Blossom in Darkness

Four. Changpu

Dan Shen once told me that the best way to take revenge on someone is to make them suffer before killing them—both satisfying and exhilarating. Then, you can cast everything aside and start a new life.

At the time, I only shook my head. Could hatred so deep that you wish for the other’s death really be let go of so easily, allowing one to begin anew?

When I climbed this Morning Mist Mountain, I never intended to leave alive.

Dan Shen laughed at my foolishness, though he had seen too many fools like me. When his Snow Wolf dragged my corpse out from beneath the cliff, he merely called out, "Only eat the body. Leave the head for me."

But Snow Wolf didn’t eat me. Many years ago, when I traveled to the Heavenly Mountains with Du Zhong, I had met it once. Back then, it had fallen into an ice crevice, starving until it was nothing but skin and bones. I begged Du Zhong to save it.

Pity that beasts have loyalty, while men have none.

When Dan Shen revived me, I felt no gratitude. Instead, he taught me that when a person can no longer live, they must learn to hate.

I asked Dan Shen for three things: Raincoat Entangling Grass, Qilin Poison, and a Feigned Death Pill. The first two were reserved for Du Zhong, the last for myself—to deceive the Life Verification Stone and make Du Zhong believe I was already dead.

Dan Shen demanded I serve as his maid for three years to repay him for saving my life, then exchange my face for those three items.

I agreed.

Dan Shen was the world’s finest apothecary—and the finest painter.

Du Zhong loved painting landscapes; Dan Shen loved painting skins.

I didn’t know what use he had for my face, shattered and scarred from the cliff fall, but its appearance no longer mattered to me. He gave me another face—one of bewitching allure—saying he had grown tired of the old one.

Some time later, I saw my former face, meticulously restored, hanging on the wall of his collection room. Its eyes were peacefully closed, as if in deep slumber.

Dan Shen was an enchanting man, changing faces as easily as changing clothes. I never knew his true appearance. Sometimes he was a man, sometimes a woman, accompanied only by his menagerie of animals.

Three years later, I returned to Morning Mist Mountain with the Raincoat Entangling Grass and Qilin Poison. I ruined my own face, pretending to be mute and illiterate—only then could I get close to Du Zhong.

Raincoat Entangling Grass was a slow-acting aphrodisiac, capable of eroding a person’s will and mind without notice. Each time, I added only a trace to his teacup. His clothes, too, were washed in water infused with the herb. Day by day, subtle changes took hold of him. He often woke from nightmares in the dead of night. Timing it just right, I would go to the stream to gather dew and pound laundry.

I needed him to notice me—but not with too much direct contact. He was too clever; I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t slip up or reveal my hatred in his presence.

Seducing a man was easy—unless that man was Du Zhong. Without the Raincoat Entangling Grass, I would never have succeeded.

I had planned to wait two more months, ensuring absolute certainty before acting. But whispers reached me—rumors that Du Zhong intended to step down and pass the sect leadership to Yan Shang, while Yuwen Hao grew restless with ambitions of usurpation. Fearing complications, on the fifteenth day—exactly five years, three months, and eight days after Hua Changpu’s death—I poured all the Qilin Poison and Raincoat Entangling Grass into Du Zhong’s tea.

With Yan Shang away in Shu and the other disciples forbidden from ascending the mountain without permission, the night was perfect. No one would disturb us.Du Zhong was poisoned without any defense, just as I had anticipated. The poison concocted by Dan Shen was undetectable even by immortals, let alone Du Zhong, who was no immortal.

I helped him lie down on the couch. Though the drug burned through his body and he couldn’t use his cultivation to resist, beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Yet his mind remained startlingly clear.

"Who sent you?"

I sat beside him, glancing at him on the couch before staring absently at the moon outside the window.

"No one sent me. I came for myself."

My voice was silky and seductive, dripping with allure—but it wasn’t my original voice. That sword strike to my neck years ago had damaged my vocal cords. When Dan Shen altered my face, he changed my voice as well.

"What do you want?" Du Zhong’s tone was calm, his expression unchanging. His white robes still radiated sacred purity, like an untouchable snow-capped mountain—yet here I was, daring to defile him.

"I love you, Du Zhong. I want you." This was the first time I had confessed to him, though I never imagined it would be under such circumstances.

He looked at me, his eyes devoid of even the slightest disdain or contempt, as if I were nothing more than an insignificant pile of stones.

"Impossible."

"I know ordinary aphrodisiacs don’t work on you. But day after day, the Raincoat Entangling Grass has seeped deep into your bones."

