Treat them differently

No, Ah Qiu cried out from the depths of her heart: this is not what she wanted. In all her previous lives, she had never imagined that emotions would play such a significant role.

Even if the feelings she once had have become worthless, she would not hurt Xie Tiao.

Because he is innocent. He did nothing that deserved to die.

A meaningful look appeared in Mo Yimingyue's eyes as she calmly said, "A Qiu!"

She was shocked by the sound, raised her head, and stared blankly at her second senior brother, whose martial arts skills and mental fortitude could only be described as unfathomable.

Mo Yimingyue said, word by word, "This is your last chance, Master. If you refuse, do you know what the consequences will be?"

A Qiu remained silent for a moment, then slowly said, "If you don't kill him, will you kill me?"

Mo Yimingyue said, "Our master has never been very patient, as you are probably well aware of. If you cannot do what he asks of you, then in his eyes you are beyond redemption."

He said slowly, "But after all, we were master and disciple, he won't kill you. That wouldn't be in line with his style."

“He won’t torment you. After all, you were once the pride of the Lanling List, and you have done a lot for our hall and made great contributions.”

"The most appropriate punishment is for him to simply leave you here, forget about you, and let you be ignored and uncared for."

A-Qiu's heart suddenly clenched, and his pupils trembled uncontrollably.

Mo Yimingyue looked at her with pity, but also with a mixture of sorrow for her misfortune and anger at her lack of resistance. He said, "You know what that feels like, don't you?"

A-Qiu stared at him in shock.

Of course she knew.

Those were the days when I was abandoned in the snowy wilderness behind the Divine Weapon Hall.

Unlike today's prisons, this place was a frozen wasteland covered in snow all year round, but at least there were sunrises and sunsets, the sound of wind and birdsong, and the paw prints of animals. There was a basic sense of the passage of time.

But within this prison lay only darkness and emptiness. It was as if the entire world had abandoned her. Over time, she even began to lose the ability to distinguish herself from stone or vegetation.

What is being deprived of is the perception of life and emotions.

Whether they were dead or alive, no one cared. They couldn't sense any signs of life in the outside world.

She knew the full story, but she didn't know that her senior brother, Mo Yimingyue, understood it just as well.

For Master Wanqiqing, who held the power of life and death, his forgetfulness and indifference were the most severe punishment.

Being abandoned by him means that one can no longer live as a "person".

Mo Yimingyue continued, "That's not all."

A Qiu looked up at him again. Under such pressure and stimulation, she felt her mind clear up considerably and she could begin to think of a solution.

Mo Yimingyue said calmly, "Xie Tiao must die. Even if it's not you, someone else will carry it out."

A-Qiu felt as if he had been struck hard in the chest once again.

This wasn't because she felt sorry for Xie Tiao, but because her master Wan Qiqing's ruthless and precise scheming had once again deeply affected her.

This move was clearly designed for her.

Whether she wants to kill Xie Tiao or not, Xie Tiao must die. The only difference is that if she does, she will regain her freedom. If she doesn't, Xie Tiao will still die, and she will be forever trapped in darkness.

This was like a deadly temptation. Whether Xie Tiao lived or died, the blame would not fall on her. But she knew very well that if she agreed and did so, the person she used to be would never be the same again.

Ah Qiu said in a hoarse voice, "Now I only want to know one thing."

Mo Yimingyue said, "You speak."

Ah Qiu looked directly into Mo Yimingyue's eyes and said haltingly, "Is this condition you offered me Master's wish... or yours, Senior Brother?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Mo Yimingyue's eyes, but she ultimately said frankly, "It was my suggestion."

A-Qiu asked with difficulty, "Why did you do this?"

Mo Yimingyue didn't answer her. Instead, she got up and walked to the door, saying nonchalantly, "Because if I didn't do this, Master would have completely forgotten about you by now! And you would be stuck in this prison, never to get out again. By the time he remembers you three or five years later, you'll probably be severely damaged by being trapped here!"

She suddenly fell silent.

Mo Yimingyue sighed, “You still don’t understand him at all. Your return in this state is a complete failure for him! Don’t think that Master is someone who likes to face failure! All of this only proves one thing: he completely misjudged you and trusted you! This is a completely new blow to him, both emotionally and rationally.”

Ah Qiu's mind gradually cleared up.

Yes. Master has always been like that. He has extremely high expectations and standards for people and things. And if someone or something disappoints him, he will abandon it in a fit of anger, never to look at it again, and too lazy to face it again.

That's how she was back then. Because she couldn't learn the martial arts of Lanling Hall no matter what she did, her master eventually picked her up and threw her into the snowy wilderness.

He didn't want to kill her, nor could he face his own defeat. So he simply abandoned her in a remote, desolate place to fend for herself.

Mo Yimingyue sighed, “Don’t think he’s heartless. On the contrary, he only acts this way towards those who have feelings for him and whom he sees as a problem, because he can’t face or deal with them. If they were truly enemies, Master would be ruthless without even blinking an eye.”

A-Qiu asked with difficulty, "Should I still be grateful for his special treatment?"

