While the furious charge of the Gu guards met the main force of the Seventy-Two Islands outside the front gate—a chaotic, clanging scene of swords and desperate valor—a second, equally fierce battle raged at the rear of the compound.
At the back gate of the Sunset Sect, the remaining loyal members of the Sunset Sect were locked in a desperate defensive struggle. They knew this rear entrance was the most vulnerable point, and they were fighting with grim determination to create an unbreakable barricade. Their enemies here were Wu Jinghua and a large contingent of her own Seventy-Two Islands forces, who sought to exploit the diversion at the front to achieve a swift, fatal infiltration. The defenders lunged and parried, their faces set against the ruthless tide, using every inch of the narrow space to prevent the invaders from breaching the perimeter and seizing the sect from the inside.
Yao Hu shouted at his subordinates, "Retreat to the inner layer!"
Wu Jinghua shouted, ruthless, "Kill them!"
Yao Huo ordered, "Turn on the trap!"
One of his seriously injured subordinates replied, defeated, "Guard Yao, the trap doesn't work. We don't know why."
Yao Huo commanded his brother, "Ah Hu, go to the control room!"
Yao Hu looked at his older brother. "Ge, hold the line and wait for me!"
Yao Huo scoffed, determined to hold his ground. "I will hold the line for you. Go now!"
Yao Hu rushed into the control room and saw that the two people who were supposed to control the trap had died on the ground. He walked slowly into the room and saw a piece of firewood stuck in the turning wheel. He tried to pull out the piece of wood, but he couldn't. Just when he was about to pull it harder, Yuan Zixin walked into the room with another piece of firewood.
Yao Hu took a step back from the turning wheel, looking at Yuan Zixin coldly. "What are you doing here?"
Yuan Zixin lied smoothly, "I was going to use this to try to unlock the stuck wheel."
Yao Hu, momentarily satisfied, said, "Good idea." As soon as he turned around, the realization hit him: Yuan Zixin had not been with them since the first day they walked into Sunset Sector. He stopped, suddenly wary. "Master Yuan… I don't remember seeing you here..."
Yao Hu suddenly turned to face Yuan Zixin, only to see the piece of firewood fly directly at his forehead, striking his head fiercely. He stumbled backward toward the stuck wheel in a daze. His left arm slammed on the jammed piece of firewood, and the force of his slammed arm made the jammed piece of firewood slightly deflect. The wheels suddenly turned, crushing his left arm. He screamed in agony. Yuan Zixin drew a knife from his right boot and began to stab Yao Hu repeatedly.
Yuan Zixin stabbed Yao Hu and roared in furious entitlement, "I should be the next leader of the Sunset Sector, but Ma Jingguo dared to put your untouchable filth above me! This is my family heritage, and I am the real master of Sunset Sector!" He continued to stab Yao Hu.
After Yuan Zixin determined that Yao Hu was dead, he stepped back and watched Yao Hu's body slide down to the floor, Yao Hu's left arm still horribly stuck on the turning wheel. He rushed over and kicked Yao Hu fiercely. The force of Yuan Zixin's kick tore Yao Hu's body from his stuck arm.
Yuan Zixin gave a wry smile. After laughing, he turned around and stared at Bazar Batu, Yan Zhanjin, and Yuan Chaomei, who had just walked in. He said, surprisingly calm, "Chaomei, I can explain."
Yuan Chaomei asked, her voice heavy with disappointment, "Godfather, why did you kill Guard Yao?"
Yuan Zixin sneered, justifying the murder with disdain. "Guard Yao? He is not worthy to be a guard. The title of a guard is glorious. This lowly life-prisoner does not even have the qualifications to be a part of Sunset Sect."
Bazar Batu injected logic into the chaos. "Master Yuan, how do you know this room? I thought that only people in Sunset Sect knew about this room."
Yuan Zixin lied again. "I accidentally stumbled into this room."
Yan Zhanjin observed clinically, "It looks like you over stabbed him."
Yuan Zixin knew he couldn't hide his crime from the two witnesses. He looked at Yuan Chaomei and ordered, desperate now, "Chaomei, kill them!"
Yuan Chaomei looked at Yuan Zixin, refusing the command. "Godfather, why do you want to kill the people of Sunset Sect? This is against the rules. Killing a member is punishable by death. You should know this."
Yuan Zixin shouted angrily, his grievance boiling over. "Why? Do you dare to ask me why? Did you suddenly forget?"
Yuan Chaomei's voice was low, burdened by the past. "No... I will never forget."
Bazar Batu pressed him. "Master Yuan, this is a matter of Sunset Sect, and it has nothing to do with you. Why do you want to kill these three people?"