He remained composed. Though I was on the verge of vengeance, an inexplicable restlessness gnawed at me. "Don’t bother trying. You’ve also been poisoned with Qilin Poison. No divine arts or spells will help you now."

I swept my long hair aside, revealing the other half of my alluring face. His gaze remained clear, like that of a Buddha. I smirked and slowly loosened his robes, though despite my efforts to steady myself, my hands trembled.

The agony of that night five years ago still flayed me alive. I just wanted him to know what it felt like—to be powerless.

I bent over him, caressing his body but never kissing him. Perhaps, deep down, I was no longer the person I once was—perhaps I didn’t want to defile him with this new face.

Though he remained silent and cold, he still sucked in a sharp breath when my hand slid beneath his waistband.

Even I couldn’t believe what I was doing. How could I dare? This man I had once revered, once worshipped…

I pressed against him, my robes half-slipped off, my gaze hazy with seduction. Yet after what felt like an eternity, he showed no reaction. The more I worked, the more his face tightened with suppressed fury.

My tongue traced his chest, licking, kissing, nipping lightly. I refused to believe he could remain so composed—that anyone could truly be devoid of desire.

Guiding his hand along my body, I was overwhelmed by the mingling of torment and pleasure, teetering on the edge of madness.

What was I doing? Would I truly never regret this?

Slithering down like a serpent, lingering in the embrace I had once adored, I couldn’t suppress my gasps and moans. Du Zhong seemed to realize my intent, a flicker of panic crossing his face.

"Don’t—"

I took him into my mouth. His fists clenched, and at last, a trace of shame and anger surfaced.

Pleased, I redoubled my efforts. He shut his eyes—no doubt reciting a mantra to clear his mind—but the Raincoat Entangling Grass wouldn’t be so easily resisted. He would only suffer more. Yet to my shock, even after all this time, he remained unmoved.

I lifted my head and sneered, "Du Zhong, is your cultivation too profound—or are you simply impotent?"Du Zhong's face instead showed pity: "Ye Niang, we have no enmity between us. Why must you degrade yourself like this?"

"No enmity?" I laughed skyward, pressing against him and looking down at his face. "Truly no enmity... Shifu?"

His entire body shuddered. His eyes flew open, pupils dilating as he stared at me in disbelief.

What shocked me even more was that he was actually reacting. I couldn't help but sneer: "All my efforts wasted. Turns out just calling you 'Shifu' is enough to make you hard."

"Shut up!" he finally roared angrily. Having lived so many years, I'd never seen such a humiliated, resentful expression on his perpetually calm face.

"So it's your disciple Hua Changpu you've never been able to forget."

"Don't mention her!" Du Zhong actually reached out and grabbed my throat, yet no matter how hard he squeezed, he ultimately lacked strength.

I trembled violently against him—I was laughing. How could I not laugh? Wasn't this utterly ridiculous? He forbade me from mentioning her? He loved Hua Changpu? So when he loved someone, that person had to die?

I laughed until tears nearly streamed down. His face flushed crimson as he shouted, "Stop laughing!"

Yet I still gazed at him through tearful laughter: "Didn't you always love my laughter most? Didn't you promise to protect me? Whenever Eldest Shixiong made me cry, didn't you always scold him for me? Shifu, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten Changpu?"

Du Zhong's face turned deathly pale in an instant, his entire being collapsing as if his spirit had left him, leaving only bewilderment between his brows.

"Changpu... you're not dead?"

I pressed closer, skin against skin, whispering sweetly, "Shifu, I've returned as a ghost to take revenge."

He closed his eyes in agony, as if completely drained of strength.

"Don't blame Shifu..."

I smiled: "I don't blame you. I just want to know—what exactly did I do wrong? I've pondered for five full years without understanding." I lifted a lock of his hair and kissed it gently. Even now, I remained utterly infatuated with him.

Du Zhong shook his head: "You did nothing wrong. The fault was mine. I had inner demons... feared harming you."

I nodded in sudden realization: "So Shifu's method of protecting me from harm was having Eldest Shixiong kill me? I truly didn't know you loved me to such an extent. Yet I precisely enjoy being hurt by you. You were simply afraid of being seduced by beauty, afraid decades of cultivation would come to nothing. I know—you're the sect leader, the illustrious Water Sword Immortal, with the entire world watching. How could you permit yourself to love your own disciple? But..."

I drew nearer, nibbling his ear, savoring his completely ragged breathing and faint bodily tremors, feeling accomplished. Stroking his face while kissing his brow, I murmured softly: "I never knew Shifu was so defenseless against me."

His body grew increasingly feverish, voice hoarse: "Changpu, don't do this."

