Born at Dawn, Dead at Dusk

Liu Qiushui looked at Ling Xuanxiao, who had entered the Mountain God Temple alone, and let out an almost inaudible sigh.

The key to this confinement lay in the Mountain God Temple. Ling Xuanxiao truly was clever.

Unfortunately, he had only guessed half of it right.

I will remember you.

You saved me, little one, but this is as far as it goes.

You can only blame this calamity on your fate.

For Liu Qiushui to have reached her current position, she naturally understood how to weigh gains against losses.

Liu Qiushui took one more look at the young man within the confinement, then turned and left.

"You few, stay here and await Elder Sikong's revival."

"Yes!"

The power of the confinement was already sufficient. It would likely only take another day or two.

Elder Sikong would be revived, and everyone within the confinement would die.

Liu Qiushui could not bear to watch that young man die an untimely death.

So be it. Let it end this way.

"..."

Luoshui Town.

Ling Xuanxiao stood within the Mountain God Temple, paying no heed at all to the Azure Dragon coiled there.

"Quickly!!"

The black-clad constables rushed to the front of the Mountain God Temple.

"The person inside, come out at once!"

The rules of Luoshui Town required one to obey the constables, but he was a constable now as well.

Ling Xuanxiao glanced at the clothes on his body.

Just as the constables outside were shouting and raising a ruckus, Zhang Tianxin suddenly appeared.

With one palm strike, she directly shattered a constable's throat.

Though her cultivation was gone, the strength of her body remained.

"Stop!"

A constable shouted.

Zhang Tianxin did not stop in the slightest, punching and kicking.

Beneath the night sky, her black clothes seemed to melt into the darkness. In three strokes and two moves, she dealt with every constable outside the Mountain God Temple.

Only after seeing this did Ling Xuanxiao begin considering his next move.

He took off his black clothes, shedding his status as a constable.

Beneath them was a red garment.

But on closer inspection, it was not red clothing at all.

It was merely his inner garment, except it had been soaked through with blood, turning what had once been white into a brilliant red.

Rule Three: Red clothing is forbidden in Luoshui Town.

There was no red clothing at all in Luoshui Town.

Rule Seven: The Mountain God Temple is safe.

Ling Xuanxiao pointed his sword at the Mountain God statue.

At the instant he put on the red clothing, a new rule appeared before his eyes.

Rule Thirteen: Destroy the Mountain God to leave Luoshui Town.

The thirteenth rule.

The shrine revived and appeared before Ling Xuanxiao.

Ling Xuanxiao was brimming with killing intent, ready to fight.

It was a middle-aged man steeped in the air of poetry and books, refined and courteous, with even an aura of righteous grandeur around him.

He looked like a Confucian cultivator.

What was going on?

"Little Daoist friend, would you hear me out?" the middle-aged man asked anxiously.

Stalling for time?

Ling Xuanxiao lowered his stance, seeming ready to erupt into action the next second.

The middle-aged man pointed with one hand.

Memories that did not belong to Ling Xuanxiao flooded into his mind.

"..."

Zhang Haoran, the Haoran Sword.

He was somewhat renowned, having supported an entire sect by himself.

But his sword had a flaw. To compensate for it, he secretly joined the Heavenly Fiend Hall.

During one breakthrough, he accidentally went berserk and killed every disciple in his sect.

Zhang Haoran completely lost his reason to live and wished only to die.

Yet on his way to take his own life, he encountered a little monster transformed from a mayfly.

The girl transformed from a mayfly said, "Since you wish to die, why not spend one day with me?"

That single day felt like an entire lifetime to Zhang Haoran.

That girl gave him a reason to keep living.

But mayflies were born at dawn and died by dusk. To encounter spiritual energy and be enlightened into human form, then spend a lifetime within one day—

Was already an immense blessing.

Zhang Haoran said, "We did many things. We bowed to Heaven and Earth; she was already my wife.

"But even so, I could not save her. I had never seen a mayfly before. By the time I realized it, my wife had already left this world. That was her lifetime.

"I could not save her. Even as a great cultivator of the Body Integration Realm, I could not bring the dead back to life.

"But... but once I die, I can do it.

"By using this confinement, I can use all my power to let her live another life.

"Like an ordinary person, she can live the life she wants."

Zhang Haoran looked at Ling Xuanxiao with tears in his eyes and said through a choked voice:

"So, Daoist friend, I am not doing this for myself. I should have died long ago. I only want to fulfill a dream for her.

"Please, she is innocent.

"It is about to succeed. It is almost time.

"Can you wait just a little longer? This confinement will disappear very soon.

"She... she has never seen the sea, never seen the splendor of the capital, never ridden in a carriage, never eaten a sugar figurine... She deserves all of it..."

As he spoke, the shrine formed from this great Body Integration Realm cultivator actually knelt before Ling Xuanxiao.

"Whatever you want, I can give it to you. After I die, I will repay your kindness. I only ask that you give her a chance. If someone must descend through the eighteen layers of hell, let it be me."

"All I want... is your life!!"

Ling Xuanxiao pierced the shrine's head with one sword thrust.

"Ah..."

Zhang Haoran stared at Ling Xuanxiao in shock and fury.

"Why... why?"

Ling Xuanxiao offered no explanation. With one sword strike, he severed the shrine's head.

He thoroughly upheld the principle of killing first and talking later.

"She gave you a chance. If being born at dawn and dying by dusk was her destiny, why did you have to force it?

"In her lifetime, she met you and saved you when you were desperate enough to attempt suicide. You accompanied her through her entire life.

"Unfortunately, your obsession ran too deep, and you insisted on forcing the impossible.

"How many innocent people have been buried by your hand because of this? You only know that your girl has not seen the splendor of the capital, has not ridden in a carriage, has not eaten sugar figurines.

"But the innocent people you killed—who are they supposed to demand their bright lives from?

"Zhang Haoran, I understand now why your swordsmanship had a flaw, and why you went berserk while cultivating. Your choices brewed the person you are today."

"AAAAAAH!!!"

"I refuse to accept this! I refuse!!"

The confinement over Luoshui Town was gradually fading, and Zhang Haoran's voice echoed throughout the entire town.

"Even as a ghost, I will not let you go! I will not let you go!"

"I will watch you forever! I will drag you into the hell of no return!!"

"..."

Ling Xuanxiao remained calm in the face of Zhang Haoran's curses.

"Zhang Haoran, you deserved all of this."

"I'll kill you!!!"

Ling Xuanxiao turned a deaf ear.

Luoshui Town completely vanished.

Buried along with Luoshui Town were the countless white bones that had wandered into it by mistake.