Mo Yimingyue said resolutely, "In short, if I cannot offer him a solution that satisfies him, he will only abandon you for a long time, forgetting you in the darkness. And I don't want to see you destroyed by darkness and emptiness. Do you know how long the longest I've personally managed to keep someone locked in the darkness has lasted?"

Aqiu replied blankly, "I don't know."

How could she know? Her Divine Weapon Hall's style of execution has always been: a swift stroke of the blade to kill, a dagger to pierce the heart to kill. How could she know that there are countless ways to slowly destroy someone than simply killing them?

She had heard her senior brothers mention it in casual conversation before. But it was all hearsay to her; she had never witnessed it herself.

Mo Yimingyue said, “Three months. That man was a notorious bandit, a notorious figure in the underworld who committed all sorts of evil deeds. He first began to self-harm, banging his head against the wall and constantly biting himself, in order to obtain proof that he was alive. Three days after we tied him up so that he could no longer harm himself, he went completely insane, became schizophrenic, and talked incoherently, as if one self was talking to another self.”

Regardless, Mo Yimingyue's original intention was to save her. Even if he would never readily admit it.

Indeed, given that she had caused Wan Qiqing such a loss of face and setback, any doubts about Mo Yimingyue's proposed method would only exacerbate the situation, making Wan Qiqing even more annoyed and disgusted.

Mo Yimingyue smiled wryly and said, "Are you still going to refuse my proposal?"

She heard herself say weakly, "I need more time to think about it."

The prison door slammed shut again, and Mo Yimingyue's voice came from outside.

"I'll give you three more days."

She never knew that she had always been a problem for her master.

Because she was beyond control and unable to find answers, in the extremely limited time they spent together, her master might have been kind and gentle, but unlike her two senior brothers, he never patiently guided and meticulously taught her.

Her martial arts skills were almost entirely self-taught, while in other matters, she was taught most by her two senior brothers. It can be said that everything she truly learned from Lanling Hall, apart from martial arts, came from the personal instruction of Gongyi Xiu and Mo Yimingyue.

Looking back now, most of the time, Master was... avoiding her.

Lanling Hall is a gathering place for assassins from all over the world, and all of them are martial arts elites. There is no distinction between men and women; they are all treated equally. Her master promoted her to be the head of the Divine Weapon Hall and also appointed her as the number one on the Lanling Golden List, entrusting her with the sect's token, "Assassination of Qin." This shows that he did not care whether her skills came from his direct lineage, nor did he have any sectarian bias.

Judging solely from this, it can be said that the master's appreciation and attention to her surpassed that of her two senior brothers.

The only difference was that the master and his two senior brothers were truly like father and sons; there was nothing between them that they couldn't talk about. But unless absolutely necessary, the master wouldn't easily seek her out.

She had never paid attention to these things before, because she herself, whether intentionally or unintentionally, had avoided her master.

From the very beginning, when he brought her back to Lanling Hall, she was filled with suspicion. Then, abandoned in the snowy plains, she struggled to survive alone, meditating on profound scriptures, and by sheer luck, she mastered superior internal energy cultivation. Although all of this was thanks to Wan Qiqing, and on the surface, everything seemed fine, she never truly trusted him.

She respected him, revered him, and even felt grateful to him, but she simply couldn't trust him.

By this time, she naturally knew why. She had been snatched from Gu Yi by Wan Qiqing. Although she had forgotten the past, the trauma was an instinctive reaction. She couldn't trust the person who had taken her away from Gu Yi.

She also understood that he was completely different from Gu Yi.

From beginning to end, Gu Yi treated her with nothing but patient devotion and care. He never demanded that she become anyone in particular. His affection for her was innate.

However, Wan Qiqing's attention and care came with conditions from the beginning. Although she didn't understand the specifics of these conditions when she was young, she could always sense that Wan Qiqing's gaze towards her was scrutinizing and weighing.

She was wary of Wan Qiqing, even suspicious of him, which might not even be something she herself was aware of.

But what she never expected was that her master was also avoiding her.

Why is that?

What could possibly make a master who manipulates the hearts of the world without a shred of shame avoid him?

Was it because of her particularly clumsy weaknesses: for example, how could she not learn martial arts at first, or how could she write well?

Both the eldest brother, Gongyi Xiu, and the second brother, Moyi Mingyue, were exceptionally shrewd and well-rounded individuals. They were skilled in both literature and martial arts, and adept at socializing and ingratiating themselves with others. They were also proficient in any of the arts, from music and chess to calligraphy and painting.

They all resemble their master, especially the eldest brother, who is practically a carbon copy of their master.

But she alone is exceptionally gifted in certain things, grasping them instantly. However, in other things, she is incredibly clumsy, unable to learn or adapt.

What bothered his master deeply, and even made him unable to face it, was that she was no different from him at all.

But she, who was nothing like him, took a different path and embarked on an unprecedented journey, successfully launching the "Assassination of Qin" and becoming the only undisputed leader of the Divine Weapon Hall in nearly a century.

My mind, which had become much clearer, began to ache again.

Is it true that Master is unable to face the problems she has brought him, and thus he has fled to the point that he used to abandon her in the snowy plains, and now he is abandoning her in prison, and even hopes that he can forget her existence?