The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 265: Shi Mo's Twin from the Heavenly Sound Pavilion

When the candle burns out, only darkness remains.

When the fire dies, only ashes persist.

But the darkness once shone, and the ashes once burned hot. There was a time when he possessed light and warmth, a time unknown to all and untold forevermore.

Mo Ran had exhausted his last wisp of spiritual energy.

He watched as the elegant birds dispersed, the ghost soldiers sank into the earth, and the living regained their autonomy, breaking free from manipulation like cracked pawns. He witnessed the black tide, on the verge of engulfing the Peak of Life and Death, retreat in confusion, and the hellish calamity subside.

All deemed him unforgivably wicked, and he believed it himself. But this devil had finally done what the divine beings did. Chu Wanning was his candle, and he followed the glow, step by step.

"Brother!"

"Ran'er!"

He vaguely heard someone calling him. Through his peripherals, he saw Xue Meng stagger towards him, while Xue Zhengyong and Madame Wang broke through the crowd to rush to his side.

Reassured by their cries, he tried to smile, but tears tumbled down his blood-streaked cheeks.

He wanted to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't do well enough."

But his throat constricted, and in the end, all he could plead was, "Please don't hate me."

I truly...

really like you all.

I like Uncle, Aunt, Xue Meng, the Summit of Life and Death, this stolen warmth and borrowed family.

Uncle, Aunt, Xue Meng.

Please don't hate me.

Amidst the retreat of a hundred thousand soldiers, Mo Ran fell heavily to the ground, covered in mud and dirt.

In his previous life, when Chu Wanning had been severely injured and unconscious, his white clothes were stained with blood, but he still looked pristine. He was different from Mo Ran, who had always been tainted.

As consciousness faded, he felt Madame Wang’s arms wrap around him, her gentle and warm embrace holding him with tenderness as she called out, "Ran-er."

He heard Xue Zhengyong and Mu Yanli arguing, their voices laced with anger. "A deceitful scheme? What other deceit could there be! If he summoned the pawns, why would he go to such lengths to retreat the troops?"

He heard Xue Meng shouting, "Don't touch him! Don't you dare touch him! Don't take him away!"

Amidst the chaos, Mo Ran yearned to explain and give further instructions, but he was truly too exhausted, too drained.

He closed his eyes.

Dragon Mountain.

In the Ancestral Hall, the eternal lamps breathed soft light. The wax candles, made from whale oil, were as thick as a bowl, illuminating the space where sunlight and moonlight never reached. Only the falling wick debris trickled like weeping candle tears, marking the passage of time.

Shi Mo sat in high esteem, draped in a white fox fur robe. Supporting his temple, he closed his eyes to rest.

This position had once belonged to Xu Shuanglin. Back then, he had watched Xu Shuanglin forge each precious chess piece, creating paradise and hell, hoping desperately for his master's return to the mortal world.

He found this person intriguing, but alas, he could not keep him by his side.

Before him was an enchanted silk cloth, its surface adorned with writhing dragons and snakes, dotted densely with variously colored spots.

This was the "sand table" created in tandem with the Precious Chess Game by the Heaven-Stepping Lord in his previous life. The black dots represented the black pieces of the Precious Chess Game, while the silver dots were the white pieces. The red dots symbolized sacrificed pawns that had fallen in battle. The small squares on the cloth denoted enemy forces – with this sand table in hand, even from a thousand miles away, one could clearly see the state of the battlefield.

Shi Mo laid the cloth out before him without giving it a thorough look. He knew all too well what choice Mo Ran would ultimately make. Displaying this cloth was merely for amusement. The Heaven-Stepping Lord had countless ways to escape his predicament, but Grandmaster Mo had only one path to tread. Hence, there was nothing worth seeing here.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the temple doors suddenly swung wide open, and soft footsteps echoed within the hall. Shi Mo didn't lift his head, only asking casually, "You've arrived?"

On the polished floor tiles, a man stood still.

The man who had entered wore a pure white cloak, its hood pulled low, obscuring his face. He stopped in the center of the grand hall, his posture as elegant as a lotus.

The man spoke with a refined voice, though his tone was somber, "There was a disturbance outside just now. Mo Ran has destroyed all the chess pieces created by the Heaven-Stepping Lord."

Not even the slightest flutter of his eyelashes betrayed Shi Mo's composure. He simply responded with a nonchalant "Mm-hmm," and said, "Yes, he had no other choice."

The man continued, "…The Heaven-Stepping Lord's body is failing. So those chess pieces he controlled have long begun to retaliate against you. Now that Mo Ran has used the power of his spirit core to undo them all, your liberation can be considered a good thing."

Shi Mo smiled. "Oh? Are you worried about me?"

The man didn't respond immediately. After a while, he said, "So, what's your plan now?"

