Ye Weiyang gripped the jade tablet, his gaze fixed on the two clusters of cyan shadows within. His fingers pressed so hard that his fingernails turned a deathly white.
High above, the Soul-Suppressing Lamp continued to emit a faint, shimmering glow.
Ye Weiai looked at him with curiosity. "Brother? You’re acting so strange today. Did something happen?"
Ye Weiyang’s hand trembled. It took a long moment before he managed a strained smile. "It’s nothing. Brother is fine."
Ye Weiai let out a soft "oh," though his eyes remained filled with wonder.
As if having reached a final resolution, the hesitation vanished from Ye Weiyang’s eyes. He reached out and tapped toward the Soul-Suppressing Lamp hanging in the air. Instantly, light poured down like a deluge, enveloping Ye Weiai’s entire body.
The moment the light touched him, Ye Weiai lost consciousness.
Ye Weiyang lightly tapped the jade tablet in his hand, and the restrictive formation slowly dissipated. In a flash, the two thrashing cyan shadows broke free from their bonds, instinctively attempting to flee in all directions.
The light from the Soul-Suppressing Lamp acted like living ropes, drifting out to entangle the shadows that sought to escape. Upon closer inspection, these silken cords of light were shot through with threads of crimson.
The moment the ropes coiled around the two cyan shadows, Lu Qingkong and Younü—who had been on the verge of a scuffle in the neighboring courtyard—seemed to have the very life force drained out of them. They collapsed instantly, the light in their eyes slowly fading away.
Ye Weiyang looked down at Ye Weiai in the center of the formation, murmuring in a low voice, "I only... want to save him..."
Just a heartbeat before the Soul-Suppressing Lamp could swallow the two cyan shadows, a streak of sword light shot forward with violent force, shearing through the cords of light.
The two shadows, having narrowly escaped death, immediately scattered. The Soul-Suppressing Lamp began to flicker erratically, like a candle flame buffeted by a gale.
Ye Weiyang’s pupils shrank. "Who is there?!" he demanded sharply.
A faint scent of lotus drifted in on the wind. A figure stepped out of the night, walking slowly into the Glazed Tower. It was only when the man stood within the tower that Ye Weiyang saw his face clearly.
"Ming Zhu?!"
Ming Zhu held a longsword covered in rust. His white robes and long hair billowed around him, flaring like the claws of a malevolent spirit. He tilted his head slightly, the corners of his lips curling into a smile. "Lord Ye, isn't it a bit much to lay hands on someone else's junior brothers and sisters?"
He crooked his slender fingers slightly. The cyan shadows, which had been darting about like headless flies, suddenly seemed to find their anchor. With faint, whimpering sounds, they dove straight into Ming Zhu’s palm.
Ming Zhu’s gaze softened as he gently stroked one of the shadows with his fingertip. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," he said softly. "Senior Brother is here."
If this hadn't been Lu Qingkong’s forcibly extracted soul, he likely would have clung to Ming Zhu and wailed loudly.
Ming Zhu comforted them for a moment before tucking them into his collar to rest.
Ye Weiyang spoke expressionlessly, "You intend to stop me?"
Ming Zhu laughed. "I don't care how many people you’ve killed, or how many souls you’ve harvested to feed that legendary Soul-Suppressing Lamp. Your only mistake was touching someone you shouldn't have."
Ye Weiyang let out a cold laugh. "You mean Lu Qingkong? If he hadn't blundered into the Glazed Tower, I wouldn't have touched anyone from Rizhao even if I killed everyone else in the world. He was the one who provoked me first, seeking his own death. He has no right to complain about losing his life!"
A sudden, cold wind whipped up from the floor of the tower. Ming Zhu’s eyes half-lidded as he said softly, "You’ve changed."
In Ming Zhu’s memory, although Ye Weiyang had a volatile temper and was hardly a saint, he was never someone who viewed human life as grass, nor would he use such cruel methods as soul extraction to feed the Soul-Suppressing Lamp.
"We are even, then," Ye Weiyang replied. "You’ve changed too. And you’ve become far more terrifying than I."
Ming Zhu remained silent.
"We grew up together. I considered you my only true friend," Ye Weiyang continued. "But even though you’ve returned to the world of the living, I don't dare get close to you at all. Do you know why?"
Ming Zhu followed his lead and asked, "Why?"
"Because you make me feel disgusted." Malice and fear warred on Ye Weiyang’s face. "I don't know how you survived at the bottom of Biri Cliff, but the aura you carry gives me a feeling of... heart-stopping dread. It’s as if..."
Zhou Fuxue, who had been a few steps behind, hurried into the tower. Seeing the palpable hostility between the two, he froze in his tracks.
Ye Weiyang’s voice was hoarse. "...It’s as if you are a monster. You frighten me."
Ming Zhu’s eyes were like polished glass, watching him quietly, offering no rebuttal to the assessment.
Ye Weiyang said, "I’ve been thinking all day—why are you still alive? Rather than lingering on as a monster like this, wouldn't dying beneath Biri Cliff have been the better end for you?"
"Ye Weiyang!" Zhou Fuxue barked. "What nonsense are you spouting?!"
His hand gripped the hilt of the Wuxin Sword, and he was about to charge forward when Ming Zhu reached out an arm to stop him.
"Senior Brother?"
