Blood River

In the blink of an eye, the chessboard was filled with pieces, and the pace of the game between the two gradually slowed.

The middle-aged man sighed softly, "Your answers are always unexpected, yet when they come from your lips, they seem so natural—as if it's the most logical thing in the world for you."

"I've stayed with the Su Family for nearly twenty years. It was the old master who fished me out of the river. Chang He and I are even more than that—we emerged from the same Crucible as brothers in arms. To be precise, we are all family," Su Muyu said calmly.

The middle-aged man shook his head, "Someone like Chang He would never consider the old master or me as family. You are the only one he sees as family."

"But now I am a Puppet. As a Puppet, it is my duty to protect the life of The Head," Su Muyu stated solemnly.

"Is that all?" The middle-aged man frowned slightly. "I always thought there might be some other reason."

"Teacher, you once taught me that promises are the most important things in our lives. Without them, a hired assassin might turn around and kill their employer for more money. In the end, order would collapse, assassins would lose their purpose, and the Dark River would cease to exist," Su Muyu replied.

The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile, "You are clever, but sometimes too stubborn."

"Having become a tool for killing, if there isn’t some stubbornness in my heart, then living would be no different from death." Su Muyu placed the final piece. "Teacher, you've lost."

With a sweep of his long sleeve, the middle-aged man reduced the chess pieces before him to dust. Then, he grasped the hilt of the short sword at his side. "Chang He knows my martial skills are lacking, but he sent me here to persuade you, thinking that even if you wouldn’t listen to me, you’d at least waste the time of one game of chess."

"If there is some affection between us, Teacher, could you refrain from drawing your sword?" Su Muyu asked slowly.

After a long silence, the middle-aged man said, "You cannot win. The three family heads have endured for so long—they won’t let this opportunity slip. Even if The Head could be healed, they would spare no effort to kill him. You have no chance; this is a hopeless situation."

"This is a dead end for all three families. Whoever enters this game, there will be no winner." Su Muyu stood up. "The three family heads will soon realize they’ve made a grave mistake."

The middle-aged man still drew his sword, but instead of pointing it at Su Muyu, he held it against his own throat. He smiled bitterly, "Forgive me."

Su Muyu clenched his fists. "Did Su Changhe ask you to do this?"

With a flick of his left hand, the middle-aged man lit a stick of incense on the stone table and bowed his head slightly. "Could you wait for the time it takes this incense to burn?"

"When Chang He and I were still training in the Crucible, we once fell into a cliff trap. It was you, Teacher, who saved us. I’ve remembered that kindness for many years. Is it worth it to exhaust that debt with just one stick of incense?" Su Muyu asked.

The middle-aged man shook his head, "It’s not worth it. But as you just said, it must be done."

Su Muyu nodded and sat back down, planting his oil-paper umbrella beside him before closing his eyes.The two sat in silence until the incense burned out. Su Muyu opened his eyes, and the short sword the middle-aged man had held across his body shattered into two pieces. With a bitter smile, the man discarded the hilt and said to Su Muyu, "The path is long and fraught with obstacles."

Su Muyu stood up, pulled the paper umbrella from the ground, and walked past the man. "Yet with each step, we draw nearer." He continued forward into the mist-shrouded woods ahead. The deeper he went, the thicker the fog became, though sporadic lantern lights flickered eerily among the trees.

"Lantern Lighting Children, spirits come to claim lives," Su Muyu murmured, halting in his tracks.

"Giggle, giggle." The playful laughter of a child echoed behind him, and the lantern light flashed past his back.

"Your dear brother Su Changhe was once a Lantern Lighting Child too," a soft, eerie voice called from the distance. Emerging from the mist, four burly men carried a white palanquin, atop which sat a long-haired man gently waving a folding fan. Clad in white robes, his face was deathly pale, his frame gaunt, exuding an air of sinister gloom.

Su Muyu drove the paper umbrella into the ground once more, gripping the handle and pulling out an exceptionally slender sword.

"It seems I’m unworthy of witnessing the Umbrella Ghost’s Eighteen Sword Formation," the long-haired man chuckled, baring his teeth.

Su Muyu’s voice was low and cold. "Among the Dark River, you are one of the few I truly wish to kill."

The man flicked a strand of hair from his temple. "Is that so? What an honor."

Su Muyu lunged forward, sword aimed at the man. With a sharp slap on the palanquin, the four bearers retreated in unison, and the white palanquin dissolved into the mist. Su Muyu’s strike met empty air. As he turned, a child appeared before him, lightly flicking a red lantern that coiled around Su Muyu’s blade.

"It should have been you back then, but Su Changhe took your place as the Lantern Lighting Child. The mission succeeded, but of the seven who went, only he returned," the long-haired man’s voice echoed from all directions.

The wisest choice now would be to swing his sword and behead the child before him, but Su Muyu chose instead to retreat. The child giggled and vanished back into the fog. A flying sword shot from the mist, forcing Su Muyu to dodge as it grazed past his temple. Hidden within the mist, the master of the array relied on the Lantern Lighting Children to lure prey. Rarely did these children survive, and the master of the mist array—a figure as sinister as a vengeful ghost—had been infamous long before Su Muyu became a killer.

"Hahaha! Now I understand why Su Changhe took your place. Had you been the one to light the lanterns, you’d have died long ago," the long-haired man laughed heartily.

Su Muyu closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly as he focused on sensing the man’s location.

"Hard to believe—the renowned Umbrella Ghost of the Su Family, the Nameless One who crawled from the corpse-strewn Crucible, now the Puppet leader of Spider Shadow—is a man with kindness in his heart," the man sneered. "Can’t bring yourself to harm a child?"Su Muyu suddenly opened his eyes, turning sharply to the left as his long sword flicked lightly in his hand.

"Attack!" The long-haired man sensed an overwhelming killing intent and shouted sharply.

From within the mist, over a dozen Lantern Lighting Children suddenly charged forward. Leaping into the air, they swung their lanterns downward toward Su Muyu. They had completely surrounded him—if Su Muyu wanted to fight, he would have to carve a bloody path through them!