"I'll stick to the original plan," Shi Mo finally moved, stretching his body and opening his apricot blossom eyes with a smile that filled the room with warmth. "Didn't I tell you all this before?"

"I know you're meticulous in your planning. But think it through—Mo Ran paid such a high price to stop the Jiejing chess pieces from wreaking havoc. The cultivators of these sects aren't fools; they won't be completely oblivious to what happened."

Shi Mo chuckled. "I understand what you mean. To save the cultivation world from a great calamity, he was willing to shatter his own spirit core. He's a hero, after all."

"Do you think the cultivation world will interrogate their hero?"

Shi Mo didn't answer directly. He continued to smile, interlacing his fingers and resting them under his chin as he gently asked the visitor, "Does Mo Ran's act resemble what Chu Wanning did in his previous life?"

The man fell silent before saying, "…Yes. It's almost a replay of what happened."

"Alright then, let me ask you this: In his past life, when Chu Wanning was imprisoned and forcefully taken by Heaven-Stepping Lord, how many people in the cultivation world truly cared for him or even remembered him in the end?"

"…"

Observing his silence, Shi Mo's enigmatic smile deepened. "There were hardly any, right? I've already told you. In those years, Xue Meng ran around desperately, and at first, some would shed a few pitying tears, promising to help him save someone from the Edge of Life and Death. But then? Under the intimidating influence of Heaven-Stepping Lord, those promises remained only empty words. As time passed, people's initial sympathy waned, and they grew increasingly annoyed with Xue Meng. When he sought assistance again, they'd tell him – Chu Wanning had been in the palace for so long, he was likely already dead. How could they risk more living lives for someone whose fate was uncertain?"

The mysterious man shook his head. "Chu Wanning was indeed unaccounted for back then, whereas Mo Ran is now safe by their side. Even if they were heartless, they probably wouldn't harm someone who just bled for the cultivation world."

Hearing this rebuttal, Shi Mo couldn't help but sigh. "You, compared to me, are still too young and innocent, having lived fewer years."

As he spoke, he gathered the silk scroll on the table, now entirely red with invalidated moves. Indifferent, he returned it to his Qiankun Bag.

"People can appear noble when it doesn't affect their own interests. But once it comes at a personal cost, their true, beastly nature will gradually surface."

Tying a knot on the Qiankun Bag, Shi Mo looked up. "Now, in their eyes, Mo Ran has a fifty-fifty chance of being either an unjustly accused good person or a cunning villain. It's regrettable to mistakenly harm an innocent, but letting a villain go could unleash a bloodbath across the entire cultivation world."

"..."

Seeing the listener's silence, Shi Mo continued unperturbed. "So, even if he shattered his spirit core to protect the cultivation world from a great calamity, there are still too many suspicions surrounding him. People are inherently suspicious, and anything that threatens them will be eradicated at its root. This small variable won't alter the final outcome."

The mysterious man asked, "So, do you believe the Heavenly Sound Pavilion can still capture Mo Ran without a hitch?"

Shi Mo smiled. "The Heavenly Sound Pavilion is on our side, and everything is proceeding according to plan. It's inevitable. Next, as long as we manage to obtain Mo Ran's fragmented spirit core, I can subdue Heaven-Stepping Lord once more. With his power, there's nothing we can't accomplish."

The man didn't reply immediately. After a while, he said, "But in another world, you've controlled him for nearly a decade. What have you accomplished?"

Shi Mo was slightly taken aback by the man's interrogative tone, and his expression gradually darkened. After a long moment, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you mean by that? Are you questioning me?"

"…No, I'm not questioning you," the man sighed. "Our original intentions were the same. Probably no one in this world understands you better than I do."

Shi Mo's cold demeanor softened slightly, but his beautiful eyes still fixed intently on the man's face, seemingly assessing how much truth and how much deception there was in the man's words. Finally, he pressed his thin lips together and said, "I'm glad you understand. Every step I take is to reclaim what we deserve, so some sacrifices are inevitable."

"Mm-hmm."

"You're absolutely right. No one knows me better than you." Shi Mo spoke softly. "In these two lifetimes, I've lived cautiously and in fear. Aside from you, I have almost no one else to trust."

"…"

"Don't let me down."

As Shi Mo's words faded like a butterfly hovering in the air, the enigmatic man broke the intricate silence. His tone was calm as he spoke, "There's something I've wanted to ask you for a while now."

"What?"

Dark clouds amassed beyond Dragon Mountain, and the wind picked up, causing the grass and trees to sway mournfully as if countless displaced souls were weeping in sorrow—the wailing of the wind.

The man said, "I'm very curious to know just how much sacrifice was involved in our matter in our past lives. Tell me the truth."

