"I lost." After a while, Ban Xia finally spoke, raising her eyes heavily. "As you wished, there's no such thing as pure love in this world that can disregard all external factors."
"You're wrong." Chi Wangchuan curled his lips. "In that statement, you made two mistakes."
As he said this, he lifted his head. A bright moon hung in the starry sky, as calm as he was at this moment.
"The first mistake is that pure love does exist. Someone once passed my test—after ten questions, not a single fingernail was harmed."
"Yuan Fang? That abandoned woman named Yuan Fang?" Xuan Ye immediately reacted upon hearing this.
"Yes." Chi Wangchuan looked toward his heart. "She passed my test unscathed, so I gave her the happiness I promised."
"Then what about the second mistake? You just said I made two mistakes. What's the second one?"
Ban Xia pressed urgently, already sensing the subtlety of the situation.
Chi Wangchuan didn't answer her, only took a deep, deep breath.
"The second mistake..." After several breaths, he finally spoke. "...is that you didn't lose."
The tweezers placed on Xuan Ye's pinky finger were removed. The bloodstains were startling but had already dried.
No pain is insurmountable.
It was finally time to conclude the story of Chi Wangchuan.
"You didn't lose."
These words sounded somewhat distant, carrying the flavor of dissipated love and hatred.
"I saw what's in your heart. Although you may never forgive him, you still remember every bit of his goodness, his appearance, even every word he said at the final moment. When you recall these, your heart isn't filled entirely with hatred."
"Love indeed cannot erase one's stance, but similarly, one's stance cannot erase love either."
His speech was profoundly literary, gentle and calm—unlike a Blood Demon, more like a philosopher.
Ban Xia's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she blinked repeatedly. "You mean I won? Are you crazy? Or has God's merciful light suddenly graced your soul!"
"You did win." Chi Wangchuan stood up. "Earlier I gave you many difficulties, and the questions were extremely tricky, but there's genuine feeling in your heart. I can no longer deny this fact."
"You said if I won, you would undo the curse for him!"
"Naturally." Chi Wangchuan chuckled coldly, his fingers assuming position as he began to manipulate the incense. "I, Chi Wangchuan, have existed for more than a century, yet I've never learned to go back on my word. I will undo the curse for him now, and as I said before, we'll have a fair fight like real men!"
Undoing the curse took a little effort. Soon, the blood-red color faded from Xuan Ye's eyes, restoring their clarity.
"Draw your blade."
Under the pear tree, Chi Wangchuan spoke softly. The wind rustled his clothes, yet he carried an air of bright dignity.
Xuan Ye slowly drew Moon Glow, still sitting cross-legged. Blood continuously dripped from his fingertips as he raised his eyes to look at him. "Aren't you going to tell me your story? Will you carry the truth, imprisoned forever within you?"
"Just now when you were pulling out the fingernails, your energy was leaking. In a fight now, you might not necessarily defeat me!"
Xuan Ye neither confirmed nor denied this statement, remaining calm. "I want to know where your fingernails went, and for what reason you would bet on this certain-to-lose game with me. Actually, deep in your heart, you must also have the desire to share your secret with someone."
Chi Wangchuan hesitated slightly, the fingers that were preparing to manipulate the incense drooping, trembling faintly.
Keeping a secret all alone—this too is a great pain."My story... it's actually nothing remarkable."
He began with these words, striving for calm, yet finding it impossible—his voice, body, and heart all trembling in unison. Just this one sentence plunged him into the icy depths of memory.
"Really, it's nothing special. It's just that there was a woman..."
After a long silence, he continued, taking another deep, shuddering breath.
It was just a woman, just someone who captivated his heart.
Most stories begin this way.
Her name wasn't extraordinary either—Ji Li, a pseudonym she adopted after coming to the Central Plains.
When he met her, she had eyes full of desire and a fierce determination to crush all obstacles in her path.
But he didn't mind.
Because at night, when no one was around, her eyes would sometimes waver with uncertainty. She would lean on his shoulder and sigh, saying nothing, just sighing.
It was that moment—a fleeting vulnerability beneath her strength—that won his heart. He felt he should bear her burdens, including her hatred.
