Chapter 084

Chapter 84: The Pact

Shen Nan Zhou spoke in a calm voice, like he was telling someone else’s tale: “Back then he was very young. He didn’t even know who his enemies were, much less how to take revenge. An old Daoist happened to pass by his house, saw the slaughtered family and the child hiding among the corpses. The old Daoist could not bear it, so he took the child away and brought him back to the sect.”

He went on, still even and quiet: “The child was young, but he was sensible early. He understood his family died because of him. After he reached the sect, he did not speak a word for ten years.”

He lifted his eyes, voice almost soft: “But the people in that sect were special. There was a loud third senior brother, a brainless fourth senior brother always thinking about running away, a simple and pure second senior sister, and an eldest senior brother who would guard his own to the end.”

He added, like naming a light in the dark: “And the old Daoist.”

“They never blamed the mute boy. They kept protecting him, so when he was thirteen, he finally opened his mouth and called them senior brother and senior sister.”

Ye Wan Wan’s fingers locked tight around the chair arm.

Shen Nan Zhou looked straight into Ye Wan Wan’s eyes, as if he saw himself reflected there, and said, “He spent the happiest days of his life in that sect. It felt like the nightmare from when he was three never happened. But long after, he learned he was unlucky by nature.”

His eyes reddened as he stared at her, his voice edged with suppressed fury: “He was a disaster, a curse.”

“His tribe died because of him. People in the sect were wiped out because of him.”

“Everyone who cared for him died.”

“Anyone who got close to him would become unfortunate.”

“This friend told me, the fastest way to save Heavenly One Sect is-”

He spoke each word like a blade: “Kill him.”

Ye Wan Wan snapped her head toward Shen Nan Zhou.

He did not look away. He was frighteningly calm as he met her gaze: “Kill me, and you can save Heavenly One Sect. Ye Wan Wan, you can do it.”

A thought flashed across her mind, and she blurted in disbelief, “You came to Heavenly One Sect to die?”

Shen Nan Zhou did not answer directly. He gave a bitter smile: “My friend said the world is vast, but he has nowhere left to go. Before dying, he wanted to visit old places and old faces. He already feels satisfied.”

He smiled: “No regrets.”

Ye Wan Wan shot to her feet so fast she knocked the charcoal brazier over. She didn’t even glance at it as she closed in on Shen Nan Zhou and shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Shen Nan Zhou stayed steady and said, “You know very well what it feels like to have no home.”

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes went red.

“I only came back in his place to take a look,” he said, smiling faintly. “Seeing you standing where he used to stand, he said he was happy. Do it.”

“I won’t fight back.”

Ye Wan Wan believed him. On his face she saw nothing but the wish to die. [He really wants to die.]

She closed her eyes, calmed her breath, and spoke in a firm tone: “Shen Nan Zhou.”

When she opened her eyes again, she looked like she had made a choice. She stared at the puzzled boy and said, “You know what I’m like. I repay grudges, and I repay kindness.”

Shen Nan Zhou said, honest and blunt, “Actually, I don’t know.”

Ye Wan Wan let out a short, angry laugh. She took his face in her fingers and made him look at her, then said, “In our last life, you picked me up and gave me a place to stay. In this life, I’ve got your back.”

He froze.

She said, word by word, “I’ve got your back. As long as I’m alive, I will protect you. If anyone wants you dead, they will have to step over my body.”

“I accept your kindness.”

“I will pay it back.”

Shen Nan Zhou stared at her, like he needed time to digest it. After a while, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Ye Wan Wan’s voice was cold: “I know. I also know what I’m doing. Who to protect, who to give up, I spent a lifetime figuring that out.”

“I will protect Heavenly One Sect, and I will protect you.”

Shen Nan Zhou asked, voice chilled, “If you had to choose between me and Heavenly One Sect?”

“Heavenly One Sect,” said Ye Wan Wan without hesitation. “No doubt.”

“Then you should kill me,” he said, every word like ice.

“We’re not at that point,” Ye Wan Wan said, eyes fixed on him.

He faltered for a beat.

She stepped closer and said, “We don’t have to pick between you and Heavenly One Sect yet, because before that, we have a third choice.”

He retreated, and she pressed forward.

When his back hit the table and there was nowhere left to go, Ye Wan Wan stopped. Her voice dropped low, dangerous and persuasive: “We can also…”

“Kill other people.”

Shen Nan Zhou stared at her, searching her face for a long time. Then he covered his brow and laughed under his breath: “You really are…”

“Kill them?”

Ye Wan Wan met his eyes, bright and unwavering.

He glanced away, his voice low: “But I don’t know who the enemy is. He spent a lifetime and never found out.”

Ye Wan Wan said softly, “Fifth senior brother, this time, you are not alone. You have me.”

She held out her hand. Her palm wasn’t soft at all. It was strong, with calluses from years of training. She was like a thorny vine that clawed its way upward. Even if the thorns cut her own skin, she never backed down. She held to her bottom line. She held to her dao.

Even in her last life, with no Golden Core and hardly any spiritual power, she still carved out her own path among many cultivators, forcing everyone to see her, and she became herself. Ye Wan Wan never bowed to fate. Those who blocked her died.

And the people she accepted as her own…

Shen Nan Zhou knew well how good she was to her people. Back then, Li Wan Zhi, that brat, got many good things from her, and she gave them willingly.

Shen Nan Zhou laughed low: “All right, junior sister.”

He reached out. Their hands clasped tight.

Their eyes were equally sharp.

“Then anyone who blocks us,” he said, “will die.”

Ye Wan Wan smiled, her voice cold as frost: “Yes.”

It felt like a pact, made for the same goal. In this moment, they became allies again. This time, Ye Wan Wan would never betray an ally, because their goal was to protect Heavenly One Sect.

She said coolly, “Then first, tell me how trouble started at Heavenly One Sect. Who was the first to be hit?”

Shen Nan Zhou frowned, forcing himself to remember. Under her steady stare he looked aside and said, very quietly, “My friend’s memory isn’t whole. I only remember this: the first one to meet disaster was second senior sister. After she died, eldest senior brother slaughtered a city.”