Not expecting such a question, Shi Mo's brows knitted together, igniting a flame in his eyes that gleamed with intensity. "Didn't I tell you before? Some innocent lives would be lost, which is quite normal. If you think back on the humiliation we endured in the past, you'd—"

"How many is 'some'?"

The man's gentle yet resolute voice interrupted Shi Mo, leaving him momentarily speechless.

His expression began to darken visibly. This was unusual, for Shi Mo was not one to easily show his emotions, but in front of this enigmatic man, he seemed unconcerned about his own aggression. It was as if the murderous intent on his face was invisible to this man.

"Some means some. Do I need to compile a register of the innocent victims and present it to you for your perusal?"

The man, however, simply smiled faintly. He whispered softly, "Alright, you know that I can no longer see."

"..."

"I've always been cooperative with you. Ever since you found me and revealed the truth of our past lives, I've been helping you all these years. While you remained hidden in Solitary Moon Night, I carried out every task you assigned at the Peak of Life and Death," the man continued. "Despite some confusion and occasional bewilderment, your thoughts became my thoughts, your pursuit became my pursuit—for that shared goal, I long ago set aside life and death. I always thought you felt the same way, so I didn't mind sacrificing myself as long as we succeeded."

Shi Mo suddenly rose and began pacing back and forth.

"What do you mean by saying that? You imply I'm cowardly for caring about life and death, while you're indifferent to it?"

He swept his sleeves and turned to face the man in white, his expression frosty.

"If you knew what kind of person I am, you would never have said such things."

"I know," the enigmatic man replied. "But I've been wondering. In your previous life, after you faked your death, you hid behind Hua Binan's identity and manipulated the worm in Mo Ran's heart for ten years."

"Eight years," Shi Mo interrupted. "After Chu Wanning split his Earth Soul and infused half into Mo Ran, he regained some of his true nature. It took him eight years before he took his own life, not ten."

"Fine, eight years," the man said. "During those eight years, you nurtured his hatred and led him to commit heinous crimes, yet you drifted further from our original purpose. Why didn't you stop him when you saw how he was turning out?"

Shi Mo laughed in fury. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to forge an Eight Sorrows Long Hate Flower?"

"...I do."

"Are you aware that once someone has been infected by the flower's poison, it can never take effect a second time?"

"I know."

Shi Mo's smile vanished, replaced by a flash of anger in his eyes. "Then why are you asking? If it were you, what would you do?"

The man fell silent, then sighed after a long moment. "Didn't you already make the choice for me?"

Shi Mo was suddenly at a loss for words.

The man continued, "I've never done such things or walked the path you have. So even if I knew that I would make the same decision in your situation, I still…."

Shi Mo narrowed his eyes and stepped down the long staircase, stopping in front of the man. "But you...?"

"…But I still bear a guilty conscience."

Silence blanketed the area.

Suddenly, Shi Mo grabbed the man's robe. That beautiful hand, adorned with a snake-patterned ring, gripped the man before him with great elegance, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Through gritted teeth, he said, "What a guilty conscience. What's the difference between you and me? Every single past event, weren't they all planned by both of us? Weren't you understanding and clear-headed about it before? Weren't you ruthless and merciless? Now you feel guilt? —Why?"

"..."

"Is it because you feel guilty for deceiving Xu Shuanglin, who considered you a friend? You pretended to know the art of reincarnation and manipulated him into opening the Gate of Time, Space, Life, and Death for us?"

The man spoke softly, "He never betrayed me until his last breath."

Shi Mo was taken aback, his eyes flickering with confusion and indignation. "O-Of course... I knew there had to be a reason for your reluctance back then. And what about the countless pawns you saw? Did you feel remorse for their suffering, blaming yourself?"

But the man remained composed. "Don't tell me you don't feel any guilt at all?"

"You..." Shi Mo gritted his teeth, a touch of madness and mockery flickering in his gaze. He stared at the man before him, his eyes lingering for a long while as if he were looking at an immense joke, or perhaps a traitor that chilled his very bones.

Suddenly, it was as though he had thought of a particularly vicious turn of phrase. A cold sneer spread across his face, revealing his venomous fangs that pierced deep into the man's bloodstream.

"Very well, excellent. You've spoken such lovely words, full of remorse and shame. But in the end, aren't you just grieving?"

Noticing the veil of confusion that settled over the other's brows, the light in Shi Mo's eyes intensified. Like a vulture on the hunt, he circled, hovering, waiting for the precise moment to pounce upon his prey's last breath.

"You suddenly confront me with accusations, probably thinking you regret seeing that million-piece jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps you blame yourself for being affected by Xu Shuanglin's death. But I understand you. I know the kind of person you are—self-blame and guilt hold no meaning to you. Just like me, you're cold-blooded and indifferent, lacking in loyalty and trust."

The vulture's wings cast a shadow of death, descending colder and lower with each passing moment.

