Yin Wuhui picked up a grape from the glass plate, ate the pulp, casually tossed the grape skin aside, and licked the juice off his fingers. He smiled wickedly, “Why should I answer you?”

Xie Wanting contemplated, “You knew I would come to find you, yet you didn't prepare any defences against me along the way.”

“Fair enough.” Yin Wuhui picked up another grape. “Tell me, does this Demon Lord want to answer or not? It all depends on my mood.”

Xie Wanting closed his eyes, suppressing his impatience as he calmly asked, “I have only one question. What is the name of the mother of Hua Che?”

Yin Wuhui remained calm, smiling faintly. “Are you referring to Hua Mei'er?”

Xie Wanting paused. “Hua Mei'er ?”

“Yes, the famous courtesan of the Drunken Mansion, the most renowned singer in Jiangnan, and also the mother of Hua Che.3

Xie Wanting's hands trembled, his shocked gaze wandering aimlessly.

Yin Wuhui's gaze turned cold. “What are you suspecting? If you don't believe it, feel free to inquire in the mortal realm to see if I'm deliberately hiding anything!”

Yin Wuhui's unfounded anger made Chu Binghuan sense the gravity of the situation. He controlled his breath and listened carefully.

Xie Wanting stood in a daze for a while, unsure of what he suddenly recalled. His face turned pale for a moment, muttering to himself, “I once had two spiritual instruments. One was the token passed down by the ancestors, the Ancient Qin Jiuyou. The other was a purple bamboo flute I found by chance, which I named Zhexue.”

Xie Wanting looked up, gazing deeply at Yin Wuhui. “Since you are Hua Qingkong’s father, then please tell me why his spiritual instrument, whether in name or the flute itself, resembles my Zhexue so closely?”

Yin Wuhui rested his chin on his hand and chuckled. “Could it be that my son Che’er stole the spiritual instrument of Master Xie?”

Xie Wanting frowned. “How exactly was Zhexue lost? I don't remember.”

Yin Wuhui's laughter grew louder. “If you can't remember, it must be your own problem. Why bother questioning me?”

Xie Wanting felt a tightness in his chest. Just as he was about to speak, Yin Wuhui spoke loudly before him, “However, I've always been charitable. If someone seeks death, I kindly oblige. If Master Xie has questions to clarify, I won't hide anything."

Xie Wanting's heart stirred as he saw Yin Wuhui sit up straight, supporting himself with the throne as he slowly rose.

Yin Wuhui walked down the jade steps, saying, "The first time this lord saw Hua Mei'er, that little girl was only sixteen."

"This Lord has lived for a thousand years, seen countless beauties. While Hua Mei'er was indeed beautiful, compared to those immortals who have shed their mortal flesh after a thousand years of cultivation, she lacked a bit of celestial aura and had a bit more mundane charm. Yet, it was precisely this person, with an indescribable allure about her, that compelled this Lord to glance at her once and fall deeply in love, unforgettable for eternity."

"On the banks of West Lake, in the misty spring rain, she walked slowly from the Broken Bridge, holding a flower umbrella." Yin Wuhui closed his eyes, as if the scene had reappeared before him. "Have you heard about the tale of Bai Niangzi and Xu Xian? This Lord thinks that when Xu Xian first saw Bai Niangzi, he might have felt something similar! A love at first sight, astonished by her heavenly beauty."

(NT: The tale of Bai Niangzi (白娘子), a snake spirit, and Xu Xian (许仙), a human being, is a famous Chinese legend about love, loyalty, and the conflict between human emotions and spiritual destiny)

"This Lord immediately approached her to talk. To avoid frightening her, this Lord deliberately disguised himself as a poor scholar. I thought she would be like those hypocritical mortals, disdainful of poverty and fond of wealth. Unexpectedly, she actually spent money to buy me two steamed buns and, fearing I wouldn't be full, took me to a restaurant and ordered many dishes for me. She even secretly paid for it herself, without leaving a name, and left directly."

"The next day, I deliberately found her house and waited at the door for a long time. I pretended to be deeply grateful for her great kindness and asked for her name. It turned out she was the daughter of a nobleman, born into privilege, yet without any airs, approachable, and kind-hearted! What a wonderful woman, what a pure heart!"

Yin Wuhui walked down the jade steps, saying, "This lord fell deeply in love with her, utterly captivated. This Lord intended to marry her as empress, to stand together and rule over all the Nine Provinces!"

"But she rejected this Lord."