I apologized sincerely: "Forgive me, Shifu. Changpu is too foolish—this is the only way I could think to take revenge. Why don't you teach me another method?"

My lips continued their downward exploration, conquering like an invading army, marveling at his completely different reactions compared to earlier.

"Changpu, kill me. Don't keep hurting yourself to take revenge on me. It's not worth it."I looked up, enjoying his reaction. I had never imagined he could have such a disheveled, uncontrolled day.

"If you didn’t want to keep me, if you feared I would harm you, why didn’t you just expel me from the sect?"

A trace of ruthlessness suddenly flashed in his eyes. "Expel you? So you could run away with Yan Shang? You were born a disciple of Zhaowu Mountain, and you’ll die as one. Whether in this life or the next, you can only ever be my disciple, Du Zhong’s."

I froze abruptly. "Du Zhong, you’re so selfish. You knew I loved you all along, didn’t you? You thought if I died like this, I’d belong to you forever?"

Du Zhong gave a bitter smile. "What else could I have done? Marry you? Or reject you?"

I shook my head. "In these five years, have you never regretted it?"

He answered decisively. "If I had to do it again, I’d still kill you."

A metallic taste rose in my throat, and I swallowed it down forcefully.

"Good. I don’t regret it either. Haven’t you been dreaming of me night after night these days? Now, those dreams can come true."

In the past, I had loved him with a woman’s instinct. Now, I seduced him with a woman’s cunning. Before, I had won his heart. Now, I would take his body.

"Changpu!" he cried out in shock.

But I had already lowered myself onto him, and he gasped sharply. I swayed unsteadily, the pain leaving me both numb and acutely aware.

"Why torment yourself like this?" His voice was ashen, knowing the battle was lost. "If you wanted my life, you only had to say so."

I sneered. "What does it matter? My body is already tainted. What’s one more man?"

He looked up at me in disbelief, gripping my arms so tightly his nails dug into my flesh. "Changpu, what are you saying?"

"If you wanted me dead, you could have just killed me. Why go out of your way to torture me?"

Du Zhong’s face turned deathly pale, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. "What did Hao’er do to you? What did he do?"

I continued to sneer, unable to understand why, if he wanted me dead, he hadn’t done it himself.

I would never forget—when I had struggled, crying and screaming for my master to save me, all I received were slaps, vicious kicks, and Yuwen Hao’s cold laughter.

"Calling for him to save you? Don’t you know he’s the one who ordered me to kill you?"

In that moment, life lost all meaning.

When Yuwen Hao threw my body off the cliff, Dan Shen said I looked like I had been through hell, covered in wounds. But the true hell was my heart.

The man I called master, the one I had trusted most, who had sworn to protect me—had actually sent my senior brother to kill me?

Reality was cruel, but the truth was crueler. The Hua Changpu of today was nothing but a walking corpse named Ye Niang. Using this broken body to claim the lofty immortal before me—wasn’t that the best revenge?

I moved gently, smiling even as tears streamed down my face. Du Zhong panted in agony and pleasure, and at the moment of climax, he suddenly pulled me tightly into his arms. I heard his near-sobbing whisper.

"Master has wronged you."

Expressionless, I pushed him away, stood up, and dressed myself before helping him into his robes. Slowly and solemnly, as if performing a ritual.

Even without the antidote I withheld, the Qilin Poison would have killed him. But I still had to kill him with my own hands. That was my promise to myself.

I took his sword from the wall, its cold edge gleaming. Holding it, I walked step by step toward him.At this moment, his expression was eerily calm, as if resigned to whatever fate awaited him. In this world, only I knew what a despicably selfish heart lay beneath that refined and extraordinary exterior!

And yet, I still loved him.

The first sword thrust pierced his left shoulder. Crimson blood streamed down the white robe I had sewn for him, and my arms trembled so violently I couldn’t bring myself to strike again. I wrenched the blade free, raised it once more, and drove it down again.

Instead of anger, he laughed as he watched me.

"My Changpu has grown up. Your master is pleased. Had you been this strong and brave from the start, perhaps I would have let you go. But back then, all I could think was—if forcing you to leave me would mean your death, then I might as well kill you myself. Since you were a child, I couldn’t bear to see you suffer even the slightest hardship. That’s why I gave the Peaceful Death Pill to Hao’er... but he defied my wishes and only made you endure greater torment. Now... I truly regret it..."

Trembling, I raised my sword, his face before me as memories of the past flooded my mind. But what did it matter? We could never go back. Gritting my teeth, I thrust the blade toward his heart with all my strength.

A sudden gust of wind from the doorway sent me flying backward.

