Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I held my sword to Dong Linyuan’s throat, the only sound beneath the Evil-Slaying Platform was the whistling of the wind.

Three thousand disciples were waiting for me to strike.

They were waiting to see Yun Xingye, the Chief of the Qingxiao Sect’s Punishment Peak, personally kill the archrival he had been entangled with for five years.

Dong Linyuan knelt beneath the Demon-Suppressing Nails. His white robes were stained with blood, yet his back remained straight. He looked up at me, his eyes devoid of any plea for mercy; instead, there was a flicker of a smile that no one else could understand.

In the next moment, his voice reached my ears via a sound transmission.

“Yun Xingye, aim half an inch to the side. Meet me at the Soul-Locking Well at midnight. If you still want to know how your brother died, don’t let me die now.”

My knuckles tightened.

After the massacre at Falling Star City five years ago, my brother Yun Guanshan’s remains were never found. Dong Linyuan was the only person to walk out of that city alive.

I had hated him for five years.

I had also kept a close eye on him for five years.

Yin Zhixiao stood atop the high platform, his voice as gentle as ever. “Xingye, his demon veins have been exposed. There is no need for mercy.”

I gave a low response of “Yes” and thrust my sword downward.

The moment the blade sank into Dong Linyuan’s left chest, a sharp pain suddenly tore through my own chest, as if someone were ripping my heart and meridians apart through my flesh. A sweet metallic taste rose in my throat, and I sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the blade in front of everyone.

The crowd below erupted into a clamor.

Someone gasped, “Is that a Shared Death Curse?”

I steadied myself, using the spray of blood as a distraction to force the blade half an inch to the side. I only pierced the edge of his heart’s meridian, creating the illusion of a fatal blow.

Dong Linyuan let his head hang as if dying, but his lips twitched slightly.

“Nice acting.”

I wanted nothing more than to stab him again right then and there.

But I couldn’t.

Last night in the Ancestor Hall, we had sworn upon the Heart Lamp to form a half-complete Life-Binding Pact. Now, if he truly died, my own meridians would snap along with his. And if I died, the Ascension Array that Yin Zhixiao had spent five years preparing would finally have its final sacrificial piece.

“Take him to the Cold Prison. We will interrogate him again in three days,” I said, sheathing my sword and forcibly suppressing the surging pain in my chest.

Yin Zhixiao looked down at me, his gaze like one observing a useful tool.

“Xingye, you’ve gone soft.”

I cupped my hands, my expression as cold as ice.

“I simply want him to understand exactly why he is dying.”

Yin Zhixiao watched me for a moment before suddenly smiling. “Very well. Then you shall guard him personally.”

As Dong Linyuan was dragged off the Evil-Slaying Platform, he shot a glance back at me.

That look was like a blade, and also like a flame.

I suddenly realized that tonight at the Soul-Locking Well, either the truth would surface, or he and I would die together.