"You're not truly repenting. Don't deceive yourself."

He laughed, proud and composed.

With Shi Mingjing holding someone's vital spot, he was always elegant and unperturbed.

He spoke deliberately, each word weighted.

"In my opinion, you're merely regretting the loss of your eyes."

With that, Shi Mo swiftly drew a dagger from his waist and, using the hilt, gently lifted the edge of the man's lowered white hood, revealing it bit by bit.

As the cloak fell, beneath the white fur hat was a face that could captivate a nation, a face of unparalleled beauty. His delicate features were grace personified.

Astonishingly, they had identical faces!

Yet this Shi Mo, cloaked in his hood, had lost his sight, his eyes concealed by a pristine white bandage, with a few strands of forehead hair dangling before it.

Looking at the man whose cloak had been lifted, Shi Mo sneered coldly, "Shi Mingjing, look at yourself. What you mourn is merely the fact that your sacrifices surpass mine. That day on Dragon Mountain, the situation had become dire. To disrupt Chu Wanning's composure, we had no choice but to execute the last resort we'd discussed – with so many people watching, we couldn't afford to put on a show. In the end, you lost your eyes, but I remain unscathed. You're envious."

"…If I were envious, I wouldn't have agreed to this plan from the beginning, nor would I have prepared myself for the worst-case scenario of sacrificing myself. Actually, for me, either one of us surviving to complete that unfinished task would suffice. Why should I—"

His words were cut short.

"Who?!"

A dagger was thrown, striking the beam with deadly precision.

Shi Mo turned his gaze, his tone icy and sinister, "Show yourself."

Behind the stone pillar, a disheveled and weak Huang Xiaoyue emerged.

That day, he had betrayed everyone to search for the treasures of Dragon Mountain, only to trigger a mechanism that trapped him within an enclosed chamber. The Confucian Wind Sect's secret chamber was filled with gold, silver, weapons, and martial arts manuals, yet lacked sustenance.

Trapped inside, the members of the Jiangdong Sect turned on each other, the strong oppressing the weak, and eventually resorted to cannibalism, leaving only Huang Xiaoyue alive.

He finished devouring the last disciple and, struggling to regain his bearings, finally managed to exit the secret chamber. However, he never expected to stumble upon such an eerie scene.

—What was it that he saw? Two Shi Mingjings?

Huang Xiaoyue couldn't wrap his head around it, no matter how much he pondered.

With his intellect, he could only speculate that they were twins, never imagining that these were two Shi Moes brought together by the Time-Space Door of Life and Death, both existing in the same world.

Yet, as he listened to their conversation, something seemed off, and Huang Xiaoyue, with his cunning nature, sensed danger. He decided it would be wise to make a hasty retreat. To his surprise, Shi Mo's keen senses picked up on his presence.

Shi Mo narrowed his eyes. "Who might this be? A venerable old rat, I see."

His gaze drifted downward, landing on Huang Xiaoyue's robe. "Blood?... There are no animals in Dragon Mountain. Whose blood is this?"

He fell silent for a moment, seemingly piecing together the puzzle.

His lips parted, revealing a hint of disdain.

"Human blood?"

Feeling the murderous intent, Huang Xiaoyue started running without hesitation.

"Where do you think you can escape to?"

With his azure robe billowing elegantly, Shi Mo moved with the grace of a kite, firmly standing before Huang Xiaoyue. He lifted his pair of misty eyes.

Unfortunately, his gaze was too cold; it froze the rain in his eyes into ice.

"You old fool. You probably don't know that the most repulsive thing in my life is the act of humans preying on other humans."

—This was the last thing Huang Xiaoyue heard.

The grand hall was filled with a thick, acrid smell of blood. Shi Mo looked down at Huang Xiaoyue, who lay on the ground with blood gushing out from a hole in his chest, his delicate brows furrowing in disgust.

As he wiped the blood off his hands, he said, "Disgusting creature."

Turning around, he stared at the other Shi Mo for a moment. Then, his tone softened.

"Across two lifetimes, there have been countless monsters like Huang Xiaoyue in this world, as you've seen. That's why the cards in the cultivation world need to be reshuffled. Besides, don't dwell on it. I've told you before, your sacrifice won't be in vain. Once everything is settled, I'll find a way to heal your eyes."

"..."

Seeing the cloaked Shi Mo in white still silent, he rolled his eyes and added nonchalantly, "Don't push it. ... Forget it, I promise you that unless absolutely necessary, I won't involve any more innocents. Are you finally at ease now? Satisfied?"

Upon hearing these words, the tense back of the white-robed Shi Mo gradually relaxed. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something more to his other self, but after this incident, the Shi Mo from his past life was in a terrible mood and had no intention of listening. He strode out of the Ancestral Sage Hall with long strides.