The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Chapter 299 - The Edge of Life and Death, A Never-Ending Struggle

"!!"

Gazing at Chu Wanning's face that had instantly turned deathly pale, Shi Mo laughed in a sorrowful yet frenzied manner. He repeated, "Yes, my father ate my mother alive. Alive... I was nearby when it happened. I heard her screams and rushed over. I didn't know what was happening, so I kept knocking on the door, asking my mother, 'What's wrong? What's wrong with you...' But no one answered. She was screaming in agony just on the other side of that door."

With his thin lips parting, Shi Mo continued, "The door opened."

Silence.

It was likely as silent as the moment the main door had opened back then.

A father with bloodstains all over his mouth. A mother with torn limbs and a blurred figure.

And a child whose soul seemed to have been severed in two.

Nine years old.

His father had already lost his mind. The flesh and blood of the Butterfly Bone Clan could enhance one's cultivation. As she was on the verge of dying from illness, this was what she owed him!

Including this abomination before him! This abomination who will reap his karma! Abomination!

With a frenzied and distorted gaze, he reached out his sticky hand towards the frozen child, who stood like a wooden statue, unable to utter a single word.

At that moment, Shi Mo was utterly numb. He stared blankly at the scene, devoid of sorrow or fear. It was as if he had been drained of all emotion, leaving behind an empty shell in place.

The man's hand drew closer, and a warm drop of blood fell, landing precisely on his cheek, like a tear stain.

He lifted his head, looking dazedly at the unfamiliar vengeful ghost.

"Dad...?"

"Run!" Hua Gui's piercing scream tore through the sky behind him, "Nan, run!!!"

One arm slashed open by the blade, her limbs shattered, the woman wriggled on the ground like a crazed maggot. Despite her grotesque actions, she desperately crawled towards her husband, attempting to grab hold of his legs.

"Run!!! Hurry up and run!!! Don't look back! Don't come back!!! AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!"

In response, the man spun around and violently stomped on her face, crushing it mercilessly.

Huá Guī turned her head, a golden tear rolling down the corner of her eye.

With all her might, she whispered, "Run..."

Snap!

Her throat was severed...

She said, run.

And so, ever since that day, Shi Mo ran tirelessly, every moment, every hour, every day, every night. Like he had once frenziedly dashed out of the Heavenly Sound Pavilion and across boundless landscapes, he sprinted, fleeing from his unbearable torment, on the verge of collapse.

He shattered.

No matter where he escaped to, no matter how many years passed, he could still hear his mother's piercing, terrifying shriek echoing in his ears: "Run! Run!!"

From narrow alleys to vast wilderness, he ran through golden wheat fields, from the depths of darkness to the arrow of dawn piercing the cosmos, as the world bathed in a tender, crimson glow.

Like blood.

Blood gushed from her body, trickling slowly from the corners of his lips.

"Ahh... AAAAAHHH!!!"

He cried out incoherently, his shoes long lost, feet bruised and torn, gravel piercing the sores, and blisters forming.

A trail of golden tears finally cascaded down his cheeks, and he ran like a trapped beast through the withered grass and reed marsh, cutting through thorny bushes, his legs slashed open.

He dared not stop; he dared not choose a comfortable path. All he could do was run desperately towards the nearest escape, for if he stopped, he would die. Stopping meant death.

He didn't stop. Not for over a decade did he allow himself that luxury.

He would die if he didn't return to the Butterfly Bone Clan.

"I was eventually found by Lord Xue... I was terrified. The Master of the Heavenly Sound Pavilion was searching for me everywhere. I didn't dare speak the truth, nor did I dare cry. When he asked where I came from, where my parents were, I lied to him..." Shi Mo whispered softly. "Later, he took me back to the Summit of Life and Death... A few more years passed, and a Butterfly Bone Clan member whom my mother had once saved managed to find me. She had been posing as a disciple in the Heavenly Sound Pavilion all along, destroying her own face when she first entered to avoid suspicion. She evaded my father's gaze and delivered to me all the belongings left by my mother."

"The collection of demonic texts my mother had gathered over the years, the register of the Butterfly Bone Beauty Ensemble, the bud of the Eight Sorrows Longing Flower, and the methods she had studied to open the gate to the demon realm – a thick bundle of scrolls."

Chu Wanning slowly closed his eyes. "…So, you walked the path she once wanted to take. You did what she once intended to do."

"Yes, I continued on the Medicine Sect's path. To avoid arousing suspicion from the Venerated Lord, I used an alias, Hua Binan, when I ventured out of the mountains during those years."