Ming Zhu kept his eyes fixed on Ye Weiyang, walking toward him step by step. Ye Weiyang was clearly wary; he involuntarily retreated a few paces before forcing himself to stop.
Ming Zhu stood three paces away. There was not a hint of a smile on his exquisite face. When he was expressionless, his aura became even more daunting.
"Weiyang, for the dead to return to the world is to defy fate and go against the heavens. I believe you understand this better than I do." Ming Zhu opened his arms, his wide sleeves fluttering like curtains in the wind. "I survived, and I will pay the corresponding price. But for Weiai to live, the price paid is the lives of others."
Zhou Fuxue’s pupils contracted. Connecting the recent disappearances of cultivators' souls with the Soul-Suppressing Lamp above, everything suddenly clicked into place.
Ming Zhu continued, "If Weiai were to wake up and realize he actually died decades ago—that his life all these years has been sustained by consuming the souls of others—what would he think?"
As he spoke, Ming Zhu allowed a playful, mocking smile to touch his lips. He tapped his finger against his mouth and laughed. "That would certainly be quite entertaining."
"I only wanted to save him!" Ye Weiyang shouted. "He is my brother! No one wants him to live more than I do! If... if killing a few people is all it takes to keep him alive and well by my side, what... what is wrong with that?"
Ye Weiyang stared at his own hands, sounding increasingly unhinged. As he spoke, he seemed to have convinced even himself. He began to laugh eerily. "Yes, it’s just killing. Those people were insignificant. What is wrong with trading their lives for Weiai’s?"
Ming Zhu watched him for a long while before saying flatly, "You’re mad."
Ye Weiyang gave a tragic laugh. "Who cares?"
Ming Zhu pressed a hand to his collar. "I don't care about the lives of others. If your conscience doesn't trouble you, feel free to keep taking souls. Just don't cross me again, and you can do as you please. Otherwise, you can look forward to going to hell alongside your brother."
Leaving those cold words behind, he turned and walked away.
Zhou Fuxue hesitated for a moment before choosing to follow Ming Zhu.
In the vast Glazed Tower, only Ye Weiyang and Ye Weiai remained. The cold wind howled through the tower windows, making a deep, mournful sound that only heightened the desolation.
Ye Weiyang knelt on the ground for a long time before standing up and slowly walking to the unconscious Ye Weiai. He gathered him tenderly into his arms.
He rubbed his face against Ye Weiai’s soft hair, his hands trembling uncontrollably. After a moment, he realized it was the person in his arms who was shaking.
Ye Weiyang froze. He looked down to find that Ye Weiai had woken up at some unknown point. He was clutching Ye Weiyang’s lapels tightly, his face drenched in tears.
It was just as Ming Zhao had said back then: *Ye Weiai, died young.*
Ye Weiai had died on his twenty-fifth birthday.
Ye Weiyang had sat through the entire night holding his cold body. He looked as though he had merely fallen asleep, quiet and obedient. Ye Weiyang had called his name over and over, but received no response.
Everyone in this world has their own suffering. No one would pity him; no one could save his brother. Perhaps it was from that moment that he had, as Ming Zhu said, become a true madman.
Ye Weiai gripped his brother's clothes, his voice broken by sobs. "Brother... why did you do this?"
In that instant, Ye Weiyang felt a surge of pure terror. The secret he had painstakingly hidden for decades had been ripped open in a single day, exposing his blood-soaked guilt and resentment before the person he cherished most.
*He knows?*
*He knows!*
Ye Weiyang shook with fear, not even daring to meet his brother's eyes.
Ye Weiai struggled slightly. The moment he pulled away from the embrace, Ye Weiyang’s heart seemed to stop for a beat. He gasped, reaching out with frantic hands to grab Ye Weiai.
"Wei... Weiai..."
He had lived in fear for decades, his days filled with dread. He was torn between the condemnation of his conscience for taking innocent lives and the fear of how Ye Weiai would look at him if he ever found out. The guilt and terror alone had nearly driven him insane.
Ye Weiyang forced a gentle smile. His voice was raspy. "What... what are you doing? Brother... Brother only wanted to save Weiai..."
With trembling fingers, he pointed to the flickering Soul-Suppressing Lamp above, unsure if he was trying to convince Ye Weiai or himself.
"Over fifty years ago, I... I obtained the Soul-Suppressing Lamp from a secret realm. Everyone said it could bring back the dead, that it could return a soul and grant eternal life." His pupils were vibrating violently. "I didn't believe it at first. But when you died, I begged everyone to save you. They... they were all useless! They could do nothing! Only the Soul-Suppressing Lamp... only it brought you back to life!"
Ye Weiyang reached out toward Ye Weiai, his voice bordering on a plea. "You won't die. Brother won't let you die."
Ye Weiai’s face was a mask of tears. He had been pampered and protected by Ye Weiyang since childhood. Though he had been twenty-five when he died, his mind remained as innocent as a child's. Unlike others, all the filth and malice of the world had been blocked out by Ye Weiyang, leaving him as pure as a sheet of white paper.
"This is... wrong," Ye Weiai sobbed.
Innocent as he was, he still knew the difference between right and wrong.
Ye Weiyang pleaded, "How... how is it wrong? Don't you want to stay with Brother forever?"
Ye Weiai was crying so hard he could barely breathe. After a long moment, he choked out, "Brother, do you want me to live on the lives of those innocent people?"
***
