Turning Against Them

"They're not sick? How is that possible..." Li Yuhan and his wife said in disbelief. Li Yuhan hurriedly asked, "Then why is she like this?"

"It's because she was poisoned," He Heng said coldly.

"Poison? How is that possible? Who would want to harm me?" Liu Wumei cried out.

Li Yuhan stared at He Heng in alarm, hesitating before he asked, "Brother Bai, you didn't make a mistake, did you?"

He Heng shook his head, certain. "There's no mistake. You two aren't sick at all. You were poisoned—by a very unusual poison, and you've had it for many years."

"Then can you cure it, Brother Bai?" Li Yuhan pressed.

He Heng looked at the two of them, their emotions clearly stirred, and said, "Although I've never encountered this kind of poison before, I can make a preliminary determination of its medicinal properties. It's truly a miracle that Madam Liu has survived this long after being poisoned."

As he spoke, He Heng looked meaningfully at Liu Wumei, his gaze unfathomably deep.

Liu Wumei seemed not to notice He Heng's gaze. She simply wept in panic and despair, cursing the person who had poisoned her.

Li Yuhan grew even more anxious and hurriedly asked, "Brother Bai, can you cure this poison or not? Please, save my wife."

He Heng only smiled. "There's no need for you two to panic. This poison is exceedingly strange, and it has been rooted in Madam Liu's body for many years. Anyone else—even the finest physician—would likely be helpless. But I am the exception."

"So you really can cure it, Brother Bai?!" Joy spread across the faces of Li Yuhan and his wife. They hurriedly bowed to He Heng. "Please work your miracle and cure my wife. Yongcui Mountain Villa will be eternally grateful. We'll do anything you ask of us from now on."

"Anything I ask? Very well. Take me to Yongcui Mountain Villa first, and let me see the sword formation Li Guanyu created. Haven't you already prepared the people to set it up...?"

He Heng's tone changed in an instant. He looked coldly at the couple, who were still pleading with him.

"How did you know...?" Their expressions changed at once, and they stared at He Heng in shock.

"How did I know?" He Heng gave a cold laugh and looked down at them. "Did you think your little schemes could escape my notice? Ridiculous. From the moment I first saw you, I knew who you were and what you wanted. Everything before this was just me playing along."

Seeing the couple's horrified expressions, He Heng pointed at Liu Wumei and continued, "You, a disciple of Shi Guanyin, were originally called Wuyi. You were one of the two people Shi Guanyin raised herself. Later, you tried to escape her, so she poisoned you. You refused to submit to her, and have been using opium to suppress the poison ever since. Now, you can no longer hold it back. Some time ago, I killed Shi Guanyin, so you set your sights on me, thinking I could cure you."

Liu Wumei's expression shifted abruptly. She fell silent.

He Heng sneered and continued, "You used Li Guanyu's name to invite the six most renowned sword masters of the age, planning to set up a sword formation at Yongcui Mountain Villa. Isn't that right?"

Li Yuhan gave He Heng a bitter, self-mocking smile. "Brother Bai, you really are formidable. You've learned every last detail. It seems Wumei and I truly were clowns, making fools of ourselves."

Li Yuhan sighed and glanced at Liu Wumei, his eyes softening. "Since you know why we came, I hope you'll grant our request. If you can cure my wife's poison, I, Li Yuhan, will do anything you ask from now on."

"Hmph. Do you think I care about your promise?" He Heng glanced coldly at Li Yuhan, his eyes full of disdain. "Even if Li Guanyu himself begged me, I doubt he could persuade me to help—much less you two."

Li Yuhan's expression froze. He furrowed his brow, then looked at He Heng. "Then what do you want us to do? If you didn't need something from us, you certainly wouldn't still be wasting your breath on us. A person like Shi Guanyin was no match for you, so you certainly wouldn't take us seriously."