Yin Wuhui's gaze turned cold, like a venomous snake baring its fangs. "This Lord, the mighty Demon Lord, who ensures peace with a smile and commands respect with anger! She dared to refuse me! Just because she had a fiancé, she was betrothed!"

Xie Wanting interjected, "A person like you, unable to obtain, destroys. Did you kill Hua Mei'er’s husband?"

Yin Wuhui smirked, "This lord's methods are far more ruthless."

"This lord slaughtered Hua Mei'er’s entire family, a massacre! This Lord intended to destroy everything she held dear, leaving her with no choice but to depend on this Lord! This Lord also wanted her to see the consequences of defying me!"

Xie Wanting's heart pounded in fear, "So Hua Qingkong’s mother ended up wandering the world?"

"It's not that simple," Yin Wuhui said mysteriously, waving his hand. "This Lord massacred the Hua family, and within three days, Hua Mei'er’s fiancé's family found out. Her fiancé personally went to Hangzhou to bring her back to his mansion to take care of her. But..."

"In less than a month, her fiancé heard rumours of this Lord's affair with Hua Mei'er. How could a man allow his wife to have relations with another man? Do you know what happened then? Hua Mei'er deeply trusted and relied on her fiancé, but he abandoned her, personally selling her to the Drunken Mansion. Before leaving, he accused her of being unfaithful and called her a dirty whore!"

Xie Wanting sighed softly, "Misplaced trust."

Yin Wuhui paused, "What?!"

Xie Wanting's eyes were deep and serene, "I believe that Miss Hua Mei'er is innocent."

Yin Wuhui couldn't believe it, "Why?"

Xie Wanting's eyes shimmered with moisture, "Although I have never met her, I feel that this woman is steadfast and courageous. She dared to confront the Demon Lord, not an ordinary person. If she had any involvement with the Demon Lord, she would have been unwilling and would have died long ago, rather than live in shame."

Yin Wuhui angrily retorted, "Are you so sure?"

"Just intuition," Xie Wanting said calmly.

"Intuition!? Are you familiar with Hua Mei'er? What gives you the right to deduce her thoughts based on intuition?" Yin Wuhui suddenly erupted in anger, his intense pressure shaking the entire palace. The beams and pillars creaked, and the porcelain and jade artifacts on display shattered into pieces.

Yin Wuhui's eyes turned bloodshot, his smirk chilling. "You speak so lightly, Xie Wanting! Do you perhaps think that none of the words this Lord has spoken concern you!"

Xie Wanting defended himself with his true energy, barely blocking Yin Wuhui's rampant demonic mist. "You, what are you saying?"

Yin Wuhui's face twisted in a fierce expression. "That fiancé who treated Hua Mei'er's sincere affection like dirt, and personally sold her to the brothel? That fiancé was you!"

Xie Wanting's mind trembled, "No, it can't be..."

Outside the hall, Chu Binghuan's face turned pale.

Yin Wuhui seemed to have been waiting for this moment for a long time. He burst into maniacal laughter, "The Purple bamboo Flute that Hua Mei'er carried was originally your Zhexue! Have you forgotten, do you not remember? That Purple Bamboo Flute was the token of affection you gave to Hua Mei'er!"

Xie Wanting was stunned, trembling all over as if a mountain pressed down on his chest. He couldn't catch his breath.

"I don't know, I don't remember! Why would I have a past with Hua Mei'er? When did I have an engagement? This is absurd! I don't even know who she is, how could there be an engagement, how could there be a token!" Xie Wanting shouted angrily, though he didn't know why, he felt inexplicably panicked and sorrowful, his blood boiling, about to overflow.

Chu Binghuan had a terrible premonition, a dreadful thought suddenly emerged in his heart.

Others may not know, but he has read widely, spending three hundred years turning over all kinds of rare ancient books in the world. He remembered that one book once recorded a forbidden technique, a method that only the demon path could practice, called the "Undying Curse".

The practitioner could seal a specific memory of the other party—whether an event, a period of time, or even a person.

Ordinary spells, as long as the practitioner's cultivation surpassed that of the caster, could naturally be broken. But this Undying Curse was ruthless and domineering; even if the practitioner ascended to immortality, they would never be able to undo it.

To lift this curse, there was only one way: an outsider must inform them of the "lost memory."

If the sealed memory was of an event, one must describe that event in front of the practitioner. If it was a person, it was even simpler—just mentioning that person's name would suffice.

Hua Mei'er’s real name wasn’t Hua Mei'er it was the stage name she adopted when she fell into the brothel.