"Hua Binan's reputation grew, so much so that even Jiang Xi took notice of me. He reached out to me – and I did the same thing my mother did back then. Even though this sect once treated the Beauty Bench as livestock, even though they confined my mother for so long, I agreed to him for the sake of quickly securing a place in the cultivation world and obtaining everything needed to return home. That's how I came to have two identities: a disciple of Death's Peak and a pharmacist known as Solitary Moon Night." Shi Mo paused. "Later, the master of the Heavenly Sound Pavilion passed away, and Elder Sister Mu succeeded him. She had been searching for the murderer who killed her adoptive mother all these years… At first, I didn't dare trust anyone, but after a few attempts to gauge her intentions, I decided to meet her at the Heavenly Sound Pavilion and tell her the truth."

Speaking up to this point, Shi Mo smiled slightly, though his eyes remained cold. "As my Master has seen… I didn't bet on the wrong side. She was on my side."

"…"

"She isn't from the Beauty Bench, but she regards my mother as her birth mother and the Beauty Bench clan as her own. All these years, she's been helping me."

Helping Hua Binan. Helping Shi Mo.

Helping her half-brother.

When Shi Mo finished his story, he put away the broken porcelain pieces and returned the mirror to his Qiankun Bag.

Outside, the rain fell like the souls of the Butterfly Bone Beauty Bench, who had died unjustly over thousands of years, tapping against the windows with sorrow and resentment. Among them might have been Hua Gui, Shi Mo's mother. She cried out in anguish, Run… run faster… don't stop… don't look back…

"There's no escape," Shi Mo said wearily, his voice hoarse as he buried his face in his hands. "Master, we have no way out. It's either the human race perishes or we do. ... I can't choose the latter."

It was like the apocalypse, a blade piercing through the heart, lightning splitting the sky.

A sudden downpour of rain accompanied by the thunderous galloping of thousands of horses. Leaves glistened wetly, swaying back and forth under the flickering, blinding light.

Suddenly, the main door slammed open, a fierce gust of wind carrying the rain inside.

A ghastly bolt of lightning illuminated the two figures turning around in the hall. Mu Yanli stood before the threshold, umbrella-less, drenched from head to toe, her expression distraught.

"Nan, we only need thirty more JEWEL chess pieces. We've already reached the entrance to the Realm of Demons."

Before she could finish, Shi Mo shot up, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably. "What about Heaven-Stepping Lord? Thirty JEWEL chess pieces would be a matter of moments for him. Hurry, let him complete them, then..." He abruptly fell silent.

As Mu Yanli entered the room, it became clear that her face was filled with fear beyond the joy. "Something's wrong with Heaven-Stepping Lord. He suddenly fainted. And his heartbeat is..."

"Also?"

"Also extremely unstable. His spiritual core seems to be collapsing, as if he won't wake up—"

Shi Mo abruptly erupted in anger and disbelief: "Impossible! That's his own spirit core, I've refined it over a thousand times. How could it suddenly collapse? How...?"

He paused.

Suddenly, a realization dawned upon him, as if a barrier in his mind had been shattered. With a thunderous boom, a bolt of lightning ripped through the heavens, echoing like the world crumbling around him. Slowly, he turned his head, his ghostly pale face turning towards Chu Wanning, bound to the bed.

"Could it be...?" His lips trembled as he spoke, "Did you do this?"

The howling storm outside only emphasized the eerie silence within the room, as quiet as a grave, as dark as an abyss. The flickering candlelight danced like mourning banners, casting an eerie and mysterious shadow.

In this deathly stillness, Chu Wanning closed his eyes, then opened them again.

"...Yes," he said softly, "It was me."

With a deafening roar, lightning seemed to shatter the clouds into dust, shaking the earth and mountains. Rain poured down like a furious waterfall.

Shi Mo's heart trembled, and he staggered forward.

"You... You were actually able to..."

"Since you've shared your story with me," Chu Wanning's voice was soft and low, "I'll share mine with you."

Shi Mo: "…"

"In my past life, my spirit core was destroyed, leaving only the power of Nine Songs within me. I had no knowledge of my own origins, which is why I was powerless against Heaven-Stepping Lord." Golden light flared from his wrist, accompanied by a sharp ringing as the chains snapped and the spirit seals were incinerated!

Chu Wanning sat up from the bed, lifting his phoenix-like eyes.

"But in this lifetime, during the days he held me captive, it was enough time for me to embed a curse deep within him." As he spoke, Chu Wanning's face was devoid of any expression.

No sorrow, no pain, no pity, no regret—only an eerie stillness like death.

"The curse will gradually devour him, disrupting his spiritual flow and stopping his heart. Your divine weapon will still meet its end at my hands."

"..."

"I'm sorry, Hua Binan. I can't let you return home."

