TRYMBPIETM 45: Mirror, Night, Snow Peak (8)

The night wind blew through the mountains and forests, carrying Luo Huaiyu’s overwhelming resentment. It swept past the broken stones and treetops, never ceasing.

Luo Ting was deeply shaken, his eyes widening in shock. He remained dazed for a long time before hoarsely asking, “Sheng Yihang… can he even be considered human?!”

Despite being meticulously cared for by his childhood friend, he felt no gratitude at all.

Just how twisted does one’s mindset have to be to do something so despicable?!

No—Sheng Yihang was worse than a crawling insect!

It made Lup Ting want to grab a slipper and smack him a few times until he resembled one of those crushed bugs—that might ease his anger a little!

“This is a true case of repaying kindness with enmity.” Luo Ting took a deep breath, gripping the Soul-Calming Bell tightly. His eyes burned with disgust and contempt. “A wretch like him deserves to be struck by lightning!”

Scum like him should suffer retribution!

He should be utterly annihilated, without even a burial ground left for him!

Luo Huaiyu’s resentment briefly halted. He turned his gaze to the indignant Luo Ting, remaining silent for a few seconds before his tone softened noticeably.

“You believe what I just said?”

Ah Ting glanced at him in surprise. He hadn’t expected Luo Huaiyu to care about this detail. Without hesitation, he answered, “I trust Zhouzhou’s judgment. If Zhouzhou believes you, then of course I do too.”

Luo Huaiyu was momentarily stunned and shifted his gaze to Chi Qingzhou.

Chi Qingzhou sat on Xing Shuangzhan’s lap, his expression calm, showing no sign of doubt.

He met Luo Huaiyu’s eyes and said softly, “There’s nothing to doubt.”

No one in this world stands undefeated forever.

To ordinary people, cultivators might seem overwhelmingly powerful. But if an ordinary person truly sets their heart on killing you—if they are wholly determined to take your life—no matter how many skills you have, you may not escape unscathed.

Cultivators are not invincible.

And ordinary people’s malice is never something to be taken lightly.

Never underestimate anyone.

With cold resolve, he continued, “But this isn’t your fault. Expecting a victim to perfectly distinguish between every kind of malice is simply placing undue blame.”

“Sheng Yihang is nothing but filth.”

“He will pay for what he has done.”

Luo Huaiyu swallowed hard. Though he had long been reduced to a walking corpse, at this moment, his eye sockets burned.

He lowered his head and took a deep breath.

Chi Qingzhou was right. He would make Sheng Yihang pay the price. He would avenge his family!

Seeing him like this, Luo Ting also felt a deep sorrow. He patted Luo Huaiyu’s shoulder, offering silent comfort.

For a moment, the atmosphere fell into silence.

The system was so rattled by Chi Qingzhou’s nearly ruthless tone that its code scrambled. It flitted about erratically in his shadow before barely managing to stabilize itself.

It blurted out in shock, [Host, didn’t you say there were no scumbags around you?! Then just now—]

[System.]

Chi Qingzhou interrupted it in his mind, his voice as calm as ever.

[Check the backend. Has any mission related to Sheng Yihang been triggered?]

The system blinked. [Oh? Oh! Uh…]

A bit confused, it glanced at the mission panel, only to see a single task—to humiliate Xue Jinshi.

[Nope, nothing new triggered.]

Chi Qingzhou: [Are you sure?]

The system was momentarily choked by his distrustful tone and hurried to explain: [Really, I’m not lying! It’s actually quite normal. Since Sheng Yihang didn’t directly harm you, a mission wouldn’t usually be triggered.]

Chi Qingzhou paused and asked, [Has the mission to slap Xue Jinshi in the face been completed?]

The system checked. [60% complete, just a little more to go.]

Chi Qingzhou: [Got it. When I finish that mission, I’ll use the reward to target Sheng Yihang.]

The system didn’t dare provoke Chi Qingzhou in this state. It quickly made the necessary adjustments in the backend—only to find that there was no option to designate Sheng Yihang as the target.

Horrified, it cautiously delivered the bad news.

Chi Qingzhou fell silent.

The system didn’t even dare breathe, afraid his fury would be directed at it.

Ignoring it, Chi Qingzhou remained quiet for almost half a minute before suddenly turning to Xing Shuangzhan.

He tugged at Xing Shuangzhan’s sleeve and softly said, “Su-ge, help me.”

Xing Shuangzhan, who had been silent until now, shifted his gaze, staring at him with a complicated expression.

“Chi Qingzhou, do you even know what you’re asking?”

Luo Ting and Luo Huaiyu snapped out of their thoughts at the sound of their voices, looking over in confusion.

