Envy 27

“You… You really intend to destroy Cui Xing Gate?!”

Amid the trembling of the earth and wails, amid the chaotic yin energy swirling wildly around him, Zhuge Heng barely managed to steady himself and cried out in shock.

“The things inside Cui Xing Gate… They’ve accumulated resentment for nearly a thousand years! If you release them just like that, countless high-ranking underworld spirits will emerge. Do you know how many people they’ll kill when they run rampant in the human world?! Innocent people will suffer and die, become ghosts, and turn into vengeful spirits that continue harming others. If this vicious cycle continues, it won’t just be the Nether Path or spirit masters who suffer. The entire world will be doomed! Not just us, but everyone! Everyone will die!!!”

“So what?”

Amid the howling resentment, these two words sounded particularly cold and clear, completely out of place with everything around them.

At some point, a person had appeared in front of Cui Xing Gate.

Nobody knew how long he had been standing there or how much of the conversation he had heard.

As the mastermind behind everything, Zhuge Lin finally revealed himself.

To take part in all the important events of this day, he dressed himself very neatly. His hair and beard were combed meticulously, and he wore a simple black Tang suit without any patterns.

The clothes must have been quite old, because the color had already faded in places. The fabric at the edges had even taken on a faint grayish-white hue.

Li Guizhen was still following Zhuge Lin just as she had that day, holding his arm as if she were an affectionate daughter leaning against her beloved father.

“Zhuge Heng, are you finally afraid now? When you made my daughter die in place of yours, did you ever think that one day I might disregard everything and drag you…or rather, the entire world, down with me?”

Zhuge Lin stood there, letting the wild wind, mixed with resentment, bloodlust, and yin energy, whip his loose clothes about. He remained completely unmoved.

“…You madman! You’re a madman! Stop it! Stop right now!”

Looking at those two figures, Zhuge Heng was so furious that his eyes seemed ready to split open.

“Stop… Take your damned ghost daughter and go to hell, Zhuge Lin!!!”

“I will die.”

Compared with Zhuge Heng, who was completely hysterical, Zhuge Lin appeared much calmer, making Zhuge Heng look more like the “madman” he accused Zhuge Lin of being.

“But not now.”

Zhuge Lin stood there, appearing extremely composed.

His face was expressionless. The only things accompanying him were Li Guizhen and the gloom that had remained with him for decades.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. When he spoke again, his voice was much lower and hoarser.

“…Before I die, I have to drag you down with me, or how could I repay you for all the ‘care’ you’ve shown me over the years.  Don’t you agree, Elder Brother?”

Among their generation, Zhuge Lin had been widely recognized as the most talented child in the family.

He was devoted to studying the secret techniques and spells left behind by his predecessors. He combined and mastered them, compiling them into books and revising the originally obscure and difficult teaching materials into something easy to understand. He lowered the threshold for learning the Nether Path, allowing more children to understand it and at least gain the ability to protect themselves.

He always completed his missions successfully and had received the most commendations. With him around, everyone felt reassured. At the time, everyone believed he was the only possible candidate for the position of young family head.

Unfortunately, his fate wasn’t as smooth as it appeared. On the contrary, his life was full of changes and unexpected events.

When the old family head finally settled on his successor, everyone discovered that the person most favored by the old family head wasn’t Zhuge Lin, but his older brother, Zhuge Heng.

Zhuge Heng was far less outstanding than Zhuge Lin. Whether in talent or ability, he was much more mediocre. Yet the old family head still chose him as his successor.

People might have been confused, but no one would question the old family head’s decision.

And so, overnight, all the glory and admiration disappeared like a receding tide. Everyone flocked to Zhuge Heng, leaving Zhuge Lin all alone.

But that was all right. Zhuge Lin had never placed much importance on those things in the first place.

It wasn’t as though he absolutely had to have the title of family head.

He settled down and stopped fighting or competing, firmly believing that fate had its own arrangements. He simply continued doing what he was supposed to do quietly.

Later, during one of his missions outside the mountain, he met a young woman through a chance encounter.

That young woman deserved to be described with every beautiful word in the world. She was beautiful and intelligent, had a decisive manner and a clear mind, and radiated personal charm at all times. It was only natural that Zhuge Lin fell in love with her. Unfortunately, he was young back then, quiet and reserved by nature, and not good at expressing himself. Many words had accumulated in his heart, but he never got the chance to tell her.

