Chapter 1286: No Further Ties

The Badger Demon poured Chen Changsheng a cup of wine.

Chen Changsheng raised his cup and drained the wine in a single gulp, letting out a long breath.

"Speaking of which," he began, "you and I could be considered friends made through conflict. Yet, in all these years, This Chen has never heard you talk about your past. Where did you come from?"

The Badger Demon paused. "That goes back quite a way. I wonder, does Mister know of a place called Qionglin?"

"Never heard of it."

"I come from there. It was a sanctuary surrounded by mountains, cut off from the rest of the world. Many demons were born within those woods, and some spent their entire lives from birth to death in that one domain. Even though there were constant conflicts among us demons, Qionglin was still the home we relied on to survive. None of us could bear to part with it."

"To the outside world, Qionglin truly was an isolated paradise. For thousands of years, no outside entity ever disturbed its 'peace'—until a cultivator discovered it."

"He marveled at the demons there. These were beings he had never seen before in all the world—lineages that could be traced all the way back to antiquity."

The Badger Demon fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Some demons, in that cultivator's eyes, were nothing more than extinct, miraculous herbs—materials to refine wondrous pills that could grant immortality."

"After that cultivator took a tour and left, other cultivators soon began arriving to explore. Until one day, a horde of them descended. They burned, killed, and pillaged. The arm bones of my good friend were ripped out by those cultivators and refined into a Dharma Instrument. There was also a senior snake demon whose spine was extracted; he died with his eyes wide open in grievance, only to be forged into a Flying Sword. Every detail of that horrific sight remains etched in my mind, too cruel to look upon."

Listening to this, Chen Changsheng let out a long breath and asked, "Other than you, did anyone else survive?"

The Badger Demon paused. "Perhaps. Or perhaps they have already become captive mounts for cultivators, living a life worse than death."

"And you? How did you escape?"

"Me..."

The Badger Demon hesitated, looking at Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng's gaze was unfocused. He took a sip of wine and asked, "Was it the person This Chen thinks it was?"

The Badger Demon smiled faintly and shook his head. "Since Mister could find his way here, you must have already puzzled out some of the underlying karma. I won't hide it from Mister—it was indeed the Demon Sovereign who saved me back then. And that Black Pagoda, naturally, was entrusted to me by him."

He took a deep breath, raised his cup, and drained it. "He saved my life. This was an immense debt of gratitude, and I had to repay it. But Mister is also a good person. Even after how I acted back then, Mister let the past be the past and guided me onto the Righteous Path. To me, Mister is a guiding light, and I must repay such kindness just the same."

The Badger Demon reached out and unfastened the Sword from his waist.

He offered it up with both hands.

"This Badger Demon brings his Sword, and asks Mister to strike."

Chen Changsheng sobered up in an instant. Without the slightest hesitation, he grasped the hilt of the Sword.

He raised the blade and swung it down.

The Badger Demon stiffened. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself completely unharmed. A moment later, a single Strand of Hair drifted down past his eye.

Chen Changsheng let out a breath and casually tossed the Sword to the ground.

He tilted his head back and drained the last of his cup.

He was already somewhat drunk.

Staggering to his feet, he walked outside without another word.

The Badger Demon watched him go. The man departed slowly, completely silent, yet his fading figure looked incredibly desolate.

That single strike seemed to signify something profound.

From this day forward, they would be no more than passing strangers.

...

The heavily intoxicated Chen Changsheng stepped into the thick fog.

Stumbling blindly, he wandered out of the region.

He reached the edge of the river and tumbled in.

A wave of utter powerlessness washed over him. The freezing river water splashed against his body, seeming to shock him awake just a fraction.

He drifted with the current and sank into a deep slumber.

For Chen Changsheng, this kind of complete honesty was the hardest thing to accept. Had the Badger Demon kept his secrets hidden, letting that Sword strike land squarely on his neck, Chen Changsheng might not have felt so intensely helpless.

But it was precisely this bare honesty that left him unable to face the truth, unable to bring down the blade.

This sense of powerlessness was what hurt the most.

That was why Chen Changsheng had drunk so much wine. He was drunk—crushingly, devastatingly drunk.

Closing his eyes, he did not know where he would drift, but he would survive, even if he had long since lost his former composure.

He also thought that, perhaps, the Demon Sovereign was right.

Perhaps hatred was the only true catalyst that made a person understand what they were doing.

...

By the time Zhao Lin woke up, it was already late afternoon.

The sky was darkening, and the light of the setting sun spilled into the room. The scent of food hit his nose, mixed with a heavy, nauseating stench of alcohol.

He dry-heaved once and turned his head, finding that other than himself, the only person in the room was the Ward Lord.

The Ward Lord seemed drunk, leaning back in the long chair with a ragged breath. A single Strand of Hair lay on the table, though it was unclear whose it was.

Zhao Lin shook his head to clear his mind and asked, "Ward Lord, where is Brother Chen?"

He hadn't expected a reply.

But the Badger Demon answered with his eyes closed. "Gone."

Zhao Lin blinked in surprise, turning to look at him. "You're awake, Ward Lord?"

"I was only drunk, not unconscious."

Giving this reply, the Badger Demon opened his eyes. His gaze landed on the Sword resting on the floor.

He reached out to pick it up, but his drunkenness made him stumble. Thankfully, Zhao Lin caught him just in time.

The Badger Demon raised the Sword and offered it forward.

Zhao Lin froze, a little confused.

"A gift for you."

The Badger Demon said simply.

Zhao Lin quickly waved his hands. "Ward Lord, you said yourself that you're drunk. This Sword is a personal possession of yours, why give it to me? We can talk about this after you sober up."

"I am perfectly sober."

The Badger Demon looked at him, and his eyes showed no trace of drunkenness whatsoever.

"Take it."

The Badger Demon forcefully shoved the Sword into his hands.

Left with no choice, Zhao Lin took it, but added, "I'll hold on to it for you. When you sober up, Ward Lord, I'll return it."

"What is given to you is yours. I won't ask for it back."

The Badger Demon shook his head and said nothing more.

No matter what else Zhao Lin said, he didn't receive a single word in reply.

Mister's refusal to strike him down had plunged the Badger Demon into a deep, agonizing inner conflict of his own.

When exactly he woke up, Chen Changsheng had completely forgotten.

By the time he regained consciousness, he had washed up on the shore. Soaking wet, he dragged himself up from the riverbank.

Coated in mud and dirt, he was far, far more wretched than in any previous year.

He stared blankly ahead. After a brief moment of hesitation, he continued walking forward.

It was as if the path he had come from no longer had the slightest connection to him.