Chi Qingzhou didn’t look at them. His answer was unwavering: “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Xing Shuangzhan let out a short, incredulous laugh.

“Chi Qingzhou, have I not told you before? You cannot lose control. Losing control will cause irreparable damage to your soul.”

“Not even for me. And yet, you want me to help you for someone else?”

“Chi Qingzhou, have you forgotten the curse that clings to you, the one that cannot be removed?”

Chi Qingzhou didn’t reply.

Instead, he looked at Xing Shuangzhan with his usual pitiful expression, fingers tugging at his sleeve, rocking it back and forth.

Luo Huaiyu, hearing this, felt uneasy. “What’s this about a curse? And… what exactly do you want to do?”

Luo Ting already knew about the curse. He simply pressed his lips together and pulled Luo Huaiyu back down when he tried to stand.

“Don’t ask,” he said in a low voice. “Zhouzhou will tell you when the time is right.”

As for what Chi Qingzhou intended to do…

Luo Ting wasn’t sure of the specifics, but he could guess the general direction.

Lowering his voice further, he said, “He wants to help you take revenge.”

Luo Huaiyu was stunned.

He stared hard at Chi Qingzhou, who was locked in a silent standoff with Xing Shuangzhan. He tried to stabilize his emotions, but a rush of air seemed to fill his chest, crashing against his no-longer-beating heart, making it tremble violently.

“Chi Qingzhou, you don’t need to do this.” He shook off Luo Ting’s hand and stood up. “I don’t need your help to get my revenge—I can do it myself!”

Xing Shuangzhan raised an eyebrow and looked at Chi Qingzhou. “Did you hear that? Your friend doesn’t need you interfering in his affairs.”

Chi Qingzhou pursed his lips. The dimples on his cheeks appeared again.

“Su-ge, I know what I’m doing. The excess energy you guided into me last time has already reinforced my meridians. If you draw in just a little bit of death energy, it won’t harm me at all.”

He just wanted to try—just like before when he had borrowed Qu Feng’s power.

If he could create the illusion of being attacked by Sheng Yihang, maybe he could trigger a system mission.

Just like what Qu Feng did before, emotions from vengeful spirits and walking corpses could be harmful to him. The influx of death energy into his meridians could also cause him some damage.

But separating toxicity from dosage is just being reckless.

With the tiny amount of death energy from Sheng Yihang, not only would it fail to harm him, but it probably wouldn’t even consume much of the divine ghost essence he had stored up. At most, it might use up a few thousandths of it.

All he wanted was to use that bit of death energy to create the illusion that he had been attacked by Sheng Yihang and see if it could trigger a system mission.

This wasn’t something he could entrust to anyone else—only Xing Shuangzhan was someone he could trust wholeheartedly.

Xing Shuangzhan understood his reasoning but refused to agree.

“Do you realize that if I make even the slightest mistake, it could hurt you? You’re willing to gamble on that risk, but I’m not.”

Chi Qingzhou answered without hesitation, “But you won’t. You won’t let me get hurt. You will always protect me.”

Xing Shuangzhan let out a breath, half amused, half exasperated.

“Unbelievable, Chi Qingzhou. You use my protection to help your friends.”

“Have you ever thought about how I feel?”

Chi Qingzhou leaned his head against Xing Shuangzhan’s shoulder, closing his eyes briefly as he softly murmured, “It’s different.”

Xing Shuangzhan grasped the back of his neck, lifting his chin. “What’s different?”

Chi Qingzhou opened his eyes, and in the shadows, the other half of his soul turned its gaze as well. Blood-red pupils locked onto Xing Shuangzhan.

Together, “they” grinned—a smile so bright it could almost be called joyful.

“I can help many friends. But the one who protects me… has only ever been you.”

Xing Shuangzhan froze, as if he had been struck motionless by a spell.

He stared at Chi Qingzhou in silence, his deep black eyes unreadable, emotions swirling like dark currents beneath the ocean—turbulent, overwhelming, and impossible to decipher.

Chi Qingzhou burrowed back against his neck, rubbing against him like a small animal.

Xing Shuangzhan’s gaze flickered as he lowered his head slightly.

Taking advantage of the position, Chi Qingzhou playfully bit down on his Adam’s apple, nuzzling it a few times before mumbling, “Brother Su, help me.”

Xing Shuangzhan didn’t speak.

Chi Qingzhou slightly loosened his bite and immediately felt Xing Shuangzhan’s Adam’s apple… move?

Just as he raised his head to look, Xing Shuangzhan grabbed him and pulled him back into his embrace.

“You…” Xing Shuangzhan’s voice was hoarse, but he stopped abruptly after just one word.

Chi Qingzhou looked up at him, eyes filled with innocent curiosity.

Xing Shuangzhan closed his eyes briefly before opening them again.