Shi Mo seemed utterly unprepared for this turn of events. His complexion was paler than jade, colder than black ice. He stared at Chu Wanning in disbelief, his lips trembling slightly.

"It's over," Chu Wanning said, his palm glowing with light.

"… You're insane!!!" Shi Mo stared at the golden radiance, suddenly losing his composure. His eyes flared with a feral ferocity. "You want to kill him?! You actually want to kill him… You have the heart—how could you have the heart?!"

No one could discern the emotions swirling in his dark gaze. Chu Wanning replied, "I do have the heart."

"…"

The golden light grew brighter, but Chu Wanning's expression turned more grim. Although he was just a severed branch of the Flame Emperor Tree, he had a hazy recollection of many divine spells that came with it. This included the "Heavenly Questioning Coffin for Ten Thousand Men," which originated from the faint outlines in his mind.

At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but later realized it wasn't.

As a divine tree itself, he had been imprinted with numerous charms by Shennong. If he strained to recall, he could access ancient secrets, such as the Gate of Time, Life, and Death, or the Laceration Spell he was using for the first time now.

The Laceration Spell was linked to the primordial battles between gods and demons. It was said that after that war, humanity suffered immense casualties. The survivors struggled through a sea of corpses, soon falling prey to plagues and deadly diseases... At that time, Fu Xi was determined to eradicate all demon invaders, while Nüwa was severely injured and fell into an initial god's slumber. Only Shennong remained to save the world.

Thus, Shennong plunged a towering Flame Emperor Tree into the eastern sea. The divine tree reached the highest heavens and penetrated the deepest abyss, with countless branches and billions of flowers and fruits.

"A divine tree, a coffin for ten thousand men."

As the words faded, the roots of the Flame Emperor's Divine Tree spread from the depths of the East Sea, instantly covering the entire cultivation world! The robust or delicate, rough or supple roots rose from the earth, casting off mud and sand.

"Shatter the corpses, collect the coffins!"

The roots wrapped around the decaying bodies on the ground, reducing them to ashes... The corpses that once littered the world vanished, and their ashes nourished the soil, which in turn bloomed with flowers. The Flame Emperor Tree had accomplished its first task in the mortal realm, and then its countless roots retreated back to the extremes of the East Sea.

---

This was the oldest recorded account of the Flame Emperor's Divine Tree in history.

Chu Wanning's eyes shimmered with the brilliance in his hands.

This was Shennong's spell. He knew how to wield it because he was part of the Flame Emperor Tree. Now, by activating the incantation, that person... would soon be reduced to nothing but dust.

It was merely a corpse.

Chu Wanning thought in agony, what... could there possibly be to hold onto?

"You... Chu Wanning, you..."

Shi Mo gazed at him, shock, anger, and madness flickering rapidly in his eyes. All his schemes across two lifetimes had led to this moment, and he could no longer remain composed.

"Stop right there!"

Hearing this voice, Chu Wanning lifted his gaze and looked at him calmly, just as he had years ago on that rainy day when he saw the child standing beneath the eaves of the Academy on the Peak of Life and Death.

Back then, he never would have imagined that Shi Mo's true identity was the escaped Butterfly-Boned Beauty Xi.

His initial impression of Shi Mo had come from others' words. He had heard that a new child had arrived on the Peak of Life and Death, one who always studied diligently but unfortunately had an inherently weak spirit core, preventing him from casting any spells effectively. Moreover, due to his poor aptitude, no elder was willing to take him as a disciple; even Xuan Ji had tactfully declined after testing his spiritual roots.

That year, raindrops cascaded down the eaves of the black-tiled roof as a child, resembling a lotus blossom, looked up with a hint of resignation. He held a stack of thick books in his arms.

Chu Wanning was slightly taken aback. "…Is it you?"

He recognized this solitary child and, holding an oil-paper umbrella, approached him.

"Ahh, Elder Yu Heng," the youngster startled, hurriedly bowing his head in respect. The pile of books reaching his chin threatened to topple over. "Greetings, Elder."

"…It's so late, and you're still at the academy?"

"There's just too much to read, I haven't had the chance to finish it all."

Chu Wanning lowered his gaze, fixing his eyes on the "Solitary Moon Night Medicine Sect's Herbal Compendium."

The child seemed slightly embarrassed, his snowy cheeks flushed with a hint of red. "I'm not very talented, so I can only manage to read about the Medicine Sect... It's not that I think Solitary Moon Night is better..."

Chu Wanning was somewhat puzzled, a faint crease forming between his brows. "It's just a book, why are you so nervous?"

The child bowed his head even lower. "It was a mistake for me to speak thus."