Yuan Zixin sighed, his ambition finally erupting into confession. "Because I should be the next chief of Sunset Sect, not Ma Jingguo, nor you!" He looked at Yuan Chaomei, gnashing his teeth. "I am the legal successor after Cousin Yuan, but Cousin Yuan handed over the leader seat to Zan Huangming. Over the years, I have tried very hard to get rid of Zan Huangming. When I finally got rid of him, Ma Jingguo took over. He didn't give the leader seat to me, instead he planned to give the leader seat to that old witch Wen Huifang!"
Yuan Chaomei shouted angrily, "The killing of Wen qianbei, did you participate in it?"
Yuan Zixin admitted calmly, "Yes."
Yuan Chaomei asked, tears welling in her eyes, "Godfather, have you cooperated with Fu Yuanjun?"
Yuan Zixin stated the betrayal plainly. "I provided him information."
Yan Zhanjin stepped out from behind Bazar Batu. "Did you create the bones inside the Rao Manner?"
Yuan Zixin smiled, correcting him. "No, those were created by the Rao ancestors." He looked at the three young people, ready to reveal more ancient sins. "My father sent a letter to the four households' leaders to get rid of Zan Huangming, but after they killed Ji Chujiu, they caught Zan Huangming and told father that Zan Huangming was dead."
Yuan Chaomei looked at Yuan Zixin, pleading with him to consider his last tie to morality. "If Xiurong knew your true face, do you think she would accept it?"
Yuan Zixin said indifferently, "She has to accept because she is a Yuan."
Yuan Chaomei shouted, frantic now. "She and Rao Zhengsheng are going to get married. If you do this, you will ruin her entire future. You can ruin the future of others, but you cannot ruin your own daughter's future!"
Yuan Zixin remained stubbornly fixed on his path. "Every step of progress will inevitably have some scars."
Bazar Batu sneered, trying to inject reality into the delusion. "Master Yuan, please wake up from your delusion. Sunset Sect was brought back by Chief Xin. No matter how hard you try to make a good impression, people in Sunset Sect will not accept you. No one wants to follow you, including Chief Yuan. Do you understand?" He looked at Yuan Zixin, annoyance etched on his face.
Yuan Zixin looked at Yuan Chaomei, his patience gone. "Who has your loyalty?"
Yuan Chaomei answered without hesitation. "Xin Taiyang."
Yuan Zixin asked madly, the anger boiling over. "Since when did you become his loyal dog?"
Yuan Chaomei delivered the devastating truth that explained her allegiance. "Since the day godfather asked me to undress in front of the elders of Sunset Sect."
Bazar Batu and Yan Zhanjin stared at Yuan Chaomei, stunned into silence. Yan Zhanjin murmured sadly, "Chief Yuan..."
Bazar Batu shouted at Yuan Zixin, his voice shaking with disgust. "Yuan Zixin... You... You are a sick old bastard!"
Yuan Chaomei begged, tears streaming down her face. "Godfather, please stop what you are doing. I will help you to ask for leniency from the elders."
Yuan Zixin looked at Yuan Chaomei and said, absolute in his pride, "I know what I'm doing. Either you help me or don't get in the way."
Yuan Chaomei shook her head. "I can't help you."
Yuan Zixin gnashed his teeth. "Then don't block me!" He walked aggressively toward Bazar Batu and Yan Zhanjin.
Yuan Chaomei closed her eyes and, with a swift movement, pierced Yuan Zixin's chest with a needle. He stopped, his eyes wide in disbelief, and looked down at her. "You..." He spat out blood.
Yuan Chaomei quickly stepped forward, catching him before he fell to the ground. She wiped the blood from his mouth, sobbing. "Godfather, I don't want you to continue making the same mistakes!"
Yuan Zixin spouted more blood, looking directly at Yuan Chaomei with a pair of disgusting, hateful eyes. He spoke his last, bitter curse. "You ungrateful person, when I die, I will haunt you forever..." He took a final breath and died in Yuan Chaomei's arms, his eyes open in an eternal glare.
Yuan Chaomei cried, closing his eyes gently. "Godfather, I'm sorry. If the next life is true, I will repay you for raising me." She laid Yuan Zixin's body on the floor. She stood up and looked at Bazar Batu. "Help me remove that piece of firewood."
After several unsuccessful attempts, Bazar Batu shook his head gravely at Yuan Chaomei. "It doesn't work. For this to work, we need to take the whole thing apart and rebuild it from scratch."
Yuan Chaomei frowned, despairing. "We don't have time."
Yan Zhanjin urged them to leave. "We can't stay here either. Yingjie hasn't come back with our backup people yet. Mingyang and Ah Lok rushed to the gate to stop Fu Yuanjun. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it is for us."
Bazar Batu agreed. "Zhanjin is right. We need to leave."
Yuan Chaomei glanced at Yuan Zixin one last time and muttered a silent apology in her heart: "Godfather, Chaomei is sorry. Chaomei can't continue to follow you, knowingly that you continue to repeat the same mistakes of the ancestors many years ago." She wiped her tears and quickly followed Bazar Batu and Yan Zhanjin out of the control room.