The White Shadow's Arrival

White Shadow, fearless, charged forward with You Ye, heading straight for Yang Wudou's all-consuming blade. The scene was like a moth flying into a flame. Who would willingly throw themselves into the path of a blade? Yet, this was undeniably happening.

Yang Wudou's killing intent intensified, his eyes fixed on the indistinct White Shadow shrouded in icy Essence Qi.

Suddenly, a bizarre sight unfolded. White Shadow vanished from Yang Wudou's front. Only You Ye remained before him, You Ye who knew no martial arts. He froze, his face a mask of surprise, yet his blade moved without hesitation, aiming for You Ye's throat. His strike was precise to the millimeter, capable of splitting hairs. He was certain this blow would sever You Ye's throat, decapitating her. He even envisioned blood spurting from the smooth, mirror-like wound. But the skin on his face twitched involuntarily, and fine sweat beaded on his brow.

His blade was only an inch from You Ye's throat, but Yang Wudou stopped, transitioning from extreme motion to utter stillness, a truly shocking moment.

A person appeared behind him, one hand gripping the back of his neck. The instant that hand seized him, Yang Wudou felt a chill surge through his entire body. His blood felt like it was freezing, as if he had fallen into a desperate ice cave, his muscles and bones stiff and locked.

In the blink of an eye, he had become an ice sculpture, covered in frost, emanating a chilling aura.

His blade was only half an inch from You Ye's throat, but that half-inch became an eternal distance.

A cold smile flickered across You Ye's face, while Yang Qianjun's roar erupted simultaneously. Yang Qianjun, like an aging Mighty Lion, lunged at White Shadow with undying majesty. But White Shadow threw a punch in return, meeting Yang Qianjun's bulging, impossibly large fist.

The sound of shattering ice rang out, grating on the teeth and chilling the heart. Yang Qianjun's entire arm bent at an unnatural angle, shards of bloody ice flying. With just one blow, Yang Qianjun's arm was ruined.

Yang Qianjun stumbled back, his voice pale as he whispered, "This is Essence Cultivation, the Cold Chi Ice Dragon Yuan?!" An intensely cold energy coursed through his body like a Chi Dragon or Ice Serpent, freezing his flesh and blood wherever it passed. In moments, Yang Qianjun was completely stiff.

White Shadow exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't expect you to recognize the Cold Chi Ice Dragon Yuan! That's right, it is the Cold Chi Ice Dragon Yuan. You should know now that massacring the Yang Manor wasn't an empty threat, right?"

Yang Qianjun looked mournfully at his son, Yang Wudou, who stood like an ice sculpture. His face was ashen, and he seemed to age decades in an instant, withered and desolate as if half his body were already in the grave. He could only accept White Shadow's words. Mastering a supreme Essence Cultivation technique made one capable of fighting ten thousand men, let alone a mere Yang Manor. He had never been a man with much desire for power; he simply wanted to see his two sons settled in appropriate positions and then live out his remaining years peacefully. He hadn't recruited many martial artists because he had no interest in conflict, and thus no interest in building up military strength. He had fought battles for half his life, his only desire a tranquil old age. He was truly tired of bloodshed. The most formidable fighting force in the Yang Manor was the household guards who now lay dead behind him, most of them elite soldiers he had led in the army and who had followed him even after his retirement.

"Accumulating evil deeds instead of good deeds, always doing the lesser evils. Thus, Yang Wudou will not come to a good end and will eventually reap the bitter fruit."

You Ye suddenly reached out and gently tapped Yang Wudou's forehead. Cracks spread like a spiderweb across Yang Wudou's face, the fissures widening. With a series of cracking sounds like breaking ice, Yang Wudou's entire head shattered into countless pieces, his body crashing to the ground, also broken and scattered.

"My nightmare is finally over!"

You Ye's cold voice sighed softly. She stared blankly at the bloody remains scattered on the ground, her face devoid of any fear, as if looking at a beautiful painting. At this moment, she felt neither love nor hate, like a numb bystander. Perhaps her heart had long since departed, long since died.

Love is born with life, hate is born with life. Fate arises and perishes. Between life and death.

White Shadow sighed, "Rest in peace!"

Yang Qianjun's expression was one of profound loneliness and desolation. His gaze swept over the blood-soaked ground, his cries of anguish tearing at the heavens. A broken old man, a renowned general, despairingly and sorrowfully welcomed death. How fragile yet how tenacious humans are. At this moment, he seemed to have extinguished all life force, his heart dead, with nothing left to live for.

"Dust to dust, earth to earth. My son Wudou, your life of wine and women ultimately harmed yourself, bringing about your demise. It is my fault for not disciplining you properly... In the deepest abyss, in the underworld, your father will join you. Let us be father and son in the afterlife once more, and enter reincarnation. In eighteen years, we shall be heroes again! Alas, I go, I go..."

A sigh filled with so much bitterness. The benevolence of a loving father, the deep affection for his son, needed no words. It was all contained within that final, despairing sigh.

Yang Qianjun's body trembled, his eyes slowly closed. His life had ended, yet he still stood.

The rest, surviving, wailed and wept incessantly. A great family, destroyed in one battle by one person. Only thirty to forty percent remained.

White Shadow also seemed weary of the killing, disliking the bloodshed. With a wave of its sleeve, it sighed, "Life and death, should it be this way?"