His voice was even lower. “I can’t say no to you. Who’s energy do you want to channel?”

Chi Qingzhou immediately grinned. “Ah Ting’s. I’ll just use a tiny bit and keep the rest. That way, when we find Sheng Yihang, we might be able to mislead him a little.”

Both Ah Ting and Ah Yu carried traces of Sheng Yihang’s death energy. The moment they got close to him, he would sense that someone was approaching.

Chi Qingzhou didn’t intend to completely hide from Sheng Yihang, but misleading him a little wouldn’t hurt.

For example, making him think it was Ah Ting who had come looking for him when in reality, it was Ah Yu.

Since they had already surrendered to the plan, it didn’t really matter whose death energy they used.

Xing Shuangzhan nodded indifferently, tightened his arms around Chi Qingzhou, and stood up, turning to look at Luo Ting.

Luo Huaiyu frowned deeply. “Hey, I told you, I don’t need your help. I can take revenge myself!”

Chi Qingzhou, still nestled in Xing Shuangzhan’s arms, replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Good friends should help each other. Or… are you not my friend?”

Luo Huaiyu stiffened. He wanted to say, “I’m not,” but when he saw Chi Qingzhou’s bright, happy eyes, those three simple words refused to come out.

Luo Ting patted his back in understanding. “Zhouzhou is just like this. It’s hard for anyone to refuse him. You’ll get used to it.”

With a friend like this, whether it was Luo Ting or any of Chi Qingzhou’s other friends, none of them could ever truly say no to him.

Luo Huaiyu fell silent.

From today onward—no, from this very moment—he was Chi Qingzhou’s friend too.

And he would protect his friends, never allowing them to be wronged.

At that thought, Luo Huaiyu instinctively glanced at Xing Shuangzhan.

As someone about to receive Zhouzhou’s help, he had no right to say that Zhouzhou was being reckless. And even if he did, it probably wouldn’t change anything.

But that world-ending ghost over there?

He clearly had the authority to stop this, yet he let himself be persuaded in just a few words.

Luo Huaiyu couldn’t help but look at him with utter disdain.

Xing Su, useless.

Xing Shuangzhan: “…”

Ignoring Zhouzhou’s new friend, he casually plucked a wisp of Sheng Yihang’s death energy from where it clung to Luo Ting and slowly infused it into Chi Qingzhou’s meridians.

The moment Chi Qingzhou’s ghostly energy reacted, Xing Shuangzhan immediately stopped, refusing to inject even a fraction more.

Because the amount of death energy was too little, the surge of power in Chi Qingzhou’s body fizzled out within three to five seconds, not even consuming the yin energy Xing Shuangzhan had previously used to smooth his meridians.

Chi Qingzhou: “…”

He froze for two seconds, glanced at Xing Shuangzhan, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

Xing Shuangzhan withdrew his hand, held him tighter, and pretended not to notice his expression.

Chi Qingzhou’s brow twitched as he sighed, then dejectedly asked the system: [Even though it was brief, it still counts as an attack, right? Did the backend trigger any missions?]

What kind of mission could this possibly trigger?!

The system inwardly complained, thinking Chi Qingzhou’s method was completely unreliable. But it didn’t dare say so directly and instead obediently checked the backend.

Half a second later, it was stunned.

[H-Host! A mission really got triggered! It’s a special mission—Face-Slapping Sheng Yihang!]

Chi Qingzhou’s lips curled into a slow smile, eyes gleaming. [Accept.]

The system hurriedly registered the mission, then let out a surprised exclamation. [Host, the mission’s reward can be directly used on Sheng Yihang! But the reward name is kind of weird—it’s called “Sanctioned Reciprocal Retribution.” What does that mean?]

[Sanctioned Reciprocal Retribution?]

Chi Qingzhou repeated the name thoughtfully, then suddenly turned to Luo Ting. “Ah Ting, I remember that you and his parents reported to the relevant departments about sending Sheng Yihang home?”

Luo Ting nodded, puzzled. “Yeah. Why?”

Chi Qingzhou hummed. “Nothing. I just think… this might provide some unexpected help.”

He turned to Luo Huaiyu and softly said, “Sheng Yihang will pay for what he’s done.”

Luo Huaiyu let out a low hum of agreement.

Chi Qingzhou’s tone was too certain—Luo Huaiyu guessed that he must have already done something to Sheng Yihang.

Luo Ting nodded firmly, indignantly adding, “Yeah, scum like him deserves divine punishment!”

But as soon as he finished speaking, something clicked in his mind. He recalled some of the information he had obtained earlier, and his expression turned oddly complicated.

He licked his dry lips, his gaze flickering. “Come to think of it… that bastard might have already been punished once.”