Zhang Yong collapsed onto the ground beside his companions, his breathing ragged, his eyes half-closed.
"Damn it!"
Zhang Yong pushed himself up and stood, quickly beginning to massage his temples. "What was that just now…"
Everyone sat gasping for breath after sealing the rocky entrance. Silence enveloped the place, save for their hurried breaths.
Liu Yan said in a trembling voice, "A beast… formed from spirits? Is that even possible?"
Wu Ruoxian, who was watching the sealed stone wall, replied, "If there's something worse than death… it's that thing."
Zhang Yong turned his gaze toward the door. Drops of blood still fell from his nose; he wiped them with his sleeve as he said, "If a beast like that is outside, everyone is doomed."
Su Ming looked at him seriously. "And my attempt with concentrated lightning didn't affect it—it absorbed it as if it were nothing. We definitely can't go back even if we wanted to."
Jiang Ruyan looked for a moment toward Su Ming, her expression somewhat fearful. "But… after the time ends, we'll leave the world automatically, right?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment. What Jiang Ruyan said was the most obvious thing—that's what would happen if they were anywhere else in the Celestial Border Realm, but now they were in the middle of the mountain.
It didn't require a genius to make you doubt whether you could stay or leave.
"Then we have no choice but to continue the path," Zhang Yong said firmly. It wasn't right to stay here and wallow in possibilities, hoping for a future that might not exist.
Long Yuliang whispered while pressing on a wound on his arm: "My husband is right. We can't stay here, and we can't go back… we have to move."
Zhang Yong and Wu Ruoxian exchanged a quick glance. Among everyone, they were the least harmed by the spiritual attack of the spirits' wailing, and this might be due to the skill they shared.
But since entering the mountain now, the wailing had suddenly stopped.
Which meant that only the two of them possessed sufficient resistance to what was happening in this place.
They all moved through the long corridor that gradually began to branch until they reached another hall, this time illuminated by a faint blue light rising from stones in the ground.
At the end of the hall, the path split into three routes—three entrances that looked completely identical.
"So, which path shall we take?" Liu Yan couldn't help but ask.
"Should we split up?" Su Ming asked.
Zhang Yong replied immediately: "No, that's madness. It's better if we all walk the same path."
'Only fools would choose separate paths,' Zhang Yong thought inwardly.
"Well then, let's see… since they all seem similar." Zhang Yong raised his finger and pointed randomly. "The middle one!"
He chose the middle passage, then Zhang Yong entered first, followed by Su Ming, then the rest in succession.
But as soon as Zhang Yong and Su Ming crossed the middle of the path, the energy closed behind them like a transparent glass curtain.
Wu Ruoxian tried to cross but hit it, as an invisible wall appeared separating them.
"What's happening?!" Jiang Ruyan exclaimed.
Su Ming quickly returned to strike the barrier with his sword, but nothing happened.
"It seems this barrier is solid—you won't be able to break it," Zhang Yong said, placing his hand on the barrier, frowning. "It appears each path only allows two to pass. Splitting up is inevitable."
He paused for a moment, then looked to the other side of the barrier where the remaining companions stood, hesitant.
Long Yuliang said doubtfully, "So we'll separate…? What if the ends of the paths are different?"
Zhang Yong crossed his arms. "And if they're not, would you prefer to wait for that thing to come and devour you? Your choice."
Long Yuliang nodded hesitantly, then turned toward Wu Ruoxian, Jiang Ruyan, and Liu Yan. Anxiety was etched on their faces, but there was no time for hesitation.
Immediately, the rest split up—Long Yuliang went with Liu Yan, and Wu Ruoxian left with Jiang Ruyan.
Thus, each pair began heading toward a different passage. As Jiang Ruyan stood at the threshold of the last passage, she looked toward Su Ming through the transparent barrier, her eyes full of fear.
Su Ming smiled reassuringly at her and raised his hand, saying, "Don't worry about me."
As soon as each pair entered their passage, the barriers closed behind them in the same way.
Su Ming and Zhang Yong walked together on the path.
"I must say… you two seem to have grown closer," Zhang Yong said with a calm smile.
"Hmm?" Su Ming turned his gaze toward Zhang Yong before smiling. "Yeah? What, are you jealous?"
Zhang Yong's eyebrows rose slightly—he hadn't expected Su Ming to try teasing him. "Me? You're dreaming of that. But regarding you two, I'd say the situation might be… interesting."
"Interesting? What do you mean by that?" Su Ming asked as he continued walking calmly. "You're not the one who spent several days with two beautiful girls."
Zhang Yong sighed quietly. "I'm not really…" Yet Zhang Yong's words stopped. What was the truth of his relationship with each of them? Rather, what did they represent to him?
'It doesn't matter. I just hope everyone survives.'
