Literary Yearning

Chapter 1

Mount Luo in the East Sea is the highest peak in Qingyang Nation.

Mount Luo, born by the sea, stands twenty thousand zhang tall. To reach the summit, one must pass through a mirage and then climb a ten-thousand-zhang cliff. It is said that only those who have reached the Saint realm can ascend Mount Luo.

From the mountainside upwards, clouds and mist perpetually surround the peak. Amidst the exotic flowers and rare herbs that conceal the mountaintop, red walls and black tiles are faintly visible.

Inside the house beneath the black tiles, candlelight fills the room. Pale candles are arranged in small circles on the floor. Those near the desk are longer, illuminating an old painting hanging on the desk.

The edges of the painting are yellowed, as if soaked in water, causing the pigments and the lines that held them to dissipate. All that remains are vibrant colors, but the scene depicted is unrecognizable.

Fragmented moonlight filters through the roof at night, falling into the cradle to the left of the desk. The infant in the swaddling clothes happens to open its innocent eyes to greet the moonlight.

One month.

For a full month, Yu Sui has slowly accepted the fact that she has become an infant.

In her infant state, Yu Sui's energy is extremely limited. She either sleeps or sleeps, with very little time awake.

She had just woken up. Her dark eyes slowly scanned around, finding herself still in this gloomy and eerie room.

A maid was always stationed outside, occasionally opening the door to check on Yu Sui's condition. Seeing Yu Sui open her eyes, the maid went to inform Lady Su.

Lady Su is her mother and only visits Yu Sui when she is awake.

Lady Su, who enters the room, is as graceful as a willow, her long hair like a waterfall cascading down her white silk robes. She has a pair of extremely dark pupils, which, against her pale complexion and fragile form, appear enchantingly demonic.

Lady Su simply watches Yu Sui quietly, rarely speaking.

Yu Sui tries her best to act like a real infant, feigning foolishness to amuse Lady Su, including but not limited to giggling foolishly, drooling, and kicking her legs in the air.

She longs to see a hint of maternal relief on that exquisite face.

But Lady Su always maintains a calm and indifferent demeanor. Today, she merely glanced at Yu Sui briefly before leaving.

Yu Sui regretfully clenches her tiny fists.

At times like these, she begins to doubt if she is truly Lady Su's child.

Fortunately, even though her mother's thoughts are unfathomable, she still has an older sister who is three years old.

Older Sister Qingkui also likes to visit Yu Sui when she is awake. She often chatters to her, bringing the flowers she picked outside to gently touch her sister's little cheek to cool it. Seeing Yu Sui giggle, Older Sister would laugh along with her.

Not long after Lady Su left, a little girl dressed in a red jacket and long skirt, exquisitely adorned, entered the room. Qingkui carefully avoids the circles of candles on the floor and approaches the cradle. She has to stand on a footstool and tiptoe to see Yu Sui in the cradle.

"Flower."

Qingkui gently touches Yu Sui's cheek with a plum blossom still bearing dew.

Yu Sui responds with a laugh, and Qingkui smiles back at her.

Although Yu Sui can't tell if she's playing with a child or if the child is playing with her, she soon feels tired again and closes her eyes to sleep.

*

Normally, Yu Sui would not wake up again in the latter half of the night. But tonight, she feels incredibly hot, as if being roasted over a fire. She can't help but writhe in her swaddling clothes, raising her hands to dissipate the heat, but it's useless. Helpless and exhausted, she opens her eyes.

The moonlight remains, and in the dim, gloomy room, this beam of moonlight seems to be for her. Yu Sui's extremely dark pupils reflect the light, and she suddenly feels something strange.

Dust motes dance in the beam of light, which is not unusual.

But at this moment, these dust motes are tinged with color, and their speed of movement is much faster than usual, gradually transforming into tiny sparks of fire in Yu Sui's eyes.

Strangely, she feels no fear at all.

The sparks fall upon her within the beam of light. There is no burning sensation, but a scene of stars shattering appears in Yu Sui's mind:

Countless shooting stars fall from the sky, and inextinguishable flames incinerate everything in existence.

All things collapse and scream, tall buildings crumble, the earth cracks open, and everywhere her gaze falls is a scene of hell on earth.

Black ashes fly within the sparks. Thousands upon thousands of ashes connect into countless long chains, chasing after five distorted figures in the sea of fire.

Yu Sui's ears are filled with intermittent, distorted, and ferocious demonic voices:

"World Destroyer."

"Strange Fire."

"You."

"Annihilate them all."

Yu Sui snaps back to reality in an instant. The moonlight is still there, and there are no sparks in the beam of light, as if it were just an illusion. But a cluster of flames burning deep within her mind tells her it was real.