You Ye looked confused. At this moment, she was lost. She had obtained everything that should have happened in the future – the destruction of the Yang family. The Yang family had been annihilated before her eyes in an extremely brutal manner, yet she felt no initial excitement. She couldn't laugh, couldn't feel joy. Her heart was filled only with bewilderment!

Hate had sustained her, even if it meant selling her body. But now that hate was extinguished, what was the purpose of her living? What could become her goal in life?

White Shadow slowly said, "Revenge is not a pleasant thing. Revenge corrupts, decays, and slowly kills a person. For a person to live, hatred cannot be the sole support; one needs a higher, greater dream. You Ye, women should also have their own sky. The sky above our world should not be monopolized by men..."

You Ye fell into thought, murmuring, "Break the cage? Escape the shackles? Strive for equality?"

A hint of an imperceptible smile appeared on White Shadow's face. It looked at You Ye with admiration and sighed, "It seems I didn't choose the wrong person. My judgment is quite good!" Then, White Shadow suddenly turned its head to look at Ning Chang'an, who had not yet departed, and said with a calm voice, "Tonight is your lucky night!"

Ning Chang'an shook his head, "Tonight is my unlucky night. This evening, I have smelled too much blood, witnessed too much cruelty, and violated too many principles!"

White Shadow sighed, "At least you are still alive. That is the greatest fortune."

Ning Chang'an replied, "I am alive because I can be alive. It has nothing to do with luck or misfortune. I control myself, regardless of luck or misfortune."

White Shadow snorted, "Aren't you grateful I spared your life? Such a gift is the greatest fortune I can give you."

Ning Chang'an narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "You cannot give me fortune, and I do not need your bestowal. You are not qualified to bestow anything upon me. I control everything about myself!"

White Shadow was surprised, its tone softening slightly, "Do you resent me?!"

Ning Chang'an spoke frankly, "I detest you!"

White Shadow said sternly, "Reason?"

Ning Chang'an replied, "To act without righteousness in the name of salvation is hypocrisy. Hypocrites are what I detest!"

White Shadow suddenly laughed, "There is no struggle without bloodshed! Can men no longer regard women as appendages? Can men not share power with women? Can men allow women to stand in court? Can women naturally break free from the constraints of traditional ethics? Hmph, no! I, upholding the doctrine of human fairness and the heavenly mandate of the Cult Master, in accordance with the natural order of heaven and earth, will change all this, reform the world's great trend, so that women are equal to men, with no distinction in superiority or inferiority, no longer subordinate. They can study literature, practice martial arts, attend court, lead armies, govern the world, hold the divine artifact of the state! If we do not fight, if we do not spill blood, all these beautiful visions will remain only in dreams. How can they become reality? The Yang family merely brought it upon themselves!"

Ning Chang'an sneered, "Your talk of these dreamlike visions is useless to me. Because no matter how great a dream, it is not a reason to kill. I only know that the sole culprit is Yang Wudou. While his father, Yang Qianjun, was negligent in his upbringing, it did not warrant death. Moreover, so many uninvolved outsiders lost their lives, dying unjustly. Killing is a sin, how dare you slaughter indiscriminately?"

White Shadow's entire body was enveloped in icy energy, cold and resolute, "Killing is a sin? Then I shall use my own sins to exchange for a dream come true! You Ye, let's go!"

You Ye whispered, "He is called Soul Severing!"

White Shadow, with You Ye, soared into the sky, disappearing into the depths of the night. White Shadow said, "You are foolish, he is not called Soul Severing! One day, he will know that to accomplish something great requires not just going against one's conscience, but also being cold-blooded, ruthless, and even willing to pay any price... You Ye, are you ready?"

You Ye fell silent. After a long while, she nodded, "I will only treat all of this as a game..." Zhao Lei is dead, only You Ye remains. Zhao Lei lived too earnestly, thus she was too miserable, too unfortunate; but You Ye, she will treat life as a play, play in the world, her heart no longer caring about anything, precisely because this unfair world has wronged Zhao Lei once. This time, You Ye will wrong the entire world.

The night was dark. In the night, Ning Chang'an continued to move further away. The sounds of weeping from the Yang Manor, carried by the wind, dissolved into the night air, faintly audible. Yet, Ning Chang'an felt his heart beating faster and faster, louder and louder, his emotions growing increasingly restless. He couldn't understand the meaning behind White Shadow killing so many people. Did the innocent deserve to die?! He only knew that he could not bear to witness such bloody and cruel scenes. He thought about the beautiful wish White Shadow spoke of, but he still didn't understand what killing those innocent people had to do with this wish. A tragedy was still a tragedy. There were too many things he couldn't understand, too many unexpected events that filled him with doubt.

If too many things he couldn't understand entangled his heart, unable to be resolved, cast aside, or calmed for a time, he always wanted to drink.

Get drunk once, wake up, and perhaps things would take a new turn, perhaps he would gain sudden enlightenment.

Ning Chang'an really wanted to drink now.

He moved stealthily along the rooftops, watching teams of Yongan Prefecture soldiers and yamen runners rushing towards the Yang Manor, their formation strict. At the end of the procession was a round-topped sedan chair, protected by four strong men in front and on all sides. The four men carrying the sedan chair moved with incredible speed, their steps, though varying in height and size, were exceptionally uniform, causing the entire sedan chair to remain remarkably stable without any shaking.