decision
When Cui Heng found Wu Huan, he was already sitting at the cave entrance, almost dying from exhaustion. He had been sitting there for seven days without eating or drinking, his eyes so dry they were about to bleed. He remained motionless, as if frozen stiff by the winter snow, as if he would fall to the ground and shatter into pieces at the slightest touch.
"Wu Huan," Cui Heng called softly.
After a long while, Wu Huan finally raised his head and stared at Cui Heng with bloodshot eyes.
The bright sunlight shone on Cui Heng, his long, silvery-white hair almost blending into the snow. He seemed to see his own god once again.
He called out hoarsely, "Brother," before collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Cui Heng later learned what had happened to him during this period from Wu Huan. The biting wind howled through the cave entrance, and they remained silent for a long time.
"What are you planning to do next?" Cui Heng finally asked.
He stood at the cave entrance, bathed in bright light that made him appear snow-white, while Wu Huan sat behind him in the shadows, out of sight.
“If you are willing, I will avenge you, and you can elope with that mortal. I will take care of all the aftermath,” Cui Heng said again.
Wu Huan just smiled bitterly.
"Brother, do you know about the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron?" Wu Huan asked.
"The Soul-Suppressing Cauldron is an ancient divine artifact. Our demon race, your ghost race, and even the gods and humans are all just wisps of souls. Souls gather to create life and disperse to destroy life. The Soul-Suppressing Cauldron can gather souls and destroy them. Moreover, it is said that in addition to refining demons, it can also refine magical artifacts. If you add bone and blood, the magical artifact will recognize the person. However, this cauldron has changed hands many times since the beginning of time and its whereabouts are now unknown," Cui Heng said.
"I've heard that the Demon Clan's Crown Prince and the Ghost King Chongli seem to have found this cauldron. Brother, are you confident you can help me obtain it?" Wu Huan asked, his face expressionless as he stared at a certain empty space.
His eyes seemed to have transformed overnight from a boy into a calculating adult.
"Okay," Cui Heng simply replied.
“The Demon King has only one son. Kill him and frame the Ghost Clan,” Wu Huan said coldly.
He seemed to have finally made up his mind, extinguishing the only glimmer of light in his heart and plunging himself completely into darkness.
"Okay," Cui Heng simply replied.
He lowered his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and gazed into the distance in silence.
"Brother, is there anything in this world that can control a mortal for a short time, while also keeping her alive and causing her to lose her memory?" Xu Jiuwu Huan asked again.
"Mortals? Immortal? Perhaps there is something that can," Cui Heng said.
"What is that?" Wu Huan asked, raising his eyes.
"Puppet Gu," Cui Heng said.
Wu Huan nodded. If killing Si Ye's family with his own hands would provoke retaliation from Chong Li and the Ghost Realm, then it would be better to let the family kill each other. The most suitable person to be that knife is Wang Xiaoxia.
"Little one! Be my blade once, then forget me!" Wu Huan thought to himself.
The winter wind was always so cold. The snow had long since stopped, but the snow in Wu Huan's heart could not be stopped. He walked slowly toward Wang Xiaoxia's house, stepping on the snow that was slowly melting under the scorching sun. He walked slowly toward that ordinary house, just like a mortal with faltering steps.
He considered many possibilities. Since he had already notified Siye in advance that she would come again, and almost a month had passed, Siye should have arrived by now if she had asked someone to go to the Ghost Realm to fetch reinforcements. Or perhaps she hadn't sent reinforcements, and her family had already moved away, leaving only an empty house. If he went there now, he certainly wouldn't find anything.
Yes, they may not be there anymore.
As he thought this, the journey was actually much shorter than he had anticipated, and by the time he came to his senses, he was already standing at the door of the house.
He wanted to push the door open, but he hesitated. In the end, he climbed over the wall and walked toward the familiar room.
On the day Wu Huan left, Wang Xiaoxia searched everywhere for him but couldn't find him, so she asked her mother. Her mother only said that he had gone back to his hometown to prepare the things needed for the wedding. Wang Xiaoxia wasn't in a hurry, after all, his hometown was too far away, and it was probably a place she could never go to in her life. So Wang Xiaoxia continued to wait for him happily.
During this time, she made her wedding dress, altering it twice before she was finally satisfied. That evening, she stood before Si Ye, wearing her bright red wedding dress, and said with a smile:
"Mom, do you think it's pretty?"
She spun around as she spoke, her face beaming with joy.
She genuinely loved Wu Huan, a fact that even Si Ye couldn't deny.
Siye simply nodded. She felt a little melancholy, unsure how to explain it to Xiaoxia. Yet, seeing how much Xiaoxia longed to marry Wuhuan, she couldn't bear to do it.
Siye felt a pang of sadness. This child had been disciplined too harshly by her since childhood. If it weren't for her father protecting her, she would have suffered countless beatings growing up. That's why she now fell in love with a man like Wuhuan who was extremely tolerant of her.
"Mother, are you unhappy?" Wang Xiaoxia noticed the loneliness in Si Ye's eyes and asked with concern.
As if snapping out of her daze, Si Ye forced a smile at Xiao Xia.
"No, Mother is just reluctant to let go, reluctant to let her precious daughter get married so soon," Si Ye said, gently wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.