When I looked up, it was Yuwen Hao.

"Master, are you unharmed?" He rushed forward, only to recoil in horror at the sight of Du Zhong—covered in blood, his Morning Mist Mountain Nine Stars Heavenly Method broken, his cultivation lost, his body ravaged by poison. "You demoness! How dare you!"

Staggering to my feet, I wiped the blood from my lips and smiled faintly. "Eldest Senior Brother... it’s been a long time."

Yuwen Hao stumbled back two steps, his face twisting with shock and disbelief. "You! It’s really you! You’re not dead!"

"My apologies. I accidentally... came back to life."

My eyes remained fixed on Du Zhong as I stepped toward him.

Strange, isn’t it? All these years, though it was Yuwen Hao who personally killed and hurt me, I never once hated him. Never once sought vengeance against him.

I only hated Du Zhong... because I only ever loved him.

Yuwen Hao, both furious and terrified, snarled, "Hua Changpu! If I could kill you once, I can kill you again!"

"No!"

The last thing I heard was Du Zhong’s terrified scream. So... even his voice could sound so utterly broken.

The icy blade came flying toward me—nowhere to dodge. I felt it tear through my body once more, just as it had countless times before. I was sent soaring through the air, weightless, like all those times Du Zhong had carried me on his sword.

Silence enveloped everything. I looked down to see myself—impaled through the heart, pinned to the wall like some pitiful lizard.

I was so tired... but at least I had my revenge. Dan Shen... see? I wasn’t as useless as Du Zhong believed, was I?

Tears streaming down my face, I slowly closed my eyes. This time... I could finally rest in peace.

A faint memory surfaced—that day in the Flower Pavilion, waiting for him to finish meditating so we could return to White Bamboo Forest together. Bored, I’d hugged a book to my chest and dozed off. He came to me on a breeze, draping his robe over my shoulders. I’d been about to startle him with a shout when my eyes flew open—only for him to lean down and press his lips to mine.

In that instant, the world stood still, bathed in moonlight.

—Yan ShangI received word that tonight, the senior brother's men would launch a simultaneous, large-scale night assault. Fearing for my master's safety, I rushed back to Zhaowu Mountain through the night, only to witness a scene of utter devastation. Ye Niang was nailed lifeless to the wall, while the senior brother crawled on the ground, begging for mercy. My master, no longer the composed and graceful figure of old, stood with bloodshot eyes, his white robes billowing, sword in hand—a veritable demon of vengeance.

"Betraying your master and ancestors—death!"

"Devoid of humanity and righteousness—death!"

"Turning against the sect—death!"

"Harming your fellow disciples—death!"

With each pronouncement of "death," he thrust his sword mercilessly. Over a dozen strikes later, the senior brother's body was riddled with gaping wounds, twitching uncontrollably, until finally, my master reached out and wrenched his head clean off with bare hands.

I stood frozen in shock, my mind screaming only one thought: Master has gone mad.

Silver needles were embedded in several of his vital acupoints. Though they could unleash all latent human potential, multiplying one's strength and speed severalfold in an instant, without immediate removal, death would soon follow.

"Master!" I cried, rushing forward. Staring at the needles and the horrifying crimson staining his white robes, I found myself at a loss. A man of lifelong compassion who had never shed blood—what depth of fury and grief had driven him to purge the sect in such a manner?

Without even glancing at me, he walked straight to Ye Niang, gently pulled out the sword, and cradled her carefully in his arms. "Changpu..." he murmured softly.

My vision swam. In that instant, I understood everything.

Watching my master stagger forward with Changpu in his arms, I could only follow, hand clamped over my mouth to stifle my sobs.

Step by step, he moved toward Manhua Pavilion, eyes vacant, murmuring his junior sister's name without cease.

It was the longest journey of my life. Finally, the roar of the waterfall reached us—Manhua Pavilion was just ahead. But my master's strength had reached its limit. He collapsed beneath a pear tree near the pavilion, holding his junior sister as his eyes slowly closed for the last time.

I knelt beneath the tree and wept bitterly. Five years of searching had led to this truth, this outcome.

A month later, I succeeded as sect leader of Zhaowu Mountain. Standing in Manhua Pavilion, I scattered my master and junior sister's ashes into the frigid pool beneath the waterfall. The two smooth, round Life Verification Stones—now ordinary rocks—were embedded deep into the eyes of the pavilion's blackbird carving with my inner force.

From this day forth, you may gaze upon Zhaowu Mountain together every day, never to be parted again.

I turned away, my robes damp with dew and adorned with pear blossoms, and departed without looking back.