"I'm from Miaojiang. My family has practiced Bewitchment spells for generations."
"Bewitchment spells aren't actually evil arts."
"But the man who slaughtered my entire clan didn't think so."
"He was so powerful, yet he didn't even spare the children..."
This is how she spoke of her past, and he believed every word.
Bewitchment spells aren't evil—true enough.
His devotion to her was entirely voluntary, certainly not because he was under a spell.
She never forced him.
Even the spell that could make a man utterly devoted was merely mentioned in passing.
It was he who grew curious about this spell, pursuing it relentlessly, until he slowly, slowly became ensnared.
"Make a man utterly devoted? The Menstrual Blood Curse?"
Hearing this part of the story, Ban Xia couldn't help but interject.
In her idle moments, she enjoyed watching a program called Midnight Tales of the Strange, and she still vividly remembered this disgusting curse.
"It does involve menstrual blood, but it's not the Menstrual Blood Curse. That curse only controls a man for a month at most. But this one... it controls him for a lifetime."
Ban Xia shuddered and asked, "Besides menstrual blood, what else is needed? Corpse Oil?"
"Corpse Oil is required."
"A frog with eggs."
"A pear tree that blooms but bears no fruit."
"And..."
Chi Wangchuan paused here.
The forest began to fog again, and the pear tree from that time slowly took on a bloody hue.
"And... the live-pulled fingernails of a wholehearted man."
He spat out these words, along with a breath tainted by the scent of blood.
Live-pulled fingernails—the sensation remained vivid to this day.
From the pinky to the ring finger, then the middle finger... one by one, the tweezers would lift the nail, the flesh struggling to break free, followed by that heart-rending final pull...
Such agony, repeated ten times, nearly turned his hair white overnight.
Back then, Ji Li had also shed tears. Her hands trembled as she pried his nails, repeating over and over, "I've cast a curse on my enemy. Once I've taken revenge, we'll leave this place and never look back."
There was sincerity in those tears—he could see it.
So he believed. He believed every word she said.
Following her instructions, he accompanied her to find the pear tree. Together, they prepared all the ingredients, buried them at the roots, and cast the curse upon the tree.
The following year, the tree bloomed and bore a single, terrifyingly green pear.
"This is the Jade Pear."He still remembered clearly what Ji Li had said when plucking the pear, and the fleeting ferocity in her eyes as she spoke.
"Let's begin."
That final declaration had overthrown all her previous fragility.
"She's deceiving you. If revenge were the only goal, a Menstrual Blood Curse would have been sufficient."
Even Ban Xia, who was merely listening to the story, could detect the loopholes—proof of how foolish and naive he had been back then.
What a flawed so-called plan it was.
She would find a way to cast the Curse using the Jade pear on their enemy, then lure him in; he would hide in the darkness, waiting for the right moment to leap out with his blade.
The hiding spot was one they had dug together, beneath the large bed in the bedroom, no more than ten feet deep—he could spring out in one leap.
"This man possesses exceptional martial skills; killing him won't be easy. You must wait for the perfect moment," Ji Li instructed as he descended, handing him a waterskin. "Take some water. You might go without food down there, but you can't do without drink."
He understood what that "perfect moment" meant.
During the throes of passion, no matter how skilled a martial artist, the man would never escape his fatal strike.
Inevitably, unease gnawed at him, so after descending, he remained silent, clutching the waterskin tightly.
"I'll find a chance to cast the Curse. It might take some time. Wait for me, and whatever you do, don't come out."
As she left, Ji Li locked the door, her words filling him with boundless hope.
Wait for me...
Happiness was within reach, requiring only this final wait.
So he waited for her.
A day and a night passed, and she did not return.
He dared not emerge, fearing the enemy might arrive the moment he did.
The wait grew increasingly unbearable.
Ants crawled over his feet in the hidden passage. He was hungry, thirsty, and famished.
It was only then that he remembered the waterskin in his hand.
Recalling Ji Li's words now, they seemed considerate.
—"Take some water. You might go without food down there, but you can't do without drink."
With gratitude for that thoughtfulness, he raised his hand, opened the leather waterskin, and swallowed a mouthful of water, gulping it down hard.
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