Perhaps she would never see her little one get married again, Si Ye thought sadly.
Before leaving, Wu Huan said he would come again, and Si Ye did indeed send a letter to her father, but there was no response from her father. She thought about moving, but how could ordinary people like them just move away? Where could they move to, where could they hide?
What Ye didn't know was that when she sent the message to her father's messenger bird, it was intercepted by the demons as soon as she left the human realm and never reached her father. At that time, her father was busy fighting against the demons and had no time to care about her.
Although Cui Heng was wounded by Chong Li when he seized the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, Cui Heng kept the knife as evidence to frame the Ghost Clan for killing the Demon Clan's eldest prince. The Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was also taken away by Cui Heng, causing chaos in the Ghost Clan. Chong Li is now besieged on both sides.
"Mother, don't worry! Wu Huan said that even if we get married, we will continue to live at home and will not leave you and Father," Wang Xiaoxia comforted her cheerfully.
She had a smile on her face as she said this, her joy evident.
"Okay," Ye said with a slight nod.
When Wu Huan arrived, Si Ye had already left. Xiao Xia was still wearing her wedding dress, admiring herself in the mirror, reluctant to take it off. Suddenly, a familiar scent wafted over, and she looked towards the door with a smile, waiting.
When Wu Huan gently pushed open the door, he was still stunned by Xiao Xia's wedding dress. He stared at her blankly for a moment.
Xiaoxia usually dressed as a man when she was with him, partly for convenience when running around the mountains, and partly to avoid being recognized. Now, in a bright red wedding dress, her skin looked fair and rosy, her long black hair was neatly piled on top of her head, her eyebrows and eyes were beautiful, and her eyes curved when she smiled.
Those eyes were absolutely beautiful. The candlelight danced in those watery eyes like twinkling stars in the night sky. The bride's attire added a touch of feminine charm to those eyes, making them even more endearing.
She was so pure, so pure that she couldn't tolerate even the slightest blemish.
"You've come!" Wang Xiaoxia said first, looking at him happily.
Wu Huan then came to his senses. Xiao Xia's nose had always been very sensitive, much more so than her mother's. However, he had never paid attention to it before. Now, thinking about it carefully, he realized that this was not a sense of smell that ordinary people should have.
"Xiaoxia," Wu Huan murmured, lowering his head with a look of reluctance in his eyes.
Why don't they leave? Perhaps if they leave, he won't look for them anymore.
"Wu Huan! Do you think this wedding dress is beautiful?" Wang Xiaoxia looked at Wu Huan with childlike anticipation, her eyes shining brighter than the candlelight.
Wu Huan dared not look at her, his heart filled with increasing reluctance. He clenched his fists tightly, and blood flowed from his palms, falling to the ground with a 'plop'.
Wang Xiaoxia tilted her head and looked at him with some confusion.
"Are you bleeding?" she asked, as the smell of blood began to fill the room.
Wu Huan closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and after a long while he finally loosened his fists, raised his head, and looked at Wang Xiaoxia with bloodshot eyes.
"Xiao Xia, I'm here to kill you," Wu Huan said coldly, his deep voice echoing in the room, startling Wang Xiao Xia.
"Oh," Wang Xiaoxia replied, puzzled, wondering what had suddenly gotten into him.
Wu Huan silently stretched out his hand, and two cups of wine appeared in his palm. He handed one of them to Wang Xiaoxia.
He looked at the wine as if it were two cups of poison, carrying with it a farewell to his impending death.
"Little one, drink a toast with me! From now on, we'll be bound together for life and death," he said, looking at the wine in his hand. He resolutely drank one of the glasses in one gulp, his gaze gradually turning cold.
Wang Xiaoxia took the wine somewhat bewildered. A strange taste lingered in it, and she frowned, not really wanting to drink it.
"Drink it," Wu Huan commanded immediately.
Wang Xiao was taken aback, but since Wu Huan had made her drink it, she would. He had said he would be with her through thick and thin, and she believed him.
The wine wasn't as bad as she'd imagined; a cool sensation slid down her throat and into her body, as if it were fresh and alive.
She looked up at Wu Huan, about to smile, when a dagger suddenly plunged into her heart. She hadn't felt the pain yet, but tears welled up in her eyes, and the room was filled with the strong smell of blood.
She hated the smell of blood, but now she was covered in it and couldn't get rid of it. The world suddenly turned upside down. She lay silently on the ground, staring straight at the man. His eyes were still coldly watching her, as if she had never really known him.
The warmth gradually drained from her body through her blood. The pain itself wasn't frightening; what was frightening was the biting cold, which made her shiver all over. Her hands were the first to feel cold, and then her whole body felt cold.
The sticky blood almost drowned her; she was unable to move, trapped in her own blood, until the last glimmer of light escaped from the corner of her eye, and the world suddenly went dark.
When she woke up again, she saw her mother kneeling in front of her, holding a sword. The pungent, fishy smell enveloped her. She tried to move but couldn't move, like a wild beast trapped in a cage, her soul imprisoned in her body, her body like a puppet on strings, at the mercy of others.
The ground was littered with corpses, each one a family member she knew: her maid, her parents' maid, her family's steward, and her father.
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