... No, it can't be?

Yu Sui slowly turns her eyeballs, trying to search her surroundings, feeling a sense of daze.

Starting from scratch in another world is already hard enough to accept. Suddenly, you're told that your identity is actually a world-destroying demon, being hunted by the entire world—but I'm just a month-old baby!

Yu Sui clenches her tiny fists. What can I use to destroy the world? My baby-sized fists?

That doesn't seem right.

As Yu Sui is contemplating, she suddenly hears a loud "Bang!" that makes her hair stand on end. She tries to look towards the door.

There are two bloodstains on the door. Blood flows through the crack towards the room. The maid guarding the door, covered in blood, slides silently to the floor, leaning against the door.

The pleasant sound of a long saber being drawn from its sheath reached Yu Sui's ears.

The infant in the room held its breath, afraid to move.

She had just learned about her setting as a World Destroyer, and her pursuers had already arrived at her doorstep?

As Yu Sui was considering whether to call for Lady Su's help, she heard Lady Su's clear, cold voice from outside the door:

"Not a Saint, yet you forcefully ascend Mount Luo Peak with the strength of the Thirteenth Realm. You're lucky to have made it this far without dying."

Yu Sui couldn't see the situation outside, so she pricked up her ears to listen carefully.

The man outside the room coughed twice and said in a hoarse voice, "You're also Thirteenth Realm, and aren't you also on Mount Luo Peak?"

Lady Su replied, "I can live, but you cannot."

The old man in the black robe chuckled, wiped a smear of blood from the corner of his mouth, and held his sword. His shadow on the ground swayed slightly. He stood in the moonlight in the courtyard, staring at Lady Su in front of the house and said, "It's hard to say. If I could get here, do you think others wouldn't be able to? As long as your children are alive, someone will always come."

"There are only more, not fewer, of the Nine Schools and Thirteenth Realm practitioners in the world."

Yu Sui, inside the room, rolled her eyes. It seemed the trouble wasn't because her identity as a World Destroyer had been exposed, but rather that the problem lay with Lady Su.

Lady Su's extremely dark pupils were exceptionally bright and radiant in the night, like burning embers. The calm and detached demeanor from the day was replaced by a cold killing intent.

She said, "What a pity. At your age, if you hadn't come on this journey, perhaps you could have become a Saint."

Yu Sui heard the sound of swords being drawn again, clashing crisply, carrying immense power, as if cleaving the heavens and splitting the earth.

1 Chapter 1 (Page 2/2)

Although Lady Su spoke of pity, her killing moves showed no such sentiment for the other party. The candlelight in the room flickered, and the shadows of the figures fighting outside were reflected on the doors and windows, changing rapidly and dazzling the eyes.

Yu Sui wished she could see even a glimpse, but her heart was willing while her strength was insufficient; she could barely even turn over at the moment.

All she could hear was the sound of the wind, a fierce gale, and the loud banging on the door. The old man in the black robe tried to bypass Lady Su and break into the house, but he was blocked outside and couldn't advance a single step.

This old man in the black robe, a Thirteenth Realm practitioner of the Nine Schools, had crossed mirages and climbed sheer cliffs. By the time he reached the mountain peak, he was already severely wounded by the cold clouds and frost of Mount Luo. Yet, he disregarded his life, pouring his last breath into completing his mission.

Two figures arrived at the door. The door remained closed, but a large portion of the candlelight inside was pressed to one side, the flames bending as if bowing, and then suddenly extinguished.

The crisp sound of swords seemed to be right beside Yu Sui's ears. The door was breached, someone fell heavily to the ground, spitting blood incessantly.

A slender figure in white stood at the doorway, looking down.

The old man in the black robe's eyes gradually lost their luster. He opened his mouth, blood flowing out uncontrollably. He seemed to want to say something in the end, but nothing came out.

Yu Sui, still swaddled, remained quiet, not daring to move.

It seemed to be over.

As a newborn infant, how should she react in this situation?

Yu Sui hesitated, then let out a few cries, indicating that she was frightened as a baby.

Hearing the child's cries, Lady Su shifted her gaze from the old man in the black robe to Yu Sui. As she entered the room, she raised her hand in a graceful gesture, and the candlelight on the floor reignited.

The room was illuminated again. Yu Sui saw Lady Su walking towards her and gave her a smile, trying to get close to this mother for what felt like the umpteenth time.

Lady Su stared at her for a moment. As Yu Sui smiled foolishly, Lady Su slowly extended her hand towards her.

Yu Sui thought Lady Su was going to pick her up.

She maintained her smile, watching as those slender, jade-like fingers approached, heading for her neck.