Su Ming was clearly surprised by Zhang Yong's expression. "Zhang Yong, is it possible that you…"
Zhang Yong shook his head with a smile. "It's far from that. I don't deserve it anyway."
Su Ming fell silent for a moment, but he didn't avert his gaze from Zhang Yong. Then he said in a low voice:
"You always underestimate yourself… despite everything you've done so far."
Suddenly, both of them stopped. A few steps ahead, the passage opened onto a rocky path.
It was a stone bridge extending forward, and at its beginning stood a stone slab inscribed with mental energy:
The Heart Path
Su Ming and Zhang Yong looked at each other in surprise.
"So… we just need to cross this path to get to the other side?" Zhang Yong said in disbelief, because this bridge was short—only about ten meters long.
"It seems so," Su Ming said, shrugging.
"Then… I'll go," Zhang Yong said and stepped forward.
"Be careful," Su Ming said worriedly.
Zhang Yong walked and placed his first foot on the bridge—nothing happened. Then he began walking normally, but the path that was short suddenly seemed extremely long.
Then a voice appeared in Zhang Yong's ears: "Look at yourself, Naoto. Your state is pitiful."
Hearing the voice, he slowly turned toward it. Hiroshi was standing there with a wide smile.
"Hiroshi!"
Without a moment's thought and with raging anger, Zhang Yong grabbed his dagger and cut off his head.
"Oh, what a way to greet your old friend."
Zhang Yong gritted his teeth, his eyes bulging. "I killed you once. What's stopping me from doing it again? This is just an illusion."
He lunged quickly and pierced Hiroshi's abdomen, leaving his arm hanging in his stomach while smiling fiercely.
Hiroshi was still smiling. "I assure you, this is not an illusion. And yes… maybe you killed us, and maybe we deserved to die, but what about them?"
Instantly, Hiroshi disappeared. When Zhang Yong looked at the face, it was Yuan Ling's face. She was coughing up blood, crying. "Zhang… Yong, why… why did you do this to me?"
Seeing her pained expression, Zhang Yong couldn't bear it. The corpse fell to the ground, and he hurried to hold her body in his arms.
When he looked at her, it was just a head—his little brother's head.
"Brother… you promised to return… why… you liar."
Suddenly, the head turned into a black charred skull, and it was still moving its jaw.
At that moment, Zhang Yong was in the first moments of realization. He no longer thought about it being an illusion. Zhang Yong hugged the head tightly: "I'm sorry, little brother. Forgive me… forgive me… for being a failure."
That was his greatest guilt and his biggest failure. He thought he had buried everything in his heart, but it had indeed gotten out of control.
A sound trembled behind Zhang Yong—a quiet, gentle voice, his grandmother's voice.
"Naoto! What have you done to your brother?"
Grandmother immediately covered her mouth, her face filled with disgust toward him.
Zhang Yong stood up immediately and looked at his body. He was holding a bloodied knife, and all his clothes were stained with blood. Before him lay the bodies of Yuan Ling, his brother, Hiroshi, Kazuki, and Takumi.
Zhang Yong extended his hand toward her. "Grandmother… please."
"I can't believe my grandson is a murderer."
Beside grandmother, grandfather stood while holding grandmother as she cried and wailed. Grandfather looked toward Zhang Yong with anger.
"You murderer… we wish we hadn't raised you! You worthless one!"
Those words fell like a heavy burden on Zhang Yong—words from the person he had taken as his role model his entire life, the person who raised him to become what he was, was indeed disgusted with him and hated him.
A voice trembled from the opposite side—his mother's voice as she cried, wailed, and raged.
"Why… why did Jian'er die, why?"
Zhang Yong looked toward her and wanted to approach her, but his father shouted at him.
"Don't come near, you monster!"
At that moment, Naoto's extended arm retreated. "No… it wasn't me… it was the Spirit Hall… the Spirit Hall did it." He held his chest and smiled, trying to hide what was in his conscience. "I avenged him—it's okay."
As his father's face grew uglier, he shouted again: "Look at you, you liar! That's your brother's blood! I see no perpetrator here other than you! I have no son like you. I regret the day I brought you into this world."
Zhang Yong's reality hit the wall hard. "I didn't kill him! I loved my brother—it's impossible for me to—"
"What kind of love is this that you kill your younger brother with your own two hands?"
Zhang Yong grabbed his clothes, and his breathing became heavier. Why don't you believe me? Why? Don't you have eyes?
I didn't kill him—the Spirit Hall did. I avenged him—I avenged the village. So why? Why won't you accept my words?
Why won't even my parents believe me? I didn't do anything!
There was no longer anyone who accepted him. The idea that this was real had indeed invaded his mind.
His grandparents hated him.
His brother loathed him.
His parents regretted bringing him into this world.
No one believed a single word he said.
The pain he felt was greater than any wound he had sustained.
