?"
Ming Zhu ruffled his hair and said softly, "No, he’s not. You’ll be able to go home very soon."
Xi Chu asked, "Aren't you coming home with me?"
Ming Zhu froze for a moment, murmuring the word, "Home?"
Ever since the Ming residence in the Shishen Kingdom had been razed by fire all those years ago, he had been a wanderer. He had lived in Rizhao for many years, but in the blink of an eye, that place was no longer home either.
Ming Zhu murmured, "I... I have no home anymore."
Mount Rizhao was not his home, and the Buhui Forest was not his home. He was like a hurried traveler, a rootless piece of duckweed.
Xi Chu didn't understand the meaning behind those words. He asked curiously, "Who said that? My brother's and my home is your home too."
Ming Zhu did not speak again, merely ruffling the boy's hair with eyes full of melancholy.
When Na Lian arrived, this was the scene he encountered. He let out a soft sigh. "Buhui."
Ming Zhu did not move.
Na Lian walked over and said, "Why must you do this to yourself?"
Ming Zhu murmured, "I am merely reaping what I sowed. You needn't mind me."
Na Lian sat down on the ground beside him.
Ming Zhu spoke again. "What about Yan Xueyu?"
"Dead."
Ming Zhu’s body trembled, yet his expression did not change. He only muttered blankly, "Is that so?"
Na Lian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Zhou Fuxue is outside. He wants to see you..."
At the mention of that name, Ming Zhu’s eyes, which had been like stagnant water, flickered slightly. After a long silence, he said, "I don't want to see anyone right now."
"But keeping him barred outside isn't a solution either," Na Lian frowned, trying to persuade him. "Besides, I saw that Shen Dian has followed him here as well. You absorbed so much death energy from the Spirit-Suppressing Lamp today; your body surely won't be able to withstand it. Why not let him take a look at you?"
Ming Zhu still shook his head.
Seeing his deathly pale face and despondent gaze, Na Lian said cautiously, "Furthermore, you should take this opportunity—now that 'Buhui' has saved so many people—to test them. Don't you want to know how they will truly react to your real identity...?"
Ming Zhu’s eyes flickered again.
Seeing that his words were having an effect, Na Lian hurried to add, "They are waiting outside right now. Why not give it a try? If they truly cannot accept who you are, then we will simply return to the Buhui Forest and never have contact with them again. Come now, what do you say?"
Given Ming Zhu’s detached nature, if any one of them showed even a hint of estrangement or wariness, he would treat them exactly as he had treated Ming Fuhua and Gui Ning—categorizing them entirely as strangers, never to cross paths again in this lifetime.
But he was afraid. He was afraid that the people he had once held so dear would all leave him in a single night. Even if he claimed not to care, when the moment actually arrived, the heartache was unavoidable.
Ming Zhu sat in a daze for a long time before finally seeming to make up his mind. "Fine."
Na Lian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been worried when he saw Ming Zhu’s complexion in the Yueyue Tower. He had witnessed Ming Zhu’s stubbornness and negativity firsthand and feared that, in a moment of despair, he might seek to end his own life again.
Na Lian helped him up and led him to the back door of the Yueyue Tower’s side courtyard. "They are just ahead. Go on."
Ming Zhu instinctively took a step forward, but when his hand touched the doorframe, he recoiled as if struck by lightning, his eyes filled with trepidation.
Na Lian urged, "Go."
Ming Zhu still didn't dare.
After hesitating back and forth several times, Ming Zhu finally succumbed to the terror in his heart. Just as he turned to leave, the door was suddenly pulled open from the outside.
A beam of white light flooded in. A man stood against the light, speaking softly, "Shixiong."
Ming Zhu’s body stiffened violently. He slowly turned his head, staring blankly at the person standing just across the threshold.
Shang Yanfeng curved his eyes at him and called out once more, "Shixiong."
Ming Zhu looked at him in shock, then with trembling hands, he slowly removed the mask from his face.
"I..."
His lips quivered, but he couldn't force out a single word.
Meanwhile, on the path nearby, Shen Dian and Lu Qingkong came running in a hurry. Even from a distance, they were waving their hands frantically at him, shouting, "Shixiong! Eldest Shixiong, I'm here!"
The two raced toward him. Shen Dian seemed annoyed that Lu Qingkong was blocking his path and surreptitiously stuck out a foot to trip him.
Lu Qingkong stumbled and nearly fell face-first into the dirt. He scrambled up with a series of "Ouch, ouch!" and glared furiously. "Shen Dian!"
Shen Dian made a face at him like a child and laughed as he ran toward Ming Zhu. He threw himself onto Ming Zhu, clinging tightly to his neck. "Eldest Shixiong, Eldest Shixiong! I'm the first one to hug you!"