--Huh?

Lady Su's outstretched hand clamped onto Yu Sui's neck.

--Eh!

Lady Su's clear eyes revealed her resolve. She tightened her grip, about to snap Yu Sui's neck, when suddenly, both of them heard Qingkui's voice from outside: "Mother!"

"Flower!"

"My Flower for little sister!"

The moment Qingkui appeared at the door, Lady Su instantly retracted her hand. Her eyes, reflecting the exquisitely carved little girl at the doorway, showed a momentary daze.

"Someone died again?" Qingkui stood at the door, afraid to enter.

Lady Su walked towards her, her tone gentler than it had ever been towards Yu Sui: "Kui'er, let's go. Don't stay here."

Qingkui, somewhat bewildered, took Lady Su's hand and left.

Neither of them looked back.

Lady Su, hearing her daughter curiously asking who had died this time, seemed somewhat lost. A scene from before flashed through her mind:

When she had grabbed the child, those dark eyes were still smiling, completely unaware that her life was hanging by a thread.

The new maid carried away the deceased maid. After closing the door, Yu Sui was once again alone in the room.

As the rekindled candlelight flickered, circles of fire appeared on the ground, invading the dead old man in the black robe's bloodline and turning him into ashes.

Yu Sui blinked slowly under the moonlight, her eyes revealing no emotion or thought that anyone could discern.

She thought:

My neck hurts.

Lady Su hadn't visited Yu Sui for a whole month, nor had there been any more assassination attempts. Even Qingkui's visits became sporadic.

While Yu Sui was conscious, she tried to sort out the current situation:

From the assassination attempt that night, she learned that she lived in a place called Mount Luo Peak. The attackers were from the Nine Schools' Thirteenth Realm, and their target was to kill Lady Su's children.

This meant she didn't need to kill Lady Su.

But why did Lady Su want to kill her?

If she hadn't seen Lady Su on the day she was born and confirmed their mother-daughter relationship, given Lady Su's differential treatment of her and Qingkui, Yu Sui would have suspected she wasn't Lady Su's biological child.

If she weren't her biological child, it would have been understandable.

But what was the reason for her to be so ruthless even to her own daughter?

Yu Sui couldn't figure it out. She was just a baby now, with zero self-preservation ability. Even if Lady Su wanted to kill her, there was nothing she could do; she could only lie down and be at her mercy.

She found it a bit funny as she thought about it, muttering to herself: "Someone like me, who can die with a simple squeeze, with no cheat, no protagonist's halo, and I'm a World Destroyer? What a joke!"

"It's ridiculous!"

"Forget the protagonist's halo, my setting is clearly that of a villain who the righteous protagonist will eventually defeat."

Yu Sui closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and separated her consciousness. Her perspective shifted from outside to inside, and she saw a cluster of fire, about the size of a fingernail, deep within her mind, which had never extinguished.

Although this thing looked like a cheat, she couldn't touch, summon, or communicate with it, and she had no idea what its use was for the time being.

Yu Sui couldn't even be sure if it was the "Strange Fire" that would destroy the world.

Compared to a cheat, it felt more like a mark.

If it was a Strange Fire, how could she summon it to trigger world destruction?

Thinking carefully, there were five World Destroyers in total. This meant that besides her, there were four other unlucky fellows. Would the World Destroyers have a special way of contacting each other?

Perhaps fighting alone wouldn't work; they might need to gather all five to trigger world destruction.

Yu Sui yawned. Before falling asleep, she suddenly saw the flame flicker, and a small black dot slowly rotating appeared within the fire.

Several voices echoed in her mind:

"Yo, which unlucky fellow is dying again?"

"Why weren't you more careful?"

"Cough cough..."

Yu Sui's spirits instantly lifted, and she forced herself not to fall asleep.

The hoarse male voice that coughed sounded like he wasn't in good condition. He coughed for a while before speaking with a hoarse voice, "Who... are you guys?"

The first flippant male voice said, "World Destroyers, obviously."

The second gentle old man's voice also said, "When a World Destroyer dies, a resonance occurs through the Fire Spirit Orb."

The fourth androgynous voice asked, "How did you die?"

The hoarse male voice chuckled, "...Burned to death."

"Damn it!" The first male voice exclaimed, "I don't have any water here!"

Before Yu Sui could ask what the relationship between these two was, the burning pain descended without warning. After the initial blankness in her mind, the infant's screams and cries almost shook the roof off.

The maidservant guarding the door rushed in to check.

Yu Sui's bones and flesh were being roasted by the intense flames. She couldn't suppress the pain and could only cry out and wail.

Pain!

Pain, pain, pain!

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain!