A crowd had gathered outside the Good Luck Theatre Group's shophouse, with everyone watching the tense stand-off between the Chang Clan's men and the city guards, albeit from a safe distance.
Everyone had already heard of how Chang Huien went against the orders of City Lord Lan Huolian to bring the cultivators back into the city. Now, they were all curious to see just how things would end!
City Lord Lan Huolian personally led the city guards, looking way more solemn than his usual self as he stared down from his horse at the leader of the Chang Clan's retainers.
The Chang Clan's men did not number more than ten, greatly outnumbered by the dozens of city guards who surrounded them with ease. Despite that, the leader of the Chang Clan's retainers did not look one bit nervous as he matched City Lord Lan Huolian's gaze, a clear testament to his experience in battle.
He stood directly in the path of the city guards, blocking any access into the shop house.
But perhaps more surprisingly, the city guards were actually just standing there in wait. Despite their clear superiority in numbers, it would appear that they had absolutely no intention of forcing their way in.
"What a crowd," Chang Huien remarked calmly as he made his way out of the shophouse. Cai Caoyuan and Zhao Yunxiao followed closely behind, standing to his left and right.
"Young Hero," City Lord Lan Huolian directly ignored Chang Huien to address Zhao Yunxiao.
"You seem to have regained your composure, City Lord Lan," Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes. "Or am I wrong?"
He observed the city lord carefully, waiting to see just how the latter would react. Depending on City Lord Lan Huolian's response, Zhao Yunxiao would not mind showing him just what it meant to dare plot against the Black Tortoise Sect!
"Would it be okay if we speak inside, in private?" City Lord Lan Huolian asked in response, surprising everyone present.
"Are you sure about that?" Zhao Yunxiao smirked. "Aren't you afraid of what I might do to you in private?"
This time, City Lord Lan Huolian responded not with words, but by decisively dismounting from his horse and walking straight towards the door of the shophouse. The confused retainers of the Chang Clan subconsciously stepped aside to make way for him, as did Chang Huien himself.
Just like that, City Lord Lan Huolian directly walked past all of the Chang Clan's retainers, Chang Huien, Zhao Yunxiao, and Cai Caoyuan, entering the shophouse without trouble.
Zhao Yunxiao smiled.
This was a side of City Lord Lan Huolian that he had not seen before, but it would be a lie to say that he did not find it likeable. Perhaps it was not just his bloodline that earned him the title of city lord after all.
It did not take long before the group found themselves seated in Cai Caoyuan's office.
Zhao Yunxiao, Gu Qiansi, Lu Zhiying, Chang Huien, and Cai Caoyuan. The five of them turned towards City Lord Lan Huolian, waiting to hear out just what the latter had to say.
"My apologies."
The first words that came out of City Lord Lan Huolian's mouth caused the group to exchange glances in surprise, but the next line immediately answered the same question that had appeared in each of their minds.
"My men have reported back, saying that they witnessed your companion battling the one who shot my son," City Lord Lan Huolian elaborated. "Thank you for helping me avenge my son, but may I know where the culprit is right now?"
"He is dead, but we have destroyed his corpse to avoid further complications," Zhao Yunxiao answered without hesitation. "You can rest assured that he will not be a source of trouble in the future."
It was true that the culprit had died, though admittedly, that had not been their original intention. After the fierce battle with Nie Hanchang, followed by the long and arduous torture administered by Gu Qiansi, he had silently succumbed to his injuries during the group's night battle with the other Scarlet Leaf Sect members.
That said, it was a lie that they had destroyed his corpse. At this very moment, the corpse remained within Zhao Yunxiao's spatial pouch, but he had zero intention of handing over a cultivator's corpse to an ordinary mortal.
Who knew what complications could arise from doing so, especially considering that the cultivator was from the Scarlet Leaf Sect?
Not to mention how a cultivator's corpse could corrupt City Lord Lan Huolian and his men, they could also end up being implicated should other Scarlet Leaf Sect members arrive to investigate the matter!
"I see. That's unfortunate," City Lord Lan Huolian nodded in understanding. "I guess this result is my fault in a way. I have always known the truth about the ancestors but chose to hide it from Guyue, thinking that there is no harm in allowing his love for the ancestors to grow without restraint. Who knew that this would result in him being overcome by shame when he eventually learnt of the truth?"
"Please don't understate your involvement. It is one thing for your son to feel ashamed when the truth is revealed. However, as his father and the lord of the city, you actually attempted to bury the truth by framing us," Zhao Yunxiao corrected. "That is on you."
"Yes, you are right. I definitely should have stood firm and rejected Guyue's request, no matter how desperate he sounded," City Lord Lan Huolian replied. "I was blinded by my love for my son, hoping to salvage whatever remained of his world instead of letting it come crashing down in its entirety. I seek your forgiveness for my mistake."
Thud-!
Much to everyone's surprise, City Lord Lan Huolian fell to his knees and kowtowed towards Zhao Yunxiao.
"As the lord of Demonfall, I bear all responsibility for my mistake. If you wish to expose the truth about the ancestors, I will support the claim instead of challenging it. If you wish for me to leave my position as city lord, I will announce my resignation immediately. But please do not hold it against the people of the city for their earlier transgressions. In exchange, I shall accept any punishment that the great cultivators wish to mete out on me!"
Zhao Yunxiao exchanged glances with Gu Qiansi, then let out a tired sigh. This was already the second time that someone had begged them for mercy tonight.
"You are right. You definitely deserve to be punished for disrespecting the Black Tortoise Sect," Zhao Yunxiao slowly stood up and spoke solemnly. "From today, you are to live solely for the sake of the city, and devote all of your time and effort to protecting and improving the lives of the people. No longer should your self-interests be at the top of your priority. Instead, if personal sacrifices need to be made for the sake of the city, then you shall do so without hesitation!"
"This...?" City Lord Lan Huolian looked up in surprise. "Is that... supposed to be my punishment?"
"What? Do you think it's too heavy a punishment?" Zhao Yunxiao snorted in disdain.
Gu Qiansi let out a faint smile. Lu Zhiying grinned widely.
Chang Huien closed his eyes in satisfaction. Cai Caoyuan widened his eyes in surprise.
"N-No, not at all! Thank you for your mercy, great cultivators!" City Lord Lan Huolian's forehead hit the ground once again. "I will definitely do as you say!"
"Then our work is done here," Zhao Yunxiao let out a long sigh of relief. "As for the truth behind the ancestors of the city, I will leave that for you and the citizens of Demonfall to deal with as you deem fit. We can't be bothered to interfere in something as trivial as that. Or do you have anything to say about that, Lord Chang?"
"What happened in the past has nothing to do with me," Chang Huien shrugged. "As long as City Lord Lan does a good job governing the city, the Chang Clan has better things to do than to go around digging up the past. You would be better off worrying about the Good Luck Theatre Group's performance. Who knows? They might just decide to change up their storyline."
"I am just glad that there is no longer a threat to the lives of me and my staff," Cai Caoyuan shook his head. "As long as the curse has been completely removed, I am more than happy to continue with the current storyline of the performance. Changing the storyline would only end up inviting way more trouble than necessary – not a wise business decision."
"I see..." City Lord Lan Huolian let out a bitter smile upon hearing their words.
From the looks of it, perhaps there had never been a need to go to such great lengths to bury the truths of the past. It had all been in their head, and nobody really cared as much about the past as they thought they did.
Had they known this earlier, perhaps his son could still be alive right now.
***
That evening, Zhao Yunxiao and his fellow disciples from the Black Tortoise Sect occupied one of the houses around the open plaza, standing by the second-storey window to watch the performance from a distance, in private.
Among the crowd, people could be seen holding up makeshift banners stating either how apologetic or how thankful they were to the disciples of the Black Tortoise Sect.
This was a result of a joint announcement by City Lord Lan Huolian and Chang Huien earlier, informing everyone that they had misunderstood the Black Tortoise Sect members, and that the cultivators had actually helped the city apprehend those responsible for the unnatural deaths.
At the same time, the two clan leaders also took Zhao Yunxiao's advice to refrain from naming the Scarlet Leaf Sect as the true culprits. This was to avoid any potential backlash from the unorthodox sect in the future.