Later, when he learned that the young woman had been troubled by a strange ghost for a long time and could no longer sleep properly, Zhuge Lin stayed up for two nights to help her resolve the problem. But because he was pressed for time while rushing to complete a mission, he didn’t get the chance to tell her.

At the time, he always thought there would be plenty of time in the future. But after that parting, when they met again, the young woman had already become his sister-in-law.

Zhuge Lin often felt that fate liked to play tricks on him. It let him taste a tiny bit of sweetness, then, just as he became captivated by that sweetness, turned around and told him that it had never belonged to him in the first place.

Sometimes Zhuge Lin felt regret, but he had never resented it.

After all, those in their line of work understood better than anyone that fate was determined by Heaven. The things a person could possess in their lifetime had already been decided from the moment they were born.

But many years later, he suddenly realized that things had not been as he had thought.

“Back then, while I was constantly rushing out of the mountain to carry out missions, you stayed at home, flattering the old family head at every turn. You even stole my achievements and claimed them as your own. Isn’t that right?

“You told Zhang Ruo that she had been troubled by evil things for a long time, and that you had driven away the underworld spirits and restored her peace. She was very grateful to you and met with you several times out of gratitude. Isn’t that right?

“Zhuge Heng, if I hadn’t gone back over these old accounts, I wouldn’t have realized that you hadn’t just stolen my daughter. You had stolen my life, too.”

“That was because you were stupid!”

Zhuge Heng sneered in response.

“When will you finally understand that the most important thing when it comes to accomplishing something isn’t ability, but brains? If all I knew how to do was sweet-talk people, if I didn’t understand how to manage people or plan and scheme, do you think the old family head would have given me this position? If the only thing I relied on to get close to Ah Ruo was lies, do you think Ah Ruo would have fallen in love with me and married me?

“I didn’t steal your life, Zhuge Lin. I simply seized the opportunities you overlooked. You shouldn’t blame anyone for the things you failed to obtain, because that was all your own stupidity!”

“Was I really stupid, or have you always disliked me, deliberately taking away the things that should have belonged to me and enjoying it?

“Zhuge Heng, you’re conceited and arrogant. You want to scheme and control everything, yet you never realized that the people you schemed against and controlled were living human beings. They have their own thoughts. They suffer, and they resist. When they’re pushed into a corner and their patience reaches its limit, what they give you is no longer obedience, but a knife.”

“How does it feel to be betrayed by the people closest to you? How does it feel to stand here, isolated and helpless? What you’re feeling at this moment isn’t even one-tenth of what I experienced.”

Now that the time had come to settle all accounts, Zhuge Lin’s emotions were instead remarkably calm.

This made Zhuge Heng’s desperate, crazed ugliness stand out even more.

“You used your sweet words to deceive my daughter and drive a wedge between us! How vicious of you! You’re the arrogant and conceited one, Zhuge Lin! You’re the one who’s full of yourself! Do you think I disliked you? I’m the family head! I control the entire Nether Path and the Zhuge family! What are you? Don’t put yourself on a pedestal…”

Perhaps he felt that if he didn’t say certain things now, he would never get another chance. Halfway through his retort, Zhuge Heng suddenly changed his tone and laughed.

“…So what if I was jealous of you?!

“Yes, I admit it. You were more capable than me, and you had better luck. I was jealous of you, but so what? Is jealousy something so shameful? It’s only human nature! I wanted to take everything you wanted and everything you liked. So what? The position of family head, Ah Ruo, and that sensible daughter of yours… What’s the use of coming back to settle accounts with me now that you’re in your seventies or eighties? You found out too late! All those things are gone! You’re a complete failure, while I, Zhuge Heng, am the winner! Hahahaha!!”

Everyone present listened to Zhuge Heng’s shouts and laughter. After that, he fell silent for a brief moment before speaking again.

“This time… I’ll win, too.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly struck the ground hard with his dragon-headed cane. With a muffled thud, a wave of energy instantly swept outward!

Nearby, the artifacts that had originally belonged to Fu Sang suddenly floated into the air. Zhuge Heng forced the energy within them out, and they silently confronted the surrounding resentment.

Seeing this, Fu Sang’s expression sharpened. He subconsciously wanted to summon the ghost-blood whip, but just as he raised his hand, he seemed to remember something and stopped.

