Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Choosing Great-Uncle

Yue Yun Qiao understood instantly.

This was meant to tear them apart.

She jabbed a finger forward, fury shaking her hand. “Despicable!”

She turned toward the house. “Senior Brother Bai, think this through! If you walk the Devil Path, the sect will come purge you!”

Guan Mo Wen chuckled. “Immortal Maiden Yue is right. But the world is cold. A favored genius like you could never understand.”

The blood in the grooves spread faster.

Under the Yellow Springs Tree, Bai clan members began to wither as if their bones were being hollowed from the inside. Some convulsed, making choking, wet sounds, their eyes rolling back.

They couldn’t hold on any longer.

“Father!” Bai Meng Lian cried, voice breaking. “Mother!”

Her tears turned to rage, and her respect for Bai Chong An curdled into hatred. “Great-Uncle!”

“My father showed you nothing but respect—how can you be so heartless?”

“And Third Sister… she’s only twelve!”

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then, from inside the small house, a sigh drifted out—almost like pity.

But no answer followed.

Bai Meng Lian’s heart sank.

Now she believed it.

Great-Uncle had lost himself completely. He was determined to become a devil cultivator—no matter what he had to grind into dust.

Bai Meng Lian drew her sword and stepped to stand beside Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao.

When Guan Mo Wen saw it, understanding flickered in his eyes.

“So Eldest Miss has chosen them,” he murmured. “What a shame.

“You were the one Patron valued most.”

Bai Meng Lian’s voice was ice. “That was the old Great-Uncle. Now he’s a devil fiend with no humanity left.”

Guan Mo Wen didn’t argue. He only turned his gaze to Bai Meng Xing.

“And Eldest Young Master?” he asked gently.

Bai Meng Xing’s mouth opened. Nothing came out.

Guan Mo Wen’s tone stayed kind, almost coaxing. “Don’t be nervous. If you choose Patron, come stand on my side.”

Bai Meng Xing froze.

His whole life had been three simple things: eat and drink, avoid his tutor, and bully whoever he could.

When anything went wrong, he called for his mother.

“Mom…” he whispered without thinking.

Then he looked up and saw her.

Sharp-tongued, domineering, hated by half the clan—and yet, in that moment, she stared at him as if he were her heart pulled outside her chest.

His father, too, face twisted, trying to turn toward him even while the array drained him. His father who secretly skimmed money from the shop and claimed he was saving spirit stones so Bai Meng Xing could enter the Cinnabar Cloud Palace someday.

“No.” Bai Meng Xing shook his head, tears spilling. “No…”

He backed toward Huo Chong Xiao, voice cracking. “You… you hurt my father and my mother…”

Guan Mo Wen blinked, honestly surprised. “Eldest Young Master… that’s unexpected.”

Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao were surprised too. Bai Meng Xing was useless and cruel to the weak, but when it counted, he’d held.

Only Bai Meng Jin remained.

No one even asked her.

Guan Mo Wen’s eyes slid over her with no expectation at all.

Then Bai Meng Jin spoke—calm, clear.

“I choose Great-Uncle.”

And she walked toward Guan Mo Wen.

Shock snapped through the courtyard.

Huo Chong Xiao’s eyes widened. Yue Yun Qiao stared as if she’d been slapped.

Bai Meng Lian and Bai Meng Xing spoke at the same time, voices raw.

“Sister?”

Bai Meng Jin stopped beside Guan Mo Wen and faced them.

“Elder Sister. Brother.” Her voice didn’t shake. “You both have parents. I don’t.

“The people dying here today have all bullied me, one way or another. I have no reason to throw my life away for them.”

Yue Yun Qiao’s anger flared white-hot. “Junior Sister Bai, I thought you were warm and kind! We didn’t know each other before, and you still saved me. How can you help evil now?”

Bai Meng Jin’s eyes softened, almost regretful. “I’m sorry.

“Senior Sister Yue… if it were anyone else, I would stand with you. But Great-Uncle and I share blood. Compared to that, I want him to survive.”

“You…” Yue Yun Qiao trembled with rage.

Huo Chong Xiao caught her arm. “Junior Sister. Let it go.”

“Fine!” Yue Yun Qiao snarled, eyes bright with tears.

Guan Mo Wen clapped softly, delighted. “Second Miss, you really are the smartest one in this family.

“As long as today succeeds, you’ll be Patron’s only heir.”

The moment he finished, the Yellow Springs Tree gave a dull, heavy thud—like a coffin lid settling.

The Yin-Yang Umbrella above it spun faster.

The Bai clan members screamed as their blood was drained in an instant.

“Aaaah—”

One collapsed.

Then another.

Then another.

“Mom!” Bai Meng Xing screamed, trying to rush forward.

Bai Meng Lian yanked him back so hard he stumbled. She was sobbing, but her grip was iron. “Don’t go!

“You won’t save them. You’ll only die with them…”

In the end, every one of them fell.

Blood overflowed the grooves.

The Yellow Springs Tree’s withered leaves trembled—and then, slowly, green crept back into them, as if life had finally been fed.

Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao had never seen an art so vile. Their faces turned storm-dark.

The Yin-Yang Umbrella spun, converting stolen life and sending it into the house.

The devil qi in the courtyard thickened, soothing into something heavier, denser.

“This is bad,” Huo Chong Xiao shouted. “His devil heart is about to form!

“Break it—now!”

He raised his sword and struck first at Guan Mo Wen.

Bai Meng Jin had never seen Guan Mo Wen fight. She’d only known his cultivation was high.

Now, Guan Mo Wen lifted one hand, and devil qi streamed out like a tide.

Huo Chong Xiao was forced back a step, nearly losing his footing.

“Senior Brother!” Yue Yun Qiao drew her sword and charged. “I’ll help you!”

The three tangled in violent arcs of light and black.

Bai Meng Lian tightened her grip, ready to join—

Bai Meng Jin stepped in front of her and Bai Meng Xing.

“Elder Sister. Brother.” Her voice was steady. “I don’t want to fight you.

“Let’s make a deal. If you don’t move, I won’t either. There’s no need for us to kill each other.”

“Pah!” Bai Meng Lian spat, eyes burning. “Who says we’re on the same side?

“Since you’ve made your choice, we’re not sisters anymore!”

Bai Meng Xing swallowed hard, then nodded frantically. “M-me too. From now on, you’re not my sister anymore.”

Bai Meng Jin’s smile turned thin. “As if you ever treated me like one.

“Brother, how many times have you called me a bastard since we were kids? Do you think I don’t remember?

“And Elder Sister… you didn’t bully me. But when I was bullied, did you ever truly stop it?”

Bai Meng Lian’s face flushed with anger. “Didn’t I help whenever I saw it? What was I supposed to do when I didn’t see it?”

“So you still weren’t sincere.” Bai Meng Jin’s eyes cooled. “I don’t need cheap pity.”

“Fine. Fine!” Bai Meng Lian bared her teeth and drew her sword. “If you see no sisterly bond at all, then I won’t go easy on you!”

Steel flashed.

Bai Meng Lian slashed.

Bai Meng Jin blocked and retreated.

Bai Meng Lian chased without hesitation.

Bai Meng Xing couldn’t keep up with their swordwork, so he grabbed whatever he could—stones, broken bricks—and hurled them wildly, screaming, “Don’t run! Take this!”

The Withered Leaf Cottage descended into chaos.