Blood River

Spider Nest.

Su Muyu walked up to Chou Niu with his umbrella on his back. Chou Niu was startled and instinctively drew his sword, only relaxing when he recognized Su Muyu. "Boss, when did you get in? Like a ghost, no one noticed."

"I've been to this Spider Nest a few times. Naturally, I know how to slip in unnoticed," Su Muyu replied indifferently.

Chou Niu nodded. "I forgot about that."

"There are thirty-six deadly mechanisms in this Spider Nest, each one extremely perilous. Even a peerless master would struggle to survive passing through them," Su Muyu said, gazing up at the moon. "Unless the intruder knows the layout of this Spider Nest inside out—like me. But even for me, there’s one place I can’t bypass."

"Where?" Chou Niu asked, puzzled.

"Here." Su Muyu planted his paper umbrella into the ground. "This is the heart of the entire Spider Nest. There are four ways to evade those thirty-six mechanisms, but every single one leads here. No matter what, this spot is unavoidable."

Chou Niu, still gripping his sword, instinctively took a step back.

"But when I passed through here earlier, no one was present," Su Muyu said, still staring at the moon without turning around.

"I just switched shifts with someone, so I stepped away for a moment," Chou Niu said solemnly.

"Such a clumsy lie isn’t worth telling," Su Muyu sighed softly. "You’re Chou Niu of the Spider Shadow."

"I am Su Shanjun of the Su Family!" Chou Niu raised his sword and pressed it against Su Muyu’s back.

"Once you join the Spider Shadow, you are no longer part of the Su Family. We all took that oath together back then," Su Muyu said, pulling his umbrella from the ground and spinning around in a swift motion. Chou Niu’s mask shattered instantly.

As Bai Hehuai had said, the face beneath the mask was not handsome—in fact, it was rather ugly. His unremarkable features, coupled with a scar that stretched across most of his face, made him look even more menacing and fearsome. Chou Niu gave a bitter smile. "Boss, you know better than anyone—the poison in The Head’s body is incurable. Even if it were removed, he wouldn’t live much longer. He should step down. If we remain blindly loyal, we’ll only end up buried with him!"

"Blind loyalty?" Su Muyu raised an eyebrow. "But isn’t loyalty about standing by someone even in the direst of circumstances? If the tide turns and The Head is meant to die, should we just go with the flow? Then what’s the point of loyalty at all?"

"Boss, you—" Chou Niu gritted his teeth.

"Leave," Su Muyu turned away, folding his umbrella. "Find a place to hide. I’ll say I sent you on a mission. When this is all over, if the Su Family wins, you can return to them. If another family prevails, change your name and your face—never show yourself again."

"Boss, your swordsmanship is strong, but you can’t protect everyone. This battle will happen—people will die. Either the Su Family falls, or The Head dies. Either your closest brother perishes, or the leader you swore allegiance to meets his end!" Chou Niu’s grip on his sword trembled slightly. "Rebel! Let’s go together now, kill The Head, take the Sleeping Dragon Sword—we can end this before it even begins!"

"If you say another word," Su Muyu’s voice hardened, "you won’t be leaving here today.""You can't protect everyone..." Chou Niu murmured softly at last, then sighed deeply before leaping up and flipping over the courtyard wall to depart.

"You shouldn't have let him go." The hunchbacked old man appeared behind them at some point, speaking gravely.

Su Muyu turned and bowed respectfully to the old man.

"You are a Puppet of Dark River. In terms of status within the organization, you far surpass me—there's no need for such courtesy." The hunchbacked old man gazed at the courtyard wall. "Betraying Spider Shadow is the greatest crime in Dark River."

"Only the living can pass judgment. Given the current situation, with The Head being hunted by the three families, do those rules still hold meaning?" Su Muyu asked.

"I've met you a few times and heard many rumors about you. They say you have a nickname in Soul Extraction Hall—the Three Refusals." The old man studied Su Muyu. "No slaughtering entire families, no missions without reason, and none you simply don’t wish to take. I’ve spent my whole life in Dark River, and you’re the only one I’ve ever seen who could set conditions for Soul Extraction Hall."

"Because I have a friend, and he has his own saying." Su Muyu lowered his head slightly. "What Su Muyu refuses, he takes."

"Su Changhe, right? The Undertaker, Su Changhe. They say his swordsmanship isn’t as good as yours, but his title is far more feared than Umbrella Ghost." The old man spoke slowly. "It’s good that you have such a friend."

"I know." Su Muyu replied.

"But people in Dark River don’t need friends." The old man sneered. "Friends make your sword hand hesitate. And you—a genius of the Sword Way who restored the Eighteen Sword Formation from a fragmented manual—never struck me as someone so utterly foolish."

"Utterly foolish?" Su Muyu frowned slightly.

"You want to be a good person." The old man continued coldly. "As an assassin, you actually want to be good—isn’t that the most laughable, most idiotic thing in the world?"

"Su Changhe has said the same to me. But I don’t seek to be good. I just believe... some things..." Su Muyu walked past the old man. "I want to try my best."

"That Su Muyu... is someone who lives exhaustingly." Bai Hehuai sat in the room, gazing at The Head, who lay with closed eyes, and sighed.

"He truly does live exhaustingly." The Head suddenly responded.

Bai Hehuai startled—she had just checked his breathing and confirmed he was asleep. Puzzled, she asked, "You’re awake, Head?"

The Head nodded. "Dark River has a special breath-control technique that allows one to hover between sleep and wakefulness, aware of every rustle yet resting peacefully."

"So you heard everything outside just now?" Bai Hehuai frowned.

"Only fragments, but I can piece together the gist." The Head smiled. "Moyu is trustworthy. Let him make his own choices."

"He’s one of the Nameless Ones. Before joining Dark River, what was his identity?" Bai Hehuai suddenly wondered.

"Moyu never speaks of it. As a child, he only claimed to have lost his memory. But I later sent people to investigate—he was born in Swordless City, the son of its lord, Peng Yuluo.""Jian Jingtian Peng Yuluo!" Bai Hehuai exclaimed in shock. That was a renowned swordsman and heroic figure.

"Yes, on the day Swordless City was annihilated, Su Muyu came to Dark River," The Head said slowly.