Ming Zhu stood there dazed, letting him hold him, unable to react for a moment.
Soon, Lu Qingkong came staggering over. He immediately kicked Shen Dian aside and leaned aggrievedly into Ming Zhu’s arms, whispering, "Eldest Shixiong, you’ve worried me to death."
After Ming Zhu had left the Yueyue Tower, Shang Yanfeng—who had found things increasingly suspicious—gathered everyone and shared his theory. At the time, Lu Qingkong and Shen Dian’s jaws had practically hit the floor, and it took them a long while to recover.
After Shang Yanfeng finished explaining his deduction, he looked at the silent Zhou Fuxue and asked calmly, "Fuxue, is that how it is?"
Zhou Fuxue didn't deny it; he could only nod.
Shang Yanfeng took a deep breath. "Since when did you know?"
Zhou Fuxue remained silent, but by the look of him, he had clearly known for a long time.
Shang Yanfeng, Lu Qingkong, and Shen Dian simultaneously wore gentle smiles and let out a long, meaningful "Oh..." Then, without a word, they joined forces and gave Zhou Fuxue a sound thrashing.
Once they realized Ming Zhu was Buhui, and they connected the dots regarding Buhui’s identity, they felt an unbearable ache in their hearts. They had rushed to the Yueyue Tower to find him immediately, only to end up waiting for several hours.
Lu Qingkong hugged him, laughing and crying at the same time, wailing about how much his heart hurt for him. He cried so much he ruined the exquisite robes Ming Zhu was wearing.
Only then did Ming Zhu finally snap out of it. He looked at Lu Qingkong in his arms with disbelief. After a moment’s thought, he hesitantly placed a hand on the man's head.
Lu Qingkong was a grown man, yet at Ming Zhu’s touch, he burst into a loud "Wah!" of a sob, smearing tears and snot all over Ming Zhu.
The bitterness and sorrow that had been rising in Ming Zhu were instantly diluted. He looked at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Seeing that Ming Zhu finally looked a bit more like a living person, Lu Qingkong grinned through his tears. He wiped his eyes and sobbed, "I'm sorry, Eldest Shixiong. I shouldn't have failed to recognize you."
Ming Zhu smiled and said, "It's alright, I don't mind..."
The moment the words left his mouth, his nose suddenly stung. Then, as if a mask had cracked, he unexpectedly burst into tears without warning. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, his voice choked with sobs.
The others were instantly stunned.
Ming Zhu took a deep breath, wanting to say he truly didn't mind, but he couldn't make a sound despite several attempts. After a long while, he finally spoke in a raspy, tearful voice.
"Why... why didn't you recognize me sooner?"
This single sentence released all the grievances and despair Ming Zhu had carried over the years. He wept uncontrollably, his sorrow even deeper than when he had been at the foot of Mount Rizhao.
"I was... I was standing right in front of you..."
*Why didn't you recognize me?*
*I wanted to tell you that I was terrified and anxious, hopeful yet despairing. I’ve been barely surviving like this until now, and no one ever noticed.*
*It was so painful, yet there was no one to share it with, no one to tell.*
"But you all looked at me like I was a stranger..."
It was the first time Shang Yanfeng had seen his Eldest Shixiong cry like this. He walked forward slowly and pulled him into a firm embrace, his voice thick. "I'm sorry..."
*I'm sorry for not recognizing you, for hurting you without reason, and for saying so many cruel things.*
There were too many apologies to give; Shang Yanfeng didn't even know where to begin.
Ming Zhu wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the people before him, his gaze finally landing on Zhou Fuxue, who had been standing quietly to the side.
Shang Yanfeng said, "Don't cry anymore. You can hit us or scold us, whatever you wish."
Ming Zhu’s crying turned into a coughing fit. Once he finally caught his breath, he seemed to remember something. He pointed at Zhou Fuxue and said, "Zhou Fuxue..."
Shang Yanfeng and the others froze, thinking he was going to say that Zhou Fuxue was the first to recognize him. Just as they were about to feel guilty again, they heard Ming Zhu speak through gritted teeth.
"He made me hurt so much a few days ago. You all, help me hit him back."
Shang Yanfeng, Lu Qingkong, Shen Dian: "..."
Zhou Fuxue: "..."
Shang Yanfeng felt a bit disoriented. Casting aside his previous melancholy, he asked tremulously, "Made... made you what? Hurt? Where?"
Ming Zhu said, "My waist."
Zhou Fuxue: "..."
Zhou Fuxue was stunned. His body, which had just been beaten, was still throbbing with pain. He was about to say something when he saw the three men—who had been weeping bitterly just a moment ago—suddenly glare at him with dark, murderous eyes.
Zhou Fuxue: "..."
*Am I going to make it out of this alive?*
***