At that very moment of hesitation, someone else had already made a move…

The snake-headed cane in Zhuge Lin’s hand shot out suddenly, striking Zhuge Heng squarely in the chest. The old man staggered back several steps and violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

His connection with the artifacts was interrupted for a moment. Seizing this opportunity, Fu Sang immediately took out a folding knife, flicked the blade open, pressed it against his palm, and slashed hard!

Blood instantly flowed from beneath the blade, covering Fu Sang’s pale palm. He spread the blood evenly over both hands, rapidly formed hand seals, and used the blood as a medium. The artifacts bearing his seals immediately responded to his summons, changing direction and returning to his side!

Fu Sang grasped the long snake-bone nail, released half of its seal, and let it return to its normal size. Then he twirled it and held it in his hand, looking just like a short black sword.

He looked up warily at Zhuge Lin.

But he saw that Zhuge Lin was also quietly looking at him.

Their gazes met for a moment before Zhuge Lin spoke first.

“Don’t worry. I won’t take it from you. This is karma I owe you in the first place.”

“?” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly, not quite understanding what he meant.

But perhaps Zhuge Lin never intended for him to understand.

Because he offered no further explanation. Instead, he remained where he was, slowly closed his eyes, and began talking about something completely unrelated.

“The clothes I’m wearing were a gift from Ah Zhen after she graduated and started working. She bought them for me with her first month’s salary. I could never bring myself to wear them, so I kept them stored away, and as time passed, I grew old, and so did they.”

A low chanting sound arose from somewhere. Fu Sang frowned slightly and tilted his head to listen.

Later, the sound came from all directions, growing more numerous and increasingly impassioned.

They chanted unknown incantations. Accompanied by the beating rhythm of the howling resentment, they filled every breath of air in this place with a despair that weighed heavily on the heart.

It was a formation.

Fu Sang immediately recognized that a large sacrificial formation had been set up here in advance.

The formation borrowed the framework of Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison. This was why they could hear unknown souls chanting the Stop Delusion Command from somewhere, and see clusters of blue-green flames burning in the corners.

He was somewhat sensitive to the word “sacrifice” now, so he couldn’t help being wary. However, Fu Sang soon realized that the sacrifice this formation demanded wasn’t his ghost.

“Heaven and earth are the furnace; all living beings suffer.”

Zhuge Lin sighed as he spoke.

“This Cui Xing Gate can lock away the resentment of the dead, but it cannot lock away the evil of the living.”

Zhuge Lin slowly raised his hand.

Li Guizhen had been gently holding his arm the entire time, so Zhuge Lin could always feel her cold touch.

Zhuge Lin had nothing to be nostalgic about in his life; he also didn’t have anything he particularly liked or wanted.

Except Li Guizhen.

He wasn’t close to Li Guizhen’s mother. Soon after their marriage, they went their separate ways because of their incompatible personalities. When the woman left, she took nothing with her, not even the babbling Li Guizhen.

Zhuge Lin raised Li Guizhen himself. Originally, he only knew how to deal with ghosts and perform talismanic spells. He had no idea how to be a father. But that didn’t matter. He could learn. He carefully learned, little by little, how to raise a child, bringing Li Guizhen up to be healthy and beautiful.

Every time he saw the smile on Li Guizhen’s face, he would think that he should count as a competent father, shouldn’t he?

Every step of Li Guizhen’s growth remained crystal clear in his mind even now.

That child was truly sensible and never gave him anything to worry about. He didn’t know when it had started, but she even began looking after him like a little adult, telling him to drink less alcohol and remember to wear more clothes when the weather turned cold, just as he had cared for her when she was little.

Amid the broken shadows of light before the gate and the howling winds, Zhuge Lin vaguely remembered that when Ah Zhen was alive, she also loved holding his arm like this, resting her head on his shoulder and acting coquettishly.

But Ah Zhen was no longer here.

Everyone thought that the one beside Zhuge Lin was Li Guizhen’s ghost. But only Zhuge Lin himself knew that this wasn’t his Ah Zhen at all.

His Ah Zhen was long gone. Her soul had already scattered. No matter how many times he tried to summon and piece it together in despair, he could not find even a single fragment or trace of her presence.

The underworld spirit beside him now was merely a false shadow he had shaped according to his own memories.

His Ah Zhen would never come back.

Zhuge Lin smiled very faintly.

He sighed and finally made up his mind. He spread his arms, raised his head, and spoke each word slowly, his voice firm and resounding.

“I now use my flesh and blood as fuel, my soul as a torch, to burn this Cui Xing Gate and open the road to the Yellow Springs.”