He raised his hands and covered his ears—he didn't want to hear more. But the sound insisted on entering his mind.
His mother was also screaming: "Why… why did Jian have to die? It should have been you—it should have been you who died."
Zhang Yong repeated his mother's words slowly: "It… should have been… me who died?"
At that time, a broken expression invaded Zhang Yong's face, while being watched by dozens of surrounding eyes.
Zhang Yong looked at the eyes—each eye resembled the gazes of everyone he knew:
Hatred
Disgust
Anger
Fear
Sorrow
Gloating
Mockery
All kinds of gazes fell upon Zhang Yong alone.
As if his existence itself was the mistake—there was nothing to blame except his hated self.
That was when he heard Hiroshi's voice again:
"Yes—you should have died. All I wanted was a place to belong, but accept reality—there's no place for the likes of you."
Another voice filled the place—Kazuki's voice:
"Yes—even the person who loved you sacrificed herself for you, while you didn't deserve those feelings. She deceived you—she exploited you and relied on you and your efforts to stay ahead, and when you learned the truth, what did you do? You forgave her like a fool."
Zhang Yong shook his head tremblingly: "That's not true—her intentions weren't bad."
Takumi's voice also spoke: "Now look at your state. You could have saved them all, but you didn't—you let them die. What if you had used all your power from the beginning? Perhaps both your parents would still be alive, and you'd be with your little brother now. But now? Look at yourself—you're nothing but a broken pile of filth."
The three voices sounded again:
"But you can solve this."
"You can meet your loved ones."
"You can live with them happily."
Zhang Yong looked calmly toward Hiroshi: "What must I do?"
Hiroshi smiled widely: "The solution is in your hand."
Zhang Yong looked at his hand holding the dagger and muttered: "This… dagger?"
"That's right—strike your neck, and you'll rest, and your suffering will end."
Zhang Yong's hand trembled as he stared at the gleaming dagger between his fingers, as if seeing the reflection of his first life on its cold surface—all the details began to melt into the fog of his confused consciousness.
He heard overlapping laughter—his grandfather, Kazuki, Takumi—all merging into one voice chanting: "Do it… this will be our end… and your end… the end you deserve."
His thumb slid along the blade's edge, and he felt a warm drop of blood slide down his wrist. At that moment, he suddenly remembered how he used to wipe Yuan Ling's blood from this same hand long ago.
"Yes." Zhang Yong raised the dagger upward and lifted his head, exposing his neck, and smiled as if he had found salvation. "This easily… I'll finally join them…"
In the testing ground, Zhang Yong knew he would return if he cut off his head. But this was real life—if he killed himself here, he would die permanently. But he didn't care—all he wanted was relief.
He moved the dagger quickly and was about to commit suicide, but a foot struck his hand swiftly, and the dagger flew from it. It was Su Ming.
Zhang Yong looked angrily: "Why! This was the only way for me to find peace!"
An angry expression befell Zhang Yong's face: "What's wrong with you! You're not the Zhang Yong I know—what happened?"
Zhang Yong struck his fists: "He's gone—died and disappeared. He never existed from the beginning. The one you know? Shut up—what do you know about me, damn it? You don't know what I'm suffering!" Zhang Yong stood and pulled Su Ming's clothes around his neck. "Every damn night—every time I try to sleep—I hear the voices of my village people. Every day they curse me and blame me, to the point I felt my mind would be torn apart. I couldn't even rest."
Su Ming looked at Zhang Yong: "Zhang Yong, calm down now. I underst—"
Yet Zhang Yong didn't let him finish before releasing him. "Understand? Don't make me laugh—this isn't funny." A mocking laugh appeared on Zhang Yong's face. "You can't—you don't know what I've been through. I… I don't want consolation, or empty words—I don't want to be understood. I want to understand—why despite all my attempts, I still feel I'll lose everything I have—every second I spend with someone I cherish."
With that, Zhang Yong raised his head toward Su Ming: "Saying something like you understand me is a dirty lie. People can't understand each other without conversation. I wanted the opposite to happen, but it can't! All these things—they're easy for you to say. When you change, you change for the better. But when I change, I become worse and worse!"
Not good enough—me—useless—I'm so weak that I can't do anything but scream at my brother now.
Su Ming was shocked whe
he looked at Zhang Yong's expression—tears streaming quietly down his face appeared. Yet, this person couldn't be comforted.
"Do you feel better now that you've gotten what's inside you out? Yes—I won't know what you've suffered, and my suffering may not reach yours. But I trusted you—I told you about my past. You were my friend, and you were my brother. But did you ever consider me your brother?"
Su Ming approached Zhang Yong calmly: "I won't say empty words to please you or anything else. There's one thing I know at this moment—you are my brother. You can hit me until you're satisfied, but my view of you will not change."