Seeing the former rival reduced to such a state now was truly satisfying! Yet, it wasn't enough; Yin Wuhui wanted to drive him even more insane!

"You still can't recall, can you? Because this Lord placed the Undying Curse on you, making you forget about her! Let this Lord remind you, her name," Yin Wuhui sneered coldly, staring at Xie Wanting's pale face. He shouted loudly, "Hua... Si... Jin!"

Xie Wanting's mind exploded with a thunderous roar, his legs giving out, collapsing straight to the ground.

Something rushed into his mind unexpectedly, unresisting, invading those memories that didn't belong to him yet were undeniably his, dragging him into hell without any defence.

Hua Sijin.

He remembered.

His fiancée, slaughtered by demonic cultivators a month before the wedding. The moment he received the news, he dropped everything at the sect, personally going to Hangzhou to bring her back.

At the time, Hua Sijin was in a daze, remaining silent for a long time after seeing him. He took her back to Yeyou Mansion and cared for her meticulously, personally feeding her every day, having maidservants dress and bathe her, comforting and consoling her.

Finally, three days later, Hua Sijin burst into tears.

A month later, upon hearing trouble in the North Sea causing suffering among the people, he went to rescue them, only to return to Yeyou Mansion and find Hua Sijin gone.

He never thought to look for her again, because at that time, he had already forgotten who Hua Sijin was.

Yin Wuhui looked at Xie Wanting's despairing appearance and burst into hearty laughter: "Hahaha! You remember now, don't you? At this point, this lord won't hide it from you anymore. It's simple! The demons in the North Sea were arranged by me to lure you out of Yeyou Mansion. Then, I manipulated your disciples to drive Hua Sijin out! To Hua Sijin, you were just a heartless man who abandoned her from start to finish. And you were far away in the North Sea, under my Undying Curse, knowing nothing!"

Xie Wanting felt like his heart was being twisted with knives, desperately covering his ears with his hands.

Even though he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, he could imagine how Hua Sijin, a sixteen-year-old mortal girl back then, was swept out by Yeyou Mansion disciples, carrying all her doubts and grievances, step by step up the mountain, banging on the gates time and again, desperately calling out, asking why.

She was an orphan, with no one to rely on except Yeyou Mansion. Where could she go?

Unable to bear the burden, unable to provide for herself, how could she survive in this treacherous world?

She, who had been rejected for no reason, cast out like a dog.

She was a noblewoman with dignity; even now, with nothing, she wouldn't beg or throw tantrums.

Xie Wanting could imagine how, with no response after countless pleas at the gate, she would have been in despair and determined to leave.

With bloodied feet, step by step down the mountain, leaving behind a trail of bloodstains, leaving behind a solitary and desolate figure.

Half a month later, she entered Drunken Mansion, becoming renowned throughout Hangzhou in just seven days!

Everyone knew that courtesans were lowly, but what else could she do!

Xie Wanting's heart was torn apart, tears and anguish pouring out: "Why, why treat her like this..."

"Why? If she had submitted to me back then, she wouldn't be in this state today! My methods—this is just the most basic punishment." Yin Wuhui sneered coldly, "You dared to covet my woman, so this is your punishment! How does it feel, Lord Xie? Does it hurt? Does it feel like being pierced by ten thousand arrows? When Hua Sijin rejected me back then, this was how I felt. Now I'm letting you experience it. How does it feel? Isn't it especially exhilarating?"

Xie Wanting summoned Jiuyou (NT: (九幽) Nine Hells or Nine Underworlds) and angrily plucked the strings of the zither: "Beast!"

Yin Wuhui was prepared; he released a burst of true energy from his sleeve, fiercely shattering the scattered sound of the zither.

Xie Wanting propped himself up with one hand on the ground, the other on the zither. He bowed his head, lost in thought, then suddenly chuckled.

Yin Wuhui's face darkened: "What are you laughing at?"

"You think you've won? You believe you've successfully retaliated against me and taken possession of Xiao Jin?"

Yin Wuhui gritted his teeth, "Isn't that so?"

"On the tenth day at Yeyou Mansion, Xiao Jin had already recovered physically. With her family fallen and knowing she had no status matching mine, she once wrote a personal letter intending to leave. Luckily, I sensed something amiss and detained her in time. I accompanied her, cheered her up, and finally, she opened her heart to me. Considering the tragic death of the Hua family and Xiao Jin's parents, unable to host a grand ceremony, we decided together to keep things simple. Therefore, we did not widely announce it to the cultivation world."

Xie Wanting lifted his eyes, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "Hua Che is my son!"

 

Translator: DarNan