"Good. At least you know your place." He Heng looked coldly at Li Yuhan and Liu Wumei. "As long as you do as I say, I'll cure her poison."

Li Yuhan looked at He Heng, then at Liu Wumei. He gritted his teeth and said, "As long as you save my wife, I, Li Yuhan, will do anything you ask from now on. I won't have a single objection."

"Yuhan..." Liu Wumei seemed reluctant to see her husband do this. She called his name softly. "I'm not worth this!"

Li Yuhan gently turned back and took Liu Wumei's hand. "There's no question of whether you're worth it. All I know is that you're my wife, the woman I love most. I can't let you suffer like this."

Liu Wumei's eyes glistened with tears, their crystalline light flickering as she gazed at Li Yuhan with tender affection. He held her hand tightly, his eyes brimming with tenderness as he looked at her.

For a moment, all was silent, and an intimate tenderness seemed to ripple through the air.

He Heng watched in silence from the side, his eyes devoid of feeling as he looked down on them. He couldn't understand the feelings they shared. They were things he didn't possess. He couldn't understand what kind of force made two people willing to face death together.

Although He Heng had married and had children in his first life, back on Earth, that had been no more than a compromise with the prevailing norms. Everyone around him did it, so he had found someone too.

From beginning to end, over the course of decades, he had never felt anything for that woman. The same was true of his son and grandson. To him, they were hardly different from strangers. The only connection between them was the so-called blood tie, something invisible and intangible. He couldn't understand what purpose it served. Wasn't it just similar DNA?

He had heard of and witnessed many couples, mothers and children, and others who had shared life and death and never abandoned one another. But he had never been able to understand why.

Perhaps he had been born without a heart.

His heart held nothing but himself. Sometimes, even he lost sight of himself. He had seen through life and death, seeking only that glimmer of light amid endless cycles of reincarnation—the thing that could stir his dead heart.

That was his conviction, his Dao!

Since time immemorial, the years had remained eternal and unmoving. No matter how the world changed, they continued to flow, treating every living being equally.

And there was only one other eternal thing: the convictions of living beings!

I think, therefore I am. The "self" exists because it believes it exists; therefore, it exists, regardless of the world's reality. As long as the "self" believes it is eternal, the "self" is eternal!

This was the power of conviction, something every living being possessed from birth, and the only thing they possessed!

All but the self were heretical paths!

This was He Heng's Dao, his path. He scorned everything in the world, whether beautiful or ugly. He could understand it, but would never possess it himself. He alone could walk his Dao to the end.

He believed that in the end, no one would be there to accompany him. In the entire cosmos, there would be only himself.

Watching the couple's sorrowful devotion, He Heng's eyes remained utterly still. After observing them coldly for a while, he spoke again.

"Now that you've finished doting on each other, come with me. We need to hurry to Yongcui Mountain Villa."

"What are you going there for? Yesterday, we invited you only because we wanted to force you to submit with the help of the seniors at Yongcui Mountain Villa. You know that, don't you?" Li Yuhan furrowed his brow. He truly didn't want to bring this extremely mysterious and dangerous man back to his home.

"What do you think? I'm going to see the sword formation Li Guanyu spent decades creating and find out whether it's truly invincible." He Heng looked coldly at them both.

Liu Wumei asked indignantly, "Aren't you afraid we'll set a trap for you at Yongcui Mountain Villa and make you walk right into it?"

He Heng looked coldly at Liu Wumei, his eyes tinged with contempt. "You two? No matter how many traps you set, they'll still be a joke to me. If I don't even dare go to a mere Yongcui Mountain Villa, what right do I have to make my way in the martial world?"

"Then come with us." Li Yuhan was furious, but ultimately held it in. He took Liu Wumei by the hand and gestured toward the road ahead.

"Very well. I hope Li Guanyu doesn't disappoint me. And there's someone else there, too. He should be at Yongcui Mountain Villa now. I've been looking for him." He Heng gave a cold smile and looked ahead.