On the theatre stage, Xi Hei stared at the Night Emperor with a look of determination as he spoke his final line.
"If this is what it takes, then I shall gladly give up my life to protect my friends... my people... my world!"
While the crowd's excitement rose to a climax, Gu Qiansi let out a sigh of relief. "There are no more energy undulations coming from the pendant."
"Naturally," Zhao Yunxiao answered with a smirk. "I am the one who dealt with it, after all."
"Tch, show off," Gu Qiansi rolled her eyes. "Still, isn't this a little depressing to see?"
"Completing the mission is depressing?" Zhao Yunxiao raised an eyebrow. "And you call me a workaholic?"
"I'm not talking about that! I mean the story of Demonfall!" Gu Qiansi snapped before letting out yet another melancholic sigh. "Do you remember what Wen Guoping said previously? About how Demonfall City is a spiritual symbol of how the power of the heart can conquer all odds? Well, it would appear that simply loving others is not always enough on its own."
In this case, it could be said that all parties involved had acted with love in their hearts.
Unfortunately, either because they did not realise what it was that the other party truly wanted, or did not understand the right way to go about pursuing their own happiness, things ultimately resulted in a tragedy for everyone.
Had Lan Fangyan and Qian Qiqi been honest with Lei He about their love from the start...
Had Lei He voiced his concerns instead of opting to maximise the growth of his loved ones by slowly prodding them towards their goals...
Had Lei Tingyi devoted her life to carrying on her beloved master's legacy instead of focusing on seeking vengeance...
Had Lei He and Lei Tingyi been honest about their love for each other at the end, instead of blindly following societal norms that no one knew who came up with in the first place...
Had City Lord Lan Huolian and his son Lan Guyue accepted their beloved ancestors' flaws instead of trying to hide it at any cost...
Perhaps everything would have been ended differently.
Perhaps all of them would have been able to enjoy a happy ending.
"But isn't it obvious that feelings alone won't be enough?" Lu Zhiying casually broke the heavy atmosphere by posing a question, confusion apparent in her voice. "What can feelings alone achieve? One definitely needs to follow through with the appropriate actions as well!"
Behind them, Nie Hanchang's eyes glazed out for a moment.
Simply loving others was not always enough on its own, eh?
If only he had understood this concept earlier...
"Let's not overthink things. Not everything is as it looks on the surface," Zhao Yunxiao chimed in. "Be it the death of Lei He, the story of the Lan Fangyan and Qian Qiqi, the vicious actions of Lei Tingyi, or even City Lord Lan and Lan Guyue's accusations against us, none of those stories are what they look like on the surface. So, who knows? Perhaps even what we have learnt here is nothing but an elaborate cover-up for the truth. In the end, only the ones present at that time could be absolutely certain of the truth."
Perhaps this uncertainty was also why Lin Xiao[1] found it difficult to trust the words of even his own sect, as well as why Wei Yuandi[2] had chosen to look only at outcomes to avoid getting lost in judging the process.
That could happen if someone were to witness, with their own two eyes, matters that directly went against the stories that they had been told. At the very least, that was what had happened to Lin Xiao.
"Oh? Are you really telling us not to overthink things? Coming from you of all people, that doesn't sound too convincing," Gu Qiansi chuckled. "That said, what made you change your mind about helping the young couple?"
"What young couple?"
"You know who I am talking about. Wen Guoping and Jue Qishi. I thought you didn't like interfering with the lives of ordinary mortals?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. I only did that because I don't want anyone to think that the Black Tortoise Sect won't even bother helping some struggling kids."
"Kids? I believe they might even be older than you."
"But I am not struggling."
"Fine, fine. If that's your response, then let's leave it at that."
"I'm telling you tha-"
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say..."
[1] Inner disciple of the Vermilion Bird Sect. Befriended Zhao Yunxiao when they were out on a mission, and ended up fighting together against his own sect members who came to capture him. Fan of the Untethered Sage, and seemed to have an influential grandfather.
[2] Core disciple of the Black Tortoise Sect. Alias Death Blade. Notorious for being scheming and ruthless. There are even some rumours that he directly plotted the death of his own brother just to steal his position as a core disciple.