After they returned to Tianyong City, Sword Elder Zi Yin spent a full century of his cultivation saving Ling Yue. Baili Tusu, meanwhile, had been controlled by the Fenji Sword and had accidentally injured a fellow disciple. He was sentenced to three years of solitary confinement in a forbidden cave on Back Mountain, with no visitors allowed!
The news set disciples throughout Tianyong City talking. Ling Duan and his ilk even spread rumors that Baili Tusu had been born a monster: first he had caused his master Zi Yin to be injured and enter seclusion, and now he had gone berserk and gravely wounded his own senior brother, Ling Yue!
Zi Yin led Baili Tusu along the path to the forbidden cave.
Each step felt as heavy as a mountain. Baili Tusu bore a fate that was not his own, and he struggled only to find his former self again.
"Yunxi!" A graceful figure came running from nearby, calling out again and again, "Han Yunxi—"
The voice was familiar, but more familiar still was the strange feeling it stirred. Baili Tusu stopped and turned instinctively. Feng Qingxue? Was it her?
Fragmented memories from childhood rose in his mind, carrying traces of warmth too broken to make sense of. He did not know what was happening to him. He turned to Zi Yin and asked, "Master?"
Zi Yin sighed softly. "Tusu, the past is gone. Why cling to it?"
Baili Tusu's heart trembled. As though he had understood something, an unprecedented resolve entered his eyes. He turned and followed Zi Yin into the forbidden cave.
"Han Yunxi!" Feng Qingxue had searched so long just to see her old friend again. Only now had she learned that Baili Tusu was the Han Yunxi she had been seeking. Seeing him about to