“My three souls shall be offered to the Nine Hells; my seven spirits shall scatter across the Eight Wastes.”

“From this moment onward, erase my name from the Book of Reincarnation.”

“Before the gates of the underworld, sever my next life!”

“…” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly.

Although he had already anticipated this, he was still somewhat surprised when his guess was confirmed.

Zhuge Lin really was willing to go all out, sacrificing his body and soul to open Cui Xing Gate.

These two old men, already halfway into their graves, wanted to play a game of mutual destruction but he wasn’t going to join them.

“Let’s go.” Fu Sang glanced at Liu Dongfeng, then looked toward the spot where Zhuge Mingyun and Zhuge Buyi had been standing, which was now empty for some reason. He reminded him, “If we don’t leave now, we’ll end up dying here with those two in a moment.”

Liu Dongfeng was slightly stunned, then nodded. Without another word, he went with Fu Sang toward the secret passage.

Behind them, Zhuge Lin’s voice continued to echo.

“…Let heaven and earth bear witness to this oath, and let ghosts and gods attest to it!!”

As soon as his words fell, several cracking sounds rang out. The fissures in the stone wall behind Zhuge Lin finally shattered completely. Hundreds of millions of resentful energies surged forth like a raging flood, instantly swallowing the old man’s withered figure.

They dissolved him and absorbed him as part of themselves.

The “Li Guizhen” beside him suddenly found her hand empty. She turned around in confusion and looked around, but could no longer find the familiar body.

Then countless resentful energies rushed into her body. She couldn’t bear them all at once, and screaming in agony, painfully accepted a power she was incapable of carrying.

Finally, the last command buried in her muddled mind was awakened.

She stiffly twisted her neck and looked toward Zhuge Heng, who was not far away.

The moment her gaze fell upon him, the hairs on the back of Zhuge Heng’s neck stood on end.

He subconsciously and slowly turned his head toward the source of the danger.

Then he saw the female ghost rushing toward him, surrounded by a black storm.

It was a face he once knew very well. As for why it was “once” known, it was because she had been gone for too long, so long that his memories of her had become blurred beneath layers of dust.

When she was little, Zhuge Heng often held her in his arms and affectionately showered her with praise. But in his heart, he would frequently compare her with his own daughter, secretly picking out a whole list of her flaws before concluding that his own child was still the most perfect and the best.

Of course, nobody knew about these things apart from Zhuge Heng himself.

Back then, when the Shaosi was nearing the end of his allotted lifespan, Zhuge Heng obtained Mingyun’s name from the Zhuge family’s ancestral fate wheel. This meant that his Mingyun would become the next sacrifice, drinking the blood in the Soul-Transferring Cup to exchange her life for the Shaosi’s. How could he allow that?

His predecessors had warned them that the family must strictly follow the fate wheel’s instructions. Otherwise, the course of fate would change, and the entire family would fall into eternal damnation.

But how could that be acceptable? How could he stand by and watch his own daughter die?

He was a father, after all.

As long as it was a young girl from the direct line, wouldn’t any family’s daughter do?

In fact, Zhuge Heng had other choices back then. But without even thinking about it, he decided almost instantly to make Li Guizhen the scapegoat who would die in Mingyun’s place.

Li Guizhen was so beautiful, so clever, and so obedient. She had even made the poor wretch Zhuge Lin happy, to the point that he went around every day silently showing off the cheap bracelet his daughter had given him, the sweater she had knitted for him, and the cheap shoes she had bought for him.

How truly eye-catching.

From childhood to adulthood, Zhuge Heng had never been able to stand seeing Zhuge Lin doing well.

So what if he killed Zhuge Lin’s daughter? It happened without anyone knowing or noticing. Who could possibly find out?

And even if someone did find out, so what? What could Zhuge Lin do? That man had always been a taciturn person. Even when he suffered a loss, he would only keep it bottled up and say nothing.

Zhuge Heng genuinely thought this way.

But he had overlooked one thing…

Zhuge Lin was also a father.

Zhuge Heng could give up everything for his daughter. Naturally, Zhuge Lin could do the same. And because he had no attachments holding him back, he was even more willing to go all out than Zhuge Heng and could go even further than him.

Zhuge Heng watched as Li Guizhen’s face drew closer and closer to his own.

In the end, he felt as though something cold, light, and weightless had pierced through his body.

He felt as if he had flown into the sky.

The next moment, he scattered into the dust and mud.