His slender frame bent in a desperate attempt to avoid attention, a pitiful sight that reminded Chu Wanning of a conversation he once overheard among the elders:

"That Shi Mo is indeed obedient, but he lacks talent. Such a shame."

"He's actually not suited for cultivation. I wonder what the Venerated Lord was thinking, taking in someone without spiritual roots. If out of compassion, they could have let him work in the Netherworld's Kitchen, washing vegetables and cooking meals."

"But he seems to have some interest in the Medicine Sect. Greedy Wolf, have you considered taking him as a disciple?"

Elder Greedy Wolf replied nonchalantly, "He's too soft in character, not my cup of tea. I won't be taking him."

An umbrella extended forward, raindrops like pearls pattering against the oiled paper surface.

A hand with jade-like fingers held the handle, its bones slender and well-proportioned. Chu Wanning spoke indifferently to the child, "Come on, it's too late. I'll send you home."

A delicate white wildflower trembled on the eave. Shi Mo was taken aback for a moment, then he bowed respectfully before taking shelter under the oiled paper umbrella.

Amidst the slanting rain and gentle breeze, they disappeared into the distance.

A crimson hue tinged Shi Mo's eyes; his entire body tensed up as if a bowstring about to snap. He roared in anger, "Chu Wanning! Why are you stopping me?! What difference does it make now that you're blocking me?! Thirty lives are all that stand between us and survival! Just thirty lives so that countless Butterfly Bone Clan members can live on for over a thousand years! We can finally return to the Realm of Demons—why? On what grounds?!"

Thunder rumbled as if startled, and he seemed like a blind and crippled dragon. There was no trace of his former tenderness in that face.

"You destroyed Heaven-Stepping Lord, but those dead cultivators won't come back to life. By destroying him, this mortal world is already beyond redemption. You... you..."

Chu Wanning replied, "Before divine punishment arrives, there was indeed no way to save this mortal world by closing the Door of Time and Death. But another could still be preserved."

"I only want thirty more lives!"

"...Not a single one less." Chu Wanning closed his eyes, and the light in his palm blazed to its peak. "Heavenly Inquiry, Coffin for Ten Thousand Men—!"

It was as if the scene of Shennong binding corpses was replaying itself. With his fierce cry, a distant rumble echoed through the earth.

His palm suddenly clenched shut!

In the distant mountains, the unconscious Heaven-Stepping Lord was already tightly bound by willow vines.

Shi Mo's lips turned pale, and his pupils narrowed. "Why... are you so ruthless...?"

Silence.

"You leave us no last chance at survival. You want to kill your own disciple... I only wanted... just thirty lives..."

Bodies littered the mortal world, while another land trembled in the midst of storms and winds. Who knew what changes would follow the opening of the Demon Realm? Throughout history, demons had been warlike and bloodthirsty. It was only after Gouchen's betrayal and Fu Xi's fierce battles that they were driven from the human realm.

Chu Wanning was all too aware that this wasn't just about thirty lives...

Even if it were just thirty lives, who deserved to die? Whose life should pave the way for the Butterfly Bone Clan's return, and who should be sacrificed?

The golden light in Chu Wanning's palm intensified, illuminating Shi Mo's eyes as if it were piercing through his very soul. Fueled by fury, he attempted to rush forward, but a barrier emerged before Chu Wanning, blocking his path.

He couldn't get through.

Without Heaven-Stepping Lord, Shi Mo was like a butcher stripped of his blade, left with only flesh and blood... Neither he nor Mu Yanli stood a chance against Chu Wanning.

In the depths of despair, Shi Mo's eyes reddened to the point of bleeding. What should he do? What could he possibly do?! He—

Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind. It was like a butcher cornered by a beast, stumbling towards his satchel to grab his last weapon. With all his hope invested in this final tool, he pointed it at the man determined to dismantle his life's schemes.

"Fine, fine. Master, you're ruthless. You... go ahead."

Silence.

"Go ahead."

Chu Wanning, puzzled by the sudden shift in attitude, watched as Shi Mo abruptly covered his forehead, laughing uproariously. Then, he lowered his head, glaring intently at Chu Wanning's face as he ground out each word, "Do your worst, Master. Go ahead and tear him limb from limb. In the end, neither of us will gain anything, and we'll both lose miserably!"

Looking at Shi Mo's madness, Mu Yanli's eyes betrayed a hidden pain. Softly, she whispered, "Nan..."

By now, Shi Mo was beyond listening to her. With the desperation of an injured beast making its final stand, he snarled fiercely, baring his teeth:

"Kill him—just kill him!"

Silence.

Tainted with venom and blood, Shi Mo's lifeless black eyes peered through his fingers, fixated on Chu Wanning. He spoke through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word:

"Together with the last wisp of his soul, still infatuated with you, within his body!"